“There has never been a precedent, but after today there will be many,” Yang Kai grinned meaningfully.
Zhu Jian couldn’t help but laugh, “Given your tiny figure, you have quite a big mouth. How would you be able to make this majestic Zhu Jian recognise you as my Master? Instead, I will give you some opportunity if you submit to me.”
The Divine Spirits of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and their chosen Bearer had a mutually beneficial relationship. These chosen Human cultivators could often benefit from the Divine Spirit and quickly get stronger.
Gu Pan, Qu Hua Shang, Ning Dao Ran, and other powerful youths from that time were all the same.
The Divine Spirits also wished for these Bearers to be as strong as possible because they would be taking part in the Spirit Seizing War. Only when their Bearer was powerful would they be able to seize the opportunity to leave this cage.
Zhu Jian wasn’t lying when he stated he would give Yang Kai opportunities as he actually planned to do so. The notion was, of course, that Yang Kai must pass some of his assessments. Zhu Jian would not want to waste his time if this Human was mediocre.
Saying so, Zhu Jian raised a hoof and pressed it down at Yang Kai. Though his movements weren’t particularly fast, the pressure of a Divine Spirit became stronger with every metre it descended.
Zhu Jian could almost foresee the sight of the Human trembling under his majestic self.
He had done this many times before, and each time, those Humans would submit and become well-behaved.
However, this time was destined to be an exception…
Yang Kai simply lifted his hand and stopped Zhu Jian’s hoof dead in its tracks. The sight was akin to an ant lifting its limb and holding up an elephant’s foot.
“I’m short on time, so let’s stop the nonsense and get right to the point.”
Just as the voice of the Human sounded in Zhu Jian’s ears, he immediately found himself lifted before being slammed down onto the floor.
There was a huge explosion as it seemed like the entire Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary shook. The mountain valley cracked, with spider web-like fissures spreading out from a massive depression that had just been opened up at its centre. From inside the crater, Zhu Jian’s figure could be vaguely seen through the dust and debris.
Zhu Jian was so flabbergasted he didn’t even get angry from being smashed to the ground.
In the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, Zhu Jian could unleash strength equivalent to a Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, which while powerful, was a huge gap from his true strength. Still, how could Yang Kai toy with him like this when all Humans who arrived here were no stronger than Emperor Realm Masters?
*Hong Hong Hong…*
More bangs and explosions sounded one after another as in a flash, Zhu Jian’s rising wrath transformed into terror. He became dizzy as a result of being repeatedly thrown around and smashed into the ground. He had never before, since his birth, come across a situation that made him feel this helpless.
Only after 100 times did Yang Kai release him. Zhu Jian lay limp on the ground, twitching all over as if all the bones in his body had been dislocated, his eyes filled with fear and uncertainty.
“Acknowledge me as your Master, and I will take you out,” repeated Yang Kai as he stood on the bridge of Zhu Jian’s nose and stared straight into his eyes.
As if just waking from this nightmare, Zhu Jian roared in fright, “You’re not suppressed by the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary!?”
Yang Kai’s might was clearly not that of the Emperor Realm, but of the Open Heaven Realm! Despite never having witnessed the true strength of a Human Open Heaven Realm Master, Zhu Jian could instantly identify that the Human in front of him was someone in the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm.
“Stop talking nonsense and recognise me as your Master already,” Yang Kai urged impatiently.
There were a lot of Divine Spirits in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, so he didn’t want to waste time convincing each one of them, he only wanted to dispatch these Divine Spirits to the battlefield as swiftly as possible so that they could be of some use against the Black Ink Clan.
Despite how humiliated Zhu Jian felt, a Divine Spirit’s pride was not something that could be dampened so easily. As for submitting to an ‘inferior’, that was impossible; thus, he roared, “In your dreams! This Zhu Jian will not submit so easily!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly, then complimented him, “Seems your backbone is quite sturdy.”
Immediately, Yang Kai lifted his hand, and the 3,000-metre-tall Zhu Jian floated up into the air. Zhu Jian frantically struggled, but it was of no use as there seemed to be an invisible set of shackles which kept him in place.
The next moment, Yang Kai raised a flame from his free hand, within which a three-legged exotic bird cawed.
Throwing the Golden Crow’s True Fire in his hand towards Zhu Jian, it soon exploded and burned furiously, enveloping the whole beast.
Then, Yang Kai took out a massive knife from somewhere as he swept his gaze back and forth across Zhu Jian’s juicy, meaty body.
By now, Zhu Jian was panicking. The Golden Crow’s True Fire made him suffer excruciating pain, but that was still barely bearable; after all, he was a mature Divine Spirit whose power was just being suppressed by the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. It was an imposed weakness, which did not affect how intrepid his body was.
Though the Golden Crow’s True Fire was indeed impressive, flames of this intensity could not burn him to death.
However, looking at the giant knife, and seeing Yang Kai’s behaviour, it was obvious that he was going to grill him up and eat him.
“What are you doing?!” Zhu Jian shouted in panic.
Yang Kai took out an equally giant honing steel from who knows where and grinned menacingly as he said, “I’ve been told about the taste of a certain powerful Black Ox whose flavour was supposed to be quite exquisite. I’ve always wanted to try such meat, but in the end, l wasn’t able to get my hands on some. You look quite similar to that Black Ox, which should be able to fulfil my wish. What’s more, a Divine Spirit should be more appetising than an ordinary Black Ox.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Zhu Jian roared angrily.
“I wouldn’t?” With a snort, Yang Kai approached Zhu Jian with the now gleaming knife in hand, eying Zhu Jian’s rib-roast section, lifting his blade as if preparing to slice off a piece.
When Zhu Jian saw this Human was being serious, he couldn’t bear it anymore so he hurriedly cried out, “Wait, wait, wait! We can talk this out!”
Yang Kai’s knife rested on his flank as he said, “If you want to say something, speak quickly before it’s too late.”
Zhu Jian was agitated, “I’ll leave you with all I’ve collected during my life. I own many treasures that are very helpful for Humans to cultivate with.”
Yang Kai sneered, “Your ‘treasures’ are all useless to me.”
Zhu Jian tried again, “Then I will give you some of my Source Strength. With it, you will have the opportunity to comprehend the Innate Divine Ability of my Clan!”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai frowned and asked, “What is the Bloodline Talent of your Clan?”
He was oblivious to it previously, but during his trip to the No-Return Pass to cultivate, he had come to understand that every Divine Spirit Clan had their own Bloodline Talent which would awaken once they matured thanks to their Bloodline Inheritance.
For example, the Dragon Clan’s Bloodline Talent was the Dao of Time while the Phoenix Clan’s was the Dao of Space.
Since he didn’t interact with other Divine Spirits much, Yang Kai didn’t know much about them.
Seeing that his interest was piqued, Zhu Jian immediately continued, “The Bloodline Talent of my Clan is one of strength! If you comprehend this Innate Divine Ability, your physical strength will be boundless!”
“Garbage!” Yang Kai immediately lost all interest. When it came to raw physical strength, none exceeded the Dragon Clan! It was a purely useless Bloodline Talent for Yang Kai.
Zhu Jian felt like breaking down. How could he have offered some of his Source Strength if he hadn’t been forced into a dead end? The loss of even a bit of his Source Strength would have a significant detrimental effect on him.
Yet, such huge sacrifices were dismissed as ‘garbage’ by this Human.
“If you have anything else for me in exchange for your life, speak up. Or else, I will start my meal,” Yang Kai threatened.
Zhu Jian sighed, appearing to accept his fate, “What more do I have when you don’t even seem pleased by my Source Strength? Forget it. This is my fate. Please start.”
“Even if you die, you still won’t recognise me as your Master?” Yang Kai questioned.
Zhu Jian was greatly humiliated; even so, his words oozed contempt as he spoke, “Trivial Human, it will bring shame to all Divine Spirits for this Zhu Jian to submit to you! Instead, death will be a relief for me as I will finally be able to escape this prison.”
“What if I wasn’t a Human?” Yang Kai asked. Zhu Jian’s heart tightened as he saw Yang Kai step onto his nose once again and gave him a stern look.
When those words came out, even though Yang Kai’s figure remained the same, the phantom image of a Dragon Head appeared behind him and intense Dragon Pressure erupted forth.
“You’re from the Dragon Clan!?” Zhu Jian asked in shock.
As a Divine Spirit, Zhu Jian could naturally feel the extremely pure Dragon Pressure that washed over him in that instant, something that only a True Dragon could possess. Under this Dragon Pressure, even a Divine Spirit like him couldn’t help but feel inferior.
The Dragon Head disappeared as Yang Kai nodded and declared, “Indeed, I am from the Dragon Clan!”
“Why didn’t you expose your true identity first if you are from the Dragon Clan?” Zhu Jian almost wept. Still, the next moment he attempted to sound intimidating by declaring, “Even if you are a True Dragon, I won’t recognise you as my Master!”
The way he spoke, nonetheless, was not nearly as forceful as it had been before. Clearly, Yang Kai’s revelation of his identity caused Zhu Jian to reconsider his decision.
Of course, Yang Kai, on the other hand, knew what he was thinking; thus, he tempted him again, “I can bring you out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary!”
Zhu Jian looked at him for a while, then shook his head and said, “Impossible, all Divine Spirits that have entered the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary will never have a chance to leave unless they win that fleeting opportunity. This applies to those in the Dragon Clan as well.”
Yang Kai only replied nonchalantly at this statement, “If I say I can do it, I can do it. Just because all of you can’t leave doesn’t mean that I can’t.”
For a brief while, Zhu Jian pondered before asking, “Do you dare to swear upon your Bloodline?”
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, “Why would I not?”
At this point, Zhu Jian no longer had any doubts. To any Divine Spirit, an oath sworn on one’s Source was binding, while one sworn on their Bloodline was of even greater significance. Violating a Bloodline Oath would result in a Bloodline backlash. In light cases, their Bloodline would forever be destroyed, whereas in the worst case, they would lose their life. Worse yet, a Bloodline Oath concerned not just an individual, but an entire Clan, meaning it was a matter of honour to one’s whole Race and would be enforced with a corresponding level of intensity.
This was one of the most ancient Oaths in existence.
“How are you going to get out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?” Zhu Jian inquired while frowning.
Yang Kai shook his head, “Of course, I have my own means. You don’t need to ask.”
“Even if you are from the Dragon Clan, I can’t possibly acknowledge you as my Master. Even so, I can swear loyalty to you,” Zhu Jian stated after giving it some thought.
[What’s the difference?] Yang Kai thought; however, seeing how Zhu Jian would rather die than agree to his original request, proved how the Divine Spirits indeed exhibited unyielding pride and arrogance.
This level of conviction was unbreakable, even in the face of death.
“That works too,” Yang Kai nodded, not actually intending to enslave the Divine Spirits here, just to bring them out to fight against the Black Ink Clan. Recognising him as a Master was for nothing but to give it an easy title to understand.
When Zhu Jian cautiously turned to look at Yang Kai, he added, “This type of loyalty needs to be limited to 100 yea…”
It was clear from what he observed that Yang Kai was not someone who could not be reasoned with; thus, he intended to negotiate and gain some advantages for himself.
“3,000 years! You will swear loyalty to me for 3,000 years and I will swear to release you when that time is up,” Yang Kai cut him off and firmly declared.
Zhu Jian seemed to be unwilling. Even for a Divine Spirit like him, 3,000 years was a long time, but before he could even speak, Yang Kai interjected, “There’s no need for any further discussion if you can’t even guarantee 3,000 years.”
When Zhu Jian saw there was no space for negotiation, he sighed dejectedly and said, “Good, 3,000 years.”
It was only then that Yang Kai put him down and retrieved the Golden Crow’s True Fire. This was followed by both sides swearing Oaths upon their Bloodlines. In that Oath, Zhu Jian swore loyalty to Yang Kai for 3,000 years after Yang Kai brought him out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
“Lead me to the other Divine Spirits,” Yang Kai ordered.
Zhu Jian understood instantly that this Human did not only intend to subjugate him but all the other Divine Spirits in the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary as well. No one could escape from him.
However, this matter was not necessarily a bad thing for the Divine Spirits of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. They had always wanted to escape from here, so now that there was such an opportunity, nobody would be willing to pass it up.
Understanding this, Zhu Jian stopped being long-winded and immediately led Yang Kai to the closest Divine Spirit.
After an hour, in front of a cave, Yang Kai waited patiently for Zhu Jian to discuss with the Divine Spirit inside. Sometime later, a three-headed, 3,000-metre-long snake emerged from the caves and looked down at Yang Kai while keeping his head high up.
At a glance, Yang Kai recognized that this was Fei Yi, who had Qu Hua Shang as his Bearer.
The middle head of Fei Yi’s three heads asked, “You are able to take me out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?”
Yang Kai nodded, “I dare not go against my Bloodline Oath.”
Fei Yi nodded, “If that’s the case, I can work under you for 3,000 years.”
Yang Kai was spared a great deal of hassle thanks to Zhu Jian’s mediation. The two parties once more swore an Oath, just like Yang Kai did with Zhu Jian.
For the next half a month, Yang Kai wandered around the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and met one Divine Spirit after another. The subdued Divine Spirits helped convince the new ones, making things simpler.
As Zhu Jian was the first to surrender to Yang Kai, he played a vital role in the subsequent subjugation process, so he also subconsciously took on the role of leader.
When Yang Kai returned to the Old Tree again, there were over 100 Divine Spirits of various shapes and sizes following him. These Divine Spirits had a wide range of strength, but the one undeniable fact was that all of them were at least on par with Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The 100 or so formed quite a strong force.
On the other hand, Wu Kuang remained immobile and stuck in place. He was so furious after seeing Yang Kai’s return that his nose puffed smoke. If he were able to speak, he would have cursed Yang Kai to death.
In front of the World Tree, Yang Kai bowed, “Old Tree, I want to send them to the Star Boundary through you.”
On the trunk of the World Tree, Old Tree’s face emerged, “Help yourself.”
Yang Kai nodded and connected to the World Fruit on the World Tree that corresponded to the Star Boundary. Then, he manipulated Space Principles which prompted a Void Corridor to appear in the next instant.
He turned to look at the numerous Divine Spirits following behind and declared, “You can enter the 3,000 Worlds from here. Now that the 3,000 Worlds are at war, we need you to help us in our fight against our enemies. Go to the Star Boundary’s High Heaven Palace and search for a woman named Hua Qing Si. Tell her that I sent all of you as reinforcements. Remember, you must obey her commands when I am not around. If you dare to commit crimes or disobey her orders, I have plenty of ways to make you suffer.”
Many Divine Spirits felt the foreign aura coming from the portal, making them thrilled. Despite Yang Kai’s repeated assurances that he would lead them out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, it wasn’t until they saw his ability in action that they were able to completely trust him.
After going through this portal, they could finally escape the restrictions of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and restore their power as true Divine Spirits.
Zhu Jian cupped his fist and said, “Sir may rest assured, since we have established a Bloodline Oath, we dare not violate it.”
“En. Go.” Yang Kai responded with a nod and a wave.
The first to rush towards the portal was Zhu Jian, who was soon followed by several more Divine Spirits. They all shrunk their figures to travel through the portal, disappearing one after another.
It was only after all of the 100 or so Divine Spirits crossed the portal that Yang Kai shut it.
There would certainly be a disturbance with the arrival of 100 plus Divine Spirits at the Star Boundary, but that was not Yang Kai’s concern now.
Grabbing Wu Kuang, Yang Kai addressed the World Tree, “Old Tree, I need to go to Black Territory. May I ask you for guidance?”
Each fruit on the World Tree represented a Universe World which still had its Grand Dao intact. These Universe Worlds were scattered throughout the Great Territories, but there were none in Black Territory.
This was because the entire Black Territory was a Dead Territory, with no Universe Worlds remaining.
Yang Kai couldn’t enter the Black Ink Battlefield or Black Territory directly, so the next best option was to travel to the Great Territory adjacent to Black Territory and enter from there.
Yang Kai could only consult the Old Tree, because he was unsure which World Fruit corresponded to the relevant Universe World closest to Black Territory. Given that the World Fruits were grown on the World Tree, it would know better than anyone which World Fruit corresponded to which Universe World.
After hearing what Yang Kai had said, the Old Tree said nothing, but one of its fruits immediately lit up.
Yang Kai understood what this meant. As he looked up, he saw a black, almost-withered fruit emanating Black Ink Strength from within. Such fruits were not uncommon and represented Universe Worlds that had been corroded by the Black Ink Clan, quickly losing their World Force and Grand Dao.
This was not the worst-case scenario, but it also wasn’t a good situation. After a few years, the sickly fruits would ultimately become completely black, and in the end, they would eventually wither and fall off.
“Take care, Old Tree!” Yang Kai offered his thanks and headed towards the World Fruit while carrying Wu Kuang.
The small World Fruit got bigger in front of their eyes, and transformed into a Universe World.
When Yang Kai and Wu Kuang recovered, they had already arrived on the outskirts of the Universe World. Looking from afar, a Black Ink Nest was ravenously absorbing the remnants of its World Force. Furthermore, dense Black Ink Strength enveloped this whole Universe World.
Yang Kai sighed even though he had encountered numerous situations like this throughout the years.
This Universe World was on the brink of falling. There was no longer a need to refine a Universe World that was filled with Black Ink Strength like this one.
All the living beings here had already been transformed into Black Ink Disciples, becoming servants of the Black Ink Clan.
Of course, Yang Kai could destroy the entire Universe World, but that meant killing all the transformed Black Ink Disciples as well.
There were hundreds of millions of them, so how could Yang Kai be merciless enough to slaughter them?
At this moment, Wu Kuang finally managed to break free from Yang Kai’s grasp and erupted into a fit of rage, roaring, “You Brat! I will remember this and never let you off!”
But, with a single sentence, Yang Kai tamed his enormous rage.
“I’ll give you a World Tree clone.”
Wu Kuang was momentarily stunned, his anger fizzling out as he asked in disbelief, “Really?”
Yang Kai had obtained three clones from the World Tree. Though Wu Kuang desperately wanted one, he knew Yang Kai wouldn’t be willing to give it to him; if it wasn’t because he was weaker than Yang Kai, he would have already snatched one away.
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai offered a clone to him willingly, which made him both shocked and delighted.
If he were given this clone, which would stabilize and fortify his Small Universe, Wu Kuang would not need to worry about signs of his Small Universe being unstable due to any sudden increase in strength. He could also maximize the effects of his Heaven Devouring Battle Law with no need to worry about any kind of side effects in the future.
Yang Kai then replied, “But, you’ll have to follow me somewhere.”
Wu Kuang became alert at once, “Where?”
“Don’t ask so much. You’ll know when we arrive.” Saying so, Yang Kai simply took out a World Tree clone and threw it to Wu Kuang.
Wu Kuang quickly accepted it and made sure that it was real before becoming overjoyed. As soon as he put it in his Small Universe, he felt that his aura grew somewhat denser.
He could feel that his Small Universe started getting perfected after he had placed the World Tree clone inside, and in time, Wu Kunag was confident there would be even more benefits as the World Tree clone grew.
He also learned about the mystery of the World Tree clone from the World Tree, like how it absorbed the power of other Universes Worlds. With this World Tree clone, he would be able to save many years of cultivation and ascend to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in no time.
Unlike other cultivators, Wu Kuang was not bound by the restrictions of the Open Heaven Realm. Nobody knew how or why, but after acquiring the body of Great Demon God Mo Sheng, he directly ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Logically speaking, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm should be his limit.
Wu Kuang was currently in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm already, but despite that, he felt that his Martial Dao had not reached its peak. He could still ascend to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm or even the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Over the years, Wu Kuang had thought about this matter a lot, and in the end, he concluded that the Heaven Devouring Battle Law he created was so exceptional, that it broke the innate restrictions of the Open Heaven Realm.
On the other hand, it was unfortunate that the Heaven Devouring Battle Law could only be safely cultivated by him. If it was someone else, he or she would first notice rapid advancement during the early stages of cultivation, but as they continued to cultivate, the backlash would grow. Furthermore, there was only one solution to this, the Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus. However, there was only one such lotus in existence.
Having obtained a World Tree clone, Wu Kuang squinted at Yang Kai, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll run away?”
To which Yang Kai returned a sneer, “You can try!”
Wu Kuang’s expression instantly darkened. Although he was in the Seventh Order, Yang Kai was already in the Eighth Order. On top of that, this man was proficient in the Dao of Space. In the face of someone superior in both cultivation and speed, Wu Kuang had no confidence he would be able to escape under his watch.
He immediately surrendered, “Gifts blind the eyes. Now that I received a World Tree clone from you, I shall follow you wherever you go.”
Yang Kai gave him a long, thoughtful look, [How carefree of you to say that. I hope you won’t regret this in the future.]
Although Yang Kai had no intention to destroy the Universe World in front of them, he did not intend to leave the Black Ink Nest in this Universe World alone. As he extended his palm and slammed it down, the few thousand metres tall Black Ink Nest was crushed into dust. This caused the Black Ink Clansmen in the Universe World to panic, wondering which Human Race Master had come.
Universe Worlds were beginning to fall, all of them with Black Ink Nests planted on them. The dense Black Ink Strength permeated throughout the Universe Worlds, transforming countless living beings into Black Ink Disciples.
As Yang Kai and Wu Kuang travelled, what they witnessed and heard shocked them.
Yang Kai would not hesitate to eliminate any targets that could be rapidly removed along the way, but he was not focused on removing those Black Ink Nests.
His current task was more pressing.
After a few days, the two came across a Universe World that had a Black Ink Nest on it. One could tell that it hadn’t been here for long by the sparse Black Ink Strength and by how much of the World Force remained.
Yang Kai examined it and asked, “Now that you also have a World Tree clone to stabilize and protect your Small Universe, do you want to keep some living beings inside? If there are living beings living and breeding in your Small Universe, it can greatly help you with your cultivation.”
Of course, Wu Kuang desired it. The Small Universe of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master had already evolved from immaterial to material, capable of hosting living beings in it; however, owing to how often one would engage in battles, and how detrimental that would be to a Small Universe, few High-Rank Masters would ever raise living beings in their body. With a World Tree clone or one of the Four Universe Pillars to stabilize their Small Universe though, such an option became viable.
The safety of the living beings within Wu Kuang’s Small Universe could only be ensured if it remained unaffected by external shocks.
Wu Kuang already wanted to house some living beings when Yang Kai first handed him the World Tree clone, it was just that he was short on time and had no source of such beings.
Once Yang Kai asked though, he understood what Yang Kai meant and thought that this Brat was quite a good friend for bringing him to a Universe World like this one.
Immediately, he nodded and said, “I’ll go in and look around!”
Saying so, he rushed towards the Universe World.
If Yang Kai and Wu Kuang chose to ignore this Universe World, the living beings within it would all transform into Black Ink Disciples after a few years. This Universe World’s World Force would be completely gone and it would break apart and die soon enough as well.
In this vast Universe, there were countless Universe Worlds like this one.
When Wu Kuang entered the Universe World, he recklessly took in all the living beings he could find. Yang Kai was able to see clearly how Wu Kuang immediately incorporated all of the busy, packed cities of living beings into his Small Universe.
Even the Black Ink Nest and the Black Ink Clan that were plundering this Universe World were not spared.
Wu Kuang’s Heaven Devouring Battle Law could consume everything and anything, so while it might be difficult to take in and resolve Black Ink Strength for others, to Wu Kuang, it was just another method to enrich his heritage.
In less than 10 days, there were no more living beings in this Universe World, they had all been taken into Wu Kuang’s Small Universe.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel surprised. Even though this Universe World was fairly small, and it had recently been attacked by the Black Ink Clan, there were still a billion living beings inside. Being able to take in all those people as a mere Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master demonstrated that Wu Kuang’s Small Universe was far from average.
When Wu Kuang returned happily, Yang Kai purged all the Black Ink Strength from this Universe World and began to refine it.
This confused Wu Kuang, “There are no longer living beings in this Universe World and its World Force is also close to being completely depleted. It can’t be saved, so why bother?”
“I have my reasons,” Yang Kai replied.
Without wanting to bother him, Wu Kuang simply sat cross-legged beside him and began to sort the living beings in his Small Universe. Now that he had collected over a billion of them, he had to properly settle them in and provide what they needed to survive otherwise it would be a waste to have taken them in.
Thus, they both worked in silence.
Two days later, Yang Kai refined the Universe World into a World Bead. The only difference from the others that he previously refined was that this one was empty and devoid of any living beings and had barely any vitality.
After informing Wu Kuang, they continued travelling.
Through this adjacent Great Territory, Yang Kai led Wu Kuang into Black Territory.
As expected, there was no trace of the Black Ink Clan here. This Great Territory simply contained an empty void, so the Black Ink Clan would certainly not be interested in it.
The two arrived at the centre of Black Territory after a few days where the Void Corridor connecting to the Black Ink Battlefield was located.
Previously, Yang Kai used this Void Corridor to return to the 3,000 Worlds from the Black Ink Battlefield. He never imagined that a few years later, he would have to return to the Black Ink Battlefield from here. He felt as if fate was playing with him.
After pondering for a while, Yang Kai turned his head and looked at Wu Kuang, “Do you mind entering my Small Universe?”
Since he was in the Eighth Order and Wu Kuang was in the Seventh Order, it would not be a problem for Yang Kai to keep the latter in the Small Universe as doing so would be more convenient for the next leg of their journey. After all, travelling through the Void Corridor involved many dangers. If Wu Kuang needed to be taken care of on top of that, it would be more burdensome for him.
Wu Kuang frowned, “Why?”
Under normal circumstances, cultivators of higher Orders would not allow strangers into their Small Universe unless they had complete faith in one another because if the detained person caused disturbances in their Small Universe, it was very likely that they would also go through serious issues.
Those of lower Order were also apprehensive about entering another’s Small Universe as doing so basically gave the other party control over their life.
Even though he knew that Yang Kai would not harm him, Wu Kuang couldn’t help but ask.
After Yang Kai explained the reason, Wu Kuang nodded, “Why should I be afraid if you’re not.”
“Come on then,” Yang Kai opened up his Small Universe, and Wu Kuang plunged into it without hesitation.
Without Wu Kuang to burden him, Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles and reopened the Void Corridor that he previously shut, flashing into it.
As he travelled forward, Yang Kai closed the path behind him.
This Void Corridor was an unknown route leading to the Black Ink Battlefield, so Yang Kai definitely did not want it to be revealed so easily, as it might come in handy one day.
After some time, Yang Kai eventually made his way through the Void Corridor and returned to the Black Ink Battlefield once again. He then released Wu Kuang from his Small Universe as soon as possible and gave him a stern look, “Bastard! How shameless can you be!?”
Yang Kai’s rage was, however, understandable considering that Wu Kuang, activated his Heaven Devouring Battle Law while being in his Small Universe and devoured some of his heritage while they were travelling through the Void Corridor.
This was simply unacceptable!
Though Yang Kai quickly overpowered and sealed him, Wu Kuang still got a taste.
Faced with Yang Kai’s scolding, Wu Kuang simply chuckled and asked, “Where are we going now?”
Yang Kai only glared at him in response, [Indeed, old ginger is spicier. Shamelessness has already seeped into his bones. If it wasn’t for his value, I would definitely beat him up without mercy.]
Originally, he had intended for Wu Kuang to stay in his Small Universe indefinitely, making it easier for him to travel; however, as a result of what just happened, Yang Kai was no longer confident about keeping this menace.
Luckily, Wu Kuang hadn’t consumed much of his heritage or he wouldn’t have let him off that easily.
After calming his frustration for a time, Yang Kai grumbled, “Come with me.”
The pair travelled in silence.
Only a few days later, Wu Kuang suddenly realised, “This is the Black Ink Battlefield?”
Despite never having been to the Black Ink Battlefield, he knew a little about it because he used to be a member of the Great Evolution Army in the Barren Territory. There, he hung out with Blood Crow, so he knew that the Human Race were defeated on the Black Ink Battlefield and were forced to retreat to the Barren Territory.
The void was pin-drop silent here, and the Universe Worlds they saw along the journey were all dead, some with traces of mining. Wu Kuang, who was not a fool, recognised this as the Black Ink Battlefield right away.
“En, this is the Black Ink Battlefield!” Yang Kai nodded.
Wu Kuang grew excited at once, “We’re taking the fight to the enemy?”
There was obviously something big waiting for them or Yang Kai wouldn’t bring him to the Black Ink Battlefield for no reason and even give him a World Tree clone as a token of his appreciation.
Wu Kuang believed that all Royal Lords were completely wiped out, and that the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were restrained; thus, the strongest Black Ink Clansmen around were the Territory Lords.
As Wu Kuang had previously witnessed how strong Yang Kai was, effortlessly able to kill a Territory Lord, he misunderstood and thought Yang Kai had brought him here to raise chaos behind enemy lines.
This was precisely what he wanted. When Yang Kai killed the Territory Lord earlier, he didn’t dare to simply consume the remnant strength since his strength had advanced too quickly over recent years, and he needed to stabilize his cultivation.
But with a World Tree clone, Wu Kuang’s Small Universe had now been completely perfected, and he could even vividly perceive how his World Force was constantly being refined and purified by it. Now that his foundation would consolidate itself all on its own, the more strength he devoured, the better it would be.
Yang Kai glanced at him suddenly, nodded and said, “En, we’re going to solve the problem at its source!”
He didn’t want to explain himself, but secretly hoped that Wu Kuang would not despise him too much as what they were about to face might cost him his life!
The pair flew forward while Yang Kai left a trail of Space Beacons behind.
The placing of Space Beacons could save Yang Kai a lot of time when he returned.
Wu Kuang, who had originally been eagerly anticipating being able to have a sumptuous meal, eventually came to realise that something was wrong as the days passed. They hadn’t even come across a single Black Ink Clansman along the way, only the never-ending void.
After he asked Yang Kai multiple times, the latter simply said that the Black Ink Battlefield was too vast and that the Black Ink Clansmen were all assembled around the No-Return Pass right now; so, the two of them still had a long way to go.
Of course, Wu Kuang had no idea where the No-Return Pass was.
He only heard from others that the No-Return Pass was originally the only route connecting the 3,000 Worlds to the Black Ink Battlefield. Initially, it was guarded by the Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan, but now the Pass had fallen into enemy hands.
Therefore, Wu Kuang could only follow Yang Kai obediently, despite the fact that he still had some doubts in his heart. He also dared not leave on his own since they had already gone far and this place was devoid of anything that could be used as a landmark for him to find his way back.
Anyone unfamiliar with Black Ink Battlefield would undoubtedly become lost in this never-ending void.
It took a few years, but the pair eventually reached the Late Ancient Era battlefield. Wu Kuang immediately realised the dangers of this place and soon after bore witness to the magnificence of the Celestial Phenomena, something that absolutely could not be witnessed in the 3,000 Worlds.
It took his breath away.
The Late Ancient Era Battlefield contained not only the remains of the Late Ancient Era, but also the remnants of the Human Race Army as they retreated from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction hundreds of years ago.
Yang Kai even spotted a lot of shattered Warship debris along the way!
When the Human Race Army was retreating from Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to the No-Return Pass, he was being chased by the sheep-headed Royal Lord, so he did not know how the Human Race Army was defeated while they were evacuating.
However, after viewing the remnants of the battle, he could imagine the valiant struggle of his allies at that time.
Years passed before the two finally crossed that Late Ancient Era battlefield.
Wu Kuang could no longer stand it, “Brat, what are you planning? We’ve been travelling for almost 10 years. Are you certain this is where the No-Return Pass is?”
Over the last 10 years, the World Tree clone in his Small Universe had grown significantly, and the living beings he had taken in had gradually settled in, but they had yet to encounter a single Black Ink Clansman, which made Wu Kuang lose patience.
When Yang Kai knew that lying was no longer an option, he said, “We’re not heading to the No-Return Pass.”
Wu Kuang exclaimed in rage, “You lied to me!?”
Yang Kai ignored him and continued, “From Chaos, Heaven and Earth first split apart and the first Primordial Light was born alongside the Primordial Darkness.”
Yang Kai began to speak of the many secrets he heard from Cang back then.
Since Wu Kuang had lived longer than him yet never heard about any of this before, he was quickly fascinated and set aside his anger.
The Divine Spirits of the Primordial Era, Monster Race of the Early Ancient Era, the Human Race of the Late Ancient Era…
The change of dominance of these Races represented the change of each era.
Though Yang Kai explained it nonchalantly, Wu Kuang felt as if he personally experienced the unfolding of the events during that time and finally understood the origins of Mo.
After Yang Kai finished speaking, Wu Kuang pondered for a long time and asked, “As you said, if we want to completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan, we need to find the Primordial Light?”
“Indeed.”
Wu Kuang frowned, “How do we find that thing?”
“I already have some clues, but you shouldn’t be concerned about this.”
[I’m too lazy to care anyways,] Wu Kuang thought.
“Wu Kuang, is the Heaven Devouring Battle Law really a Secret Art created by you?” Yang Kai questioned afterwards.
Wu Kuang snorted, “Of course it was created by this King. In this world, is there anyone else who can use this Secret Art?”
Yang Kai shook his head in response, “The Star Boundary is located in a remote corner of the 3,000 Worlds where the Martial Dao is still quite underdeveloped. No matter how gifted you are, without having been in contact with the outside world, how would you be able to create such a magnificent Secret Art like the Heaven Devouring Battle Law? Have you ever wondered why this Secret Art can assist you to quickly enhance your cultivation even up to this day?”
1,000 years ago, the strongest Masters in the Star Boundary were the Great Emperors. It would still be reasonable if the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was only useful up to that level, as it would still remain within the scope of what the Star Boundary’s Martial Dao allowed. However, this Secret Act was still helping Wu Kuang climb through the Open Heaven Realm, which should be impossible.
Wu Kuang frowned this time, but instead of speaking aggressively, he just asked, “What are you trying to say?”
“I don’t think you personally created this Secret Art. It may be regarded as your creation in a certain sense, but… it may not be created by you in this life!”
Wu Kuang was stunned and looked at Yang Kai with a menacing gleam in his eyes, but that was ignored by Yang Kai.
Only after a long time did Wu Kuang calm his thoughts; after all, Yang Kai revealed his biggest secret in one go, which utterly shocked him.
Then, Wu Kuang nodded, “Yes, the Heaven Devouring Battle Law may not have been created by me; however, when I was young, I frequently dreamed of some fragments of this Secret Art in my sleep, which is the foundation of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. If I cultivated according to it, my strength grew steadily, and the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was fully perfected once I became a Great Emperor!”
It was not as if Wu Kuang hadn’t given this matter any thought. He understood why he had dreams about the Secret Art and knew that with it, he could become a Great Emperor.
It was because, in his previous life, he was already one!
In the Shattered Star Sea, he killed multiple Great Emperors all on his own thanks to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Over the years, as his cultivation strengthened, Wu Kuang frequently saw visions that he had never experienced before and vaguely suspected that there was more to his origin than met the eye.
Wu Kuang had also come into contact with the theory of reincarnation, even suspecting that he was such a case, but he had no evidence either way.
It was just that he did not expect nor wish for all of this to be revealed by Yang Kai so suddenly.
“Is there something that made you aware of this?” Wu Kuang asked solemnly.
Yang Kai remained silent and just led him forward.
After a short pause, Wu Kuang stopped asking. He knew that Yang Kai would tell him when it was time. If he refused to say anything now, then it was not time yet.
Half a year passed before Yang Kai finally stopped and Wu Kuang hurriedly halted as well.
Just as he was going to ask, he felt something, looked up, and his pupils immediately shrank.
A massive void filled with Warship debris and innumerable dismembered Black Ink Clansmen could be seen in front of them.
Wu Kuang even caught a glimpse of a magnificent Great Pass that was seemingly ripped apart by some overwhelming force.
This was a grand battlefield!
Wu Kuang quickly came to his senses. This must be a recent battlefield as the Warships seemed familiar to Wu Kuang, like the ones the Humans used when he was fighting with the Great Evaluation Army in the Barren Territory.
“This is…” He turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai kept his silence before saying, “The battlefield outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. This is where the Human Race’s Crusade Force first arrived, and where we met our first defeat.”
Wu Kuang immediately understood as he had heard about the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction too. He just did not expect that he had followed Yang Kai all the way here, travelling for 10 years straight.
Yang Kai then pointed forward, “Beyond this battlefield is the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, which is also the origin of the Black Ink Clan. There, the True Body of Mo is sealed.”
Wu Kuang experienced a startling surge of emotion.
The origin of the Black Ink Clan was already not a secret. The Royal Lords, Territory Lords, Feudal Lords, and even the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were all created by Mo, showing how powerful Mo was.
“At the end of the Late Ancient Era, the 10 Martial Ancestors received enlightenment from the World Tree to comprehend the Open Heaven Realm. It was under the instructions of the Heavenly Way. Those 10 were well aware of the dangers Mo posed, and they worked extremely hard to set up this Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to seal it. Though they were able to seal Mo, they were unable to completely destroy it. After millions of years, guarding this place, they passed away, one after another, leaving only one in the end. When the Human Race Army arrived here, we met an individual who called himself Cang. It was also through him that the Human Race learned about the secrets of the past.
“Unfortunately, Cang also passed away during the battle here. Currently, this place is no longer guarded. Though Mo is still in a deep sleep thanks to the final trick left behind by another Master, no one knows when it will awaken. If no one stands guard over this place, no one will be able to stop it, and the 3,000 Worlds will be unable to resist.”
“Fortunately, before Cang passed away, he gave me something. And now… I will hand it over to you!”
Saying so, Yang Kai stretched out a finger towards Wu Kuang. Instinctively, Wu Kuang wanted to dodge, but that was impossible in the face of Yang Kai’s vastly superior strength. As Space Principles inundated, he was made immobile.
Wu Kuang could only watch helplessly as Yang Kai tapped a golden light onto his forehead with his fingertips.
In an instant, Wu Kuang trembled hard and his vision went blank.
“Shi, are you still not awake?” Yang Kai said in a deep voice.
Although his voice was soft, it rang like a bell in Wu Kuang’s head. Following the burst of the golden light that Yang Kai placed on him, memories of the past flooded Wu Kuang.
That golden light was actually a piece of Wu Kuang’s past life’s Soul, which had preserved all of his memories.
Back then, when Cang activated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law in front of him, Yang Kai immediately recognised it and hit the mark with a single comment.
Cang was equally as shocked; after all, an old friend of his created this Secret Art millions of years ago. However, Yang Kai was able to recognize the Heaven Devouring Battle Law at a glance, which revealed a lot to him.
After talking with Yang Kai, Cang learned that there was a man named Wu Kuang in this world who also cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law.
Since then, Cang concluded that Wu Kuang was the reincarnation of his friend, because the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was a Secret Act created by Shi.
For precisely these reasons, Cang offered Yang Kai the part of Shi’s Soul that the latter had left in his keeping.
Yang Kai wasn’t aware of what he had been given at the time; still, a Royal Lord pursued him all the way to the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon for it.
Over the years, Yang Kai had also come to understand the importance of the mission Cang had given to him before he passed away. Subsequently, he began to inquire about Wu Kuang when he was in the Shattered Heaven, hoping to find him.
In the end, by fate, Yang Kai met Wu Kuang in a random Great Territory, as ordained by Heaven’s Will.
Now that he had returned that Soul wisp, completing the mission entrusted to him by Cang, Yang Kai heaved a sigh of relief while turning to stare at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Though Wu Kuang was the reincarnation of that Martial Ancestor, he was not Shi himself.
Before Shi was about to pass away, he sent another piece of his Soul away, hoping to be reincarnated, in an effort to find a solution to destroy Mo after his death.
After so many years without any news, Cang thought Shi had failed.
Now that Wu Kuang was brought back by Yang Kai and given back the preserved bit of Shi’s Soul, Yang Kai wasn’t sure if Wu Kuang would do as Cang wished.
The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction needed to be guarded; otherwise, once Mo woke up, it could not be held captive.
The best person to guard this place was none other than Wu Kuang.
Yang Kai secretly made up his mind that if Wu Kuang was unwilling, he would beat him until he was willing, after all, Wu Kuang was currently not his opponent. So, doing so would not be hard.
The Soul fragment exploded, and information about Shi filled Wu Kuang’s mind, causing his expression to continuously change.
Several days later, Wu Kuang regained consciousness and was plainly lost in thought.
Rather than the free and unfettered Heaven Devouring Great Emperor, he was now unexpectedly burdened with tremendous responsibility, which made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
After observing him in silence for some time, Yang Kai asked, “Do you now understand everything?”
Wu Kuang nodded.
Many questions in this life had now been answered, including how he was able to acquire the Heaven Devouring Battle Law in his dreams when he was a child, and why there were no restrictions when he broke through, even in the Open Heaven Realm. Although he only directly ascended to the Fifth Order, he felt that he had the potential to reach the Ninth Order. After he received that bit of Soul left by Shi, Wu Kuang now possessed vastly more knowledge than Yang Kai.
Now, Wu Kuang couldn’t even tell if he was the Heaven Devouring Great Emperor or Shi.
“Now that you understand, you should know the reason why I brought you here, so make a decision. Whether you stay here and guard this place for Cang, or leave this place and be free,” Yang Kai commented.
Wu Kuang glanced at the Azure Dragon Spear that Yang Kai was playing with and his brow twitched, “If I say no, are you going to stab me to death?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “How could I? Shi is Shi, and you are you. You are both separate individuals. Shi is one of the Martial Ancestors who guarded the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction every day with the world in mind. Even when he died, he did so for the Human Race. He is a true role model. You, on the other hand, are an infamous bandit. Your story is used as a lesson for misbehaving children in the Star Boundary. I can understand if you say you don’t want to stay. Considering that guarding this place is not a matter of a day or two but a matter of thousands or even tens of thousands of years! Not everyone can endure such solitude.”
Even as Yang Kai spoke such words though, the Azure Dragon Spear glinted an icy light.
Sneering, Wu Kuang said, “Stop speaking nonsense. It took you more than 10 years to bring me here. I’m afraid that if I say one wrong word, I’ll die on the spot.”
“You misunderstand me deeply,” Yang Kai stated firmly.
Yang Kai received a cold snort in response before Wu Kuang turned and glanced in the direction of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, “But, there is no need for you to threaten me. I will guard this place from now on!”
Yang Kai raised his brow, “This matter is not forced on you.”
Wu Kuang shook his head and said, “I’m not forced. If I did not want to, I would rather you kill me than stay. This is… my own choice.”
With a serious expression, Yang Kai retrieved the Azure Dragon Spear and lowered his head to Wu Kuang, “Senior is indeed kind and understanding. This Yang Kai would like to thank Senior on behalf of the 3,000 Worlds and Cang. If Mo can be destroyed in the future, much credit will belong to Senior!”
Wu Kuang snorted coldly at his words.
When Yang Kai did not need help from him, he would only address him by his name, now that he had needed help though, he was suddenly ‘Senior’. This Brat’s skin was just too thick.
Yang Kai added, “May I ask Senior, why are you willing to endure thousands of years of loneliness to guard the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
Wu Kuang glanced at him, knowing that this Brat was still not assured about him; after all, everything was just a verbal promise at this point. When Yang Kai left, he would have the chance to leave this place; thus, he explained, “Rest assured. Though I am in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, I am still not strong enough. You know more about the characteristics of the Heaven Devouring Battle Law than anyone other than me. The Heaven Devouring Battle Law can help me to greatly enhance my cultivation, and in the vast Universe, there is no place I can benefit more from than this Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.”
Yang Kai instantly understood, “You’re planning to devour the Black Ink Strength here?”
“The Black Ink Strength here is many times denser and purer than in any Black Ink Clansmen. If I can consume the Black Ink Strength here, it will be much more beneficial than killing a few Feudal Lords outside,” Wu Kuang laughed wickedly.
“Senior, you’re indeed wise.”
“Don’t pat my ass, it’s pointless.”
Yang Kai continued, “Although Mo is now in a deep slumber, I don’t know when it will awaken. Senior is currently only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, are you even strong enough to guard the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
This was a legitimate concern. It was possible that Wu Kuang, who was currently in the Seventh Order, wouldn’t be able to exert even 1% of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction’s power. In which case, he might not be able to restrict Mo.
Wu Kuang gushed with pride, “Within 3,000 years, this King can ascend to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. As long as Mo does not wake up before then, there will be no problem.”
Nobody else in this world except for Wu Kuang dared to boast about being able to cross from the Seventh Order to the Ninth Order in a mere 3,000 years.
It was, however, true that Wu Kuang, who cultivated the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, could borrow the power of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to rapidly enhance his strength. This was something he was absolutely confident about.
Once Wu Kuang really ascended to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he would be able to somewhat control the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction; after all, he was not any ordinary Master but the reincarnation of Shi. He and his nine old friends created the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so naturally, he was more familiar with this place than anyone else currently alive.
Still, 3,000 years was a steep hurdle to vault.
If Wu Kuang found it hard, what more needs to be said about the entire Human Race?
After 3,000 years, even if Wu Kuang ascended to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and completely took control of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, there was still no way to resolve Mo if the Human Race did not have sufficient strength to fight back and did not find the Primordial Light.
Yang Kai nodded and said, “Then, I hope Senior’s path in the great Martial Dao is as you wish.”
“About the Primordial Light…” Wu Kuang frowned, “Did you ask the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer already?
Previously, when he asked about the Primordial Light, all Yang Kai said was that searching for it wasn’t his concern.
But, now that Wu Kuang obtained that part of Shi’s Soul, and recalling his current life’s experiences, it was no surprise that Wu Kuang guessed that the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer had some relationship with the Primordial Light.
“I did.”
“What did they say?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “They couldn’t explain it clearly. Right now, the only thing that can be said with certainty is that those two do indeed have some connection to the Primordial Light. They might be a part of it but were separated from it somehow. They even did as I asked and tried to fuse together, but it was to no avail. We are still missing a key component.”
Wu Kuang frowned.
The key was missing. If they couldn’t find out what the one missing key was, they would never be able to locate the Primordial Light.
Turning his head to look in the direction of Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Wu Kuang paused and said, “Do you know why Shi took the risk of reincarnation when he hadn’t reached his predestined time of death? If he hadn’t done so, with the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, he would still have been able to live on for many years, yet he chose to give that all up.”
Yang Kai instantly felt more energised. Despite hearing many ancient secrets from Cang, he had never personally lived during that period. He had a slight feeling that he might have learned a big secret when Wu Kuang asked this out of the blue.
Immediately, he replied seriously, “Senior, please enlighten me.”
“To eliminate Mo, finding the Primordial Light is one way. It was just that Shi sensed that the Primordial Light might not be able to be found, so we could only try the second option.” He turned to look at Yang Kai and said in a deeper voice, “To reach the same realm as Mo or surpass it, and crush it with absolute power.”
Yang Kai was shocked, “What realm is Mo in?”
“Mo possesses the power of Creation, so it is in the Creation Realm. This realm is also the realm that Shi and the other nine had been pursuing, but it is a pity that none were able to achieve it.”
A little distracted, Yang Kai muttered, “The Creation Realm!”
He still remembered that when he and the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestors visited Cang, they enquired about that realm from him. Cang only chuckled and claimed that he was only in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, just further along that path than others.
At that time, Yang Kai vaguely guessed that there might be a higher realm above the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
His guess was now confirmed by Wu Kuang. There was indeed a realm above the Ninth-Order Realm, which was the Creation Realm!
Being in the Creation Realm, Mo could create Royal Lords, Territory Lords and even Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. This was the might of the Creation Realm.
“Back when Mu dove deep into the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, she witnessed Mo use hints of power that should only belong to the Creation Realm. Through that, she knew that its breakthrough to the Creation Realm was just a matter of time. Due to the characteristics of Black Ink Strength, Mo was born with an innate advantage. So, not long after she returned from inside the Grand Restriction, she sacrificed her life to the restriction to fortify it, leaving behind one last trump card for Cang to play, which must be the reason why Mo is in deep sleep right now,” Wu Kuang recalled the past while seemingly sifting through his new memories.
“Although Mu was an unparalleled talent, she was still a woman, which made her hesitate and act more conservatively. That trump card she left behind can only temporarily keep Mo in check. It is unable to resolve the issue entirely. Compared to her, Shi chose another approach.”
“To reincarnate?” Yang Kai slightly lifted his brow.
Wu Kuang gave a nod, “Shi and the other nine used the power of the World Tree to reach the Open Heaven Realm, but it was also due to this that they couldn’t go beyond the Open Heaven Realm. No matter how high they climbed, they would never surmount the Ninth Order. One needs other means to break this shackle, so Shi chose to reincarnate, hoping to find a way to break through the Ninth Order in his next life.”
“Is there any chance for Senior to do so now?” Yang Kai inquired.
Wu Kuang smiled and said, “The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters have consistently been the most powerful Supreme Masters of the Human Race since ancient times. The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm is the limit. Not to mention, I’m only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm at the moment, making such a breakthrough even more challenging.”
After hesitating for a moment, he continued, “Maybe I will discover more when I reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but for now, my cultivation is just too low.”
Yang Kai was aware that this situation could not be rushed, but finding a way to surpass the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was indeed another option.
The Creation Realm.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but yearn for it.
Then again, he remembered that the Eighth Order was his limit in this life. To want to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was already close to impossible, not to mention reaching the Creation Realm.
Wu Kuang seemed to have noticed what was going on in his mind, so he turned and asked, “You have already reached your limit as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Stop thinking about other nonsense.”
With a trace of Shi’s Soul, Wu Kuang gained quite a bit of a Senior demeanour.
Yang Kai only smiled in response, “There’s always hope.”
“The Universe Furnace?” Wu Kuang sneered, “Innate Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace can indeed help you break through that barrier, but the Universe Furnace is the most mysterious entity in the Universe. Nobody knows when it will appear. Let’s say it does appear one day, do you think you’ll have a place among all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from all the Cave Heavens and Paradises? Do keep in mind that the number of Open Heaven Pills that a furnace produces is limited.”
Yang Kai thought secretly in his heart, [If the Universe Furnace shows up one day, and the Human Race manages to obtain its Innate Open Heaven Pills, I should be able to take some for my breakthrough; after all, I have always fought with those above my realm. To allow me to ascend to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm is a better choice than any other.]
The only issue was that the Universe Furnace was nowhere to be found, and no one knew when or where it would appear.
“Other than the Universe Furnace, there is actually another way,” Wu Kuang smirked.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up and he immediately bowed again, “Senior, please enlighten me once more!”
Wu Kuang didn’t explain the method to him directly; instead, he said slowly as he recalled, “At that time, Cang and the other nine each had their own accomplishments. Even though Mu was the only female among them, she was undoubtedly the strongest. Due to this, the other nine were willing to listen and follow her requests. Let’s not talk about what the other nine are skilled at, do you know what Shi is best at?”
[How would I know anything about something so long ago?] Yang Kai muttered in his heart, but he kept his expression completely neutral and simply shook his head.
Wu Kuang did not intend to keep him waiting and simply explained, “Shi was unmatched when it came to developing techniques. Many Secret Techniques and Arts in the 3,000 Worlds stem from Shi’s creations. For example, the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture cultivated by Blood Crow is a semi-finished product created by Shi, one he came up with when trying to develop the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Therefore, these two are quite similar. Honestly, what Shi was first deducing was the Blood Light Scripture. It was after he gained more comprehension that the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was created.”
Yang Kai’s heart skipped a beat at those words. The Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture was a magnificent Secret Art, one that could refine the Blood Essence of others for its user to quickly enhance their cultivation.
Previously, he also felt that the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture had many similarities with the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Both had the ability to refine the energy of others, but the Heaven Devouring Battle Law was unquestionably superior as it could devour anything and everything rather than just Blood.
Yang Kai had no doubts about Wu Kuang’s claim when he said that Shi was best at deducing and creating Secret Arts and Techniques.
After so many years of cultivation, Yang Kai had never come across any Secret Art superior to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Although it had certain limitations, which was the challenge of cultivating it without the Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus, this drawback did not diminish its power.
If even such a Secret Act could be created by Shi, there was absolutely no doubt in his ability to understand or create other Secret Arts.
Yang Kai understood, “Shi came up with a Secret Art to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm back then?”
“It’s more of a combination of a Secret Technique and Secret Art, but yes. Do you want to learn it?” Wu Kuang nodded.
Of course, Yang Kai responded immediately, “Yes!”
“Then, I’ll teach it to you!” Saying so, Wu Kuang stretched out a finger and lightly touched his forehead, just like Yang Kai did before.
Yang Kai did not resist. When Wu Kuang’s finger met his forehead, an abstruse Secret Art instantly appeared in his mind and Wu Kuang’s voice rang in his ears, “This Secret Art was inspired by the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction itself. Although it is considered complete, nobody has ever cultivated it to this day so I’m not sure if it can be successfully used, but if you choose this path, you will have to take responsibility for yourself. Don’t hold me accountable if something goes wrong.”
Yang Kai remained silent as he processed the profundities of this Secret Art and eventually, he understood why Wu Kuang had chosen to give it to him.
This was because he knew that Yang Kai carried the Soul Warming Lotus. Though it was not essential for this Secret Art, it provided great convenience.
There might not be anyone who was better qualified than Yang Kai to cultivate this Secret Art.
Realising this, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a little sad. He thought that if this Secret Art could help the Human Race to break through the innate limits of the Open Heaven Realm, it could dramatically increase their strength in short order.
There were numerous peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the many Cave Heavens and Paradises, but they were all stuck there due to their natural limits. If this Secret Art could be popularized, many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could quickly be created.
There were only two Ninth-Orders Old Ancestors currently, but if there were even a few more, it would not take long before the Black Ink Clan that invaded the 3,000 Worlds could be driven back. They might even be able to deal with the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods with just 10 more Ninth-Order Masters.
However, this dream was simply not meant to be; after all, the first step to cultivating this Secret Art was a life-threatening gamble. Without the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, the risk of simply dying right from the start was extremely high.
Even so, Yang Kai again bowed his head, “Many thanks, Senior, for enlightening me!”
After Wu Kuang received his gratitude, he spun around and hurried into the battlefield. From afar, his voice could be heard, “If the Human Race does not defeat the Black Ink Clan within 3,000 years, our race will face extinction. Brat, you’re on your own now.”
Yang Kai sighed softly as he watched Wu Kuang’s figure vanish into the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Although 3,000 years seemed like a long time, when compared to how long it took for a cultivator to fully mature, it was incredibly short.
Nobody could predict what would occur 3,000 years from now, so the only thing the Humans could do now was to strive to grow stronger!
Soon after, Yang Kai took out a World Bead, the one he refined on the way here. It was from the yet-to-be-destroyed Universe World, which had its living beings extracted by Wu Kuang.
Wu Kuang had no idea what he was doing at that time, trying to refine this Universe World; after all, there didn’t seem to be a point.
Although such a World was falling apart, Yang Kai halted its collapse as he intended to use it as a marker.
He could go from one Universe World to another by using the World Tree as a transit point. If he left this World Bead here, he would undoubtedly save years of arduous travelling when he returned in the future.
The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was a crucial location, and since it was challenging to transmit any news back to the 3,000 Worlds from here. Leaving a World Bead behind in the vicinity would be more convenient for Yang Kai to travel back and forth between in the future.
What’s more, because this Universe World had lost almost all its World Force, it gave off barely aura so it was almost impossible to detect. If Yang Kai had fully restored this Universe World, it might attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan, which could lead to trouble if they visited this place and found out what was going on.
After finding a concealed location, Yang Kai set the World Bead down and attempted to use it to link to the World Tree. Confirming that there was no problem, he felt relieved.
He then turned around instead of going back to the Old Tree, following the direction of the trail of Space Beacons he left on his way here.
When he was coming here, he left a lot of Space Beacons along the way, and with them, he could easily find his way back to the Void Corridor leading to Black Territory.
Three months later, Yang Kai passed through the Spiritless Land and the Late Ancient Era battlefield, arriving at the Void Corridor.
It took him more than 10 years to travel one way, but just three months to return. This was the benefit of the Space Beacons.
Without stopping though, he continued on.
His target was not Black Territory.
Several months later, several majestic Great Passes came into Yang Kai’s vision as he arrived at his destination.
The No-Return Pass!
This was the third time Yang Kai came to the No-Return Pass. The first time he visited here was on orders of Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to attend the grand ceremony of the Dragon Clan, which helped him to successfully become an Ancient Dragon. It was also during that time that he completely lost his identity as a Human and transformed into a pure-blooded Dragon Clan member.
The second time was to bring Ou Yang Lie and the group of remnant soldiers to the Barren Territory. During that time, Yang Kai had taken out the corpse of Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor and the Black Ox to fight against the Royal Lord. To this day, the words of the Black Ox, ‘Go quickly. Niu Niu will stop them’, still rung in his ears.
This was the third time.
This time, Yang Kai came for no other reason than to raise havoc.
The No-Return Pass, the only publicly known passage connecting the Black Ink Battlefield to the 3,000 Worlds, was originally guarded by the Dragon and Phoenix Clans. Now, it had been taken over by the Black Ink Clan, who made this place into their central base of operations. When the Black Ink Clan and the Humans were battling on the Barren Territory battlefield, it was from here that the Black Ink Clan sent reinforcements and supplies, but Yang Kai put a stop to that after he sealed the Territory Gate.
When he came here last time, Yang Kai discovered that there were many High-Rank Black Ink Nests and even more Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
In the present 3,000 Worlds and in every Great Territory, countless Black Ink Nests were planted on the many Universe Worlds.
The majority of them were Low-Rank Black Ink Nests, and these nests were capable of devouring the World Force of those Universe Worlds and enveloping them in Black Ink Strength.
Of course, Yang Kai could easily destroy a couple Low-Rank Black Ink Nests, but going around to each individual Universe World to do so was far too inefficient. Instead, he intended to solve the issue at its roots.
There was an intrinsic connection between lower Rank Black Ink Nests and the Black Ink Nest it was spawned from. The lower Rank nests simply could not survive without the higher Rank nest it belonged to. Subsequently, destroying one High-Rank Black Ink Nest was far better than squashing 100 Low-Rank Nests.
Once a High-Rank Black Ink Nest was destroyed, the Mid-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests spawned from it would all wither and die.
Yang Kai decided to go all out!
His targets this time were those High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
No matter how many Mid-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests were destroyed, the Black Ink Clan could replace them eventually with enough resources. On the other hand, since the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had been shut and Mo was now in a deep slumber, the number of High-Rank Black Ink Nests was fixed. Destroying one High-Rank Nest would mean there was permanently one less High-Rank Nest.
If all those High-Rank Black Ink Nests could be destroyed, no new Black Ink Clansman could be born.
Of course, Yang Kai was well aware that this was unrealistic as there was a Royal Lord guarding the No-Return Pass. As an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he could easily cause chaos, but to destroy every single High-Rank Black Ink Nest was impossible.
The best he could do was to destroy as many as possible.
Outside the No-Return Pass, numerous Great Passes could be seen hovering the void. These Great Passes had been smashed and broken, some were even completely destroyed, all bearing traces of battle between mighty Masters.
However, many of them were still partially intact.
All of these were left behind when the Human Race Army retreated as due to the incredible mass of each Great Pass, they could not be stored inside a Small Universe easily, not even the Small Universe of an Old Ancestor.
This was humiliating for the Human Race!
Furthermore, many Universe Fragments were floating outside the No-Return Pass. Those Universe Fragments were undoubtedly remnants of Universe Worlds that had been dragged back here from various locations on the Black Ink Battlefield by the Black Ink Clan.
There were some Universe Fragments here when Yang Kai last visited, but there were many more today, which should be the result of the Black Ink Clan’s action.
Whether it was the Great Passes left by the Human Race or the many Universe Fragments though, they were all covered in Black Ink Nests.
Countless Black Ink Clansmen flooded in and out of these Black Ink Nests, delivering resources that had been mined from various places.
The entire No-Return Pass was bustling.
For several days, Yang Kai kept a quiet vigil but failed to locate the Royal Lord.
Both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had lost almost all of their top Masters. Every Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master save for two had fallen on the Barren Territory battlefield to bring down all but two Royal Lords.
Thanks to the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer, one more Royal Lord was dead, so currently, only one remained.
Although Yang Kai did not find any trace of the last remaining Royal Lord, he was certain that he was in the No-Return Pass.
This was currently the most important location for the Black Ink Clan, so where else could their only Royal Lord be if not standing guard there as a precautionary measure?
[Is he trying to heal from his injuries?]
Previously, Yang Kai summoned the corpse of Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor, who engaged the Royal Lord in an intense fight. Even though the Old Ancestor was already dead, what he left behind before he died was enough to help Yang Kai to hold the Royal Lord back with the might of a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
It was impossible for that Royal Lord to escape without any injuries.
The best way for Black Ink Clansmen to heal was to rest inside a Black Ink Nest; thus, that Royal Lord was surely inside his Black Ink Nest somewhere as it had only been some 20 or so years since that fight.
That being said, Yang Kai had no way of ascertaining which Black Ink Nest the Royal Lord was in. After scouting around for days, he could tell that there were over 100 High-Rank Black Ink Nests here.
This was in line with the reports the Human Race had previously gathered. A sizable number of Royal Lords came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restrictions, but most of them had been killed, at great cost to the Human Race.
When the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction ended, only around 100 Royal Lords were still alive, which matched with the slightly over 100 High-Rank Black Ink Nests here.
Now, nearly all of those Royal Lords were also dead, but their Black Ink Nests had been left behind. These were now ownerless, so if the Black Ink Clan were to flourish again in the future, they could use these ownerless Black Ink Nests to become Royal Lords and claim the Black Ink Nest for themselves.
Every High-Rank Black Ink Nest that was destroyed was akin to diminishing the chances of a new Royal Lord coming into existence.
After deducing that the Royal Lord had to be in the midst of tending to his injuries, Yang Kai began scrutinising the No-Return Pass even more closely.
It would take a lot of energy to help the Royal Lord recover, which should be something traceable. Yang Kai wanted to locate the Royal Lord without being noticed as he didn’t want the latter to suddenly pop up when he was in the middle of something.
While there were quite a number of Black Ink Clansmen in the No-Return Pass, the place was not closely guarded. This made sense though as the Black Ink Clan had invaded the 3,000 Worlds and the Humans were in a desperate situation, so how would any of them come running over here?
Furthermore, one had to pass through Barren Territory to get to the No-Return Pass. They would need to reopen the Territory Gate, not forgetting that there was a Black Ink Giant Spirit God there. Thus, the Human Race could not easily get here.
It would not have crossed the mind of any of the Black Ink Clan that an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was just outside the No-Return Pass and eyeing them closely.
Yang Kai did not try to rush things. He was about to do something exceedingly important, so he had to be prudent and patient.
Time flew by in a flash, and soon, several months had passed.
Following Yang Kai’s prolonged observation, he had a fairly good idea about which Black Ink Nest the Royal Lord was in, since a few Black Ink Nests were drawing in far more resources compared to the others. The Black Ink Clan hauled large amounts of resources into these Black Ink Nests every few days.
While resources were also brought to the other Black Ink Nests, new Black Ink Clansmen would also emerge from them at regular intervals. This was true of both the High-Rank Black Ink Nests and the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Only a few of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests did not create new Black Ink Clansmen.
Where did the significant amount of resources go if no new Black Ink Clansmen were being created? Obviously, the resources were being used by a powerful Black Ink Clansman to heal.
Yang Kai memorised the locations of these High-Rank Black Ink Nests before he started selecting his targets.
He was aware that he might not have many chances to attack, and his first move would be the most successful as the Black Ink Clan would not expect an attack from a Human Race Master at this point in time.
Thus, the more Black Ink Nests he could destroy with his first strike, the better.
To accomplish this, Yang Kai switched hiding spots a few times to observe the dispersion of the Black Ink Nests from all sides.
After many more days passed, he finally settled on a plan of attack.
There was a Great Pass that was approximately 300,000 kilometres away from the No-Return Pass. Yang Kai did not know exactly which Great Pass it was, but he chose it because there were two High-Rank Black Ink Nests there.
The other remnant Great Passes had only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest at most, or several Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests instead. He would reap less of a reward by striking those areas.
Therefore, as long as he acted swiftly enough, he could at least instantly destroy two High-Rank Black Ink Nests. Furthermore, there were a few Universe Fragments near this Great Pass, and one of them had another High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
If luck was on his side, he could destroy three High-Rank Black Ink Nests with his first strike, along with a few Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Since Yang Kai had decided on his target, he no longer hesitated. He did not have to do any preparations and he didn’t have to sneak in either.
With a flicker of Space Principles, in the blink of an eye, he moved from his hiding spot to the top of that Great Pass. He had already summoned his Azure Dragon Spear earlier on, and now, he smashed down with it.
With his Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, his attack was far from ordinary.
As World Force swirled, the looming shadow of the spear seemed to shroud the entire Great Pass.
Within the Great Pass, numerous Black Ink Clansmen who had only recently emerged from the Black Ink Nests and were cultivating with the help of the surrounding Black Ink Strength perished. Those who were weaker than Feudal Lords all died, and even the Feudal Lords had a hard time defending themselves from the power of that spear. Those that did not die were heavily injured. As for the two High-Rank Black Ink Nests, they exploded and scattered into countless shattered fragments.
All of the Black Ink Strength that had been stored inside the Black Ink Nests burst out as well. From a distance, the Great Pass now looked like two enormous Black Ink Clouds that were rapidly dispersing into the neighbouring space.
The moment Yang Kai’s attack succeeded, he rushed to the third High-Rank Black Ink Nest nearby.
At the same time, within a High-Rank Black Ink Nest inside the No-Return Pass, a formidable Will awakened from a deep slumber and an enormous figure several metres tall lunged towards Yang Kai.
The Royal Lord’s reaction had been incredibly fast, far faster than Yang Kai had expected. The Royal Lord was already approaching him as soon as he landed his first attack.
This meant that although the Royal Lord was still injured, it was not a serious wound; otherwise, he would not have been able to react so quickly.
A flash of imposing aura locked onto Yang Kai and before the Royal Lord even arrived, waves of a powerful Divine Sense surged towards him. It was clear that the Royal Lord was trying to use his Divine Sense to suppress Yang Kai.
An ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would at the very least be stalled by such an attack if he was lucky enough; however, a flash of coldness emerged in Yang Kai’s mind, and that was enough to entirely rid him of that Royal Lord’s influence. He did not stop moving, and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of the third Black Ink Nest.
The Royal Lord took this in from afar and roared, “Feeble ant, you court death! I will rip your corpse apart!”
One look and he could tell that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who suddenly appeared in the No-Return Pass was the one who emerged from the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield several decades ago. This was the same one who charged back from the Barren Territory battlefield and sealed off the Territory Gate.
The memory of Yang Kai was seared into his mind as it was rare for a Royal Lord to suffer this much at the hands of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Over the past few years, the Royal Lord had sent Black Ink Clansmen into the Black Ink Battlefield to search for signs of Yang Kai, but sadly, they found nothing.
The Royal Lord had no idea that when Yang Kai escaped from the No-Return Pass back then, he took Ji Lao San with him through a secret Void Corridor and returned to Black Territory. Thus, the Royal Lord thought that Yang Kai was still hiding somewhere on the Black Ink Battlefield.
He never thought that this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would appear yet again and destroy two High-Rank Black Ink Nests as soon as he did. It even looked as if he was about to destroy a third one.
How could the Royal Lord allow that to happen?
The High-Rank Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass were the Black Ink Clan’s final pillar to rely on. The destruction of any one of them was an unquantifiable loss as it was not merely the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest, but the loss of all the Mid-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests that were and could be created from it as well.
The Royal Lord had not fully recovered from his injuries yet, but his wounds no longer affected him much; thus, when he realized who Yang Kai was, he immediately attacked with his powerful Divine Sense. However, what happened next floored him. The Human seemed completely unaffected, and the attack that was supposed to have caught him off-guard and injured him did nothing at all.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was above the third Black Ink Nest. He was about to attack, when a Black Ink Clansman with a slender, pole-like figure appeared from the Black Ink Nest. From his aura, it was clear that he was a Territory Lord.
However, in contrast to a healthy Territory Lord, this pole-like Territory Lord’s aura was noticeably weak. Yang Kai could even see the wounds on his body that had been left by Dao Strengths.
Yang Kai immediately realized that this Territory Lord was injured and had been recovering inside the Black Ink Nest.
Territory Lords also had to remain dormant inside Black Ink Nests when they tended to their injuries, but it would not be easy for them to occupy a High-Rank Black Ink Nest. However, there were a lot of High-Rank Black Ink Nests in the No-Return Pass that were ownerless, so naturally, this Territory Lord could enter one.
While the pole-like Territory Lord was not fully recovered, he was still an Innate Territory Lord and that was enough to pose some challenge to Yang Kai. All he had to do was delay Yang Kai for a short while, and the Royal Lord would be able to come over to deal with the rest.
It was evident that the pole-like Territory Lord knew this as well; therefore, as soon as he appeared, he lunged straight at Yang Kai.
More than one hand was reaching out to Yang Kai. In fact, over a dozen hands were flying towards him. Nine hands grew out on each of the two sides of the Territory Lord’s body.
The 18 hands seemed to envelope all the surrounding space, like a kind of cage.
Faced with this assault, Yang Kai did not retreat and instead charged forward with a flash of coldness in his eyes, unleashing a Soul Rending Thorn.
Yang Kai had long since gotten used to the pain of his Soul being torn apart so his expression did not even twitch as he thrust out his spear.
The pole-like Territory Lord never expected Yang Kai to fight this fervently and launch such a powerful attack right from the start. He was caught off guard and his Soul trembled violently as a needle seemed to pierce right through it. Immediately, he was struck by agony. He was heavily injured in the first place and did not have much strength left in him, so now that he was hit by a Soul Rending Thorn, he lost all ability to fight back.
Yang Kai followed his spear and brushed past the Territory Lord before sending a thrust right into the High-Rank Black Ink Nest in front of him, a Great Sun exploding into existence at the point of the spear.
After striking this blow, Yang Kai shot into the distance without even sparing a moment to look behind him.
The Royal Lord was about to arrive, and if Yang Kai did not leave now, he might not be able to. Furthermore, he sensed numerous other strong auras awakening in the No-Return Pass. Without a doubt, the Black Ink Clansmen who had been recuperating inside the Black Ink Nests must have been awakened as well.
Not too far behind Yang Kai, the pole-like Territory Lord’s head separated from his body and flew upwards as black blood spewed out from his neck…
Once again, the Royal Lord’s Divine Sense surged forward, and at the same time, a ferocious palm slammed into Yang Kai from behind, causing him to stumble as he spat out mouthfuls of blood.
However, he used the force from this attack to flee even further away.
Yang Kai intended to use the Great Sun and Moon Marks to disrupt the Royal Lord’s aura lock on him, but another thought occurred to him and he swiftly changed his mind. Instead, he dragged his injured self further and further away in an attempt to flee.
By using Purifying Light, he could still use Instantaneous Movement and escape from the Royal Lord at a moment’s notice. He was no stranger to performing such a feat. Back when he was under the attack of the sheep-headed Royal Lord, he had used this very trick to widen the gap between him and his foe, and in the end, he managed to flee into the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon.
Today, Yang Kai succeeded in destroying three High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killing an Innate Territory Lord along with tens of thousands of lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen, so everything had been worthwhile!
However, right now, Yang Kai was being doggedly chased down by an enraged Royal Lord.
Once the Royal Lord charged out of the No-Return Pass, dozens of Innate Territory Lords followed closely behind. These Territory Lords were mostly injured in some way and had retreated from the 3,000 Worlds, planning to rely on the many Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass to recuperate.
Unfortunately, these Territory Lords were slower than the Royal Lord, and it was only an hour later that they all lost sight of the Royal Lord and Yang Kai. They had no choice but to return at that moment.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai wanted nothing more than to gripe about his situation.
It was not his first time being hunted down by a Royal Lord, but at this moment, he had to avoid using Purifying Light unless absolutely necessary, which meant that he could not shake off his enemy.
The distance between them kept getting smaller, and the Royal Lord continued to launch attack after attack from behind. Each attack was powerful enough to shake the void around them, causing Yang Kai’s body to toss and turn like a rag as more and more injuries piled up.
Thankfully, Yang Kai had thick skin and a tough hide, so he could withstand quite a beating. With the blessing of his Dragon Vein, these long-range attacks were not enough to cause a fatal injury; otherwise, he would not have been able to hold out this long.
In between the attacks, the Royal Lord did not stop sending wave after wave of Divine Sense at Yang Kai to make things even more difficult for the latter; however, with the Soul Warming Lotus protecting his Soul, even attacks from a Royal Lord’s Divine Sense were ineffective against Yang Kai.
And so, Yang Kai bided his time.
He was waiting for the Royal Lord to lose all patience and utilise his Royal Lord Secret Technique.
Yang Kai did not know for certain whether or not his opponent would resort to the Royal Lord Secret Technique as this was not something he could control, so what he was doing right now was gambling.
What he needed to do now was to keep taunting his opponent and enrage the latter.
The Royal Lord Secret Technique was a fatal move against any Human below the Ninth Order. On the Barren Territory battlefield, a Royal Lord had used this exact move to turn Lu An and two other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters into Black Ink Disciples. Although that Royal Lord was severely weakened after using the Secret Technique and was quickly slaughtered, the Black Ink Clan gained three Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples as a result, which then allowed them to revive the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land and establish a connection between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory.
It could be said that the Royal Lord’s use of his Royal Lord Secret Technique was one of the most crucial pieces of the puzzle that led to the Black Ink Clan’s subsequent invasion of the 3,000 Worlds! The Royal Lord who had been killed was a heroic martyr for the Black Ink Clan.
In this particular situation, Yang Kai did not have to go to any lengths to do anything else. All he had to do was focus on escaping. He had destroyed three High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killed an Innate Territory Lord, so the Royal Lord who was trying to hunt him down was hellbent on killing him. If Yang Kai could drag this out long enough, there was a decent chance that the Royal Lord would resort to the Royal Lord Secret Technique.
Once the Royal Lord did that, then it would be Yang Kai’s opportunity to strike back!
During the fight outside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, the sheep-headed Royal Lord had used his Royal Lord Secret Technique, which heavily weakened his foundation, and that was how Yang Kai managed to use the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to land a devastating blow on the former before eventually killing him.
It was partly luck that led to Yang Kai’s successful killing of that Royal Lord as Yang Kai himself did not know exactly how he managed to do it.
Yang Kai was not fully confident that he would be able to repeat that feat, but if this Royal Lord did use his Royal Lord Secret Technique, then even if Yang Kai failed to kill him, he would still be able to turn it into an equal fight with both sides suffering injuries.
Even in that sort of a lose-lose situation, Yang Kai had the upper hand as he had his Dragon Vein and the essence of the Immortal Tree; thus, his restorative abilities were far superior. The Royal Lord, on the other hand, would have to fall into a deep slumber inside a Black Ink Nest for a long time to recover from grievous wounds.
During such a time, Yang Kai could accomplish a lot in the No-Return Pass.
These were the calculations he made that led to Yang Kai deciding against using Purifying Light to block the Royal Lord’s aura before fully escaping. Since he wanted to provoke his opponent, he had to let his opponent see a glimmer of hope yet fail at every turn.
This was an incredibly risky choice, as one false move and Yang Kai might truly end up dying.
Still, he was willing to make this bet.
The two figures, one the hunter and the other the hunted, travelled further and further away from the No-Return Pass, headed towards the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Even after half a day of chasing, the Royal Lord still did not show any signs of using his Royal Lord Secret Technique. Perhaps in his eyes, it would not be worth it to take such a huge risk just to hunt down a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Alas, Yang Kai could not hold out any longer.
Yang Kai could not completely lose his opponent via conventional methods as he was not as powerful either. Anyone would fail to hold out for long when being chased down like this. Upon seeing that his opponent was nearly as close to him as he could safely allow, Yang Kai knew that he might not be able to escape if he did not act now. Thus, he used Purifying Light and enveloped himself.
Instantly, the aura from the Royal Lord which had locked onto him was broken off.
With a flash of white light and Space Principles, Yang Kai’s figure disappeared.
The Royal Lord was stunned by this turn of events, never having expected that an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would have such a mysterious trick up his sleeve. This explained why the Human dared to launch an attack on the No-Return Pass. It was clear that this tactic of his was his trump card.
However, from the looks of it, the Royal Lord deduced that this technique could not be easily used; otherwise, the Human would not have avoided using it until now.
The Royal Lord was fairly quick to react. Even though it was his first time encountering such an occurrence, just as Yang Kai’s figure disappeared, a powerful wave of Divine Sense surged out and detected the lingering Space Principles where Yang Kai had disappeared towards. Following that, the Royal Lord sensed Yang Kai’s aura in that direction.
He was just about to give chase when even that aura suddenly disappeared.
Yang Kai was only in the Seventh Order when he had been chased down by that sheep-headed Royal Lord, and his mastery of the Dao of Space was not as high as it was now; thus, even when he used Purifying Light, he could only widen the gap between him and his enemy without being able to completely escape from their perception.
Things were different now though. Yang Kai was in the Eighth-Order and was more than 10 times stronger than he used to be. Cultivating within the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon had made him even more proficient in the Dao of Space.
Now, he no longer had to play any sort of games with a Royal Lord who was hunting him down.
If one use of Instantaneous Movement was not enough for him to get his opponent off his tail, then he would do it twice. If twice was not enough, then thrice…
Based on how strong Yang Kai was now, as long as he was not struck down in a single blow, or trapped with a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array, then not even a Royal Lord could do anything to him.
This was the reason why he had the gall to cause trouble in the No-Return Pass.
The Royal Lord’s Divine Sense no longer detected any sign of Yang Kai, and he had no idea how to find him again in this expansive void. He stood still for a moment before his expression changed. He turned back towards the No-Return Pass before clenching his jaw and growling, “Shit!”
The several-metre-high figure instantly turned into a black streak of light as the Royal Lord shot back towards the No-Return Pass.
He just realised that he might have fallen for what the Humans would call a strategy of ‘luring the tiger away from the mountain’! His opponent’s trump card was not something that could not easily be used; instead, that Human had intentionally not used it to lure him away from the No-Return Pass!
The Royal Lord assumed that the Human had a Dragon Clan companion. Considering the Human’s strength and the Dragon Clansman who had been taken hostage by the Black Ink Clan all those years ago, it would be easy enough for the two of them to work together to destroy a few more High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Anxiety filled the Royal Lord up as he pushed his speed as high as it could go!
At the same time, Yang Kai was stuffing handfuls of Spirit Pills into his mouth and refining them. He had suffered some serious injuries during the chase.
The Royal Lord thought that he had a Dragon Clan companion, which was Ji Lao San whom Yang Kai had rescued from the No-Return Pass back then, but the Royal Lord had no idea that Ji Lao San was not on the Black Ink Battlefield anymore. Yang Kai was acting alone.
However, it was true that Yang Kai was trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
Yang Kai had prepared two plans during this chase. If the Royal Lord did become enraged enough to use his Royal Lord Secret Technique, then Yang Kai would make sure that neither one of them left without being heavily injured. If the Royal Lord did not give him the opportunity for that, then he had no choice but to drag his opponent as far out as possible before doubling back to launch another attack.
Yang Kai did not intend to let the injuries he suffered be for nothing.
By repeatedly using Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai was a lot faster than the Royal Lord. Unfortunately, during his attempt to flee earlier, he could not leave any Space Beacons behind, or else he would have been able to travel even faster.
Still, in less than an hour, Yang Kai could already spot the No-Return Pass in the distance, but he did not charge over right away.
After everything he had done today, all those stationed at the No-Return Pass had gone onto high alert. The Black Ink Clansmen were sweeping the surrounding area and their Divine Senses, forming a large, invisible web around the No-Return Pass. Several Black Ink Clan squads also patrolled the local space, checking for signs of suspicious activity.
Evidently, the loss of three High-Rank Black Ink Nests was hard for the Black Ink Clan to stomach.
Yang Kai stayed out of the Black Ink Clan’s surveillance range around the No-Return Pass and found a secluded spot to sit down and tend to his injuries.
He had led the Royal Lord on a chase that lasted half a day and had arrived back at the No-Return Pass in just one hour. Even going all out, it would take the Royal Lord at least another eight hours to return.
Yang Kai could use this reprieve to recover from some of his injuries, though he did not have a lot of time to spare and would not be able to recover fully. However, under the circumstances, he would take whatever he could. The stronger he was, the better.
[I need to find some divine medicines that can rapidly heal injuries!] Yang Kai thought to himself. The healing pills he had on hand were the ones he exchanged for Military Merits back in Great Evolution Pass all those years ago. They were not low-quality by any means, but they were not the best there were either. The effects of these healing pills were especially limited when in a time crunch.
Yang Kai quieted down as he focused on refining the medicinal efficacies of the pills and stimulating his Dragon Vein to heal the wounds on his body. Within his Knowledge Sea, the Soul Warming Lotus also kept releasing a clear and cool sensation that swiftly restored his damaged Soul.
He did not dare to waste too much time. Four hours later, Yang Kai stood up and turned towards the No-Return Pass, and with a flash of Space Principles, he charged forward again.
Territory Lords with varying degrees of injury were standing vigilantly around the No-Return Pass, their Divine Senses interlaced together.
Half a day earlier, an Eighth-Order Human’s surprise attack had completely humiliated them. Not only did that Human destroy three High-Rank Black Ink Nests, he even killed a Territory Lord as well.
Their Royal Lord had personally chased after the attacker, but they did not know what the situation was like over there.
That being said, they all believed that there was very little chance for the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to survive; after all, there was a huge disparity between an Eighth-Order Human and a Royal Lord.
Right now, what they were wary of was the possibility of that Human having a partner.
The Royal Lord was preoccupied elsewhere, and even though there were a large number of Territory Lords at the No-Return Pass, 80% of them were those who had returned from the 3,000 Worlds to recuperate. Less than 10 Territory Lords here were uninjured.
They could very well suffer a serious loss if a large number of Human Masters attacked them now.
Yet, after waiting around for half the day and seeing no sign of any incoming attack, the Territory Lords let their guards down for the most part. After all, the Black Ink Clan had taken control of the No-Return Pass and the Humans had long since retreated to the 3,000 Worlds. It was unlikely for a large number of Human Race Masters to appear.
Some of the more heavily injured Territory Lords had already returned to the Black Ink Nests to continue slumbering away in recovery.
The remaining Territory Lords were still standing guard, but they were not as vigilant as they were at the beginning.
Just then, a familiar aura suddenly appeared in their midst. The Territory Lords were alarmed as they quickly turned in that direction.
One look and they saw a Human figure manifest out of the blue above a High-Rank Black Ink Nest as a Great Sun rose into the sky.
A ferocious aura of destruction burst forth.
The Territory Lords dashed over at once to attack.
The Human had somehow managed to evade the Royal Lord’s chase! Not only did he not die, but he even wheeled around to attack once more and destroy yet another High-Rank Black Ink Nest!
By the time the Territory Lords rushed to that High-Rank Black Ink Nest, there was no longer any sign of their enemy. Once the Great Sun exploded, the Human Eighth-Order Master that had popped out of nowhere disappeared into thin air.
All that was left was the remains of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest that had been shattered to pieces and a Territory Lord who was in a terrible state.
This Territory Lord had been sleeping inside the Black Ink Nest earlier to recuperate, and although his life was not in any danger right now, he had already been heavily injured and after getting caught in Yang Kai’s attack, his wounds became much more severe.
He appeared after the Black Ink Nest was destroyed, and right now, he looked as if he was in a state of shock, though he was secretly thankful for being lucky enough to survive.
The Territory Lords were infuriated. They could not believe how arrogant that Human was for daring to return even though there were so many of them standing guard. He was clearly disdaining them all.
They started wondering where their Royal Lord was as he had chased after the Human, but the Human had returned while the Royal Lord was nowhere to be seen.
Alas, before they could figure things out, the same aura erupted from a different direction.
Nearly all of the Territory Lords had gathered in front of the Black Ink Nest that Yang Kai had just destroyed, which meant that the other areas were barely protected at all.
Yang Kai had originally intended to attack just once and leave, but with such a good opportunity in front of him, he could not resist showing himself again.
Just as he did before, he used Golden Crow Casts the Sun and a Great Sun rose and crashed down onto another High-Rank Black Ink Nest. This attack turned the Black Ink Nest into nothing but dust, and a host of Black Ink Clansmen who were in the vicinity died as well.
A large crowd of Territory Lords swiftly began rushing over to the newly destroyed Black Ink Nest, but one of them was quick-witted enough to realise what was happening and he roared, “Spread out quickly! Protect all the Black Ink Nests!”
They could not let themselves be dragged around by the nose like this. Their opponent could disappear and reappear on a whim, so even though they had the numerical advantage, their opponent showed no intention of engaging them in a fight. It was clear what this Human was trying to do. He wanted to destroy all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Thanks to this warning, the Territory Lords quickly realised what was going on and immediately separated into different areas to guard all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Thus, Yang Kai could not strike as easily as he did earlier. As long as a single Territory Lord kept him occupied long enough, more could rush over and join the fight.
After destroying the second High-Rank Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai wanted to back off and leave right away, but when he saw that the Territory Lords did not come after him and had, instead, scattered to guard the other High-Rank Black Ink Nests, he no longer felt rushed to escape. He simply remained standing where he was and observed them in silence.
The Territory Lord who had spoken earlier noticed this, and his expression turned grim as well. This Human was behaving far too arrogantly, and it was beyond what these Territory Lords could bear.
His Divine Sense flickered as he communicated with those around him, and all at once, a number of Territory Lords rushed into action and charged towards Yang Kai.
Half a day ago, they witnessed how Yang Kai appeared at the No-Return Pass and killed off a Territory Lord with just a single spear thrust, so they knew that this Human was incredibly powerful. In a one-on-one fight, there was no guarantee that any of them could hold their ground against him.
Furthermore, this Human even managed to escape from a Royal Lord’s pursuit, leaving the latter who knows where.
They knew that Yang Kai was no ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He had to be one of the strongest Human Masters in that realm.
Thus, the Territory Lords were joining forces because they feared their opponent.
When Yang Kai saw the group of Territory Lords rushing over, he secretly praised the Territory Lord who had taken charge for coming up with an appropriate strategy. If they simply grouped together without thinking things through, then the High-Rank Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass would be left unguarded and undoubtedly suffer unimaginable damage.
However, the Territory Lords had split up to guard different areas now and had even organized a group to subdue him. This was the optimal course of action for them.
Yang Kai’s situation was less than ideal. He was fairly injured after being chased down by the Royal Lord for half a day, and although he got to recuperate for four hours or so, he was only able to slightly restore himself.
It would be hard for him to take on a single Innate Territory Lord who was at full strength, let alone a group of them unless he used more Soul Rending Thorns.
However, Yang Kai was not a reckless individual. Since he could not take these enemies on, he chose to avoid them instead.
Yang Kai’s eyes searched around before landing in a specific direction. It was the direction of the first Black Ink Nest he destroyed when he appeared earlier. He raised his hand and summoned his Azure Dragon Spear before smiling in that direction.
While it was true that the High-Rank Black Ink Nest had already been destroyed, a severely injured Territory Lord remained there.
This Territory Lord was the unlucky one who had been recuperating inside the Black Ink Nest and ended up getting caught in Yang Kai’s attack. His injuries, which had taken a turn for the better at first, had now worsened instead. Thus, he was currently in a rueful mood.
All of a sudden, a piercing aura locked onto him from afar and the Territory Lord looked up, only to see Yang Kai flashing him a wicked grin.
“Damn it!” The Territory Lord became alarmed. Naturally, he knew that he had become a target. He was now severely injured and could barely use half his strength. If this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had set his eyes on him, then he had no way of fighting back, so his immediate thought was to request help from his fellow Black Ink Clansmen.
However, after looking around, he realised that the other Territory Lords who had gathered near him earlier had all scattered off to defend the various High-Rank Black Ink Nests, leaving him all alone.
The Territory Lord was in anguish. He felt as if nothing had gone right for him ever since he walked out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
In the next instant, Yang Kai appeared in front of the injured Territory Lord and his Azure Dragon Spear pierced straight into the latter’s head.
Yang Kai had been prepared to use a Soul Rending Thorn as he was not in a situation to waste much time. Not only would the Royal Lord return at any moment now, but there were also a large number of Territory Lords in the No-Return Pass eager to kill him.
He had to kill this Territory Lord at once before fleeing.
However, even as his Azure Dragon Spear pierced through the top of the Territory Lord’s head, the Territory Lord did not react at all. Yang Kai deduced that it had to be because his opponent’s injuries were too severe, which saved him the need to use a Soul Rending Thorn.
By the time a group of Territory Lords rushed back to this place, there was nothing but a headless corpse with black blood spurting out. These Territory Lords were crushed by what they saw. They were overcome with a crippling sense of humiliation and felt extremely despondent.
It was not just them as all the other Territory Lords felt the same.
Once again, scores of Divine Senses surged out from the No-Return Pass, guarding against Yang Kai, but they no longer detected any trace of that Human.
After a half cup of tea’s time, the Royal Lord who had given chase earlier finally returned, and the Territory Lords who had been in a heightened state of anxiety the whole time could finally relax.
The Royal Lord naturally saw that something happened at the No-Return Pass, as it had not been in this state when he left. His eyes swept over the place and he quickly assessed the damage.
Two more High-Rank Black Ink Nests had been destroyed, and a Territory Lord had been killed as well!
He did figure out that Yang Kai lured him away on purpose, so he knew that there would be another attack on the No-Return Pass, but he still could not accept such an outcome. Clenching his jaw, he roared, “Search everywhere! I don’t care how many sacrifices need to be made, just find me that Human! I must shred his corpse into ten thousand pieces!”
With the order given, Black Ink Clan squads began charging out of the No-Return Pass, heading out in all directions towards the Black Ink Battlefield. Even the majority of the Territory Lords were deployed as well.
