Yang Kai’s many years of cultivation were a path with bumps and thorns. Moments ago, his Martial Dao had come to a standstill, but now that he had finally reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he couldn’t help but sigh with a multitude of emotions!
With the expansion of his Small Universe, his heritage strength, which was already powerful, grew at a steady pace.
Nevertheless, there was still a limit to this kind of growth, and soon after, his Small Universe calmed down and stabilized at a new peak.
Taking advantage of Yang Kai’s momentary distraction, the two Pseudo-Royal Lords had already fled back to the Black Ink Clan. The sudden death of their companion had left them terrified, so how could they have the courage to remain behind to face Yang Kai? At this moment, it was only natural for them to run to a place with more allies to seek a sense of security.
The Black Ink Clan’s side had some 10 Pseudo-Royal Lords and a large number of Territory Lords, so even if Yang Kai had reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and decided to pursue them, they might still be able to put up a fight.
In any case, Yang Kai did not seem to have any intention of killing his way over; instead, he simply stretched out his hand and made a grabbing motion. The next moment, a figure appeared out of thin air.
It was none other than Lin Wu, who had ambushed him and caused the Eight Trigrams Formation to break apart previously. He had been staying nearby, probably looking for an opportunity to sneak attack Yang Kai again, but everything happened too fast. Yang Kai somehow advanced the Ninth-Order and killed a Pseudo-Royal Lord with a single thrust of his spear, so Lin Wu basically had no suitable opportunity to make his move.
Furthermore, he was only a newly promoted Eighth-Order Master, so even if he really attacked, he might not be able to play any role in such a battle.
Lin Wu instinctively tried to resist after being captured by Yang Kai, but bound by Space Principles, he was unable to move a finger.
The next moment, a dazzling pure white light enveloped Lin Wu. He instantly started screaming miserably as Black Ink Strength was purged from his body completely.
After finishing this, Yang Kai let go of him. Guilt instantly blanketed Lin Wu as he stuttered, “S-Senior Brother Yang, I…”
Yang Kai interrupted him, “You don’t need to explain, killing the enemy is what you should do now!”
Lin Wu grit his teeth before nodding, “Yes!” He then looked around for a moment before turning around and flying off towards Tian Xiu Zhu and the others.
At this time, the huge battlefield was divided into four battlefronts. The first battlefront was naturally Yang Xue versus Mo Na Ye, the second battlefront was fought between the Black Ink Clan Masters and the besieged the Human Race Masters, the third battlefront was fought between Ou Yang Lie and Xiao You and his eight Territory Lord allies, and the last battlefront involved Tian Xiu Zhu leading the Five Elements Formation confronting the Pseudo-Royal Lord, Meng Que.
Previously, Tian Xiu Zhu, who was leading his Battle Formation, sent Lin Wu and Zhan Tian He to assist Yang Kai in maintaining the Eight Trigrams Formation, but because of this, they were stranded outside the main battlefield and unable to return to their own side. Ultimately, they had no choice but to enter a battle with Meng Que.
Lin Wu checked the four battlefronts. Obviously, he could not intervene in the battle between a Ninth-Order Master and a Royal Lord, nor could he break through the defensive line of the Black Ink Clan who were besieging the Humans. The only fight he could join was the one Tian Xiu Zhu was leading. Perhaps after joining Tian Xiu Zhu and the others, they could form a Six Paths Formation and repel the enemy.
Originally, there was another battlefield where Yang Kai was fighting against three Pseudo-Royal Lords alone; however, after the death of one of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, the rest had fled, leaving Yang Kai completely free.
After Lin Wu left, Yang Kai flew in another direction with his Space-Time River flowing over his spear.
Suddenly, Mo Na Ye’s thoughts fell into complete disarray; and why not? After all, Yang Kai was coming straight for him!
At first, he was able to fight evenly with Yang Xue. Although he was at a slight disadvantage because of his injuries, it did not bring him that much harm. In this battle, they were basically mutually restraining each other, so he could neither kill Yang Xue, nor could she kill him.
But if Yang Kai joined in, he would definitely not be able to survive in the face of Yang Kai’s treacherous methods.
In the blink of an eye, Mo Na Ye shouted, “Kill all the Humans at all costs, or it will be too late!”
After he gave the order, the Black Ink Clan’s offence immediately became fiercer; originally, the Humans on the other side of the battlefield were no match for the Black Ink Clan, be it in quality or quantity, so things were not looking good for them. The main reason they were able to hold on until now was because of the protection of many Warships and superior Battle Formations.
But at this point in the battle, most Warships had been destroyed, so now, the Humans were only holding their ground thanks to the joint efforts of the Eighth-Order Masters and the Black Ink Clan’s fear of death, but they could not last long.
Once the defensive line was broken, the Black Ink Clan, under the leadership of the many Pseudo-Royal Lords, would definitely massacre the Human Masters, causing tremendous casualties.
Previously, the Black Ink Clan had been acting cautiously against the Humans, but after Mo Na Ye had given the order, they no longer had any scruples and were willing to pay any price to kill the enemy.
Yang Kai, who was heading straight towards Mo Na Ye, momentarily stopped before continuing with his original intention. At the same time, he thrust his spear out at Mo Na Ye before he even arrived while shouting in a cold voice, “Clever!”
Mo Na Ye, who was still entangled with Yang Xue, had a drastic change in his expression. Clearly, Yang Kai had thrust his spear from quite a distance, but he had a feeling that he would not be able to block it even from afar. The oncoming spear gave the feeling as if it was thrust from right in front of him.
Mo Na Ye’s figure shook as his Black Ink Strength gushed out. While he was pulling back, he saw the tip of the spear rapidly expanding in his eyes, quickly filling his vision.
Unable to defend and unable to dodge, Mo Na Ye let out an indignant roar before gathering all his energy in his palm and smacking it towards the oncoming spear with all his might.
As the spear and palm met, a powerful shockwave spread across the void. In the wake of the clash, as Mo Na Ye was sent flying, three sword lights shot towards him at an incredible speed.
These attacks were launched by none other than Yang Xue!
Mo Na Ye had clearly noticed these three sword strikes coming at him, and had Yang Xue been acting alone, he would have had no problem dealing with them, but Yang Kai was also attacking him at the same time, so how could he have any extra strength to spare?
These three sword strikes seemed to contain the mysteries of the Grand Dao of Time as Mo Na Ye clearly saw Yang Xue swing her sword, but was already struck by the attack before she completed the motion.
Immediately after, pitch-black blood sprayed out of three gaping wounds on his body!
Mo Na Ye somehow withstood this fearsome attack and barely managed to stabilize himself, but the clash had left him in a sorry state.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was still slowly making his way towards Mo Na Ye from far away; he was walking at such leisure that it looked like he was taking a stroll in his own courtyard. The long spear in his hand was also slightly flickering, leaving spear shadows behind. Yang Kai then calmly stated, “Xue’er, go help the others, I’ll deal with this guy.”
Holding her sword, Yang Xue looked at Mo Na Ye with some unwillingness before finally nodding, “Big Brother, be careful.”
Saying so, she transformed into a streak of light as she flew towards the main battlefield.
Although she wanted to stay behind and kill Mo Na Ye together with her Big Brother, the Human defensive line was on the verge of collapse. She was the only one who could help stabilize their position now.
This was also the reason why Mo Na Ye had ordered the Black Ink Clan troops to slaughter the Humans at all costs.
He knew that he was definitely not an opponent of two Ninth-Order Masters, especially when one of them was Yang Kai. If he didn’t find a way to restrain one of them, he would certainly die.
The best option he could use was the Humans’ defensive line.
Although he had successfully removed Yang Xue, Mo Na Ye still did not have much confidence. His sharp intuition told him that today would definitely be disastrous. Since he was targeted by Yang Kai, he would definitely die.
For many years, he had been a Pseudo-Royal Lord while Yang Kai was only an Eighth-Order Master. Although he was clearly stronger, Mo Na Ye never acted to confront Yang Kai because he knew that without a thorough plan, he would never be able to kill someone so good at escaping.
Once he provoked Yang Kai, it would definitely cause a lot of trouble, so he had been tolerating Yang Kai’s rudeness so far. It was only after he had become a Royal Lord in the Universe Furnace World that he finally gained the confidence to scheme for Yang Kai’s life.
Everything was going according to plan, but then Yang Kai’s sudden breakthrough to the Ninth Order messed everything up.
Even now, he still could not understand how Yang Kai managed to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm right under their noses!
Mo Na Ye was certain that the information he had obtained from the Black Ink Disciples was not wrong. Yang Kai should have had no chance of reaching the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in his life. The peak of the Eighth Order had to be his limit.
Furthermore, Yang Kai had yet to refine a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, so how could he have advanced?
Mo Na Ye could not understand it at all, but in any case, Yang Kai was already in the Ninth Order. Now, a life-and-death battle was definitely going to be fought between them!
In the void, Yang Kai was still walking towards Mo Na Ye at a leisurely pace, but every time he took a step, Mo Na Ye’s heart would jump to his throat.
Distance was basically meaningless to a Master proficient in the Dao of Space, so Mo Na Ye had to be on guard against Yang Kai as the latter could attack at a moment’s notice!
“Mo Na Ye, you seem a bit nervous!” Yang Kai suddenly chuckled.
Mo Na Ye’s heart tightened as he replied in a shaky voice, “No one can remain calm and indifferent when facing someone like Brother Yang.”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “You used to call me Yang Kai, but now that I’ve advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, you’re addressing me as Brother Yang. But even if you speak with me in such a friendly manner, I won’t let you off. Among everyone in the Black Ink Clan, I am most wary of you. You seem to be a bit different from the others of your kind.”
Mo Na Ye’s brow slightly rose, “I am honoured to receive such praise from you, Brother Yang. In fact, the Black Ink Clan has many talented members, it’s just that Brother Yang’s vision is too high, so you seem to not have noticed them.”
“Perhaps,” Yang Kai noncommittally replied, “As an old rival of many years, I’ll give you a chance to leave behind your last words. If you have anything you want to say, say it quickly.”
Mo Na Ye couldn’t help but break into laughter, “Does Brother Yang really want to fight me to the death? Why don’t you and I withdraw and meet again on the battlefield some other day? In fact, if we continue fighting like this, it won’t end well for either of us. Although your Sister has already gone to support them, how many people can she protect by herself? My Black Ink Clan has many Pseudo-Royal Lords here.”
“You make a good point!” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Mo Na Ye’s expression suddenly changed as he threw a powerful punch forward, releasing a blast of Black Ink Strength before him. Meanwhile, Yang Kai, who had been strolling in the distance, suddenly appeared right in front of him and thrust out his spear. The Space-Time River was continuously swirling around his spear as Dao Strengths converged and transformed, displaying endless mysteries.
He was just talking about stopping the fight, but now he suddenly became violent. Of course, Yang Kai was going to go all-out when confronting the enemy.
“That’s why I need to kill you as soon as possible!” Yang Kai’s next words were accompanied by a powerful attack.
Mo Na Ye clenched his teeth and did not say a word. He had been on guard against Yang Kai all this time as he knew that he could not move the latter with words alone. So, when Yang Kai suddenly attacked, he immediately reacted.
Yang Kai’s figure kept moving along with his spear as Dao Strengths fiercely fluctuated with every attack. On the other side, Black Ink Strength surged around Mo Na Ye. The two of them had completely given up on using any Divine Abilities or Secret Techniques. They were attacking only based on their subtle sense of danger and their grasp of the situation. For a time, the two were locked in a heated battle, shattering the Void every time they clashed.
Ever since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds and started occupying various Great Territories, Ninth-Order Masters and Royal Lords had not fought each other, until today.
The devastating battle in the Barren Territory robbed both sides of almost all of their top Masters. The Black Ink Clan was left with only one Royal Lord, Mo Yu, who was guarding the No-Return Pass, while the Human Race’s situation was slightly better, having a total of two Ninth-Order Masters, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing. But, as they needed to contain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, these two Ninth-Order Masters were unable to participate in other matters. So, naturally, the top powerhouses of both sides never met, much less fought.
The older generation’s cultivators were slightly better off as they had witnessed battles of that level before, but how could the younger generation of Humans have had the opportunity to witness such a sight? Throughout their growth, the Ninth-Order Masters were akin to legendary figures!
But today, on this battlefield, battles between Royal Lords and Ninth-Order Masters occurred for the first time after the Barrier Territory War! First, a battle between Ou Yang Lie and Xiao You broke out, then between Yang Xue and Mo Na Ye, and now, Yang Kai took Yang Xue’s place and fought with Mo Na Ye.
The fallout of their battle seemed to shake the entire World.
Only now did the younger Humans finally get to witness and experience the true might of a Ninth-Order Master. Furthermore, the strength displayed by Yang Kai was obviously much more devastating than Yang Xue’s; he completely suppressed Mo Na Ye the moment they clashed. His Azure Dragon Spear moved back and forth with the Space-Time River swirling around it, making use of 10,000 different Dao Strengths. All kinds of unfathomable methods appeared one after another, causing even a Royal Lord like Mo Na Ye to be unable to resist.
The morale of the Humans immediately soared!
The moment of crisis for the Human Race had already passed with a Ninth-Order Master like Yang Xue personally coming to their aid. Although it was still difficult for them to turn the tide, the situation on the defensive line would not worsen at the very least.
With Xiang Shan and many other veteran Eighth-Order Masters taking command, it would not be easy for the Black Ink Clan to break through their defensive line anymore.
