In the past, the Black Ink Clan was annoyed by Yang Kai’s propensity for messing with them at the No-Return Pass, but they were still able to put a stop to it then. However, now that he was a Ninth-Order Master, the Black Ink Clan did not seem to have a way to stop him anymore. This was the reason behind the sense of hopelessness they felt.
Mo Na Ye could not help but regret the fact that he had not been more cautious of Yang Kai in the past. They would not be in this unfortunate predicament now if they had found a way to kill him back then.
However, based on the information they gleaned from the Black Ink Disciples in the past, the Eighth Order was supposed to be Yang Kai’s limit. No one would have thought that the legendary Universe Furnace would suddenly open up just as the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were carefully building up their Armies in preparation for their ultimate showdown, which led to Yang Kai becoming a Ninth-Order Master.
At the end of the day, Mo Na Ye did not have the power to see the future. At the time, he was entirely focused on creating more Royal Lords which meant that the threat of an Eighth-Order Master such as Yang Kai would naturally diminish and he would not have to specifically target this Human menace.
When the Universe Furnace appeared, the Black Ink Clan did attempt to target Yang Kai and put in a lot of effort to do so, but they ended up failing and being the ones who suffered a great loss instead.
“Did he come here just to take a beating?” Mo Yu stared off in the direction Yang Kai had left with his brow tightly knitted as he commented in confusion, “Why is he heading deeper into the Black Ink Battlefield?”
Mo Na Ye could not figure out what Yang Kai was up to either. He considered all of the things Yang Kai had done so far and thought to himself, [That bastard’s always so hard to decipher…]
“Damn it!” All of a sudden, Mo Na Ye whipped his head around and growled, “The Territory Gate!”
Mo Na Ye had been too caught up in the fight with Yang Kai that he did not spare much thought for anything else, but now that things had settled down, it dawned on him that they had a grave problem on their hands.
Yang Kai had used his Space Secret Technique to seal off the Territory Gate!
He had done this before when he returned from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and gathered the remnants of what was left of the Human Race Army outside the No-Return Pass before leading them to charge through the No-Return Pass and into the Barren Territory. Back then, Yang Kai wheeled around after accomplishing his goal and invaded the No-Return Pass once more to save Ji Lao San, who had been captured.
When Yang Kai made his way back from the Barren Territory, he used some Secret Technique to seal up the Territory Gate. At the time, he had only just become an Eighth-Order Master so both his abilities and his mastery over the Dao of Space were nowhere near what they were now, so it had taken him some significant effort.
After rescuing Ji Lao San, Yang Kai brought the former to the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield and used a secret passageway in the Blue Sky Theatre to return to Black Territory.
When that happened, the Black Ink Clan had to put in a lot of effort to reopen the Territory Gate.
Yang Kai had not done anything like that since, until now.
The No-Return Pass was the Black Ink Clan’s main base and largest spawning ground. Many from the Black Ink Clan were being born here at any given moment and they constantly sent out reinforcements to the front lines. The injured Pseudo-Royal Lords would also return to the No-Return Pass to slumber and recover when they were injured.
Now that the Territory Gate was sealed, it meant that the No-Return Pass had been cut off from the rest of the 3,000 Worlds. This greatly threatened the Black Ink Clan Army which was still out fighting in the 3,000 Worlds.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had an exceedingly high number of Masters and could muster up enough force to break open the Territory Gate once more, it would take time for them to do so!
The situation out on the battlefield could change at any moment, so they could not afford to waste any time at all.
In the blink of an eye, all manner of thoughts raced through Mo Na Ye’s mind.
All at once, he realised that this could have been Yang Kai’s main reason for coming over to the No-Return Pass!
Nevertheless, even if he figured this out now, nothing changed. The Territory Gate was still sealed and the Black Ink Clan had to find a way to break it open again as soon as possible.
And so, under the command of Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, the Black Ink Clan began attacking the Territory Gate. Immense force surged as the Black Ink Clan felt as if they had swallowed a fly.
In the void some distance away from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai came to a stop atop a Universe Fragment where he adjusted his breathing and began to tend to his injuries.
As a result of going up against that many Black Ink Clan Masters alone, he had taken a heavy beating. If it had not been for the thick skin and strong flesh he had thanks to his Dragon Form, he would not have been able to hold out as long as he did. Although he injured some of the Pseudo-Royal Lords, he lamented the fact that he could not kill any of them.
Alas, he had not been in a position to do so at the time.
In any case, he accomplished what he set out to accomplish.
The destruction of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and the slaughter of a Territory Lord who could have become a Royal Lord was nothing more than his way of giving the Black Ink Clan a warning. He still had other things to do now.
[The Black Ink Clan would’ve come to a realisation by now, right? The sealed-up Territory Gate would surely give them a headache and keep them occupied for some time. Well, the bigger the headache, the better. It would make it even easier for me to carry out the rest of my plan.]
Several days later, Yang Kai rose to his feet as mighty as a Dragon and as fierce as a Tiger once more.
Even serious physical injuries did not mean much to him now as he could easily recover from them. He glanced in the direction of the No-Return Pass before turning around and heading deep into the Black Ink Battlefield. He had a Space Beacon in hand and was continually pouring his strength into it in search of a response.
One could say that the Black Ink Battlefield was made up of many different Theatres. Still, the expansiveness of the Black Ink Battlefield paled in comparison to the vastness of the Universe. It was like comparing a pond to an ocean.
For countless years, the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan clashed time and time again across the Black Ink Battlefield; however, following the Humans’ defeat, the once-frenetic battlefields became silent with none of the commotion of yore.
The Black Ink Clan claimed the No-Return Pass and made it their base as they fixed their eyes upon the 3,000 Worlds. Of course, they would send teams out to the Black Ink Battlefield to mine for resources, but they would not venture too far as there was plenty to harvest nearby.
The Theatres were situated in the part of the void much closer to the Late Ancient Era battlefield. At this moment, on a still and lifeless piece of land there, two silhouettes were hidden from sight with their auras suppressed. These two wizened-looking men were both Eighth-Order Masters, their aged visages coloured with looks of worry.
After a long bout of silence, the black-robed old man on the left spoke up, “It’s been nearly 700 years and we haven’t heard anything from Junior Brother Yang. Do you think something happened to him?”
Back then, they had agreed with Yang Kai that he would come and collect mined resources from them every 100 years; however, it had been nearly 700 years since the last exchange so it was unsurprising for them to be worried after not having seen Yang Kai for so long.
The other old man who was dressed in a hemp robe replied, “Out on the deathly battlefields, anything is possible.” Although he did not voice his agreement with his companion’s guess, he figured that Yang Kai must have gotten into some sort of unexpected situation; otherwise, he couldn’t avoid making the trip throughout all these years.
“What should we do then? Where can we go?”
They were deep inside the Black Ink Battlefield, and without Yang Kai to assist them, they would never be able to return to the 3,000 Worlds. They could not even get past the No-Return Pass.
“Junior Brother Zhao and the others sent messages asking about this too. They think we should use our fallback plan.”
“You mean, head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?” The black-robed old man frowned.
The hemp-robed old man nodded and said, “Junior Brother Yang also said that it was our only means of escape as a last resort.”
“The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction is quite some distance away. It would take at least two or three decades for our group to get there. We are Eighth-Order Masters so it would be fine for us, but considering how dangerous the journey would be, the little ones who are in the Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order might not be able to make it. We would end up losing a lot of them.”
“That’s indeed a problem, which is why Junior Brother Zhao didn’t suggest we leave for the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction right away. Although 700 years is not a short time, it’s not all that long for those in the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm. Perhaps Junior Brother Yang is being held up by something he encountered. It’s been so many years and the Black Ink Clan hasn’t detected us yet, so it’s still safe here for now.”
“So, shall we continue waiting?”
“That’s all we can do now.”
They fell silent for a while before the black-robed old man remarked, “I wonder what’s happening with the war in the 3,000 Worlds.”
“Hopefully, everything is going well.”
Silence befell them yet again.
They were all alone out here and could not get any news about the situation back in the 3,000 Worlds. It was incredibly hard to get by without knowing how the war was going.
That being said, they knew what their mission was. Someone had to do it, even though not many people were aware of the sacrifices they made.
Time continued trickling by. Several days later, the hemp-robed old man suddenly opened his eyes and gasped. He flipped his hand over and a round bead appeared. It was a Space Beacon.
When he focused on the Space Beacon, he found that there was something unusual happening. A mysterious energy was pulsing from it.
“That’s…” The hemp-robed old man looked pleasantly surprised.
Something like this had happened many times before. Each time the Space Beacon reacted this way, it meant that Yang Kai was on his way over. The old man kept this Space Beacon on him at all times as he waited and waited. Now, what he was waiting for was finally happening.
The black-robed old man was startled as well. He gazed at the Space Beacon with a hopeful, expectant expression.
The Space Beacon began reacting even more noticeably until at one point, the hemp-robed old man could sense that it had connected with something a great distance away.
In the very next moment, the Void in front of them rippled and a figure solidified in front of them.
[He’s here at last!] The two Eighth-Order Masters exhaled in relief and immediately transmitted the message out to everyone else.
“Junior Brother Yang! You’re finally… Huh?” The hemp-robed old man trailed off as he eyed Yang Kai in confusion. He had a look of complete shock as he exclaimed, “You’re… a Ninth-Order Master now?”
The black-robed old man beside him also noticed that something was different, but as Yang Kai did not exhibit his power clearly, the former could not be certain about it.
“Greetings, Senior Brothers. I’ve kept you waiting,” Yang Kai greeted them with a bow.
“You broke through to the Ninth Order?” The hemp-robed old man pressed again.
Yang Kai nodded, “You have good eyes, Senior Brother. I am indeed a Ninth-Order Master now!”
The two Eighth-Order Masters could not help but exchange looks. They felt both stunned and glad as they cheered, “Good! Very good!”
While they were busy with their conversation, the Space around them quivered as more figures began popping up. These were the other Eighth-Order Masters who were gathering here after receiving the message.
The moment they laid eyes on Yang Kai, the one they spent several centuries waiting for, they could not resist exhaling in relief. If Yang Kai did not show up soon, they would have to follow his instructions and head towards the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to convene with the Suppressing Black Ink Army over there. However, if they chose to make that journey, it would be a long and perilous one, with many of them falling along the way. Thus, it was an extremely dangerous path of retreat that had to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
But now that Yang Kai was here, they would not need to head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
When these older, more experienced Eighth-Order Masters heard the hemp-robed old man saying that Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, they were just as shocked and felt a tinge of suspicion that the old man had made a mistake. However, upon closer inspection, they realised that Yang Kai was indeed a Ninth-Order Master. Though they were no longer suspicious, they could not figure out how Yang Kai managed to do it.
Several millennia had passed since the Black Ink Clan’s invasion of the 3,000 Worlds. Before the Universe Furnace appeared, the Humans had been stuck guarding the dozen or so Great Territory battlefields. Apart from those Great Territories as well as High Heaven Territory and the New Great Territory, the rest of the other Great Territories largely fell into the Black Ink Clan’s hands.
Thus, the Humans had been facing a very difficult conundrum all this while.
It was the issue of resources. The fewer Great Territories they controlled, the fewer resources they had access to. A single New Great Territory was not enough to supply the needs of the entire Human Race.
During the great evacuation back then, all the Sects, including the Cave Heavens, and Paradises, brought along everything they could carry from their storehouses and treasuries. This was especially true of the Cave Heavens and Paradises who had hundreds of thousands of years of accumulated resources in their collections.
Nevertheless, in the thousands of years that passed since then, they had used up most of what they brought with them and their resources were nearly drained as well.
Furthermore, as the Human Race’s rising stars flourished and many new Open Heaven Realm Masters emerged in the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World, the need for resources constantly grew.
In the past, the Human Race’s many Great Forces were spread throughout thousands of Great Territories across the 3,000 Worlds and were basically self-sufficient, but that could no longer be the case now.
As such, many years ago, the Humans started looking for ways to overcome this crisis.
It was a matter of resources, and the only options were to use them sparingly and find new sources.
It was easy enough to keep usage to a minimum. The Humans scrimped and saved wherever they could to avoid any needless usage of materials. They even stopped Squads from customizing their Warships hundreds of years ago.
However, the Humans had a hard time finding new sources. Earlier on, quite a lot of Hunters attempted to loot the Black Ink Clan teams who were moving resources around. They did manage to get what they wanted, but it was incredibly dangerous as well as things would end in disaster for them the moment a Master from the Black Ink Clan targeted them.
Many of the Black Ink Disciples among the Black Ink Clan now were such Hunters in the past.
Yang Kai had ‘negotiated’ with the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass before and was richly rewarded for his efforts, but that was not a long-term solution.
Therefore, after much discussion with Mi Jing Lun back then, they created a group that was dedicated to mining resources. Several veteran Eighth-Order Masters were appointed as leaders and the whole group was snuck into the Black Ink Battlefield to carry out this mission.
The group consisted of tens of thousands of Human Masters, but their overall cultivation was fairly low, mainly in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth-Order. They could not contribute much on the battlefield, but they were able to gather resources which was a job that did not require much strength.
There were countless lifeless areas across the Black Ink Battlefield where an abundance of resources could be found, so it was a suitable place for them to exploit.
The Eighth-Order Masters who had been chosen were either the older ones with failing bodies or those with deep injuries to their foundations, leading to a noticeable decline in their strength. At the time, Ou Yang Lie had been one of them, but Yang Kai later sent him back as a messenger during the escaped Territory Lord emergency.
