After returning from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai sealed the Territory Gate linking the Barren Territory and the No-Return Pass, the Territory Gate linking the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory, and the Territory Gate to the Shattered Heaven.
After sealing those three Territory Gates, the Black Ink Clan Army left in the 3,000 Worlds would be like turtles hiding in their shells.
Even though the Masters of the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had the ability to forcefully break these seals, Yang Kai was certain that with his knowledge of Mo Na Ye, he wouldn’t bother.
That was because the Black Ink Clan were lucky enough to be able to save most of their main forces. As for the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army left on the frontlines, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t do anything to save them.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye didn’t intend to, nor could he afford to care about the deaths of those left on the battlefield, so he naturally didn’t have to waste time and effort to break the seals on the Territory Gates.
At the same time, large battles had broken out on each frontline battlefield.
Like Mi Jing Lun had guessed, the six Ninth-Order Masters overseeing their battlefields had sensed the change on their enemy’s side; after all, the commotion from all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, Territory Lords, and Feudal Lords evacuating wasn’t small. It was impossible for such Masters to leave without a trace, especially when both Armies were at war.
When the Ninth-Order Masters noticed this change, they immediately led their respective Armies to launch a probing attack. Soon, they discovered that the enemy they had been fighting for many years suddenly lost a large deal of their more powerful combatants; all the Pseudo-Royal Lords were gone.
Although the Ninth-Order Masters had no idea what happened to the Black Ink Clan, they wouldn’t give up such a good opportunity; therefore, the six battlefields with Ninth-Order Masters in command launched all out assaults and slaughtered large portions of the Black Ink Clan Armies.
However, the other six Armies without Ninth-Order Masters, such as Shocking Thunder and Burning Moon, didn’t have such keen senses.
Furthermore, the Pseudo-Royal Lords had planned all kinds of misleading tricks before evacuating. They had ordered the Black Ink Clan Army to show aggressive behaviour from afar so that the Humans wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
The only exception was the battlefield where the Azure Dawn Army was stationed. A war broke out quickly because the Red Flame Army, that had fully reclaimed E-5 Territory, came to help after a short period of recuperation.
The two Armies working together greatly increased the Human Race’s combat power. Since the Red Flame Army had just won a great battle, they weren’t afraid when facing the Black Ink Clan.
They originally thought it would be a fierce struggle between two evenly matched opponents, but when they began fighting, the Humans discovered that the Black Ink Clan’s resistance was hollow and weak. The superiors of both Armies quickly discovered that there weren’t many Masters from the Black Ink Clan fighting on the battlefield.
Zuo Qiu Yang Hua was also a quick thinker and soon realised the most important factor of this situation. This was the aftermath of the battle led by Yang Kai in E-5 Territory.
If this was the situation here, it should be the same on the other battlefields. So, he immediately sent messengers to those battlefields.
Before the news from the Supreme Headquarters arrived, Shocking Thunder, Burning Moon, and the other Armies had already received intelligence updates from Zuo Qiu Yang Hua.
All the Human Race Armies quickly began attacking. Since the Black Ink Clan couldn’t withstand this fierce assault, they were swiftly torn apart and routed. The war had barely begun, yet many Black Ink Clansmen were already escaping through the Territory Gates with Human soldiers in hot pursuit.
Several months later, a Black Ink Clan Army remnant, led by a Territory Lord, was frantically fleeing in the direction of the No-Return Pass.
This Army had tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen, which was no small number. There used to be even more of them, including two other Territory Lords, but the Humans had caught up to them at some point, killing many of them; hence, they were all that remained.
Before them was the Territory Gate leading to the Shattered Heaven. Once they passed through it, they would be able to pass through the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory before entering the No-Return Pass. That way, they could finally escape from the Humans’ chasing them.
Having escaped death several times already, this Black Ink Clan Army was feeling overwhelmed, and after months, they finally arrived at this place. The tired Black Ink Clansmen finally saw a ray of hope.
When they looked at the Territory Gate from afar, the leading Territory Lord suddenly became solemn as he vaguely felt like there seemed to be something wrong with it.
Usually, there should be a spiralling whirlpool where the Territory Gate was situated, but at this moment, that Territory Gate looked like the surface of a frozen lake.
Before he could figure out what had happened, he heard a carefree voice beside his ear. The voice wasn’t loud, but it sounded like a thunderclap to the Territory Lord.
“Another batch has arrived!”
“Who!?” The Territory Lord bellowed. The rest of the Black Ink Clan soldiers were also shocked.
Once the Territory Lord finished speaking, he finally saw the face of the person speaking. That person was openly sitting not far from the Territory Gate, and though he didn’t look conspicuous, he was by no means a person who could be easily ignored. At this moment, he had a bored look on his face while looking at the newly arrived guests.
The Territory Lord couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t see this person earlier, but when he did finally see the person’s face, he understood everything.
The difference in strength between them was too large. If this person was deliberately hiding just now, how could the Territory Lord possibly notice him?
[Yang Kai! The killing star!]
Instantly, the Territory Lord felt his blood run cold, and his head felt like it was about to explode.
“Run!” The Territory Lord only managed to scream one word before he felt pain all over his body, followed by his vitality draining away.
Beside the Territory Gate, Yang Kai opened his hand and waved it in the direction of the defeated Army. Space Principles surged around him, and the local space instantly became a killing ground filled by Void Cracks.
Tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen didn’t even get the chance to make a sound before they were wiped out. Only the Territory Lord was able to withstand a little while longer before he too followed the others.
Meanwhile, the Void Cracks that had sliced through the remnant Army didn’t disappear immediately but continued to expand. Then, like huge mouths, they completely devoured the broken limbs, and even the Black Ink Strength left over by the fallen.
When Yang Kai clenched his fist, the Void Cracks faded away and the space stilled, as if nothing had happened.
Even Yang Kai’s figure was gradually fading before completely disappearing.
After he sealed the three Territory Gates, he decided to stand guard here because he had expected today’s scene.
Since all the Pseudo-Royal Lords and a large group of Territory Lords and Feudal Lords from the frontlines had retreated to the No-Return Pass, the rest of the Black Ink Clan soldiers on the battlefields couldn’t defeat the Human Race. However, there were huge amounts of Black Ink Clansmen on every battlefield, and without him heading over to seal the Territory Gates, it would be difficult for the Humans to wipe out all the remnants like the Red Flame Army had. The 3,000 Worlds was a vast place with numerous Great Territories, so once the Black Ink Clan Army fled, the Humans would have a hard time exterminating all of them.
So, Yang Kai decided to stay here and wait for the Black Ink Clan Army to fall into his trap.
During these past months, Yang Kai had killed over a dozen groups of Black Ink Clansmen that escaped all the way here. There weren’t any specific number of Black Ink Clansmen in each remnant Army, as some had barely a few thousand, while some had over a million. Yang Kai cleverly used his Space Secret Techniques to kill the enemies without being noticed and without leaving any traces behind.
Half a day later, a stream of light with an imposing aura suddenly swept in from afar. It came in very quickly but suddenly stopped and froze before the Territory Gate.
The light then dispersed and revealed a heroic figure.
The man first glanced at the blocked Territory Gate in confusion, showing a look of surprise, then turned to look at Yang Kai’s hiding place, and nodded lightly, “Junior Brother Yang!”
Yang Kai appeared, stood up and saluted, “Senior Brother Wu!”
The person who came was Wu Qing.
This surprised Yang Kai, but after thinking about it, he realized that Wu Qing was obviously aware that the defeated Black Ink Clan soldiers would try to escape to the No-Return Pass, so he came straight here for the same reason Yang Kai was standing guard over this place. He too had the idea to intercept and kill those defeated remnants when they reached here.
As their eyes met, and a rare smile appeared on Wu Qing’s serious face, “It seems that Junior Brother has already dealt with things. I worried too much.”
He had not had much contact with Yang Kai. Even when he and Xiao Xiao were holding down the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, Yang Kai had only visited twice, so they were not too familiar with each other.
But that did not hinder his admiration for Yang Kai. During the years when he and Xiao Xiao were suppressing the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, he heard Xiao Xiao lament more than once that Yang Kai could not break through to the Ninth Order. Xiao Xiao also clearly said that if Yang Kai could be promoted to the Ninth Order, his future achievements would be greater than any Ninth Order in the history of the Human Race.
Wu Qing was initially doubtful about this, but after receiving the battle report from E-5 Territory and the various subsequent reactions from the Black Ink Clan, he finally understood why Xiao Xiao valued Yang Kai so much.
Such a Junior was indeed not comparable to ordinary Ninth-Order Masters. Even if he himself broke through to the Ninth Order thousands of years earlier than Yang Kai, Wu Qing thought that he would never be Yang Kai’s opponent.
While he was deep in thought, Yang Kai smiled and said, “I just returned from the No-Return Pass, so it was more a matter of convenience.”
“You went to the No-Return Pass?” Wu Qing was stunned. Although he received the battle report from E-5 Territory, it did not mention Yang Kai’s subsequent whereabouts.
“I went to have a nice chat with Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu.”
Wu Qing remained silent, knowing that Yang Kai visiting the No-Return Pass was about more than just chatting with the two Royal Lords. The current changes in the war in the 3,000 Worlds may not have only been affected by the decisive win in E-5 Territory, but also by Yang Kai’s follow-up actions. Something was done at the No-Return Pass that put even more pressure on the Black Ink Clan’s side.
Wu Qing didn’t ask too much and simply nodded, “Good, the Black Ink Clan Army is fleeing everywhere from the battlefield. Junior Brother is equipped with Space Secret Techniques, which is more suitable for dealing with this situation. Why don’t you let me take over here while you move about freely?”
“I was thinking the same,” Yang Kai responded happily. He was originally planning to wait for some other Human Squad or group to arrive so he could use them to contact the other Ninth-Order Masters, but now he didn’t need to follow such a circuitous place. Wu Qing ran over by himself, which saved a lot of trouble.
A veteran Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master sitting here would be more than enough to deal with any routed Black Ink Clan Army, so Yang Kai could leave this place to Wu Qing without worry.
What Wu Qing said was right; Yang Kai had Space Secret Techniques so he had a greater advantage when it came to hunting down the scattered Black Ink Clan soldiers. If the two swapped places, their abilities could be better utilized.
There was nothing more to explain, so after chatting with Wu Qing for a bit, Yang Kai departed.
All the frontlines had achieved a great victory. Everyone was in high spirits when the news of the Armies defeating the Black Ink Clan travelled back to the Human Race’s rear camps.
Since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race was forced to evacuate and many were forced to abandon their homelands for High Heaven Territory, giving up the place of their birth and the foundation laid by their ancestors.
To the Humans, that was a painful and humiliating incident.
But before they could recover from their pain and humiliation, they were met with a huge war to decide the survival of the Human Race. The Humans were trapped in the dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields and were constantly at war with the Black Ink Clan for thousands of years.
During all that time, all Humans endured great regret and humiliation while accumulating their strength.
A few hundred years ago, the Universe Furnace suddenly appeared, breaking the stalemate between the two Races and causing an all-out war to erupt. Relying on the gains they achieved in the Universe Furnace, the Humans were able to achieve a massive victory and subsequently reclaimed numerous lost lands.
However, when the Black Ink Clan Army began retaliating in full, the war reached a stalemate again. No one knew how long the war would last or if they could live to see who achieved the final victory.
No one had expected that victory would arrive so unexpectedly!
One after another, the Supreme Headquarters made announcements filled with good news. When the ones trapped and unable to battle saw the number of enemies killed and the progress of reclaiming their lost land, they felt like they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
In just a few short months, the 12 Human Race Armies had completely defeated the enemy, all but wiping out the Black Ink Clan in the 3,000 Worlds.
The Humans rejoiced!
After another half a year, there were no longer large-scale battles and the 12 Human Race Armies dispersed into Divisions that scoured the Great Territories, hunting down and killing any remnants of the Black Ink Clan.
Now, the Humans had finally fully reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, which had been in the Black Ink Clan’s hands for thousands of years.
Throughout all of this, there was one name that all Humans would remember in particular, one name that was key to the Human Race’s re-conquest of the 3,000 World.
Yang Kai! A Great Emperor of the Star Boundary, Sect Master of High Heaven Palace, and one of the new generation of Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
After using various channels to get the latest news, the Humans finally understood why the war ended so quickly.
It was because Yang Kai was a huge threat to the Pseudo-Royal Lords, and his amazing Space Secret Techniques deterred the Black Ink Clan, forcing them to recall all the Pseudo-Royal Lords to the No-Return Pass.
Without the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Black Ink Clan Armies were like tigers without teeth and could easily be defeated.