After seeing this, Ou Yang Lie quickly calmed down and stabilized his state of mind. He was fighting Xiao You and eight Territory Lords all this while. He had not suffered any major losses, but neither had he occupied any significant advantages. This was mainly because he was having a real hard time focusing on his battle with the dire state of the Humans around him and all kinds of unforeseen events popping up.
Now that he had calmed down, Ou Yang Lie saw a way to defeat his enemy. He kept only as much focus on dealing with Xiao You as necessary while he diverted most of his strength attacking the eight Territory Lords who were arranged into two Battle Formations.
So long as he could take out these Territory Lords, killing them one by one, Xiao You alone would not be his opponent; after all, Xiao You had suffered serious injuries at the hands of Yang Xue before, which made it difficult for him to display his full strength.
The battle on various battlefronts instantly grew even more heated than ever.
Suddenly, a laugh originated from somewhere in the void, carrying a hint of surprise and relief.
It was Mo Na Ye!
No one knew why he laughed, as he was clearly in a tight spot; he could lose his life at any moment under Yang Kai’s relentless and powerful attacks, but he was still able to laugh.
Across from him, Yang Kai, who was relentlessly attacking, coldly rebuked, “What’s so funny? Be careful or you might lose your teeth!”
Mo Na Ye, while defending himself, slowly shook his head, “Brother Yang, you’re very strong, but… you’re weaker than I expected!”
These words sounded somewhat contradictory, but they were indeed true.
When Yang Kai had broken past the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm’s shackles, advancing to the Ninth-Order, Mo Na Ye thought he was dead for sure!
If he was facing any other Ninth-Order Master, Mo Na Ye was confident that even if he could not defeat them, he could at least escape, but against someone like Yang Kai who was proficient in the Dao of Space, he thought that only death awaited him if he could not win outright in battle.
So, when he saw Yang Kai advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord with a single thrust of his spear, Mo Na Ye resigned himself to death already.
But after a brief exchange with Yang Kai, he was surprised to discover that Yang Kai was not as powerful as he had imagined!
It had to be known that when Yang Kai was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he could kill Territory Lords and Innate Territory Lords like he was slaughtering chickens and dogs. Up against him, the Acquired Territory Lords and Innate Territory Lords could not put up a fight, and were often slaughtered before they even saw his face.
When he was in the Seventh Order, Yang Kai was rumoured to be capable of butchering Feudal Lords in just the same way.
So, in Mo Na Ye’s estimations, once Yang Kai advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, no Royal Lord would be able to survive against him. He had always regarded Yang Kai as the greatest threat to the Black Ink Clan. If he had to choose between killing Xiang Shan or Yang Kai, he would pick Yang Kai without hesitation.
He had devised many arrangements and had been waiting for Yang Kai to appear all this time just for that purpose.
But all his schemes had come to nought as Yang Kai still broke through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
During this exchange, Yang Kai’s momentum was still unstoppable and his attacks were devastating to the point that Mo Na Ye was unable to even lift his head, but this kind of Yang Kai was still within the realm of what seemed normal. He was not strong to the point of absurdity.
It had to be known that Mo Na Ye’s current state was quite bad. He was already injured even before arriving here, and then he still fought Yang Kai in an Eight Trigrams Battle Formation for a long time, which added more wounds to his body. After that, he even fought with Yang Xue…
The current Mo Na Ye was nowhere near his peak.
Yet, Yang Kai was unable to quickly finish him off, which painted a clear picture.
That was why Mo Na Ye laughed, not because he thought that he could escape from this crisis, but because even if Yang Kai had advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there were still members in the Black Ink Clan who could go against him!
At the very least, a veteran Royal Lord like Mo Yu was definitely not inferior to the current Yang Kai! If the two fought right here and now, it would probably end in a draw.
Of course, Mo Na Ye knew that Yang Kai was also not in peak condition, but so what? In the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Yang Kai’s strength was not currently beyond his understanding, and that was more than enough!
Yang Kai roughly knew what his opponent was laughing about, but he was also helpless in this matter.
Since even Mo Na Ye had suffered heavy injuries and his strength had taken a hit, how could he remain unscathed?
At this moment, Yang Kai had just advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and was not in great shape. Not to mention, he was injured in the previous battle and also suffered serious injuries when Lin Wu’s sneak attack landed. Although he had recovered to about 80% of his peak thanks to the profound power of the Space-Time River, it was still not a complete recovery.
Furthermore, his Human Self Fang Tian Ci and Monster Self Thunder Shadow’s injuries were far more severe than his own. The fusion of his three Selves in his Small Universe was imperfect. Although the union of three Selves had allowed Yang Kai to break through his shackles, his gains had been very limited.
Had his Divine Spirit Self, Human Self, and Monster Self all been in top condition, Yang Kai would have definitely been stronger and could have easily killed Mo Na Ye.
Be that as it may, his hands were tied at that moment. Luckily, Yang Kai was able to lure the Chaos Spirit King away thanks to the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. He had executed the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art in haste and did not have much time to consider other things. He had no choice but to rely on this method to help the Humans here escape their current crisis.
In any case, both Yang Kai and Mo Na Ye were not in their best condition; as such, the intensity of their battle had greatly reduced.
A fierce struggle ensued!
Yang Kai quickly glanced over at the Humans’ defensive line and found that even with Yang Xue’s help, it was still difficult for them to gain the upper hand. He could do nothing about this though as the Pseudo-Royal Lords and Territory Lords far outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters. Furthermore, after receiving Mo Na Ye’s order, the Black Ink Clan were attacking without any care for their own casualties and were using all means possible to break through the defensive line.
Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters were dying frequently as Black Ink Strength exploded, World Force dispersed, and Small Universes shattered.
Everyone knew that in today’s battle, the outcome of any battlefront would affect the overall situation. As long as one side won any battlefront, they would win the entire war!
Yang Kai knew that he could not delay any longer. He was still confident that he could kill Mo Na Ye, and judging by the current situation, Mo Na Ye would definitely die under his spear within half an hour.
But half an hour was too large a variable as the Humans’ defensive line might be breached at any time.
After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai made his decision.
As Yang Kai thrust the Azure Dragon Spear, the opposing Mo Na Ye promptly pulled back, wanting to avoid the blow; however, he didn’t expect that this spear was just a feint. The Space-Time River that had been swirling around it suddenly flew out like a Water Dragon and expanded with a loud splash, transforming into an enormous river that gushed through the void.
Mo Na Ye’s expression immediately changed at the sight of the enormous river crashing towards him.
He had suffered many losses because of the Space-Time River previously. At that time, Yang Kai, who was leading an Eight Trigrams Battle Formation, had used the Space-Time River as a whip. When Mo Na Ye was struck by the Space-Time River, the various Dao Strengths had thrown his mind into a disarray, rendering him stunned.
So, when he saw Yang Kai use the strange river once more, he naturally became vigilant. His figure flickering as he tried to escape in between the gaps.
“Seal!” Yang Kai shouted as the overflowing river suddenly connected end to end, taking a circular shape. The next moment, the turbulent river water started spreading outward, filling the entire Void.
Mo Na Ye had never expected for the river to transform like this and was struck by a wave, which immediately destabilized him.
By then, Yang Kai had already arrived, hurling his spear at him and shouting, “Die!”
The spear attack felt as if it was piercing through space and time. It was emanating fearsome murderous intent and was extremely powerful. Mo Na Ye definitely could not take it in his current condition. If he really got impaled by this spear, he would be dead or not that far from it.
In a hurry, his figure suddenly sank, plunging into the enormous river.
Yang Kai’s spear missed Mo Na Ye and pierced the empty void, but he did not stop even for a moment and also plunged into the river in a flash.
From the start, Yang Kai wanted to force Mo Na Ye into the Space-Time River. He had used this method to kill some Territory Lords before, but this was the first time he had forced a Royal Lord into the Space-Time River. The Space-Time River was the manifestation of his Dao Strengths and took his Space and Time Dao Strengths as its foundation. 10,000 Dao Strengths fused and clashed with each other in the Space-Time River. Although Yang Kai had an absolute geographical advantage when fighting in the Space-Time River, once the battle became too intense, it would definitely impact his own Dao Strengths.
This was no different than trapping a thief in one’s own house and throwing him against the walls. Although it was possible to borrow the terrain to one’s advantage, it could also possibly wreck their house.
It was still alright if it was just a Territory Lord as their strength was not enough to shake the foundation of the Space-Time River, but a true Royal Lord was another matter.
As such, Yang Kai was putting himself at a huge risk, but this was the only way to kill Mo Na Ye in the shortest time possible. Yang Kai really could not worry too much about it if he wanted to win.
Yang Kai was dead set on killing Mo Na Ye; his murderous intent soaring to a whole new height. When the Space-Time River sealed off the void, it forced Mo Na Ye inside, whereupon Yang Kai rushed after him.
In an instant, the Space-Time River that had formed a large sphere became extremely turbulent. Waves rose and fell, spewing Dao Strength and Black Ink Strength randomly.
With the Space-Time River isolating everything, no one could see the battle, but they could clearly tell how dangerous it was from the upheaval in the Space-Time River.
The Black Ink Clansmens’ hearts all jumped to their throats!
If Mo Na Ye was defeated and died here, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to survive much longer; after all, they would have to face the infamous killing star!
With his means and brutality, he would not stop until he killed all of the Black Ink Clansmen here.
All of them were now thinking how they could get out of this situation.
Perhaps the Pseudo-Royal Lords could rush into the river to help Mo Na Ye, but at this moment, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were unable to move about freely as they were tied up with their respective opponents.
This was especially true for the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were fighting against Yang Xue. Once they withdrew, she would definitely launch a fierce counterattack, which would result in far greater casualties. And once the Black Ink Clan their advantage, they would no longer be able to turn the tide.
More importantly, even if they really went to help, no one could say for sure how useful they would be; after all, Yang Kai’s Space-Time River was too mysterious.
Somewhere in the void, Tian Xiu Zhu and several other Eighth-Order Masters formed a Six Paths Formation to pin down Meng Que.
This was the steadiest battlefront of them all as both sides were quite lacking in comparison to other fights both in number and strength.
On top of that, the Eighth-Order Masters as well as Meng Que were heavily injured.
Although the Eight-Order Masters were barely able to maintain their Battle Formation, it was still a little difficult for them to display its full power. It could not be helped as two of the Eighth-Order Masters in it had originally withdrawn from the Eight Trigrams Formation because they could not withstand the pressure due to their wounds. They had been fighting Mo Na Ye with Yang Kai and were completely exhausted already.
The only reason they were still able to fight was because they refused to back down. It was a shocking display of pure grit and willpower.
After this battle, these two Eighth-Order Masters’ foundations would definitely be severely damaged regardless of whether they won or lost.
Thus, Tian Xiu Zhu and the others only managed to gain a slight upper hand against a heavily injured Pseudo-Royal Lord like Meng Que, and were unable to kill him.
Amidst the heated battle, Meng Que angrily shouted, “Old dog, I’ve had it with you!”
He was furious. Usually, even if a group of old, weak, and injured people like them assumed a Six Paths Formation, they would not be able to do anything to him, but he too was not in a good condition, allowing him to be suppressed by the enemy.
If this continued, he would quite likely die.
Two Pseudo-Royal Lords had already perished in this battle, both of them at Yang Kai’s hands. One of them was killed by Yang Kai’s sneak attack, while the other was killed after Yang Kai broke through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Be that as it may, if a Pseudo-Royal Lord like him was really to die at the hands of ordinary Eighth-Order Masters, it would be too embarrassing.
He was the third Pseudo-Royal Lord born in the Black Ink Clan. If not for the unlucky timing, he would have become famous throughout the 3,000 Worlds, standing on equal footing with Mo Na Ye!
For someone like Meng Que, even if he died, he wanted to die at the hands of famous figures like Yang Kai or Xiang Shan. He would never allow himself to die at the hands of these nameless ants!
Meng Que’s attacks became fiercer, fueled by his anger. He knew that his end was nigh, as such, he did not care about his own safety.
“Old dog?” Right across from him, Tian Xiu Zhu, who was covered in blood, had his expression become fierce as he roared, “Today, I’ll let you know that this old dog still has a few teeth left!”
Facing Meng Que’s powerful counterattack, not only did he not retreat, he instead charged straight at him, leading the Battle Formation, seemingly intent on perishing together with his enemy.
The other Eighth-Order Masters, including Lin Wu who had joined last, followed after him without any hesitation.
Under the violent collision, the already unstable Six Paths Formation nearly collapsed. Fortunately, Tian Xiu Zhu quickly adjusted everyone’s aura, ensuring its continuous operation.
However, this clash further worsened everyone’s injuries, with the two most severely injured Eighth-Order Masters nearly fainting.
It wasn’t like Meng Que didn’t suffer from this desperate attack though, as his aura suddenly waned and Black Ink Strength spurted uncontrollably from his wounds.
Looking at the fearless Eighth-Order Human Masters and the Human he had called old dog, Meng Que could not help feeling some admiration.
[The Human Race is indeed incredible!]
Adjusting his chaotic aura and state of mind, he suddenly burst into laughter and pointed his halberd at Tian Xiu Zhu, “What a sharp-tongued old dog. Come, let’s see who dies here today, you or I!”
[I, Meng Que, am just unlucky. I am not inferior to you, Mo Na Ye. Even if I die, I will still shine brilliantly in the end!]
As soon as he finished speaking, his aura soared as he charged straight at the Six Paths Formation.
How could Tian Xiu Zhu and the others back down when challenged so openly? They quickly adjusted the Battle Formation before rushing forward to meet Meng Que.