Yang Kai promised them that he would meet them once every century to retrieve the resources. Over a thousand years had passed and everything had gone smoothly until 700 years ago which was the last time he showed up, until today.
The many Eighth-Order Masters had been eagerly waiting this whole time. 700 years was not necessarily a long time, but they were all alone out here and had no clue what was happening in the 3,000 Worlds. That was the reason why they felt disproportionately on edge and often felt despairing.
Thus, when they received the message from the hemp-robed old man, the Eighth-Order Masters who had been scattered nearby immediately rushed over. They were pleasantly surprised to find that Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master.
“Did you not show up all these years because you were in seclusion to make your breakthrough, Junior Brother?” The hemp-robed old man asked. His guess made sense.
“No, that’s not why,” Yang Kai shook his head, “It’s a long story.”
“Take your time! There’s no rush,” another Eighth-Order Master quickly said. He even took out a futon and passed it to Yang Kai.
They could not wait to be updated on everything that happened to the Human Race throughout the last 700 years. Now that Yang Kai had finally shown up again, they were going to make sure they gleaned all the information they could get.
Soon, everyone had taken a seat, and Yang Kai finally filled them in on all the changes that had occurred with the Human Race.
Their faces froze in shock when they heard that the Universe Furnace had surfaced and the stalemate between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan had been broken; however, they were thrilled to hear that four new Ninth-Order Masters had emerged from the Universe Furnace World.
Their reactions grew even more animated when they found out that Ou Yang Lie was one of those four.
“That old dog is now a Ninth-Order Master?” A white-haired Eighth-Order Master’s eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock as his face twitched violently.
“How did he get so damn lucky?” Another Eighth-Order Master commented enviously.
Initially, all of the Eighth-Order Masters who were assigned to this team were part of the older generation who had fought against the Black Ink Clan for thousands of years even before the invasion of the 3,000 Worlds and each of them had many fine accomplishments to their names. It was their long and storied histories that led to them having so many injuries that left a significant mark on them as well. They had no hope of becoming Ninth-Order Masters, and even if they went back to the battlefield, they could not wield their full strength anymore unless they put their lives on the line to do so.
They were perfectly willing to accept the arrangement and protect the group of miners as that was still contributing to the Human Race’s ultimate victory.
Yet, due to the incident back then, Yang Kai sent Ou Yang Lie back to the 3,000 Worlds to pass the news along, which ended up turning into an opportunity for the latter.
The old veterans here had complicated feelings about this as they felt as if they had missed out on a lot…
“Oh well, fortune favours fools. So be it that he’s now a Ninth-Order Master. It’s good news that we have one more Ninth-Order Master among us,” the hemp-robed old man cleared his throat and declared.
Everyone else nodded in agreement, “That’s true.”
Despite their envy, they knew that Ou Yang Lie’s ascension to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was a great boost to the Human Race’s strength. They were merely boggled by his incredible stroke of fortune. They had been assigned here together to contribute what little they could, and yet Ou Yang Lie was fortunate enough to make a huge leap in his cultivation.
“Seems to me that the Black Ink Clan suffered significant losses inside the Universe Furnace.”
Yang Kai nodded, “They lost a few Pseudo-Royal Lords and a Royal Lord too, but Mo Na Ye became a Royal Lord and narrowly avoided meeting his doom. Apart from the four Ninth-Order Masters who ascended inside the Universe Furnace, Senior Brother Wei Jun Yang and Senior Sister Luo Ting He also successfully broke through beforehand. Right now, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing have been freed up as well, so they’re each leading an Army.”
Someone silently made the calculations, “Does that mean we have eight Ninth-Order Masters now?”
“We have nine!” Yang Kai turned to the person who spoke, “There’s one more that all of you aren’t familiar with. He’s in charge of guarding the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and is the reincarnation of Martial Ancestor Shi.”
Yang Kai was referring to Wu Kuang, but Wu Kuang did not interact much with the Masters from Cave Heavens and Paradises. His name was not known to the masses and few even knew of his existence.
Wu Kuang had only been a Seventh-Order Master when Yang Kai brought him to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, but he was able to cultivate and reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm thanks to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Still, everyone was greatly heartened by this news.
During the great war in the Barren Territory all those years ago, nearly all of the Ninth-Order Masters sacrificed their lives in the fight. Even the Heads of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans died in battle. Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were the only Ninth-Order Masters left at the time, but they had to keep the Black Ink Giant Spirit God occupied and thus could not move from Wind Mist Territory.
Several millennia passed since then and the Humans finally had new Ninth-Order Masters among their ranks. There were quite a number of them too.
It was a ray of light that shone through after all their years of fighting and resistance efforts.
Following that, Yang Kai informed them about the Humans’ current situation out on the battlefields. Once they heard what was happening, the Eighth-Order Masters were itching to join the fighting and do their part in slaughtering the enemy.
Thankfully, they still recalled what their mission was and were able to stamp down their thirst for battle.
So much had changed with the situation for both Races in just 700 years. Though they did not expect any of it, they were not surprised by it either.
During the previous clashes between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan, both parties had consistently held back. It was partly due to the Black Ink Clan being wary of Yang Kai, but the primary reason was that the Humans and the Black Ink Clan were both building up their strength.
The appearance of the Universe Furnace disrupted the stalemate that had persisted for many millennia and kicked off the all-out war.
“Something happened and I was delayed all these years, forcing you all to wait for far too long.” Yang Kai only gave a brief explanation as to why he had not shown up for the past 700 years. He did not speak of all that had happened to him inside the Universe Furnace as there was no need for others to hear of these things.
The hemp-robed old man waved his hand and said, “It was only 700 years. There’s no harm in waiting. The others are out on the battlefield shedding their blood and making great sacrifices while we remain in safety here.”
Yang Kai’s expression grew serious, “I came here today for two reasons. The first is to collect the resources you’ve gathered all these years, and the second is to ask if any of you wish to return. If you do, I can take you back.”
Everyone brightened up at those words. They had been gathering resources across the Black Ink Battlefield for over 1,000 years now and had nothing much else to do. Considering the cultivation they had right now, they did not need to cultivate any further as it would not be useful anyway. Since they did not get into any fights with the enemy, their lives felt extremely mundane. They missed the old days of fighting on the battlefield.
Therefore, they livened up at Yang Kai’s words and many of them nodded fervently in agreement.
Nevertheless, the hemp-robed old man pondered in silence for a moment before asking, “Are we still stretched thin for resources at the moment?”
Yang Kai nodded, “It’s still a problem that’s hard to resolve. Although we’ve reclaimed many Great Territories, we can’t gather much from those places. The Black Ink Clan destroyed basically everything before they retreated.”
Many of the Great Territories the Humans reclaimed were nothing more than empty shells. It was clear that the Black Ink Clan would not allow the Humans to reclaim a Great Territory that was abundant in resources. Furthermore, after being under the control of the Black Ink Clan for all those years, all of the valuable areas had been almost completely stripped of resources as well.
Naturally, the Black Ink Clan took the resources with them when they evacuated. They were not going to leave them behind and allow their enemy to reap the benefits.
Everyone went quiet as their expressions fell.
“You don’t need to worry about resources,” Yang Kai said, “I will think of something.”
“What’s your idea?” the hemp-robed old man asked.
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “We lack resources, but the Black Ink Clan doesn’t. They’ve never had to fret over the lack of resources. Well, since they have more than enough, I’ll just borrow some from them.”
He had spoken in such a calm and relaxed manner that it was almost as if the Black Ink Clan would truly lend their resources to the Humans. Nevertheless, the Eighth-Order Masters knew better. Even though Yang Kai was a Ninth-Order Master, it would not be easy for him to target the Black Ink Clan, especially since they were not the same as they once were. Just as the Humans had grown stronger, the Black Ink Clan’s heritage had increased as well.
The hemp-robed old man remained silent in thought for a moment before saying, “All Humans are one, sharing glory and downfall together. We must gather resources, and even though we’re not doing so at a speedy rate, we’re still able to make some gains. Moreover, we’ve stayed well-hidden all these years and the Black Ink Clan has never discovered our presence. Let’s stay here and continue gathering the resources we need. As for the battlefield, let’s leave it to the younger generation. What do you think, everyone?”
This question of his was addressed to the other Eighth-Order Masters as he could not represent them all.
The Eighth-Order Masters were sensible enough to know what to choose. Though they longed to return to the battlefield and kill their share of the enemy, someone needed to stand guard where they were right now; thus, after hearing what the hemp-robed old man said, they swiftly nodded in agreement.
“I’m old now after spending all my life fighting the Black Ink Clan, I should enjoy some peace and quiet. Staying here isn’t a bad idea.”
“That’s right. We’ll leave all that violence and bloodshed to the young ones.”
“The next generation will be inheriting the mantle from us someday. We had to go through this ourselves back then, so we should give them a chance to train themselves too.”
“…”
Everyone voiced their support.
The hemp-robed old man smiled as he swept his eyes across them before turning back to Yang Kai, “Us old folks wish to stay here and enjoy the peace, so just leave us here. Although we can’t gather all that many resources, what we do collect will still be useful in some way.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Many thanks, everyone, but do prepare yourselves too. The situation won’t stay the same forever. There’ll come a day when the Humans will launch an all-out offensive, and when the time comes, perhaps we’ll need all of your help too.”
One of them guffawed right away, “We may be old, but we’re strong and mighty! It won’t be a problem for us to slaughter those Black Ink Clan punks when the time comes.”
After a brief chat, everyone started pulling out the resources they had gathered and passing everything over to Yang Kai. They managed to gather quite a lot, and as there was the danger of being detected by the Black Ink Clan, they did not store everything together. Instead, the resources were kept separately in over a dozen Space Rings. Thus, even if something bad happened, they would not lose everything that they gathered at once.
Fortunately, even after all these years, the Black Ink Clan had yet to discover their presence and had no idea that a team of Humans was secretly mining resources deep inside the Black Ink Battlefield. This was mainly due to the Humans being hidden so deep that they were nearly at the Late Ancient Era battlefield, and the Black Ink Clan never ventured this far from the No-Return Pass.
After collecting the Space Rings, Yang Kai bade them farewell and the Eighth-Order Masters watched as he left. Their many centuries of waiting had finally come to an end, and they found out that the Human Race’s situation was not as dire as they thought; therefore, they were all in a good mood.
Yang Kai took his leave of them and began his journey back.
It took him quite some time to find them, but it was far easier for him to head back now. With the help of some Space Beacons, he went back down the route he had used to come over, and in less than half a day, he arrived on the outskirts of the No-Return Pass.
He looked over and saw that the Territory Gate he sealed up earlier had already been opened, but he wasn’t surprised by that.
There were quite a number of powerful Black Ink Clansmen now, with two Royal Lords and several dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords at the No-Return Pass alone. Even if Yang Kai did seal up the Territory Gate, it would be easy for that many Masters to force it open again. It was just a matter of time.
[But, considering how shrewd Mo Na Ye is, he should have realised the severity of the situation, right?] It was a simple matter for Yang Kai to seal up the Territory Gate, but to the Black Ink Clan, it was a grave predicament.
This was especially true for the Black Ink Clan Army which was still out there fighting!
Yang Kai carefully sensed his surroundings and picked up on the many strong auras that were scattered across the No-Return Pass. The auras were not hidden in any way. It was almost as if they were bright lights shining in the middle of darkness. Now and then, Black Ink Clan teams would move around as they did their patrols. Everyone at the No-Return Pass was clearly on edge.
It could not be helped. Two months ago, Yang Kai had suddenly shown up at the No-Return Pass and transformed into a Divine Dragon to engage the Black Ink Clan Masters in a battle. Though they managed to give Yang Kai a fierce beating before forcing him to leave, they also suffered losses of their own.
Even if they ignored the injuries the Pseudo-Royal Lords received during the fight, there was also the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest, which had been destroyed by Yang Kai, and the death of a Territory Lord who had the potential to become a Royal Lord.
Yang Kai did head towards the Black Ink Battlefield, but Mo Na Ye understood him well enough to know that he would surely be back.
As the Black Ink Clan had no way of ascertaining when Yang Kai would return, they could only be as vigilant as possible and keep the entire No-Return Pass on constant alert.
Although Yang Kai was just a single Human, his existence was enough to make all the Black Ink Clansmen at the No-Return Pass feel discomfited, vexed, and overwrought.
After a moment of observation, Yang Kai used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability to conceal himself, hiding his physical form and aura; then, he headed straight towards the No-Return Pass.
At a certain moment, a Pseudo-Royal Lord positioned somewhere inside the No-Return Pass felt a flicker of danger. If this had been at any other time, he would not have paid much attention to such an insignificant sensation; however, Mo Na Ye had given clear orders beforehand, so the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s eyes flew open as he immediately made his presence even more imposing.
Mo Na Ye came over in a flash and glanced at the Pseudo-Royal Lord who grimly nodded.
Thus, Mo Na Ye began scanning all around with his Divine Sense, but his search came up empty.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai could not help but frown. He was still some distance away from them and had thought that he could use Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability to sneak over there and kill that Pseudo-Royal Lord, but he did not expect the latter to be on such high alert.
At the very least, he knew for certain that the Pseudo-Royal Lord did not discover his whereabouts. That being said, a being as strong as Pseudo-Royal Lord would still be able to instinctively sense danger. If Yang Kai wanted to attack the Pseudo-Royal Lord and prepared himself to do so, the latter would surely detect something.
However, Yang Kai was taken aback to find that the Pseudo-Royal Lord reacted this strongly to the barest hint of danger.
[He’s being far too cautious!] Yang Kai was speechless.