Most of the Territory Lords who were injured wanted to bemoan their fate. They retreated from the 3,000 Worlds because they needed to recuperate here, yet this was what they were faced with now. Not only did they not get to recover from their injuries, but they even had to risk their lives in a search for an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
They would have just stayed behind in the 3,000 Worlds if they had known that this would be the case.
Still, seeing that even the Royal Lord was actively guarding the No-Return Pass instead of returning to his Black Ink Nest to recover, none of them dared to voice their complaints and simply did as they were told.
By now, Yang Kai had already fled far away. He was aware that after everything he did, the No-Return Pass would become heavily guarded, and a great number of the Black Ink Clansmen would come looking for him.
He did not mind seizing this chance to kill off a few more Black Ink Clansmen, but right now, it was more important for him to tend to his injuries.
Thus, he continued fleeing at full speed for half a month before he finally located a dead Universe World deep within the Black Ink Battlefield. He made his way into it and opened a temporary cave mansion for himself.
After setting up a series of simple arrays to conceal his aura, Yang Kai finally felt at ease enough to sit down.
Even though Yang Kai sorely wished to destroy every single one of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests, he knew that was not a very realistic thought, unless he could somehow become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
As someone only in the Eighth Order, if he attacked one too many times, it was bound to backfire on him at some point and he would fail miserably at his goal; after all, if one walked by the river frequently enough, their shoes would eventually get wet.
His first strike had been the most rewarding as the Black Ink Clan had been taken by surprise.
All in all, Yang Kai had destroyed five High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killed two Innate Territory Lords, so he was pretty satisfied with the results of his efforts.
It would not be this easy for him to launch another attack.
In fact, Yang Kai could not even be certain whether or not he would have the chance to take action again.
It was not something that Yang Kai cared all that much about, though. While it would be good if he had the chance to strike again, he could simply return to the 3,000 Worlds if he did not; after all, he had the secret Void Corridor, which had served him well the past few years.
What he needed to do now was focus on his recovery.
As Yang Kai lay low, the Black Ink Clan went on a frenzied search for him all across the Black Ink Battlefield, but in the end, they failed to find any trace of him.
The Royal Lord was filled with pent-up fury and frustration. He had full knowledge of an enemy who was eyeing the No-Return Pass, and he knew full well that this enemy of his was not his equal in battle, but he could not find where this enemy was hiding, pushing him into a constant state of simmering rage.
The existence of that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master made him feel as if he had a sword hanging over his head, one that could fall at any moment. As a result of this incident, all of the Territory Lords, as well as the Royal Lord himself, feared entering into a deep sleep to recuperate. They had to put up with their injuries and remain on guard.
Six months after Yang Kai destroyed five High-Rank Black Ink Nests, the Human Race Army’s Supreme Headquarters, in a Great Territory which connected to the Star Boundary, had compiled reports from various Great Territories.
This particular Great Territory previously did not even have a name of its own on the Universe Chart and was simply identified with the code E-39.
Numerous Great Territories like this one existed among the 3,000 Worlds. These nameless Great Territories were usually those where the Martial Dao had not matured much or did not possess any resources worth exploiting. Even though they were often home to several Universe Worlds, the cultivators in those places could not free themselves from the shackles of their Universe Worlds and venture out into the Outer Universe.
Some of these Great Territories were even completely uninhabited.
This had been the case for the Great Territory where the Star Boundary was, but due to the Star Boundary’s soaring fame, along with the fact that the most powerful Sect in the Star Boundary was High Heaven Palace, the Great Territory was at one point re-named High Heaven Territory.
It had been several dozen years since the Black Ink Clan opened the passage between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory and invaded the 3,000 Worlds.
The Human Race Army had retreated from Barren Territory under the orders of Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, the two surviving Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. The Armies were then broken up and Squads were sent to the various Great Territories to organize the mass evacuation.
By now, the Humans had all retreated and migrated as planned.
With the help of the Human Army, most of the great forces arrived safely in High Heaven Territory; however, significant losses were suffered along the way too. An example of this would be the Swallowing Seas Territory. If it had not been for Yang Kai’s intervention back then, all of the cultivators from the entire Great Territory might have been lost.
Some evacuation fleets encountered Black Ink Clan Armies along the way and were either besieged or eliminated.
Even now, some Human refugees had been delayed for various reasons and were still making their way to High Heaven Territory, but the overall situation had been stabilised.
The Human Race Army was now deployed in a dozen Great Territories around High Heaven Territory to battle against the Black Ink Clan Army. Big and small clashes occurred constantly with the Humans and the Black Ink Clan Army both suffering casualties at an alarming rate.
Many of the Humans’ finest elites now fought in these Great Territories, doing their best to hold the line and push back the enemy.
Since Territory E-30 neighboured the Star Boundary and was the only way into High Heaven Territory from the wider 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race Army turned it into their final stronghold in the war against the Black Ink Clan.
Thus, the Army Supreme Headquarters was set up in one of the Universe Worlds in this Great Territory.
The Human Race had never had a Supreme Headquarters before as on the Black Ink Battlefield, each of the Great Passes functioned essentially independently. No one held overall command. In fact, even in the individual Great Passes, the East, South, West, and North Armies all had their respective Army Headquarters.
However, in the present situation, the Human Race could no longer afford to work separately. They had to establish a place where the entire strategic situation could be overseen and general orders could be issued.
This was how the Supreme Headquarters came to be.
There was a single Supreme Commander and over a dozen Deputy Supreme Commanders at the Supreme Headquarters, all of them the most elite Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, holding positions above the individual Army Commanders.
As Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were preoccupied with tying down the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, they could not pay attention to anything else. Therefore, the over dozen or so Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters acted as the heads of the Human Race Army.
The strategies to be used in the fight against the Black Ink Clan, the changes to the defence lines, the assignment of the soldiers, everything was coordinated through the Supreme Headquarters.
Xiang Shan, originally the Army Commander of the Great Evolution Army’s Eastern Army was now a Deputy Supreme Commander, and Mi Jing Lun had assumed the role of Supreme Commander.
On this particular day, the dozen or so Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had gathered to discuss the current state of the war. After a lengthy discussion, they came up with a new set of plans to implement.
Xiang Shan glanced around at everyone, “If there’s nothing else, then we can adjourn now.”
These Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters did not just remain in this place. They were elites among the Eighth Order, so they would still head out to fight the Black Ink Clans now and again; however, for the most part, the majority of them remained on duty at the Supreme Headquarters so that they could quickly formulate strategies whenever a crisis cropped up.
Just recently, Xiang Shan received a report that a Territory Lord had separated from the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army in one of the neighbouring Great Territories. Thus, he had been working out a way to kill this Territory Lord. Now was the perfect opportunity to strike, so if there was nothing else that needed to be discussed, he wanted to get on with it.
The other Deputy Supreme Commanders were quiet as they had nothing to discuss, but Mi Jing Lun suddenly raised his hand, “Please hold on, everyone. I’ve recently received a rather intriguing report. Please have a look.”
Bolts of light whizzed out of his raised hand.
Jade slips soon landed in each of their hands as one of them queried with his eyebrow and commented, “A series of Black Ink Nests self-destructed?”
The jade slip had a record of multiple reports from various Great Territories about the sudden collapse of numerous Black Ink Nests. Most of these Black Ink Nests were Low-Rank Black Ink Nests, but there were a few Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests among them as well.
A fairly significant number of them had collapsed throughout over 100 different Great Territories.
Xiang Shan was taken aback, looked up, and asked, “When did you get these reports?”
“10 days ago,” Mi Jing Lun replied.
All of the Deputy Supreme Commanders had important tasks of their own, while Mi Jing Lun was in charge of gathering intelligence and reports. He was the first to know of any news that was transmitted back to the Supreme Headquarters.
“Is this information reliable?” One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters asked.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “En. Some of these incidents were spotted by Hunters roaming through the Great Territories under the Black Ink Clan’s control, while some were even discovered from the dozen frontline Great Territories. We can’t confirm the ones in the Great Territories that fully belong to the Black Ink Clan, but I’ve sent people to check the dozen frontline Great Territories, and they’ve verified the reports.”
The ‘Hunters’ that he mentioned were those who had formed Squads to sneak into the Great Territories under the Black Ink Clan’s control to hunt and kill Black Ink Clansmen.
Some of these Hunters were the remnants of the various Army Squads that previously existed, but most of them were also formed by cultivators from the various Second Class great forces.
Cultivators from the Second Class great forces had never taken part in large-scale wars before and few of them were used to fighting in a structured army; therefore, the Supreme Headquarters decided to just leave them be. The Cave Heavens and Paradises no longer restricted the Second Class great forces and many of the Masters from those great forces had ascended to the Seventh Order.
Thanks to the existence of the Hunters, the Black Ink Clan suffered noteworthy losses every year.
However, Hunters generally worked in small groups no bigger than an Army Squad, or a dozen or so people, which meant that it was extremely dangerous for them if they ran into a real Black Ink Clan Army.
At the same time, being few in number meant they could move about more freely and stealthily, so there were pros and cons.
The Hunters mostly travelled through the Great Territories that the Black Ink Clan had seized and six months ago, a number of Hunters reported witnessing many Black Ink Nests in various Universe Worlds all of a sudden began to wither and die.
At the same time, the same thing had happened in the dozen frontline Great Territories where the main Human and Black Ink Clan Armies were clashing. Quite a few soldiers had seen massive Black Ink Nests falling apart for no apparent reason.
As Supreme Commander of the Human Army, Mi Jing Lun was always kept up-to-date on the latest intelligence, so no one doubted his words.
One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ eyes brightened, “Do we have a count of how many Black Ink Nests were self-destructed? How many Low-Rank ones and how many Mid-Rank ones?”
“For now, we’ve confirmed 637 Low-Rank Black Ink Nests and 13 Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests have withered,” Mi Jing Lun replied, “However, this is only what we have found, and what we can find is only the tip of the iceberg.”
There were obviously a lot more Black Ink Nests that had been destroyed than the ones the Humans could discover.
Mi Jing Lun looked around at everyone, “I’m sure you all know what this implies.”
It would not be a big deal if a few Low-Rank Black Ink Nests self-destructed. That would only mean that a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest had been destroyed somewhere. However, if multiple Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests had self-destructed as well, then the information gleaned from this news was a lot more significant.
Xiang Shan spoke up quietly, “We have not found any High-Rank Black Ink Nests on any of the battlefields, which is why we deduced that the Black Ink Clan left their High-Rank Black Ink Nests back at the No-Return Pass. The Black Ink Clan would consider the No-Return Pass to be a very safe location as we Humans are too busy defending ourselves to attack it. No one would head off to the No-Return Pass to try and mess with them, but from the looks of it now, someone did just that and even succeeded in destroying a High-Rank Black Ink Nest at the No-Return Pass. That’s why the Mid-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests self-destructed. But, who is this person?”
“Although we have no way of confirming the situation at the No-Return Pass, based on what Brother Ou Yang Lie said back then, there is a Royal Lord who is standing guard there. No ordinary person can stir up trouble right under a Royal Lord’s nose,” Mi Jing Lun declared.
Ou Yang Lie was with Yang Kai when they returned through the No-Return Pass to the Barren Territory, which meant that Ou Yang Lie knew the situation at the No-Return Pass better than anyone in this room. He had naturally told Mi Jing Lun about what he knew.
“Could it be that one of the two Old Ancestors made a move?” One of the Eighth-Order Masters suggested.
Someone else shook his head and refuted that possibility, “The two Old Ancestors are currently busy subduing the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. They can’t go anywhere else, so they wouldn’t have gone to the No-Return Pass. If they did, it would have meant that they defeated the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and we would’ve heard about it if that was the case.”
The crowd continued making various guesses, but they had no way of verifying any of them. Based on the reports they had, they could only figure out that at least one High-Rank Black Ink Nest at the No-Return Pass must have been destroyed. That would explain why many Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests and Low-Rank Black Ink Nests self-destructed.
That being said, they had no way of knowing who did this or even if it was just one person or a whole team of people.
All of a sudden, Xiang Shan looked over at Mi Jing Lun. Their eyes met and they could easily tell what the other was thinking.
“Could it be… that Brat’s doing?”
They could not think of anyone who could accomplish such a feat, but if it was that Brat, then perhaps it might be possible.
Immediately, one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters asked, “Brother Xiang, who is this ‘Brat’ you speak of? Who do you believe is capable of doing this?”
Xiang Shan did not leave them guessing as he answered, “Yang Kai. I’m sure you’ve heard his name before.”
Everyone nodded in realisation.
One of them piped up, “I heard that he’s now in the Eighth Order, right?”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “That’s right. Yang Kai is now in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. He’s also the reason why Brother Ou Yang Lie and his group were able to return from the Black Ink Battlefield.
The one who spoke up earlier continued, “Even if he’s now in the Eighth-Order, he has only just recently ascended. There’s a Royal Lord standing guard at the No-Return Pass, not to mention countless Territory Lords as well. How could he do such a thing all by himself?”
Although this person who spoke knew of Yang Kai and heard about his past exploits, he was unfamiliar with Yang Kai, so it was not surprising for him to feel doubtful.
[He’s no ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He can easily slaughter Innate Territory Lords and he’s definitely stronger, not weaker than any of you here,] Mi Jing Lun thought to himself.
Ou Yang Lie had told Mi Jing Lun some astonishing things, but as this information involved other matters as well, Mi Jing Lun had classified the reports to prevent information leaks. Not many people knew of these things now, especially regarding just how strong Yang Kai was!
This was a way of protecting Yang Kai to prevent him from getting exposed to the Black Ink Clan and being targeted as a result.
However, judging by what was happening now, even though Mi Jing Lun wanted to protect Yang Kai, Yang Kai was not someone who would keep a low profile. [He has already run off to the No-Return Pass and destroyed High-Rank Black Ink Nests! The Black Ink Clan surely view him as their highest priority target.]
After a moment of silence, Mi Jing Lun said, “Perhaps it might be hard for him to accomplish this alone, but there’s something you shouldn’t forget, everyone. Even if he’s acting alone, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have help.”
“The Small Stone Race Army!” One of the Eighth-Order Masters exclaimed in realisation.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “Exactly. Previously, Yang Kai travelled to various Great Territories and refined numerous Universe Worlds. He even gave out a lot of Small Stone Race soldiers to the cultivators in those Great Territories for protection, which proved to be a massive boon. Without those Small Stone Race soldiers, many more cultivators retreating from the various Great Territories would have died. According to my calculations, Yang Kai gave out at least 40 million Small Stone Race soldiers, including nearly 100 who had the raw strength of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters!”
Even though it was not the first time these Commanders heard about this, they still could not help but feel thunderstruck when Mi Jing Lun brought it up again.
[40 million from the Small Stone Race…]
[Nearly 100 on par with Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters…]
[Even more that are on par with the Seventh-Order, Sixth-Order, and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters…]
They were all curious as to how Yang Kai cultivated so many Small Stone Race soldiers, creating a massive and powerful army all on his own.
They had already investigated the origins of the Small Stone Race and learned they were a unique species of living beings that came from a certain Universe World in the New Great Territory, which was adjacent to High Heaven Territory. They were only found in that Small Universe World. In fact, there was no trace of the Small Stone Race anywhere else.
However, they had also studied the Small Stone Race there, discovering that they were not fully sentient and quite weak as well. When compared to the massive Small Stone Race soldiers that Yang Kai gave away, it was as if they belonged to completely separate races.
Less than half of those 40 million Small Stone Race soldiers remained now, the rest had died in the battle against the Black Ink Clan. Even so, for the Humans, the 20-million-strong Small Stone Race Army provided indispensable strength in battle. This was especially the case because the Small Stone Race was not susceptible to the corruption of Black Ink Strength. When in battle, they fought valiantly with no fear of death. These characteristics greatly benefited the Human Army in battle against the Black Ink Clan.
As of now, the Small Stone Race had made a name for itself across all the various battlefields and the Humans had also found a way to control and command them. While this method had not been perfected yet, it was still a lot better than before.
It was no longer the same as the way it was last time when people would simply summon Small Stone Race soldiers and have them freely battle the enemy. Under the original circumstances, once these released Small Stone Soldiers killed off all the Black Ink Clansmen, if they were not collected quickly, they would begin fighting among themselves or simply run away, which made things rather awkward…
The Human Race’s failure to command the Small Stone Race partly contributed to the 40 million-strong Small Stone Race Army’s heavy casualties. Once the Humans figured out how to control them though, the loss rate decreased significantly.
Since Yang Kai could give away 40 million of them, it meant that he still had some on hand. Given his abilities, and with the help of a large number of Small Stone Race soldiers, it was not necessarily impossible for him to destroy a few High-Rank Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass.
Right now, the Humans had only barely managed to set up a defence perimeter. They drew in all the forces they had and focused on the fight against the Black Ink Clan on a dozen different battlefields, but they could only defend themselves, not having sufficient leeway to launch a counterattack.
However, Yang Kai was able to wreak havoc at the No-Return Pass all by himself. When comparing themselves to him, these veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters felt somewhat embarrassed.
“What a shame!” Someone sighed.
It was a shame that Yang Kai had become a Fifth-Order Master back then. Even though he consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit, increasing his innate limit to the Eighth Order, that was still his limit. It would be… hard for him to become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
There was no sign of the Universe Furnace, and no one knew when it would show up. Even if it did, chances were it would lead to an even more frenzied bloodshed as the Black Ink Clan would not let the Humans get their hands on the Innate Open Heaven Pills easily.
“That Brat… Why wasn’t he born into a Cave Heaven or a Paradise…” another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master remarked lamentably.
Back then, it had been clear that Yang Kai could directly ascend to the Seventh Order, but in the end, he was forced to become a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Everyone knew the reasons behind this situation.
From the looks of it now, the attempt to suppress him back then was a grave mistake, but when considering the Cave Heavens and Paradises’ unspoken rules, they simply had no choice. Naturally, it was also partly due to the selfish motives of certain people.
Still, if Yang Kai had come from a Cave Heaven or a Paradise, who would have tried to keep him down? Quite the contrary, they would have showered him with resources to allow him to quickly reach the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Based on his rate of cultivation, if he had directly broken through to the Seventh Order back then, he might have already reached the peak of the Eighth Order by now and be set to become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the near future.
He would surely achieve great things the moment he became a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Xiang Shan gently rapped his knuckles on the table, “There’s no point looking back in hindsight now. Why did you bring this up, Brother Mi?”
Mi Jing Lun wore a serious expression as he commented, “When Yang Kai was with the Great Evolution Army, I interacted with him many times. No ordinary cultivator can compare to him. He is a hero who has done many services for the Human Race. Without him, we wouldn’t have Purifying Light, or Purifying Black Ink Battleships, or Purifying Black Ink Pills. Now that he’s alone at the No-Return Pass, what I want to ask is, should we send help over to him?”
After a pause, Mi Jing Lun added, “That boy simply does not know the meaning of the word ‘restraint’, so he definitely won’t stop. I’m afraid that if something happens to him… we might lose an essential talent!”
“Help him? How are we going to do that? Furthermore, all of our frontlines on the battlefield are barely holding on as it is. We can only manage to defend ourselves, so how can we pull a significant force off our lines to send over to him?” An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master immediately refuted Mi Jing Lun’s idea. He was not trying to go against Mi Jing Lun on purpose, just stating the reality of their situation.
The Human Race’s defense lines had shrunk to a dozen Great Territories, but their situation still did not look too good either.
Many of the others nodded in agreement.
Someone spoke up and said, “If we want to help an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him, we would have to reassign several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but each Eighth-Order Master is indispensable on the current battlefield. Where would we pull them from?”
Mi Jing Lun stayed silent for a moment before saying quietly, “If we can’t reassign anyone given our current defence perimeter, then why don’t we give up one of the battlefields?”
Everyone’s jaws dropped at his words, and the one who spoke earlier stared at Mi Jing Lun in disbelief, “Brother Mi, do you think the safety of Yang Kai is more important than the loss of an entire battlefield?”
Countless soldiers had shed blood to hold every single one of the dozen Great Territories. The frontlines were formed from their sacrifices and could not be given up so easily.
Mi Jing Lun’s suggestion shocked everyone to the core.
Mi Jing Lun shook his head, “Giving up one of the Great Territory battlefields doesn’t imply that Yang Kai is more important than them. However, we don’t have enough manpower to maintain all of our current battlefields as it is. If we give up on one, we will reduce the pressure we are under. Also, everyone, don’t forget that Yang Kai is the only one who can use Purifying Light.”
The Eighth-Order Masters fell silent, and moments later, the air was filled with Divine Senses as they began discussing among themselves.
Xiang Shan gave Mi Jing Lun a somewhat helpless glance. This had started as an ordinary conference, but Mi Jung Lun was now suggesting that they abandon one of the battlefields. This was no small issue.
If they did decide to do this, it would cause a lot of disapproval and dissatisfaction.
So many soldiers had died in battle, each of them someone’s Brother or Sister from the same Sect. Who among the living did not yearn to avenge these deaths? Who among them was willing to retreat?
Even though they would still be heading into battle against the Black Ink Clan on a different battlefield, it was not the same.
If things didn’t go well today, Mi Jing Lun would become a target of everyone’s anger and reproach.
At this moment, Xiang Shan sorely missed the Purifying Light that Yang Kai had. The Human Race were having a hard time maintaining their current lines partially because of the lack of Purifying Light. The Human Race had nearly exhausted all the Purifying Light they had, with the little they had retained stored up inside just a few Purifying Black Ink Battleships. The Supreme Headquarters had set aside this supply of Purifying Light for special purposes, such as an Army Commander or other critically important characters being corrupted by Black Ink Strength. They did not have the leisure to use it for day-to-day situations.
Although Purifying Black Ink Pills could purge Black Ink Strength when a person had not been fully corrupted, the efficacy paled in comparison to Purifying Light.
Because of this, it felt as if the Humans had their hands tied when fighting against the Black Ink Clan.
[You Brat! Since you’re not dead, hurry back and create more Purifying Light! Why are you messing around at the No-Return Pass?!]
…..
Meanwhile, on the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai snuck over and was now hiding outside the No-Return Pass.
It had been six months since the day he destroyed five High-Rank Black Ink Nests. He had fully recovered from his injuries by now, but upon returning to the No-Return Pass, he saw that it was still heavily guarded.
Along the way, he encountered countless Black Ink Clan search teams with many Feudal Lords and even a number of Territory Lords patrolling around, keeping a vigilant watch over the surroundings.
[The Black Ink Clan is being too cautious!] Yang Kai grumbled to himself.
What he did not know was that after the chaos he caused at the No-Return Pass earlier on, the Royal Lord flew into an absolute rage. It was not just the Territory Lords, but even he who was standing guard at the No-Return Pass, not daring to enter a Black Ink Nest to recover from his injuries because he had to constantly be on alert in case Yang Kai launched another sneak attack.
The Black Ink Clan’s caution made things difficult for Yang Kai.
Originally, he wanted to attack a few more times and destroy as many High-Rank Black Ink Nests as possible, but from what he was seeing now, this was probably the last time he could act.
[In that case, let’s raise some real havoc one last time!]
Now that Yang Kai had made his mind up, he scanned through the No-Return Pass to find his target.
Soon, he zeroed in on a High-Rank Black Ink Nest on the right side of the No-Return Pass.
Despite not seeing any sign of the Royal Lord or detecting the latter’s aura, Yang Kai knew that the Royal Lord had to be hiding somewhere, waiting for him to show up.
Therefore, as soon as he made his move, he would be on the receiving end of the Royal Lord’s counterattack!
However, there was an obstacle in his path this time around. The Black Ink Clan had not been on their toes when he attacked the last time. That was how he could easily destroy two High-Rank Black Ink Nests with just one strike.
This time, the Territory Lords had spread out to guard the various Black Ink Nests. No matter where Yang Kai showed up, he would immediately encounter a Territory Lord standing in his way.
He chose the High-Rank Black Ink Nest on the right side of the No-Return Pass because the Territory Lord who was guarding that area looked quite worn out. Even his aura was unstable.
[He’s heavily injured, which means he’s an easy target!]
Most of the Territory Lords at the No-Return Pass were injured in some way or another. Yang Kai deduced that they had retreated from the battlefields in the 3,000 Worlds. He did not study them closely the last time he was here, but after observing them this time, he confirmed his inference.
The Black Ink Clan had managed to reopen the Territory Gate to the Barren Territory, which he had sealed up back then.
At the time, Yang Kai thought that he could cut off the Black Ink Clan’s supply lines entirely by simply blocking the portal. Later on, he realised that he had been wrong about that. The Black Ink Clan had a way of reopening the sealed Territory Gates, but it would take some time and they would have to pay a heavy price to do so.
To Yang Kai, this was not entirely bad news. Since the portal was open, it provided another escape route for him to take. If he made his way through the Territory Gate, the Royal Lord would not dare to chase after him quite so readily.
Yang Kai did not need to test the waters with anything else. Launching a swift and direct attack was the best choice under the circumstances.
With that thought in mind, Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles and in an instant, he was above the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, and with a forceful thrust of the Azure Dragon Spear, he stabbed right at the Territory Lord who was standing guard here.
Yang Kai also immediately used a Soul Rending Thorn for good measure.
Soul Rending Thorns were incredibly effective against the heavily-injured Territory Lords around the No-Return Pass as Yang Kai had found when he had a taste of the sweet victory the last time he was here, so he was not stingy this time.
All he had to do was sacrifice a small piece of his Soul, which was something he could bear.
This Territory Lord was unlucky. An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had severely injured him when he was on the frontlines of the war; thus, he had no choice but to retreat to the No-Return Pass to recuperate. However, after only getting to rest for a few days, Yang Kai had rushed in and raised Hell.
The Royal Lord had given the order and this Territory Lord no longer had the chance to recuperate. He had to keep watch over the area assigned to him in case that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master launched another attack.
Half a year had passed and after seeing no signs of the Human, this Territory Lord had become less vigilant. Furthermore, he was quite severely injured.
At this moment, he was refining the Black Ink Strength that drifted out from the Black Ink Nest to slowly tend to his injuries. It was not particularly effective, but it was better than nothing.
When space rippled around him and Yang Kai’s spear came crashing down, the Territory Lord could not react immediately as his injury-laden body numbed his ability to sense danger.
The next instant, it felt as if a needle had pierced into his head and an agonising pain coursed through his whole body, causing him to shudder violently and almost knocked him unconscious. The sharp spear grew increasingly larger in his vision as the Territory Lord wanted to defend himself, but try as he might, he could not draw upon his Black Ink Strength. He had to watch as the spear pierced right through his skull.
Yang Kai hit his mark with just one strike, and the formidable power behind his blow did not dissipate as it flew out and annihilated the High-Rank Black Ink Nest below!
Another kill!
At the same time, the Territory Lords who were standing guard nearby jumped into action. They charged towards Yang Kai from all directions, and the Royal Lord’s enormous figure burst forth from within the No-Return Pass as well, a cold and menacing expression filling his face.
He had underestimated this Human’s boldness and recklessness. Initially, he thought that the Human would have to stay in hiding for several years, if not longer, but who would have known that he would show up again just six months?
Thankfully, he did not let his guard down and thus detected Yang Kai as soon as he showed up.
Unfortunately, even though the Royal Lord reacted quickly, he was not in time to save that Territory Lord.
Yang Kai had killed another Territory Lord in the blink of an eye.
However, the Royal Lord was not too affected by this. He considered the loss of a single Territory Lord and a High-Rank Black Ink Nest the price they had to pay in order to kill this pesky Human right here, right now.
No Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could escape with his life in a situation like this when a group of Territory Lords and a Royal Lord had him surrounded.
The Royal Lord had also learned from his previous mistake and channelled much of his energy into disrupting the local space to prevent Yang Kai from escaping by using Space Principles.
However, Yang Kai did not intend to escape this time.
After destroying the Black Ink Nest, he turned around and rushed deeper into the No-Return Pass, as if he wanted to have a showdown against the Royal Lord. The Territory Lords who were moving to encircle him were dumbfounded, wondering if this Human had a death wish?
Just as the Territory Lords were about to celebrate, they saw their closest fellow Territory Lord to Yang Kai howl in agony as he stumbled unsteadily. Yang Kai quickened his pace, and in a flash, he broke through their encirclement.
Yet another Soul Rending Thorn had been used, but Yang Kai did not have the time to kill the second Territory Lord. Between killing these heavily injured Territory Lords and destroying High-Rank Black Ink Nests, Yang Kai preferred doing the latter.
Once he broke out of their siege, Yang Kai raised his spear, and in a burst of light, yet another High-Rank Black Ink Nest turned to dust.
“Bold Human!” The Royal Lord who was charging over roared in fury.
If he included what happened six months ago, there were now a total of seven High-Rank Black Ink Nests that had been destroyed and three Territory Lords who were killed by this single Human, and all of this happened right under his nose, which made him feel deeply humiliated. The Royal Lord no longer wanted to simply rip Yang Kai’s corpse apart anymore. He had made his mind up. If he managed to capture Yang Kai alive, he was going to extract Yang Kai’s Soul and refine it before torturing him until he begged for death.
Even more Territory Lords stormed towards Yang Kai now and their auras were all as sharp as knives as the sent a flurry of attacks towards him.
The entirety of the No-Return Pass was in a frenzy, as if someone had dropped cold water into a boiling pot of oil.
Even though a Royal Lord was charging over, Yang Kai’s expression was still perfectly calm and tranquil.
All of a sudden, he put away his Azure Dragon Spear, and with a wave his hands, two Small Stone Race Armies of over a million each appeared, one bearing the symbol of the Great Sun, and the other the symbol of the Great Moon!
The sudden appearance of so many Small Stone Race soldiers startled the Black Ink Clansmen, but soon, some of the Territory Lords recognised these strange beings.
On the current battlefields, these beings fought against the Black Ink Clan under the command of the Humans. They did not fear being corrupted by Black Ink Strength, nor were they afraid of death. As a result, the Black Ink Clan suffered significant losses at their hands.
That being said, what could these dregs do when faced with so many Territory Lords and even a Royal Lord? No matter how large their numbers were, these strange stone men were no better than ants.
Under Yang Kai’s command, the two Small Stone Race Armies charged towards the Royal Lord; however, as soon as they came into contact with his aura, they were ground to dust. Countless of them turned into rock fragments as the Royal Lord was simply too powerful for the Small Stone Race soldiers to even get close.
Still, numbering 2 million in total, there were enough to swiftly bury the Royal Lord in bodies.
At the same time, Yang Kai found himself completely surrounded by the Territory Lords who came at him from all sides. One of the Territory Lords tried to land a deadly blow immediately and the concentrated Black Ink Strength turned into Divine Abilities that charged straight at Yang Kai.
Even a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would not fare well if struck by such a ferocious attack, let alone an Eighth-Order Master.
However, it was as if Yang Kai did not see the attack coming at all as he simply stretched out his hands. The Great Sun and Great Moon Marks on the backs of his hands started to burn before they lit up in conjunction with the two Small Stone Race Armies.
The next instant, incredibly pure and concentrated Great Sun and Great Moon Energy were drawn out and swiftly combined to form the purest light imaginable.
The Royal Lord, who was surrounded by the Small Stone Race, immediately had a bad premonition. The Territory Lords who surrounded Yang Kai also felt greatly disconcerted for no apparent reason.
A tiny Sun that looked just like the real Sun suddenly exploded outwards with pure, dazzling white light illuminating the entire No-Return Pass. For a moment, several tens of millions of kilometres of the void seemed to glow with unimaginable white radiance.
Countless lower ranked Black Ink Clansmen simply vanished under the intense light.
Even most of the Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques, which were formed from Black Ink Strength that came charging towards Yang Kai disappeared without a trace, leaving just a few dregs to hit Yang Kai, causing him to stagger slightly.
The Territory Lords all howled in pain as they felt their bodies being bathed in the most toxic poison in existence. Black Ink Strength sizzled as it flooded out of their bodies.
The blinding light lasted for 10 breaths before it slowly faded away.
However, by the time the dust settled, the casualties suffered by Black Ink Clan both within and outside the No-Return Pass had climbed to an uncountable height. Many new Black Ink Clansmen had been born in the Great Passes nearest to where the light had shone, but now, not even a tenth of them remained. Although things were a little better on the Universe Fragments and Great Passes that were further out, there were still significant losses there. Only the Black Ink Clan Masters who were on the outskirts of the Great Passes were less affected.
The aura of over a dozen of the Territory Lords who were nearest to Yang Kai plummeted, dropping down to the level of Feudal Lords in one fell swoop, damaging their foundations permanently and sending their minds and Souls into disarray.
The Royal Lord, whom the two Small Stone Race Armies had completely surrounded, was equally stunned and shocked by what just transpired.
The two one-million-strong Small Stone Race Armies had all turned into shattered rocks. Obscuring the Royal Lord’s dishevelled figure. He had been at the centre of that explosion of Purifying Light, so he had naturally suffered the most.
Even though he was a Royal Lord, his aura had been thrown into utter chaos.
He knew about the existence of Purifying Light, but never thought that someone could unleash such a massive amount of it all at once.
Even he would not be able to withstand a few more attacks of such intensity!
The aura of those Territory Lords had dropped to that of a Feudal Lord because their heritage had been ground away, so naturally, the Royal Lord did not escape unscathed either.
Right now, about 10% of his foundation had been destroyed. While this was not enough for his cultivation to regress, even if the Royal Lord fully healed from his injuries now, he would no longer be as powerful as he once was and would need to cultivate for hundreds, if not thousands of years to return to his peak.
If he was struck by another blast of Purifying Light of such might, he was not certain he could even remain a Royal Lord.
Thus, once the light faded away, the Royal Lord instantly looked around to see where Yang Kai was, deeply afraid that the latter would repeat this stunt.
Soon however, the Royal Lord turned towards the Territory Gate and saw a pale-faced Yang Kai standing at its edge, staring back at him with a look of provocation and condescension.
Yang Kai and the Royal Lord locked eyes as Yang Kai made a slitting gesture across his neck, childishly taunting the Royal Lord before turning around and leaping into the portal.
The Royal Lord was so infuriated that he nearly spat blood!
He was about to dash after Yang Kai when he quickly stopped, his expression darkening as he realized a hard reality: He couldn’t leave.
The No-Return Pass was the Black Ink Clan’s most important base, with all of their High-Rank and many of their Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests having been set up here. As he was the only surviving Royal Lord, if an unexpected crisis occurred at the No-Return Pass because of his departure, then it would surely threaten the entire foundation of the Black Ink Clan.
Thus, even though he wished more than anything to chase after that Human and slaughter him, he had to suppress that impulse.
“Sir…” One of the Territory Lords approached the Royal Lord for orders.
The Royal Lord had not given chase, and they did not dare to do so either. Over the last six months, three Territory Lords had died at the hands of that Human and his spear despite him not even targeting them.
His target had only been the High-Rank Black Ink Nests, which all of the Black Ink Clansmen had figured out by now. If he had intended to assassinate Territory Lords instead, the number of dead would not be a paltry three.
Their opponent was far stronger than they could ever imagine.
If they went after him without the Royal Lord, what would happen if that Human had set up an ambush on the other side of the Territory Gate?
No one wanted to be sent off to their death just like that.
However, if the Royal Lord gave the order, then they had to give chase no matter how fearful they were.
Thankfully, the Royal Lord had considered the same possibility. He had personally witnessed just how formidable Yang Kai was, and he knew that the Territory Lords here were mostly injured; therefore, after mulling it over for a brief moment, he quickly said, “Don’t bother going after him!”
His words washed over the Territory Lords like a pardon from the Heavens.
Still, all of them were heavy-hearted.
It could not be helped as they had lost too much.
Not only did they lose another Territory Lord this time, but four High-Rank Black Ink Nests and over a dozen Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests had been destroyed as well.
Initially, that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had only destroyed two High-Rank Black Ink Nests, but when the dazzling white light exploded around them, the Black Ink Nests that were closest to the epicentre were shattered into dust as well, including two more High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Over a dozen Territory Lords had also regressed to Feudal Lords, while the others who were showered by the white light had their strength affected to varying degrees.
Their fear and apprehension only increased when they noticed that even the Royal Lord’s aura seemed to have weakened…
Six months ago, that Human appeared out of the blue, destroyed five High-Rank Black Ink Nests, and killed two Territory Lords.
Although he only destroyed four High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killed one Territory Lord this time, the total losses were actually more severe.
And these losses did not even take into account the lower-ranked Black Ink Clansmen, who were immediately vaporized when that burst of Purifying Light hit them.
All of the Black Ink Clansmen had one question in mind. What was that light and why did it have such a horrifying effect on the Black Ink Clan?
All they saw was the Human summoning two Small Stone Race Armies, and then everything went white, literally.
Now, the Small Stone Race Armies had turned into shattered rock and no longer existed.
While the Territory Lords were caught up in their uneasy thoughts, Yang Kai was already waiting on the other side of the Territory Gate, but to his dismay, no one came after him, even though he waited for quite some time.
Once he was certain that the Black Ink Clan dared not come after him, he casually sealed the portal again.
Although the Black Ink Clan had the means to reopen the Territory Gate, it would take them significant time and effort to do so. Yang Kai was more than happy to make things a little more difficult for his enemy.
After taking stock of the outcome, Yang Kai felt fairly satisfied. The only thing he felt bad about was the loss of 2 million Small Stone Race soldiers.
Still, this couldn’t be helped. There was no way he could avoid making sacrifices if he wanted to oppose a Royal Lord. The only thing he could do now to face off against a Royal Lord was to use a large number of Small Stone Races to set off a massive explosion of Purifying Light. Even the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel could not compare to this in terms of effectiveness.
The Sun and Moon Divine Wheel was Yang Kai’s most powerful Secret Technique, but it did not have the special characteristic of being able to directly counter the Black Ink Clan.
Once the portal was sealed up once more, Yang Kai exhaled lightly. He achieved a lot in this risky gambit of his, and suffered significant injuries in the process as, at the last moment, he had to focus on igniting the Great Sun and Great Moon Strengths inside the Small Stone Race soldiers, disallowing him to block the attacks from the various Territory Lords.
While most of the attacks were significantly weakened or blocked entirely by the wave of Purifying Light, with so many Territory Lords attacking him at once, some of them inevitably hit their mark.
However, none of the attacks had been deadly, so Yang Kai simply checked over himself a little without bothering to spend time recuperating. He then turned around and flew in a different direction where he sensed devastating shockwaves emanating from.
The last time Yang Kai was in the Barren Territory, the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race were engaged in a fearsome battle that turned the entire Great Territory into a battlefield.
Now, all that remained were the scars left from that battle.
As he made his way forward, he saw far too many scattered remains belonging to both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan. There were also lots of wreckage from Humans’ Warships, as well as tufts of Black Ink Clouds of varying sizes.
The shockwaves would burst forth in irregular intervals, but each time they did, it seemed like the entire Barren Territory trembled.
The closer Yang Kai got to the source, the clearer he could sense what was causing it.
At last, Yang Kai stopped and stared into the distance as two enormous figures reflected in his eyes.
They belonged to two Giant Spirit Gods.
One was Ah Er, and the other was the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who revived and came out of the Late Ancient Era battlefield.
Yang Kai had surmised as much when he noticed the commotion earlier, but still, he was dumbstruck by what he saw.
It seemed these two really never tired. They must’ve been fighting for over 100 years already, yet they had not even paused to take a break. The Humans and the Black Ink Clan had already retreated from the Barren Territory, but as the fight between the two Giant Spirit Gods was still perfectly even, they continued duking it out.
From the way things appeared now, there was no telling how much longer they intended to continue fighting.
It was fortuitous that Giant Spirit God Ah Er had suddenly appeared and pinned down this Black Ink Giant Spirit God; otherwise, the Human Race would have suffered catastrophic losses on the Barren Territory battlefield.
The fight between two Giant Spirit Gods was violent and brutal. They did not use any Divine Abilities or Secret Techniques and instead engaged in a simple hand-to-hand battle, but every blow delivered was enough to make everything around them quake and shudder. A region of over 10 million kilometres around these two was filled with volatile Void Cracks as space itself seemed unable to withstand the fury of their exchanges.
Yang Kai even wondered whether the Barren Territory would completely collapse if their fight carried on like this for long enough.
After silently observing them for a while, he raised his hands to form a cone around his mouth before yelling with all his might, “Ah Er, kill him!”
As if Ah Er had heard Yang Kai’s cheering, even his tuft of hair started giving off a formidable feeling as his attacks became more vicious.
Yang Kai chuckled and watched them for a little longer before leaving.
He could not get involved in a fight between two Giant Spirit Gods. Though he was in the Eighth Order right now, he could not even get close to them without being sent flying. Only Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could involve themselves in such a battle.
Yang Kai still had a long road ahead of him…
Half a day later, he arrived at a different part of the void. The place here was dark and covered in Black Ink Strength, but strangely, the Black Ink Strength did not scatter or move at all. It was completely concentrated together.
[The second Black Ink Giant Spirit God is standing guard here!]
This Black Ink Giant Spirit God was the one that Lu An and his companion had revived back in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
At this moment, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was sitting cross-legged in the void. His towering figure looked like a mountain, and in front of it was the passage that led from the Barren Territory to Wind Mist Territory.
The Black Ink Clan Army had used this breach to invade the broader 3,000 Worlds. One could even say that this place was the starting point that led to everything that happened later in the 3,000 Worlds.
When the portal had not been fully opened yet, Yang Kai had rushed to Wind Mist Territory in time and tried to stop it, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit God rushed from the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory and forced his arm right through the half-opened portal, managing to open up the Territory Gate.
Even now, his arm was still stuck in the same position.
It was not what this Black Ink Giant Spirit God wanted to be stuck here, it was simply that he could not move.
Yang Kai looked over and saw abstruse runes that appeared and disappeared along half of that Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm which was thrust through the boundary wall. These abstruse runes were crawling around like snakes to form a large chain that locked it in place.
Yang Kai detected a familiar aura from those runes.
After calming his mind and focusing for a moment, it soon dawned on Yang Kai that it was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s aura.
It was not just Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao that he detected either. There was another person’s aura which was almost as powerful as Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s.
[Wu Qing?] Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly. The Humans only had two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors left. One was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the other was Wu Qing. This meant that the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were currently in Wind Mind Territory and had used some sort of Secret Technique to restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God here.
Naturally these two were no match in a battle against a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing had chosen the best opportunity to make their move. Back then, the two of them had commanded the Human Race Army to withdraw from the Barren Territory before making a few arrangements and then immediately rushing over to Wind Mist Territory.
At that time, it seemed that in order to maintain the Territory Gate between the two Great Territories, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could not retract his arm from the breach. The two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors arrived at Wind Mist Territory before the Black Ink Clan Army had fully moved out and then worked together to attach this chain-like Secret Technique to the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God could have chosen to sacrifice his arm to free himself from these shackles, but he would lose a lot of his strength if he did so, and he was unwilling to do that.
Therefore, for the past few decades, he had been engaging in a silent battle of patience with the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God sensed Yang Kai’s arrival and was secretly shocked by the fact that the latter was still alive. At the time, a Royal Lord had specifically left the Barren Territory to hunt Yang Kai down, yet here Yang Kai was, alive and well. If Yang Kai was alive though, then the fate of that Royal Lord was evident.
However, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God showed no inclination of paying any attention to Yang Kai as most of his focus was on trying to outwit the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. Simply put, he felt no need to spare a puny ant-like Yang Kai any mind.
He ignored Yang Kai, who did likewise. Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly as he quietly took in everything in front of him.
Decades had passed and most of the traces of that great battle had faded away, but Yang Kai could still sense the tragic atmosphere looming over this place.
In the last moments of the battle in the Barren Territory, 33 Old Ancestors sacrificed their lives here, along with the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders. Only Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were spared from that tragedy.
The 33 Old Ancestors managed to kill 44 Royal Lords and over a million Black Ink Clan soldiers in their final blaze of glory.
There was no denying how tragic the battle had been.
And, this was the very battlefield where the fight had taken place.
Even though Yang Kai was not present during that last battle and could not witness it, as he stood here now and took in the traces left behind, he could almost imagine what it was like then.
When the Black Ink Giant Spirit God left the Shattered Heaven and came to the Barren Territory, he smashed through the Human Race Army’s defence lines and came here before using his arm to force open the passage between the two Great Territories. This allowed the Black Ink Clan Army to swarm into Wind Mist Territory.
For the Humans, the battle was lost at that moment as the invasion of the 3,000 Worlds could no longer be stopped.
Under those circumstances, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had two choices. One was to lead the Human Race Army’s retreat and leave the Barren Territory. They could then preserve their strength to fight another day.
They were the most powerful of all the Human Race Masters, and if they chose not to engage in battle, the Black Ink Clan could not do anything to them.
However, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors chose the second option.
They chose to fight to the bitter end!
The 33 Old Ancestors showed no regard for the cultivation and longevity that they had attained with great difficulty and fearlessly launched a final assault on the Black Ink Clan.
The Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders followed suit.
44 Royal Lords had been killed in that battle, which was every single Royal Lord there was save for the one who left the Barren Territory earlier to pursue Yang Kai and the one who stood guard over the No-Return Pass.
Too much had been sacrificed in that battle, but it had also cleared the obstacles that stood in the way of the Human Race’s future.
The Old Ancestors had sacrificed their lives in exchange for giving the younger generation, including people like Yang Kai, time to grow stronger.
It had been over 20 years since then, but as Yang Kai stood in this place, it was as if he had travelled back in time and witnessed the tragedies of that battle. His heart constricted and his Dragon Blood started to boil.
When confronted with 33 Old Ancestors, along with the Dragon and Phoenix Clan Leaders, the Black Ink Clan would have also put up a fierce resistance to withstand their sudden attack. Still, they could not resist the dying determination of these valiant souls.
Once the Royal Lords had been wiped out, the surviving Old Ancestors did not retreat though and instead continued to attack the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who was pinned down here.
In the end, none of them survived.
What they had accomplished in that battle was still showing its effect now as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God did not come out of the fight unscathed. His colossal body was covered in wounds that could not heal due to the many Dao Strengths that crisscrossed around them. Black Ink Strength kept leaking out of the wounds, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would absorb it back into his body, and the cycle repeated.
This was most likely the reason why Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing could restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God from afar.
If he was completely fine, then even if the two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm had the advantage of making the first move, it would still be incredibly difficult for them to keep this Black Ink Giant Spirit God locked in place.
It was the heroic sacrifice made by the Old Ancestors back then that allowed the current stalemate to exist.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and looked over at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God as he coldly snorted, “Look at you now, Mo!”
Every Black Ink Giant Spirit God was one of Mo’s Soul Clones, but because Mo was so powerful and was already in the Creation Realm, his Soul Clones were also powerful beyond comparison.
Mo could not be bothered to trifle with Yang Kai. He ran into this Human boy when he awakened in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land and knew that while he was a weakling, he was incredibly proficient when it came to escaping. It was not as if he did not want to kill this Human back then, but the latter did not give him the chance to act.
It was even more impossible for him to kill this Human now that it was restrained and could not move.
Thus, Mo did not wish to respond to Yang Kai’s taunting. What it needed to do now was to build up its energy and break free from the two Old Ancestors. Once it regained its freedom, no one in all of the 3,000 Worlds could stop it.
However, what Yang Kai said next would put an end to Mo’s silence.
“Mo, I just came back from Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction after bringing someone over there. Who do you think it was?” Yang Kai asked with a chuckle.
Mo finally glanced at Yang Kai before answering coolly, “It makes no difference who you sent over there. Mu’s trump card has already been used and Cang is dead. When my true body awakens, the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction will easily crumble apart!”
Yang Kai slowly shook his head, “Don’t be so sure about that. Since I sent that person over, it means I’m confident about this; after all, that person… is an old friend of yours.”
Mo’s expression changed for a moment, but it soon snorted, “Stop trying to scare me. All of this Supreme One’s ‘old friends’ died long ago.”
“Since a Soul Clone like you knows that Mu’s trump card has been used, then you should also know that Senior Cang left me something before he died. You’ve lived since ancient times, so you must be very knowledgeable. Why don’t you try guessing what it was? Why did Senior Cang pass it to me just before he died?” Yang Kai slowly said.
Mo stayed silent.
Yang Kai continued, “How many years will it take before your true body awakens? A few thousand years? Over 10,000 years? What Mu left behind must have been quite powerful, right? But, let me give you a word of advice, you should wake up sooner rather than later, otherwise, it will be too late. Even if your true body wakes up, you still won’t be able to do anything if you loiter for too long.”
Yang Kai was curious to know how much longer Mo’s true body would remain unconscious. Wu Kuang had shamelessly boasted that he could become a Ninth-Order Master in 3,000 years, but if Mo’s true body awakened before then, the situation would become a lot more challenging.
If that happened, Yang Kai would have to find a way to take Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing over to see if they could help Wu Kuang.
However, if he did that, then the Humans’ only remaining two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would be permanently occupied, and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God here would be completely free.
Mo remained quiet for a long time before asking, “Who did you bring over there?”
Yang Kai chuckled and started to reply, “That person…”
“Don’t tell it too much,” A voice suddenly cut in from somewhere else and interrupted Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was startled at first but he soon snapped out of it and asked hesitantly, “Old Ancestor Wu Qing?”
Wu Qing did not respond; instead, it was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s voice that rang out, “The Black Ink Giant Spirit God is exceedingly powerful. Be careful. It might try to corrupt you.”
Yang Kai was overjoyed, “How are the two of you doing, Old Ancestor? Is everything alright?”
He never thought that Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing could communicate with him across the different territories, but now that he thought about it, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had cleared the passage between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory, which meant that the passage was open the whole time. It was unsurprising that the two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on the other side could still communicate through that gap.
“We’re alright,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao replied, “As for you… You should hurry up and return to the Star Boundary. Your Wives miss you dearly.”
Yang Kai chuckled embarrassedly, “You met them, Old Ancestor?”
“Of course,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao responded in a huff, “They joined the Great Evolution Army earlier on.”
[Not only did I meet them, but that Yu Ru Meng! That annoying little girl never gave me face at all each time we met, always demanding I compensate them for losing their Husband.]
As Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao recalled this, she felt the urge to give Yang Kai a good beating.
“Don’t stay here too long,” Wu Qing said.
Yang Kai nodded and solemnly replied, “Junior understands.”
Mo had been silent for a time, but now, it could not resist cutting in and asking, “Who did you bring over there?”
Yang Kai grinned at Mo, “Why don’t you tell me how many years it will take for your true body to wake up first?”
Mo stared fixedly at Yang Kai and chose not to answer, “Did Cang teach you how to control the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?” [Why would he be asking about my true body if that wasn’t the case? It’s obvious that he’s afraid my true body will wake up and break open the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.]
Yang Kai snorted, “Mo, don’t waste time on these unnecessary questions. Why would I need Cang to teach me how to control the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
Mo frowned, “What do you mean?”
Yang Kai looked at Mo dismissively, “Why would I need someone to teach me what I already know?”
Mo’s expression changed as a thought flashed across his mind, “Who are you?” he asked quietly.
“Take a guess!” Yang Kai flashed him a smile.
Mo was furious as it realised just how exhausting it was to communicate with the Human in front of it. After a moment of silence though, it said, “I can answer your question, but in return, you must tell me who you are.”
Yang Kai was startled. There was no rhyme or reason to the things he was saying at random, he merely wanted to see if he could trick Mo into telling him what was going on with its true body. It would be great if he did get the information he wanted, but even if he failed, there was no harm in that either. Plus, his vague and mysterious answers might even serve to rattle Mo.
He was just doing it because he could.
He did not expect Mo to actually lose its cool this quickly.
However, after giving it more thought, Yang Kai realised that this was indeed a child’s temperament!
Regardless of how old Mo was and how many years it lived, it barely had any life experience; thus, it had a childish personality which could be seen in the way it kept pressing on to find out what it wanted to know and was relentless if it did not get what it wanted.
Yang Kai nodded at once, “That works, but how will I know whether you’re telling the truth?”
“Why would I need to lie to you?” Mo retorted arrogantly, “I can’t prove whether you’re telling me the truth either.”
Yang Kai agreed with him on that.
“Don’t tell him any secrets,” Wu Qing reminded.
Yang Kai chuckled, “Rest assured, Old Ancestor. I know what I’m doing.”
Wu Qing hummed in acknowledgement and did not say anything else.
Yang Kai looked at Mo and said, “Go on. Tell me what’s happening with your true body.”
Mo scoffed, “I won’t stoop so low as to lie to you, but how do I know whether or not you’ll keep your promise?”
Yang Kai raised his eyebrows, “Shall I swear an oath first?”
Mo’s expression became extremely unpleasant, “Humans’ oaths are all worthless!” From the looks of it, it had been tricked by a Human’s oath before.
Yang Kai shrugged, “There’s no other way, then. You’ll just have to take the risk.”
Mo stared closely at Yang Kai as if it was trying to see right through him. After a long time, it finally said, “There’s no harm in telling you anyway. My true body will awaken sometime between 2,000 and 5,000 years from now.”
Yang Kai frowned, “That’s such a wide time frame.”
The answer was of no help at all. If Mo’s true body awakened in 2,000 years, then Wu Kuang would definitely not be able to become a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but 5,000 would be ample time.
Mo shook his head and said, “I’m just a Soul Clone of my true body and can only make speculations regarding what’s happening. How can I be sure of anything? However, my true body created three Soul Clones and was affected by the trump card Mu left behind, so it won’t be waking up anytime soon.”
Even though Mo had reached the Creation Realm, splitting off three Soul Clones were still immensely taxing on it. Furthermore, it was also affected by the trump card Mu had left behind back then and thus fell into a deep slumber.
[2,000 to 5,000 years…]
Yang Kai silently pondered to himself. 2,000 years from now, he would have to make regular trips to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on the situation as Wu Kuang had no way of getting the word out if something happened there.
As Yang Kai was deep in thought, Mo grew impatient and started urging, “It’s your turn.”
Yang Kai chuckled and did not speak; however, with a quick flash of a certain Secret Technique, large amounts of pure Black Ink Strength poured out of Mo’s wound, which Yang Kai then absorbed and refined.
Mo’s expression hardened, “Shi! It’s you!”
The Heaven Devouring Battle Law was unique, so it went without saying that Mo recognized it at once. What’s more, there was only one person in this world who could use the Heaven Devouring Battle Law, the one who created it!
Yang Kai stopped using the Heaven Devouring Battle Law almost immediately, a faint smile lingering on his face as he remained quiet.
He noticed that Mo seemed to fear Shi, and after giving it some thought, it made sense to him. The Heaven Devouring Battle Law could refine anything, including Black Ink Strength, which made things difficult for Mo too.
As it was, Shi’s efforts back then greatly contributed to the reason why the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction managed to restrict Mo all these years. He kept devouring Black Ink Strength and refining it to weaken Mo.
Among Cang and the others, Mo showed the most respect to Mu, but the one it was most afraid of was Shi.
“I can’t believe you’re still alive…” Mo stared at Yang Kai incredulously.
Yang Kai remained silent with a faint smile on his face.
Meanwhile, over in Wind Mist Territory, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, exchanged glances with puzzled looks on their faces. They knew about the situation in the Barren Territory, but they had no idea what the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was prattling about.
Who was Shi? One of the ten that included Cang? What did Yang Kai have to do with this person called Shi?
Although the two Human Ninth-Order Masters could not figure out what was happening, the fact that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was noticeably disturbed was great news to them. They quickly formed hand seals to strengthen their Secret Techniques, and in the next breath, more runes began creeping up the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm towards its shoulder. The symbols turned into large chains which were about to lock up its entire torso.
Mo snapped out of its reverie and swiftly countered.
Immobilising one of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arms was already the most that the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors could achieve, and while they managed to make a move while Mo was distracted, their efforts were neutralized as soon as it fought back.
All at once, the glowing runes began flickering, sometimes advancing, other times retreating.
Yang Kai saw what was going on and he swiftly growled, “Stop being so stubborn, Mo!”
Then, with a wave of his hand, a highly concentrated wave of Purifying Light launched straight at Mo.
Wherever the light passed, the darkness receded. The pure light entered the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s wounds next in an attempt to move through its body.
Mo let out a series of roars, and Black Ink Strength gushed out once more to fend off the Purifying Light.
The two lights, one bright and one dark, tangled together as they clashed and neutralized one another.
Yang Kai did not use his Small Stone Race soldiers this time as there was no reason for him to do so. Unlike the situation back at the No-Return Pass, Mo was a sitting duck here and could not move at all. All Yang Kai had to do was extract power from the Yellow and Blue Crystals in his Small Universe and merge them into Purifying Light.
Back at the No-Return Pass, using the Small Stone Race Army to confront a Royal Lord was a surefire way to catch the other party off-guard, but the Small Stone Race provided a great advantage, and Yang Kai did not want to sacrifice them unless absolutely necessary.
The dazzling white light continued to flow out, depleting massive quantities of Yellow and Blue Crystals.
Yang Kai was not in a position to feel bad about using them now though. In any case, if he ran out, he could just go ask Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan for more.
He had never used Purifying Light this way before.
The two lights continued their struggle in the void, but despite giving it his all, Yang Kai failed to break through the Black Ink Strength’s blockade; it was as if the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had endless strength.
Thanks to Yang Kai’s efforts though, Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors in Wind Mist Territory immediately felt the pressure they were facing lighten. While they did not know what Yang Kai did, they could tell that he managed to draw most of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s focus to himself.
The two Ninth-Order Masters naturally did not hold back. World Force flowed freely as they worked together, and soon, the chains around the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm became a lot stronger.
This showdown lasted for almost an hour, which was long enough that two mountains’ worth of Yellow and Blue Crystals in Yang Kai’s Small Universe were expended. Even the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks on the back of his hands became burning hot.
Initially, Yang Kai had hoped that he could get rid of this Black Ink Giant Spirit God by using Purifying Light, but now that he tried it out for himself, he realised just how much of a dream that was.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s aura did weaken slightly, but by Yang Kai’s estimate, even if he used up all of his Yellow and Blue Crystals, it would still be insufficient to vanquish this opponent for good.
Moreover, if things carried on like this, Yang Kai could not be sure whether his Great Sun and Great Moon Marks could hold out. The burning sensation on the back of his hands was getting stronger and it felt as if his hands were about to explode.
Still, his actions were not futile. At the very least, with his help, the two Human Ninth-Order Masters managed to further suppress the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Yang Kai figured this attack would take the Black Ink Giant Spirit God at least 100 years to recover from.
[Perhaps I should come by now and then, to ease the burden of the two Old Ancestors…] Yang Kai thought to himself.
Since he could not get rid of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God for good, he did not persist any longer. He withdrew his two marks and stopped drawing strength from the Yellow and Blue Crystals.
The dazzling white light lingered for a moment longer before being completely enveloped by Black Ink Strength.
Yang Kai looked over at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, whose expression was gloomy. Darkness swirled around the giant figure that was undoubtedly furious.
It could have attacked Yang Kai if it had not been immobilised, but after a moment of silence, Mo simply asked, “Who did you send to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
Mo was still hung up on this question.
Yang Kai could not be bothered to entertain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and instead turned towards the passage as he called out, “Old Ancestors, rest assured, the Human Race won’t lose!”
He originally wanted to head over to Wind Mist Territory to check on the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, but he did not need to anymore.
With the two of them together, it was unlikely that the Black Ink Clan would try to stir up trouble with them, so there was no reason to be worried about their safety for the moment.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s voice replied, “Go ahead! As long as Wu Qing and I are still alive, this Black Ink Giant Spirit God won’t be able to leave the Barren Territory!”
Yang Kai nodded before smirking at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, “Stay strong, Mo. I’ll come back and see you in a few years.”
Mo glared at Yang Kai in fury without saying anything as it recognized this blatant threat!
Yet, it could not do anything about it.
Yang Kai laughed before his figure flickered and flew off.
Two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were held up inside the Barren Territory, and the only Royal Lord alive was standing guard over the No-Return Pass. Thus, the strongest Masters among the Black Ink Clan now were merely Innate Territory Lords.
The Humans suffered heavy casualties throughout the many years of crusades, but the Black Ink Clan fared no better. Many of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had readily chosen to sacrifice their lives for the sake of clearing the way for the next generation. Their sacrifice had given the Human Race a chance to grow stronger. The younger generation would inherit the responsibility of the older generation, and all would work selflessly towards their common goal.
Such was the Human Race’s determination!
With such Will, how could they possibly lose?
Furthermore, Yang Kai now had two World Tree clones with him. If he could find a suitable place to plant them, the Humans would then have two more Star Boundaries.
In the future, the 3,000 Worlds would surely belong to the Human Race!
There would come a time when the Black Ink Clan was completely wiped out, and order would be restored from chaos!
Yang Kai firmly believed this and was eagerly anticipating that day’s arrival.
…..
Profound Nether Territory was one of the dozen or so frontline Great Territories where the Humans were now fighting the Black Ink Clan. This Great Territory was named for Profound Nether Sect, a Second Class Great Force.
In the 3,000 Worlds, Profound Nether Sect was not a prominent one. In fact, it was not even as powerful as the Profound Abundant Sect that Yang Kai went to previously. The Profound Abundant Sect once had two Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among their ranks, but Profound Nether Sect only had one Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
However, based on the way the great forces in the 3,000 Worlds were classified, Profound Nether Sect was considered a Second Class great force and thus had the right to claim hegemony over a Great Territory.
If a Sect did not possess sufficient strength, then the Great Territory that belonged to that Sect would not be much either. Although there were quite a number of Universe Worlds within Profound Nether Territory, few were suitable for Human inhabitation, and those that were did not have very flourishing Martial Daos.
Second Class Great Force was a general term, and there was a wide disparity between those that fell under this classification. The top Second Class great forces would all have multiple Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, while the weakest of the Second Class great forces might only have one Fourth-Order Master.
Strong Great Forces naturally claimed the best Great Territories, so the weaker ones could only choose the places that few others wanted as their base.
Now that Profound Nether Territory was one of the frontline territories in the war against the Black Ink Clan though, the Human Race had deployed over a million Masters to this Great Territory.
This was an alarming number as the over a million fighters were all Open Heaven Realm Masters. Anyone below the Open Heaven Realm was simply not capable of fighting the Black Ink Clan and did not enter the battlefield. Even if a few over-eager Emperor Realm cultivators tried to force their way in, they would only end up becoming meaningless sacrifices.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, there were usually 30,000 – 40,000 soldiers posted at each Great Pass, all of them Fifth-Order Masters and above, which was simply incomparable to the grand Human Army in Profound Nether Territory.
Now that the Black Ink Clan launched a full-scale invasion of the 3,000 Worlds though, the Order requirement for Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting back was not as strict as it was once. Even First-Order and Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could join the battlefield to kill the enemy if they volunteered to.
Naturally, this decision came with its own set of risks as well. The lower the cultivator’s Order was, the easier it was for Black Ink Strength to corrupt them and turn them into Black Ink Disciples, which would only benefit the enemy.
However, Purifying Black Ink Pills greatly decreased the chances of this happening. As long as a Purifying Black Ink Pill was consumed before one fought the Black Ink Clan, then before the medicinal efficacies wore off, even First-Order and Second-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would not be corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
While this meant that the demand for Purifying Black Ink Pill ballooned, it was still good that more cultivators could join the fight.
As of now, the Human Race were mainly focusing on defending against the Black Ink Clan’s onslaught, unable to go on the offence.
This was the same across all the Great Territory battlefields.
Here at Profound Nether Territory, the Humans’ forward outpost was set up right in front of the rear Territory Gate. This way, it was convenient for them to guard the Territory Gate and prevent the Black Ink Clan from sneaking through. Apart from that, in the event of a defeat, the Human Army in Profound Nether Territory could still retreat through the Territory Gate and avoid being completely wiped out.
It could not be denied that such an arrangement had been done with a sense of sorrow and helplessness.
Alas, such was the situation that the Humans were in now. As things became more and more serious on the various battlefields, those at the Supreme Headquarters could not avoid planning for the possibility that the Humans might be defeated; thus, having the forward outpost right outside the Territory Gate was the best strategy.
Among the dozen or so Great Territory battlefields, the fight between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory was not the most intense, but it was still fraught with tension. The one-million-strong Army’s defence line had been quite long at first, but as the Black Ink Clan Army continued to press forward over the recent years, the front shrunk as well. Right now, the region that was under the Humans’ control was less than 30% of what they once had.
Once the Human Race Army retreated to a certain point, they would have no choice but to consider retreating from the Territory altogether, regardless of how reluctant the Humans in Profound Nether Territory were.
It would not be easy to organise the evacuation of over a million soldiers. The Human Race had to prepare their exit strategy in advance, or else, if they showed any signs of disorder, the Black Ink Clan would surely pounce and inflict massive losses.
Compared to the battles between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield, the Black Ink Clan’s invasion now had led to battle between the two sides becoming far more frequent and fierce.
Fights big and small broke out at every moment, and during each clash, both sides continued to suffer casualties.
At the moment, somewhere less than half a day’s journey away from the Humans’ forward outpost, the Humans and the Black Ink Clan were engaged in a relentless battle around a large Universe Fragment.
The Human Race had 300,000 soldiers stationed at this Universe Fragment, which was covered in countless arrays and artifacts to aid them against the Black Ink Clan’s attacks.
This battle had carried on for three months already.
Thanks to the arrays and artifacts installed on the Universe Fragment as well as a steady stream of reinforcements from the rear, the Human Race had managed to fend off the Black Ink Clan’s attacks over 100 times and killed countless Black Ink Clansmen.
That being said, just like the Human Race had reinforcements, the Black Ink Clan did too, and their numbers were far greater.
As of now, the Black Ink Clan occupied nearly all of the Great Territories in the 3,000 Worlds and had planted Black Ink Nests in all of their conquered land. As a result, the Black Ink Clan Army had an endless stream of new soldiers to throw into the war.
Even though many Hunters moved through these Great Territories and destroyed numerous Black Ink Nests, this barely made a dent in the number of Black Ink Nests there were.
No matter how many Low-Rank Black Ink Nests they destroyed, it was no use if the Humans did not destroy their source, which were the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. Each time the Human Race destroyed one Low-Rank Nest, the Black Ink Clan would immediately re-grow another, so it was merely an exercise in futility that wasted resources.
For the Black Ink Clan who currently occupied basically all of the 3,000 Worlds, they did not lack resources, and furthermore, they were receiving more from the Black Ink Battlefield as well.
The battle was particularly fierce just outside the Universe Fragment. Scores of Human Warships flew about as the light from Spirit Arrays and Secret Techniques shot out to push the Black Ink Clan Army back.
Atop the Universe Fragment, an imposing middle-aged man dressed in a set of golden armour sat cross-legged as he stared out into the battlefield with a look of concern.
The situation in Profound Nether Territory did not look good, but the Human Race could not afford to lose this battle in particular. If they did, then the Profound Nether Army would have no other place to retreat to. They would have to give up the entire Profound Nether Territory, and the Human Race would lose yet another one of their frontlines against the Black Ink Clan.
This outcome was hard for the Human Race to stomach, and a defeat here would surely cause a precipitous drop in morale.
However, the difference in strength between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan was clear, so how were they supposed to hold onto Profound Nether Territory?
The middle-aged man had no answer. He was not an expert in military strategy, what he excelled at was charging in and wreaking havoc! Yet, the situation was deeply worrying right now. Although he wanted to join the fight, his injuries were severe enough that he needed to rest and focus on healing right now, so he had to quell his itch to fight.
All of a sudden, a figure fell from the sky and landed near him. The man stumbled and coughed, blood dripping from the corner of his lips.
The middle-aged man turned to look, and the newcomer grinned, “Tending to your injuries, Old Wei?”
[Isn’t that obvious? Why would I be sitting here if I wasn’t tending to my injuries?] Wei Jun Yang snorted to himself, but as they were old friends, there was no reason to stick to formalities. After thinking briefly, Wei Jung Yang said, “Brother Ou Yang, just focus on healing yourself. Don’t force yourself to keep up.”
The person flashed a stubborn smile, “Don’t just pay attention to my injuries. That Territory Lord isn’t having a good time either! I was so close! I nearly bashed his head apart. Alas, what a shame!”
However, he did sit down cross-legged and stuffed a pill into his mouth.
If Yang Kai was here, he would have recognised the person that Wei Jun Yang addressed as Brother Ou Yang. It was Ou Yang Lie, the one he brought back from the Black Ink Battlefield a few decades ago.
They were all well-acquainted with each other as their paths crossed numerous times at Great Evolution Pass.
The two Eighth-Order Masters shared a preference for charging straight towards the enemy; thus, they got along well and had been friends for many years.
There were quite a few Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Profound Nether Territory as the one-million-strong Human Army was made up of the remnants of the Armies from over a dozen Human Great Passes that fought on the Black Ink Battlefield.
This included Great Battle Pass and Great Evolution Pass.
Wei Jun Yang was the Army Commander of the Eastern Army at Great Battle Pass.
Over the past 500 or so years, the Human Race Armies of the various Great Passes had gone through battles at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the No-Return Pass, and the Barren Territory. These three major wars greatly depleted the Human Race’s reserves.
Thus, when the Human Race retreated to High Heaven Territory and the Star Boundary, the various Great Pass Armies were disbanded and reorganized into Armies named after the dozen or so Great Territory battlefields.
The army here at Profound Nether Territory was the Profound Nether Army.
If they failed to hold their ground in Profound Nether Territory, then the Profound Nether Army would be broken up and re-distributed to the other Armies.
Right now, Wei Jung Yang and Ou Yang Lie were both Commanders in the Profound Nether Army. As long as no Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master showed up, the veteran Eighth-Order Army Commanders would remain in charge.
They were not the only Army Commanders here though as there were several other Eighth-Order Masters who held such a rank.
After quietly tending to their injuries for a while, Ou Yang Lie abruptly said, “It’s hard to fight against these Innate Territory Lords.”
Compared to the Territory Lords they were used to facing on the Black Ink Battlefield, these Innate Territory Lords that came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction were far stronger.
Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, Ou Yang Lie could kill average Territory Lords if he pushed himself to his limits, though he would suffer serious injuries in the process.
However, when facing off against Innate Territory Lords whose powers were on par with his, even his most fervent attacks did not achieve similar results.
Earlier on the battlefield, he was clashing with an Innate Territory Lord for quite some time, but in the end, both of them were heavily injured and had to withdraw to tend to their injuries.
Ou Yang Lie and Wei Jung Yang both ranked among the strongest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so if this was the case for them, then it was not hard to imagine the pressure the ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters faced.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were generally stronger than Territory Lords, but now, the positions had been flipped.
“That’s to be expected,” Wei Jung Yang nodded coolly, “It’s said that the Innate Territory Lords are born straight from the Black Ink Nests and possess a trace of Mo’s Source. They are born with immense strength, but have to sacrifice their future for it.”
Innate Territory Lords could not become Royal Lords because all their potential was exhausted from the moment they were created, but due to this, they possessed great strength from the moment they came to be and could stand toe to toe against the Human Race’s most powerful Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“I know that. I just don’t like it!” Ou Yang Lie grumbled.
Humans had to work hard and spend countless years to become Eighth-Order Masters. Along the way, they had to brave numerous risks and perils; however, the Black Ink Clan did not have the same problem. A High-Rank Black Ink Nest could give birth to numerous Innate Territory Lords, all they needed was sufficient resources.
Although Ou Yang Lie considered the Black Ink Clan his mortal enemy, he had to admit that their method of creating new Masters was an unsolvable conundrum.
After a moment of silence, Ou Yang Lie asked, “What did those at the Supreme Headquarters say?”
Wei Jun Yang sighed, “They said that if the Profound Nether Army can’t hold out against the enemy, we need to start making preparations to evacuate.”
“Retreating again!” Ou Yang Lie’s expression hardened as he snarled, “We’ve gone from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to the No-Return Pass, from the No-Return Pass to the Barren Territory, and then from the Barren Territory to here. Why are we retreating further still? Will there be any space for the Human Race to survive in if we keep retreating like this? What are Big Head Mi and Big Head Xiang doing!? Aren’t they supposed to be the best strategists!? Can’t they think of a way to ease the situation here!? Sooner or later, I’m going to tear their heads off and kick them around like a ball!”
Wei Jun Yang shook his head, “It’s not a failing on the Army’s part if we can’t stand against the Black Ink Clan. You know the situation that we’re in right now. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if the Profound Nether Army evacuates. The battles in the other Great Territories are just as intense and worrying. If the Profound Nether Army breaks up into smaller units to support the other Great Territories, we might be able to stabilize the situation. My guess is the Supreme Headquarters is considering giving up on Profound Nether Territory because the other Great Territories can benefit from it.”
Ou Yang Lie snorted, “Is that the so-called making sacrifices for the greater good? Don’t listen to that nonsense. If they can give up on Profound Nether Territory today, they can give up on Heavenly Wolf Territory tomorrow, and what about the day after tomorrow? Are they going to give up on Twin Poles Territory too? Why don’t we just give up on all the Great Territories? Everyone can just hide inside High Heaven Territory and gather all of the Human Race’s strength together. I’m sure the Black Ink Clan won’t be able to force their way in then.”
Wei Jung Yang eyed him and said, “You and I both know that what you just said might very well happen!”
Ou Yang Lie’s expression twitched as he knew that it was a possibility… but still, he was unwilling!
After centuries of retreating and evacuating, even their spirits had left as well! He did not want to retreat anymore!
“What about our reinforcements? The Profound Nether Army has a million people, but there are only 300,000 here. Where is the rest of the Army?” Ou Yang Lie asked.
Although he was one of the Profound Nether Army Commanders, he was a man of action and not someone who could be left in charge of strategy and logistics. When the battle started, all he cared about was fighting the enemy. He did not care about plans or the bigger picture. The way he saw it, why make complicated strategies when you can just kill off all the enemies and be done with it?
Thus, Ou Yang Lie did not know much about what was happening with the overall Profound Nether Army.
Wei Jun Yang sighed once more, “Although there were a million of us in the Profound Nether Army at the start, over the years of battle, many have died. We now have just over 700,000 left. Some of them need to stand guard at the forward outpost at the Territory Gate, and some need to fend off the Black Ink Clan at the various bases, so we… won’t be getting any reinforcements.”
Ou Yang Lie opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, all he could do was curse at the situation.
“However, I’ve sent a message to the Supreme Headquarters and requested that they deploy the Divine Spirits to aid us. Judging by how many days it has been, they should be arriving soon.”
“Divine Spirits…” Ou Yang Lie raised his brow.
There were many Divine Spirits who fought alongside the Human Race now. Apart from the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, which had stood guard at the No-Return Pass, there was also a large group of Divine Spirits who came from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. What’s more, just over a decade ago, some 100 Divine Spirits suddenly appeared outside the Star Boundary, which gave the Human Race Masters who were on guard there a huge fright.
These Divine Spirits were strange as they had appeared out of nowhere. They did not come from the No-Return Pass nor the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
After making contact, the Divine Spirits specifically stated that they wanted to talk to a woman named Hua Qing Si from High Heaven Palace.
High Heaven Palace dared not do anything to slight them and Hua Qing Si immediately came forward, finally figuring out that it was Yang Kai who convinced these Divine Spirits and sent them over from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary to aid them.
The Human Race cheered when they heard this news.
They did not have enough combat power right now, so the sudden appearance of over 100 Divine Spirits was undoubtedly a great boost.
Everyone thought that they would be a powerful backup for the Army; however, no one would have expected that upon arriving at the Star Boundary, these Divine Spirits were not interested in standing with the Human Race in battle. Instead, they remained inside the Star Boundary and threw their weight around haughtily.
In the end, Fu Guang, who had been tending to his injuries, had to come out and teach them a harsh lesson before they restrained themselves.
Following that, Hua Qing Si acted as a mediator and communicated with the Divine Spirits who came from Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Eventually, they were willing to help the Human Race, but they refused to listen to anyone’s orders. If the Humans needed their help, the Human Race had to discuss the situation with them in advance and they reserved the right to refuse.
While the process had been difficult, the 100 or so Divine Spirits were still a force that could not be overlooked.
Now, all Divine Spirits had been separated into several teams, not standing guard over any one battlefield and instead being deployed by the Supreme Headquarters to any of the battlefields that needed aid. This way, the Divine Spirits’ utility was maximised.
There had been several times when the Human Race’s defence lines in various frontline Great Territories had nearly been overrun when the Divine Spirits showed up and managed to turn the tide. Thus, one could say that the Divine Spirits played an essential part in moments of crises that allowed the Human Race to maintain their current lines.
Therefore, when Ou Yang Lie heard that Wei Jun Yang had already sent word to the Supreme Headquarters to ask for help from the Divine Spirits, he felt a lot less worried.
However, he quickly started having concerns again and asked, “The Divine Spirits who’re coming won’t be the ones who came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, right?”
Those Divine Spirits were a lot less reliable than the ones from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass.
Wei Jun Yang shook his head, “I’m not sure. There aren’t many Divine Spirits, only six teams in total, and it’s those at the Supreme Headquarters who have to decide which one to send to us.”
The two were still talking when something changed on the battlefield. Although the Human Race was under great pressure, they were still able to maintain a balance with the Black Ink Clan. However, all of a sudden, over 10 incredibly powerful auras burst out on the battlefield. The Human Race Army was caught off-guard and multiple Warships exploded one after the other. Open Heaven Realm Masters were slaughtered as well, and the Black Ink Clan swarmed in from over a dozen different directions.
Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie who had been tending to their injuries immediately got to their feet with stormy expressions.
“What are those people at the Supreme Headquarters doing!?” Ou Yang Lie ranted, “Why didn’t we get any news that over a dozen Territory Lords were coming over?”
Although there was a disparity in numbers between the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Territory Lords on the Profound Nether Territory battlefield, it was only a slight difference and both parties were fully aware of each other’s strength. However, the dozen plus auras that suddenly appeared were all unfamiliar, which meant that they were new and had not been seen on this battlefield before.
While over a dozen Territory Lords was not necessarily a high number, they were all Innate Territory Lords, and with the element of surprise on their side, it was quite possible for them to break through the defence lines.
Wei Jung Yang’s expression was also dark as he quickly said, “Perhaps they did not come from other territories. Every now and then, some Territory Lords disappear after suffering heavy injuries. Those at the Supreme Headquarters have guessed that they might have gone back to the No-Return Pass to heal as they have many High-Rank Black Ink Nests there, which makes it easier for them to rapidly recover. There’s a high chance that these Territory Lords… came from the No-Return Pass.”
Both parties were stuck in a deadlock across all the various battlefields, so if over a dozen Innate Territory Lords left any one of the frontlines, there was no way that the Supreme Headquarters would not have noticed.
Since the Supreme Headquarters did not send out any warnings, it meant that they did not know about the presence of these Territory Lords either.
It was quite likely that these dozen or so Territory Lords came from the No-Return Pass. It was clear that they swarmed here because they wanted to break the Profound Nether Territory’s defence perimeter and claim the whole Great Territory for themselves.
The two Eighth-Order Army Commanders could not spare any more time to tend to their injuries and immediately shot off into the sky, each of them heading for one of the newly appeared Territory Lords.
At the same time, Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from all directions shot out as well.
Both Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie knew full well that this might very well be the end of the battle here in Profound Nether Territory. The support of over a dozen Innate Territory Lords was enough for the Black Ink Clan to overrun the Profound Nether Army’s defence lines.
Under these circumstances, the Profound Nether Army could not even retreat, for if they did, the newly reinforced enemy would surely hit them from behind and inflict heavy casualties. Their only option now was to push back the Black Ink Clan at risk of their lives, trying to open up a window to evacuate.
This time, it had to be a fight to the death!
The Human Race had encountered this situation far too many times though; thus, even though the crisis had been sudden, the Human Army did not panic or back down.
In the next instant, Masters from both sides began clashing. With the support of a dozen more Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan Army instantly gained the advantage and began pushing into the Human lines. Countless flashes of light sparked across the void in bursts of varied colours.
In less than half a day, 30% of the 300,000-strong Human Race Army had died, and two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had died as well.
Although the two Eighth-Order Masters had given it their all before their death, they only managed to severely wound their opponents.
None of the Innate Territory Lords had died!
The loss of the two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sent the Human Race Army into a frenzy.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Ou Yang Lie spat out mouthfuls of blood, but he showed no signs of retreating. He kept attacking again and again; however, he was already injured and could not exert his full strength, so how could he best an Innate Territory Lord?
Fortunately, Ou Yang Lie’s ferocity managed to make the Innate Territory Lord he was facing somewhat hesitant; if that had not been the case, the latter would have killed Ou Yang Lie by now.
That being said, the Territory Lord was in no rush. The Humans were on the verge of collapse and the Black Ink Clan was sure to come out victorious, so the Territory Lord had no reason to risk his neck in this fight against Ou Yang Lie. Even if he just dragged the fight out, his side would still win!
Not to mention the fact that there were more Territory Lords than there were Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. The Black Ink Clan had the absolute advantage here.
After more fierce battling, the Territory Lord abruptly shot a menacing smirk at Ou Yang Lie, whose heart jolted at the sight as he had a foreboding feeling.
Just then, a piercing murderous intent came at him from the side, and the Territory Lord in front of him charged towards him as well.
At this life-or-death moment, Ou Yang Lie did not choose to back away. He charged forward and spat a mouthful of Blood Essence on his weapon which instantly glowed brightly.
As the two passed each other, blood spewed out of Ou Yang Lie’s chest, and at the same time, a deep gash appeared on the Territory Lord’s neck. It was so deep that bone was visible and Ou Yang Lie’s Sword Intent lingered around the wound.
The Territory Lord’s expression darkened. Earlier, he had nearly died to his opponent’s blade. It was true that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not be underestimated.
Ou Yang Lie slowly turned around and looked at his opponent who had another Innate Territory Lord beside him now. It was the one who had snuck up on him just now.
As it was, Ou Yang Lie could barely hold his own in a one-on-one fight, let alone if he had to fight two of them.
[What a pity!]
Ou Yang Lie sighed lamentably to himself. If he had managed to kill his first opponent just now, his death would not have been in vain; but now, it was unlikely that he would have the chance to do so.
He looked around and saw Wei Jun Yang fending off two enemies despite his injuries. He was at a great disadvantage, and many of the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were in similarly hopeless situations.
How many of the Profound Nether Army could survive this battle today?
Ou Yang Lie’s vision was blurred by the blood dripping down his face, but he could still see that the two Territory Lords did not want to waste any more time and were charging at him together.
“Want to kill me, huh? One of you is coming down with me!” Ou Yang Lie laughed maniacally as the blade in his hand shattered into a burst of light that exploded across the void.
This was an artifact that he had cultivated for many years, and now that it was shattering on purpose, the sudden surge of power it released was quite terrifying.
The two Territory Lords who were charging at Ou Yang Lie sensed danger and immediately moved backwards while he seized this chance to go forward. He had his eye on his first opponent and launched a flurry of attacks that left his opponent in tatters.
Alas, that was all he could do!
After his attack, Ou Yang Lie’s strength swiftly diminished, and the very next moment, he was a shadow of his previous imposing self. The two Territory Lords noticed this and knew that their opportunity had come. Both began unleashing their Secret Techniques, and a series of terrifying Divine Abilities came straight at him.
Ou Yang Lie’s body moved slightly as he wanted to avoid the attacks but did not have the strength to do so. He could only sigh and resign himself to this. In a way, this was preferable for him. Over the last few centuries, the Human Race was forced to retreat again and again, driving him to the limit of his tolerance. Perhaps dying in battle was a better option than slinking away in defeat.
The constant overexertion had left Ou Yang Lie in a bit of a daze, so when a voice called out from nearby, he wasn’t sure if he was hearing things or not.
“Exile!”
A deep voice rang out, and Ou Yang Lie’s figure became hazy as if he no longer existed. The two Innate Territory Lords’ attacks flew straight through Ou Yang Lie’s body and the enormous strength shook the Void, causing Ou Yang Lie to cough up a mouthful of blood, but he was not dead.
As the Territory Lords reacted in shock, a dense murderous intent fell over them.
A great distance away, a golden light broke through the void like a shooting star, weaving through the battlefield from the rear of the Black Ink Clan Army, and wherever it passed, the Black Ink Clan lines collapsed.
In the blink of an eye, the golden light was right in front of them. Profound and mysterious strengths swirled as the glow of a spear swiftly enlarged within the vision of one of the Territory Lords.
The Territory Lord was terrified by the murderous intent that enveloped him. He wanted to fight back, but all of a sudden he felt a piercing pain in his head. Pain wracked his entire body as his Black Ink Strength no longer circulated properly.
In the next instant, the spear covered in multi-coloured light pierced through the head of the powerful Innate Territory Lord, causing his life aura to immediately swell up before bursting apart and dissipating!
All of this only took a single breath, causing the other Territory Lord’s expression to stiffen. He looked over and finally saw a young man with a cold look in his eyes withdrawing his spear. At the same time, the air seemed to quiver and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had been on the verge of death immediately disappeared, seemingly sent off somewhere.
The Territory Lord locked eyes with the young man who snapped icily, “What have you all been doing while I was gone?”
While he spoke, space seemed to freeze, and the Innate Territory Lord felt as if he was about to meet his doom. [A Ninth-Order Human Master!? Wasn’t it said that the only two left were held up somewhere else!?]
Where did this Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master come from?
However, upon closer inspection, the Territory Lord noticed that his opponent only had the aura of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, which only confused him further; after all, how could a mere Eighth-Order Human kill an Innate Territory Lord in one blow?
Ou Yang Lie suddenly appeared on top of the Universe Fragment at the frontlines of Profound Nether Territory, covered in blood and in complete disarray. Even his aura was in total disorder.
The intense battles against the Innate Territory Lords seemed to have exhausted all of his energy. His mind was dazed and his head felt heavy. He was on the verge of losing consciousness at any moment and he figured it would take over a year for him to recover from his ghastly injuries.
He should be celebrating his escape from the clutches of death, but he had no clue how he managed to survive and why he ended up here.
However, a theory soon formed in his mind when he recalled the familiar voice he heard earlier.
Thus, he gathered all the strength he could muster and looked out into the void.
Immediately, he saw a familiar figure who was battling the Innate Territory Lord who had snuck up on him earlier.
[It really is that Brat!!] Ou Yang Lie was thunderstruck.
Moments ago, he had already come to terms with his impending death, yet in that life-and-death moment, space around him warped. He sensed that he had somehow merged with the Void at that instant, allowing him to survive the attacks from two Territory Lords.
[Space Secret Technique!]
He knew that Yang Kai was the only one who could do this. Yang Kai also had to be the reason why he suddenly appeared on this Universe Fragment. [That Brat must’ve used his Space Secret Technique to move me here!]
[It’s good that he came!]
Ou Yang Lie exhaled slowly before collapsing to the ground, no longer able to hold himself up anymore. All his strength seemed to evaporate at that moment.
As he watched the Innate Territory Lord scrambling around the battlefield to dodge Yang Kai’s fierce attacks, a strange feeling formed in his heart.
[When did I start feeling a sense of relief whenever this Brat shows up?] It felt as if the Humans would surely emerge victorious if Yang Kai was here.
Ou Yang Lie chuckled at the thought of how old men like him seemed so useless. Despite their millennia of cultivation, in the end, they had to rely on a younger generation when it came down to it.
Yang Kai had saved him twice now if he included what happened back at the No-Return Pass!
“Honoured Master, take this pill!” All of a sudden, a voice called out behind Ou Yang Lie.
Ou Yang Lie turned around and saw his treasured Disciple limping over to him with a bottle raised, one that contained valuable Spirit Pills.
Gong Lian was severely injured as well. There was a large gash across his abdomen that had nearly cut him in half. He would not have retreated from the fight if it had not been for such grave injuries.
Ou Yang Lie glanced at his Disciple’s sorry state before glancing at Yang Kai’s magnificence on the battlefield and could not help but exclaim with a sigh, “How useless!”
This Disciple of his was someone whose talents surpassed many others. He would not have taken Gong Lian in if that had not been the case. Gong Lian was now a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after Ou Yang Lie took him under his wing and put a lot of thought and effort into training him. While Gong Lian was indeed a remarkable talent, that was still nothing in comparison to Yang Kai’s achievements.
[Why did I not consider taking Yang Kai as my Disciple?]
Gong Lian had purposely come over to give his Honoured Master some medicine. He thought that this would lead to a touching moment between the Master and Disciple, so he did not expect to be criticized in such a manner instead and felt rather aggrieved, “Honoured Master, the speed of this Disciple’s cultivation is already fast enough.”
It took him 200 years to become an Emperor, another 100 years to condense his Dao Seal, and yet another 100 years to break through directly to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Then, in less than 1,000 years, he became a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. All in all, he had only been cultivating for about 1,500 years.
Few people in all the 3,000 Worlds became Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at such a young age.
However, Gong Lian’s Honoured Master just called him useless. The comment made him feel as if he had been stabbed in the heart.
“Haa… never mind. Not everyone is a freak like that Brat. I can’t demand it of you,” Ou Yang Lie sighed once more before taking the Spirit Pill from Gong Lian and consuming it. If his Disciple was considered a genius, then Yang Kai was the most extraordinary genius among all geniuses.
Gong Lian eked out a faint smile, but he felt even more crushed on the inside.
Just then, they sensed the death of yet another Innate Territory Lord. Ou Yang Lie turned to look before loudly exclaiming, “Astonishing!”
As expected, Yang Kai had killed the Innate Territory Lord who snuck up on Ou Yang Lie earlier.
It had not even been 30 breaths of time since Yang Kai’s appearance, but in that short span, he had killed two powerful Innate Territory Lords.
Ou Yang Lie had a feeling that Yang Kai was even stronger now than he was back when they met at the No-Return Pass.
“Look over there, Honoured Master!” Gong Lian noticed something unusual and pointed it out.