Both sides clashed a few more times, without even the slightest sign of retreating. Meng Que was nearly demented in his onslaught as his body bordered on collapse. The Eighth-Order Masters led by Tian Xiu Zhu did not fare any better. Their Battle Formation was unstable, and all of them had suffered critical wounds.
All were hovering between life and death!
The next clash would decide the victor and loser, who would live and who would die!
Tian Xiu Zhu shouted loudly, “This Tian is lucky to have fought with you all today! If there is a next life, I hope that we will fight shoulder to shoulder once more to kill the enemy!”
“Kill, kill, kill!”
Everyone’s eyes turned red. Although their auras were unstable and figures unsteady, their murderous intent shot through the sky.
After forcefully adjusting everyone’s chaotic aura and stabilizing himself, Tian Xiu Zhu let out a long sigh before shouting, “Kill!”
The Six Paths Formation left a streak of light as it charged straight towards Meng Que.
A grim and dignified look appeared on Meng Que’s face as he glanced towards the Space-Time River, coldly snorting in his heart, [Whether you see it or not, I, Meng Que, will not disappoint the title of Black Ink Clan Pseudo-Royal Lord!]
“Kill!”
As he shouted, Meng Que surged his Black Ink Strength as he smashed into the Six Paths Formation.
In this stretch of the void, where violent shockwaves appeared everywhere, the collision between six Eighth-Order Masters and one Pseudo-Royal Lord was far from spectacular, but it was the last glimmering of both sides who were willing to lay down their lives for their convictions.
When the two streaks of light, one bright and one dark, crashed into each other, the entire world seemed to have frozen for a moment before seven figures were sent flying in different directions.
Immediately after, Small Universes collapsed and World Force dissipated as someone’s vitality began to wane…
Of the six Eighth-Order Masters who formed the Six Paths Formation, three of them died on the spot!
Meng Que’s vitality had also become dismal and his strength started to dissipate. At this moment, he didn’t even have the strength to lift a finger.
Furthermore, there were no allies around him on this battlefront who could save him.
As he lay there dying, he could not help but glance over at the Space-Time River and mock himself silently. He was the third Pseudo-Royal Lord to be created, but he had never imagined that he would become the third Pseudo-Royal Lord to die today. It was truly ironic.
[When Humans die in battle, their names are engraved on the Monument of Heroes for future generations to remember their sacrifices, but what about the Black Ink Clan? What do we gain from sacrificing our lives?]
The Space-Time River was still full of upheavals, naturally due to the clash between two top Masters. Every time a wave rose, everyone could hear a faint dragon roar.
Suddenly, a fearsome blast of energy blew up a part of the Space-Time River off, opening a hole in the already unstable flow.
Immediately after, a figure in a wretched condition leapt out of that hole. Surprisingly, it was Mo Na Ye. At this moment, Mo Na Ye was in an extremely sorry state. There was a huge gaping hole that went from the front of his chest to the back. The Black Ink Strength in his body was surging and fear was written on his face.
Yang Kai had gone mad and resorted to every means possible to kill him as quickly as possible.
Mo Na Ye was simply no match for Yang Kai in the Space-Time River. All Yang Kai needed to do was fight steadily while controlling his Space-Time River and Mo Na Ye would certainly have perished.
However, Yang Kai didn’t choose this route. After gaining a bit of upper hand, he directly summoned his Dragon Bead.
Yang Kai was no longer a 99,999-metre-long Ancient Dragon. After his three Selves merged, and his Source had fused with them, he immediately became a Divine Dragon.
With the strengthening of his Dragon Vein, Yang Kai’s Dragon Bead received a significant boost in power.
Using their Dragon Bead to launch an attack was the final trump of a Dragon Clansman, one they would not resort to unless it was absolutely necessary. Yang Kai had once used this method in the past to great effect each time.
He was currently many times stronger than before, so how could the heavily injured Mo Na Ye resist the Dragon Bead’s attack?
The hole in his chest was the result, and this injury was more than enough to push Mo Na Ye half into the grave!
However, the Dragon Bead’s fearsome attack also allowed Mo Na Ye to escape.
The battle between the two top Masters had already made the Space-Time River unstable, and the flow of Dao Strengths inside chaotic. The Dragon Bead’s attack had not only severely injured Mo Na Ye, but it also blew open a hole in the Space-Time River.
Yang Kai had already expected this, but he had no choice but to do it. Only such an attack could quickly kill Mo Na Ye.
When Mo Na Ye escaped, Yang Kai followed close behind, but the turbulence in the Space-Time River caused his Dao Strengths to become unstable, making it difficult for him to gather his strength. As such, he had no choice but to stabilize his Dao Strengths first.
Right then, an indignant roar suddenly reverberated across the void.
“Mo Na Ye, this Old Master won’t submit to you, I’ll never bow to someone like you!”
It was Meng Que, who was also just a moment away from dying.
[Why is it that you have always been in charge of the Black Ink Clan? Why is it that the Sir Royal Lord never gave me a chance? Why must I hide in the No-Return Pass all this time just because you became the Pseudo-Royal Lord before me!? If I, Meng Que, could wield greater authority, I would not have been any worse than you!]
With this roar, Meng Que used all his remaining strength to rush towards Mo Na Ye.
No one knew what he wanted to do, and even Mo Na Ye was stunned for a moment before a heavy sigh escaped his lips.
Others might not have any idea what Meng Que was about to do, but he did. Mo Na Ye never thought that in the critical moment between life and death, it would be Meng Que, whom he had always looked down upon, who would come to his aid.
Meng Que was on the verge of death, his entire body was covered in wounds and his vitality was fading. Even if no one did anything to him, he would not last more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. And naturally, Mo Na Ye could also see this.
Perhaps it was because he was about to die that he was making such a surprising move.
On the other hand, although Tian Xiu Zhu and the others did not know what Meng Que was planning to do, his actions were definitely far from normal. While Tian Xiu Zhu and the others may have been oblivious, they still wanted to stop Meng Que, but how could they do anything about it when they could not even gather their strength? Three of their members had perished in the last exchange, and the three who were still alive were hanging by a breath. They had no choice but to helplessly watch Meng Que approach Mo Na Ye, shining brilliantly like the last radiance of a setting sun. He looked like he wanted to kill Mo Na Ye immediately.
And coupled with Meng Que’s furious roars, they all thought that there was some kind of irreconcilable grudge between these two; otherwise, why would Meng Que still be so indignant even on the verge of death?
In a flash, Meng Que arrived before Mo Na Ye and their eyes met. Mo Na Ye’s eyes happened to be filled with bitterness, while Meng Que’s eyes were shining brilliantly like raging fire, fueled by his last remaining life force.
The next moment, Meng Que’s body quivered as he gathered all his strength and his Black Ink Strength madly surged out. The richness and purity of that Black Ink Strength had far exceeded the norm.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous Black Ink Cloud appeared in the place where Meng Que once was and wrapped itself around Mo Na Ye before pouring into his body through his nose, mouth, and wounds like a living creature.
Subsequently, Mo Nay Ye’s fading aura began to recover at a rate visible to the naked eye. Even the hole in his chest began to slowly close up. Correspondingly, Meng Que’s aura and vitality rapidly dwindled.
“Damn it!” Tian Xiu Zhu cursed through his teeth. After seeing this, how could he not tell that Meng Que was not trying to harm Mo Na Ye, but was instead trying to heal him?
Although he had no idea what kind of profound Secret Technique Meng Que had used, it was an undeniable fact that Mo Na Ye was recovering.
Never had this Secret Technique appeared before, nor had the Humans ever seen it, so no one had been on guard against Meng Que’s actions before his death. Furthermore, no one had any strength to stop him either.
After sparing no effort, Yang Kai finally critically wounded Mo Na Ye, but if the latter were to recover, all previous efforts would go down the drain.
Tian Xiu Zhu grit his teeth and gathered his strength, wanting to stop Meng Que; however, as soon as he circulated his strength, his face turned pale and his mind went blank.
The previous battle had exhausted all his Small Universe’s strength, so now when he forcefully tried mustering it, his Small Universe immediately became unstable.
At this moment, Tian Xiu Zhu no longer had any strength left to fight, and the other two Eighth-Order Masters were in even more precarious states; after all, the foundation of a veteran Eighth-Order Master like Tian Xiu Zhu was still sturdier than that of the new generation Eighth-Order Masters.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai too wanted to stop it after seeing this, but he too was powerless to do anything. His Dao Strengths was left in extreme disarray after his Dragon Bead attack had blown open a hole in the Space-Time River. As such, he needed to quickly stabilize it.
A short while later, the Black Ink Cloud around Mo Na Ye finally disappeared, but Meng Que’s figure was nowhere to be seen. It was as if this Pseudo-Royal Lord had poured all of his energy into Mo Na Ye’s body before his death, helping him heal and recover.
Mo Na Ye had indeed recovered a little and many of his wounds had healed, but it was far from enough. Mo Na Ye was a Royal Lord now, so the more serious his injuries were, the harder it was for him to recover. The infusion of a dying Pseudo-Royal Lord’s essence could do nothing about it.
If he wanted to recover completely, he would need the infusion of the Source of all the Pseudo-Royal Lords present here. But this type of infusion could only be used voluntarily, and why would these Pseudo-Royal Lords voluntarily kill themselves?
Meng Que’s act of coming to his aid at the last moment already came as a surprise to Mo Na Ye; after all, they had never been on good terms.
For that reason, Meng Que’s last words seemed to echo so loudly in his ears.
[Live, you must live on! The Black Ink Clan is too stupid and ignorant, only by living can you finally help the Supreme One complete its grand plan!]
Mo Na Ye suddenly realized that he had been underestimating Meng Que all along. The reckless arrogance Meng Que had displayed before him might have just been a front.
[I misjudged him!]
Mo Na Ye silently mocked himself.
Suddenly, ripples appeared in the Void as Yang Kai furiously shouted, “Mo Na Ye, today you die!”
Mo Na Ye, who had just recovered a little, immediately looked up, only to see Yang Kai hastily stabilizing his mind and his Dao Strengths before charging straight at him with his spear.
Mo Na Ye’s heart was filled with bitterness, knowing that he had failed to live up to Meng Que’s expectations.
Against someone like Yang Kai, if he couldn’t defeat him, the only thing that awaited him next was death! As for escaping, it was naturally impossible to do so against a Master of the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai escaped from the pursuit of the Black Ink Clan many times, the reverse had never happened.
Since there was no way out, Mo Na Ye had no choice but to fight!
If Meng Que was willing to sacrifice himself, so why could he not?
“Yang Kai!” Mo Na Ye furiously roared, grinding his teeth. He did not retreat this time, but rather took the initiative to charge Yang Kai.
The two clashed again.
In the last confrontation, Yang Kai had the absolute upper hand. He even managed to fatally injure Mo Na Ye using his Dragon Bead. Although Meng Que had used a Secret Technique to help Mo Na Ye steady himself, this kind of injury could not be so easily healed.
So, when they were locked in another round of confrontation, Mo Na Ye was still no match for Yang Kai. Had he not recovered a little thanks to Meng Que’s help, he would have died within five moves.
It was only because of Meng Que’s sacrifice that Mo Na Ye was able to even fight back against Yang Kai.
Various Daos Strengths converged and merged, while Black Ink Strength fiercely surged as the two figures clashed with each other. They flew around the void, attacking each other with deadly intent.
Every clash would leave them injured, splashing their Golden and Black blood everywhere!
After an extremely fierce collision, the two figures respectively flew backward.
Yang Kai quickly came to a stop and stood completely still. His face kept distorting with various expressions as if something was terribly wrong.
Mo Na Ye, on the other hand, flew far away, tumbling many times through the void. After he somehow stabilized himself, he spurted a mouthful of black blood. Immediately afterwards, he looked in Yang Kai’s direction, seemingly sensing something.
He did not know whether it was all an illusion, but he felt that Yang Kai’s strength was unstable at the moment!
Regardless of whether it was an illusion or not, the fact was that Mo Na Ye was on the verge of dying again. Regardless of what happened to Yang Kai, he would definitely end up dead if the fight continued.
Meng Que’s last words once again echoed in his ears.
[Live, you must live on!]
It was indeed difficult to escape before someone proficient in the Dao of Space, but how would he know if he didn’t even try? He wasn’t someone who was afraid of death, but how could he be willing to die when the Black Ink Clan’s great task of unifying the 3,000 Worlds was still not complete?
He wanted to live not for himself, but for the Black Ink Clan’s grand ambition!
Having made his mind, Mo Na Ye instantly turned around and fled.
“You want to run!? In your dreams!” Yang Kai grit his teeth and shouted when he saw Mo Na Ye flee. He promptly activated his Space Secret Technique to chase after him.
But right then, the entire Universe Furnace World suddenly started quaking as another Grand Dao evolution took place.
The Grand Dao of the Universe Furnace had evolved many times already, and with each evolution, the chaotic Shattered Dao Essence that filled the Universe Furnace World disappeared, replaced by order and stability.
At the same time the Grand Dao started evolving, everything suddenly went blurry before Yang Kai, making it impossible for him to pursue Mo Na Ye. It was only after a short while that he could finally see clearly again.
The Grand Dao evolution had also come to an end by then.
However, Yang Kai still appeared to be in a daze. He stood in his place, looking around, exclaiming, “What’s going on?”
This question left members of both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan confused.
Ou Yang Lie even more anxiously shouted, “Quickly kill Mo Na Ye!”
This was a rare opportunity. If they let Mo Na Ye escape this time, it would be difficult to find him again. Right now, Mo Na Ye was not just an intelligent commander of the Black Ink Clan, but also a true Royal Lord. He was a massive threat to the Human Race!