Alas, Yang Kai did not consider how the Black Ink Clan’s estimation of his strength had soared after what he did the last time he was here, as well as based on the information they had gathered.
Reactions as extreme as this had happened several times before this, but they had all been false alarms; still, the Black Ink Clan remained vigilant.
Mo Na Ye had no way of confirming whether or not Yang Kai was here, so he called out in a random direction, “I know you’re here, Yang Kai. Why are you hiding like a coward? Why don’t you show yourself?”
Yang Kai eyed Mo Na Ye who was not even facing his direction and could not resist rolling his eyes when he heard how confident the Royal Lord sounded.
[As if you know anything!]
There was no response, and Mo Na Ye did not make another attempt. He moved back to his previous spot and began scanning the area around him once more while the Pseudo-Royal Lord exhaled in relief.
Yang Kai could not resist scoffing from his hiding spot. It would be difficult for him to get anything done with the Black Ink Clan fiercely guarding against him like this!
Still, though the situation made it tough for Yang Kai to strike at the Black Ink Clan, the situation was even harder on them as they had to be on guard at all times in case he launched a surprise attack. The Pseudo-Royal Lords were under a lot of pressure, and even Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu were feeling extremely tense.
Right now, Yang Kai was the one who had the upper hand as all the possibility of danger stemmed from him. The Black Ink Clan could only react based on what he did.
Yang Kai stroked his chin before retreating and circling over to a different part of the No-Return Pass; then, he began sneaking over to one of the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
However, that Pseudo-Royal Lord soon sensed something and intensified his aura as well, and at the very next moment, Mo Yu who had been hidden somewhere popped up and scanned the area.
Yang Kai was incensed! [Why are all of them frightened by the slightest sound now?! Why are they making such a big fuss over just the tiniest hint of danger?! How am I supposed to make my move if they’re this wary?]
Alas, a Pseudo-Royal Lord was indeed powerful enough to have a keen sense for danger. Yang Kai wanted to attack them, but even if he used Thunder Shadow’s Divine Ability to hide his presence, he could not remove his opponent’s innate ability to sense crisis. It was a natural instinct that all Masters had.
Yang Kai frowned and moved his gaze towards a High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
[I can’t do anything to the Pseudo-Royal Lords when they’re this vigilant, but it shouldn’t be a problem if I target these Black Ink Nests, right?]
Black Ink Nests were inanimate objects and every single High-Rank Black Ink Nest was crucial to the foundation of the Black Ink Clan. The destruction of several would also be a huge loss for the Black Ink Clan. Furthermore, these ones at the No-Return Pass either housed Pseudo-Royal Lords in recovery or Territory Lords who were cultivating. There was a high chance that Yang Kai would get an unexpected bonus when he destroyed one of these High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
With that thought in mind, Yang Kai moved over to a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and slammed his fist into it.
All the Pseudo-Royal Lords jumped in shock when the ferocious force exploded out of nowhere. Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu also appeared at once and came charging over from different directions.
The next instant, the Pseudo-Royal Lords flew into action as well and they immediately began rushing over.
However, Yang Kai did not intend to engage them in a fight. A single punch from him was enough to make the humongous Black Ink Nest shatter into pieces, and a figure stumbled out looking rather dishevelled.
Yang Kai glanced at the figure and was pleased by what he saw. It was a Pseudo-Royal Lord who had been slumbering inside the Black Ink Nest to recuperate.
[An excellent find!]
Instead of killing the Territory Lords who had the potential to become Royal Lords, Yang Kai would much rather kill off some Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were undeniably powerful and killing any one of them was a great boon. As for the Territory Lords, they merely had the possibility of becoming Royal Lords and it was uncertain whether or not they would succeed.
This Pseudo-Royal Lord had been abruptly awakened from his deep sleep and it was clear that he had not figured out what was happening yet. Thus, he was caught off guard and was swept into a large river that crashed down on him.
“Yang Kai!” Mo Na Ye’s teeth nearly cracked from how hard he clenched his jaw. A flurry of Secret Techniques burst out from him before he even arrived.
Mo Yu had done the same.
Yang Kai grabbed onto the Space-Time River and dashed off at once. Nevertheless, though he made a quick escape, he did stumble a little from the torrent of attacks from such a large group of Black Ink Clansmen.
Yang Kai was moving further and further away and the Black Ink Clan had no hope of catching up to him. Mo Na Ye swiftly came to a stop and the Pseudo-Royal Lords followed suit.
It was not as if they were reluctant to give chase, but they feared what could happen if they did. Had they given chase, Yang Kai would surely put up a fight. Space Secret Techniques were too unnerving to them as they allowed Yang Kai to move around elusively. Furthermore, Yang Kai also had a Secret Technique that allowed him to perfectly conceal himself, which made them feel even more distraught.
The Black Ink Clan Masters were seething with rage as they glared in the direction where Yang Kai had fled.
“Why didn’t you use the Grand Array?” Mo Na Ye was infuriated as he glared at a few of the Pseudo-Royal Lords beside him.
To defend themselves from Yang Kai’s sneak attack, Mo Na Ye had arranged for Grand Arrays to be set up all across the No-Return Pass. The moment Yang Kai showed up, they were to activate the Grand Arrays to seal off the Void.
One of the Pseudo-Royal Lords cowered under Mo Na Ye’s furious gaze and explained, “We did, but he didn’t use any Space Secret Techniques.”
Mo Na Ye’s expression froze.
The Grand Array which sealed off the Void could indeed remove Yang Kai’s ability to use Instantaneous Movement, but moments ago, he had simply dashed off into the distance and the Grand Array had no effect on that. Mo Na Ye had been so blinded by his fury that he forgot about this possibility.
All of a sudden, Mo Yu spoke up, “He stopped.”
Mo Na Ye looked over and saw that Yang Kai had indeed come to a stop just barely within his view. Even though Yang Kai did not say anything, it looked as if he was silently taunting them and daring them to come after him…
Mo Na Ye’s eyes dimmed and he was so infuriated that he nearly passed out.
The Space-Time River was churning with ferocious waves and it was clear that the Pseudo-Royal Lord stuck inside it was struggling to get out; however, considering the power Yang Kai had right now, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was not going to succeed when he was the only one Yang Kai had to suppress.
“Not coming after me, huh…” Yang Kai eyed the Black Ink Clan with flashing eyes. [They’re all so cautious. I guess they’re scared that I’ll turn around and attack them again.]
[In that case…]
A thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind and his silhouette rippled as he dashed into the Space-Time River. All at once, the already choppy water of the Space-Time River began swirling even more fiercely.
Mo Na Ye’s expression changed as he viewed this from a distance. He nearly rushed over, but before he could do anything, the churning river quietened down as Yang Kai reappeared.
He was holding onto the Pseudo-Royal Lord, who was barely breathing and whose vitality was weak.
The Pseudo-Royal had returned to the No-Return Pass to recuperate inside the Black Ink Nest after being heavily injured during a fight with the Eighth-Order Masters out on the battlefield.
He had not fully recovered yet and was not at the peak of his strength; furthermore, he had been trapped inside the Space-Time River, so it took Yang Kai no effort to subdue him.
With the Pseudo-Royal Lord in hand, Yang Kai gazed coldly at the powerful Masters from the Black Ink Clan who stood in a group some distance away from him and his grip began tightening.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord sensed what was happening and tried to struggle with the last of his strength, but it was to no avail. He could only look up at Mo Na Ye and the others as he cried out, “Save…”
Before he could finish, he burst into a cloud of blood as Black Ink Strength exploded and turned into a huge Black Ink Cloud.
Yang Kai scoffed and flicked his hand a few times.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords opposite him were beside themselves with rage while Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu were livid as well. They could not stay calm in the face of Yang Kai’s repeated taunts, but they could not do anything about it either.
The previous fight proved just how powerful Yang Kai was. Even with the combined strength of two Royal Lords and several dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords, they failed to kill him and could only chase him off. Even if they started a fight now, it was unlikely that they would benefit from it.
It could be said that Yang Kai, who was now a Ninth-Order Master and a Divine Dragon at the same time, was entirely capable of freely moving about among the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai did not leave right away after killing the Pseudo-Royal Lord though. Instead, he eyed Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu with interest and asked, “Between you two, who’s in charge now?”
Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu stayed silent. Their gazes were dark and they appeared to be uninterested in entertaining Yang Kai.
Yang Kai snorted, “The feud between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan runs deeper than the ocean of blood that has been spilt. The relationship between us is absolutely irreconcilable and we will forever be at each other’s throats trying to kill each other. Have the Humans not lost countless lives to your Black Ink Clan as well? All I did was kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord, so why are you reacting in this manner? What’s wrong? Are you just sore losers?”
[Just one!? Eight Pseudo-Royal Lords died at your hands when you showed up at E-5 Territory!] The thought of this made Mo Na Ye’s blood boil, [You would’ve killed the rest of them there if it had not been for the fact that they fled the moment they realised the situation didn’t look good for them.]
Mo Na Ye took a deep breath to quell his anger before gritting his teeth and spitting out, “What do you want? Just spit it out.”
At last, he deduced from Yang Kai’s game of cat and mouse that the latter must want something from them, so instead of wasting time staring each other down, Mo Na Ye figured it was better to just address things head-on.
Yang Kai looked at him with a startled expression, “Are you the one in control of the Black Ink Clan now? Did you manage to overthrow Mo Yu’s rule?”
He turned to Mo Yu, “You’re the Senior Royal Lord, you know? Even if Mo Na Ye has become a Royal Lord, he’s still your Junior. How can you let someone younger climb up on your head and order you around? That’s not the way things should be.”
Mo Yu was unphased as Yang Kai’s words meant nothing to him.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye’s expression was cold as he growled, “Don’t bother trying to instigate conflict. We don’t scheme and stab each other in the back the way you Humans do!”
Yang Kai pursed his lips as he was merely giving it a try. It would be great if he successfully drove a wedge between the two Royal Lords, but either way, he would not be losing anything by trying.
Nevertheless, it did not seem to be effective.
Yang Kai shrugged and said, “Since you’re in charge, it’s all good to me. We’re well-acquainted with each other and have never done each other wrong. I came here today to do business with the Black Ink Clan.”
Mo Na Ye’s brow twitched. Just the word ‘business’ was enough to give him a headache as he recalled what it had been like when Yang Kai ripped him off last time.
Thus, when he heard what Yang Kai said, he had a bad feeling and sorely wished he could sew Yang Kai’s mouth shut…
He did not respond and Yang Kai did not care as he continued, “I want to retrieve something from the No-Return Pass, so I hope you all know what’s good for you and cooperate with me.”
Mo Na Ye’s eyelids twitched even harder, “What is it?”
Yang Kai pointed with his finger.
Mo Na Ye turned to see what he was pointing at and saw a few towering Black Ink Nests. These were all Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests save for one High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
“A Black Ink Nest?” Mo Na Ye queried in confusion.
He could not figure it out. Why would Yang Kai want a Black Ink Nest?
Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, but they were fairly useless to the Humans. Back then, the Humans did grab a few Black Ink Nests to study, and during the first crusade, they also used the Black Ink Nests’ communicative functions to make arrangements for their separated Armies.
However, ever since then, the Humans stopped having any ideas about the Black Ink Nests.
“You misunderstand. Why would I want a Black Ink Nest?” Yang Kai pointed once more, “I want what’s beneath those Black Ink Nests.”
Mo Na Ye was startled but he soon realised what Yang Kai meant and could not resist snorting, “You’re quite greedy, aren’t you?!”
The only thing beneath the Black Ink Nests was a Great Pass.
Back then, when the Human Race’s Crusade Force had been defeated outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, they had been forced to retreat to the No-Return Pass; however, during that time, some of the Great Passes remained behind to delay the enemy. They suffered heavy casualties and most of the Great Passes were also either badly damaged or destroyed.
In the end, only some 70 to 80 Great Passes gathered back at the No-Return Pass. Following that, several more had been destroyed when the Black Ink Clan invaded the No-Return Pass. The only Great Passes remaining here at the No-Return Pass numbered approximately half of what the Humans had at their peak, and most were heavily damaged.
The majestic Great Passes were legacies from the Human Race’s Ancestors. It was the heritage that was collected and passed down from generation to generation. These Great Passes greatly contributed to the Humans’ ability to resist the Black Ink Clan across the many Theatres of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Every Great Pass was a massive Mobile Palace Artifact that could be used for both offence and defence.
The Suppressing Black Ink Fortress had been created to mimic these Great Passes, but it was far smaller in comparison. It was like comparing a child to an adult.
However, due to the overwhelmingly large size of these Great Passes, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had no way of taking them with them when they retreated; thus, when the Humans lost the No-Return Pass, the Great Passes had been left behind.
Even though the Black Ink Clan took over the No-Return Pass, they could not use these Great Passes, so they simply used them as platforms to plant their Black Ink Nests.
So many years had passed since then and the Humans had never considered reclaiming these Great Passes as they could not do so. Mo Na Ye never expected Yang Kai to make this request now.
The Black Ink Clan could not do anything with these Great Passes because the Humans had taken all the Cores with them when they evacuated. Even the arrays and artifacts built into the Great Passes had been destroyed. They left nothing but empty shells for the Black Ink Clan.
Thus, Mo Na Ye was puzzled by Yang Kai’s request for a Great Pass. It was no big deal to give one to Yang Kai, but since they were enemies, he was not going to agree to it.
Mo Na Ye was about to reject the request when he heard Yang Kai adding airily, “I only wish to take a Great Pass. I’ll let you move your Black Ink Nests away first. All you have to do is agree to my request, but if you refuse… Well, I have nothing much to do anyway. I guess I’ll just drop by for a visit every now and then.”