Therefore, during this period, one name was spoken of everywhere Humans lived…
At the same time, outside the Supreme Headquarters’ Universe Fragment, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun were standing side by side. The latter was puzzled because he didn’t know why Yang Kai was trying to be mysterious by dragging him out here.
After parting ways with Wu Qing, Yang Kai had a fruitful journey as he travelled about while killing any Black Ink Clansmen he found along the way. However, the Black Ink Clan soldiers were scattered throughout all the Great Territories, and with the current situation, it would be hard to find them all because they would be in hiding. Since Yang Kai couldn’t do much about it alone, he decided to hand this matter over to the 12 Armies. They had separated into individual Divisions and were now sweeping through the Great Territories, wiping out any remnants of the Black Ink Clan who were in hiding.
Yang Kai believed that the Black Ink Clansmen left in the 3,000 Worlds would be entirely annihilated in a matter of a few years. Only then would the 3,000 Worlds be considered fully reclaimed.
Of course, reclaiming the 3,000 Worlds only had a symbolic significance to the Humans because the current 3,000 Worlds was a barren land with nothing but destroyed Universe Worlds and broken Universe Fragments floating about the void.
Therefore, even if the Humans had fully reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, those who left their homelands still couldn’t return to them. It could be said that this was an extremely sad situation, but nothing could be done about it.
As such, Yang Kai didn’t waste any more time searching for remnants of the Black Ink Clan and instead returned to the Supreme Headquarters to find Mi Jing Lun.
He had gathered quite a lot of things and it was now time to share them.
“Junior Brother, what are we doing here?” Mi Jing Lun couldn’t help but ask.
Yang Kai said dismissively, “Calm down, Senior Brother. I have a surprise for you.”
While saying so, Yang Kai reached into his robes and took out a sphere he had shrunk using his Space-Time River before throwing it out.
Feeling confused, Mi Jing Lun looked upwards and saw the small Space-Time River was filled with dense Dao Strengths. Even as a Ninth-Order Master, he couldn’t help but feel astonished.
He sensed something special about the Space-Time River; also, he knew that although they were both Ninth-Order Masters, Yang Kai’s attainment in the various Grand Daos was much higher and more numerous than his own achievements.
The Space-Time River was spinning like a ball of loose thread, and it would expand a little with every turn. As time passed, it expanded to become something majestic-looking.
In just a short moment, a huge object appeared in Mi Jing Lun’s sight, thoroughly shocking him.
He had realised what it was when it had just begun taking form, but he wasn’t sure until he finally saw the full, majestic, nearly intact Great Pass!
Yang Kai raised his hand and summoned back his Space-Time River, returning the Dao Strengths back to his body. Then, he turned to look at Mi Jing Lun, “Senior Brother, how about using this as the future Supreme Headquarters?”
While gazing at Yang Kai with mixed emotions, Mi Jing Lun nodded, “Good idea!”
He grabbed Yang Kai’s arms and ushered, “Come. Take a look with me.”
Side by side, the two strode towards the majestically-standing Great Pass, and when they arrived at the entrance, they looked up at the worn characters engraved there and fell silent.
This Great Pass used to be a critical weapon in the war against the Black Ink Clan. For hundreds of thousands of years, legions of Humans had shed blood in and around this Great Pass. The Humans managed to keep the Black Ink Clan trapped in the Black Ink Battlefield in large part thanks to these Great Passes.
The void was silent, but when they arrived before the Great Pass, the two felt like they could still hear the sounds of the brutal wars fought here long ago. They were the sounds of Human soldiers fighting against the Black Ink Clan, along with sounds of the last moments of their lives.
This Great Pass used to stand majestically on the Black Ink Battlefield, like all other Great Passes. It had also previously accompanied the Human Race Army on its crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. However, the Humans were ultimately defeated and forced to abandon this Great Pass outside the No-Return Pass.
Having fallen into the hands of the enemy, the Black Ink Clan naturally wouldn’t cherish this weapon. Although the Great Pass was mostly intact, the Inner Sanctum was a wreck, and there were all kinds of traces left behind from the Black Ink Clan removing their Black Ink Nests.
Two figures walked around the Great Pass and soon arrived before a huge monument. Every Great Pass possessed a Monument of Heroes which recorded the names and origins of every soldier that died in battle there.
This monument was also the only trace their Ancestors left in this world because, during the battles, most of the soldiers who died would perish without corpses.
After cleaning away the thick layer of dust on the Monument of Heroes, Mi Jing Lun sighed, “Junior Brother, you’re too thoughtful.”
With this Great Pass, the Supreme Headquarters could move around more easily and didn’t have to simply remain in one area. Moreover, Mi Jing Lun had become a Ninth-Order Master, and with the help of this Great Pass, he would be able to make even larger contributions in future wars.
“It’s a pity that I couldn’t bring more of them back,” Yang Kai shook his head. As the Black Ink Clan also knew about the power of these Great Passes, letting Yang Kai bring one of them away was already their limit. It was impossible for Mo Na Ye to agree to Yang Kai bringing more of them back.
Of course, it was not like Yang Kai could bring another one with him anyway.
“Do we still have Pure Yang Pass’ Core?” Yang Kai asked.
Every Great Pass had a Core, as operating such a huge Great Pass wasn’t easy. When the Great Evolution Army reclaimed the Great Evolution Pass, they couldn’t find the Core and it almost delayed the Human Race’s crusade. In the end, Yang Kai entered the Void Crack and found the Core.
Since Great Evolution Pass had a Core, Pure Yang Pass would have one too. According to what Yang Kai knew, the Humans brought all the remaining Cores with them when they withdrew to the Barren Territory.
So, Pure Yang Pass’ Core was most likely with them, but Yang Kai didn’t know who was guarding it.
“We still have it. All the Cores from the Great Passes are with Senior Sister Xiao Xiao. I’ll go and ask her for it later,” Mi Jing Lun replied, but then he suddenly felt frustrated, “It will take a lot of resources to repair this thing.”
When the Humans abandoned the No-Return Pass, they not only brought away the Cores, but also all the artifacts and Spirit Arrays they could take. Those that they couldn’t bring away were destroyed lest the Black Ink Clan used them.
Therefore, this Great Pass was now just an empty shell. If they wanted to restore it to its full potential, they would have to renovate it almost from scratch, which would cost an unfathomable amount of resources. Right now, the Humans biggest concern was the general lack of materials and resources.
In simpler terms, they were dirt poor!
Yang Kai laughed and took out a number of Space Rings, saying, “I forgot to tell you, Pure Yang Pass isn’t the only thing I brought back from the Black Ink Clan. There’s also this.”
Mi Jing Lun’s eyes lit up when he saw the Space Rings, “How much is there?”
Yang Kai replied, “About 100 million sets of Fifth-Order materials.”
When Mi Jing Lun heard that, he was so shocked that his face visibly twitched, “How could the Black Ink Clan have agreed to this?”
If Yang Kai hadn’t had such a remarkable battle record, Mi Jing Lun would have thought he had made some sort of secret deal with the Black Ink Clan; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten such a frightening amount.
“It wasn’t up to them whether they agreed or not,” while Yang Kai spoke, he threw the Space Rings over to Mi Jing Lun.
With so many resources on hand, the Humans had one less thing to worry about. Moreover, the 12 Armies should have looted quite a lot on their recent conquest; after all, the Black Ink Clan needed a lot of resources too, so every Black Ink Clan Army would carry many valuable materials on them, all of which belonged to the Humans.
But Mi Jing Lun still couldn’t believe that Yang Kai could snatch so much from the Black Ink Clan. It was clearly something that benefited the enemy, yet the Black Ink Clan still agreed to it, which showed how wary they were of Yang Kai.
At the Star Boundary’s High Heaven Palace.
A ray of light swept in from a distance, stopping after reaching a Grand Hall, revealing a toned figure. When the figure’s aura surged, it was obvious that the visitor was an Eighth-Order Master with strong cultivation.
Despite reaching the Eighth Order, Zhao Lun still didn’t dare to act arrogantly after arriving here because this was High Heaven Palace, the Sect of the Dao Lord.
He had previously visited High Heaven Palace a few times because the Dao Lord had left behind several Sealed Words here. All disciples from the Void Dao Temple had trained in those Sealed Worlds and received rewarding results.
When Zhao Lun was still in the Emperor Realm, he already believed that the Dao Lord was very powerful, and the more his cultivation increased, the more he realized how unfathomable the Dao Lord was.
He came from the Void Dao Temple, had outstanding talent and aptitude, and was proficient in the Dao of Space, so he had made quite a lot of contributions on the battlefield. Also, he had previously led fellow soldiers into battle and even beheaded an enemy commander while facing millions of enemies.
He was also considered a well-known figure in the Profound Nether Army because, as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was a powerhouse no matter which Army he was in. More importantly, he had directly ascended to the Seventh Order back then and was expected to become a Ninth Order Master in the future.
A month ago, he received a transfer order from the Supreme Headquarters, directing him to return to the Star Boundary’s High Heaven Palace immediately.
Despite not knowing what happened, since this was a direct order from the Supreme Headquarters, he wouldn’t dare to disobey. So, he dropped everything he was doing and immediately flew back.
Even so, he had a vague guess. Since this was an order from the Supreme Headquarters that involved High Heaven Palace, it must be related to the Dao Lord.
Since the battles at all frontlines were almost at their end and looking for the surviving Black Ink Clansmen was a tedious but not dangerous job, he didn’t mind being absent.
[I wonder why the Dao Lord summoned me. Maybe it’s something important…]
Zhao Lun felt excited inside and fixed up his clothes before entering the Grand Hall.
When he walked inside though, he immediately felt several pairs of eyes looking at him. He was surprised, but then burst out laughing as he realised that he wasn’t the only one who had received orders from the Supreme Headquarters.
“It’s Senior Brother Zhao Lun.”
“Senior Brother Zhao, over here!” Someone called him.
Looking in that direction, Zhao Lun saw a few familiar faces. He smiled and nodded before approaching them.
There were many people inside the Grand Hall, about 70 or 80 gathered into small groups while chatting with each other. Zhao Lun found some Fellow Brothers and Sisters he was familiar with and then noticed that all the people called here were disciples from the Void Dao Temple. Also, all of them were proficient in the Dao of Space.
Not only them, but there were also some from the Phoenix Clan; however, unlike the enthusiastic atmosphere among the Fellow Disciples from the Void Dao Temple, the Phoenix Clansmen were quietly sitting upright to the side and seemed a little unapproachable.
All high-level Humans had more or less had some interaction with the Phoenix Clan, and even if they didn’t, they would have experience with other Divine Spirits. They knew Divine Spirits were mostly arrogant, especially ones like the Phoenix Clan, so they weren’t bothered by this.
The Void Dao Temple disciples had large age gaps because the flow of time in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was different from the outside world. With Yang Kai being a Ninth-Order Master and his attainments in the Dao of Time reaching new heights, the difference in flow rate was already 10:1. In other words, ten years inside his Small Universe was equivalent to one year outside.
As Yang Kai had brought them out from the Dao Temple in batches, the gap between some Fellow Disciples was measured in tens of thousands of years. If it were in an ordinary Sect, such an age gap would only appear between members several dozen generations apart. However, the Void Dao Temple wasn’t just any ordinary Sect.
Moreover, age didn’t matter because being born from the same place gave them a natural bond with one another, so all the disciples from the Void Dao Temple would help each other regardless of whether they were familiar with each other.
Frankly speaking, if the disciples that Yang Kai trained in the Void Dao Temple were all gathered together, their heritage wouldn’t be much different from any Cave Heaven or Paradise. Those disciples with the right to leave the Void Dao Temple and break through to the Open Heaven Realm were all very talented. Even the weakest of them would directly break through to the Fifth Order, and there were a fair number who directly broke through to the Seventh Order. Many years had passed, and even the weakest among them would at least have reached the Sixth Order, while there were thousands of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters scattered among all them.
The group of cultivators proficient in the Dao of Space gathered together and exchanged pleasantries for a while before casually sitting down and beginning to discuss their opinions and ideas about the Dao of Space. There were some times when another person’s words could help someone better understand something and gain more benefits. Also, different kinds of thinking combined together would definitely yield outstanding results.
The Dao of Space was renowned for being difficult to cultivate. Before Yang Kai, there were only a few Humans in the entire 3,000 Worlds that could be considered proficient in it. Other than that, only the Phoenix Clan were lucky enough to have the Dao of Space be their Bloodline Talent, so they naturally had a high mastery over it once they reached a certain level of strength.
But after Yang Kai, many disciples from the Void Dao Temple made use of this Grand Dao to its fullest potential.
Naturally, it wasn’t only the Masters of the Dao of Space that the Void Dao Temple produced, there were also quite a lot of cultivators who were now proficient in the Dao of Time. No matter if it were the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, the cultivators cultivating them were all rare geniuses.
