When Meng Que saw Tian Xiu Zhu and the others charging towards him, he naturally wouldn’t dare take them head-on in his current state; instead, he instinctively moved away.
Much to his surprise, Tian Xiu Zhu didn’t intend to exchange moves with him at all. He and the other four people brushed past him and shot off towards Yang Kai.
After becoming startled for a moment, Meng Que came to his senses and growled, “Don’t even think about leaving! I’ll make all of you stay!”
Although he had no idea what their intention was, he could tell that these five Eighth-Order Masters were moving to assist Yang Kai somehow. Certainly, he wouldn’t allow that to happen.
There were about 10 Pseudo-Royal Lords on the battlefield, and each was doing an excellent job in contending with the Humans. If only his opponents managed to flee, Meng Que would be held responsible.
He had never been valued to begin with, so if these five people ruined Mo Na Ye’s plan, the latter would never let him off.
As such, Meng Que was determined to make Tian Xiu Zhu and the others stay. He forcibly activated his power and chased after the Five Elements Formation. While he was at it, he made countless attacks at the enemies.
Meng Que’s attacks could not be underestimated. Left with no choice, Tian Xiu Zhu and the others had to counterattack. As both parties became entangled with each other, they approached the place where the Eight Trigrams Formation and Mo Na Ye were in a fight.
Soon, Tian Xiu Zhu furrowed his brow. This matter couldn’t drag on. They either had to shake off Meng Que as soon as they could, or send some people to give Yang Kai a hand. Otherwise, they would lure a powerful opponent to Yang Kai’s side and make things worse.
He could see that two Eighth-Order Masters in the Eight Trigrams Formation were no longer able to hold on.
Ou Yang Lie, who was battling against Xiao You and others, noticed what was going on as well and intended to lend them a hand, but he couldn’t break free from Xiao You and the other Territory Lords.
Certainly, they couldn’t expect Yang Xue to help either. Strictly speaking, she was no match for the Chaos Spirit King and had to go all out just to hold it back.
At the most critical moment, Tian Xiu Zhu roared, “Two of you go!”
The other four people in the Formation knew what he meant.
Lin Wu promptly said, “I’ll go!”
Saying so, he left the Battle Formation and charged towards Yang Kai. The next moment, another figure flew away. It was none other than Zhan Tian He.
It was a huge risk to take to move towards Yang Kai and Mo Na Ye’s battlefield. If one wasn’t careful enough, they would lose their lives. Lin Wu was a newly promoted Eighth-Order Master who managed to break through in the Universe Furnace World, but he was willing to take up such a task. As a Senior Brother, Zhan Tian He naturally couldn’t back down.
After two people left, the Five Elements Formation instantly turned into a Three Fortunes Formation. Furthermore, following a long fight, Tian Xiu Zhu and the others were no longer at the peak of their powers, so how were they supposed to deal with a Pseudo-Royal Lord?
Undoubtedly, they were put in a perilous situation.
Fortunately, it wasn’t easy for Meng Que to kill them either. This guy was badly injured to begin with, so his strength had been greatly reduced. If he were at the peak of his power, he could’ve destroyed a mere Three Fortunes Formation quite quickly.
Two breaths later, Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He arrived somewhere near the place where the Eight Trigrams Formation and Mo Na Ye were locked in combat and Lin Wu yelled, “Senior Brother Yang, we’re here to help!”
Yang Kai replied gladly, “You’ve come at the right time!”
He was worried about how to sustain the Eight Trigrams Formation when these two promptly arrived to replace their injured members.
Of the members of the Eight Trigrams Formation, Yang Kai, who served as the Core of the Formation, was close to four of them. They were his Human Self, Fang Tian Ci, his Monster Self, Thunder Shadow, Yang Xiao, and Blood Crow. He wasn’t familiar with the rest. One of them was a veteran Eighth-Order Master while the remaining two were newly ascended Eighth-Order Masters.
The two new Eighth-Order Masters were the problem. Their heritages were not as ample as that of the veteran, nor were their bodies as strong as Yang Xiao and Thunder Shadow. Their foundations were not as solid as those of Fang Tian Ci and Blood Crow. While contending with the enemy alongside Yang Kai, they had borne too much pressure. Their bodies were about to fall apart and their Small Universes were also in turmoil, causing their auras to be unstable.
If this dragged on, they would soon collapse. Once that happened, the Eight Trigrams Formation would break apart.
That was the reason Mo Na Ye started being aggressive. Although he risked injuring himself, he was determined to break the Battle Formation. He even specifically struck as hard as he could at where the new Eighth-Order Masters were positioned.
Once they lost the Eight Trigrams Formation, they wouldn’t be a match for Mo Na Ye. By then, he could kill whoever he wanted.
Nevertheless, his plan was suddenly disrupted by Tian Xiu Zhu and the others. Seeing that two energetic Eighth-Order Masters were about to join the Battle Formation, Mo Na Ye grew anxious. As such, his attacks intensified. He even tried to directly make a move on Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He.
Naturally, Yang Kai wouldn’t allow that to happen, adjusting everyone’s aura to contend with the opponent. At the same time, he secretly told the new Eighth-Order Masters to look for a chance and let Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He replace them.
They nodded in agreement, but they appeared embarrassed and unresigned.
At such a critical moment, they were the problem in the Formation, and they might even cause their side to lose the fight. It was only natural that they felt ashamed.
Nonetheless, they were indeed running out of energy, and the pressure, both internal and external, had caused their Small Universes to descend into chaos. If this dragged on, they would be the cause of the Battle Formation coming apart, and Yang Kai and the others would be even more affected.
Rather than hanging on at all costs, it would be best if they could retreat at this point.
Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He dashed towards Yang Kai. Before they even arrived, they connected their auras with the Formation.
It was extremely risky to replace the members of a Battle Formation during a fight. To begin with, it was already hard to form an Eight Trigrams Formation. Since everyone’s aura was connected, if they replaced the members in the middle of combat and did not manage to maintain the connection, the Battle Formation would break.
It was an especially huge challenge for the person who served as the Core. After all, as the Core of the Formation, Yang Kai had to harmonise and adjust everyone’s power and aura. It could be said that the Core of the Formation was the most important person in any Battle Formation.
The moment Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He connected their auras with the Battle Formation, the two new Eighth-Order Masters were ready to withdraw. Yang Kai had to spend more energy to keep the Battle Formation stable, which worsened their already terrible situation. Naturally, Mo Na Ye seized the chance and struck them with increased intensity. Upon impact, the Battle Formation trembled and staggered backwards.
The next instant, two figures shot out of the Battle Formation while Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He entered it. Yang Kai roared and diverted all his focus to adjusting the Battle Formation, allowing Mo Na Ye to continue to rain down attacks on them.
After a moment of turmoil, the Eight Trigrams Formation stabilised.
The Battle Formation was formed once again!
Finally, everyone became at ease. At the same time, they were amazed and glad that Yang Kai was the one leading the Battle Formation. If the Core was someone else, the Battle Formation would’ve probably fallen apart then and there.
Meanwhile, Tian Xiu Zhu, who was leading Xiong Ji and Liu Fei Fei to deal with Meng Que, shouted, “Come here and help us!”
They were no longer able to hold on.
It seemed that Meng Que felt ashamed because he was at fault for letting the opponents have a chance to replace the members of the Eight Trigrams Formation. As such, he ignored his injuries and madly surged his power to vent his fury on Tian Xiu Zhu and the others.
Given the intensity of the fight, even if he managed to kill his opponents, he would also end up in a terrible state; however, that was the last of his concerns right now.
The two new Eighth-Order Masters, who had just left the Eight Trigrams Formation, quickly stuffed some Spirit Pills into their mouths and approached Tian Xiu Zhu.
When contending with Mo Na Ye earlier, they didn’t even have time to consume pills.
The moment the two new Eighth-Order Masters joined Tian Xiu Zhu and formed a Five Elements Formation, they finally felt a lot less pressured.
Nevertheless, they couldn’t persevere for long; after all, these two new Eighth-Order Masters were badly wounded.
“Come to me!” Ou Yang Lie shouted. Presently, he was dealing with Xiao You and two Four Symbols Formations made up of Territory Lords. Although he wasn’t at an advantage, it wouldn’t be hard for him to protect someone else.
Upon hearing that, Tian Xiu Zhu led the other four to approach Ou Yang Lie without hesitation. Naturally, Meng Que relentlessly chased after them. Soon, both parties came together, and it was now one Ninth-Order Master and a Five Elements Formation facing a Royal Lord, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and two Four Symbols Formations of Territory Lords. The two sides were almost equally matched now, with the Humans being at a slight disadvantage, but with there not being any risk to Tian Xiu Zhu and the others’ lives for the time being.
When Meng Que realised that he wasn’t able to kill his enemies, he slowed down his attacks. Now, he had calmed down. Knowing that there was no turning back, he prioritized his own safety. Since he was injured, he was better off not overexerting himself.
The battlefield was highly unpredictable. After the replacement of members, the Eight Trigrams Formation led by Yang Kai finally became stable and once again, Mo Na Ye was at a disadvantage.
While Yang Xue’s situation remained unchanged, Ou Yang Lie was faced with more pressure.
Meanwhile, the Humans remained united as their defence line held steady. They were determined to protect Xiang Shan, so although the Black Ink Clan had a far greater number of people on their side, they were unable to break through for now.
In truth, if the Black Ink Clan ignored their own safety and forcefully tried to break the defence line, they might succeed; however, that would require the Pseudo-Royal Lords to endanger themselves. Perhaps half of them would be killed if they wanted to achieve their goal in short order.
These Pseudo-Royal Lords were created using the Source Fusion Technique, and each one represented the sacrifice of more than 10 Innate Territory Lords.
They were the survivors who came out of a cruel process, so they valued their lives more than any other Black Ink Clansmen. Certainly, they weren’t willing to lose their lives in such a place.
Therefore, even though the Black Ink Clan had gained the upper hand, they were unable to destroy the Humans’ defence line.
In the centre of the defence line, Xiang Shan was seated with his legs crossed. The illusory phantom of his Small Universe hovered behind him as his aura continuously undulated. He was on the brink of breaking past the limit of the Eighth Order.
By now, 90% of the boundary wall in his Small Universe had been dissolved. He was on the brink of breaking through his shackles. Once the boundary wall was gone, the territory of his Small Universe would expand. Only then would he make it to the Ninth Order.
While fighting with the numerous enemies, Ou Yang Lie somehow found time to curse at Xiang Shan and urge him to break through fast. Nevertheless, this process couldn’t be rushed.
Yang Kai became slightly at ease. He had been paying close attention to Xiang Shan; after all, the key to winning this battle was whether Xiang Shan could make it to the Ninth Order in time.
As he felt the aura coming from Xiang Shan surging, he believed that the latter would achieve a breakthrough soon.
He had no idea why it took Xiang Shan such a long time to make it to the Ninth-Order. Previously, he stood guard for Ou Yang Lie when the latter attempted a breakthrough, but it was done fairly quickly.
Before his arrival, Xiang Shan had been refining the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill for quite a while. Now that such a long time had passed, it was a mystery as to why Xiang Shan hadn’t broken through yet.
He speculated that it had something to do with the fact that Xiang Shan’s Order dropped previously, which might have had some unexpected consequences.
Nevertheless, the most difficult time had passed. As long as Yang Kai could hold on for a while longer until Xiang Shan made it to the Ninth Order, the Humans would be able to strike back.
The birth of a new Ninth-Order Master would shatter the deadlock. By then, they might even be able to kill Mo Na Ye and the other Royal Lord.
“Hahaha!” Someone was heard laughing in the middle of the fight. A startled Yang Kai lifted his gaze and saw Mo Na Ye looking at him with a faint grin.
There seemed to be some underlying meaning behind the smile and Yang Kai’s heart clenched as he had a bad premonition.
[Why is this guy laughing under such circumstances?] Both parties had been enemies for millennia, so they understood each other quite well.
Mo Na Ye was a patient and cunning strategist, making him an extreme outlier within the Black Ink Clan. Yang Kai hadn’t suffered a fatal setback when dealing with Mo Na Ye, but he would never underestimate the latter.
At this point, Mo Na Ye shouldn’t be laughing; instead, he should be trying his best to break the Eight Trigrams Formation. So, why did he seem so amused?
His smile was meaningful, as though he was confident about winning even now, mocking Yang Kai for being ignorant.
A sense of danger abruptly rose within Yang Kai.
Alarmed, he realised that he might have missed something, and thinking back, there were some details he had failed to notice before.
He had already felt that something was amiss before now. Since Mo Na Ye was able to face off against the Eight Trigrams Formation for such a long time, it proved that he could’ve destroyed the Six Paths Formation led by Yang Xiao previously; however, he didn’t do that.
