When the two Giant Spirits Gods appeared, an intense battle broke out at the Black Ink Clan base.
Though initially flustered and caught off-guard, the Black Ink Clan reinforcement Army slowly regained composure and began working together to suppress the Giant Spirit Gods.
It was immensely difficult, but at least they did not become victims of an outright massacre.
The Giant Spirit Gods were beginning to show signs of injury as well. Large boulder-like objects fell from their bodies as the Black Ink Clan Army kept up a continuous bombardment of attacks.
The fact that the reinforcement Army was able to come up with a response in such a short amount of time made it clear they were indeed elites of the Black Ink Clan.
Alas, the two Giant Spirit Gods were not what the Black Ink Clan felt most challenged by. No matter how powerful the Giant Spirits Gods were, they were out in the open and they could deal with them accordingly.
The biggest threat, however, was the Human killing star, who was hiding in the dark and could strike out with extreme lethality at any given moment!
Yang Kai, the killing star, was able to move around essentially undetectable. Even the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not track him down, and each time he appeared, at least one Pseudo-Royal Lord would die!
It was their first time clashing against an opponent like Yang Kai, but despite only a short time passing, he was already akin to a looming shadow of death that hung over all their heads!
He did not attack anyone other than the Pseudo-Royal Lords, but in just a short span, 20 such Masters had died, with the surviving ones helpless to deal with him.
Had it been possible, the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ best option would have been to hide among the rest of the Army, but due to the drawbacks of the Source Fusion Technique, they couldn’t restrain their auras. They were like bright lights in a dark tunnel, their presence glaringly obvious to anyone despite being in a sea of over 10 million other Black Ink Clansmen.
They could neither defeat Yang Kai nor find him. It felt as if they had no way of overcoming this crisis.
“I want to know what the situation is at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. I will spare the life of the one who tells me what I wish to know!”
All of a sudden, the Human’s voice rang out on the battlefield for all the Black Ink Clan Army to hear.
One of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had an abrupt change of expression as his eyes glinted and he threw his fist towards a certain part of the void, “He’s here!”
He punched with all his strength and the void shattered like a mirror, but there was nothing there.
Then, the Pseudo-Royal Lord heard Yang Kai’s voice sounding tauntingly next to his ear.
“Wrong answer!”
There was a flash of light as the local space solidified. The Pseudo-Royal Lord was still in the same pose, his clenched fist extended out, but his head had been separated from his body and black blood was now gushing out of his neck, dyeing the void black.
“Does anyone else wish to speak?” Yang Kai’s voice rang out again. Two Pseudo-Royal Lords confidently unleashed attacks towards the spot where the voice came from, but as soon as they did so, Yang Kai appeared behind them and thrust his spear through their backs.
Before the rest of the Pseudo-Royal Lords could rush over, Yang Kai’s silhouette disappeared once more.
“Maybe my previous question was a little too broad, so I’ll be more specific. Has Mo woken up yet? What’s the situation like with the Human Race Army based outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
A hot-tempered Pseudo-Royal Lord immediately hollered, “You want to know what happened to the Army over there? They’re all dead, and you’re next!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Kai appeared in front of him.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord had been secretly searching for Yang Kai’s location all along, but he did not expect the Human to be arrogant enough to show up in this manner, so he was caught off-guard.
By the time he was able to react, Yang Kai’s hand had flashed out and tightly gripped his forehead.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord was entirely shocked by what happened next. All at once, he felt as if his entire body was mysteriously suppressed and sealed by a strange force. Despite merely being held by the forehead, he could not fight back at all and Yang Kai ended up whisking him off just like that.
All the Masters from the Black Ink Clan nearby gasped in shock and fury as they sent forth a torrent of Secret Techniques aimed at Yang Kai.
Nevertheless, their attacks hit nothing as Yang Kai’s silhouette flickered across the battlefield without ever truly solidifying in one spot.
Yang Kai flitted around to avoid the Black Ink Clan’s attacks, all the while holding onto the Pseudo-Royal Lord by the latter’s forehead. He eyed the Pseudo-Royal Lord and stated matter-of-factly, “The Humans have a saying, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’. You’ll have to pay the price for not watching your tongue!”
Alas, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was a rebellious fellow, so despite being subjugated, he had no intention of compromising. He sneered and screeched, “What price would you make me pay, huh? It’s just death! So what if you kill me? You’ll never be able to stand against the Supreme One! Black Ink is Eternal!”
“Who said I’m going to kill you?” Yang Kai eyed him coolly.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord abruptly felt a thick malice engulf him, one so intense that even though he was fully prepared to die, he could not help shuddering in response.
“You just came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so I’m assuming you’ve never experienced Purifying Light before. Well, I’m in a generous mood today, so I’ll help you broaden your horizons!” Having said that, the two marks on Yang Kai’s hand became visible, and in the very next moment, yellow and blue light flowed out and wrapped around the Pseudo-Royal Lord.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord immediately had a look of horror on his face.
It was true that the reinforcement Army had only just recently left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and had never encountered Purifying Light before, but they had heard of it and how it could be used to counter Black Ink Strength.
Black Ink Strength was able to corrupt anything and everything it touched, but the Heavens were fair in all things, so no matter how strong a particular energy was, there was always something that countered it.
Primordial Light and Darkness were both born at the dawn of the Universe. Neither could exist without the other, but both also perfectly suppressed one another!
The yellow and blue lights swirled together and quickly condensed into a pure white light.
A sizzling sound was heard and all at once, the Pseudo-Royal Lord felt as if he had been tossed into a boiling pot of oil as Black Ink Strength gushed out of his body and evaporated as it came into contact with the Purifying Light.
Throughout this process, the Pseudo-Royal Lord underwent such overwhelming pain that he could not stop screaming in agony.
His tormented cries echoed across the battlefield and struck fear into the hearts of all the Black Ink Clansmen.
The attacks on Yang Kai did not cease as the Black Ink Clan continued their attempts to track him down, unleashing all their most powerful attacks wherever they suspected he might be.
However, it made no difference. While Yang Kai could not hide himself while torturing the Pseudo-Royal Lord, his masterful use of Space Principles allowed him to freely weave around the Black Ink Clan’s attacks.
In fact, thanks to Yang Kai’s sneak manoeuvring, a sizable number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan ended up getting caught in friendly fire instead.
As for the Pseudo-Royal Lord that Yang Kai captured, he had nearly screamed himself hoarse as his aura continuously weakened.
In the end, he could not take it anymore and growled hoarsely, “Kill me! Kill me!”
He finally realised that there were fates worse than death.
Yang Kai carefully adjusted the strength of Purifying Light and brought the Pseudo-Royal Lord before him, “Killing you is no problem at all,” he quietly said, “Just tell me what’s happening at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and you won’t have to suffer this torment any longer.”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord’s lips quivered as he howled through his pain, “The Human Race Army has been wiped out and the Supreme One has woken up!”
Yang Kai’s gaze turned cold.
“Kill me! I told you what you wanted to know,” the Pseudo-Royal Lord roared hoarsely.
“But, what you told me differs from what I know.”
“I’m telling you the truth! It’s all true!”
Yang Kai did not answer. Regardless of whether or not the Suppressing Black Ink Army was still alive, there was no doubt that Mo had not awakened yet. If Mo was fully awake, the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction would have been shattered and the reinforcements sent out would have been many times larger and had true Royal Lords leading them.
[Even at a time like this, this Pseudo-Royal Lord still wants to try and trick me, huh? Either he doesn’t know what’s happening over there, or he doesn’t wish to tell me.]
Yang Kai sighed. He knew there was no hope of him extracting any useful information about the situation over there out of the Black Ink Clan now.
The reinforcements had chosen to remain in this place to put up a fight against the Human Race Army after hearing about the situation at the No-Return Pass. Thus, it was most likely that they were already prepared to die, so it was unrealistic to think he could dig out any information from them.
That Pseudo-Royal Lord was still bathing in Purifying Light and his aura had now dropped precipitously. Even the aura of a High-Rank Black Ink Clan was stronger than his now, so Yang Kai tossed him at the group of Pseudo-Royal Lords who were swarming over as a barrage of attacks shot out at him.
As the attacks exploded, the Pseudo-Royal Lord turned into dust.
Once Yang Kai’s hand was free, he immediately turned around and summoned the Space-Time River which came crashing down on those who were chasing after him.
The long river was like a beast that devoured everything in its path as it swallowed up a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords. Dao Strengths then surged and wiped out their vitality.
Meanwhile, a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords were standing on a certain Universe Fragment. They did not join the hunt against Yang Kai and instead gathered in the distance to observe the situation.
After seeing the way a single Human and two Giant Spirit Gods sent their entire Army into upheaval, the Pseudo-Royal Lord in command let out a long sigh before saying, “We can’t lose all our forces here. Our mission is to cripple the Human Race Army. There’s no point trying to put up a fight against these three.”
Based on the current strength of the Black Ink Clan Army, it was impossible for them to kill the two Giant Spirit Gods. Certainly they could injure these two Giant Spirit Gods, but once the latter felt threatened, they would simply run away and the Black Ink Clan had absolutely no way to stop them.
The same applied to Yang Kai, the killing star.
Since the Black Ink Clan had no way of stopping their three opponents from escaping, and no way of killing them, this was an entirely futile fight that would only result in casualties on their side.
The other Pseudo-Royal Lords nodded in agreement.
“Give the order for some to stay behind and keep these three occupied, as for the others… evacuate at once!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord quickly came to a decision.
“Where should we go?” A Pseudo-Royal Lord asked.
The one who first spoke stayed silent for a moment before looking in the direction of the No-Return Pass, “We’ll go out and meet the Human Race Army ourselves!”
At first, the rest were confused, but they soon came to a realization.
This was probably their only option now. They had to clash with the Human Race Army as soon as possible; that way, even if they all died, they would still manage to fulfil their mission!
The order to withdraw went out at once, and despite the chaos of the situation, the Black Ink Clan Army was able to maintain some semblance of order as they prepared to retreat.
According to their estimates, they had to leave at least 30% of their forces behind to keep the two Giant Spirit Gods and the killing star occupied. That was the only way they could carve out enough room for the rest of the Army to leave safely and carry out their mission.
This decision pained the majority of them, but they had no choice.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord who served as the Commander was standing atop a Universe Fragment and surveying the bloody battlefield with an icy glare. Though he knew he would never get to seek vengeance himself, he still wanted to sear the killing star’s image into the recesses of his mind.
“Sir!” Suddenly, a Feudal Lord flew over and landed in front of the Pseudo-Royal Lords to frantically report, “Sirs, we have found signs of a Human Race Army!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were startled.
“Which direction?” The commanding Pseudo-Royal Lord quickly asked.
“That direction,” The Feudal Lord pointed it out.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords all turned to look, and sure enough, they spotted hazy figures far off in the depths of the void.
It was a great distance away, so they could not see clearly, but it was undoubtedly a Human Race Army, a very large one.
“Excellent!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord cheered thunderously. He did not seem panicked by the sudden report; instead, he looked pleased.
Regardless of how the Human Race Army managed to arrive in such a short amount of time when it should have taken them over a decade to reach this place, it was precisely what the Black Ink Clan hoped to see.
When they left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, their initial mission was to aid the Black Ink Clan Army at the No-Return Pass by attacking the Humans from the rear. They wanted to sneak up on the enemy, catch the Humans off-guard, and slaughter them all.
However, when the No-Return Pass was lost, their mission changed. All they needed to do now was to fight the Humans who were heading for Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and to stop at nothing whilst doing so. Neither the outcome nor their survival mattered.
The sudden appearance of Yang Kai and the two Giant Spirit Gods threw their initial plans into disarray, and they were forced to split their troops in two. They had to leave some behind to keep the three menaces occupied while the others headed for the No-Return Pass to confront the Human Race Army as soon as possible.
No one expected the Human Race Army would be here already!
The enemy was delivering themselves up, so after being startled for a moment, the Black Ink Clansmen were filled up with a thirst for battle.
The Humans used the strength of their killing star and the two Giant Spirit Gods to disrupt their position and deployments before sending in their Army to launch a surprise attack. It looked as if the Humans had planned all this from the start. It was perilous to face such an enemy on their terms.
Still, what was there for them to fear?
The Black Ink Clan existed solely to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Supreme One.