Ou Yang Lie followed Gong Lian’s gaze and noticed that the rear of the Black Ink Clan Army was in chaos. A series of Great Suns and Great Moons illuminated the darkness. Under the glare of these lights, countless strange creatures were attacking the Black Ink Clan Army from the back which caused their formation to crumble.
“Small Stone Race!” Ou Yang Lie’s eyes brightened as he quickly figured out that Yang Kai must have brought these creatures here.
In general, the Human Race Masters did know that Yang Kai had many Small Stone Race soldiers with him; after all, the Small Stone Race found in all the various battlefields were handed out by Yang Kai previously.
There were even some Small Stone Race soldiers here in Profound Nether Territory, though their numbers were fairly small. After so many years of fighting, a significant number of the Small Stone Race that Yang Kai had given away back then had died.
The Small Stone Race was useful when it came to dealing with the Black Ink Clan, but they had their weaknesses too. They were hard to control and varied greatly in strength.
Based on the fighting prowess of each of the Races’ armies, when the numbers were equal, the Humans were stronger than the Black Ink Clan, but the Black Ink Clan was a lot stronger than the Small Stone Race.
Therefore, although the number of Small Stone Race was tremendous, many were sacrificed in each battle.
Those at the Supreme Headquarters ran the numbers half a year ago. In total, Yang Kai had given away approximately 40 million Small Stone Race soldiers; however, only about 17 million of them were still alive right now. The remaining 23 million had been slaughtered by the Black Ink Clan.
The loss of 23 million in just a few decades of fighting was deeply alarming. The Human Race would have long been driven to extinction if they suffered such casualties.
There were just over a million Small Stone Race soldiers in Profound Nether Territory; thus, including the one-million-strong Human Army, there were about two million soldiers.
That being said, only 400,000 of the Small Stone Race were deployed to the frontlines of the battlefield while the rest were spread out across the various auxiliary fronts, including the forward outpost.
If that had not been the case, just the 300,000 Humans here might not have been enough to hold the frontlines of the battlefield.
After the fierce battle, it was quite likely that most of the 400,000 Small Stone Race would be sacrificed.
Nevertheless, right now, countless Great Suns and Great Moons were streaking across the sky behind the Black Ink Clan Army, their blinding light illuminating nearly half of Profound Nether Territory.
How many Small Stone Race soldiers did it take for such a display? Millions? Tens of millions?
Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple did not know for sure, but they were certain about one thing. The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory was in serious trouble!
“Come with me! Let’s charge out at our enemies once more!” Ou Yang Lie’s fervour for battle bubbled up once more, but as he stood up, blood gushed out of his wounds.
Gong Lian jumped in fright, “Don’t do anything reckless, Honoured Master! You’re severely injured right now and can barely exert a tenth of your strength! How can you possibly join the fight? You should be focusing on tending to your injuries right now!”
Ou Yang Lie smacked Gong Lian across the head, “Enough of your nonsense. I know very well what my condition is like right now. I can’t kill any Territory Lords, but I can still kill a few Feudal Lords! Hurry up!”
Saying so, he rushed off without a moment’s hesitation.
Gong Lian was speechless, but since his Honoured Master had rejoined the battle, he could only follow along behind him.
The changes on the battlefield, which included the sudden emergence of a massive Small Stone Race Army behind the Black Ink Clan, caused the entire flow of the battle to change. What’s more, the death of two Innate Territory Lords in a burst of golden light had caught everyone’s attention.
With this sudden change of fortunes, the Black Ink Clan was fully aware that a powerful Master had come to aid the Humans, a Master who could kill Territory Lords as if they were random chickens or dogs.
The other Territory Lords were both shocked and furious. The Black Ink Clan had been planning this operation in Profound Nether Territory for some time now and had even secretly sent out the over a dozen Territory Lords for this purpose. They were right on the cusp of success, but none of them expected a sudden twist at the critical moment. None of the Territory Lords could accept this outcome.
As the streaks of powerful Divine Sense weaved through the void, the Territory Lords could not decide whether to retreat or to continue the attack.
Before they could discuss what to do though, the aura of yet another Territory Lord swelled up before vanishing.
When they looked at where the aura had vanished, they saw the same Eighth-Order Master standing tall with his eyes sweeping across the battlefield condescendingly.
A third Territory Lord had been killed!
All three Territory Lords had been killed in less than a half cup of tea’s time.
The Territory Lords could not hesitate any longer. They were deathly afraid that they would be the next to fall, so they immediately shouted for their forces to retreat.
After receiving the order from the Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan Army started withdrawing.
Naturally, the experienced Human Race Army could tell what was happening, so even without an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s command, the soldiers began chasing down the retreating enemy. All at once, the Black Ink Clan Army was in the unfortunate predicament of being sandwiched between the Human and Small Stone Race Armies.
Yang Kai’s figure continued flickering across the battlefield as well. Wherever his spear passed, Black Ink Clan soldiers met their demise.
He no longer targeted the Territory Lords, not because he did not want to, but because he could not.
Yang Kai had already reached his limit after using Soul Rending Thorns thrice in a short span of time. Right now, his Soul was cracked and in great agony. If he tried to use another Soul Rending Thorn, he could very well lose consciousness, just like he had back at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon.
If he did not use a Soul Rending Thorn, then with his current strength, it would be hard for him to kill an Innate Territory Lord who was determined to escape.
Since that was the case, he started slaughtering the other Black Ink Clan soldiers instead.
Attacked from two sides, the Black Ink Clan Army suffered calamitous casualties, but since the Small Stone Race only acted according to their instincts, while they were courageous on the battlefield, they employed no form of strategy.
It was fairly easy for the Black Ink Clan Army to break through the Small Stone Race’s siege with just a few sacrifices.
The tides had changed in a flash for the Human Race who were on the brink of doom just moments ago. The void was thick with World Force as the light from all sorts of Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques blazed across the battlefield.
The Human Race were victorious in this battle!
Now, it was only a matter of how many of their enemies they could destroy today.
The Eighth-Order Masters were truly glad and relieved that victory was theirs. Just an hour ago, it seemed certain that the Human Race would lose. They were already considering sacrificing all the remaining Small Stone Race soldiers to buy time for the Human Race’s evacuation, but everything changed with the arrival of one person.
In a flash, the Human Race Army and the Small Stone Race grouped together as they pursued the Black Ink Clan for several million kilometres, slaughtering them as they went.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s heart jolted and he turned his head as he sensed a familiar aura coming from a certain direction.
He swiftly leapt across the Void, and in the next instant, he appeared before a certain Warship. As he looked up, he was greeted by several familiar faces, including some that looked coquettish, some glamorous, and some dignified…
Those on the Warship had been alarmed by the sudden appearance of this figure, but once they took a good look at him, their hearts settled back into place.
A gentle expression settled on Yang Kai’s face as he smiled at these people.
The cultivators onboard this Warship were all women with not a single man in sight. They were a true female army, and most of them had intimate relationships with Yang Kai.
Earlier on, he rushed over because he sensed their auras.
All at once, Yang Kai’s heart was flooded with yearning. His mind raced with all that he longed to say to them, but in the end, all he said was a simple greeting, “I’m back!”
Yes, he was back.
It had been around 1,000 years since he left Black Territory, and now, he was finally back. It was nearly 5,000 years since then if he included the time he spent in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon.
While it was a pity that he did not return triumphant, at least he was back!
Yang Kai dreamt of this moment countless times during the crusade against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield, and at last, his dream had come true.
Yu Ru Meng immediately rushed forward in agitation and Yang Kai opened his arms as he waited for her to fly into his embrace…
However, the Charm Demon Saint simply brushed past Yang Kai and sent forth a Divine Ability that battered the fleeing Black Ink Clan soldiers in the distance.
Yu Ru Meng’s cultivation had reached the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm now!
“Enough of that nonsense. Our priority now is to kill the enemy!”
Yang Kai wore the most awkward expression possible as he stood frozen on the spot with his hands outstretched.
This was not what he had been expecting!
[It has been 1,000 years since your Husband left. Now that he’s back, shouldn’t you all be crying tears of joy and throwing yourselves at me? Shouldn’t we be enjoying the sorely missed warmth and loving embrace? What’s going on? Why are you ignoring my presence instead?]
Meanwhile, Su Yan and Ji Yao who were in front of him were frozen as well. Their eyes reddened, but before they could say anything, Yu Ru Meng called out firmly, “Su Yan, Yao’er, Luo’er, come with me. Yue’er, Hua Shang, Wan’er, Qing’er, you all will form a team as well! Proceed with caution!”
The women’s expressions became solemn when they heard this and the others swiftly rushed forward as the eight women formed two groups before charging out of the Warship.
They formed two Four Symbols Formations, which was the simplest Battle Formation that was commonly used on the Black Ink Battlefield as all it required was sufficient numbers in the same Order. Yang Kai had also used this Battle Formation with other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Dawn on occasion. While it was a simple Battle Formation, it allowed the cultivators to cover each other’s backs and combine their strengths. Thus, it was incredibly useful in the chaos of the battlefield.
There were only 10 people onboard the Warship, so now that eight of them left, only two remained.
“Greetings, Sect Master!” Luan Bai Feng, one of the last two, bowed elegantly.
Yang Kai nodded with the sternness that befitted his position as the Sect Master and waved his hand, “At ease.”
Alas, it seemed his subordinates were more reliable…
As for the Madams… They seemed to be showing signs of rebellion. However, Yang Kai could understand their reactions; after all, he did basically abandon them for 1,000 years. It was not surprising that they were upset about it.
These women had every reason to react the way they did.
“Young Master…” Yue He called out with a choked voice.
Yang Kai walked over and stroked her head with a smile, “Good. You’re a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now. I see that you didn’t neglect your cultivation.”
Yue He was not the only one who was now in the Seventh Order; in fact, all 10 women aboard this Warship were in the Seventh Order!
It was not unexpected in the case of Yue He and Luan Bai Feng. They were already in the Sixth Order when Yang Kai left, and during this time, neither Void Land nor High Heaven Palace lacked the resources for cultivation. There was also a World Tree clone in the Star Boundary as well. For those in the Open Heaven Realm like Yue He and Luan Bai Feng, the clone’s feedback effects did not give them any boost to their innate talent, but the environment still boosted their cultivation speed.
Yu Ru Meng and Yang Kai’s other Wives had directly become Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and a number had even become Disciples of Ancestors from the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Naturally, their cultivation would rapidly increase since they did not lack the resources or guidance they needed.
This team of 10 consisted entirely of people Yang Kai trusted implicitly, so it was clear that someone had arranged this on purpose.
No other Squad could possess such a luxurious lineup. If 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters joined forces, they were even able to face off against a Territory Lord for some time.
This was probably the reason why none of these women showed any signs of serious injury.
Of course, there was another reason for this as well. Their Warship was a little unique, and Yang Kai sensed it as soon as he came over.
Based on age alone, Yue He was much older than Yang Kai; after all, she had already been a veteran Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master when she first met him.
However, the moment Yang Kai stroked her head, she could not stop her tears from flowing as she stared at him with a teary-eyed smile.
“Kill!” Yu Ru Meng shouted fiercely from in front of the Warship. She did not hold back at all as she mercilessly slaughtered the Black Ink Clan.
[Smelly man! How can he still be getting all sentimental at a time like this? Does he not know the meaning of the word ‘death’?!]
Yang Kai bowed, “Senior, you must’ve had a hard time all these years. Many thanks for your care.”
The Warship trembled slightly as an old voice rang out with a slightly teasing tone, “This Old Master didn’t have to do much. You’re the one… who must work hard from now on.”
This was not a true Warship but rather one of Bi Xi’s Soul Clones.
Naturally, this clone did not possess the full strength of Bi Xi’s true body, but it was similar in strength to a veteran Seventh-Order Master, so it was not weak by any means.
Furthermore, Bi Xi was most proficient in defence. It would not be easy for Yu Ru Meng and the rest to encounter any form of trouble as they had the protection of such a Warship.
These 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were paired with one of Bi Xi’s Soul Clones, and this combination was enough for them to fear nothing on the battlefield if they did not target the Innate Territory Lords.
Yang Kai did not know who the Commanders were for the Army here, but it had to be people who were well acquainted with him and knew about his importance. That was why they made these special arrangements for his family.
Thus, Yang Kai made a note of the favour they had done for him.
Yang Kai then turned around and said, “We’ll catch up later. Please take over, Senior!”
That was all Yang Kai said before he rushed out in a flash. He did not focus on helping Yu Ru Meng and the others and instead charged forward with his spear in hand.
Under the looming shadow of this spear, the Black Ink Clan who were trying to flee were shredded like paper. Occasionally, some would survive the onslaught from Yang Kai, but Yu Ru Meng and the others who were following behind would easily deal with them.
The Human Race Army and the Small Stone Race both chased down the retreating Black Ink Clan, turning the once-contested battlefield into a meat grinder filled with mournful screams and furious roars.
“Withdraw!” All of a sudden, a piercing call echoed across the battlefield.
The Humans, who had been fervently hunting down their enemies, finally stopped. They could not continue chasing down the Black Ink Clan anymore, lest they stretch themselves too thin and suffer serious losses from a sudden counterattack. Still, they had already dealt a crushing blow to the Black Ink Clan Army in Profound Nether Territory, making this a triumphant victory.
They could not destroy the Black Ink Clan in one blow, and if they forced the Black Ink Clan into fighting back out of desperation, the Humans would also suffer greatly. Thus, withdrawing after gaining some benefits was the optimal strategy.
Yu Ru Meng and the others swiftly returned to the Warship, all of them breathing heavily and covered in sweat with visible streaks of blood on their clothes. It was evident that they had suffered some injuries in this battle.
No one could guarantee that they would remain unscathed in the chaos of the battlefield as accidents would always happen.
Yang Kai did not return to the Warship right away and instead used his Great Sun and Great Moon Marks to gather the surviving Small Stone Race Army first before rejoining the others. However, no one paid any attention to him. Yue He wanted to talk to him, but a glare from Yu Ru Meng forced her to remain still.
[Haa… All is not well within the family!] Yang Kai lamented to himself as he watched these women sitting down cross-legged, none of them showing any signs of wanting to talk to him. He could not help but miss his gentlest Little Senior Sister.
[If Little Senior Sister was here, she wouldn’t ignore me like this…]
Although he did not see Xia Ning Chang, he knew that she would not be here on the battlefield as her specialty was not fighting. Alchemy was her strong suit.
The Human Race Army’s need for all kinds of Spirit Pills was enormous, so Alchemists like Little Senior Sister had to remain behind in safety to refine Spirit Pills for those on the frontlines.
The Human Race could not afford to lose such talents, so the higher-ups would never allow them to join the battlefield unless there was no other choice.
As the Army retreated, numerous Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters passed by, but they merely nodded to Yang Kai in greeting and showed no intention of coming over.
It was clear that they knew what Yang Kai’s relationship with the women on this Warship was. Since it was his first time reuniting with them, he would have a lot to talk about with his Madams. They were not obtuse enough to disturb him now.
However, they were also puzzled by what they saw. Something was amiss about the atmosphere on the Warship. While there was no fighting, it felt as if the Warship was a frigid purgatory, causing many of them to shudder lightly…
They were also secretly exclaiming over the luck Yang Kai had with love, for he had so many Wives who were all High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. They were truly envious of him.
Bi Xi’s quiet chuckle sounded, as if he was enjoying the show. Luan Bai Feng was also glancing around at the others as she stood by the side. She was the only outsider among this group, but she did not treat herself as one. Instead, she was taking in the strange atmosphere in amusement.
Everyone else was tending to their injuries; thus, Yang Kai joined them awkwardly by sitting down cross-legged and stuffing a fistful of Spirit Pills into his mouth. He looked like an injured animal who was quietly licking his wounds, making for a pitiful sight.
Yue He felt a pang in her heart, but before she could do anything, Yu Ru Meng’s eyes flashed open and shot her a glare.
Yue He sighed. Although her heart ached for her Young Master, Madame Ru Meng seemed to want to teach him a lesson, and it was best for her to stay out of these family issues.
She knew that all the other Madams followed Yu Ru Meng’s leadership and would go along with what she decided.
After thinking about it, Yue He figured that it was probably a good thing to teach her Young Master a lesson so that he would not keep running around all the time. Previously, it was a little better as he only left for a few decades at most, which could not be considered long for cultivators of their Realm. Plus, regardless of where he was, he was still within the 3,000 Worlds back then. However, this time, he left for around 1,000 years and had gone to an extremely dangerous place, constantly putting his life at risk.
Amid the void, people were cleaning up the battlefield and retrieving the bodies of the fallen soldiers. This was done in silence as sorrow and grief spread through the area.
While Yang Kai tended to his injuries, he checked with Bi Xi about the Humans’ current situation.
After the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Yang Kai spent several centuries running around without even stopping for a moment. He did not partake in the battles at the No-Return Pass and the Barren Territory either; therefore, he knew nothing about the Human Race’s present state.
Now that he was back, the first thing he wanted to do was get some information.
Bi Xi kept nothing from him.
A long conversation later, Yang Kai had the gist of what happened with the Human Race in recent years.
Back when the Black Ink Clan broke through the passage between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory, the Human Race began withdrawing and evacuating with their end destination being High Heaven Territory where the Star Boundary was located.
Yang Kai knew about this in a general sense. He had helped the cultivators besieged in Swallowing Seas Territory and several other Great Territories over the years. Many would not have been able to deal with the Black Ink Clan if it had not been for his assistance and the Small Stone Race soldiers he gave them to aid in their evacuation.
This was something Yang Kai often did as he went around refining over 2,000 Universe Worlds in several hundred Great Territories. One could tell just how many evacuating Great Forces he must have run into solely based on the fact that he had given away some 40 million of the Small Stone Race.
Most of the cultivators in the Great Territories had already evacuated, saving those forces in their entirety. However, many had also been set upon by the Black Ink Clan Army on the way, wiping them out as a result.
There was nothing that could be done about this. The Black Ink Clan had invaded the entire 3,000 Worlds and few Great Territories could defend themselves from such an attack. The weaker cultivators from the scattered Second Class Great Forces could not put up a fight against a massive and organized Black Ink Clan Army.
All hope for the Human Race’s future depended on the Star Boundary as it was a true Open Heaven Realm Cradle. This was the reasoning behind the evacuation plan set by the Human Race’s leaders. Otherwise, there was no reason why out of all the Great Territories in the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race had to head for High Heaven Territory where the Star Boundary was.
However, not all of the Great Forces could be housed within High Heaven Territory. Firstly, High Heaven Territory did not have a great number of Universe Worlds that could sustain life. That being said, the New Great Territory could ease some of this burden as it neighboured High Heaven Territory and the conditions there were much better, including the cultivation environment. It also had a lot more habitable Universe Worlds than High Heaven Territory did.
The New Great Territory could only be accessed from High Heaven Territory, so Yang Kai had set up a restriction back then to only allow those from Void Land and High Heaven Palace inside. Of course, this restriction was taken down now given the current circumstances.
As long as the Human Race did not lose its hold on High Heaven Territory, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t invade the New Great Territory.
Secondly, the Humans could not resign themselves to surrendering without a fight. If they did stop trying to fight back, then all the Black Ink Clan had to do was target High Heaven Territory. This would put the Human Race in a far too vulnerable position.
Thus, the many leaders of the Human Race came to a decision. They gathered as many Open Heaven Realm Masters as they could and formed over a dozen Armies based on the framework of the remnants of the Armies from the Black Ink Battlefield. These Armies were then posted to defend the surrounding Great Territories with High Heaven Territory at the centre.
Profound Nether Territory was one of these battlefields, along with Heavenly Wolf Territory, Twin Poles Territory, and several others.
Profound Nether Territory was said to have an army of a million soldiers, but after many years of fighting, that was no longer the case, unless the surviving Small Stone Race were counted as well.
Throughout the past few decades, Profound Nether Territory and the other frontline Great Territories were in a constant state of battle.
While the Humans did pay a heavy price in the process, they managed to gather most, if not all of their strength in these dozen or so Great Territories and just barely managed to maintain their current perimeter.
However, from the way things were progressing, the situation was gradually deteriorating.
Over a dozen Territory Lords had appeared out of the blue and joined the main battle in Profound Nether Territory. The Human Race Army had been caught off-guard and suffered significant casualties as a result. Chances were they would have failed to hold onto Profound Nether Territory if the tides had not turned following Yang Kai’s arrival.
If the Humans lost Profound Nether Territory, it would be a crushing blow not only to their Army, but to their morale as well.
The Human Race Army in Profound Nether Territory was formed from over a dozen remnants of previous armies, including the Great Evolution Army, Great Battle Army, Nine Stars Army, and Purple Jade Army.
These Armies had previously gone through the three major wars at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the No-Return Pass, and the Barren Territory; thus, they were truly veterans with a wealth of experience. They formed the core of the Profound Nether Army with cultivators from other various Great Forces making up the rest of the numbers.
This was the reason why Yang Kai ran into Yu Ru Meng and the others here.
Back then, the cultivators from Void Land and High Heaven Palace had joined the fight in the Barren Territory and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao personally recruited them into the Great Evolution Army.
Thus, they could be considered soldiers who belonged to the Great Evolution Army.
After hearing everything, Yang Kai was secretly relieved. He could have chosen any of the numerous routes that would have taken him back to the Star Boundary, but as he wanted to get there as quickly as possible, he chose the shortest one, which meant that he had to pass through Profound Nether Territory.
He was filled with lingering dread at the thought of how terrible things would have been in Profound Nether Territory if he had not made it here in time.
“Thanks to your pre-empting back then, those from Void Territory were able to prepare in advance; therefore, when the order to evacuate was given, all of the Great Forces of Void Territory were able to leave safely. But, it’s a shame… when we think about the other living beings in those Universe Worlds.” Bi Xi sighed mournfully. The Human Race could not bring all the living beings in those Universe Worlds along with them when the Black Ink Clan invaded, so they must have been turned into Black Ink Disciples by now.
“I’ve already refined those Universe Worlds, Senior. You don’t need to feel bad about them,” Yang Kai said.
Void Territory was considered Yang Kai’s territory, so he would not stand by and do nothing when it faced this existential crisis. When Yang Kai went to Void Territory back then, he purposely checked on Void Land. When he realised that Void Land had completely disappeared, he figured that Bi Xi must have evacuated everyone. At the time, the Black Ink Clan had not invaded Void Territory yet, so Yang Kai refined all the Universe Worlds and took them with him.
Bi Xi froze for a moment, not quite understanding what Yang Kai meant when he said he refined the Universe Worlds, but just as he was about to ask, he saw Yang Kai turning ashen-faced before coughing up a mouthful of Golden Blood. His aura swiftly deflated as he slumped backwards.
Bi Xi was alarmed while cries rang out from all directions.
However, Yang Kai did not end up falling to the ground as a soft and nimble figure caught him.
Yang Kai’s eyelids parted slightly and he saw Yu Ru Meng’s anxious expression.
The others swiftly gathered around him with similarly concerned looks in their eyes.
“Husband, what happened?” Yu Ru Meng asked with a trembling voice. The Demon Saint’s previous coldness was now replaced with great fear and worry.
Yang Kai opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, he spat out another mouthful of blood that dyed Yu Ru Meng’s clothes gold. Then, he rasped, “I-I’m fine. It’s just some minor injuries.”
He tapped his finger ever so gently against the deck of the Warship.
Bi Xi was startled for a moment before he quickly exclaimed, “How can you call that a minor injury? Your aura’s unstable and your World Force circulation is a mess right now. Did you get hit by one of those Territory Lords’ final counterattacks?”
“It’s alright, it’s nothing serious,” Yang Kai insisted weakly.
The more he insisted though, the more fraught the women around him became.
Earlier on, they witnessed from afar the way Yang Kai had slaughtered three Territory Lords in quick succession. It went without saying that an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai would have had to pay a heavy price in order to kill three Territory Lords like this.
It was just that he had been hiding his injuries and putting up a strong front earlier.
“Healing pills!” Yu Ru Meng cried out, and Su Yang quickly stuffed a few high-quality Spirit Pills into Yang Kai’s mouth.
Shan Qing Luo quickly kneeled beside Yang Kai and grabbed his hand to check on his injuries, but a moment later, Luo’er frowned. She did not detect any trace of physical wounds, so she stared at Yang Kai in puzzlement and began to ask, “Husband, your injuries…”
Yang Kai forced out a weak smile, “My body’s fine. It’s my Soul that’s injured.”
“Soul Rending Thorns?” Zhu Qing asked grimly.
Yang Kai was taken aback as he asked, “How did you know?”
“Senior Ou Yang told us about them. He told us a lot about you actually,” Xue Yue explained softly.
“Senior Ou Yang… Ou Yang Lie?”
Xue Yue nodded.
Yang Kai came to a sudden realization. Since there were remnants of the Great Evolution Army here in the Profound Nether Army, it was not unusual that Ou Yang Lie was here as well. Ou Yang Lie did know about the Soul Rending Thorns as back then, outside Great Evolution Pass all those years ago, Ou Yang Lie was the one watching over Yang Kai. With just his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, Yang Kai managed to kill and critically wound numerous Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples inside the Black Ink Nest Space with the help of the Soul Rending Thorns.
From the looks of it, it had most likely been Ou Yang Lie’s doing that led to Yu Ru Meng and the rest forming this special Squad.
Yu Ru Meng noticed that Yang Kai wanted to ask more questions, so she quickly blocked his mouth with her hand, “Stop talking. You should be focusing on tending to your injuries now.”
Yang Kai paused before nodding lightly and settled into a more comfortable position in Yu Ru Meng’s arms before closing his eyes.
The women around him were all beside themselves with worry.
Meanwhile, on the Universe Fragment at the frontlines, the Human Army returned in victory and settled down to rest as well.
However, the news that Yang Kai was seriously injured spread in next to no time; therefore, quite a number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters wanted to visit him, with Ou Yang Lie and Wei Jun Yang at the helm. However, Yu Ru Meng and the others stopped them by saying that their Husband was too injured and could not see anyone as he had to focus on his recovery first.
Naturally, Ou Yang Lie and the others were understanding enough. They asked about the cause of Yang Kai’s injuries, and when they found out it was the price he had to pay to be able to slaughter three Territory Lords, they were deeply troubled.
One of the Eighth-Order Masters brought out some special Spirit Pills he had been safekeeping and passed them to Yu Ru Meng before assuring her that she could focus on tending to Yang Kai. Yu Ru Meng accepted the pills and thanked him.
“That boy killed three Innate Territory Lords in less than an incense stick of time. He… has grown too quickly,” Wei Jun Yang turned back to glance at the Warship that was formed out of Bi Xi’s Soul Clone with an indiscernible expression.
When Wei Jun Yang first heard about Yang Kai back then on the Black Ink Battlefield, the latter had only been a Sixth-Order Junior, yet Yang Kai had the same cultivation as him now.
However, Yang Kai was even stronger and more formidable in battle as he could slaughter Innate Territory Lords who were a lot stronger than ordinary Territory Lords.
In a one-on-one fight, there was no guarantee that even peak Eighth-Order Masters like Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie could kill an Innate Territory Lord.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai did just that, though it seemed that he had paid heavily in the process.
“Have we grown too old?” Kong Cheng De chuckled. He was originally the Army Commander of the Nine Stars Army’s Southern Army. He and the other Eighth-Order Masters were some of the finest talents back in their day. They had cultivated for many years to achieve the strength they had now, but when they compared themselves to Yang Kai who was generations younger than them, they could not help but feel somewhat ashamed of themselves.
“During the last battle in the Barren Territory, this Old Master didn’t agree with the Old Ancestors’ decision,” one of the old men spoke up abruptly. It was Fei Yong Ze who was originally the Army Commander of the Purple Jade Western Army, “The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors are the backbone of our Human Race, our strongest and most experienced fighters. It’s incredibly difficult for someone to become a Ninth-Order Master. Even after all these years, only a handful of Ninth-Order Masters existed. As long as we Humans still had them, we would still have hope. And yet, during that fateful battle, the Old Ancestors boldly and without hesitation chose to sacrifice themselves in a battle to the death!”
“This Old Master believed that the Old Ancestors made the wrong decision back then. They had been too reckless in entrusting the future of the Human Race to the hands of the younger generation.”
“How about now?” Kong Cheng De turned to look at him.
Fei Yong Ze remained silent for a moment before saying, “Perhaps this Old Master was too conservative and narrow-minded. Let’s see how things go… in the future.”
His opinion had been shaken by the way Yang Kai slaughtered three Innate Territory Lords in one go, but only time could tell whether the Old Ancestors’ had made the right decision back then. It was not something that he could determine just like that.
While the rest carried on with their conversation, Ou Yang Lie was the only one who kept glancing behind him with a brooding expression wondering, [What the hell is that Brat up to?]
The others might not be aware of how formidable Yang Kai was in combat, but the same could not be said for Ou Yang Lie.
Of all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters here in Profound Nether Territory, he was the one who was most familiar with Yang Kai as they had fought alongside each other for many years in the Great Evolution Army. Yang Kai was also the reason why he managed to make it out of the Black Ink Battlefield and arrive at the Barren Territory.
Of course, Yang Kai would not have come out of the battle unscathed after slaughtering three Innate Territory Lords in such a short amount of time, so Ou Yang Lie did not even need to check to understand he had used his Soul Rending Thorns.
Injuries in battle were unavoidable, but nevertheless, Ou Yang Lie did not believe that Yang Kai’s wounds were as severe as they seemed to be. He had witnessed just how indomitable Yang Kai had been when they stormed the No-Return Pass; however, Yang Kai’s aura was currently as frail as a candle’s flame amid a terrifying storm. It was almost as if he would die at any moment.
[Is he really that wounded?]
Ou Yang Lie threw a glance in that direction once more and his eyes flashed perceptively as a thought occurred to him. Soon, he chuckled and snickered, “Crafty brat.”
“What did you say?” Wei Jun Yang turned to Ou Yang Lie.
“It’s nothing,” Ou Yang Lie slowly shook his head. Although he deduced that something mischievous was afoot, he was not about to expose it as this involved someone else’s private affairs. If he did, then he would be offending Yang Kai for no reason.
Ou Yang Lie was certain. [That Brat’s injured alright, but his injuries are definitely not that severe.]
Since Ou Yang Lie did not wish to elaborate, Wei Jun Yang did not try to pry it out of him, “Everyone fought hard in this battle. Let’s return and tend to our injuries first so that we can return to our peak as soon as possible, lest the Black Ink Clan starts getting ideas again.”
Everyone else nodded in agreement.
The Profound Nether Territory Army suffered considerable casualties in this battle, including the loss of two Eighth-Order Masters. Even though three Territory Lords had been killed as well, there were more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to begin with.
The injuries that Ou Yang Lie, Wei Jun Yang, and the others suffered were fairly serious, so it was true that they needed to hurry up and tend to their wounds.
However, before they moved away, a figure fell from the sky and landed in front of them before cupping his fist as he announced, “Sirs, the Divine Spirits’ reinforcement team has arrived!”
Ou Yang Lie could not resist snapping, “What excellent timing!”
What was the point if the Divine Spirits only arrived when the battle was over? Were they here to help clean up the battlefield?
If they came earlier, the Profound Nether Army would not have suffered such heavy casualties.
Ou Yang Lie could not be blamed for feeling resentful while the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters felt the same to varying degrees. There had been no sign of these Divine Spirits earlier when the battle was at its fiercest and the Profound Nether Army was on the verge of defeat. That was the time when they needed reinforcements the most. Fortunately, Yang Kai had arrived and managed to drive the Black Ink Clan back with his unstoppable strength. Yet, it was only now that the Divine Spirits showed up.
However, though they were dissatisfied, they knew the situation could not be helped. There were only so many Divine Spirits and the Human Race needed all the help they could get on all the different battlefields. The Divine Spirits who had to rush everywhere to offer assistance were under a lot of pressure too.
Without the support of the Divine Spirits, at least two or three of the Humans’ current frontline Great Territories would have been lost.
The Divine Spirits had contributed greatly to the Human Race’s success in holding off the Black Ink Clan.
Wei Jun Yang sighed, “They’re having a hard time too, Brother Ou Yang, so let’s not mention such things.”
“I know,” Ou Yang Lie huffed.
No one was having it easy. They were all pitifully fighting in a bid for survival.
He was just grumbling for the sake of it.
Even under these circumstances, while the Divine Spirits might have been late, they would not have been too late. If Yang Kai had not shown up, the Profound Nether Army would likely still be stretched thin and the risk of defeat would be looming over their heads right now. The Divine Spirits’ arrival would surely have provided them with much-needed help, and if the Divine Spirits were powerful enough, the Profound Nether Army might even manage to turn things around and score a victory.
“Bring them over,” Wei Jun Yang instructed.
The messenger nodded quickly and did as he was instructed.
Soon, a group of 50 or so Divine Spirits who did not bother reining in their imposing presence approached. All the soldiers nearby backed away from the heavy presence of these Divine Spirits.
Ou Yang Lie frowned as he exchanged looks with Wei Jun Yang, both thinking the same thing, [It’s them.]
Previously, Wei Jun Yang said that the Supreme Headquarters was sending a team of Divine Spirits over as reinforcements. Ou Yang Lie had asked if these Divine Spirits were the ones who came from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but Wei Jun Yang did not know the answer.
It was those at the Supreme Headquarters who made the arrangements; thus, he had no say in the matter.
From the looks of it, the Divine Spirits were indeed the ones from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
It was easy enough to tell. Although these Divine Spirits had a domineering presence, they were basically all on par with Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in terms of strength. Only a few of them were on par with Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Furthermore, only these Divine Spirits would behave this arrogantly.
All the Divine Spirits who sided with the Human Race came from one of three places. They were either from the No-Return Pass, Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, or Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
Overall, the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were weaker than those from the No-Return Pass and the Ancestral Land. It was not because they were weaker by nature, but they had only just left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, so they had yet to fully adapt to the Principles of the 3,000 Worlds, meaning their strength was somewhat suppressed.
This had been the case with Zhu Jiu Yin back then. Her true strength had been on par with an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but once Yang Kai brought her out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, it dropped to that of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and it took her many years before she returned to her peak.
Thus, upon seeing that these Divine Spirits mostly had Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivations, Ou Yang Lie and the others easily figured out where they were from.
They belonged to the group of Divine Spirits who came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but this was not all of them.
These Divine Spirits were not all that reliable. When they first arrived at the Star Boundary after leaving the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, they caused quite a bit of trouble. It was Fu Guang of the Dragon Clan who had to step up and teach them a harsh lesson before they reined themselves in.
Many unverifiable rumours regarding these Divine Spirits circulated among the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters…
Apparently, they were cowardly in the face of death and did not do their best in the battle against the Black Ink Clan. Even though they now allowed the Supreme Headquarters to send them out as reinforcements to various frontlines, somehow, they often did things that bungled the Human Race’s chances of winning the battle.
Those at the Supreme Headquarters would not choose to dispatch these Divine Spirits unless absolutely necessary.
In fact, they considered splitting up the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and assigning them to the other Divine Spirit teams, but in the end, they could not do so as these Divine Spirits refused to be separated. If the Supreme Headquarters tried to force the issue, then it would only backfire.
Divine Dragon Fu Guang was now recuperating in seclusion, so there was no one around who could exert authority over these unruly Divine Spirits.
Furthermore, they were related to Yang Kai, so even Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun did not want to push too hard when dealing with them.
The reinforcements came in the form of roughly 50 Divine Spirits and one Seventh-Order Human Master.
As a few unpleasant events had happened in the past, a Human Master was now assigned to accompany the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary whenever they were sent into battle. The Human’s role was ostensibly to lead the way as the Divine Spirits were unfamiliar with the 3,000 Worlds, but in reality, their job was there to keep an eye on them. Both sides were fully aware of this.
No one knew which Cave Heaven or Paradise this Seventh-Order Master was from, but as he came over and looked around, his expression was as dark as night.
Once he arrived in front of Wei Jun Yang and the others, he bowed and greeted, “Supreme Headquarters Yu Zhen greets Sirs.”
Wei Jung Yang smiled and reached out to raise him from the bow before nodding lightly at the Eighth-Order Divine Spirits who stood in front, “Many thanks for making the effort to come here.”
Of the Divine Spirits who took the lead, the one who took the form of a middle-aged man chuckled, “It was no effort at all. Rather… Did the battle here end so quickly? I thought you Humans were at risk of being overwhelmed?”
“An unexpected incident occurred and we managed to repel the Black Ink Clan,” Wei Jun Yang replied, but he showed no inclination of sharing in further detail.
Naturally, the Divine Spirit did not bother asking either.
“Oh,” the middle-aged man said in acknowledgement before turning to Yu Zhen, “Since there’s nothing left to do here, does this mean we can go back now?”
Yu Zhen kept quiet, but his expression was icy.
By now, everyone else could tell that Yu Zhen did not get along with these Divine Spirits; however, outsiders would not know what caused the rift between them.
Still, it was rather hard to think favourably of the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. They were different from the Divine Spirits from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass. It would have been more surprising if the Humans heard that Yu Zhen, the Seventh-Order Master who was supposed to keep an eye on these Divine Spirits, had gotten along with them. Perhaps they had shunned him during the journey over here.
“We came all the way here for nothing!” A young man among the group of Divine Spirits grumbled in dissatisfaction, “What a waste of all our efforts to rush over as quickly as possible!”
“The Black Ink Clan here are so weak. They should’ve held out a few more days.”
“Stop trying to talk big, Hou Dou. If you really had to fight against the Black Ink Clan, you might end up peeing your pants. Everyone knows you’re a coward who’s afraid to die.”
A burst of laughter rang out.
The Divine Spirit named Hou Dou immediately retorted, “As if you’re any better, Yan Mo! During the last battle, you were wailing your head off and begging for mercy when that Territory Lord chased after you.”
Yan Mo turned bright red, “That was a Territory Lord! He’s even stronger than an Eighth-Order Human. I haven’t fully restored my strength yet, you know. Once that happens, why would I need to fear a Territory Lord?”
The Divine Spirits thus continued bickering among themselves.
Wei Jun Yang and the others frowned.
They had fought alongside many Divine Spirits during the battle at the No-Return Pass, and even though those Divine Spirits were just as haughty and prideful, always looking down on the Humans, when it came to actually fighting, they were reliable comrades-in-arms whose strength in combat could not be denied.
This was even the case with the Dragon and Phoenix Clans.
As for the Divine Spirits in front of them now… Were they nothing more than a farce? They were standing on the frontlines of a battlefield where the Human Race had suffered countless losses during the earlier battle, and even more of them were injured, and yet, these Divine Spirits turned it into a place where they bickered over who was the bravest.
Still, despite their discontent, Wei Jun Yang and the others could not make any comments as these Divine Spirits had come here as reinforcements.
Yu Zhen seemed to be accustomed to the Divine Spirits’ bickering so he just turned to Wei Jun Yang and asked, “Sirs, is there a need for us to stay here in Profound Nether Territory in case the Black Ink Clan mounts a counterattack?”
Wei Jun Yang glanced in the direction where Yang Kai was resting and shook his head, “That won’t be necessary. The Black Ink Clan suffered significant casualties this time around so they most likely won’t be coming back any time soon.”
[Even if they did, with him around, it would not be hard to defend Profound Nether Territory. The other battlefields might have a greater need for reinforcements.]
“Did we achieve a sweeping victory here?” Yu Zhen exclaimed in surprise.
This was something that had not happened in a very long time. Though the Human Race emerged victorious now and then throughout the various battlefields, those were generally hard-fought wins. After all, if they wanted to force the stronger and numerically superior Black Ink Clan into retreat, they would have to pay a heavy price in the process.
Yu Zhen was ecstatic. If the Human Race achieved a sweeping victory in Profound Nether Territory, the good news was bound to improve the morale of the Armies on the other battlefields.
Wei Jung Yang shook his head and corrected with a bitter smile, “It was a costly victory.”
It could have been considered a sweeping victory if they had not lost two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but they did, so the victory was no longer as sweet.
Yu Zhen paled when he heard this, “Did we lose an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?”
Wei Jun Yang nodded morosely, “Two!”
Yu Zhen’s figure rocked ever so slightly.
Ever since the Human Race Army established the current frontline battlefields including Profound Nether Territory, they had only lost 10 Eighth-Order Masters in total.
Those 10 had been lost throughout the many decades of fighting.
However, two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had been sacrificed in just this one battle alone!
Regardless of how much the Human Race managed to achieve in return, it was still a costly victory.
It was not easy to become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Those who did were the most talented cultivators among the Human Race, and yet it still took several millennia for one to reach such a height.
Far too many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had died throughout the years of battle, so the surviving ones were now the Human Race’s pillars of strength.
Yet, two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters died in the battle in Profound Nether Territory.
Yu Zhen lowered his head and clenched his fists. His voice quavered as he said, “The two Sirs… need not have died. If we had only arrived sooner…”
Upon seeing that Yu Zhen blamed himself for this, Ou Yang Lie went forward and patted him on the shoulder, “Our two Brothers died honourably. You don’t need to let their deaths weigh too heavily on you. It wasn’t your fault.”
Although two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were sacrificed in battle, they managed to gravely injure their opponents before they took their last breath. Dying on the battlefield was an honourable way for them to go.
Yu Zhen slowly shook his head before all of a sudden, he glared at the Divine Spirits with bloodshot eyes, “You were supposed to come here as reinforcements, but all of you kept causing undue delays. Your lack of urgency resulted in the death of two of the Profound Nether Army’s Eighth-Order Division Commanders. I will report this to the Supreme Headquarters and hope you can give a reasonable justification for your actions when the time comes.”
“What did you say?” Ou Yang Lie and the others were shocked to hear this.
Wei Jun Yang’s expression was grim, “Undue delays? What happened?”
When everyone heard Yu Zhen’s statement earlier, they thought he was merely blaming himself for the situation, but from the looks of it now, it seemed that something else must have happened.
All at once, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters began staring at the Divine Spirits with sharp, piercing gazes.
An undue delay was not something to be taken lightly, and as the one who was tasked with overseeing these Divine Spirits, Yu Zhen’s words carried great weight.
If it was just as Yu Zhen had said and the Divine Spirits did hinder military operations, then it was a serious matter.
Wei Jun Yang and the others believed Yu Zhen’s words without any hesitation or doubt, and they had a good reason for this as the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary had done this in the past.
It happened during the first time they were sent to aid the Humans in battle. They took so long on the trip over that, by the time they arrived on the battlefield, the fighting was nearly over.
As no Human was keeping an eye on them at the time, there was no way of confirming whether or not the Divine Spirits had done this on purpose.
Due to that incident, there was now always a Human Race Master who accompanied the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary whenever they were deployed as reinforcements.
Meanwhile, despite the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ gazes, the Divine Spirits were unperturbed. Some of them were on par with Eighth-Order Masters, so they were not afraid of Wei Jun Yang and the other Humans. Furthermore, the Human Race needed their strength. Even if the Human Race discovered anything in their investigations, they could not do anything about it.
The middle-aged man who was in the lead chuckled as he began releasing his Divine Spirit presence to its fullest. Wei Jun Yang and the others were fairly injured in the first place, and now, they became even paler.
He looked at Yu Zhen and retorted coolly, “Watch what you say, boy. Ever since we received the command, we have done our best to rush over as soon as possible. How did we cause any undue delays?”
The pressure from a Mature Divine Spirit was directed fully at Yu Zhen, and it made him feel as if he was being crushed under a mountain. He could barely keep himself upright, let alone speak.
Yu Zhen and the middle-aged man were an Order apart in terms of cultivation.
“What are you doing?” Wei Jun Yang fought back with an imposing presence of his own as he eyed that middle-aged man coldly, “Are you trying to start a revolt in front of the Army? See if I don’t cut your head off!”
The middle-aged man glanced at Wei Jun Yang before snorting, “As if you could!”
The two locked gazes as their imposing presence clashed, but it was clear that Wei Jun Yang was having a harder time as his complexion grew even paler.
The middle-aged man looked around before declaring, “You should be honoured that we Divine Spirits have come to help; however, not only did you not thank us, you even have the gall to spew such nonsense! Unbelievable! The losses you’ve suffered on the battlefield here have nothing to do with us, it’s all because of how useless you are! Even if we did arrive sooner, so what? If you’re useless, you’re useless. You should just die and move on to your next life instead of sticking around and embarrassing yourselves.”
Everyone immediately flew into an uproar.
Ou Yang Lie was on the verge of throwing fists, but he knew that he was in no shape to fight another battle right now, so he forced himself to hold back. Still, he roared in fury, “The Black Ink Clan has invaded the 3,000 Worlds. Both the Humans and the Divine Spirits have to fight together to survive! If we Humans are driven into extinction, do you think the Divine Spirits will be any better off?”
“Well, we’re here, aren’t we?” The middle-aged man smirked.
[We’re only a little late. It’s not a big deal. It’s not as if they lost Profound Nether Territory anyway. Just a bunch of ants whining incessantly.] He would have attacked them by now if it had not been for a few things he had to be wary of.
Yu Zhen spoke up from behind Wei Jun Yang, “Either way, I will report this to the Supreme Headquarters. They will decide what’s right and wrong!”
One of the Divine Spirits snorted, “Your Supreme Headquarters has no control over us. It’s up to us whether or not we’re willing to help the Human Race fend off their enemies.”
In other words, no one could do anything to them if they did not wish to fight.
The Humans were vexed to no end and the veins along Ou Yang Lie’s forehead were throbbing.
100 plus Divine Spirits came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and quite a number of them were now as strong as Eighth-Order Masters. What’s more, within a few years, these Divine Spirits would only continue to grow stronger as even more of them regained their true strength.
With the way things were going for the Humans right now, no one wanted to offend a powerful group of allies. Even if this news reached the Supreme Headquarters, there was a high chance that nothing would come of it.
Many of the Divine Spirits were snickering, while the middle-aged man in the lead stared at the Humans haughtily.
He dared to behave this belligerently because he was certain that the Humans would not do anything to them, but suddenly, a cold voice sounded, “Even if those at the Supreme Headquarters can’t do anything, what about me?”
The Divine Spirits all froze when they heard this voice and their expressions changed as they swiftly turned towards the direction where the voice came from. They saw a familiar figure approaching.
The middle-aged man frowned, [Why is this little bastard here?]
He did not detect Yang Kai’s aura when he first arrived; however, upon closer inspection, he realised why that was.
Yang Kai was heavily injured and his aura was quite feeble. It was no surprise he had overlooked him when he was in such a state.
As Yang Kai came closer, the Divine Spirits’ expressions kept changing. It had been some 20 years since Yang Kai sent them out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and delivered them to the Star Boundary, but during that time, they heard nothing from Yang Kai and no one knew where he went.
There were only two individuals that these Divine Spirits feared, Fu Guang of the Dragon Clan, and Yang Kai.
The former was strong, so strong they could not afford to offend him. As for the latter… Well, they had sworn a Bloodline Oath with him that they had to abide by.
A group of Women were gathered beside Yang Kai, with Yu Ru Meng and the others looking on in concern. They knew how serious their Husband’s injuries were. He should be focusing on his recovery right now, so why was he running over here and involving himself in this mess?
That being said, it was not as if they could talk Yang Kai out of it, so they came along to protect him.
Soon, Yang Kai stood in front of the Divine Spirits as he eyed the middle-aged man frigidly.
The latter forced himself to smile as he cupped his fist and greeted, “Sir!”
The Divine Spirits quickly followed suit, regardless of whether or not they were doing so willingly.
After all, their Bloodline Oath was in place. They could leave the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary because they pledged their service and loyalty to Yang Kai for 3,000 years. After that, Yang Kai would grant them their freedom.
Since they had to serve Yang Kai, it meant that there was a clear hierarchy. The Divine Spirits were under Yang Kai’s command.
At the time, Yang Kai wanted them to acknowledge him as their Master, but the Divine Spirits were too proud. Even though he was of the Dragon Clan, the Divine Spirits were unwilling to bow their heads. They were only willing to pledge their loyalty and be of service to him for a fixed duration.
Yang Kai did not mind this as to him, there was no difference whether they merely pledged their loyalty or considered him their Master, as long as they helped the Human Race fight the Black Ink Clan.
At the time, Yang Kai assumed that these Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary would be a huge help to the Humans as a lot could be done with 100 Mature Divine Spirits.
He never thought it would lead to such aggravating matters instead.
As a result, he was beginning to regret bringing them out.
He witnessed this today, but what about all the things that happened without him knowing?
Yang Kai stared at the middle-aged man. He did not say anything, but he recognised that this was the Human Form of the Divine Spirit Tao Wu.
Tao Wu could be considered an Ominous Beast like Tao Tie and Qiong Qi. The ancestors of these Ominous Beasts had done things to harm the 3,000 Worlds in the past, so that was why the Old Tree caught them and kept them locked up inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
Most of the ancestors of the Divine Spirits inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were those who had committed great evils. They were lawless and bloodthirsty, and although the crimes of the ancestors had nothing to do with the current generation, the Divine Spirits that Yang Kai had brought out had more or less inherited the callousness and brutality of their predecessors.
These Divine Spirits were completely different from those that came from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass.
Yang Kai turned around and looked at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who came with the Divine Spirits before nodding at him, “Greetings, Brother Yu!”
“You are…?” Yu Zhen queried doubtfully.
“Great Evolution’s… The Star Boundary’s Yang Kai!”
The Great Evolution Army had been dissolved and was now part of the Profound Nether Army, so he could not introduce himself by his previous title anymore.
“So it is Sir Yang!” Yu Zhen exclaimed in realization.
He had long since heard about the immensely talented Human from the Star Boundary who took less than 1,000 years to go from Fifth-Order to Eighth-Order. He initially thought it was just an exaggerated story, but upon seeing Yang Kai now, he realized that it was true after all.
[He’s really an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, though his injuries seem quite serious.]
Yu Zhen knew that Yang Kai had to be a lot younger than him, but he addressed Yang Kai respectfully anyway due to the latter’s higher cultivation.
Yang Kai nodded and asked, “Brother Yu, I heard you saying there were undue delays along the way. What happened?”
Before Yu Zhen could answer, Tao Wu quickly cried out, “That’s just a misunderstanding, Sir!”
Yang Kai glanced at him, “I didn’t ask you.”
Tao Wu tried to explain himself anyway, but Yang Kai cut him off with a cold stare, “Say one more word and I’ll relieve you of your head!”
Tao Wu turned red with fury, but he dared not speak up again.
The Divine Spirits behind him became restless too.
Yu Zhen was shocked, [Sir Yang possesses such authority! Tao Wu is the strongest of all the Divine Spirits who came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary! He is as strong as our Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, which is why the other Divine Spirits follow his lead.]
Even those at the Supreme Headquarters dared not impose on these Divine Spirits too much. Yu Zhen could not believe that Tao Wu did not fly into a rage even though Yang Kai showed such disdain for him.
Furthermore, the Divine Spirits had addressed Yang Kai respectfully as ‘Sir’ when he first came over.
[What’s going on?]
Everyone knew that Yang Kai was the one who brought over the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but none knew what their true relationship was.
Tao Wu and the others did not go around talking about it either. They were Divine Spirits, and it would be a huge loss of face for them if others knew that they pledged their loyalty to a Human.
No one looked into the matter either as Divine Spirits were proud and arrogant beings, so it was already a blessing that they were somewhat willing to help the Humans in battle. Talking about these unnecessary things would only serve to offend the Divine Spirits.
Thus, everyone was taken aback by what they now saw happening.
“Brother Yu, please speak freely,” Yang Kai turned back to Yu Zhen.
Yu Zhen pursed his lips before cupping his fist and recounting, “Supreme Headquarters issued orders for us to immediately make for the Profound Nether Territory battlefield to aid the soldiers here. If we stuck to the original schedule, we could’ve reached here a day earlier and joined the battle, but on the way over, they spent half a day resting after claiming that both their physical bodies and their spirits were drained. After that, we encountered a few scattered Black Ink Clansmen and they insisted on hunting them down, which caused even more delays. That’s why we only arrived here today.”
“Physically and spiritually drained…” Yang Kai scoffed. The Divine Spirits were the epitome of strength and health. Even though they had not fully restored their peak strength yet, how could it be possible for them to be physically and spiritually drained just from travelling? He eyed Tao Wu and the other Divine Spirits coldly. Many of them had sheepish expressions as they probably felt that the excuse was too flippant as well.
“Were there any Territory Lords among those scattered Black Ink Clansmen?”
Yu Zhen shook his head, “There were only a few Black Ink Clansmen reserves who were led by some Feudal Lords.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
By now, Wei Jun Yang, Ou Yang Lie, and the others gathered around were livid.
If what Yu Zhen said was true, then the team of Divine Spirit reinforcements could have arrived a day earlier, and if they had, the Profound Nether Territory Army would not have suffered nearly as many casualties. The two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might not have had to sacrifice their lives either.
Earlier on, when Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie spoke while tending to their injuries, Ou Yang Lie asked about the reinforcements and Wei Jun Yang said that they should be arriving soon; however, neither one of them would have thought that the reinforcements should have already arrived by then, but had purposely delayed themselves.
Why would they need a group of Divine Spirits to hunt down scattered Black Ink Clan reserves that were only led by Feudal Lords? The Divine Spirits’ task was to aid the Humans on the frontlines of Profound Nether Territory. The main battlefield would have been the highest priority even if they did run into a Territory Lord along the way, let alone a few enemy scouts.
Their most important mission was to aid the Humans on the Profound Nether Territory battlefield, they did not have to bother with anything else.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were beside themselves with rage and couldn’t help cursing the Supreme Headquarters for assigning the wrong team to this task, though they knew full well that the Supreme Headquarters would not utilise these Divine Spirits unless they had no other choice. Chances were that no other reinforcements could be sent over, so that was why they had to deploy these Divine Spirits.
Yang Kai’s expression remained neutral. After hearing what Yu Zhen said, he turned to Tao Wu, “What do you have to say for yourself?”
Tao Wu remained silent, not even trying to claim it was a misunderstanding anymore as he still had his own sense of pride. It was one thing if no one exposed what had happened, but since his deeds had been brought to light, he did not stoop so low as to deny them.
After a while, he declared, “The Humans at the Supreme Headquarters only told us to come and aid the Humans in Profound Nether Territory, and it hasn’t been lost!”
He did not say anything else, but it was easy enough to decipher what he was implying. Since Profound Nether Territory had not been lost, then even if they did cause unnecessary delays when coming over, it was not a big deal as it did not change the overall outcome.
Yang Kai nodded, “That means you admit to delaying your arrival on purpose.”
Tao Wu frowned, [Why are you harping on this? Even if I admit it, so what? Are the Humans going to kill us Divine Spirits? You wouldn’t dare!]
The Humans were already having a hard time holding their frontlines and were stretched thin as they tried to fend off the Black Ink Clan. They were not in a position to make new enemies. Regardless of everything else, the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary provided indispensable combat strength!
“Very good!” Yang Kai’s icy gaze fixed on Tao Wu before all of a sudden, he growled, “Senior Ou Yang, what are the rules of the Human Race Army?”
Ou Yang Lie stepped forward and rattled off, “When the Army is in battle, the punishment for desertion is death! For those who disrupt morale, the sentence is death. For those who hinder military operations… the sentence is death!”
He spat out the last few words venomously.
Yang Kai raised his hand and summoned his Azure Dragon Spear. With the tip of the spear nearly pressing against Tao Wu’s head, Yang Kai asked through gritted teeth, “Do you understand now?”
The air was filled with murderous intent.
Yu Ru Meng and the other women began circulating their World Force in preparation for what was to come.
They would take their Husband’s side no matter what he did, even if he chose to join the Black Ink Clan, so there was no need to hesitate at this juncture.
On the other hand, Wei Jun Yang and the others froze in shock. Although they found these Divine Spirits reprehensible and deserving of death, it would not be easy to settle the situation if it got too far out of hand.
After all, the Human Race still needed these Divine Spirits’ help. The Eighth-Order Masters had long since outgrown the age of holding onto grudges. They held important positions and had to act in the Human Race’s best interests.
What’s more, it was not just one or two Divine Spirits here, it was 50 of them!
There were also another 50 on a different battlefield.
The Divine Spirits were alarmed by Yang Kai’s aggressive approach and could not help but unleash their Divine Spirit pressure as well.
In a blink of an eye, the atmosphere grew tense. Many of the Human Race Masters who had been observing in secret noticed the change and quickly flew over from all directions. They too began exerting their presence to challenge the Divine Spirits.
Yu Zhen was dumbstruck as he never thought things would come to this.
He resented these Divine Spirits and was going to report their misconduct to the Supreme Headquarters, but he knew full well that the Supreme Headquarters could not do anything about it. At most, the Supreme Commanders would reprimand the Divine Spirits, but in the end, they would have to smooth things over without making a huge fuss.
[Division Commander Yang is so brave and decisive. His spear is almost stabbing into the Divine Spirit’s face.]
It could not be denied that the sight the Humans saw now was… incredibly satisfying. The anger that welled up inside them previously was now appeased.
However, after a momentary bout of gratification, they started worrying.
How were they going to settle the situation if it went any further? [We can’t let it come to blows, right? The Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary are firm about sticking together, so if a fight breaks out, it’s our side that will suffer losses.]
How ironic it would be if they survived the onslaught from the Black Ink Clan Army only to die at the hands of these Divine Spirits.
Many others shared Yu Zhen’s worries and a few veteran Eighth-Order Masters were frowning hard as well. [Yang Kai’s still too young. Doing this may feel satisfying for now, but it won’t resolve the issue.]
If things went too far, it would fall on them, the older ones to clean up the mess, so…, why even bother?
With such thoughts in mind, they started communicating with Yang Kai as they reminded him to focus on the bigger picture.
However, Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent, as if he did not hear them.
Tao Wu seemed to have noticed their transmissions. Just moments ago, his expression was grim, but now, he abruptly laughed and said to Yang Kai, “Do you want to execute me, Sir?”
“Why wouldn’t I execute you?” Yang Kai replied, “You’re their leader, the one who decides what they do, so you should take responsibility for everything.”
Tao Wu shook his head, “If you insist, Sir, then I have nothing to say. However…” He paused and chuckled, “If you’re going to attack me, Sir, then I will respond in kind. This does not go against the oath.”
They were not in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary anymore. While there, the Divine Spirits’ strength had been suppressed and they could not stand against Yang Kai, resulting in Zhu Jian and the others being soundly defeated. As Yang Kai was able to take them out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, they willingly made a Bloodline Oath to pledge their loyalty to Yang Kai for 3,000 years.
No one could break a Bloodline Oath, so they had to abide by its conditions, but if Yang Kai tried to kill them, they had the right to defend themselves; after all, they had pledged their loyalty to him, not their lives.
It would be far too unreasonable for them to have to die at Yang Kai’s whim.
[So what if this brat is an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? Is my strength not equal to his?] Tao Wu thought.
Furthermore, Tao Wu was certain that Yang Kai was merely trying to scare him, for if Yang Kai did want to go through with it, he wouldn’t need to make such a grand spectacle of things. He would’ve just thrust his spear out and been done with it rather than wasting his breath on all this nonsense.
Tao Wu actually readily welcomed the possibility of Yang Kai attacking him. That way, he would no longer have to abide by his oath and would have the chance to rid himself of the need to serve for 3,000 years.
Many of the Divine Spirits shared the same thought as Tao Wu. 3,000 years was a long time, so if this was their chance to break the chains that shackled them, then it was a good thing as they would be able to regain their freedom.
“Go ahead and fight back. See if I manage to kill you or not!” Yang Kai retorted coolly.
Quite a number of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were still secretly trying to dissuade Yang Kai when all of a sudden, a powerful force was unleashed from Yang Kai’s spear as it thrust towards Tao Wu’s head.
“If any of you want to attack, then go ahead!” Yang Kai bellowed, “Let’s see whether it’s you or me who dies!”
The Human Race Masters were thunderstruck.
The Divine Spirits were stunned as well.
Even Tao Wu gawked in disbelief.
Yang Kai did make the first move, and it was a deadly blow! [It’s not an act. He wants to take my life!]t
Tao Wu was enraged.
He was a Mature Divine Spirit on par with an Eighth-Order Human Master, without a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor Around, he was one of the strongest beings in all the 3,000 Worlds, yet this Brat wanted to kill him just because he was a bit tardy today?
Tao Wu hated being constrained by the Bloodline Oath to begin with, so now that Yang Kai was attacking him, while he did feel angry, he was also thrilled to have the chance to obtain his freedom.
Although Yang Kai’s attack was sharp and powerful, Tao Wu knew it was not enough to take his life; after all, he had been keeping his guard up as Yang Kai’s spear had been pointed at his head the whole time.
Thus, as soon as Yang Kai launched his attack, Tao Wu reacted by unleashing his strength as a Divine Spirit and moved to dodge the spear.
At that exact moment though, a piercing pain coursed through his head, like his Soul was being torn apart. He felt dizzy and his vision grew hazy and even his movements became sluggish.
It would not have been as bad for Tao Wu if that was all. The force unleashed by Yang Kai’s spear was brutal and relentless, but it was still not enough to kill him; at most, he would be heavily injured.
Yet, all of a sudden, a mysterious force shrouded Tao Wu, causing over half of his strength to instantly be suppressed.
He was already in agony over his Soul being ripped apart, and now his Divine Spirit Strength was nullified as well, it meant he could not withstand the menacing blow from Yang Kai’s spear.
A muffled sound rang out as the Azure Dragon Spear pierced right through Tao Wu’s skull, his eyes still wide with fear and disbelief.
His strength diffused into the air as his Blood Essence spurted out, filling the void with a heavy scent of metal.
The Human Race Masters gasped in shock while the Divine Spirits showed a similar reaction.
[He really killed him!]
Tao Wu, a Divine Spirit who was as powerful as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Master, had been executed on the spot!
Before this happened, both the Humans and the Divine Spirits thought it was unlikely that Yang Kai would follow through with his threat. They assumed he simply wanted to intimidate Tao Wu; otherwise, he would not have exposed his murderous intent.
Tao Wu was not weak by any means, and any sane person would have their guard up when they sensed such potent murderous intent being directed at them.
Wei Jun Yang and the others had already prepared what they were going to say. They were going to wait until Yang Kai had finished with his threats before they came in and smoothed things over; that way, Yang Kai would have a valid reason to hold himself back and the Divine Spirits would not feel too offended. Everyone would still be able to work together in the future under such circumstances.
It never crossed their minds that Yang Kai would kill Tao Wu just like that.
However, Wei Jun Yang and the other Humans were even more confused as to why Tao Wu seemed so… weak. It was not the same when Yang Kai killed the Innate Territory Lords. Although Yang Kai had killed those Innate Territory Lords swiftly and decisively, one could consider it a sneak attack of sorts due to the Soul Rending Thorns.
Firstly, Yang Kai was powerful, and he was also willing to sacrifice pieces of his Soul to use the Soul Rending Thorns. Even an Innate Territory Lord would be caught off guard by such an attack, and therefore, it was not surprising that Yang Kai could seize the opening to kill them off.
In return, Yang Kai had to pay a heavy price.
After all, they saw that Yang Kai stopped attacking any other Territory Lords after killing three of them. They knew it was not because he did not want to continue, but because he could not.
If Innate Territory Lords could be killed off that easily, then Yang Kai could have dealt with all of them by himself and the Human Race would not have to be in such a difficult predicament.
But then, what happened to Tao Wu?
Yang Kai kept his Azure Dragon Spear pointed at Tao Wu’s head for several breaths of time, but even so, Tao Wu still died after a single blow. Weren’t Divine Spirits supposed to be as strong, if not stronger than Humans in the same Realm as them? Did that not apply to the Divine Spirits who came from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?
The Human Race Masters were confused, but they were still quick to react. All of them began condensing their World Force as they warily eyed the Divine Spirits in front of them.
The Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were a closely-knit bunch who stuck together no matter what. Now that Yang Kai killed Tao Wu, there was no way of guaranteeing that these Divine Spirits would not rebel; however, even after a few breaths, the Divine Spirits showed no signs of acting, still just stuck in their state of shock.
[Tao Wu’s dead!]
[Yang Kai said he would kill Tao Wu, then he did just that!]
In an instant, the Divine Spirits were filled with trepidation after witnessing Yang Kai’s merciless act.
The Human Race Masters saw Yang Kai killing Tao Wu with ease and assumed that Tao Wu was too weak; they did not notice much else, but the Divine Spirits did.
At that very moment when Tao Wu was killed, a strange force emanated from Yang Kai that suppressed all of their Divine Spirit Bloodlines. When that happened, the Divine Spirits felt as if they were being crushed under the weight of an entire Universe World, making it difficult for them to even breathe.
What kind of power was that?
Most of the Divine Spirits had no clue, but a few of the strongest seemed to have sensed something and stared at the back of Yang Kai’s hands in shock.
There seemed to be some kind of mysterious imprints that glowed momentarily, but they disappeared too quickly, so none of them got a clear look at them.
[Was that the source of that suppressing power?] The Divine Spirits were shaken. If Yang Kai had the power to completely suppress their Bloodlines, it was not a shock that Tao Wu died.
Nevertheless, what was it that enabled him to do so? Even a Master as strong as Tao Wu could not resist it.
These Divine Spirits left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary not too long ago, so they had no clue that Yang Kai possessed the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks. As it was, not many people knew about these two Great Marks, only the Human Race’s highest authority figures did.
They knew that these two Great Marks gave Yang Kai the ability to use Purifying Light. Without them, it was impossible to extract power from the Yellow and Blue Crystals and then merge them to form Purifying Light.
However, only one or two others knew that Purifying Light was not the only thing these two Great Marks were capable of.
After all, these two marks were personally bestowed upon Yang Kai by the Sun’s Burning Light and Moon’s Serene Glimmer and were formed from those two Supreme Being’s Source Strength.
Even though Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan denied being the progenitors of the Divine Spirits, they were still connected to them somehow. On top of that, their Bloodlines surpassed those of all Divine Spirits, so their Source Auras alone were enough to suppress Divine Spirits by force.
It was similar to the Dragon Clan’s Bloodline suppression. Those of the Dragon Clan with purer Dragon Veins had the natural ability to suppress those whose Bloodline wasn’t as pure.
Back then, when Yang Kai headed for the No-Return Pass on Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s orders, Ji Lao San showed up to challenge him.
In just two strikes, Yang Kai easily managed to subdue Ji Lao San. Even when Ji Lao San assumed his Dragon Form, Yang Kai was able to smack him back into his Human Form with just a casual slap.
What Yang Kai relied upon at the time was not his strength or his Dragon Vein as Ji Lao San’s Dragon Vein was not any weaker than his, but rather the Great Sun and Great Moon Marks.
Even Ji Lao San’s Dragon Clan Bloodline was suppressed to the point where he could not fight back, so how could Tao Wu fare any better?
How could Tao Wu possibly survive a sudden attack in the form of a Soul Rending Thorn combined with the suppression from the Source of the two Great Marks?
Yang Kai withdrew his spear and turned to the other Divine Spirits. Earlier, when he attacked Tao Wu, a few Divine Spirits surged their strength, as if they wanted to help the latter, but the two Great Marks nullified everything, and before they could come to their senses, Tao Wu was dead.
Now that Yang Kai was eyeing them coldly, the Divine Spirits turned pale and held their breaths in fear that Yang Kai would attack them next.
Even Tao Wu had died without being able to fight back, so the rest knew they were no match for Yang Kai.
Thus, a strange scene played out in front of everyone. The Humans were grim and alert as they were afraid that Yang Kai’s act of executing Tao Wu would lead to a frenzied response from the Divine Spirits. If that happened, it would undoubtedly lead to a fierce battle, and many more Humans might die.
If that was indeed what was to come, then the irony of the situation could not be missed.
However, the Divine Spirits showed no signs of wanting to avenge Tao Wu; rather, they were cowering in fear and did not even dare to speak up.
[Why do they look so terrified?] Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie exchanged nonplussed glances.
Were the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that afraid of Yang Kai? Though it was their first time interacting with these Divine Spirits, they heard a lot about them. These Divine Spirits were a lot haughtier than the ones from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass. During their time in the Star Boundary, they stirred up quite a lot of trouble, and High Heaven Palace had to keep cleaning up the mess they left behind.
Thankfully, they were not completely lawless and never did anything that led directly to the death of others; otherwise, the Human Race would not be cooperating with them now.
In contrast to the Divine Spirits from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass, the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary only had a loose relationship with the Humans.
They aided the Human Race to secure the frontlines of various battlefields, but they did not come under the Human Race’s command structure.
This was the reason why those at the Supreme Headquarters were reluctant to send out these Divine Spirits. There was no way of guaranteeing what they would do.
The Supreme Headquarters would not have sent them over this time if it had not been because there was literally no one else they could send.
However, the Human Race Masters exhaled in relief. They were thankful that a fight did not break out and there was still the chance of peacefully resolving this situation. They now waited to see how Yang Kai wanted to settle the matter.
The atmosphere was fraught with tension as the Divine Spirits stared at Yang Kai with complicated expressions. They were fearful and cautious, but they were also on guard lest Yang Kai attacked again.
“Zhu Jian!” After a long time, Yang Kai finally spoke up again.
A burly, pot-bellied man who was one of the Divine Spirits standing in front mustered up the courage to step forward. He cupped his fist and called out, “Sir!”
“Tell me what all of you swore to me when we were still in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary,” Yang Kai stared at Zhu Jian with a neutral expression.
Zhu Jian was the first Divine Spirit that Yang Kai subdued in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. He came along with this team of reinforcements, and even though he was now in his Human Form, Yang Kai recognised him right away.
Zhu Jian started quaking when he heard Yang Kai’s question as he still remembered that Yang Kai had originally wanted to roast him alive before eating him. He would not still be breathing now if he had not choked down his pride and surrendered back then.
He had already been fearful of Yang Kai before, and now that Tao Wu was killed so easily, he was even less inclined to behave insolently. He respectfully replied, “We swore a Bloodline Oath that pledged our loyalty to Sir for 3,000 years!”
The Human Race Masters were dumbfounded when they heard this.
This was their first time hearing that such a relationship existed between Yang Kai and the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. Pledging loyalty was no joking matter, especially when it involved these haughty Divine Spirits who were all Masters in their own right. No one of such strength and pride would easily serve another, even if only temporarily.
The Humans were filled with curiosity as to how Yang Kai managed to make the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary submit to him as this was not something strength alone could accomplish.
“I thought you’d all forgotten,” Yang Kai sneered.
Zhu Jian lowered his head, “We wouldn’t dare to. No one would dare to desecrate the sanctity of a Bloodline Oath!”
“Good. Now, what were my orders when I sent you all out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary?”
Zhu Jian instantly replied, “To head directly to the Star Boundary, find Hua Qing Si, and obey her commands!” This was the command Yang Kai had given them, so naturally, Zhu Jian still recalled it clearly. In fact, all the Divine Spirits present remembered these exact words.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes and snorted coldly, “Did you tell her that?”
“Well…” Zhu Jian mumbled awkwardly.
After noting Zhu Jian’s hesitation, Yang Kai knew that he guessed correctly. Hua Qing Si probably had no idea that he had sent these Divine Spirits over to be under her command!
Otherwise, why would the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary be able to act in such an unbridled manner?
“Do you want to die?” Yang Kai’s eyes filled with murderous intent again.
Sweat flowed down Zhu Jian’s forehead as he shouted, “Tao Wu and the others said to Manager Hua that ‘we’ve been sent over to help them’, Sir!”
It was true that Yang Kai had indeed sent the Divine Spirits over to help the Humans, but the Divine Spirits had only relayed this information to Hua Qing Si in a vague manner.
The Divine Spirits did not tell Hua Qing Si that they were supposed to be under her command.
By only saying they were sent to help, they were able to decide what they wished to do.
Their original orders were to be under her command, which meant they had to do whatever they were told to. It was clear that these were two vastly different situations. They had clearly twisted the truth on purpose.
It was probably the result of their pride.
Due to this, Hua Qing Si misunderstood the situation. As the Human Race were now dealing with a powerful team of reinforcements who were supposedly helping the Human Race of their own volition, the Humans would compromise and put up with a lot of things. This allowed the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary to behave even more wantonly.
That was why they could establish a so-called ‘collaborative relationship’ with the Human Race’s leaders, rather than one of subordinates and superiors.
“You’re all quite shrewd, aren’t you!” Yang Kai sneered.
Yang Kai knew he was partly to blame for this too. He had been in a rush to take Wu Kuang to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so he opened a passage with the help of the Old Tree and sent the Divine Spirits to the Star Boundary without going along with them to ensure things went smoothly.
None of this would have happened if he had just taken a moment to return to the Star Boundary and explain the situation to Hua Qing Si.
Still, it was impossible for him to have predicted these Divine Spirits would act so shamelessly.
“What did Manager Hua instruct you to do?” Yang Kai asked.
Zhu Jian was sweating, “Manager Hua told us to join the battlefields and work together with the Human Race Army.”
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “Is this how you work together with them? The battle in Profound Nether Territory rapidly intensified when the Black Ink Clan snuck in a large number of Territory Lords, causing the Human Race Army to fall into a critical disadvantage, but you lot purposely delayed your arrival. Profound Nether Territory might have been lost to the enemy if I hadn’t returned by coincidence!”
Now it was Wei Jun Yang and the others who looked ashamed.
Yang Kai was right. If it had not been for his sudden appearance, they would have most likely decided to abandon Profound Nether Territory and retreat in order to preserve as much manpower as possible, though the efficacy of such a strategy was questionable at best.
Yang Kai’s cold gaze swept across the group of Divine Spirits, but none of them dared to speak.
Yang Kai was boiling with rage and wanted nothing more than for one of them to jump out and refute him, which would give him the chance to set another example, but none of them dared to come forward.
“Tao Wu said that the Supreme Headquarters had no control over your actions, but since Manager Hua told you to work together with the Humans, it very much meant they have the right to command you! As your leader, Tao Wu hindered military operations and caused the Human Race Army to suffer heavy casualties, so I executed him for his crimes. Do any of you have a problem with that?”
This was a redundant question, as who among them would have the gall to protest now?
After hearing what Yang Kai said, not only did the Divine Spirits not voice any dissatisfaction, but many of them even relaxed. Although Yang Kai had not stated things clearly, his words implied that he was only going to punish their leader, Tao Wu for this. Now that Tao Wu was dead, Yang Kai was unlikely to execute the other Divine Spirits.
“Sir has made a wise decision!” Zhu Jian cupped his fist.
Yang Kai slowly continued, “As the leader of the Grand Ancestral Ruins Boundary Divine Spirits, Tao Wu’s death is justified. Although the rest of you do not deserve to be executed for your misdeeds, that does not mean you can be absolved of responsibility so easily either.”
Instantly, the Divine Spirits started fretting once more as they did not know what Yang Kai would do to them.
“Senior Wei!” Yang Kai abruptly turned to Wei Jun Yang, “We lost two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in this battle, correct?”
Yang Kai had not known about this earlier, but he found out after overhearing the conversation between Wei Jun Yang and Yu Zhen earlier when he was tending to his injuries.
Wei Jun Yang’s expression was grim as he nodded, “Indeed.”
The Human Race had lost two Eighth-Order Division Commanders, while the Black Ink Clan lost three Territory Lords. It seemed as if they were not the ones who lost the most, but in reality, all three Territory Lords had died at Yang Kai’s hands.
If it had not been for Yang Kai’s serendipitous arrival, the Profound Nether Army would have suffered a devastating defeat.
Yang Kai turned back to Zhu Jian and the other Divine Spirits, “You heard that?” he snarled coldly, “Two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters died because you were late!”
Zhu Jian and the other Divine Spirits felt aggrieved, but they dared not refute him.
“Within three months, I want to see the heads of two Territory Lords. I don’t care how you do it, where you do it, or when you do it. The method is up to you, but if you fail to do so…” Yang Kai eyed them once more, “It will be your heads that start rolling!”
The Divine Spirits paled.
“Don’t think I’m joking about this,” Yang Kai continued icily, “There are a total of 49 of you, and three of you have reached the level of Eighth-Order Human Masters. It should be easy enough for you to kill two Territory Lords. Of course, feel free to try and run. If you flee, then perhaps I won’t be able to find you in the vastness of the 3,000 Worlds.”
“We wouldn’t dare!” Zhu Jian replied bitterly. Who would dare to run when their Bloodline Oath was still in effect? Would it even be possible for them to run?
[But, to kill two Innate Territory Lords…]
Even though the Divine Spirits were fairly strong, it was not easy to kill a Territory Lord. All the Territory Lords were accompanied by Black Ink Clan Armies which were at least 100,000 strong. If they wanted to kill a Territory Lord, they would first have to deal with the Army under their command.
Zhu Jian was livid as he thought to himself, [Tao Wu didn’t just smash open his own head, he dragged us down with him too! Why did he have to cause those delays anyway? He’s dead now, but we’re being punished in his place!]
However, despite grumbling on the inside, Zhu Jian knew that the Divine Spirits had been caged up inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary the whole time, and now that they finally had a chance at freedom, none of them wanted to risk their lives in any way. They valued their lives more than anything.
This was why the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were even more cowardly than the Divine Spirits from other places.
“Maybe you can surrender yourselves to the Black Ink Clan and support them instead,” Yang Kai suggested with a smile as he surveyed the Divine Spirits.
Not a peep was heard from the Divine Spirits…
After all, there was no way they were going to do that. If they chose to side with the Black Ink Clan, that would mean offering themselves up to be corrupted by Black Ink Strength. Even though they had a lot more resistance to Black Ink Strength than Humans did, they wouldn’t be able to withstand being corrupted forever.
“I’m tired. I will take my leave now, Sirs,” Yang Kai waved at Wei Jun Yang and the others before heading back to Bi Xi’s Soul Clone. He kept coughing up blood as he walked, looking like he was on the verge of death, and this brought even more heartache to Su Yan and the others.
[He was already injured. Even though it looked as if he easily killed off Tao Wu, who knows what kind of price he had to pay to do so?]
Soon, Yang Kai was back inside the Warship that was made out of Bi Xi’s Soul Clone. He looked deathly pale as he sat down to rest while Su Yan sat behind him so that he could lean against her.
The other women crowded around, expressing their concern and fussing over Yang Kai as he wheezed and gasped…
Yu Ru Meng on the other hand stood back and watched the scene unfold with a clear gaze, scoffing on the inside.
Yang Kai managed to fool her earlier, and as a result, she had been on edge for quite some time; however, she realised that he did not seem like an injured person at all when he killed Tao Wu.
[No physical injuries, but an injured Soul instead, was it?]
She knew very well that he had the Soul Warming Lotus! She had been too concerned earlier, and it had been around 1,000 years since they last met, so it did not occur to her then, but it did now.
[No matter how injured his Soul is, nothing will happen because he has the Soul Warming Lotus to protect and heal it! He will recover sooner or later, but there he is, acting as if he’s about to die!]
Yu Ru Meng snorted when she saw the looks of concern on Su Yan and the other women’s faces.
[Naïve women, fawning all over him like that! It’s really true, the longer the hair, the shorter the wits! Have you all forgotten how he abandoned us for 1,000 years!?]
“Get a move on. Do none of you have any injuries to tend to?” Meanwhile, Wei Jun Yang ordered the Human Masters to disperse.
They were still in a daze over the shocking turn of events, but after hearing Wei Jun Yang’s order, they finally snapped out of it and moved away as they gleefully celebrated on the inside. They had long since heard about the abhorrent behaviour of these Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. The latter’s delayed arrival had also led to the sacrifice of two of the Profound Nether Army’s Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters as well as many lower-order soldiers, resulting in a great deal of frustration and anger.
Thus, they felt particularly gratified when Yang Kai executed Tao Wu. It was as if he had vented all their rage on their behalf.
Ou Yang Lie smacked his lips as he secretly lamented the loss of an Eighth-Order Divine Spirit. [Why kill him off just like that? It would’ve been better to throw him at the Black Ink Clan Army and have him kill them instead. With luck, he might’ve even taken down a Territory Lord.]
[We could’ve extracted that Divine Spirit’s Blood Essence and Source and let the Humans refine them too. It would’ve been a great help.]
Ou Yang Lie thought Yang Kai was being too wasteful. [He’s never been an Army Commander, so he doesn’t know how to make the best use of such resources.]
Once the crowd cleared out, Wei Jung Yang looked at Yu Zhen and said, “Now that the battle in Profound Nether Territory has calmed for the moment, we have a lot of things to attend to here. You should report back to the Supreme Headquarters first. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any battles here in the near future.”
“Yes, Sir!” Yu Zhen cupped his fist and carried out his orders, turning to leave without paying any attention to the Divine Spirits.
However, he had not gone very far away when the Divine Spirits caught up to him. Zhu Jian even went over to Yu Zhen with a sheepish smile, “Brother Yu, Sir Yang has asked us to kill two Territory Lords in three months, but it’s not easy to kill them. Do you have any advice for us?”
Yu Zhen eyed him coldly and said, “How could I possibly dare to give you advice?”
[Aren’t you Divine Spirits supposed to be so high and mighty? On the way over, when you weren’t ignoring me, you were insulting me. Even when I urged you to focus on our mission, Tao Wu just berated me for it. Yet, here you are being so courteous with me…]
Everyone knew that it was hard to kill a Territory Lord as all the surviving Territory Lords were Innate Territory Lords. Every single one of them was powerful; not any weaker than a peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
[Why would we need you if those Territory Lords were easily killed?]
Yu Zhen was appeased by the fact that Yang Kai had given the Divine Spirits a challenging task, so the anger and contempt he felt had mostly dissipated.
Zhu Jian sighed and said, “We were wrong, Brother Yu. This Old Ox apologises on behalf of all my fellow Divine Spirits. Sir Yang is angry now, so if we don’t kill two Territory Lords in three months, I’m afraid we might not be able to keep our heads. Sir Yang… cannot be underestimated.”
He had noticed this during his initial encounter with Yang Kai back at the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. This incident just reminded him how vicious and merciless Yang Kai could be.
Yang Kai executed Tao Wu without even the slightest hesitation.
As Zhu Jian thought about it now, he began to think that Yang Kai was not just trying to scare him when he said he would slaughter him and eat his meat. Zhu Jian was certain that if he had refused Yang Kai back then, he would have ended up in Yang Kai’s stomach.
Zhu Jian felt chills, as if he had survived a narrow brush with death.
“What does that have to do with me?” Yu Zhen retorted coolly. He was only there to keep an eye on them. When it came to actual strength in combat, he was a lot weaker than these Divine Spirits.
Zhu Jian sighed, “Brother Yu, although what we did was wrong, having us around benefits the Human Race too; otherwise, Sir Yang wouldn’t have brought us out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary in the first place. Wouldn’t it have been fine to let us live there in peace? If Sir Yang does kill us because we failed to accomplish the task he gave us, it will only benefit the opponent instead. Don’t you think so?”
Yu Zhen glanced at Zhu Jian in surprise, [This Old Ox looks like he’s nothing but a muscle-head, but it seems he does have some wits about him.]
Even though Yu Zhen did not want to bother with these Divine Spirits anymore, he knew that Zhu Jian was right. The Divine Spirits could be a great help to the Human Race, and it would be a waste if Yang Kai just killed them all.
Furthermore, the fact that Yang Kai had given them three months to kill two Territory Lords was something to be taken seriously. If the Divine Spirits manage to do this, it would be wonderful news for the Human Race and all past grievances between them could be considered settled, but if they failed to complete this task, then Yang Kai would be put in a difficult situation.
Yang Kai had given the ultimatum in front of an entire crowd of Human Masters, but was he truly going to kill all the Divine Spirits if they failed to meet his demand?
The Divine Spirits would not take such an act lying down, and after seeing what happened to Tao Wu, they might very well choose to rebel to defend themselves if they had no other choice. If that happened, it would be extremely detrimental to the Human Race and only benefit their common enemy, the Black Ink Clan.
Thus, even though Yu Zhen was somewhat reluctant, he softened his tone and said, “Three months isn’t very long, and it will be hard to kill two Territory Lords in that time. I’m just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so I can’t help you with it.”
“You don’t need to help us with the act, Brother Yu,” Zhu Jian quickly said, “However, you’re aware of our situation. We don’t have much information about the different battlefields. We didn’t pay much attention to the battles back then, but now that Sir has given us an order, we’ll surely do our best to meet his expectations. How’s this? When you go back to the Supreme Headquarters, please put in a good word for us, Brother Yu, and find out which battlefield requires the most assistance right now. We’ll head over at once, and we won’t stop until we kill a few Territory Lords!”
Yu Zhen stared at Zhu Jian in surprise, as if he was startled to find that Zhu Jian had a brain after all.
Zhu Jian just flashed him a simple-minded smile.
It was indeed a good strategy. The Human Race were clashing with the Black Ink Clan on over a dozen different battlefields, and the fights were getting more intense by the day. Those at the Supreme Headquarters had overall command of the war, so naturally, they knew exactly what was happening on all the fronts. If Yu Zhen could find a way to get some information from the Supreme Headquarters and give the Divine Spirits a few pointers, then it would be fairly easy for the latter to kill two Territory Lords within three months.
After all, these Divine Spirits could not be considered weak, and there were many of them.
Yu Zhen was laughing happily on the inside. Those at the Supreme Headquarters had been extremely resistant to sending out the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary because they were too unreliable. The Human Race would not have sent these Divine Spirits to Profound Nether Territory as reinforcements if they had other options available.
Even though Yu Zhen was sent along to supervise the Divine Spirits, they were still able to play a few tricks.
[Well, now that Yang Kai has set an example by executing Tao Wu, I bet the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary won’t have the gall to disobey orders again.]
Yu Zhen nodded and said, “That’s not a problem. I’ll help you get this information.”
Zhu Jian quickly cupped his fist, “Many thanks, Brother Yu.”
Zhu Jian finally exhaled, feeling like a weight had been lifted off his chest. With Yu Zhen’s help, they would most likely be able to overcome this challenge. [But, in the process of killing two Territory Lords… who knows if we might suffer any casualties…]
Zhu Jian shuddered when he recalled the way Yang Kai executed Tao Wu. He made up his mind to talk to the rest of the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and warn them to do as told, lest they follow in Tao Wu’s footsteps.
…
“Brother Ou Yang, how do you feel about all of us coming together and submitting a request to the Supreme Headquarters for Yang Kai to become the Army Commander here and oversee Profound Nether Territory?” Wei Jun Yang abruptly asked from his spot on the Universe Fragment.
Ou Yang Lie was taken aback, “Let him be the Army Commander of an entire battlefield? He’s… strong enough, but not experienced enough, don’t you think?”
[I can’t believe Wei Jun Yang would even suggest that.]
No one could deny Yang Kai’s strength. Even after killing three Territory Lords in a row, he could still kill the Divine Spirit Tao Wu with a single thrust of his spear despite being heavily injured. Based on strength alone, none of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Profound Nether Territory were his match; however, Ou Yang Lie did not think it was a wise decision to make Yang Kai the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army.
Yang Kai was too young, still a rising star by all measures. There were many more experienced people above him, including Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who were even more experienced in strategy and command than Ou Yang Lie and Wei Jun Yang.
Although there were quite a number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Profound Nether Territory battlefield, none of them was the actual Army Commander who presided over the entire situation. Wei Jun Yang was considered the leader, but he, Ou Yang Lie, Fei Yong Ze, Kong Cheng De, and two other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters all currently shared that responsibility among them.
Whenever a decision needed to be made, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would come together and form a joint plan of action based on the directives set by the Supreme Headquarters.
As it was, Ou Yang Lie was mainly a silent member of this team of Commanders. All he ever cared about was charging at the enemy so he did not get involved in the day-to-day operations of the Army.
Even so, Ou Yang Lie was shocked that Wei Jun Yang suggested having Yang Kai assume full command of Profound Nether Territory. Wei Jun Yang was a powerful Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and would not easily defer to someone else’s authority, though this was not because he was wildly ambitious or power-hungry, it was simply because it was hard to be convinced by someone’s leadership if that person was neither powerful enough nor experienced enough.
“Do you think so highly of him, Old Wei?”
Wei Jun Yang eyed Ou Yang Lie a little helplessly. Everyone else liked saying that he and Ou Yang Lie were two peas in a pod, so that was why they considered each other confidants. Still, why would the Supreme Headquarters feel it was safe to let him be in charge at Profound Nether Territory if he did not have some wits about him?
[Brother Ou Yang is the only one who doesn’t think at all…]
“Why do you think Yang Kai executed Tao Wu?” All of a sudden, Wei Jun Yang asked an off-topic question.
Ou Yang Lie stared at him blankly, “He killed a Divine Spirit who hindered military operations. What other reason could there be?”
[I knew you wouldn’t have picked up on anything else.]
However, Ou Yang Lie seemed to have an epiphany, “That Brat is young and impulsive. He doesn’t have much tolerance and can’t hold himself back. It wouldn’t be good if he was put in charge of the Profound Nether Territory battlefield.”
Wei Jun Yang smirked and shook his head, “What you saw was only the surface intent.”
“Don’t tell me you think there was a deeper meaning behind Yang Kai’s decision to kill Tao Wu,” Ou Yang Lie retorted, frowning before asking, “What was he considering?”
Wei Jun Yang glanced at Bi Xi’s Soul Clone and said, “It’s true that he’s young and impulsive, but I think he executed Tao Wu more to send a warning to the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and to open up an opportunity for reconciliation between them and we Humans.”
Ou Yang Lie paused in thought. He was reckless, but that did not mean he could not think, he just couldn’t be bothered to spend time mulling things over. However, now that Wei Jun Yang pointed this out to him, he had a vague idea of what Yang Kai’s motives had been.