Mo Na Ye had to choke down what he was about to say. No words could describe the bitter taste in his mouth right now.
If Yang Kai had made this request two months ago when he first showed up, there was no way Mo Na Ye would have agreed; however, the fight two months ago allowed the Black Ink Clan to witness Yang Kai’s might. Furthermore, his sneak attack earlier resulted in the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
How could they afford to bear such losses if this situation happened a few more times? The Pseudo-Royal Lords did have the ability to sense danger approaching, but the Black Ink Nests were inanimate objects. If Yang Kai focused on attacking the Black Ink Nests, then no matter how many High-Rank Black Ink Nests they had at the No-Return Pass, the number would eventually drop to zero someday. Yang Kai had proven himself capable of doing such a thing.
Therefore, after taking everything into account, Mo Na Ye realised he had no way of rejecting the request.
He could not resist glancing at Mo Yu. Although Mo Yu trusted him and allowed him to be in charge of all military matters, he could not decide such a thing by himself so he had to discuss it with Mo Yu first.
The two Royal Lords communicated with their Divine Sense and Yang Kai did not rush them.
Moments later, Mo Na Ye gritted his teeth and declared, “We can give you the Great Pass, but I want something from you as well.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Well, this is a business transaction. As always, the price starts off sky-high before coming back down to close the deal. Go ahead and say what you want.”
“Once we give you the Great Pass, you are not to come back to the No-Return Pass ever again,” Mo Na Ye declared.
“Do you want to go back to sleep and carry on with your dreams?” Yang Kai eyed Mo Na Ye as if he were staring at a fool.
Mo Na Ye shrugged, “You’re the one who said the asking price should start off high. Who knows? Maybe you might’ve agreed to it.”
Yang Kai’s mood soured, “Do I look like a fool to you?”
“1,000 years then! Don’t come back to the No-Return Pass for 1,000 years!”
The veins along Yang Kai’s forehead started to pulse, “I said the price starts off high, but I didn’t say it should be ridiculous!”
“I learned from you…” Mo Na Ye fired back mockingly.
Yang Kai glared at him before waving his hand, “10 years. I’ll stay away from the No-Return Pass for 10 years!”
“900 years!” Mo Na Ye started bargaining.
“I think you have misunderstood the situation you’re currently in,” Yang Kai remarked incredulously, “It’s not a must for me to retrieve something today. I can always come back to the No-Return Pass whenever I want. Staying away for a decade is the most sincerity I can offer, so don’t push your luck!”
10 years seemed like a long time to a normal Human without any cultivation, but for top Masters, especially those whose cultivation had reached that of Mo Na Ye and Yang Kai, it was nothing more than a flick of the hand.
Thus, it was only natural that Mo Na Ye was dissatisfied with Yang Kai’s proposal and immediately began to haggle as if he were arguing with a merchant at the market.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was the one with all the leverage, and he insisted on 10 years. Mo Na Ye was so frustrated that he fumed, “Since you want to do business, shouldn’t you at least show some sincerity? I don’t detect even the tiniest bit of sincerity from your stance at all. Sure, you may be able to throw your weight around right now, but you won’t always get so lucky. Don’t the Humans have a saying, Yang Kai? He who often walks by the river can’t avoid getting his shoes wet! You’re not invincible; moreover, we will be on guard from now on, so how often will you get to succeed in the future?”
Mo Na Ye hit the nail on the head. After Yang Kai’s latest stunt, the No-Return Pass was bound to impose even tighter security measures. Even though Yang Kai was banking on his superior strength, he would still get himself into a sticky situation if he was unlucky.
That was why Yang Kai was willing to strike a deal with the Black Ink Clan. He would not have bothered wasting his breath with them if he was certain he could destroy all of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests. If he had such confidence, he would have focused on doing just that no matter how long it took him.
The High-Rank Black Ink Nests were the very foundation of the Black Ink Clan, so if they were all destroyed, the Black Ink Clan would no longer have the means to replenish their Army. They would not be getting any new Royal Lords either.
With the heritage that the Black Ink Clan had right now, if they could not increase their numbers and create more Royal Lords, the Humans would simply need to keep fighting at a steady pace and sooner or later they would be able to wipe out the enemy.
Yang Kai could not resist clicking his tongue; alas, he could not pull one over Mo Na Ye. After mulling it over briefly, he declared, “Fine. 30 years. I won’t come back to the No-Return Pass for 30 years. This is my final offer. If you don’t agree, then the deal’s off.”
Mo Na Ye opened his mouth to speak, but Yang Kai gave him a hard look and swiftly added, “Think carefully before you speak. If you so much as utter the word ‘no’, I will turn around and leave at once!”
Mo Na Ye’s mouth remained open, but he could not say anything…
He glared at Yang Kai before communicating with Mo Yu with his Divine Sense.
Yang Kai calmly waited for their decision, but his eyes swept over all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, his sinister gaze making them tremble in fear…
A moment later, Mo Na Ye spoke up, “It’s a deal. You can take one Great Pass in exchange for staying away from the No-Return Pass for 30 years. I hope you’ll honour your end of the deal.”
Yang Kai grinned, “You can rest assured that I’ll do just that. We’ve dealt with each other many times, but have I ever broken my word?”
Mo Na Ye did not respond.
It was true that Yang Kai had never broken his promise before, but the situation at this point was a far cry from what it had been back then. In the past, though they were on opposing sides, both Races were busy building up their strength and thus acted with restraint. That was the reason why Yang Kai did not do anything reckless back then; however, the situation was different now. A full-scale war had broken out between the two sides and they were constantly at each other’s throats. In all honesty, Mo Na Ye had little faith in Yang Kai’s likelihood of keeping his promise. Even if Yang Kai had no intention of following through though, the Black Ink Clan could not do anything about it.
Mo Na Ye agreed to the deal for two reasons. The first was that he could not do anything anyway, but secondly, it was also his way of sounding out Yang Kai.
“The Humans left a total of 49 Great Passes here, which one do you want?” Mo Na Ye asked.
“I’ll take a look first,” Yang Kai replied. Naturally, he wanted to take the one that was the least damaged; otherwise, even if he did retrieve one, the Humans would have to use a hefty amount of their resources to repair it, and resources were exactly what they currently had the least of.
Thus, Yang Kai flew towards the No-Return Pass while the Black Ink Clan instinctually backed away.
Once Yang Kai got close to the No-Return Pass, he stopped and carefully studied the Great Passes.
Although he had made trips to the No-Return Pass numerous times, he was always busy trying to cause damage to the Black Ink Clan and had not paid much attention to the condition of the Great Passes that had been left here. Now that he was scrutinising them, he could sense just how intense the war back then had been.
During the great battle at the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai was still inside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, and by the time he managed to escape and return to the fight, the Humans had lost the No-Return Pass and retreated to the Barren Territory.
Therefore, he had not been a part of that battle and only knew that the Humans suffered terrible casualties, including the deaths of over a dozen Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
The Black Ink Clan did not come out unscathed either of course. One of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had been heavily wounded by the Humans during the Black Ink Clan’s siege of the No-Return Pass. It was that Black Ink Giant Spirit God that was killed in the Barren Territory with Ah Er’s assistance. If it had not been for that, there would not be just two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods remaining.
None of the many Great Passes left here at the No-Return Pass was in perfect condition. All of them were littered with traces from that battle, including blood stains from both Races.
In the end, Yang Kai’s eyes fell on one of the Great Passes and he pointed at it, “I’ll take that one.”
He could vaguely see two characters on one of the walls, but it was hard to decipher them, possibly due to the passage of time as well as the damage sustained during the battle. However, Yang Kai could just barely make out their meaning.
[That should be Pure Yang Pass!]
The Old Ancestor of Pure Yang Cave Heaven was the one who was in charge of Pure Yang Pass, and among all of the Old Ancestors back then, he was one of the oldest and most powerful.
Yang Kai had long admired the Old Ancestor, but he never got the chance to meet the latter. He heard it was that very Old Ancestor who rallied all the others and led the final charge during the waning moments of the Barren Territory War where they took on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and all the Royal Lords. He and the other Old Ancestors had chosen to sacrifice their lives for the future of the Human Race.
After being reminded of the valiant Old Ancestor, Yang Kai became emotional and levelled a cold glare at Mo Na Ye, “Move your Black Ink Nests away!”
There were four Black Ink Nests on Pure Yang Pass. One was a High-Rank Black Ink Nest while the other three were Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. Quite a number of Black Ink Clansmen were also stationed there.
It had been agreed upon earlier that Yang Kai would allow the Black Ink Clan to move their Black Ink Nests away beforehand. Even though a murderous feeling rose in his heart, he did not want to get into a conflict with Mo Na Ye right now.
Mo Na Ye flicked his hand and over a dozen Territory Lords swiftly came over in a group. They kept a wary eye on Yang Kai as they began moving their Black Ink Nests.
During this process, Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu kept their auras locked on Yang Kai. It was clear they were heavily guarding against him.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not do anything. Once all the Black Ink Nests had been moved and the Black Ink Clansmen left, Yang Kai moved over to Pure Yang Pass in a flash.
“Can he take it with him?” Mo Yu secretly asked Mo Na Ye.
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “I don’t know, but since he proposed this deal, it’s obvious that he’s confident about it.”
Yang Kai would not have made such a proposition if he did not feel confident.
“What a frightening enemy,” Mo Yu remarked with a complicated expression.
These Great Passes had been left behind at the No-Return Pass because they were too massive. Even the Old Ancestors back then could not easily store them inside their Small Universes.
The Pure Yang Old Ancestor, who was one of the mightiest Ninth-Order Masters, could probably accomplish this, but at the time, the Humans had to make a hasty retreat from the No-Return Pass as the situation had been fairly dire for them, and he did not have the time to do something like that. Furthermore, if he did move Pure Yang Pass into his Small Universe, it would have had a huge effect on his combat strength. Under those circumstances, he had to ensure he was at his strongest and could not jeopardise the situation just for the sake of a Great Pass.
[If Yang Kai manages to store a Great Pass inside his Small Universe, doesn’t that mean his heritage is even stronger than the previous generation’s top Ninth-Order Masters?]
[He hasn’t even been a Ninth-Order Master for long! He still has the potential to grow stronger!] Mo Yu was secretly horrified at the thought of Yang Kai’s terrifying talent and potential.
“Stick to the plan,” Mo Na Ye secretly communicated to everyone.
He had no choice but to compromise and agree to let Yang Kai retrieve a Great Pass, but at the same time, he wanted to use this chance to see Yang Kai’s limits. After all these years of battling the Humans, the Black Ink Clan was familiar enough with the mysteries of the Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe.
Even if Yang Kai had the ability to take such an enormous Great Pass with him, it would surely affect his strength. If Yang Kai so much as showed signs of weakness, the Black Ink Clan would not hesitate to gang up on him and try to get rid of him once and for all!
The deal would not have been struck so easily if this had not been what the Black Ink Clan was hoping for.
The Black Ink Clan were eyeing Yang Kai with the eyes of hunters when he turned abruptly, looked up, and grinned at them. After all these years of dealing with Mo Na Ye, it was only natural that he figured out what this Royal Lord was up to.
Yang Kai chuckled to himself, [If that’s what Mo Na Ye is hoping for, then he’s going to be sorely disappointed.]
As that thought flickered in his head, he summoned the Space-Time River. This move startled the Black Ink Clan. They had assumed that Yang Kai would have to use the strength of his Small Universe to retrieve Pure Yang Pass; after all, something as massive as a Great Pass could only be stored inside a Ninth-Order Master’s Small Universe if they wanted to move it on their own.
[Why did he summon this Dao Strength River?]
Mo Na Ye’s expression darkened as he realized he had been mistaken…
The sound of flowing water rang in their ears as the Space-Time River slowly unfurled, and under Yang Kai’s control, it looped around Pure Yang Pass until the entire Great Pass was completely engulfed by it.
Inside the river, Space-Time Dao Strength pulsed and the water suddenly started churning as a highly concentrated amount of the Space Dao Strength was released and the space covered by the river began to ripple.
Yang Kai made a grabbing motion at the Space-Time River and carelessly clutched it before turning to Mo Na Ye, “If you don’t make a move now, it’s going to be too late.”
Mo Na Ye stared right back at him with a neutral expression, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Yang Kai snorted and paid him no mind as he began channelling his strength through his hand.
Space quivered as cracks began to appear.
All at once, the Void where Pure Yang Pass was looked as if it was a block of tofu that had been sliced out by something sharp. The area that was enveloped by the Space-Time River broke off from the rest of the surrounding Space.
All Black Ink Clansmen were stunned while disbelief flashed in the eyes of the two Royal Lords. They were powerful and experienced Masters, but even to them, the power Yang Kai exhibited was far too unimaginable.
The Space-Time River began surging even more. It seemed as if the Space Dao Strength was about to explode and send thunderous waves crashing out of the great river.
Yang Kai slowly curled his fist, and as he did that, the piece of the Void that had been cut out began shrinking as if something was squeezing it.
Each time the water of the Space-Time River made a full circle, the chunk of Void grew a little smaller. From the looks of it, the entire piece of Space was going to be compressed by the pressure from the great river.
Yang Kai’s mysterious power was far beyond the realm of what the Black Ink Clan thought possible.
A quarter-hour later, the dust cleared. Yang Kai raised his hand and a ball the size of his fist shot into it.
In the distance, those from the Black Ink Clan were looking on with widened eyes and gaping mouths.