“Sir!” Yet another voice called out from the distance, and a second Feudal Lord joined them as he quickly reported, “Sirs, we have sighted a Human Race Army!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord Commander nodded, “I know.”
The Feudal Lord who just came was completely taken aback. He rushed over as soon as he received the news, so how did the Pseudo-Royal Lords find out about it beforehand?
Nevertheless, he dared not make any comments. He stood aside and glanced at the first Feudal Lord, but when their gazes met, they seemed to realize something.
“Sir!” Once again, a Feudal Lord rushed over from a different direction.
At last, the Pseudo-Royal Lords also realised that the situation was not as simple as they thought it was.
The Human Race Army was not coming from just one direction.
Armies were rushing towards their base from all directions!
They were completely surrounded.
It was hard to imagine how the Humans managed to achieve this. The Black Ink Clan Army numbered over 10 million elites so it should have been impossible to box them in without someone noticing something earlier on.
Finally, some of the Pseudo-Royal Lords recalled the reports they had dismissed the past few days, ones about scouts and resource-gathering teams failing to return on time.
From the looks of it now, the missing Black Ink Clansmen must have been discovered by the Humans and eliminated.
They never thought that the Humans could arrive here so soon, so they had been preparing for a battle to break out a decade later, that was why they were not more vigilant and failed to realize the Humans were closing in on them.
“Those deplorable Humans!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord Commander exploded in rage. Even though he wanted to take on the Human Race Armies as soon as possible, he did not welcome being plotted against this way. After thinking in silence for a moment though, he shouted, “Pass down the order, we launch a full-scale attack in that direction!”
He pointed in the direction of the No-Return Pass, which was also the direction the first Feudal Lord pointed out in his report.
Although the Black Ink Clan was being besieged from all directions, the one silver lining of the situation was that the Human Race’s strength was scattered as they had split themselves up into over 10 different forces. Even though this allowed them to surround the Black Ink Clan, it also meant that the Black Ink Clan could target these smaller Armies individually!
As long as they moved quickly enough, they had enough heritage to wipe out a few of the Human Race’s Armies. That would be enough to deal a crushing blow to the Humans and force them to cut their crusade short!
The Black Ink Clan were already making preparations to withdraw, so after receiving the latest order from the commanding Pseudo-Royal Lord, they instantly split into two. 30% stayed behind to keep Yang Kai and the Giant Spirit Orders occupied while the rest charged at the Human Race Army that was approaching from the direction of the No-Return Pass.
The Human Race Army coming from that direction was the Purple Feather Army.
Wu Qing was originally the only Ninth-Order Master in the Purple Feather Army, but ever since the battle at the No-Return Pass, the Humans had 20 new Ninth-Order Masters, two of whom were added to the Purple Feather Army. They were a man and a woman, an actual Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair. Even if one searched the entirety of the Human Race’s history, it was exceedingly rare to find a precedent of two such people growing so powerful together.
It was hard enough to become a Ninth-Order Master as few ever had the possibility of doing so. If it had not been for the benefits gained from the World Tree clone, it would usually take several thousand, if not tens of thousands of years for someone with the aptitude to become a Ninth-Order Master to appear in a Great Force. Thus, the years and generations that separated the Ninth-Order Masters made it near impossible for two to have a Senior Brother and Junior Sister relationship. That all changed with the appearance of the Star Boundary.
After several millennia of fighting together, this pair could basically read each other’s thoughts. Even when they were still Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters, they had already carved out a name for themselves on the battlefield as numerous Feudal and Territory Lords had died at their hands. They had even caught Mo Na Ye’s attention as he had set up traps that were targeted specifically at them.
The many years of war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan gave birth to a plethora of both celebratory and sorrowful stories, but it also led to the birth of many remarkable people, and these two were ranked among them.
Right now, they were standing atop a Purifying Black Ink Battleship together with Wu Qing, their Senior, as all three were observing the battlefield.
When Wu Qing saw that the Black Ink Clan Army had chosen to charge in their direction, his eyes flashed with displeasure.
Whether it was on purpose or not, the Purple Feather Army had been singled out by the enemy as the weak point that they could easily run over.
“Prepare for battle!” Wu Qing loudly commanded.
The Purple Feather Army that had been travelling at great speed instantly repositioned themselves.
They did not take up a defensive formation, but rather an offensive one!
Despite facing off against their opponents whose numbers were several times greater than their own, the Purple Feather Army showed no fear. Every single one of them was able to stay composed as they waited for the moment to strike.
After going through numerous battles, both large and small, throughout the past few millennia, they had built up their spirits through their continued victories and could move as one body.
The Black Ink Clan Army was not about to face the weak Army they believed it to be, but a giant beast who could swallow everything in its path.
Murderous intent flared as the distance between the two Armies rapidly shrank!
All at once, multi-coloured flashes of light shot out from the Purple Feather Army and rained down on the approaching Black Ink Clan.
At the same time, streaks of black Secret Techniques shot out from the Black Ink Clan Army towards the Purple Feather Army.
The fight had officially begun.
Scores of auras from the Black Ink Clan were extinguished by the bursts of light, and even the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not let their guard down. They were completely focused on dodging the Secret Techniques. In a situation like this, even a minor slip-up could spell their doom.
As for the Purple Feather Army, though they suffered some losses as well, it was nothing compared to what the Black Ink Clan suffered.
It was not surprising as the Human Race had the protection of Warships and Spirit Arrays, while the Black Ink Clan did not.
In a head-on battle between two Armies where Secret Techniques and artifacts were exchanged at long range, the side with stronger defences had far more of an advantage.
It was akin to a mortal battle where both Armies had archers but only one had shields. Naturally, the one with shields suffered far fewer casualties.
In this case, the Humans were the ones with the shields!
Evidently, the Black Ink Clan picked up on this as well. They had to withstand the constant decrease in their numbers as they tried to hasten their attacks. Since they lost out in terms of defence, they were forced to expend some of their energy to defend themselves in order to counter the Humans’ advantage.
After a few rounds of Secret Techniques were exchanged, the fearsome armies finally clashed in the void.
By numbers alone, the Humans were certainly at a disadvantage, but they were still able to halt the Black Ink Clan Army’s charge by force.
The Purple Feather Army seemed to turn into a massive boulder which could not be moved.
No one knew how they did it, but they did.
“Black Ink Clan bastards, suffer death!” Wu Qing’s bellow rang out. He was still standing atop the Purifying Black Ink Battleship when he first started speaking, but by the time he finished, he had already charged into the Black Ink Clan Army. His weapon flashed as he cut down a Pseudo-Royal Lord before the latter could even register what was happening.
Black blood splattered everywhere as a powerful aura flared up before disappearing.
Countless Masters from the Black Ink Clan shuddered in fear.
Though the Pseudo-Royal Lords were resolute in their determination to sacrifice everything for the Supreme One, they still felt chills down their spine when they saw how terrifying Wu Qing was.
At last, they realised that the Human Race did not only have Yang Kai as their solitary killing star. The Ninth-Order Master in front of them now was also immensely powerful!
Wu Qing was a veteran Ninth-Order Master, and out of all the current Ninth-Order Masters, Xiao Xiao was the only one who had more experience than him.
However, Xiao Xiao was proficient in the Yin-Yang Grand Dao and specialised in crowd control rather than single-combat. The same could not be said for Wu Qing.
Thus, among all the Ninth-Order Masters, Wu Qing was second only to Yang Kai in terms of individual combat strength.
Wu Qing made a show of strength by channelling everything he had into the attack. A Pseudo-Royal Lord who was caught off-guard would never have been able to defend himself against it.
[Off to a good start!]
However, in the very next breath, Wu Qing was surrounded by numerous Masters from the Black Ink Clan. After being momentarily stunned, they swiftly rushed over to gang up on him. Wu Qing showed no fear as he slashed out around him. As Dao Strength rippled through the void, his formidable power burst out and turned his enemies into rivers of blood.
The other Human Race Masters followed in Wu Qing’s footsteps as they rushed into the enemy lines, including the two new Ninth-Order Masters.
Their figures lunged forth as two flashes of light as they headed straight for the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Junior Sister’s expression was grim as her hands swiftly moved to unleash a mysterious strength that filled the void, causing the Pseudo-Royal Lords to instantly feel as though their Souls were becoming unstable. They saw stars circling their heads as if they had been hit by an invisible hammer.
The Senior Brother seized this chance to close in with his sword. Sword light shrouded his body as he cut through the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Black blood splattered as one of the Pseudo-Royal Lords was relieved of his head, while the others were heavily injured. This was all accomplished with a single strike.
By the time the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were lucky enough to survive could finally react, the Senior Brother’s sword light was slashing down on them.
Agonising screams echoed across the battlefield.
Of this Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair, one excelled in the Soul Dao while the other excelled in the Sword Dao. Furthermore, they were able to act as one as they fought on the battlefield, which meant they could kill their enemies even more efficiently than Wu Qing, the veteran Ninth-Order Master.
Meanwhile, the Eighth-Order Masters quickly got into their Battle Formations and challenged the remaining Pseudo-Royal Lords, causing intense fights to break out in all directions.
The battle was joined in an instant as the two Armies fought with dogged fervour.
In this battle, the Human Race were both advantaged and disadvantaged at the same time.
One of the things working in their favour was that these Pseudo-Royal Lords had a critical difference from the Pseudo-Royal Lords from the No-Return Pass. While they were all similarly powerful, they differed when it came to experience.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords from the No-Return Pass had fought against the Human Race for hundreds of years at least, and with the help of the information they gleaned from Black Ink Disciples, they were able to mimic the Humans and even learn to form Battle Formations.
Although they could only form a simple Three Fortunes Formation, it would still require 20 to 30 Eighth-Order Masters in Five Elements or Six Paths Formations to contain them.
That was the reason why the Humans had such a hard time during the battles at the No-Return Pass. Even a simple Three Fortunes Formation had given the Pseudo-Royal Lords a huge boost in combat efficiency and allowed them to occupy many more Human Masters.
However, that was not the case for the Pseudo-Royal Lords who just came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
They did not know how to form Battle Formations and their combat experience was quite lacking, so even though they worked together in certain situations, each of them basically acted independently, oftentimes getting in each other’s way rather than providing support to one another.
As soon as the clashing started, the Eighth-Order Masters keenly picked up on this and were thrilled.
If the Eighth-Order Masters formed a Five Elements Formation, they were just barely able to put up a fight against a Pseudo-Royal Lord. A Six Paths Formation would mean that they would stand on equal footing, while a Seven Stars Formation made them even more powerful than their opponent.
As of now, the Humans had quite several Eighth-Order Masters. This was thanks to their steady accumulation all these years, as well as the Ordinary Grade Innate Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace. Each Army had at least 2,000 Eighth-Order Masters, some even had 3,000.
With so many Eighth-Order Masters, it was easy enough to form Battle Formations and contain the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Nevertheless, when it came to sheer numbers, the Purple Feather Army paled in comparison to the Black Ink Clan Army as the latter had nearly ten times as many Masters.
Therefore, even though the Purple Feather Army was able to put up a fight for now, they could not keep it up for long.
Fortunately, they did not need to. The other Human Armies were closing in from all directions, so all they had to do was hold out for a little longer, and their reinforcements would be able to surround the Black Ink Clan completely. When the time came, the Black Ink Clan would be trapped.
The difference in numbers meant that the Purple Feather Army suffered increasing injuries and casualties, but in comparison to them, the Black Ink Clan suffered the same in far greater numbers.
The three Ninth-Order Masters weaved through the enemy as they killed Pseudo-Royal Lords again and again. Wu Qing was covered in wounds and the Senior Brother and Junior Sister duo had also turned pale from overexertion.
The wreckage of the broken Warships floated everywhere as blood and torn limbs scattered all over.
Nevertheless, the Purple Feather Army did not retreat. They maintained their lines and held fast to keep the enemy rooted in place.
The other Human Armies were rushing over to provide aid from all directions with the Ninth-Order Masters in the lead and would soon arrive.
The Black Ink Clan Army was slowly weakening. Initially, the Pseudo-Royal Lords figured that their numerical advantage would be enough for them to triumph over the Purple Feather Army, with a high chance of them being able to wipe this Human Army out entirely.
As long as they did so, they would be able to create a gap in the encirclement and gain a better position to battle against the other Human Race Armies.
Alas, they did not expect the Purple Feather Army to be able to keep the battlefield fixed in this area despite being outnumbered nearly 10 times.
[Are Humans really so resilient?]