Before Yang Kai’s arrival, Yang Xiao and the other five had been dealing with Mo Na Ye on their own.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that Mo Na Ye was worried about injuring himself; after all, it would be troublesome if a Black Ink Clansman was injured in the Universe Furnace World, especially a Royal Lord.
Nevertheless, Mo Na Ye was a shrewd individual, so how was it possible that he would worry about getting injured at such a critical moment? He certainly knew that he had to destroy the Six Paths Formation led by Yang Xiao as quickly as possible so that the Black Ink Clan would win this battle.
At that time, as long as Mo Na Ye was willing to pay a certain price, Yang Xiao and the others wouldn’t have been a match for him, so why did he choose to stall for time?
Many ideas flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, but though he knew that something was amiss, under the tense circumstances, he couldn’t distract himself to ponder it properly.
“Laugh all you want, it won’t change anything!” Yang Kai snorted. Since he didn’t know what the problem was, he had to be patient and play it by ear.
Mo Na Ye laughed again. While warding off Yang Kai’s attacks, he said impassively, “I suppose Xiang Shan is going to break through soon.”
Just like Yang Kai, he had been paying close attention to Xiang Shan. Although he had no idea when Xiang Shan would achieve a breakthrough, the disturbance over there couldn’t be concealed. As such, he could roughly sense how things were going.
Yang Kai’s bad premonition intensified. It was odd that Mo Na Ye was still in the mood to talk about Xiang Shan at this point.
While remaining silent, Yang Kai strengthened his attacks.
Mo Na Ye went on to say, “Yang Kai, you are a wonderful opponent. I’ve always respected you whether I was a Territory Lord, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, or even a true Royal Lord. The Human Race has managed to hold on for such a long time mainly because of you. If not for your hard work over the past few thousands of years, the Humans would’ve already been defeated. Unmistakably, you are my greatest opponent. It’s fortunate that you can never become a Ninth-Order Master; otherwise, we would have been in deep trouble.”
He spoke loudly during the fight to ensure that everyone could hear him.
All of them were puzzled as to what Mo Na Ye was trying to achieve. Why was he in the mood to chat about such irrelevant matters in a life-and-death battle?
Mo Na Ye seemed oblivious to everything and kept speaking, as though he wouldn’t be able to say it again if he missed this chance. Staring at Yang Kai in pity, he muttered, “Just like what you Humans say, you were born in the wrong era. You have to bear the shackles and sins that this era has inflicted on you. Those from the Cave Heavens and Paradises forced you to ascend to the Fifth Order back then, which resulted in the Eighth Order being your limit. Now, they have to rely on you to save the Human Race. Do you not resent them at all?”
His hypnotic voice seemed able to bewitch others.
In all directions, many Human Race Masters, especially those who came from the Cave Heavens and Paradises, appeared guilty. Those from the Cave Heavens and Paradises had indeed made a mistake. Although only several Sects made a move, they represented the collective decision.
Nevertheless, they had no choice but to do so at that time. They had suffered a terrible crisis in the past, so they wouldn’t allow any rogue cultivator to directly ascend to the Seventh Order. Regardless of their intentions, they were compelled to suppress Yang Kai.
After all, a Seventh-Order Master might make it to the Ninth-Order one day. Meanwhile, all the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors from the Cave Heavens and Paradises were on the Black Ink Battlefield. If Yang Kai became a Ninth-Order Master and decided to cause trouble, the Cave Heavens and Paradises wouldn’t be able to contain him.
Over the years, many people thought that if they hadn’t suppressed Yang Kai and let him directly ascend to the Seventh Order back then, given his aptitude and opportunities, he would’ve made it to the Ninth Order by now.
Undoubtedly, that would’ve been a huge boon to the Human Race.
Nonetheless, things had come to such a point where it was pointless to regret anything. When Yang Kai decided to directly ascend to the Fifth-Order back then, his future was set.
Yang Kai snorted, “Are you trying to sow discord between us? Do you think such petty words will work on me at this point?”
Mo Na Ye sighed, “I’m not trying to sow discord, I’m just curious. It seems that I’m not mistaken. Although those from the Cave Heavens and Paradises owe you much, you’re still willing to sacrifice yourself for them.”
After a pause, he went on to say, “Over the years, I’ve constantly been thinking about how to kill you. Unfortunately, there has never been a good opportunity as you are too adept at running away. Your Space Secret Techniques have been a constant headache for me. The previous battle was undoubtedly the best chance so far, but it was disrupted by the Universe Furnace. If not for the Universe Furnace’s sudden appearance, you would’ve lost your life.”
Yang Kai frowned, “What’s the point of you saying all this now? Or are you saying you are certain you can kill me now?”
Something was definitely off. Mo Na Ye was speaking and acting like everything was within his control, so he was undoubtedly up to something; however, Yang Kai didn’t have time to figure out what he was plotting. Since he couldn’t find out what was on Mo Na Ye’s mind, he could only try to glean as much information from him as possible through conversation.
Mo Na Ye seemed to have realised his intention, so he said with a smile, “I’ve been plotting against you for years, but only this time could be considered successful. Please don’t blame me for being verbose, Brother Yang. I should probably stop the small talk now; otherwise, Xiang Shan will really break through.”
All of a sudden, his expression turned cold as he looked grimly at Yang Kai, “Did you know? I was waiting for you to appear, all along. I knew that you would show up. You were the one who set off this fight, so how was it possible that you wouldn’t come? Fortunately, you arrived just in time!”
At that moment, a sense of crisis engulfed Yang Kai, but he had no idea what Mo Na Ye was going to do.
Many ideas flashed across his mind like lightning and he soon thought of something, but it was too late.
Mo Na Ye stared fixedly at him and shouted dispassionately, “Black Ink Eternal!”
Suddenly, Yang Kai turned to look at Xiang Shan and shouted, “Senior Brother Xiang, watch out!”
At the same time, he saw two Eighth-Order Masters leaving their Battle Formations from two different directions and charging towards Xiang Shan while casting lethal moves.
Yang Kai widened his eyes in disbelief.
Black Ink Disciples!
He finally realised what he had failed to take note of. The Black Ink Clan had planted two Black Ink Disciples among the Humans! They had been hiding all this time, waiting for a chance to attack Xiang Shan.
Therefore, Mo Na Ye wasn’t worried about Xiang Shan becoming a Ninth-Order Master, because he knew that the latter would never succeed. He even felt free to chat just now because everything was within his control.
Many Black Ink Clansmen were startled by the turn of events. Similarly, the Humans were caught off guard. No one could’ve expected that their companions, who had been fighting alongside them all this time, would betray them as they were on the brink of victory.
All of them had been negligent.
It wasn’t a surprise that Black Ink Disciples existed. During the fight against the Black Ink Clan in the past, many Humans would be captured by the Black Ink Clan and turned into Black Ink Disciples. The situation was especially bad on the Black Ink Battlefield.
However, after Yang Kai brought Purifying Light with him and then received 10 sets of Great Sun and Great Moon Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer, the Humans no longer had to worry about Black Ink Disciples hiding amongst their ranks.
There was a Purifying Black Ink Battleship, which contained a large amount of Purifying Light, in every Human camp. Whenever the cultivators returned to base, they had to pass through the Purifying Black Ink Battleship before they were allowed to enter.
The Humans also had Purifying Black Ink Pills. One only had to consume such a pill before they fought with the Black Ink Clan to prevent themselves from being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
The Black Ink Clan had occupied the 3,000 Worlds for many years, and although they had turned a large number of Hunters into Black Ink Disciples, those people were generally weak.
Many younger cultivators had never even seen Black Ink Disciples before. Also, Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were extremely rare, even back on the Black Ink Battlefield.
To turn an Eighth-Order Master into a Black Ink Disciple, a Royal Lord had to personally make a move.
As such, whenever the Eighth-Order Masters formed Battle Formations to deal with the enemies, they became less vigilant. No one would think that their companions might be Black Ink Disciples.
Even Yang Kai had not seen this coming; however, everything made sense if these people were not Eighth-Order Masters when they were turned into Black Ink Disciples.
Eighth-Order Masters were not the only ones who had entered the Universe Furnace World this time. There were also many Seventh-Order Masters! They were there not here for the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills but for the Ordinary Grade ones.
These Seventh-Order Masters who had entered the Universe Furnace World were new generation cultivators that had received the World Tree clone’s nourishment. As such, they were all talented elites who increased their cultivation rapidly.
Wonderful aptitude and quick increase in cultivation were not always a blessing though, as compared to the experienced cultivators who had gotten to where they were slowly and steadily, these younger cultivators lacked accumulation and experience; therefore, when they reached the peak of the Seventh Order, they often faced bottlenecks, which made it hard for them to break through to the Eighth-Order.
Given their aptitude, they would shatter the bottleneck sooner or later, but that could still take dozens to hundreds of years.
However, in the current situation, time was always short.
Fortunately, Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills could solve this problem by helping them break through their bottleneck, saving lots of time.
Many Seventh-Order Masters managed to ascend to the Eighth-Order in the Universe Furnace World this time, and presently, hundreds of them had gathered together, but they were just Seventh-Order Masters when they entered.
Everything made sense if they bumped into Black Ink Clansmen and were turned into Black Ink Disciples before ascending to the Eighth Order.
The two Black Ink Disciples that had betrayed them were undoubtedly such cases.
Time seemed to have frozen at that moment as all the Humans shifted their attention to the two Black Ink Disciples who were charging towards Xiang Shan, in horror. Presently, Xiang Shan was at the most critical moment of his breakthrough. If he was interrupted now, his breakthrough would undoubtedly fail, and there would also be a serious risk to his life.
All the Human Race Masters surrounded him and formed a defence line to fend off the Black Ink Clansmens’ attacks; as such, no one stood guard directly by his side. Even though he had set up a kind of Spirit Array, it couldn’t stop two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples from killing him.
Undoubtedly, Xiang Shan was powerless to contend with these two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
Just then, another turn of events took place somewhere else.
It had taken Mo Na Ye a long time to devise this plan, and it had all hinged on him being certain that Yang Kai would show up. His trump card was meant to kill Yang Kai and Xiang Shan at the same time; after all, if he only wanted to take out the latter, he wouldn’t have had to wait until now.
Mo Na Ye would have ordered the two Black Ink Disciples to make a move at any point earlier on. He had been patient because he could feel that Xiang Shan would still take a long time to make a breakthrough, so he wasn’t anxious.
In comparison, he was more interested in ending Yang Kai’s life. Over the years, Mo Na Ye had suffered a lot of setbacks because of Yang Kai and could never rest at ease as long as the latter wasn’t dead. It was a knot in his heart, one that had nothing to do with Yang Kai’s cultivation.
Mo Na Ye had been stalling for time because he was waiting for this exact moment.
He needed a suitable person to carry out his plan, and the chance had finally come!
Just as two Black Ink Disciples left their respective Battle Formations and charged towards Xiang Shan while the Human Race Masters watched in horror, the Eight Trigrams Formation, which was dealing with Mo Na Ye, trembled as everyone’s aura descended into chaos. Soon, the Eight Trigrams Formation broke.
Everyone in the Formation was shocked as they had no idea what happened. The moment the Battle Formation came apart, the immense backlash swept across them, causing their vitality to undulate and their Small Universes to fall into turmoil.
They already suffered from various degrees of injuries when contending with Mo Na Ye, and now the situation was exacerbated.
Compared to the Battle Formation’s backlash, a despairing incident took place right before their eyes. One of the members suddenly summoned a sword and thrust it towards Yang Kai’s back. World Force undulated around the weapon as the attacker appeared dispassionate. Without holding back any power, he seemed determined to slaughter Yang Kai.
To make things worse, Mo Na Ye made a move at the same time as the Battle Formation shattered.
The chance he had been waiting for had finally come, so he naturally wouldn’t just watch from the sidelines.
The Battle Formation’s backlash, the betrayal of a member, and Mo Na Ye’s attack happened all at once, engulfing everyone in a sense of great danger.
The members of the Eight Trigrams Formation were flustered, furious, shocked, and despondent. All sorts of emotions broke out from them.
Despite that, Yang Kai remained calm and collected as things were playing out just as he expected.
The moment he realised that there were Black Ink Disciples within their defence line, he knew that there must be a Black Ink Disciple by his side as well.
Mo Na Ye had been beating around the bush earlier, looking as though everything was within his control. It was apparent that he had made some arrangements to target Yang Kai; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so composed.
Yang Kai was the Core of the Eight Trigrams Formation while his Human Self Fang Tian Ci, Monster Self Thunder Shadow, Yang Xiao, Blood Crow, Lin Wu, Zhan Tian He, and another veteran Eighth-Order Master assisted him.
Of these seven people, apart from Lin Wu, who had ascended to the Eighth-Order in the Universe Furnace World, the others were already Eighth-Order Masters long before entering this place.