Mo Na Ye sighed to himself, [I was mistaken!] He assumed that Yang Kai would use his Small Universe to retrieve Pure Yang Pass and never thought the latter would exhibit such an ability instead.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai fiddled with the Space-Time River ball in his hand as he secretly smirked.
He was able to turn a Universe World into a World Bead, so how difficult would it be to do the same to Pure Yang Pass?
Of course, there was a difference between refining a Universe World into a World Bead and what he just did. He had been able to refine those Universe Worlds because their World Principles had not perished yet. In other words, the Universe Worlds were still alive, so in a sense they were cooperating with him which allowed him to refine each one of them before leaving them with the World Tree. That was also how he managed to build a strange connection with the World Tree and use the power of the Old Tree to traverse the Void.
However, Pure Yang Pass was completely inanimate and could not be communicated with in any way, so Yang Kai could not refine it in the same way. He could only wrap the Space-Time River around Pure Yang Pass and slice away the local Space where it was before using the power of his Space-Time River to compress everything.
With his present command over the Dao of Space, it was well within his means to do such a thing; furthermore, after encountering those tiny Celestial Phenomena inside the Universe Furnace’s Infinite River, he had gained much inspiration from them.
It could be said that his Space-Time River was the most crucial part of this whole plan. Without the Space-Time River, Yang Kai would have a hard time cutting out such a huge piece of the Void.
Yang Kai played with the Space-Time River ball in his hand before looking over at Mo Na Ye, “Why don’t I take another Great Pass in exchange for staying away from the No-Return Pass for 60 years?”
“Get lost!” Mo Na Ye was incensed as he had abruptly realised that the more powerful Yang Kai was, the more outrageous he became. [How dare he make such a shameless request?!]
The Humans’ Great Passes were extremely lethal weapons of war. It was bad enough to let Yang Kai take one with him, so why would they let him take two?
What’s more, there was barely a difference between 30 years and 60 years.
“Stingy!” Yang Kai pursed his lips, but he had only made this remark off-handedly as he knew for certain that the Black Ink Clan would not agree to it. Even if they did, he would not be able to do it anyway. He only had one Space-Time River and could not pull out another one.
“You’ve gotten what you wanted, so hurry up and leave,” Mo Na Ye could not resist urging. In a single trip to the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai managed to cause the loss of a Pseudo-Royal Lord and a High-Rank Black Ink Nest. He even took the Pure Yang Pass with him. All in all, the Black Ink Clan lost quite a fair bit.
Fortunately, if Yang Kai kept his word, they would not have to see him for another 30 years, and in that time, they could hopefully find a way to deal with such situations; otherwise, if Yang Kai returned once the 30 years were up, they would still be unable to do anything about him.
“There’s no rush,” Yang Kai smiled faintly as he eyed Mo Na Ye and said, “I’d like to discuss a second business proposal with you.”
Mo Na Ye’s head was throbbing by now and immediately raised his hand and said, “No thanks. You said it yourself, the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan are irreconcilable enemies and the bloodshed between us is enough to fill even the deepest oceans. There’s nothing we need to discuss. Leave at once with what you’ve taken!”
Nothing good came out of anything that was related to Yang Kai. Mo Na Ye was on his guard and did not want to waste any more time on this Human.
He did not expect Yang Kai to ignore what he said entirely and carry on speaking anyway, “The battlefields between both sides are similar to what it was back then. Right now, 12 Great Territories are being fought over with quite a number of Pseudo-Royal Lords standing guard at each one, along with massive Armies. Even if you don’t care about the lives of those in your Army, you’d still have to care about the lives of the Pseudo-Royal Lords, right?”
Mo Na Ye’s heart skipped a beat and his expression darkened, “What do you mean by that?”
Yang Kai chuckled and took a step forward. With the use of Space Principles, he reappeared in front of the Territory Gate and looked down upon the Black Ink Clan Masters beneath him as he taunted, “Don’t tell me you have no idea what I meant by that. Do you insist on forcing me to spell it out for you?”
Mo Yu’s expression was as dark as night and Mo Na Ye’s was not any better, but the latter stubbornly refuted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Yang Kai scoffed, “Seems to me you won’t admit it until I force your hand!” Then, he continued, “Why don’t I make a guess? When I left the No-Return Pass and all of you began prying open the Territory Gate, you must’ve gotten the word out at once for all the Pseudo-Royal Lords to retreat from the battlefields, right? Oh, wait. It won’t just be them. The Territory Lords and many of the Feudal Lords too, right? After all, you went through all that effort building them up, so it won’t be good if too many died. Based on the timing, the ones nearest to the No-Return Pass should arrive at the Barren Territory soon. Maybe I should head over there and greet them.”
Mo Na Ye’s eyes were flaming as murderous intent swelled up. He clenched his jaw and spat out, “You’ve known all along!”
Initially, he hoped that Yang Kai would not be able to figure this out, but the moment Yang Kai said it aloud, he knew he had been far too hopeful.
After all, with how shrewd Yang Kai was; it was impossible for him to not have thought of this possibility. Nevertheless, the fact that he did not show any signs of having thought about it earlier gave the Black Ink Clan a trace of hope.
That being said, the moment Yang Kai brought it up, Mo Na Ye knew that the situation was heading down the worst possible path for them.
Mo Na Ye instantly realised the severity of the situation when Yang Kai left the No-Return Pass and headed for the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield. The fact that Yang Kai could cause even more trouble at the No-Return Pass now was not the most serious issue. Although the Black Ink Clan could not be pleased by the way he messed around at the No-Return Pass, destroyed a Black Ink Nest, and killed a recovering Pseudo-Royal Lord, it did not have much of an effect on the fights out on the various battlefields.
On the contrary, Yang Kai’s ability to seal up the Territory Gate whenever he pleased was his biggest trump card!
The No-Return Pass was the foundation of the Black Ink Clan. They had two Royal Lords here and all of their High-Rank Black Ink Nests as well. Around 80% of the reinforcements sent to the battlefield came from the No-Return Pass. Even the injured Pseudo-Royal Lords had to return to the No-Return Pass to heal.
Therefore, the Territory Gate between the No-Return Pass and the Barren Territory was critical to their war effort!
If it was sealed up, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to send reinforcements to the various battlefields, and the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were on their way back could not return either.
Yang Kai could even seal up the Territory Gates across the various battlefields to keep all of the Black Ink Clan Armies caged up, then slowly eliminate them!
Considering how powerful he was now, no one would be able to challenge him out on the battlefields as there was not a single true Royal Lord overseeing them.
Yang Kai had also sealed up the Territory Gate at the No-Return Pass in the past, but at the time, he was only an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Even though he managed to seal up the Territory Gate, he did not have the power to kill off Royal Lords and Pseudo-Royal Lords and he would not be able to accomplish much if he relied solely on his Soul Rending Thorns.
However, the situation was different now. Yang Kai was a Ninth-Order Master and a Divine Dragon as well. The fight two months ago had allowed Mo Na Ye to realise just how powerful Yang Kai had truly become.
A Human as strong as Yang Kai with the tricky ability to seal Territory Gates to boot was an enemy that the Black Ink Clan could not go up against. His existence threatened to turn the tides on the Black Ink Clan despite the effort they had put in all these years to get things to where they were now.
Yang Kai using his ability to seal up the Territory Gate was the foreshadowing sign of the Black Ink Clan’s future possibility of devastating losses out on the battlefields.
Thus, while they were busy forcing open the Territory Gate, Mo Na Ye made sure the Black Ink Clan avoided suffering such heavy casualties by getting the word out as well. He instructed all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords out on the battlefields to retreat and return to the No-Return Pass as quickly as they could.
Doing this was the equivalent of dooming the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army. Though the Pseudo-Royal Lords could flee, the Armies could not. Mo Na Ye could predict that the Humans would certainly be able to massacre the Black Ink Clan Soldiers that remained on the battlefields.
Despite making all of the necessary arrangements beforehand, Mo Na Ye still had a hard time dealing with the fact that Yang Kai saw right through everything.
The losses the Black Ink Clan suffered this time around were irrefutably the worst since the Barren Territory War, but it was an unavoidable situation. Their goal was to invade the 3,000 Worlds, so naturally they fought deep within the 3,000 Worlds.
“Since you’ve already thought of this, why haven’t you done anything yet?” Now that things had come to this, Mo Na Ye was surprisingly able to keep a cool head.
“What are you referring to?” Yang Kai cocked his eyebrows.
“After claiming E-5 Territory, you could’ve easily helped out on the next battlefield. You could’ve also sealed up the Territory Gates to ensure the Human Race’s victory!”
This was something Mo Na Ye could not figure out. Yang Kai had made his move at E-5 Territory and helped the Red Flame Army slaughter a total of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords, but after having done that, he ran straight over to the No-Return Pass instead of lingering on the battlefield. Mo Na Ye believed that Yang Kai could have simply continued his efforts in the next Great Territory. The Black Ink Clan there would surely be defeated and at least a few of the Pseudo-Royal Lords would have died in the process.
Yang Kai chuckled and said, “Even though I could’ve taken over another battlefield by doing so, when word got back to you, you would’ve made the same arrangements as now. That means I’ll only get to kill a few more Pseudo-Royal Lords. There’s not much point in that.”
Mo Na Ye mulled it over and nodded lightly. As it was, the moment he received the report from E-5 Territory, he immediately thought about withdrawing all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords as it would be dangerous for them if Yang Kai began eyeing them too. There was no telling where Yang Kai would head off to next, so it had to be a full retreat.
However, the subsequent dispatches made it clear that Yang Kai did not head to any other battlefield and instead headed straight for the No-Return Pass, which was why Mo Na Ye did not immediately give the order to retreat.
That all changed when Yang Kai left the No-Return Pass. As Mo Na Ye surveyed the sealed-up Territory Gate, he finally realised how grave the situation was.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai’s expression hardened as he said, “The situation across the 3,000 Worlds is far too messy right now. All of the Armies are separated and your Black Ink Clan has established forward outposts throughout the various Great Territories. Don’t you think it’s better if we make the situation simpler?”
Mo Na Ye came to an understanding, “So, that’s why you’ve chosen to do this!”
Yang Kai nodded, “Soon, the Humans will reclaim the 3,000 Worlds, and the Black Ink Clan will have to all gather together at the No-Return Pass. The Humans won’t need to disperse their Armies to deal with you, they will simply have to keep their eye on the No-Return Pass.” As for the Pseudo-Royal Lords whose lives were threatened by Yang Kai, sooner or later, they would still die.
Mo Na Ye could not help but feel impressed, “That is indeed the best possible situation for the Humans.” Then, he followed up with a sigh, “The Humans are blessed to have you, Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai smirked, “Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because you are flattering me.”
Mo Na Ye shook his head and asked with a forlorn expression, “Is this the second business proposal you talked about earlier?”
As soon as Yang Kai pointed out the reality of the current situation, Mo Na Ye knew Yang Kai had managed to trick the Black Ink Clan into doing what he wanted again. He purposely sealed the Territory Gate to make them wary of the possibilities which led to them recalling all the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were out fighting. All of this left Mo Na Ye feeling both furious and bleak.
Yang Kai stood outside the Territory Gate and opened his arms, “Right now, I’m the one who has the upper hand. Your Pseudo-Royal Lords are retreating from all the different battlefields, but I can seal up the Territory Gate at any time and slaughter all of them. Even though you can force open the Territory Gate again, it’ll take some time. Moreover, I can seal up more than one Territory Gate!”
If Yang Kai headed off right now to kill the returning Pseudo-Royal Lords, he would undoubtedly seal off all the Territory Gates along the way. Mo Na Ye would not be able to go after him no matter how much he wanted to.
With Yang Kai’s present mastery over the Dao of Space and his current strength, it was laughably easy for him to seal off a Territory Gate. However, it would take the Black Ink Clan time and a lot of time and effort to break one open again.
The amount of work required of both parties was worlds apart. Yang Kai could use this to his advantage and the additional time he had thanks to that would be enough for the Black Ink Clan to lose a majority of their Pseudo-Royal Lords.
“What do you want?” Mo Na Ye asked darkly.
Yang Kai flashed a faint smile, “Now that’s how you do business.” It was easy to deal with someone as smart as Mo Na Ye. Yang Kai did not need to give a detailed explanation. Mo Na Ye could grasp the situation quickly which saved the need to waste one’s breath. If Yang Kai had been dealing with a hot-headed fool with a fiery temper instead, they might have come to blows by now.
That was not what Yang Kai wanted.
“As long as your new generation of Royal Lords hasn’t emerged, the Pseudo-Royal Lords are your strongest forces. You can’t afford to lose any of them; after all, you don’t have any more Innate Territory Lords, so every single Pseudo-Royal Lord who dies can’t be replaced,” Yang Kai slowly remarked, “How’s this? I won’t back you into a corner. For every single Pseudo-Royal Lord, I want a million sets of Fifth-Order materials. You can count how many Pseudo-Royal Lords you have remaining and give me the equivalent amount.”
“Are you insane!?” Mo Na Ye stared at Yang Kai in shock. He was thunderstruck by the Human’s attempt at open robbery.
Even though he only asked for Fifth-Order materials, a million sets was far too much. Furthermore, this was only in exchange for a single Pseudo-Royal Lord. At the very least, there were around 100 of them out on the battlefields, so wasn’t that like asking for 100 million sets of Fifth-Order materials?
Though Mo Na Ye knew Yang Kai would surely have high demands, he never expected the latter to be this greedy and he certainly could not accept it.
“These materials mean nothing to the Black Ink Clan, but the same can’t be said for the Pseudo-Royal Lords,” Yang Kai commented coolly, “You better think carefully before you answer.”