As time passed, disciples from the Dao Temple were constantly gathering, and it was not long before their numbers exceeded the 100 mark.
Among them, the weaker ones were in the Sixth Order, while the rest were in the Seventh Order or Eighth Order, but they were all proficient in the Dao of Space. Even without counting a dozen or so Phoenix Clan members, this was already a very shocking lineup.
They waited a few more days, and when about 150 people had assembled in the Grand Hall, no more arrived.
Although there were only 150 Void Dao Temple disciples gathered here, it didn’t mean that all the disciples cultivating the Dao of Space were present; only those with high attainments in the Dao of Space had been gathered. The other disciples that only knew the basics of the Dao of Space weren’t summoned.
Those who were gathered here had reached the Fourth Level of Mastery in the Dao of Space, Traversing a Familiar Path.
They chatted with each other for several days before two figures arrived and instantly attracted everyone’s attention.
Both of them were in the Eighth-Order and had solid auras. One of them was wearing full white and had a handsome face with a warm smile that even strangers would have a good impression of.
The other was in black robes and had a steady, mature temperament.
All the Dao Temple disciples became excited when they saw the man in black. Then, they began calling out ‘Eldest Senior Brother Miao’ and greeting him.
The Void Dao Temple disciples also greeted the man in white clothing, calling him “Senior Brother Li.”
The one being called Eldest Senior Brother Miao was naturally Miao Fei Ping.
Besides the Dao Lords’ three Legacy Disciples, Miao Fei Ping was the first disciple Yang Kai brought out of the Void World and the first disciple to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Also, he was the first Temple Master of the Void Dao Temple. Even now, his statue was placed right below Yang Kai’s inside the Void Dao Temple, and his position as the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother was recognised by all.
Therefore, all the Dao Temple disciples, whether they had seen Miao Fei Ping in person or not, immediately recognised him.
As for the man in all white, he was a Master under the Star Boundary’s Martial Beast Great Emperor, Li Wu Yi.
Previously, there were only two people truly proficient in the Dao of Space in the Star Boundary, Li Wu Yi and Yang Kai. When they first met, Li Wu Yi’s attainments in the Dao of Space far exceeded Yang Kai’s, and he had previously mentored Yang Kai a lot in regards to the Grand Dao. Yang Kai benefited a lot from that advice.
Their relationship could be said to be both mentors and friends.
But with Yang Kai’s constant growth, his attainments in the Dao of Space gradually surpassed his Senior’s. Now, no matter whether it was Yang Kai’s cultivation or his attainments in the Dao of Space, both had surpassed Li Wu Yi by a wide margin.
However, Li Wu Yi wasn’t an ordinary man. Back then, he was titled the first Master below the Great Emperors in the Star Boundary, which showed his talent and strength. If the Star Boundary’s bottle hadn’t been full, he would have long become a Great Emperor himself.
Over the years, his cultivation had soared, and though his attainments in the Dao of Space weren’t as high as Yang Kai’s, he had already reached the peak of the Seventh Level and would soon break through to the Eighth Level.
During the thousands of years of war against the Black Ink Clan, numerous Humans had made names for themselves, and Li Wu Yi was one of them. The reason such figures weren’t more famous was simply because they were all outshined by Yang Kai.
In terms of attainments in the Dao of Space, besides the members of the Phoenix Clan, Li Wu Yi was now the first under Yang Kai. That was something even Yang Kai’s Eldest Legacy Disciple, Zhao Ye Bai, could not compare to. Of course, comparing their ages, Zhao Ye Bai was much younger than Li Wu Yi, and attainments in any Grand Dao usually required many years of accumulation, so this only made sense.
Therefore, when Li Wu Yi entered, even the noble Phoenix Clansmen nodded their heads in greeting. Li Wu Yi had previously visited the Phoenix Nest to discuss the Dao of Space with the Phoenix Clan, and he had earned respect from several Phoenix Clan Masters with his strong attainments.
Moreover, Li Wu Yi was quite handsome and had a noble bearing, and the Phoenix Clan had an innate flaw, they judged people by their appearance. Those with good looks had a natural advantage when interacting with the Phoenix Clan, which was something Yang Kai couldn’t win against Li Wu Yi. If it had been Li Wu Yi who went to the No-Return Pass back then, the Phoenix Clan might have seen him as a welcomed guest.
Many disciples from the Void Dao Temple had previously gotten advice from Li Wu Yi; after all, Yang Kai was like a Hidden Dragon who showed his tail but never his face, so it was always difficult to find him.
Li Wu Yi, on the other hand, would frequently return to the Star Boundary to rest and recover, and each time he did, the disciples from the Void Dao Temple enjoyed coming over to listen to his teachings and have discussions with him about the Dao of Space.
In the eyes of the disciples of the Void Dao Temple, while the Dao Lord would always be supreme, Senior Brother Li was a much more reliable teacher.
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Wu Yi and Miao Fei Ping stood before everyone.
Looking around, Li Wu Yi smiled, “Everyone here is an elite from the various Armies; also, you’re all from the Void Dao Temple and are proficient in the Dao of Space. We have gathered all of you, and our friends from the Phoenix Clan, here because of the Dao Lord’s orders. I am just serving as his messenger today.”
Meanwhile, Miao Fei Ping stood at the side with an expressionless face while secretly complaining, [It’s me who is the real messenger… You’re all proficient in the Dao of Space, while I’ve never cultivated it in my life… I stick out like a chicken among cranes…]
The reason Miao Fei Ping stood there was that he was the so-called ‘Eldest Senior Brother’ of the Void Dao Temple; after all, not all of the Dao Temple disciples knew Li Wu Yi because those who became Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Black Ink Battlefield hadn’t interacted nearly as much with the latter. Moreover, the Dao Temple disciples here all had high cultivation and were very talented, so they might be arrogant and needed the Eldest Senior Brother to keep them under control!
With his help, Li Wu Yi could get these Dao Temple disciples to listen to them.
Li Wu Yi continued, “All of you here were called back from the various Armies, so you might already have a slight understanding of the situation. To sum it up, the Black Ink Clan was cowed by your Dao Lord’s powerful deterrence in E-5 Territory! They have recalled all their Pseudo-Royal Lords to the No-Return Pass, leaving the rest defenceless. Our Armies have broken the enemy Armies and slaughtered many of their soldiers, so it is only a matter of time before we reclaim the 3,000 Worlds.”
The group of Dao Temple disciples below all had proud expressions. Since they were from the Void Dao Temple, they were destined to be bound to Yang Kai’s success and failures. The more powerful Yang Kai was, the prouder they were as Dao Temple disciples. Although the Dao Lord was always like a hidden Dragon who showed his tail but never his face and always seemed unreachable, it didn’t stop these disciples from respecting him.
Li Wu Yi changed the topic, “But don’t celebrate just yet. The 3,000 Worlds originally belonged to us Humans, but when the Black Ink Clan invaded our home thousands of years ago, they defeated us and forced us to flee. Numerous Families were forced to abandon their ancestral legacy and inheritance, which they had accumulated for tens of thousands of years. It naturally felt like they had let their ancestors down. At this moment, the Humans have only reclaimed what they had once lost.”
“Moreover, since all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, and many of the Feudal Lords and Territory Lords retreated, the Black Ink Clan hasn’t suffered any substantial damage despite losing so many soldiers. That was because those Masters were the ones that were truly difficult to defeat. The rest were all cannon fodder. Additionally, according to what your Dao Lord has reported, it might not be long before the Black Ink Clan has new Royal Lords, so the victory in the 3,000 Worlds is not the end, but merely a new beginning!”
Li Wu Yi paused for a moment before continuing, “Even though we have reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, there are still harder challenges and more difficulties for us to face, the first of which will be the No-Return Pass. The Human Race used to guard that place as it was the only entrance to the 3,000 Worlds, but now it has fallen into the Black Ink Clan’s hands. If we don’t take back the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan will eventually return someday. Even if we managed to take back the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan’s reign of terror still will not end. The Source, Mo, is being suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. That being is the origin of the Black Ink Clan’s invasion. The blood feud between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan is absolutely irreconcilable; so, how could we let the enemy have it easy while we suffer? Only by killing Mo can we finally rest at ease.”
Li Wu Yi’s words led the Dao Temple disciples to imagine all sorts of things. Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother, did the Dao Lord gather us here because he wants to accumulate more strength and ambush the Black Ink Clan’s base?”
It wasn’t wrong for that person to think this way because everyone present, whether they were Dao Temple disciples or Phoenix Clan, were proficient in the Dao of Space. Except for Eldest Senior Brother Miao…
With so many people proficient in the Dao of Space gathered in one spot, they had a natural advantage when doing missions together, and the Black Ink Clan would definitely not see them coming.
While looking at that person, Li Wu Yi laughed and shook his head, “No, he didn’t…”
[This guy sure is imaginative. If we attacked the No-Return Pass with only these many people, it would be suicide.]
Li Wu Yi wore a serious expression while explaining, “Your Dao Lord said that after taking back the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race and Black Ink Clan would have a short period of peace. If we want to win the following battles though, we must act first and think of a way to take back the No-Return Pass before starting a crusade against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Only then do we stand a chance to prevail; however, without mentioning the journey to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, even heading to the No-Return Pass is already a long journey. If we move together as one Army, the journey to the No-Return Pass alone will take up a lot of time, and once the war begins, it will be impossible to end in a short period. Also, it will be a problem if we want to send reinforcements to the frontlines.”
After hearing this, the crowd nodded.
The 3,000 Worlds was expansive, and the Black Ink Battlefield was vast. Even with Seventh or Eighth-Order cultivation, the journey would still take a long while. Time was an essential factor during the war because the more time the Army wasted in transit, the more time the enemy had to prepare.
This was a problem that neither the Black Ink Clan nor Human Race could solve easily.
“That is why!” Li Wu Yi looked serious while speaking, “Your Dao Lord has suggested forming the Void Guard. First, we gather the elites proficient in the Dao of Space, all of you, and then we will use massive Space Arrays to pave a path from our home base to the battlefield in advance. That way, the Grand Army can save a lot of time travelling to the battlefield, and logistics and reinforcements can be moved to the frontlines at any time.”
When the crowd heard this, they finally understood why so many Dao Temple disciples and Phoenixes proficient in the Dao of Space were gathered here.
Indeed, if they succeeded in forming such a path with Space Arrays, the communication between the frontlines and the rear would become much more efficient. However, this was a mammoth task that would require a lot of resources.
On the other hand, even if they didn’t build such a pathway, they would still require a lot of resources every time they deployed their Armies, which the Humans couldn’t afford with their current heritage.
Since this idea came from the Dao Lord though, he must have a reason for forming the Void Guard. If they succeeded, the benefits must outweigh the losses. In the future, the Humans could use this corridor and secure a large advantage, whether it was the battle at the No-Return Pass or the following crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
None of the Open Heaven Realm Masters here were fools, so they understood that point and were secretly excited.
Zhao Lun cupped his fist and said, “Senior Brother, since we’re going to be the Void Guard, please give us our instructions on what we should do.”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Li Wu Yi smiled and nodded, “The formation of the Void Guard has been submitted to and approved by the Supreme Headquarters, and your names have been recorded while you were en route. So, all of you are considered members of the Void Guard already.” Then, he turned to look at the Phoenixes, “That includes our friends from the Phoenix Clan as well.”
The Phoenixes, led by Huang Si Niang, all nodded.
Afterwards, Li Wu Yi became serious again and quickly said, “The Void Guard’s first mission is to look for structures to house the new Space Arrays. Fortunately, we already have such structures and won’t need to build them from scratch, all you need to do is look for them.”
“Senior Brother, you mean…” Zhao Lun had a vague guess, but he wasn’t sure.
Li Wu Yi explained, “The Universe Temples! Nearly every Great Territory has their own Universe Temple. When the Black Ink Clan occupied the 3,000 Worlds, a few of those Universe Temples were naturally destroyed, but most of them are still intact. So, your mission is to visit each Great Territory and move those scattered Universe Temples to the Star Boundary. We will repair those Universal Temples to use as the basis for the new Space Arrays.”
Once he finished, everyone understood.
A Universe Temple was indeed a good choice as a base. It was initially something left over from the Early Ancient Era and could allow one to cross a Great Territory rapidly. Cultivators had previously used the Universe Temples to move to the centre of Great Territories from their outer edge, halving travel time at least. But since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, some of the Universe Temples were destroyed, and those that weren’t would have had their Arrays destroyed, rendering them unusable.
Letting the Void Guard search for those Universe Temples was the best choice because they were proficient in the Dao of Space, so they could move more quickly and thus save a great amount of time.
At that moment, Miao Fei Peng, who had been standing to the side without saying anything, came forward and took out a list of names before calling out the names, “Hua Tong.”