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were somewhat dazed, [No wonder the ones who first left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction couldn’t exterminate the Humans and were soundly defeated after years of battle.]
As the stalemate continued, the Black Ink Clan Army soon began to despair.
The other Human Race Armies had arrived, swarming over from all directions and surrounding the Black Ink Clan Army.
An even more intense battle broke out then as both parties numbered over 10 million now as they fought viciously.
The Black Ink Clan Army was already weakened by the previous battle but the Humans remained spirited, so the outcome was clear.
Furthermore, the Humans had 29 Ninth-Order Masters while the Black Ink Clan did not even have a single true Royal Lord. Their Pseudo-Royal Lords did not know how to form Battle Formations either.
Thus, the clash soon became a one-sided massacre for the Black Ink Clan.
Meanwhile, back at the Black Ink Clan’s base where the fight first broke out, Ah Da and Ah Er were stomping about, slaughtering the Black Ink Clan Army in droves.
Though a large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan remained here to keep them occupied, they were only 30% of the whole reinforcement Army and it was hard for them to put up a fight against two Giant Spirit Gods.
Moreover, Yang Kai was still weaving about undetected among them as he snuck up on their Masters and assassinated them.
Soon, Yang Kai killed off the last of the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had stayed behind, and without them, the Black Ink Clan’s attacks became little more than tickles and scratches to Ah Da and Ah Er.
Since the battle had been decided, Yang Kai returned to Pure Yang Pass.
The Great Pass had been floating along on the battlefield without anyone paying any attention to it after Yang Kai first let it out and sent it crashing into a Universe Fragment.
Until now.
Instantly, somewhere on the Pure Yang Pass, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged like gushing water, and soon, he took in the situation across the void.
[It’s the perfect time.]
A torrent of World Force was unleashed and a huge Array lit up on the spot where Yang Kai stood. A mysterious energy burst forth in all directions.
12 Universe Fragments were scattered across the void outside the battlefield.
These 12 Universe Fragments were the ones that Yang Kai brought from the No-Return Pass after turning them into World Beads. He restored them to their original size once they arrived in this area.
The 12 Universe Fragments were not simply tools to transport the Armies, they were also a crucial part of the plan to surround the enemy.
The Human Race Army had planned all of this before they left the No-Return Pass.
Just as Yang Kai activated the Grand Array on Pure Yang Pass, the Void Guard that remained on the 12 Universe Fragments did the same to the arrays that had been set up there too.
All at once, the 12 Universe Fragments lit up brightly as they connected with Pure Yang Pass.
It was incredibly difficult to harness the strength of such a huge Array. Just creating it had cost an enormous amount of resources, while powering it was also not cheap, but it was all worth it for the sake of eliminating the enemy once and for all.
The connection between the Universe Fragments and Pure Yang Pass kept growing stronger, and once Yang Kai felt it reach a certain critical limit, he surged his Space Principles.
The Void Guard picked up on this signal and instantly followed suit.
All at once, there was a visible ripple that started from Pure Yang Pass and rapidly spread out over several millions of kilometres, sweeping past the two clashing Armies as it filled every corner of the void.
This ripple was not deadly in any way, nor did it disrupt the two Armies either; however, after it spread out, something seemed to change on the battlefield.
The 12 Universe Fragments scattered across the void had been linked together with Pure Yang Pass to seal the entire battlefield. A massive section of the void had become a cage, and as long as the Array held strong, nothing could escape.
This was a massive battle involving millions of soldiers on each side. No matter who had the upper hand, it was still going to be hard to completely annihilate the other side. There were bound to be those who managed to escape.
To prevent that from happening, the Humans came up with a plan beforehand.
If some of the Black Ink Clansmen did manage to flee, they would surely be a threat to the ones left behind at the No-Return Pass as only a few tens of thousands of Masters had stayed back. What’s more, those Masters were all heavily wounded and not as powerful as they once were.
The Humans were determined to slaughter every single Black Ink Clansman here in one battle!
Thus, Yang Kai was personally standing guard at the Array Core, and as long as he did not die, there was no way of lifting the sealing Array.
Furthermore, even as he stood guard in the middle of Pure Yang Pass, he was still able to take part in the battle.
Thanks to the power of the Array, Yang Kai could monitor the entire situation out on the battlefield. It was a mysterious feeling for him as it felt as though he was observing the battle from a different dimension.
Since he could see what was happening, it meant that he could partake in the battle as well.
Thus, out on the battlefield, there were frequent attacks that seemed to come from out of nowhere. These attacks would smash the Masters from the Black Ink Clan into pieces and many of the Humans who had been caught in a perilous situation were saved, to the confusion of everyone.
There was no suspense in this battle. The Human Race spent over a decade retaking the No-Return Pass, but the outcome of this fight against the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army had been determined right from the start.
The portion of the Black Ink Clan Army that stayed back to keep the two Giant Spirit Gods occupied was the first to crumble. After all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed, there was no point in continuing a hopeless fight.
Many of the surviving Masters wanted to flee.
Alas, the surrounding space had been sealed up and they could not escape. They were doomed to meet their end here.
On the main battlefield, the 12 Armies successfully surrounded the Black Ink Clan and were now slowly but steadily eliminating them.
It was ironic that the Black Ink Clan Army’s plan was being carried out by the Humans instead.
Once the equilibrium between the two sides was broken, death was the only fate awaiting the Black Ink Clan.
One by one, the Pseudo-Royal Lords died, and once they were all gone, the Territory Lords were next. Then, the Feudal Lords…
The battle lasted for a dozen days before it finally came to a close.
Now that it was over, the Humans began focusing on their recuperation as they counted the casualties.
The Purple Feather Army had suffered catastrophic losses!
This was the biggest loss for the Human Race in this battle.
Most of the casualties occurred when the Purple Feather Army was holding down the Black Ink Clan Army before the other Armies arrived.
A heavy price had to be paid for an Army to hold out against an enemy 10 times its size.
Nevertheless, it was a worthwhile price to pay.
Due to the various setups and arrangements made prior to the battle, the Humans were able to kill every single one of the reinforcement Army that came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. They had completely wiped out the threat that this reinforcement Army could have posed.
Once the battle ended, Yang Kai released the Grand Array that suppressed and sealed the local space, and at the same time, the 12 Universe Fragments that had been turned into Array Nodes shattered into dust as well. It was the backlash from the strength of the Spirit Array, and even Yang Kai could not stop that from happening.
The Ninth-Order Masters gathered back at Pure Yang Pass. Many of them were injured, especially the three from Purple Feather Army.
Mi Jing Lun, who was seated at the helm, had a worried expression, “You wish to go on ahead first, Junior Brother?”
Yang Kai had just announced to the group that he intended to leave first and head for the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
He nodded and said, “Something must’ve happened at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so I want to go and take a look. Furthermore, we don’t know what’s happening with the Suppressing Black Ink Army either.”
The Humans had too little intel on their hands. The only thing Yang Kai could be sure of was that the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had not been broken yet as true Royal Lords would have appeared as well if it did.
However, he was worried about the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s predicament. They were a team of elite Masters who were in charge of dealing with the Black Ink Clan who escaped from the Grand Restriction to ease the pressure on Wu Kuang.
The Army of over 10 million that had escaped was too much for the Suppressing Black Ink Army alone to have stopped, so it was inevitable that some terrible fate had befallen them.
Mi Jing Lun and the others knew that many of Yang Kai’s family and Disciples were part of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, so they understood what he was feeling right now.
As it was, Yang Kai had already shown a great deal of righteousness when he chose to remain here and fight with the rest of the Human Race Army despite knowing that the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army had escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Mi Jing Lun thus spoke up, “Since their reinforcement Army escaped from the Grand Restriction, things would not be peaceful there. I’m sure there would be enemy forces outside the Grand Restriction as well. How can you go up against them alone, Junior Brother? Why don’t you wait a few days and head out with the rest of the Army? It won’t be long… Just 10 days will do!”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Everyone has just been through an arduous battle, and though it was not the most intense we’ve experienced, everyone is exhausted. 10 days won’t be enough to recover; they’ll need to rest and recuperate for longer than that. Also, if I head over alone, I can hide my tracks and act according to the situation.”
Seeing as how Mi Jing Lun wanted to continue talking him out of it, Yang Kai added, “I’ll take some of the Void Guard with me and finish setting up the Space Arrays along the way. We’re only a few years distance away from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so once the Space Arrays have finished being arranged, everyone should more or less have recovered as well and it would be just in time for them to proceed. This is the best arrangement, Senior Brother.”
Mi Jing Lun had more to say, but in the end, he nodded in agreement, “You’re right, but it will be hard on you, Junior Brother.”
“I’m just doing what I must!” Yang Kai got to his feet, “I’ll go and make the preparations.”
In reality, there was not much he needed to prepare. He simply got Li Wu Yi to select a group of Void Guards who would be leaving with him before sealing up Pure Yang Pass and the two Giant Spirit Gods.
Both Pure Yang Pass and the Giant Spirit Gods were massive and could not be sent through the Space Arrays in their original forms. Yang Kai had to seal them inside a World Bead to accomplish that.
The 12 Universe Fragments he used earlier had turned to dust, but thankfully, there was no lack of Universe Fragments in the void. As such, Yang Kai randomly moved one over and placed Pure Yang Pass as well as the two Giant Spirit Gods on it.
Then, with the use of Space Principles, he refined it into a World Bead and passed it to Mi Jing Lun for safekeeping.
Once everything was settled, Yang Kai took 20 Void Guard into his Small Universe before stepping out into the void.
He kept moving onward without stopping at all…
The emotions that Yang Kai had been suppressing for the past six months finally welled up again. He desperately wanted to hurry on over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction as soon as possible and see what was happening for himself.
Several days later, he stopped and opened the portal to his Small Universe, bringing two Void Guards out.
“I’ll leave things here to you,” Yang Kai said before carrying on with his journey.
The two Void Guard sent him off with a bow, and once he was gone, they began setting up the Space Array.
A few days later, Yang Kai let out two more Void Guards.
This scene repeated itself all along the way as the Void Guard arranged the Space Arrays that would lead to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
In just over a month, Yang Kai traversed across the Late Ancient Era battlefield and arrived at the Spiritless Land.
It was an empty void with no trace of life. Even the strength of the Void which could literally be found anywhere in the Universe was incredibly weak here.
Yang Kai was extremely close to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction now; all he had to do was travel a little further and he would arrive at the Grand Restriction, which had been in existence for millions of years.
His Small Universe opened up and Li Wu Yi and another Void Guard stepped out. They were the last two.
“Set up the Space Array here but don’t travel any further ahead. Remember to stay hidden and not let the Black Ink Clan discover you,” Yang Kai instructed.
Li Wu Yi and the other Void Guard nodded.
“I’m heading off,” Yang Kai said before disappearing into the distance.
Pushing his Space Principles to their maximum potential, Yang Kai arrived outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in just three days, and the sight he saw made his expression grim.
It was just as Mi Jing Lun had predicted. A large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan were gathered outside the opening in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, with many Pseudo-Royal Lords among them.
There seemed to be even more of them here than there had been with the reinforcement Army that had just been wiped out.
Right now, they were ceaselessly attacking the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction from the outside.
There was no telling how long they had been doing this.
The endless waves of attacks caused ripples in the Grand Restriction, and though it was not in any danger of breaking yet, it would clearly not hold out for long.
What’s more, there was no sign of the Suppressing Black Ink Army!
Yang Kai’s heart sank.
As he moved forward, he kept searching for signs of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, but he had yet to discover anything.
It was an extremely worrying situation.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was made up of thousands of the most elite Masters of the Human Race. Not only did it include Yang Xue, a new Ninth-Order Master, but also Fu Guang who was a Divine Dragon. Furthermore, they had the help of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, so even if they could not defeat the Black Ink Clan, they should have been able to escape.
However, Yang Kai saw no trace of them as he made his way over, and when he arrived, he did not see any sign of them either.
He did not find any Human bodies or the wreckage of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress in the void. It was as if the Suppressing Black Ink Army and the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress had simply up and vanished.
Yang Kai did not know what happened to the Suppressing Black Ink Army, and the only source of information available to him was Wu Kuang, who was standing guard at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
[I hope he’s still alive!]
Yang Kai silently prayed as he used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability before approaching the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
He avoided the Black Ink Clan Army and arrived at a different part outside the Grand Restriction before using his Divine Sense.