Mo Na Ye gritted his teeth, “It’s too much!” Truth be told, Mo Na Ye was more than willing to use these materials to exchange for the lives of the Pseudo-Royal Lords, but the price that Yang Kai asked for was too far outside the limits of acceptability. After all, the materials taken from them would be used to help the Humans grow stronger. The more the Black Ink Clan gave, the stronger the Humans could become.
All of a sudden, Mo Na Ye realised that this could very well be the real reason why Yang Kai showed up at the No-Return Pass!
Mo Na Ye knew of the Humans’ lack of resources. The Black Ink Clan had the entire Black Ink Battlefield to supply them with everything they needed to provide for their Army, but what did the Humans have? They only had the resources amassed by the major Sects throughout all their years of existence, but no matter how much they had saved, they would still use everything up someday.
When that happened, the Humans would no longer have any resources and the cultivation of their Masters would slow down dramatically. They might not even get any new Open Heaven Realm Masters anymore.
Therefore, the Humans had to find a way to overcome their dwindling supplies. This explained why Yang Kai named such an exorbitant price.
His earlier deal with the Black Ink Clan was merely his way of slowly setting up the stage and putting pressure on them…
Thinking about it now, Mo Na Ye realised that the earlier deal did not benefit the Black Ink Clan in any way; instead, they ended up allowing Yang Kai to take a Great Pass basically for free.
“That’s my only condition. I won’t accept any attempts to bargain. You have a stick of incense’s worth of time to discuss this. If you can’t accept it, then so be it. I will immediately head off to slaughter all your Pseudo-Royal Lords. Let me see how many of them manage to make it back alive. Oh. I’ll start with the Territory Gate that connects Shattered Heaven to the 3,000 Words. That’ll make for an excellent battlefield!” Yang Kai took a hard line and left no room for haggling.
Mo Na Ye’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets and the other Pseudo-Royal Lords were seething with rage as well. They kept throwing questioning looks at Mo Na Ye. It was as if they would rush forward to eviscerate Yang Kai the moment the Royal Lord gave the order.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye’s expression kept changing. Everyone could see that he was trying to quell his murderous intent. In the end, he did not give the order as he somehow kept a lid on his fury.
He was only able to control himself because he knew nothing would come out of it even if he did give the order to attack. They could not do anything to Yang Kai when the Territory Gate was right behind him. The moment the Black Ink Clan even tried to do anything, Yang Kai could immediately jump through the Territory Gate.
Truth be told, Mo Na Ye was not averse to giving away those materials in exchange for the safety of the Pseudo-Royal Lords; however, he was infuriated by the amount Yang Kai asked for and the refusal to let them bargain even when they did so earlier!
However, he could not deny that Yang Kai was targeting the Black Ink Clan’s weakness. If he did do as he said just now, a lot of Pseudo-Royal Lords would be meeting their doom.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were retreating from the battlefields had to pass through the Territory Gate at the Shattered Heaven. It was a passage that could not be avoided, and Yang Kai only had to lie in wait there. By doing so, he would surely be able to kill them off.
If the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass wanted to head over to help the Pseudo-Royal Lords, they had to pass through the Barren Territory and travel across the entirety of the Shattered Heaven. Not only would the journey take them far longer than it took Yang Kai, but just the act of needing to break open the sealed Territory Gates would waste a lot of their time as well.
By the time they did manage to get there, it was probably going to be too late.
Furthermore, they had to leave some Masters at the No-Return Pass to stand guard there, so they could not send out all of their forces.
A single Human had the entire Black Ink Clan in a chokehold! All of the Black Ink Clansmen were drowning in humiliation.
After sending a resentful glare in Yang Kai’s direction, Mo Na Ye used his Divine Sense to discuss the deal with Mo Yu.
Yang Kai calmly waited by the Territory Gate without rushing them; after all, he did say he was giving them a stick of incense’s worth of time to discuss the deal. Moreover, he was certain they would agree to his demand. Although he was asking for a lot, it was not an amount they could not deliver. They simply did not want to hand over all these resources to the enemy.
However, materials came second when weighed against the lives of those Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Still, there were no guarantees in life. If the Black Ink Clan was going to be stubborn about it and refuse to accept his ridiculous demand, then he had no choice but to head on over and kill off the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Now that he was using the Space-Time River to seal Pure Yang Pass, Yang Kai could not use it in battle, and without its help, it would not be easy for him to kill all those Pseudo-Royal Lords. Furthermore, the returning Pseudo-Royal Lords would be travelling in groups, which would make it even harder for him to kill them.
If he had to do it, he could only succeed a few times. As more and more Pseudo-Royal Lords returned from the various battlefields, he would have to stop. No matter how strong he was, there was still a limit to what he could accomplish alone.
[Hopefully, Mo Na Ye makes the wiser choice!] Yang Kai glanced at Mo Na Ye, and the latter just so happened to be glancing over at him too. Their eyes met and Yang Kai flashed the Royal Lord a cordial smile.
Mo Na Ye averted his eyes with a disgusted expression.
The discussion continued. At first, it was only between Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, but soon, the Divine Senses of many other Pseudo-Royal Lords joined in. From their expressions and reactions, it was clear that they were split on the issue.
Yang Kai did not bother paying any attention to them and just remained ready to step into the Territory Gate at any given moment.
Before the time was up, the Black Ink Clan came to a decision.
Yang Kai gathered his thoughts and crossed his arms before calmly asking, “So?”
Mo Na Ye took a deep breath. He looked like someone who was weighed down by abject humiliation as he growled lowly, “We accept the trade you’ve asked for!”
Yang Kai’s brow twitched a little, “Is it too late for me to ask for more now?”
He had clearly underestimated the amount of resources the Black Ink Clan had. As it was, he thought he was already asking for the lion’s share of what they had. He even considered the possibility of compromising just a tiny bit if the Black Ink Clan insisted on haggling with him. [Who would’ve thought that they’d agree just like that?!]
After giving it some thought, it made sense. The Black Ink Clan had been in control of the 3,000 Worlds and the entire Black Ink Battlefield for millennia, which was more than enough time for them to gather an enormous amount of resources as they had more than enough underlings to do the mining.
Yang Kai felt an inexplicable sense of regret, like he had somehow suffered a great loss.
“Yang Kai!” Mo Na Ye roared, “Don’t go too far!”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “I was joking! It’s just a joke. Don’t get all worked up!”
Mo Na Ye threw him a baleful glare. It took quite some time before he could calm himself down again, “We need time to gather everything!”
“Three days!” Yang Kai had already considered this. He was not going to let the Black Ink Clan drag things out for too long, “I want to see everything in three days. Also, let me warn you right now. Don’t even bother trying to trick me. I know full well how many Pseudo-Royal Lords you have out there!”
“Three days isn’t enough time. You’re asking for a lot,” Mo Na Ye countered with a frown.
Yang Kai snorted, “All of your resources are right here. You just need to sort through them. You can do that in three days. But, of course, I don’t mind if you wish to drag it out even longer. However… if any of the Pseudo-Royal Lords return before I get what I want, don’t blame me for not showing any mercy!”
He was standing right outside the Territory Gate, so if the Pseudo-Royal Lords returned, they would surely pop up in front of him. How could any of them survive if he attacked them the moment they came through?
Mo Na Ye’s face twitched as he growled, “Fine. Three days!”
“You’re a decisive one!” Yang Kai complimented.
“We don’t have that many Fifth-Order materials, so we’ll make up for it with others. Naturally, we’ll make sure we meet the necessary amount,” Mo Na Ye added.
After all, even the Black Ink Clan could not bring out nearly 100 million sets of Fifth-Order materials. It made sense that they had to replace some of them with other kinds of materials.
Yang Kai was not going to make things difficult for them on this account, so he nodded before replying, “Sure, but nothing less than Fourth-Order materials. I won’t accept anything below that!”
At this point, the Humans rarely had any new Open Heaven Realm Masters beneath the Fourth-Order. The Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World, the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, had boosted the floor of the Human Race greatly and allowed the Open Heaven Realm Masters to have a far better start than they did in the past.
Therefore, materials beneath Fourth-Order were not of much use to the Humans. On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan did not have the same requirements when it came to the Order of materials. Everything would be tossed inside the Black Ink Nest anyway, so it did not matter to them how low the quality was.
Mo Na Ye briefly mulled over Yang Kai’s demand before agreeing to it. He gave the Pseudo-Royal Lords a look and over a dozen of them returned to the No-Return Pass to start organising their resources.
Meanwhile, the other Black Ink Clansmen kept staring at Yang Kai from a distance.
Since there was nothing else to do, Yang Kai took out a table and a few chairs from his Small Universe, as well as a tea set. As he began preparing a pot of tea, he looked over at Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, “Why don’t the two of you come over and have a seat?”
Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu exchanged glances and scoffed under their breaths before heading over in a flash and taking their seats in front of Yang Kai.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were still watching on from a distance could not resist circulating their power just in case they needed to provide some form of aid; however, the three most powerful Masters simply sat there in silence. No one showed any sign of wanting to start a fight.
It was a strange sight to behold and the Pseudo-Royal Lords nursed complicated feelings seeing it.
In just a few moments, the tea was ready. Yang Kai filled the cups in front of the two Royal Lords before pouring himself some tea as well. After taking a sip, he set his cup down and said, “I’m not much of a tea connoisseur; after all, I haven’t had the luxury of time to spare on such things. But, a lot of Humans are passionate about tea, many even considering it an art form. Ever since the Black Ink Clan’s invasion into the 3,000 Worlds, countless Humans were displaced from their homes and many of the Great Territories are now empty and lifeless. Perhaps many traditions such as this will die out as a result. What a pity.”
Mo Na Ye took a sip of the tea and responded curtly, “I prefer the taste of the Humans’ wines and liqueurs. Tea is a little bland.”
Yang Kai cocked his eyebrows, “You’re quite picky, aren’t you? Doesn’t matter to me whether you drink it or not. You know, considering the Black Ink Clan’s speciality of destroying any place you invade, if you truly take control over everything, you won’t even be able to drink tea anymore.”
Mo Na Ye set his cup down and staunchly declared, “In the future, Black Ink will be the only constant existence!”
Yang Kai raised his hand to stop Mo Na Ye, “Don’t bother spreading your propaganda. We’ll never see eye to eye and we’ll never be on the same side. You’re just a bunch of invaders who’re running amok in someone else’s home.”
“When everything first came into existence, the Divine Spirits were the ones in power,” Mo Na Ye coolly retorted, “Then, it was the Monster Race who ruled before the power finally fell into the hands of the Human Race. As the years go by, control of the Universe switches between different Races, there is no true preordained owner. If the Humans can be in charge, then so can the Black Ink Clan.”
Yang Kai side-eyed him, “You know a thing or two, huh? There was balance and progress in the Universe during the reigns of the Divine Spirits, Monster Race, and the Human Race, but if the Black Ink Clan does succeed, what can you bring about? There will be nothing but destruction and desolation. If everything else is gone, do you think the Black Ink Clan will survive? You’re just digging your own graves, and yet you make it sound so wonderful by calling it the only constant existence! Since you know so much, let me ask you this. Do you know how the Divine Spirits came into existence?”
Mo Na Ye frowned, “Do you?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai declared with a smug smile.
However, he did not give Mo Na Ye any time to ask any questions as he swiftly added, “But, I’m not going to tell you!”
Mo Na Ye could not resist rolling his eyes, but his temper did not flare up.
Yang Kai continued, “The Black Ink Clan came about because of Mo. Its thoughts and beliefs are what determine your actions and choices. Even though Mo is incredibly powerful, it was suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction all of those years ago. Unable to escape, it has been stuck there ever since; however, it doesn’t seem to do well with loneliness. Nevertheless, it’s like a frog that has been stuck inside a well and thinks that what it sees is everything there is to see and know. It cannot possibly fathom that there’s so much more out there that it has no idea about.”
*Peng!*
Mo Yu, who had been silent the whole time, slammed his cup onto the table and glared at Yang Kai, “How dare you question the Supreme One!”
Yang Kai side-eyed him, “What’s wrong with you? Getting all worked up over a few words I said? What gives you the audacity to lash out at me after drinking my tea, huh?!”
Mo Yu had a stormy expression as he retorted, “Don’t think you’re invincible just because you’re a Ninth-Order Master now, Yang Kai. Perhaps Mo Na Ye and I can’t stand against you, but can you stand against the Supreme One’s Soul Clone?”
Naturally, he was referring to the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Yang Kai snorted, “Why would I need to stand against them? They have their own opponents.”
Mo Yu could not think of a retort to that.
Yang Kai pursed his lips, “Forget it. I can’t be bothered to talk about these things with you. Why would we need to cultivate if everything could be resolved through debates?” He cocked his eyebrows at Mo Na Ye, “Isn’t that right?”
It was clear that Mo Na Ye did not want to dwell on this topic either, so he changed the subject, “We’ll give you the materials in three days, but I have a small request as well.”
“Go on,” Yang Kai raised his cup of tea to his lips before swirling it around.
“You need to remain here until all the Pseudo-Royal Lords have returned to the No-Return Pass before you can leave.”
Mo Na Ye had dealt with Yang Kai many times, and though this Human had never broken a promise he made, Mo Na Ye could not be sure that he could trust Yang Kai this time. If Yang Kai left right after taking all the materials with him, he would certainly head over to kill those Pseudo-Royal Lords. To avoid that, they could only allow Yang Kai to leave when all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had returned.