An Eighth-Order Master seated below responded by coming forward and cupping his fists, “Here!”
Miao Fei Ping took out a Universe Chart from his Small Universe and threw it at Hua Tong, “Follow the trail marked on the Universe Chart to the Great Territory and search for the Universe Temple there. Be quick!”
After receiving the Universe Chart, Hua Tong briefly checked and said, “Yes!”
Then, he swept away and soon disappeared into the distance.
Miao Fei Peng continued, “Zhao Lun!”
“Here!” Zhao Lun responded and came forward.
…
One after another, names were called out. The Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters moved alone while the Sixth-Order Masters acted in groups. Following the distribution of the Universe Charts prepared in advance, the disciples in the Grand Hall gradually left.
In the end, the dozens of Phoenixes also received their tasks and departed.
Soon, only Li Wu Yi and Miao Fei Ping were left in the Grand Hall.
Once the last Phoenixes left, Li Wu Yi said, “Junior Brother Miao, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m leaving as well.”
He needed to search the Great Territories, too, quite a few of them.
Miao Fei Peng nodded, saying, “Senior Brother may rest assured.”
What followed was easy because he only needed to wait for his Junior Brothers and the Phoenix Clansmen to retrieve the Universe Temples. As for being a Void Guard, he was only included because he was the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother.
“By the way, do you know where the Dao Lord is currently?” Miao Fei Peng couldn’t help but ask.
He thought Yang Kai would be at High Heaven Palace, but after asking Head Manager Hua, he discovered that Yang Kai never returned.
Li Wu Yi frowned slightly before whispering, “I heard he and the other Ninth-Order Masters have gone to the Barren Territory, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
The whereabouts of the Ninth-Order Masters were still confidential, and Li Wu Yi only casually asked Mi Jing Lun about it when he received orders from the Supreme Headquarters to form the Void Guard.
After hearing that, Miao Fei Ping was shocked, “The Barren Territory, but that’s…”
Since it was a group of Ninth-Order Masters going there, their intentions were easy to guess. At that moment, Miao Fei Peng couldn’t help recalling many things and revealed a worried expression.
Chuckling, Li Wu Yi patted Miao Fei Ping’s shoulders, “You don’t have to worry about what the Ninth-Order Masters are doing. We just have to accomplish our own tasks. I’ll be off now.”
While saying so, he manipulated Space Principles and took one step forward. Then, his figure faded.
On the other hand, Miso Fei Ping stood in place and thought about something for a while before sighing.
As Li Wu Yi said, taking back the 3,000 Worlds didn’t mean the war had ended. This was only a new start, with the Humans having only taken back what they had lost to the Black Ink Clan. They still had a long way to go regarding ending the Black Ink Clan invasion!
At the Barren Territory, the battle was still ongoing.
This used to be a battlefield where four Giant Spirit Gods fought in pairs, and others found it hard to interfere with their violent battle; however at this moment, several figures were working together with Ah Da to surround and attack a Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Those figures were the Ninth-Order Masters led by Yang Kai.
There was Xiang Shan, Ou Yang Lie, Wei Jun Yang, Luo Ting He, Xiao Xiao, and even Wu Qing, who had been guarding the Shattered Heaven Territory Gate.
Since the war in the 3,000 Worlds had basically ended, the Human Race Armies were dispersed into Divisions to hunt down and eliminate the remnants of the Black Ink Clan; therefore, it was just a matter of time before they could reclaim their lost land.
Among the challenges the Humans now had to face, the first would be how they would retake the No-Return Pass.
If they wanted to recapture the No-Return Pass, the first issue they had to deal with was the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods in the Barren Territory. That was why Yang Kai immediately contacted the other Ninth-Order Masters after handing over Pure Yang Pass and the resources he took from the Black Ink Clan to Mi Jing Lun and came straight over to the Barren Territory to join the battle.
Every Giant Spirit God was exceedingly powerful. In terms of combat strength, each Giant Spirit God had power that exceeded Ninth-Order Masters and Royal Lords by a wide margin. Up until now, the Humans only had one successful attempt at killing a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which was back when the Black Ink Clan invaded the Barren Territory for the first time, and even that was only accomplished with assistance from Ah Er.
What’s more, back then, the Humans had many more top Masters. There were dozens of Ninth-Order Masters and the leaders of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, as well as many other powerful Divine Spirits.
Even with such a lineup, they had paid a huge price to kill that Black Ink Giant Spirit God, with several Ninth-Order Masters dying in the battle.
Although the Human Race had far more Eight-Order Masters now, there weren’t nearly as many Ninth-Order Masters; therefore, this battle wasn’t to kill the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Yang Kai only wanted to gauge how powerful a Black Ink Giant Spirit God was!
In the past, he wasn’t qualified to fight with such existences. Now that he was a Ninth-Order Master, he had the qualifications to do so. Being one of the current top combat forces, Yang Kai had to know the difference between his opponent’s strength and his own to plan for the future.
Dao Strength surged and the Space-Time River swirled as a figure flickered about. Even though they had Ah Da helping them distract the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, the several Ninth-Order Masters still weren’t at an advantage.
Their opponent’s attacks were extremely simple, but the raw strength behind them was more than enough to overcome any difference in skill or method. It could take on all the Ninth-Order Masters’ continuous attacks, but the Ninth-Order Masters couldn’t ignore a single one of its strikes.
Fortunately, every one of the Ninth-Order Masters present was a veteran of thousands of battles, which was why no one had been hurt yet.
All the new Ninth-Order Masters now experienced the pressure the Old Ancestors felt back then. Back then, Ah Da had not been around, so the Old Ancestors had to face such a being on their own. The Old Ancestors bravely fought that humongous thing, sacrificing themselves for the greater good.
Black Ink Strength surged again and Ou Yang Lie, who was closest to the front, was sent flying. His arms blocking the attack shook uncontrollably while a trace of fresh blood seeped out of the corner of his lips.
Even though he was sent flying, he managed to work with the other Ninth-Order Masters to contain the enemy.
Having noticed such a good opportunity, Yang Kai summoned the Great Sun and Moon Marks. A bright light was released, transforming into a Great Sun that enveloped the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The white light only appeared briefly before it was dispelled by dense Black ink Strength and vanishing without a trace.
This move did manage to injure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but it didn’t cause any substantial damage to it.
Without giving the enemy a chance to recover, Yang Kai stepped forward and arrived on top of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. The next moment, he summoned the Azure Dragon Spear. While the Space-Time River swirled around the spear, Yang Kai’s figure also began spinning like a top.
A loud Dragon Roar sounded as Yang Kai merged with his spear, transforming into a bright beam of light and shooting down at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s forehead. Afterwards, black blood spurting out of the spot Yang Kai’s spear landed.
The Dao Strengths accumulated inside the Space-Time River increased the force of the spear attack to the extreme, creating a terrifying attack that would pierce a hole in the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s head if it didn’t react in time. Feeling the sharp pain, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared in anger before slapping its large palm on its head like it was swatting an annoying fly.
How could the group of Ninth-Order Masters let that happen, though? While the Dao Strengths gradually dispersed, several Secret Techniques were sent out, forming a kind of restraint that bound the Black ink Giant Spirit God’s raised arm. However, those restraints failed to work because its raised hand was still swinging at an unstoppable speed.
At that crucial moment, Ah Da suddenly made a move and lunged at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, grabbing its shoulder and locking it in place while letting the palm land on his own body like raindrops.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The Universe shook and the Void split. Ah Da’s body trembled from the beating, and he couldn’t help but let go.
“Hou!” The Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared madly.
When the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God noticed this situation, it didn’t bother with its own enemy and quickly abandoned Ah Er before charging towards its companion.
Even though Ah Er wanted to stop it, he couldn’t react in time.
The next moment, the second Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods arrived on this part of the battlefield. The enormous creature came crashing over without any extra actions and sent Ah Da and his companions flying.
All the Ninth-Order Masters were sent tumbling under the violent attack, and each flew out in different directions. All of them felt helpless as they had no way of dealing with such a savage rescue method.
When they finally found their footing and looked over, they saw the two Black Ink Spirit Gods had taken the chance to escape towards the Territory Gate and even send Ah Da flying out on the way.
“Trying to escape?” Xiang Shan coldly snorted before chasing after them, followed by the rest of the Ninth-Order Masters.
Again, Yang Kai took one step forward and arrived before the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. When the second Black Ink Spirit God arrived earlier, he was sent flying out. Since his killing technique was interrupted halfway, his vitality was now messed up, and his complexion seemed pale.
When facing the two incoming humongous beings, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to use his Dragon Transform to assume his 100,000-metre Dragon Form.
Even after transforming into his Dragon Form though, he was still incomparable in size to the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, which showed just how enormous these two were.
The Divine Dragon swept his tail and used his body to block the way, but the two opponents instantly broke through his blockade, sending the huge Dragon flying once more.
Once Yang Kai steadied himself, he saw that the two Black Ink Spirit Gods had arrived before the Territory Gate. One of them placed its hand on the Territory Gate and madly released its Black Ink Strength. Then, a slight crack appeared on the sealed Territory Gate.
As for the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God, it stood before its companion and took on all the Ninth-Order Master’s attacks. Meanwhile, Ah Da and Ah Er also attacked from both sides and began throwing punches and kicks at it, causing space to warp and tremble.
If ordinary Masters encountered such a violent storm of attacks, they would have been rendered a blood mist, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods weren’t ordinary by any definition. Even though it was in a disadvantageous state, it wasn’t life-threatening.
By the time Yang Kai arrived, the sealed Territory Gate already had a hole in it, and through it was a vague image of the No-Return Pass on the other side.
Right then, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods’ bodies quickly shrank. They ignored the attacks from all directions and entered the Territory Gate one after another.
On the other side, the No-Return Pass clearly felt the movement and Mo Na Ye and Mu Yu hurriedly led the many Black Ink Clan Masters over to help.
Ah Da and Ah Er’s bodies were also beginning to shrink, as they clearly wanted to chase after the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Though Giant Spirit Gods were mighty, they didn’t have high sentience, so they couldn’t stand the idea of letting their enemies run away, especially Ah Er, who had been fighting his opponent for thousands of years.
Flustered, Yang Kai dashed over and stopped them.
After some time persuading them, he managed to calm Ah Da and Ah Er down. He then turned around and looked through the swirling Territory Gate to stare at the many Black Ink Clansmen.
Mo Na Ye opened his mouth and briefly said something, and though Yang Kai couldn’t hear what he was saying, he knew without having to think about it that it was some sort of provocation.
Ignoring him, Yang Kai glanced at them momentarily before using Space Principles to re-seal the Territory Gate. Sealing the Territory Gate wasn’t much use, but it was better than not sealing it.
The battle ended just like that.
The ones participating in this fight were the strongest Masters from both sides, and the Humans had even sent out all the Ninth-Order Masters they could. Although they managed to force the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods back to the No-Return Pass, they didn’t achieve any substantial victory.
However, this experience was enough because Yang Kai never intended to do anything to the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods today. With the Human Race’s current strength, they couldn’t kill such a being, so forcing it to retreat was their only goal.
Now that all of the Black Ink Clan’s forces had gathered inside the No-Return Pass, the Humans would only have to deal with one target in the future, which made their goal even clearer.
But Ou Yang Lie felt discouraged and spoke up after a while, “How did the Old Ancestors manage to kill such a thing back then?”
Ou Yang Lie didn’t participate in the battle at the No-Return Pass either because he was separated from the Great Evolution Army back then while retreating. Many of the soldiers retreated to the No-Return Pass while Xiao Xiao covered for them back then, but some, like Ou Yang Lie, became remnants of the army, forced to hide on the Black Ink Battlefield. In the end, Yang Kai returned from deep within the Black Ink Battlefield, gathered them to attack the No-Return Pass, and killed their way into the Barren Territory.
It wasn’t strange that Ou Yang Lie would feel discouraged because after becoming a Ninth-Order Master, even if he wasn’t invincible, he was at least one of the strongest Humans alive. It wouldn’t be a problem for him to beat up a few Pseudo-Royal Lords, but after today’s battle with the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, he thought that being a Ninth-Order Master seemed like nothing.
Wu Qing said, “They were quite lucky back then. The Black Ink Clan had already decided to sacrifice that Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which is how they were able to take it down. What’s more, several Ninth-Order Masters died in that battle.”
“We still don’t have enough Ninth-Order Masters,” Xiang Shan frowned. At this point, the Humans only had eight Ninth-Order Masters that could be deployed, including Mi Jing Lun. Such a lineup of Ninth-Order Masters was nothing compared to the lineup from back then.