What was Yang Kai hesitating about? This was a good opportunity to cut weeds and pull out roots!
Yang Kai remained dazed for a moment before immediately releasing his Divine Sense. After sensing the direction of Mo Na Ye’s escape, he promptly gave chase.
Ou Yang Lie finally breathed a sigh of relief.
However, Yang Kai soon returned with the Azure Dragon Spear in hand, and a helpless look on his face. He kept moving his joints from time to time, raising his arms and legs as if he were very uncomfortable.
“Is he dead?” Ou Yang Lie hurriedly asked, finding it very strange that he had not sensed Mo Na Ye’s fall. Even if he had escaped far away, it was still impossible for a Royal Lord to die without any sound or disturbance.
“I couldn’t catch up!” Yang Kai angrily lashed out.
[Couldn’t catch up!?]
Ou Yang Lie simply thought that he heard it wrong, [How could you not catch up? How could anyone escape from you? What the Hell is wrong?]
Ou Yang Lie tightly furrowed his brow. He instinctively felt that something was off. If he was not so familiar with Yang Kai, he would have thought someone was pretending to be him.
But after carefully observing him, he felt that the current Yang Kai was indeed a little different from the one he was familiar with…
As for what was different about him, he could not put his finger on it.
In any case, he did not have much time to think about it now, so Ou Yang Lie just shouted, “Then let’s kill this one!”
It was a pity Mo Na Ye had escaped, but another Royal Lord was still present; killing him would also be a big haul. Thanks to the appearance of the Universe Furnace, the Black Ink Clan had managed to gain two Royal Lords. One of them might have escaped with serious injuries, but they could not let the other one run away as well.
“Fine, fine!” Yang Kai lifted his Azure Dragon Spear and waddled towards the battlefield like a penguin.
“Something’s wrong!” Elsewhere, Yang Xiao, who was leading a Six Paths Formation to fight a Pseudo-Royal Lord, had also noticed this. Although he had not spent much time with Yang Kai, the latter was still his Adoptive Father. As such, Yang Xiao was quite familiar with him.
At this moment, his Adoptive Father gave him a very strange feeling, as if he was a completely different person…
“What’s wrong?” Blood Crow asked casually.
“I think that’s not my Adoptive Father!” Yang Xiao frowned.
Blood Crow sneered, “If that’s not your Adoptive Father, who else could it be?” His Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm aura was unmistakable. How could anyone pretend to be Yang Kai down to the most minute details and even carry the Azure Dragon Spear?
If someone could imitate another to the point that he was absolutely indistinguishable from the original, it would be truly shocking.
While Yang Xiao and Blood Crow were secretly communicating, Yang Kai broke one of the Four Symbols Formation formed by the four Territory Lords with his spear.
After engaging in a fierce battle, although both Yang Kai and Mo Na Ye were dead tired, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. In any case, he was a Divine Dragon, and a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so how could four mere Territory Lords resist him?
In addition, Yang Kai’s infamy also made the Territory Lords extremely fearful. Seeing Yang Kai charging towards them, whether it was the Territory Lords or Xiao You, who was fighting Ou Yang Lie, all of them became fearful.
Under such circumstances, how could a Four Symbols Formation stop Yang Kai’s rampage charge? He easily broke the Battle Formation after just a few attacks.
Without the support of the Battle Formation, the four Territory Lords were quickly slaughtered by Yang Kai one after another.
But suddenly, Yang Kai frowned and stowed the Azure Dragon Spear back in his Small Universe all while muttering, “Annoying!”
Saying so, Yang Kai’s body went down on his fours as an intense hostility and murderous intent broke out from him, like he was a ferocious beast that had been trapped for 10,000 years!
He then slightly raised his head and stared in the direction of the other Four Symbols Formation. The next moment, a mysterious energy surged from him before he disappeared, as if he had never been there.
Inside the Four Symbols Formation, the four Territory Lords were frightened like birds startled by the mere twang of a bow-string; after all, they had just witnessed their four companions being easily killed by Yang Kai. Now that it was their turn, how could they remain indifferent?
Even before Yang Kai reappeared, the four Territory Lords, who had been struggling to maintain their Battle Formation, became extremely unsettled.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning appeared before Yang Kai’s figure emerged behind a Territory Lord out of thin air, his hand suddenly thrusting towards the Territory Lord like a beast’s claw. Furthermore, lightning was crackling around his palm.
By the time Yang Kai pulled his hand back, a huge gaping hole had appeared in that Territory Lord’s body while lightning crackled around the wound. The violent lightning energy made the Territory Lord shake uncontrollably!
Immediately after, Yang Kai burst into laughter, “Better!”
Ou Yang Lie’s eyes shrank upon seeing this!
He had immediately realized something.
On another side, Yang Xiao’s eyes involuntarily widened as he blurted out, “Thunder Shadow Great Emperor!”
That strange offensive stance, the brutal way of killing his enemies, even the Concealing Divine Ability and those violent Thunder Principles were exactly the same as Thunder Shadow Great Emperor whom Yang Kai had taken into his Small Universe!
Blood Crow was also shocked beyond words.
The other Human Race Masters who saw this were also puzzled.
[What’s going on!? How did Yang Kai suddenly become Thunder Shadow Great Emperor? Was he possessed?]
At the same time, they also finally understood why Yang Kai had failed to kill Mo Na Ye. Indeed, it was meaningless to flee before someone proficient in the Dao of Space, but what if Thunder Shadow Great Emperor had occupied Yang Kai’s body? He was not proficient in the Dao of Space, so if Mo Na Ye wanted to escape, he could be helpless.
While everyone was still in shock, Thunder Shadow had already killed all four remaining Territory Lords, cutting them down like vegetables. After that, he had concealed himself once more, and thanks to Yang Kai’s Ninth-Order foundation, Thunder Shadow’s concealment became even more mysterious and unpredictable. Even Ou Yang Lie could not find any trace of him.
As for Xiao You, he was incomparably depressed!
Originally, he was seriously injured by Yang Xue’s sneak attack and was already having a hard time fighting Ou Yang Lie. The only reason he had been able to hold on until now was thanks to the eight Territory Lords who were assisting him, but now that they had been killed by Yang Kai, he would definitely not be able to hold on anymore. The only reason he was still alive was because Ou Yang Lie was somewhat dazed and confused.
However, with a powerful enemy like Yang Kai lurking nearby, ready to attack at any moment, Xiao You’s heart was firmly lodged in his throat. He didn’t feel safe at all even when he was on full alert.
“Thunder Shadow, what happened to Yang Kai!?” Ou Yang Lie grit his teeth and shouted, not letting down his guard just because the Thunder Shadow had killed the eight Territory Lords. He knew about the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, and that the union of three Selves was the key to Yang Kai’s breakthrough to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but by the looks of it, something had gone wrong with the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art which resulted in Thunder Shadow occupying Yang Kai’s body.
Of course, Thunder Shadow was also part of Yang Kai, but he was not Yang Kai, so Ou Yang Lie had no choice but to ask.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s figure appeared with a flash of lightning as he ruthlessly clawed towards Xiao You’s head. Xiao You had been on guard the entire time, so when he sensed danger, he promptly turned around and threw a punch, barely managing to resolve the crisis. But taking advantage of this opportunity, Ou Yang Lie also attacked Xiao You, and his attack managed to land.
Thunder Shadow couldn’t help but click his tongue before he once again concealed himself while sending Divine Sense transmission to Ou Yang Lie, “Big Brother’s Dao Strength became unstable in the last battle. Also, he was too exhausted after suffering repeated serious injuries. He’s currently in a deep sleep, but don’t worry, he should recover after a while!”
After a momentary pause, he added, “Stop wasting your breath, let’s get this over with first!”
Ou Yang Lie nodded lightly in agreement. Long story short, Yang Kai’s problem wasn’t very big, but there was a big problem with the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
Regardless, it was not the time to mull over such matters. Whether Yang Kai would suffer a mishap or not remained to be seen. The most important thing right now was to deal with the remaining Black Ink Clan.
Immediately, Ou Yang Lie straightened his thoughts and attacked again with renewed focus.
With Ou Yang Lie suppressing Xiao You and creating opportunities, it became much easier for Thunder Shadow to launch sneak attacks. Every time Xiao You was caught off guard, Thunder Shadow would suddenly appear and fiercely attack before going into hiding again. Every strike put Xiao You in agony, gradually worsening his injuries further.
From the start, Xiao You was not Ou Yang Lie’s opponent because of his grave injuries, so when an expert like Thunder Shadow was hiding in the dark nearby, attacking him at every opportunity, it became impossible for Xiao You to survive.
Compared to Ou Yang Lie, the hidden Thunder Shadow posed a much greater threat to Xiao You.
[We lost! The Black Ink Clan completely lost this time!]
At first, the Black Ink Clan had the advantage, but things took a turn for the worse when Yang Kai suddenly advanced to the Ninth Order.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was Mo Na Ye’s escape at the last moment, which ruined the Black Ink Clan’s last hope of victory. Nonetheless, Xiao You also knew that if Mo Na Ye had not run, he would have been the first to die!
At that time, escaping was the only option for Mo Na Ye.
As such, although Xiao You held some resentment towards Mo Na Ye, he did not hate him. If he was in Mo Na Ye’s position, he would have made the same choice.
Now that he was being targeted by two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters though, Xiao You knew his death was assured, so his mindset changed as he became determined to make the most of the time he had left.
There were many Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield; Xiao You could not let them all die!
“Withdraw and escape!” Xiao You suddenly shouted to the Black Ink Clan troops who were besieging the Human Race’s defensive line.
The moment he gave this order, the Black Ink Clansmen scattered without a moment of hesitation, as if they had been waiting for those exact words all along.
The tides were already not in their favour, which anyone could see. Mo Na Ye had already fled, and it was difficult to tell whether Xiao You would survive or not. If the remaining Territory Lords and Pseudo-Royal Lords didn’t run now, when Xiao You was killed and the two Ninth-Order Masters became free to act, none of them would be able to escape.
Previously, they had not fled because they didn’t dare to, but now that Xiao You had given them the order, how could they hesitate?
All the Black Ink Clansmen fled, and the Human Race Masters, who were originally having a hard time, were freed all of a sudden. Yang Xue let out a cold snort and stared at a Pseudo-Royal Lord, before giving chase.
She also knew that it was impossible to eliminate all of the Black Ink Clan troops, so she decided to target the Pseudo-Royal Lords, who were stronger than the others, and eliminate as many as possible.
“Pursue them!” Xiang Shan shouted. Having been an Army Commander for millennia, he was well-versed in the art of war. In battle, the best time to get results was when chasing a fleeing enemy. At least half of all kills were generally obtained during this time, while it was extremely hard to eliminate an opponent when two Armies were confronting each other head-on.
So naturally, when the Black Ink Clan started fleeing in every direction, it was a good opportunity for the Humans to chase and slaughter them. As for how many they could kill, that would depend on luck and methods.
The faster Black Ink Clansmen fled into the distance in the blink of an eye, while the slower ones suffered.
The Humans had been suppressed since the beginning of this battle, so after having gone through so much hardship, they had a lot of anger and resentment bottled up in their hearts, which they finally got a chance to vent.
Suddenly, small battles broke out all across the void, with the sound of Territory Lords falling occurring frequently.
Seeing this, Ou Yang Lie shouted anxiously, “Finish him quickly!”
As long as Xiao You was alive, he and Thunder Shadow would be tied down with him. They had to kill Xiao You as soon as possible so that they could join the pursuit of the other Black Ink Clansmen.
This was a rare opportunity. If they could kill even half of the Black Ink Clan Masters present here, it would definitely lift a lot of pressure from the Human Race in the near future.
With two Ninth-Order Masters acting together, one in the open and one in the dark, it was impossible for the injured Xiao You to survive even if he was a true Royal Lord.
Under the repeated sneak attacks of the Thunder Shadow, Xiao You’s injuries slowly piled up, but he still went all out to hold on as long as possible, just to buy more time for the other Black Ink Clansmen to escape.
However, there was still a limit.
Thunder Shadow, controlling Yang Kai’s body, suddenly reappeared behind Xiao You and punched out. Lightning flashed and the power of thunder exploded, almost blowing his head off on the spot.
Surrounded by lightning, Xiao You violently convulsed and lost all control over his body. At that exact moment, he saw Ou Yang Lie’s long blade swinging towards him, but he was unable to defend himself.
“Die!” Ou Yang Lie roared as he used all his strength to cut Xiao You in half.
The aura of a Royal Lord suddenly flared up before vanishing!
The next moment, Black Ink Strength along with pitch-black blood gushed out from Xiao You’s two halves.
In response, Ou Yang Lie did nothing. He just stood there with his sabre, letting the black blood stain his body as he shouted, “Good!”
Thousands of years had passed since the devastating war in the Barren Territory, and this was the first time a Royal Lord had been killed since then, and he was killed by Ou Yang Lie!
It was a glorious moment.
The next instant, Yang Kai, who was moving like a beast the entire time, also appeared nearby.
Ou Yang Lie glanced at him as the corner of his mouth twitched. He could not help but wonder what kind of expression Yang Kai would make when he recalled this scene after regaining consciousness.
However, Thunder Shadow could not be blamed for this either. Thunder Shadow had always lived in the Myriad Monster World, cultivating the Primal Art and tempering his Monster Core. He had never taken on Human Form, nor did he have the ability to do so. He had always maintained his beast-like appearance, so suddenly asking him to smoothly control Yang Kai’s body and act like a Human was impossible. So, it was better for Thunder Shadow to simply act in accordance with his original nature.