Time seemed to stretch on as he nervously waited, but at last, the familiar voice rang out in his mind.
“You finally came!” Wu Kuang sounded weak and exhausted, “Didn’t you say you’d come over now and then to check up on things? It’s been so long since your last visit that I thought you’d died.”
“Something unexpected happened and I couldn’t use my special method to reach this place,” Yang Kai helplessly explained.
The Old Tree had fallen into a coma after bringing Yang Kai back to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from an extraordinary distance away, so Yang Kai could not use the power of the Old Tree to shuttle through the Void.
Otherwise, he would not have waited until this day to come over.
“What happened? Where’s the Suppressing Black Ink Army?” Yang Kai frantically asked.
“It’s a bit complicated…” Wu Kuang did not know how to explain, “Take a look for yourself.”
He then transmitted a bunch of information over and after looking through everything, Yang Kai’s expression grew strange too.
[No wonder Wu Kuang said it’s complicated. It’s not at all what I expected.]
The only thing he was glad about was that the Suppressing Black Ink Army was safe, for now…
This was unexpected good news. Yang Kai figured that at best, the Suppressing Black Ink Army had been defeated by the Black Ink Clan and had to flee, but the worst-case scenario was that they had all been killed, and that was not an outcome he could accept.
However, based on what Wu Kuang shared with him now, the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s situation was far better than he had initially thought.
Furthermore, the information Yang Kai just received was something that neither he nor any of the other Humans would have thought of.
“I only discovered these things when the Black Ink Strength exploded this time. I didn’t detect any of them before. Mu was indeed the strongest of the 10 from the Late Ancient Era,” Wu Kuang declared with a tone of admiration.
The fact that someone like Wu Kuang expressed such thoughts proved just how remarkable Mu’s plans and methods had been.
Yang Kai was just as stunned by the information he received from Wu Kuang.
Cang and the other nine Martial Ancestors from the Late Ancient Era chose to set up the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in this place because it was where the Primordial Light and Darkness were born. It could be considered the place where Mo came from.
All the Humans knew that Mo was suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction; however, no one knew what it was like inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Even Cang and the others knew very little.
Out of the 10 Martial Ancestors from the Late Ancient Era, Mu was the only one who personally entered the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to see what it was like inside.
Nevertheless, when she returned, she chose to sacrifice herself by merging with the Grand Restriction to strengthen it. She did not speak of what she saw or encountered inside.
The Human Race Masters came up with their own theories about what was inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and Yang Kai had done the same as well.
All along, he assumed that the Grand Restriction was simply Mo’s cage. It suppressed and sealed Mo, as well as its creations; after all, Mo was an existence that embodied chaos and evil, the source of all misfortunes that befell all of existence. Even if Mo had no wish to be so, its existence was sadly the antithesis of other living beings.
However, from the looks of it now, the situation was a lot more complex than Yang Kai had thought.
Despite everything else Yang Kai had gone through before, he could not help but be dazed by this new information.
“Still, there’s no point in getting to know these things now,” Wu Kuang’s feeble voice rang out in Yang Kai’s head once more, “The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction has been in place for too long. For the past six months, the Black Ink Clan has consistently attacked it, so I’m afraid it won’t hold out much longer.”
After a pause, he said, “Yang Kai, if you wish to save the Suppressing Black Ink Army, I can send you in. You can find a chance to bring them out again, though if I’m being honest, I don’t think there’s much hope of that. If you don’t… then leave now. Once the Grand Restriction breaks open, Mo will fully awaken and there will no longer be a place free from it anymore.”
“It hasn’t come to that yet,” Yang Kai quietly replied, “Plus, it’s just as you said, if Mo does wake up, it will be impossible to find an uncorrupted place, so where would I run to?”
As he spoke, he recalled his previous plan.
If the Humans could not defeat the Black Ink Clan, their only option was to gather their strength and flee deep into the void to find a new home.
The Universe Furnace was constantly splitting Heaven and Earth apart, so there had to be more than one liveable environment in the vast Universe.
No matter how strong Black Ink Strength was, it would not be able to cover the entirety of existence.
However, if it did come to that, not only would it mean that only a few could escape, but even those who did would have to wander aimlessly for the rest of their lives. This was not what Yang Kai wanted to see.
“Don’t despair. The Human Race Army will be arriving soon enough, and when the time comes, they’ll be able to get rid of the Black Ink Clan forces outside the Grand Restriction,” Yang Kai consoled.
Wu Kuang was startled, “The Humans are on their second crusade already?”
Yang Kai nodded, “More than 20 years ago, we reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, and half a year ago, we took back the No-Return Pass. A month ago, we dealt with the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements that emerged from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Our Army is currently reorganising itself and will be here soon.”
Wu Kuang was a little dazed, “Has the Human Race’s heritage grown that strong?”
When he saw Yang Kai appear here alone, he assumed that it was only Yang Kai who would be coming, so he did not expect to resolve the crisis he had on his hands right now.
After all, the Black Ink Clan Army attacking him numbered over 10 million. Though they did not have a single Royal Lord among them, Yang Kai could not take them on all by himself.
“Our heritage is stronger now than it has ever been!” Yang Kai seriously declared. Even though they only had around 30 Ninth-Order Masters now, in the future, they would have at least 10 times what they had at their peak, if not 100 times.
“What fortuitous news,” Wu Kuang remarked with a joyful voice. There was more he wanted to say, but all of a sudden, he exclaimed, “Damn it! The Suppressing Black Ink Army is in trouble. Let me deal with it first.”
As soon as Wu Kuang finished speaking, Yang Kai could no longer sense the former’s aura as he had gone to deal with the situation the Suppressing Black Ink Army was in.
Yang Kai stood in place with his aura and figure hidden as he watched the Black Ink Clan Army. They were standing at the gap and persistently attacking the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Yang Kai had a hard time stopping himself from jumping into action.
He was all alone, so even if he attacked the Black Ink Clan Army, he could not deal with so many of them and he would also end up putting the Black Ink Clan on high alert because he exposed his presence.
All that could be done now was to have Wu Kuang hold out a little while longer. The Human Race Army would soon be here, and once they were, they would be able to deal with this Army.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai took out a jade slip and engraved all of the information he had into it. Then, he took out a Space Beacon and used it to deliver the jade slip over to Li Wu Yi.
Thus, by having Li Wu Yi pass the message along, the others would soon receive the reports about the situation over here, and Mi Jing Lun would be able to make appropriate arrangements.
Around a quarter hour later, Yang Kai felt Wu Kuang’s aura again and he quickly asked, “How are things?”
“They’re safe for now, but it won’t stay that way for long,” Wu Kuang replied, “It’s all thanks to the fact that a large number of the Black Ink Clansmen left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and the rest are focused on the opening right now; otherwise, the Suppressing Black Ink Army would surely be facing an even bigger crisis.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll have to leave the Suppressing Black Ink Army in your care then.”
“When can the Human Race Army arrive?” Wu Kuang asked.
“They would’ve set off by now, so it should take less than a month for them to arrive.”
“That’s good to hear!” Wu Kuang exhaled at last.
Before Yang Kai came over, Wu Kuang had to fight a dire battle all on his own here. Not only did he have to protect the entire Suppressing Black Ink Army, but he also had to focus on maintaining the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. He was beginning to despair at the situation.
At last, Yang Kai had come and the Human Race Army would be here in a month as well. They would be able to deal with the Black Ink Clan Army outside the Grand Restriction and he would have a much easier time once they did.
“What do you plan on doing now?” Wu Kuang asked.
After thinking in silence for a moment, Yang Kai replied, “Send me to the Suppressing Black Ink Army. It’s been so many years, so they must’ve used up all of their resources by now.”
Although Yang Kai did leave a lot of resources with the Suppressing Black Ink Army when he first sent them to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, it had been thousands of years since then and they had no way of replenishing their supplies. They had to have used it all up by now after all these years of clashing with the Black Ink Clan!
“Good,” Wu Kuang said, “Follow my lead.”
Yang Kai nodded and followed the signals that Wu Kuang gave which led him deeper into the void.
Soon, once he arrived at a different location outside the Grand Restriction, Wu Kuang’s voice rang out again, “This is where the Grand Restriction is at its weakest. The Innate Territory Lords escaped from here back then.”
Yang Kai recalled this point clearly.
Before the Universe Furnace emerged, a large number of Innate Territory Lords had snuck out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Yang Kai inadvertently found out about this and rushed over to kill them off. Rivers of blood marked his path, and in the end, he came over and informed Wu Kuang about this, which was how the latter managed to repair the breach.
Since this breach could be repaired, it could also be opened up again.
“You’ll only have one breath of time to enter the Grand Restriction. Don’t miss it,” Wu Kuang instructed.
Despite being in control of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, he did not want to let any breach stay open for too long. It was safest to do so for only a breath as something unforeseen could happen if it were open any longer.
“Got it,” Yang Kai answered.
The very next instant, he saw a crack in the Grand Restriction. Black Ink Strength poured out of the crack that was filled with an evil and chaotic aura.
The crack opened up for just a brief moment before it sealed back up again.
Yang Kai, who was initially outside the Grand Restriction, was nowhere to be seen now.
Neverending Black Ink Strength surrounded Yang Kai as everything was plunged into utter darkness.
Yang Kai stood amidst it all with his aura and figure hidden as he looked around.
He could not see anything with his eyes, so he had to rely on his Divine Sense to scout his surroundings.
All cultivators, including Ninth-Order Masters, would lose their sight and sense of hearing in a place like this, and if they used their Divine Sense, they were opening themselves to the possibility of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
Thankfully, Yang Kai had the Soul Warming Lotus to protect him, so he did not have to worry about anything when using his Divine Sense.
He instantly detected a mysterious energy protecting him, one that was like a thin layer of mist that enveloped him completely.
Although it was his first time coming into contact with this energy, he was able to instantly deduce what it was.
This was the power of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Wu Kuang was in control over the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and his cultivation had steadily grown over the years. Even though he was not as strong as Cang who used to stand guard here yet, he was not that much weaker.
Thus, he could use the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to protect Yang Kai and ensure that the latter would not be detected by the Black Ink Clan inside the Grand Restriction.
Otherwise, even if Yang Kai used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, he would still run the risk of exposing himself as he was inside an environment filled with Black Ink Strength.
If something that was in the middle of a sea of Black Ink Strength moved, the movement would cause ripples in it the same way it would in water.
Based on what Wu Kuang told Yang Kai, the former had relied on the power of the Grand Restriction to keep the Suppressing Black Ink Army safe all this while!
If it had not been for that, the Suppressing Black Ink Army would not have survived till this day after being swallowed up into the Grand Restriction. They would have been ripped into pieces the moment they ended up inside.
Wu Kuang’s voice rang out in Yang Kai’s mind, “Don’t move. The Black Ink Clan is approaching!”
At the same time, Yang Kai sensed a group of powerful auras coming over. He quickly withdrew his Divine Sense and stayed hidden in silence.
Moments later, the group of powerful auras arrived. It was a group of Innate Territory Lords led by a Royal Lord.
They came over after sensing that something unusual occurred earlier.
The Royal Lord immediately went over to the spot where Yang Kai snuck into the Grand Restriction and studied it with his Divine Sense before looking around. A Territory Lord also came over to inspect the spot, and soon, he reported, “Sir, there are signs that the breach had weakened earlier.”
“Oh?” The Royal Lord’s expression was stern as he made a more thorough check. Once he confirmed that it was true, his expression turned to one of glee, “This breach once opened up nearly 1,000 years ago. Since it has weakened, it won’t be long before it opens up again.” After a pause, he sneered, “That scoundrel must be stretched thin right now!”
He immediately barked out an order, “Get the word out. We must find that Human Army as soon as possible and occupy that bastard’s attention!”
“Yes, Sir!” The Innate Territory Lords responded at once.
Then, the Royal Lord selected two Innate Territory Lords, “You two will stay here and keep an eye on the breach. If anything strange happens, report back to me right away!”
“Yes, Sir!”
Two Innate Territory Lords stayed back to keep an eye on things while the other Masters from the Black Ink Clan left as quickly as they came.
Yang Kai, who was still in hiding, cocked his brow and transmitted to Wu Kuang, “What a… unique nickname you have there.”
“I interacted with the Royal Lords here a couple of times when I was bored,” Wu Kuang quipped, “I made a strong impression on them!”