But it was already difficult for Humans to become Ninth-Order Masters, and it had taken over 100,000 years of accumulation to achieve the glorious lineup of over 100 Ninth-Order Old Ancestors on the Black Ink Battlefield. No one knew how long it would take for them to return to such glory.
The Human Race’s heritage had grown to become more powerful than before. Many talented Humans were born from the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World. Yang Kai’s Small Universe also helped. According to estimations, over 1,000 talented Humans advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm in the past few thousand years.
On average, one or two such talents would appear every ten years, and every one of them had a chance to become Ninth-Order Masters.
Before the appearance of the Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Humans would never have imagined having so many talented youths who could become Ninth-Order Masters. Any one of the Cave Heavens or Paradises would cherish such talents and use all their available resources to nurture them.
Now, 80% of those who directly advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm had become Eighth-Order Masters, with the earliest batch of those talents having already reached the peak of the Eighth-Order.
It could be said that these rising stars represented the Human Race’s future. Once one of them became a Ninth-Order Master, the Humans would constantly have new Ninth-Order Masters appearing, with the promise of more in the near future. If that happened, it would only be a matter of time before the Humans surpassed their past glory, let alone restored it.
While the few current Ninth-Order Masters were reminiscing about the past, Yang Kai was coaxing Ah Da and Ah Er.
As they were previously about to chase after their enemy, they had shrunk their humongous bodies. Even though they still seemed as big as mountains, they were much smaller than they used to be.
Yang Kai had a kind expression as he looked at the two innocent Giant Spirit Gods, asking, “Do you understand? Don’t go anywhere and stay here. If the other side tries to open the gate, just beat them up and make them go back to where they came from.”
Ah Da and Ah Er looked at him dazedly and said nothing, causing the atmosphere to feel awkward.
Just as Yang Kai was about to repeat his words, Ah Da suddenly nodded and said, “Okay!”
Yang Kai felt relieved!
Ah Er added, “So annoying. Why do you keep repeating…”
[I’m afraid you won’t understand if I don’t!] Yang Kai rolled his eyes.
At that moment, Ah Da sat down and rubbed his belly, “I’m hungry.”
Ah Er nodded, “Hungry!”
Hearing that, Yang Kai felt his headache grow worse and gave Ah Da a sideways glance, not understanding what he was doing.
It was fine if Ah Er said he was hungry because he had been in the Barren Territory, fighting the Black Ink Giant Spirit God for thousands of years non-stop. After so many years of battle, he must have consumed a lot of energy, so it was reasonable for him to feel hungry.
But why the heck was Ah Da hungry? Ah Da had been asleep until Xiao Xiao woke him up a few years ago. He was the absolute epitome of laziness, sleeping until he was hungry and then finding something to eat then sleeping again.
While rubbing his forehead, Yang Kai told them, “Wait a moment while I find something for you to eat.”
The Giant Spirit God Clan fed on dead Universe Worlds, but there weren’t any suitable dead Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds left. Many of the Great Territories here were already barren, and any Universe Worlds still present would have been corrupted with Black Ink Strength. To the Giant Spirit Gods, this was akin to spilling shit onto their food. How could they stand to eat something like that?
The only place where there might be dead Universe Worlds was the New Great Territory, which was now known as Myriad Monsters Territory.
There were quite a number of Universe Worlds there, and many of them hadn’t developed any vitality and had incomplete World Principles. Perhaps those Universe Worlds could help fill Ah Da and Ah Er’s stomachs.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai said, “Let me tell you this. The Black Ink Clan made a mess of the 3,000 Worlds and destroyed all the Universe Worlds, so it will be hard for you to find food in the future.”
Ah Da and Ah Er immediately became furious.
Yang Kai continued, “So, if you don’t want to feel hungry, you have to deal with the Black Ink Clan first! Once that’s done, I’ll bring you deep into the Black Ink Battlefield. In that place, there are countless Universe Worlds and you can eat however many you want to.”
The two Giant Spirit Gods were immediately motivated while Ah Da smacked his lips.
Meanwhile, Ah Er determinedly bellowed, “Kill Black Ink Clan!”
When Yang Kai heard that, he nodded delightedly, “Yes, kill Black Ink Clan. Smash every one of them!”
After exhorting them to guard this place and not let any Black Ink Clansmen come through the Territory Gate, Yang Ki finally finished his conversation with them, feeling only somewhat confident he got his point across.
On the other hand, the rest of the Ninth-Order Masters weren’t chatting; instead, they were quietly looking at him from the side.
When Yang Kai flew over, he saw strange expressions on their faces.
Xiao Xiao chuckled, “The way you were acting just now seemed like a bad guy trying to trick children with candied fruits.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai glared at her, “Do you think everyone is the same as you?”
Even now, he could still remember when he was at Yin-Yang Pass and bumped into the heavily injured Xiao Xiao. Back then, she looked just like a child, and her favourite foods were candied fruits and steamed stuffed buns.
Immediately after that, Xiao Xiao coldly snorted, “Are you looking for a beating? You used to always affectionately address me as ‘Old Ancestor.’ How can you speak to me this way now?”
While saying so, she approached Yang Kai and pinched his ear,
[Do you have some sort of misunderstanding about the word ‘affectionate’?]
After silently complaining, Yang Kai didn’t dodge and let her pinch his ear. He turned to Wu Qing and said seriously, “Senior Brother Wu, I still need to trouble you to guard this place. The remnants of the Black Ink Clan might still manage to make it here. Also, we have to guard against the No-Return Pass. I think it’s too risky leaving Ah Da and Ah Er here without anyone overseeing the situation.”
Of course, Wu Qing wouldn’t mind, so he simply nodded, “Then I’ll stay here.”
Yang Kai said, “Senior Brother, rest assured. It won’t be for long.”
Now that the matters at the Barren Territory were considered solved, the next phase would be the No-Return Pass!
In fact, according to the current situation, the Humans should take this opportunity to recuperate and accumulate more strength. Thousands of years had passed, and the Humans had significantly increased their heritage while more and more Masters had emerged. Now that the Black Ink Clan was chased out of the 3,000 Worlds and the Humans had reclaimed their lost lands, it was just a matter of months or years before there would be new Ninth-Order Masters appearing.
As for the Black Ink Clan, though there might be new Royal Lords, they couldn’t get more Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Therefore, the longer they dragged this out, the more advantageous it was for the Humans.
However, all such calculations were based on the idea that no hidden dangers emerged from the Primordial Heavens Grand Source Restriction.
Yang Kai had been constantly worried about that because no one knew when Mo would wake up. Many years ago, Yang Kai had placed a Universe World that wasn’t completely dead yet outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. That way, he could go there whenever he wanted by using the World Tree, and teleport to and from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
But now that the World Tree had fallen into a coma, Yang Kai couldn’t ask it for help, which meant he couldn’t head to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on the situation there so easily.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army there was helping Wu Kuang, but if Mo awoke, those forces alone wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Therefore, with such dangers looming over them, they had to take down the No-Return Pass as soon as possible. Only then could the Humans have the strength to confront the enemy inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Otherwise, the Humans wouldn’t dare to act recklessly with the No-Return Pass standing as the entrance to the 3,000 Worlds.
It could be said that the Ninth-Order Masters gathered here today came to help Ah Da and Ah Er chase away the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods so that they could better deal with the No-Return Pass in the future.
As for whether the Black Ink Clan would move away from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about that.
The Black Ink Clan had gone through so much effort to take down the Great Passes, and placed all their foundations at the No-Return Pass, so they wouldn’t abandon it without a fight.
Moreover, they too could copy the Humans’ strategy and guard the No-Return Pass because leaving that place would only worsen their situation. They wouldn’t do that unless they were fools.
Yang Kai casually swatted Xiao Xiao’s hand away from his ear and ushered everyone, “Let’s go.”
After this battle, Yang Kai discovered the difference between his and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s strength. To sum it up, it was a big difference, but it wasn’t insurmountable. He had only just become a Ninth-Order Master a few hundred years ago, so technically speaking, he was only a newly promoted Ninth-Order Master.
He still had a huge room for improvement, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods couldn’t increase their strength.
Also, Yang Kai had estimated that if he were able to reach the peak of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he might be able to fight a Black Ink Giant Spirit God head-on.
Ordinary Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t reach such heights no matter how much they cultivated; however, Yang Kai had always been able to fight above his realm, so his ability was originally stronger than the cultivators in the same realm as him.
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm’s heritage needed an extremely long time to build up. Without mentioning anyone else, even Xiao Xiao, who had become a Ninth-Order Master a couple tens of thousands of years ago, still hadn’t reached the peak.
That was why the Pure Yang Old Ancestors and other veteran Ninth-Order Old Ancestors made Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing stay behind when they sacrificed themselves.
In the eyes of those Old Seniors who had lived for who knows how many years, Xiao Xiao was the new generation’s Ninth-Order Master. Wu Qing was even more so because, like Yang Kai now, he had broken through to the Ninth Order only hundreds of years prior back then.
A Ninth-Order Master’s heritage was difficult to accumulate, but Yang Kai had innate advantages. Firstly, the flow of time in his Small Universe was 10 times faster than the outside world. His Small Universe was housing a lot of living beings and Small Stone Race members, which would constantly increase his heritage. Even if he didn’t cultivate, his strength would still be continually increasing.
The uniqueness of his Small Universe contributed a lot to why Yang Kai could break through to the Seventh-Order, Eighth-Order, and even the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm so quickly.
In addition, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone. The World Tree clone could not only isolate and protect his Small Universe, but it could also purify his World Force, increasing his strength.
That was also why Yang Kai’s strength was so much greater than average, since his heritage was constantly being refined and solidified. The World Force inside his Small Universe was purer than ordinary Ninth-Order Masters’, which was why Yang Kai’s attacks were more powerful.
But that wasn’t enough, because if Yang Kai wanted to quickly reach the peak of the Ninth Order, he still needed to refine a massive amount of resources.
On the way back, Yang Kai didn’t waste any time and stuffed handful after handful of Open Heaven Pills into his mouth like he was eating ordinary beans. With his current cultivation, the moment the Open Heaven Pills entered his stomach, they were transformed into pure strength and added to his Small Universe; therefore, he didn’t stop consuming the Open Heaven Pills for even a breath.
Xiang Shan and the others were dumbfounded by his actions.
Unknown to the others, there was also a large number of resources being refined accordingly inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe to increase his heritage.
In High Heaven Territory, the Star Boundary, a huge river rapidly flowed in a canyon not far away from the High Heaven Palace. The river was linked at both ends, forming a circle.
10,000 Grand Daos merged inside that large river, creating endless wonders.
Although there wasn’t a large commotion, it still attracted many people.
The first to arrive was Iron Blood Great Emperor Zhan Wu Hen, followed by Martial Beast Great Emperor Mo Huang. Later, Serene Soul Great Emperor Yao Jun, Bustling World Great Emperor Duan Hong Chen, and Flower Shadow Great Emperor Hua Ling Long appeared.
Now that there weren’t many battles on the frontlines, and the Black Ink Clan Army had been routed, leaving only a few scattered soldiers in hiding, the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors had returned to the Star Boundary to recuperate.
All these Great Emperors were Masters recognised by the Star Boundary’s Will and so they naturally returned here and could sense any changes that took place in the Universe World.
Since they had sensed movement here, they all came to investigate.
They had just arrived when two other figures came together and greeted the several Great Emperors.
The two who came last were the new Great Emperors that appeared in recent years.
With the Star Boundary’s current World Bottle, it could now support 14 Great Emperors, which was four more than before, when its limit was only 10. This was undoubted because of the World Tree Clone’s continuous nourishment. The increase in Great Emperor positions and the death of two Great Emperors, Heavens Revelation and Ice Feather, had given some rising stars a chance to shine.
Among all 14 Great Emperors, some were still in the middle of battle while some were in retreat, but they gathered here immediately after sensing the disturbance.
These two new Great Emperors were given the titles Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder. Both were disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises, but beyond that identity, they were born and raised in the Star Boundary.
The two hadn’t been cultivating for a long time, so they were only Seventh-Order Masters; however, Zhan Wu Hen and the others didn’t look down on them because they directly broke through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and could break through to the Ninth-Order in the future.
Moreover, being Star Boundary Great Emperors meant they would grow far faster than others. Though they had only been Seventh-Order Masters for a few hundred years, both were already almost at the peak of their current Order, so it wouldn’t be long before they broke through to the Eighth-Order.
Now that all the Star Boundary Great Emperors had gathered here, the two youngest ones stared at the river in shock, with Scarlet Clouds asking, “What is Sir Yang up to?”
Wind and Thunder Great Emperor had the same question. They both knew of Yang Kai, but had never met him in person because he was a true hidden Dragon who never showed his face. At this moment, the Great Emperors looked over and saw the river was filled with Dao Strengths. Every wave contained many mysteries of the Grand Daos, making everyone feel astonished and curious.