“Don’t just stand there! Kill!” Thunder Shadow shouted as lightning crackled around him before he transformed into a streak of light that chased after the fleeing enemies.
Ou Yang Lie followed closely behind.
A short while later, shockwaves of a fierce fight could be felt coming from the distant void.
The Human Race Masters were not pursuing the enemy aimlessly and haphazardly, especially since the Black Ink Clan outnumbered them still. If they gave chase without any plan, it was likely the Human Race would suffer unnecessary casualties.
Fortunately, Xiang Shan had quickly coordinated their efforts during the initial moments of the pursuit. All the Humans assumed Battle Formations, and each Battle Formation would work in conjunction with one or two others, covering each other as they chased after the Black Ink Clan. Although moving like this would result in fewer kills, it would ensure the safety of their troops.
Furthermore, Xiang Shan had warned them not to maintain the chase too long. Those Black Ink Clansmen here were definitely not all that had entered the Universe Furnace World. There were definitely many more of them hiding in the shadows, so it was imperative to act cautiously lest they fall into the enemy’s trap.
In short, the order was to kill all it was safe to kill before retreating.
Nothing could be done about this, as after having fought continuously for days, every single Human, whether weak or strong, whether newly promoted or veteran, had suffered some degree of injury, making it difficult for them to fight another prolonged battle.
Only the three Ninth-Order Masters were free to move about as they pleased. Whether it was Yang Xue, Ou Yang Lie, or Thunder Shadow who had taken over Yang Kai’s body temporarily, no Black Ink Clansman in this Universe Furnace World could stop them.
Thunder Shadow was on a rampage as all the Black Ink Clansmen he encountered were killed without exception, even the Pseudo-Royal Lords did not escape.
The chase lasted for several days before everyone started returning one after another.
When Thunder Shadow returned from the distant void, he saw a large group of Humans gathered at the original battlefield. Upon sensing an aura approaching, many Divine Senses swept over him, one after another.
The corner of Thunder Shadow’s mouth twitched as he muttered, “Second Brother, you explain, I’m not good with words.”
Saying so, his eyes suddenly became dim and dull, but turned bright and lustrous once more the next moment. A bitter smile appeared on Yang Kai’s lips as he slowly shook his head.
The one that took over couldn’t help but rebuke in his heart, [He did not show any restraint when killing the enemy, but now he ditched explaining himself to our allies! Shameless!]
Nonetheless, some things were unavoidable and one had to see them through whether they wanted to or not. He then straightened his clothes and surged Space Principles as he took a step forward. By the time he appeared next, he was already standing before the Human Race Masters.
“Big Brother?” Yang Xue, who had been on tenterhooks all this time, had her eyes light up as she suddenly called out in surprise.
She too had noticed that change in Yang Kai’s behaviour, but at that time, she was not that clear about the situation, nor did she have the time to inquire about it. Only after listening to Ou Yang Lie’s explanation did she learn that her Big Brother had cultivated a special technique that allowed him to tear his Soul apart and form two Soul Clones.
By uniting his three Selves and fusing them into his Source, he ultimately broke the shackles of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and ascended to the Ninth-Order, allowing him to turn the tide of the battle.
Unfortunately, something had gone wrong with this technique, which caused Yang Kai’s consciousness to fall into a deep sleep and allowed Thunder Shadow Great Emperor’s consciousness to take over his body.
After listening to Ou Yang Lie’s explanation, everyone’s doubts were finally cleared.
The reason why Yang Kai’s Small Universe was able to accommodate Fang Tian Ci, who was also an Eighth-Order Master, and Thunder Shadow Great Emperor who was in the same equivalent realm, was because those two were basically part of him to begin with.
When Mo Na Ye fled, ‘Yang Kai’ had given chase, but to no avail, because Thunder Shadow, who was not proficient in the Dao of Space, was in control of Yang Kai’s body, which made it hard to catch up to Mo Na Ye.
Everyone was secretly shocked by this revelation.
Much to their surprise, there was such a profound method in this world that could allow one to break through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm, other than using a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. This was definitely good news.
It had to be known that there were countless Human Race Masters stuck at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. They had no chance of reaching the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in their lives as they had already reached the limit of their Martial Dao. Furthermore, it was extremely difficult to find Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, so if they could spread this technique, the Human Race might gain many more Ninth-Order Masters in the near future!
Although judging by Yang Kai’s previous performance, there were still some problems with this technique, compared to advancing to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, these trivial problems counted for nothing.
This was definitely a technique that could change the current cultivation system of the Human Race!
Thunder Shadow was not a Master of the Dao of Space, so Yang Kai returning using a Space Secret Technique caused Yang Xue to misunderstand.
‘Yang Kai’ gently shook his head and explained, “Big Brother is still asleep, I am Old Fang.”
Everyone looked at each other in dismay, [First, Thunder Shadow took over Yang Kai’s body, and now Fang Tian Ci! It looks like this Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art is quite problematic.]
A trace of disappointment flashed across Yang Xue’s eyes, but since she was well acquainted with Fang Tian Ci, she pursed her lips and worriedly asked, “Can he wake up?”
Fang Tian Ci replied, “Probably.”
“Probably?” Ou Yang Lie furrowed his brow. This uncertain answer made him a little worried.
Fang Tian Ci explained, “In order to kill Mo Na Ye as quickly as possible, Big Brother used his Dragon Bead to attack, which blew a hole in the Space-Time River, causing his Dao Strengths to become unstable. Furthermore, the prolonged high-intensity battle further aggravated his injuries, which sent his consciousness into a kind of defensive deep slumber. However, it still hasn’t reached the point of no return, so there’s a good chance he will wake up. As for when, it’s hard to say.”
Having finished explaining, a light chuckle escaped his lips before adding, “Everyone, there is no need to worry. Whether it’s me or Thunder Shadow, both of us originate from him. In the end, we are basically only his Soul Clones. We might have our own thoughts, but we will not harm ourselves.”
He could also tell that the Masters of the Human Race were worried that Yang Kai would never wake up again, or that one of the two would take his place; thus, Fang Tian Ci had to give an explanation.
Yang Xiao, who was hiding behind Yang Xue, repeatedly nodded, “Old Fang, I trust your character.”
Fang Tian Ci glanced at him, smiling meaningfully.
Yang Xiao’s face twitched as many complex emotions raged around inside him. He could not wait to tear open a Void Crack and crawl inside…
Old Fang knew a lot of his secrets, many of which he had never told to anyone else. How could he have known that the seemingly honest and upright Old Fang was actually a Soul Clone of his Adoptive Father!
Had he known about this, he would have never confided his private thoughts all these years…
[It’s over! I’m afraid I won’t be able to face Adoptive Father again…]
[Now that I think about it, Old Fang’s behaviour had indeed been a bit strange these past few years. He would occasionally give me that meaningful smile…]
“Junior Brother Fang, do you think that we can promote the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art to the rest of the Human Race?” Xiang Shan asked.
The group of veteran Eighth-Order Masters, cultivating and recovering in the vicinity these past few days, couldn’t help but perk up their ears…
This matter was of grave importance as it was related to their future and whether they could advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm or not!
Fang Tian Ci replied calmly, “This Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was passed down to us by Wu Kuang. Wu Kuang can be considered Martial Ancestor Shi’s reincarnation, and this Secret Technique was also derived from him. This Secret Technique may seem profound and powerful, but it actually has a lot of limitations. First of all, you need to be able to split your Soul basically in half to create a special Soul Clone. That step alone is easier said than done for most.”
“You need to split your Soul in half!?” Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help but exclaim. Although Yang Kai had told him about the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, he did not tell him the exact details or how it was executed. After hearing the actual process from Fang Tian Ci, he finally understood how dangerous it was.
Severing one’s Soul was no joke and was extremely difficult to recover from.
Fang Tian Ci nodded his affirmation, “When you split your Soul in two, the corresponding pain and injury is not something an ordinary person can endure. If something goes wrong, you might lose your mind and become crazed, which is the best-case scenario. In the worst case, your Soul will simply be extinguished and you will die on the spot. Furthermore, this process must be done twice!”
To cultivate two Clones, one naturally had to split their Soul twice, so the risk of dying was also doubled.
“The reason why Big Brother was able to bear this pain is because he has often used Soul Rending Thorns over the years to fight the Black Ink Clan, so he is somewhat used to the pain of his Soul being torn apart. Moreover, he also has the Soul Warming Lotus that can nourish and protect his Soul, so even if his Soul is split into two, he can recover. Of course, the Soul Warming Lotus can be lent out, so if someone is willing to try it, I think Big Brother won’t mind.”
Realization immediately dawned upon Ou Yang Lie, “No wonder Yang Kai had to enter retreat for many years every once in a while, it turns out that he was recuperating. That’s also why there was such a large gap between your and Thunder Shadow’s first appearance.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded, “First, Big Brother nurtured me in his Small Universe, then after repairing his Soul, he nurtured Thunder Shadow. In addition, severing one’s Soul isn’t the most difficult part. Comparatively speaking, there is another problem that the current Humans cannot solve.”
“What’s that?” Xiang Shan asked.
Fang Tian Ci explained, “The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art requires one to have a Divine Spirit Self, Monster Self, and Human Self. Only by combining these three Selves can one break through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm. As a Human, the Human Self is naturally available, and it’s not difficult to obtain a Monster Self either. There are many Monster Beasts in the Myriad Monster World now, so it’s easy to find a newborn Monster Beast cub that would otherwise die if left alone, but where can one find a Divine Spirit to create a Divine Spirit Self?”
The current era was not the Primordial Era when the Divine Spirits ruled the Universe and could be found anywhere.
As the Universe changed and evolved, the Divine Spirits’ population dwindled. Many Divine Spirits and their respective bloodlines vanished in the river of time.
Although there were still a few Divine Spirits remaining, most had already reached the point where it was difficult to pass down their bloodline, leading them to the brink of extinction.
The Divine Spirits that had the greatest number was the Dragon Clan, but even they had 200 members at most.
A Monster Self could be cultivated by going to the Myriad Monster World and nurturing a Monster Beast cub, but what about a Divine Spirit Self? Could they ask a Divine Spirit for their descendants?
Who would dare to do that? Who could even be successful?
The Divine Spirits would definitely not agree, and forcefully doing so would only enrage the Divine Spirits. The cons heavily outweighed the pros.
The difficulty of tearing apart one’s Soul and the difficulty of cultivating a Divine Spirit Self were huge obstacles in using the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
“Haa…” Ou Yang Lie heaved a heavy sigh. Although he had expected this, he still couldn’t hide his disappointment, “It really isn’t that easy.”
If it was easy, or if there was even a bit of hope, with Yang Kai’s character, he would have never kept this method to himself. He would have disseminated it ages ago before anyone even asked him to.
Since Yang Kai had not passed down this cultivation technique for so many years, it meant that it was not suitable for others.
He had a Divine Spirit Self, as well as the Soul Warming Lotus, so it could be said that the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was simply tailor-made for him and no one else could imitate his success.
All the Eighth-Order Masters in the vicinity, who were listening to this conversation, had a disappointed expression appear on their faces.
The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was an astonishing technique, but it was unsuitable for the general public to cultivate and thus couldn’t be disseminated. As such, it didn’t have much value.
A silent and heavy air descended on everything, as Fang Tian Ci didn’t know how to comfort them.
In fact, there was one more thing he didn’t mention, and that was that there was an even bigger issue with this technique.
In order to cultivate this technique, one needed to cultivate two Soul Clones, and these two Soul Clones were different from ordinary Soul Clones. Whether it was the Divine Spirit Self, Monster Self, or the Human Self, although they were inextricably connected to the true body, they could basically be considered independent entities with their own unique characters and thoughts.
It was also because of this reason that after the union of three Selves, the consciousnesses of the two Soul Clones were not actually lost, which led to the coexistence of these Soul Clones with the true body.
During the battle, Yang Kai’s consciousness had suddenly fallen into a comatose state as his Dao Strengths had become unstable, allowing his Monster Self and Human Self to emerge.
Although Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, his body contained three different consciousnesses, which was a big hidden danger. Perhaps one day, during a great battle, his original consciousness would fall into a coma again, transferring the possession of the body to Thunder Shadow or Fang Tian Ci; however, neither of them could bring out Yang Kai’s true strength.
This was a grave concern. Now that Yang Kai was a Ninth-Order Master, his future opponents would definitely be Masters like Royal Lords or Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
In a fight with such a powerful opponent, the slightest mistake could lead to eternal damnation.
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help but be a little worried about it, but he had no idea how to resolve this issue. In his and Thunder Shadow’s original plan, when the three Selves united, his and Thunder Shadow’s consciousness would also fuse back into the main body. At that time, Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow would no longer exist in this world; however, things didn’t go as they had envisioned.
Yang Kai’s consciousness suddenly fell into deep slumber, and Thunder Shadow’s consciousness woke up. After he was left in-charge of the original’s body, even Thunder Shadow took some time to adapt.
After a moment of silence, Fang Tian Ci changed the subject, “What are our casualties this time?”
Ou Yang Lie heaved a sigh as he replied, “Everyone is injured and needs to rest, and over 100 fell in battle!”
The fallen ones he was talking about were not Sixth-Order or Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but Eighth-Order Masters; more than 100 Eighth-Order Masters had died in this battle alone!
The number of Eighth-Order Masters gathered here in the last battle was only a few hundred in total, and about 20% of them had died. Such losses were not insignificant.
The fall of so many Eighth-Order Masters was mainly because of two reasons; first, because the Human Race had lost the protection of their Warships, and second, because Mo Na Ye had ordered the Black Ink Clan to kill at all costs.