“The Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary have a pretty bad reputation; however, they haven’t committed any grave mistakes thus far, so those at the Supreme Headquarters can’t be too harsh on them. This time around though, their delay led to the deaths of two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. If word of this got back to the Supreme Headquarters, Xiang Shan, Mi Jing Lun and the rest wouldn’t let it slide so easily. According to the rules of the Army, Tao Wu would have to be executed, but could they do that? Perhaps it wouldn’t have been difficult to kill Tao Wu, but it would mean offending all the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and they’re a group with significant strength. Yet, if the Supreme Headquarters did not punish Tao Wu, how would they appease the rest of the Human Army? They would’ve had to choose between two extremely difficult decisions if Yang Kai hadn’t executed Tao Wu.”
Ou Yang Lie nodded in agreement, “Yes. That’s right. That’s what I thought too.”
[As if you can think of this with that dull head of yours…] Wei Jun Yang ignored him and continued, “Once the news got out, it would’ve caused a rift between the Humans and the Divine Spirits. Now that the Black Ink Clan has invaded the 3,000 Worlds, the Humans and the Divine Spirits need to stand together, but this rift might even affect the Divine Spirits from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass since at the end of the day, they’re also Divine Spirits, just like the ones from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. With how things are going in the 3,000 Worlds, who knows when the tides will turn against us? If the Humans and the Divine Spirits can’t work together to fend off our common enemy, then it’ll lead to endless troubles!”
Ou Yang Lie nodded fervently, “En en, that’s just what I was thinking.”
“That’s why Tao Wu had to die, and Yang Kai had to be the one to kill him! That way, the Human Race wouldn’t bear animosity towards the Divine Spirits even after the fact.”
Ou Yang Lie slapped his thigh, “That Brat takes after Big Head Xiang and Big Head Mi! From now on, I’ll call him Big Head Yang.”
He turned around and eyed Gong Lian who was right behind him and admonished him sternly, “You should learn from your Senior Brother Yang! Don’t rush into the battlefield like a fool, use your brain more often.”
Gong Lian was so exasperated he could only feel tired, [I’m not the one who rushes into the battlefield like a fool, that would be you, Honoured Master! Also… when did Yang Kai become Senior Brother Yang to me? He’s a lot younger than me… Well, he’s stronger than me now, so I guess it’s not wrong to call him Senior Brother.]
Naturally, Gong Lian dared not refute Ou Yang Lie aloud.
“Yes, this Disciple will remember,” Thus, he just respectfully replied.
After telling off his Disciple, Ou Yang Lie began discussing with Wei Jun Yang, “I don’t mind if Yang Kai becomes the Army Commander here, but I’m not sure how Old Fei and the others will feel about this.]
Wei Jun Yang chuckled and said, “What’s there for them to think or feel about it? The Old Ancestors are tied up in Wind Mist Territory and can’t leave, and all the battlefields lack capable people who can take charge and be the pillar for others. Yang Kai is powerful and has an enormous Small Stone Race Army with him. If he assumes command over Profound Nether Territory, then he will be the rock that everyone can depend on. Old Fei and the others would want nothing more than that.”
“That’s true!” Ou Yang Lie imagined what the situation at Profound Nether Territory would be like in the future and grinned, “It’s decided, then! Let Yang Kai be in charge of Profound Nether Territory. We’ll be his subordinates and run his errands for him.”
He did not care about prestige or glory. Even though Yang Kai was younger than him, he believed that the Profound Nether Army would be blessed to have Yang Kai as their Commander.
Out of the blue though, a thought occurred to him, “Would Yang Kai be willing to take up the role?”
“He will,” Wei Jun Yang declared with full confidence, [And even if he isn’t, he will have to!]
Aboard the Warship made from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, Yang Kai closed his eyes and focused on recuperating while Su Yan and the others gathered around him as they did the same.
In reality, if Yang Kai heard Wei Jun Yang’s analysis about appeasing the Human Race Army and mending the rift between the Humans and the Divine Spirits, his response would have been simple, [What the hell are you talking about?]
He did what he did without considering anything else. He executed Tao Wu simply because the latter disobeyed orders!
In Yang Kai’s mind, it was all very straightforward, [I brought you out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary to help us kill off our enemies, so why would I keep you around if you don’t put in the effort to do just that?]
Of course, he did mean for it to serve as a warning to the rest of the Divine Spirits and he was fairly certain that they would not have the courage to behave impudently again.
Right now, however, Yang Kai was facing a far more difficult challenge. Even though he was focusing on his recovery, he could sense that Yu Ru Meng was glaring at him.
[Ru Meng, your beloved Husband is truly injured!]
In total, Yang Kai used four Soul Rending Thorn in quick succession, and his Soul was heavily damaged. Thankfully, it had not been four times in a row, as there had been a short break before the last one was unleashed. He was fairly certain he would be unconscious right now if he had used those four Soul Rending Thorn all at once.
While Yang Kai had the Soul Warming Lotus, which meant that the core of his Soul would not be affected, ripping out four large pieces of it within a few days was by no means easy! It would take him quite some time to recover.
[Ru Meng needs to be taught a lesson!] Yang Kai fumed to himself, swearing to spend many long, arduous nights with her doing just that once he recovered.
The Human Race Army was busy tending to their wounds and other cleanup tasks after the battle.
Though the Profound Nether Army suffered significant casualties in this battle, the Black Ink Clan did not have it any better. After such an intense battle like this one, it was likely that Profound Nether Territory would experience a long period of calm.
If nothing unexpected occurred, then it was unlikely that a huge battle would break out for many years, though smaller skirmishes were inevitable.
This was not only true of Profound Nether Territory, but also of all the other Great Territory battlefields.
More than 10 days passed in the blink of an eye, and Yang Kai’s condition had stabilised. Though the injury to his Soul hadn’t fully healed, he had the Soul Warming Lotus continuously nourishing it, so all that was required was time.
He had used Soul Rending Thorns many times by now and was used to getting injured in this fashion.
Moreover, after having torn apart his Soul countless times, his Soul had become more robust and resilient than before.
When he thought about it, this was something that happened often because the path of Martial Dao usually followed the principle of tribulation before success, so the process of constantly tearing apart his Soul and restoring it could be considered a type of cultivation.
It was just that such a cultivation method wasn’t widely usable by others.
At this moment, Yang Kai was summoning Purifying Light and sealing it into a Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
Now, all the battlefields were strained because there were a large number of troops but limited logistical resources.
When fighting against the Black Ink Clan, the first hurdle the Humans had to cross was the corruption of Black Ink Strength. Purifying Black Ink Pills could solve the greater half of that issue; however, with over a dozen battlefields and more than 10 million troops almost constantly engaged in battle, there was a huge demand for Purifying Black Ink Pills. Even after gathering all the Alchemists in the 3,000 Worlds and having them work without rest, there still weren’t enough pills to satisfy the demand.
Without Purifying Black Ink Pills to suppress the corruption of Black Ink Strength, soldiers wouldn’t be able to go all out when fighting the Black Ink Clan and would lose about 30% of their combat efficacy.
Back when they were on the Black Ink Battlefield, the soldiers from all Great Passes had Purifying Light, but after so many years of battle, the Purifying Light from all those Great Passes had been depleted.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had returned, and there was an abundance of Yellow and Blue Crystals in his Small Universe, so they could have as much Purifying Light as they wanted.
Moreover, Yang Kai was no longer the only one who could use Purifying Light, Sun Yan could as well!
In the Chaotic Dead Territory, Yang Kai asked Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan to bestow him more Great Sun and Moon Marks because he was preparing for this moment.
Previously, he was the only one who could summon Purifying Light, which was very inefficient, but now that Sun Yan also had the Great Sun and Moon Marks embedded on the back of her hands, she could help Yang Kai share the burden, so summoning Purifying Light had become less stressful.
Not only that, but Yang Kai was preparing to pass out the remaining nine sets of Marks because once that was done, almost all the battlefields would have someone who could summon Purifying Light, which could greatly relieve the pressure the Human Race was facing.
Of course, if one wanted to take on the Great Sun and Moon Marks, one had to have a Divine Spirit Source and Bloodline.
The Source Strength from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer was too powerful, making it impossible for those without bloodline ties to them to withstand, so only Divine Spirits could accept the two Marks.
Yang Kai had let Wei Jun Yang relay this message to the Supreme Headquarters.
There were now more than a dozen battlefields, so the nine remaining Marks naturally couldn’t be distributed evenly among them. As for how to allocate these personnel, that was a problem the Supreme Headquarters had to solve.
After a long period of being constantly busy, Yang Kai finally had some time to rest.
Since Yang Kai was now proficient in many Grand Daos; whether it be Alchemy, Artifact Refining, or Arrays, he had some attainments in all of them. As the saying goes, those who were able could do more, so he naturally wouldn’t have time to rest.
Today, Yang Kai was repairing a Warship when a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master flew over and landed in front of him before cupping his fist and said, “Sir, someone from the Supreme Headquarters has arrived. Senior Wei and Senior Ou Yang have asked that you head over there and join the discussion.”
“Why do I need to head over there?” Yang Kai was a little taken aback.
Though he was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and could count as a Division Commander, he hadn’t received any official appointment from the higher-ups, so he was still quite free.
However, Wei Jun Yang and the others asked him to head over to join their discussion, which meant they might have something planned for him.
Yang Kai knew that very well because Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were now the mainstay of the Human Race, so each Eighth-Order Master had to take on a leadership role.
The main reason Yang Kai was reluctant to go over was that he felt he had the strength and ability but needed more experience, so if he was officially appointed as a Division Commander, it would be very stressful for him.
Moreover, he still had something important he needed to do. If he were appointed as a Commander, he might not have much time to do that.
*Cough! Cough!* Yang Kai covered his chest and coughed a few times before speaking with a pale face, “Go back and tell Senior Brother Wei that my injuries have worsened, so I have returned to rest.”
While saying so, he didn’t even bother about repairing the Warship and turned around to leave in the direction of his temporary accommodations.
Having just reunited with his many Wives, Yang Kai had many things to say to them, so Yu Ru Meng and the others had transformed a small Universe Fragment near the frontlines into a temporary palace.
No one had said anything about their actions either.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master let out a bitter laugh before dashing over and stopping Yang Kai in his path. He bowed and said, “Sir, it’s an order from the higher-ups, so please don’t make things difficult for me.”
Meanwhile, he was thinking, [Could this Sir have discovered something? Otherwise, why is he trying to flee?]
With a bitter expression, Yang Kai persuaded the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, “I’m not making things difficult for you. My injuries have indeed gotten worse.”
Saying so, he coughed a few more times and spat out a mouthful of blood…
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was speechless. [Isn’t this a little too exaggerated?]
But seeing that Yang Kai had gone to such lengths to avoid going there, he couldn’t say anything else. Just as he was about to leave, a majestic voice boomed from the Main Conference Hall, “Smelly Brat, get your ass over here!”
Stunned, Yang Kai looked at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and asked, “Who… is the person that came from the Supreme Headquarters?”
With a slight smile, the Seventh-Order Master replied, “It’s Senior Xiang Shan who personally came over.”
Yang Kai felt frustrated. [Damn Big Head Xiang! Can’t that bastard stay at the Supreme Headquarters to just oversee everything? Why come all the way here?]
While he was complaining inside, his pale face gradually returned to normal as he sighed and beckoned to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, “Come on, let’s go.”
[Since Big Head Xiang has arrived, I should at least give him some face…] Thus, Yang Kai decided that he would go over, but would only listen and not make any comments during the discussion; after all, his goal was to have freedom, so they should just forget about appointing him to a post in the Army.
[If I had known this would happen, I would have returned to the Star Boundary for a visit because Little Senior Sister is still there.]
“Sir, please!” The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master gestured with a smile. His expression was obviously implying, ‘Why waste all the effort playing sick when you could have just complied?’
Soon, Yang Kai arrived before the Main Conference Hall and looked up at its entrance. This Main Conference Hall was also temporarily built, so it didn’t have any strong defensive abilities. After all, they were at the frontlines and might have to face an attack from the Black Ink Clan at any moment. There was no telling when this frontline would be broken through, so building a sturdy conference hall was unnecessary.
This conference hall was built so that the higher-ups had a place to hold discussions, so even a tent would do.
“Senior Brother Yang!” A familiar voice sounded from beside Yang Kai, so he turned to look over and saw that it was indeed someone he knew.
Or, to be more precise, a Divine Spirit he knew.
It was Ji Lao San from the Dragon Clan!
This guy had stopped Yang Kai in front of the No-Return Pass, but was then humiliatingly defeated. However, since Yang Kai’s disappearance after saving him, Ji Lao San no longer held a grudge against Yang Kai.
Now, Ji Lao San greatly admired Yang Kai, but his admiration had nothing to do with Yang Kai’s life-saving grace, because after spending some time with Yang Kai, Ji Lao San had seen Yang Kai’s full abilities.
Not only was Ji Lao San there, but there were also eight other figures, of which all looked quite familiar. Amongst them was a colourful-robed young woman who was squinting her eyes at Yang Kai, making her look quite playful.
Huang Si Niang! The one from the Phoenix Clan at the No-Return Pass. She was the one who gave Yang Kai one of her tail feathers!
Standing beside Huang Si Niang was the stern-looking Feng Liu Lang. It seemed these two were inseparable and went everywhere together; however, Yang Kai didn’t know if they were a real couple.
All nine of these familiar faces were Divine Spirits!
More importantly, most of them were from the Dragon and Phoenix Clans.
Having understood the situation, Yang Kai knew that the Supreme Headquarters had chosen the Divine Spirits who would be receiving the Great Sun and Moon Marks. Also, it seemed like Xiang Shan coming here personally might have something to do with this as well.
These Divine Spirits did not join the Humans in the conference hall but chose to wait outside.
“Brother Ji!” Yang Kai bowed and then proceeded to greet Huang Si Niang and Feng Liu Lang. Since he was unfamiliar with most of the other Divine Spirits, he only nodded at them as a greeting.
It seemed like the Divine Spirits also knew why they came, so they were naturally polite to Yang Kai.
After exchanging some formalities, Yang Kai asked, “Brother Ji, how are Senior Fu Guang’s injuries?”
There were originally two Divine Dragons in the Dragon Clan, but the current Dragon Clan Leader had died in the battle on the Barren Territory, so only Fu Guang was left. Now, not only was Fu Guang the pillar of the Dragon Clan, but he was also the leader of all Divine Spirits.
Yang Kai had long since heard that Fu Guang was injured, but he didn’t know how serious his condition was.
Hearing that, Ji Lao San sighed, “After the battle in the Barren Territory, our Clan Leader died in battle while Senior Fu Guang sustained heavy injuries and almost didn’t make it. He has been restoring his health all these years, but at his level of strength, it is just as hard to heal as it is to be hurt.”
Yang Kai nodded. It was true that cultivators with great strength were not afraid of minor injuries, but if they sustained heavy injuries, it would be even more difficult for them to restore their health. Moreover, judging by Ji Lao San’s words, it seemed like Fu Guang was injured by the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and almost didn’t survive.
“Is he recuperating inside the Dragon Pool?” Yang Kai asked.
Ji Lao San nodded. The Dragon Pool was the origin of the Dragon Clan, so it wasn’t strange for Fu Guang to be restoring himself in there. Back in the day, the Divine Spirits that came from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were causing so much chaos in the Star Boundary that it actually alerted Fu Guang. In the end, Fu Guang came forward and deterred them from making trouble, which made the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruin Boundary quiet down.
Otherwise, those Divine Spirits would have stayed in the Star Boundary and continued to cause chaos.
Although the Human Race now had Fu Guang as one of their strongest Masters, they wouldn’t disturb him unless it was the last resort.
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai could only sigh as he couldn’t do anything to help.
Turning to look at Huang Si Niang, he took out a tail feather that had lost all spirituality, “Many thanks for giving me this tail feather, Si Niang. It has now returned to its owner.”
Huang Si Niang chuckled, “I, too, wanted to take a look at the view outside, so there’s no need to thank me.” While saying that, she reached out and took the tail feather.
The Dragon and Phoenix Clans took a Bloodline Great Oath, so they couldn’t easily leave the No-Return Pass. When Huang Si Niang took advantage of a bet with Feng Liu Lang to give Yang Kai her tail feather, which in truth was a type of Soul Clone, she did so with the thought of wanting to head outside the Great Pass and take a look at the scenery.
But now that the No-Return Pass had been lost, the Dragon and Phoenix Clans no longer had to abide by their Oath anymore.
The two Clans had mixed feelings about the No-Return Pass because they had been guarding it for aeons and now saw it as their home. However, the No-Return Pass was also a cage to them. Though they wanted to leave the No-Return Pass, they didn’t want to be forced out in such a way.
Sooner or later, they would storm in and snatch the No-Return Pass back from the Black Ink Clan!
It was all laughs at the entrance of the Main Conference Hall.
Whether they were people Yang Kai knew or not, they all swarmed over to talk to him. This couldn’t be helped, because they all knew the reason they were gathered here. Yang Kai had received nine pairs of Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer and was about to give them out, so now they owed Yang Kai.
Moreover, the Divine Spirits were guessing that the Source Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer might not only allow them to summon Purifying Light, but it might also have the effect of purifying their bloodline.
Before today, the Divine Spirits had gone through a selective trial because of the matter of who would receive the marks. In the end, it was these nine who prevailed.
“Stop chattering. Yang Kai, get inside.”
Xiang Shan’s voice came from the Main Hall, obviously knowing why Yang Kai was staying outside with no intentions of coming in.
With a bitter laugh, Yang Kai cupped his fist at the Divine Spirits and announced, “Let’s continue our conversation another day. Please make yourselves comfortable.”
The Divine Spirits didn’t object.
When Yang Kai stepped inside the Main Hall, he felt several dozen pairs of eyes instantly fall on him and look at him as if he was some kind of strange being.
Inside the Main Hall were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, with no exceptions.
There were a few that Yang Kai recognised, but more that he didn’t. Sitting upright at the end of the table was Xiang Shan.
Yang Kai didn’t feel nervous, because he was now an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master too, and all of them might not be his match when it came to strength, except for Xiang Shan.
He didn’t know how strong Xiang Shan was because they had never fought each other, but Big Head Xiang had climbed back up after having fallen once, so his ability might have increased even more. He could be considered one of the most powerful Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters alive today.
While facing the crowd, Yang Kai cupped his fist and greeted, “Junior Yang Kai greets Seniors.”
[That’s right. I’m just a Junior with abilities but no experience, so I can’t take up any huge responsibilities!]
His intentions naturally couldn’t escape Xiang Shan’s eyes. Big Head Xiang looked at him with a faint smile but didn’t make any comments.
Instead, one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters burst out laughing, “Junior Brother, you’re too modest. You are now also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and have the same cultivation as all of us, so you shouldn’t be referring to us as your Seniors but as Fellow Brothers!”
Another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master nodded before adding, “We cultivators only care about strength, not age, unless you’re from the same Sect that is. But since you’ve already reached the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm at such a young age and even recently killed three Innate Territory Lords at once, I’m sure you’re going to have a very promising future!”
“Not bad for a person so young. We older ones have high hopes for you.”
Following that was a wave of compliments from everywhere. The only words that weren’t said were that Yang Kai was the future of the entire Human Race.
Yang Kai felt defeated and looked at Xiang Shan grimly. He wouldn’t believe it if someone said Xiang Shan hadn’t colluded with these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to do this.
This group of Eighth-Order Masters had even begun spouting utter nonsense, so it was obvious that they had some kind of hidden intentions.
At that point, Yang Kai felt even more stressed.
After secretly sighing, he knew he couldn’t go against so many of them, so he complied and cupped his fist, “Senior Brothers, you are all too kind. It was just pure luck, so I can’t accept your praise.”
“Let’s continue exchanging pleasantries later. Yang Kai, find a seat and sit down.”
It was then that the crowd stopped chattering. Yang Kai looked around the room and saw Ou Yang Lie beckoning him over, so he immediately went and sat beside him.
Today was just another ordinary meeting between Human Race higher-ups. With over a dozen battlefields, the Masters at the Supreme Headquarters would personally head over to each battlefield and gather intel from time to time. When Profound Nether Territory was almost lost, the higher-ups at the Supreme Headquarters didn’t dare take the situation lightly; moreover, Xiang Shan personally coming here also had a sliver of such meaning.
All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sitting here were the mainstays of the Profound Nether Army, who were responsible for guarding this place. Therefore, they knew the Black Ink Clan in the Profound Nether Territory very well.
So now, they would proceed with reporting to Xiang Shan about the situation on the battlefield.
As time passed, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters took turns giving their reports, and Yang Kai now knew more about the situation in Profound Nether Territory.
However, what shocked him the most was that these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were extremely detailed, including how many battles each Army had gone through, how many enemies were killed, how many casualties they had, how many troops they had left, and where they had placed Arrays and other arrangements.
Yang Kai felt curious, [Shouldn’t these basic details already be known? Why do they need to report such trivial things to Xiang Shan?]
Turning his head to look at Xiang Shan, Yang Kai found him sitting upright while seriously listening to every word while nodding occasionally.
The Human Race needed leaders like Xiang Shan to be able to band together when fighting against the Black Ink Clan.
Although Yang Kai had decided to only listen but not speak, it turned out that there weren’t many opportunities for him to get in a word. He had recently arrived at Profound Nether Territory, where he would either spend time at the palace fooling around with his Wives, casting Purifying Light, fixing Warships, or patching up Spirit Arrays. There was indeed not much for him to say as he was fairly ignorant of the general situation.
There was an infinite joy in the activities done inside the bedroom. After spending over 1,000 years in celibacy on the Black Ink Battlefield, 5,000 if the years in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon were counted, Yang Kai felt as though he had finally been set free and returned to the time when he could do whatever he wanted.
All his Wives were constantly blushing every day and Ru Meng wouldn’t lose her temper that much anymore, behaving in a gentle and considerate manner most of the time.
“Yang Kai, do you have anything to add?” Xiang Shan suddenly turned to look at Yang Kai.
Waking up from his thoughts, Yang Kai shook his head like a rattle-drum, “No!”
“If so, why are you smiling so happily?” Xiang Shan frowned.
Yang Kai coughed lightly, “I was just thinking about something interesting…”
Feeling awkward, he gestured towards the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who was currently speaking, “Senior Brothers, please continue.”
[Has Big Head Xiang come all the way here just to make things difficult for me? Can’t I even smile discreetly?]
The conference continued, and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters narrated the comprehensive situation in Profound Nether Territory.
Half a day passed just like that, and the report on matters in Profound Nether Territory had finally ended. The group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters felt like their mouths had dried up from all the talking.
It was then that Xiang Shan nodded and looked towards Yang Kai, “Have you understood the situation in Profound Nether Territory?”
Yang Kai was extremely shocked.
[Why is he asking me that?] But he still nodded, “Yes.”
“Very good!” Xiang Shan got up and took a step forward before he boomed, “Star Boundary’s Yang Kai, come forward and receive your orders!”
Stunned, Yang Kai froze, so Ou Yang Lie yanked him to his feet and kicked his butt, causing Yang Kai to stumble forward. When he looked up and saw Xiang Shan’s stern face, he felt his heart sink as he cupped his fist and quickly said, “Sir!”
While looking at him, Xiang Shan quickly said, “Previously, during the critical battle of Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai killed three Innate Territory Lords on his own and turned the tide of war, successfully saving Profound Nether Territory from its end, making a huge contribution to the Human Race. In the following battles with the Black Ink Clan, he led the charge in every battle and killed numerous enemies, which has won him many Military Merits and demonstrated the spirit our Human Race must follow to obtain victory in his war. Therefore, the Supreme Headquarters has decided to appoint Yang Kai as Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander. From now on, he will command the Profound Nether Army and stand guard over Profound Nether Territory to defend it against the Black Ink Clan!”
Yang Kai was shocked and gawked at Xiang Shan with a blank expression, seemingly wanting to see if the latter was pulling a bad prank on him.
Back when Yang Kai received Xiang Shan’s order to attend the conference between Profound Nether Army higher-ups, he had already mentally prepared himself, thinking that he was about to be assigned some formal posting; after all, he was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and according to the rules, he was capable of assuming the rank of Division Commander.
He was thinking of a way to get out of it despite knowing that the chances of that happening were slim, and he had almost accepted his fate and thought if he were appointed as a Division Commander, he could accept it. It was better to have subordinates than to fight alone after all.
However, he never expected that Xiang Shan would make such an enormous announcement.
The Profound Nether Army Commander was the person responsible for overseeing the entire Profound Nether Territory! It was a position completely incomparable to the trivial post of Division Commander!
If Yang Kai accepted the position of Army Commander, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters sitting here would become his subordinates. Moreover, Profound Nether Territory now had about 600,000 Human soldiers, a number that would increase in the future. How could Xiang Shan just leave all of them to him?
[No, it wasn’t Xiang Shan making this decision!] Yang Kai turned to look at both his sides of the room and saw the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters smiling as they looked at him, especially Ou Yang Lie, who was even winking like he was doing him some big favour!
This was the decision made by all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Profound Nether Army!
Without agreement from the ones actually leading the Profound Nether Army, it would be impossible for the Supreme Headquarters to implement such orders. It seemed like Wei Jun Yang and the other Eighth-Order Masters had long since agreed to ‘let’ Yang Kai become the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army!
At this moment, Yang Kai had no words to describe what he was feeling.
Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, the highest post he held was Squad Leader. He had never even experienced being a Battalion Commander, much less a Division Commander, but now, he was suddenly promoted to Army Commander… The difference was too big to fathom.
It now made sense why the Eighth-Order Masters here were being so detailed with their reports. Those matters weren’t for Xiang Shan to hear, they were for him!
They knew that Yang Kai had just arrived in Profound Nether Territory and wasn’t that knowledgeable about the army’s situation, so they used this chance to tell him in detail.
This was clearly a premeditated plot!
Xiang Shan using this chance to come here and appoint Yang Kai as Army Commander might be the real reason for his visit, while everything else was secondary.
[Bunch of old foxes!] Never would Yang Kai have expected that all these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had kept him in the dark about this until the moment they sprung the trap.
He was already a little reluctant to take up the position of Division Commander, but now he thought being a Division Commander seemed quite reasonable. Compared to overseeing the entire Army, looking after a mere Division seemed like a breeze.
Many thoughts flashed through Yang Kai’s head before he quickly declined, “Sir, this Junior is still young and has insufficient experience. The Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army is a critical position, and I’m afraid I might not be able to handle it, so please choose someone else, Sir.”
Xiang Shan replied calmly, “Although you’re still young and inexperienced, no one can compare to you in regards to Military Merits. What’s more, you have all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master here today to support you, so what’s there to worry about? Unless… you’re unwilling to take up this role!”
That was indeed what Yang Kai was thinking, and he immediately nodded, “Sir, please understand. This Junior is unwilling to accept this position, and he does not dare to accept it!”
Once he became the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, he would have to stay in Profound Nether Territory for a very long time, possibly until the war here was settled. He felt that his talent wasn’t in leading an Army or in devising battle tactics. His talent was in killing Black Ink Clansmen and relieving the pressure on the Human Race. That was something Xiang Shan knew, so why was he so insistent on having Yang Kai become the Army Commander?
Frowning, Xiang Shan asked, “Are you really unwilling to accept this position?”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded his head like a chicken pecking rice while looking at Xiang Shan with sincere eyes.
With a light sigh, Xiang Shan said, “You can’t force someone to do what they are unwilling to do. If you’re unwilling to take up that position, I won’t make things difficult for you. As for the Profound Nether Army… the Supreme Headquarters will have another discussion about it.”
Yang Kai cheered, “Sir is wise!”
[Why have I never noticed how easy Big Head Xiang is to speak with?]
“Report!”
Following a shout, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm soldier ran into the Main Hall and cupped his fist at Xiang Shan, “The Black Ink Clan Army has been sighted advancing from 10 million kilometres outside the eastern front. They appear to be rallying for another attack.”
Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be anyone barging into the higher-ups’ conference, but an urgent military situation was an exception.
Obviously, the Black Ink Clan on the eastern front pressing in on them was an urgent military situation.
“Bold!” Wei Jun Yang bellowed, “Those Black Ink Clansmen must be courting death!”
While he spoke, he exuded his majestic Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm aura.
Ou Yang Lie also exclaimed, “It seems like they haven’t learnt their lesson yet.”
…..
Not only were these two cursing the Black Ink Clan, but the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters all joined in, causing the Main Conference Hall to instantly fill with all kinds of voices.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai frowned, [What is the Black Ink Clan up to? They have just lost a major battle and three Territory Lords. How could they come back for another attack after such a short amount of time?]
Looking back at the Seventh-Order soldier who came to report the news, Yang Kai could see that he was from Great Battle Heaven because he was wearing distinctive golden armour. Undried blood still marred his armour, which seemed to indicate that he was injured.
What caught Yang Kai’s attention though was that the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of Profound Nether Army were too calm.
[Since the Black Ink Clan Army are rallying to attack, shouldn’t they be discussing a plan of action and dispatching troops to consolidate the eastern front? It’s highly improper of them to just be acting loud and rowdy at this moment.]
While he was lost in such thought, one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters came forward and cupped his fist to Xiang Shan before saying, “Sir Xiang, I request permission to fight off the enemy!”
Xiang Shan nodded lightly, “It’s rare for you, Division Commander Chen, to be so eager to fight. You have my permission. How many troops are you preparing to bring with you?”
Division Commander Chen answered proudly, “I don’t need much. A single Division will suffice.”
Then, Xiang Shan warned sternly, “The war between the two Races is not child’s play.”
After coldly snorting, Division Commander Chen replied, “It’s just a motley group of weak Black Ink Clansmen, what’s there to be afraid of? If we don’t deter the enemy, this Chen will offer his head up to you!”
“Good!” Xiang Shan nodded unceasingly to show his approval, “Although we Humans are at a disadvantage, we do not lack the thirst for blood and bravery. Division Commander Chen is still so enthusiastic at such an old age. You are a role model to all of us. Therefore, I’ll permit—”
“Wait a moment!” Yang Kai hurriedly interjected.
He was beyond shocked as he listened to this conversation.
[In such an urgent situation, you old Eighth-Order Masters made a snap decision just like that, and Xiang Shan actually agreed to it? What about the difference between the enemy’s Army and ours? What about the number of enemies coming over? With such a lack of information, how could you reach a decision so quickly?]
More importantly, Yang Kai knew Division Commander Chen personally. In regards to age, he was one of the eldest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but when it came to power, he wasn’t the strongest and would not stand a chance against an Innate Territory Lord.
Under such circumstances, how could this old man have the confidence to say he would only bring a single Division out to fight the enemy?
Was he just bluffing? However, the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters showed no signs of wanting to stop him.
“Yang Kai, do you have something to say?” Xiang Shan turned around to look at Yang Kai.
Feeling his head pulsing, Yang Kai cupped his fist and suggested, “Senior Xiang, if I remember correctly, the number of soldiers in a single Division of the Profound Nether Army is about 20,000, right?”
20,000 Open Heaven Realm Masters was no small number.
One had to know that back at the Black Ink Battlefield, a Division only had 500 to 600 troops. However, all the Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Black Ink Battlefield were Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and above.
The Profound Nether Army even had soldiers in the First and Second-Order Open Heaven Realm, so when comparing the two types of Divisions, although 20,000 soldiers was a lot more than 500, the overall difference in strength wasn’t that large.
“Indeed,” Division Commander Chen nodded, “My Division now has 23,651 soldiers enlisted in it.”
Though the old man was up there in age, his memory had not deteriorated and he knew his troops like the back of his hand.
Feeling speechless, Yang Kai looked at him and asked, “Do you know how many troops the Black Ink Clan has brought over to attack us?”
Division Commander Chen snorted coldly, “Who cares how many troops they have? We will kill them all!”
Once he said that, he didn’t even wait for Yang Kai to respond before cupping his fist to Xiang Shan and announcing, “Sir, this Chen will be off then. This mission to defend our homeland will either end with victory or us dying in battle. If the situation comes to that, I would have to trouble all of you to help us gather our corpses.”
Nodding, Xiang Shan promised, “We won’t let our soldiers’ corpses rot in the wilderness.”
“Division Commander Chen, please wait!” Yang Kai shouted again. He couldn’t let Division Commander Chen run away because the Squad his Wives were in just happened to be under Division Commander Chen’s jurisdiction. It wouldn’t matter to Yang Kai if Division Commander Chen decided to deploy in force to push back the enemy, but if he was going with his Division alone, Ru Meng, Su Yan, and the others would get dispatched too.
“Yang Kai, how dare you continuously interrupt us when we’re discussing sending troops to defend our frontlines! Are you trying to disrupt military order?”
Yang Kai’s heart clenched as he quickly cupped his fist, “I dare not do such a thing! But…”
“But what?” Xiang Shan looked at him coldly.
[But… something isn’t right here…]
Yang Kai looked at Xiang Shan and then at the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around him. What he saw was Wei Jun Yang looking up at the sky as if nothing concerned him, while Ou Yang Lie was looking down at the floor as if a flower was growing between his feet. Meanwhile, the other Eighth-Order Masters were either huddled together and discussing something or sitting there calmly with their eyes closed as if everything was under control.
At that moment, Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter, [So, this is how it is.]
He knew these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had all fought in no less than 1,000 battles, so there was no way they would act this foolishly under normal circumstances. Even if Division Commander Chen was a reckless glory-seeker, it was impossible for the rest of them to just let him race off to his death.
Moreover, Xiang Shan was a man with incredible tactical insight. The strategy he came up with to reclaim Great Evolution Pass, and the skill with which he executed it were both extremely shocking, so it was impossible for him to immediately agree when Division Commander Chen asked to lead a single Division off into battle with no idea about the enemy’s composition.
If he did, he wouldn’t be Xiang Shan but someone like Ou Yang Lie.
After sighing, Yang Kai explained, “Senior Brothers, you have all lived for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, do your consciences not hurt at all, working together to trick a Junior like me?”
Snorting, Division Commander Chen insisted, “Junior Brother, whatever do you mean? I’m getting on in years and my mind is not quite what it used to be, please speak plainly.”
Yang Kai gave him a sorrowful look, [You’re clearly the most enthusiastic one in this plan!]
Meanwhile, Xiang Shan still had the same cold expression, “Speak up if you have something you want to say, stop wasting time with all this nonsense.”
[Haven’t I made myself clear enough? It’s you old farts that are playing dumb! I guess it’s true when they say the older a person, the more cunning they are! Judging from this situation, the eastern front… probably isn’t under threat at all. It’s only been about 10 days since the Black Ink Clan suffered serious losses, they wouldn’t dare launch a full offensive so soon.]
This was all just a big show. The Eighth-Order Masters in this room and even the Seventh-Order soldier who came to deliver the ‘report’ were all in on this matter. They were acting out a play with Yang Kai as the only audience member.
[These old farts are obviously trying to force me to do something I’m incapable of. It’s a fake emergency this time, but what about next time? If there really is a next time, this Division Commander Chen will definitely lead his Division to charge the enemy!]
Yang Kai sighed internally. It seemed he couldn’t avoid this matter.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the Seventh-Order soldier shouted again in a voice filled with grief and anger, “Sirs, this situation is urgent, please come to a decision as soon as possible; otherwise, the eastern front might not be able to hold.
*Cough! Cough!*
Then, he spat out a mouthful of blood, seeming to be heavily injured.
[Really? Really??]
Yang Kai glanced at the soldier who was looking straight ahead and had a pale complexion and a depressed aura.
Xiang Shan glared and muttered, “Yang Kai, stand down. Since you don’t want to be appointed as the Army Commander, you have no right to speak here. Division Commander Chen, head back and lead your Division to reinforce the eastern front. If you cannot defeat the enemy, I’ll head over there and behead you myself!”
While cupping his fist, Division Commander Chen replied, “This Chen accepts the order. We will not let you down.”
After that, he turned around and strode towards the door, but he still stared into Yang Kai’s eyes, seeming to say, “If you don’t speak up, this Old Master will really lead my force into battle. It doesn’t matter if there were no enemies at the eastern front this time, because there were enemies in the Black Ink Clan’s camp. Are you afraid now?”
“How could this Junior be qualified for this…” Yang Kai smiled bitterly. However, he was honestly quite touched inside. All these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had worked together with Xiang Shan to act out such a performance for him just so that he would take up the position of the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander. This was a kind of wholehearted trust that was rare to see.
Taking a deep breath, Yang Kai cupped his fist and boomed, “Since all of you Senior Brothers think so highly of me, this Junior is willing to take up the position of Army Commander and guard Profound Nether Territory. This Junior will risk his life to make sure Profound Nether Territory is never lost!”
“So you’ve changed your mind?” Xiang Shan’s lips curled up ever so slightly as he teased.
While looking at him with a blank stare, Yang Kai didn’t say anything.
[Do I have a choice? Old Man Chen is halfway out of the Main Conference Hall, so if I don’t change my mind, he will really leave. His leaving is not that concerning, but my Wives will definitely have to follow him to the battlefield.]
Then, Xiang Shan stopped playing with him and spoke sternly, “Overseeing Profound Nether Territory is a very heavy task. If this Territory is lost on your watch, you’ll be punished according to military law!”
“Understood!”
“Yang Kai, receive your orders!” Xiang Shan roared before taking out a token, “The Supreme Headquarters hereby appoints Yang Kai as Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army. This is the Army Commander Token. With this, you will assume full command of all soldiers in the Profound Nether Army. If anyone dares to disobey or rebel against you, they will be sentenced to death without exception!”
“We accept the order!” All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters bowed in unison.
“Yang Kai accepts the order!” Yang Kai came forward and raised both hands to receive the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander Token, which suddenly felt quite heavy.
This wasn’t just a token, it was a physical representation of the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers that were being entrusted to him.
At that moment, Yang Kai’s aura seemed to have changed and become even more profound and mysterious.
Noticing this, Xiang Shan watched with amazement as the words ‘Heaven’s Will’ appeared in his head.
“Greetings, Army Commander!” Wei Jun Yang chuckled and cupped his fist before bowing. The other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters copied him and did the same. The atmosphere inside the Main Hall was very harmonious.
Division Commander Chen ran back as well and no longer shouted about racing off to kill the enemy.
Of course, Yang Kai wouldn’t take what happened just now to heart and exchanged pleasantries with the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. He would be overseeing Profound Nether Territory in the future, so he would need these old foxes’ help.
“Report!”
Another Seventh-Order soldier dashed into the Main Hall and cupped his fist, “Sirs, there is news from the eastern front. The Black Ink Clan Army has retreated. It seems like their previous actions were just a feint. There is no imminent attack.”
Nodding, Xiang Shan replied, “It’s good that the Black Ink Clan has retreated. Division Commander Chen, you may take a rest as well.”
Division Commander Chen laughed, “The Black Ink Clan retreated before the news about Junior Brother Yang taking up the position as Army Commander was released. It seems like the Heavens are siding with us today.”
The group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters all nodded in agreement.
Yang Kai looked around and couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Were these old farts still acting even now? They even organized this kind of closing scene to their play! It seemed they really made a full and detailed plan for today.
Thinking back to the time when they gathered at Azure Void Pass to form the Great Evolution Army, Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping were appointed as Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Army Commanders. On that same day, many of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were appointed as Division Commanders and accepted with great solemnity.
Back then, Yang Kai was just a Seventh-Order Squad Leader.
Never had he imagined he would someday hold the Army Commander Token like today, so he couldn’t help but sigh internally.
Being an Army Commander wasn’t just any duty, it was a responsibility to become the central pillar for an army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers!
[Can I do it?]
Yang Kai didn’t know the answer to that question, but since things had already come to this point, he could only give it his all and do his best. From today onwards, his every decision will affect hundreds of thousands of lives directly.
“I can’t spend too long here. Besides the appointment of Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander, there is one other thing I need to accomplish here.” Xiang Shan spoke up.
Yang Kai put away the token and nodded, “Please say it, Senior Brother.”
At first, he thought it was about the Great Sun and Moon Marks, but that was just a minor matter because he had already given one set of Marks to Su Yan. Moreover, the nine Divine Spirits outside were the ones who had been chosen to receive the Marks, so all that was needed was to call them inside.
He wasn’t expecting Xiang Shan to not talk about this matter but instead summoned his Universe Chart. Then, with a wave of his hand, a three-dimensional virtual image appeared before everyone.
Following that, Xiang Shan moved his hand and pointed at a particular spot, “A month ago, the Supreme Headquarters received intelligence that the cultivators from more than a dozen Sects in the Acacia Territory have been besieged by the Black Ink Clan and are facing a critical situation. If they don’t get any reinforcements soon, they might not be able to hold out much longer.”
Wei Jun Yang frowned, “Where did this information come from? Is it reliable?”
Xiang Shan nodded, “The intelligence was brought to us by a few different roaming Hunter teams, so its likely authenticity was deemed high. Afterwards, the Supreme Headquarters moved and confirmed it.”
Division Commander Chen raised an eyebrow, “Is the Supreme Headquarters asking Profound Nether Territory to send out troops to rescue them?”
“That’s right.” Xiang Shan nodded, “At first, there was no plan to have Profound Nether Territory carry out this mission, but all the other Great Territory Battlefields are engaged in heated conflicts right now, so our side is at a disadvantage and can’t dispatch troops for a rescue mission. However, Profound Nether Territory could be said to have won a great victory during the previous battle, so there should not be any large-scale battles here for the foreseeable future. Therefore, you are the ones most suited to attempt this rescue mission.”
While saying that, he looked at Yang Kai, “Junior Brother, now that you are the Army Commander, you will be responsible for planning and executing this mission! You must bring our trapped allies back safely.”
Yang Kai knew this was also a test to see how he would deal with such matters. Although the Supreme Headquarters had appointed him as the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander, they also knew that the talents he had shown were mostly in charging into battle and defeating the enemy. He had never shown much talent in things like strategy and tactics.
This mission to rescue the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory was a chance to make a contribution and show off his talents.
Therefore, he immediately cupped his fist, “I have received the order!”
“You can discuss this matter on your own. There is no need to report to the Supreme Headquarters about your plan before carrying it out, but there is one thing you must remember, you mustn’t let Profound Nether Territory fall into the hands of the enemy!” Xiang Shan enjoined them before shouting towards the entrance, “Enter.”
He then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Previously, we’ve received news from Profound Nether Territory that you’ve received nine sets of Great Sun and Moon Marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer. These are the nine Divine Spirits the Supreme Headquarters chose to receive those marks. I’ll leave them to you as well.”
“Understood, Senior Brother!”
Later, Xiang Shan, Wei Jun Yang, and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters left the Main Conference Hall while Ji Lao San and the other eight Divine Spirits came in.
It wasn’t difficult to pass the two marks from the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer to them because they were just drops condensed from Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan’s Source Strength. After the Divine Spirits received them, they only needed to slightly refine them to condense the Great Sun and Moon Marks.
The nine Divine Spirits only took about an hour to complete this process.
Later, Yang Kai distributed the nine Space Rings he had prepared beforehand to them, rings filled with Yellow and Blue Crystals.
With the two Great Marks and a large supply of Yellow and Blue Crystals, there would no longer be a lack of Purifying Light on the various battlefields. This could also greatly lessen the pressure on the Human Race.
It could also lessen the Alchemists’ burden, allowing them to put in more effort to refine other Spirit Pills.
Purifying Black Ink Pills weren’t the only Spirit Pills the Human Race lacked. Open Heaven Pills for cultivation and healing pills for healing injuries were all in short supply.
As for how these nine Divine Spirits would be distributed to each front, that was for the Supreme Headquarters to figure out. Although there weren’t enough Divine Spirits for each Great Territory Battlefield, it might not be too much of a problem for one Divine Spirit to aid two neighbouring battlefields and provide them with Purifying Light.
Xiang Shan was waiting outside, so Yang Kai led the Divine Spirits out before seeing them off.
Once they left, Yang Kai finally said, “Senior Brothers and Sisters, please enter the conference hall!”
The group of Eighth-Order Masters then returned to the Main Conference Hall and sat down. Yang Kai sat at the head of the table and looked around. He saw all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had serious expressions on their faces as they looked straight ahead.
Seeing that, Yang Kai burst out laughing, “Since all of you Senior Brothers and Sisters think so highly of me and choose me to take up the position as Army Commander, I, as your Junior Brother, will not let all of you down!”
The atmosphere suddenly became lively, and Ou Yang Lie slumped back into his chair and beamed, “Our generation of cultivators respect strength above all else. Since your fist is bigger, of course it’s you who will take up the position of Army Commander, but you little br… ahem, Junior Brother, the most important issue you need to deal with now is the matter of Acacia Territory. This is your first mission after your appointment, so you have to do it well.”
Wei Jun Yang added, “Indeed. Since the Supreme Headquarters has entrusted us with this mission, we must do our best to complete the task and not let the other battlefields look down on us.”
Nodding, Yang Kai replied, “Both Senior Brothers are right, but I’ve only recently returned from the outside. Though I have a basic understanding of Profound Nether Territory, I don’t know much about the situation outside of Profound Nether Territory, so I still need you all to catch me up.
Fei Yong Ze looked at him, “Junior Brother Yang, what would you like to know?”
Yang Kai answered, “According to what I know, after the war in the Barren Territory, the Human Race Army retreated and broke up into many different teams to help the cultivators from the various Great Territories retreat and evacuate. However, that was a couple dozen years ago, so those who could evacuate should have already arrived. How could there still be Humans left outside?”
Division Commander Chen sighed and replied, “That’s not a surprise because the purpose of evacuation back then was to let all the Sects move to the nearest territory directly controlled by the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Afterwards, those Cave Heavens and Paradises would have their Masters escort those people to High Heaven Territory. However, the Black Ink Clan moved too fast, so cultivators from a number of Great Territories could not evacuate in time and were surrounded by the enemy. We have suffered quite a significant number of casualties as a result.”
Yang Kai nodded as he knew about such incidents as well. When the Black Ink Clan invaded Swallowing Seas Territory, Yang Kai was fortunately there to lend his assistance.
If Yang Kai hadn’t appeared there at that moment, the cultivators from Swallowing Seas Territory wouldn’t have been able to escape.
In addition to those who failed to evacuate in time, others were ambushed along the way, which might be what had happened to the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory.
When Yang Kai heard this, he frowned, “Forgive my crassness, but if they were intercepted by the Black Ink Clan over 20 years ago, they should all be dead by now.”
Wei Jun Yang raised an eyebrow, “Junior Brother, are you thinking this might be a trap?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Perhaps the cultivators in Acacia Territory found somewhere to hide all these years but have now been found by the Black Ink Clan. Otherwise, they can’t have held out until now.” While he spoke, he used his fingers to tap on the armrest, “What is strange is for word of this to have reached us. Theoretically, Acacia Territory has been entirely conquered by the Black Ink Clan, so if there were any Humans left there, the Black Ink Clan should have easily taken care of them, but of course, dragging on—”
Suddenly thinking of something, he looked at the others below him, “Senior Brothers and Sisters, do you think that the Black Ink Clan are besieging a stronghold to strike at the reinforcements?”
Wei Jun Yang raised an eyebrow, “Why do you ask that?”
Yang Kai explained, “The Black Ink Clan should have been able to easily finish off the cultivators in Acacia Territory but haven’t. It’s obvious that they want to attract our side’s attention, which led to today’s events where Senior Brother Xiang charged us with this matter. We won’t be able to hide the Profound Nether Army dispatching a large number of troops to the Acacia Territory. The enemy is likely planning an ambush in Acacia Territory. There should be multiple Territory Lords and a large Army guarding that place.”
Once he said that, the other Eighth-Order Masters looked at each other and then burst out laughing.
Wei Jun Yang turned to look at Ou Yang Lie and teased, “Are you going to kill a Territory Lord, or are you going to call me ‘Father?”
Rolling his eyes, Ou Yang Lie retorted, “You didn’t win! What’s more, it’s just killing a Territory Lord. How difficult could that be?”
Wei Jun Yang chuckled, “I’ll take it as you choosing to kill a Territory Lord.”
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was dumbfounded as he looked at the others below him, “Senior Brothers, did I say something wrong?”
Division Commander Chen stroked his beard and chuckled, “No, you didn’t say anything wrong. It’s just that your performance shocked us.”
“What do you mean?” That answer made Yang Kai even more confused, [Also, what’s up with Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie? Why would they say something like calling the other ‘Father’?]
Division Commander Chen explained, “Junior Brother, what you’ve just said is correct. There is a Second Class Great Force, Acacia Sect, in Acacia Territory. During its founding, Acacia Sect discovered a Universe Cave Heaven left by an unknown Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after their death, which Acacia Sect obtained many benefits from. Didn’t you say the cultivators in Acacia Territory might have found a place to hide all these years? It’s been surmised that they have been hiding inside that Universe Cave Heaven and somehow managed to seal its entrance, which is why it remained safe until today. But their hiding spot has now been exposed, which is why they are now under siege.”
He continued, “It’s not that the Black Ink Clan doesn’t want to deal with them, but it isn’t an easy task to break open a Universe Cave Heaven’s portal from the outside without appropriate skills. Of course, the Black Ink Clan can still do it, but it will take them some time. Also, us receiving this news should also be the Black Ink Clan’s doing. Junior Brother, you were right when you said they were planning to strike at the reinforcements. However, their target is not the various Armies from the Great Territory Battlefields, but the roaming Hunters who have snuck into their territory.”
A short pause later, he elaborated, “There are many Human Masters that are either unwilling to be governed or are simply not used to functioning in an army and working with others, so they choose to become roaming Hunters instead and sneak deep into the Great Territories that the Black Ink Clan controls. Over the years, the Hunters have attacked and killed many Black Ink Clansmen, and traces of them can be found in many Great Territories. There are indeed many Black Ink Clansmen, but most of them are busy battling the Human Race Army, so those roaming Hunters take the chance to cause chaos behind the Black Ink Clan’s lines by destroying Black Ink Nests and raiding their supply lines. The Black Ink Clan is clearly frustrated with this, and besieging those in Acacia Territory is a good opportunity to attract large numbers of Hunters over. They want to clean up as many of them as possible with this one move.”
It wasn’t the first time Yang Kai had heard of ‘Hunters’. They were Human Masters who didn’t join the main Army on the frontlines for all sorts of reasons and would instead form small groups or even act alone to sneak into the Great Territories that the Black Ink Clan had taken over. Then, they would seek opportunities to do damage.
Most of them were proud of their great strength or had some unruliness in their personalities, which was why they didn’t like the strict regulations of the Army.
Hunters generally acted in very small numbers, so they lived dangerous lives where the threat of being wiped out was quite high; however, while the risks were high, the rewards were too.
The favourite activity for Hunters was destroying Black Ink Nests. If they could bring back proof of them destroying a Black Ink Nest to any of the Great Territory Battlefields, they would receive a massive amount of Military Merits. Once they had Military Merits, they could use them to exchange for cultivation resources or other benefits.
At this moment, there were quite a lot of Hunters roaming around outside, and as time passed, even more cultivators joined them.
Everyone had their own way of living, so if they dove into the Great Territories controlled by the Black Ink Clan and caused chaos, it could still be considered contributing to the war effort. Therefore, not only didn’t the Supreme Headquarters restrict such people, but they even richly rewarded the Hunters whenever they succeeded.
Strictly speaking, Yang Kai’s actions before coming here were the standard behaviour of a Hunter. Of course, what he accomplished was far beyond what any team of Hunters could dream to achieve.
He alone had caused chaos at the No-Return Pass and then retreated safely. That was a feat no other Human could replicate.
The Hunters’ actions were indeed dangerous as they were moving around the Black Ink Clan’s territory, after all. Once their whereabouts were exposed, they would be targeted by many Black Ink Clansmen and would have difficulty escaping.
However, narrow escapes were not that frequent. Hunters weren’t foolish enough to sacrifice their lives for nothing, so as long as they acted prudently, they would be able to steer clear of trouble. After that, it was simply a matter of luck whether they survived or not. Moreover, as Wei Jun Yang just mentioned, most of the powerful Black Ink Clansmen were busy battling Human Race Masters on the frontlines, so there weren’t many just sitting behind and guarding their territory.
The Black Ink Clan had taken over many Great Territories, but there were only so many Innate Territory Lords. This meant that they couldn’t guard every territory they had, making it possible for the Hunters to sneak in and hit Low-Rank Black Ink Nests before making their escape, never having to face any true Masters.
With fewer people, the Hunters could more easily find places to hide after they achieved their objectives, which was why the Black Ink Clan found it so hard to deal with them.
Such situations enraged the Black Ink Clan, which caused them to hate Hunters to the core.
Besieging the cultivators trapped in Acacia Territory was a good chance for them to attract many Hunters over. The Black Ink Clan was planning to use this opportunity to wipe out the hidden dangers in their territories so that they could focus more of their attention on battling the main Human force.
After listening to Wei Jun Yang’s explanation, Yang Kai failed to stifle his laughter as he asked, “Senior Brother Wei, have you known this since the beginning?”
Wei Jun Yang smiled, “Junior Brother, please forgive us. This was all Senior Brother Xiang’s plan and the final test given to you by the Supreme Headquarters.”
Feeling speechless, Yang Kai asked, “What would happen if I didn’t realize all this?”
Wei Jun Yang smiled apologetically, “Senior Brother Xiang hasn’t gone far, and the news of appointing Junior Brother as Army Commander hasn’t been announced to the Army yet.”
In other words, if Yang Kai wasn’t able to see the bigger picture and accurately assess the situation, Xiang Shan might have returned to take back the Army Commander Token.
When Yang Kai heard that, he rolled his eyes, [Fortunately the news of my appointment has yet to be announced to the entire Army. Although I’m young, I would like to keep some face. These old farts simply won’t act their age!]
He didn’t bother with these things though because he understood that it was normal for these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to have some reservations. The Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army was an important and powerful position which could affect the direction of their future battles and the lives of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the Human Race Army, so of course they would act cautiously. Moreover, there was also no fault in the Supreme Headquarters giving out a final test.
In reality, the test was relatively simple, because anyone with half-decent intelligence could think of such things. Only a ruffian like Ou Yang Lie wouldn’t bother thinking things through like this.
Thinking so, Yang Kai snuck a glance at Ou Yang Lie, and as he had expected, the latter seemed to be lost in his thoughts, giving Yang Kai a sense of intellectual superiority.
Wei Jun Yang then turned serious, “Since Junior Brother Yang has seen through the Black Ink Clan’s intentions, it proves that we old folks have made the right choice. Still, the matter of Acacia Territory needs to be dealt with as soon as possible, so please propose a plan of action.”
Yang Kai nodded, “The other battlefields are in the midst of heavy fighting, so for now, only Profound Nether Territory can send out troops. Since the Supreme Headquarters has entrusted us with this task, we must complete it perfectly.”
This was his first mission after he was appointed the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander, so it was of utmost importance for Yang Kai. Moreover, with a large number of Humans still trapped outside, even if Yang Kai was still all on his own, he would have tried to find a way to save them.
“Senior Brothers, do any of you have a plan in mind?” Yang Kai glanced around.
Kong Cheng De quickly said, “Since the Black Ink Clan intends to deal with the Hunters, there must be at least a few Territory Lords hiding in Acacia Territory. Although we don’t have solid intelligence from the Hunters, I suspect there to be between three and five Territory Lords lying in ambush.”
The Hunters weren’t weak, and though there weren’t any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among them, Seventh-Order Masters weren’t lacking.
Feudal Lords could defeat Seventh-Order Masters in greater numbers, but killing them was another matter. The Black Ink Clan’s only option was to have the Territory Lords move if they wanted this thing to be settled conclusively.
Three to five Territory Lords standing guard in Acacia Territory could be said to be an extremely secure arrangement. Of course, the number might be different, but this estimate shouldn’t be too far off.
The arrangement of Territory Lords wasn’t without consideration because the Black Ink Clan needed a lot of Territory Lords to oversee the main battlefield in order to ensure that they had maintained the upper hand when fighting against the Human Race Army.
In addition, Territory Lords who were heavily injured after battling the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would be sent back to the No-Return Pass to sink into dormancy inside Black Ink Nests to heal more rapidly.
Therefore, although the number of Territory Lords on the whole exceeded the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and they had the upper hand when fighting against the Human Race Army, the Human Race’s situation hadn’t worsened to the point where they didn’t stand a chance against the enemy.
Now that Yang Kai had brought back a huge amount of Yellow and Blue Crystals and given out ten Great Sun and Moon Marks, the Humans’ situation would only become better.
Fei Yong Ze spoke up, “Let’s plan for the worst. If Acacia Territory has five Territory Lords standing guard, we would have to dispatch eight Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters if we want to rescue the trapped cultivators!”
Eight Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters… That wasn’t a small number, especially when all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Profound Nether Territory were overseeing important sections of the frontlines and couldn’t be easily transferred. However, only by dispatching eight Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could they be sure they could suppress five Innate Territory Lords. Sending eight was also a precaution against the enemy having deployed more than five Territory Lords.
Though the mission to rescue the cultivators trapped in Acacia Territory didn’t seem difficult, it wasn’t an easy mission to execute.
Moreover…
Yang Kai looked at the crowd of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around him and noticed that they each had varying degrees of injuries. The previous battle was only about 10 days ago, so these Eighth-Order Masters hadn’t even gotten a chance to heal yet, which meant they could not exert their full strength at the moment.
The Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory didn’t fare much better, so they weren’t a pressing concern, but the Territory Lords in Acacia Territory would all be in peak condition.
Wei Jun Yang was clear about this too, so he proposed, “Perhaps we can ask the Divine Spirits for help?”
In its current condition, it would be difficult for the Profound Nether Army to carry out this rescue mission on its own; therefore, they could only ask others for help.
Hearing this though, Yang Kai shook his head, “The Divine Spirits might not be able to help us.”
Ou Yang Lie frowned, “How can you say that before trying?”
Yang Kai answered, “If the Divine Spirits could help us, Senior Brother Xiang would have told us beforehand, but since he didn’t, that could only mean that the Divine Spirits are also all battling the enemy on the various battlefields. What’s more… a few days ago, the Supreme Headquarters even dispatched the batch of Divine Spirits Tao Wu belonged to, which means that the other battlefields need extra help as well.”
If it weren’t their last resort, the Supreme Headquarters wouldn’t have sent the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
Hence, even if the Profound Nether Army asked for help, the Supreme Headquarters might not be able to mobilise any manpower for them.
In contrast with the trapped cultivators in the Acacia Territory, the Great Territory Battlefields were more important at the moment. If the Supreme Headquarters had to make a choice, they would rather ensure the safety of the front lines rather than save those trapped cultivators.
“Makes sense,” Wei Jun Yang nodded.
At first, he thought it wouldn’t be much of a difficult task to save those trapped cultivators in Acacia Territory, but now that he thought more deeply about the situation, this matter was indeed a difficult task to complete.
Instantly, they were dumbfounded and didn’t know what to do!
It seemed like the Supreme Headquarters had given Profound Nether Territory a tough mission. Could this also be a test for Yang Kai after being appointed as an Army Commander?
After everyone fell silent, Yang Kai stood up and announced with a determined expression, “I’ll head over myself!”
The crowd of Eighth-Order Masters was shocked, and Fei Yong Ze was taken aback, “Junior Brother, are you really going to Acacia Territory by yourself?”
Yang Kai nodded, “We have no other options besides this.”
Profound Nether Territory couldn’t dispatch eight Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at once, and they couldn’t ask the Divine Spirits for help, so after careful consideration, Yang Kai decided that acting alone was the best course of action.
Kong Cheng De quickly objected, “Junior Brother, you can’t. You’re now the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, so how could you risk your safety? Moreover, what will happen to Profound Nether Territory after you leave?”
This statement just made Yang Kai burst out laughing, “Senior Brother Kong, your words are exaggerated. This Junior Brother has just been appointed to the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander position, but before now, when have I not been roaming around the dangerous territories? Since I was able to safely cross those territories back then, why can’t I do the same now?”
No matter how dangerous Acacia Territory was, could it be any more dangerous than the No-Return Pass?
Yang Kai had safely returned from the very heart of the Black Ink Clan’s headquarters, so a trivial Acacia Territory was nothing to him.
“Moreover… Before I was appointed, Senior Brothers and Sister have kept Profound Nether Territory well organised, so there’s no way that you all won’t be able to do the same without me. The Black Ink Clan here has just suffered a heavy defeat and lost three Territory Lords, so there won’t be any huge battles in Profound Nether Territory for at least a few years.”
Without giving them a chance to talk, Yang Kai concluded, “It’s settled then. I will personally take a trip to Acacia Territory, and once I leave, I must ask Senior Brothers and Sister to guard Profound Nether Territory. This is also the first order I issue after being appointed as Army Commander.”
Since he had put it that way, what could the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters possibly say?
But after careful consideration, it did seem like Yang Kai personally moving was the best option they had.
No longer trying to stop Yang Kai, Wei Jun Yang Said, “How many troops do you intend to bring, Junior Brother?”
Yang Kai answered, “I don’t need too many. How about this… I’ll bring the original members of Dawn. That should be enough.”
When the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters saw Yang Kai’s enthusiastic state, they felt some lamentation and shame. They were lamenting because the younger generation was growing so fast. Though Yang Kai was the only youngster with a high position now, others from his generation had begun showing their talents on the battlefield and would soon rise up.
These Juniors who had shown their brilliance on the battlefield were the future of the Human Race and were the reason the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors sacrificed themselves to pave the way forward for them.
As for why they felt ashamed, it was because these old fellows couldn’t help Yang Kai…
After calming his thoughts, Wei Jun Yang spoke, “Since you’ve made your mind up, we won’t try to dissuade you, but you must remember that you’re now an Army Commander, so if you find yourself in a dire situation… you must ensure your own safety first.”
“I understand,” Yang Kai nodded heavily.
“Junior Brother, when will you leave?”
“Immediately!”
Wei Jun Yang raised his hand and summoned his Universe Chart. Then, he moved his hands to display an image of the void, “There are three Territory Gates that lead to different Great Territories in Profound Nether Territory. Junior Brother can quietly exit through here,” While he spoke, he reached out and pointed at one of the Territory Gates.
One of the three Territory Gates was guarded by the Human Race so that they had somewhere to retreat if they lost the war. Another one had been taken over by the Black Ink Clan, while the last one was still unclaimed. However, both sides had set up camps there to prepare for any spontaneous battles.
The Territory Gate Wei Jun Yang was referring to was that third gate.
Although the Human Race couldn’t claim that Territory Gate, they could absolutely find a way to send Yang Kai and a small team through the portal. A minor battle would be enough of a distraction to slip through the Territory Gate.
However, Yang Kai instead asked, “Which Territory Gate is the nearest to Acacia Territory?”
Going through different Territory Gates meant they would have to take different routes. Sometimes, a slight difference might mean they had to cross several additional Great Territories to get to their destination.
Wei Jun Yang studied the three Territory Gates before pointing to the Territory Gate being guarded by the Black Ink Clan, “This one!” He was then slightly stunned and asked, “Junior Brother, don’t tell me you want to go through this one?”
Yang Kai replied, “There’s no time to waste, so we naturally have to take the fastest route possible.”
“Nonsense!” Fei Yong Ze reprimanded, “The Black Ink Clan Army’s main camp is there! How are you going to pass by them? If you get surrounded, you’ll die!”
Smiling, Yang Kai assured him, “That’s why I need the Profound Nether Army’s help.”
Wei Jun Yang thought about it and asked, “You want the Profound Nether Army to pressure the Black Ink Clan? Aren’t you afraid they might suddenly rise up and attack you?”
Yang Kai explained, “I just killed three Territory Lords a few days ago, so the Black Ink Clan is definitely paying more attention to me. Now that I’m overseeing Profound Nether Territory, those Territory Lords might be feeling on the edge, wondering which one of them would be next. Senior Brothers, place yourselves in the Territory Lords’ shoes, if I suddenly try to leave this Great Territory, would you give your all to stop me, or just let me pass?”
Fei Yong Ze was about to continue reprimanding Yang Kai, but hearing this question he frowned and hummed for a moment.
The other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were looking at each other.
Eventually, Wei Jun Yang spoke up, “If Junior Brother is the only one leaving, of course, they would pick up a fight because the ability you displayed is too shocking, so the Black Ink Clan naturally wants to get rid of you. If you give them the opportunity, why wouldn’t they take it? But if you add the Profound Nether Army…”
[That is another story… Would the Black Ink Clan really make things difficult?]
Originally, the Black Ink Clan here had the upper hand and almost seized Profound Nether Territory completely, but Yang Kai appeared and foiled their plans.
The Black Ink Clan would naturally be wary of a Master like Yang Kai, who could easily kill Territory Lords like they were random chickens or dogs.
Therefore, if such a Master wanted to leave Profound Nether Territory, it would be great news for the Territory Lords, so the Black Ink Clan might really not stop him but welcome him leaving.
Such a plan might sound far-fetched, but after careful consideration, it seemed there was quite a lot of space for manoeuvring.
At that instant, Wei Jun Yang looked at Yang Kai with a complicated expression and remembered how Ou Yang Lie had joked that Yang Kai should be called Big Head Yang.
The next generation was very admirable indeed! If one only had brawn but no brains, they would be nothing more than a ruffian. However, like Yang Kai, people with brains and brawn were the bane of the Black Ink Clan.
“It’s also fine if they don’t let us pass. We can just start another battle,” Yang Kai beamed, “If they still aren’t afraid of me, I’ll just kill another three Territory Lords. There are only so many Territory Lords here, so they will have to let us pass sooner or later.”
Ou Yang Lie felt his blood boiling when he heard that, “I agree! If we really start a battle, I’ll be the vanguard!”
Wei Jun Yang glared at him before looking at Yang Kai, “Even if the Black Ink Clan are willing to let you pass, isn’t your departure the same as telling the Black Ink Clan that their biggest concern has left and that they can start another war without fear while you’re gone?”
Although the Human Race wasn’t afraid to start another battle, they had suffered a significant loss during the last one and still needed time to recuperate.
Yang Kai answered, “They won’t have the guts to do that. Since I can leave Profound Nether Territory, I can return as well. How can they rest assured that I’ve really left? If they see me leave right in front of them, they will only become even more cautious because if they start another battle, they will have to worry about me attacking them from behind!”
After a short pause, he continued, “Moreover, it doesn’t matter if another battle happens. I’ve already distributed many Small Stone Race soldiers to the others. I must say, the idea of treating the Small Stone Race as Artifacts to be refined rather than beasts to tame is quite ingenious. With their addition, the Profound Nether Army’s capabilities are much stronger than they were before.”
The Small Stone Race was a sharp tool when used to deal with the Black Ink Clan, the only problem was that they had very low sentience and were hard to control.
Many times, the Small Stone Race ran off after killing all the enemies. Those with quick reflexes could capture some of them, but those who weren’t quick enough could only watch as they ran away.
When Yang Kai first began giving out the Small Stone Race soldiers, he told others to try using Beast Taming Techniques to control them. Although the method worked, the results weren’t very good.
It wasn’t until one day when an Open Heaven Realm Master tried treating them like artifacts that a new method was discovered.
Using this method to refine Small Stone Race soldiers was far more efficient than using a Beast Taming Technique because this was far easier for most cultivators. By spreading this method, many more Small Stone Race soldiers could be better controlled to kill the enemy and then be brought back after the battle.
After all, not every cultivator knew Beast Taming Techniques, but everyone knew how to refine an artifact.
This methodology was now widespread throughout the Human Race Army. Now, all Humans would use similar techniques to control the Small Stone Race soldiers!
The Open Heaven Realm Master who discovered this method was praised and rewarded heavily by the Supreme Headquarters, which made him the envy of many.
Yang Kai currently only had a single army of Great Sun Small Stone Race and another of Great Moon Small Stone Race on hand, each with 1 million troops. All the others had been distributed to others.
The ones he kept with him were his trump card for dealing with a Royal Lord. There was only one Royal Lord left, and there was no telling when he would encounter him again, so Yang Kai wanted to keep a hidden hand just in case.
Although it hadn’t been long since their last battle, the soldiers of the Profound Nether Army now had several million Small Stone Race soldiers on hand, so the overall combat power of the Army had only increased, not decreased.
If they did start another large-scale battle, the Humans of Profound Nether Territory wouldn’t have to be wary of the Black Ink Clan.
Inside the Main Conference Hall, all the Eighth-Order Masters looked at each other and kept silent.
Yang Kai had made a clear and concise argument to persuade them, so they had nothing more to say.
Seeing that the others were silent, Yang Kai announced, “This matter is settled then. Pass down my order, the centre outpost’s frontline soldiers are to form up and advance towards the Black Ink Clan’s main camp!”
All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters stood up and bellowed, “Yes, Sir!”
Soon, the Eighth-Order Masters dispersed and returned to the frontline Universe Fragments where Yang Kai’s orders were relayed, and all 200,000 recuperating soldiers moved out.
When news of their operation got out, a few Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters overseeing the auxiliary fronts were shocked. [Is there something going on at the frontline? Didn’t the battle there end recently?]
They went and asked around, and in the end, they were told this was an order from the newly appointed Army Commander Yang Kai.
It was only then that those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at the auxiliary fronts found out that the Profound Nether Army had a new Army Commander.
That was because the news of Yang Kai being appointed as Army Commander hadn’t been announced yet.
Now, this matter has caused a stir among the Army.
They said a new broom sweeps clean, and the new broom called Yang Kai was so good at cleaning that he was thinking of cleaning out the Black Ink Clan.
At that instant, some people were worried while some were excited.
The Masters from the auxiliary fronts could only cooperate with those at the frontlines, so they relayed their orders. All the auxiliary front soldiers also began preparing for battle, increasing the Army’s momentum.
Meanwhile, the Black Ink Clan were shocked.
They had lost three Territory Lords last time, and they only had a limited number of Territory Lords at the frontline, so not only was their Army’s combat power weakened, but the Territory Lords were now hiding inside their base camp.
The scene of that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master killing three Territory Lords was still fresh in their memories, and every Territory Lord was wary of him. Therefore, they didn’t dare take any impulsive actions before they could figure out how to deal with that Eighth-Order Human.
During that last battle, the Black Ink Clan suffered significant losses, but the Humans didn’t fare much better. Everyone thought both sides would pause and rest for at least a few years, but now the Humans were making such a big move within less than half a month!
[Did the Humans get more reinforcements?]
All the Territory Lords appeared and observed the situation, but when they discovered that the Human Race Army was really preparing for war, they all felt worried.
Though they couldn’t figure out what was happening, since the Humans were gathering their troops, it was obvious that they were planning to attack.
At the same time, inside the Main Conference Hall, Yang Kai sat alone while lost in thought, feeling like he was forgetting something.
After careful thinking, he discovered that he was now an Army Commander but didn’t have an adjutant.
Before, no matter whether it was Xiang Shan or any of the other Army Commanders, they all had adjutants, which made it easier for them to relay their orders. After all, it was impossible for people in high positions to do everything themselves.
Profound Nether Army wouldn’t assign him with an adjutant as such people were usually the Army Commander’s most trusted associate.
Yang Kai didn’t have any potential candidates in mind, but he wasn’t in a hurry either. This matter would have to wait until he was back from Acacia Territory.
Hua Qing Si was a good option. While she was the Head Manager for High Haven Palace, not only had she managed High Heaven Palace well but also the Star Boundary by extension.
She was an exceptionally meticulous woman and was perfect for the role of an adjutant.
It was a pity that the Head Manager still needed to oversee High Heaven Palace and had no time to spare.
With the mass mobilisation of the Human Race Army in the Profound Nether Territory, the originally peaceful battlefield became chaotic again.
Not only were the Black Ink Clan caught off guard by this movement, but the Human soldiers were also surprised.
Both sides thought that after the previous battle, there would be a long break before the next round of fighting, but it had only been a dozen days or so, and the Humans were already planning something big.
More than 200,000 Human soldiers moved out and headed for the Black Ink Clan’s base camp.
Meanwhile, all the Humans from each auxiliary front were also deploying to put pressure on the enemy.
One day later, Warships carrying the Human Race Army formed up just 10 million kilometres from the Black Ink Clan’s main base. There was high and low drumming coming from each Warship, fueling the army’s momentum.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“War! War! War!”
The Human soldiers roared together, almost shaking the entire Profound Nether Territory.
Although the soldiers were surprised about this sudden mobilisation, now that they were here, they were determined to fight the Black Ink Clan to the death.
On the Black Ink Clan’s side, their Army was also standing by with the Territory Lords standing in the forefront, looking quite gloomy as they felt humiliated.
During the several dozen years of war in Profound Nether Territory, this was the first time the Humans had arrived at their doorstep…
They were usually the ones who initiated the battles, with the Humans always defending or at most, counterattacking, never venturing deep into their territory.
This was where the Black Ink Clan’s main base was located, so they couldn’t stand such provocation from the Humans. If they hadn’t been wary of the Eighth-Order Master who had suddenly appeared that day, the Territory Lords would have ordered their Army to attack already.
When had the Black Ink Clan ever been wary of Humans?
However, even the strongest Territory Lords couldn’t help but tremble when thinking about that strange Eighth-Order Human Master.
That man used less than a half cup of tea’s time to kill three Innate Territory Lords. They had never witnessed such a thing before, but what shocked the Territory Lords even more, was that this wasn’t the first time this Eighth-Order Human had killed Territory Lords like this.
According to the intelligence they received from the No-Return Pass, that Human had caused a huge commotion at the No-Return Pass. He had attacked twice and killed three Territory Lords right under the Royal Lord’s nose. Moreover, he had destroyed seven High-Rank Black Ink Nests!
Even the powerful Innate Territory Lords were like children before this Human.
When that news arrived, the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory couldn’t believe their ears.
Killing Territory Lords and destroying High-Rank Black Ink Nests was one thing, but to be able to do so in the presence of a Royal Lord was an entirely different matter. What’s more, even the Royal Lord himself couldn’t stop that Human.
The intel they received stated that this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could control a massive Small Stone Race Army and used it to summon an extraordinarily massive explosion of Purifying Light. When that Human charged through the No-Return Pass, he unleashed that burst of Purifying Light to engulf the Royal Lord and a dozen Territory Lords, causing the latter to all fall to the Feudal Lord Realm. Those Territory Lords were still recuperating inside High-Rank Black Ink Nests now, but it was unknown if they could ever restore their full strength again.
This Human was a terrifying opponent.
No Territory Lord would dare to make a move without first determining where this Human was.
That was why the Territory Lords didn’t dare to act rashly despite the Human Race Army pressing in and openly provoking them. They were afraid that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master might be hiding among the soldiers, seeking a chance to sneak attack them.
There were more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but that didn’t mean the Territory Lords would just let themselves be butchered by that Human.
While the Territory Lords were searching for Yang Kai, Yang Kai had just sent out a message from inside the Main Conference Hall.
Meanwhile, among the Human Race Army was a Warship transformed from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone. Yu Ru Meng took out a communication bead, checked the message inside, and gnashed her teeth, “That smelly man is abandoning us again.”
All the Madams were shocked with Su Yan quickly asking, “Where’s he going?”
Yu Ru Meng shook her head, “I’m not sure. He only said he would be heading out and would be back soon. Also, he asked that we not worry and wait for his return!”
Although his Wives were angry about Yang Kai’s departure, they were stuck in an urgent situation where a major battle might break out at any moment; therefore, they could only force this issue from their minds and focus on the matter at hand.
Inside the Main Conference Hall, Yang Kai had finished sending his message and tried to link his mind with the Old Tree. Instantly, the Void shook and Yang Kai appeared beside the World Tree located in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.
Looking up at the giant canopy, Yang Kai was shocked because even though it had only been a few years, there was a significant change to the Old Tree.
When he came here last, many of the World Fruits on the Old Tree were withering, but at least they were still hanging on the branches.
This time, there were far fewer World Fruits than before, and even the Old Tree looked sicklier.
Yang Kai realised that the World Fruits on the Old Tree symbolised the known Universe Worlds, and if a Universe World’s Grand Dao collapsed, it would be reflected in its World Fruit, which would decay and eventually disappear.
Over the last few years, countless Universe Worlds had their Grand Daos destroyed and World Force stolen, so the situation reflected on the Old Tree was the loss of many World Fruits.
Just as Yang Kai was looking around, one of the decayed World Fruits fell and disintegrated.
“Old Tree!” Yang Kai called out softly.
The face of the Old Tree appeared on its trunk, revealing a dark-looking face. It seemed like the Old Tree had been affected by Black Ink Strength. In a strained voice, he asked, “Is there something you need?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Old Tree, please look into Acacia Territory and see if there are any intact Universe Worlds there.”
If there were, he could rely on the World Tree’s power and simply teleport to that existing Universe World, saving him much time and effort.
Of course, seeing the current state of the World Tree, Yang Kai knew that chances were slim.
The Black Ink Clan had taken over the Acacia Territory for many years and would definitely not let off any of the Universe Worlds because, to them, they were the most delicious delicacies.
Furthermore, Yang Kai had already refined and collected every Universe World that could be saved. Nonetheless, he came here intending to just give it a try.
Unfortunately, as he had expected, the Old Tree said, “At this moment, besides the Great Territory Battlefields that are being occupied by Humans and the Great Territories behind them, there are no more living Universe Worlds in the other Great Territories.”
Since Yang Kai had expected that answer, he nodded, “I’m sorry to trouble you, Old Tree.”
Calming himself, Yang Kai linked his mind with a Universe World in Profound Nether Territory and took a step forward, immediately finding himself standing above that Universe World.
There were still a few Universe Worlds in Profound Nether Territory that had survived; however, if this was the situation in Profound Nether Territory, it meant the other Great Territories would be in the same situation. After all, there were still Humans stationed there. Therefore, the Black Ink Clan would have to defeat the Human Race Army before consuming the entire Great Territory.
Sighing, Yang Kai moved back to the Main Conference Hall where he found a distinct-looking Warship.
Dawning Light!
At this moment, a group of people standing on Dawning Light’s deck had their heads turned to face the Main Conference Hall. They were the members of Dawn Squad.
Dawn was part of the Great Evolution Army, so when it was dissolved, Dawn naturally joined the Profound Nether Army.
However, Dawn had been assigned to one of the auxiliary fronts rather than the main battlefield. Yang Kai had been so busy these days that he didn’t have time to visit his old friends.
Now, Dawn Squad came!
They had received transfer orders and came here to receive their next assignment, but their higher-ups didn’t tell them who they would be getting orders from.
While they were looking around, a figure suddenly appeared on the deck. Everyone turned to look at the figure and the few in front were overjoyed and called out, “Squad Leader!”
Yang Kai looked at them and saw Feng Ying in the lead. Then, he saw Shen Ao and Bai Yi, as well as Blood Crow and Miao Fei Ping, followed by over a dozen unfamiliar faces…
Not recognizing many of the faces here, Yang Kai fell into a slight trance.
Aboard this very Warship, he had previously fought side by side with Ning Qi Zhi, Qi Tai Chu, and many others. Later, Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You joined Dawn, followed by Blood Crow, Zhang Yang…
But now, many of those people were gone. Many Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had fallen, and even more in the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order had died.
There were only a dozen or so familiar faces among the entire Dawn Squad.
The Human Race had fought three huge wars, so even a Special Operations Squad composed of the strongest elites below the Eighth Order like Dawn had been reduced to this state. From this alone, it was easy to imagine just how heavy the Human Race’s losses had been over the past 600 or so years.
Dawn could even be considered quite lucky because it still existed, though many newcomers had replaced the old members.
Back in the day, there were four Special Operations Squads in the Great Evolution Army. Yang Kai’s Dawn Squad, Chai Fang’s Old Turtles Squad, Yao Kang Cheng’s Snow Wolves Squad, and Ma Gao’s Profound Wind Squad.
But now, only Dawn remained.
Yao Kang Cheng’s Snow Wolves Squad was wiped out by a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple back when the Great Evolution Army attacked the Royal City.
Ma Gao’s Profound Wind Squad was destroyed during the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Chai Fang’s Old Turtle Squad was left with only a few surviving members after the battle in the Barren Territory. Their Warship was also destroyed, so they had no choice but to disband.
Yang Kai sighed. For countless years, generations of Humans fell and were replaced by the following generation. No one knew how many elites had died in this never-ending war, and though it seemed like the Human Race’s situation had only gotten worse, Yang Kai was confident that the 3,000 Worlds would rise from the ashes and would one day wipe out the Black Ink Clan!
All their efforts today were to ensure they could survive and thrive in the future!
“Senior Sister Feng,” Yang Kai nodded lightly at Feng Ying.
Feng Ying had advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm before him, so according to standard procedure, she should no longer be a member of Dawn. However, Wei Jun Yang and the others still called her over, obviously intending for her to assist Yang Kai.
After all, there were many things an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could do that even an elite Squad could not.
“I heard Junior Brother has broken through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and came to Profound Nether Territory. I wanted to congratulate you sooner, but the Black Ink Clan on the western front have been quite active lately, so I couldn’t leave. I hope Junior Brother won’t blame me for not coming sooner.”
Yang Kai smiled, “Senior Sister is too kind.”
Then, he nodded at Shen Ao, Bai Yi, and the other familiar faces before looking at Blood Crow and frowning slightly.
It seemed like the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture was indeed incomparable to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Yang Kai hadn’t noticed this before, but now that he took a look at Blood Crow, he saw that though the latter had improved a lot, his aura was unstable, which meant that Blood Crow had faced quite a huge drawback while refining Black Ink Clansmen for his cultivation.
“Stop refining Black Ink Clansmen or you might die,” Yang Kai exhorted.
Blood Crow snorted, “You haven’t died, so how could this King die?”
While he sounded stand-offish, Blood Crow was secretly thinking to himself, [This Brat’s luck is truly astonishing. Back at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the others said he was doomed because a Royal Lord was chasing him. Just how did he escape such a strong opponent when he was only in the Seventh Order back then?]
Some 600 years had passed since then, but not only had Yang Kai returned safely, but he did so as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
As for the Royal Lord who was hunting him back then, no one knew what happened to him.
Blood Crow silently snorted, [They say good people don’t live long, while a scourge lasts 1,000 years. Could that be the truth?]
[If that is true, I’m quite the scourge as well, so I shouldn’t die easily.]
Blood Crow thought about nonsense, while Yang Kai stopped caring about him. Cultivators had to walk their own Martial Dao, and the best Yang Kai could do was remind Blood Crow to be careful. Whether Blood Crow would take his words into account wasn’t something Yang Kai could control.
He wasn’t Blood Crow’s elder or ancestor, so he had no right to interfere.
“Xiao Cai has advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm?” Yang Kai looked at a cute young woman in surprise and couldn’t help nodding, “Not bad. Not bad at all.”
During these years, numerous disciples had left the Void Dao Temple in his Small Universe. Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, several disciples broke through to the Open Heaven Realm. Then, after Yang Kai returned to Void Land, he released some 5,000 more who all broke through to the Sixth Order and Seventh Order, shocking Mo Mei and the others at the time.
Among all those disciples from the Void Dao Temple, the one Yang Kai was most familiar with was definitely Miao Fei Ping.
Miao Fei Ping was the first to ascend from the Void Dao Temple and break through to the Open Heaven Realm, making him the Eldest Senior Brother of all the cultivators from the Void Dao Temple. In fact, there was still a statue of him in the Dao Temple to motivate the younger generation.
Besides him, Yang Kai was most familiar with this young woman called Xiao Cai.
Back at Great Evolution Pass, Xiao Cai regularly visited Dawn’s stationed area and helped out; however, anyone could see that helping out was just an excuse, and her real intention was to visit Miao Fei Ping.
It seemed like there was some kind of story between Xiao Cai and Miao Fei Ping…
In terms of respect, there was only one figure in this young lady’s heart, and not even Yang Kai, the Dao Lord, could compare.
At this moment, Xiao Cai and Miao Fei Ping were standing side by side and looking at each other affectionately, indicating that they had obviously gotten together.
When they saw Yang Kai, Miao Feng Ping and Xiao Cai were also very excited. Ordinary people would find it hard to understand why the cultivators from Void Dao Temple respected Yang Kai so much, but for those who came from the Void Continent, it was different.
“Dao Lord…” Xiao Cai elegantly bowed.
Yang Kai nodded lightly. Xiao Cai’s aptitude wasn’t bad and could even be said to be extremely high. In fact, all those who could leave the Void Dao Temple and break through to the Open Heaven Realm had outstanding aptitudes. Back then, Xiao Cai was able to break through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm directly, and now she had advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm after a mere 700 years or so.
She must have encountered some kind of opportunity, or else it would be impossible for her to grow so quickly.
However, Yang Kai didn’t ask about it because the opportunities one obtained were considered private matters.
The disappointment in his heart disappeared as he thought that at least Dawn still had over a dozen surviving veteran members.
Yang Kai’s expression then became serious as he announced, “This time, you will be following me on a mission.”
Feng Ying asked, “Squad Leader, what’s our mission?”
Yang Kai replied, “We will be heading to Acacia Territory. There are a few cultivators trapped there, and our mission is to rescue them.”
Frowning, Feng Ying asked again, “There are still cultivators trapped in Acacia Territory?” She didn’t know about this because the Supreme Headquarters had only recently received the news. Though Feng Ying was also a Division Commander now, she was still new and couldn’t get her hands on such news.
Yang Kai nodded, “This mission will be quite dangerous, so if any of you don’t want to take part, I won’t force you to go. If that is your decision, you may leave now.”
Turning around and looking at everyone, Yang Kai saw that the veteran members of Dawn all looked unperturbed and didn’t show any signs of retreating; however, a newly joined Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master spoke up, “Sir, how many troops will be deployed for this mission to Acacia Territory?”
While looking at him, Yang Kai replied, “Dawn Squad plus me!”
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was dumbfounded. How could Yang Kai think to save the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory with just one Squad? Although Dawn was a Special Operations Squad with 50 members, that was still far too few people!
Since the Black Ink Clan could surround the cultivators in Acacia Territory, it meant there would be quite a lot of them, and there might also be Territory Lords guarding that place.
Looking around, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master saw Shen Ao and the others showed no signs of surprise or disapproval; instead, they all looked eager to head out.
After a short pause, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master spoke up again, “Sir, there have been rumours about you killing three Territory Lords on your own during the last battle, are they true?”
“They are!”
Despite knowing that it was unlikely that such news was fake, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was still shocked when he heard Yang Kai personally admitting it.
When had there been an Eighth-Order Master strong enough to kill three Territory Lords in a row? The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had previously seen battles between Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Innate Territory Lords, but the powerful Eighth-Order Masters never got the upper hand, which showed how strong Innate Territory Lords were.
Yet now, three such powerful Innate Territory Lords died in one battle, and they were all killed by the same man.
Shen Ao laughed while patting that Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s shoulder, “Old Hou, back when our Squad Leader was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, he had teamed up with Junior Sister Bai Yi and killed a Territory Lord. Now that he’s an Eighth-Order Master, so there’s nothing unusual about him killing a few Territory Lords.”
Meanwhile, Bai Yi didn’t say anything as she silently noted, [That Territory Lord was already half-crippled, which is why Yang Kai and I were able to kill him. If it had been a Territory Lord in his prime, Yang Kai and I might not have returned alive that day.]
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master surnamed Hou chuckled wryly as this wasn’t the first time he heard Shen Ao mention this matter. A Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master killing a Territory Lord was indeed an impressive feat, but the Territory Lords from the Black Ink Battlefield were entirely different from the Innate Territory Lords of today.
The current Innate Territory Lords possessed extremely high strength because they had sacrificed all their future potential for immediate power.
Despite there being many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Human Race Army, less than 10 of them could kill an Innate Territory Lord in a one-on-one fight.
Old Hou had previously heard a lot about Yang Kai, and after he joined Dawn, Shen Ao and the others had regaled him with many heroic stories of the past.
Those veteran Dawn members respected Yang Kai to the extreme.
Now that he also had the chance to fight alongside the original Squad Leader of Dawn, the Seventh-Order Master suddenly began looking forward to this mission.
He thus cupped his fist and quickly said, “I am willing to follow you and obey your commands, Sir.”
“We are willing to follow you and obey your commands, Sir!” The crowd vowed in unison.
Yang Kai looked around and nodded in satisfaction, “Good, let’s go!”
The crowd dispersed and took their stations. Soon, Dawning Light turned into a ray of light and shot towards the depths of the void.
At the Black Ink Clan’s base camp, large numbers of Black Ink Clan soldiers were frantically moving about, forming a line of defence. The Human Race Army suddenly moving against them had caught them off guard.
What further confused the Territory Lords though was that the Humans didn’t take advantage of this opening to start a battle and instead just stayed outside while acting like they would strike at any moment.
Such a situation, where the enemy didn’t attack or retreat, made the Territory Lords feel very uncomfortable.
If they weren’t wary of that particular Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, they wouldn’t need to suffer such humiliation.
However, that Eighth-Order Human still hadn’t shown up, and no one knew where he was. The Territory Lords were constantly sweeping the surroundings with their Divine Senses, trying to seek out his whereabouts.
While the Territory Lords were in doubt though, it seemed like someone with high authority had arrived. The Human Army separated to the left and right, and a Warship larger than an ordinary Squad-Class Warship suddenly appeared before the Territory Lords’ eyes.
That Warship was charging straight at the Black Ink Clan’s base camp without any intention of turning around or stopping. What was even more shocking to the Territory Lords was that they saw a familiar figure standing on the deck of the incoming Warship.
It was that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the one who killed three Territory Lords in the last battle!
They thought he had been hiding in the dark, but they never expected that he wasn’t even here in the first place. At this moment, he was standing aboard a Warship, looking down on them with insufferable arrogance!
The Territory Lords were furious as they suddenly had a feeling of being humiliated and felt vexed.
Somewhere among the huge Human fleet, atop a Warship transformed from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, Yue He’s sharp eyes spotted something and she pointed in that direction while yelling in shock, “Madams, Young Master is over there!”
All the women aboard the ship looked over and saw the scene of Yang Kai coming over aboard Dawning Light.
Yu Ru Meng frowned, “What’s he doing?”