Duan Hong Chen replied seriously, “I don’t know!”
Hearing that, Secret Clouds was shocked, [Even the experienced Sirs don’t know what is happening, so it must be something big!]
Yao Jun grimly added, “Although we don’t know what he’s doing, it’s clearly something momentous.”
Zhan Wu Hen glanced at Yao Hun with an expression that said he was speaking nonsense.
“Let’s just continue watching,” Mo Huang crossed his arms while standing there, waiting quietly.
The crowd immediately fell silent.
Meanwhile, the commotion in the river grew larger, and the Dao Strengths became noticeably denser. Not only were there Dao Strengths that Yang Kai summoned out himself, but the crowd also saw him retrieve strings of things, which resembled streams, and add them to his Space-Time River.
At first, the crowd didn’t pay much attention to these small additions, but when they got a clear glimpse of the streams, they were even more shocked because those stream-like things were also the embodiment of a myriad of Grand Daos. More importantly, the Dao Strengths contained within were extremely pure.
During that instance, the crowd couldn’t help but feel curious. How could someone have control over so many different Grand Daos and cultivate every single one to such a high level of mastery?
One hour later, following the addition of many streams, the Space-Time River began to tremble. Just as everyone was worried that Yang Kai was about to run out of strength to continue, they heard him bellow, “Open!”
The next moment, the Void twisted and changed. The Space-Time River’s circular area suddenly collapsed, revealing a spinning vortex. Then, the Dao Strengths from the 10,000 Grand Daos in the Space-Time River swarmed into the vortex, causing the rushing river to gradually calm down and return to a peaceful state.
“A Territory Gate?” Zhan Wu Hen raised his brow.
He wasn’t wrong to suspect that because the vortex spinning before them truly looked like a Territory Gate at first glance.
While shaking his head, Duan Hong Chen argued, “It looks like one, but don’t forget about the three Sealed Worlds in High Heaven Palace.”
There were three Sealed Worlds in High Heaven Palace, all of them specifically made by Yang Kai. They were the Time Dao Sealed World, the Space Dao Sealed World, and the Spear Dao Sealed World. Each of them was filled with Yang Kai’s comprehension and attainments of those three Grand Daos.
Yang Kai had thought that among the increasing number of Void Dao Temple disciples being brought out to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, there were bound to be some that took after him and cultivated one of his three primary Grand Daos. So, he specifically created those three Sealed Worlds to allow those disciples to head inside and gain more experience.
That way, he didn’t need to train them personally because the disciples who cultivated these three Grand Daos would be able to benefit from those three Sealed Worlds.
Of course, not only were those Sealed Worlds open to Dao Temple disciples, but even cultivators other than High Heaven Palace disciples could enter them. All one needed to do was to report to Hua Qing Si and get her approval.
Many members of the Dragon Clan had previously entered the Time Dao Sealed World; likewise, members of the Phoenix Clan had entered the Space Dao Sealed World. As for the cultivators who entered the Spear Dao Sealed World, there were too many to count.
Duan Hong Chen didn’t doubt Yang Kai’s ability to open another Territory Gate, but this place was secluded, so there was no need to open a Territory Gate here. Instead, he felt like this thing was similar to those three Sealed Worlds in High Heavens Palace.
Having heard that, the crowd thought about it briefly and nodded.
“We’ll know for sure after we ask him,” while saying so, Hua Ling Long went over and stood beside Yang Kai. Then, she looked up at the vortex and asked, “Is this a Sealed World?”
Yang Kai grabbed his Space-Time River, seeming to be thinking about something. He only came back to his senses after hearing the question and nodded, “Yes. This is the Myriad Dao Sealed World!”
“Myriad Dao Sealed World?” Hua Ling Long raised her brow while secretly criticizing how arrogant Yang Kai was being, but then she thought that this was something Yang Kai created, so no matter how arrogant he was, it was his choice.
“What’s the use of this Sealed World?”
Yang Kai explained, “I collected some pure Dao Strengths from the Universe Furnace. Since I have no use for them at the moment, I placed them all inside this Sealed World. Anyone can go inside to refine and absorb those Dao Strengths if needed and increase their understanding of the Grand Daos they cultivate.”
Back inside the Universe Furnace, Yang Kai had collected a huge amount of Dao Strengths, all of which he got from deep within the Infinite River and kept inside his Small Universe. Creating the Myriad Dao Sealed World was something he had thought about doing a long time ago, but he had been caught up in other matters and had only had time to create it today.
“Increase our attainments in the Grand Daos we cultivate?” The crowd became excited after hearing that.
The comprehension of Grand Daos was very mysterious. It wasn’t something like World Force inside one’s Small Universe, where they need only refine Open Heaven Pills or materials to improve. One could only get stronger in one’s use of their Grand Dao by improving on their comprehension and mastery over it.
If one wasn’t sharp enough, it might cause their cultivation of a Grand Dao to become stagnant. This had been a difficult-to-solve problem since ancient times.
One of the solutions was to find an extremely pure Dao Strength to absorb and refine, but pure Dao Strengths were extremely difficult to come across. Even if there were some at some point in the 3,000 World, they would have been taken away after so many years.
Therefore, the Great Emperors were excited after hearing Yang Kai say that a lot of pure Dao Strengths were kept inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World, especially Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder. Being the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors helped their cultivation increase at breakneck speed, and they had accumulated quite a fair amount of heritage inside their Small Universes as a result; however, they fell short when it came to the comprehension of their respective Grand Daos.
In fact, there was a second way to improve their comprehension and mastery of their Grand Dao, which was the Ordinary Grade Innate Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace.
If there were still Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace, they would only have to take a few of them to have a better understanding of their Grand Daos, but after hundreds of years, the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills brought out from the Universe Furnace had long been consumed. How could there still be any more of them?
Those large amounts of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills were the reason for the Human Race’s sudden increase in military force, whereby a large group of Seventh-Order Masters advanced to become Eighth-Order Masters after the Universe Furnace closed. Otherwise, the frontlines wouldn’t have been able to push back the Black Ink Clan.
Back then, Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder felt remorse for being born too late, or else they might already be Eighth-Order Masters.
“You’re all welcome to enter if you’re interested,” Yang Kai offered casually.
“I was thinking of going in just when you said that!” Zhan Wu Hen spoke while stepping forward and dashing inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World. After that, everyone else followed and headed inside.
The few veteran Great Emperors had reached the peak of their cultivations, but the opportunity to increase their attainments in their Grand Daos was too good to pass up.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai didn’t bother with them and continued staring quietly at the Space-Time River while in a daze.
To create the Myriad Dao Sealed World, he pushed his Space-Time River to its limit; also, he temporarily fused the Dao Strengths of the 10,000 Grand Daos inside his Small Universe into the Space-Time River.
There was a moment when those Dao Strengths inside the Space-Time River became so dense that it almost exceeded his limit of control.
During that short moment, the 10,000 Dao Strengths inside the Space-Time River changed, seemingly having some sort of mysterious resonance.
Something inexplicably mysterious was being nurtured and born inside his Space-Time River at that moment!
However, after Yang Kai inserted a lot of Dao Strengths into the Myriad Dao Sealed World, that mysterious feeling disappeared, and the Space-Time River was restored to its original state.
That reminded Yang Kai of when he was in the Infinite River. Deep inside the river were countless gravel-like miniature Universe Worlds and also many small Celestial Phenomena.
Those gravel-like Universe Worlds and Celestial Phenomena didn’t just appear on their own, so they must naturally have been nurtured by the Infinite River. The Universe Furnace devoured Chaos and evolved its strength into the 10,000 Grand Daos inside itself. Then, it spat out the accumulated Dao Strengths and physical Worlds. This cycle repeated endlessly, refining Chaos before splitting Heaven and Earth apart.
As for Yang Kai’s Space-Time River, it was essentially a miniature Infinite River. This was something he comprehended after witnessing the mysteries surrounding the Infinite River, though it was without a doubt a simpler version.
The Infinite River passed through the entire Universe Furnace but was untouchable to many. Even one’s Divine Sense couldn’t sense the tributaries filling the space inside the furnace. It could be said that the Infinite River was the basis of why the Universe Furnace could split Heaven and Earth apart.
[Since the Infinite River forms Universe Worlds and Celestial Phenomena, why can’t my Space-Time River do so as well?]
While thinking about that, Yang Kai shook open the Space-Time River in his hand and dove inside, looking for any trace left behind by that strange reaction.
With Space-Time Dao as his foundation, Yang Kai gathered the Dao Strengths from the 10,000 Grand Daos and condensed them into the Space-Time River. He had previously dived inside many times, but it was usually to deal with the strong enemies he swept up into the river. That was because he had the absolute advantage inside the river and could make the most of his strengths there. Moreover, every undercurrent inside the river, as well as every wave, was made by the surging of his Dao Strengths.
However, the situation was different this time.
Perhaps it was because Yang Kai had just created the Myriad Dao Sealed World, but he discovered that his Space-Time River had changed profoundly.
In summary, Yang Kai suddenly had a strange and mysterious feeling when he dove into the river this time.
He felt like Time and Space were distorted.
When he looked up, he saw an astonishing view flash across his eyes.
He saw the magnificent No-Return Pass, a bloody battle between the Black Ink Clan and Human Race, and dead bodies from both sides densely littered around the battlefield.
Watching this scene, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown as he didn’t understand why he was seeing this. He didn’t participate in the battle at the No-Return Pass back then, so theoretically, he wouldn’t have this scene in his memory. Moreover, how could a memory appear inside the Space-Time River?
However, he soon realised something was not right.
That was because he saw his figure appear in many of the scenes flashing by his eyes, and he was fighting someone he knew. It was Mo Na Ye, and it was Mo Na Ye after he became a Royal Lord.
Every scene that flashed past was like a Master had splashed the canvas with ink and drew every detail of the tragic battle with subtle brushwork and great skill.
Inside the silent scenes, Mo Na Ye’s dead body suddenly appeared, followed by Mo Yu’s…
After that was the scene of the Humans occupying the No-Return Pass once again, cheering happily…
Yang Kai suddenly realised this wasn’t a scene from his memory, but a battle that would happen in the future.
[This is the future! I am looking into the future!]
Yang Kai had already experienced this before when he came out from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. At that time, his attainment in the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time soared, so he had a glimpse of the future when using the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to kill the Sheep-Headed Royal Lord.
Future events proved what he saw was real. He had killed the Sheep-Headed Royal Lord that had been chasing him and held his head while standing proudly inside the void. That moment was the scene he saw.
The late Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor Chu Tian Ji claimed he had the power to see the future and it was rumoured that he could also see the past.
With Yang Kai’s current cultivation, he believed that Chu Tian Ji most likely didn’t have such a mysterious ability. If he did, he would have been able to avoid the many dangers and wouldn’t have died in battle.
But he did have some sort of foresight ability, or else he wouldn’t have gotten the title of Heaven’s Revelations.
Now that Yang Kai recalled the time he was at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, he found that he had undergone a significant change, whether it was his cultivation or his attainments in the different Grand Daos. Since the Space-Time River was based on the Space-Time Grand Dao, the deeper he dove into the river, the greater the Dao Strength surge. Under the disruption of Space and Time, seeing some part of the future should be expected.
Recapturing the No-Return Pass wasn’t surprising to Yang Kai because, with the Human Race’s current strength, they would certainly be able to win if they launched a battle regardless of how they approached it; however, they would have to pay quite a high price if they acted recklessly.
That was why Yang Kai didn’t feel anything after seeing such a scene.
If the Human Race couldn’t even conquer the No-Return Pass, how could they think about going to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and ending Mo once and for all?
The final deciding battle between the Black Ink Clan and Humans should be at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Inside the Space-Time River, the Dao Strength of Space-Time was surging even stronger, while the scenes continuously flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes.
In the meantime, Yang Kai’s expression became more solemn.
That was because many of the scenes after that contained many things he didn’t wish to see.
The final battle began as expected outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. The Black Ink Clan appeared in huge black waves with Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods walking among them. There were also several destroyed Great Passes turned into ruins and countless Human corpses, many of which Yang Kai recognised.
There was even a scene where a 100,000-metre White Divine Dragon floated in the void, its body battered with all its Dragon Scales destroyed.
That White Divine Dragon was naturally Fu Guang!
In another scene, a World was filled with darkness, and inside the ruins was a big dusty sign with the characters ‘High Heaven Palace’ on it. In the corner of the scene was a majestic fallen branch from the World Tree clone, obviously long dead.
The last scene showed a Great Pass moving towards the depths of the void, seeming to be escaping from something. Inside the Great Pass were all the surviving Humans, and close behind that Great Pass was a black figure.
In the black figure’s hand was the… Azure Dragon Spear!