The Human Race hadn’t suffered many casualties during the early stages of the battle. At that time, Xiang Shan was refining the Open Heaven Pill’s medicinal efficacies and trying to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Mo Na Ye had hidden his trump card and was waiting for Yang Kai to appear, so naturally he wouldn’t force the Human Race too hard.
Furthermore, the Human Race’s Warships were still displaying their full power at that time.
After Yang Kai advanced to the Ninth Order, both sides began to suffer massive casualties.
Although the Human Race had Yang Xue’s assistance, she was still just one person. The best she could do was defend one side of the defense line; she was unable to deal with the combined attacks of the Black Ink Clan Army.
After the last battle of the Barren Territory War, there had never been a fight in which the Human Race had lost so many Masters in thousands of years.
“We might have suffered significant losses, but the results of the battle were also great. The Black Ink Clan definitely lost more,” Ou Yang Lie encouraged, after seeing everyone become low-spirited.
While the Human Race had lost over 100 Eighth-Order Masters, the Black Ink Clan had lost at least 500 Territory Lords and a few Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Most of these casualties were wrought during the final pursuit, when the Territory Lords fled like stray dogs. Basically, not a single Black Ink Clansman who was caught survived.
As such, this was still a huge victory!
Not to mention, the Human Race now had three more Ninth-Order Open Heaven Masters! Including Xiao Xiao, Wu Qing, Luo Ting He, and Wei Jun Yang, the Human Race already had as many as seven Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters!
This was definitely an inspiring force.
Although Mo Na Ye had become a Royal Lord and had escaped, he was just one man.
The Human Race had also produced many newly advanced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and harvested many Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills. If these Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills were to be distributed, the Human Race would gain even more new Eighth-Order Masters.
It could be said that the Human Race had a great harvest with the appearance of the Universe Furnace.
“Unfortunately, we were too careless and caused Big Head Xiang to fail his breakthrough!” Ou Yang Lie glanced at Xiang Shan and indignantly sighed.
Had he been on guard and quickly caught the hidden Black Ink Disciples, Xiang Shan would probably be a Ninth-Order Master right now, but during that kind of battle, who would have expected for a Black Ink Disciple to be hiding amongst the Eighth-Order Masters.
When the three Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples started rampaging at two battlefronts, not only did they cause Xiang Shan to fail in his breakthrough, but they also broke Yang Kai’s Eight Trigrams Battle Formation, severely injuring him in the process.
Everyone was befuddled and had really fallen into despair. Fortunately, they managed to turn things around and turn defeat into victory.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” Xiang Shan, on the other hand, looked completely calm, “In that situation, not realizing the Black Ink Disciples’ existence was a good thing. If we had caught Black Ink Disciple earlier, the consequences would have been unimaginable!”
The Black Ink Clan actually had the absolute upper hand before Yang Kai’s appearance, but Mo Na Ye had been holding back and hadn’t displayed his true strength as he wanted to engage in a long-drawn battle with the Six Paths Formation led by Yang Xiao.
Judging by the strength Mo Na Ye displayed later on, he was completely capable of quickly defeating Yang Xiao, even with the Six Paths Formation at a cost, but he didn’t, because he was waiting.
If they really disrupted Mo Na Ye’s plans, they would have only forced him to act in advance. At that time, Yang Xue was fully occupied with the Chaos Spirit King, so there was only one Ninth-Order Master on the Human Race side, Ou Yang Lie, who was preoccupied with Xiao You and the Territory Lords led by him. So, who could stop Mo Na Ye?
Breaking Mo Na Ye’s arrangements would only force him to go on a killing spree, which would definitely have ended tragically.
Hearing Xiang Shan’s words, Ou Yang Lie pondered for a moment before agreeing with him, “You’re right.”
This was the perfect example of the popular adage ‘Man proposes but Heaven disposes’.
Mo Na Ye thought he had everything under control, but unforeseen events kept throwing his plans off. For instance, had the Chaos Spirit King not suddenly appeared, eyeing Xiang Shan’s Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, Mo Na Ye’s plan would have failed from the start.
The appearance of the Chaos Spirit King was equivalent to the Black Ink Clan finding a helper for free. This was also the main reason why the Human Race was in such a difficult situation.
“Not to mention…” Xiang Shan suddenly smiled, “Who said I failed my breakthrough?”
Everyone was taken aback for a moment and Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help but size up Xiang Shan a few times, his Divine Sense constantly scanning him as he muttered curiously, “You’re not a Ninth-Order Master!”
It was an irrefutable fact that Xiang Shan was still an Eighth-Order Master and had yet to break through; moreover, everyone had witnessed him failing in his breakthrough. At that time, when the two Black Ink Disciples were rampaging, Xiang Shan had no choice but to stop his advancement. It was already pretty good that he did not suffer any backlash, so how could he possibly break through?
After that incident, everyone believed that Xiang Shan’s path to reaching the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was cut off, and he would remain at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm for the rest of his life.
“I didn’t say I was a Ninth-Order Master!” Xiang Shan shot a glance at him.
A thoughtful look appeared on Yang Xue’s face, “Senior Brother Xiang’s situation is different from other veteran Eighth-Order Masters. In that case… does that mean the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill was useful to you?”
Xiang Shan nodded slightly in affirmation, “Over 90% of my Small Universe’s boundary wall has been destroyed, leaving only a thin barrier behind. I think I can now break through with my own strength!”
From the beginning, Xiang Shan was qualified to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as he broke through directly to the Seventh-Order millennia ago. However, because of a harrowing battle on the Black Ink Battlefield in the past, during which his Small Universe was corrupted by Black Ink Strength, he had no choice but to sacrifice a large portion of it to protect himself, which caused his Order to regress.
Although he managed to recover his fallen Order by repairing his Small Universe using a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, his Small Universe’s boundary wall seemed to have become much thicker because of that experience.
These circumstances basically made it extremely difficult for him to break through with his own strength.
While Luo Ting He and Wei Jun Yang had broken through to the Ninth Order during the last 1,000 years in secluded cultivation, Xiang Shan had not made any progress.
The boundary wall was so solid that even Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills couldn’t put a dent in it. It wasn’t until he had refined a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill that he felt a difference.
Mo Na Ye had allowed him to refine the pill until the very last moment before ordering the Black Ink Disciples to launch a sneak attack, clearly thinking that was enough to completely destroy Xiang Shan’s path forward. But what Mo Na Ye never expected was that Xiang Shan would still be left with a ray of hope precisely because of this delay.
Currently, the boundary wall in Xiang Shan’s Small Universe was no longer as thick and solid as it used to be; rather, it was even thinner than an average peak Eighth-Order Master. Such a boundary wall could not stop him.
Although he had not tried yet, Xiang Shan was completely confident!
Xiang Shan could actually break through to the Ninth Order! Everyone was overjoyed by this news.
Yang Kai was a symbol of the Human Race among the trillions of Humans, but so was Xiang Shan. Yang Kai had already advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but there were some problems with his cultivation because of the mysterious technique he used. If Xiang Shan could also break through to the Ninth-Order, it would greatly boost the morale of the Human Race’s soldiers.
Although Ou Yang Lie had always had a kind of rivalry with Big Head Xiang, at this moment, he was genuinely happy and broke into a hearty laughter, “So you’re saying that the effects of the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill haven’t been wasted? Mo Na Ye’s plan was also in vain?”
Previously, in order to lure the Chaos Spirit King away, Yang Kai had thrown out a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, which was enough to make one’s heart ache. That was a chance to grain another Ninth-Order Master.
If Xiang Shan couldn’t break through, it would be tantamount to losing another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. The Human Race had only managed to obtain a total of four such pills this time, that’s all. Losing half of them one after another would be hard for anyone to accept.
But by the looks of it, the only pill they had lost was the one Yang Kai had thrown away, while the one Xiang Shan had refined still played its role.
Everyone was overjoyed.
“There’s no time to lose, quickly break through to the Ninth Order,” Ou Yang Lie urged.
Xiang Shan agreed with a nod, “That’s what I was planning to do.”
Xiang Shan left to focus on his breakthrough. Perhaps, it would not take him long to become a Ninth-Order Master.
Almost everyone on the Human Race’s side was busy recuperating as all of them had been injured in the last battle, the only different thing was the severity of their injuries.
Ou Yang Lie looked at Fang Tian Ci, who was controlling Yang Kai’s body, and suggested, “You should also go and recuperate. Junior Sister Xue and I will act as protectors.”
Ou Yang Lie was also injured, but his wounds were not that serious. As for Yang Xue, she was completely unharmed, just exhausted from having consumed a great deal of energy in the last fight. She would just need a little time to recuperate.
Currently, most of the Human cultivators were recovering, but with two Ninth-Order Masters personally overseeing everything, there should be no problems at all.
Fang Tian Ci nodded, “Good!”
He really did need to heal himself as his physical injuries were still quite serious. Yang Kai might have become a Divine Dragon and had astonishing healing abilities, but his consciousness was still in a coma. Fang Tian Ci had to find a way to awaken Yang Kai’s consciousness.
He immediately found a secluded spot and sat down cross-legged before stuffing a handful of pills into his mouth.
The cacophonous battlefield suddenly sunk into silence. All the Black Ink Clansmen had either died or fled, leaving behind traces of a horrific battle in the void. Most of the corpses of the Human Race Masters had been collected, but as most of them had died without an intact corpse, it was impossible to gather everyone’s remains.
As the number, as well as quality of the Masters participating in this battle were both extremely high, the loss of so many at once was extremely tragic and heart-wrenching.
“How many times has the Grand Dao evolved?” Ou Yang Lie suddenly asked.
When Yang Kai attacked and almost killed Mo Na Ye, the Grand Dao of the Universe Furnace World had undergone another evolution, but as the battle was quite intense at that time, no one had paid any attention to it.
“The last one was the eighth time,” Yang Xue replied, stuffing some recovery pills into her mouth.
Ou Yang Lie slowly nodded, “The Universe Furnace is about to close.”
According to the information provided by Blood Crow, after the Universe Furnace World’s Grand Dao underwent nine evolutions, the Universe Furnace World would close and everyone would be expelled.
The place they would reappear would be the same as the place from where they entered.
In other words, the Humans and Black Ink Clansmen would appear in the same location they entered the Universe Furnace after they were expelled from the Universe Furnace World.
This information was extremely important and could be used by the Human Race.
If things went well, they could deliver a huge blow to the Black Ink Clan; after all, the Black Ink Clan outside did not know this matter.
They knew that Black Ink Disciples couldn’t keep any secrets, but even if the Black Ink Clansmen inside the Universe Furnace World now knew, so what?
The appearance of the Universe Furnace had suddenly triggered wars across various Great Territory Battlefields. Many Black Ink Clansmen forced their way through the Human Race’s defensive lines and entered the Universe Furnace World through the projections. At that time, their entire focus was on destroying the Human Race’s opportunity, but it would have never occurred to them that when the Universe Furnace closed, everyone would return to their original location!
Currently, all the locations where the Universe Furnace’s projection space had appeared should be heavily guarded by the Human Race Army, waiting for the Black Ink Clansmen to appear to destroy them!
Of course, the Human Race had no way of interfering in places like the Barren Territory and Black Ink Battlefield; after all, they were completely under the Black Ink Clan’s control. The Black Ink Clan would be able to return safely from these two locations, but it would be difficult for them to safely return from the other entrances.
It was foreseeable that the day this Universe Furnace closed would be the day the Humans slaughtered many of them. The Human Race would definitely bag another glorious victory!
As time passed, everyone separated to recover.
Inside Yang Kai’s body, Fang Tian Ci immersed his consciousness and tried to awaken Yang Kai’s consciousness with Thunder Shadow’s help. He had thought that it would be difficult, but much to their surprise, Yang Kai’s consciousness woke up after a casual attempt!
“Big Brother, you’re finally awake!” Thunder Shadow’s surprised voice rang out in his mind.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but be stunned for a moment, thinking that he was hearing things; however, when he realized that something was wrong with his body, he finally reacted.
[Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow’s consciousnesses are now sharing my body! What the Hell is going on!?]
Yang Kai’s thoughts were still stuck at the moment he had injured Mo Na Ye and was preparing to pursue him, so he had no idea what had happened after that.
“Is Mo Na Ye dead?” Yang Kai asked.
“He escaped,” Fang Tian Ci replied, “At that time, your consciousness suddenly sank into a coma and Third Brother’s consciousness awakened a step ahead of me, putting him in control of your body. As he doesn’t understand the Dao of Space, he couldn’t chase after Mo Na Ye.”
Thunder Shadow unhappily explained himself, “There’s nothing I can do about it. After Big Brother’s consciousness fell asleep, I just suddenly woke up. I also chased after him, but he was too fast. It’s all Second Brother’s fault. If he had woken up earlier than me, perhaps Mo Na Ye would be dead now.”
Fang Tian Ci was also proficient in the Dao of Space, and although his mastery wasn’t as high as Yang Kai’s, had he been in control of Yang Kai’s body at that time, Mo Na Ye would have been unable to escape.
It was just that at that time, Thunder Shadow had indeed awoken a step sooner, and by the time Fang Tian Ci’s consciousness had awakened, Mo Na Ye had already fled out of their sight. At that time, it was already meaningless for him to take control of Yang Kai’s body.
Listening to their explanations, Yang Kai roughly understood what had happened. Although he found it a bit regretful, he still stated, “As expected, a scourge will live for 1,000 years.”
Who would have thought that his consciousness would suddenly go haywire at such a critical moment? Just like how all of Mo Na Ye’s schemes had come to nothing, Yang Kai never expected that one of his schemes would lead to so many variables.