The two armies were in a situation where they might start a war at any moment, so how could his Warship charge straight for the Black Ink Clan’s base camp all on its own?
Thinking back to the message Yang Kai had sent her just before, Yu Ru Meng felt confused.
As Dawning Light continued forward, Yu Ru Meng and the others felt their hearts tighten.
Dawning Light had completely separated from the Human Race Army at this point and continued sailing ahead alone. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before they met the Black Ink Clan Army.
If the Black Ink Clan Army attacked them at that point, would their Husband still be alive?
“That bastard!” Yu Ru Meng was furious, [That smelly man never considers us when doing things!]
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
“War! War! War!”
The Human Race Army hadn’t stopped chanting even now, their voices shaking the surroundings. Added to the full might of the Human Race Army assembled here, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t help shivering slightly.
At that moment, if any of the Eighth-Order Masters ordered an attack, the Human Race Army would bravely charge forward.
The war was about to begin!
Dawning Light continued to move forward, confusing not only Yu Ru Meng and Yang Kai’s other Wives, but also the rest of the Humans and the Black Ink Clan.
The two clans had been battling each other for so long, but this was the first time a situation like this had appeared, so the Territory Lords also couldn’t figure out what was going on. However, they had to admit that Yang Kai’s appearance had attracted every Black Ink Clansman’s attention. The invisible pressure formed from all the gazes focused on Yang Kai was so strong that it almost warped the void.
Atop Dawning Light, one of the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters felt his legs trembling as he looked at the Sixth-Order Master beside him with a bitter expression, “Senior Brother, I’m almost at my limit.”
With so many Territory Lords releasing their invisible pressure towards them, the force wasn’t something a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him could resist, even if it were still a large distance away.
That Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master also looked pale, but he still encouraged the Junior Brother, “Junior Brother, you have to believe in yourself. You can do it. Just hold on as long as you can. The two armies are now facing each other, so if we fall here, we will be embarrassing the entire Human Race while giving the Black Ink Clan something to laugh about.”
When the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master heard that, he instantly gritted his teeth and said, “I understand, Senior Brother. We may shed blood and die in battle, but we will never surrender!”
Following his low shout, he slowly straightened his legs, but he was still trembling while sweating profusely.
The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master noticed that and gritted his teeth as well, trying to hold on as long as he could while feeling confused. Yang Kai said they were heading to Acacia Territory to save the Humans trapped there, so why did he bring Dawn to the frontlines of an impending battle?
After moving forward for a while longer, Yang Kai suddenly raised his hand and exuded his might just as those Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could no longer resist the Territory Lords’ might.
At that instant, the terrifying pressure was like snow meeting the sun, gently melting away.
This foray to the Black Ink Clan’s base camp was not only about passing through the Black Ink Clan’s territory, but also a type of message. Therefore, Yang Kai didn’t activate the protective measures on Dawning Light, leaving it in a completely exposed state.
Seeing Yang Kai easily ward off the Territory Lords’ pressure, the Humans became even more motivated and chanted even louder.
Meanwhile, the Territory Lords all looked gloomy. [That Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is indeed too powerful, no wonder he was able to escape from the Royal Lord’s grasp.]
Dawning Light continued to move forward and stopped just 3 million kilometres away from the Black Ink Clan Army.
To powerful Innate Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, such a distance could already be considered meeting each other face-to-face because they were within striking distance of ordinary Secret Techniques. Any sudden movement from either side could set off a great battle between the two clans.
During all of the previous clashes, there hadn’t been anyone brave enough to take such actions when both armies were facing each other because it was equivalent to courting death. If the Humans had provoked the Black Ink Clan to this extent, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have endured it and would have simply attacked.
But now, even when Dawning Light was sitting alone right in front of the Black Ink Clan Army, the Black Ink Clan still didn’t move.
Meanwhile, all the members aboard Dawning Light were nervous and excited.
If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have dared to believe that one man could deter the entire Black Ink Clan alone.
The cultivator surnamed Hou was even more shocked. He was a new member who had joined Dawn only a few decades ago and had heard many anecdotes about Yang Kai from Shen Ao. He used to think that the latter was exaggerating, but after following Yang Kai here, he discovered that all those stories were real!
Not only was the man surnamed Hou excited, but Shen Ao and the other veteran members of Dawn were also elated. Every one of them was smiling and had rosy cheeks.
During the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Yang Kai disappeared while many members of Dawn were either injured or killed. Later, Dawn almost fractured under the weight of their losses in the following wars. Although new members were joining in, it was difficult for Dawn to return to its former glory.
That was because Dawn lacked a leader.
Now, their leader had returned. This was their first mission, and the first thing Yang Kai did was lead Dawn to stand before the entire Black Ink Clan Army. Under the gazes of both clans, Shen Ao and the others didn’t feel scared but excited, feeling like they had returned to the days when they followed their Squad Leader, Yang Kai, to kill the enemy!
The chants continued to shake the void while both the Black Ink Clan and Human Race Army faced off with Dawning Light anchored between them.
This scene was meant to be written down in history books, destined to be remembered by all who witnessed it today.
Yang Kai raised his hand slightly and signalled the Humans to quiet down.
It was only then that the continuous chants finally ceased.
Then, Yang Kai strode forward on the deck and looked at the Territory Lords who were before him with a smile on his face, “Is there a Commander among you all?”
The Territory Lords either looked gloomy or ghastly pale, but none of them spoke.
While raising an eyebrow, Yang Kai asked, “What’s wrong? Every one of you is a powerful Innate Territory Lord, so you can’t be afraid of me, right? If that is true, you should just return to your Source Domain as there’s no need to embarrass yourselves here.”
The Territory Lords naturally couldn’t stand such provocative words and immediately began cursing Yang Kai from all directions.
However, Yang Kai turned a deaf ear and looked around, sneering, “I will remember all of you who cursed at me. You will be the ones I deal with first!”
Immediately, the roars of indignation and curses stopped. If another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had made such a threat, the Territory Lords wouldn’t have taken it to heart because they weren’t wary of Eighth-Order Humans in general.
But Yang Kai’s record of killing three Territory Lords was still fresh in their minds, so they didn’t dare to ignore his threats.
The war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan was ongoing, so if any one of those Territory Lords found themselves alone while being targeted by Yang Kai, they would almost certainly die.
It was also impossible for them to always move together; therefore, the Black Ink Clan’s already weak momentum was dampened even further with just a few words from Yang Kai.
Only then did one Territory Lord with several long arms step forward from the crowd. There was a straight-almond-shaped mark on his forehead, making him look quite strange.
He was originally unwilling to speak with Yang Kai because he knew and had experienced how cunning Humans could be. His way of thinking was simple, when dealing with Humans, it was best to just kill them!
No matter what the Humans said or did, the solution to any matter was to fight.
But if he didn’t come forward now, the situation would only worsen.
Yang Kai looked over and observed the Territory Lord, especially the almond-shaped mark on his forehead, he thought, [That mark isn’t just some kind of decoration, it carries some sort of powerful means.]
“Six Arms!” Back where the Human Race Army stood, Ou Yang Lie snorted coldly.
He had been battling the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory for a couple dozen years now, so he knew quite a lot about the Black Ink Clan’s Masters here. Though Innate Territory Lords were stronger than ordinary Territory Lords, there were still differences between them, possibly related to how much of Mo’s Source Qi they possessed.
Innate Territory Lords were spawned directly from Black Ink Nests using Mo’s Source Qi; therefore, the more Source Qi used, the stronger that Territory Lord was.
Six Arms was the strongest Territory Lord in Profound Nether Territory and had severely injured Ou Yang Lie during their last battle.
Although Ou Yang Lie kept bragging to Wei Jun Yang that he had also caused significant injuries to his opponent, the truth was that Ou Yang Lie’s wounds were much more severe because while Six Arms was only slightly injured, Ou Yang Lie almost lost half his life.
Xiang Shan had previously snuck into Profound Nether Territory and launched a sneak attack on Six Arms while the Human Race and Black Ink Clan Armies were locked in combat, but was unsuccessful.
Even Xiang Shan couldn’t deal with Six Arms with the element of surprise on his side, which showed how hard it was to deal with this fellow.
Hence, Six Arms was indeed the Territory Lord who could command the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory.
Ou Yang Lie quickly informed Yang Kai about Six Arms.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly. To be able to survive Xiang Shan’s sneak attack meant that this Territory Lord called Six Arms was indeed impressive. If Yang Kai were to compete with Six Arms in terms of pure strength, he might not come out as the winner as it hadn’t been long since Yang Kai advanced to the Eighth Order, meaning his heritage was still somewhat weak.
However, Yang Kai’s biggest advantage when killing Territory Lords now was his Soul Rending Thorns, so if it was he who made the sneak attack, he might have succeeded in killing Six Arms.
While Yang Kai was observing Six Arms, Six Arms was also observing him. Six Arms had received footage of Yang Kai’s attacks on the No-Return Pass and was sure that the Human before him was the one who caused all that chaos. Not only did this Human kill three Territory Lords, but he also destroyed seven High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
Six Arms felt his heart sink as he didn’t dare to belittle Yang Kai, eventually opening his mouth to shout, “Human, who gave you the guts to provoke us?”
Looking around, Yang Kai smiled, “This King came here with only one Warship to discuss some matters with you. Does this count as a provocation?”
Yang Kai touched his chin and nodded gently, “If you think it is, then so be it. What can all of you do about it? If you want to attack, go ahead. See if this King doesn’t beat you senseless.”
While saying that, Yang Kai had his nose pointed upwards, looking incredibly arrogant.
The Territory Lords were furious, and Six Arms also looked grim after hearing these words. During the years they had battled the Humans, they had never been in a disadvantageous position; however, they didn’t expect that the momentum they accumulated for so many years would be smashed by a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master aboard a lone Warship.
This Human only had one Warship with him, but the Black Ink Clan was acting like they were facing a powerful enemy. Their behaviour was indeed quite embarrassing.
Seeing the Humans’ side’s spirits rising even further, Six Arms didn’t dare to continue this topic and snorted coldly, “The Black Ink Clan has previously experienced the Human Race’s sharp tongue, so let’s get straight to the point. If you Humans want to start a war, the Black Ink Clan will gladly accompany you.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Good, let’s get straight to the point. I came here today with only the intention of discussing something with you all, not to start a fight. Your side suffered quite a huge loss after the last battle, so you should take some time to recuperate. We Humans have always been generous and would never bully the weak just because we’re strong.”
Meanwhile, Six Arms looked at Yang Kai with a blank expression, thinking that Yang Kai was talking nonsense.
[They don’t want to start a battle? The Human Race Army is already at our doorstep. How can that not be counted as wanting to start a war?]
If the Humans didn’t want to start a battle, the Human Race Army wouldn’t be standing here.
Moreover, the situation in Profound Nether Territory today was that the Humans were weaker than the Black Ink Clan; therefore, Six Arms didn’t know where this Eighth-Order Master found the courage to say that the Humans wouldn’t bully the weak.
Shameless as well as arrogant!
That was the first impression Six Arms had about Yang Kai.
“What do you want to discuss?” Six Arms asked, “If you want the Black Ink Clan to retreat, that is not up for discussion.”
Shaking his head, Yang Kai replied, “I naturally wouldn’t ask you to retreat. The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory have killed so many of my fellow comrades, so who would I seek revenge on if you guys ran away? No, no, you must stay and not leave so that someday, the Profound Nether Army can kill all of you!”
Six Arms frowned, “If you came here just to taunt us, I don’t see the need to continue this conversation.”
Yang Kai chuckled and cupped his fists, “My apologies. My murderous intent was provoked by your words and I’ve forgotten my original intentions. This King came here today to ask that you grant us easement.”
“Grant easement?” Six Arms looked confused, “What do you mean?”
[Grant what easement? Does the Black Ink Clan have an easement to grant?]
Not only was Six Arms baffled, but the Humans were also confused.
As this was a decision made after private discussion, only a few higher-ups knew the whole story while the ordinary soldiers had no information at all. Moreover, the news of Yang Kai being appointed as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army hadn’t been released yet either.
Just as they were feeling confused, they heard Yang Kai continue, “I want to leave Profound Nether Territory… through that portal!”
While saying so, Yang Kai pointed at the Territory Gate behind the Black Ink Clan’s base camp.
Once he said that, both the Humans and Black Ink Clan were shocked and finally realised what Yang Kai was referring to when asking to be granted an easement.
They were purely asking for easement because that Territory Gate was under the Black Ink Clan’s control, so if the Black Ink Clan was reluctant to let them pass, it would be difficult for Yang Kai to get past, no matter how strong he was.
However, many were dazedly looking at Yang Kai while secretly exclaiming, [Has he gone mad? How can he discuss such a thing with the Black Ink Clan? Isn’t this the same as humiliating them? If the Black Ink Clan are determined not to yield, it would be impossible for them to agree to this.]
In fact, there were signs of a riot building among the Black Ink Clan Army already. If it hadn’t been for the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords stopping them, the Black Ink Clan soldiers would have already charged at Yang Kai to rip him apart.
The Humans were astonished while the Black Ink Clan was in an uproar. At that instant, the already tense atmosphere became even tenser.
Wei Jun Yang secretly relayed his order for the soldiers behind him to get ready for battle.
Although all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were on board with Yang Kai’s plan and thought that it was feasible, no one could be sure it would work until it actually did.
If the Black Ink Clan were so enraged by Yang Kai’s provocation that they decided not to endure anymore, the battle today would be inevitable.
Judging by their current situation, the Human Race and Black Ink Clan would have a hard time in the battle because, as Yang Kai said, it hadn’t been long since the previous battle, and both sides still needed time to recuperate.
While the Human Race were secretly arranging their next move, the commotion on the Black Ink Clan’s side was growing louder with even the Territory Lords having gloomy expressions while yelling things like “How dare he?” and “courting death.”
[How arrogant is this Human? Not only did he come here with a single Warship, he even dares to boast so shamelessly! He clearly disdains us Territory Lords entirely!]
Though the Territory Lords admitted that this Eighth-Order Human was indeed very powerful, it didn’t mean they would accept any audacious request he made without reasonable grounds.
If they did, how could the Territory Lords continue to command the soldiers below them? What would their subordinates think of them?
The leader of the bunch, Six Arms, had a dark expression as he stared at Yang Kai while gritting his teeth, “Do you Humans like to joke about such things?”
Yang Kai remained calm, “Do I look like I’m joking?”
Six Arms frowned because he thought Yang Kai was really joking and just using this opportunity to show off his prestige and weaken the Black Ink Clan’s morale, but after careful observation, Six Arms discovered that this Human didn’t seem like he was pulling a poor prank and was sincerely asking them to grant him an easement. Enraged, Six Arms roared, “Impudence!”
Yang Kai casually retorted, “I’m only asking for an easement that wouldn’t cost the Black Ink Clan anything, why are you getting so riled up?”
Hearing that, Six Arms was even more furious. If Yang Kai only wanted easement, the Black Ink Clan naturally wouldn’t suffer any losses, but if they agreed to this request, wouldn’t that be admitting that they were afraid of the Humans? That would be a great blow to the already weak morale of the Black Ink Clan Army.
No matter what, they couldn’t agree to such an outrageous request.
In fact, if the sides were reversed, the Humans wouldn’t grant the Black Ink Clan easement either.
“What if I refuse?” Six Arms asked coldly.
Without saying anything, Yang Kai summoned the Army Commander Token. In an instant, the token glowed and illuminated the void. Then, Yang Kai used his strength to carry his voice throughout the void, “If the Black Ink Clan still won’t let us through after one incense stick’s time, the entire Profound Nether Army and Black Ink Clan will… fight to the death!”
The token floated above Dawning Light, and Yang Kai stood arrogantly on the deck while his voice, boosted by his World Force, sounded deafeningly loud.
The Human Race Army was shocked for a moment before they immediately began chanting so loudly that it felt like the entire Profound Nether Territory would shake apart.
“War! War! War!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Once the Army Commander Token appeared, no one among the hundreds of thousands of troops in the Profound Nether Army dared to disobey.
It was only now that the Humans learned that the Profound Nether Army had a new Army Commander. Wei Jun Yang was the de-facto Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army before, and though his performance was average at best during the several decades of war, he was at least able to maintain Profound Nether Territory.
But when comparing the two, obviously this new Army Commander was bolder and more courageous.
He had just been appointed and had already made such a big move. That was something the older and more prudent Wei Jun Yang would find difficult to do.
With such an Army Commander overseeing Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan would no longer have easy days.
“Young Master is the Army Commander?”
Aboard the Bi Xi Warship, Yue He was dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Yu Ru Meng and the others were all shocked as well. Their Husband was the Army Commander? They had no idea about this and hadn’t received any news of this matter. Moreover, Yang Kai didn’t even tell them about this.
But while looking at the figure enveloped by the token’s halo, who was also the centre of everyone’s attention, all the Madams felt an inexplicable sense of pride.
That was their man!
“Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander!” When the Army Commander Token was summoned, Six Arm’s eyes immediately lit up.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had suddenly appeared in Profound Nether Territory was actually the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander!
If Six Arms could kill this Human before the Human Race Army moved, that would be a crushing blow to the enemy’s morale.
A sudden urge began to fill his heart as his gaze turned vicious while staring at Yang Kai.
Not only Six Arms, but many other Territory Lords had similar thoughts. At that moment, several Divine Senses surged as the Territory Lords began secretly discussing their next move.
Six Arms soon suppressed such thoughts though while sending a warning to the other Territory Lords to not make any rash moves. This Human before them wasn’t easy to deal with, and if they acted on impulse, they might be the ones killed rather than their opponent, which clearly wasn’t worth it.
Since this Human had summoned the Army Commander Token before the eyes of the two armies, he might have something planned.
While suppressing the anger and ambition inside him, Six Arms said through gritted teeth, “If you Humans want to start a war, so be it…”
[Do you think the Black Ink Clan is afraid?] Since they were forced to this point, no matter how reluctant Six Arms and the other Territory Lords were, a clash between the clans was inevitable.
When Six Arms finished his words, he suddenly stopped and frowned because he could sense another Divine Sense surging inside the void.
It seemed like someone was contacting Six Arms.
Yang Kai smiled as he swept his gaze across all the Territory Lords and finally fixed his gaze on a figure that was enveloped by a dark shadow.
It was another Territory Lord, but he seemed like a shadow and was neither real nor illusory, which was quite strange.
As if sensing Yang Kai’s gaze, the pair of eyes amidst the dark shadow glanced back at him.
A short while later, Six Arms had a strange expression on his face when he raised his head to look at Yang Kai. The anger he felt had disappeared entirely, and he asked with a frown, “Are you only looking for easement?”
“What else can I ask for?” Yang Kai asked him back.
Six Arms coldly snorted and said, “Even if we offered you this easement, do you have the courage to take it?”
The Territory Gate was located behind the Black Ink Clan’s base camp, so if the Humans wanted to go through it, they would have to pass through the Black Ink Clan Army. Weren’t the Humans afraid they might walk into a death trap?
“You’ll know the answer after you accept,” Yang Kai looked at Six Arms with a slight smile.
Though Six Arms was strong, he didn’t have the sharpest mind. In contrast to him, the Territory Lord who looked like a shadow was a quick thinker.
It was the shadow Territory Lord who had contacted Six Arms just now and made him forget about his decision to fight the Humans.
Just like how Yang Kai had persuaded all the Eighth-Order Masters at the Main Conference Hall, that shadow Territory Lord might have realised that Yang Kai’s departure from Profound Nether Territory would benefit the Black Ink Clan.
[Perhaps… they might still be thinking about suddenly launching an attack after I’m halfway inside their territory.]
That was something Yang Kai had to be prepared for. Even though he was sure the Black Ink Clan would likely agree to grant an easement, he couldn’t be sure that they would be able to hold back their urge to kill him.
If that happened, there would definitely be a huge battle today!
However, it didn’t matter if things came to that because Yang Kai had considered such a scenario. He could just kill a few more Territory Lords and bring Dawn to escape any ambush set up at the Territory Gate.
He had a 2 million strong Small Stone Race Army on hand, which was his trump card to use against the last Royal Lord. Although it would be a waste to use them here against mere Territory Lords, Yang Kai wouldn’t be stingy when faced with a critical situation.
After all, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan were still nurturing the Small Stone Race in the Chaotic Dead Territory, so he could just head there and ‘borrow’ some more after a few hundred years.
Therefore, he had nothing to be afraid of!
The two pairs of eyes met each other, one looking sincere while the other seemed doubtful.
A long while later, Six Arms sneered, “Since you claim to have the guts, prove it!” While saying so, he waved his hand, “Let them through!”
Once that order was given, the Black Ink Clan Army gathered in front, separated to both sides and left a narrow path towards the Territory Gate.
The scene stunned the Human Race Army.
When Yang Kai said he wanted to pass through the Territory Gate, everyone thought he was just taking this opportunity to provoke the Black Ink Clan and suppress their momentum; after all, how could the Black Ink Clan agree to such a humiliating request?
Though puzzled, the Human Race and Black Ink Clan had a blood feud, so since both sides had gathered their troops, they would just start another battle. The stronger and the weaker side would be determined after the fighting was finished, so what was the use of such provocation?
However, who would have thought that the Black Ink Clan would agree to such an absurd request and let Yang Kai pass?
[What’s happening? Did the lead Territory Lord lose his mind? Doesn’t he know that agreeing to the request is a big blow to their army’s momentum?]
No matter what the Black Ink Clan were thinking, the Humans were elated.
The Black Ink Clan had given in!
Yang Kai alone had managed to threaten the Black Ink Clan to compromise to this extent. This was something no one had ever seen or even heard of before.
Although they didn’t attack or kill any Black Ink Clansmen today, the current situation was better than slaughtering a couple of Territory Lords!
Before Yang Kai’s arrival in Profound Nether Territory, the situation here wasn’t looking good. They were constantly at war, and the Humans were in an extremely passive situation. Moreover, they would suffer quite a significant loss after every battle.
Profound Nether Territory was almost lost during the last battle.
Now, they had such a new, powerful Army Commander who could ask for an easement from the Black Ink Clan alone and with only a single Warship. Though the Black Ink Clan had snarled viciously, they still compromised in the end.
The hundreds of thousands of Human soldiers looked at the figure above the deck of Dawning Light and couldn’t help but feel astonished. That figure… seemed so high and mighty.
Profound Nether Army had risen!
Once the excitement had died down, the Humans quickly became worried because even the dumbest among them knew that Yang Kai was about to face a life-or-death crisis.
If the Black Ink Clan suddenly decided to attack, Yang Kai and Dawning Light would be utterly surrounded.
Despite their preparations for war, no one could be sure that the Humans could save Yang Kai from the Black Ink Clan’s besiegement in time.
On top of the Bi Xi Warship, Yu Ru Meng and the others felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Their Husband was still so reckless, but they could do anything about it. They could only support their Husband, but… could they stand to watch him battle the enemy alone? Though they were women, they weren’t weaklings.
Ever since they met Yang Kai, they had mostly lived apart. Although that didn’t affect their relationship, these Wives were thoroughly fed up with waiting at home and not knowing whether their Husband would return alive.
If he was destined to die, they wanted to die with him.
Wasn’t living and dying together the best ending for Husbands and Wives?
Yu Ru Meng looked at Su Yan, who just happened to look over at her, and then looked at all the others, their eyes filled with longing.
Having lived with them for over 1,000 years, Yu Ru Meng didn’t have to speak and only had to look into their eyes to know what they were thinking.
With a smile, she called out, “Senior, please!”
Bi Xi sighed, “Can’t you show an old man some mercy…”
Yu Ru Meng smiled and assured him, “It’s just a Soul Clone. I’ll get Husband to make it up to you if you suffer any damage.”
Bi Xi bargained, “I want to cultivate in the Dragon Pool. Help me convey my request to that boy.”
He had a Dragon Clan Bloodline and it was extremely strong, so if he could cultivate inside the Dragon Pool, it would be beneficial to him. However, it was a pity that only pureblood Dragon Clan Members could enter the Dragon Pool, so despite being a veteran Divine Spirit, the Dragon Clan wouldn’t allow Bi Xi in.
More importantly, Fu Guang was still healing inside the Dragon Pool and couldn’t be disturbed.
However, if Yang Kai spoke up for him, perhaps the Dragon Clan could make an exception. Also, Yang Kai had previously saved Ji Lao San’s life, and the Dragon Clan were beings that knew how to repay favours.
“Done,” Yu Ru Meng agreed straight away.
“Sit tight,” Bi Xi reminded them, and the Warship instantly turned into a ray of light and shot forward.
Division Commander Chen, who was overseeing this section of the Army, was shocked when he noticed this, but was too late to stop them as Bi Xi’s Soul Clone had already shot away. At first, he thought it was a Squad acting rashly and was about to reprimand them, but then he saw the female figures on the Warship. He moved his lips, but didn’t stop them because he could roughly guess their thoughts.
At the same time, Yang Kai sensed something and looked behind him to see a Warship speeding over. Yu Ru Meng stood proudly on the deck of the Warship with a group of alluring women behind her.
Yang Kai couldn’t hold in his laughter and stood upright while waiting for them.
Meanwhile, Six Arms had also noticed the incoming Warship and his eyes flashed as he raised his hand to stop the Black Ink Clan from taking any action.
They weren’t sure about the situation on that other Warship, but it didn’t seem like it was looking for trouble, so Six Arms didn’t want to start a dispute over something so minor.
A short time later, Bi Xi’s Soul Clone arrived beside Dawning Light and quietly stopped.
Standing on the Warship, Yu Ru Meng raised her chin daringly at Yang Kai.
In the past, when Yang Kai was fighting all on his own, they could only hide behind him because they weren’t strong enough to help their Husband and share his burdens.
But now, they were all Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and were no longer burdens!
They didn’t want to stay behind anymore and worry every day because they were afraid they might receive bad news about their Husband. Even if they were to die, they would do so together!
“Follow close behind!” Yang Kai nodded lightly at Yu Ru Meng and the others before turning back to look at Six Arms and shouting, “Move out!”
Dawning Light moved forward with the Bi Xi Battleship closely behind. Yu Ru Meng and the others were in high spirits, while Luan Bai Feng was the only one shivering in fear.
[These women have all gone mad!] Even if they were willing to give up their lives for some smelly man, she wasn’t! She and Yang Kai had no feelings for each other, and her life was previously under Yang Kai’s control. It was only when Yang Kai decided to head to the Black Ink Battlefield and removed all names from the Loyalty List that Luan Bai Feng and Chen Tian Fei were able to get their freedom back.
Aboard the Bi Xi Battleship, Luan Bai Feng was so desperate to cry but was unable to shed any tears. If she left the Warship now, she would die, so she could only helplessly stay silent at the back while keeping her guard up.
As Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship moved forward, the Black Ink Clan on both sides stared at them like a flock of hawks, numerous Divine Senses surging about as they communicated with each other.
Meanwhile, on the Human side, hundreds of thousands of Human soldiers remained ready for battle. The Warships had begun humming, prepared to charge at a moment’s notice.
In an instant, no matter whether it was the Humans or Black Ink Clan, both armies were ready for battle.
The Humans were worried that the Black Ink Clan would attack after surrounding Yang Kai and the others while the Black Ink Clan soldiers were just waiting for orders from the Territory Lords. Once the Territory Lords gave the signal, the Black Ink Clan would charge forward and tear the two Warships to pieces.
However, the Territory Lords didn’t make that call.
Under the exchange of Divine Senses, the Territory Lords found it difficult to come to a unanimous decision.
On the one hand, they thought this was a hard opportunity to come by. This might be their best chance to kill this Eighth-Order Human scourge.
Though the other faction didn’t deny this, they were worried about things on a deeper level.
The Humans weren’t idiots. After so many years of battling them, the Black Ink Clan had deeply experienced how deceitful and cunning Humans could be.
Since that Human wanted to pass through the Black Ink Clan Army so recklessly, how could he not have come prepared? Without mentioning the battle that would break out once the Black Ink Clan initiated an attack, would they really be able to kill that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master if they attacked?
How could this Human have acted so boldly if he wasn’t confident about this matter? Or perhaps… this was what the Humans had planned.
At that moment, the Territory Lords were still arguing in secret. In the end, all the pressure rested on Six Arms’s shoulders because he was their leader in Profound Nether Territory. The other Territory Lords dared not to act rashly without his orders.
On the other hand, Six Arms was sweating profusely.
Several Territory Lords supported the idea of attacking and killing that Eighth-Order Master, so how could he not want to do the same? He had already secretly devised a plan earlier and was just waiting for that Human to head deeper into their ranks before making a move.
No matter what scheme the Humans had, that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was the key, so the Black Ink Clan would have won half the battle if they had managed to kill him! Even if it meant they would have to suffer huge consequences, it would be worth it.
Such a strong Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was someone all Territory Lords were wary of.
However, just when Six Arms was about to give the order, he suddenly felt a huge sense of crisis wash over him, as if he would immediately die if he made a move!
The sense of danger made him break out in a cold sweat, and he hesitated to decide.
He had never felt time pass so slowly before.
It was as if each breath was a million years long.
Suddenly, the sense of crisis disappeared entirely. Six Arms raised his head in shock and saw that Yang Kai was almost at the end of the Black Ink Clan Army’s formation and was moving straight towards the Territory Gate.
Six Arms felt dismayed, as if he had lost all strength in his body, but he also felt frustrated and relieved at the same time.
It wouldn’t be suitable for them to attack now because they had lost their best opportunity.
At the same time, Wei Jun Yang, Ou Yang Lie, and the others also felt relieved.
Yang Kai and the others had passed the most dangerous area. Since the Black Ink Clan didn’t attack, there was a high possibility that they wouldn’t try anything now; however, they still couldn’t let their guard down because anything could happen before Yang Kai entered the Territory Gate.
Sometime later, Yang Kai had already arrived above the Black Ink Clan’s base camp. He looked down and saw numerous densely packed Low-Rank Black Ink Nests and more than a dozen Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests here. Also, he could make out large numbers of Black Ink Clansmen moving in and out of these nests.
If he made a move now, he could destroy a few Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, but he didn’t want to cause any chaos because the main purpose of this trip was to pass through this region.
Instead of trying to destroy the Black Ink Nests here, it was better for him to think up a way to wipe out the High-Rank Nests at the No-Return Pass. As long as the High-Rank Black Ink Nests remained, there was no meaning in destroying the Black Ink Nests here and now as all that would do is set off another battle.
Without slowing down, the two Warships sped past the Black Ink Clan’s base camp and soon arrived at the Territory Gate.
There was a Territory Lord and a Black Ink Clan Army standing guard here!
Noticing Yang Kai’s arrival, the Territory Lord took a good look before waving his hand. Only then did the Black Ink Clan Army split apart. Though they were reluctant to accept what was happening, Six Arms and the others had compromised, so he didn’t want to cause any trouble either.
“Human, what is your name?”
Six Arms’ shout came from behind.
Even now, they didn’t even know what Yang Kai’s name was.
Dawning Light had already entered the Territory Gate, so Yang Kai didn’t turn around; however, his voice came from afar, “Profound Nether Army’s Yang Kai!”
“Yang Kai…” Six Arms muttered the name while engraving it in his heart.
Today’s events were a humiliation for the Black Ink Clan, and they had the right to know the name of the one responsible for their embarrassment.
From today onwards, they would spread that Human’s image and name to all the battlefields and remind the Black Ink Clansmen there to be wary of him!
This was how such an enemy Master should be treated!
A moment later, they were gone!
Under the Human Race Army’s watch, Yang Kai led two Warships through the Territory Gate and entered the neighbouring Great Territory.
Meanwhile, the Black Ink Clan didn’t move and just let them leave.
For a while, many were confused because this disastrous world indeed followed the principle of respecting the strong.
The Black Ink Clan had always been overbearing and unruly, but when facing an Army Commander who could kill three Territory Lords all on his own, they didn’t even dare to make a sound. Not only did they agree to such an absurd request, but they also made way and watched them leave without the slightest hindrance.
“The younger generation is indeed more daring!” Wei Jun Yang couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.
Back when they were at the Main Conference Hall, though Yang Kai had successfully persuaded him, he still knew that there was a huge risk to this plan. Any slight problem would have led to a war breaking out between the two sides, putting Yang Kai and those with him in a precarious position.
He wasn’t a fan of such risky moves.
However, this was Yang Kai’s first order after being appointed as the Army Commander, so he couldn’t undermine his authority by disagreeing. This was also why although he agreed to the plan, he also made preparations to save Yang Kai if anything happened.
As it turned out, his worries were all for nothing.
Yang Kai did manage to deter the Black Ink Clan and made them grant him an easement.
The moment Yang Kai led the two Warships through the Territory Gate, Wei Jun Yang had a feeling that he had passed his prime and failed to stifle his laughter.
He was old!
And he couldn’t deny it even if he didn’t want to.
He withdrew his thoughts and looked at the Black Ink Clan before announcing, “Six Arms, the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander has left. If the Black Ink Clan wishes to start a battle, we Humans are willing to accept the challenge.”
Six Arms looked at Wei Jun Yang before coldly snorting.
[He left? Who knows if he’s really gone? Maybe he’s hiding just beyond the Territory Gate, waiting for us to start a battle so he can sneak up on us from behind.]
Moreover, Six Arms recalled that when Yang Kai appeared that day, he brought along a massive army of Small Stone Race soldiers that helped the Human Race Army attack the Black Ink Clan Army from both sides, causing them to suffer a huge loss.
He couldn’t see any signs of that Small Stone Race Army, so there was no telling where they might be hiding.
Humans were indeed treacherous and filled with ill intentions!
Yang Kai’s figure disappeared, but the Black Ink Clan didn’t show any signs of attacking. Whether they were wary or powerless, such a situation was what the Humans wished for; after all, it wouldn’t do them any good to start a war now either.
Wei Jun Yang and the others soon gave the order, and the Human Race Army that was pressing in at the border slowly retreated in an orderly manner.
A while later, the noisy Profound Nether Territory became peaceful again, and the situation was back to when both armies were separated, each resting, recuperating, and preparing for the next battle.
In the Great Territory beside Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai turned around and stared at the huge Territory Gate. The Black Ink Clan didn’t set up any defences on this side, so Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship had made it through without any hindrance.
Meanwhile, the others were also looking at the Territory Gate, still unable to believe what had happened.
Their request for easement had gone smoothly!
When Yang Kai was standing before the Black Ink Clan Army’s formation on the lone Warship, they had already prepared themselves to fight to the death.
They all thought that the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t agree to Yang Kai’s request.
In the end, the result was surprising.
It was obvious that the Human Race Army pressuring the Black Ink Clan was only a part of the reason they granted passage while the main reason was the intimidation Yang Kai represented with his powerful abilities.
To the Black Ink Clan, a strong Master like Yang Kai leaving Profound Nether Territory was something they hoped for because, at the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about him ambushing them for now.
“Squad Leader, why don’t you seal up the Territory Gate?” Feng Ying suddenly asked.
If they sealed up the Territory Gate to Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan would have no way of contacting the outside world and would also die while being trapped. Then, the Humans only needed to weaken the Black Ink Clan’s forces slowly and could one day wipe them out.
However, Yang Kai chuckled when he heard this suggestion and slowly shook his head, “No. If we did do such a thing, it would only force the Black Ink Clan to immediately start an all-out war. The Profound Nether Army… isn’t ready for such a battle.”
After listening to his reasoning, Feng Ying understood that she was being hasty.
What Yang Kai said was true. The Black Ink Clan had suffered a huge humiliation by granting them an easement, but since Yang Kai had already left, they couldn’t do anything about it. However, if they took the opportunity to seal this Territory Gate, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t just endure anymore. By then, no matter how wary they were, they would still insist on fighting it out with the Humans.
Yang Kai had left large amounts of Small Stone Race soldiers behind, and the Humans might not lose such a battle, but the best outcome would be both sides suffering crippling losses.
The Black Ink Clan could afford such heavy casualties, but the Humans couldn’t.
Yang Kai had thought about sealing the Territory Gate too, but that idea only lingered in his mind for a moment before he gave up on the idea.
At that moment, he suddenly understood something and said, “This is not any one person’s war, it is the entire Human Race’s war!”
One powerful Master could not change the Humans’ current situation alone, not even a group of powerful Masters could do that, only when the Human Race could continuously produce more Masters would they be able to truly defeat the Black Ink Clan.
It was at that moment that Yang Kai understood the intentions of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
The Old Ancestors were already extremely strong, but they still chose to sacrifice themselves on the Barren Territory battlefield to clear a path forward for the younger generation, opening up space for them to grow and mature.
It seemed like the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had already foreseen everything back then.
The Black Ink Clan had invaded the 3,000 Worlds. Without the Black Ink Clan’s invasion, the 3,000 Worlds would still be flourishing, and many living beings in the numerous Universe Worlds wouldn’t have died.
However, the situation was what it was, and now, the Humans needed to find a way to fight back.
Numerous thoughts surged inside Yang Kai’s head, and he suddenly realised many things that he had never thought about before. That was because he used to be a lone soldier, and though he had great strength, he didn’t need to manage anything and could do whatever he wanted as there would be others to worry about the bigger picture whenever problems arose.
Now that he was the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander and in charge of the war for an entire Great Territory, he had to think about things from a much broader perspective, allowing him to see things he had never realised before.
He originally thought that after this mission, he would have to find time to seal up a large number of Territory Gates and cut off the Black Ink Clan’s supply lines and communication channels. But now that he thought more deeply about it, that seemed like the worst possible plan.
If he went with this idea, though the Humans would have a chance to wipe out the Black Ink Clan on the dozen or so current battlefields, it wouldn’t bring them any closer to solving the root of the problem. In the end, there would still be an endless number of Black Ink Clansmen that needed to be killed.
To the Humans, the wars in the dozen or so battlefields were a constant source of danger, but also an essential training ground. Life-or-death situations were not only crises, but also opportunities. Flowers grown in a greenhouse would never be as strong as the wild grass that had gone through rain and storms.
For now, the Human Race needed the Black Ink Clan to be their life-or-death enemy. Yang Kai himself got to where he was by going through continuous life-or-death battles with the Black Ink Clan, so he knew how these experiences could help one grow.
There was a vague idea forming in his mind, and perhaps after this mission, he could head to the Supreme Headquarters and discuss it further with Xiang Shan and the others.
For now though, the two Warships continued moving at full speed through the void. Dawning Light was a superior Warship. Back then, it had cost Yang Kai and Dawn an enormous amount of Military Merits to customize this Warship into one with outstanding offensive and defensive capabilities far beyond that of an ordinary Warship, but the Bi Xi Battleship was even better. Although it was just a Soul Clone, Bi Xi was a powerful Mature Divine Spirit, so in terms of speed, the Bi Xi Battleship was even faster than Dawning Light.
Moreover, the Bi Xi Battleship had an extremely strong defensive ability, which was why Yu Ru Meng and the others did not need to worry about protecting themselves. If it hadn’t been for the Bi Xi Battleships’ sturdy defences, Yu Ru Meng and the others might have been injured or even killed during all those large-scale battles despite being Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Since they had the Bi Xi Battleship protecting them, their Squad of women was still fully intact.
Their journey to Acacia Territory would take them through six Great Territories. That was already the fastest route, but even with the speed of their Warships, it would take at least two months to arrive.
This was the route they needed to take even when exiting through the Territory Gate that the Black Ink Clan controlled in Profound Nether Territory. Their journey would be significantly longer if they chose to go through another Territory Gate.
As there were cultivators trapped in Acacia Territory in a critical situation, Yang Kai didn’t want to waste any time, which was why he decided to ask for an easement from the Black Ink Clan. After all, what would the point of arriving late be?
When the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, almost every living being in the various Universe Worlds died or was enslaved. Everywhere the Black Ink Clan went, they would destroy Universe Worlds, leaving these previously flourishing places in dead silence.
On the contrary, the Black Ink Clan left all the Universe Temples intact!
The Black Ink Clan could use the Universe Temples to save them a lot of time moving about; therefore, they intentionally left them standing and even posted guards to protect them.
When Yang Kai returned from the No-Return Pass, he used many of the Universe Temples as transit points and also killed every Black Ink Clansman who was guarding them.
Those Black Ink Clansmen left to guard the Universe Temples weren’t very strong, and since the Black Ink Clan didn’t have so many Territory Lords, most of the defences were led by Feudal Lords.
Yang Kai had killed more Feudal Lords than he could count by now.
On this journey to Acacia Territory, Yang Kai didn’t have to make a move to deal with the Black Ink Clansmen guarding those Universe Temples because they were easily dealt with by Dawn and the all-female Squad.
Later, they encountered a few Black Ink Clan teams sending resources to each of the frontlines. Those Black Ink Clansmen naturally wouldn’t have a good end, and the resources they carried were pocketed by the two groups.
This was also something the Hunters enjoyed doing.
Currently, in the entire 3,000 Worlds, besides the 20 or so Great Territories that weren’t fully taken over by the Black Ink Clan, the rest counted as the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
The Black Ink Clan were now mining resources they found in all those Great Territories and sending them to the frontlines. The battle between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan was never-ending, so the demand for resources was enormous.
As such, the Hunters would have many opportunities to snatch these resources.
Although the Hunters could gain Military Merits from killing the enemy and use them to exchange for resources, that couldn’t compare to what they obtained by looting the Black Ink Clan.
Every Black Ink Clan supply team carried an enormous amount of resources on them; therefore, killing them and looting them was far more profitable than simply earning Military Merits on the battlefield.
For the past couple dozen years, the Hunters and Black Ink Clan teams that were tasked with delivering resources had been constantly waging a battle of wits against each other.
This resulted in the Black Ink Clan sending out more powerful troops when transporting resources because they didn’t want the Hunters to snatch away the goods.
There were even some Territory Lords patrolling around the various Great Territories, trying to find any traces of Hunters.
In this way, although Hunters weren’t fighting alongside the Army, they did manage to lessen the burden of the frontline soldiers because they occupied quite a number of Territory Lords.
A part of the dozen or so Territory Lords that suddenly appeared in Profound Nether Territory were dispatched from these patrols.
It was said that back in the day, many Hunters travelled alone and would only have two to three good friends accompanying them. But as the Black Ink Clan began sending larger escorts for the supply teams, the Hunters gradually formed groups similar to Army Squads to respond.
The Black Ink Clan hated Hunters more than any other Humans and wished to slaughter these vultures clean. It was unfortunate for them that the Hunters were all bold yet cautious, and since they were quite strong, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t kill them all off.
The trapped cultivators in Acacia Territory were a great opportunity, so the Black Ink Clan didn’t kill them immediately and instead released news of this matter, trying to lure a large number of Hunters over to wipe them out.
The Black Ink Clan weren’t afraid of the Hunters finding out their intentions because there were always some who didn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and acted recklessly because they believed themselves strong enough to do so.
Moreover, even if the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory didn’t initially understand why Yang Kai had left, they would soon understand he was moving to save the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory. Otherwise, why would the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army leave instead of overseeing Profound Nether Territory?
As such, Acacia Territory would only become more dangerous and a large number of Territory Lords would surely be lying in wait.
Two months later, Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship finally arrived at Acacia Territory. When the two Warships passed through the Territory Gate, everyone on board, from the members of Dawn to Yu Ru Meng and the others, silently circulated their World Force in preparation for a large battle. However, there were actually no Black Ink Clansmen defending the Territory Gate.
Yang Kai stood on the deck of Dawning Light, his gaze flashing slightly as he observed his surroundings. Thanks to his Demon Eye of Annihilation, he could vaguely detect traces of Black Ink Strength surging on a Universe Fragment in the distance. The Black Ink Clan scouts were most likely monitoring them from afar.
The situation was not too bad. Seeing as the Territory Gate was only being monitored and not defended, it would seem that the Black Ink Clan was not ready to spring their trap yet.
If the Black Ink Clan had deployed a large Army to garrison the Territory Gate, it would be an indication that they were prepared to annihilate the Humans in Acacia Territory once and for all. If that were the case, Yang Kai and the others would already be too late. Therefore, the current situation was undoubtedly what Yang Kai had hoped for.
Yang Kai ignored the Black Ink Clansmen monitoring them, not wanting to startle the enemy. Taking out his Universe Chart, he checked his direction and then guided the two Warships into the depths of the void.
On the distant Universe Fragment, a team of Black Ink Clansmen quietly lay in ambush. The leading Black Ink Clan Feudal Lord was carefully observing the situation at the Territory Gate as it was just as Yang Kai had guessed. These Black Ink Clansmen were only monitoring the movements here while calculating the number of Hunters that entered Acacia Territory.
The sudden appearance of Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship startled the Feudal Lord slightly and he quickly took out a jade slip and poured his Divine Sense into it to check its contents. A short while later, his eyes flashed and he shouted, “Send a message to Sir Mo Na Ye and inform him that those two Warships have appeared!”
Mo Na Ye was one of the Innate Territory Lords overseeing Acacia Territory. Furthermore, he could be regarded as the Commander of this area. His strength was powerful enough that he was not inferior to the Territory Lord Commanders on the primary battlefields.
The Feudal Lord had previously received an order from above to pay close attention to the whereabouts of these two Warships. Although he did not know the reason these two Warships were receiving so much attention, he could only obey the orders he was given. The jade slip he took out earlier contained a detailed description of the two Warships, but he never imagined that these two Warships would actually enter Acacia Territory, just as the higher-ups had predicted.
Located on the Universe Fragment was a Low-Rank Black Ink Nest that had not hatched completely. The Black Ink Nest was only several metres tall and could not produce more Black Ink Clansmen. However, it was not only convenient to carry around but also provided them with a means of long-distance communication.
As soon as the words left the Feudal Lord’s mouth, a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman immediately plunged into the Black Ink Nest to report their discovery to their superiors.
Elsewhere, five figures of different shapes and sizes lay dormant at an extremely hidden and secluded spot. These five figures had concealed their aura to the point where they almost seemed dead. If one was not powerful enough, they might not discover their presence even if they passed by them.
There was no saying how long these five figures had been lying in ambush here, but they didn’t even move a muscle. Judging by their posture, they seemed prepared to lay dormant forever.
At this moment, a large figure in the middle abruptly opened his eyes. He took out a communication bead and immersed his mind into it before checking the contents. His eyes flashed a moment later, and he muttered, “Everyone, Yang Kai… has arrived!”
The remaining four figures opened their eyes at the same time, and their dormant auras quickly began to recover. Although they did not reveal their full strength, their auras clearly indicated that they were Territory Lords.
One of the Territory Lords flicked his forked tongue, hissing softly like a snake as he chuckled, “Did he really come?”
These five Territory Lords were originally tasked with wiping out the Human Hunters that were lured over by the imprisoned cultivators in Acacia Territory. Otherwise, five Black Ink Clan Territory Lords couldn’t remain in Acacia Territory when the battle on the front lines was raging so intensely.
Unfortunately for the Black Ink Clan, the Hunters were simply too troublesome to ignore. Over the years, at least 30% of the resources that the Black Ink Clan transported to the front lines had been intercepted by these Hunters and countless Black Ink Clansmen had fallen at their hands.
The actions of the Hunters enraged the Territory Lords and in retaliation, they began to patrol the various Great Territories in search of the whereabouts of these Hunters. Although their efforts were somewhat successful, the effects were minimal.
The Hunters were extremely cunning and shrewd. If there was the slightest hint of danger, they would not show themselves. On the contrary, they would strike like a thunderbolt and flee at the speed of lightning if their victory was certain.
A large number of Human cultivators had recently been discovered in Acacia Territory. It was a splendid opportunity for the Black Ink Clan; hence, they deliberately spread the news far and wide in hopes of luring many Hunters into rescuing these Human cultivators.
With five Territory Lords and a vast army hidden around Acacia Territory, the Black Ink Clan certainly regarded the Hunters very highly.
According to their original plan, once enough Hunters had entered Acacia Territory, the hidden Black Ink Clan Army would move to secure the various Territory Gates. Then, the Territory Lords would emerge to attack. That was their strategy to block off the enemy’s retreat and wipe them out.
However, they received a critical piece of news from Profound Nether Territory a month ago stating that the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, Yang Kai, had personally led two Warships out of Profound Nether Territory. His destination was unknown, but there was a high possibility that he was heading to Acacia Territory to rescue the trapped Humans.
They had never heard of Yang Kai’s name before, but his status as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army was enough to garner the attention of the Black Ink Clan Territory Lords. The Army Commanders of the Human Race were among the strongest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Fighting any of the Army Commanders was extremely difficult, so if the Territory Lords could kill such a Master, then the morale of the Human Race Army would suffer a heavy blow.
That in itself was enough to be tempting, but Yang Kai’s identity as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army was not worrying enough to make special plans. It was his other identity that left the Territory Lords unable to remain calm. He was the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who previously caused a huge commotion at the No-Return Pass, destroyed seven High-Rank Black Ink Nests, and escaped alive from the pursuit of the Royal Lord!
It was said that not only were seven High-Rank Black Ink Nests destroyed at the No-Return Pass, but three Territory Lords had also been killed. In addition, the cultivation of more than a dozen Black Ink Clan Territory Lords had regressed to that of Feudal Lords as a result of that battle. They were currently recuperating inside the Black Ink Nests, but it was unknown how long it would take, or even if they could fully recover.
After that incident, the Royal Lord had flown into a rage and issued a command for all the Territory Lords to search for the whereabouts of this Human and kill him no matter the price they had to pay!
Nobody could have expected that Human to appear in Profound Nether Territory, much less become the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army. Furthermore, he was now taking another huge risk by leading just two Warships to Acacia Territory. Not only was this an opportunity for the Black Ink Clan, it was a rare and precious opportunity!
The snake-tongued Territory Lord asked rather excitedly, “Are you certain it’s Yang Kai?”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “It’s almost certain. Although Yang Kai himself was not observed on the Warships, the appearance of those two Warships matches the information from Profound Nether Territory.”
Be it Dawning Light or the Bi Xi Battleship, both were different from ordinary Squad-Class Warships. Their special characteristics were extremely distinguishable. These were the two Warships that Yang Kai had led out of Profound Nether Territory. Since they were currently in Acacia Territory, it was only natural that Yang Kai was too.
“Not bad, not bad. I can’t believe we managed to catch a big one!” The snake-tongued Black Ink Clan Territory Lord looked eager for blood.
Originally, the Black Ink Clan only planned to target the Hunters; however, if they could eliminate Yang Kai along with their original targets, then they would have contributed greatly to the war.
It wasn’t just the snake-tongued Territory Lord who looked excited, the other Territory Lords also had the same reaction.
Yang Kai’s name was well-known throughout the Black Ink Clan. The lower-ranked Clansmen might not know of him, but almost all the Feudal Lords and above had heard his name before. This person was the Black Ink Clan’s greatest enemy!
“We must not act carelessly. Yang Kai attacked the No-Return Pass twice and killed three Territory Lords. In Profound Nether Territory, he only attacked once but killed another three Territory Lords. Although we are Innate Territory Lords, even we would not get away lightly if we encountered him alone.”
Mo Na Ye’s words made the Territory Lords’ expressions sombre. An Innate Territory Lord was very difficult to kill, but be that as it may, the information they received indicated that as many as six Innate Territory Lords had died at Yang Kai’s hands alone.
One of the Territory Lords with fleshy wings on his back quickly said, “It’s not like we’ve never fought Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters before. Even the strongest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters are nothing special. This Yang Kai is also just an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. It does not make sense for him to be so powerful.”
That was one of the questions that had been puzzling the Black Ink Clan for a long time. It would take more than an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to kill a Territory Lord so easily. Such a feat was only possible for a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
Mo Na Ye spoke in a solemn voice, “The Human Race has many unpredictable means in their arsenal. In a life-or-death battle, one’s strength cannot be determined through generalised standards. Judging from the information we have on Yang Kai, his true strength might not be as great as shown so far, so he must have used some strange method to kill those Territory Lords in one blow. At the No-Return Pass, the Royal Lord speculated that Yang Kai’s Secret Technique might have something to do with his Divine Sense. That speculation has been confirmed by Profound Nether Territory. It seems that there is a flash of Spiritual Energy every time Yang Kai makes a killing move.” Turning to look around him, he continued, “Everyone, just imagine this scene. What would happen if your Soul was struck by an unexpected and heavy blow and you were then immediately attacked by a Master of equal strength?
The snake-tongued Territory Lord hissed, “We’ll be gravely injured even if we survive the attack!”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “It only takes a moment for Yang Kai to kill, so I believe his method is highly related to this unique Secret Technique of his. Therefore, the most important factor when dealing with him is to protect your Soul and prevent him from finding an opportunity to ambush you.”
The Black Ink Clan was not stupid, so how could they not have learned anything after suffering such heavy losses? Not to mention, Yang Kai had activated the Soul Rendering Thorn in front of the Royal Lord at the No-Return Pass, so there were bound to be traces of his attack that could be noticed.
“In addition, the Royal Lord has observed that Yang Kai also suffered some kind of backlash to his Soul after activating his Secret Technique. He is probably using some kind of sacrificial technique that harms both his enemy and himself. In other words, he can only wield this Secret Technique a limited number of times!”
The eyes of the fleshy-winged Territory Lord gleamed, “Are you certain?”
Mo Na Ye nodded again, “Profound Nether Territory has confirmed this fact. After Yang Kai attacked and consecutively killed three Territory Lords, he did not target the Territory Lords. In other words, using that Secret Technique thrice is his limit. The burden is too great on his Soul for him to unleash it a fourth time.”
One of the Territory Lords with a humanoid appearance, who had remained silent all this time, joined the conversation, “In that case, we will be able to restrain him if four of us act together!”
There were five Territory Lords here, so if four of them were to work together, then one of them would be free to move about. However, if all five of them were to act together, it would be equivalent to being completely restrained by Yang Kai instead.
Mo Na Ye slowly shook his head, “There’s no need to be so cautious. A team of two should be more than enough. Even if Yang Kai were to attack, he could only deal with one enemy at a time. The other one should be fully capable of restraining him. As long as he is restrained, it will be easy for us to take him down together.”
The other Territory Lords nodded in agreement.
Four Territory Lords acting together was certainly making a mountain out of a molehill. It was more than enough for two Territory Lords to cooperate to pin Yang Kai down.
Besides, they could not make a foolproof plan if they wanted to take down somebody like Yang Kai. On the contrary, they had to allow him to exploit so that he would take the risk of attack. If four Territory Lords were to openly work together, he would probably end up hiding without showing himself, which would only make things more difficult for the Black Ink Clan.
“What’s more,” Mo Na Ye continued, “The message from the Royal Lord indicates that Yang Kai is extremely proficient in escaping. His movements are elusive and unpredictable. Yang Kai managed to escape even though the Royal Lord himself gave pursuit. If you encounter him by accident, you must make sure to keep him pinned down at all costs. He must not be allowed to escape!”
The other four Territory Lords nodded, “Understood.”
The snake-tongued Territory Lord eagerly asked, “Mo Na Ye, are we going to tighten the noose now? The big fish has already taken the bait. There’s no need to wait any longer.”
Mo Na Ye was silent for a moment before he nodded, “We can seal off the Territory Gates now, but we should not rush to make a move. There are five other Territory Lords on the way right now and they should be arriving soon.”
The other four Territory Lords were stunned, with the winged Territory Lord asking, “Did you call for more reinforcements?”
There were five other Territory Lords on the way. Combined with the five Territory Lords that were already here, there would be 10 Territory Lords gathered in Acacia Territory alone! 10 Territory Lords against a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master… That was certainly a high valuation of their enemy.
“There’s nothing wrong with being cautious!” Mo Na Ye quickly said, “If we can get rid of Yang Kai once and for all, then the Royal Lord will definitely be pleased with our efforts. If a little extra help can accomplish that, why hesitate?”
Seeing as Mo Na Ye had brought up the Royal Lord as his reason, the other Territory Lords could not say anything to refute him.
A short while later, Mo Na Ye issued an order. The Black Ink Clan Armies that had been hiding around the five Territory Gates in Acacia Territory emerged and formed a blockade. There were now a million troops at each Territory Gate, and although no Territory Lords were overseeing them, such Armies were simply insurmountable. Even if an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master tried to break through their defences, the Black Ink Clan would be able to stop them if they disregarded the losses that they would sustain.
Just as Mo Na Ye and others were having their discussion, Bi Xi’s Soul Clone suddenly seemed to notice something and turned to look in a certain direction. There seemed to be an aura that was extremely similar to his coming from that direction. Although they were separated by hundreds of millions of kilometres, the aura from the same Source could not be blocked by such a trivial distance.
He immediately became confused. [Why is he here? If that guy is here, then wouldn’t the little ones also be here? Why aren’t they cultivating in the Star Boundary? Why did they appear in Acacia Territory? They truly do not fear the Heavens! What if something happens to them? How am I supposed to explain it to Yang Kai?]
He quickly calmed himself and sent out a message to the other side, “Why did you bring the little ones here?”
The other side answered quickly, “Why are you here?”
He replied, “It’s a long story. Yang Boy wanted to come to Acacia Territory. Yu Ru Meng and the others insisted on following him, so I had no other choice.”
The other side fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, he seemed slightly guilty, “Has Yang Boy returned? Ahem… Did he return to the Star Boundary?”
“Probably not,” he responded angrily, “You are too bold! How could you bring them here?”
The other side said, “I had no choice. These little ones had some success in their cultivation; moreover, they are young and ambitious. How could they bear just hiding away in the Star Boundary without doing anything? They’ve been complaining incessantly. As you know, I’ve gotten old. I can’t stand the endless begging and coaxing of the little ones. In a moment of weakness, I…”
“You’re such a useless fool!” Bi Xi’s Soul Clone spat in disdain.
The other side was silent for a moment, “You are me, and I am you. If you scold me, then you are scolding yourself too.”
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone was at a loss for words for a moment. Thankfully, he did not forget the main issue at hand and quickly said, “There’s something wrong with the situation in Acacia Territory. The Black Ink Clan is probably trying to lure us all into a trap. You should take them away before the situation becomes chaotic. You don’t have much time, so move quickly!”
“Good!” The other side responded just as rapidly. It was obvious that he had also realised something was wrong in Acacia Territory.
After their simple exchange, both sides immediately cut off contact. Bi Xi’s Soul Clone couldn’t help feeling slightly melancholic. [Should I tell Yang Kai about this? If I tell him, he won’t be able to ignore their situation, but if I don’t tell him, how will I explain myself if he learns about this matter in the future?]
Just as Bi Xi’s Soul Clone was feeling hesitant and indecisive, Yang Kai suddenly looked back with a frown from where he stood on the deck of Dawning Light. He vaguely felt as though there was a strange energy fluctuation coming from behind him earlier; however, he did not discover anything when he carefully searched for the source, which left him puzzled.
With his strength, it was generally impossible for him to mistake such a subtle feeling, so he couldn’t help feeling worried. [Could someone from the Black Ink Clan be spying on us from the shadows?]
He immediately sent a Divine Sense transmission to Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, “Senior Brother Bi Xi, did you notice anything abnormal just now?”
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone felt extremely guilty but still hastily replied, “No? Did you detect something abnormal?”
Yang Kai felt even more confused, [Could I have been mistaken?]
Just in case, he surged his Divine Sense and swept his surroundings. His investigation immediately revealed the presence of five powerful auras in the distant void, travelling at a high speed.
[Five Territory Lords! The Black Ink Clan sure is determined. I can’t believe that five Territory Lords are overseeing Acacia Territory! It seems the Black Ink Clan truly harbours a deep hatred for the Hunters. Of course, it might also have something to do with me…]
The Black Ink Clan had probably predicted that he would come to Acacia Territory, so these five Territory Lords might have made a special trip here just to eliminate him.
When Yang Kai detected the five Territory Lords, the five Territory Lords also noticed his presence. Their powerful Divine Senses immediately traced back his probe and discovered the whereabouts of Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship. It was just that the distance was too great, so they could not learn much other than that there was a powerful Human Race Master spying on them from afar.
It was one thing if they had not discovered the Warships, but having noticed them, they could not ignore their presence. They were Territory Lords after all. Across the vast Universe, the only two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were fully occupied and unable to move, so why should they be afraid of anyone? They immediately turned around, transformed into Black Ink Clouds, and rushed in the direction of the Warships.
Aboard Dawning Light, Yang Kai immediately withdrew and concealed his aura so that he resembled a dead rock as he shouted, “We’ve got incoming! Continue at full speed!”
After the words left his mouth, he vanished without a trace.
On Dawning Light, Feng Ying’s expression turned solemn as she hastily cooperated with the rest of the Squad members to fully activate the Warship’s strength. Behind them, Bi Xi’s Soul Clone mustered all his strength to follow.
The two Warships transformed into two streams of dazzling light as they shot forward with astonishing speed, but regardless of how fast they moved, there was no way they could outrun Innate Territory Lords, so the distance between them closed rapidly.
In less than a stick of incense, the two Warships appeared in the eyes of the Territory Lords. When the five Territory Lords detected the two Warships with their Divine Senses, they immediately became overjoyed. An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a dozen or so Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters! It was certainly a huge harvest.
These five Territory Lords were the reinforcements that Mo Na Ye had requested. They only knew that they were here to cooperate with Mo Na Ye against a Human Race Master, but did not know the identity of their target.
They never imagined that they would encounter two Human Squads as soon as they arrived at Acacia Territory, much less that their discovery would be so plentiful. In any case, they did not think much of a lone Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as any one of them was enough to restrain the other party. Nevertheless, they couldn’t help feeling puzzled for a moment. Did the Hunters have Eighth-Order Masters among their ranks?
The situation did not match the information that they possessed. As the Human Race did not have many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, each one of them was a pillar of strength that would have to join the front lines in the primary Great Territory Battlefields.
Although there were many Hunters, there had never been any Eighth-Order Masters among them. There were many Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, as well as Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Needless to say, none were weaker than that. The Hunters who roamed the various Great Territories would not survive without a certain level of strength, so Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters generally did not have the necessary capabilities. Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm was the lowest acceptable limit.
The reason Hunters were extremely difficult to kill was that they were extremely elusive and hard to find. Now that the five Territory Lords had encountered the two Hunter Squads, how could they allow them to escape? They naturally gave chase with all their might.
After a brief period, the distance between them grew even closer.
The pursuing Territory Lords surged their strength, sending out numerous Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques towards Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship. A short while later, the void shook as both Warships lit up with a thick and durable defensive Spirit Array that constantly flashed from the impact. The occasional counterattacks were also easily deflected by the pursuing Territory Lords.
The battle that took place here seemed to set off the entire Acacia Territory.
In the distant void, a Warship was speeding in the direction of a Territory Gate. 10 figures were standing on the deck of the Warship, five of them very young, consisting of both males and females.
There was a pair of children, a little girl with delicate and adorable looks and a boy with a large gaping mouth that dripped with saliva. The little girl constantly wiped his saliva for him, but there was no end to his drool. Be that as it may, she did not show any impatience. She simply repeated her actions over and over again, which made the boy giggle endlessly.
There was a small Stone Man. From his external appearance alone, he seemed very similar to the Small Stone Race which was actively playing a role on the various Great Territory Battlefields. However, a closer inspection would reveal that he was a different species altogether.
Whether strong or weak, the Small Stone Race generally had low sentience. Even the 1,000-metre-tall Small Stone Race members who could rival an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would only act according to their instincts and did not seem to have the ability for autonomous thinking.
On the contrary, the small Stone Man was clearly different. Not only was he sentient, he was highly so. At this moment, he was climbing the edges of the Warship in disinterest as he stared into the void with a look of loneliness and forlornness in his eyes.
There was also an Ominous Beast lying on the deck with its eyes closed. It was obvious that this Ominous Beast was a Divine Spirit of similar rank to Tao Wu that Yang Kai slaughtered in Profound Nether Territory.
Beside the Ominous Beast was a delicate little girl. She was stroking his fur lightly with a leisurely expression. She looked rather young, but her eyes were filled with the vastitudes of countless years. It was obvious that she was not just a simple little girl.
The line-up in this group certainly looked very strange; however, everybody in the group, be it the young people, the two children, or the Ominous Beast, seemed to be rather powerful.
At first glance, even their Warship looked very similar to Yu Ru Meng and the others’. That was another Bi Xi Battleship, one that was modified and formed from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone.
The other party in the communication with Bi Xi’s Soul Clone on Yang Kai’s side earlier was none other than this Warship.
They were both Bi Xi’s Soul Clones; therefore, they had no problems communicating with each other regardless of the distance between them as long as they were in the same Great Territory and unaffected by a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array or Technique. They could also communicate in secret. Even a Master like Yang Kai could not detect anything. He could only perceive a slight disturbance in the void, which had prompted him to investigate his surroundings. Nevertheless, he never expected to catch the attention of five travelling Territory Lords, which was just an unfortunate coincidence.
When the five Territory Lords in the distance unleashed their attacks, the Heavens shuddered and the Earth shook. Everybody aboard the Warship immediately noticed the commotion and turned to look in that direction.
Among the five youths was a young man dressed in all-white clothes. Even his hair was snow white. His expression became solemn, “A Master from the Black Ink Clan is attacking somebody. Moreover, this aura… It’s a Territory Lord!”
Standing next to him was a young woman. She was also dressed in white, but her hair was black. She nodded at his words, “More than one at that. I believe there are at least three of them, possibly even more.”
The black-haired young woman had a sweet appearance that was somewhat similar to Yang Kai’s.
“Were the whereabouts of a roaming Hunter exposed?” Among the five youths, a simple-looking young man approached the side of the Warship with a vague look of worry on his face.
Over the past few days, the whereabouts of several Hunters hidden in the vicinity had been exposed. The exposure of their whereabouts had naturally attracted the pursuit of the Black Ink Clan; however, the strongest among those Black Ink Clansmen were mere Feudal Lords. Although the people aboard this Warship had rescued many Hunters from the grasp of the Black Ink Clan recently, it was their first time seeing a Territory Lord here, not to mention that there was more than one.
“It will be difficult for them to escape seeing as a Territory Lord is personally attacking them,” standing beside the simple-looking young man was a woman with a cold and sharp expression, making her seem extremely unapproachable. It was only when her gaze landed on the simple-looking young man that a glimmer of warmth entered her eyes.
“Should we rescue them?” Out of the five young people, the last person was a young man with bowl cut and an eager expression, “We’ve never fought a Territory Lord. Eldest Senior Brother, let’s go save them!” His last sentence was directed at the simple-looking young man.
The small Stone Man who had been staring into the void in boredom all this while suddenly leapt up and climbed to the top of the bowl-cut young man’s head. Hammering his chest with his fists, he let out a battle cry. He was clearly very excited, and his fighting spirit was overflowing.
“Let’s save them!” The simple-looking young man announced with a determined expression, “Senior Bi Xi, turn around! We’re going to rescue them!”
Of course, Bi Xi’s Soul Clone ignored the simple-looking young man as he scoffed to himself, [Your Honoured Master is there, why would he need you to save him? We should leave Acacia Territory as soon as possible before he discovers the situation here. If he learns that the little ones are here, this Old Master will be in trouble.]
He thus remained unmoved by their pleas.
Seeing that Bi Xi’s Soul Clone not only showed no interest in rescuing those people but was also moving further and further away instead, the simple-looking young man quickly yelled, “Senior Bi Xi, it’s not this way! The other way!”
While the simple-looking young man was yelling at Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, the cold and arrogant young woman simply leapt off the Warship and sped towards the direction of the commotion.
The bowl-head young man immediately panicked and shouted, “Wait for me, Second Senior Sister!”
Then, he chased after the young woman, his speed quite extraordinary. The small Stone Man tried to grab at the bowl-headed young man’s hair to steady himself, but there wasn’t much to cling onto. With no other choice, he held onto the youth’s ears instead to prevent himself from being thrown off.
“Don’t be reckless!” The simple-looking young man hastily yelled after them; however, his Junior Brother and Junior Sister had already flown off into the distance. With a frustrated grunt, he hurriedly gave chase.
“Little Aunt, let’s go!” The white-haired young man dressed in white shouted. Then, he floated off the Warship hand in hand with the young woman beside him.
The Ominous Beast that had been resting with its eyes closed abruptly stood up while the little girl who was stroking his fur immediately got on his back. In the next moment, flames appeared at the feet of the Ominous Beast and he leapt into the void without hesitation.
Before leaving, the little girl did not forget to reach out and grab the pair of children to bring them along.
In the blink of an eye, there was nobody left on the Bi Xi Battleship.
“I… You…”
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone was desperate to cry, but was unable to shed any tears. He had planned to sneak the little ones back to the Territory Gate and quietly leave Acacia Territory as soon as possible. Who could have known the little ones would be so reckless?
[This is bad! This is bad! I knew I should never have brought them out of the Star Boundary!] He deeply regretted being so indulgent towards them and believing in their promises of just coming out to see a bit of the world. Look at the situation now! They had deserted him and left him alone in the void.
He couldn’t help feeling extremely worried about them, so with no other choice, he quickly turned around and chased after the little ones. While chasing after them, he sent a transmission to his other Soul Clone, “How is the situation on your side? Why did you suddenly start fighting?”
The other party replied, “We encountered five Territory Lords, but it’s nothing to worry about!”
He was shocked by the response and asked, “Five Territory Lords!? How is that nothing to worry about!? Hurry up and hide! The Territory Lords are not to be trifled with. Not to mention, they are Innate Territory Lords. Every one of them is comparable to a peak Eighth-Order Master in strength.”
“No need to worry, it’s just five trivial Territory Lords after all!”
Those words stunned him as he secretly thought to himself, [I don’t have the habit of boasting. What is with my other Soul Clone? There are five Territory Lords! How is that trivial?]
From the way the other party was talking, he did not seem to think much of the five Territory Lords. It had to be said that even Bi Xi’s true body could only handle one Territory Lord at a time. If two Territory Lords were to cooperate against him, he would surely be at a serious disadvantage. Needless to say, Bi Xi had an extraordinary defensive strength, so while he might not be able to defeat two Territory Lords, protecting himself wouldn’t be a problem.
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone had no time to ponder on the issue though, so he could only inform the other party, “The little ones have gone there. Don’t let anything happen to them.”
The other side inquired, “How many little ones came?”
He sighed and helplessly said, “Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, Yang Kai’s three Disciples, Xiao Xiao, Qiong Qi, Liu Yan, Xiao Hong, and even Xiao Hei.”
The other side was clearly shocked, “Did all of them come here?”
These were all the little ones who were left behind in the Star Boundary.
He helplessly replied, “I know. If anything were to happen to them, we won’t have any way to explain the situation to Yang Kai… Ha…”
The little ones had charged forward, so they were bound to run into Yang Kai; therefore, Yang Kai would surely question the reason they were in Acacia Territory. How was he supposed to explain the situation once that happened?
The more Bi Xi’s Soul Clone thought about the situation, the wearier he became. He was such an old man, yet he had to take care of the children of others. The most important point was that he failed to take good care of them.
However, his other self clearly did not have such reservations and became excited instead, “Great timing. Tell them not to expose their whereabouts. We might need their help to kill these Territory Lords.”
He exclaimed in astonishment, “Kill the Territory Lords?”
[When did my other Soul Clone pick up such a terrible habit? Who did he learn it from?]
Although the little ones were undeniably strong, even if all of them worked together, they could only handle one Territory Lord at most. However, the enemy was five Territory Lords! It was only natural to flee as fast as possible when faced with this many overwhelming enemies.
“En. We’re going to kill these Territory Lords! Just trust me,” The other Soul Clone sounded confident and calm.
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone was at a loss for words. They were both Soul Clones of the true body, so there was no differentiating between them in terms of sense or strength, so he could not figure out the reason for the other Soul Clone’s confidence.
Now that things had reached this point though, he could only choose to trust in the other party… which was himself.
As for how to call the little ones back… That was simple. They did not know that the commotion ahead was caused by Yang Kai and simply assumed that one of the Hunter Squads had been exposed. As long as he told them the truth, they would come back immediately.
To prevent them from exposing their whereabouts, he quickly sent a Divine Sense transmission and sure enough, the figures charging forward hastily came to a stop and returned to the Warship.
The white-haired Yang Xiao who was dressed in all white exclaimed in astonishment, “Senior Bi Xi, is Adoptive Father really up ahead?”
The honest-looking Zhao Ye Bai was extremely excited, “Is it really Honoured Master?”
Although the others did not ask any questions, their eyes were filled with pleasant surprise and anticipation.
“That’s right. Yang Kai is there. The Territory Lords are chasing him,” Bi Xi’s Soul Clone replied.
The cold and arrogant Zhao Ya immediately summoned a long spear. Her long hair flew in the wind as her murderous intent flared, “Bold! I must go assist Honoured Master!”
Xiao Xiao, who was standing on top of Xu Yi’s head, also became impatient. He jumped up and down on top of Xu Yi’s head, causing the latter to become somewhat dizzy as a result.
Seeing that Zhao Ya was about to rush off again, Bi Xi’s Soul Clone hurriedly called out, “Calm down. Yang Kai does not want you to expose your whereabouts yet. He might need your help to kill the enemies later!”
Those were the words of the other Soul Clone. It was just that he was not in the position to explain too much under the current circumstances, so he simply took those words as Yang Kai’s. In any case, he believed that his other Soul Clone would inform Yang Kai about the situation and then get back to him.
Zhao Ya did not dare to disobey the orders of her Honoured Master, so after hearing those words, she slowly withdrew her murderous intent and turned to look into the distance. It felt as though the commotion in that direction was getting bigger and bigger.
Liu Yan, who was riding on top of Qiong Qi, frowned and asked, “Senior Bi Xi, although Master has reached the Eighth Order, there are quite a lot of Territory Lords there. Can he… handle them all?”
They knew that Yang Kai had become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master; after all, he previously stopped to visit Bi Xi’s true body on his way back from the Black Ink Battlefield.
Afterwards, the news spread to the people of the Star Boundary when Bi Xi’s true body retreated there with the cultivators from Void Land.
What they did not know was Yang Kai’s feats over the last several dozen years, including his battle record of killing three Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory. It had not been long since that incident took place. Besides, the Hunters were scattered across the various Great Territories which made it difficult to keep up with the latest news.
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone coughed lightly, “Don’t you know the strength of your Master? Judging by what he said, I’m sure he has his means.”
Liu Yan considered for a moment before agreeing. Since her Master was acting in such a manner, then he must have his own reasons. There was no need for her to overthink the situation, she only needed to obey his orders.
The whole group immediately calmed down while Bi Xi’s Soul Clone exhaled a sigh of relief, [Thank goodness I managed to fool them for now. As for what happens after this… That’s not up to me anymore.]
Activating a Secret Technique, he concealed his aura and secretly moved forward.
Bi Xi not only had an outstanding defence, but his ability to conceal his aura was also unmatched. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for so many Masters to fail at detecting his presence despite passing by Void Land for so many years. It was not until Yang Kai took over Void Land and Zhu Jiu Yin went on a rampage that the sleeping Bi Xi awakened and made his presence known.
One of the reasons why this group of youths could leisurely wander around the various Great Territories for so many years was undeniably thanks to their outstanding strength, but the other reason was that they had Bi Xi’s protection.
After killing Black Ink Clansmen, they would only need to hide deep within the void. Even if the Black Ink Clan mobilised a large force to search the area, they would have a hard time locating a lone Warship.
At the same time, far off in the void ahead, Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship carrying Yu Ru Meng and the others were being bombarded indiscriminately by the Territory Lords.
Fortunately, both Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship had extraordinary defensive capabilities. As long as they did not suffer an endless barrage of attacks from the Territory Lords at close range, they would be fine for some time.
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone avoided the attacks from the pursuing Territory Lords while at the same time, he sent a secret Divine Sense transmission to Yang Kai and told the other party about the situation on the other side.
[Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, my three Disciples, Xiao Xiao, Liu Yan, Qiong Qi, Xiao Hong, and even Xiao Hei are in Acacia Territory?]
When Yang Kai received the news, he was so shocked that he nearly revealed his aura. Fortunately, he managed to regain his composure quickly.
At this point, he had no time to question why all the little ones were in Acacia Territory. In any case, it would not be too late to question them later. His top priority at the moment was to slaughter these Territory Lords.
After pondering for a moment, he sent a Divine Sense transmission, “Senior Brother Bi Xi, how strong are they now?”
He had not gone back to the Star Boundary since his return from the Black Ink Battlefield, so aside from meeting Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei in Void Land previously, Yang Kai had not seen the others in close to 1,000 years. Hence, he truly did not know their current cultivation level.
However, they were bound to have a certain level of strength if they were courageous enough to become Hunters, and that was especially true for his three Disciples. Therefore, he had great confidence in them.
Bi Xi’s Soul Clone sent a transmission, “After Yang Xiao followed the Dragon Clan to the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, he returned as a Grand Dragon. Yang Xue has been in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm for many years and should be at the very peak by now. As for your three Disciples… All of them advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.”
Although all the cultivators who came from the Void Dao Temple in Yang Kai’s Small Universe more or less received some inheritance from him, only Zhao Ye Bai, Zhao Ya, and Xu Yi could be regarded as his Legacy Disciples.
Those three little ones had respectively inherited his three Grand Daos, namely the Dao of Space, the Spear Dao, and the Dao of Time.
Among his three Disciples, his Second Disciple Zhao Ya was undoubtedly the most talented in terms of aptitude. Her cultivation speed could be said to progress at 1,000 kilometres a day. Back when she had been cultivating in his Small Universe, Yang Kai had instructed her to suppress her cultivation at all times lest it advance too quickly. Otherwise, she would not receive the full benefits of the feedback from the World Tree clone when he transferred her to the Star Boundary.
Many cultivators originated from the Void Dao Temple, and about 10% of them advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. However, Yang Kai had yet to meet another cultivator who could compare with Zhao Ya in terms of cultivation aptitude.
She was the kind of individual who was inherently suited to cultivation. No matter the Secret Art or Secret Technique, she would quickly attain mastery over it; hence, she was truly extraordinary even among the myriad geniuses out there.
Xu Yi came next. Although he was not as good as Zhao Ya, his aptitude was undeniably good. His most commendable aspect was that he had great compatibility with the Dao of Time.
Zhao Ye Bai had the worst aptitude by far among the three. To put it nicely, he was average, but to put it bluntly, he was slow.
However, Yang Kai was the most optimistic about Zhao Ye Bai out of his three Disciples.
Being average and mediocre meant that Zhao Ye Bai would work harder and build a stronger foundation. As the saying went, ‘All buildings began from the ground’. The more solid the foundation, the greater the heights one could ascend to.
Zhao Ye Bai might be slow-witted, but he had an extremely keen perception towards the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai sent his three Disciples back to the Star Boundary before he departed for the Black Ink Battlefield; thus, they not only received feedback from the World Tree in the Star Boundary for many years but also enjoyed large amounts of cultivation resources provided by High Heaven Palace. Thanks to these factors, his three Disciples had successively advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm several hundred years ago.
In the past, they would have been treated like the most precious of treasures by the various Cave Heavens and Paradises. As candidates to become future Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, any one of them would have been raised as the future successors of their Sects.
It was just that the powerful feedback from the World Tree in the Star Boundary had resulted in the constant emergence of Juniors who advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm nowadays, which made these future Ninth-Order Old Ancestor candidates less rare in comparison.
Even so, any cultivator who advanced directly into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would receive the highest level of attention and resources from the Cave Heavens and Paradises because they were the future hope of the Human Race.
Liu Yan, Xiao Xiao, and Qiong Qi had Divine Spirit Bloodlines and Sources, and had cultivated in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land for many years. Now that their Bloodlines had been further purified, they were each comparable to Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in strength. Since they were also experienced Divine Spirits, they were most likely stronger compared to the average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
As for Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei, they were unqualified to enter the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land because their Bloodlines were too impure. They had been cultivating by Bi Xi’s side all this time though, so while their strength was slightly inferior, it was still comparable to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Out of the 10 people aboard the Warship, there were as many as seven on par with the Seventh Order and three on par with the Sixth Order! If they included Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, they could even put up a fight against an Innate Territory Lord!
They had been Hunters for more than 10 years now. It was partly thanks to the protection they received from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone that they remained safe and sound for so long, but their immense strength also played an important role.
The foundation of anyone’s strength was themselves. If one’s strength was not enough, then one would remain weak and useless no matter how much protection they received from others.
How could Bi Xi fail to see through their intentions when he initially agreed to bring them out? He too believed that flowers grown in a greenhouse would not grow strong enough to withstand wind and rain. Blindly cultivating behind closed doors would not bring about much progress now that the world was in chaos.
Wandering around and fighting the Black Ink Clan would undoubtedly serve as an excellent training experience; unfortunately, the enormous battles between the two Races’ Armies had too many uncontrollable variables. On the contrary, one would have more freedom and convenience as a Hunter.
After learning about the growth of the little ones from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling amazed. Not only was he growing stronger, but the little ones were also growing stronger. The entire Human Race was working hard to increase their respective strengths. The future of the Human Race was certainly promising!
With the sudden appearance of such a powerful and still hidden reinforcement, Yang Kai realised that he could make some changes to his original plans. He might be able to take this opportunity to let the little ones experience the strength of an Innate Territory Lord directly; after all, none of them had fought such an enemy before.
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he sent out a Divine Sense transmission.
In the next moment, the two Warships immediately separated and fled in different directions, seemingly escaping in a panic.
Seeing this, the five Territory Lords chasing behind the Warships immediately split up and continued their pursuit without any hesitation. Two Territory Lords went after the Bi Xi Battleship and three went after Dawning Light.
To the five Territory Lords, the two Warships before them were undoubtedly big fish. Although an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was protecting the two Warships, they did not think much of her. Only one Territory Lord was needed to restrain that Eighth-Order Master, while the others could easily slaughter the remaining Humans.
That was exactly what the five Territory Lords planned to do. Everything was within their calculations.
Gradually, the distance between them closed to just over 100,000 kilometres. The speed of the two Warships might be fast, but they could not escape from the pursuit of the Territory Lords.
The Human cultivators aboard the Bi Xi Battleship evidently realised this fact. After suffering another round of attacks from the two Territory Lords, countless cracks appeared on the Warship’s shields, and the defensive light barrier seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
When one of the Territory Lords saw the opportunity, he did not hesitate to stretch out a large hand to grab at the Bi Xi Battleship. Black Ink Strength surged and the universe went dark.
In that moment, the Bi Xi Battleship that was escaping in a hurry abruptly turned around and brazenly charged towards the two Territory Lords.
The Territory Lord who attacked just now gave a cold snort, “Overconfidence!”
He then slammed his palm down hard.
These Human cultivators clearly knew that it would be difficult for them to escape their current crisis and had prepared themselves to fight back like a cornered beast.
Numerous Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities blasted out from the Bi Xi Battleship, slamming towards the two Territory Lords. It was just that their attacks seemed weak and pointless to the Territory Lords.
These Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters seemed ridiculously weak. If all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were only at this level of strength, then they wouldn’t even be difficult for a Feudal Lord to defeat.
Black Ink Strength gathered in the enormous palm as it pressed down on the Bi Xi Battleship. The Warship shuddered violently under the impact. Yu Ru Meng and the others who were standing on the deck lost their balance, looking extremely miserable, their expressions turning ugly.
The Territory Lord abruptly clenched his large hand as if to grab hold of the entire Bi Xi Battleship, laughing loudly as he increased his strength to completely crush its defences. Once the shields were broken, his Black Ink Strength would be able to penetrate the Warship directly.
He had no intention of killing these Humans. Regardless of how weak they were, they were still 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. If he could convert them into Black Ink Disciples by corrupting them with the Black Ink Strength, they would become his pawns. He could order them to disguise themselves as Hunters and then kill or lure out others, making his next mission easier.
Due to the scheming thoughts in his head, he held back the strength of his attacks, but it was at that moment that a sense of crisis suddenly washed over him, causing him to panic for some inexplicable reason. He immediately focused his mind and glanced in the direction of the Bi Xi Battleship, hoping to see why these ants were now giving him such a strong sense of terror.
Before he could get a good look though, a flash of Spiritual Energy appeared next to him. Immediately after that, the defences of his Soul were ripped open and he felt as though something was stabbing into his mind, giving him a splitting headache. He howled from the pain, and the Black Ink Strength coming from his large hand that was restraining the Bi Xi Battleship immediately dispersed.
At the same time, a ripple emerged in the Void beside him and a humanoid figure stepped without any warning, thrusting a spear towards him in a slow manner. Both space and time seemed to warp at that moment as many different Dao Strengths fluctuated and wove together as they pierced out.
The spear stabbed out at a speed that could not be considered fast. The Territory Lord suffering from the splitting headache saw the spear heading towards him and tried to avoid the attack; however, to his astonishment, he discovered that he could not avoid the spear no matter what he did.
At that moment, all his senses and reflexes seemed to have been dulled.
The other Territory Lord, who stood beside him but had not made a move so far, gave a loud yell, “Watch out!”
Among the two Territory Lords chasing after the Bi Xi Battleship, one had attacked while the other had held back to monitor the situation.
When Yang Kai attacked, the Territory Lord he targeted suffered heavy damage to his Soul. Although the first Territory Lord could not save himself, the second one quickly recovered from the shock and retaliated. He opened his mouth, and a whip-like black light blasted towards Yang Kai.
It was too late to save his companion, so he could only choose to attack the enemy instead. At this moment, he suddenly discovered that their ambusher was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
[Two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters! One of them drew our attention while the other lurked in the shadows!]
All five Territory Lords had been distracted by the two Warships and failed to detect the hidden Eighth-Order Master. This was probably not a premeditated plan, but one that they had come up with at the last moment after their whereabouts were exposed.
Although the Territory Lord did not think much of this newly appeared Eighth-Order Human, he did not hold back in his attacks. If the other party did not wish to die, then he would need to withdraw his spear to defend himself. In that way, his companion Territory Lord would survive, but in the next moment, he discovered that he was mistaken.
Despite facing a Territory Lord’s all-out attack, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who suddenly emerged from the shadows showed no intention of dodging or even responding. The spear in his hand stabbed forward firmly, and he looked as though he was determined to drag his enemy down with him even if he were to die as a result.
[What a fierce and merciless Human! He is not only merciless towards the Black Ink Clan, but also towards himself!]
The Territory Lord was horrified. Nevertheless, this situation was favourable to him. Even though his companion might be heavily injured or even killed by this Eighth-Order Human, he would be able to take down the latter in return. It was not a bad deal. In any case, he was not the one who would die.
Life and death became apparent in an instant!
The Soul Rending Thorn was a double-edged sword that harmed both the enemy and the user. The impact of the attack was enormous, but Yang Kai had experienced the same pain many times before, so he had gotten somewhat accustomed to his Soul being torn apart. Any enemy who was struck by the Soul Rending Thorn would instantly suffer pain worse than death.
In the next instant, the targeted Territory Lord died! The moment his powerful aura swelled up before withering into nothing, the abrupt change was felt in all directions.
The little ones aboard the second Bi Xi Battleship, who were secretly but rapidly approaching the battlefield, were shocked.
After they were told to assist Yang Kai in killing the enemy by Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, they prepared themselves for a difficult, possibly life-threatening battle. Contrary to their expectations though, a Territory Lord was slain as soon as the confrontation began in earnest!
The burst of power that erupted from that direction was too fierce and profound and contained a myriad of Dao Strengths like the Dao of Time, Dao of Space, and Spear Dao. How could Yang Xiao and the others fail to perceive these energy fluctuations?
Many of them were experiencing Yang Kai’s true strength for the first time in their lives! Even if they only perceived the burst from afar and did not witness the scene with their own eyes, that level of strength was enough for them to admire and worship him!
On the battlefield, the Territory Lord who made the first move lost his life on the spot. Similarly, Yang Kai grunted in pain and spat out a mouthful of blood.
To kill the first Territory Lord in a single blow, he had abandoned all forms of defence during his attack. As a result, his flesh was pierced by the black light that the second Territory Lord spat in his direction. Dense Black Ink Strength lingered around his wound, quickly corroding his flesh.
The Territory Lord was filled with a mixture of astonishment and delight. He had known that his companion would suffer a miserable fate. Being ambushed by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master at such a close distance, even an Innate Territory Lord would suffer grave injuries if he survived at all. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help feeling taken aback to see how easily his companion was slain.
It was fortunate that he had injured the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with his counterattack.
Taking advantage of Yang Kai’s vulnerability, he threw his palm out at Yang Kai once more. He was merciless in his attack since he had no intention of trying to corrupt an Eighth-Order Master with Black Ink Strength.
An Eighth-Order Human was not easy to corrupt. During all the years of war between the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race, the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who were corrupted by Black Ink Strength could be counted on one hand. Moreover, most of them were only successfully corrupted because a Royal Lord had personally used the Royal Lord Secret Technique on them.
The Territory Lords might be powerful, but they could not corrupt an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with their Black Ink Strength unless they continuously used it to corrode a Human that was completely restrained.
[I have to kill this Eighth-Order Human quickly!] Losing a fellow Territory Lord was not a glorious thing, but killing this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would be enough to make up for the loss.
At the same time that the Territory Lord attacked, the other Humans aboard the first Bi Xi Battleship sent out a barrage of Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques, accompanied by the momentary emergence of Dragon and Phoenix phantoms. The imposing Dragon Roar and striking Phoenix Cry sliced through the void with unparalleled speed and momentum.
One such attack might be nothing to a Territory Lord, but 10 was another story. Even an Innate Territory Lord would not dare to look down on the combined attacks of 10 Seventh-Order Human Masters, much less if there were several powerful Divine Spirits among them.
[These Humans… were feigning weakness earlier!] The Territory Lord suddenly had a realization.
He previously felt that these Seventh-Order Humans were ridiculously weak, far more so than he had anticipated, but at this moment, he suddenly realised the truth. It was not that these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were weak, they were just acting on purpose so that he and his dead companion would drop their guard.
This was a trap all along!
The Territory Lord felt a chill shoot up his spine. Faced with the 10 Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities blasting towards him, he did not dare to be negligent in his defence and hastily took action to intercept these attacks. He had no time to bother about the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master whom he injured earlier as, in reality, he did not know whether he could kill the other party even if he attacked again.