Yang Kai had nothing to say to that.
Standing guard over the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction for thousands of years was indeed a lonely, monotonous task. Making contact with the Royal Lords would not only relieve some stress but would also be a chance to glean useful information.
“I’ll take you over to the Suppressing Black Ink Army. Don’t resist,” Wu Kuang’s voice rang out.
Yang Kai hummed in acknowledgement.
At the very next breath, he felt a strange energy enveloping him and whisking him through the endless Black Ink Strength.
Yang Kai was moved silently and unnoticeably. Occasionally, he could sense strong auras flitting past him. These belonged to the Royal Lords, but somehow, with the help of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction’s power, he could move past them without being detected.
At last, Yang Kai felt as if he had broken through a layer of some sort and entered a different space.
The darkness disappeared at once.
This space was not filled with Black Ink Strength. It was a fairly small area where speckles of light could be seen.
Yang Kai followed the light and saw the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress. Glowing pearls hung atop the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress and gave off the soft light that Yang Kai saw.
A group of people was waiting expectantly on the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress. They had heard the news from Wu Kuang in advance and knew Yang Kai was coming.
Yang Kai moved over to the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress and soon, he landed in front of the group. He let out a small exhale of relief as his eyes took in the crowd; then, he bowed in greeting to the silver-haired man in front, “Senior.”
Wu Kuang borrowed the strength of the Grand Restriction to create this space. It was largely protected from the Black Ink Clan’s eyes, and that was why the Suppressing Black Ink Army was able to remain inside for so long without being annihilated.
As it was a small space, Fu Guang did not use his Dragon Form but remained in his Human Form instead.
Fu Guang raised his hand and said, “We can skip the formalities. It is unfortunate that you had to see us in this awkward predicament.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “It is I who failed to plan properly. All of you have suffered greatly for the past few years, Senior.”
“We all share the responsibility of vanquishing the Black Ink Clan,” Fu Guang waved his hand before asking, “How are things out there?”
Wu Kuang had informed them that Yang Kai was coming, but he did not give them an update about the situation beyond the Grand Restriction, so Fu Guang could not help but feel a bit concerned.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was in charge of standing guard over the opening in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. They had been sucked into the Grand Restriction during an earlier commotion, and without them, a large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan had escaped from the breach. That would surely be a blow to the Humans in the 3,000 Worlds.
“We have reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds,” Yang Kai declared, “All of the Black Ink Clansmen there have been wiped out. The Human Race Army is currently making its way over and will arrive at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in about a month.”
“Oh?” Fu Guang’s spirits soared at once, “We have reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds?”
Everyone else was thrilled by the news.
They had been positioned outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction for years now and never got a chance to make contact with the others back home, so they were completely unaware of what was happening. The lack of information was torturous for the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
They did not know how much longer they had to stand watch here…
Now that they heard the 3,000 Worlds had been reclaimed, they felt a heavy burden lifted off their shoulders.
“A large number of Masters escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so we realised that something must’ve happened at the Grand Restriction, which is why I came over first to see what the situation was,” Yang Kai added.
Fu Guang nodded, “A few years ago, the Grand Restriction had a sudden burst of instability. The Suppressing Black Ink Army failed to withdraw in time so we were sucked inside. We’re only able to survive this long thanks to Wu Kuang’s protection.”
Nevertheless, even though Wu Kuang used the power of the Grand Restriction to hide the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s tracks to keep them out of sight from the Black Ink Clan, they were still doomed if they could not think of a way to escape this predicament.
Wu Kuang could keep them safe for now, but he could not do so forever.
This was Mo’s domain, and it was filled with its energy and creations. Now and then, the Suppressing Black Ink Army would inadvertently let out a trace of their existence and the Black Ink Clan would mount a siege.
In fact, it had happened just a while ago and Wu Kuang had to rush over to rescue them.
All of a sudden, Wu Kuang’s voice rang out, “Once the Human Race Army comes along to keep the Black Ink Clan occupied, I’ll find a chance to deliver all of you out of here.”
He could not make an attempt now. For one, there were over 10 million Black Ink Clansmen outside the Grand Restriction so the Suppressing Black Ink Army would be slaughtered the moment they showed up.
Furthermore, within the Grand Restriction, a large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan were lying in wait near the opening as well.
The Black Ink Clan knew that there was a Human Race Army inside the Grand Restriction, and there was also only one opening that allowed passage out of the Grand Restriction. By guarding that spot, they made it impossible for the Humans to escape.
If the Suppressing Black Ink Army wanted to leave safely, they had to wait until the Human Race Army arrived. Once the battle broke out, they would get their chance to leave.
Before that, they would have to remain under Wu Kuang’s watchful protection.
After getting more information about the outside world from Yang Kai, Fu Guang began to feel more assured.
“Oh, right. I brought some resources, Senior.” Yang Kai took out a small pile of Space Rings from his Small Universe.
After seizing the No-Return Pass, the Humans managed to restock their supplies. The Black Ink Clan had gathered a great number of resources during their occupation and failed to destroy them in the hasty battle, so the resources naturally fell into the Humans’ hands.
Yang Kai had stored a lot of resources in his Small Universe for his own ease of use, so he could now pass them over to the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
Fu Guang accepted the Space Rings and nodded lightly, “Resources are indeed in short supply, so I’ll take these.”
Yang Kai felt ashamed, “I should’ve dealt with this issue sooner, but something unexpected happened a while back and I could no longer come over anytime I wanted.”
Fu Guang nodded once more. He then glanced at Yu Ru Meng at the others who were standing to the side and thoughtfully announced, “I’ll go and hand out the resources to the others first.”
“Many thanks, Senior.”
Soon, the only ones remaining were Yang Kai and his Family.
He looked at the women and saw Yu Ru Meng, Su Yan, Shan Qing Luo, Zhu Qing, Xue Yue, Ji Yao, Qu Hua Shang, and Tao Ling Wan.
Everyone was here apart from Xia Ning Chang, who had to remain in the Star Boundary as a Great Grandmaster Alchemist.
“You all must have had a hard time,” Yang Kai said, ashamed.
When the Suppressing Black Ink Army had been formed, Mi Jing Lun wanted these women to join it. At the time, intense fights were happening across the Great Territory Battlefields and the situation out there was incredibly dangerous. On the other hand, the Suppressing Black Ink Army was only in charge of standing guard over the Grand Restriction, so the risks were much lower.
Mi Jing Lun had done so as a favour to Yang Kai.
Alas, even Mi Jing Lun could not predict the changes that would happen many years later. He did not expect the Suppressing Black Ink Army would end up in such a crisis. He never would have thought that they would be sucked into the Grand Restriction and run the risk of being exterminated if they did not have Wu Kuang’s protection.
Mi Jing Lun had been under a lot of pressure when he heard that the situation at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had changed and the Suppressing Black Ink Army could be in a disastrous situation.
He did not know how he was going to face Yang Kai if the Suppressing Black Ink Army had been annihilated.
“Everyone is having a hard time right now, not just us,” Yu Ru Meng took Yang Kai’s hand and gently held it. Her voice was soft as she soothed, “You don’t need to worry about us. We’re all together and we can look out for one another. You just need to focus on what you have to do.”
Su Yan spoke up next, “That’s right. We are a part of the Army and doing our part to eradicate the Black Ink Clan. We’re not weak flowers that need constant protection. You don’t need to worry too much about us.”
Shan Qing Luo smiled, “As long as you don’t think that we’re a burden, Husband!”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Why would I think you’re a burden? You’re all my most precious treasures!”
Ji Yao and the more reserved women immediately blushed at how frank Yang Kai was, but their gazes softened with affection.
Yang Kai’s three Legacy Disciples were gathered nearby as well. Xu Yi was looking at Yang Kai with a look of admiration as he exclaimed, “That’s our Honoured Master, alright! He’s indeed amazing. Looks like I’ll have to work hard to follow in his footsteps.”
A sharp hiss suddenly rang out.
Xu Yi hastily turned around, “What’s the matter, Eldest Senior Brother?”
Zhao Ye Bai had been the one who gasped.
Zhao Ye Bai was rubbing his waist as he stared innocently at Zhao Ya, “Why did you pinch me, Xiao Ya?”
“No reason. I just felt like pinching you!” Zhao Ya huffed.
“Oh…”
Xu Yi eyed Zhao Ye Bai pitifully, but in the end, he could not resist giving a reminder, “Eldest Senior Brother, as Honoured Master’s First Disciple, you should learn from him and live up to his expectations!”
Zhao Ye Bai gave it some serious thought and nodded, “You’re right. I’ve reached a bottleneck in my cultivation of the Dao of Space. This is a rare opportunity. I must ask Honoured Master for some guidance later.”
Xu Yi gaped and realised his Eldest Senior Brother was a hopeless case as he muttered, “The Grand Dao isn’t the only thing you can learn from Honoured Master, Eldest Senior Brother…”
“Why did you pinch me again, Xiao Ya?”
“It makes me happy!”
“En…”
There were endless thoughts and feelings of longing to express now that the long-awaited reunion had finally occurred.
Still, it was not the time or place to dwell on such things. The women were wise and sensible enough, so once they all had a brief chat with Yang Kai, Yu Ru Meng led them away.
Yang Kai fell into a reverie as he watched them leave.
“Big Brother,” Yang Xue’s voice called out next. She and others like Zhao Ye Bai had been waiting to the side the whole time and only came over once Yu Ru Meng and the other Wives left.
“A-Adoptive Father!” Yang Xiao called out as well.
Yang Kai turned around and smiled at Yang Xue. He stroked her head as he said, “Your Big Brother has spent all this time running around everywhere and rarely had a moment to stop to take a break. I’ve always considered it a pity that I couldn’t spend time with you when you were young. Please don’t hold it against me.”
Yang Xue grinned and said, “I wouldn’t, of course. Ever since I was a child, I knew that you were destined for great things, Big Brother. Mother and Father praised you all the time, and when I was young, I dreamed about becoming someone like you. Based on cultivation alone, I think I’ve done well enough,” then, she lifted her chin slightly and added, “You need to work harder, Big Brother. Don’t let your Little Sister surpass you.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “I do need to work harder from now on.”
After the light-hearted chat, both Yang Kai and Yang Xue felt warm with familial love.
Yang Kai finally turned to Yang Xiao, who had been standing on the side all along.
“Adoptive Father!” Yang Xiao stood rigidly with sweat beading across his forehead.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, “Are you feeling extremely nervous?”
“Of course not! Never!” Yang Xiao denied it at once, “My heart is leaping with joy at the fact that I get to see you when we’re in such a challenging situation, Adoptive Father!”
Yang Kai scoffed.
Yang Xiao jumped a little.
“Spend more time on your cultivation so that you become a Divine Dragon as soon as possible,” Yang Kai instructed after eyeing Yang Xiao for a while.
“Yes! I won’t let you down!” Yang Xiao firmly declared.
“Go on,” Yang Kai waved his hand.
Yang Xue began leading away a stiff Yang Xiao, but all of a sudden, she turned back around and reminded, “Make sure you be careful, Big Brother!”
Perhaps the connection they shared due to their Bloodline allowed her to sense that Yang Kai was about to do something dangerous, so she had a look of worry on her face.
Yang Kai nodded, “You both take good care of yourselves too.”
After watching Yang Xue and Yang Xiao leave, Yang Kai turned back to his three Disciples.
“Greetings, Honoured Master!” All three of them kneeled and bowed in greeting.
Yang Kai accepted the bow before lifting his hand, “You may rise.”
Zhao Ye Bai and the other two stood up.
Yang Kai had a faint smile as his eyes flitted over the three.
All of the disciples from the Void Dao Temple could be said to have inherited his mantle and were proficient in the cultivation of various Grand Daos. Thus, all of the cultivators from Void Dao Temple could be considered his Disciples.
However, only these three in front of him truly inherited his Legacy.
It was not that Yang Kai held back when he taught others his Daos, but Zhao Ye Bai and the other two were the only ones who formally underwent the ritual to become his Disciples.
They each inherited one of the Grand Daos that Yang Kai was most focused on, and all along, he had high hopes for them. Based on their achievement over the years, they did not let him down, nor did they waste their talents.
“Are you about to break through to the next Order?” Yang Kai suddenly realised there was something amiss about their aura. All three of them seemed to be suppressed by some kind of energy, and they were also doing their best to rein themselves in.