“Then what about us? What’s our situation now?” Yang Kai felt a headache coming on.
Originally, he had thought that after combining the three Selves, all of his Soul Clones would merge into one, but after waking up, he discovered that there were two other egos in his body.
He couldn’t help but recall what befell Bustling World Great Emperor all those years ago.
During the battle in the Shattered Star Sea, Bustling World Great Emperor had fallen to Wu Kuang’s scheme and had almost had his body seized by the latter. Although Wu Kuang had ultimately failed, he had still managed to fuse with Bustling World Great Emperor and share his body.
As a result, the Souls of these two Great Emperors had to reside in one body for many years, fighting openly and covertly. Wu Kuang had also used Bustling World Great Emperor’s body to accomplish many things.
Ultimately, after killing Great Demon God Mo Sheng in the Star Boundary, Wu Kuang left the Bustling World Great Emperor’s body and seized Mo Sheng’s body.
Duan Hong Chen and Wu Kuang only had two Souls in one body, but Yang Kai now had a total of three…
The only silver lining he had over Duan Hong Chen’s situation was that the two others would not oppose him; after all, these two originated from him and shared the same ideals as him.
Be that as it may, it was not good news either. If Yang Kai remained in this state for a long time, problems would inevitably appear.
“The current situation is probably a hidden danger brought about by the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. Although Third Brother and I originated from you, we are still independent individuals. Perhaps because the differences are too great, the fusion of three Selves is incomplete,” Fang Tian Ci postulated.
Everything from their strength, Source, and their own destiny had all fused into the main body, but their egos remained untouched, and this was the root cause of Yang Kai’s current situation.
Yang Kai lightly nodded in acknowledgement, thinking that there should be a reason. He couldn’t help but curse in his heart, [That bastard Wu Kuang, he really harmed me!]
At that time, if he hadn’t cultivated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, he could have used a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill to advance to the Ninth Order and would not be in this awkward situation.
But he had no other choice at that time either. Yang Kai could not place his hopes on the ethereal Universe Furnace. He had to try to find some definite way to break through to the Ninth Order. Wu Kuang’s Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art happened to give him that hope.
“Actually, this problem shouldn’t be difficult to overcome,” Fang Tian Ci suddenly stated, “Third Brother and I are basically complete entities, so as long as you cut off a portion of your Soul that contains our essence, Third Brother and I will just need to find suitable physical bodies. The best option would be an infant who has just been born or is about to be born.”
This was equivalent to cultivating from the start again, but the goal this time was not the fusion of three Selves.
Yang Kai had done this before, so it shouldn’t be difficult for him to do it again.
Wu Kuang could have used this method to separate himself from Duan Hong Chen back then, but he wasn’t willing to do so mainly because he would definitely enter a period of weakness after separating. He was afraid Duan Hong Chen would finish him off during that time, which was why he was entangled with him for many years.
Yang Kai nodded in agreement, “There’s no rush, we can discuss it after we’ve dealt with Mo.”
Not to mention, he would definitely be weakened for many years after splitting his Soul. Now that the war had fully broken out between the Black Ink Clan and Human Race, and he had reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, how could Yang Kai allow himself to become weak when he should be focusing on destroying Mo?
Furthermore, he didn’t know if he would suddenly fall unconscious in the future. If that happened again, having these two to take over his body was a kind of safety measure. Even if the two were unable to display his full strength, they wouldn’t be completely helpless against even powerful enemies.
“I’m not in a hurry. Big Brother can do as you see fit,” Thunder Shadow indifferently stated. At the very least, he didn’t have to worry about where to go to kill his enemies.
“What’s going on over there?” Yang Kai looked up again.
Someone seemed to be breaking through in that direction, giving off a fierce aura and energy fluctuations. Furthermore, they were giving a familiar feeling.
It was none other than Xiang Shan!
[Didn’t Xiang Shan fail to break through? Why is he breaking through again?] Yang Kai couldn’t understand.
In his mind, Fang Tian Ci repeated what Xiang Shan had said before, after which, Yang Kai understood everything.
In other words, Xiang Shan’s Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill had not been wasted. He had indeed been interrupted at the critical moment of his breakthrough, but at that time, his Small Universe’s boundary wall had almost been completely broken. As such, even if he was interrupted, the progress he made towards a breakthrough hadn’t been lost.
This was good news. In that case, the Human Race would be able to gain four new Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters thanks to the Universe Furnace, which was in line with his initial expectations.
This time, the Universe Furnace had produced a total of nine Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. Yang Xue had obtained one, Xiang Shan had obtained one, and Yang Kai alone had obtained two. The main reason for this was because he had the Great Sun and Moon Marks; otherwise, it would have been impossible to find the whereabouts of these two pills so easily.
Of the two pills Yang Kai obtained, one of them had allowed Ou Yang Lie to reach the Ninth Order while the other was used to lure away the Chaos Spirit King.
On the Black Ink Clan’s side, Mo Na Ye obtained one while Xiao You had obtained another. In other words, the whereabouts of the other three Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were still unknown. If the Human Race and Black Ink Clan hadn’t seized them, there was a high chance they had fallen into the hands of the Chaos Spirit Clan. The Chaos Spirit Clan were natives to the Universe Furnace World and had a massive population, which gave them a natural advantage in this place.
As he was conversing with the two, Ou Yang Lie and Yang Xue seemed to notice the change in his situation and quickly rushed over.
When he got closer, Ou Yang Lie sized up Yang Kai, furrowing his brow, wondering who was in control of Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Xue tentatively called out, “Big Brother?”
Yang Kai gently nodded, “You’ve worked hard.”
Yang Xue’s eyes immediately turned red, “Big Brother, you’re finally awake.”
Ou Yang Lie also let out a long sigh of relief, “Great, you’re awake!”
Although Fang Tian Ci had assured that there was nothing wrong with Yang Kai, it was still worrying. After confirming that Yang Kai had woken up, he finally put his worried heart to rest.
“Mo Na Ye got away,” Ou Yang Lie reported.
Yang Kai nodded, “I’m aware, but there is still a chance. How many times has the Grand Dao evolved?”
In fact, he had been keeping track of the number of times the Grand Dao had evolved, but because he had entered the Infinite River to comprehend the mysteries of the 10,000 Grand Daos, he was unable to perceive the evolutions during that time. So, he had no idea how many times the Grand Dao in this Universe Furnace World had evolved.
Ou Yang Lie succinctly replied, “Eight.”
Yang Kai nodded his acknowledgement before declaring, “We still have some time. When the Universe Furnace closes, and Mo Na Ye and I leave this place, we should appear at the same location. His current injuries must have reduced his strength. I should be able to kill him at that time!”
He and Mo Na Ye had entered the Universe Furnace from the same location, so when they were expelled from the Universe Furnace World, they would definitely appear at the same location. At that time, the heavily injured Mo Na Ye would be completely at Yang Kai’s mercy; all he could do was helplessly wait for his death.
Ou Yang Lie added as his face turned serious, “That guy is indeed difficult to deal with. As long as he is alive, he will remain as a hidden danger.”
This time, Mo Na Ye had nearly predicted all the turns of events of the battle between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan. Thinking back now, Ou Yang Lie still felt some lingering fear. Had Yang Xue not timely rushed over to support him, severely injuring Xiao You and restricting the Chaos Spirit King, and had Yang Kai not turned the tide after breaking through, it would have been hard to say how many of the hundreds of Eighth-Order Human Masters would have survived.
Even a Ninth-Order Master like him would not have been able to escape this disaster.
In the past, Yang Kai had sent a message to the Supreme Headquarters to warn the Human Race to be wary of Mo Na Ye, but at that time, the latter wasn’t that strong, at most only a Pseudo-Royal Lord, and with Mi Jing Lun overseeing the war, Mo Na Ye was not able to display much of his strength.
This time, however, everyone present had witnessed just how terrifying he was. The danger of Mo Na Ye was not from his power alone, but rather from his shrewd schemes. Now that he had become a Royal Lord and his strength had greatly increased, he was like a tiger with wings.
Such an enemy should naturally be killed as soon as possible to put everyone’s heart at ease.
Fortunately, they still had one more chance! The moment the Universe Furnace closed, Mo Na Ye would undoubtedly die!
While they were talking, Xiang Shan’s breakthrough had reached its final juncture. His aura had already soared to its limit and was violently fluctuating. His Small Universe’s illusory phantom had almost materialized, floating behind him.
Along with the fluctuations of World Force, Xiang Shan’s aura, which had reached its limit, suddenly increased by a tremendous amount. Correspondingly, the illusory Small Universe also seemed to have greatly expanded in an instant.
Today, the Human Race’s eighth Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was born!
Ou Yang Lie looked in his direction before a sigh filled with emotions escaped his lips, “He really had it hard!”
It truly wasn’t easy. Xiang Shan was just like the current Yang Kai of his era, a peerless talent who had the chance to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and possessed strength to outclass his peers. It was also because he had shown too much of his abilities that he was targeted by the Black Ink Clan and fallen prey to an insidious ambush. When he was fighting the Black Ink Clan, he was corrupted by Black Ink Strength and forced to discard a large portion of his Small Universe to protect himself.
This led to the fall of his Order, and he had to lie low for thousands of years. Although he somehow recovered his lost cultivation, it was extremely difficult for him to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Xiang Shan’s luck turned around when he came to the Universe Furnace World, where he got his hand on a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill. But once again, some unforeseen events threw his plans off as his breakthrough was interrupted by the Black Ink Clan at the last moment, forcing him to give up on it.
In comparison, Ou Yang Lie felt that he was both lucky and blessed…
Before entering the Universe Furnace, he had never thought that he would one day be able to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. He was a hot-tempered and straightforward man, and many years of fighting against the Black Ink Clan had left him with numerous hidden injuries, causing his strength to drop from its peak.
In the past, his only wish was to die on the battlefield one day while taking a few Territory Lords with him. This way, he would not have lived his life in vain.
Even if he had entered the Universe Furnace, it was only to find a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill for Yang Kai or Xiang Shan so that they could advance to the Ninth Order. He had never thought of refining such a pill himself.
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai gave him a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill and protected him while he was refining it.
Although there were some twists and turns in the process of his breakthrough, it was still smooth sailing overall. Ou Yang Lie had somehow managed to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm without much difficulty.
When comparing like this, Ou Yang Lie felt sorry for Xiang Shan.
“The road to happiness is strewn with setbacks,” Yang Kai chuckled as he observed Xiang Shan for a while, making sure that his breakthrough was completed. Nonetheless, Xiang Shan’s cultivation would be a bit unstable due to the recent expansion of his Small Universe, so he would need to consolidate his foundation for some time.
“Xue’er, what about you?” Yang Kai turned to look at Yang Xue, “How did you reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm?”
In truth, when he had rushed over from the Infinite River and noticed that Yang Xue was a Ninth-Order Master, he had thought he was mistaken.
While he, the Big Brother, hadn’t even broken through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, his Little Sister had already reached that step. This made Yang Kai feel a little embarrassed. Fortunately, he had also successfully broken through and was barely able to maintain his prestige and status as the older sibling.
Yang Xue replied, smiling, “It was just luck.”
A few days after she entered the Universe Furnace World with Yang Xiao, the latter suddenly noticed something. Following the Great Sun and Moon Marks’ guidance, they found a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill.
After hearing this, Yang Kai understood that Yang Xue also obtained the pill thanks to some luck and his helping hand.
If it weren’t for the fact that he had left behind some hidden means in the nine pills, how could Yang Xiao have sensed it?
However, there was no need to explain such things in detail.
“In that case, didn’t Xiao’er make a great contribution?” While speaking, Yang Kai glanced towards the location where Yang Xiao was healing. Yang Xiao, who happened to be secretly looking around, quickly closed his eyes and sat up straight.
Yang Xue gently nodded, but then hesitated to speak.
Yang Kai roughly knew what she was trying to say. Although Fang Tian Ci’s consciousness had been completely preserved after the three Selves had united, all of his life’s experiences had still been integrated into Yang Kai’s Soul, so Yang Kai knew exactly what Fang Tian Ci had experienced over the years. Naturally, this also included the little secrets Yang Xiao had shared with him…
Yang Kai had expected this though. The two children had grown up together and could be considered childhood sweethearts. The two cultivated for thousands of years together, never separating from one another, so how could they not have feelings for each other?
However, due to the difference in seniority between the two of them, they had never crossed that last line. They probably didn’t want to make things difficult for him.
If it weren’t for this, Yang Xiao would have never told Fang Tian Ci about these things either. It was mainly because he had been suppressing the bitter feelings in his heart. It was rare to have a friend who shared the same ideals as him, so he often came to talk to him.
However, not even in Yang Xiao’s wildest dreams did he expect the secrets he had been hiding for so many years would be exposed in such an outrageous manner. In the past, Yang Xiao and Yang Kai were extremely close. Whenever Yang Kai appeared, Yang Xiao would always fly around him. But now, Yang Xiao couldn’t wait to be as far away from his Adoptive Father as possible, hiding from him and quietly healing his injuries; he was obviously feeling guilty.
Yang Kai withdrew his gaze as a smile appeared on his lips, “His Dragon Vein is already quite pure, so let him quickly break through to become a Divine Dragon. If he has any doubts, he can ask Senior Fu Guang. Since both of them belong to the same clan, he won’t refuse to help if he can.”
Yang Xue nodded faintly in agreement.
Yang Kai then turned to her and advised, “If nothing happens after the Universe Furnace closes, you should return to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Now that you’re a Ninth-Order Master, you must assist Senior Fu Guang in guarding the Grand Restriction. Also, tell Wu Kuang that the Black Ink Clan inside the Great Restriction may show some unusual movements. He needs to be extra vigilant.”