That was because the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s expression did not change in the slightest even though his flesh had been pierced by a bolt of Black Ink Strength. There was only a look of cold indifference on his face. In the next moment, the spear in the Eighth-Order Humans’ hands transformed into a barrage of spear shadows that covered the entire sky as they rained down on the Territory Lord.
Under normal circumstances, an Innate Territory Lord would be strong enough to defend against the joint attack of 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, defending would be difficult if there were several powerful Divine Spirits among those 10 Masters.
If an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master were to join in, then even the strongest Innate Territory Lord would panic.
A violent force spread out in all directions, causing the void to distort and eventually shatter. Following the brief moment of confrontation, the 10 figures aboard the Bi Xi Battleship were brutally shaken and even the Bi Xi Battleship itself was thrown backwards by the impact.
Yang Kai was also forced back, blood spurting wildly from his wounds.
Likewise, the Territory Lord was in no better condition. After the violent barrage of attacks, his tall figure was left in tatters with countless wounds all over his body and Black Blood trickling from his wounds.
His expression was terrified.
The strength of these Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters exceeded his expectations, and the strength of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was extremely tyrannical.
This Human was no ordinary Eighth-Order Master, but instead one of their peak Masters!
Despite it being such a brief confrontation, the Territory Lord realized that he might not be able to defeat his opponent in a one-on-one battle, much less when the other party had 10 powerful Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters assisting him.
[I have to flee as soon as possible. If not, I will definitely suffer a disastrous fate!] The Territory Lord turned and sped towards his three other companions who were chasing after the other Warship. Only by joining up with them as soon as possible could he escape his imminent death and retaliate against the enemy.
In that fleeting moment, the Territory Lord decided to flee. Taking advantage of the moment when the Bi Xi Battleship and Yang Kai were thrown backwards by the clash, he transformed into Black Ink Cloud with a shift of his body and tried to escape.
“Solidify!” Yang Kai’s gaze remained cold, and following his shout, the surrounding space solidified, causing the speed of the Black Ink Cloud to plummet, as if the Territory Lord was now trying to trudge through a quagmire.
At the same time, aboard the Bi Xi Battleship, the shadow of an enormous spider appeared behind Shan Qing Luo. Moreover, there was a conspicuous crescent Moon on the spider’s forehead.
Heavenly Moon Demon Spider!
When she opened her mouth, a spider web spewed forth to cover the Territory Lord. Numerous bursts of energy that were invisible to the naked eye simultaneously emerged in the surroundings. The energy radiated in all directions and quickly formed a shockingly large net with the Territory Lord in the centre.
The Territory Lord was already being restrained by Space Principles, so stuck in the spider web, he instantly felt excruciating discomfort as he struggled to escape with all his might. Before he could break free from the shackles though, several figures charged towards him from different directions. Meanwhile, the Dragon Roar and the Phoenix Cry became louder!
…..
At the same time, a battle broke out on Dawning Light’s side as Dawn couldn’t escape with three Territory Lords pursuing them.
The reason why three Territory Lords had split chased after Dawning Light was because there was an Eighth-Order Master aboard this Warship.
At this moment, Feng Ying had left Dawning Light to engage one of the Territory Lords in a one-on-one battle. Unfortunately, she had only advanced to the Eighth Order recently, so her heritage was not very strong. A short battle was already enough to push her into a dangerous situation.
Dawning Light was in an even more perilous state. With the strength of Dawn and the abilities of Dawning Light, they would stand a chance of repelling a single Innate Territory Lord, but that was still nothing more than a chance. Now that two such Territory Lords were besieging them, they were no match whatsoever.
The light of the Warship’s shields was becoming increasingly dim, and without its protection, Dawn would immediately be exposed to the attacks of the Territory Lords. The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might be able to flee, but those below the Seventh-Order were doomed to die.
Fortunately, Dawn knew that they were not the main force in this operation, so there was no need for them to fight the Territory Lords in desperation. They only needed to buy some time. The speed of the Warship had already been pushed to its limits. Controlled by a group of Open Heaven Realm Masters, the Warship was as agile as a fish in water, constantly changing directions to avoid the incoming attacks. Nevertheless, they could not escape the fate of being pummelled by the enemy.
30 breaths!
That was the maximum amount of time that Dawning Light could hold out against the pursuit of two Innate Territory Lords. Once 30 breaths were up, Dawn would be at risk of total annihilation.
At the 15-breath mark though, the commotion caused by the death of a Territory Lord spread out without warning. The members of Dawn were overjoyed knowing that Yang Kai had made his move.
On the other hand, the expressions of the two Territory Lords chasing after Dawning Light changed drastically and they turned to look in the direction where their companion had fallen, giving Dawning Light some time to catch their breath.
The same was true for Feng Ying. She was at a complete disadvantage, so she had been struggling just to preserve her life. She even had the feeling that the time she could last against her enemy was shorter than Dawning Light. For an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like her who advanced less than 600 years ago, the gap in strength between her and an Innate Territory Lord was simply too great. Although she would not be killed instantly, she was bound to die in a one-on-one battle.
When Yang Kai made his first kill though, the Territory Lord attacking Feng Ying was also affected.
The three Territory Lords were shocked as they all wondered, [What is happening over there?]
It had not been long since they split up, so how did one of their companions die? Immediately after that, they detected the fallout of a fierce battle coming from that direction and the aura of another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
But… Even if it was another Eighth-Order Master that made a move, it should have been impossible for them to slaughter a Territory Lord in such a short time. Even an ambush would not work!
[What waste!]
Be it Feng Ying’s opponent or the two Territory Lords chasing after Dawning Light, they cursed soundly in their hearts and after a brief moment of shock, their subsequent attacks became more ruthless.
Their companion was dead, so there was nothing they could do even if they rushed over. If their other companion wasn’t a fool, then he would now be making his way towards them, there was no need to go and meet up with him. Besides, it was more important to deal with the Humans before them.
Just 10 breaths later though, the fallout caused by the death of another Territory Lord appeared.
The three surviving Territory Lords were now completely stunned.
The death of their first companion might have been caused by carelessness, but what did the death of their second companion signify? What’s more, the time between the deaths of their two companions was too short.
Just who could have such impressive strength? Was it a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master? But, they did not detect the aura of a Ninth-Order Human, only a single Eighth-Order Master.
A powerful enemy!
When Mo Na Ye asked them to come to Acacia Territory as reinforcements, he mentioned that he was planning to deal with a ‘powerful enemy’.
The five Territory Lords had not paid much attention to the issue, believing that the so-called ‘powerful enemy’ was most likely just one of the strongest Eighth-Order Human Masters. After all, it was not like they had never fought such enemies before. They believed that Mo Na Ye was just worrying for nothing. There were already five Territory Lords in Acacia Territory, so how could they not deal with a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?
It was not until this moment that the three surviving Territory Lords understood the gravity of the situation. This was truly a powerful enemy indeed, one that could even frighten Territory Lords like themselves!
[Should we fight? Or, should we flee?]
This new Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had slaughtered two Territory Lords in a very short time, so it was obvious that he was far stronger than any other Eighth-Order Human they had ever met. However, he was bound to have paid a heavy price to achieve this; hence, now might be the best time for them to eliminate him.
Before the three Territory Lords could come to a decision, the Territory Lord fighting Feng Ying suddenly felt the space in front of him turning hazy for a moment as a blood-stained young man with a cold expression emerged before him!
The murderous intent radiating from this Human Race Master was practically tangible; moreover, the spear in his hand was clearly stained with the fresh blood of a Black Ink Clansman.
[This aura… Isn’t this the aura of the Eighth-Order Human I sensed just now?] The Territory Lord fighting with Feng Ying turned pale with shock, [How did he arrive here so quickly?]
Despite his surprise, there was one thing that gave him a slight sense of relief. The other party seemed to be quite seriously injured.
Yang Kai was indeed heavily wounded. For the sake of ending the previous battle as quickly as possible, he had ambushed and used a Soul Rending Thorn on the first Territory Lord. Unfortunately, he was pierced by a ray of Black Ink Light shot by the second Territory Lord while he was focused on his first target. It was only thanks to his intrepid physique that Yang Kai remained standing. If it had been an ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master instead, they would have lost most of their combat ability by now.
Afterwards, he cooperated with Yu Ru Meng and the others to slaughter the second Territory Lord in just 10 breaths of time. However, killing the second Territory Lord in such a short time was not without a cost.
He did not use a Soul Rending Thorn to defeat the second Territory Lord, relying solely upon his immense strength in addition to the support of Yu Ru Meng and the others to restrain the enemy. As a result, Yu Ru Meng and the others were wounded in the battle.
Likewise, Yang Kai received additional injuries on top of his previous ones. It was fortunate that such wounds were not critical, and with his recovery abilities, they would not hinder him as long as he did not suffer a fatal blow.
Yang Kai had experienced countless battles of such intensity over the years, and one of the reasons he survived until today and managed to slaughter so many powerful foes was that he often was even more unrelenting and ruthless than his enemies!
The second Territory Lord could be said to be very unlucky. A Territory Lord was hard to kill, and an Innate Territory Lord was even harder to kill. If he had encountered another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master cooperating with Yu Ru Meng and the others instead, he would have had the chance to escape even if he could not defeat them. Even a Master like Xiang Shan might not be able to stop an Innate Territory Lord like him if he was determined to escape. Unfortunately for him, the person he encountered was none other than Yang Kai, who was proficient in the Dao of Space. Under the effects of the space solidification, the Territory Lord had no hope of escaping, so what else was there for him other than to die in battle?
Yang Kai knew Dawn could not hold out for long, which was why he decided to end the battle as quickly as possible and without any regard for the cost.
He could only unleash three Soul Rending Thorns in a row as it was too risky for him to do so a fourth time, but with the appearance of five Territory Lords, he became greedy and wanted to end all of their lives here today. That was why he refused to use his Soul Rending Thorns unless there was no other choice.
Nevertheless, now was the right time to strike. Yang Kai leapt across the Void and arrived in a flash, then immediately unleashed a Soul Rending Thorn while the Territory Lord facing Feng Ying remained in shock.
The Territory Lord’s Soul was instantly pierced, causing him to howl like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Furthermore, he was struck by the combined attacks of Yang Kai and Feng Ying during the brief moment when the defences of his Soul were ripped apart.
Feng Ying’s Divine Manifestation emerged, and the Myriad Swords Dragon enveloped her body. An overwhelming Sword Intent subsequently pierced towards the Territory Lord while a myriad of Dao Strengths intertwined and interlaced around the Azure Dragon Spear in Yang Kai’s hand.
These two attacks practically blew apart the Territory Lord’s body; however, he did not die. The death of his two companions might have caused him to be more vigilant, so he managed to survive even under such dire circumstances. Nonetheless, his aura weakened significantly.
Yang Kai was genuinely surprised as this was the first time he failed to kill his enemy after unleashing a Soul Rending Thorn, but regardless, he did not have the luxury to ponder over this anomaly. Dawn was in great danger at the moment, and if he did not head to their rescue soon, Dawning Light would be at risk of being blown to pieces.
With a shift of his figure, Yang Kai left the half-dead Innate Territory Lord to Feng Ying and appeared in front of Dawning Light.
At that very moment, the defensive light barrier around Dawning Light shattered to pieces. Led by Shen Ao and the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the members of Dawn assembled on the deck and prepared themselves to fight the two Territory Lords to the death.
Yang Kai’s arrival was just in time.
Faced with the powerful joint attack of the two Territory Lords, Yang Kai could not dodge as Dawning Light was right behind him. If he evaded the attacks, then the members of Dawn would surely suffer severe casualties.
A Great Sun leapt into the sky as a Golden Crow cried out. Immediately after that, the Full Moon rose up as moonlight illuminated the void.
Time Principles and Space Principles wove together as the Sun and Moon shone simultaneously, causing profound Space-Time Strength to permeate the world.
The Sun and Moon immediately began to spiral forward like a giant top towards the two Territory Lords and swiftly enveloped them. In the next moment, a violent force erupted and regardless of whether it was the two Innate Territory Lords, Yang Kai, or Dawning Light, all of them were overwhelmed by the explosion.
Aboard Dawning Light, every single member of Dawn spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and their expressions became sluggish. Likewise, Yang Kai’s complexion turned as pale as a sheet.
The two Territory Lords were in a state of utter shock. They had never seen such a mighty Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master before. Even though the other party was also wounded, their combined attack containing their full power was still blocked by the other party.
The power of the Divine Ability unleashed by the other party earlier… was so overwhelming that it simply seemed impossible to believe. Not just the raw force behind this attack, but the profound effect it had on both them and the world around them was beyond their ability to comprehend.
Even after the shockwave had faded, the mysterious Space-Time Strength lingering around their bodies left them feeling extremely uncomfortable.
[Do we fight? Or, do we flee?]
This newly appeared Human was too strong. If they could kill him here, then all the sacrifices they made in this battle would be worthwhile. Be that as it may, the other party did not seem like an easy target, and they were not sure if it was him or them who would die if they fought here today.
At this moment, the two Territory Lords were certain that this person was the powerful enemy that Mo Na Ye mentioned; hence, they couldn’t help cursing the latter in their hearts. Mo Na Ye only mentioned that a powerful enemy might appear in Acacia Territory but failed to give them any specifics. It was his fault that two of their companions had been killed!
If Mo Na Ye knew what they were thinking, he would have roared at the injustice!
Information about Yang Kai had come directly from Profound Nether Territory where he had slain three Territory Lords in a single battle. It was later confirmed that he was the same Human who caused a huge disturbance at the No-Return Pass.
In response to this information, Mo Na Ye decided to err on the side of caution and made an immediate request for five additional Territory Lords to be sent as reinforcements. He thought that 10 Territory Lords gathered together would be enough to defeat Yang Kai, but who could have imagined that those five Territory Lords who came as reinforcements would encounter Yang Kai before they even had the chance to meet up with the others? The fact that five Territory Lords would be killed one after another in this intense battle was a situation that the Black Ink Clan never even dreamed of.
Just as the two Territory Lords were hesitating over their decision, the commotion caused by the death of a third Territory Lord came from nearby.
It was Feng Ying who had slain her opponent.
The third Territory Lord was struck by Yang Kai’s Soul Rending Thorn just now and also suffered a joint attack from Yang Kai and Feng Ying that blasted half his body away. Although he managed to survive that initial barrage, his strength had plummeted to the point where he had essentially lost all combat capability.
Yang Kai had to rescue Dawning Light, so he did not bother to stick around until the end of the battle. Naturally, Feng Ying exerted her full strength after his departure. She had been suppressed by her opponent and forced into a precarious situation earlier; however, the Territory Lord was no longer a match for her. There was no helping it as his injuries were too severe. It was already impressive that he could bring out half of his full-strength
Under Feng Ying’s fierce onslaught that completely disregarded the damage she sustained, the third Territory Lord only managed to hold out for several breaths of time before he was slaughtered by her!
This was her first time killing a Territory Lord with her own hands after she advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm! However, it was not that impressive a feat as without Yang Kai laying the foundation for her, she was the one who would have suffered a disastrous fate by now.
Feng Ying did not stop there though. Clad in a layer of sword light, she immediately spun around after defeating her opponent and rushed towards Yang Kai.
The two remaining Territory Lords, who had been waffling over their decision to fight or flee, did not hesitate for a moment longer. They were not confident about defeating Yang Kai in the first place, but not only was there another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master coming to join the fight, they also sensed the other Warship rapidly closing in on them. Things would not end well for them if they were encircled by the enemy; hence, they immediately came to a decision. Their figures flashed, and they fled into the distance.
Yang Kai had taken precautions against their escape though, and seeing them flee, he surged his Space Principles and solidified the local space again. Unfortunately, his injuries were too severe now and he was unable to smoothly mobilize his strength.
If it were just one Territory Lord, he might have been able to restrain his opponent; however, the two Territory Lords cooperated and quickly broke open the blockade to escape.
Yang Kai grit his teeth and raised his spear to pursue. It was not easy to come across the opportunity to slaughter a Territory Lord, so how could he give up so easily? Now that three out of five Territory Lords were dead, killing the last two Territory Lords would be much easier.
Feng Ying followed closely behind while Yu Ru Meng and the others, who were rushing to provide support, also hastily adjusted their course. Aboard Dawning Light, the members of Dawn quickly followed suit after suppressing their injuries.
The two figures and two Warships doggedly moved to intercept the two Innate Territory Lords and in the blink of an eye, they had already crossed a million kilometres.
The persistence of their pursuers enraged the two Territory Lords. They had never suffered such humiliation in all the years since they left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
[It’s all the fault of that damn Mo Na Ye for giving such an unclear message! We will make him pay for this!] The two Territory Lords vowed in their hearts, but then, their expressions abruptly stiffened as they looked up and stared into the distance.
There… seemed to be an ambush in that direction! Numerous Human Race Masters were waiting up ahead for them!
At the same time, a majestic palace soared through the void. The palace was extremely simple looking but had an ancient air about it. Moreover, there was a plaque above the main gates of the palace with the characters ‘Flowing Time’ emblazoned on it. Two figures stood in front of the palace gates, a young man and woman both dressed in white.
The young man and young woman stared at the approaching Innate Territory Lords, but not only did they seem unafraid, they even seemed excited. It was almost as though they had caught a big fish in their net.
They had clearly cultivated the same Secret Art, and under their joint efforts, the flow of time in the local region became distorted. From the enormous palace, 10,008 glowing grains of sand shot out and the two figures disappeared. The grains of sand flew towards the two Territory Lords and enveloped them, causing their sense of time to dramatically slow.
It was the work of Yang Xiao and Yang Xue!
They were the Inheritance Disciples of the Flowing Time Great Emperor, and ever since they inherited the Flowing Time Temple, they had been cultivating the Dao of Time diligently. In particular, the Dao of Time was Yang Xiao’s Bloodline Talent as he was part of the Dragon Clan. He could gain twice the result with half the effort when cultivating the Dao of Time, and thanks to his careful teaching and her innate talents, Yang Xue also shone brilliantly in this extremely esoteric Grand Dao. At present, their attainments in the Dao of Time had reached an incredible height.
Nevertheless, they were not arrogant or overconfident. They knew that they were no match for a Territory Lord, so they did not attempt to actually harm the two Territory Lords. The gap in their strength was simply too wide for that to be a realistic plan. On the contrary, their goal was only to hinder the escape of the two Territory Lords. Even if they could only delay them for a single breath, it would be enough!
If it were an ordinary Black Ink Clansman, they would have had a hard time defending against such a mysterious Secret Technique; however, the strength of the two Innate Territory Lords was enormous. There was no need for them to search for flaws in this Secret Technique to break through, they simply surged the Black Ink Strength in their bodies as they threw out a punch in unison. In the face of overwhelming force, all tricks and tactics become meaningless!
With a single blow, the flying sand that covered the entire area abruptly recoiled and the giant palace which had seemingly vanished reappeared and was sent tumbling through the void. Under the violent impact, the Flowing Time Temple rumbled loudly as countless cracks appeared all over it. Simultaneously, both Yang Xiao and Yang Xue who were standing at the palace gates coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood.
“Impudence!” One of the Territory Lords was livid. [How dare a mere pair of Humans in the Seventh and Sixth-Order block our way just because they have the support of mysterious Secret Techniques?]
Even if they did not dare to confront the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from earlier, how could they fail to defeat a Seventh-Order and a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters?
Just as they were about to unleash a barrage of ruthless attacks, a Warship emerged from behind the Flowing Time Temple and Zhao Ya’s beautiful figure charged out. With an ice-cold expression on her face, she unleashed a barrage of spear shadows that pierced forward with an indomitable spirit.
To her left, the honest-looking Zhao Ye Bai channelled Space Principles into the spear, causing it to become even more blurred and unpredictable. From the right, Time Principles surged and gathered around Xu Yi’s body before he channelled them into Zhao Ya’s spear like Zhao Ye Bai had.
Instantly, Time Principles merged with Space Principles to form a brand-new form of strength.
The three Disciples were highly accomplished in their respective cultivation, and even though each of them had inherited a different Grand Dao from Yang Kai, the long years they spent together gave them an innate understanding and familiarity with each other’s strengths. In turn, this allowed them to work together and achieve the perfect combination attack. This was a Secret Technique that the three of them developed to merge their strengths and defeat more powerful enemies.
The burst of power unleashed by these three Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was comparable to the attack of an ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Furthermore, the spear technique had a clear semblance to the one Yang Kai had used.
The two Territory Lords were horrified. Yang Kai’s Sun and Moon Divine Wheel had injured them earlier, and the Space-Time Strength from that attack lingered around their bodies even now. Therefore, it came as a great shock for the combined attack of these three Seventh-Order Humans to contain a trace of that same mysterious Space-Time Strength.
[These three must be related to that Eighth-Order Master from earlier! They are most likely Master and Disciples!]
They immediately made a swift decision in their hearts and unleashed a barrage of ruthless attacks. Under the effect of the violently surging Black Ink Strength, Zhao Ya, Zhao Ye Bai, and Xu Yi convulsed as though struck by lightning. Their complexions turned deathly pale in an instant, and they each spat out a mouthful of blood.
Without waiting for the enemy to strike again, Zhao Ye Bai made a decisive move, wrapping his Space Principles around his Junior Brother and Junior Sister, then forcefully teleporting them 100,000 kilometres away. The Secret Technique unleashed by one of the Territory Lords blasted out only to hit empty space. Nevertheless, the fallout still swept over the trio and sent them flying even further away.
At that moment, three more figures rushed out from behind the surging Black Ink Strength. One of them was a small Stone Man. Leaping through the Black Ink Cloud, he hammered his chest with his fists and gave a deafening roar. At the same time, his small body swelled rapidly and abruptly transformed into a towering giant.
Divine Spirit, Tai Yue!
Xiao Xiao swiped at the two Territory Lords but failed to grab them in his hands, though the reckless effort caused countless broken pieces of rock to tumble down his massive arms.
This attack was followed up by a piercing Phoenix Cry as a scorching flame spread across the void. A Fire Phoenix emerged out of nowhere and opened its mouth to spew burning flames towards the two Territory Lords, warping the surrounding space with the intensity of their heat.
Qiong Qi also charged forward, his figure darting about as his claws slashed out.
Aboard the Bi Xi Battleship, Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei used various Secret Techniques to bombard the enemy from range, while even Bi Xi’s Soul Clone charged forward menacingly.
The two Territory Lords were absolutely incensed now.
This annoying band had hit them with a rapid succession of attacks, and as a result, they did not have time to catch their breath, annoying them greatly. Under normal circumstances, these attacks would not have fazed this pair in the slightest, but what was the current situation? They were desperately fleeing for their lives with two Eighth-Order Masters and two incredibly powerful Warships chasing after them. If they did not escape now, they would soon follow in the footsteps of their three other companions.
“Scram!” One of the Territory Lords roared, causing a violent force to spread out in all directions.
Xiao Xiao, Liu Yan, Qiong Qi, and even Bi Xi’s Soul Clone were instantly sent flying and became dizzy from the impact.
Although none of them were weak, there was still a significant gap between them and an Innate Territory Lord; hence, the all-out assault of the Territory Lords wiped out all their attacks in an instant and even struck them hard.
Nevertheless, that was enough.
In the brief moment their Squad held back these two Territory Lords, Yang Kai, Feng Ying, Dawning Light, and the other Bi Xi Battleship arrived and immediately surrounded the two Territory Lords from all sides.
A huge battle immediately broke out with countless Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities blasted forth. Groans of pain could be heard among the numerous explosions as this confrontation was an all-out life-and-death battle where no one held anything back.
All of a sudden, a hole opened in the encirclement. The two Territory Lords did not hesitate to seize the opportunity and escape through the gap. One of them fled so swiftly that he was a mere dot on the horizon in the blink of an eye. Even Yang Kai failed to stop his escape. On the other hand, the second Territory Lord was one step slower and Yang Kai’s spear swept towards him before he could rush through the opening.
“Stay behind!”
A violent force erupted, forcing the Territory Lord to retreat helplessly in a fit of anger and frustration. He was instantly surrounded again.
Yang Kai did not waste his time on this Territory Lord and hastily sent a Divine Sense transmission to Feng Ying, “I’ll leave things here to you!”
Then, he chased after the Territory Lord who fled earlier.
With the combination of Feng Ying, Dawn, Yu Ru Meng’s Squad, and the group of little ones, they were enough to compete against this Territory Lord. Besides, Yang Kai did not expect them to kill him, just keep him trapped here. He was going to kill the escaped Territory Lord first, then return to deal with the last one.
Space Principles fluctuated wildly as Yang Kai quickly closed in on the escaped Territory Lord; however, his expression changed drastically before he could attack the other party. At the edge of his Divine Sense’s perception range, he detected five mighty auras approaching rapidly from afar.
[There are five more Territory Lords here!?] Yang Kai was thoroughly shocked.
He had initially assumed that the five Territory Lords he encountered were the main force of the Black Ink Clan in Acacia Territory. Even if the five Territory Lords did not make up the entire force, they should account for most of it; after all, there were only so many Territory Lords so they could not be mobilised easily. Who could have known that there would actually be 10 Territory Lords here? Yang Kai never even dreamed that Mo Na Ye, the Territory Lord who oversaw Acacia Territory, would think so highly of him.
After learning that Yang Kai had left Profound Nether Territory and might be heading to Acacia Territory, Mo Na Ye immediately called for reinforcements, but the five Territory Lords who came were extremely unlucky. Before they could meet up with Mo Na Ye, they encountered Yang Kai along the way. As a result, three of them were dead and the other two were wounded.
While Yang Kai was stunned, Mo Na Ye was on the verge of spitting blood.
If Mo Na Ye could gather the strength of 10 Territory Lords, then Yang Kai would not have been able to cause much trouble regardless of his immense strength. Information about Yang Kai came from Profound Nether Territory, and after analysing it, Mo Na Ye did not hesitate to double the number of Territory Lords for this mission. Unfortunately, the five Territory Lords who came as reinforcements seemed to be rather ignorant about Yang Kai; otherwise, they would not have suffered such heavy casualties.
As soon as Mo Na Ye detected the traces of battle in this direction, he immediately led the four other Territory Lords over to provide support. He did not bother to bring any of his subordinates as, in a battle of this level, anybody who was not a Territory Lord would only end up dead.
It was a pity that the commotion caused by the death of the third Territory Lord spread out before they could arrive. There were now just two Territory Lords from their reinforcements left!
From a distance, Mo Na Ye could see the distressed figure of the fleeing Territory Lord.
Yang Kai’s appearance was just as miserable as the fleeing Territory Lord, but the death of the latter’s three companions left him with no courage to fight back alone. Who knows whether this Human was deliberately acting weak to seek an opportunity to kill him?
Upon detecting the auras of Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords, the fleeing Territory Lord was overjoyed and rushed towards them with all his might.
“Protect your Soul!” Mo Na Ye shouted a warning hastily.
According to initial speculations, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master named Yang Kai had a Secret Technique that could severely injure his opponent’s Soul in an instant, allowing him to finish a one-on-one battle against a Territory Lord in a single move. Faced with an enemy like Yang Kai, it was vital for them to protect their Souls in order to survive.
The fleeing Territory Lord was no fool, so after hearing Mo Na Ye’s warning, he recalled the scenes of his three companions’ deaths earlier. Realisation struck him suddenly, and he quickly surged his Spiritual Energy to protect his Soul.
[Bastard!] Yang Kai cursed in his heart.
It would seem that he had used his Soul Rending Thorns too many times, which caused the Territory Lords to notice the flaw in this method. This was within his expectations though. Although the Soul Rending Thorn itself was practically invisible once activated, the large fluctuation of Spiritual Energy could not be hidden from those who were paying attention.
Not only did he use his Soul Rending Thorns to consecutively kill so many Territory Lords, he also activated this Secret Technique right in front of the Royal Lord at the No-Return Pass. If the Black Ink Clan failed to notice anything after so long, then something must be wrong with their heads.
It was just that the Soul Rending Thorns were extremely overpowering because they were fueled by the sacrifice of part of Yang Kai’s Soul. Even if the Territory Lords defended themselves, they could not block out the effects completely.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai no longer had the confidence to swiftly slaughter this fleeing Territory Lord. If he could not kill his opponent in one move, then his opponent would only need to restrain him for a moment before the other five Territory Lords arrived as reinforcements. Once that happened, the one stuck in an unfavourable situation would be him.
After a moment of hesitation, Yang Kai thrust out his spear one last time before turning around without looking back. Since he could not slay his enemy, he decided to give up. Besides, there was another Territory Lord who was trapped behind him. Killing that Territory Lord would be good enough.
The fleeing Territory Lord guarded his Soul carefully after receiving Mo Na Ye’s warning, but contrary to his expectations, it was Yang Kai’s spear that stabbed forward and made a mess of his back. He cursed angrily in his heart, not knowing whether to thank Mo Na Ye or scold him.
Mo Na Ye roared from the distance, “Stop him!”
How could he bear to watch Yang Kai escape? Three Territory Lords had been killed in such a short time, so it would be difficult for him to explain the situation to the higher-ups if they failed to kill Yang Kai here.
Unfortunately, they were still some distance away; as such, he could only call out to the lone Territory Lord who was being chased by Yang Kai.
That Territory Lord naturally ignored Mo Na Ye. It had not been easy for him to escape alive, so his top priority was to join up with his allies as quickly as possible. Staying alive was his primary objective now. If he turned around and pursued Yang Kai instead, he might find himself in a precarious situation if the latter was forced into a corner. Mo Na Ye and the others would not be able to rescue him in time.
A short while later, the six Territory Lords gathered together and Mo Na Ye was practically spitting fire from his eyes. Glaring fiercely at the Territory Lord who looked scared after narrowly escaping death, he roared, “You Gong, are you deaf!? I told you to stop him!”
The Territory Lord called You Gong sneered coldly in response, “If I had tried to stop him, I’d be dead by now!”
[It’s because you didn’t see how easily he killed the others that you can even say something so stupid! If you saw what I saw back there, you’d run even faster than I did!]
Mo Na Ye ground his teeth in frustration; nonetheless, now was not the time to quarrel among themselves. There was still the aura of another Territory Lord coming from up ahead and they had to rescue him as soon as possible, or it would be too late.
“Follow him!” He shouted before leading the other five Territory Lords and rushing forward.
On the other side, the trapped Territory Lord was filled with rage. The people who had trapped him in this place could not be considered very strong. There was only one Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master among them, and she was clearly not his opponent at all.
Unfortunately, the other side had a massive numerical advantage, with almost 30 enemies on par with Seventh-Order Masters alone, many of whom were powerful Divine Spirits.
Two other Warships did not resemble ordinary Warships. On the contrary, they seemed to be the incarnation of a Divine Spirit with extremely thick skin. Thanks to their strong defence, most of the attacks from the Territory Lord were successfully blocked by these two Warships.
As the saying went, ‘A cornered beast will undoubtedly fight back’. That was the best portrayal of the Territory Lord in his current situation. His numerous attempts to break free had been stopped by the forces surrounding him; hence, he was feeling very vexed. He initially rushed here in high spirits as reinforcements only to fall into such a miserable state not long after he arrived at Acacia Territory.
It would have been one thing if his opponent was a Human Race Master he could not defeat. There was nothing much to complain about if his skills were inferior to the enemy. However, the key point was that these people were not such opponents. He could easily kill any one of them in a single blow if they were on their own, but they were extremely hard to handle when they teamed up against him. At this moment, he truly understood the meaning behind the Human saying, ‘Two fists cannot not block four strikes’.
While he was fighting, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head. It felt as though his Soul had been sliced open by a mysterious force. The agony was not something he had ever experienced in his life and for a time, he lost control of his strength entirely.
[Shit!] The Territory Lord was panicking now. Any careless mistake could lead to eternal doom in a life and death battle, what more a sudden loss of strength due to damage to his Soul. He knew that he had been ambushed, but he could not figure out how.
In the next moment, countless attacks rained down on him from all directions, and under the violent and chaotic storm, his aura abruptly vanished without a trace! The fourth Territory Lord was dead!
Only a cup of tea’s time had passed since Yang Kai began his assault, but in that short span, the fallout caused by the death of four Territory Lords had already spread throughout Acacia Territory.
“Damn!” Mo Na Ye, who was pursuing Yang Kai, nearly went mad with rage. He had requested five Territory Lords as reinforcements, confident that 10 of them would be enough to defeat Yang Kai. However, he never imagined that You Gong would be the only survivor out of the five sent in such a short time.
For a time, he couldn’t help feeling vexed. If he had known earlier, he would have brought the other Territory Lords to meet their reinforcements immediately. He had not expected Yang Kai to arrive so quickly, or for the five Territory Lords he invited to die so easily.
You Gong also had an ugly expression on his face, but a greater part of him was filled with relief. If not for his swift escape just now, the one being killed right now would have been him instead.
[That Human… How can he be so strong?]
All the current Innate Territory Lords came directly from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Seeing as every one of them was exceedingly powerful, they were confident and arrogant about their strength. They did not think highly of the Eighth-Order Human Masters, so only the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors could frighten them.
It was not until today that You Gong finally learned something new. The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not the only ones who could kill them. There was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master whose strength was beyond imagination!
“Let’s go!” On the battlefield ahead, Yang Kai’s complexion was deathly pale. He gave a low roar and activated Space Principles to envelope a large part of the void before hurriedly bringing the others with him in a quick escape. They had to flee now; otherwise, the tides would turn on them and the situation would be reversed.
Although they had not suffered any casualties so far, every single one of them had been wounded in the battle and they could no longer exert their full strength. It was mostly thanks to fortuitous timing that they managed to slaughter four Territory Lords in a row, with the other reason being that these five Territory Lords had been overly careless. If they had not split up to chase after Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship, Yang Kai would not have had the opportunity to make a move.
With the deaths of four Territory Lords serving as an example, the other six would no longer be so easy to handle.
If those six Territory Lords caught up to Yang Kai and the others, Yang Kai was the only one with the confidence to escape alive. The others would most likely lose their lives here; therefore, they had to escape immediately. The faster they fled, the better!
Yang Kai’s head was aching after unleashing three Soul Rending Thorns in a row and fighting four Territory Lords to varying degrees, so it was very difficult for him to perform consecutive Instantaneous Movements with three whole Squads in tow. Not to mention, the Dawn was a Special Operations Squad, so instead of a dozen members, they had 50. The more people there were, the greater Yang Kai’s burden. If not for the time constraints, he would have preferred to open his Small Universe for the rest to enter as that would have made things more convenient for him to escape.
Fortunately, he was not the only person who was proficient in the Dao of Space in this group.
Zhao Ye Bai was Yang Kai’s First Disciple. Having been born in Void World, he boasted an inherently high affinity with the Dao of Space. Now that he was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, his attainments in the Dao of Space were considered extraordinary even if he could not compare with his Honoured Master.
With Zhao Ye Bai’s support, Yang Kai’s burden was reduced significantly.
Even though it was a long-awaited reunion between Master and Disciple, they were forced to flee for their lives before they could even reminisce about the past. In addition, Yang Kai was severely wounded in the previous battle, so it was only natural for Zhao Ye Bai to step up and contribute under such circumstances. Thus, he mustered all his strength and pushed his Space Principles to the limit.
During the cat-and-mouse chase, they travelled across several tens of millions of kilometres.
Behind them, Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords were furious! They initially assumed that it would be easy for them to hunt down the weakened and injured Humans, but who could have known that they would be left behind in the dust of their opponents instead?
The Royal Lord was right. Yang Kai’s ability to escape was unparalleled. It was no wonder that the Royal Lord himself was helpless against Yang Kai at the No-Return Pass.
“They are trying to escape from the Great Territory!” One of the Territory Lords shouted.
The direction in which Yang Kai and the others were escaping was obvious. They were heading towards one of the Territory Gates in Acacia Territory, and their intentions were as clear as day.
This was the most logical choice. With so many injured and six powerful Territory Lords chasing them from behind, it was only natural for Yang Kai’s group to find a quiet place to reorganise themselves as soon as possible. Leaving the Great Territory was the best option as it would not be too late for them to return for revenge after they had recovered.
Seeing as Yang Kai managed to kill four Territory Lords this time, he would surely have another opportunity to kill a few more once he was back at his peak. How many more Territory Lords in the Black Ink Clan would he kill after that? By the time he finished terrorising the Black Ink Clan, the situation in Acacia Territory would fall apart on its own.
“In your dreams!” Mo Na Ye coldly snorted and hurriedly sent out a message.
A short while later, a Feudal Lord with an impressive aura stood in front of the Territory Gate and shouted at the top of his voice, “Sir Mo Na Ye has issued a command! Several Human Race Masters are heading in this direction, and we must stop them at all costs!”
The Black Ink Clan Army of a million troops responded fervently and swiftly got into formation.
This Territory Gate was the same one that Bi Xi’s Soul Clone had wanted to escape with the little ones through, but what none of them knew was that the Black Ink Clan had swiftly deployed an army of a million troops to block this Territory Gate after Yang Kai entered Acacia Territory.
An hour later, a group of people swiftly approached the Territory Gate. Yang Kai looked up and saw a sea of Black Ink Clansmen spreading out into the horizon. The Black Ink Clan Army stood strong outside the Territory Gate, forming a tight barricade around it. Looking at the scale, Yang Kai judged there to be at least a million troops.
Yang Kai could not help cursing at the sight as he wondered why there were so many Black Ink Clansmen here.
An army of a million was certainly not small. Even if he did not detect the aura of a Territory Lord coming from that direction, it would not be easy for him to break through such a blockade. Besides, the Black Ink Clan Army was practically burning with fighting spirit. It was obvious that they had prepared themselves for an intense battle. The Territory Lords chasing from behind must have given them an order to fight to the death to stop them.
[We can’t head this way anymore.]
Under normal circumstances, it would not have been difficult for Yang Kai to break through the Black Ink Clan Army’s barricade, even if they had a million troops on their side. He had the confidence to succeed, eventually, but the circumstances this time were different. Six Territory Lords were chasing after him, so even a slight delay would lead to a disastrous end.
[Damn it, why are there so many Black Ink Clansmen in Acacia Territory instead of on the front lines of the war!?] Helpless, Yang Kai could only change direction and speed towards the next nearest Territory Gate.
One day later, Yang Kai nearly thought that he had gone back to the same Territory Gate when he arrived at the second one and saw another million-strong Black Ink Clan Army.
[What’s going on? It’s just Acacia Territory. Isn’t this an insignificant place? Even if there are Human Race survivors trapped here, is there a need for the Black Ink Clan to mobilise so much manpower? Or, could it be because of me?]
At this moment, Yang Kai had the vague realization that the unexpected incidents in Acacia Territory were related to him, and he was correct.
In the beginning, the Black Ink Clan only planned to use the Human refugees trapped in Acacia Territory to lure out some Hunters and did not deploy many troops or Masters here. After all, 100,000 troops was more than enough to block a Territory Gate as the Human Masters they were expecting to face weren’t that strong or united.
After receiving the news from Profound Nether Territory though, Mo Na Ye deduced that Yang Kai would most likely appear in Acacia Territory. Hence, he hastily mobilised the armies from the nearby Great Territories and invited five additional Territory Lords over as reinforcements. That was how the current line-up was formed.
It would now seem that he indeed had great foresight. With a million troops guarding each Territory Gate, even Yang Kai would not dare to force his way through under the current circumstances.
There were five Territory Gates in Acacia Territory, but based on the situation at the two consecutive Territory Gates he visited, Yang Kai felt there was no need to check the situation at the three other Territory Gates. It was almost a given that the Black Ink Clan would also have heavy defences around those Territory Gates.
At this point, Yang Kai was barely holding on, while Zhao Ye Bai was about to reach his limits. He was wounded in the first place, so after supporting Yang Kai for so long, the burden was too much for him. It was just that he had a stubborn personality, so even though he was as pale as a sheet, he did not utter a single complaint.
“Hurry up and enter my Small Universe!” In the middle of their escape, Yang Kai shouted and opened the portal to his Small Universe.
At this point, he had no choice but to gamble. Once Zhao Ye Bai became exhausted, he would have to facilitate the escape of so many people with his strength alone. Under those circumstances, it would only be a matter of time before their enemies caught up to them.
When Yang Kai opened the portal to his Small Universe, the others did not hesitate and quickly poured inside.
During this brief delay, the six Territory Lords pursuing them quickly closed the distance with Mo Na Ye looking overjoyed as he roared, “Humans! Today you die!”
Immediately after that, the six Territory Lords joined forces and attacked in unison.
The surging Black Ink Strength caused both Yang Kai and Feng Ying to cough up blood. Even Yang Kai’s Small Universe was shaken by the aftermath because he failed to close the portal in time.
Fortunately for him, nothing serious happened since there was a World Tree clone in his Small Universe to shelter it from external forces. Otherwise, the impact would have been enough to put his Small Universe at risk of destruction.
The others, including Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, could enter Yang Kai’s Small Universe to hide, but Feng Ying could not. That was because she was also in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, the same as Yang Kai.
Yang Kai and Feng Ying’s injuries became increasingly severe, but before the six Territory Lords arrived, Yang Kai grabbed Feng Ying and vanished from the spot with a flash. It was a pity they could not run very far before the Territory Lords would track down their location and pursue them again.
Yang Kai swore fiercely in his heart, [Just you wait. I will definitely pay you back for this humiliation one day!]
Seeing as the Black Ink Clan Army had blockaded two Territory Gates, the same was most likely true for the remaining three. In other words, there was no way for them to leave Acacia Territory. In addition to the pursuit of the six Territory Lords, they were in a desperate situation indeed.
At this moment, there was only one place left for them to go.
Upon making his decision, Yang Kai focused on making his escape. Compared to how mighty he seemed earlier when he slaughtered those Territory Lords, he was now fleeing with his tail between his legs. It truly was the perfect example of karmic retribution. Now that the tides of fortune had turned on him, he was helpless.
“They’re heading towards the Universe Cave Heaven!” One of the Territory Lords quickly figured out Yang Kai’s intentions.
The two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were heading towards the location of a Universe Cave Heaven in Acacia Territory. It was also the place where the other Human refugees in Acacia Territory were hiding at the moment.
The Black Ink Clan only came across this place by accident. The main reason was that the Human Race Masters left the Universe Cave Heaven to investigate the situation in Acacia Territory and accidentally revealed their whereabouts. That was how they were targeted by the Black Ink Clan.
A Universe Cave Heaven was generally hidden in the Void, so if one did not know its precise location and the method to open its portal, it was very difficult for an ordinary person to discover. Even a Territory Lord was no exception to this rule.
Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, there were numerous Universe Paradises and Universe Cave Heavens scattered around each Great Pass thanks to the innumerable Human Race Masters who died in battle. It was a pity that nobody could open these Universe Paradises and Universe Cave Heavens.
In the end, Yang Kai took matters into his own hands and opened these portals. His actions allowed various Great Passes such as Blue Sky Pass and Yin-Yang Pass to set up traps and ambushes in these locations. It was thanks to this method that they massacred large numbers of Black Ink Clansmen.
At present, a Black Ink Clan Army was standing guard outside the Universe Cave Heaven. They had no intention of attacking, only forming a siege around the trapped Humans inside to lure out Hunters who came here to rescue them.
The Humans hiding in the Universe Cave Heaven did not dare to emerge carelessly; after all, there was no particularly strong Master among their ranks. Now that they were besieged by the Black Ink Clan, they could only wait for their deaths; thus, they passed each day in fear and anxiety.
If the location of the Universe Cave Heaven had not been exposed, then they would not have faced any trouble whatsoever. No matter how many Black Ink Clansmen there were, the enemy would not be able to figure out the location of the Universe Cave Heaven if they were not proficient in the Dao of Space. Unfortunately, the location of the portal had been exposed, so it was now very easy for the Black Ink Clan to attack them. They only needed enough Black Ink Clansmen to unleash a fierce onslaught in the direction of the portal to shatter the Void and force it open.
There was no need for too many Black Ink Clansmen. In fact, if two Innate Territory Lords joined forces, it would only take them about half a day to forcefully break open the portal. At that time, none of the Humans hiding within would survive. It was only because the Black Ink Clan wanted to use these Humans here as bait to lure out as many Hunters as possible that those inside the Universe Cave Heaven hadn’t been wiped out a long time ago.
The Black Ink Clan Army was heavily guarding all five Territory Gates in Acacia Territory at the moment. In addition, there were Six Territory Lords doggedly chasing after Yang Kai and Feng Ying.
For Yang Kai, there was only one place they could go to seek shelter under these circumstances.
He knew about the location of this Universe Cave Heaven as, before departing for Acacia Territory, he had already gathered all the necessary information regarding the situation here.
However, he only knew the general position and not the exact location of the Universe Cave Heaven. That was not a problem though for he was a master of the Dao of Space.
Besides, if his guess was right, there would be a Black Ink Clan Army standing guard outside the portal. He only needed to find the location of that Black Ink Clan Army to find the location of the portal. Right now, he could only hope that there were not many enemy troops stationed outside the Universe Cave Heaven. If the Black Ink Clan had another army of a million troops waiting there, he would be in trouble.
Regardless, Yang Kai had no time to consider these matters. His greatest priority was figuring out a method to create some distance from their pursuers. He would need some time to open the portal when he arrived there, so if the Territory Lords chasing him were too close, he would not have enough time to work.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, an idea formed in Yang Kai’s heart.
He excelled at shaking off pursuers. Back when he caused such a huge commotion at the No-Return Pass, even a Royal Lord could not do anything to him, so what were a few Innate Territory Lords worth? It was just that his injuries made manipulating Space Principles difficult. Otherwise, with only Feng Ying travelling with him, he could have flung off his pursuers a long time ago.
A short while later, Yang Kai and Feng Ying abruptly split up and fled in two different directions. The six Territory Lords chasing behind them were momentarily stunned by the sudden turn of events before Mo Na Ye gave a low roar, “Split up and chase them!”
The two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were heavily wounded, so Mo Na Ye refused to let a single one escape alive.
You Gong suddenly noticed that the scene in front of him felt very familiar, and upon further consideration, he realised something. [Isn’t this the same situation I encountered when I was travelling with the five Territory Lords who came here as reinforcements?]
At the time, the two Warships abruptly separated and escaped in different directions. The five Territory Lords responded by dividing their forces and giving chase. In the end, Yang Kai hid in the shadows and took the opportunity to ambush them.
[It’s the same thing all over again! This must be part of that Human’s schemes!]
After suffering a terrible loss earlier, You Gong was very wary of Yang Kai; thus, he immediately objected, “We must not split up! We will be defeated by that Human one by one if we do so!”
Mo Na Ye glanced over at You Gong coldly, disdain overflowing from his eyes. [How dare he question my decision at such a critical juncture!?]
“Split up and give chase! Protect your Soul so that you don’t end up being ambushed by him!”
Time was running out, so Mo Na Ye had no time to waste on You Gong and simply repeated his orders with greater emphasis. Yang Kai’s strength was terrifying indeed, but even he had his limits. As long as they took the necessary precautions, it would not be difficult to deal with him.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the six Territory Lords divided into two groups. One group chased after Yang Kai while the other pursued Feng Ying.
You Gong stuck tightly to Mo Na Ye’s side. Among all the Territory Lords present, Mo Na Ye was the strongest. If any unexpected situations were to occur, he was certain that staying by Mo Na Ye’s side would be the safest option.
How could Mo Na Ye fail to realise what You Gong was thinking? The very thought enraged him. [Has You Gong been scared out of his wits!? How is he also considered an Innate Territory Lord!? How embarrassing!]
However, now was not the time for internal squabbles. Their top priority was to eliminate the two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. As for You Gong… He would be sent back to the No-Return Pass to receive his punishment after this incident. Territory Lords were also needed to oversee the Black Ink Clan’s new conquests, so with You Gong being heavily injured, it would be just right for him to be stuck with such a tedious mission.
Observing the figure that flickered around from time to time in a frantic attempt to escape, Mo Na Ye’s expression turned gloomy. How could he fail to see that Yang Kai was heavily injured?
That might be the reason why Yang Kai could not completely escape their pursuit; after all, according to the information from the No-Return Pass, he was perfectly capable of escaping the pursuit of the Royal Lord. There was no reason why he would have such a hard time with the pursuit of mere Territory Lords.
[This time… We might have the chance to eliminate him once and for all! No, we must get rid of him now! If we miss this opportunity, then we will never have such a good opportunity again!] Mo Na Ye made a swift decision and put more effort into chasing Yang Kai.
10 breaths later, both parties travelled several hundred thousand kilometres when all of a sudden, Yang Kai’s fleeing figure distorted and disappeared without any warning. This situation had already been repeated many times, so Mo Na Ye did not panic. He immediately released his Divine Sense and investigated his surroundings. It didn’t take long before he found Yang Kai’s whereabouts, but frowning, he turned to look in a certain direction and discovered that Yang Kai had joined up with that woman again.
[What the Hell is he doing? If he wants to flee separately, then why did he meet back up with her? Unable to understand Yang Kai’s intentions, he could only lead You Gong and the other Territory Lords in that direction.
Mo Na Ye could not understand Yang Kai’s intentions, but for Yang Kai, the truth was simply that he could not remain separated any longer. Feng Ying would be in danger if he did not return.
He could make use of Space Principles which allowed him to swiftly escape, but Feng Ying could not. Her strength was inferior in the first place, and her speed could not compare with the three Territory Lords pursuing her.
In just a few breaths of time, the distance between Feng Ying and the three Territory Lords chasing behind her was already at the limits. If Yang Kai did not return, she would have been in trouble by now.
When Yang Kai returned to Feng Ying’s side, he immediately surged his World Force to wrap around her; then, he continued running forward with her. After running together for some time, they separated again.
This time around, the three Territory Lords chasing behind them were dumbfounded.
When Yang Kai and Feng Ying separated for the first time, the six Territory Lords had no trouble splitting up to give chase; however, there were only three of them here right now. How were they supposed to divide their forces? Faced with an opponent like Yang Kai who could cut down a Territory Lord as though he was reaping wheat, who would dare to act alone? Whoever dared to move alone was bound to die.
They finally figured out Yang Kai’s plan at this moment. Even Mo Na Ye, who was rushing over in a hurry, realised what Yang Kai was aiming for and shouted from afar, “Forget Yang Kai! Chase the woman!”
There were two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but while Yang Kai was difficult to handle, could the same be said for the Human woman? They only needed to keep a close watch on the woman; after all, Yang Kai would never choose to escape alone. As long as they caught up to her, then she was as good as dead!
The three Territory Lords stopped hesitating and immediately chased after Feng Ying; meanwhile, Mo Na Ye changed directions and went after Yang Kai instead.
A short while later, Yang Kai joined up with Feng Ying again and desperately escaped with her, but it was not long before they went their separate ways once more.
“Paltry tricks!” Mo Na Ye coldly snorted. He firmly believed that Yang Kai was doing this in an attempt to separate them. Under these circumstances, there was no need to bother about Yang Kai though, it was enough for them to just pursue the woman.
[Yang Kai must be out of tricks. How can he keep repeating such obvious and childish tactics? It’s not like I’m a fool. How could I fail to notice what he was up to?]
The same situation repeated a few more times. Be that as it may, the two groups of Territory Lords maintained their targets without wavering. One group of three chased after Feng Ying while the other chased after Yang Kai.
An hour later, Yang Kai suddenly stopped and turned to look back at his pursuers after repeatedly separating from and meeting back up with Feng Ying over a dozen times.
[Is he not escaping anymore? He must be unable to run any further!] The Territory Lords were overjoyed. If they had to be honest, it was extremely exhausting for them to chase after somebody like Yang Kai, who was so excellent at escaping. The most important point was that they couldn’t even catch him, which was an extremely annoying and vexing situation.
However, Yang Kai was no longer trying to run. What did that mean? That meant that he no longer had the strength to flee and was preparing to fight to the death.
Were the Territory Lords afraid of him? If they were alone, then they had to admit that they were scared of him; after all, it only took a moment for Yang Kai to slaughter a Territory Lord. His explosive power was terrifying.
But now, there were six Territory Lords in two groups of three. What was there to fear? As long as they guarded their Souls carefully, then Yang Kai was no match for them whatsoever. Compared to the endless cat-and-mouse chase, they preferred to fight Yang Kai face to face!
The distance between both parties closed swiftly, but be that as it may, Mo Na Ye did not relax his vigilance. While gathering his power, he sent a Divine Sense transmission to the other Territory Lords, “Remain cautious! We should attack in unison. It would be best if we could kill him in one blow!”
The rest of the Territory Lords nodded in agreement and quietly prepared themselves.
In the void up ahead, Yang Kai looked at the two groups of Territory Lords approaching him from both sides and snickered, “See you later!”
After saying that, the space around him warped.
[Is he running again?] Furious, Mo Na Ye roared, “Attack!”
Six mighty attacks blasted towards Yang Kai from two different directions. Black Ink Strength surged as it reached its target, erupting with a violent explosion.
Without waiting for the dust to settle, Mo Na Ye spread out his Divine Sense and investigated the surroundings, but found nothing at all. He had previously been able to locate the other party’s whereabouts almost immediately after Yang Kai escaped, but this time, there was no trace of him or his female companion at all.
Mo Na Ye looked up again and saw that the Void in the direction they had attacked had collapsed. The destructive power of the joint strike of six Territory Lords was overwhelming. Even a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would not choose to take such an attack directly. It was not that an Old Ancestor could not withstand such a blow, but that they did not need to do such things. As for an Eighth-Order Human, this impact was more than enough to destroy their body.
“Is he dead?” You Gong murmured under his breath in disbelief.
Yang Kai and that woman had completely vanished without a trace. Even expanding his Divine Sense to its limits, he could not sense the slightest trace of aura from them.
[Did that powerful Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who killed four out of five Territory Lords in less than a cup of tea’s time, die just like that? Is he really dead? Was he blown apart to the point where not a single bone remained?]
“That can’t be right!” He suddenly realised something. The death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was bound to cause a large disturbance.
Having killed countless Human Race Masters on the battlefield, You Gong knew that upon death, the Small Universe of an Open Heaven Realm Master violently ruptured more often than not, and the greater their strength, the greater the commotion caused by this explosion. Even if their Small Universe did not rupture though, it would still appear briefly before burrowing into the Void and becoming a Universe Paradise or a Universe Cave Heaven.
It was true that Yang Kai and the woman had vanished without a trace, but there were no accompanying signs to indicate their deaths. Even You Gong had figured out this point, so naturally the others had their doubts as well.
Mo Na Ye’s expression was extremely solemn. His Divine Sense spread out like a tidal wave, constantly exploring into the distance, yet he still failed to detect Yang Kai’s whereabouts. There were only two possibilities that could explain this situation. The first possibility was that Yang Kai was dead, but that was extremely unlikely. The second possibility was that Yang Kai was outside his detection range.
One of the Territory Lords stepped forward to examine the scene, and it didn’t take long before he shook his head and announced, “There are no signs of blood. He probably survived!”
At this moment, Mo Na Ye sensed something. Turning his head to look in a certain direction, he cursed vehemently, “Bastard!”
He finally discovered some unusual spatial fluctuations that were very familiar to him at an extremely distant point. They were the traces left behind whenever Yang Kai activated Space Principles.
[How did he teleport that far?] He simply could not understand. Having seen the way Yang Kai escaped earlier, Mo Na Ye could tell that Yang Kai was heavily wounded. The distance Yang Kai’s figure could teleport had also been quite limited all this time; however, now, Yang Kai had managed to flee to a place that was beyond his detection range in a single leap. That was why he failed to detect the other party’s whereabouts immediately.
[He’s heading towards that Universe Cave Heaven again!]
“After him!” Mo Na Ye was livid. Rallying the other Territory Lords, he sped in the direction where the Universe Cave Heaven was located. At the same time, he sent a message to the Black Ink Clan Army and ordered them to form a heavy guard around the portal. No matter what, he could not allow Yang Kai to enter that Universe Cave Heaven.
At this moment, Yang Kai was urging his power to wrap around Feng Ying while fleeing desperately. He even coughed up blood from time to time. His injuries were severe in the first place, and after the latest battle of wits, his wounds had only worsened. It was lucky that he managed to escape the pursuit of the six Territory Lords with the help of a Space Beacon; otherwise, he would have been in deep trouble by now.
Mo Na Ye had wrongly assumed that Yang Kai was trying to divide the Territory Lords by repeatedly separating and meeting back with Feng Ying. The truth was far from that. After suffering the previous losses, how could the Territory Lords dare to act alone so easily? Yang Kai was simply heading off to secretly place Space Beacons.
The tiny Space Beacons were very difficult to detect unless one was carefully searching for them. Back at the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai had used a Space Beacon to escape the pursuit of the Royal Lord and even wheel around to attack again. His actions had thrown the entire No-Return Pass into a fog of gloom. He had used the same trick today and successfully escaped from the six Territory Lords pursuing them.
Nevertheless, time was short as Territory Lords had great speed. If Yang Kai failed to enter the Universe Cave Heaven before the six Territory Lords caught up again, the situation would become dire.
At the moment, he might not have the strength to kill a Territory Lord even if they met alone. If he disregarded the consequences and used a fourth Soul Rending Thorn, he might stand a chance; however, the greater likelihood was that he would become delirious. He could not take such a huge risk; therefore, he had to enter the Universe Cave Heaven to recuperate as soon as possible.
As to whether or not he could successfully enter the Universe Cave Heaven… Yang Kai himself was not confident; after all, he did not know how many troops the Black Ink Clan had stationed there! He could only hope that there were not too many.
An hour passed, and from a distance, Yang Kai saw a Black Ink Clan Army forming a tight blockade around a certain spot in the void. Moreover, the auras of numerous Feudal Lords flared majestically.
[It’s here!] They had finally arrived at the location of the Universe Cave Heaven in Acacia Territory!
What gave Yang Kai a sense of relief was that not too many Black Ink Clan troops had been deployed here, only 100,000 or so. Although there were many Feudal Lords, it was still a far cry from the million-strong force posted at the five Territory Gates.
In truth, Yang Kai had already guessed that not many Black Ink Clan soldiers would be stationed here. The Black Ink Clan wanted to use the trapped Human refugees here as bait to lure out as many Hunters as possible, so they had put on a good show. If there were too many troops stationed here, then the Hunters would not take the bait. 100,000 troops was neither too many nor too few. Be that as it may, it was enough to build a solid defence around the Universe Cave Heaven yet still tempting enough for the courageous and daredevil Hunters to risk the danger.
Unbeknownst to Yang Kai, if news of his departure from Profound Nether Territory had not spread, then only 600,000 Black Ink Clan troops would have been stationed across the entire Acacia Territory. The initial deployment was 100,000 troops at the Universe Cave Heaven and another 100,000 at each of the five Territory Gates.
It was Mo Na Ye who immediately mobilised all the available troops from the surrounding Great Territories after hearing that Yang Kai might come to Acacia Territory. That was the reason why there were armies of at least a million standing guard at the Territory Gates.
The individual strengths of the Black Ink Clansmen here varied greatly, but most of them were nothing more than cannon fodder. If not for their overwhelming numbers, it would be impossible for them to stop the advance of a vicious fiend like Yang Kai.
Furthermore, Mo Na Ye made sufficient preparations. Not only did he mobilise the nearby armies to increase his available forces, but he also requested the support of five additional Territory Lords including You Gong. It was a pity he failed to predict that You Gong and the others would have such poor luck. All the reinforcing Territory Lords besides You Gong were killed almost as soon as they arrived in Acacia Territory, and You Gong was now essentially traumatized by the enemy.
The Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 had received the message from Mo Na Ye in advance, so they knew that two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were coming to attack. As a result, the Feudal Lords in the lead were extremely nervous. If not for fear of being held responsible for this incident, they would have fled by now.
At this moment, Yang Kai and Feng Ying were charging forward with a ferocious momentum, so how could the Black Ink Clan fail to notice them? Fortunately, there were only two of them…
They might not be worthy opponents, but Mo Na Ye had ordered them to keep the enemy busy at all costs. Six Territory Lords would arrive soon! An army of 100,00 trying to hold back two heavily injured Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters… should not be an issue! Probably!
Without waiting for Yang Kai and Feng Ying to approach, one of the Feudal Lords in the lead gave a loud shout, “The Humans are coming! Stop them!”
The words had just left his mouth when the two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the distance suddenly appeared right in front of him. The man covered in bloodstains reached out a hand and grabbed him. Before he could react, he felt the world spinning around him and his vision turning upside down.
Yang Kai held up the Feudal Lord’s head and tossed it aside with a cold snort. It was bad enough that he was being chased by six Territory Lords, but how dare a mere Feudal Lord challenge him? Who else was he supposed to slaughter if not that particular Feudal Lord?
Beside Yang Kai, Feng Ying summoned her Divine Manifestation as 10,000 sword waves gathered and transformed into the Myriad Swords Dragon. Unleashing her power in all directions, she massacred countless Black Ink Clansmen in an instant. While she might be inferior to an Innate Territory Lord, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would have no problem dealing with these Black Ink Clansmen that were no stronger than Feudal Lords.
A portal to Yang Kai’s Small Universe appeared behind him, and the three Warships he sheltered inside sailed out grandly.
“Kill!” Shen Ao yelled from where he stood on the battered Dawning Light. Following a slash of his sword, Blood Crow and the others attacked in unison.
The other two Warships had already received instructions from Yang Kai in advance and split up and moved in two different directions, decimating the Black Ink Clansmen and preventing any chance of them coordinating their response.
Since the Black Ink Clan Army was stationed here, then the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven must be located somewhere nearby. As for the exact location, Yang Kai would need some time to search; after all, he had never been here before.
The three Warships contained nearly 30 Seventh-Order level Masters. Combined with Feng Ying, they surrounded Yang Kai and massacred all the enemies within range. The Black Ink Clan Army were mowed down like wheat in a field, and even the Feudal Lords were rapidly being culled.
The sudden outbreak of battle stunned the numerous figures who were hidden in the void. These people were the Hunters who had been lured over. They formed groups of around five people each, with the largest being ten people in total.
The Black Ink Clan’s plan was very successful. When they actively leaked the news about the trapped Humans in Acacia Territory, many Hunters from the nearby Great Territories snuck in in hopes of rescuing their trapped compatriots.
Before Yang Kai’s arrival, many battles had already erupted across Acacia Territory. Leaving aside others, even Yang Xiao’s Squad had encountered several Black Ink Clan patrols. They had killed numerous enemies and even rescued a few Hunters whose whereabouts had been exposed.
Despite these losses, Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords had remained in hiding, causing the Hunters to mistakenly assume that there were no Black Ink Clan Masters in Acacia Territory. Hence, they quickly gathered around the vicinity of the Universe Cave Heaven.
Nevertheless, a Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 was quite a large force, too much for a few lone Hunters to oppose, so they had been trying to make contact with those hiding in the Universe Cave Heaven. If they could coordinate a joint attack with the Humans inside the Universe Cave Heaven, they might be able to destroy the blockade and seek a way out.
Unfortunately, their efforts had shown no progress after so long. Not daring to act recklessly, these Hunters had remained in hiding and waited for an opportunity. In the end, they managed to wait until Yang Kai arrived!
As soon as the battle broke out, the Black Blood flowed like rivers. The Hunters hidden in the shadows were surprised and excited by this sudden development. What surprised them was that somebody had dared to charge into battle against the Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000! On the other hand, what excited them was that the power emanating from the attacking party was very high. This kind of strength could only be shown by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
For a time, various messages spread across the void.
Most of the Hunters were in contact with each other already, but they had not gathered together out of fear that they might be completely wiped out by the Black Ink Clan. If they were scattered around, the risk of annihilation was lowered. It would not matter too much if one of their parties were found by the enemy as the others could take that opportunity to ambush their enemies and provide support.
“What’s going on? Why did a battle break out without any warning? Did you detect the energy fluctuations of an Eighth-Order Master?”
“There is indeed an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master there. A Division Commander must have come forward. The news about what happened here must have spread to the outside.”
“I knew the Supreme Headquarters would not ignore the situation in Acacia Territory. They must have sent some experts to rescue them.”
“Could this be part of the Black Ink Clan’s schemes? It’s strange that there are trapped Humans in Acacia Territory. If this is all a big conspiracy, then they must be tempting us to reveal ourselves.”
“Bullshit. What schemes are you talking about? Even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master has made an appearance. How can you claim that it’s a conspiracy? Don’t tell me you’re insinuating that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is a Black Ink Disciple.”
“It’s not impossible… The Black Ink Clan has one remaining Royal Lord. The Royal Lord Secret Technique is not something an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master can resist.”
“They are people from the Star Boundary! I saw Yang Xiao and the others! Do you see that White Dragon? That’s Yang Xiao! He is part of the Dragon Clan!” One of the Hunters who was previously rescued by Yang Xiao and the others sent the voice transmission.
“The High Heaven Palace Squad? Is it really them!? In that case, there’s no problem!”
The Hunters were not completely isolated from each other and many even kept in contact, and among them, the High Heaven Palace Squad was quite famous.
The Star Boundary was currently the most important stronghold of the entire Human Race. Likewise, High Heaven Palace was also very well-known. Yang Xiao and the others, who came from High Heaven Palace, were extremely strong, so they were naturally famous among the Hunters. Not to mention, quite a lot of the Hunters hiding in the shadows here had been rescued by the High Heaven Palace Squad in the past.
After realising that the attacking party was none other than the High Heaven Palace Squad, the hidden Hunters no longer hesitated.
“Everyone, when else will we fight if not now!?” One of the Hunter Squads leapt out impatiently. It was hard to tell which Great Force the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the lead came from, but he gave a loud shout and rushed ahead with his companions, evidently planning to help out in the battle.
It was certainly impossible for stray soldiers like themselves to contend against the Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000; however, the current situation was different. Two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were taking the lead, and three extremely powerful Squads were with them. If they stepped forward at this time, they would be just in time to help. They had been waiting for so many days just for the sake of an opportunity like this after all.
“Kill!” With someone taking the lead, others quickly followed.
In an instant, numerous Hunter Squads revealed themselves from the shadows. Some raised their arms above their heads and shouted with great fighting spirit. Some remained silent, but their murderous intent blazed around them.
“What a bunch of fools!” One of the other Hunters lamented, “Why are they making such a racket!? Isn’t it better for us to sneak up and catch the enemy by surprise?”
This person was clearly used to acting stealthily; thus, he was very annoyed by the actions of the other Squads who revealed their whereabouts. Despite his complaints, he also rushed forward with the rest of them. There was no helping it. Everybody had already revealed themselves, so there was no point if he alone remained hidden.
Out of the Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000, more than 10% of them died in just 10 breaths of time. Leaving aside an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Feng Ying, the other three Squads were also filled with talented people and there was no lack of Seventh-Order level Masters among them.
On the other hand, there were no Territory Lords in this Black Ink Clan Army. The Feudal Lords were their strongest Masters here, so faced with so many Human powerhouses, they could only wait to be slaughtered despite having the absolute advantage in terms of numbers.
It was important to note that this situation was playing out under the premise that everybody was already injured. If they were at their peak strength, then they would have butchered the Black Ink Clansmen even faster.
Yang Kai did not make a move as he had to find the location of the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven as soon as possible and open it. Only then could he enter the Universe Cave Heaven to recuperate from his injuries.
The energy in the surroundings was extremely chaotic, which made it slightly harder for him to search for the portal. Fortunately, his attainments in the Dao of Space were extraordinary, so it was not difficult for him to find what he was looking for as long as he concentrated.
A short while later, Yang Kai figured out the general location of the portal. The next steps were simple as he only needed to manipulate Space Principles to force open the gateway. Having done similar actions many times in the past, this was not difficult for Yang Kai.
Before he could open the portal though, he suddenly perceived something and turned to look around. Streams of light were rushing over from all directions. Some of them were yelling loudly while others were unleashing fierce murderous intent.
[Hunters?] He quickly figured out their identity.
These Hunters had been hiding in the shadows, but seeing the battle break out, they immediately revealed themselves. It was clear that they were here to help. Moreover, their numbers were not low. There were at least 1,000 of them altogether. With so many people whose strengths were fairly impressive, they were enough to form a Battalion on their own.
They had chosen not to enter the formal Army, refusing to fight the Black Ink Clan on the dozen or so frontline Great Territories. This was not due to their fear of death though; if they feared death, they would not have chosen to become Hunters. The dangers that Hunters faced were no less than the dangers of fighting on the front lines. In fact, fighting on the front lines was not very dangerous as long as the Army did not collapse. On the other hand, Hunters were bound to die if they accidentally encountered a large Black Ink Clan Army or a Territory Lord.
It was just that everybody had their own way of living. Some preferred a life of excitement, some were not suitable for large-scale military operations, and some believed that Hunters had higher chances of obtaining more resources to increase their strength. There were many different reasons for their choices, but regardless of their motives or methods, they were fighting the Black Ink Clan and contributing to the future of the Human Race.
At this moment, these Hunters leapt out from the shadows just when Yang Kai and Feng Ying were leading their three Squads against the enemy. It could be said that their arrival was extremely timely.
A short while later, the Hunters who rushed out from all directions joined the battle. The situation of the Black Ink Clan Army became worse and worse as a result, and the 100,000 troops reduced in numbers at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai ignored the massacre around him. At this moment, he was manipulating Space Principles to forcibly open the portal of the Universe Cave Heaven. Thanks to his efforts, a spinning vortex gradually appeared in the Void. The vague aura of another world wafted from within. The vortex seemed slightly turbulent when it first appeared; however, it did not take long for it to stabilise completely.
“Yang Xiao, enter!” Yang Kai shouted.
“Yes!” Yang Xiao, who was killing an enemy, quickly agreed before he rushed into the portal.
At the same time, the trapped Humans inside the Universe Cave Heaven were staring at the vortex that was gradually emerging in the Void with solemn expressions.
The portal was being forced open! For them, that was extremely bad news. The reason they were safe and sound was that the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven had remained closed all this time. They had a chance of survival if they remained hidden inside the Universe Cave Heaven, but the Black Ink Clan would surely pour into the Universe Cave Heaven now that the portal was forcibly opened. How many of them would survive if that were to happen?
With several Squads in the lead, Warships floated in the air. Meanwhile, Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters stood at the ready and communicated with each other through their Divine Senses. Regardless of the circumstances, if the portal was forcibly opened, then their only option was to fight!
Soon, there were faint traces of somebody trying to enter the portal, so they immediately gathered their strength to teach him a harsh lesson as soon as they appeared.
In the next moment, a voice came from the outside and entered the Universe Cave Heaven.
“I am Yang Kai of the Star Boundary. Please do not panic!” The striking voice reverberated throughout the Universe Cave Heaven.
Hearing those words stunned many of the Humans gathering their strength, and then they became overjoyed. That was especially true for those standing on the Warships as they all looked pleasantly surprised.
Yang Kai was here! No wonder the portal was being forcibly opened. They initially thought that it was the work of the Black Ink Clan, but it turned out to be the work of Yang Kai.
Out of the 10,000 Humans hidden here, most of them had heard of Yang Kai’s name. Nevertheless, only those on the Warships had a deeper understanding of his strength. That was because they were warriors who had come from the Black Ink Battlefield!
These Squads were responsible for gathering and evacuating the Humans in Acacia Territory. Unfortunately, they were unlucky and failed to leave in time several decades ago. With no other choice, they could only remain hidden inside this Universe Cave Heaven.
Yang Kai was highly proficient in the Dao of Space, which was not a secret on the Black Ink Battlefield. He once opened countless Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises scattered outside Blue Sky Pass, Yin-Yang Pass, and Myriad Demons Pass, allowing a large number of traps and ambushes to be set inside that killed many Black Ink Clansmen.
If it was truly Yang Kai, then it was not strange for him to be capable of forcing open the portal here.
In the next moment, Yang Xiao rushed out of the vortex in bloodied white clothes. He did not know that a Yang Kai had already sent a voice transmission through, so he hurriedly shouted as soon as he appeared, “I am Yang Xiao of the Star Boundary. I am not part of the Black Ink Clan! Everyone, please do not attack!”
It was not hard to guess the thoughts of those hiding inside the Universe Cave Heaven, which was why he immediately revealed his identity as soon as he entered. It was to prevent himself from being mistaken for a Black Ink Clansman and then being bombarded from all sides. Even if he was part of the Dragon Clan, he would not get away unscathed if he was attacked by a massive, desperate mob.
After revealing his identity, he immediately activated his power to protect himself. In fact, he would have revealed his Dragon Form if not for the fear that he might cause further unnecessary misunderstandings.
Looking around, he saw a large group of people staring at him from all directions. He even sensed the energy fluctuations coming from those who had gathered their World Force and his heart pounded in anxiety. Still, he quickly composed himself and cupped his fist, “Star Boundary’s Yang Xiao greets Fellow Brothers and Sisters.”
He couldn’t help feeling a sense of lingering fear. [Thank goodness for my quick-wittedness. If I had not introduced myself immediately, I would have been beaten to a pulp by now. How can Adoptive Father do this to me? How can he ask me to carry out such a dangerous task? Doesn’t he cherish me?]
One of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters came forward and cupped his fist, “Red Sun Army’s Li Zi Yu greets Fellow Daoist Brother. What is the current situation outside?”
Li Zi Yu of the Red Sun Army was also a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Although Yang Xiao looked young, they were both Seventh-Order level Masters, so it was not wrong for him to address the latter as ‘Fellow Daoist Brother’.
Yang Xiao hastily answered, “My Adoptive Father was ordered to come and rescue all of you. The Black Ink Clan Army is currently laying siege outside the Universe Cave Heaven, and Adoptive Father is confronting the enemy.”
Li Zi Yu was very doubtful, but that could not be helped; after all, Yang Xiao was covered in blood. Not only were his injuries severe, but it was also evident that he had gone through a tough battle as his aura was fluctuating a bit unstably.
Be that as it may, Li Zi Yu raised his arms above his head and shouted, “Everyone, reinforcements have arrived to rescue us! Follow me onto the battlefield!”
10,000 people immediately cheered in excitement.
They had been trapped in here for several decades now. With the Black Ink Clan Army laying siege outside, they did not dare to leave arbitrarily; however, they knew they were not safe despite hiding inside this Universe Cave Heaven. If the Black Ink Clan forcefully shook the nearby Void, there was a chance that they might discover the portal and the people hiding within. As a result, these people had been living in dread and anxiety over the past few decades. It was only natural for them to be overjoyed upon hearing that rescue had arrived.
When Li Zi Yu raised his arms above his head and shouted, he immediately received an overwhelming response.
“Wait! Wait!” Yang Xiao hurriedly stopped them, “Adoptive Father is planning to enter soon. Please don’t be so impatient.”
Li Zi Yu immediately objected, “They can’t come in! If they come in, then we’ll all become turtles hiding in our shells! While Brother Yang is fighting the enemy outside, we should take this opportunity to rush out and support him. That’s the only method to escape being trapped inside here!”
Having been stuck in here for several dozen years, they knew the pain of being trapped inside such a small place. That was why it was not a wise move for Yang Kai to enter the Universe Cave Heaven. On the contrary, that would be equivalent to binding his hands and feet. It was easy enough to enter, but extremely difficult to leave.
Yang Xiao sighed. How could he not know something as simple as that? But…
“The situation is complicated. Er… Territory Lords are pursuing us. In addition, Adoptive Father and the others are severely injured. They need to come inside and recuperate first.”
“Territory Lords!” Li Zi Yu’s expression changed slightly.
After the crusade, all the Territory Lords at the time were slaughtered, so the current Territory Lords were all Innate Territory Lords who came directly from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, each one of them possessing extremely high strength.
If Yang Kai was being chased by Territory Lords, then he probably came here to escape danger.
During their conversation, a constant stream of people rushed in through the vortex. As many as several dozen people emerged in the blink of an eye.
Yang Xiao looked over but did not recognise any of them, figuring they were the Hunters who had appeared out of nowhere earlier.
Some of the Hunters were acquainted with Yang Xiao, so they enthusiastically exchanged greetings.
Yang Xiao responded with a smile.
Meanwhile, Li Zi Yu and the others beside him turned ashen. They initially thought that Yang Kai’s arrival would allow them to escape this place; however, it turned out that Yang Kai was being hunted by Territory Lords. Where could they escape? Not only were they doomed, but even Yang Kai and the others were doomed. For a time, they couldn’t help feeling heartbroken.
Inside the Universe Cave Heaven, Li Zi Yu and the others were gloomy and depressed. Yang Xiao seemed rather carefree and nonchalant in contrast. As the Hunters poured through the portal, he greeted those he knew and made arrangements for the Hunters to wait by the side.
The number of Hunters who came forward to provide support was not low. There were at least 1,000 of them. Although the portal was open, it would take some time for all of them to pass through it.
Outside the portal, Yang Kai wielded Space Principles to maintain the operation of the portal while he killed some stray enemies from time to time. He was secretly rejoicing over the fact that he had built up such a large amount of buffer time; otherwise, it would have been difficult to deal with these Hunters who appeared out of nowhere. They only came to help after all, so it was inappropriate for him to rush into the portal by himself and ignore them. He had to make sure that they entered before him.
The six Territory Lords were not here yet, but they were bound to arrive soon as he could already vaguely sense their powerful undulations approaching.
The entire Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 had basically been decimated at this point. With enough time, the Human Race Masters here could have wiped out the Black Ink Clan Army entirely. Unfortunately, it would seem that they had run out of time.
One after another, the Hunters rushed into the portal and vanished out of sight. It did not take long before all of them were gone.
From a distance, Yang Kai vaguely saw the figures of the six Territory Lords, their arrival just a moment too late.
“Everyone inside!” Yang Kai yelled.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the group of little ones from the Star Boundary quickly plunged into the portal without hesitation. Once they were gone, Dawn Squad finally began to make their retreat while Yu Ru Meng and the others brought up the rear.
Before Yu Ru Meng and the others finished entering the Universe Cave Heaven, Mo Na Ye’s furious voice burst out from the turbulent Black Ink Cloud in the distance, “Stop them!”
His words were directed at the remnant Black Ink Clan Army, of which less than 30,000 troops remained of the original 100,000. The Black Ink Clan Army had suffered heavy casualties during that brief massacre, and the surviving troops were terribly frightened. The space surrounding Yang Kai was also notably empty as nobody dared to approach within 100,000 kilometres of where he stood. Nevertheless, with Mo Na Yu’s order, they had no choice but to charge towards Yang Kai despite the crippling fear in their hearts.
Yang Kai coldly snorted as the space around him shattered like a mirror, causing innumerable tiny Void Cracks to spread out into the surroundings. The Black Ink Clansmen rushing towards him were all sliced to pieces before they could even approach, with only a few Feudal Lords being lucky enough to survive.
Be that as it may, it seemed that he was really an arrow at the end of its flight. When he unleashed the Shattered Void Mirror Secret Technique, the portal also showed signs of instability.
“Courting death!” Mo Na Ye was filled with a mixture of rage and joy. He was furious that Territory Lords like themselves were being toyed around with by Yang Kai. On the other hand, he was overjoyed because Yang Kai truly seemed to be on his last legs.
When the words left his mouth, Mo Na Ye raised his hand from a distance and slammed his palm towards Yang Kai. The power of an Innate Territory Lord swept out in all directions and the shockwave was enough to destroy all the Void Cracks around Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s expression became gloomy. Not daring to be neglectful, he responded by raising his hand and throwing his palm out as well.
A violent burst of energy erupted, causing Yang Kai’s figure to sway unsteadily. He coughed up a mouthful of Golden Blood, and his complexion turned as pale as a sheet.
Likewise, Mo Na Ye’s figure was forced backwards slightly, which astonished him greatly. The fact that Yang Kai could still be so ferocious even with such severe injuries was nothing less than shocking. [No wonder he managed to kill so many Territory Lords, his strength truly isn’t ordinary.]
This was the first time he confronted Yang Kai directly, and although it was only an exchange of blows from across a vast distance, he could grasp the depths of Yang Kai’s true strength. [This person is too terrifying! If we fail to kill him here, there is no saying how many other Territory Lords will die by his hands in the future!]
Near the portal, Yu Ru Meng’s Squad, which had been bringing up the rear, had almost finished evacuating. The last to leave was Yu Ru Meng herself. When she saw that the six Territory Lords were about to reach them, she shouted anxiously, “Husband, let’s go!”
Yang Kai nodded and gave Mo Na Ye a vicious look. The look in his eyes was cold, almost as though he wanted to memorise the other party’s appearance. Only then did he slip into the portal.
Following his entry, the opened portal slowly began to close.
Mo Na Ye roared, “After him!”
The look Yang Kai gave him just now frightened him; thus, he became even more determined to kill him. Seeing that the portal was about to close though, he couldn’t help becoming anxious.
Mo Na Ye could sense that Yang Kai was an arrow at the end of its flight. After all, a person couldn’t remain at their peak after killing so many Territory Lords in quick succession. No amount of strength could hold out after such energy-consuming feats.
This was their best chance to kill Yang Kai. If he allowed him to escape into the Universe Cave Heaven and recuperate, then killing him would undoubtedly become very difficult. No matter what, they couldn’t give him a chance to heal himself!
If not for the exchange of blows with Yang Kai earlier that had delayed his pace slightly, Mo Na Ye would have been the first to charge into the portal. Unfortunately, the brief delay caused by Yang Kai’s counterattack had allowed the other five Territory Lords to rush ahead of him.
After hearing Mo Na Ye’s roar, the three leading Territory Lords plunged into the portal without any hesitation.
In the next moment, the portal that had been closing slowly abruptly slammed shut and vanished without a trace! The two Territory Lords following closely behind simply passed through the empty void.
The situation made Mo Na Ye’s heart clench up tight, [Damn it! We’ve been tricked again!]
It turned out that the portal could have immediately been closed… However, Yang Kai made a show of closing the portal slowly to entice the Territory Lords into believing that they could take advantage of the situation. This clearly revealed the other party’s intentions.
[He still has the strength to scheme against us at a time like this!?] Mo Na Ye was filled with disbelief.
At this moment, Yang Kai stood inside the Portal Corridor and cursed vehemently, [Why are there three Territory Lords here!?]
He had only planned to lure one of the Territory Lords inside, but three had managed to plunge in together. This situation was difficult, because his current condition was extremely poor. Although he could deal with one Territory Lord, dealing with three… was impossible.
In the next moment, Yang Kai kicked one of the Territory Lords with a ferocious roar. Space Principles fluctuated wildly in response, “Get out!”
Outside the portal, the two Territory Lords who passed through the empty Void quickly came back to their senses. Among them, You Gong had a frightened expression on his face. He was secretly glad that he had been injured previously, which slowed his speed slightly. If he had been at the front, then he would have been the one to rush into the portal instead.
Thinking back to the tragic deaths of his four companions from before, he couldn’t help shuddering in fear.
At that moment, the portal that had been closed opened up once more and a figure flew out with a muffled grunt of pain. The opened portal slammed shut again in the next instant. Everything happened so quickly that nobody could react in time.
Mo Na Ye was stunned, “You…”
The Territory Lord clutched at his chest with a furious expression, “I was kicked out by him!”
Mo Na Ye’s expression became extremely hideous at those words!
Three Territory Lords had plunged into the portal, but one of them was kicked out by Yang Kai. What did that say about the situation? Yang Kai’s actions confirmed that he was indeed a lamp running out of oil. He was no longer confident about dealing with three Territory Lords at once, so he could only retain two of them. It might be that he couldn’t even handle two Territory Lords at once!
“Break the Void and open the portal by force!” Mo Na Ye gave a low roar.
It was not that they could not open the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven before now; rather, they simply didn’t since they were planning to use the Human refugees trapped within as bait. However, they could no longer delay opening the portal at this moment. If they missed this golden opportunity, they would never receive a better one again.
Mo Na Ye was the first to take action as he slammed his strength into the position where the portal appeared just now. The other three Territory Lords did not dare to hold back and quickly joined Mo Na Ye, and for a time, the Void shuddered and twisted under the immense force.
As Territory Lords, it was easy for them to shatter space. Be that as it may, even they would take some time and effort to force open a portal that was buried so deep within the Void, and it was not like the portal would simply emerge just because the surrounding Void had been shattered, that would take even more effort to achieve.
Mo Na Ye did not know how long it would take for them to force the portal open, but he was determined to kill Yang Kai here!
With four Territory Lords attacking with such ferocity, their power was extremely terrifying. The Portal Corridor and the Void Turbulence had been stirred up as a result, causing the originally stable tunnel to warp and distort fiercely.
Yang Kai was limping painfully. At this moment, he was an absolute mess. It was true that he had kicked one of the Territory Lords out of the portal, but the other party’s last-moment counterattack had also broken one of his leg bones in the process.
He could not perceive the situation outside the portal, but the effects inside the corridor were as clear as day. Suppressing his pain, he manipulated Space Principles to calm the Void Turbulence in his surroundings. Despite his miserable condition, Yang Kai was still able to control his surroundings so that he remained as motionless as a mountain.
The two Territory Lords nearby were not nearly as lucky. Currently, they felt as though their bodies were being torn apart by the Void Turbulence, losing almost any ability to stabilize themselves.
After seeing Yang Kai’s pathetic condition, they had planned to charge at him and quickly finish him off; unfortunately, the actions of Mo Na Ye and the others from the outside left them in an awkward situation. The impact from countless Void Turbulence caused their bodies to tremble violently. It felt as though they were trapped in a quagmire and continuously sinking into the abyss. The more they struggled, the more unbearable they felt.
Under such circumstances, it was an amazing feat just to keep themselves safe, so where would they find the extra strength to attack Yang Kai?
[Mo Na Ye, you idiot!] The two Territory Lords cursed in their hearts.
On the other hand, Yang Kai laughed wildly, [The Territory Lords outside are such good people.]
He felt a twinge of regret about kicking out the third Territory Lord now. If he had known things would develop into this situation earlier, he would have kept him here too. Nevertheless, he knew that he would be in great danger if he had kept the other party here. There was no denying that his current condition was simply too poor to take such risks. He could figure out a way to deal with two Territory Lords, but he probably wouldn’t even have the chance to make a move against three of them.
The disturbance in the Portal Corridor was getting stronger and stronger as the Territory Lords outside were probably increasing the intensity of their attacks.
Mo Na Ye and the others could not be blamed for their actions. There was no denying that Innate Territory Lords were immensely powerful, but they were completely ignorant about the Dao of Space. Even if they were familiar with passing through Territory Gates, from their perspective, they would simply enter from one side and exit on the other, not understanding any of the mysteries behind the workings of the Void Corridor itself.
On the other hand, Yang Kai, who was proficient in the Dao of Space and constantly travelled across the Void, could not be more familiar with this kind of environment.
Inside the Portal Corridor, the two Territory Lords had to exert all their efforts to keep themselves from being swallowed by the Void Turbulence, with no spare strength to deal with anything else.
Yang Kai abruptly made a bold move. It didn’t matter that one of his legs was crippled because he had the Azure Dragon Spear. Summoning the spear, he formed an overwhelming number of spear shadows that rained down on one of the Territory Lords. The power behind his attack was extremely violent and brutal.
The Territory Lord gave a loud roar and tried his best to fight back, but blood just gushed out from his entire body after being stabbed repeatedly by Yang Kai.
When the other Territory Lord saw what was happening, he did not dare to hesitate and immediately stepped forward to help. For a time, the aftermath of the battle spread out across the entire Portal Corridor. The Void Turbulence became increasingly violent and unpredictable as a result.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai quickly retreated. Spitting out a mouthful of Golden Blood, he glared furiously at the two Territory Lords. He had never fought in such a place before, so he was shocked to discover that the Portal Corridor was showing signs of instability after just one exchange of blows with the enemy.
If the Portal Corridor were to break apart, Yang Kai would not be the only one doomed to die. All the people hiding inside the Universe Cave Heaven would face the same fate; therefore, he had to stabilise this Void Corridor through any means possible.
He could not afford to continue fighting here any longer, so he had to finish this battle as soon as possible. However, there were two Territory Lords and in his current state, it would not be easy for him to deal with them unless he resorted to his Soul Rending Thorns once more.
[Will I be able to bear the burden?] Yang Kai took a moment to check the condition of his Soul.
Half a day ago, he had consecutively unleashed three Soul Rending Thorns, so his Soul had been severely damaged. Fortunately, he did not face any major issues thanks to the protection and nourishment of the Soul Warming Lotus. The condition of his torn Soul had also somewhat stabilized, but he did not know whether he could afford to use the Soul Rendering Thorns again.
If he could bear the burden, then the situation would turn around for him. He only needed to slaughter one of the Territory Lords as quickly as possible, then he could slowly figure out something in regard to the last one. However, if he could not bear the burden… He did not know what he might do in a state when he fell into a state of delirium.
At this moment, using another Soul Rending Thorn would not count as him using this Secret Technique four times in a row because there was a buffer period between the first three uses, but the difference was not great.
[As expected, I’m still too weak. If only my Soul were strong enough… Two Territory Lords would have been nothing. I could simply hit each of them with a Soul Rending Thorn, then lop off their heads.]
While Yang Kai was hesitating, the two Territory Lords began attacking him. They could clearly see his distress; moreover, the turmoil in the Portal Corridor was becoming more and more obvious to them. If they attacked him at this time, they could cause further damage to this space even if they could not kill him. They were hoping that they could escape this place by shattering the Portal Corridor.
The Void Turbulence was becoming more and more ferocious, so when the two Territory Lords made their decision, they released furious roars in unison. Activating their strength, they threw themselves at Yang Kai from both sides.
[Whatever! Let’s just go for it!] Yang Kai steeled himself. There was nothing in this world that was absolute. More importantly, nothing would change if he didn’t take a little risk!
In any case, he was currently much stronger than when he first left the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. The repeated tearing and repairing of his Soul had also been beneficial to it. There was no denying that his Soul had gotten much stronger than before.