The others would not be so easily corrupted; as such, it had to be Lin Wu that was the Black Ink Disciple.
It turned out that Lin Wu was indeed the problem.
Yang Kai couldn’t help recalling the time he came across Lin Wu. At that time, he, Zhan Tian He, Xiong Ji, and Liu Fei Fei were wandering around the Universe Furnace World. When he detected the aura of an Open Heaven Realm Master attempting a breakthrough, he went over and checked on him. Upon realising the person was Lin Wu, he invited him to join the team without worrying too much.
Then, he bumped into Tian Xiu Zhu.
Following that, he decided to take a huge risk by bringing Thunder Shadow with him to snatch a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. As such, he told Tian Xiu Zhu to leave with everyone else.
Now, it seemed that before he came across Lin Wu, the latter had already been turned into a Black Ink Disciple who was allowed to move around on his own and ascend to the Eighth Order. Then, Lin Wu joined the Human Race and waited for a chance to act.
It wasn’t necessarily planned for Lin Wu to target Yang Kai, but Mo Na Ye had made good use of a pawn like him.
Initially, Lin Wu wasn’t a part of the Eight Trigrams Formation. He and Zhan Tian He joined at a later time.
Mo Na Ye had been waiting for Lin Wu to join the Eight Trigrams Formation. That way, when he finally gave the order, three Black Ink Disciples would flare up at the same time. Not only could they stop Xiang Shan from achieving a breakthrough, but they could also end Yang Kai’s life. Mo Na Ye planned to remove the two biggest threats at the same time.
Everything became clear now.
A while ago, Yang Kai was still wondering why Mo Na Ye didn’t break Yang Xiao’s Six Paths Formation earlier even though he was capable of doing so. At that time, if Mo Na Ye had been willing to pay a small price, he could’ve defeated Yang Xiao and the others quickly. After that, he could’ve personally attacked the Humans’ defence line and killed Xiang Shan.
However, he didn’t do that. Just like Mo Na Ye said, he had been waiting for him to show up.
When Yang Kai formed the Eight Trigrams Formation to deal with Mo Na Ye, the latter actually fought back hard without being bothered by his injuries. That way, he could force the two newly promoted Eighth-Order Masters in the Formation to withdraw, giving Lin Wu a chance to join them.
It was all part of Mo Na Ye’s plot.
When Lin Wu finally joined the Battle Formation, all the pawns were in the right places and Mo Na Ye was confident that Yang Kai wouldn’t survive. Both of them had been contending with each other for millennia. Since his archnemesis was about to die, he couldn’t help recalling the fights between them over the years. Perhaps he respected a Master like Yang Kai or felt so conceited that he started talking nonsense.
Presently, two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were dashing towards Xiang Shan while Lin Wu broke the Eight Trigrams Formation and pushed his sword towards Yang Kai’s back with a gaze filled with murderous intent.
The initially clamorous battlefield fell into dead silence at that moment as every Human Race Master appeared helpless and despondent.
The Black Ink Clansmen still relentlessly attacked the Humans while Mo Na Ye guffawed.
“You dare!” Ou Yang Lie growled as his figure seemed to be burning.
“Big Brother!” Yang Xue exclaimed at the top of her lungs. She wanted to shake off the Chaos Spirit King and save Yang Kai, but she was unable to do so.
The Chaos Spirit King was more powerful than her, so it was difficult for her to even pin him down.
In the midst of this crisis, Yang Kai only let out a sigh.
Before Lin Wu even made a move, Yang Kai had realised that he was in danger; therefore, he had put his guard up. If he hadn’t figured it out, he probably would’ve lost his life.
Since he was well-prepared though, he had a chance to escape.
Nevertheless, if he fled, the remaining six with him would fall into grave danger. They no longer had the Battle Formation’s help, and faced with the backlash and Mo Na Ye’s attack, half of them would undoubtedly die.
Therefore, despite knowing that he was at risk of losing his life, Yang Kai couldn’t escape. Suppressing the undulating vitality within him, he released his Spiritual Energy and brought everyone’s aura together again. In an instant, he made the proper adjustments and formed a new Seven Stars Formation with him as the Core.
At the same time, he flicked his fingers and sent a wooden box flying away.
In the next instant, he summoned the Azure Dragon Spear as the Space-Time River swirled around the weapon like a Dragon. He then thrust the weapon towards Mo Na Ye.
As the violent force exploded, everyone shuddered while Yang Kai sprayed out a mouthful of Golden Blood. Fortunately, he managed to ward off Mo Na Ye’s fatal strike.
Nonetheless, a sword penetrated his chest the next moment. The power around the sword exploded, causing Yang Kai to stagger before he swept his spear across Lin Wu and sent him flying away.
After the sword left his body, blood started gushing out from the wound on his chest. His face turned pale in an instant, and his aura weakened.
Meanwhile, the two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples reached Xiang Shan. Just as they were ready to make a move, they met Xiang Shan’s furious gaze.
Despite being at the most critical moment of his breakthrough, Xiang Shan extricated himself and got to his feet as he summoned a sabre. As World Force surged, he covered the two Black Ink Disciples with sabre lights.
He had given up on achieving a breakthrough!
It couldn’t be helped. If he tried to persist, he would only be killed as the Spirit Array he had set up wasn’t able to fend off two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
Compared to losing his life, giving up on the breakthrough was the only choice.
The two Black Ink Disciples had only achieved a breakthrough in the Universe Furnace World, so how were they supposed to be a match for Xiang Shan even though there were the two of them? They were soon suppressed.
Nevertheless, considering that they were Humans, Xiang Shan didn’t move to kill them.
During the intense battle, Xiang Shan’s aura, which was initially reaching a peak, plunged. It was a sign that his ascension had failed. Fortunately, despite what happened, it didn’t affect his strength much.
In just several breaths of time, the Eight Trigrams Formation fell apart, Yang Kai was wounded, and Xiang Shan had given up on his breakthrough, sinking the Humans into a perilous situation once again.
No one knew if there were more hidden Black Ink Disciples.
Battle Formations required members to have complete trust in each other in order to operate them smoothly, something the Black Ink Clan couldn’t grasp the essence of, preventing them from forming higher Battle Formations.
Now, the Humans were suspicious of each other, so every Battle Formation had weakened and couldn’t be run smoothly.
They were no match for the Black Ink Clan when it came to numbers and had persevered until now because of their Warships and their powerful Battle Formations, but with the latter undermined, the Humans were clearly in grave danger.
The Battle Formations, which the two Black Ink Disciples were initially part of, had disintegrated, allowing the Black Ink Clan to charge forward and kill several Eighth-Order Masters, which further exacerbated the situation.
It wasn’t that the Humans weren’t still united; if they weren’t, they wouldn’t have held on until now. Nevertheless, in such a situation, they had to be cautious.
The appearance of three Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples had destroyed any advantage that the Humans initially had.
Xiang Shan was supposedly the key to winning the battle. If the Humans wanted victory, they had to hope for Xiang Shan to ascend to the Ninth Order as quickly as possible. With one more Ninth-Order Master, they could still turn things around.
But now, Xiang Shan was forced to give up on his breakthrough, so their only hope was crushed.
Everyone was shrouded in a layer of despair. Would hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters lose their life in this place? If that happened, the Human Race’s future would be bleak.
The outcome of this battle would have a huge impact on future clashes between both Races.
“Why won’t you just die already!” A growl was heard reverberating across the void.
Across from the Seven Stars Formation, Mo Na Ye looked at Yang Kai in disbelief and anger. He had been plotting against him and waiting for the best chance to use his trump card. Initially, he believed that Yang Kai had no chance to survive, but things went contrary to his wishes.
He realised that he had still underestimated Yang Kai. More importantly, he didn’t expect that it would only take Yang Kai an instant to switch the Eight Trigrams Formation to the Seven Stars Formation and ward off his fatal strike.
Fortunately, even though things didn’t go to plan, Yang Kai was badly injured. The Eight Trigrams Formation’s backlash, Lin Wu’s sneak attack, and a long and intense battle had significantly weakened Yang Kai’s aura. As a result, he was still at risk of losing his life at any moment.
Even the Seven Stars Formation couldn’t run steadily and was on the verge of breaking apart.
With a determined expression, Mo Na Ye charged forward. He knew that he couldn’t give Yang Kai even a moment to breathe. Seeing how frail his opponent looked, he certainly wouldn’t miss the chance. He decided to end Yang Kai’s life as quickly as possible. As his Black Ink Strength surged, he roared, “How much longer can you hang on!?”
[How many of my moves can he take? Three? Five?] Given Yang Kai’s condition, Mo Na Ye had the confidence to kill him in 10 breaths of time, after which his goal would finally be achieved.
Xiang Shan’s breakthrough had failed, and the Humans’ defence line was on the brink of collapsing. After Mo Na Ye killed Yang Kai, he could slaughter the other Humans freely.
[I will win!]
Faced with the bombardment of attacks, Yang Kai and his Seven Stars Formation were unable to counterattack. Furthermore, they found it increasingly difficult to maintain the Battle Formation. Everyone struggled to hold on, but they couldn’t see any hope.
They could only take two more moves before the Battle Formation came apart.
Just as the Seven Stars Formation was about to shatter, a stream of fierce aura approached from the distance. Before the person even arrived, a voice was heard yelling, “Mo Na Ye, your opponent is me!”
The next moment, a slender figure joined the battle and slashed her sword out to intercept Mo Na Ye’s attacks.
“You…” Mo Na Ye looked at the person before his eyes in disbelief, unable to figure out how she could be there.
[How did she manage to come over?]
The person was none other than Yang Xue.
Mo Na Ye was naturally aware of this female Ninth-Order Master’s presence; however, since she didn’t seem to be a match for the Chaos Spirit King, he stopped paying attention to her.
She couldn’t meddle in the battle before she could get rid of the Chaos Spirit King; however, at this moment, she was there to deal with him.
[Where’s the Chaos Spirit King?]
Mo Na Ye was determined to kill Yang Kai, so he was filled with fervor and joy; as such, he didn’t pay attention to the battle between Yang Xue and the Chaos Spirit King. It didn’t cross his mind that such a turn of events would take place.
[Was the Chaos Spirit King defeated? Impossible, this woman is incapable of that!] Previously, Xiao You suffered a defeat at the hands of the Chaos Spirit King. He was a new Royal Lord while the woman was a new Ninth-Order Master; therefore, both of them were equally matched.
How did this woman get rid of the Chaos Spirit King and come over the help, then?
Soon, Mo Na Ye realised where the Chaos Spirit King was. He could sense that the Chaos Spirit King was dashing forward in a particular direction for some reason.
“What did you do!?” Mo Na Ye was deathly curious. Although the Chaos Spirit King was a powerful being, its sentience was low. What did this woman do that made the Chaos Spirit King abandon the fight?
Certainly, Yang Xue wouldn’t respond to him as she just fully activated her power as World Force undulated. Her sword turned into innumerable phantoms as she was determined to get revenge for her Big Brother.
A helpless Mo Na Ye could only clash with Yang Xue. Watching as Yang Kai took the Seven Stars Formation somewhere else, he was so frustrated that he almost spat blood.
He almost succeeded in killing Yang Kai, so how did things end up this way?
Across from him, Yang Xue was actually equally puzzled as to why the Chaos Spirit King retreated all of a sudden. When she saw that her Big Brother was in danger earlier, she was quite flustered. She wasn’t a match for the Chaos Spirit King, to begin with, and the situation was exacerbated because she had lost her composure. Then, for some inexplicable reason, the Chaos Spirit King withdrew and shot off into the distance. That was how Yang Xue was able to move to lend them a hand.
Nevertheless, she didn’t have time to ponder on it, for she had to deal with Mo Na Ye.
Suddenly realising something, Mo Na Ye turned to glare at Yang Kai and explained, “The Open Heaven Pill!”
When Lin Wu launched a sneak attack on Yang Kai earlier, Mo Na Ye faintly saw Yang Kai throw out a small wooden box. At that time, he was mid-attack, and the box seemed ordinary, so he didn’t pay any attention to it.
Now, it was apparent to him that the wooden box probably contained a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
As far as he knew, Yang Kai really had one, which was stolen during the intense battle between Xiao You and the Chaos Spirit King previously.
The Chaos Spirit King was lured to this place because it was after the Supreme grade Open Heaven Pills. Xiang Shan was giving off the aura of one such pill, so the Chaos Spirit King attacked, leaving Yang Xue no choice but to intercept it.
Now, Xiang Shan no longer exuded any of the Open Heaven Pill’s aura, so when Yang Kai tossed out another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, it was only natural that the Chaos Spirit King would chase after it.
Upon that realization, Mo Na Ye was extremely vexed.
The Chaos Spirit King’s appearance had helped restrain Yang Xue, a Ninth-Order Master. The Black Ink Clan had basically gotten a free helper, which allowed them to suppress the Humans.