Zhao Ye Bai replied, “Reporting to Honoured Master, we will be breaking through soon, but Senior Wu Kuang said that as the Suppressing Black Ink Army is currently in hiding, we shouldn’t make too much of a commotion, so he had Senior Fu Guang put some seals on us to delay our breakthrough.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, “That was wise.”
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was in a difficult spot right now and just covering their tracks alone took up a sizable amount of Wu Kuang’s attention. If Zhao Ye Bai and the others had their breakthroughs now, there was a high chance that the Humans would be exposed and they would be caught.
However, from the looks of it, their breakthrough was happening just as Yang Kai had predicted. They would have undoubtedly become Ninth-Order Masters by now if they had not been sucked into the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Both they and the Suppressing Black Ink Army would have received a great boost in power.
“Come. I do have some knowledge to share regarding the breakthrough to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Now’s my chance to share it with you,” Yang Kai took out a few futons from his Small Universe and tossed them onto the ground for him and his Disciples to sit on.
Zhao Ye Bai and the others quickly sat down to listen carefully to Yang Kai’s advice.
Although Yang Xue had shared some of her knowledge with them, every Master who ascended to the Ninth Order would encounter slightly different situations, so it was still beneficial for them to listen to their Honoured Master’s teachings.
After sharing some pointers and things to look out for when becoming a Ninth-Order Master, Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to confer with Wu Kuang. He was in a good mood as he asked, “It’s rare for us to have some spare time on our hands. Do any of you have any difficulties in your cultivation that you need assistance with?”
All three of them became spirited at once, but Zhao Ye Bai was the first to speak, “Honoured Master, this Disciple seems to have hit a bottleneck in the Dao of Space and wants to seek guidance from you.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Use some of your Space Principles. Let me take a look.”
Zhao Ye Bai immediately did as he was told. When Yang Kai sensed the movement of Space Principles, he raised his brow in pleasant surprise.
When it came to cultivation aptitude, Zhao Ye Bai was the weakest of Yang Kai’s three Disciples. In fact, he was weaker than most of the disciples from the Void Dao Temple.
There was only one reason why he was able to get this far in his Martial Dao, and that was because he had overwhelming compatibility with Space Principles, as if he had been born to cultivate the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai had taken Zhao Ye Bai as his Disciple because when the former had been wandering around in his Small Universe, he sensed that Zhao Ye Bai, who was still in his Mother’s womb at the time, had formed a connection with Yang Kai’s Space Dao Essence.
At the time, Zhao Ye Bai had not even been born yet!
A cultivator who had an innate connection with a Grand Dao would surely be able to cultivate that Grand Dao a lot more easily than others. The compatibility between this cultivator and the Grand Dao would be far above everyone else’s.
Zhao Ye Bai’s compatibility with the Dao of Space was able to make up for what he lacked in general cultivation aptitude.
Based on Yang Kai’s categorisation of Grand Dao Mastery, Zhao Ye Bai was currently at the peak of the Seventh Level, just one step away from the Eighth Level.
This was incredibly rare. Usually, only fully grown Phoenixes would be at this level, but those of the Phoenix Clan were born with a natural advantage as the Dao of Space was their Bloodline Talent, making it far easier for them to cultivate it.
Li Wu Yi was probably the only other Human to reach this level as well, but Li Wu Yi had been cultivating for much longer than Zhao Ye Bai.
Yang Kai even felt that if he cultivated normally, he would not be as proficient as Zhao Ye Bai was. His own elevated mastery of the Grand Daos was mainly due to the benefits he received from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and the Infinite River. He had refined a lot of pure Dao Strengths from these two mysterious places and that had enabled his proficiency over the various Grand Daos to soar greatly.
When it came to higher levels of individual Grand Daos, words conveyed very little, so after a moment of silent thought, Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles to elucidate some mysteries to Zhao Ye Bai.
Zhao Ye Bai watched attentively.
After a long silence, he declared, “You’re incredible, Honoured Master. This Disciple is in awe!”
Yang Kai’s display was akin to breaking the Dao of Space down into minute details and showing Zhao Ye Bai the deepest, innermost mysteries. Due to Zhao Ye Bai’s compatibility with the Dao of Space, he was able to learn a lot from this alone.
The new knowledge and understanding flooded Zhao Ye Bai’s mind and he was confident that a brief retreat of focused cultivation would be enough for him to break through his bottleneck and allow his mastery of this Grand Dao to ascend to a new level.
Though he was eager to do so immediately, he could not under these circumstances, so he had to quell his desire.
Now that Yang Kai was done with his Eldest Disciple, he turned to his Second Disciple, Zhao Ya.
She got to her feet at once and waved her hand in the air to produce a long spear, “Please instruct me, Honoured Master!”
The Spear Dao could not be taught the same way the Dao of Space had been. It could only be transmitted through battle.
Yang Kai smiled, “Attack me!”
Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi’s expressions changed as they quickly scrambled out of their seats in front of Yang Kai and hurried to the side.
Yang Kai was startled by their reaction, but soon, his gaze hardened. All at once, an alarming murderous intent loomed over him, and in the very next instant, the tip of a spear drew near.
He raised his hand and lightly flicked away Zhao Ya’s spear.
Nevertheless, Zhao Ya did not stop there. She kept attacking with her spear, time and time again with quick, relentless strikes.
Zhao Ya seemed like an entirely different person when she had her spear in hand. Her presence became incredibly dominating.
Her spear technique showed traces of the Supreme Limitless Spear, but most of it was a product of her many years of accumulation and practice. In fact, Yang Kai could sense that she could very well surpass him when it came to the Spear Dao, which left him feeling rather helpless.
Only an impossibly dangerous environment could produce such an alarming Spear Technique, which was not something to be pleased about.
Zhao Ya was afraid to cause too much of a commotion, so she did not use her World Force or her Dao Strength, she simply relied on pure technique.
Her murderous intent did not decrease though. It was as if she were going up against a hated enemy she could never be reconciled with instead of Yang Kai, her Honoured Master.
Yang Kai finally realised why Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi had reacted the way they did earlier. They must have experienced the imposing aura of Zhao Ya’s spear themselves and knew to stay clear.
“Xiao Ya, you do indeed have great mastery over the spear and its techniques, but your murderous intent is too strong.”
Zhao Ya continued to lunge and withdraw her spear as she flitted around Yang Kai. Her spear loomed over the small area as she asked, “The Spear Dao is focused on domination and slaughter, how am I supposed to kill the enemy if my murderous intent isn’t strong?”
“You do need strong murderous intent, but too much of it isn’t a good thing.”
“It’s good to strike fear in the enemy even before the battle. It makes it even easier to kill them off.”
“If you run into an enemy who’s either weaker or of similar strength to you, you can indeed use your murderous intent to intimidate them, but what will you do if you run into an enemy stronger than you?”
“I won’t give up until I kill them!”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Xiao Ya, it’s true that Spear Dao is used offensively, but you need to get one thing clear. Are you using your spear to kill or to protect?!”
Zhao Ya did not understand, “Please enlighten me, Honoured Master.”
“One’s spear can be used to kill the enemy, but it can also be used to protect lives!” Yang Kai blocked Zhao Ya’s attack with his hand before reaching into the air. His voice continued, “The persistent focus on killing will only lead one’s heart astray. Everyone has something they wish to protect and that gives them strength to persist.”
Zhao Ya was confused, “How can I protect anyone if I don’t kill the enemy? Killing off all my enemies is the only way to protect what I am determined to protect!”
“And what do you want to protect?” Yang Kai asked as he brought out his Azure Dragon Spear.
“I want to protect…” Zhao Ya’s dazed eyes grew bright again as her gaze swept over the spot where Zhao Ye Bai was standing intently, she then shot a quick glance at Xu Yi as well.
Xu Yi keenly sensed this and grumbled, “Hey, Eldest Senior Brother, why do I feel like I’m just included as an afterthought?”
“Huh? What?” Zhao Ye Bai turned to ask. As he spoke though, he felt a sudden chill grip his heart as the aura of death swept over him.
Before he could react, he heard Zhao Ya’s heart-wrenching shriek, “No!”
Zhao Ye Bai turned around and saw his Honoured Master, enveloped by Black Ink Strength, a genuine Black Ink Disciple, flying over at him with his spear ready to strike.
Zhao Ye Bai was frozen stiff in a corner of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, his sweat-drenched clothes clinging to his skin.
For a brief moment, he felt the aura of death deep within his bones and thought he had already tread upon the gates of Hell.
He was even more horrified by the fact that he could not move. He could not do anything to stop or block his Honoured Master’s sudden attack.
In other words, if his Honoured Master wanted to kill him, a single attack from his spear would suffice!
It was an awe-inspiring strength.
Zhao Ye Bai was at the peak of the Eighth Order, and once Yang Xue became a Ninth Order Master, Zhao Ye Bai sought her out for a friendly exchange. Even though neither one of them used their full strength in the battle, and Zhao Ye Bai had not been Yang Xue’s equal by any means, he had still been able to put up a fight for a few dozen blows.
He was also proficient in the Dao of Space, so if he wanted to escape, Yang Xue would not be able to stop him.
Out of all the current Eighth-Order Masters, he was one of the strongest.
Even so, his strength seemed inconsequential when he was up against his Honoured Master.
At the last moment, someone blocked the spear from striking Zhao Ye Bai. Zhao Ya stood in front of Zhao Ye Bai with her spear held horizontally in front of her to block the Azure Dragon Spear. The Heaven-destroying, Earth-shattering dominance disappeared once the spears made contact.
Zhao Ya was still in the throes of lingering fear and shock, though she felt a little dazed as well. She did not know how she managed to unleash such formidable strength to protect her Eldest Senior Brother from her Honoured Master’s attack.
The Black Ink Strength surrounding Yang Kai vanished as he returned to normal. He eyed Zhao Ya, who looked terrified, and asked, “Do you understand now?”
Zhao Ya pursed her lips and hoarsely replied, “Disciple understands.”
Yang Kai nodded. Out of his three Disciples, Zhao Ye Bai’s aptitude was the poorest while Zhao Ya’s was the highest. In fact, her aptitude was stronger than anyone else Yang Kai had ever met.
Throughout the last few millennia, there were many fine young talents from the Star Boundary, Void World, and Myriad Monsters World. Many were able to ascend directly to Seventh Order, but when it came to their natural aptitude for cultivating, no one surpassed Zhao Ya.
She had strong comprehension, and though she had taken a few wrong turns in her cultivation of the Spear Dao, Yang Kai was certain this experience would be enough for her to have a decisive breakthrough in her mastery of this Grand Dao.
As Yang Kai withdrew the Azure Dragon Spear, Zhao Ya felt as if she had used up every bit of strength she had in her and crumpled weakly into Zhao Ye Bai’s arms.
Yang Kai turned to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi gulped and stepped forward, “Please teach me, Honoured Master.”
After seeing what his Second Senior Sister went through, he did not know what kind of guidance he would be receiving from his Honoured Master.
Thankfully, Yang Kai simply raised his hand and condensed Time Principles above it. The Time Principles solidified as Yang Kai demonstrated the mysteries of the Dao of Time the same way he did when he taught Zhao Ye Bai earlier.
Xu Yi was fully attentive and was able to learn a lot.
A half cup of tea’s time later, Xu Yi respectfully bowed and said, “Honoured Master, this Disciple has been enlightened.”
Yang Kai nodded.
He looked at his three Disciples and a thought occurred to him, “I once comprehended a Divine Ability that requires a combination of both the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time to work, and it is incredibly strong. Ye Bai, Xu Yi, when you’re free, you can try to comprehend it as well. Perhaps you will gain something from it.”
Yang Kai lifted his hand once more.
As Space Principles burst forth, a Great Sun rose and the Full Moon hung in the air. The Sun and Moon shone together.
He then made another flick with his hand and Time Principles began flowing.
The two Principles swirled and combined. Mysterious changes began occurring as the two vastly different Principles intertwined, causing the Sun and Moon to begin spinning about, forming a kind of spiral that severely warped both Space and Time.
Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi were engrossed in what they saw.
“This is the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel. If you wish to produce it, you two will need to join forces and work together to have even a shred of possibility of creating this effect.”
The Sun and Moon Divine Seal was the enhanced version of this Divine Ability, but Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi could not produce it at their current strength. In fact, Yang Kai was not even certain whether they could produce the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel.