Besides, there was a buffer period of half a day, so he should be fine even if he unleashed a fourth Soul Rending Thorn today.
With such thoughts in mind, Yang Kai looked at the two Territory Lords charging unsteadily towards him and instead of retreating, raised his spear and went forward to meet them head-on.
A golden cross appeared in his left eye, and under the urging of the Demon Eye of Annihilation, one of the Territory Lords saw his own reflection suddenly twist and distort.
The Territory Lord reacted as though he had been struck by lightning and howled at the top of his lungs, inflicted by unimaginable pain.
At the same time, the blood vessels in Yang Kai’s left eye burst and blurred his vision. There was no helping it as he had not completely mastered the Myriad Demons Heaven’s Eye Technique yet. If the Old Ancestor from Myriad Demons Pass had been the one to unleash this Eye Secret Technique at full force, this Territory Lord would have immediately died.
Nevertheless, this was enough. With both sides suffering injuries, Yang Kai ignored the Territory Lord he had just targeted and with a tearing pain in his Soul silently unleashed a Soul Rending Thorn at the other Territory Lord.
In the next moment, the other Territory Lord screamed in agony and terror. The pain in his Soul was far greater than any physical pain he had ever experienced.
In the blink of an eye, both Territory Lords were severely injured.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai had already arrived with his spear in hand! Thrusting out, the Azure Dragon Spear stabbed into the Territory Lord who was struck by the Soul Rending Thorn. Various Dao Strengths wove together at the tip of the spear, causing both time and space to become distorted and disordered at that moment of impact.
The Territory Lord didn’t even have time to react before the Azure Dragon Spear pierced into his head and caused it to explode, his aura swelling up before fading out of existence!
Yang Kai had no time to rejoice as, currently, the world was spinning around him. He felt so dizzy that he feared he might lose consciousness at any moment. Biting the tip of his tongue, he barely managed to maintain a sliver of clarity in his mind.
Despite the half-day buffer period, he had truly reached his limit after using a fourth Soul Rending Thorn today. He couldn’t use a fifth any time soon.
Unfortunately, there was one more Territory Lord!
The surviving Territory Lord was now frightened out of his mind. [What happened to the assurance that Yang Kai would be helpless against us as long as we worked together in pairs? Bullshit! There were two of us in this damned place, yet he still managed to kill one of us so easily!]
At the juncture of life or death, the Territory Lord responded purely on instinct and desperately threw his fist out.
Yang Kai was thrown backwards and slammed into a cluster of Void Turbulence that almost drowned him.
After this Territory Lord threw the punch, the already unstable and turbulent Portal Corridor shattered, tearing open a large hole in the relatively stable stretch of Void.
Three powerful Masters had battled for their lives in the Portal Corridor, and four Territory Lords were trying to shatter this section of Void from the outside. It was only natural that the Portal Corridor had a hard time maintaining stability.
Seeing the hole in the Portal Corridor, the remaining Territory Lord was overjoyed and plunged into it without any hesitation.
Not far away, Yang Kai struggled to climb out of the Void Turbulence with a strange expression on his face. Although he had a splitting headache and trouble focusing, the actions of the Territory Lord had not escaped his notice.
[That Territory Lord… Did he perhaps assume that a hole in the Portal Corridor would be a means of escape?] There was no other explanation for why he would plunge into the hole so quickly. Regardless, that made things easy for Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had no wish to fight the remaining Territory Lord at the moment. The truth was that he could no longer move a single muscle. He had been wondering about what to do for his next move, but it would seem that there was no need for such trouble anymore.
That hole in the Portal Corridor was anything but a means of escape. It was impossible to escape from this place as long as the Portal Corridor was not broken from one of its ends. On the contrary, a hole in its walls would simply lead deeper into the Void. That was why Void Cracks were said to be extremely dangerous as even a Master could be trapped inside forever if they accidentally lost their way.
Yang Kai watched the Territory Lord disappear into the hole and did not bother to give chase. In any case, this Territory Lord would not be able to find his way out within a short time after falling so deep into the Void.
Yang Kai decided to come back and kill him after recuperating for some time. Retrieving the Azure Dragon Spear, he manipulated Space Principles and travelled along the path of the Portal Corridor and quickly emerged inside the Universe Cave Heaven.
“Husband!”
“Young Master!”
“Adoptive Father!”
“Big Brother!”
…
A burst of shouts came from all directions as it seemed like all the people who entered the Universe Cave Heaven earlier rushed forward to greet Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was covered in blood that had yet to dry, and new wounds had been added to his previous ones. After seeing his condition, how could they fail to realise that he had encountered another strong enemy?
He landed on the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood. Waving his hands dismissively, he answered their calls with an ashen complexion, “I’m fine!”
Among the crowd, the soldiers headed by Li Zi Yu and others stared at Yang Kai in shock, [Isn’t that the aura of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!? Has Yang Kai advanced to the Eighth Order already!?]
They knew about Yang Kai; after all, they had fought on the Black Ink Battlefield in the past. Yang Kai’s name was famous there, but it was also well-known that he was just a Seventh-Order Master. It was not until meeting him today that they learned he had advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
For a time, Li Zi Yu and the others burned with motivation. They had wanted to rush into battle earlier because they were afraid of being blockaded inside the Universe Cave Heaven by the Black Ink Clan again. But now… with two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like Yang Kai and Feng Ying leading them, they might just stand a chance against the Black Ink Clan.
The Universe Cave Heaven trembled, and the sky was covered in countless cracks that crisscrossed each other. It was a horrifying sight; moreover, the ground split apart as though the end was upon them. It felt as though the entire Universe Cave Heaven could collapse at any moment.
The four Territory Lords outside were bombarding the Void with all their might. There might even be other Black Ink Clansmen who had joined in to attack the Void. It was impossible for these attacks to not affect the Universe Cave Heaven. If they were left alone to do whatever they wanted, it would only be a matter of time before the Black Ink Clan broke open the portal and rushed inside. In fact, they might even destroy the Universe Cave Heaven entirely, causing it to break apart and drift into the Void.
At that time, the Void Turbulence would wash over everything and everyone inside the Universe Cave Heaven would be swept away. There was no saying how many of them would survive such an ordeal, but even if they did manage to hang onto their lives, they would still be lost inside the Void.
Fortunately, they were not powerless to deal with the current crisis.
At this moment, Zhao Ye Bai, Su Yan, and Liu Yan were urging their powers to stabilize the space around them. These three were not the only ones, as there was also another Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master helping them!
Space Principles surged around these four figures and the trembling of the Void was repeatedly smoothened out, which stabilised the Universe Cave Heaven for now.
There was no need to say anything regarding Zhao Ye Bai as he was taught the Dao of Space by Yang Kai himself, and his attainments in it had reached impressive heights.
Meanwhile, Su Yan had an ancient Ice Phoenix Empress’ Source while Liu Yan had a Fire Phoenix Source. The Phoenix Clan’s Bloodline Talent was the Dao of Space. In the past, these two had failed to reveal their talents in the Dao of Space, primarily because their Bloodline Power was not strong enough at the time.
After cultivating in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land for many years though, their Bloodline Power had improved vastly. Not to mention, the Phoenix Clan had brought out the Immortal Parasol Tree after the No-Return Pass was destroyed. As a result, Su Yan and Liu Yan had both entered their respective Phoenix Nests and cultivated in retreat for some time.
In terms of attainments in the Dao of Space, Su Yan and Liu Yan were not inferior to the current Zhao Ye Bai, which was the advantage of their Bloodline Talent. The other Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was somebody whom Yang Kai did not know. His strength was inferior compared to the others, but it was naturally better if even one more person was to contribute at this time.
With these four people working to stabilise this space, the Universe Cave Heaven would not be destroyed for some time.
Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief. The situation could be considered safe for the moment. Nevertheless, it simply resulted in another troublesome matter now that he had entered the Universe Cave Heaven with so many people.
It was exactly what Li Zi Yu had been worried about earlier. After entering the Universe Cave Heaven, they were no different from a turtle hiding in its shell. That was why Yang Kai initially did not want to seek shelter here. It was unfortunate that the Black Ink Clan Army had blockaded all the Territory Gates in Acacia Territory, so he had no choice but to seek temporary shelter here.
Be that as it may, he was happy to see the Territory Lords outside keep up their constant bombardment. Attacking non-stop at such intensity would be a huge drain on their energy. If the Territory Lords exhausted themselves, then he could easily stab them all to death once he recovered his strength!
After considering everything, Yang Kai sent a Divine Sense transmission to Su Yan and the others, “Don’t bother trying to stabilize this place entirely, just keep things from deteriorating to a critical point. It would be best if you can keep the Universe Cave Heaven right on the verge of destruction.”
If he wanted the Territory Lords outside to continue their onslaught, he had to give them some hope. If the results of their attacks were suppressed to the limits and the space in the Universe Cave Heaven was completely stabilised, they might not even bother to continue attacking.
Su Yan and the others immediately understood Yang Kai’s intentions while Zhao Ye Bai was filled with admiration. [Honoured Master has great forethought as usual. Such things would never occur to me naturally.]
Yang Kai then glanced at the Hunters. These people had stepped forward to support him in battle, proving that they were quite courageous. In any case, they were now trapped inside the Universe Cave Heaven with him.
Then, he turned to the other side and was secretly astonished, [Why are there so many Human Race Masters here?]
Looking around, he discovered that there were nearly 10,000 Human Masters gathered inside the Universe Cave Heaven.
The Supreme Headquarters had only received news that some Humans refugees from Acacia Territory had been trapped here, but they did not know the specific numbers. Judging from the current situation, it would seem that those trapped inside the Universe Cave Heaven were not just those from Acacia Territory, but probably others from neighbouring Great Territories as well. Otherwise, there would not have been so many of them.
Yang Kai did not bother to think too deeply about the matter.
Right now, he was in critical condition. Both his physical body and his Soul had sustained grave injuries. Even his left eye was damaged due to the strain of activating his Demon Eye of Annihilation earlier, so he could not even see clearly at the moment.
Besides, he was not the only person who was seriously wounded. Every member of the three Squads assisting him earlier was also covered in injuries with varying degrees of severity. It was a minor miracle that there were no fatalities. Aside from a few members in Dawn whom he did not know very well, the members of all three Squads had very close relations with Yang Kai, so if any of them had suffered a sudden misfortune, it would have been a devastating loss to him indeed.
Yang Kai’s Divine Sense fluctuated as he communicated to Feng Ying. Feng Ying received his message and nodded lightly in response.
While Yang Kai was recuperating, the others also took the time to treat their wounds. Only those cultivating the Dao of Space had no time to rest.
At the same time, outside the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven, the four Territory Lords headed by Mo Na Ye along with many Black Ink Clan Masters were struggling to shatter the Void. Space before them twisted and contorted under the impact of their violent onslaught, causing countless cracks to appear.
Suddenly, the vague image of a portal seemed to appear in front of them. The other end of the portal was connected to another World that was hidden inside the Void. Overjoyed, the Black Ink Clan immediately increased the intensity of their attacks.
As long as they could break open the portal, they could invade the Universe Cave Heaven. At that time, the Humans inside would have nowhere else to run.
The primary target was none other than the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, Yang Kai. If they could kill him here, then they would deal a huge blow to the morale of the Human Race, the others were of no importance.
Yang Kai was certainly worthy of his reputation.
When Mo Na Ye received the messages from Profound Nether Territory and the No-Return Pass, he did not dare to underestimate Yang Kai’s strength. For that reason, he even went so far as to specially request five additional Territory Lords as reinforcements.
Combining the five additional Territory Lords with the five original Territory Lords in Acacia Territory would mean a total of 10 Territory Lords were available for this mission. However, there were only four Territory Lords left! 10 Territory Lords had been reduced to four in just half a day!
Yang Kai had killed four Territory Lords earlier and trapped another two inside the portal, and there was no saying whether those two Territory Lords were dead or alive. If they failed to eliminate Yang Kai here, then the Black Ink Clan would have suffered an enormous loss. On top of that, the Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 initially deployed outside the Universe Cave Heaven had almost been completely wiped out.
Regardless of the costs, Yang Kai had to die here.
One day… Two days… Three days… Under the continuous barrage of the Territory Lords, the portal in the Void seemed to teeter on the verge of destruction, but never actually shattered apart. The Territory Lords were filled with a mixture of rage and helplessness seeing this result.
Following several consecutive days of effort, the strength of each Territory Lord declined considerably. Even an Innate Territory Lord like Mo Na Ye was exhausted.
[What’s wrong with this portal?] Mo Na Ye was very puzzled at first; then, he abruptly recalled something that made his expression sink sharply! Yang Kai was a Master of the Dao of Space; furthermore, things like the portal of a Universe Cave Heaven were strongly correlated to the Dao of Space.
[He must be stabilising the portal on the other side; otherwise, it makes no sense for it to remain intact for so long! Doesn’t that mean all our efforts were for nought!? Should we continue? Should we give up? Even if we continue, we might not be able to destroy the portal with Yang Kai stabilising it from the other side, but, if we give up now…]
Now that things had reached this point, how could he willingly give up? Thus, he made his decision in an instant, [We will continue!]
Seeing how exhausted they were, Mo Na Ye was certain that Yang Kai was not doing any better. Out of the four Territory Lords, only You Gong was slightly injured while the other three were unharmed.
In contrast, Yang Kai was severely wounded. With such injuries, how long could he last while constantly stabilising the Portal Corridor? He was bound to break down sooner or later, and once the portal was destroyed, he would be easy prey for their picking.
[Let’s see how long he can persist!] Mo Na Ye coldly snorted in his heart.
Raising his hand, he actually killed a large number of Black Ink Clansmen nearby in one blow. An abundance of Black Ink Strength immediately gushed out from the bodies of the deceased Black Ink Clansmen which Mo Na Ye grabbed and condensed into a ball that he stuffed into his mouth to replenish his lost strength.
Seeing this, the other three Territory Lords quickly followed suit.
There were some 20,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers outside the portal at this point, but in the blink of an eye, nearly half of them died on the spot. Meanwhile, the surviving troops trembled in fear. [The Territory Lords have gone insane… To think they are using such barbaric means to replenish their strength!]
Unfortunately, they were powerless to defend against the actions of the Territory Lords and didn’t even dare to entertain the thought of running away.
The days thus passed by quietly.
Inside the Universe Cave Heaven, Yang Kai’s injuries healed at an impressive speed.
At this moment, the Human Race Masters inside the Universe Cave Heaven had divided themselves into three distinct groups. The first group was the Human Race Masters under Yang Kai’s command who came here on a rescue mission, the second group consisted of the 1,000 or so Hunters, and the final group was made up of the trapped Human refugees who were headed by Li Zi Yu.
The people Yang Kai brought here and the people under Li Zi Yu were gathered together in their respective groups, while the 1,000 or so Hunters were somewhat spread out. Small groups of Hunters maintained a certain distance from each other, but nobody found the arrangement odd or inappropriate. The existence of Black Ink Disciples required constant vigilance after all.
That was also part of the reason why Hunters generally did not gather together in large groups. There was no saying where a Black Ink Disciple could be hiding. If they did not practice such vigilance, it would only be a matter of time before they met their untimely deaths during their travels.
Li Zi Yu’s group and the Hunters even took the initiative to stay away from Yang Kai’s group to prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Half a month later, Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes. Most of his physical injuries had healed by now, and although he was not fully recovered, his wounds no longer impeded his combat capabilities. The injuries to his Soul needed more time to heal, but the Soul Warming Lotus would take care of that.
When he looked up, Yang Kai immediately saw the deathly pale complexions of Su Yan and others; moreover, they were swaying unsteadily, as though they were about to collapse at any moment.
The struggle over the past half month had pushed them to their limits. Once they reached that limit, there would be nobody else to stabilize the Universe Cave Heaven. If that happened, it would not take long for the Territory Lords outside to break open the portal.
Yang Kai raised his brow in astonishment as he thought to himself, [The Territory Lords outside are truly persistent. It’s been half a month yet they’re still bombarding the Void!]
Nevertheless, this was the outcome he had hoped to see. Feeling secretly triumphant, he manipulated Space Principles and simultaneously sent a transmission to Su Yan and the others.
In the next moment, Su Yan, Yang Xiao, Liu Yan, and the unknown Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master slumped to the ground while stuffing various Spirit Pills for recovery into their mouths. They were so tired that they didn’t even have the strength to speak anymore. The confrontation for the past half a month had truly pushed them to their limits and beyond.
The constant trembling of the Universe Cave Heaven did not stop; however, Yang Kai had already taken over the task of stabilising it. Space Principles fluctuated around him, maintaining a balance with the external shocks and preventing the destruction of the Universe Cave Heaven.
Compared to the focused demeanour that Su Yan and the others had portrayed, Yang Kai’s performance seemed much more relaxed.
He naturally exceeded them by a great degree when it came to mastery of the Dao of Space as it was his foundational Grand Dao. Even his title as ‘Void Great Emperor’ was derived from his attainments in the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai next turned to look at Feng Ying, who slowly shook her head when she met eyes with him.
Half a month ago, he had instructed her to keep watch over the Hunters to see whether there were any abnormalities among them. He was very vigilant towards the existence of the Black Ink Disciples because others couldn’t identify them unless they took the initiative to reveal themselves.
These Hunters had been roaming around the Black Ink Clan’s territory for many years, decades even in some cases; hence, there was no guarantee that none of them had been defeated and captured by the Black Ink Clan. Black Ink Disciples were valuable tools who could be sent back to acquire intelligence on the Human Race or lure other Hunters into various traps. Such practices were common among the current Black Ink Clan.
Feng Ying had not discovered anything after observing them for the past half a month, so there were either no Black Ink Disciples among the Hunters, or they did not dare to act recklessly for fear of her strength as an Eighth-Order Master.
Yang Kai had been too busy to deal with this matter previously, but he had some time to spare now. There were many ways Yang Kai could settle this issue, but he was short on time and patience so he decided to use the most direct method. Activating the Great Sun and Moon Marks without another word, dazzling yellow and blue lights appeared out of nowhere and merged to form a small, pure white sun.
The white sun that leapt out from where Yang Kai stood in the Universe Cave Heaven exploded out and bathed the entire World in pure white light. A few people turned pale at the sight while others tried to escape into the sky, but under a surge of Space Principles, everyone was locked in place and did not move far.
Inside the white light, an energy that resembled Black Ink Strength suddenly leaked out from several individuals and was purified. At the same time, the Human Race Masters with Black Ink Strength pouring out of their body howled in agony, their expressions contorting in extreme pain. Fortunately, they soon returned to a peaceful state.
A short while later, the white light dissipated and vanished. Many people revealed expressions of guilt among the Hunters. Furthermore, countless looks of astonishment came from all directions.
Yang Kai snorted. Although he had guessed that there would be Black Ink Disciples among the Hunters, he had not expected the number to be so high.
Out of 1,000 Hunters, about 60 of them were actually Black Ink Disciples. Moreover, a large number of them were in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. In some cases, only one or two members of a Squad were corrupted by the Black Ink Strength, while in others, the entire group had been converted into Black Ink Disciples.
What stunned Yang Kai was that nobody among the 10,000 Human refugees in Li Zi Yu’s group had been corrupted by Black Ink Strength, but upon further consideration, it was not that surprising. They had been hiding in this Universe Cave Heaven from the start and had not been in contact with the outside world for more than a couple decades now. Since they did not come into contact with the Black Ink Clan, it was only natural that they were not corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
It was simply bad luck that their whereabouts were exposed. After being trapped for so many years, Li Zi Yu and the others naturally wanted to leave this place and return to Human-controlled territory. In the end, their whereabouts were discovered by the Black Ink Clan when they sent scouts to investigate the situation outside and a siege was subsequently built around the Universe Cave Heaven.
“Purifying Light?” Somebody seemed to recognise the pure white light and muttered.
Those who became Hunters generally did not come from the Cave Heavens and Paradises but from the other Sects; hence, they had never participated in the previous wars or fought with the main Human Army. Naturally, they had never seen Purifying Light before.
Some had heard stories about the past where each Human Army was said to have its own Purifying Black Ink Battleship. These Purifying Black Ink Battleships contained Purifying Light, which could dispel and purify Black Ink Strength. Even a Black Ink Disciple could regain their original self after being bathed in Purifying Light.
Unfortunately, the supply of Purifying Light was exhausted after many long wars and crusades. Before Yang Kai’s return, they had been relying solely on Purifying Black Ink Pills to resist the corrosion of Black Ink Strength. Although the effects of Purifying Black Ink Pill were excellent, there was no denying that Purifying Light was better.
These Hunters, who never had the chance to see the Purifying Light, finally witnessed it for the first time today.
“Old Zhou, what happened to you?” One of the Hunters asked.
The Human Race Master called Old Zhou was part of a four-man team, all of whom were Black Ink Disciples. Needless to say, they once fell into the hands of the Black Ink Clan and were converted into Black Ink Disciples.
Old Zhou looked sorrowful, “Don’t mention it. We accidentally ran into a Territory Lord a year ago and failed to escape.”
“You sure were unlucky,” the person who spoke earlier sighed.
Old Zhou’s Squad was small in number and not particularly strong. Consisting of only two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and two Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, there was no room for resistance when they encountered a Territory Lord. The reason they survived was that the Territory Lord believed that they were more useful if they were corrupted by Black Ink Strength instead.
While speaking, Old Zhou timidly snuck a glance at Yang Kai, only to discover that Yang Kai was not paying attention to them at all.
What was there to be bothered about? Even a fool could have guessed that there were Black Ink Disciples among the Hunters, but there were no means to confirm the identity of these Black Ink Disciples. Fortunately, nothing could be hidden once the Purifying Light enveloped them.
The Black Ink Disciples could no longer be considered such since they regained their true nature after the Purifying Light dispelled the Black Ink Strength from them. Regardless of what they did in the past, they did not act out of their own will; hence, Yang Kai had no intention to blame them for their actions.
Old Zhou and the others realized this and breathed a sigh of relief.
Among the 1,000 or so Hunters, there were around 60 Black Ink Disciples. That was more than 5% of the population here, which was not a small proportion; however, this ratio was likely an aberration. External factors, including the special arrangements of the Black Ink Clan in Acacia Territory, probably played a role which affected the ratio.
Seeing as the Black Ink Clan wanted to use the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory as bait, it was only natural for them to dispatch more Black Ink Disciples to gather intelligence among the Humans. That was why the ratio of Black Ink Disciples was as high as 5%. In reality, the ratio of Black Ink Disciples existing among the Hunters was nowhere near as high.
Ignoring the matter regarding the Black Ink Disciples, Yang Kai turned to look at Li Zi Yu and asked, “Are you the leader here?”
Li Zi Yu stepped forward and cupped his fist, “Red Sun Army’s Li Zi Yu greets Army Commander Yang!”
Over the past half month, Li Zi Yu learned about Yang Kai’s appointment as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army and various other matters about the outside world from the members of Dawn. After hiding in the Universe Cave Heaven for several dozen years, the world outside had changed entirely, causing him to feel slightly depressed. Be that as it may, it was touching to know that the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army would put himself in danger just to rescue them.
In truth, Li Zi Yu disapproved of this decision by the higher-ups as there were too many things that could have gone and still could go wrong.
It was not a big deal if one or two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders were to die in battle; however, the death of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Army Commander would have a large impact on the entire Army. Even more so when the current Army Commanders held higher statuses than the Army Commanders on the Black Ink Battlefield back then.
Which Army Commander serving on the battlefields spread across the various Great Territories did not have hundreds of thousands, if not millions of soldiers under their command? In contrast, an individual Army only consisted of some 8,000 or so Masters at each Great Pass on the Black Ink Battlefield.
In any case, Li Zi Yu understood the current situation. The news regarding Acacia Territory had spread to the general public. Regardless of how many Humans had been trapped in Acacia Territory, the Supreme Headquarters could not turn a blind eye to the situation. If they ignored these trapped refugees, then the morale among the troops battling on the front lines would drop significantly.
The Black Ink Clan was very cunning indeed. Despite knowing that it was a trap, the Human Race had no choice but to jump right in.
Judging by the current situation, it would seem that the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army was extremely outstanding. The ability to lead three Squads and slaughter four Innate Territory Lords… That was not something ordinary people could hope to achieve. Unfortunately… it was somewhat embarrassing for him to also be trapped inside this Universe Cave Heaven now.
“Red Sun Army…” Yang Kai seemed slightly stunned, “Do you know Ning Qi Zhi?”
Ning Qi Zhi came from the Red Sun Paradise, so although not all members of the Red Sun Army belonged to Red Sun Paradise, there was still a chance. Yang Kai had experienced various life and death situations with Ning Qi Zhi of Red Sun Paradise, but ultimately the latter died in battle.
Li Zi Yu bowed, “In terms of seniority, he was my Martial Uncle.”
“Red Sun Paradise produces outstanding talents in every generation…” Yang Kai sighed in appreciation.
Li Zi Yu replied, “You’re giving too much credit, Sir.”
Yang Kai waved his hand dismissively, showing no interest in making small talk. Instead, he looked at the 10,000 Human Race Masters here and asked, “These cultivators are not just from Acacia Territory, right?”
“There are also cultivators from a nearby Great Territory. More than 10 years ago, they passed through Acacia Territory during the great evacuation and so we all decided to head towards the designated Great Territory together. Unfortunately, the Black Ink Clan invaded and we had no choice but to hide here until today.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
10,000 might seem like a lot, but their strengths varied greatly from individual to individual. There were not many Open Heaven Realm Masters among them, and those that had reached that realm did not have particularly high Orders. In fact, Li Zi Yu and a few of his companions were the only Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among them. With such a force, nothing good would come from confronting the Black Ink Clan Army.
Although they hid inside the Universe Cave Heaven out of desperation, they at least managed to protect themselves from danger. It was lucky that there was a Universe Cave Heaven in Acacia Territory that was discovered and managed by Acacia Sect many years ago; otherwise, they would not have had a place to hide in the first place.
Seeming to realise what Yang Kai was thinking, Li Zi Yu quickly offered, “Sir, if you wish to charge out, we are willing to be the vanguard!”
The other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters nodded in agreement, looking resolute.
Yang Kai glanced sideways at Li Zi Yu, “The vanguard? Are you planning to rush right to your deaths? Four Territory Lords are waiting outside.”
Forget the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, even for Yang Kai… He would be beaten close to death if he were to charge out recklessly. When he killed the Territory Lords previously, he had the advantage of numerous favourable conditions. The Soul Rending Thorns were extremely potent tools, but could he fight one against four in a direct confrontation? Two would be difficult enough.
“But…” Li Zi Yu wanted to object. [Why are we not charging out? Are we going to just keep hiding here?]
Yang Kai raised a hand to interrupt Li Zi Yu, “Let’s wait for now.”
Li Zi Yu did not know what Yang Kai was waiting for; however, he had no choice but to back down.
Yang Kai glanced at the portal with a frown on his face. Now that he was trapped inside the Universe Cave Heaven, he could not help feeling uncomfortable. Besides, he could not delay for too long if he wanted to break out of this place. The Territory Lords outside might have called for more reinforcements by now. Although he did not know who was acting as the Commander of the Black Ink Clan here, just by looking at how a total of 10 Territory Lords had been guarding Acacia Territory, Yang Kai could tell that this leader was a cautious person.
If his guess was correct, the other party would have requested more reinforcements by now. Once more Territory Lords arrived, their chances of breaking out of this situation would become even slimmer. If he really wanted to leave, then he had to figure out a solution as soon as possible.
Yang Kai considered his options for a moment as he continued treating his wounds; after all, he had yet to heal completely.
After another half month, Su Yan and the others had gradually recovered from their fatigue. They had not been seriously injured before, but the burden of controlling Space Principles and resisting the impact from the outside world was too great. Half a month was enough time for them to recover.
The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master came to Yang Kai and bowed, “Wan Le Shan greets Dao Lord.” Then, he turned to Miao Fei Ping beside Yang Kai, “Greetings, Senior Brother Miao.”
Yang Kai opened his eyes and stared at the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, “Are you from the Void Dao Temple?”
Those who would address him as ‘Dao Lord’ could only be disciples from the Void Dao Temple.
Yang Kai had already guessed as much earlier.
This Sixth-Order Master cultivated the Dao of Space, and although his attainments were not very high, he still had considerable skill. It was highly likely that he came from the Void Dao Temple and inherited some of Yang Kai’s Grand Dao.
Many of those who came from the Void Dao Temple were in similar situations, having varying degrees of accomplishments in the Dao of Space, Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao. However, most had inherited Yang Kai’s Spear Dao because it was much easier to comprehend compared to the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time.
That had always been the case.
However, the disciples from the Void Dao Temple began to flourish even more ever since Yang Kai comprehended the myriad Grand Daos in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. An increasing number of Grand Daos were cultivated by the Void Dao Temple disciples now.
It could be said that the future Grand Daos of the cultivators from the Void Dao Temple were closely related to Yang Kai. Needless to say, not all of them were related to Yang Kai, even though most of them were.
This Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was quite powerful, and his aptitude was clearly extraordinary.
Seeing as Yang Kai did not recognise him, that could only mean that he came from the last batch of cultivators he released from his Small Universe. It was also the batch that Yang Kai released in Void Land when he returned from the Black Ink Battlefield. There were some 5,000 people in that batch, so it was natural for Yang Kai to not recall all their faces.
Those people had all advanced to the Open Heaven Realm in Void Land at the time, which had shocked Bi Xi, Mo Mei, and all the others. Every one of that batch had advanced to the Sixth or Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, making for an extremely spectacular scene.
Some disciples originated from the Dao Temple that Yang Kai released on the Black Ink Battlefield directly, but their numbers were not high each time. Yang Kai might not be able to remember everybody’s names, but they would at least look familiar to him.
If Wan Le Shan had advanced to the Open Heaven Realm in Void Land, then not much time had passed since his break through. In other words, he had advanced directly to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Thus, he was expected to reach the Eighth-Order in the future. His aptitude was certainly outstanding.
“Why didn’t you join the Army?” Yang Kai asked.
Wan Le Shan explained respectfully, “We advanced to the Open Heaven Realm in Void Land, then retreated to the Star Boundary with Senior Bi Xi. Most of my Dao Brothers and Sisters joined the various Armies, but some of us followed the Head Manager’s orders and became Hunters. We were tasked with the responsibility of investigating the movements of the Black Ink Clan in the various Great Territories.”
So it was Hua Qing Si’s work!
Yang Kai immediately understood the situation.
Hunters were not just lone wolves who did not fit in with the Army, they were also scouts for the Human Race. Most of the information from the outside was brought back by the Hunters who risked their lives to obtain it. That was necessary; after all, it was impossible to fight the Black Ink Clan on the battlefields across over a dozen Great Territories without knowing anything about what the enemy was up to.
[Hua Qing Si sure is bold.] Talents who advanced directly to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm were candidates with the hope of advancing to the Eighth-Order in the future. [I can’t believe she sent them out just like that. Nobody would be able to rescue them if something happened outside.]
There were probably many others like Wan Le Shan.
He had the feeling that Hua Qing Si was not the only one doing such things though. The Human Race Supreme Headquarters was bound to have similar arrangements. If nothing else, the news about those trapped in Acacia Territory had been provided by the Hunters.
“Many thanks for your hard work,” Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Dao Lord is the one who gave us a chance to rise in life, it is only right for this Disciple to live up to such high expectations.” Wan Le Shan lowered his head with a respectful expression.
All the disciples from the Dao Temple had an almost fanatical worship of Yang Kai, the Dao Lord of the Void Dao Temple. That was because almost everything they had came from Yang Kai.
Yang Kai had not known about Hua Qing Si’s arrangements, but he had heard from Su Yan and the others about some 200 Open Heaven Realm Masters who were hidden by Hua Qing Si in High Heaven Palace. These 200 were those who had advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm back at Void Land!
Hua Qing Si had not allowed these 200 to participate in the war yet. Their task was to cultivate diligently. There was no fear of insufficient resources, the only fear was that they could not comprehend or cultivate well.
Yang Kai understood Hua Qing Si’s intentions. Those who advanced directly to the Seventh Order were candidates with the hope of advancing to the Ninth Order one day. Nobody would willingly send these candidates to the battlefield; after all, it would be a complete waste if they were slain by a Territory Lord.
It was not expected for all 200 of these candidates to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but even if only 5% or 10% of them succeeded, that was already equivalent to 10 or 20 Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Hua Qing Si could not bring herself to place them on the battlefield, and neither could the higher-ups. There were practically no Open Heaven Realm Masters who advanced directly to the Seventh-Order on the battlefields across the various Great Territories now.
Over the years, the Star Boundary had produced numerous talents who advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, but these talents had all been hidden away by the Cave Heavens and Paradises because they were the hope and future of the Human Race.
Every single person harboured selfish desires, and although the Human Race was united in a common cause, Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from other Sects would never compare to Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from one’s own Sect.
Zhao Ye Bai and the others had advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm as well, so according to Hua Qing Si’s plans, they were supposed to remain in the Star Boundary and ignore the fighting outside. It was not too late for them to make a name for themselves when they advanced to the Ninth-Order one day. How could she have known that the little ones would sneak out on their own though?
Yang Kai did not agree with the strategy adopted by the higher-ups of the Human Race; after all, cultivating blindly behind closed doors did not necessarily lead to one’s advancement to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
The Cave Heavens and Paradises had several talented candidates who advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm over countless years; however, there were not nearly as many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestors, just over 100 in total.
If it were that easy to reach the Ninth-Order, then they would not be Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters anymore. Besides, the real strength of those who simply cultivated in seclusion would be questionable even if they were lucky enough to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Only those who had experienced life-or-death battles and comprehended the mystery of the Grand Dao amid multiple crises could truly be called strong.
Although Yang Kai disapproved of the arrangement, he knew that their actions stemmed from a sense of helplessness. The battlefield was extremely dangerous, and it would only take the slightest mistake for even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to fall in battle.
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had contributed so much for the sake of buying more time for the future generation, but if all those talented candidates were to die in the war before reaching the peak, then the Human Race would no longer have hope of survival. A Race without hope was bound to fall into the abyss of despair, sooner or later.
Dispelling the distracting thoughts in his head, Yang Kai looked towards Su Yan and the three others, “Take over the Universe Cave Heaven. I’ll be right back.”
Su Yan and the others nodded in unison, surging their Space Principles to stabilise the shaking in their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai had already opened a portal and plunged into it.
Three Territory Lords had rushed into the Portal Corridor together. One had been kicked out by Yang Kai, one had been killed, and the last one had escaped into the depths of the Void.
Yang Kai had been too injured at the time to hunt down the Territory Lord who escaped, but now was the time to deal with that loose end. Naturally, he could also choose to simply ignore the existence of that Territory Lord as he might never find his way back after plunging into the depths of the Void. It was very difficult for somebody to escape from the Void Crack; however, it was not impossible. If that Territory Lord was lucky enough to escape from the Void Crack, then he would become another powerful enemy for the Human Race.
Therefore, Yang Kai could not give up the opportunity to kill this Territory Lord.
The Black Ink Clan was not alone in wanting to annihilate their enemies once and for all. The Human Race would not let the opportunity to kill a powerful enemy Master slip through their fingers either.
It didn’t take long for Yang Kai to return to the Portal Corridor where Void Turbulence overlapped. The Portal Corridor had become highly unstable because of the previous battle fought here and the four Territory Lords trying to break the Void from the outside.
Yang Kai had not forgotten the spot where the Territory Lord had escaped previously, so wandering through the Void Turbulence alone, he soon arrived at his destination and dove inside the large crack in space that appeared.
It was difficult to search for anybody in a place like this and even Yang Kai did not dare to guarantee that he could find his target. He could only hope that the Territory Lord had not run or drifted too far; otherwise, there was nothing he could do either.
The Territory Lord had indeed not gone far. The Portal Corridor had been torn open by the aftermath of their battle at the time, and he mistakenly assumed that this opening was a means of escape. How could he have known that he would find himself deeper inside the Void Crack after he entered the hole? He was so scared that he did not dare to move around carelessly. Only the fact that Yang Kai had not given chase gave him a slight sense of relief.
During this period, he had remained inside the Void Crack and treated his wounds while searching for an exit. It was a pity that this place was highly abnormal. As he had never cultivated Space Principles before, he found moving around to be extremely difficult. He was constantly caught up in the Void Turbulence, which made him lose his direction. After several attempts, he no longer knew where he was anymore.
Yang Kai spent half a day tracking various traces that were almost imperceptible before he finally found the Territory Lord.
The aura of the Territory Lord was very weak. It was obvious that his efforts to counter the impacts of the Void Turbulence had exhausted him greatly. In addition to the injuries he previously suffered, he could not replenish his strength in this place, so at this point, his strength was far from its peak.
Yang Kai had been prepared to use a Soul Rendering Thorn to end the battle as quickly as possible; however, given the other party’s condition, it seemed he did not have to trouble himself with that.
An hour later, Yang Kai slipped out of the Universe Cave Heaven’s Portal Corridor. There were bloodstains on his body, but he did not seem to be seriously injured.
Fighting to the death with a Territory Lord was never easy. Nevertheless, the already weakened Territory Lord was further suppressed by the countless Void Turbulence surging in the Void Crack, so Yang Kai’s long years of cultivation would have all been in vain if he failed to kill his opponent under these circumstances
Currently, only four Territory Lords remained from the original 10 Territory Lords!
Be that as it may, the enemies in Acacia Territory were not just the four Territory Lords, but also the massive Black Ink Clan Army. So much time had passed since the initial confrontation, so it was likely the Black Ink Clan had mobilised even more troops to surround the portal by now.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s forces no longer consist of just the three Squads from before. The 1,000 or so Hunters were also an excellent combat force. As for the 10,000 Human refugees trapped inside the Universe Cave Heaven, there were not many among them who could fight the Black Ink Clan as most were too weak. If they fought the Black Ink Clan, they were bound to become corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
“Prepare for battle!” Yang Kai roared.
Everybody responded with great enthusiasm. The three Squads, 1,000 Hunters, Li Zi Yu’s Squad, and the others from the former Red Sun Army burned with passionate murderous intent.
Likewise, Yang Kai began to manipulate Space Principles and stabilize the surroundings. At the same time, he sent a Divine Sense transmission to Su Yan and the others to cooperate with him.
The Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 that originally stood guard outside the Universe Cave Heaven was gone, decimated by the attack from Yang Kai’s original team or used as resources by Mo Na Ye and the other three Territory Lords to recover their strength. At this point, not many of them remained.
Although the original Black Ink Clan Army of 100,000 was gone, over a million troops had taken their place instead. Mo Na Ye had relocated these troops from the Territory Gates, having each of the five armies dispatch some 300,000 soldiers for a total of 1.5 million troops.
The Black Ink Clan Army spread across the void like a swarm of locusts and surrounded the portal tightly.
A full month had passed since the Human Race Masters fled into the Universe Cave Heaven. During this period, numerous Black Ink Clan Masters had worked diligently and continuously under Mo Na Ye’s lead to shatter the surrounding Void.
Mo Na Ye wanted to break open the portal to the Universe Cave Heaven and invade it. Unfortunately, things did not go as he had planned. Knowing that Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, he believed that the latter must have done something to the portal; otherwise, there was no explanation for its unusual durability.
Mo Na Ye was not willing to give up, however. Having reached this point, all the Territory Lords who were sacrificed previously would have died in vain if he gave up now. His only option was to continue his assault.
Yang Kai had been heavily wounded. In addition to his injuries, he also had to stabilize the portal of the Universe Cave Heaven. He was bound to collapse from the burden one day, and that moment would be the moment of his death!
However, Mo Na Ye’s belief was beginning to waver at this point. Would Yang Kai really run out of strength?
Despite an entire month of continuous bombardment, there were no visible results to show for their efforts, causing Mo Na Ye to begin to doubt the decision he made back then.
Suddenly, the Void in front of him seemed to change slightly. Mo Na Ye immediately snapped to attention and looked in that direction. For some reason, the faintly perceptible portal seemed much more solid and tangible than before. Then, the portal abruptly shattered and exploded.
When the portal shattered, the Universe Cave Heaven hidden in the Void appeared before the eyes of the Black Ink Clan Masters and a figure soared into the sky while coughing up a mouthful of Golden Blood. At the same time, the Human Race Masters inside the Universe Cave Heaven screamed mournfully.
It was Yang Kai! Even though Mo Na Ye only caught a glimpse of Yang Kai back then, how could he forget the face of this Human Race Master?
[He’s at his limits!]
Reality proved that his previous speculations were correct. The reason why the Universe Cave Heaven held out for so long was due to Yang Kai’s tricks; however, in the end, Yang Kai was just one person. How could he resist the violent bombardment of so many Black Ink Clan Masters forever?
The portal shattered, revealing the Universe Cave Heaven. Meanwhile, the Human Race Masters hiding inside panicked as though the end was upon them.
Mo Na Ye even saw many of them retreating in terror, as though afraid that the Black Ink Clan would charge forward and slaughter them.
Chuckling, Mo Na Ye took a step forward, preparing to enter the Universe Cave Heaven. However, after giving it another thought, he stopped and whirled around sharply, “You Gong, go and finish him off!”
You Gong was furious and cursed vehemently in his heart, [Bastard! Why me? Why don’t you go yourself!? Mo Na Ye, you bastard!]
Mo Na Ye was clearly worried that the Human Race Masters were feigning weakness, which was why he decided to send You Gong to test the waters first.
Unfortunately, Mo Na Ye had the highest authority over the matters in Acacia Territory. Unable to protest, You Gong gloomily muttered, “They have one more Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.”
Although that female Eighth-Order Master was not very strong, she was still in the Eighth-Order. With so many Seventh-Order Masters around, a lone Territory Lord would not be able to guarantee their safety.
Mo Na Ye frowned but still glanced at another Territory Lord and ordered, “Go and help him.”
The Territory Lord nodded.
With no other choice, You Gong raised his arm above his head and roared, “Kill!”
He charged forward with the other Territory Lord whom Mo Na Ye selected while countless Feudal Lords followed behind them. It only took the blink of an eye for the Black Ink Clan Army to charge into the Universe Cave Heaven.
Feng Ying activated her Myriad Swords Dragon and met their charge head on. In response, You Gong yelled to the other Territory Lord, “I will stop her! You go after Yang Kai!”
Ignoring the opinion of the Territory Lord accompanying him, You Gong immediately began exchanging blows with Feng Ying, resulting in intense shockwaves rippling out.
The other Territory Lord coldly snorted, [You Gong, that fool! He has been scared witless by that Human! I can’t believe he doesn’t even dare to attack the enemy even though he is heavily wounded! What a useless good-for-nothing!]
In his opinion, Yang Kai’s battered and miserable appearance did not seem fake, and it was easy to understand why.
Yang Kai was seriously injured to begin with, but even so, he had to stabilize the Universe Cave Heaven and resist the Black Ink Clan outside for an entire month. Where would he find the time to rest? If he had any strength remaining, the portal would not have been destroyed. Not to mention, he probably suffered additional injuries on top of his previous ones when the portal shattered. How much strength could he have left?
Nevertheless, the Territory Lord was still cautious of Yang Kai’s strange methods. After considering everything, he shielded his Soul and charged towards Yang Kai. Along the way, many Seventh-Order Human Masters tried to block his path only to be blown away by him.
The Feudal Lords following behind the Territory Lord also began to launch their offensive. It didn’t take long before they were entangled in battle against the Human Race Masters in the Universe Cave Heaven.
The peace in the Universe Cave Heaven was destroyed in an instant. Everywhere in the Universe Cave Heaven, Humans and Black Ink Clansmen fought desperately.
Yang Kai awkwardly dodged the ferocious attacks of the Territory Lord, spitting blood from time to time. His complexion was as pale as a sheet, and he looked as though he would collapse at any time; however, he was cursing furiously on the inside, [Why are the two Territory Lords outside not coming in? Aren’t you being a little too cautious!? I’m already in such terrible condition! Shouldn’t you join forces to kill me as soon as possible!?]
The current situation was different from his expectations.
Stuck inside the Universe Cave Heaven, it was not easy for them to break free and escape. They could not force their way out with so many Black Ink Clan Masters standing guard outside. If they so much as revealed themselves, they will definitely be swarmed to death. Even Yang Kai was not confident that he could successfully charge out of the portal under the watch of so many Black Ink Clan Masters.
Since they could not leave, they could only lure their enemies into a trap.
The portal had been shattered and the Universe Cave Heaven was revealed; furthermore, Yang Kai appeared to be in an extremely weak condition.
Yang Kai did not believe that the Black Ink Clan could resist the urge to charge forward, and as expected, that was what they did. Unfortunately, the Black Ink Clan did not use their full strength. Out of the four Territory Lords, two had charged into the Universe Cave Heaven but two had remained outside.
Judging by the current situation, it would seem that the Territory Lord in command of Acacia Territory was an extremely cautious individual.
Yang Kai did not dare to push his luck at this point; besides, no battle plan ever survived the first engagement, and there would always be something that would go wrong or turn out unsatisfactory. In any case, two of the four Territory Lords had entered the Universe Cave Heaven’s range, and the enemy siege would essentially dissolve if these two were taken out.
“Kill!” All of a sudden, the battered-looking Yang Kai gave a loud roar.
Following his signal, the Human Race Masters who had been holding back under his instructions stopped hiding their strength. A series of destructive Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques blasted out, throwing the Feudal Lords who were charging forward off their feet.
At the same time, Yang Kai unleashed a Soul Rending Thorn. Although his Soul was not completely healed after just one month of recuperation, he had no trouble wielding the Soul Rending Thorn once.
The Territory Lord engaged in battle with Yang Kai suddenly felt a sense of crisis washing over him, immediately followed by a sharp pain in his Soul, as though it was being dug into by thousands of needles. The pain was so great that his vision blurred and he could not hold in a cry of agony.
Yang Kai thrust his spear at that moment, but only managed to pierce the Territory Lord’s shoulder blade. Nevertheless, that was enough to blow away one of the Territory Lord’s arms.
The Territory Lord had forcibly twisted his body and avoided being struck in a vital spot at the last moment. Turning pale with fright, he finally realised how Yang Kai managed to kill so many Territory Lords with such ease in the past. Although he did not know exactly what method the other party had used, it was just as Mo Na Ye had previously speculated. It was a Secret Technique that specifically targeted the Soul.
If he had not been on constant guard and attentively protected his Soul, he would have died from that brief moment of disorientation earlier. Even taking all those precautions though, he was still severely injured and only narrowly managed to survive. Black blood gushed out of his severed shoulder, and even his Black Ink Strength poured out of the wound.
Before the Territory Lord could breathe a sigh of relief, an overwhelming number of spear shadows shot towards his face. Mustering his courage at the critical moment between life and death, he chose to fight rather than flee. Charging forward with a loud roar, he attacked Yang Kai with reckless abandon.
On the other side, You Gong and Feng Ying were engaged in an intense battle; however, You Gong was clearly stronger, so not only was he steadily pushing Feng Ying back, he could also spare some attention to monitor Yang Kai’s movements.
All of a sudden, he saw Yang Kai making an unexpected comeback and severely injuring his companion. Combined with the flash of Spiritual Energy that appeared for a brief moment, how could he not realise that Yang Kai’s battered appearance was nothing more than an act?
At this moment, he was extremely thankful that he had chosen not to fight Yang Kai. Although he had initially believed that Yang Kai was an arrow at the end of its flight, he had chosen Feng Ying as his opponent just to be safe. It would now seem that his decision had been wise indeed. If he had boldly chosen to face Yang Kai earlier, the one struggling to avoid Yang Kai’s spear right now would have been him instead.
[This is another trap! This Human named Yang Kai is the most cunning man I’ve ever encountered in my life! I’ve never met another Human Race Master as devious as him.]
The black blood of the other Territory Lord gushed out with every thrust of Yang Kai’s spear, and his aura was weakening at a speed that was visible to the naked eye.
Seeing that, You Gong lost his will to fight. Once Yang Kai finished off his companion and became unfettered, he would be Yang Kai’s next target. Black Ink Strength surged violently around him before he threw a punch and sent Feng Ying flying backwards. Immediately after that, he rushed towards the shattered portal without another backward glance. He had already escaped from the Universe Cave Heaven before Feng Ying even realised what was happening.
Outside the portal, Mo Na Ye had an extremely solemn expression on his face. He had been on guard against Yang Kai and even suspected that he had been deliberately acting weak. Even so, he could barely accept the truth when he saw Yang Kai’s abrupt comeback.
[How is that possible?]
Yang Kai had been seriously wounded previously; not to mention, he had been stabilising the Universe Cave Heaven against the bombardment of numerous Territory Lords for the past month. Where did he find the time to treat his wounds? He must have suffered from severe backlash due to the destruction of the portal, and looking at the current situation, he had indeed suffered some injuries. It was just that these injuries had little effect on his combat power.
[Should I charge in?] A huge conflict arose in Mo Na Ye’s heart.
Aside from him, there was another Territory Lord outside. They might stand a chance to defeat Yang Kai if all three of them joined forces, but it was nothing more than a chance. If they failed, then there was a high probability that both he and the other Territory Lord would pay for it with their lives.
However, his internal conflict did not last for long because he saw You Gong rushing out of the Universe Cave Heaven. Mo Na Ye honestly did not know what to say at this point.
You Gong had been hugely traumatised ever since he escaped alive from his first encounter with Yang Kai and was now so scared that he actually fled the battlefield without another word when he saw Yang Kai’s sudden comeback.
[The ship has sailed!] Mo Na Ye heaved a sigh in his heart.
Including You Gong who escaped from the Universe Cave Heaven, there were three Territory Lords and a Black Ink Clan Army of approximately 1 million. Unfortunately, the You Gong who had lost his courage was practically useless.
With just Mo Na Ye and one other Territory Lord alone, it would be difficult for them to keep the Human Race Masters trapped in the Universe Cave Heaven even if they had the support of the Black Ink Clan Army; after all, there were many Human Race Masters and several extremely powerful Warships on the other side. Once the Humans broke through their blockade, the Territory Lords would probably lose their lives here.
[We’ve been careless! If I had known earlier, I would have asked for more Territory Lords as reinforcements!]
It was just… who could have known that the 10 Territory Lords overseeing Acacia Territory would end up in this state?
The main reason was You Gong and his companions. They had just arrived at Acacia Territory, but they started a fight without permission before they even met up with the other Territory Lords. In the end, Yang Kai eventually slaughtered them until only one remained. That had instantly cut the number of effective Territory Lords in half.
Two more Territory Lords had been trapped in the Portal Corridor, and their survival remained a mystery even now; however, Mo Na Ye was fairly certain they too were dead now, otherwise, there was no reason for them to remain hidden for so long.
The remaining four Territory Lords might have stood a fighting chance if they all worked together, but another Territory Lord would soon be dead. Other Territory Lords were rushing to Acacia Territory to provide support right now, but they would not arrive in time.
This situation far exceeded Mo Na Ye’s wildest expectations. In just a month, Yang Kai not only recovered from most of his wounds, but also made preparations to lure them into a deadly trap.
Hence, Mo Na Ye couldn’t help feeling upset. If he had known earlier, he would not have ordered his forces into the Universe Cave Heaven when the portal shattered earlier! The truth was that they only needed to form a blockade outside the portal to prevent any of the Humans from escaping. In fact, they could have gained an absolute advantage if they only waited until the next batch of Territory Lords arrived to provide support.
However, who could have resisted the urge to rush forward after witnessing the scene of Yang Kai coughing up blood when the Universe Cave Heaven appeared? That was definitely the best time to eliminate him once and for all!
Unfortunately, one wrong move had resulted in the entire strategy falling apart! Feeling disheartened, Mo Na Ye curtly instructed, “Barricade the portal. Kill any Human who dares to exit!”
The Black Ink Clan Army of 1 million that he transferred here immediately prepared themselves for battle.
Inside the Universe Cave Heaven, both the Human Masters and the Black Ink Clan soldiers clashed violently. Many of the Black Ink Clansmen charging forward dropped dead like flies, but that was only to be expected. Launching an assault through a narrow corridor was very risky because they could easily be targeted by the Humans.
That was precisely the reason why Yang Kai did not want to charge out of the Universe Cave Heaven. Needless to say, he would launch an attack if it was necessary as he could not remain hunkered down inside the Universe Cave Heaven.
He had 2 million Small Stone Race soldiers as a last resort, and if it came down to that, he could summon that Army. They would be enough to wipe out the Black Ink Clansmen here. It was just that this Small Stone Race Army was the trump card he reserved for his battle against the Royal Lord. Yang Kai had no wish to reveal his trump card unless absolutely necessary.
The Black Ink Clan was at a disadvantage in the first place, and following You Gong’s escape, they became even more vulnerable.
Feng Ying did not chase after You Gong, choosing instead to turn around and target the Feudal Lords. Although she was no match for an Innate Territory Lord, killing some Feudal Lords was a piece of cake with her Divine Manifestation.
In addition, there were the 1,000 or so Hunters and the three Squads, including Dawn. It did not take long before most of the Black Ink Clansmen who charged into the Universe Cave Heaven were eliminated. Only several Feudal Lords reacted quickly enough and escaped back through the portal.
Moments later, the disturbance caused by the death of a Territory Lord spread out. It was Yang Kai’s opponent being slain. The Territory Lord had been struck by a Soul Rending Thorn earlier, so even though he survived the initial attack, his strength had suffered a huge decline. How could he compete with Yang Kai in a one-on-one fight in that condition?
Looking around, Yang Kai confirmed that the battle within the Universe Cave Heaven had been decided; then, he raised his spear and charged towards the portal with a roar, “Li Zi Yu and the others are to remain behind. The rest, follow me into battle!”
“Yes!” Numerous figures transformed into streams of light and followed behind Yang Kai as they sped towards the portal.
Yang Kai charged out of the portal in the blink of an eye, and as he had expected, was immediately greeted with a storm of attacks blasting towards him from all directions. Fortunately, he had prepared himself in advance.
A Dragon Roar reverberated through the void, and a 70,000-metre-long Ancient Dragon manifested before everyone’s eyes, releasing intense Dragon Pressure all around. The Dragon Body curled around the portal to form a defensive barrier in the void.
Countless attacks landed on Yang Kai’s Dragon Body, causing him to tremble from the impact. Dragon Scales flew everywhere as the Black Ink Clan Army of a million had formed a blockade in all directions. Of course, space was limited, so not all of them could attack at once; nevertheless, Yang Kai still endured at least 100,000 attacks at that moment. Even a 70,000 metre long Ancient Dragon could not endure such a barrage for long.
Five breaths! That was the limit of what he could endure! He would not be able to take it any longer than that!
Yang Kai was on high alert against the Territory Lords outside. While he could endure the onslaught of ordinary Black Ink Clansmen for some time, he would not be able to defend against the attacks of several Territory Lords. Unexpectedly, his Divine Sense perception did not detect the aura of any Territory Lords nearby. Even the aura of You Gong, who fled earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
[What’s going on?]
Before Yang Kai could figure out what was happening, Feng Ying slipped out of the portal. She glanced at Yang Kai’s Dragon Form and instantly understood that he was shielding the Human Race Masters behind him. That was why he curled his Dragon Form to form a defensive barrier around the portal. Otherwise, only the two of them could exit the portal safely. If the other Human Race Masters rushed out, they would surely suffer innumerable casualties.
“Kill!” Her voice rang out. Urging the Myriad Swords Dragon to its limits, she produced an overwhelming number of sword waves that fanned out before her. The sword waves swept out, piercing the bodies of the nearby Black Ink Clansmen, reaping countless lives in an instant.
The solution to relieve Yang Kai’s burden was simple, they simply had to annihilate the Black Ink Clan soldiers as quickly as possible. At this moment, Feng Ying attacked at full strength without holding back in the slightest.
Dawning Light and the two Bi Xi Battleships also charged out and immediately dispersed in different directions to take down their enemies.
Following closely behind the three Warships were the 1,000 or so Hunters. These Hunters retained their previous formations and remained in their respective Squads. Scattering in all directions, they rushed towards the Black Ink Clan Army.
Once five breaths of time were up, Yang Kai immediately retracted his Dragon Form. His body was covered in countless wounds, and his complexion was deathly pale.
Even an elephant could be killed by countless ant bites. At this moment, Yang Kai fully understood the meaning behind this saying. No matter how strong a Master was, it was only a matter of time before they cracked if they were targeted by an overwhelming number of enemies, even if those enemies were weak by comparison.
What puzzled him was that he had not felt any attacks from the Territory Lords until now. A thought flashed through his mind, and a vague speculation formed before he let out a roar, “Your Territory Lords have fled! All of you will die here today!”
His furious roar reverberated throughout the void and after that, he raised his spear and slashed his way through the Black Ink Clan Army. Everywhere he passed, he left a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood in his wake.
The Black Ink Clan Army was taken aback. When Mo Na Ye ordered them to eliminate the Human Race Masters rushing out of the Universe Cave Heaven, they obeyed the order without question. Unfortunately, they had failed to stop the wave of Humans. It wasn’t until they heard Yang Kai’s shout that the Feudal Lords discovered the shocking truth. Mo Na Ye and the others were gone!
[Have the Territory Lords really escaped!?]
In the beginning, some of the Black Ink Clansmen refused to believe the truth and continued to confront the Human Race Masters bravely; however, there was no movement from the Territory Lords even though the fight had been ongoing for some time.
In the end, they had no choice but to face reality. The Territory Lords had fled! The morale of the Black Ink Clan Army instantly dropped like a stone, and their tight formation rapidly collapsed.
Even though the strength of the Black Ink Clansmen varied greatly, they held an overwhelming advantage in terms of numbers. If they were determined to put up a fight, they could cause huge casualties among the small number of Humans. Dawning Light and the two Bi Xi Battleships might come out unscathed, but not many among the 1,000 or so Hunters would survive such a battle.
Having said that, the Territory Lords had escaped, so without their pillars, how could the Black Ink Clan Army retain their fighting spirit? The siege fell into tatters after several clashes with the numerous Human Race Masters. That was especially true for the places where Yang Kai and Feng Ying passed through. Wherever Yang Kai and Feng Ying went, swathes of Black Ink Clansmen were cut down like ripe wheat in a field.
Dragon Roars and Phoenix Cries sliced through the air, immediately followed by the emergence of Tai Yue. As thousands of lives disappeared with each breath, the Black Ink Clan Army was filled with absolute terror.
The Black Ink Clansmen in the outermost circle began to retreat. The Territory Lords had already escaped, so were they supposed to hang around and wait for their deaths? Their choice quickly affected the Black Ink Clansmen in the inner circles. Hence, more and more Black Ink Clansmen began to break away from the battle and flee into the distance.
At this moment, the Black Ink Clan Army was a Dragon without a head, so it didn’t take long before the 1 million strong Army became completely vulnerable and fell apart like a handful of loose sand.
There were several Feudal Lords who tried to rally their companions to stand and fight without retreating. They undoubtedly had a clearer picture of the situation, so they knew that they had a chance of survival if they banded together and fought back desperately. On the contrary, they would not stand the slightest chance if they panicked and all escaped in random directions. Without any exceptions, these Feudal Lords would quickly be cut down by Yang Kai.
Yang Kai navigated his way through the Black Ink Clan Army as though there was nobody in his path, heading in the direction where the resistance was fiercest. It was difficult even for him to eliminate such a massive Black Ink Clan Army, and since that was the case, his focus was to force them to retreat.
As time passed, more and more of the Black Ink Clan Army fled the battlefield. When the number of escaped Black Ink Clansmen reached a critical point, the fighting spirit of the Black Ink Clan Army collapsed completely. The three Warships and the Hunters pounced on this opportunity, causing heavy casualties to the Black Ink Clan everywhere they went.
“A hard-pressed enemy should not be pursued too far!” Yang Kai shouted, preventing the Hunters from chasing the enemy into the distance.
Upon hearing his command, everybody quickly ceased their pursuit. Countless Black Ink Clansmen quickly fled in all directions, vanishing into the depths of the void and disappearing out of sight.
The battle ended on an anticlimactic note. After the battle, countless Black Ink Clan remains littered the battlefield. Just a rough estimate indicated that there were at least 300,000 fresh corpses. That number was nothing compared to the Black Ink Clan Army of 1.5 million that was transferred here, 20% of it at most, but the battle had not lasted for very long either. The entire process took no more than an hour from the beginning to the end.
300,000 enemies had been slaughtered in an hour, which was a staggering victory.
Likewise, there were casualties among the Human Race Masters. Many Hunters had lost their lives, and those who survived were covered in wounds. Nevertheless, these casualties could not be avoided to achieve this kind of result.
It was impossible to suffer zero casualties in such a battle, but nobody mourned too much. Ever since choosing to become Hunters, these people had disregarded their concerns over life or death. Nobody knew when they would encounter an accident, so they had long since become indifferent to such matters.
For the first time, the Hunters discovered that large-scale army battles were much more enjoyable than their previous small-scale raids. The main reason they chose to become Hunters was that they could not adapt to the way the Army fought in war. Cultivators generally believed in their own strength rather than the support of others.
However, it might not be unacceptable if all the Army fought in this manner. For a time, many Hunters entertained different ideas in their hearts.
“Keep a lookout in all directions,” Yang Kai breathed a sigh of relief and issued the command before he slipped back into the Universe Cave Heaven again.
Due to the destruction of the portal, the Human Race Masters inside the Universe Cave Heaven could vaguely see the battle taking place outside. It was just that they did not have a very clear view of the situation. The battle had erupted without warning and then ended so quickly that many people could not tell who had won and who had lost. It was not until Yang Kai’s figure appeared again that everybody finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Sir!” Li Zi Yu came forward to greet Yang Kai, “The situation outside…”
“The Territory Lords have escaped, and the Black Ink Clan Army has been repelled,” Yang Kai briefly explained. The 10,000 Human refugees inside the Universe Cave Heaven immediately burst into cheers, causing the entire World to resonate with joy.
“Can we leave this place now?” Li Zi Yu asked emotionally.
Several dozen years had passed since they were tasked with the responsibility of evacuating the Humans in Acacia Territory and became trapped in this Universe Cave Heaven. It was extremely dull to remain cooped up inside this Universe Cave Heaven. When the Black Ink Clan besieged them after they accidentally exposed their whereabouts, they believed that they would die soon. Who could have known that Human Masters would be dispatched to rescue them?
At this moment, the Black Ink Clan Army standing guard outside had been repelled, so there was nobody to stop them from leaving the Universe Cave Heaven.
Yang Kai nodded lightly. In the next moment, he opened the portal to his Small Universe, “Everybody, please enter my Small Universe!”
Not many among the 10,000 refugees were in the Open Heaven Realm, so it was not difficult for Yang Kai to take them in.
Many Black Ink Clansmen were slaughtered during the previous battle in the Universe Cave Heaven, and Black Ink Strength flooded the World as a result. Although Feng Ying and the others had distributed Purifying Black Ink Pills to the crowd, the weaker Humans here would not be able to resist the Black Ink Strength for long. Therefore, they did not hesitate to rush into the portal of Yang Kai’s Small Universe upon hearing his command.
An hour later, all 10,000 refugees in the Universe Cave Heaven had been taken into Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
“You too!” Yang Kai turned to Li Zi Yu and the others.
“Us, too?” Li Zi Yu was astonished.
He was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Not to mention, he was not the only Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in this place. Although they could enter Yang Kai’s Small Universe… Could Yang Kai really accommodate so many cultivators at once?
Despite feeling suspicious, he did not dare to question Yang Kai’s orders further, so he immediately told the others, “Move.”
The crowd of Open Heaven Realm Masters quickly plunged into the portal. Since Yang Kai wanted them to enter his Small Universe, then he must be confident in his ability.
Li Zi Yu was the last to enter, but before he did, he secretly peeked at Yang Kai’s complexion. Yang Kai was very pale, but that was more likely a result of the injuries he sustained in his previous battle than any strain on his Small Universe.
Hence, Li Zi Yu was secretly astonished, [How large must Sir Yang’s Small Universe be!?]
After accepting all of the Human Race Masters in the Universe Cave Heaven, Yang Kai darted out.
Outside the Universe Cave Heaven, the rest of the Human Race Masters were watching their surroundings under Feng Ying’s command. It was just that none of the Black Ink Clan came attacking. They had only just been forced to retreat, so who would dare to return?
When Yang Kai appeared without anybody else behind him, Feng Ying immediately understood the situation. Those Humans inside had probably been taken into his Small Universe, so she simply asked, “Squad Leader, do we fight our way out?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “All five Territory Gates are guarded by Black Ink Clan Armies, and we don’t know where the three Territory Lords who escaped might be. It’s too risky to charge out of Acacia Territory.”
The reason they managed to defeat the Black Ink Clan Army earlier was pure luck as the three Territory Lords had escaped first. If the scenario unfolded for a second time, they might not be so lucky again. As long as the three Territory Lords were not fools, there was a great chance that they could stop their advance if they joined forces and cooperated with a large Black Ink Clan Army.
“What should we do?”
“I have an idea,” Yang Kai replied, “How many people can you accommodate in your Small Universe if they are in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and below?”
Feng Ying considered for a moment before she responded, “I’ve never tried, but 200 is probably my limit with Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters as a standard.”
If she took in those in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, then she might only be able to accommodate 20 or 30 at most; after all, the higher their Order, the larger the size of their Small Universe, and the heavier the burden to hold them became.
“Do your best to take in as many as you can. I will deal with the rest,” Yang Kai instructed.
Feng Ying nodded.
Yang Kai swept a glance across his surroundings and spoke in a loud voice, “Everybody, it is true that we won this battle; however, the Territory Gates in Acacia Territory are guarded by large Black Ink Clan Armies. The whereabouts of the Territory Lords also remain unknown, so it will be extremely difficult for us to safely leave Acacia Territory. While I have a method to escape this place safely, I will require your full cooperation.”
His speech was mainly aimed at the Hunters since he was not familiar with them. Furthermore, these Hunters were not part of the Army, so his orders held no weight with them. Discussion and compromise were the only options here.
One of the Hunters shouted, “Sir, please feel free to ask anything of us, we will not refuse.”
Having witnessed Yang Kai’s strength and heroics, these Hunters could be said to hold great admiration for him. Now that the Territory Gates in Acacia Territory had been blockaded, they could only rely upon him if they wanted to leave, so how could they dare to be disrespectful?
Yang Kai nodded, “I would like to ask you to enter my and Senior Sister Feng’s Small Universes!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he shot a glance at Feng Ying. The two of them opened the portals to their Small Universe in unison.
Ordinary people might not be able to notice any kind of difference; however, for these Masters, as soon as the two portals appeared side by side, the difference in strength between the two Small Universes could be seen at a glance.
The aura radiating from Yang Kai’s Small Universe was undoubtedly more substantial. Even the impression given by the two portals was distinctly contrasting. If the portal to Feng Ying’s Small Universe was akin to a wooden door, then the portal to Yang Kai’s Small Universe was a huge steel gate. There was no comparison between the two at all.
“Those in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm and below will enter Senior Sister Feng’s Small Universe first. Those in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm will come to my side,” Yang Kai continued.
Many of the Hunters rushed over without hesitation and plunged straight into the two portals.
Not long afterwards, Feng Ying’s expression began to twist in discomfort. She persisted for a while longer, but eventually closed her portal with a shake of her head when her aura fluctuations became unsteady, “I can’t take any more.”
Her Small Universe had reached its limits, so it was impossible for her to accommodate any more Open Heaven Realm Masters.
On the other hand, the opened portal to Yang Kai’s Small Universe resembled a bottomless pit that accepted every single person who came forward. Even so, it could be seen that he too was starting to feel the pressure after accommodating so many cultivators in his Small Universe.
When all the Hunters had entered his Small Universe, he turned to look at Yang Xiao and the others, “You too.”
Yang Xiao worriedly said, “Adoptive Father, will you be okay? We don’t need to enter…”
“Enough nonsense, get inside,” Yang Kai snapped irritably. [Do you really think I can’t see through your little schemes?]
These little ones were clearly looking for an opportunity to escape his watch so that they could continue wandering outside; however, the situation here was too dangerous. How could they be so careless? If he had not come to Acacia Territory himself, they would have been in mortal danger by now.
Seeing Yang Kai being so insistent, Yang Xiao and the others had no choice but to obey; thus, they dejectedly took turns entering the portal.
Yang Kai urged his power slightly. Although his World Force which used to flow smoothly felt slightly congested, he had yet to reach his limits. He could probably accommodate a few more people in his Small Universe; thus, he turned to look at the Dawn Squad, “You too. Enter my Small Universe.”
“Yes!” Shen Ao of Dawn quickly received the order; then, the entire Squad plunged into the portal of Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
When all the members of Dawn had entered Yang Kai’s Small Universe, he had the sense that he had almost reached his limits. The strongest indicator was a bloated feeling as though he had eaten too much.
An ordinary person would have trouble moving around if they were bloated. On the other hand, an Open Heaven Realm Master would not only have trouble moving around when bloated, but their ability to exert their full strength would be greatly affected.
Therefore, most High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters generally would not accept others into their Small Universes unless their safety could be guaranteed. No matter how few they accepted, they were bound to face some degree of impact on their strength, and the more they accommodated, the greater the impact.
If a Territory Lord were to appear right now, Yang Kai would not be able to compete against them. He could barely even exert 20% of his full strength at the moment, but his condition was not too bad. When he turned to look at Feng Ying, he saw that her aura was unstable and her expression twisted constantly. She looked like she could explode at any moment.
Yu Ru Meng’s Squad remained, but Feng Ying or Yang Kai couldn’t accommodate any more people.
At this moment, Yang Kai could only pray that everything would go smoothly; otherwise, he did not know how he could bring so many people out of Acacia Territory.
“Stay close to me!” Yang Kai beckoned to the others. Feng Ying and the last Bi Xi Battleship responded immediately and crowded around him.
Exhaling slowly, Yang Kai activated his strength and connected his mind to the World Tree.
The Void trembled and the entire Great Territory rumbled. A kind of ethereal connection in the distance seemed to appear, it could not seem to condense no matter what.
Yang Kai’s expression turned ugly as he knew the reason was that he had too many people with him.
The last time he brought Wu Kuang alone to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, he had not faced any pressure. The difference this time was that he had many Human Race Masters in his Small Universe. Not to mention, he also had an Eighth-Order Master like Feng Ying and 10 others in Yu Ru Meng’s Squad with him. It was not the same situation as before.
“Old Tree, help!” Yang Kai hurriedly shouted. He couldn’t enter the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary with his strength alone, so he could only ask the Old Tree for help.
When the words left his mouth, something that resembled a tree branch came from somewhere unknown and extended towards him across the vague expanse of space. As the tree branch stretched towards his location, Yang Kai was overjoyed, [Old Tree is reliable after all!]
Then, he quickly shouted, “Go!”
Wrapping his power around Feng Ying and Yu Ru Meng’s Squad, he stepped onto the illusory path that had opened before him and vanished into the Void.
By the time he came back to his senses, Yang Kai had already arrived in front of the majestic and enormous World Tree. Unfortunately, the Void trembled violently even though he had the support of the Old Tree. Feng Ying and Yu Ru Meng’s Squad were knocked off balance as a result.
He stood up shakily and turned back to look in the direction he came. The path leading here was becoming insubstantial, and even the tree branch that the World Tree extended earlier was beginning to shatter.
A chill ran through his heart when he realised that the Old Tree probably had to pay a price to support his trip here. The reason he failed to notice in the past was that he had always been travelling alone. Now that he brought so many people along with him, the price was much more noticeable as a result. In other words, the Old Tree probably had to pay some kind of price every time he came here, it had just never mentioned anything to him before.
“Many thanks, Old Tree.” Yang Kai expressed his gratitude.
The Old Tree did not reveal himself and simply waved his branches lightly in response.
“Is this the World Tree!?” Bi Xi’s Soul Clone suddenly exclaimed.
He was the oldest out of everybody else present by a large margin, so he was also the most knowledgeable. It only took him a glance to see through the Old Tree’s true nature. Nevertheless, even he had only heard of the World Tree but had never seen it before. He never imagined that he would see the World Tree today.
Thinking back to Yang Kai’s actions earlier, he quickly grasped the situation. This place was probably the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary that was mentioned in legends.
“This is the World Tree? Why does it look so withered and wilted?” Yu Ru Meng was extremely taken aback.
At present, the World Tree certainly looked rather wilted. The originally lush leaves had withered away, and a feeble aura permeated its surroundings.
Yang Kai sighed and casually explained, “Old Tree’s existence is related to the Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds. If one suffers, all suffer; if one prospers, all prosper. Now that many of the Great Territories have been occupied by the Black Ink Clan, most Universe Worlds have had their Grand Daos collapse and their World Force drained away. It’s only natural that the Old Tree suffered some backlash.”
“Are those World Fruits?” Su Yan suddenly asked, pointing at the few fruits hanging on the tree.
Yang Kai nodded, “En, they are World Fruits. But, we can’t pick any of them. Most of the surviving World Fruits contain Universe Worlds that have been integrated into them. The rest represent the Universe Worlds that we have managed to preserve so far.”
The 3,000 Worlds used to be extremely prosperous, with countless Universe Worlds in the past, but only around 2,000 or so remained now. Each of these Universe Worlds corresponded to one of the World Fruits hanging on the World Tree. When the Grand Dao of a Universe World collapsed, the most obvious sign reflected by the World Tree was the decomposition of its World Fruit.
If Yang Kai had not travelled across so many Great Territories and refined the Universe Worlds there, the World Tree would probably be bare by now. Yang Kai did not know whether the World Tree could survive in such a condition. The highest probability was that the World Tree would survive, but not much vitality would remain.
Yu Ru Meng and the others were amazed. Although they could not understand how they suddenly travelled to this place from Acacia Territory, they did not inquire further into the matter since it was obviously related to Yang Kai.
“All of you should take some time to recuperate. I will lead you out later,” Yang Kai instructed, and then he sat down cross-legged.
Everybody obeyed his command. Taking out some Spirit Pills, they sat beside the World Tree and began to adjust their breathing. Many of them had sustained injuries during the battle earlier, and Yang Kai suffered the most wounds among them.
While these Humans were quietly focusing on their recovery, the Black Ink Clan Army stood guard around the five Territory Gates in Acacia Territory.
The three Territory Lords who escaped from the battle were gathered at one of the Territory Gates. Their leader, Mo Na Ye, was monitoring the depths of the void with a gloomy look in his eyes. That direction was where the Universe Cave Heaven in Acacia Territory was located.
They did not know the outcome of the battle outside the Universe Cave Heaven. Although Mo Na Ye had ordered the Black Ink Clan Army to lock down the Universe Cave Heaven before they departed, they were not there to oversee the situation themselves. No matter how great the numbers of the Black Ink Clan Army were, it would be difficult for them to succeed in the endeavour without the Territory Lords. On the contrary, the situation would improve significantly if they managed to suppress the enemy.
As Mo Na Ye mulled over the issue, a wave of murderous intent surged in his heart and he glared at You Gong who was standing nearby!
This bastard was the first to flee the battle after rushing out of the Universe Cave Heaven. As a result, Mo Na Ye did not dare to stay for long. If You Gong had not fled back then, Mo Na Ye would not have left so quickly either. The three Territory Lords would have stood a chance against the Humans if they cooperated with the Black Ink Clan Army, but this coward chose to flee without any hesitation! Mo Na Ye did not have the confidence to restrain Yang Kai without You Gong, so he could only choose to leave with him.
Seeming to sense Mo Na Ye’s glare, You Gong turned his head away and silently cursed in his heart, [Bastard Mo Na Ye! He refuses to take action for fear of danger, but has no problems sending others to die in his place!]
The other Territory Lords had not experienced the horror of Yang Kai from up close, but he had. It was fortunate that he had wisely chosen to make that female Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master his opponent and avoided fighting Yang Kai; otherwise, he would not be alive right now! After all, wasn’t that other fool dead?
As for Mo Na Ye’s dissatisfaction with him, he couldn’t care less. They were all Territory Lords, so even if Mo Na Ye was unhappy with him, what could the other party do to him?
All of a sudden, he sensed something. He raised his head and stared into the distance with a sigh, “The battle has probably ended.”
Similarly, Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords had noticed the situation. Many Black Ink Clansmen were fleeing towards them in a panic, as though an ominous beast was chasing them from behind.
[We lost!] Mo Na Ye sighed and closed his eyes. The Black Ink Clan Army of one million had failed to stop the Humans from escaping. Who knows how many losses they sustained in this battle?
Not long afterwards, Mo Na Ye learned the specifics of the situation from the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen.
The Black Ink Clan had indeed lost the battle. Without the support of the Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan Army had fallen apart like loose sand. It only took several attempts for the Human Race Masters to break their formation. Moreover, nobody knew which direction the Humans had fled.
Mo Na Ye then quickly relayed a command to each Territory Gate, ordering the troops to keep a strict watch for any movement by the Human Race Masters. Although the Humans had broken out of the Universe Cave Heaven, the Black Ink Clan was not without a chance of success.
There were over 700,000 troops standing guard at each Territory Gate, so no matter where the Humans tried to attack, there was bound to be a large battle. The Black Ink Clan Army guarding the targeted gate would only need to buy some time for the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army in Acacia Territory to arrive and overwhelm the enemy. With several million soldiers and three Territory Lords, there was still a chance to prevent the Humans from escaping.
However, what puzzled Mo Na Ye was that the situation at each Territory Gate remained peaceful and quiet even though more than 10 days passed. There was no movement from the Human Race Masters at all.
After some time, more Territory Lords arrived from various Great Territories to provide support, allowing Mo Na Ye to finally feel at ease. It was not until a total of nine Territory Lords had gathered here that he finally relayed a new command. The Territory Lords would split into groups of three, and each group would lead a portion of the Black Ink Clan Army to search for the whereabouts of the Human Race Masters in Acacia Territory.
The Humans could not have left Acacia Territory through the Territory Gates, so they must have been hiding somewhere and recovering from their wounds. In that case, it was only a matter of time before they were found.
Contrary to Mo Na Ye’s expectations though, the search lasted for half a year, but revealed nothing. The Humans… seemed to have vanished into thin air!
Inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, Yang Kai stood up after several days of rest and said goodbye to the Old Tree. The Old Tree simply waved his branches lightly in response, not even bothering to reveal his face. The effort to help Yang Kai previously must have placed a huge burden on him.
Yang Kai secretly vowed that he would not allow the Old Tree to help him like this again. Although the Old Tree was the manifestation of the 3,000 Worlds, his existence was integrated with all the Universe Worlds in every Great Territory. If the Old Tree exhausted too much energy, it would be harmful to the heritage of each Great Territory in the future.
When Yang Kai arrived, he needed the Old Tree to help him; fortunately, there was no need for that during his return.
Back then, Yang Kai managed to transfer 100 Divine Spirits to the vicinity of the Star Boundary with ease, so naturally, he did not require much effort this time either.
Activating his strength, he wrapped his power around everybody and connected his mind to the Star Boundary. It did not take long for him to locate the World Fruit on the World Tree that corresponded to the Star Boundary as that one was larger and more robust than the others.
In the next moment, Yang Kai charged towards the World Fruit. The World Tree rapidly enlarged in his vision, as though an entire universe was rushing straight at him. The Void turned upside down and space became hazy. Then, they suddenly appeared in the periphery of the Star Boundary.
Even though Yang Kai was in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he couldn’t help feeling slightly overwhelmed when he felt this familiar aura. He was home! After several thousand years, he was finally home!
Nearly a millennium ago, Yang Kai entered the Black Ink Battlefield from Black Territory, where he constantly fought for centuries without rest, and then got stuck in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon for many years. Only a few decades ago did he finally return from the Black Ink Battlefield.
Even then, he had been travelling about and did not have time to return to the Star Boundary.
When the situation in the 3,000 Worlds stabilized, he had to take Wu Kuang to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. One man could only do so many things.
Even when Yang Kai had sent the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary’s Divine Spirits to the Star Boundary, he still could not spare time to return himself.
It was only today that he finally returned home.
He was a Great Emperor who had been acknowledged by the Star Boundary’s Will, and was bestowed the title ‘Void’. As such, he was inseparable from the Star Boundary. As soon as he returned, an exceptionally strong intimate feeling filled his body, making him feel warm and content, like he had returned to his mother’s womb.
But the next moment, an angry shout interrupted this warm and homely sensation, “Who dares to trespass my Star Boundary?”
Immediately after the shout, a massive figure suddenly appeared from the Star Boundary. This figure was so massive that it blotted the entire void and was radiating quite an intimidating pressure.
Yang Kai felt that even though this pressure had yet not reached the Eighth Order, it was not far from it. Furthermore, as the opposite party was also borrowing the Star Boundary’s might, even an average Eighth-Order Master might not necessarily be his opponent.
Yang Kai smiled at the figure, “A wanderer has returned home, don’t panic, Sir Hong Chen!”
The projection from the Star Boundary belonged to none other than Bustling World Great Emperor, Duan Hong Chen.
Obviously, he was the one holding the fort currently.
Yang Kai had also heard about this from Yu Ru Meng and the others. In the beginning, the Star Boundary’s defences were not very tight, but it had now become the Human Race’s final refuge and primary base where the cultivators from Great Territories all across the 3,000 Worlds were gathered. Most of these refugees were weak and helpless, but there were a fair number of strong ones too. If someday the Black Ink Clan really fought its way to the Star Boundary, that would be the day of the final battle.
Ever since Yang Kai had sent the 100 or so Divine Spirits here, the Star Boundary had raised its level of vigilance significantly. It was not that they were on guard against Yang Kai specifically, it was more that they were concerned that the Black Ink Clan might have someone who could employ similar methods.
As such, a Great Emperor would remain on guard duty at all times.
Iron Blood, Bustling World, Martial Beast, Serene Soul, Flower Shadow, Ice Feather, Wondrous Pill, Heavens Revelation, and Void, these nine were the Star Boundary’s current Great Emperors.
Each of them was an outstanding character; otherwise, they would not have become Great Emperors. In the past, all of them had broken through straight to Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm with Yang Kai’s help, and thanks to the abundant resources available to them, they had smoothly advanced to Seventh-Order over the years.
Even then, their cultivation speed was quite fast, but what surprised Yang Kai today was Duan Hong Chen’s pressure. It was not the pressure of someone who had just recently advanced to the Seventh Order. Even many veteran Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would not be able to hold a candle to him.
Yang Kai had some speculation in his mind.
Duan Hong Chen was taken aback after hearing Yang Kai’s voice, but joy soon replaced his shock, “Yang Kai?”
The moment he mentioned Yang Kai’s name, the Star Boundary became abuzz with excitement as streaks of light shot up from its surface towards the void.
Yang Kai’s heart could not help but pound with excitement, sensing so many familiar auras.
A moment later, the streaks of light came to a halt and revealed themselves. A few of the figures were familiar to Yang Kai, while a few were not, but all of them radiated quite powerful undulations.
He immediately started heading in a particular direction. Standing in that direction was a middle-aged couple, who were both looking at him with excitement and warmth. The woman was incessantly sobbing, while the middle-aged man maintained a calm look, but he was still unable to conceal his excitement.
When he arrived close to the two, Yang Kai bowed down to kneel, “Your unfilial son, Yang Kai has made Father and Mother worried.”
“Get up!” Yang Ying Feng promptly grabbed him, preventing him from kneeling, “You are now an Army Commander, you represent the face of an entire Army as well as its prestige.”
The nearby Dong Su Zhu could not help but nod in agreement, but most of her attention was focused on Yang Kai’s body, checking if he was hurt in any place or not.
Naturally, the people in the rear received word of everything that had been going on in the frontlines. They had already received the news about Yang Kai being appointed as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, but Yang Kai’s parents were just happy that their Son was alive and well. They were proud that he was now entrusted with such heavy responsibilities by the Supreme Headquarters; still, they were worried that Yang Kai might not be able to shoulder such heavy responsibilities.
Yang Kai smiled, “Who does not have parents? Without parents, how could the current Human Race continue on?”
He then respectfully kneeled down, and kowtowed three times to his parents.
Only then did he stand up, lifted by his parents, before looking towards the figure standing next to his parents, “Thank you, it must have been hard on you…”
Xia Ning Chang’s eyes turned red, but she still shook her head and smiled, “Not at all.”
The moment Yang Kai appeared on the Profound Nether Territory battlefield, the news was instantly transmitted back. Xia Ning Chang had quickly rushed to Profound Nether Territory, but unfortunately, when she arrived, she received the news that Yang Kai had left with some soldiers just a few days prior. Helpless, Xia Ning Chang could only return to the Star Boundary.
She was now one of the most outstanding Alchemists of the Human Race and the soldiers on the frontline required a great deal of pills every day. So, she could not remain absent for too long.
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai had returned so soon, and appeared right outside the Star Boundary.
From Little Senior Sister’s perspective, it had been over 1,000 years since they last met, but her endless longing completely turned into tender feelings after just a glance at Yang Kai.
While they were chatting, more and more people flew over from the Star Boundary, but remained standing at a respectful distance.
Yang Kai spotted Hua Qing Si, Hui Gu, Mo Xiao Qi, Lin Yun’er, and many other acquaintances and unfamiliar figures in the crowd.
Most of them were injured and had probably returned from the front lines to recuperate at the Star Boundary. Once they had recovered, they would probably head back to the battlefield.
After some brief hellos, Yang Kai shouted, “Head Manager!”
Hua Qing Si immediately stepped forward, “Yes!”
“I’ll have to trouble you to take care of these people.” Saying so, he and Feng Ying immediately opened portals to their Small Universes and many cultivators rushed out, soon reaching 10,000 in number with quite a lot of them in the Sixth Order and Seventh Order.
The crowd was dumbfounded at the sight of this. Feng Ying’s side was still acceptable as the number of people she had taken was not high and none of them were in the Seventh Order.
Yang Kai’s side was rather spectacular though; not only did the people coming out of his Small Universe number over 10,000, but there were many in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
This left many speechless, wondering just how vast his Small Universe was.
“Palace Master, these are…” Hua Qing Si asked.
Yang Kai explained, “Most of them were rescued from Acacia Territory, while the rest are Hunters who happened to be there and provided us with their aid.”
Hua Qing Si immediately understood after hearing this and stated with a nod, “I understand! Everyone, please follow me.”
There were so many refugees, so it was impossible to settle them all on the Star Boundary. In fact, the Star Boundary could no longer accept any more people. The logistics department had already arranged the cultivators who had come from other Great Territories to other places.
Yang Xiao and the others wanted to slip into the crowd and disappear, but they were caught by Yang Kai, “You’re not going anywhere.”
A look of misery immediately took over Yang Xiao’s face as he shot a glance towards Yang Xue; however, how could Yang Xue dare to raise her voice; her parents were right here, so acting cute to her Big Brother would be useless. As for Zhao Ye Bai and the others, they obediently lowered their heads like baby chicks.
Yang Kai then shouted to the surrounding crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, this Yang has just returned home from a long journey. I’m sorry, but I won’t be entertaining any of you. I’ll visit you another day.”
A Seventh-Order old man from some Cave Heaven Paradise stated, putting on a smile, “Sir Yang is too polite, you can go about your own business. We are now members of the Star Boundary, so we can catch up later!”
Seniority-wise, he was many generations older than Yang Kai, but Yang Kai was currently in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and was also an Army Commander. Even the Sect Masters of the Cave Heavens and Paradises dared not put on airs before him. Addressing him as Sir was not inappropriate.
Yang Kai nodded in response before wrapping everyone around him in his World Force and heading to the Star Boundary.
A short while later, an Auspicious Aura basked High Heaven Palace, causing many disciples in retreat to start breaking through in succession. Those who could see fate and fortune saw an obscure, enormous Golden Dragon encompassing High Heaven Palace from afar. They could not help but marvel at this sight, “High Heaven Palace is really something, they are enjoying 30% of the Star Boundary’s fortune.”
It was foreseeable that in the future, Masters would emerge from High Heaven Palace one after another, and would continue to do so for some time.
In the past, the Auspicious Aura around High Heaven Palace was much stronger than other places in the Star Boundary already, but now, with Yang Kai’s return, that Auspicious Aura grew even stronger. It was as if the entire Star Boundary was celebrating his return. Even the World Tree clone towering in the Star Boundary rustled happily.
The area within a range of 100,000 kilometres of the World Tree clone was considered a Holy Land of the entire Human Race. This region was demarcated by High Heaven Palace, and only the most outstanding young generation disciples were allowed to cultivate here because it was easier to comprehend the various Grand Daos in the vicinity of the World Tree. Even healing effects here were much better than anywhere else.
The seriously wounded who had retreated from the front lines would also be sent here to recuperate.
At this moment, on a certain Spirit Peak in High Heaven Palace, where Yang Kai’s parents lived, a group of people suddenly appeared. Yang Kai was back, so were Yu Ru Meng and the others. Even Yang Xiao and the other little ones had been caught and brought back. The Spirit Peak, which was usually deserted, suddenly started bustling with activity.
Looking at the buzzing crowd, Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu glanced at each other as a smile appeared on their lips. After so many years, this place finally looked like a real home again.
Yu Ru Meng and the others got busy preparing a family banquet, while Yang Kai accompanied his parents, chatting non-stop with them. No one talked about the current situation of the Human Race, nor did Yang Kai’s parents ask about his recent experiences, because they did not need to ask, they knew that their Son must have gone through a lot.
Yang Xiao and others also wanted to help out, but just as they went to do so, they were reprimanded by Yu Ru Meng. Helpless, they had no choice but walk to one side in embarrassment, staring at each other in speechless dismay.
Endless sighs escaped Yang Kai’s lips, watching everyone and making small talk with his parents.
The noise and cruelty of the battlefield seemed so far away at this moment. This rare warmth could make anyone forget oneself and not want to leave.