However, no one could’ve expected that it was also the Chaos Spirit King who ruined the Black Ink Clan’s plan. It was easily lured away by an Open Heaven Pill, which allowed Yang Xue to come deal with Mo Na Ye.
It was only natural that Mo Na Ye cursed at the Chaos Spirit King for derailing his plans.
Despite his resentment, there was nothing much he could do about it.
Fortunately, Yang Kai was badly injured, and Xiang Shan’s ascension had failed. At the very least, they had achieved something.
While he was thinking so, he suddenly felt that Yang Kai’s aura, which was initially frail, rose sharply. As he turned his head in shock, he saw a river swirling around Yang Kai like a Dragon. Yang Kai was recovering as it happened. Even the wound on his chest caused by Lin Wu was healing rapidly.
Time seemed to be reversing as the river swirled around him.
In just a moment, Yang Kai had basically completely recovered!
[What kind of Secret Technique is that!?] Mo Na Ye was flabbergasted.
Yang Kai had just discovered this wonderful use of his Space-Time River not long ago and used it once in the Infinite River to restore his wounded body. Naturally, he chose to use it again this time.
Lin Wu’s sneak attack and the Battle Formation’s backlash had indeed wounded him, but he managed to reverse time for himself and return to the state he had marked some time ago.
The price he had to pay was a massive consumption of his Dao Strengths; nevertheless, that was the last of his concerns now.
He had already come up with a plan the moment Lin Wu launched his sneak attack; as such, he decided to toss away the precious Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill to attract the Chaos Spirit King’s attention.
Only when Yang Xue was freed from that fight could she deal with Mo Na Ye, allowing Yang Kai to take a breather.
However, at that time, Yang Kai wasn’t confident that he would succeed. If the Chaos Spirit King didn’t retreat, Yang Xue wouldn’t have been freed up. All the same, he had to take the risk.
Fortunately, the Chaos Spirit King was only concerned about getting the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill back; therefore, the moment it detected the pill’s aura, it chased after it, allowing Yang Xue to deal with other threats.
Overall, the Humans were still at a disadvantage. Ou Yang Lie was doing fine while Yang Xue was dealing with Mo Na Ye and were not at risk of losing their lives; however, the other Humans were in a terrible situation. Although Xiang Shan had joined the battle, it was still hard for them to turn things around.
If this dragged on, many more Humans would lose their lives.
They had to quickly resolve the suspicions the Humans had for each other and catch all the hidden Black Ink Disciples.
Yang Kai soon made a decision. As he continued to recover, he shouted, “Yang Xiao, form a Four Symbols Formation and use Purifying Light!”
Understanding his intentions, Yang Xiao replied, “Yes!”
After informing Zhan Tian He and the others about it, Yang Xiao formed a Four Symbols Formation with him as the Core; then, they charged towards the centre of the battlefield. Before they even arrived, the Great Sun and Moon Marks on the back of Yang Xiao’s hands appeared. As yellow and blue lights swirled around and combined with each other, they turned into a dazzling white light that illuminated the entire battlefield.
“Stop them!” A Pseudo-Royal Lord growled; however, the Purifying Light was their archnemesis, so the Black Ink Clansmen were terrified to get close.
“I dare you to stop me!” Yang Xiao roared and continued to condense more Purifying Light as he led Zhan Tian He and the others forward. Wherever they went, the Territory Lords quickly backed away and even the Pseudo-Royal Lords shrank from the intense Purifying Light.
From the defence line, Xiang Shan and several people came over to help. There was no doubt that Xiang Shan was intelligent as he shared the same sentiment as Yang Kai. They had to quickly resolve the internal problems that the Humans faced, so they had to assist Yang Xiao.
After all, they needed Yang Xiao’s Purifying Light to catch all the hidden Black Ink Disciples.
The war intensified at that moment. Xiang Shan was the Core of a Six Paths Formation, which was exceptionally powerful. After an exchange of moves, they finally joined Yang Xiao’s Four Symbols Formation. They then entered the defence line together while the Black Ink Clan were unable to stop them.
The next moment, Yang Xiao roared as the Great Sun and Moon Marks on the back of his hands became increasingly bright. Copious amounts of Yellow and Blue Crystals were consumed in an instant before an eruption of Purifying Light spread out with him as the centre.
Wherever the white light went, Black Ink Strength dissipated as the light covered all the Human Race Masters and continued to expand. The two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, who had attacked Xiang Shan moments ago, had been subdued and were presently unable to move a muscle. As they were shrouded in the Purifying Light, they started trembling as if struck by lightning. They howled in pain while Black Ink Strength left their bodies.
On the periphery, the Black Ink Clansmen had managed to shrink the Human defence line while the latter’s Battle Formations were in turmoil. Some parts of the defence line were about to break, but when the Purifying Light surged forth like a tidal wave, the Black Ink Clansmen had no choice but to retreat.
This kind of large-scale Purifying Light was no different from poison to the Black Ink Clan. Although they wouldn’t be killed, nobody wanted to see their powers significantly weakened.
The Human Race Masters seized the chance to counterattack and stabilize the defence line.
By the time the pure white light dissipated, the Humans had managed to fortify their defence line and all the Battle Formations were operating smoothly again.
As the Purifying Light swept out, no Human Race Masters showed signs of corruption. Apparently, the Black Ink Clan had only planted three Black Ink Disciples among them.
This wasn’t too surprising as it was still quite hard for the Black Ink Clan to turn Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters into Black Ink Disciples.
As the Humans no longer had to worry about being betrayed by their teammates, they naturally focused on dealing with the enemies.
The use of the Purifying Light helped the Humans regain their composure as Yang Xiao’s eyes brightened as he guffawed, “So useful!”
He decided that if the defence line was falling apart again, he would condense another burst of Purifying Light and rush up towards the weak point. Although he couldn’t kill enemies with it, he could at least ensure that the defence line remained intact.
However, this kind of move required a lot of Yellow and Blue Crystals because it had to cover a vast area. His Yellow and Blue Crystals were given to him by Yang Kai back then, and he had consumed quite a number of them over the years; as such, he didn’t have many left. If he used this move two more times, he would run out of crystals.
Once that happened, he would lose the ability to force the Black Ink Clan to retreat, which might result in the defence line collapsing.
Therefore, if the Humans wanted to gain victory, they had to pin their hopes on Ou Yang Lie and Yang Xue. If these two Ninth-Order Masters could kill their opponents quickly, they could help the other Humans out.
Nevertheless, their opponents were Royal Lords. They might be able to defeat their enemies, but it would be hard for them to kill the Royal Lords. How were they supposed to help out?
Ou Yang Lie had apparently realised that as well, so he had been exerting himself even more while ignoring his injury in the hope that he could kill Xiao You quickly. Nevertheless, Xiao You had eight Territory Lords assisting him. Although Ou Yang Lie was madly wielding his strength, he couldn’t achieve his goal in a short time.
To make things worse, he had to spend some energy protecting Tian Xiu Zhu and his group as Meng Que, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, seemed determined to kill them.
A while ago, Tian Xiu Zhu led his Five Elements Formation to leave the defence line and sent two Eighth-Order Masters to lend Yang Kai a helping hand, which infuriated Meng Que. The other Pseudo-Royal Lords were doing fine while something went wrong in his place, so it was only natural that he was embarrassed.
Although he was shocked by Lin Wu’s betrayal and realised that it was Mo Na Ye’s arrangement all along, he knew nothing about it before then. If Mo Na Ye had told him earlier, Meng Que would have held back to allow Lin Wu out more easily.
At the end of the day, it seemed Mo Na Ye still had no regard for him, so he didn’t let him have a hand in such an important plan.
At that time, if Meng Que had managed to stop the Five Elements Formation, Mo Na Ye would’ve probably given him a heads-up.
All the same, everything was within Mo Na Ye’s control. Regardless of what happened, he would make sure that Lin Wu could approach Yang Kai and deal a heavy blow.
Meng Que was resentful. Initially, both of them were Pseudo-Royal Lords, but Mo Na Ye acquired an opportunity in the Universe Furnace World and became a true Royal Lord while Meng Que suffered a setback and became seriously injured.
As he was frustrated, he wasn’t willing to let Tian Xiu Zhu and his Five Elements Formation off. He was determined to kill these weakened Eighth-Order Masters to vent his rage.
The Humans seemed to be on the losing side as the war intensified.
The Black Ink Clan was much stronger when it came to the quantity of their Masters. The Humans had managed to hold on previously because they could see hope as Xiang Shan attempted to break through. They also had their Warships’ assistance.
Now, Xiang Shan’s breakthrough had failed, and after a long battle, the Warships were seriously damaged. Without the Warships’ protection, how were they supposed to fend off the Black Ink Clan’s bombardment?
It was only a matter of time before their lines broke and they were routed.
They also couldn’t pin their hope on the two Ninth-Order Masters as they were both occupied.
Everyone was frustrated, especially the two Eighth-Order Masters who had attacked Xiang Shan earlier. After the Black Ink Strength in their bodies was dispelled by the Purifying Light, they felt guilty and ashamed. As such, they struck with reckless abandon, hoping to kill more enemies even if they lost their lives in the process.
If they hadn’t made a move at the most critical moment, Xiang Shan would’ve become a Ninth-Order Master.
Their sneak attack didn’t only make the Human Race lose a Ninth-Order Master, but also put hundreds of Human Race Masters in peril.
Although no one blamed them, they couldn’t forgive themselves so easily.
They had heard their Seniors mention that after some Black Ink Disciples were saved, they would rather kill themselves out of guilt. They might have hurt other Humans or even killed their friends and relatives; however, those were only stories and not something they personally experienced.
It wasn’t until this moment that they realised how despairing it was. Sometimes, living was more painful than death.
As such, they were looking for a chance to die while taking out several powerful opponents. However, the Territory Lords were naturally vigilant, so these Eighth-Order Masters didn’t have a chance to do so.
They had almost gone mad because of their fury and self-blame.
“Calm down! There is still hope for all of us! Don’t go throwing your lives away just yet!” A voice was suddenly cut through the noise. The person must have realised their intentions, so he decided to persuade them.
Both of them were startled. Was there still hope for all of them? But they didn’t see it!
The person went on to say, “Don’t forget that my Adoptive Father isn’t dead yet. As long as he’s alive, there’s still hope! He’s best at creating miracles in the most despairing situations!”
It was only then did they realise who was speaking to them.
He was none other than Yang Xiao!
The Adoptive Father he talked about was Yang Kai.
Indeed, during their formative years, they had heard their Seniors talk about Yang Kai’s numerous achievements. They knew that he had done many incredible things and the Human Race managed to hang on despite having to deal with the mighty Black Ink Clan largely thanks to his efforts and victories.
He was so powerful that he could kill Territory Lords like they were chickens and dogs, and was even used to dealing with opponents that were more powerful than him. He had even escaped from the pursuit of Royal Lords.
It was also rumoured that he had killed a Royal Lord on his own.
Certainly, it was a strange rumour; after all, there was a huge gap in power between an Eighth-Order Master and a Royal Lord. No one would believe it without any verification.
He was undoubtedly a legend and all the younger generation cultivators hoped to be the next Yang Kai.
One of them was even touted as ‘Little Yang Kai’. Such a title was enough to make many new cultivators feel envious.
Apart from these inconceivable rumours, they had seen how Yang Kai managed to form an Eight Trigrams Formation to push back a true Royal Lord and even gain the upper hand, a shocking and amazing feat indeed.
An Eight Trigrams Formation of Eighth-Order Masters had only appeared once before that, and at that time, it only lasted for 20 breaths. However, the Eight Trigrams Formation led by Yang Kai this time lasted for over an hour. If not for the fact that Lin Wu was a hidden Black Ink Disciple, Yang Kai could’ve kept the Formation running for much longer.
However, was there really hope for all of them?
The Eight Trigrams Formation had shattered, and Yang Kai was heavily injured. He was unable to make it to the Ninth Order as the Eighth Order was the limit in his lifetime.
What else could he do in such a situation?
If Yang Xiao hadn’t mentioned Yang Kai, they would’ve forgotten about him. That was because regardless of what he did, he wouldn’t be able to turn things around now.
Instinctively, they turned to look at Yang Kai, after which they were astounded.
If they remembered correctly, Yang Kai was supposed to be badly wounded with a weekend aura; however, even though he wasn’t in peak condition at this moment, he wasn’t nearly as battered as they believed.
They were amazed by his restorative ability.
Presently, Yang Kai was hovering in the void with Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow.
With the Space-Time River’s help, Yang Kai had mostly recovered; however, everyone seemed to have forgotten about him.
Only Lin Wu was looking at him warily at this moment.