Yang Kai was proficient in both Grand Daos, so it was easy enough for him to wield this Divine Ability. He did not know whether it was possible to achieve it if two Masters were to work together instead.
Nevertheless, there was no harm in trying. If Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi were able to produce the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel together, they would have an additional trump card whenever they joined forces.
After all, they were stuck in this place and could not cultivate or work towards their breakthroughs, so it was better for them to spend their time cultivating their Grand Daos. At least, they could still make some progress.
Zhao Ye Bai and Xu Yi both nodded, “We have taken your teachings to heart, Honoured Master. We won’t let you down.”
“En, I still have other matters to attend to,” Yang Kai declared, “Once the Human Race Army arrives, Wu Kuang will find the chance to send all of you out of here.”
As he spoke, his Divine Sense flashed.
Fu Guang appeared the next moment.
“I must go, Senior, so I’ll leave the Suppressing Black Ink Army in your care.”
“You’re heading over there?” Evidently, Fu Guang had picked up on something.
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, “It could be an opportunity for us. Either way, I must take a look and see for myself.”
Fu Guang was concerned, “You have to be careful. I’m not sure what the exact situation is like, but Wu Kuang told me some things and I know it’s probably not safe there. Don’t bite off more than you can chew and have the situation end up backfiring on you instead.”
“I’ll play it by ear and act accordingly,” Yang Kai assured.
He then turned towards the Void and called out, “Let’s start, Wu Kuang.”
“Are you sure you want to go there?” Wu Kuang asked to confirm.
“At a time like this, I can’t back away.”
“I can take you there, but I don’t have the power to do anything more. You’ll have to rely on yourself.”
“Of course!”
“Good.” Although Wu Kuang knew that Yang Kai had already made up his mind, he still felt the need to check once more; alas, it was as Yang Kai said, they could not back down now.
A cloud of fog began enveloping Yang Kai’s figure. It was Wu Kuang who was harnessing the power of the Grand Restriction.
All at once, Yang Kai felt the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress swiftly moving away from him. The earlier scene of Wu Kuang transporting him around repeated itself as he weaved through the sea of Black Ink Strength and headed towards a mysterious unknown land.
Wu Kuang told Yang Kai a few things about the unknown land, but he did not give many details as it was hard for him to unearth the mysteries of that place too.
As it was, if it had not been for the sudden explosion of Black Ink Strength a few years ago, Wu Kuang would not have known that such an unusual place existed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
It was a hidden hand that Mu left behind!
Millennia ago, during the Humans’ first crusade, they suffered a devastating defeat and the Crusade Force endured catastrophic losses. Mo acted out and Cang was unable to stop it. When it looked as if the Grand Restriction was about to break open and Mo was about to escape, Mu’s silhouette appeared out of the blue.
She used some strange method to make Mo fall into a deep slumber and saved the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, which had been on the verge of collapse. In doing so, she saved the Human Race Army from the danger of being wiped out and the Humans were able to spend thousands of years building themselves back up.
Everyone thought that Mu’s hidden hand had been completely used up. Even Cang thought so as well before he died, which was why he did not hesitate to sacrifice himself and integrate with the Grand Restriction to strengthen it.
Before Cang passed on, he told Yang Kai about Shi and had him look for Shi’s reincarnation to let the latter stand guard over the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
That led to Yang Kai bringing Wu Kuang over to this place. Although he was not the same as Shi himself, he could still wield some of the strength of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Sure enough, Wu Kuang had done a pretty good job over the past few thousand years.
However, it now seemed that during the Late Ancient Era, Mu had left another hidden hand behind.
Forcing Mo into a deep sleep was not the end of it.
There was more which was hidden inside that unknown land.
Wu Kuang could not figure out what it was precisely, but he had a vague feeling that a crucial piece to the puzzle was hidden there.
He thought about getting Fu Guang to make the trip, but the Suppressing Black Ink Army was deep within enemy territory and Fu Guang could not leave them.
Thankfully, Yang Kai came along and he was undoubtedly the best candidate to make this exploration.
When Wu Kuang filled Yang Kai in on the information regarding the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, they both knew that this trip had to be made.
No matter what Mu’s hidden hand was, someone needed to investigate; otherwise, once Mo truly woke up, the Human Race’s present heritage would not be enough to defeat it, and the entire Human Race would be exterminated.
Yang Kai kept traversing through the sea of Black Ink Strength. He had the protection of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction’s power; thus, Masters from the Black Ink Clan scattered along the way could not detect him.
“Nearly there,” At some point, Wu Kuang’s voice rang out in Yang Kai’s ear.
Yang Kai tensed up in alertness at once.
Soon, he felt his body hitting an invisible layer and sticking to it.
It happened too quickly, so Yang Kai felt sore all over.
“Wu Kuang, what’s going on?” Yang Kai took a step back and asked.
Wu Kuang innocently replied, “I don’t know. It seems to be preventing all living beings from entering.”
“How am I supposed to go in then?” Yang Kai frowned.
“Hang on. Let me take a look.”
While waiting, Yang Kai stretched his hand out and touched the barrier that was holding him back. It felt like a seal or restriction of some sort, but not quite either. Yang Kai got a very strange feeling from it.
He was about to take a closer look when he felt his palm warming up slightly. A strange kind of energy seemed to come off that invisible layer and washed over him.
Following that, Yang Kai’s palm went through the barrier.
Yang Kai was shocked and puzzled. He took a step forward and half his body went through.
“Huh? How did you do that?” Wu Kuang exclaimed.
“Some sort of power seemed to check my identity before allowing me to enter,” Yang Kai explained as he recalled what he experienced earlier.
“It checked your identity…” Wu Kuang repeated thoughtfully, “It’s probably Mu’s doing. This place is hidden inside the Grand Restriction, so she must’ve guarded it against the Black Ink Clan and made sure that only Humans can enter.”
Though they had no way of ascertaining whether this was indeed the case, it was the only plausible explanation they could think of right now.
“I’m going in,” Yang Kai announced.
“Take this.” As Wu Kuang’s voice rang out, an object suddenly appeared in Yang Kai’s hand, but before he could see what it was, he fell into the unknown land.
All at once, Yang Kai froze in place.
He saw a great river cutting through the void, with neither its beginning nor end in sight.
The great river was longer and deeper than fathomable and waves full of Dao Strengths which kept ebbing and flowing; however, the auras of the Time Dao Strength and Space Dao Strength were the strongest.
[A Space-Time River!]
A Space-Time River was hidden deep inside that mysterious unknown land within the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction!
Yang Kai could not believe his eyes and was on the verge of thinking he was hallucinating; however, after studying it carefully, he concluded it was indeed a Space-Time River.
Amid his shock, a question popped into his mind.
[Whose Space-Time River is this?]
In a flash, he got his answer.
[Since this place is part of the hidden hand Mu left behind, the Space-Time River has to be hers.]
Was Mu able to create a Space-Time River too? Does that mean she mastered the use of all 10,000 Grand Daos?
Judging by the size of this Space-Time River, Mu’s mastery of the 10,000 Grand Daos far exceeded his own.
After a brief moment of shock, Yang Kai’s heart filled with awe.
Mu was indeed the strongest out of the 10 Martial Ancestors!
Yang Kai did not think much of it when he saw the respect Cang and Wu Kuang had for Mu, but after witnessing this Space-Time River, he finally realised just how incredible she was.
Initially, he thought that his Space-Time River was the only one of its kind, but now, he knew that he was not the first in history to achieve this feat.
Soon, Yang Kai grew puzzled again though.
He was able to form his Space-Time River from 10,000 Dao Strengths because he had been inspired by the Infinite River inside the Universe Furnace.
If Mu did likewise, did it mean she had once entered the Universe Furnace and saw the Infinite River as well?
Either way, Yang Kai felt a kind of joy at knowing that he walked the same path a Martial Ancestor once had despite being separated by millions of years.
Ever since Yang Kai heard about the mysteries of the Creation Realm from Cang, he had been pondering about it.
There were nine Orders to the Open Heaven Realm, but even if one became a Ninth-Order Master, what were they to do next? Mo came into existence alongside the Universe, so it was powerful beyond imagination. Being a Ninth-Order Master was not enough to kill Mo and remove its threat for good. To do that, one had to break past the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
But, how? How was one supposed to break through the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm? No one could provide any insight into this task.
It could be said that the Humans were reaching the end of the Martial Dao which the Martial Ancestors had left for them.
If they wanted to go even further, they had to clear the obstacles themselves to carve a new path starting from the end of what their Ancestors had paved before them.
Yang Kai did not have any ideas on how to do that until he created his Space-Time River inside the Universe Furnace. He had a vague feeling that the mysterious river created from 10,000 Dao Strengths was the key to the way forward.
However, there was no other Human he could discuss this with right now.
The discovery of another Space-Time River inside this mysterious unknown land changed everything!
This was the Space-Time River that Mu left behind. She was the strongest of the Martial Ancestors, and despite having died millions of years ago, the mere hidden hand she left behind was able to make Mo fall into a deep slumber. Her presence thus lingered on in this manner.
When she lived, Mu would have been trying to discover the mysteries of the realm above the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
If Yang Kai was only 10% certain that the Space-Time River was the key to breaking past the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, then he was about 30% certain now!
He had inadvertently trod down the same path Mu had.
That being said, before arriving at his intended destination, Yang Kai did not know whether this path would take him to an even higher pinnacle of Martial Dao or turn out to be a dead end instead.
Many thoughts raced through Yang Kai’s mind, but he soon had his attention focused as he sensed that this Space-Time River differed from his not just in size, but in other ways too.
Strange images flickered each time the waves crashed. The images flew by at rapid speeds in such a bizarre fashion that even Yang Kai had a hard time picking them out.
He was about to use his Divine Sense to take a closer look when a huge wave burst out of the Space-Time River and came crashing down on him.
Yang Kai’s instinctive reaction was to back off, but a thought suddenly occurred to him and he stood his ground.
The wave swallowed Yang Kai up, and once it calmed down again, Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
…
Yang Kai felt everything turning upside down. He felt both weightless and as if he was falling off a cliff.
He quickly used his power to steady himself.
Immediately, his expression changed.
In a flash, he had suddenly become impossibly weak. Although his Small Universe was still there, he seemed to have lost contact with it and could not use his World Force.
There was also only a bit of Qi left in him.
Yang Kai had to scramble around before he could somewhat slow down the rate of his fall, but he could not steady himself at all.
He looked down and saw a lush, verdant forest below him, one that was quickly getting closer.
A melancholic thought flashed across Yang Kai’s mind, [Am I going to be the first Ninth-Order Master to die by falling to his death?]
He had been too careless; initially, he thought that Mu’s Space-Time River had to possess some kind of secret, so he did not try to dodge the wave that came at him. He wanted to enter the river and scout it out from the inside; however, he never thought he would end up in such a strange place after being swallowed up by the wave.
Soon, he fell into the forest. Numerous branches cushioned his fall and slowed him down a little, but they could not break his fall entirely.
Moments later, there was a loud thud as Yang Kai dropped to the ground, creating a small crater in the process.
The commotion scared off the birds and the critters, and soon, everything fell silent.
A little while later, Yang Kai was finally able to straighten himself up. He sat on the ground and shook his head.
There was nothing much wrong with him. He did feel a little dizzy, but it was most likely because he had been plunged into this unknown space rather than because of the fall.
He belatedly realised that he was still a Divine Dragon. Even though he could not use his Dragon Vein’s power right now, his thick skin and strong flesh meant that he would not die from such a fall, even if it had been from an even greater height.
Still, he was under a lot of pressure from the sudden turn of events and was a little dazed.
[What is this place?] Yang Kai’s brow furrowed as he looked around, narrowing his eyes a moment later.
He was only certain that he was inside Mu’s Space-Time River right now, and he was astonished to find that such a World existed inside the Space-Time River.
His Space-Time River did not contain anything as profound as this.
[From the looks of it now, the images I saw in Mu’s Space-Time River when I was standing outside it earlier weren’t images at all, but reflections of this World…]
[The Infinite River… a Universe World…]
Yang Kai was beginning to get some ideas. He sorely wished he could enter retreat to digest the new information; however, now was not the time for that. The place he was in did not seem to be all that peaceful. His cultivation was being suppressed and his Divine Sense was suppressed to remain inside his Knowledge Sea, so it meant that he only possessed the barest hint of his powers right now. What’s more, after all his years of travels and experiences, Yang Kai could keenly sense that he was not alone in the forest right now!