Yang Kai instantly felt his hairs stand on its ends.
Even though that black figure was fully enveloped in Black Ink Strength, with its appearance completely hidden, that spear was too familiar to Yang Kai.
[Is this our future?]
At that moment, Yang Kai suddenly felt exhausted and couldn’t help but exit the Space-Time River. Once he found his footing, the feeling like he was in an illusion disappeared.
It wasn’t until this moment that he discovered the Dao Strengths in him had been seriously depleted. This just showed that looking into the future wasn’t without cost or consequence.
Since Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths were heavily depleted, he almost lost the ability to maintain his Space-Time River. He quickly used his strength to keep the river steady before sitting cross-legged with a serious expression.
Back at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, he had foreseen a scene that did happen later. He had successfully killed the Royal Lord who had been chasing him for many years when he was still in the Eighth Order.
The vision today came too suddenly, and though Yang Kai could accept the first half of it, he couldn’t accept the latter part of what he saw.
He knew that there would be a bitter battle outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and the Human Race and Black Ink Clan would decide their life or death there, so it was that battle that would truly influence the Human Race’s survival.
On the other hand, he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility that the Human Race couldn’t defeat their enemy. If that day really came, he was prepared to lead the surviving Humans to flee to the end of the Universe where they could rebuild their strength; after all, the current 3,000 Worlds weren’t something they couldn’t sacrifice.
However, the scene he saw during the distorted Time and Space was surreal.
Without mentioning who would win the final battle, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone isolating and protecting his Small Universe, so how could he be corrupted by Black Ink Strength? But that wasn’t entirely impossible either because no one knew how strong Mo truly was, and no one knew if the World Tree clone was enough to keep his Small Universe safe if he was directly attacked by Mo.
[Could that really be my future? If it is, it’s unacceptable.]
Yang Kai felt solemn but not enough to feel devastated. In the end, this was just something he foresaw, and no one was sure if it would happen.
If this were something that would happen in the future, he would personally break this prophecy!
After composing himself, Yang Kai clicked his tongue.
His goal when diving into the Space-Time River was to trace that strange phenomenon, not see the future, but this was uncontrollable. He couldn’t have known that the Dao Strengths would surge after he dove into the Space-Time River, causing those scenes to appear.
Sitting upright in his spot, Yang Kai calmed down for a while before diving into the Space-Time River again.
This time, there weren’t any future scenes flashing before his eyes. He steadied himself and looked for any changes in the Space-Time River. Soon, his figure swayed as he arrived at a corner of the river.
He had sensed that the 10,000 Grand Daos had gathered here and were transforming into endless wonders.
Yang Kai’s experiences in the Infinite River helped him understand the truth behind the 10,000 Grand Daos. Chaos evolved into the 10,000 Grand Daos, while the 10,000 Grand Daos would return back to Chaos in the end. That was a mysterious cycle, and every time that cycle turned, miracles would happen.
Just like what he saw…
Reaching out, Yang Kai grabbed the obviously different river water in his hand and looked at it silently. A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes as he gradually lost himself in contemplation.
Meanwhile, the appearance of the Myriad Dao Sealed World didn’t attract much attention. Only the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors had sensed the commotion and came to investigate. Then, they entered the Myriad Dao Sealed World to investigate it after learning about its uses.
Several days later, Iron Blood Great Emperor Zhan Wu Hen was the first to emerge. Although his cultivation didn’t increase, his aura was clearly more condensed than before.
He had long reached the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and had achieved the limit of his Martial Dao in this lifetime, so he had no way of increasing his cultivation; however, his aura had become more solid because he had accomplished something while being inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Any place where a peak Eighth-Order like him could benefit was indeed extraordinary.
Zhan Wu Hen looked at the Myriad Dao Sealed World and couldn’t help but praise, “A treasure!”
With the Myriad Dao Sealed World, the Human Race’s strength might be able to increase yet again. This was undoubtedly beneficial to the war in the future.
Turning his head, Zhan Wu Hen didn’t see Yang Kai but did see the Space-Time River floating in midair. Since the Space-Time River was here, it meant Yang Kai was as well, so Zhan Wu Hen didn’t go anywhere and waited in place.
A few days later, all the Great Emperors came out one after another, and from the order of each Great Emperor’s return, one could see that the stronger the Great Emperor, the quicker they came out. That was because the stronger the Great Emperor, the smaller their chance of improving their strength, which meant the Myriad Dao Sealed World couldn’t help them too much.
After nearly 10 days, Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder came out one after another, both of them practically glowing with happiness.
Duan Hong Chen glanced at them and chuckled, “Congratulations.”
The others also congratulated the pair as well.
This couldn’t be helped because those two went in as Seventh-Order Masters but came out as Eighth-Order Masters!
Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder were newly recognised Great Emperors by the Star Boundary’s Will after the deaths of Heaven’s Revelations and Ice Feather. They were elite disciples who were carefully nurtured by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and broken through directly to the Seventh Order.
Although it had only been about 1,000 years since their initial breakthrough, thanks to the Star Boundary, they were almost at the peak of the Seventh Order. Their cultivation speed was something the other Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t compare to.
A Seventh-Order Master was already considered a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, yet to break through from the peak of the Seventh-Order to the Eighth-Order generally needed at least 200 to 300 years.
Just like Feng Ying from Dawn Squad. Her aptitude was also extraordinarily high, but she used a total of 300 years to advance from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order. Of course, the lack of resources at the Black Ink Battlefield was also one of the reasons for such slow progress.
But even with ample resources, someone as talented as Feng Ying still wouldn’t be able to break through so quickly. She would need at least a few thousand years of hard cultivation before using another 100 or so years to break through.
Things were different for the Star Boundary’s and the Myriad Monsters World’s Great Emperors because the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles had World Tree clones nurturing them. Therefore, they had extremely dense World Energy which could be freely absorbed by Great Emperors to greatly reduce the time they needed to accumulate their heritage.
The reason the two young Great Emperors hadn’t broken through to the Eighth Order previously was that they were lacking in their comprehension of their Grand Daos. The Myriad Dao Sealed World just happened to fill in what they lacked.
Once their Small Universes had accumulated enough heritage and their attainments in their Grand Daos rose to an appropriate level, they broke through from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order in a matter of days.
Since the two exited the Myriad Dao Sealed World, they felt very grateful to Yang Kai and wanted to thank him personally. It was a pity that Yang Kai seemed to have disappeared into his Space-Time River.
“How long has he been like this?” Duan Hong Chen looked at the Space-Time River and asked, clearly asking about Yang Kai’s condition.
Zhan Wu Hen shook his head, “He’s been like that since I came out.”
“That means it’s been quite a while,” Duan Hong Chen frowned, “Judging by the looks of things, he might be comprehending something inside. I think it’s best if we don’t disturb him.”
Although they didn’t know what Yang Kai was doing, he must have a valid reason to enter the Space-Time River like this, just like how a cultivator would go into retreat. That was not something one should interrupt.
“What should we do with the Myriad Dao Sealed World?” Hua Ling Long asked. After experiencing what benefits the Myriad Dao Sealed World could bring, anyone would know it was a treasure to the entire Human Race because it could help many cultivators increase their strength in a short time.
But this was something Yang Kai created, so it wasn’t appropriate for others to decide its use without his consent.
“Report it to the Supreme Headquarters,” Zhan Wu Hen groaned before saying, “Since he made the Myriad Dao Sealed World at this point in time, it must be because he wanted to benefit everyone; however, although there is an abundance of Dao Strength inside, it’s not inexhaustible. If we report it to the Supreme Headquarters and let Supreme Commander Mi make the decision, perhaps he can let a few promising seedlings use their Military Merits to exchange for a spot inside.”
Hearing this, the crowd nodded as this was a good plan of action. They could wait for Yang Kai to return and deal with this, but none of them knew how long that would be. As the Human Race was running tight on time, it would be better to let the Myriad Dao Sealed World benefit their people as quickly as possible.
“I’ll head to the Supreme Headquarters,” while Zhan Hu Hen said that, he shot into the sky and disappeared.
After he was gone, Duan Hong Chen said, “I’ll stand by here. The rest of you can go about your own matters.”
The others nodded and dispersed.
Several days later, news about the Myriad Dao Sealed World spread throughout the Humans and attracted the interest of many. A Sealed World with pure Grand Dao Strengths could be said to be something every cultivator wanted to experience.
But just as Zhan Wu Hen said, even though the 10,000 Grand Dao Strengths inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World were abundant now, it would be useless once everything inside was depleted.
Therefore, they had to choose wisely about who would get the opportunity to head inside. Only that way could they make the best use of the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Of course, such things were for the Supreme Headquarters to worry about. Mi Jing Lun had personally entered the Myriad Dao Sealed World to investigate because of the importance of the issue. In the end, he came out with a bitter smile and complained to Duan Hong Chen that Yang Kai had thrown him another difficult task, and it seemed like he was about to offend a lot of people.
Recently, the Supreme Headquarters had been gathering people to repair the Pure Yang Pass which Yang Kai brought back. This required a lot of resources, so they were lucky that Yang Kai managed to ‘persuade’ the Black Ink Clan to give them some, or else it would be difficult for them to repair Pure Yang Pass.
Moreover, the Human Race regained the 3,000 Worlds and won a great victory, so rewards needed to be distributed as well, which were also given in the form of resources.
In addition, the Void Guard also needed a lot of resources to set up the Space Arrays.
At this moment, Mi Jing Lun felt like a shrewd housewife, carefully needing to count and allocate every single resource on hand.
Soon, a constant stream of cultivators began entering and exiting the Myriad Dao Sealed World. Everyone went in filled with expectations and came out happy, obviously having gained a lot from the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Also, every cultivator that came could see an astonishing Space-Time River flowing beside the Myriad Dao Sealed World. It was the embodiment of pure Dao Strength, after all, and there was only one person among all the Ninth-Order Masters who could achieve that.
Henceforth, everyone knew that Yang Kai was in retreat inside the huge river, and every cultivator that came would pay their respects and bow to the river.
Days passed by quickly and soon three years had passed since the birth of the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
During these three years, the 3,000 Worlds had basically calmed down. Under the Human Race Grand Army’s constant searching, the remnants of the Black Ink Clan had nowhere to hide and were all routed out.
It could be said that there was no place for the Black Ink Clan to survive in the 3,000 Worlds now.
All the Armies then returned home to enjoy the fruits of their labour and recuperate.
However, everyone knew that this peace was only temporary, and it wouldn’t be long before a battle even crueller than the one that happened a few thousand years ago would break out. It was because they realised this that they cherished this short moment of peace even more.
On the other hand, the Void Guard had gradually returned with numerous Universe Temples in tow.
When the Black Ink Clan took over the 3,000 Worlds, some of the Universe Temples were destroyed while some were preserved; in the end, the Void Guard managed to gather about 1,000 of them.
Li Wu Yi led the less than 200 Void Guards, and with the assistance of the many people sent over by the Supreme Headquarters, began to repair these Universe Temples, using them as a foundation to set up the necessary Space Arrays.
Although there weren’t many in the Void Guard, all of them were proficient in the Dao of Space, so using Space Principles was easy for them.
Many resources were invested into this project, obviously wanting substantial results as quickly as possible. After all, in this peaceful period, everyone knew it was just the calm before the storm and they needed to prepare for the coming war.
Just outside of the Myriad Dao Sealed World, there were groups of people exchanging their Military Merits for the right to enter and experience what was inside.
At one particular moment, everything, even the communication between Divine Senses, fell silent as all eyes turned in the direction of the Space-Time River.
That was because fluctuations had suddenly appeared from the Space-Time River, which had been calm for three years. It was followed by rolling and crashing waves, with a figure emerging.
After three years of comprehension, Yang Kai had gained a lot. He had managed to figure out some things and vaguely felt like he had pushed open a new door, but he wasn’t sure what lay ahead.
In the end, it was still because his attainments in the various Grand Daos were lacking.
Both his attainments in the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space had reached the Eighth Level, while his attainments in the other Grand Daos varied from the Seventh Level to the Fourth Level. Yang Kai had a feeling that if his attainments in all Grand Daos increased to another level, especially if his attainments in the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space could reach the Ninth Level, he might be able to understand things more clearly.
This bout of enlightenment had let him increase his attainments in all sorts of Grand Daos, especially the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space, so he felt like he could break through to the Ninth Level at any moment.
It could be said that his three years of retreat were very fruitful.
“Greetings, Sir!” Below him, the group of cultivators bowed together. Most of them were in the Seventh-Order or the Eighth-Order, while a few were in the Sixth-Order. None were below the Sixth Order.