Yang Kai was famous and powerful, after all. Although Lin Wu was resolute when launching a sneak attack earlier, he didn’t have the guts to fight Yang Kai head-on. Nevertheless, he couldn’t rashly have a hand in other battles. As such, he decided to stay there and keep an eye on Yang Kai.
Noticing Lin Wu’s stare, Yang Kai turned to look at him and put on a faint smile, one without resentment or anger.
After all, after getting corrupted, a Black Ink Disciple would place Mo and the Black Ink Clan before all else. As a Black Ink Disciple, everything Lin Wu did was against his will. Yang Kai had encountered countless Black Ink Disciples over the years. He would save them if he could; otherwise, he would not hesitate to kill them as that was a kind of extrication as well. As such, he wouldn’t blame Lin Wu for anything.
However, it seemed that he now had no choice but to use his trump card. Undoubtedly, he was unresigned.
No one had ever cultivated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art devised by Shi before, so no one knew if it could shatter the Open Heaven Realm Method’s shackles. It would be wonderful if Yang Kai succeeded, but if he failed, he would be left with numerous concerns.
From what he had gathered, the Secret Art should be feasible. At the very least, both the Human Self and Monster Self had grown to be powerful; moreover, these two seemed closely connected to his own, true body.
Putting Thunder Shadow aside for now, Fang Tian Ci had the potential to directly ascend to the Seventh Order back then; nevertheless, when he made it to the Open Heaven Realm, he became a Sixth-Order Master for seemingly no reason.
That was the restriction from the main body. Yang Kai’s limit was the Eighth Order; therefore, as the Human Self, regardless of how good Fang Tian Ci’s aptitude was or how solid his foundation had been, he was unable to directly ascend to the Seventh Order.
It was the same case for Thunder Shadow. He had come to a point where his cultivation was impossible to improve further.
In fact, if he was not Yang Kai’s Monster Self, he could’ve stayed in the Myriad Monsters World and continued to improve his cultivation since he had cultivated the Primal Art to refine his Monster Core. Someone from the Monster Race who had cultivated the Primal Art didn’t have any shackles to speak of.
Yang Kai initially wanted to wait for his Human Self and Monster Self to reach the absolute limits of their cultivation; then, he would look for a safe place and use the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to attempt a breakthrough.
If possible, he could also ask some friends and relatives to stand guard for him to avoid any accidents.
He didn’t know the kind of problems he would face after he used the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, so he had to make some preparations.
Nevertheless, things went contrary to his wishes. Now, Xiang Shan’s breakthrough failed while Ou Yang Lie and Yang Xue had their respective opponents. If this dragged on, the Humans’ defence line would break. Faced with more than 10 Pseudo-Royal Lords and countless Territory Lords, Yang Kai, an Eighth-Order Master, wouldn’t be able to achieve anything even if he joined the battle.
Therefore, he had to take the risk despite being in less-than-ideal circumstances.
After giving it some thought though, Yang Kai realised that if he managed to successfully achieve a breakthrough, he could immediately kill many Masters from the Black Ink Clan to celebrate his breakthrough, which sounded like an excellent idea.
At that moment, he became high-spirited.
Yang Kai was a resolute person, and since he had made a decision, he wouldn’t hesitate. The only problem was that his Human Self, Monster Self, and himself were not in the best of conditions.
With the Space-Time River’s help, he had managed to heal 80% of his injuries; however, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow didn’t have such incredible restorative power and were still heavily injured from the prolonged battle.
Resolving himself, Yang Kai muttered, “Are you ready?”
Fang Tian Ci replied with a faint smile, “I’ve always been ready.”
Thunder Shadow nodded, “We’re all Brothers. As long as we’re united, we can achieve anything!”
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help but refute, “We’re merely part of his Soul…”
Thunder Shadow cut him off by saying, “So what if we’re part of his Soul? Can’t we be Brothers? Moreover, we’re not Soul Clones in the traditional sense. What do you say, Big Brother?”
Yang Kai nodded, “You’re right. This time, the three of us will be going for broke!”
A smug Thunder Shadow pulled a face at Fang Tian Ci, who smiled helplessly.
“Enter my Small Universe!” Yang Kai ordered and opened up the portal to his Small Universe.
Without hesitation, Fang Tian Ci stepped forward and disappeared into it, followed by Thunder Shadow. Before that, Thunder Shadow said to Yang Kai, “I owe Qin Xue and her Husband from Great Feather Pavilion a favour. Please take care of them on my behalf.”
“Don’t worry,” Yang Kai replied quickly.
After the Human Self and Monster Self were gone, Yang Kai shuddered as his entire Small Universe trembled. Even the World Tree clone was unable to suppress the turmoil.
Yang Kai’s expression turned solemn as he focused on suppressing the upheaval in his Small Universe.
The moment Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow entered Yang Kai’s Small Universe, Yang Xiao was flabbergasted.
Earlier, he consoled the two Eighth-Order Masters, who had attacked Xiang Shan, and told them not to lose hope yet because his Adoptive Father was still alive. Yang Kai had created many miracles in his life, so as long as he was still alive, there was hope for all of them. Naturally, Yang Xiao took a look at his Adoptive Father as he spoke.
That was when he saw the inconceivable sight.
[Old Fang and that Monster Race Great Emperor entered Adoptive Father’s Small Universe? What the Hell is going on!?]
Yang Xiao felt dizzy all of a sudden. He even suspected that he was seeing things because of his injuries.
Both Yang Kai and Fang Tian Ci were Eighth-Order Masters, so how did the latter enter Yang Kai’s Small Universe?
Since time immemorial, only Open Heaven Realm Master in a higher Order could allow one in a lower Order enter their Small Universe. It couldn’t be achieved when both of them were in the same Order.
That was because the Small Universes of two Open Heaven Realm Masters in the same Order had similar capacities. As such, one couldn’t keep the other person inside their Small Universe. If they forcibly did so, their Small Universe would explode.
Moreover, as far as Yang Xiao knew, the Monster Race Great Emperor was equivalent to an Eighth-Order Master. How did he enter Yang Kai’s Small Universe?
Yang Xiao found everything inconceivable, so he couldn’t help but look around, after which he saw that Blood Crow appeared equally shocked.
“Did you see that?” Yang Xiao asked.
Blood Crow glanced at him and nodded faintly.
Yang Xiao was stunned, “It wasn’t a hallucination?” Was what he saw real?
Blood Crow snorted, “Why are you so surprised? Didn’t you say he’s the best at creating miracles in the most despairing situations?”
Yang Xiao was startled for a moment before coming to his senses. If anyone else had done such a thing, that would’ve been shocking. However, that person was his Adoptive Father, so everything made sense.
Although he had no idea how Yang Kai managed to take Fang Tian Ci into his Small Universe, there wouldn’t be a problem as it was his Adoptive Father doing that.
Having said that, he still felt that something was off. What was the relationship between Fang Tian Ci and Yang Kai? Since both of them were Eighth-Order Masters, how and why did Fang Tian Ci enter the latter’s Small Universe?
Yang Xiao was aware that Fang Tian Ci came from Yang Kai’s Small Universe; moreover, Fang Tian Ci was well-versed in the Dao of Space, Dao of Time, and Spear Dao, all of which he had inherited from Yang Kai. He was known to be Little Yang Kai because of that.
Also, Zhao Ye Bai and the others said that Yang Kai had travelled around his own Small Universe before. It was during that time that he took him and Zhao Ya as his Disciples.
At the thought of this, Yang Xiao gasped in shock as a bold idea formed in his mind.
[Could Old Fang be my Adoptive Father’s illegitimate Son?]
When Yang Kai travelled around his Small Universe, he might have come across a beautiful lady and fallen in love with her, leading to Fang Tian Ci being born.
Later, Yang Kai would have kept Fang Tian Ci in his Small Universe and taught him how to cultivate, which was how the latter inherited all three of the former’s Grand Daos.
Assuming that it was the truth, Yang Xiao nodded gently. He couldn’t believe that Fang Tian Ci was related to Yang Kai by blood, and he had never heard about it from him before. For that reason, he decided to teach Fang Tian Ci a lesson for hiding it from him at a later time.
“What are you doing? Don’t get distracted!” Blood Crow suddenly snapped.
Since Yang Xiao was having such wild thoughts, the Four Symbols Formation began to become unstable.
Yang Xiao quickly pulled himself together and guffawed, “We’re going to win this one!”
Blood Crow looked at him like he was a fool. The Humans were in a difficult situation, so what made Yang Xiao believe that they could still win? Was it merely because Yang Kai had put an Eighth-Order Master and a Monster Race Great Emperor in his Small Universe? Was he supposed to break through to the Ninth Order by doing that?
While they were secretly shocked, two more people were equally astonished when they saw what Yang Kai did.
Lin Wu had been looking at Yang Kai warily; therefore, he could clearly see what Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow did. At that moment, he was puzzled as to how Yang Kai managed to put two cultivators in the same equivalent Realm in his Small Universe.
On the other hand, Mo Na Ye became agitated. Although he couldn’t shake off Yang Xue, he had still been paying close attention to Yang Kai.
This couldn’t be helped as he had suffered too many setbacks because of Yang Kai, leading to a kind of paranoid trauma when it came to the latter. Before Yang Kai was dead and buried, Mo Na Ye could never relax.
When he saw Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow dashing into Yang Kai’s Small Universe, he felt his chest tightening as a bad premonition came over him.
Although he had no idea what Yang Kai was up to, he had to be cautious whenever the latter did something unusual, which was usually a sign that Yang Kai was about to achieve something shocking.
Mo Na Ye immediately made a decision and sent a Divine Sense transmission.
The next moment, three Pseudo-Royal Lords, who had been trying to break the Humans’ defence line along with the Territory Lords, suddenly left their positions and charged towards Yang Kai from different directions.
It was a difficult decision to make for Mo Na Ye to send three Pseudo-Royal Lords to deal with Yang Kai at such a critical moment.
Without these three Pseudo-Royal Lords, a great deal of pressure had been lifted off the Human Race’s defence line, especially now that Xiang Shan was free to contend against the Black Ink Clan. Presently, he was charging around while leading a Seven Stars Formation, and after those three Pseudo-Royal Lords left the battle, the advantage that the Black Ink Clan had would probably be wiped out.
However, Mo Na Ye had no choice but to make such a decision to kill Yang Kai as quickly as possible. Despite that, they might not be able to end Yang Kai’s life. If it was so easy to kill Yang Kai, he wouldn’t have remained alive until now.
Nevertheless, if they could kill Yang Kai, Mo Na Ye wouldn’t mind letting the rest of the Human Race Masters here escape.
Faced with the approaching imposing auras, Yang Kai sported a cold expression and snorted, “It seems you all still consider me a huge threat, huh?”
Yang Kai knew that when he got started, the Black Ink Clan would definitely notice and attempt to stop him. As such, he was well-prepared.
Seeing that three Pseudo-Royal Lords were about to reach him, he certainly wouldn’t stay there and wait for death.
Space Principles undulated and his figure blurred.
By the time the Pseudo-Royal Lords arrived, Yang Kai had disappeared. In a different direction, his aura slowly reappeared.
Yang Kai was certainly no match for three Pseudo-Royal Lords; in fact, given his condition, he couldn’t even deal with one Pseudo-Royal Lord. He had been contending with the Black Ink Clan for many years, and he frequently came across opponents he couldn’t defeat, but he managed to survive until now because he firmly believed that even if he couldn’t defeat the other party, he would be able to run away.
Given his mastery over the Dao of Space, he was unmatched when it came to escaping.
A temporary retreat wasn’t a sign of weakness; he just needed to wait for a chance to strike back.
Including Mo Yu, Yang Kai had been hunted down by three different Royal Lords before. One of them was killed by him even though he had no idea how, and the other was lured to the Chaotic Dead Territory and eliminated by Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan. Only Mo Yu was still alive and kicking.
Since Yang Kai could escape from true Royal Lords, he naturally wasn’t afraid of mere Pseudo-Royal Lords. More importantly, the Black Ink Clan didn’t have any Heaven Sealing and Earth Locking techniques. If he freely manipulated Space Principles, these Pseudo-Royal Lords wouldn’t even be able to touch him despite joining forces.
However, the situation was unusual at that moment.
With his Human Self and Monster Self inside his body, his Small Universe was in turmoil; as such, as Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles, he realised that he was unable to use his Space Secret Techniques smoothly.
The turmoil in his Small Universe caused everything to destabilise. Even the Space-Time River around Yang Kai could hardly be sustained. The moment he reappeared, the Space-Time River suddenly came apart and dispersed.
Yang Kai turned pale as he sported a solemn expression.
He didn’t expect that such a thing would happen after he let his Human Self and Monster Self inside his Small Universe; now, it seemed that he was in a perilous situation.
No one had cultivated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art before, so no one could teach him anything about it or warn him of any dangers of cultivating it. He had planned to choose a safe place and prepare thoroughly before using this Secret Art; however, the situation the Humans were facing didn’t allow him to make any preparations at all. As such, he could only take a risk.