Yang Xue nodded more firmly, “Yes.”
Ou Yang Lie solemnly asked, “What may happen at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’m just preparing for any contingency. The war between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan has entered a new phase. Comparing our current strength, the Human Race is far inferior to the Black Ink Clan in terms of numbers, but we have a slight advantage in terms of top Masters. This war will be the final one. If we win, the Human Race won’t have to worry for the rest of their lives, but if we lose, the Black Ink Clan will rule the Universe, and no Human will be left alive. With such stakes, the Black Ink Clan in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction will definitely take action, so we must be on guard against their internal and external forces coordinating with each other. It will be extremely difficult for us to win this battle, but no matter how difficult it is, we must persevere!”
To win, the Human Race would not only have to eradicate the Black Ink Clan that had invaded 3,000 Worlds, but they would also have to find a way to deal with the ones inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, as well as Mo!
This was especially true for Mo, which was suspected to have reached the Creation Realm. Yang Kai still hadn’t found a way to deal with it. In the past, Cang and the others had chosen to seal it within the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, but unless Mo was eliminated, it would still remain a hidden danger. Perhaps after 100,000 years or 200,000 years, another Black Ink Clan disaster would engulf the entire world, and this cycle would continue on, endlessly.
Yang Kai then turned to Ou Yang Lie, “Senior Brother Ou Yang, you’ll be in charge of the 3,000 Worlds after the Universe Furnace closes. I will rush back to join you as soon as possible.”
Ou Yang Lie nodded his acknowledgement, “As a Human, I am duty-bound.”
Pausing for a moment, he asked, “Junior Brother, what are you planning to do next?”
“I’ll go take a look around,” Yang Kai slowly stood up, “There’s still some time before the Universe Furnace closes. I don’t know where the Chaos Spirit King, who took my pill, went, but I want to see if I can get it back. Also… I have some doubts and want to find an answer.”
Previously, Yang Kai had no choice but to throw away the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill to lure the Chaos Spirit King away. Now that the crisis had been resolved, Yang Kai naturally wanted to get it back. Furthermore, there were still three pills in this Universe Furnace World whose locations remained unknown. He could still try to find them.
Of course, if he ran into Mo Na Ye, that would be even better. He could kill him along the way.
However, Mo Na Ye wasn’t a fool and would surely be hiding somewhere, silently licking his wounds at this moment. It would not be that easy to find him.
“Junior Brother can move freely, Junior Sister Xue and I will take care of things here,” Ou Yang Lie stated. Many Human Race Masters happened to be recovering from their injuries and needed someone to look after them. Even so, not everyone had to remain. Since Yang Kai had some plans, it was naturally better for him to set off immediately.
If he could recover the pill taken away by the Chaos Spirit King, that would be a good thing.
Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll be going then.”
Bidding goodbye, Yang Kai took a step forward and in the next moment, Space Principles undulated as his figure disappeared. As a matter of fact, he still had not recovered from his injuries, but as he didn’t have much time on his hands, Yang Kai didn’t want to waste any on healing. Not to mention, his injuries didn’t impede his movements. Furthermore, now that he was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, even if he were to encounter a Chaos Spirit King, he could still put up a fight!
Just after he left, a figure suddenly appeared beside Yang Xue. Impressively, it was none other than Yang Xiao, who had been pretending to be healing.
Yang Xiao’s face was slightly pale. He had consumed a great deal of energy in the previous battle and had suffered some heavy injuries. Be that as it may, he was still a member of Dragon Clan. He had a powerful physique and possessed outstanding recovery abilities, so he could heal several times faster than an ordinary Eighth-Order Master.
Staring in the direction Yang Kai had left, Yang Xiao nervously asked, “Little Aunt, what did Adoptive Father say just now?”
Yang Xue slowly shook her head as she replied, “He did not say anything.”
“Nothing!?” Yang Xiao’s eyes widened in shock, “He didn’t ask anything about me?”
[How is that possible? Why did he not say anything?] This made Yang Xiao feel even more uneasy.
Yang Xue thought for a moment before replying, “Big Brother wants you to become a Divine Dragon as soon as possible.”
Yang Xiao paused for a moment, but when he saw that Yang Xue had nothing else to add, he asked in a huge surprise, “That’s it?”
Yang Xue couldn’t help but glare at him, “What else do you want to hear?”
“Well…” Yang Xiao couldn’t help but frown, [Could it be that he doesn’t know anything? Impossible, Old Fang was his Soul Clone, and now that his Selves have united, he should know everything by now… shouldn’t he!?]
Yang Xiao wore a distressed expression and thought for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up and he broke into a loud laugh, “I understand!”
Yang Xue tilted her head and looked at him with a dumbfounded look.
[What do you understand?]
Yang Xiao then shouted towards the direction Yang Kai had left, “Don’t worry, Adoptive Father! The day I become the Divine Dragon will be the day I go to the Yang Family to ask for Yang Xue’s hand in marriage!”
Yang Xue’s face turned red as she stomped her foot, “What the Hell are you spouting!?”
Ou Yang Lie also couldn’t help but turn his head and look at Yang Xiao in surprise before looking at Yang Xue. Suddenly, he seemed to have realized something.
Yang Xue’s face became even redder as she shot an angry glare at Yang Xiao. Immediately after, she turned around and left.
Yang Xiao looked at Ou Yang Lie innocently, “Did I say something wrong? Did Adoptive Father not mean that?”
Ou Yang Lie heartily laughed, “No, you’re right, that’s what Yang Kai meant. You brat, you’re really astute! Women get easily embarrassed though, are you not going to chase after her!?”
“Oh, en!” Yang Xiao suddenly came to a realization. He bowed to Ou Yang Lie before chasing after Yang Xue.
Gazing over, Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help but nod his acknowledgement, “Young and vigorous, hot-blooded and unyielding. Good, very good!”
He couldn’t help but think back to when he was young. At that time, he too was bold and daring. He would do whatever he wanted and couldn’t care less what others thought about him!
Turning his head, Ou Yang Lie saw a figure slowly approaching from the distant void. When he got close, Ou Yang Lie sized him up before asking, “You just broke through, don’t you need to stabilize your foundation?”
Xiang Shan replied, shaking his head, “We don’t have that kind of time. The Universe Furnace will close before I can consolidate my realm.” He then turned his head to look in the direction Yang Xiao and Yang Xue had left, and asked, confused, “What happened?”
Ou Yang Lie immediately became spirited and explained what he had seen and heard.
Xiang Shan nodded in understanding, “Since they have feelings for each other, let them do whatever they want. It’s not like they’re related by blood, they are just related because of their relationship with Yang Kai. It doesn’t count. I’m sure Junior Brother Yang won’t mind.”
Ou Yang Lie nodded in agreement, “That’s right, we cultivators don’t have so many worldly customs, and that brat, Yang Kai, doesn’t seem to care about this matter either.” Sighing, he continued, “Moreover, if the Human Race doesn’t win this time, I’m afraid we won’t have a future at all. If we stop them now, they’ll only be left with regrets”
Xiang Shan nodded and dropped this matter before changing the subject, “I’m going to kill some enemies, I’ll have to trouble you to take care of things here.”
Saying so, he turned into a streak of light and left, not caring if Ou Yang Lie agreed or not.
Ou Yang Lie was mouth agape. He did not expect Xiang Shan to do something like this, and by the time he wanted to stop him, it was already too late. Nonetheless, he could not help but shout, “Big Head Xiang, get back here!”
But why would Xiang Shan return? The streak of light gradually disappeared into the distance, as if it hadn’t heard anything.
Ou Yang Lie was enraged, “This is too much!”
He also wanted to go kill some enemies. He thought that Xiang Shan would want to stabilize his new Ninth-Order cultivation, so he was planning on entrusting overseeing things here to him. After that, he would be free to do whatever he wanted, but he never expected Xiang Shan to beat him to it.
But after giving it another thought, he understood why Xiang Shan was in such a hurry.
When the Universe Furnace opened this time, Xiang Shan didn’t even have time to do anything before he was drawn into the great battle between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan. Now that he had just broken through to the Ninth Order, he couldn’t wait to test his newfound strength.
Xiang Shan had left, Yang Xue had also left…
Looking around, Ou Yang Lie found that only he among the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was left to guard this place. He could not leave. With so many Eighth-Order Masters recovering here, they would need someone to protect them.
[Miserable!] Ou Yang Lie cursed in his heart, [When the Universe Furnace closes, I will definitely make Big Head Xiang pay for this!]
Although the battle between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan here ended with the Human Race’s victory this time, the war was far from over.
Not to mention that the number of Black Ink Clansmen who had entered the Universe Furnace was not limited to the ones who had appeared before, and many even managed to escape at the last moment.
With two Royal Lords, one dead and one seriously injured, and the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had managed to escape all wounded, the Black Ink Clan was at a significant disadvantage at the moment. As such, this was the perfect opportunity to slaughter them.
If they missed the current opportunity, the Human Race would have to wait for the Universe Furnace to close before they got another chance.
If they could eliminate some of the Black Ink Clan forces in advance, the pressure on the Human Race would decrease by some degree once the Universe Furnace closed.
Perhaps they could also kill some of the Black Ink Clansmen who had entered the Universe Furnace from the Black Ink Battlefield and the Barren Territory.
As time passed, the Human Masters began recovering one by one, but they didn’t remain in place for long. Ou Yang Lie ordered them to form Battle Formations and spread out to search for the Black Ink Clan survivors.
By the time the last batch of Human Race cultivators had recovered, a lot of time had already passed, but finally, Ou Yang Lie, who had been guarding this place, was able to move again.
Naturally, he showered Xiang Shan with curses in his heart.
.….
Somewhere in the void, a battle had just ended and Yang Kai happened to be standing there alone, surrounded by the corpses of several Black Ink Clansmen.
Calling it a battle could not be farther from the truth though, as it was really just a one-sided massacre.
Even if the Territory Lords assumed Battle Formations, they were unable to do anything in front of the current Yang Kai. He was a Ninth-Order Master with the body of a Divine Dragon. Even if he hadn’t fully recovered, killing a few Territory Lords was still as easy as chopping vegetables now.
The advancement of one Order had brought about an earth-shattering change in his strength. His Small Universe’s size had expanded by several times. Of course, it was partly due to the increase in his cultivation, but the integration of Fang Tian Ci’s Small Universe had played no small role in it; otherwise, how could Yang Kai, a newly advanced Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, have such a strong foundation?
Not only that, but his Small Universe also had another World Tree clone at the moment.
In the past, Yang Kai had handed his last World Tree clone to Fang Tian Ci to help him rapidly grow, but with the fusion of Fang Tian Ci’s Small Universe with his, that World Tree clone had also merged with it.
Yang Kai already had a World Tree clone to begin with, so there was not much point in having a second.
[After returning to 3,000 Worlds, I should find a suitable candidate and give it to them. It should help them save some time in cultivation and allow them to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm earlier.]
After separating from Ou Yang Lie and the others, Yang Kai began searching the void, mainly because he wanted to find the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill he had thrown away.
One more Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill meant the birth of one more Ninth-Order Master, and currently, the Human Race did not have many Ninth-Order Masters.
Yang Kai especially wanted to bring a Supreme Grade pill back for Mi Jing Lun. The war would definitely become more intense and fierce in the future. Mi Jing Lun, who was the Supreme Commander of the Human Race Armies might not be able to control the overall situation if he remained in the rear, and his Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation would make it risky for him to stand on the front lines. If he could break through to the Ninth Order however, it would be much better for the Human Race!
Unfortunately, Yang Kai failed to find anything even after searching for so long, but that did not mean that his search was without harvest. He ran into some Black Ink Clansmen along the way, so naturally he finished them all off.
Thunder Shadow’s voice rang out in his mind, “Big Brother, isn’t my Innate Divine Ability quite useful?”
Although Yang Kai’s strength was great and he had always been unrivalled among his peers, he was not proficient in stealth and assassination. Under normal circumstances, when he ran into enemies, he would usually just fight them head-on.
But after merging with his Monster Self, Thunder Shadow’s exceptional mastery over the Dao of Thunder and Dao of Concealment also became available to Yang Kai.
Just now, he had given Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability a try and hid himself. When he suddenly attacked the Territory Lords, they did not even have the chance to react. It could be said that they had no idea who had killed them.
Yang Kai lightly chuckled, “There is some truth as to why Great Monsters ran rampant in the Early Ancient Era.”
The different types of Monster Race had different Innate Divine Abilities. Thunder Shadow was a member of the Shadow Leopard Race and was innately proficient in the Dao of Concealment, which was one of the reasons Yang Kai chose him as his Monster Self.
At that time, Yang Kai had to go into a retreat to recuperate, so he didn’t have much time to take care of his Monster Self. Choosing Thunder Shadow would give the latter more opportunities to survive.
As for the Dao of Thunder, that was something that Thunder Shadow had cultivated on his own, so it was not an Innate Divine Ability.
As for the title Thunder Shadow, it was also the title he had obtained as a Great Emperor, not his race.
“In any case, I’m more useful than Second Brother!” Thunder Shadow proudly proclaimed.
Fang Tian Ci was the Human Self Yang Kai had cultivated in his Small Universe, and the Grand Daos he cultivated were basically inherited from Yang Kai. It could be said that everything he was proficient at was the same as Yang Kai, while the one he wasn’t proficient at, Yang Kai was proficient at. So, naturally, there was nothing Yang Kai could take advantage of…
Thus, from this fact alone, Thunder Shadow felt a sense of superiority.