He was worried that Yang Kai would not agree to his request and was even considering withholding a portion of the materials and only handing them over to Yang Kai once the Pseudo-Royal Lords arrived safe and sound; thus, he did not expect Yang Kai to agree without any fuss, “I was going to do that anyway, even if you didn’t ask it of me.”
Startled, Mo Na Ye gave him a blank stare, [Why would he do that?]
With a faint smile, Yang Kai explained, “I have to see whether the number of materials you give matches the number of Pseudo-Royal Lords who come back. It’s no issue if you give more than what we agreed upon, but if you give me less… Heh heh. I won’t be pleased.”
Mo Na Ye’s expression darkened as he growled, “You can rest assured that I know even better than you just how many Pseudo-Royal Lords there are out there. You won’t be getting any less than what we agreed.”
“That’s good then,” Yang Kai nodded and refilled Mo Na Ye’s cup, but he ignored Mo Yu and the latter’s expression became a little unpleasant.
Mo Na Ye chuckled and shook his head. He personally topped up Mo Yu’s cup before letting out a heavy sigh, “The advantage we had for thousands of years is all gone now. Henceforth, the Humans will be able to easily reclaim the 3,000 Worlds.”
Previously, it would not have been easy for the Humans to reclaim the 3,000 Worlds. There was no telling how long it would take for them to go on fighting to reclaim each Great Territory one by one, not to mention all the effort and the sacrifices that needed to be made as well.
However, due to the overwhelming threat that the Black Ink Clan was up against in the form of Yang Kai, they were forced to withdraw all of their most powerful Masters lest the Human seized his chance to eliminate them.
Due to this, the Black Ink Clan Army out on the battlefields would not be able to put up a fight against the Humans, and the Black Ink Clan did not plan on sending out any reinforcements either. Therefore, the Humans simply needed to put in a bit of time and they would be able to reclaim the rest of the 3,000 Worlds.
Yang Kai scoffed, “So what if we reclaim them? The 3,000 Worlds are nothing but tattered ruins left behind by the Black Ink Clan. It’s merely a symbolic victory for us as the 3,000 Worlds won’t be of any help to us.”
After many millennia of damage caused by the Black Ink Clan’s occupation, all of the Universe Worlds in all the Great Territories had died out a long time ago. All the resources had been stripped and the 3,000 Worlds were nothing more than empty ruins. Even if the Humans reclaimed them, they would be of much use.
“That’s true, but the Humans would not be forfeiting an easy victory.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I assume that in the future, the Humans will have control over the 3,000 Worlds while the Black Ink Clan continues to hold the No-Return Pass.” Now that the subject came up, Yang Kai grew curious, “Back when the Black Ink Clan invaded the No-Return Pass, how did you manage to enter the Barren Territory?”
There was only one Territory Gate, and when the Humans retreated to the Barren Territory, they would have already set up an ambush at the Territory Gate. It would not have been easy for the Black Ink Clan to invade the Barren Territory. Even if they kept sending their Army through, the Humans would still decimate them with ease.
Yang Kai did not take part in that battle and he did not seek out much information after the fact, so he was curious to know how the Black Ink Clan could break past the Humans’ defences and launch a successful invasion into the Barren Territory.
“It’s all thanks to the Supreme One’s Soul Clone, of course,” Mo Na Ye replied.
“I presumed as much,” Yang Kai commented after gaining clarity.
Only the presence of a Black Ink Giant Spirit God would have allowed the Black Ink Clan to accomplish what they did. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was the one who barged into the Barren Territory and occupied a sizable chunk of the Human Race’s combat power, which allowed the Black Ink Clan to send their Army in.
“Humans don’t have a third Giant Spirit God. It will be difficult for us to invade the No-Return Pass,” Yang Kai stroked his chin as he seemed to vex over the conundrum.
Mo Yu’s brow twitched. They were all mortal enemies, so Yang Kai was being rather haughty for making that comment right in front of them.
Mo Na Ye had a knowing smirk on his face, “Brother Yang, you probably know of a secret passage that leads from the 3,000 Worlds straight into the Black Ink Battlefield, right?”
This was something the Black Ink Clan deduced a long time ago; after all, Yang Kai made frequent trips to the No-Return Pass without passing through the Territory Gate. Instead, he would simply pop up all of a sudden on the Black Ink Battlefield. Only the existence of a secret passage could explain how he managed to move around.
They had tried to locate the secret passage, but after all these years, they had not found anything.
In Mo Na Ye’s eyes, Yang Kai was simply trying to put on an act by saying it would be tough for the Humans to invade the No-Return Pass. With that secret passage of his, the Humans could easily gather on the Black Ink Battlefield before laying siege to the No-Return Pass.
The Black Ink Clan would surely suffer devastating losses if they did not guard against that possibility.
[Yang Kai’s taking us for fools with that remark of his!] Mo Na Ye was not about to believe him!
“Now that things have come to this, there’s only one thing I wish to ask of you, Brother Yang. Which Great Territory inside the 3,000 Worlds is the entrance of that secret passage located?” Mo Na Ye asked with great sincerity. This question had confounded him for years now. He did not ask where the exit was as he knew Yang Kai would not be telling him that, so he simply asked about the entrance.
Yang Kai flashed him a faint smile, “What a coincidence. I have a question to ask you too.”
“Go ahead, Brother Yang.”
“Is your Supreme One waking up soon? When is it going to wake up?”
Back then, Mo sunk into a deep slumber when the hidden hand Mu left behind had been triggered. It had been thousands of years since then and Yang Kai estimated that Mo would be awakening soon. However, the Old Tree had sunk into a deep slumber too, so the fact that Yang Kai could not head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on things whenever he wanted was giving him a headache.
The three Masters, one Human and two from the Black Ink Clan, sat there in the void staring at each other in total silence.
“The tea’s getting cold,” Mo Na Ye quipped with a chuckle to gloss over the earlier topic; obviously, he did not wish to answer Yang Kai’s question.
His question did not affect much. Even if Yang Kai exposed where the entrance to the secret passage was, the Black Ink Clan could not do anything about it anymore. On the other hand, Yang Kai was asking about highly confidential information of absolute importance to the Black Ink Clan. Mo Na Ye was not going to answer that question.
However, Mo Na Ye did not expect Yang Kai to snatch the cup out of his hands and even stuff the table back inside his Small Universe. Yang Kai got up and made it clear their presence was no longer welcome, “You’ve had your tea so you can scram now.”
Mo Na Ye was dumbstruck, [You’re the one who invited us over for tea and yet you’re chasing us off now? How can your attitude change faster than flipping the pages of a book?]
Nevertheless, despite being displeased, Mo Na Ye did not want to trifle with Yang Kai over such inconsequential matters. He glanced at Mo Yu and the two Royal Lords went back to the No-Return Pass, leaving Yang Kai alone by the Territory Gate.
Three days later, they were done gathering the materials and Mo Na Ye personally handed over the Space Rings to Yang Kai.
They were giving over so much that they had to use over 100 Space Rings.
Yang Kai checked every single one of the Space Rings as Mo Na Ye reminded him, “Don’t forget about our agreement, Brother Yang.”
“Don’t worry. I’m someone who keeps my word. In all our years of dealings, have I ever reneged on something I said?” Yang Kai replied.
[That’s true, but things are no longer the same now.] Mo Na Ye was still a little uneasy.
After seeing the expression on Mo Na Ye’s face, Yang Kai suggested, “How’s this? I’ll step aside and you can stand guard at the Territory Gate. That way, I won’t be able to leave through it.”
Mo Na Ye solemnly nodded, “That’s exactly what I was thinking too!” He came over because he wanted Yang Kai to do just that.
Yang Kai pursed his lips, “At the end of the day, you still don’t trust me. Don’t we have a relationship that includes surviving a narrow brush with death? I’m sorely disappointed by the attitude you’re taking right now!”
[How can you call it a relationship when it includes surviving a narrow brush with death? You were the one who nearly killed me!] Mo Na Ye griped to himself. He could not avoid recalling his embarrassing past.
His head was throbbing as he replied, “It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that I have to consider the bigger…”
“Yeah, yeah I get it!” Yang Kai cut him off. He could not be bothered to waste any more of his breath. He was in a good mood over the fact that he managed to extort a massive amount of materials from the Black Ink Clan, so he was not going to bother with Mo Na Ye and readily stood aside.
The Black Ink Clan had clearly been prepared for this. Nearly 20 Pseudo-Royal Lords immediately flew over to Mo Na Ye to block the Territory Gate.
Soon, Yang Kai finished taking stock of all the materials and put them away with great satisfaction.
This time, the Black Ink Clan did not try to shortchange Yang Kai. It was quite the contrary as they gave him more than what he expected. He assumed it was because they did not want to give him an excuse to find fault with them.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye let out a small exhale of relief when he saw that Yang Kai did not leave the moment he was done checking.
Even though Yang Kai had allowed Mo Na Ye and a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords to stand guard at the Territory Gate, there was still the secret passage between the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield. Yang Kai did not need to use the Territory Gate to leave, and if he had chosen to do just that, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to stop him.
Though it was a pain to deal with Yang Kai, there was one thing that Mo Na Ye was glad about. As long as the situation wasn’t harmful to the Human Race, Yang Kai never went back on his word.
Time passed and several days later, the Territory Gate began rippling with the surge of Space Principles.
The numerous Pseudo-Royal Lords who had been standing around waiting grew alert as they checked the Territory Gate and saw silhouettes popping out.
There were a total of 11 of them with imposing auras which made it clear they were all Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Yang Kai glanced at them as well and spotted a few familiar faces. He immediately figured out where they had just come from.
These were the Pseudo-Royal Lords who fled E-5 Territory.
The Black Ink Clan had chosen the battlefield at E-5 Territory to be the place where they were going to prove their strength. They wanted to crush the Red Flame Army that was fighting there, so prior to Yang Kai’s appearance, E-5 Territory had the most Pseudo-Royal Lords, and it had been too many for the Red Flame Army to handle.
However, Yang Kai came to the Red Flame Army’s aid and they managed to kill eight Pseudo-Royal Lords. The rest of them knew the situation did not look good for them so they fled at once, and after nearly three months of travelling, they finally got back to the No-Return Pass.
Truth be told, they were quite fortunate. After leaving E-5 Territory, Yang Kai did try to track them down, but he could not find out in which direction they went.
Throughout this whole time, the Pseudo-Royal Lords fearfully travelled as stealthily as possible. They did not even try to get in touch with the No-Return Pass, except for the initial report they sent back just before fleeing to report on the change in the situation in E-5 Territory.
If they wanted to contact the No-Return Pass, they would have to find one of the Black Ink Clan’s forward outposts across the various Great Territories, but those places were not all that safe.
However, when the Pseudo-Royal Lords got back to the No-Return Pass and found a group of Masters from the Black Ink Clan, including Mo Na Ye, waiting right in front of the Territory Gate, they were startled and confused as they did not know what was happening.
The leader of the group of Pseudo-Royal Lords had an ashamed expression as he went forward and greeted them. He filled them in on the situation that had broken out at E-5 Territory just before they left and went on a rant decrying the many heinous deeds committed by Yang Kai; however, as he spoke, he started getting a strange feeling, so he turned his head and glanced in a particular direction before his jaw dropped…
The other returning Pseudo-Royal Lords followed suit, and when they saw that figure standing in the distance, they grew agitated.
Yang Kai was standing there with his arms crossed as he gave the Pseudo-Royal Lords a taunting look. Chills ran down their spines, but they were entirely confused.
[What’s going on? Why is the killing star here? If he’s here, why aren’t they fighting against him? Why do they seem to be getting along with him…]
“That’s enough. You may go and rest. E-5 Territory has been lost and you’re not to blame for it,” Mo Na Ye waved his hand lethargically. The returning Pseudo-Royal Lords stood down, eyeing Yang Kai with strange expressions, now and then.
They had to check with a Pseudo-Royal Lord they were acquainted with before they found out what had recently taken place here.
In less than three months, Yang Kai attacked the No-Return Pass twice and exhibited his staggering strength before forcing the Black Ink Clan to comply with some of his demands.
However, he was still here now because they had an agreement with him. He was not here to cause trouble.
Upon hearing this, the Pseudo-Royal Lords who just came back reacted with contorted expressions that reflected their complicated emotions…
More and more Pseudo-Royal Lords came through the Territory Gate. These were the ones who had received the order to retreat from all the Great Territory battlefields. Not only were there Pseudo-Royal Lords, but a large number of Territory Lords and Feudal Lords as well.
Though, there was not a single one weaker than the Feudal Lords.
Since they were fleeing for their lives, those who were not strong enough could not keep up; furthermore, as the more powerful Masters fled the battlefields, the Black Ink Clan still needed some forces to keep the Human Race Army occupied.
These returning Masters all jumped in fright the moment they spotted Yang Kai, but after finding out what happened, they were filled with humiliation and discontent.
It would not be wrong to say the present situation resulted entirely from the actions of a single Human. It was Yang Kai who forced the Black Ink Clan to give up on the 3,000 Worlds. Just as Mo Na Ye had lamented earlier, everything the Black Ink Clan accomplished throughout several millennia had vanished in an instant.
This continued for two months, and once the final group arrived back at the No-Return Pass, Mo Na Ye finally exhaled and turned to Yang Kai, who had been waiting the whole time, “All done, Brother Yang.”
Yang Kai eyed him coldly, “You’re done, but I’m not.”
“What do you mean, Brother Yang?” Mo Na Ye pretended to exclaim in shock.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth and said, “The resources you gave me were only in exchange for the lives of the Pseudo-Royal Lords. It did not include this many Territory Lords and Feudal Lords!”