The three Pseudo-Royal Lords hadn’t noticed this anomaly, but the instant they detected his aura, they still turned around and charged towards him.
Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t stand still and wait for death, so he promptly dashed off to widen the gap between him and his enemies. At the same time, he spent some energy circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
Strictly speaking, the Secret Art devised by Shi was divided into two parts. The first part was about splitting one’s Soul to cultivate two Selves. That was the foundation as well as the preliminary preparation, the key to success so to speak.
Yang Kai had completed this part. Over the years, both his Human Self, Fang Tian Ci, and his Monster Self, Thunder Shadow, had grown to be independent beings. They had reached the limits of their respective Realms, so there wasn’t much room for improvement for them.
The second part was what Yang Kai was currently doing. By circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, he could unite his three Selves. After integrating the powers of the two other Souls, he would be able to massively expand his Small Universe and thereby shatter the Open Heaven Realm Method’s innate shackles.
When Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow entered Yang Kai’s Small Universe, the powers of the two caused everything to descend into upheaval, especially Fang Tian Ci. He was also an Eighth-Order Master, so he too had a massive Small Universe in his body, which caused an enormous impact on Yang Kai’s own Small Universe.
That was the reason a person couldn’t accommodate another cultivator in the same Order into their Small Universe.
As Yang Kai’s Small Universe trembled, everyone in the Void World was apprehensive. The World Tree clone’s illusory phantom appeared, its gigantic tree crown like an umbrella that covered the entire sky.
Meanwhile, a battered Yang Kai was dashing forward to escape from the three Pseudo-Royal Lords while madly circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art at the same time.
Just then, a Dragon Roar was heard reverberating across the Small Universe. The next moment, a Golden Dragon phantom that was 99,999 metres long appeared. The Golden Dragon was the visual manifestation of Yang Kai’s Divine Spirit Source.
The Phantom Dragon covered a large part of the World, and when it appeared, all the living creatures were exposed to its Dragon Pressure and felt the urge to bow to it.
After his trip to the Dragon Pool back then, Yang Kai could be considered a pure-blooded Dragon Clan member. That was the reason the Ancient Dragon Elders from the No-Return Pass wanted him to record his name on the Dragon Tome and found the Yang Family lineage so that there would be more Dragon Clan descendants in the future.
However, Yang Kai had never considered himself a true member of the Dragon Clan. Turning into a Dragon was his way to deal with large swaths of weak opponents or singular powerful enemies. He would always regard himself as a Human.
All the same, his beliefs wouldn’t change the fact that he was a pure-blooded Dragon Clan member.
The appearance of the Golden Dragon showed that his Source had been fully stimulated at this moment.
If he wanted to integrate the powers of his other two Selves, he had to make use of his Source.
The instant the illusory phantom Golden Dragon appeared following the Dragon Roar, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow sported solemn expressions.
Thunder Shadow looked at the Golden Dragon while feeling his power stir in his body. Suddenly, he asked, “Second Brother, have you flirted with many women over the years?”
Fang Tian Ci broke into laughter, “Why are you asking this question at this point?”
Thunder Shadow smiled meaningfully, “Think about it. Since both of us are Big Brother’s Soul Clones, if you’ve been intimate with some woman, after Big Brother assimilates both of us, the women you’re in love with will probably go looking for him.”
Fang Tian Ci was stunned and wondered, “Is that so?”
Thunder Shadow replied matter-of-factly, “Of course. Both of us come from him, after all. Regardless of what we’ve done, he’ll have to take responsibility for everything.”
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help teasing him, “It seems that Big Brother will be in big trouble, then. You must’ve been with many female Monsters in the Myriad Monsters World over the years.”
Thunder Shadow refuted seriously, “Nonsense. I focused on cultivating while in the Myriad Monsters World and have never done anything I would feel ashamed of.”
Then, he winked at the other man, “So, have you really flirted with some women?”
“No,” Fang Tian Ci shook his head, “I’ve always been honest and righteous, so why would I flirt with random women?” Then, he sighed, “However, when a man is brilliant, he’ll always attract many women’s attention. I’ve been feeling troubled because of that.”
Hearing that, Thunder Shadow pursed his lips and muttered, “It seems that Big Brother isn’t such a good thing compared to us.”
Both of them were Yang Kai’s Soul Clones, so strictly speaking, they had inherited Yang Kai’s temperament. As such, they were the reflection of Yang Kai’s disposition.
The two of them exchanged glances and guffawed.
“If you two are done chit-chatting, hurry up and help, otherwise, I’ll be killed soon!” Yang Kai shouted.
As even his use of Dao Strengths was in turmoil, Yang Kai found it hard to use his Space Secret Techniques. Since three Pseudo-Royal Lords were hunting him down, he was in a perilous situation. He could still run away for a while as he had put some distance between him and them, but as time passed, that distance would surely shrink.
Moreover, he could feel that Mo Na Ye had been paying attention to him and trying to shake off Yang Xue, but to no avail.
Faced with the Chaos Spirit King, Yang Xue wasn’t a match for it, but it wasn’t hard for her to keep Mo Na Ye pinned down; after all, Mo Na Ye was her equal in cultivation, and wasn’t in peak condition. He was injured even before the current battle broke out, and then he had spent some effort fighting the Eight Trigrams Formation, leaving him both wounded and weakened.
Since Yang Xue could tell that Mo Na Ye wanted to harm Yang Kai, she naturally wouldn’t let him go.
Inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow sported serious expressions. Although they had no idea what was going to happen next, they were aware of their fates after the memories in their Souls were fully unsealed.
They had been cultivating for many years for this moment.
At the very least, they had lived their lives to the fullest, travelling around and experiencing many wonders of the Universe.
Without resistance, they emptied their minds and let their Soul turn into nothingness.
The Golden Dragon continued to roar, and as its Source Strength shook, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow resonated with it. Gradually, their figures became blurred and were engulfed in a layer of golden light.
A moment later, two gigantic golden figures shot into the sky.
Everyone in the Void World was paying respects to the Golden Dragon when they saw such a shocking sight. Presently, a gigantic golden leopard surrounded by lightning and an equally majestic Human figure were flying up towards the Golden Dragon.
No one had any idea what was going on; however, they had experienced several fantastical phenomena in the Void World over the years, and these incidents always subsided quickly; as such, they were already somewhat used to it.
Seven Stars Sect was the dominant Great Force in the Void World without any question. No one had yet managed to challenge their status over the past 100,000 years.
This couldn’t be helped though as the Dao Lord used to be a Supreme Elder in Seven Stars Sect. They still kept his position in the Sect and everyone from the lowest disciple to the Sect Master himself would frequently pay homage to his statue.
With such a natural advantage, it was only expected that they had an edge over other Sects.
As the most powerful Great Force on the continent, Seven Stars Sect had many satellite cities around it. The area could be considered the centre of the World.
About 20 kilometres away from one such city was the Fang Family Village. It used to be an ordinary village, but they had an Ancestor who grew to be a powerful cultivator and became part of the Void Dao Temple many millennia ago. The village had been thriving since then.
Presently, there were many descendants and cultivators in the Fang Family Village, including some Emperor Realm Masters. Their inheritance was just as great as some of the Sects with equally long histories.
When such an anomaly took place in the Void World, the Patriarch led the Fang Family members to salute the Golden Dragon and pray for their safety.
Nonetheless, when the Patriarch looked up and saw the face of the golden Human figure, he was thoroughly startled because he found the face familiar.
The commotion behind him made him realise that he wasn’t mistaken. The golden Human figure looked just like their famous Ancestor that used to live in their village over 10,000 years ago.
Fang Tian Ci was a legendary figure within the Fang Family, and it was because of his identity as a Void Dao Temple disciple that the Fang Family was able to thrive all these years.
It could be said that this Ancestor was the reason the Fang Family rose to power. Before him, the Fang Family was just one of many ordinary families in the Void World.
[Is that… Honoured Ancestor?]
The Patriarch could not be certain. After the Ancestor joined the Void Dao Temple, he gave the Fang Family some benefits before he left the Void World. There had never been any news about him since.
While the Fang Family’s Patriarch was doubtful, the colossal golden figure seemed to have sensed something and looked in their direction. Despite the distance, Fang Tian Ci could clearly see what was going on in the Fang Family Village.
Then, he flicked his fingers and shot out a white light, which soon landed in front of the Patriarch with a faint thrum.
As the Patriarch looked on intently, he realised there was a sword in front of him. Despite the modest appearance, the sword was actually an extremely high grade artifact.
The Patriarch hurriedly straightened up and grasped the hilt. To his surprise, he was able to pull out the sword easily.
When he saw the character ‘Fang’ on the hilt, he realised something and shouted, “It is Ancestor Tian Ci! Heavens bless Ancestor Tian Ci!”
Behind him, countless Fang Family’s descendants called out, “Heavens bless Ancestor Tian Ci!”
The golden figure that Fang Tian Ci had turned into nodded gently and shot towards the Golden Dragon along with Thunder Shadow. Before they even arrived, their figures started dissipating into millions of points of light before assimilating into the Golden Dragon.
Although Fang Tian Ci was only a Soul Clone, he was born and raised in this World. In the end, he still had sentiments for the Fang Family. That was the reason he left behind his sword before leaving. As long as the sword was still around, the Fang Family would continue to thrive.
The entire Void World was the true body’s Small Universe, so why would the Soul Clone’s sword be lost? It could be said that as long as the true body was still alive and the Small Universe remained intact, the Fang Family would continue to prosper.
Despite being a Soul Clone, Fang Tian Ci wanted to do something for his family at the end of his life.
Following the integration of the two Soul Clones, the colour of the golden Phantom Dragon thickened. Its figure trembled and expanded in length.
The Phantom Dragon was already 99,999 metres long, which was only a step away from 100,000 metres. Now that Yang Kai had merged with the two, he had finally shattered the bottleneck.
At that, he was surprised.
Back then, when his Dragon Vein was stuck and couldn’t be improved any further, Yang Kai figured that he would have to ascend to the Ninth Order before he could break this bottleneck and become a Divine Dragon.
It never crossed his mind that he would become a Divine Dragon first.
After giving it some thought though, he realised it wasn’t so surprising. Both his Human Self and Monster Self were split and had to combine with his Source. Now that the two had integrated with him, his Source would naturally be strengthened. It naturally allowed him to become a Divine Dragon first.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling ecstatic, for he managed to become a Divine Dragon at the perfect time.
Presently, he was no longer able to escape from the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. Although he had repeatedly used his Space Secret Technique, his Dao Strength was in turmoil, which made it impossible for him to use Instantaneous Movement smoothly. As such, he was unable to shake off these powerful opponents. Now, he was cornered by the three Pseudo-Royal Lords in a particular spot in the void.
They were madly activating their aura to strike at Yang Kai and the Void around him. They were trying to disturb Yang Kai and make it impossible for him to run away.
Since Yang Kai was no longer able to flee, the murderous intent of these Pseudo-Royal Lords surged as one of them yelled, “Kill!”
They then charged towards him from different directions. As their Black Ink Strength surged, they cast powerful Secret Techniques at Yang Kai, who staggered while appearing battered.
If Yang Kai had not just become a Divine Dragon, he wouldn’t have persevered for long when faced with the bombardment of attacks from three Pseudo-Royal Lords. He would’ve had to spend some energy evading their attacks before, but the difference of one metre allowed him to ascend to the next stage, increasing his powers tremendously.
The difference between an Ancient Dragon and a Divine Dragon was similar to that between an Eighth-Order Master and a Ninth-Order Master.
It could be said that since Yang Kai was now a Divine Dragon, he was already able to deal with three Pseudo-Royal Lords; however, it was still hard for him to defeat them. This couldn’t be helped as he was at the most critical moment of using the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. If he wanted to make it to the Ninth Order, most of his focus had to remain on that.
Yang Kai’s Dragon Vein was only one of the reasons why he was powerful, while his Small Universe was his true foundation.
He had a feeling that he couldn’t reach the Creation Realm by relying on his Dragon Vein alone. It was only when his Small Universe grew stronger that he could peek at a higher Realm of the Martial Dao.
Yang Kai had to spend most of his energy monitoring his Small Universe and circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art while only a small part of his energy was diverted to deal with the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. That was the reason he still appeared to be in danger.
Fortunately, after becoming a Divine Dragon, his body became much more resistant to beatings.
Dragons had thick skin and strong flesh to begin with, not to mention that he was a Divine Dragon now, the most powerful of all Dragons.
From the outside, it appeared to everyone that Yang Kai was in mortal peril. Facing three Pseudo-Royal Lords, Yang Kai stood no chance of surviving and it was only a matter of time before he was defeated and killed.