A strange murderous intent hung thick in the air as unseen pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
Yang Kai lowered his gaze as he silently checked what strength he still had.
“One day, a crack will appear in the sky and a man will fall from it. He will spark the light and rip apart the shackles of darkness. He will defeat the ultimate enemy!”
Somewhere in the forest, a man was staring dazedly at Yang Kai. He muttered those words under his breath, and as he did so, an indescribable look of feverish passion filled his expression.
Two others beside him looked just as ecstatic when they heard what he said and saw the dishevelled Yang Kai.
“You two, get him out of here. I’ll bring up the rear!” The person who spoke first quickly came to a decision, and after giving this order, he gripped his sword and charged out of his hiding spot.
The other two people quickly followed close behind.
As the three of them started moving, the murderous intent that circled the forest grew even stronger as silhouettes fluttered in the shadows.
Yang Kai looked up and his brow rose slightly when he saw the man rushing over to him with a sword in hand.
After a quick check, Yang Kai confirmed what cultivation he had right now. He, a Ninth-Order Master, was only able to use True Element Boundary strength!
[What outrageous suppression!]
The journey of cultivation began with the Tempered Body Stage before continuing to the Initial Element, Qi Transformation, Separation and Reunion, True Element, Immortal Ascension…
Even back in the Great Han Dynasty, Yang Kai’s cultivation had surpassed the True Element Boundary; however, he was being suppressed to that exact Realm by an independent World now.
[That explains why I couldn’t use my Divine Sense. I’m not even in the Immortal Ascension Realm right now!]
Only cultivators who reached the Immortal Ascension Realm could use Divine Sense.
The young man who came charging over at Yang Kai with a sword in hand appeared to be less than 30 years old. He had a determined look on his scarred face and seemed like someone who had wrestled with death before.
His cultivation was also somewhere in the True Element Boundary, but his murderous aura was strong and he had a mysterious Movement Skill that allowed him to rush over to Yang Kai in just a few steps.
Yang Kai eyed him without moving.
He could sense that the young man’s murderous intent was not directed at him. Although he looked fierce when he came storming over, there was also a look of worry as well.
[Why’s this guy worried about me when we don’t know each other?]
Two younger men followed close behind the first one, seemingly part of the same group.
All at once, the scar-faced young man thrust his sword towards Yang Kai. The sword cry was followed by a clang as it flicked away an arrow that was aimed at Yang Kai’s back.
The scar-faced man leapt past Yang Kai and protected him from behind, his sword dancing through the air.
A series of clangs rang out as the young man blocked more arrows that were all directed at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had no idea what was going on!
[I’ve only just arrived in this damned place. How did I get caught up in a fight? One party is trying to protect me while the other one is trying to kill me.]
[Just how did I provoke them?]
[What is going on inside Mu’s Space-Time River?]
Yang Kai was bewildered in every way possible.
“Hurry up and leave! I can’t hold them back for long!” The growl from the scar-faced man interrupted Yang Kai’s thoughts.
Just then, the two men who rushed over with the first one hoisted Yang Kai up from the ground, and the one on his left quickly said, “Please come with us, Holy Son!”
Saying so, they lifted Yang Kai and ran away, without caring about whether he was willing or not.
“Holy Son?” Yang Kai’s confusion grew.
Although the cultivation of these two people was not as good as the scar-faced man, their strength and movement skills were still impressive for their Realm. As arrows rained down from behind, the two of them cooperated seamlessly, blocking attacks while carrying Yang Kai as they fled into the distance.
Soon, a furious roar came from behind them, “Zuo Wu You, you court death!”
“You all came for me, didn’t you? Well then, let’s fight to the death here!”
“I’ll hold him off, you guys run!”
“No one is leaving!” The scar-faced youth, Zuo Wu You, roared.
Immediately, a fierce battle broke out behind them.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, looking at the situation with confusion. He wanted to inquire about it, but this was clearly not a good time.
The title of ‘Holy Son’ also caught his attention.
He had only come to this mysterious and unknowable place to investigate the hidden hand left by Mu, but he never expected to be swept into Mu’s Space-Time River and end up in this independent World, where his strength was greatly suppressed.
As a Ninth-Order Master, he was not easily suppressed by the laws of any unfamiliar World; however, in this place, he could only exert the strength of a cultivator in the True Element Boundary.
This meant that a stronger force was acting in this place, surpassing his Ninth-Order power.
[This must be Mu’s doing!]
Swift as the wind, Yang Kai was dragged along by the two young men as they moved forward quickly. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he checked the item in his palm that Wu Kuang had given him before entering this mysterious place.
He hadn’t had a chance to look at it before, but now he noticed that it was a jade pendant, carved in the shape of a person that vaguely resembled Wu Kuang and carried a wisp of his aura.
[This is…] Yang Kai had a rough idea of what this item was for.
Then, he suddenly spoke up, “You two can put me down. I can walk on my own.”
Although he didn’t know where they were or what had happened, being chased was definitely not a pleasant experience. The two young men should be on his side as they were carrying him and running as fast as they could from the pursuers. Though their speed was somewhat affected, running faster would certainly help them shake off their pursuers.
As he spoke, Yang Kai shook lightly and broke free from their grasp.
The two youths were clearly surprised and pleased to see that Yang Kai had such strength.
Then, the youth on the left apologised, “We acted hastily and didn’t handle things appropriately. Please forgive us, Holy Son.”
“Uh…” Yang Kai waved his hand nonchalantly, “It’s fine.”
Later, the young man on the right said, “I didn’t expect Holy Son to be so powerful. It seems we can get away from them now.”
As they spoke, they continued to rush forward.
“What about the guy, Zuo… Wu You, should we not worry about him?” Yang Kai remembered the scar-faced young man who remained behind.
“Big Brother Zuo is very strong, and he has a divine sword bestowed by the Saintess. Without an Immortal Ascension Realm Master, those wastes can’t do anything to him.”
[Saintess?]
Yang Kai wondered what her role in all of this was.
But with just a few words, he confirmed that the Martial Dao of this World was not much different from what he knew, even the names were the same. Moreover, this World had Immortal Ascension Realm Masters! The only difference was that there were three Stages instead of nine.
As they fled for their lives, it was not convenient to say much. The two young men were initially worried that Yang Kai could not keep up with their speed, so they did not use their full strength at first. However, as time passed and they tested him, they found that no matter how profound their Movement Skills were, this Holy Son, who had descended from the sky, could keep up with them effortlessly.
So, they let loose and ran at full speed. After about an hour, they reached a mountain wall, where one of them took out a jade ornament and pressed it against the wall, which opened a kind of portal.
It seemed that this was their hiding place.
The three of them entered one after another, and the portal closed again.
There was a space that was just the right size inside the mountain, and the space had clearly been lived in before.
After everything was settled, the two young men who led Yang Kai here breathed a sigh of relief.
There was no need to worry about anything now that they were here.
Yang Kai stood with his hands behind his back, surveying his surroundings. Suddenly, the two young men fell to one knee and bowed, “Greetings, Holy Son!”
“En…” Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before reaching out to help the two young men up, “I still haven’t figured out what’s going on here, and I have no idea who this ‘Holy Son’ is that you speak of. Are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else?”
The thin youth replied, “We have not made a mistake. You are indeed the Holy Son of the Spirit Religion; of course, the final determination will be made by the Saintess herself.”
Yang Kai was confused, “But we’ve never met before today. How can you be so sure?”
The two exchanged a glance before the thin one explained, “It is said that one day, a crack will appear in the sky and a man will fall from it. He will spark the light and rip apart the shackles of darkness to defeat the ultimate enemy.”
“And that person will be the one who leads the Spirit Religion into the light.”
“That person is the Holy Son of the Spirit Religion.”
[Descend from the sky…]
Yang Kai realised that they were probably talking about him; after all, he had indeed fallen from a crack in the sky in a rather undignified manner. It was surprising to find that their prophecy matched up with his own experience.
[To not only descend from the sky but also do so while the sky is split open.]
“Who made this prophecy?” He asked.
The other young man replied solemnly, “It is the guidance of the Saintess herself, passed down since the founding of the Spirit Religion.”
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, intrigued, “Oh? Can I meet this Saintess of yours?”
“Of course,” the thin youth said, “We’ll wait here for a while until Big Brother Zuo returns, and then we’ll take you to see the Saintess.”
“Good.”
Then, they rested in silence for a while.
The two youths had been running non-stop, which had taken a toll on them, but Yang Kai, on the other hand, was still full of energy. Despite being suppressed to the True Element Boundary, he still had the heritage of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so running didn’t tire him out.
Taking advantage of the moment, he gripped the jade pendant in his hand, intending to activate his Divine Sense, but he quickly remembered that he couldn’t do that right now.
As a last resort, he could only call out softly, “Wu Kuang…”
The jade pendant had been given to him by Wu Kuang before he entered this place, and it was even carved in Wu Kuang’s image and carried his aura. Obviously, it was meant for communication.
Yang Kai also sensed that Wu Kuang had left a thread of his consciousness in this jade pendant.
Wu Kuang seemed extremely curious about this mysterious and unknowable land, but because he was guarding the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and had no energy to spare, he could only send a thread of consciousness to see what was going on.
The jade pendant shook slightly in response…
Yang Kai became speechless. Even Wu Kuang’s thread of consciousness seemed to be heavily suppressed here.
He had originally wanted to communicate with him and see if he could find any useful clues, but now he had to give up. Moreover, just this shake caused the spirituality of the jade pendant to dim a bit.
[Hmm… I’ll have to nourish Wu Kuang’s thread of consciousness; otherwise, it will soon dissipate.]
Yang Kai reached out, only to remember another unfortunate truth. His Small Universe was currently sealed, causing him to not be able to take anything out. Now, he was practically empty-handed except for the clothes he was wearing.
It was quite an awkward situation.
“Do either of you have some thread?” Yang Kai asked, looking at them.
“Yes,” one of them responded quickly and handed him a carefully braided thread.
Then, Yang Kai tied Wu Kuang’s jade pendant into a kind of necklace, so he could nurture it with his own Spiritual Energy and communicate with Wu Kuang at any time.
After that, he began to familiarise himself with his current powers.
[True Element Boundary… how weak.] His great power had been stripped away, making him somewhat uncomfortable. But in the end, he had experienced this realm before, so he just needed to familiarise himself with it a little bit.
About an hour later, there was a sudden commotion.
The three of them were alerted, and when Yang Kai looked, he saw one of the two youths using a jade to investigate and then exclaimed with joy, “Big Brother Zuo is back!”
Saying so, he activated his power of the jade, and a light flashed by, opening the sealed portal.
In the next moment, Zuo Wu You, covered in blood, hurried in. He had clearly experienced a fierce battle, with many wounds on his body and a somewhat weakened aura, but his murderous intent remained extremely strong.
The figure that entered this place was like an ancient ominous beast entering a cave, chilling the atmosphere to the bone.
“Big Brother Zuo!” The two youths exclaimed and greeted him.
As Zuo Wu You glanced over and fixed his gaze on Yang Kai, he breathed a sigh of relief. Only then did he wave his hand to his two companions, and went straight to Yang Kai, kneeling on one knee, “Zuo Wu You pays his respects to the Holy Son!”
[Here we go again…]
Yang Kai, a majestic Ninth-Order Master with the body of a Divine Dragon, didn’t mind being bowed to by a mere True Element Boundary cultivator; however, this Holy Son identity was somewhat strange to him.
He had only come to investigate what Mu’s hidden hand was, never expecting to get involved in the petty disputes of this inexplicable World.
Reaching out to help him up, Yang Kai spoke, “Let me greet your Saintess before we discuss this matter of the Holy Son.”
Upon hearing this, Zuo Wu You knew that the person before him had already heard of the Saintess’ prophecy, so he immediately spoke up, “The Saintess has never made a mistake. When the Holy Son appears, it is no doubt per her guidance; therefore, you must be the Holy Son of Spirit Religion!”
Yang Kai didn’t bother to argue and simply said, “You’re injured. You should focus on healing first. This time, I owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Even without Zuo Wu You and his companions, nothing would have happened to Yang Kai in the face of that group of attackers that hadn’t even reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary; however, they had still protected him and provided cover, so he should show his gratitude.
Zuo Wu You shook his head with a bitter smile, “This matter was aimed at me, but I have dragged the Holy Son into it. I am ashamed.”