There were limited spots to enter the Myriad Dao Sealed World. To maximise the increase of the Human Race’s overall strength, the Supreme Headquarters had only allowed the more promising soldiers the opportunity to experience the Sealed World. As for those less promising ones and those with lower cultivation, they naturally wouldn’t have such a chance.
Even so, Mi Jing Lun still felt troubled by this matter because, just like he expressed a few years ago, the matter of who got the chance to enter the Myriad Dao Sealed World was the subject of many complaints. However, he had the final say in this matter, and with his identity as a Ninth-Order Master, he wasn’t afraid of offending anyone.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and raised his hand slightly, “No need for formalities!”
After putting away the Space-Time River, Yang Kai stepped over to Duan Hong Chen, who had been keeping watch, and nodded before beaming, “You’ve worked hard.”
Duan Hong Chen replied casually, “It was nothing. What’s more, I’ve seen a lot of good scenery while standing guard here.”
While saying so, his eyes flitted across a few beautiful women among the crowd.
Yang Kai was instantly at a loss for words.
“By the way, Supreme Commander Mi asked for you to find him after you came out. He has something to discuss with you,” Duan Hong Chen suddenly remembered Mi Jing Lun’s instructions.
“I’ll head over right away,” Yang Kai nodded.
“There’s also that brat Li Wu Yi. He keeps complaining about you not taking charge of things, so go and help him once you have time.”
“Got it!” After giving a simple reply, Yang Kai took a step forward and disappeared without a trace, shocking the many Eighth-Order Masters watching.
Although there weren’t many Ninth-Order Masters at this moment, there were still a few around, so all the Eighth-Order Masters had more or less interacted with them somewhat. However, there wasn’t a Ninth-Order Master who could disappear right before their eyes like Yang Kai.
Once Yang Kai left, Duan Hong Chen took a few more looks at the beautiful scenery before reluctantly leaving.
The reason he stayed here was to act as Yang Kai’s Protector. Now that Yang Kai had come out of his retreat, there was no reason for Duan Hong Chen to stay around here any longer.
Yang Kai arrived at the Supreme Headquarters as requested and dashed inside the side hall.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun sensed his presence and transmitted a message to him, telling Yang Kai to wait while he finished with a certain matter. Once he was done, he came out tiredly and sat beside Yang Kai before taping on the teacup beside him.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and poured Mi Jing Lun a cup. Then, Mi Jing Lun finished his tea in one gulp before revealing a relaxed expression.
After a long silence, Mi Jing Lun suddenly spoke up, “Although there’s no war, there are a lot of miscellaneous things to take care of. I don’t have a competent adjutant with me, so if you don’t have anything to do, how about you help out at the Supreme Headquarters?”
Sipping on his tea, Yang Kai looked outside the hall and asked, “Senior Brother Xiang is a better candidate than me.”
Mi Jing Lun pursed his lips, “He says he’s going to enter retreat.”
“What about Senior Brother Ou Yang?”
“He also wants to enter retreat.”
“Then…”
“All of them want to enter retreat!” While saying that, Mi Jing Lun felt angry, “We’re all Ninth-Order Masters! Do they think I don’t want to enter retreat too?!”
Yang Kai looked at him helplessly, “There has to be someone dealing with these matters, and Senior Brother Mi is the best candidate.” A short pause later, he continued, “Don’t feel too pressured. It’s indeed hard for the Human Race to get to this point, so no matter what happens in the future, we just have to go all out and hope for the best.”
He could understand Mi Jing Lun’s frustrations. Now that the Humans had taken back the 3,000 Worlds, the situation seemed bright for them, but that was only on the surface.
The following battle was critical to determining whether the Human Race would survive or perish. If they could take back the No-Return Pass, the Humans would be taking one big step towards victory, but if they couldn’t, all of their efforts would be for nought.
Moreover, they had to be quick when taking down the No-Return Pass because they couldn’t afford to fight a prolonged battle. Without mentioning other reasons, just their supply of resources wasn’t enough to sustain a protracted war.
Therefore, as the leading figure of the Supreme Headquarters responsible for integrating and managing all the Armies, Mi Jing Lun was shouldering an unfathomable amount of pressure. That pressure was so huge that Yang Kai couldn’t shoulder it, even as a Ninth-Order Master.
If another Ninth-Order Master were helping Mi Jing Lun, they could help carry some of the responsibilities; however, there were only so many Ninth-Order Masters at this moment, and none of them were suitable candidates.
There had to be someone dealing with these matters… Though it didn’t sound like much in conversation, Yang Kai knew how large of a burden was resting on Mi Jing Lun’s shoulders.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun knew this as well. The reason he mentioned this to Yang Kai was not that he intended for Yang Kai to help and stay in the Supreme Headquarters, he was simply venting. Yang Kai was currently the strongest Master they had besides the two Giant Spirit Gods, so no matter what, he shouldn’t be cooped up inside the Supreme Headquarters handling logistics; instead, the place he belonged was the battlefield.
“Never mind. Let’s talk about more serious matters,” Mi Jing Lun changed the topic, confirming he was only ranting just now, “I’ve discussed this with the others. It will take 10 years at minimum, and 20 years at most for us to get ready. Then we’ll be able to attack the No-Return Pass. Do you have any suggestions?”
10 to 20 years may seem like a long time, but to prepare for a battle involving the entire Race, it was actually a very short period of time; after all, they had to re-organize and coordinate all the individual Armies and prepare the supplies and weapons prior to beginning the battle. All of these processes were time-consuming because the war wasn’t only about sending all their troops out.
Yang Kai shook his head, “Since things have come to this point, I don’t have anything to suggest. If we want to win, we simply need to have enough strength to do it.”
Hearing that, Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly, “It seems like our thoughts are aligned. When the time comes, I need you to lead the way to enter the Black Ink Battlefield through Black Territory.”
“Of course,” Yang Kai nodded. If they wanted to take back the No-Return Pass, it wasn’t workable to attack from the Barren Territory; after all, the Territory Gate was a fixed size. If the Human Race attacked through it, it would give the Black Ink Clan a chance to gradually kill them. Therefore, the only option they had to attack the No-Return Pass was to first pass through that secret passage and gather their troops deep inside the Black Ink Battlefield before assaulting the Black Ink Clan’s base.
After a short pause, Yang Kai asked, “How about the Barren Territory?”
“I heard you left the two Giant Spirit Gods there to guard the Territory Gate. With them there, I’m sure the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t doom themselves by trying to pass through. Also, they don’t intend to do anything anyway.”
With Ah Da and Ah Er standing guard on the other side of the Territory Gate and keeping their eyes on the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods wouldn’t dare to act recklessly because that would only give Ah Da and Ah Er a chance to charge into the No-Return Pass and kill everyone.
“But the Giant Spirit Gods don’t have high intelligence, so we need someone there to communicate with them, telling them what they should and shouldn’t do and when they should and shouldn’t attack.”
Yang Kai pointed his thumb at himself, “Don’t tell me I’m the one to do it?”
Then, Mi Jing Lun looked at Yang Kai like he was a promising young man, “There is no one else who can do this besides you. No one else has interacted much with those two Giant Spirit Gods, so you’re the only one familiar with them. If they’ll listen to anyone, it will be you. Also, with your abilities, I’m sure the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be able to do anything about you if they saw you guarding the Barren Territory with the two Giant Spirit Gods.”
After thinking about it, Yang Kai sighed and nodded, “Good. If that’s your arrangement, I’ll follow it.”
Even if he was ordered to guard the Barren Territory, it wouldn’t stop him from causing a commotion when the time came. Once the battle began, he could charge through the Territory Gate and kill his way into the No-Return Pass, joining the Human Race Army on the other side.
From that perspective alone, there really was no other person more suitable than him to guard the Barren Territory. Though the other Ninth-Order Masters were strong as well, they couldn’t move about as effortlessly as Yang Kai could.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun immediately saw through Yang Kai’s thoughts and offered, “How about we split into two routes and arrange for some soldiers to assemble in the Barren Territory? Perhaps we can attack from both sides at a crucial moment.”
“That’s not necessary. Attacking through the Territory Gate into the No-Return Pass is quite problematic. If we have too many people there, we won’t be able to grasp the opportunity during the war, and there’s no use if we have too few people. Ah Da, Ah Er, and me working together should suffice.”
Mi Jing Lun also thought that was reasonable and nodded, “Let’s keep it that way for now.”
Later, Yang Kai chatted with Mi Jing Lun for a bit before leaving.
Before he left, he quickly examined Pure Yang Pass’ situation. Pure Yang Pass was constantly being worked on, and after the past few years, they had successfully repaired the Great Pass’ superstructure. The destroyed Arrays and artifacts needed to be replaced for Pure Yang Pass to be able to return to its full glory, but that would still require a lot of time and resources.
One of the reasons the Human Race needed 10 to 20 years before attacking the No-Return Pass was that they needed to finish repairing Pure Yang Pass.
An hour later, Yang Kai arrived at the Star Boundary.
On top of a Spirit Peak in High Heaven Palace was a huge square, and on that square stood several majestic buildings. These buildings were worn to differing degrees, while some were even heavily damaged, seemingly having experienced the ravages of war.
People were heading in and out of those Grand Halls, so the atmosphere in the square was very lively.
These buildings were Universe Temples that the Void Guard retrieved from the many Great Territories. During the three years Yang Kai was in retreat and comprehending the mysteries of the Grand Dao, the Void Guard had gathered around 1,000 Universe Temples here. Now that the Supreme Headquarters had distributed their share of resources and assistants, the Void Guard took the lead to start arranging Space Arrays using these Universe Temples as a base.
The more than 100 Void Guards had been swamped while the Array Masters and Artifact Refiners sent over were also working day and night without rest.
Although they had made some small successes, their progress was quite slow, which worried Li Wu Yi.
At this moment, inside one of the Grand Halls, Li Wu Yi led several Void Guards in discussing how to best set up the Arrays with a few Array Masters.
It was a serious topic, so they concentrated hard on the matter. Just as they were carefully outlining and carving a pattern and were about to succeed, they heard a voice saying, “That’s not right.”
In this silent Grand Hall, even the gentlest voice was like an exploding bomb, shocking everyone.
Like that, the almost-formed Array shattered, its lines cracking while the energy inserted inside blew up. A bright light flashed inside the hall, leaving everyone with a dusty face.
Li Wu Yi turned around and looked at Yang Kai with bloodshot eyes before gnashing his teeth, “You brat! You finally appeared!”
They had agreed beforehand that they would form the Void Guard to gather Universe Temples to be used to house Space Arrays so that the Army could use them as rapid transit points in the coming war.
Even though it seemed like Li Wu Yi was the leader here, it was actually Yang Kai who was in command; otherwise, the Void Guard wouldn’t have the word ‘Void’ in the name because that was Yang Kai’s title in the Star Boundary.
However…
“Three years! Do you know how I’ve spent these three years!?” Li Wu Yi roared viciously as he questioned Yang Kai’s act of forgetting about the Void Guard after dumping everything on him.
“Something unexpected happened…” Yang Kai coughed lightly into his fist.
He didn’t expect creating the Myriad Dao Sealed World would suddenly enlighten him, and he would spend three years in retreat.
“Anyway, I’m here now,” Yang Kai tried to change the topic.
“Smelly brat…” Li Wu Yi was so angry that he wanted to laugh.
Afterwards, Yang Kai held Li Wu Yi’s shoulder and whispered, “Don’t keep calling me brat. I’m a Ninth-Order Master now, as well as the Dao Lord of the Void Dao Temple. How do you expect the disciples to respect me if you call me that?”
Hearing that, Li Wu Yi couldn’t help but roll his eyes, but when he thought carefully about it, it did seem inappropriate because no matter whether he was Yang Kai’s Senior or not, Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, so he should get the respect he deserved.
Li Wu Yi’s actions just now were because he was pissed off. He originally had a nominal role in the Void Guard and didn’t need to worry about leading or organizing anything, but he suddenly became the one in charge after the Void Guard was formed.
Taking a step back, Li Wu Yi cupped his fist, “Greetings, Sir.”
He had a serious expression on his face as if nothing had happened just now.
The other disciples also cupped their fists and bowed, “Greetings, Dao Lord!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Sir, you said this is not right. Can Sir tell us what is the right way and perhaps show us an example?” Li Wu Yi acted like a student and respectfully asked.
While looking at him, Yang Kai felt his face twitch, but still replied, “Gather everyone over here and I’ll demonstrate.”
Several Dao Temple disciples were instantly excited. Though they were from the Void Dao Temple, they didn’t have many opportunities to interact with Yang Kai. Most of them only had the chance to see Yang Kai once when he brought them out of his Small Universe. Now that they heard that the Dao Lord was about to demonstrate a whole new type of Space Array, they naturally felt very excited. As such, they all swarmed out of the Grand Hall to gather their fellow Dao Temple disciples.