Ou Yang Lie had thrown all caution to the wind as he raged. Although Xiao You felt bitter, he didn’t dare to let his opponent go. He could only grit his teeth and hold on as he joined forces with eight Territory Lords to ward off Ou Yang Lie’s violent storm of attacks.
Yang Xue bit her lip so hard that it started bleeding. Now, it was Mo Na Ye trying to make sure she couldn’t leave, not the other way around.
Since Yang Kai was about to be killed, Mo Na Ye certainly wouldn’t let Yang Xue stop that from happening.
Everyone assumed that Yang Kai was doomed and he might lose his life at any moment. Nevertheless, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords fighting him felt that something was off. Although they had indeed managed to gain the upper hand, the feedback from the battle they received was strange somehow.
It was as if something was greatly amiss.
Supposedly, since Yang Kai was only a peak Eighth-Order Master, he could only rely on Space Secret Techniques to escape in this situation. Regardless of how powerful he was, there had to be a limit.
Now that he was unable to flee, he should have lost his biggest advantage. With three Pseudo-Royal Lords joining forces, they should be able to kill him with ease.
However, despite how battered Yang Kai appeared and how frequently he spat blood, they were unable to kill him.
In fact, he still seemed full of life.
What’s more, when their attacks landed on him, they couldn’t cause any serious impact. It was as though a mysterious force was undermining their powers, making it impossible for them to deal a fatal blow.
Yang Kai even counterattacked from time to time, and the power he exhibited didn’t seem to belong to an Eighth-Order Master.
Feeling uneasy, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords intensified their attacks.
Faced with this kind of barrage, Yang Kai could only clench his teeth and persist. He was at the most critical moment of uniting his three Selves. He had been waiting for this moment for thousands of years, so he wasn’t willing to just give up because once he failed, he probably wouldn’t get a second chance.
The final war between the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race had begun, so he didn’t have time to nurture another Human Self and Monster Self.
Therefore, he was determined to succeed.
Although he was now a Divine Dragon, Yang Kai couldn’t hold on for long while dealing with three Pseudo-Royal Lords. He had to make it to the Ninth Order before he lost all strength; otherwise, he could only give up.
When Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow merged with his Source, he managed to become a Divine Dragon, but on top of that, he could feel that there was something else added to his Small Universe.
It was something Yang Kai couldn’t describe or identify.
He tried to calm himself down and investigate, but it was to no avail. Nonetheless, he could feel that this indescribable thing had filled his entire Small Universe.
The Golden Dragon phantom roared. As Dragon Pressure spread across the World, the robust boundary walls around his Small Universe started wavering.
Yang Kai was elated, thinking that the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was working.
When he reached the limit of his cultivation, Yang Kai could feel the boundary wall’s presence in his Small Universe. It could be said that every peak Eighth-Order Master unable to ascend to the Ninth-Order could feel this boundary wall in their Small Universe.
That was the shortcoming of the Open Heaven Realm Method. The shackles within a cultivator couldn’t be broken by using ordinary means.
It had been quite some time since Yang Kai reached the peak of the Eighth Order; however, regardless of how hard he tried, he was unable to expand or break the boundary wall at all. Although the boundary wall was invisible, it was extremely robust, as it engulfed his entire Small Universe.
Nevertheless, at this moment, the boundary wall was shaken. This was undoubtedly a good start. As long as the boundary wall was broken, his Small Universe would continue to expand, which would then allow him to make it to the Ninth Order.
The Phantom Dragon continued to roar and smash into the boundary wall. Every time it did that, the boundary wall would shake, and as time passed, the intensity of the boundary wall’s trembling increased.
As such, Yang Kai spent even more energy to circulate the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
Gradually, small cracks formed on the boundary wall. As long as he spent enough time and effort, he would be able to shatter the boundary wall!
To his chagrin though, after he made some calculations, Yang Kai helplessly realised that he didn’t have enough time.
Presently, he didn’t only have to attempt breaking through to the Ninth Order but also deal with three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
They were Pseudo-Royal Lords, not Territory Lords, so while they weren’t on par with true Royal Lords, it did not mean they were weak.
Despite being a Divine Dragon, Yang Kai was unable to hold on for long while remaining passive against such foes. At this rate, he was worried that he would be killed before he managed to break the barrier around his Small Universe.
As such, he had to hurry up.
However, he was circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art at its supposed maximum, so there was nothing else he could do to enhance the process.
[Should I just give up?]
If he gave up at this point, he certainly could contend with the three Pseudo-Royal Lords since he was a Divine Dragon; nonetheless, his dream of becoming a Ninth-Order Master would be crushed, and the integration of his Human Self and Monster Self would be rendered meaningless.
If he refused to give up, his injuries would only worsen until he was no longer able to hang on. Even if he gave up at that point, he would be too battered to fight three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
At that moment, Yang Kai fell into a dilemma.
It was because of all these risks that he had wanted to look for the right time and place to unite his three Selves; however, things had come to a point where he had no choice but to take a chance. To his dismay, things went contrary to his wishes.
The sudden appearance of the Universe Furnace, the start of the war in this place, and the disadvantage that the Human Race was facing made Yang Kai fall into such an awkward situation.
He secretly let out a sigh. If he couldn’t achieve his goal, he would have no choice but to give up. Even though he couldn’t make it to the Ninth Order, he had become a Divine Dragon at the very least, so he was glad that he had achieved something.
After making up his mind, Yang Kai scanned the entire Small Universe and felt sorrowful as he figured he would never make it to the Ninth Order in his lifetime.
Just as Yang Kai was sweeping his gaze over his Small Universe, an anomaly in a particular place caught his attention.
The source of the anomaly was the Fang Family Village.
At that moment, in the small Fang Family Village, everyone was saluting and calling out to Ancestor Tian Ci in a sincere manner with the Patriarch in the lead.
Before Fang Tian Ci merged with Yang Kai’s Source, he had left behind his sword to the Fang Family. He wanted to do something for his family, and Yang Kai had seen it.
Although the Fang Family members didn’t know what their Ancestor was going through or doing, it wouldn’t affect their admiration for him. That was because it was thanks to this Ancestor that the Fang Family had been thriving. The Ancestor brought about the Fang Family’s rise to power.
If not for the fact that the Ancestor had become a successful cultivator and joined the Void Dao Temple, the Fang Family wouldn’t have flourished to such an extent.
Over the years, countless families appeared and then disappeared in the Void World, unable to pass down their inheritance as they didn’t have sufficient heritage.
The Fang Family members were sincerely paying respects to their Ancestor because they were grateful for his contributions to the family. They were doing so for their descendants.
There seemed to be a mysterious power that gathered in the Fang Family Village before it integrated with the Golden Dragon phantom.
Yang Kai fell into his thoughts when he witnessed this. Moments ago, his entire focus was on circulating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to break his shackles, so he didn’t notice this small anomaly in the Fang Family Village. Moreover, the mysterious power was so weak that it was almost imperceptible, so it failed to catch his eye.
As he looked intently though, Yang Kai realised that he wasn’t mistaken. A mysterious power was indeed emerging from the Fang Family Village. The power was like a long thread that connected the Fang Family Village and the Golden Dragon phantom in the sky above.
At that moment, many ideas flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, and he soon realised something critical.
[I see! This is the true nature of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art!]
He had learned the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art from Wu Kuang and spent thousands of years nurturing a Human Self and Monster Self; however, he didn’t know how he could make use of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to shatter his shackles so that he could ascend from the Eighth-Order to the Ninth-Order.
Initially, Yang Kai speculated that he just had to combine the powers of the Human Self and Monster Self to forcefully shatter his shackles and achieve a breakthrough; however, after activating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, he realised that things were different from what he had imagined. The integration of three Peak Eighth-Order Masters’ powers was not enough to allow him to blow away the innate shackles and break the boundary wall around his Small Universe. Nevertheless, after the two Selves merged with the Source, he managed to become a Divine Dragon.
The secret of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art wasn’t just about uniting his three Selves, it was about cultivating this mysterious power!
The Power of Destiny!
Destiny was a combination of Fate, Luck, the Will of the People, and the Source of the Heavens and Earth.
In the expansive Universe, since the birth of the Primordial Light, there had been three major eras.
The Divine Spirits, who were transformed from the Primordial Light, ruled over all under the Heavens during the Primordial Era.
Then, the Great Monsters rose to power, leading to the Early Ancient Era.
When the Open Heaven Realm Method was popularized, it ushered in the Late Ancient Era, where the Human Race dominated the Universe.
In every era, the Race that ruled over everyone else was the favourite of the time, and fortune was on their side. The Divine Spirits, Monster Race, and the Human Race. Each represented three different eras.
On the other hand, the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art combined the powers of three Selves to transcend the barriers between the eras. By integrating the Power of Destiny of the three eras, one could shatter the Open Heaven Realm Method’s shackles and achieve a breakthrough.
That was the secret of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. Integrating the Power of Destiny from different eras was the key.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai couldn’t help thinking that Shi was indeed a genius. The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art wasn’t just a Secret Art, it was a method of condensing the essence of all past eras into one.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai realised it wasn’t so surprising. If Shi were not brilliant enough, he wouldn’t have been able to devise a Heaven-defying Secret Art such as the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Since Yang Kai had figured out the secret of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, he realised that there was still hope for him. He didn’t have to give up just yet!
Although time was running out, he decided to give it a try. If he succeeded, he would ascend to the Ninth Order in addition to becoming a Divine Dragon. If he failed, he would be stuck at the peak of the Eighth Order forever.
Having made up his mind, Yang Kai spent most of his energy observing his Small Universe, and soon, he saw even more Power of Destiny streaming towards the Golden Dragon from different parts of his Small Universe.
The Power of Destiny was invisible and intangible, so one could hardly notice it in their day-to-day life. Nevertheless, since this was inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe, he was able to see more than normal and could spot traces of this mysterious force.
Inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe, apart from those from the Fang Family Village paying respects to their Ancestor, many people from other places were also praying for safety.
The Fang Family members were mainly saluting their Ancestor, who had merged with the Golden Dragon’s Source. As such, their Power of Destiny naturally integrated with the Source as well.
Other people from different places were offering their prayers to this world, so their Power of Destiny streamed towards the Golden Dragon as well.
However, that wasn’t enough.
The next moment, the people in the Void World, regardless of their cultivation, gender, or age, saw something so shocking that they would never forget it.
A figure suddenly appeared in the sky, one that was both enormous and authoritative.
Soon, a sense of unease washed over the entire World. Most of them had no idea what was going on. Their initially peaceful lives had descended into chaos as a Golden Dragon and a gigantic figure appeared. The faint-hearted thought that the end had arrived, so they started bawling their eyes out in panic.
On the other hand, the disciples from the Void Dao Temple or those who had cultivated in that place before recognised the figure and exclaimed loudly.
That was because the person was none other than the Dao Lord!
The disciples of the Void Dao Temple were aware of secrets that ordinary people didn’t know. They knew that the entire Void World was the Dao Lord’s Small Universe. When one had reached an adequate cultivation realm, they would be brought out of this place by the Dao Lord and allowed to break through.
The Dao Lord had rarely shown up since time immemorial, so it surprised them when he appeared all of a sudden.
At that moment, the disciples of the Void Dao Temple were excited as they fell to their knees and called out to the Dao Lord.
With a solemn expression, Yang Kai swept a glance over the entire Small Universe. He initially wanted to put on an imposing act, but when he noticed the unease in the Small Universe, he decided to just cut to the chase, “My name is Yang Kai, the lord of this World!”
Everyone fell silent as billions of people stared up at the figure in a dazed state. Some of them were in disbelief while some of them were excited.
“This World is in turmoil now because I am facing powerful enemies. So first, I must ask all of you to remain calm.”
Upon hearing that, the people of Void World were astonished, especially those from the Void Dao Temple. The disciples there knew that the Dao Lord had been contending with some powerful enemies over the years. Their Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters had left this World to help the Dao Lord in his fight.
However, they assumed that the Dao Lord was mighty and that there was nothing he couldn’t achieve; as such, they wondered how powerful his opponents had to be to cause the World they lived in to fall into upheaval.
They had rarely experienced such turmoil before.
Needless to say, the opponents that the Dao Lord was dealing with must be formidable.
“Alone, I am no match for these enemies, so I need all of you to lend me your aid.”
In the Void Dao Temple, an old cultivator shouted, “Please tell us what we can do to help you, Dao Lord!”
Since the Dao Lord was in danger, they wouldn’t hesitate to offer their assistance. The entire Void World was his Small Universe, after all. If the Dao Lord was defeated, the entire world would fall apart as well. Their fates were intertwined with the Dao Lord’s.
Therefore, the moment the old man heard that the Dao Lord needed help, he had the urge to leave this World at once and fight alongside him.
The other cultivators shouted, “Please tell us what we can do, Dao Lord!”