Though he had known that some of the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords would have fled alongside the Pseudo-Royal Lords, he did not think there would be this many of them! This meant that even if the Humans emerged victorious across the 12 battlefields and wiped out all of the Black Ink Clan Armies, it was still not enough to deal a severe blow to the Black Ink Clan’s overall combat power.
Mo Na Ye chuckled, “What do you want to do then?”
“The price needs to go up!” Yang Kai spat out word by word.
Mo Na Ye shrugged, “Can’t help you there!”
He showed no fear; after all, all Masters of the Black Ink Clan had returned and Yang Kai could not blackmail him with anything now, so he did not need to comply with Yang Kai’s demands.
Yang Kai glared at Mo Na Ye, and after a while, he scoffed, “You better watch your back. Don’t let me get my hands on you!”
Although he was powerful enough to mess around at the No-Return Pass, there were too many Masters gathered here right now. If he did try to do something, it would not be as easy for him as it had been back then. This was the reason why Mo Na Ye had grown a spine and took a tougher stance now.
All of the Black Ink Clan’s most powerful Masters were now gathered at the No-Return Pass. Even if all of the Ninth-Order Masters came over, there was no guarantee that they could achieve anything, let alone a lone Yang Kai.
[There are too many Pseudo-Royal Lords…]
“Move!” Yang Kai snarled.
Mo Na Ye turned around and waved his hand at the Pseudo-Royal Lords gathered in front of the Territory Gate. They swiftly retreated and cleared a path between them. Mo Na Ye gestured to Yang Kai, “Go ahead, Brother Yang!”
Yang Kai snorted and took a step forward without any hesitation. In a flash, he was right outside the Territory Gate.
At the very next moment, a low growl rang out.
“Now!”
All at once, a fiery storm of attacks shot out from all directions and rained down on Yang Kai who could not even say anything before he was shoved into the Territory Gate. His muffled roar rang out, “I’ll kill you, Mo Na Ye! Mark my words!”
Mo Na Ye’s expression was grim as he stared at the Territory Gate that was slowly swirling. This attack that was launched at the very last moment had not been an attempt to kill Yang Kai. He knew full well it was impossible to kill Yang Kai so easily; he simply wanted to get Yang Kai to leave as soon as possible. Perhaps they managed to injure him just a little, but not to the point where it made any difference.
Then, Mo Na Ye turned his eyes back on the Pseudo-Royal Lords and sternly commanded, “Remember this humiliation. One day, we’ll pay it back many times over!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lords agreed in unison. The humiliation and fury that coloured their expressions made them look rather grotesque.
Mo Na Ye looked back at the Territory Gate again. Just moments ago, it was still slowly swirling as usual, but now, it was as frozen as a lake in winter. He knew it meant that Yang Kai had used his power to seal up the Territory Gate from the other side.
A beam of light swept into the Universe Fragment that housed the Supreme Headquarters, and before the Human landed, his cries could already be heard, “E-5 Territory has been liberated!”
The Humans didn’t have a method to instantly relay information like the Black Ink Clan could with their Black Ink Nests. Also, the frontlines were very far from the Supreme Headquarters, which was why the news of victory in E-5 Territory had just arrived.
In the early days, the Supreme Headquarters was the centre of the several Great Territory Battlefields that the Humans fought hard to defend. The distance between battlefields wasn’t that great back then, so news travelled quickly. However, with the increased length of the frontlines, the 12 Human Race Armies had to move forward while the Supreme Headquarters stayed behind; hence, communication between them became extremely slow.
Previously, Mi Jing Lun had thought about moving the Supreme Headquarters to the frontlines, but he was only an Eighth-Order Master. If they decided to move the Supreme Headquarters forward, the Black Ink Clan would certainly target them. If the Pseudo-Royal Lords decided to launch a sneak attack, the Supreme Headquarters wouldn’t be able to survive.
When news of their victory arrived, Mi Jing Lun was discussing important matters with his peers at the Supreme Headquarters. At this moment, he was already a Ninth-Order Master!
He was originally a veteran Eighth-Order Master with a solid heritage, but due to the Open Heaven Realm Method’s restrictions, his limit was at the peak of the Eighth-Order, which was why he hadn’t made any progress for many years.
With the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill brought back by Yang Kai however, he was able to break through his limit.
After becoming a Ninth-Order Master, Mi Jing Lun finally had the qualifications to move the Supreme Headquarters to the frontlines. He was now discussing with his peers which Great Territory they should move into to better communicate with the 12 Armies.
When everyone heard the excited screams, they were stunned. Despite having expected this result, they were still elated.
With Yang Kai assisting the Red Flame Army in E-5 Territory, ending the battle there wouldn’t be much of a hassle, but everyone was curious about how big of a victory they had achieved.
A while later, a figure swept in from outside the Main Hall and happily reported, “Sirs, we have completely taken over E-5 Territory!”
Mi Jing Lun, who was standing around a table full of documents, nodded lightly and smiled, “Let me have a look.”
The messenger presented the report, and Mi Jing Lun checked it with his Divine Sense. Soon, a shocked expression appeared on his face as he stammered, “How…”
Although he knew that the Red Flame Army would certainly achieve great success with Yang Kai overseeing the situation, he wasn’t expecting the numbers to be so exaggerated.
“Supreme Commander Mi, how are the results?”
The others were looking at Mi Jing Lun expectantly. When they saw his expression change, they felt their hearts sink. [Didn’t we win? What’s with the shocked expression on Supreme Commander Mi’s face? Did the Red Flame Army suffer many casualties?]
At that instant, the crowd was feeling nervous.
With a bitter laugh, Mi Jing Lun said, “I’ve underestimated him still. See for yourselves.”
While he spoke, he gave the others the after-action report. The crowd immediately took turns scanning the record, and soon, each one of them looked shocked while secretly being amazed by Yang Kai.
The report showed the battle between the Red Flame Army and Black Ink Clan was fierce and tragic. Even the Eastern Army Commander almost died in that struggle. Thankfully, Yang Kai appeared out of nowhere and saved the situation by using a mysterious Dao Strength River to trap several Pseudo-Royal Lords, rescuing Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others and forcing the Black Ink Clan Army to retreat.
Afterwards, Yang Kai went to the Black Ink Clan’s base camp alone and captured two more Pseudo-Royal Lords…
In the end, eight Pseudo-Royal Lords died, shocking and terrifying the ones still alive so greatly that they all escaped through the Territory Gate.
After all the Pseudo-Royal Lords were either dead or had escaped, the Black Ink Clan Army lost all will to fight and retreated from E-5 Territory. Once again, Yang Kai attacked alone, and like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, he passed through the Black Ink Clan Army and used his Space Secret Technique to seal the Territory Gate. At that point, the Black Ink Clansmen that had yet to retreat were like turtles hiding in their own shells!
Meanwhile, Yang Kai also left E-5 Territory.
Although Yang Kai had left, the Black Ink Clan Army couldn’t stand a chance against the Red Flame Army without Pseudo-Royal Lords overseeing the situation, so the Humans in E-5 Territory began hunting down the remnant Black Ink Clan soldiers and within a month had wiped them out.
The military report was quite short, but every detail inside was astonishing. If the people at the Supreme Headquarters hadn’t known that it was impossible to fake anything on the battlefield, they would have suspected that the Red Flame Army had doctored their military report to gain Military Merits.
But seeing that Yang Kai had helped them, these results seemed reasonable.
When Yang Kai set off to E-5 Territory to assist the Red Flame Army, they knew the battle there would end in their favour, so how could they not have thought about this result?
Yang Kai had killed eight Pseudo-Royal Lords in just two attacks. Such a terrifying accomplishment was impossible for other Ninth-Order Masters to achieve.
That realization traumatized the rest of the Pseudo-Royal Lords, causing them to run. Without the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Black Ink Clan Army was an easy target!
Moreover, Yang Kai had sealed the Territory Gate, so the Black Ink Clan left in E-5 Territory had no choice but to fight till the end. That was what caused the shocking number of kills in the report.
One person alone could change the entire situation on a battlefield and lead the Army to achieve such glorious success. It was indeed marvellous!
“Where is Junior Brother Yang now?” After calming down, Mi Jing Lun looked at the messenger.
The messenger shook his head, “Senior Yang left after sealing the Territory Gate. Sir Zuo Qiu said that before Senior Yang left, he seemed like he was about to go to the No-Return Pass and said something about taking something back.”
“Going to the No-Return Pass to get something…” Mi Jing Lun felt his brow twitch. [That brat, does he think he can do whatever he wants because he’s strong now?]
The No-Return Pass was different from before. Two Royal Lords and several Pseudo-Royal Lords were overseeing that place. Even Ninth-Order Masters wouldn’t easily go there, but considering that it was Yang Kai heading there, Mi Jing Lun wasn’t too worried.
He didn’t know what Yang Kai was going to retrieve from No-Return Pass, but he knew Yang Kai had a purpose in everything he did.
While thinking so, Mi Jing Lun suddenly became serious while he thought about something.
The Black Ink Clan could use Black Ink Nests to quickly send out information, which was something the Humans didn’t have. After Yang Kai’s appearance in E-5 Territory, the Black Ink Clan lost the battle and paid a huge price. News of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords dying and the rest escaping would have already reached the No-Return Pass.
More importantly, it wouldn’t take long before the Masters of the Black Ink Clan on the other battlefields would receive this news…
If Mi Jing Lun’s estimations were right, the Pseudo-Royal Lords from other battlefields might have already found out about the situation in E-5 Territory.
At the thought of that, Mi Jing Lun jumped to his feet and ordered, “Hurry! Send orders to the Azure Sun Army. No, send orders to the Shocking Thunder, Burning Moon, Twin Instrument, Azure Dawn, and Jade Cicada Armies. Tell them to attack the Black Ink Clan regardless of their behaviour and don’t relent even if Pseudo-Royal Lords appear!”
Immediately, a herald went out to relay the orders.
Mi Jing Lun frowned and let out a dissatisfied groan, “Let’s hope we’re not too late!”
Then, he turned to the messenger and asked, “Did Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others mention what their next steps would be after taking E-5 Territory?”
The messenger replied, “After discussion, the Sirs decided to send reinforcements to the nearest Azure Dawn Army. If I’m not mistaken, the Red Flame Army should have already arrived.”
Nodding, Mi Jing Lun said, “That’s good. At the very least, the Black Ink Clan there wouldn’t be much of a problem.”
Now that both Armies had gathered together, the enemies couldn’t defeat the Azure Dawn Army. According to Mi Jing Lun’s estimations, the Black Ink Clan then would suffer a tragic end.
“Supreme Commander Mi, why are we only sending out orders to those five Armies? Don’t we need to inform the ones with Ninth-Order Masters?” One of Mi Jing Lun’s peers asked.
Mi Jing Lun explained, “Ninth-Order Masters have sharp senses, so they will immediately detect any strange changes in the Black Ink Clan Army and won’t need us to warn them, but the Armies without Ninth-Order Masters might not be able to detect the change in the situation and would still have to be wary of confronting the Black Ink Clan Army.”
“The change Supreme Commander Mi is referring to is…”
Mi Jing Lun quickly said, “Those Pseudo-Royal Lords might have already run!”
“What?” Someone exclaimed in shock, but the rest soon realised why Mi Jing Lun would say that.
The Black Ink Clan had paid a tragic price during the battle in E-5 Territory and even lost eight Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Masters which currently gave them the greatest advantage. From the recent military report, it was clear that Pseudo-Royal Lords didn’t stand much of a chance against Yang Kai, and Yang Kai had the ability to seal the Territory Gates and cut off the Black Ink Clan’s escape routes.
How could the Black Ink Clan not be worried about such an enemy?
Yang Kai had only joined one battle in E-5 Territory yet almost wiped out the entire Black Ink Clan Army there. So, what if he appeared in the other Great Territories?
No Pseudo-Royal Lord had the guts or confidence to face Yang Kai head-on. Even if they could muster up the courage to fight with Yang Kai, the always prudent Mo Na Ye wouldn’t let them do so and would instead order them to save their strength and immediately return to the No-Return Pass.
Therefore, all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords at the frontlines should have already evacuated.
The six Human Race Armies with Ninth-Order Masters would have noticed such movements, but the rest might not have. If the Black Ink Clan acted like they were ready to start a fight, the Humans might not dare to act recklessly, giving the Pseudo-Royal Lords the time and opportunity to flee.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords had contributed a lot in the battles on each battlefield, which was why the Black Ink Clan could stand a chance against the Humans. Now that they were gone, the Black Ink Clan had lost their capital to fight against the Human Race Armies. Hence, now was the best time for the Humans to make the most of this situation.
Everyone else finally understood why Mi Jing Lun would give out such an order.
This was the drawback of increasing the distance to the frontlines. The relay of information was too slow, so naturally coordination, relaying orders, and even the dispatching of reinforcements were equally slow. As the situation in each battlefield was ever-changing, there were many times when sending out information in time could decide the fate of a critical battle.
Luckily, Mi Jing Lun had broken through to the Ninth-Order, and they could finally move the Supreme Headquarters towards the frontlines so that such situations wouldn’t happen again.
It had been thousands of years since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, plunging the Great Territories into misery. Now, it was finally time to take back their land!
Even though the Black Ink Clan had left behind a huge mess, this was the place the Humans had lived and thrived for countless years.
While looking into the distance, though Mi Jing Lun looked calm, he was actually excited inside. He could foresee that the Human Race would be able to get back their lost land in a matter of years. Originally, he was ready for a prolonged war with the Black Ink Clan, so he didn’t expect the situation to change so abruptly.
And all of this was actually because of one person.