They knew that they were too weak to help the Dao Lord in his fight; however, he must have his reasons for saying that he needed their aid.
Regardless of what they were required to do, they just had to put in the effort.
Just then, a hot-headed man yelled, “Who are those people who have the guts to fight you, Dao Lord? Although I am weak, I am willing to do anything to help! Even if I may die, I will make sure to take a piece of the enemy’s flesh before I fall!”
Yang Kai flashed a smile at that disciple and continued, “There’s no need for that. The enemy is too powerful, so even if all of you combine your might, you will not be able to oppose them. As for how you can help… Uh… I need you to cheer for me! Chant things like ‘Dao Lord is unrivalled’, ‘Dao Lord is mighty’, ‘Dao Lord will never be defeated’, and so on…”
All the disciples in the Void Dao Temple and the people in the Void World were dumbfounded. Could they really help the Dao Lord just by cheering for him? Was he pulling their leg? He certainly sounded uncertain just now, so they didn’t understand how this could help him contend with the enemies.
Fixing his expression, Yang Kai shouted solemnly, “Time is running out! Whether I win this battle depends on all of you now!”
The moment he finished speaking, the figure dissipated.
In the Dao Temple, the disciples exchanged shocked glances for a moment before all of a sudden, the same hot-headed disciple lifted his arms and shouted, “Dao Lod is unrivalled!”
He was so agitated that the veins on his neck throbbed. His unwavering attitude showed that he truly believed that the Dao Lord was unrivalled under the Heavens.
Then, he raised his arms and shouted again.
Soon, the other disciples joined in. Several moments later, all the disciples of the Dao Temple were cheering for the Dao Lord. They even circulated their powers to spread their voices far and wide.
Their fervour spread like wildfire. In the Void World, the people from all the cities, villages, and Sects cheered for the Dao Lord, their voices reverberating out across the sky.
Soon, all the people in the entire World were cheering for the Dao Lord at the same time.
Words like ‘Dao Lord is invincible’, ‘Dao Lord is almighty, and ‘Dao Lord is the most powerful’ could be heard everywhere.
All were united to boost the Dao Lord’s morale.
Just like the Divine Spirits in the Primordial Era and Monster Race in the Early Ancient Era, the Humans were the favourite of this era and the rulers of the Universe. As such, the Humans’ Power of Destiny was the strongest.
Presently, there were billions in Yang Kai’s Small Universe, so when so many were united to cheer for the Dao Lord, a torrent of Power of Destiny flooded into the Golden Dragon phantom.
Everywhere in the Void World, regardless of how flourishing or rural it was, the Humans of different ages, genders, and cultivation cheered for the Dao Lord at the top of their lungs with utmost sincerity.
Streams of Power of Destiny with various degrees of strength flowed towards the Phantom Golden Dragon from these billions of people.
As Yang Kai looked internally, he could see countless threads of Destiny connecting the Golden Dragon and the citizens of his Small Universe, forming a gigantic and dense web.
The Power of Destiny from a small number of people was weak, but when billions of people cheered for him, their Power of Destiny could move the World.
As a result, the Dragon Pressure intensified.
The Dragon phantom roared and swam through the air. Like snowflakes under the scorching Sun, the boundary wall that engulfed Yang Kai’s Small Universe started melting away.
The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was fully activated. The Power of Destiny from three different eras integrated with each other with the Humans’ era being the most prominent. The shackles were shattered, and the Small Universe expanded.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s aura rose rapidly.
The three Pseudo-Royal Lords, who were contending with him, realised that something was off. Since they had joined forces, Yang Kai, a Peak Eighth-Order Master, was supposedly not a match for them. Considering the fact that he was unable to flee, it should have been a simple matter to kill him.
However, the fact that he had persevered until now puzzled the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
What was more, his aura was now rising sharply, as though he was about to achieve a breakthrough, an inconceivable occurrence.
No one knew what Yang Kai had done that allowed him to be so resilient and unwavering. They speculated that it might have something to do with the fact that he had opened up his Small Universe and put an Eighth-Order Master and a Monster Race Great Emperor, but they had no idea how that was possible.
His already magnificent aura was still strengthening.
A Pseudo-Royal Lord exclaimed, “Kill him now!”
Something was definitely amiss. If they allowed Yang Kai’s aura to continue to strengthen, he would probably break through and reach the Ninth Order, which would be a disaster. As far as the Black Ink Clansmen knew, Yang Kai could never ascend to the Ninth Order in his lifetime, but he now showed signs of doing just that.
The other two Pseudo-Royal Lords needed no reminder as they used their most powerful moves. They madly channelled their strength in an attempt to end Yang Kai’s life in that instant.
Nevertheless, regardless of how hard they tried and how battered Yang Kai appeared, they were unable to end him.
A Divine Dragon was already stronger than an average Ninth-Order Master or Royal Lord, so while Yang Kai focused on his Small Universe and only spent a bit of his energy fending off the enemies, it still wasn’t easy to kill him.
On the other side, Mo Na Ye was growing apprehensive as well. He knew that something must’ve gone terribly wrong. It seemed that Yang Kai was indeed about to make it to the Ninth Order, so he was anxious to race over and kill him once and for all. However, before getting rid of Yang Xue, he could never have a hand in the fight over there.
Just as the Black Ink Clan was growing anxious, Yang Kai’s aura seemed to have broken through a limit and exploded.
The imposing aura coming from him suggested that he was no longer an Eighth-Order Master. In fact, it seemed that he was now even more powerful than an ordinary Ninth-Order Master!
At that moment, Yang Kai, who was seemingly no match for the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, suddenly opened his eyes, which shone as brightly as a pair of Great Suns.
Although his entire figure was covered in blood, he was full of vigour and vitality.
He swept a glance over the three Pseudo-Royal Lords and growled, “Had fun beating me up? It’s my turn now!”
The moment he finished speaking, he clenched the Azure Dragon Spear and surged his Dao Strengths. A splashing sound was heard all of a sudden and the Space-Time River, which disappeared previously when his Dao Strengths fell into turmoil, reappeared and swirled around the spear like a Water Dragon.
He then thrust his spear out and stabbed it into the Pseudo-Royal Lord nearest to him.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord was dumbstruck and hurriedly tried to retreat; however, the instant he made a move, the spear broke past the barriers of Time and Space and penetrated his figure.
He fell into a dazed state as he felt a sharp pain in his chest and looked down, realizing he had been hit.
His eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked up with difficulty and stared at Yang Kai, “How?”
He was a Pseudo-Royal Lord, after all. Although he had just become one before entering the Universe Furnace, he was still a Pseudo-Royal Lord. He had the power of a Royal Lord, and though he couldn’t use all of it, he shouldn’t be that different from a Ninth-Order Master.
Any other Ninth-Order Master wouldn’t have been able to kill him with such ease. They would’ve exchanged over 100 moves at the very least.
However, he was gravely injured by Yang Kai with just one attack.
The attack didn’t look like anything special, but he had somehow fallen into a dazed state and failed to dodge it.
Before his death, the Pseudo-Royal Lord suddenly realised something. He couldn’t help recalling the moment Yang Kai extended his spear earlier. Despite how ordinary the attack looked, the spear seemingly thrust out from a vague point in the past before piercing into him at a particular moment in the future. As such, he stood no chance of dodging it.
[The Dao of Space-Time!] He finally figured out what happened.
“Too weak!” Yang Kai snorted. Despite how battered he appeared, he still appeared extremely aggressive. As he wielded his spear, the Pseudo-Royal Lord exploded into a blood mist, after which his ample Black Ink Strength dissipated.
Everyone suddenly fell silent in shock.
Yang Kai managed to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord with only one attack, so how were the others in the Black Ink Clan supposed to be a match for him?
Although it had clearly something to do with the fact that the Pseudo-Royal Lord was caught off guard, that did not diminish how powerful Yang Kai was.
This kind of strength was beyond their comprehension.
Mo Na Ye, who was contending with Yang Xue, turned pale and felt a crawling sensation on his scalp.
There was no doubt that Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master.
[He broke through to the Ninth Order! How!? How did this happen!? How is it possible for him to even have the chance to make it to the Ninth Order!?]
Mo Na Ye heard that Yang Kai had snatched a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, so he was worried that the latter would refine it and reach the Ninth Order. As such, even though the Black Ink Clan had gained the upper hand, and he had also prepared a trump card, he still waited patiently for that opportunity to take Yang Kai down.
There was no denying that Xiang Shan was a formidable opponent, but in comparison, Yang Kai posed a bigger threat; therefore, Mo Na Ye had to wait for Yang Kai to show up before taking action.
Yang Kai indeed appeared at a later time, and he was still an Eighth-Order Master, which made Mo Na Ye breathe a sigh of relief.
At the most critical moment, Yang Kai threw away the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill to divert the Chaos Spirit King’s attention, but without that pill, how did he manage to reach the Ninth Order? Did it have something to do with him taking an Eighth-Order Master and Monster Race Great Emperor into his Small Universe?
Mo Na Ye was unable to figure out the answer.
All the same, it was an irrefutable fact that Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master; otherwise, he couldn’t have killed a Pseudo-Royal Lord with one thrust of his spear.
When Yang Kai was still an Eighth-Order Master, he was already able to easily kill Innate Territory Lords by using his Soul Secret Technique, though he would also hurt himself during the process. Mo Na Ye was worried that things would only get worse if Yang Kai managed to make it to the Ninth Order, and now it seemed that his greatest fear had become reality.
At that moment, he intended to flee, but how was he supposed to do that when he was engaged in a fight with Yang Xue?
“Hahaha! I told you we were going to win!” Yang Xiao, who was part of the Humans’ defence line, guffawed while Blood Crow, who was fighting alongside him, was speechless.
Earlier, Yang Kai opened up his Small Universe and put Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow, Yang Xiao had already made such a bold claim. At that time, Blood Crow dismissed it. The Humans were in a perilous situation as the two Ninth-Order Masters were tangled up in fights, and the defence line was on the brink of coming apart. The Humans were bound to collapse at any moment.
No one could’ve expected that barely an hour later, things would take such a drastic turn. Since Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, the Black Ink Clan had lost their advantage. Presently, the Humans had gained the upper hand instead.
Just like Mo Na Ye, Blood Crow was puzzled as to how Yang Kai ascended to the Ninth Order. Even if he had refined a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, he couldn’t have achieved an ascension so quickly; moreover, he had already lost that Spirit Pill.
However, it was just like what Yang Xiao had said. His Adoptive Father could always create miracles in the most despairing situations and turn the tides of fortune around. Perhaps that was why the people who had fought alongside him before had blind trust and admiration for him.
In fact, Blood Crow was one of those people. Back then, he was a terrible fellow; he still couldn’t be considered a good one now. Nevertheless, after going through bloody battles and witnessing how much the Humans were willing to sacrifice for the greater good, Blood Crow, who was also a Human, sincerely hoped that the Black Ink Clan would be destroyed once and for all one day.
“Good, good, good! Kill them all!” Ou Yang Lie became energetic in an instant. When he saw that Yang Kai was in danger earlier, he was anxious, but now, he could be at ease.
Nonetheless, he was doubtful as well. He knew that Yang Kai had made use of the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to ascend to the Ninth Order, but the latter seemed to have a greater heritage than him.
As a new Ninth-Order Master, Yang Kai’s attack earlier was surprisingly powerful.
After giving it some thought, Ou Yang Lie realised it wasn’t so shocking.
Yang Kai had said that after he used the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, his three Selves would unite. In that case, Fang Tian Ci’s Small Universe would merge with Yang Kai’s.
In other words, Yang Kai’s Small Universe didn’t only have his own heritage but also Fang Tian Ci’s heritage, which helped save him a lot of cultivation time. Therefore, it was only natural that he was more powerful than the average newly ascended Ninth-Order Master.
After Yang Kai killed a Pseudo-Royal Lord with just one attack, everyone was shocked.
When the other two Pseudo-Royal Lords saw how ferocious Yang Kai was, they naturally wouldn’t dare to fight him head-on. They quickly retreated together as they stared warily at Yang Kai.
However, Yang Kai only shot them a glance but didn’t pursue them.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but rather that since he was a new Ninth-Order Master, his Small Universe was still a bit unstable. He had fully surged his power to kill the Pseudo-Royal Lord a moment ago to intimidate the others so that they would back off.
At this moment, the boundary wall in his Small Universe had been shattered and it was still expanding rapidly.
Besides that, Fang Tian Ci’s Small Universe was also assimilating into his, which brought with it a lot of pure World Force. Since Fang Tian Ci was his Human Self, his power could perfectly blend into Yang Kai’s Small Universe without any contamination concerns.
Even Thunder Shadow’s Monster Core, which he had nurtured all his life, was melting and turning into a very pure power, which was then assimilated into Yang Kai’s Small Universe and helped strengthen his heritage.