His parents were both Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters now, but it had been ages since they advanced to the Fifth-Order. After so many years of cultivation, they were on the verge of breaking through to the Sixth Order. Only, his parents’ aptitude was not that great, and the further their cultivation progressed, the harder it became for them to advance. If they want to break through to the Seventh Order, they would need many more years.
Yang Ying Feng and Dong Su Zhu were still very satisfied. They were also among the first generation of people to receive the World Tree’s feedback. In fact, had it not been for the World Tree clone’s feedback, it would have been difficult for them to even advance directly to the Fourth Order with their past aptitude. They would have probably had to settle for reaching the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Currently, they were in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Yang Kai was in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and with high status and weighty responsibilities. Although Yang Xue was in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, she was about to advance to Seventh-Order and had a lot of room for growth. Furthermore, all of their Daughters-in-law were in the Seventh Order. So, what was there to be dissatisfied about? The two had never been insatiably greedy.
The Spirit Peak was overflowing with joy and happiness.
Most of the time, it was Dong Su Zhu who was speaking, Yang Ying Feng did not say much. Their chat included the interesting events that had taken place in the Star Boundary over the years. Like, when two Elders of some Cave Heaven or Paradise fought with each other over a Disciple, only to end up being taken advantage of by others.
This kind of thing had happened before. Only, when Yang Kai was here, the World Tree clone’s feedback had only just appeared, and was not as marvellous as it was now.
Like, when a native disciple of the Star Boundary with outstanding aptitude was acknowledged as Great Emperor a few years ago.
Or how a gorgeous disciple of High Heaven Palace made their Fellow Brothers compete with each other for her favour.
Yang Kai calmly listened with a smile.
High Heaven Territory was the last pure land of the Human Race. Feeling the warmth he had not felt for a very long time, Yang Kai suddenly understood the feelings of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors who had sacrificed their lives that day.
They wanted to protect this final paradise at any cost, because this was the future hope of the Human Race.
Unfortunately, warm moments were always too short.
Yang Kai did not stay with his parents for long. After attending the family banquet, he left Yu Ru Meng and the others with his parents and departed.
He still had many things to attend to.
Yang Kai was sitting up straight in the Main Conference Hall of High Heaven Palace, listening to Hua Qing Si explain the Star Boundary’s current situation.
The Star Boundary could now be said to be the most important rear base of the Human Race, because of the World Tree clone. The current Star Boundary was truly an Open Heaven Realm Cradle, with a large number of them being born every year, each one extremely talented in their own right.
Most of these people would advance straight to Fifth-Order or Sixth-Order, while occasionally, one or two would advance straight to Seventh-Order! These rare few would be treated as precious treasures by the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
More than 1,000 years ago, the Cave Heavens and Paradises had founded their own Dao Temples on the Star Boundary, laying claim to vast stretches of territory. Over the years, a balance of power in the Star Boundary had been maintained by High Heaven Palace as the leader, and other local Sects and Cave Heavens and Paradises’ Dao Temples acting as supports. This power balance had not changed much for nearly a millennium.
A few decades ago though, when the Human Race suffered defeat on the Barren Territory battlefield, cultivators from various Great Territories all migrated to High Heaven Territory.
It was quite hectic back then as too many people had suddenly arrived, and more kept on coming. Fortunately, the Cave Heavens and Paradises had stepped in to manage the situation, otherwise the Star Boundary would have been in total chaos.
The Star Boundary’s name had spread far and wide long ago, and at that time, all the cultivators who had lost their homes all naturally wanted to settle down in the Star Boundary, but the Star Boundary was only so big and could not accommodate so many people.
In the end, Masters from the various Cave Heavens and Paradises came forward and allowed various forces to set up temporary palaces in the vicinity of the Star Boundary, but all the forces of a Territory were only allowed to set up one such palace.
Since they could not enter the Star Boundary, staying in its periphery was not a bad idea. At the very least, they would be able to benefit from some of the feedback from the World Tree clone.
Furthermore, the forces that had migrated from all over 3,000 Worlds were promised that if their outstanding disciples chose to enter any of the Cave Heavens or Paradises’ Dao Temples to cultivate they would be allowed to do so as long as they passed certain tests.
These tests were neither easy nor difficult, but only true geniuses could pass them.
Over the years, some people had passed these tests and entered the various Dao Temples, but their numbers weren’t that high.
With these kinds of arrangements, the initial chaos was finally settled.
Yang Kai suddenly understood, “No wonder there were so many Universe Fragments in the periphery of the Star Boundary, they were arranged by the combined effort of various forces of the Great Territories!”
When he had returned, Yang Kai noticed numerous Universe Fragments of various sizes floating around the Star Boundary. Furthermore, there were many palaces and buildings erected on these Universe Fragments; obviously, cultivators were living on them. Yang Kai could not understand why there were so many Universe Fragments present, but after listening to Hua Qing Si’s explanation, he finally understood.
The Cave Heavens and Paradises ate the meat, while the forces that had migrated could only settle for the soup. There was no other alternative though. The Dao Temples’ domain had already occupied a large portion of the Star Boundary, and far too many forces had migrated to High Heaven Territory, so the Star Boundary could not accommodate all of them.
Hua Qing Si concurred with a nod as a bitter smile appeared on her face as she continued, “If the Demon Territory’s environment wasn’t so unsuitable, many would have been more than happy to settle there.”
There were not many Universe Worlds suitable for habitation and cultivation in High Heaven Territory. Apart from the Star Boundary, there was the Demon Realm. The latter had been shattered many years ago, and Yang Kai had used his Embodiment to activate the Heaven Devouring Battle Law and re-assemble all those shattered pieces.
In terms of cultivation environment, the Demon Realm was naturally inferior to the Star Boundary; furthermore, the Demon Realm was rich in Demon Qi. Myriad Demons Heaven disciples should like it very much. Likewise, cultivators who cultivated Demon Techniques would not reject it, but for most cultivators, the Demon Realm was simply not suitable to live in.
“The numbers don’t match though, how come there are so few migrated cultivators here?” Yang Kai was a little puzzled. Although there were many palaces in the vicinity of the Star Boundary, those could only house so many cultivators, far fewer than the total number who had migrated here from the other Great Territories.
Hua Qing Si explained, “The number of cultivators living in the palaces in the periphery of the Star Boundary is small because most others were settled in the New Great Territory. There are many more suitable Universe Worlds in the New Great Territory for habitation. Whether it is the World Energy, World Force, or even the Grand Dao or material resources there, they can be well suited for varying forces.”
Yang Kai understood right away.
The Small Stone Race he had was discovered in the New Great Territory. This Great Territory was only accidentally discovered about a millennium ago, and Humans from the other Great Territories had never set foot into it. The void was truly vast, so a Great Territory could remain undiscovered as breaching the Territory Barriers was no simple feat.
Over the past 1,000 years or so, High Heaven Palace had worked hard to develop the New Great Territory and reaped quite a lot of benefits from it. During that time, the New Great Territory had been under High Heaven Palace’s sole control, with the Cave Heavens and Paradises unable to intervene in it. But now, in order to accommodate all the refugees, there was no choice but to open up the New Great Territory.
Be that as it may, if the New Great Territory had any treasures, they had already been snatched up by High Heaven Palace during their 1,000 year development period.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Follow me, let’s take a trip to the New Great Territory.”
Huan Qing Si instantly obeyed, “Yes.”
Yang Kai had learned a bit about the Star Boundary from Yu Ru Meng and his other Wives, but that information was mainly obtained during pillow talks. Now that he had personally returned, he naturally had to obtain a better understanding of the Star Boundary’s situation.
“I heard you have 200 disciples hidden here?” Yang Kai suddenly remembered this matter.
Hua Qing Si nodded her affirmation, “Yes, I have reported this to the Supreme Headquarters, and also received their permission.” After saying so, she added, “But not just High Heaven Palace has done so, the Cave Heavens and Paradises’ good seedlings who advanced straight to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm have basically all been sequestered here. Only, their disciples are fewer than ours.”
High Heaven Palace had many disciples because of the tens of thousands of years of accumulation of Yang Kai’s Small Universe. Even if the Cave Heavens and Paradises stashed away some disciples, they did not have such unique conditions to benefit from.
“Does Palace Master think it’s inappropriate?” Huan Qing Si asked.
Yang Kai shook his head in denial, “It’s not about whether it is appropriate or not, but… never mind, we’ll discuss it later, I have my own considerations.”
He had always felt that a diligent cultivator who remained in a greenhouse would never have much potential.
He then turned to look at Bustling World Great Emperor, who was drinking tea by the side, and stated with a smile, “After so many years, your cultivation has become quite profound, Sir Hong Chen.”
Duan Hong Chen glanced at him and refuted, smiling, “Even so, I can’t compare to you. How did you reach the Eighth Order so quickly?”
Yang Kai had broken through to the Open Heaven Realm a little earlier than the other Great Emperors, but they had advanced directly to the Sixth Order, while Yang Kai had advanced to the Fifth Order; there was a difference of an Order between them and Yang Kai at the start.
Over these years, the cultivation of the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors had advanced at an astonishing pace. Each and every one of them had reached the Seventh-Order, and Iron Blood Great Emperor, Zhan Wu Hen had already reached the peak of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Originally, Duan Hong Chen believed that their cultivation must have surpassed Yang Kai’s; after all, Yang Kai had been fighting on the Black Ink Battlefield. But much to their surprise, Yang Kai had reached the Eighth Order by the time he returned, making him even stronger than the Great Emperors who had been stationed at the Star Boundary.
Duan Hong Chen was very puzzled about this.
“I obtained a certain opportunity,” Yang Kai casually replied. The next moment, his expression turned serious as he asked, “Sir Hong Chen, is the World Tree clone’s feedback useful to you?”
Considering everything, Duan Hong Chen and the others had advanced to the Open Heaven Realm just over 1,000 years ago, but all of them had now reached the Seventh Order. This was a huge improvement. If it was any other Open Heaven Realm Master, it would have been impossible to show so much improvement in such a short time, no matter how outstanding his or her aptitude was.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai believed that the reason was the World Tree clone’s feedback.
In the past, he had also borrowed the Star Boundary’s power to resist his enemies, because he was a Great Emperor acknowledged by the Star Boundary’s Will. As a result, he greatly improved in a short time with the help of the Star Boundary’s World Force.
Borrowing strength like this consumed the World Force of the Star Boundary, but it also strengthened one’s foundation greatly.
This was equivalent to seizing the Star Boundary’s foundation.
It was quite beneficial to one’s self, and could save a great deal of time in cultivation, but for the Star Boundary, it was akin to killing the goose that laid the golden eggs, the Star Boundary being the goose.
Duan Hong Chen and the others understood this point, and with their sense of righteousness, they would never do something like harming others for the sake of their own benefit. So, their rapid progress must have something to do with the World Tree clone’s feedback.
Duang Hong Chen nodded his agreement, “It’s useful; very useful. I didn’t notice it at first, but with the increase in the World Tree clone’s feedback these past years, we discovered that our heritages increased much more rapidly than average. Furthermore, as Great Emperors, our Small Universes’ World Force should be denser than others. So, we should be stronger than other cultivators in the same realm.”
The World Force became denser with the increase in his cultivation. Suddenly, Yang Kai felt a sense of familiarity.
After giving it a thought, he realized that it was true for him as well.
There was a World Tree clone in his Small Universe, which was why his cultivation was much faster than before. Furthermore, the World Tree clone had the effect of purifying World Force, so it naturally made his World Force denser.
Although Duan Hong Chen and the other Great Emperors did not have World Tree clones in their Small Universes, they were Star Boundary Great Emperors, so the World Tree clone being in the Star Boundary was naturally beneficial to them.
Realization suddenly dawned upon Yang Kai.
No wonder Bustling World Great Emperor’s cultivation had improved so quickly. In the final analysis, it was all thanks to the World Tree clone.
The source of the World Tree clone’s feedback was energy siphoned from other Universe Worlds and then transferred to the Star Boundary, allowing the latter’s fortune and Auspicious Aura to flourish while its Grand Dao was further tempered. This way, both enlightenment and cultivation became easier for the residents of the Star Boundary.
Be that as it may, there was a limit to this kind of extraction, and it was not without restrictions. So, when Yang Kai asked the Old Tree to bestow him with more World Tree clones, the latter had only given him three. If the Old Tree had given him more, not to mention if the Old Tree could sustain them or not, the feedback effect would have also substantially decreased.
Of the three World Tree clones, Yang Kai had given one to Wu Kuang, which left him with two.
Wu Kuang was in quite a precarious position as no one knew when Mo would awaken. The stronger Wu Kuang was, the more he could utilize the power of Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. This was the reason why Yang Kai wanted to send Wu Kuang there as soon as possible. No matter how powerful Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was, it was an inanimate object which could do nothing if no one was manning it. Only a stronger Wu Kuang could utilize the complete might of the Grand Array and continue to suppress and seal Mo.
The World Tree clone plus the Heaven Devouring Battle Law would ensure that Wu Kuang could grow stronger in the shortest amount of time; otherwise, he would not have boasted that he could advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in just 3,000 years.
It had to be noted that Wu Kuang was currently just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
“Who has been titled in the Star Boundary?” Yang Kai asked again.
Getting a title did not mean advancing to the Open Heaven Realm, it meant being acknowledged by the Star Boundary’s Will, and obtaining a title granted by the World itself. In truth, the person obtaining the title would just be at the peak of the Emperor Realm, but unlike others in that realm, he or she would be a Great Emperor.
Generally speaking, every Universe World had their own Great Emperors.
The number of Great Emperors was dependent on the limit of the Universe World itself.
Just like the Small Universe of an Open Heaven Realm Master had limits, so did real Universe Worlds.
In the entire history of the Star Boundary, only 10 Great Emperors could be born in the Star Boundary. This was the limit of the Star Boundary. There could be no more Great Emperors.
To a Universe World, once every Great Emperor had their own position, there was no additional vacancy. Unless a Great Emperor perished, no other Great Emperor could be born.
Originally, the Star Boundary had nine Great Emperors including Yang Kai, but after returning, Yang Kai could clearly feel that there was another Great Emperor.
When he was chatting with his parents, they had also mentioned this, but they did not mention who it was.
Hua Qing Si replied, “It’s Pastoral Great Emperor!”
Dong Hong Chen added, “Do you remember Shi Da Zhuang?”
Even though Yang Kai’s cultivation was profound and his memory was superb, he didn’t have much of an impression of this name. Nonetheless, he found it a little familiar, so he should have heard of it before.
Pondering for a moment, it suddenly came to him, “The Disciple Elder Yu Chang Dao of Free and Unfettered Paradise took a liking to?”
Duan Hong Chen affirmed, smiling, “That’s right.”
Yang Kai suddenly realized, “So, it’s him,” he happily continued, “So to say, he is also a member of my High Heaven Palace?”
Hua Qing Si added with a smile, “Yes, Palace Masters. Now, our High Heaven Palace is a Sect with two Great Emperors.”
Even though many Great Emperors of the Star Boundary were quite close to High Heaven Palace, everyone had their own backgrounds and none of them were from High Heaven Palace other than Yang Kai.
Pastoral Great Emperor, whose title was so down to earth, was different. He was born in the Star Boundary, and had joined High Heaven Palace. Now, counting Yang Kai, High Heaven Palace genuinely had two Great Emperors.
Yang Kai remembered Shi Dao Zhuang because he was one of the first Disciples to benefit from the World Tree clone’s feedback.
In the past, when word about the World Tree clone’s miraculous benefits spread through the 3,000 Worlds, various Cave Heavens and Paradies had swarmed to the Star Boundary to establish their Dao Temples in search of talented disciples. Free and Unfettered Paradise’s Elder Yu Chang Dao was quite lucky and found Shi Dao Zhuang soon after his arrival and immediately intended to take him under his wing.
Unfortunately, Shi Da Zhuang’s widowed mother, Liu Cai Xia, strictly adhered to her deceased Husband’s final request that Shi Dao Zhuang only join High Heaven Palace.
At that time, it was Yang Kai, leading High Heaven Palace and various Masters of the Star Boundary, who drove off the Demon Race. Some 200 years after Great Demon God Mo Sheng was killed, High Heaven Palace’s prestige was at its peak. The entire Star Boundary had an inexplicable fervor for High Heaven Palace and all cultivators dreamed of joining it.
Shi Da Zhuang’s Father had departed this world before the boy was born. He did not have much talent in cultivation, but before he passed away, he left a will and hoped that Shi Da Zhuang could join High Heaven Palace someday.
Yu Chang Dao wanted to take Shi Da Zhuang as his Disciple, but Liu Cai Xia was reluctant.
This matter had given Yu Chang Dao a big headache at that time. One had to know that he was from Free and Unfettered Paradise, and a Seventh-Order Master. Furthermore, he personally stepped forward to receive this Disciple. If any cultivator had obtained this opportunity, they would be dancing with joy and immediately kowtow to him. Liu Cai Xia, however, failed to appreciate this opportunity and instead wholeheartedly followed her deceased Husband’s will.
In the end, a compromise had to be reached. Yu Chang Dao became a High-Ranking Guest Elder in High Heaven Palace, while Shi Dao Zhuang became Yu Chang Dao’s Disciple after joining High Heaven Palace; everyone was happy.
So to say, Shi Da Zhuang was a High Heaven Palace disciple as well as a Free and Unfettered Paradise disciple.
As it turned out, Yu Chang Dao had quite a discerning eye. Shi Dai Zhuang’s growth had been extremely rapid after he had started cultivating. He advanced to the Emperor Realm in a short span of 200 years, obtained the acknowledgement of the Star Boundary’s Will, and earned the title of Pastoral Great Emperor. After that, he advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. His future prospects were simply limitless.
In the past, he was Shi Da Zhuang, and now he was Pastoral Great Emperor, the Star Boundary’s 10th Great Emperor. Duan Hong Chen and the other Great Emperors could enjoy the World Tree clone’s feedback, which increased their cultivation speed, and naturally, so could the Pastoral Great Emperor. Furthermore, his foundations were far better than the current Great Emperors. He had advanced straight to the Seventh Order, which meant he had a chance to reach the Ninth Order one day.
In this regard, even Yang Kai could not hold a candle to Shi Da Zhuang. His limit was the Eighth Order, and although he had yet to reach the peak of his realm, it was next to impossible for Yang Kai to break through to the Ninth Order.
“Wonderful!” Yang Kai rejoiced. No matter what the background of the Pastoral Great Emperor was, so long as he could advance to the Ninth Order, he would become a cornerstone of the Human Race.
Thanks to the invasion of a powerful external enemy, the Human Race no longer had much internal strife.
Even though there were quite a lot of geniuses who had advanced straight to the Seventh Order, their growth would be extremely slow. Shi Da Zhuang was different though. His growth time should be much shorter than others thanks to the World Tree clone in the Star Boundary.
“There’s also something that Iron Blood and I haven’t announced to the public yet. In fact, we haven’t been able to make up our minds about what to do, but since you’re back, we’ll ask for your opinion,” Duan Hong Chen added.
Yang Kai stated, “Senior Hong Chen, please speak.”
Duan Hong Chen replied, “Actually, I don’t think you need me to tell you this, but since you just returned, you probably haven’t noticed yet. The limit of the Star Boundary seems to have increased.”
Yang Kai was momentarily stunned after hearing this before he tried to focus and sense it.
A Universe World’s limit was tangible and fixed, but normal people could not sense it unless they were a Great Emperor like Yang Kai or Duan Hong Chen. No matter how high one’s cultivation was, it was extremely difficult to perceive this as it was related to the acknowledgement of the World itself.
The number of Great Emperors depended on the capacity of the Universe World. The larger the capacity, the more Great Emperors it could give birth to.
The Star Boundary had always had a total of 10 Great Emperors at maximum. Logically speaking, after Shi Da Zhuang became a Great Emperor, the Star Boundary’s capacity should have reached its limit, making it impossible for another Great Emperor to be born.
Despite that, Yang Kai discovered that the Star Boundary still seemed to have some room to accommodate more, which meant the Star Boundary’s capacity had not reached its limit.
“When did it start to change?” Yang Kai was astounded.
“I don’t know,” Dong Hong Chen shook his head, “In the past, the Star Boundary had never been able to give birth to more than 10 Great Emperors. We only had nine for so long we did not pay much attention to it. It was only when Pastoral was titled that we noticed that the Star Boundary had still not hit its limit. Furthermore, it seemed to have continued growing over the years.”
“The World Tree clone?” Yang Kai pondered.
Duan Hong Chen nodded, “Apart from this, I can’t find any other explanation. As you know, a Universe World’s capacity is directly correlated to its Grand Dao. Some Universe Worlds’ Grand Dao is stronger, so their capacity is larger. Correspondingly, the number of Great Emperors they could give birth to is higher. Under normal circumstances, the limit of a Universe World’s Grand Dao is fixed, and that was also true for the Star Boundary. So, the number of Great Emperors was also fixed. But now, after years of the World Tree clone’s nourishment, the Star Boundary’s Grand Dao has become stronger. This should be the reason why the World’s capacity has increased.”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement, “Makes sense.”
Duan Hong Chen continued with a smile, “Right now, only a few people besides the Great Emperors know about this matter. We haven’t publicly announced it…”
Yang Kai knew what was going through their minds. There might not be any strife among Humans right now, but everyone still had their own selfish motives. In the current Star Boundary, the Dao Temples of various Cave Heavens and Paradises had many disciples. Naturally, Duan Hong Chen and the others were more inclined to have the Star Boundary native cultivators become Great Emperors and occupy the final position. As such, the more Star Boundary Great Emperors there were, the stronger their overall strength would be and the greater their position in the Human Race’s hierarchy would become.
“Do you think we should announce it to the public?” Duan Hong Chen asked.
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before agreeing, “Let’s announce it to the public. Presently, the 3,000 Worlds has been invaded by foreign enemies, uniting us all in a common cause. In times like this, it would be quite petty to hide such a fact. Also, announcing it should stimulate competitiveness in the younger generation. Although the Star Boundary’s capacity has increased, it seems to only be able to give birth to one more Great Emperor at most. It might increase in the future, but that remains to be seen. Not to mention, we won’t be able to hide this forever. Someone will eventually rise up to take that Great Emperor position.”
Duan Hong Chen nodded, “Then we’ll follow your lead. Head Manager, find an opportunity to spread the news.”
The nearby Hua Qing Si nodded her acknowledgement, “Leave it to me.”
A Great Emperor might not be much on its own, as it was just another Emperor Realm Master that was a little stronger than normal, after all; but a Great Emperor of the Star Boundary was another thing altogether. Duan Hong Chen, Zhan Wu Hen, and the other Great Emperors’ rapid growth was obvious to other cultivators. Everyone knew that it was thanks to the World Tree clone’s feedback. If they could be titled as a Great Emperor in the Star Boundary, it would definitely save them a great deal of time in the future.
It was quite easy to imagine that once this news was disseminated, it would create a cultivation frenzy among the younger generation. There was only one position, and everyone would compete for it. Whether one could compete or not would depend on one’s potential.
“The Star Boundary is too crowded,” Yang Kai suddenly looked outside and said.
In the past, various Cave Heavens and Paradises came to the Star Boundary to establish Dao Temples, dividing up some of the territory. At that time, it was nothing to worry about. Although High Heaven Palace enjoyed quite a popularity in the Star Boundary, it alone was unable to nurture all the rising talents. So, Yang Kai was more than happy to share the burden with the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
It was a win-win cooperation.
Only, with the migration of cultivators from other Great Territories, in which even Cave Heavens and Paradises lost their millennia of heritage and foundation, a single Star Boundary was unable to meet the needs of the entire Human Race.
The sight of all the remaining forces and elites of the Human Race gathered at one spot might have looked spectacular, but in fact, it was quite detrimental to their development.
Originally, Yang Kai had been hesitant about creating another Star Boundary, but by the looks of it, doing so was imperative.
Not only could it relieve the pressure of the Star Boundary, but it could also resolve some internal issues of the Human Race.
Not to mention, if there was another Star Boundary, there would be more Great Emperors like Duan Hong Chen and Zhan Wu Hen in the future.
Yang Kai was flying through the vast void of the New Great Territory, accompanied by Hua Qing Si.
There was no one else apart from these two.
Since he had decided to create another Star Boundary, Yang Kai naturally would not dawdle. He was now the Commander of the Profound Nether Army, so he could not stay away for an extended period of time.
High Heaven Territory did not have suitable Universe Worlds, so he could only search the New Great Territory.
“The New Great Territory has many Universe Worlds, but only 12 are habitable, and basically, all of them are overcrowded,” Hua Qing Si reported while pointing forward, “That’s Tranquil Blue World, Humans of 100 Great Territories have migrated here.”
Yang Kai looked ahead and saw a faint blue Universe World. In the vast and endless void, this Universe World could not be considered big, but it was quite beautiful.
At first, this Universe World was only habited by living creatures of low sentience, but after the migration of over 100 Great Territories, the entire Tranquil Blue World was bustling with activity and buildings of all shapes and sizes could be seen everywhere.
Humans were quite a tenacious race. Although they had to part with their homeland and settle on this Strange Universe World, the flames of the Human Race’s development had spread throughout the entire Universe World.
Tranquil Blue World’s Grand Dao was not very strong, but it was not that low either. It was not a problem for a cultivator to advance to the Emperor Realm here, and the capacity of this Universe World was enough to support the birth of several Great Emperors.
Yang Kai did not stay here for long though and continued to explore with Hua Qing Si.
As Yang Kai and Hua Qing Si travelled to one Universe World after another, he gradually gained a better understanding of the New Great Territory’s situation. Indeed, as Hua Qing Si had mentioned, there were 12 habitable Universe Worlds in the New Great Territory, and Humans who had migrated from other Great Territories had more or less settled down on all of them. Furthermore, as there were too many Humans, some of these Universe Worlds were as crowded as the Star Boundary.
“Are there any other Universe Worlds?” Yang Kai asked. It was actually quite simple to create a second Star Boundary; he just had to pick one from these 12 Universe Worlds and plant the World Tree clone on it. Then, after a few centuries, it would naturally turn into a second Star Boundary.
In the beginning, the Star Boundary was almost shattered, but after the World Tree clone was planted on it, it became an Open Heaven Realm Cradle. On the other hand, these 12 Universe Worlds were completely intact and even flourishing.
Be that as it may, Yang Kai had his own plans.
“Palace Master, what kind of Universe World are you looking for?” Hua Qing Si did not know what Yang Kai had in mind, “There are three more Universe Worlds besides these 12 habitable Universe Worlds, of which two World’s Grand Daos are incomplete. It would not be a problem for ordinary mortals to migrate to those Worlds, but if cultivators live on them, their cultivation would progress very slowly.”
“What about the third one?” Yang Kai asked.
“There is also a Universe World whose Grand Dao is quite strong, but its environment is a bit special. Great Monsters run rampant there. Furthermore, there are many Great Monsters at the peak of the Emperor Realm, so it would be quite dangerous for Humans to reside on it without any protection from powerful Masters.”
It was not that High Heaven Palace was unable to exterminate these Great Monsters; if a few Open Heaven Realm Masters were deployed, the Monster Race would not be able to mount any resistance. It was just that it was their territory to begin with. If High Heaven Palace really did this, it would be inhumane and go against the Heavens’ Will. So, when they arranged for the Humans to relocate to the New Great Territory, this Universe World was not taken into consideration and simply left alone.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up after hearing this, “Let’s go take a look.”
Hua Qing Si quickly led the way.
The two arrived at the periphery of a Universe World half a day later. Hua Qing Si pointed at the giant Universe World and introduced, “This is it. Senior Martial Beast named it the Myriad Monsters World. When we discovered this place, Senior Martial Beast personally entered it to inspect it, and subdued a few Great Monsters. Now, those Great Monsters are subordinates of Senior Martial Beast.”
High Heaven Palace did not try to subdue the Myriad Monsters World, firstly, because it was inhumane and counter to the natural order, and secondly, it was because of Marital Beast Great Emperor.
Martial Beast Great Emperor’s Grand Dao was about controlling and taming Beasts. He was naturally very fond of a place like the Myriad Monsters World.
Yang Kai looked around and immediately understood why Hua Qing Si said that this World’s environment was quite special. This World was filled with an extremely ancient and savage aura. It was no wonder that the Monster Race ran rampant here, and Great Monsters could be found everywhere. This environment was perfectly suitable for the Monster Race.
Yang Kai was overjoyed.
He was unaware that there was such a World in the New Great Territory. It must have been discovered by High Heaven Palace after he entered the Black Ink Battlefield.
“Let’s go down and take a look,” Yang Kai beckoned, leading Hua Qing Si into the Myriad Monsters World.
As soon as Yang Kai and Hua Qing Si entered the Myriad Monsters World, Great Monsters with higher cultivations seemed to have sensed something as they raised their head, looking towards the void. But how could these Great Monsters see him when Yang Kai had deliberately hidden his whereabouts?
Myriad Monsters World was quite large, bigger than any of the other 12 Universe Worlds Yang Kai had investigated before. Covering the entire Myriad Monsters World with his Divine Sense, Yang Kai could indeed detect the aura of many Great Monsters here, every one of them at the peak of the Emperor Realm. With such powerful cultivation and the tyrannical physique of the Monster Race, their strength was quite impressive.
Be that as it may, as these members of the Monster Race had no contact with the outside world, they only relied on their instincts to cultivate. The peak of the Emperor Realm was basically their limit; they could not advance any further.
The current cultivation path of the Human Race was passed down by Cang and other nine Martial Ancestors, which allowed them to open up a Small Universe in their bodies and break through the shackles of their Universe Worlds, allowing them to attain far greater strength.
The Divine Spirits’ cultivation mainly focused on purifying their bloodline. The purer one’s bloodline was, the stronger they would be.
As for the Monster Race, their cultivation method depended mainly on taking Human Form and then using the Human’s Open Heaven Realm cultivation method to break through from their equivalent of the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm.
The Monster Race of the Myriad Monsters World had never even seen Humans before though, so how would they assume Human Form? Therefore, no matter how profound their cultivation was, they had always maintained their Monster Form. Some of them were incomparably massive and looked quite magnificent from a distance.
In fact, when the Monster Race ruled the Universe in the Early Ancient Era, they had their own cultivation methods that did not involve taking Human Form to constantly improve their strength.
However, the Monster Race’s cultivation method was lost with the destruction of the Early Ancient Era.
Whether it was the Early Ancient Era’s cultivation method, or the Open Heaven Realm method of the Human Race, the Monster Race of the Myriad Monsters World knew nothing about them. Thus, they only maintained their Monster Forms and the peak of the Emperor Realm was their limit. This was the World’s shackles on them, the constraints of this World’s Grand Dao.
The Monster Race on the Myriad Monsters World had quite a huge population. There were quite a lot of Great Monsters here, but none of them were able to break their shackles without a proper cultivation method. This problem had plagued the Great Monsters of the Myriad Monsters World for countless eras. They had tried to solve this problem, but had never been able to.
As Yang Kai continued to investigate the Myriad Monsters World, every Great Monster on it started to become restless. Although they were unable to detect Yang Kai or his aura, they still instinctively felt that a great catastrophe was looming over their heads. The Monster Race’s instincts had always been quite sharp, so the strongest among them could faintly feel that someone had entered this World, someone whom they could not resist.
It was not like this had never happened before though. Several hundred years ago, when Martial Beast Great Emperor had entered the Myriad Monsters World and subdued a few of the strongest Great Monsters, he too had given them a similar feeling.
The surviving Great Monsters had personally witnessed this strange individual’s strength. The strongest of the Great Monsters were unable to fight back against that tiny figure.
That same feeling had once again descended today.
All the Great Monsters began to lie low for fear of being targeted. They were also unaware of what fate befell those Great Monsters who were taken away by that ‘Human’, but they were unwilling to hand their life and death over to others.
The movements of these Great Monsters naturally could not escape Yang Kai’s investigation, who actually found it quite funny, [These Monster Beasts’ instincts are quite sharp.]
Be that as it may, he had not come here to subdue these Great Monsters. Although the Monster Race here was quite amazing, he did not attach any importance to them.
At some point, Yang Kai came to a stop as a smile appeared on his lips. The next moment, his Divine Sense flooded the Myriad Monsters World like a tide, completely enveloping it.
Immediately after, the Great Monsters who were hiding in their lairs heard a loud sound like a bell tolling in their minds.
The sudden intrusion of that sound immediately made the Great Monsters panic, but very soon, they discovered that the sound that had appeared was not lethal or anything of the sort, just rather noisy.
Furthermore… that undulating sound seemed to be subtly guiding them.
Immediately, the intelligent Great Monsters calmed their minds and began carefully comprehending it.
The Great Monsters relied completely on their instincts to cultivate, but those who could cultivate to the peak had naturally opened up a degree of sentience that vastly exceeded that of common Monster Beasts.
After this enlightenment, some Great Monsters went wild with joy, as if they had seen the road ahead in their ever-stagnant cultivation.
After half a day, in a mountain valley filled with flowers, a Great Monster spat out its Monster Core and followed the guidance of the sound in its mind, carefully tempering it.
In another place, on some mountain peak, another Great Monster similarly spat out a vibrant five-coloured Monster Core before its Blood Essence started surging and Monster Qi filled the surroundings.
In the middle of the sea, a giant whale emerged from the water, its Monster Core hovering over its head.
In the middle of a forest, on the plains, on the snowy mountains, Great Monsters spat out their Monster Cores after seeing the light in the darkness, and began cultivating with all their heart.
In an instant, Monster Qi filled the Myriads Monsters World as powerful auras began to suddenly emerge one after another.
Hua Qing Si’s mouth went agape at the sight of this and she immediately turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Palace Master, what did you do?”
She had no idea what Yang Kai had done, all she noticed was his Divine Sense surging, stirring the calm Myriad Monsters World the next moment.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “I taught them a cultivation method.”
Hua Qing Si was shaken up by this revelation. Yang Kai’s words might be simple, but she knew that this cultivation method was definitely far from ordinary, otherwise, it would have been impossible to see such changes so rapidly in the Myriad Monsters World.
Currently, the Monster Race relied on the Human Race’s Open Heaven Realm cultivation method, but judging by the momentum of Myriad Monsters World’s Great Monsters, they wanted to break through with their Monster Forms alone.
How could such a Secret Art be simple?
This was definitely an extremely profound and ancient method.
In fact, Hua Qing Si’s guess was correct. What Yang Kai had passed down was indeed an ancient cultivation method used by the Monster Race in the Early Ancient Era. This ancient method was long lost with the destruction of the Early Ancient Era.
However, in this Universe, if anyone knew this ancient method, that would be Wu Kuang!
When Yang Kai and Wu Kuang parted ways at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Wu Kuang had taught him the Monster Race’s ancient cultivation method. It was not that Wu Kuan foresaw the existence of the Myriad Monsters World; rather, if Yang Kai wanted to advance to the Ninth Order, he needed this ancient Monster Race cultivation method.
Inside the Myriad Monsters World, Great Monsters began to cultivate after receiving the ancient cultivation method, causing the entire Universe World’s World Force to thrum.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai found a Spirit Peak and began setting up a Universe Array.
He had left multiple Universe Arrays in the New Great Territory, mainly to facilitate High Heaven Palace disciples’ exploration, but there were none in the vicinity of the Myriad Monsters World.
Although Hua Qing Si did not know Yang Kai’s intentions, she did not ask any questions either. Her Palace Master always had his reasons for doing things, all she needed to do was assist him; there was no need to ask any question.
Half a day later, a new Universe Array was finished. After which, Yang Kai started building a sturdy Universe Temple around it together with Hua Qing Si.
At this moment, the Monster Qi of the first Great Monster to start cultivating using the ancient method suddenly soared. Immediately after, lightning started flashing in the clear sky before a thick purple bolt suddenly emerged out of thin air, striking straight towards the Great Monster. The next moment, a towering wave of flame spread from the location of the Great Monster, burning everything in its path. The flames were so hot that even the local space began to crack.
Immediately, a beastly roar resounded throughout the sky.
Yang Kai looked up, immersed in his thoughts.
By the looks of it, if the Great Monsters wanted to break their shackles, they would also need to go through some suffering, but it was not that it was unexpected. The Human Race’s advancement to the Open Heaven Realm was not a smooth path either. Although Humans did not have to face Heavenly tribulations when they merged Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements into one before splitting Heaven and Earth apart in their bodies, they would face many internal troubles, and the slightest mistake would result in death.
This Lightning and Fire Tribulation was probably a test from the Heavenly Way. If the Great Monsters weathered it, they would have a wider world ahead of them, but if they couldn’t, they would perish on the spot.
Be that as it may, the Great Monsters of the Myriad Monsters World were bound by the shackles of the Grand Dao here, and without a suitable cultivation method, they had tempered their bodies for many, many years after reaching the peak of their current Realm. It should not be difficult for them to overcome this Lightning and Fire Tribulation.
Yang Kai had no intention of lending a hand. In any case, one had to depend on themselves in such matters, outside intervention would ultimately be counter to the natural order.
The Lightning and Fire Tribulation became fiercer and fiercer, and the beastly roars became louder and louder. Finally, after several hours, things slowly calmed down.
Things might have calmed down in the original spot, but there were still many Great Monsters trying to overcome their own Lightning and Fire Tribulation in the Myriad Monsters World.
The Universe Temple was also finished on the Spirit Peak by now. With two powerful Open Heaven Realm Masters working together, it was a simple matter to build a Universe Temple.
Suddenly, a fearsome aura rapidly approached from the horizon. Hua Qing Si and Yang Kai both looked up before Yang Kai proposed with a smile, “Let’s go meet our new friend.”
Walking out of Universe Temple, Yang Kai spotted a big and strong snow-white Tiger. The enormous Tiger was some 70 to 80 metres tall and radiated an intense Monster Qi. Its massive body was giving off quite a huge pressure.
Its eyes alone were as big as a water tank, but because it had just gone through the Lightning and Fire Tribulation, it also looked quite miserable.
The giant Tiger’s eyes flashed with vigilance at the sight of Yang Kai and Hua Qing Si as it instinctively took two steps back.
Yang Kai sized it up from top to bottom before lightly nodding his acknowledgement, “Not bad.”
It had just weathered the Lightning and Fire Tribulation, but it was radiating a pressure comparable to a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Given time, this Great Monster’s achievements would not be too low.
Humans’ Open Heaven Realm cultivation method had its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that those with great aptitude could reach the sky in a single bound. For instance, the seedlings who could advance straight to the Sixth Order or Seventh Order would immediately possess such strength the moment they ascended from the Emperor Realm.
The drawback was that the advancement to the Open Heaven Realm came with an innate shackle. The lower one’s aptitude was, the lower would one’s future limit be. It was for this reason that every Seventh-Order elite was extremely treasured by the Human Race.
On the other hand, Divine Spirits had no such shackles, and neither did the Monster Race.
The Divine Spirits’ advancement depended on their Bloodline Power. The purer one’s bloodline was, the stronger one would be.
The Monster Race’s ancient cultivation method focused on tempering one’s Monster Core. A Monster Beast relied on their Monster Core to improve. The giant Tiger had just broken through, but it was already as strong as a Third-Order Open Heaven Realm Human, but this did not mean that its limit would be the Fifth-Order. As long as it diligently polished and tempered its Monster Core, with ample opportunity and aptitude, advancing to the Sixth-Order, Seventh-Order, Eighth-Order, or even Ninth-Order equivalent was not impossible.
In a sense, the Human Race’s Open Heaven Realm cultivation method could be said to be flawed, or at least incomplete. Yang Kai had only recently understood this. Even if he had noticed it though, he was unable to do anything about it. The Open Heaven Realm cultivation method was passed down by Cang and the other Martial Ancestors from the Late Ancient Era. Millions of years had already gone by since then, and the Human Race had always relied on this cultivation method to grow stronger.
Without the Open Heaven Realm cultivation method, Humans would have been stuck in the Emperor Realm still, never having achieved the greatness they had today.
“Don’t be afraid, this King has no malicious intentions. I just have some matters to discuss with you and the other Great Monsters,” Yang Kai looked at the giant Tiger with an amiable look on his face.
The giant Tiger let out a growl as the vigilance in its eyes became even stronger. Who knew if it understood Yang Kai or not.
Realization suddenly dawned upon Yang Kai as he muttered, “I forgot that you have never communicated with Humans before.”
Saying so, he stepped forward, stretching his hand towards the giant Tiger’s forehead.
The giant Tiger was startled and instinctively tried to dodge, but how could it? It helplessly watched Yang Kai’s fingertip grow closer and closer before touching its forehead. Its fur all stood on end in fright.
But very soon, it realized that Yang Kai had no intention of harming it; instead, many strange things appeared in its mind.
Yang Kai floated back as he spoke to the giant Tiger with a smile on his lips, “Now we can communicate.”
The giant Tiger’s eyes widened in shock. At this moment, it suddenly discovered that it could understand Yang Kai. What’s more, if it wanted to, it could speak with the opposite party.
It tried to open its mouth, asking in somewhat broken Human language, “W-Who… you?”
Yang Kai replied, smiling, “I am the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace, Yang Kai.”
How would the giant Tiger know what this High Heaven Palace was? Quickly assimilating the new language it had been taught, it asked again, “What you do here?”
Yang Kai answered, “Today, I have come to your precious land to teach you a cultivation method and help you escape from the shackles of this Universe World’s Grand Dao. In exchange, I will send a few people here to cultivate. I hope all of you will restrain the other Monster Race members and not harm these Humans.”
The giant Tiger had some difficulty understanding everything that was said, but it ultimately comprehended Yang Kai’s intentions and angrily proclaimed, “This place… is mine!”
The Monster Race was extremely territorial. When it heard that Yang Kai wanted to send Humans to cultivate here, it naturally was not too happy about it.
Yang Kai responded with a smile, “It used to be.”
The giant Tiger was momentarily taken aback before asking, “What about the future?”
“This World is mine from now on!”
The giant Tiger understood Yang Kai’s words and immediately growled, “Why?”
Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, “Because I’m stronger than you!”
The giant Tiger appeared to have something to say, but it did not know how to put it into words, so it simply chose not to say anything. It leapt up and bit towards Yang Kai, “Die!”
Yang Kai simply flicked his finger towards the giant Tiger’s head, sending it tumbling back. It was immediately hit with a fit of dizziness and shook its head for a long while, but was still unable to stand up. Only now did it realize that the tiny ‘Human’ before him was extremely strong, so strong that it could provoke him.
Yang Kai jumped up and landed on its head before lowering his head and asking, “Is this territory yours, or mine?”
The giant Tiger’s eyes took a moment to focus before it replied, “I… can’t say!”
The giant Tiger’s territory was just a small portion of the vast Myriad Monsters World and there were naturally others who occupied other territories.
Yang Kai immediately understood. The next moment, Space Principles started undulating as he stretched his hand out and clasped it.
What happened next completely horrified the giant Tiger as Great Monsters of all shapes and sizes suddenly appeared out of thin air and were thrown in front of it.
The giant Tiger recognized some of these Great Monsters, while some were unfamiliar, though it seemed to know about most of them at least.
All these Great Monsters were scattered throughout the Myriad Monsters World and were the strongest members of the Monster Race.
But now, all of them have been captured and brought here by Yang Kai.
With the sudden change in their surroundings, all the Great Monsters were a little absent-minded, unable to understand how they suddenly appeared here.
Yang Kai ordered the giant Tiger, “Pass on my words, and see who dares to refuse.”
The giant Tiger was filled with incomparable anguish, but under Yang Kai’s strong-arming, it had no choice but to communicate with the other Great Monsters and convey Yang Kai’s intentions.
While the Great Monsters were conversing, they would look towards Yang Kai with eyes filled with dread.
At this moment, they also came to know who imparted to them the ancient cultivation method. Furthermore, when someone as strong as the giant Tiger was unable to resist the opposite party, how could the other Great Monsters dare to cause trouble?
They simply could not afford to provoke this Human.
The next moment, all the Great Monsters withdrew their auras as if they had reached some consensus.
Yang Kai was satisfied with this.
The giant Tiger suddenly started speaking, “Those two… don’t agree, they want to eat you!”
Saying so, it stretched out its claws, pointing towards two Great Monsters.
The two Great Monsters who were being pointed at, instantly had their hair stand on end and the hedgehog-like Great Monster of the two angrily shouted, “Non, non, non…nonsense! We… agree?”
Originally, the Tiger wanted to bully these two Great Monsters he had a grudge with. Thinking they did not understand Human language, they would be unable to refute, but much to its surprise, they could speak the Human tongue as well.
The giant Tiger realized that when this Human had captured and brought these Great Monsters here, he must have secretly done something.
Yang Kai jumped down from its body and patted its massive head, stating, “Good, since everyone has agreed, this Myriad Monsters World will be this Yang’s territory from now on. In the future, I will send some Humans to cultivate here. I hope that everyone can restrain your subordinates and stop them from attacking those Humans.”
Yang Kai really found the giant Tiger’s antics quite funny. The giant Tiger was quite the schemer, actually trying to murder with a borrowed knife. He wondered what kind of grudge those two Great Monsters had with the giant Tiger.
One of the black-furred Great Monsters, who looked like a jackal, asked, “What happens if… they harmed?”
Yang Kai slightly smiled, “What do you think?”
Although Yang Kai’s tone was quite light, as if he was joking, all the Great Monsters had a chill run down their spine. They realized that this Human was not joking. If such a thing really did happen, the Monster Race member who attacked the Humans would definitely be killed.
Another Great Monster asked, “What if Humans… hurt us?”
Yang Kai assured, “Don’t worry, I will also make it clear to the Humans who are sent here to cultivate that they are not to harm the Monster Beasts of the Myriad Monsters World. Anyone who dares to break this rule will be killed as well!”
The Great Monsters looked at each other before nodding lightly.
It was only fair that both sides were not allowed to harm or kill at will. If the Humans could attack them at will but they could not even retaliate, then they could never agree.
By the looks of it, this Human was quite fair.
“Alright, this matter is settled. Everyone, please return.” Yang Kai waved off. It was not that hard for him to subdue the entire Monster Race of the Myriad Monsters World. Perhaps he could use gentler methods to accomplish this, but Yang Kai did not have the time to do so. When even the Divine Spirits of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were beaten into submission by him, what would Monster Beasts of the Myriad Monsters World count for?
The Great Monsters left one after another. Very soon, beastly roars could be heard coming from everywhere on the Myriad Monsters World. Obviously, the Great Monsters were passing down Yang Kai’s decree.
Hua Qing Si walked to Yang Kai and asked, confused, “Palace Master, are you sending someone here to cultivate?”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement, “Yes.”
“But the Myriad Monsters World’s Grand Dao is tailored towards the Monster Race’s cultivation, so it might not be suitable for Humans.”
Previously, High Heaven Palace had also considered whether they should arrange for some Humans to settle down on the Myriad Monsters World, but the population of the Monster Race on this world was huge, and if they allowed Humans to settle here, there would definitely be some conflicts every now and then. More importantly though, this World’s Grand Dao was far more suited for the Monster Race. If Humans cultivated here, they would have to work twice as hard for half the results.
However, Yang Kai stated mysteriously, “It might not have been suitable in the past, but that may not be so in the future.”
Saying so, he took out a small sapling and made his way to the utmost top of the Spirit Peak before carefully planting it.
A look of suspicion appeared on Hua Qing Si’s face as she vaguely found this small sapling a little familiar, but at the same time, she failed to recognize it. While she was still mulling over the issue though, she saw the little sapling’s branches sway before it started growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it had become a towering tree.
But it did not end there. The Myriad Monsters World’s Grand Dao appeared to be fiercely undulating along with the growth of the little sapling and Hua Qing Si could clearly feel the little sapling drawing a vast and seemingly limitless energy from somewhere beyond the Void which then integrated into the Myriad Monsters World.
In less than a dozen or so breaths, the Myriad Monsters World’s Grand Dao had undergone some obvious changes, becoming stabler and clearer.
A look of astonishment blanketed Hua Qing Si’s face as she blurted out, “A World Tree clone!?”
She finally understood why this little sapling was giving her a strange sense of familiarity. Obviously, this was another World Tree clone!
The Star Boundary had such a clone, but it was unbelievably massive now; therefore, she could not relate the two right away.
However, what else could make a Universe World stabler and cause such massive changes to it in such a short period of time besides a World Tree clone?
It never crossed Hua Qing Si’s mind that Yang Kai would actually have another World Tree clone sapling on him.
[No wonder Palace Master insisted on sending people to the Myriad Monsters World to cultivate. With a World Tree clone here, no matter what the Myriad Monsters World’s Grand Dao was like before, it will soon be akin to the Star Boundary’s. All living beings residing in this World will benefit greatly from it!
The Myriad Monsters World would definitely become a second Star Boundary!
If the rest of the Human Race came to know about this, it would surely cause a huge stir!
Currently, the Star Boundary could no longer accept any more outsiders. Even the Cave Heavens and Paradises only had a few quotas while most of the cultivators who had migrated from the various Great Territories could only eye it from a distance, never to step foot on it.
If word of the Myriad Monsters World were to disseminate though, everyone would definitely flock to this place with countless people wanting to settle here.
The Myriad Monsters World would not just ease some of the dissension in the Human refugees however, it would surely lead to some new problems.
In an instant, many thoughts flashed in Hua Qing Si’s mind as she asked, “Palace Master, do we need to classify all information regarding the Myriad Monsters World?”
If need be, she would immediately return to High Heaven Palace to pick a few people and seal off this World to prevent others from noticing anything.
Yang Kai already had a plan in his mind though and refused, shaking his head lightly, “No need! From the start, I planned to open the Myriad Monsters World to all the forces of the Human Race, but not just anyone will be allowed to enter this place. After you return, deploy some men here to guard this World and seal it off. No one is allowed to enter the Myriad Monsters World for now. In addition, send word to all parties that the Myriad Monsters World will open in 50 years, with Humans being allowed to settle on it then. Anyone who wishes to enter the Myriad Monsters World must purchase a spot with Military Merits without exception, including those from High Heaven Palace! As for the Military Merits required to buy a spot… the Supreme Headquarters will announce it in the future!”
The Myriad Monsters World should have stabilized somewhat after 50 years. Since the World Tree clone had just been planted, the effects of its feedback would not be that obvious, but they should become noticeable after 50 years. Furthermore, 50 years would be enough time for the various forces of the Human Race to finish their preparations.
Exchanging settlement quotas for Military Merits was also a due consideration to the Human soldiers who were fighting the Black Ink Clan on the front lines. Similarly, it was a stimulus to push more Masters, who were so far unwilling to take risks, into the war.
Who did not have descendants or Disciples? Who did not want their Juniors to have a brighter future? Although they were unable to enter the Star Boundary, the Myriad Monsters World was open to all. All one needed was enough Military Merits to buy a spot. It was quite likely that the various forces of the Human Race would be more than happy about this arrangement.
The Myriad Monsters World was definitely going to cause a sensation.
Hua Qing Si praised with admiration, “Palace Master has thought everything through!”
Yang Kai did not say anything in return, he just turned around and stated, “Let’s head back to the Star Boundary!”
The World Tree clone had been planted, but the effects of the feedback would not be seen in a short time. Since he was finished with this matter, Yang Kai had no intention of remaining here.
He had left a Universe Temple and Universe Array on the Myriad Monsters World, so it would be easy and convenient for Humans to travel here in the future.
After returning from the New Great Territory, Hua Qing Si hurried to High Heaven Palace and prepared the necessary people to guard the Myriad Monsters World. On the other hand, Yang Kai flew off to the Demon Realm.
In High Heaven Territory, the only world buzzing with activity other than the Star Boundary was the Demon Realm.
There were still a large number of Demon Race survivors on it, and Embodiment had always been stationed here as well.
The Demon Realm was shattered to pieces in the past, but in the end, Yang Kai used his Embodiment and the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to piece it back together. This had the effect of tying Embodiment and the Demon Realm together.
After 1,000 years, the Demon Realm’s shattered Grand Dao had started showing signs of healing, and the Demon Race living on it also slowly regained their vitality. Now, the Demon Realm not only had the Demon Race, but also many Humans who cultivated Demon Techniques.
Myriad Demons Heaven disciples especially liked coming to the Demon Realm because the environment here was particularly suitable for their cultivation.
Yang Kai still had a World Tree clone in his possession. If he planted the clone here, the Demon Realm would definitely prosper in a short time, but he had no plans to do so. The Humans already had the Star Boundary, and would also have the Myriad Monsters World in the future, that was already sufficient. He had other uses for the final clone.
Today, he did not come here to check the Demon Realm, but rather for Embodiment.
Ever since he left it here, his Embodiment had been sleeping in the depths of the Demon Realm while remaining connected to it.
Yang Kai did not need to summon it, as the moment he appeared on a mountain peak in the Demon Realm, the sleeping Embodiment immediately woke up and appeared in front of Yang Kai.
The Embodiment’s true form was a Stone Spirit Clansman. It could be considered Xiao Xiao’s clansmen, but when it was hatching, it failed to gain sentience. Yang Kai didn’t know why at the time, but later found out there could only be a maximum of 10 Stone Spirit Clansmen at any given time, and the maximum had been reached. Yang Kai had placed his Soul Clone in it at that time, turning it into a kind of avatar.
In the past, Embodiment had saved Yang Kai during many crises.
Although they had not seen each other for 1,000 years, Yang Kai did not feel any unfamiliarity; after all, Embodiment was a part of him, only, it was a different existence that carried a piece of Yang Kai’s Soul.
“As expected, I’ve become quite strong,” the Embodiment marvelled, looking Yang Kai up and down.
Yang Kai grinned, “There are no outsiders here, there is no need to toot your own horn.”
Compared to the true body, Embodiment was far weaker. Yang Kai felt that it was only as strong as a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, which was nothing before the current Yang Kai who had killed many Feudal Lords and Territory Lords.
Because it was one with the Demon Realm, it was impossible for Embodiment to actively cultivate and grow stronger. Instead, the more perfect the Demon Realm’s Grand Dao was, the stronger it would become, and vice versa.
The strength Embodiment could show was basically equivalent to the strength of the Demon Realm’s Grand Dao.
In other words, the combined World Force of the Demon Realm was equivalent to that of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe.
Compared to the Star Boundary, the gap was simply enormous.
Furthermore, the Embodiment also had another huge limitation. Ever since it had used the Heaven Devouring Battle Law to rebuild the Demon Realm, it couldn’t go far from it.
It could be said that the current Embodiment was not much help to Yang Kai anymore.
Yang Kai stretched out his finger, laying it on Embodiment’s forehead. The next moment, a variety of information was instantaneously transferred to the Embodiment’s mind.
When Yang Kai withdrew his finger, the Embodiment nodded his understanding, “So that’s how it is, this technique is indeed quite profound.”
Yang Kai added, sighing, “Shi is truly amazing to have created this Secret Art, but no one has ever attempted to cultivate it before, so it’s hard to say if it will succeed.”
“At the end of the day, it represents hope. Even if it doesn’t succeed, we won’t suffer much of a loss.”
Yang Kai refuted, shaking his head, “If we’re not careful, it might backfire on me.”
Embodiment asked with a smile, “Do we have a choice?”
Helplessness immediately took over Yang Kai’s face as he shook his head, “I’m afraid not.”
Embodiment continued, “Then what is there to hesitate about? We can’t wait for the Universe Furnace to just show itself, right? Who knows how long that will take.”
Saying so, Embodiment approached Yang Kai, “Today, you and I will become one once more. We’ll advance to the Ninth Order and vanquish Mo!”
As Embodiment approached, his figure became more illusory and transparent before merging into Yang Kai’s body.
Yang Kai’s body trembled slightly as lightning appeared in the sky above his Small Universe. At this moment, the World Force became richer and denser. Embodiment’s energy was Yang Kai’s energy, so now that the two were rejoined, all its strength became Yang Kai’s strength, increasing his cultivation.
Be that as it may, as Embodiment was not that strong, this increase was not that obvious.
When Embodiment merged with Yang Kai, nearly 1,000 years of his memories also integrated with Yang Kai’s mind, but as Embodiment had been asleep this whole time, those memories were quite simple.
By the time Yang Kai came to his senses, Embodiment’s figure was no longer before him, only a gust of wind blowing up some loose sand.
At this moment, all the living creatures on the Demon Realm looked towards the sky one after another. They could vaguely feel that the Demon Realm had changed somehow, but they were unable to tell how.
Another gust of wind blew up as Yang Kai disappeared from his spot.
More than a month later, a piece of news spread from High Heaven Palace. High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, Yang Kai, had created three Sealed Worlds in the vicinity of the Star Boundary using his own strength. These Sealed Worlds were known as Space Dao Sealed World, Time Dao Sealed World, and Spear Dao Sealed World. These three Sealed Worlds contained the profundities of these three Grand Daos, and anyone could enter them to comprehend these Grand Daos after passing a few tests.
As soon as this news was disseminated, the entire Human Race became abuzz with activity. Countless young geniuses scrambled to enter these Sealed Worlds, and in a flash, the surrounding void of these three Sealed Worlds was constantly crowded with people.
The Spear Dao was one thing, but the Dao of Time and Dao of Space had always been the most abstruse and esoteric of Grand Daos. Since ancient times, very few cultivators had been able to cultivate them. Only the Dragon and Phoenix Clans could dabble in these two Grand Daos relying on their Bloodline Talents.
Yang Kai’s strength was obvious to all. Although he was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, others in the Eighth-Order would find it difficult to fight against a single Innate Territory Lord. On the other hand, the number of Innate Territory Lords who had died at Yang Kai’s hands needed more than two hands to count. He even managed to escape from the pursuit of Royal Lords. It was all thanks to his mastery over these two Grand Daos.
Now, he had created three Sealed Worlds using his Grand Daos as the basis. It was a given that people would flock to them.
Putting everything else aside, so long as they could inherit some of Yang Kai’s legacy, they could enjoy endless benefits.
In a flash, countless cultivators flocked towards the vicinity of the Star Boundary to explore the three Sealed Worlds. Unfortunately, only a few of them had any real gains. The Dao of Time and Dao of Space were indeed too obscure and difficult to understand. Even if many people believed themselves to be quite talented, they still found it extremely hard to comprehend the mysteries of these two Grand Daos.
On the other hand, the Spear Dao Sealed World benefited many people. Compared to Dao of Time or the Dao of Space, the Spear Dao was undoubtedly more common and easier to comprehend.
Everyone believed that Yang Kai had left these Sealed Worlds for the betterment of the Human Race, but only a few knew that he had actually created them for the disciples who had come out of the Void Dao Temple. If others could gain anything from these Sealed Worlds, it was naturally better, but it was also fine for them to obtain nothing.
There were quite a lot of disciples who had come out from the Void Dao Temple. As they were born and raised in Yang Kai’s Small Universe, many of them had inherited his talent in one or two of his primary Grand Daos. For instance, Wan Le Shan, whom Yang Kai encountered in Acacia Territory was proficient in the Dao of Space.
There should be many disciples like Wan Le Shan, many of whom Yang Kai did not even know the names of.
Although these disciples had inherited some talent in Yang Kai’s three Grand Daos, their attainments were generally not that high. Without anyone guiding them, their future cultivation would be thorny and they would have to take many detours.
There were many disciples like this, and there might be even more in the future; how could Yang Kai have the time to guide them one by one? After thinking about it for a while, he decided to leave three Sealed Worlds for them to comprehend on their own.
The three Sealed Worlds were built using Yang Kai’s comprehension and life experience in the three Grand Daos. So long as one was not too dull, they would be able to gain some benefits from them.
Even Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, as well as Zhao Ye Bai, Zhao Ya, and the others were thrown into the three Sealed Worlds to cultivate.
The three Sealed Worlds caused quite a stir, but that was nothing compared to what came next, for the Human Race Supreme Headquarters soon after released a piece of sensational news.
50 years from now, a second Universe World with a World Tree clone would open. At that time, anyone who wanted to send their descendants or disciples to this new Universe World to cultivate could purchase a spot with Military Merits.
This news not only created a buzz among the Human’s refugees, but even made the soldiers on the frontline feverish.
Currently, the Star Boundary was the most important base of the Human Race. It was also the only Open Heaven Realm Cradle in existence. The Star Boundary had given birth to countless elites and geniuses over the last 1,000 years, producing geniuses who advanced straight to the Sixth Order and even Seventh Order in massive quantities, but why was this?
It was all thanks to the World Tree clone’s feedback!
The Star Boundary itself was nothing out of the ordinary; in fact, there were many Universe Worlds like or even better than the Star Boundary in the past. All of its glory and prosperity was thanks to the World Tree clone.
It could be said that the Star Boundary had become an Open Heaven Realm Cradle in the current age because of the World Tree clone.
Who would not want to reside in the Star Boundary? Who would not want to send their disciples and descendants to cultivate in this miraculous Universe World?
A disciple, who only had the aptitude to advance to the Fourth-Order, might be able to break through directly to the Fifth-Order or Sixth-Order after cultivating in the Star Boundary. It was just a gap of one Order, but it would set one’s future achievements worlds apart.
Be that as it may, the Star Boundary was overcrowded already and it was very difficult for ordinary people to enter and settle down there. Even the Cave Heavens and Paradies had few quotas every year, so it was even more impossible for other forces to set foot there.
But now, the Supreme Headquarters had announced that a second Universe World with a World Tree Clone would be open for settlement 50 years from now!
What did this mean? It meant that a second Star Boundary would be born, meaning that more Humans could benefit from the World Tree’s feedback. It meant that those who had been yearning to enter the Star Boundary but were unable to do so would have a chance to fulfil this dream!
This news immediately created a huge sensation throughout the Human Race. Many people tried to check how reliable this news was, but with the announcement coming straight from the Supreme Headquarters, how could it be false?
As for why 50 years later, the Supreme Headquarters also answered this question.
The World Tree clone was provided by Yang Kai and had just been planted in a certain Universe World. The feedback would only begin to take noticeable effect in 50 years. As for which Universe World it was, the Supreme Headquarters did not disclose.
It was Yang Kai again!
Yang Kai’s name was almost present in all the major events that had happened in the Human Race over the past few years. All the Human cultivators, whether they were weak or strong, had heard his name at least once. At present, Yang Kai was the most famous person in the entire Human Race.
In any event, the Supreme Headquarters’ answer reassured the Humans who still had doubts. The World Tree clone’s feedback indeed needed time to take effect, something that had been confirmed in the Star Boundary many years ago.
50 years was more than half a lifetime to ordinary mortals who had never cultivated, but to Human Masters who had achieved higher cultivation, it was like a snap of a finger.
They could afford to wait!
As for the condition of exchanging settlement quotas with Military Merits, it also caused the Human Race to cheer.
Currently, the Star Boundary’s territory was carved up by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and the local forces. It had already been years since this balance was established, so it was almost impossible for the other forces to interfere.
However, the second Star Boundary that would open 50 years from now was different. It was a Universe World untouched by Human hands, which would give many people a chance.
Buying a spot using Military Merits was undoubtedly a fair and reasonable proposal.
Some people inquired about how many Military Merits would be required to buy a spot, but the Supreme Headquarters only said that it had not been decided yet and that they would set a number when the Universe World opened.
Although this answer was unsatisfactory to many, no one pestered the Supreme Headquarters again. Was it difficult to obtain Military Merits? For those who were too afraid to enter the battlefield, it was indeed difficult. As for the soldiers who were fighting the Black Ink Clan on the frontlines, every Black Ink Clan member was a living, breathing Military Merit to be reaped.
All one needed to do to gather sufficient Military Merits to buy a spot was make a few trips to the battlefield.
Not everyone dared to enter the battlefield and fight the Black Ink Clan. There were always some who gave all kinds of excuses to stay behind.
Currently, the Human Race Army was composed of the surviving soldiers of the Black Ink Battlefield’s various Great Passes as the framework, with the disciples of Cave Heavens and Paradises as the main body and with conscripts from various Second Class Great Forces making up the rest of the numbers.
Depending on the size and strength of a Sect, different numbers of people were conscripted from them. Naturally, some people at the Supreme Headquarters had planned this.
Every time there were some serious casualties on the battlefield, they would conscript further reinforcements.
This kind of recruitment was a bit forceful, but since the enemy had already invaded, if they were defeated on the frontlines, the Human Race would likely be wiped from existence. So, it made no difference whether it was forceful or not, stabilizing the frontlines was the priority.
In addition, the casualty rate on the frontline was quite high. This caused many people to try to avoid joining the war. Although some were quite strong in their own right, they would rather hide in the rear where it was safe.
Some were afraid and avoided the battle, while some were eager to join the fight.
The Supreme Headquarters had set up a Recruitment Hall in the Star Boundary’s Star City, and anyone who wished to join the war effort could register there before being deployed to various battlefronts to fight the enemy.
Nonetheless, few had come knocking on the door of the Recruitment Hall in the last few decades; after all, there were not many people who were willing to enter the battlefield. Even those who did wish to fight normally preferred to work as Hunters as they were not used to the strict military discipline.
Now, however, the Recruitment Hall was bustling with activity as countless Open Heaven Realm cultivators, who had received the news, rushed over to enlist in the Army.
This sudden turn of events made the head of the staff of the Recruitment Hall grin from ear to ear. They had put in a great deal of effort to enlist more cultivators over the years, making appeals to various minor and major Sects of the Human Race. If it were not for the higher-ups not sanctioning it, they would have likely used even more forceful or even coercive means to gather recruits.
Unfortunately, it was to no avail; after all, only a small number of cultivators were willing to fight while most were more than happy to let others stand on the frontline and risk their lives.
Who would have thought that news of the second Star Boundary opening in 50 years would bring such a change?
This was especially so for some of the older Open Heaven Realm cultivators, who felt that their days were numbered and wanted to create a better cultivation environment for their disciples and descendants before their death. All of them came forward to enlist, causing the people working at the Recruitment Hall to dance with joy.
In less than a month, more than 100,000 Open Heaven Realm cultivators had come to enlist. Although most of them did not have high cultivation, their numbers made up for that. On the battlefield, higher cultivation was naturally better, but that did not mean having a low cultivation made one useless.
The survival of the entire race was hanging on this war, so every little contribution would bring some subtle change to the course of the war.
Yang Kai was completely oblivious to the buzz in the Human Race’s rear for the time being. After returning from the Demon Realm and creating the three Sealed Worlds, he led Dawn and Yu Ru Meng’s Squad on a journey back to Profound Nether Territory, arriving half a month later.
When Wei Jun Yang received the news, he hurriedly rushed over to investigate.
Wei Jun Yang and the others had been on edge for the last half a year, unable to eat or sleep in peace. Yang Kai led two Squads to Acacia Territory to rescue some refugees trapped there. The Black Ink Clan obviously would not leave them alone. They had no way of obtaining any news from Acacia Territory, but some Hunters had relayed a message to the Supreme Headquarters that they had noticed signs of the Black Ink Clan mobilizing a massive amount of troops. A rough estimate put some three to four million additional Black Ink Clan soldiers and several Territory Lords heading to Acacia Territory.
Millions of Black Ink Clansmen and several Territory Lords was anything but a weak force.
Although Yang Kai brought two Squads with him, he and Feng Ying were the only Eighth-Order Masters, so things were really not in their favour. It was hard to predict what the outcome of this conflict would be.
If the Black Ink Clan sealed the entire territory with millions of soldiers, and the Territory Lords attacked Yang Kai and his team together, the latter would surely be in grave danger.
If something happened to Yang Kai, it would be a great loss to the Human Race. Before, it would not have shaken the roots of the Human Race; however, it was different now. As Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, if anything happened to Yang Kai, the entire Profound Nether Territory would fall into chaos and the damage might be irreversible.
Acacia Territory had millions of Black Ink Clansmen, as well as a large number of Territory Lords. Such a lineup was definitely not for setting up a trap for the Hunters. Wei Jun Yang and the others reckoned that the Black Ink Clan had predicted Yang Kai would travel to Acacia Territory, and that was why they had made such arrangements.
The entire Acacia Territory was like a Dragon’s den.
But by the time the Human Race received this news, it was already too late, Yang Kai should have already entered Acacia Territory. There was no way to even send a warning anymore.
Wei Jun Yang and the others were on tenterhooks, afraid that some misfortune would befall Yang Kai in Acacia Territory.
The Supreme Headquarters had no way of obtaining accurate news from Acacia Territory either. Some Hunters tried to enter Acacia Territory through the Territory Gates to investigate things, but they never returned. Obviously, the Black Ink Clan was using its Army to seal off the gate. Even the Hunters who had entered Acacia Territory to investigate things must have encountered some kind of accident.
Not only that, but the peace in Profound Nether Territory was also broken.
The reason why Profound Nether Territory had been able to remain peaceful was because the Territory Lords were afraid of Yang Kai’s unpredictable killing methods. They did not dare to make a rash move with him around, but now that they had received accurate reports that the Profound Nether Army Commander, Yang Kai, was trapped in Acacia Territory, why would they need to be afraid?
Wei Jun Yang, Ou Yang Lie, and the others were strong, but the Territory Lords could still deal with them; Yang Kai was the one who gave them a splitting headache.
The Black Ink Clan immediately mobilized their troops and began attacking the Human Race on all fronts. Both sides seemed to have returned to the old days where they fought constantly.
So, when the news spread that Yang Kai had returned to the Star Boundary, Wei Jun Yang and the others found it very hard to believe. They thought of it as nothing but unfounded rumours.
Even if Yang Kai had mastered the Dao of Space and managed to escape from Acacia Territory, he couldn’t return to the Star Boundary, as he would first have to pass through at least one of the Great Territory battlefields.
While they were still investigating where the rumours had come from though, someone reported that the Army Commander had returned.
Wei Jun Yang, who happened to be fighting on the front lines, quickly rushed back to the main camp to check the validity of this report. Surprisingly, he was greeted by Yang Kai when he arrived.
Wei Jun Yang was dumbfounded.
Not only Wei Jun Yang was dumbstruck, but even Kong Cheng De, who was currently in charge of the overall situation in Profound Nether Territory, had a look of disbelief on his face. When Yang Kai appeared, Kong Chen De almost thought that he was hallucinating.
Strength-wise, Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie were undoubtedly the strongest among the Eighth-Order Masters in Profound Nether Territory, but both of them were more fond of fighting on the front lines than sitting in the rear. If they were asked to devise a strategy in the tent to win the war from a million kilometres away, they would be a little hard-pressed.
On the other hand, Kong Cheng De of Nine Stars Paradise was a far better strategist than the other Eighth-Order Masters present. He had been the brains behind all the major Human deployments in Profound Nether Territory all these years. He was the one who formulated the battle plans against the Black Ink Clan, assisted by the other Eighth-Order cultivators and a dozen or so Seventh-Order staff.
“Sir!” Wei Jun Yang stepped forward, staring blankly at Yang Kai, “Wasn’t Sir trapped in Acacia Territory? We received news that millions of Black Ink Clan soldiers and a dozen or so Territory Lords were deployed to Acacia Territory by the Black Ink Clan. How did Sir return?”
Yang Kai affirmed with a nod, “That’s indeed true, but I have my own means of escaping.”
He did not say that he could use the World Tree to instantly arrive in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary or to any still living Universe World. It was best if fewer people knew about this ability because of the existence of Black Ink Disciples. If one day someone who knew about this ability was turned into a Black Ink Disciple, his secret would be exposed.
Wei Jun Yang breathed a sigh of relief.
He was really afraid that Yang Kai would fall in Acacia Territory, so it was naturally great news that he managed to escape safely. Better yet, the Black Ink Clan in Acacia Territory were unaware of this fact, so they should still be searching for him.
If not, the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory would not have started another war so easily.
Considering all this, Wei Jun Yang suddenly felt some pity for the Black Ink Clan, who were going through so much trouble for someone who was no longer there.
Very soon though, his eyes lit up, “Sir, you’re right on time. The Black Ink Clan doesn’t know anything about this, so you can take this opportunity to kill a few more Territory Lords and raise our Army’s prestige.”
The Black Ink Clan still believed that Yang Kai was trapped in Acacia Territory, so they had started a grand war in Profound Nether Territory. Since Yang Kai was already back though, he could conceal himself and secretly hunt a few Territory Lords.
Yang Kai nodded and agreed, “I had the same idea and was about to discuss it with Senior Brother Kong.”
As soon as he returned, Yang Kai discovered that another battle had broken out in Profound Nether Territory. He vaguely understood what the Black Ink Clan was thinking, so he did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he went to the frontline camp and looked for Kong Cheng De, who was in command of this place, to ask for his opinion.
Yang Kai wanted to ask where the resident strategist felt it would be best for him to act.
Last time, when Yang Kai had killed three Territory Lords, it had forced the Black Ink Clan into a complete retreat from the main front. This was a rare opportunity, and might be the last.
So long as he was in Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan would be on guard against him.
Soul Rending Thorns were not flawless. The experiences in Acacia Territory made Yang Kai realize that if the Territory Lords guarded their Souls diligently, the effect of the Soul Rending Thorn’s might would be greatly reduced. If two Territory Lords acted together and were on guard against him, it would be difficult for him to eliminate them in one blow.
If he was unable to kill the Territory Lords in a single surprise attack, his current strength made it almost pointless to simply fight it out with them instead.
In the tent, the entire Void Map of Profound Nether Territory was laid before Yang Kai and the others. This map was jointly created by Artifact Refiners and Array Masters in the Army and gave a detailed overview of the entire Profound Nether Territory. It was extremely intuitive to use and clear to understand.
There were three Territory Gates on the map. The Human Race and Black Ink Clan occupied one each, and the last one was ownerless. The two sides had been fighting for control of this final Territory Gate, but neither of them was able to occupy it for long so it had changed hands multiple times over the past few decades.
Yang Kai was appointed the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army in a rather rushed manner, and immediately after, he had left for Acacia Territory to save the Humans trapped there. So, he was not too knowledgeable about Profound Nether Territory’s current situation.
It would not have mattered if he was just an ordinary Eighth-Order Master as all he would have to do was follow orders. But now, he was the Army Commander in charge of overseeing the entire Profound Nether Territory. It would be improper and a dereliction of duty for him to be ignorant of even the basic situation.
After listening to Kong Cheng De’s presentation, Yang Kai had a first grasp of the strength of the Profound Nether Army, the number of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters available for deployment, and the distribution of the Eighth-Order Masters.
The Profound Nether Army might have anecdotally been called a million-strong force, but that could not be farther from the truth. Perhaps, they might have had that many soldiers in the past, but after several decades of constant war, the Army had suffered massive casualties. Now, the entire the Profound Nether Army only totalled some 650,000 soldiers.
As for the main battlefield, almost half of the Army was deployed there as it was the primary focus of the Black Ink Clan. So long as they could defeat the Humans on the main battlefield, they would have a chance to occupy the Territory Gate that was currently being controlled by the enemy, and then they could continue to mop up the rest in the Profound Nether Territory.
The main battlefield had the most soldiers and almost half of the Eighth-Order Masters were deployed there, guarding against the various Territory Lords.
Apart from the main battlefield, there were four auxiliary fronts, one of which was the battlefront for determining the owner of the third Territory Gate. About 100,000 soldiers were deployed there, along with several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The entire Profound Nether Army had about 50 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
That was not an insignificant number, and the other Great Territory battlefields all had a similar number of Eighth-Order Masters overseeing them.
Be that as it may, when Yang Kai heard this number, his heart became a little heavy. It could not be helped either, as compared to the hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, 50 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters per battlefield was quite low!
The Cave Heavens and Paradises had existed for millennia, and even if Eighth-Order Masters were rare, after so many years of accumulation, each Cave Heaven and Paradise should have produced over 1,000 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at least.
Unfortunately, the upper echelons of the Human Race had suffered massive casualties in the never-ending war against the Black Ink Clan. Not to mention those in the Eighth-Order, one or two of the original 100 plus Ninth-Order Masters remained today.
In comparison, the number of Territory Lords was much higher.
Almost all of the Human Race’s available forces were concentrated on a dozen or so battlefields, but what about the Black Ink Clan? They had many Territory Lords on the primary battlefields, as well as a fair number patrolling the various occupied Great Territories. There were also many Territory Lords stationed at the No-Return Pass.
The reason why the Human Race had been able to hold on for so long was mainly because they were willing to fight to the death!
If a Territory Lord was heavily injured, they would need to fall dormant in a Black Ink Nest to recover. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, on the other hand, did not need such a cumbersome healing process. As such, even if there were far more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Masters, the Humans could barely hold on. Of course, this kind of status quo was extremely tenuous and the Human Race was at a disadvantage on most fronts.
The Human Race needed the younger generation to mature in order to produce more Masters, only then could they fill the gap between top combatants.
“The Territory Lord Commander of the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory is called Six Arms, yes?” Yang Kai suddenly asked. He still had some impression of Six Arms as last time, when he had borrowed the Territory Gate occupied by the Black Ink Can, it was Six Arms who had come forward to discuss it with him.
Wei Jun Yang nodded before quickly realizing Yang Kai’s intention, “Sir, do you want to set up prestige by taking out Six Arms?”
Yang Kai did not deny it, “If I can kill Six Arms, the Black Ink Clan should be docile for a while.”
Wei Jun Jang, however, rejected this suggestion, shaking his head, “Six Arms won’t be easy to kill. He is a very cautious foe. Once, I and Ou Yang Lie had tried to take him out, but we failed in the end. Furthermore, he rarely comes out to fight personally and usually acts as a rear guard only.”
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “He’s actually so cautious?”
He could not understand why, but he had a feeling that most of the Territory Lords were very afraid of death. You Gong, the one he had run into in Acacia Territory, was also like this.
These Innate Territory Lords were directly created by Mo, so logically speaking, they should be the most zealous among the Black Ink Clan.
[Could it be that Mo also fears death greatly, and these Territory Lords were affected by it unconsciously?]
Yang Kai shook his head, collecting his thoughts.
“Furthermore, even if we kill Six Arms, it won’t have a fatal impact on the Black Ink Clan. There is not much difference in strength between Territory Lords, so even if Six Arms dies, the Black Ink Clan would soon elect another Commander,” Kong Cheng De added.
Yang Kai looked at him, “Then Senior Brother Kong, where do you think I should start?”
Kong Cheng De smiled and pointed towards a certain spot, “Here!”
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, “Why here?”
The location Kong Chen De pointed at was one of the auxiliary fronts, which surprised Yang Kai a little, as his original idea was to create some chaos on the main battlefield.
Kong Cheng De quickly explained, “Five Territory Lords are overseeing this front. With Sir’s lightning speed, you should be able to quickly kill one or two Territory Lords, and if you cooperate with the Eighth-Order Masters there, we may be able to kill all five of them.”
“This is a rare opportunity. Since Sir wants to launch a sneak attack, you should naturally choose the best method to kill as many Territory Lords as possible.” Kong Cheng De pointed towards the main battlefield, “There might be many Territory Lords on the main battlefield, but each of them is coordinating with the others from a distance. Once Sir makes a move, the other Territory Lords will definitely be on guard. By then, it will be difficult to achieve anything significant.”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before nodding and agreeing, “You’re right.”
The main battlefield was undoubtedly the most important, but the war in Profound Nether Territory was not something that could be ended in one or two battles. The Human Race could not hope to defeat the Black Ink Clan in a short period of time either. This was a war that was destined to last decades, if not centuries.
Just as Kong Cheng De had stated, Yang Kai might really be able to kill a Territory Lord in a flash with his elusive methods, but it would be difficult for him to gain any more kills after that on the main front.
The auxiliary fronts were different as there were not that many Territory Lords overseeing each of them. Even if Yang Kai was exposed, it would be extremely difficult for the Territory Lords to escape as they would first have to fight off the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters standing in their way. At that time, so long as the Eighth-Order Masters kept them pinned down somehow, Yang Kai would be able to break the balance of the battlefield, and turn the tide in their favour.
“Then it’s decided,” Yang Kai pointed towards that defensive line before he turned around and left, his voice echoing in Kong Cheng De’s ears, “I’ll have to trouble Senior Brother Kong to send a message to the Division Commanders to make preparations.”
Kong Cheng De cupped his fist and replied, “Yes Sir!”
The nearby Wei Jun Yang breathed a light sigh, looking at Yang Kai’s departing figure, “I really want to see him advance to the Ninth Order. That would really be something.”
As someone who had killed many Innate Territory Lords as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, if Yang Kai could break through to the Ninth-Order, he would naturally be able to suppress the Royal Lords. In that case, the pressure on the Human Race would be significantly reduced.
At present, the top forces of both Races were keeping each other in check. The Human Race had two Ninth-Order Masters and a Giant Spirit God, while the Black Ink Clan had two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods and a Royal Lord. This status quo could be said to have been deliberately created by the Human Race, while the Black Ink Clan went along with it.
This situation was advantageous to the Black Ink Clan, because whether it was the number of Territory Lords or the size of the Army, they held an edge over the Humans.
The Human Race was barely able to maintain the current situation by stubbornly holding on to a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields. What they were waiting for was a chance, a chance for the younger generation to grow.
Currently, many good seedlings had advanced straight to the Sixth and Seventh Orders, and someday, they would be able to rise to the Eighth Order and Ninth Order.
But as the Human Race would grow, so too would the Black Ink Clan.
If a new Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was born in the Human Race, why wouldn’t a new Royal Lord appear in the Black Ink Clan? At that time, the Human Race would not be able to do anything if they didn’t already have some kind of advantage in the war.
As such, a Master whose strength far exceeded his peers was of paramount importance. If such a Master was born, he or she would serve as a great deterrence to the Black Ink Clan.
In the entire Human Race, Yang Kai was the only one who could assume that role. When he was a Seventh-Order, he could kill Feudal Lords like they were fish on a chopping board, and now when he was an Eighth-Order Master, he could kill Territory Lords all on his own. If he really managed to break through to the Ninth Order, he would definitely be able to kill a Royal Lord just as easily.
Unfortunately, things never went exactly as one wished. The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was far out of Yang Kai’s reach.
Wei Jun Yang strode out of the tent, “I’ll go confront the enemy.”
Things were quite tense on the main battlefield, and he had only returned after hearing the news of Yang Kai’s arrival. Now that the battle plan had already been devised, how could he remain here? The number of Territory Lords were far more than Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. If he was not there, the Eighth-Order Masters on the main battlefield would be under a great deal of pressure.
After he left, Kong Chen De turned to a nearby Seventh-Order Master and ordered, “Inform Chen Yuan that the Army Commander will be arriving soon, and they need to cooperate with him to kill the Territory Lords.”
“Yes, Sir!” Accepting the order, the Seventh-Order Master immediately took out a Communication Bead as his Divine Sense started surging.
Somewhere in Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan Army was attacking at full swing. On the other side, the Human Army of tens of thousands of soldiers had split up into various groups as they surrounded an enormous Universe Fragment and guarded it tightly.
Warships flew about, providing cover to the exposed soldiers. All kinds of offensive and defensive Arrays and artifacts had long been set up on this Universe Fragments, which greatly contributed to the battle. The dark and endless void was lit up with dazzling flashes of lights as Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities were fired here and there.
This was one of the several auxiliary fronts in Profound Nether Territory. The Human forces tasked to defend this place were not that big, just 50,000 soldiers strong. In addition, there were four Eighth-Order Masters permanently stationed here.
Nearly 100,000 soldiers had sacrificed their lives on this auxiliary front alone in the last few decades, and even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had fallen here.
Nonetheless, no matter how grim the battle was, the Humans had been able to hold on. Just like on the Black Ink Battlefield, the Human Race Army was specialized in fighting while being significantly outnumbered. The Human Race’s Warships provided the Army with great mobility and defense, and if one did not count the very top Masters, the Human Race’s overall strength here was higher than that of the Black Ink Clan. This was the reason the Humans had been able to hold their ground.
Such a battle had been raging for decades now, and seemed like it would continue for some time.
The lengthy battle had left everyone exhausted. Before Yang Kai returned, whether it was Profound Nether Territory or the other Great Territory Battlefields, the Human Race’s defensive lines were all in imminent danger.
Yang Kai’s return had greatly eased this crisis though as he had brought a fresh supply of Purifying Light with him.
Thanks to the Purifying Light, the Humans were able to fight with the Black Ink Clan without fear of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength. In the past, after the Purifying Light was exhausted, the Human Race always had to act with caution. It was as if their arms and legs were tied, making things extremely difficult.
Now, they no longer had to worry about this.
Yang Kai had distributed 10 sets of Great Sun and Moon Marks, and also given out a massive amount of Yellow and Blue Crystals. There was no shortage of Purifying Light on the various battlefields of the Human Race and every Purifying Black Ink Battleship had a large amount of Purifying Light sealed in it. Anyone contaminated by Black Ink Strength just had to enter a Purifying Black Ink Battleship and he or she would be totally safe and sound.
With ample Purifying Light, the Evil Purging Divine Spears that had once shone brilliantly during the Human Race’s crusade were also resurrected!
This was a weapon created by the combined efforts of Grandmaster Ma Fan and Yang Kai and was extremely effective against the Black Ink Clan. Once the Purifying Light sealed inside an Evil Purging Divine Spear erupted inside a Black Ink Clansman’s body, their Black Ink Strength would be greatly reduced, and in worst scenarios, they might even die on spot.
Be that as it may, there were not many Evil Purging Divine Spears in each Army due to the short timeframe. As such, the available Evil Purging Divine Spears were all in the hands of the strongest Human Race Masters for emergency use only.
Nevertheless, large quantities of this mighty artifact would definitely be disseminated to the various Armies soon. At that time, it would become the Black Ink Clan’s nightmare. Perhaps, the Humans might be able to offset the disadvantage of top combatants using this sharp tool.
A Seventh-Order Open Heaven Master was moving to and fro around the Universe Fragment, observing the entire battlefield carefully. Suddenly, he felt something and quickly took out a Communication Bead. After receiving the message, a look of joy brightened his face as he immediately shouted to a nearby companion, “Senior Brother Lu, hold on for a moment, I’ll be right back.”
Saying so, he ordered a dozen people to follow him and boarded a Warship, flying away the next moment, leaving Senior Brother Lu dumbfounded at the whole ordeal.
The ship flew out of the Universe Fragment that they were defending as a large number of Black Ink Clansmen swarmed towards it. Nonetheless, the Warship paid no heed to the oncoming assault and sailed heading towards the most intense battle at full speed.
The destination of the ship was the battlefield between the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Territory Lords.
The Warship blazed its way through all manner of obstacles and finally managed to break through the Black Ink Clan’s encirclement, entering into the fierce battlefield.
On the other end of the void, four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and five Territory Lords were locked in a heated battle. All of them were old rivals by now who had fought each other countless times over the last few decades.
In the past, the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had always been at a disadvantage when facing these five Territory Lords. There had even been quite a few instances where an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would come this close to dying; after all, they were one man short of their opponent. Moreover, their enemies were all Innate Territory Lords.
But the situation this time was a little different. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were able to put up a good fight even in a four vs five situation. The aura of one of the Territory Lords was quite weak, making it obvious he was heavily injured. He didn’t dare to confront the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters head-on and could only roam around the periphery, looking for opportunities to strike.
Division Commander Chen Yuan was a little annoyed. If he had taken advantage of the situation just now, he might have been able to kill the Territory Lord; unfortunately, the situation was pressing, and he did not have the room to pay attention to everything, which made him miss this opportunity.
Now, the Territory Lords were on guard and it would be difficult for them to find another chance.
As the battle raged on, Chen Yuan noticed a Warship rapidly approaching, and a familiar figure standing on its deck.
Chen Yuan recognized this man. He was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who was responsible for communication with the main battlefield.
Chen Yuan knew that his appearance must be related to a message from the front lines of the main battlefield, and as expected, a message was quickly sent to his ears!
Chen Yuan’s heart skipped a beat in joy, but he did not let it show on his face. He simply nodded imperceptibly to indicate that he understood.
After passing the message from afar, the Seventh-Order Master on the deck let out a sigh of relief, [Fortunately, I did not fail my mission. Since the Eighth-Order Division Commanders know about the Army Commander’s situation, the situation in this battle should change a little.]
“Sir, a lot of Black Ink Clansmen are chasing us, are we going back?” Someone suddenly asked.
The Seventh-Order looked back, and when he saw a large group of Black Ink Clansmen chasing after them, his expression immediately changed, “Run, run!”
After breaking out of the encirclement, almost all of their defensive Arrays were on the verge of failing. If he ordered them to return, it would be tantamount to committing suicide. Although he wasn’t afraid of death, his death should at least be a meaningful one.
Furthermore, he wanted to see how many of the Territory Lords here would survive after the Army Commander took action.
As a result, the Eighth Order and Territory Lords witnessed an extremely strange sight. While they were engaged in an earth-shattering battle, a Human Warship was fleeing in a wide circle around them with a large group of Black Ink Clansmen hot on its tail.
Although the Warship was temporarily safe, anyone with a discerning eye could see that it would be destroyed sooner or later if it kept fleeing like this.
The Territory Lords paid no attention to this matter as their enemies were the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters only. Killing these opponents was far more important than one Human Warship, and even if one of their Territory Lords was seriously injured, they still held the advantage so they intended to press it.
At one point, Chen Yuan suddenly summoned something.
It was a spear-like artifact, but it did not look like anything special. The Human Race’s Secret Techniques and Artifacts were varied, but after decades of war, the Black Ink Clan had seen most of them by now.
However, when Chen Yuan took out this artifact, the Territory Lords stared at him with solemn expressions, as if they were facing a formidable enemy. They even slowed down their attacks and focused more on defence.
It was an Evil Purging Divine Spear!
The Evil Purging Divine Spear had once shone its brilliance in the war outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. In that war, many Territory Lords and even Royal Lords who had emerged from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had suffered losses.
The Black Ink Clansmen, who were originally evenly matched with their opponents, were suddenly struck by an Evil Purging Divine Spear and their strength had taken a serious hit. Even if they didn’t die, they would lose all combat effectiveness.
Against an artifact that could suppress their Black Ink Strength, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t help but be wary.
That war was too horrifying. The Black Ink Clan suffered massive casualties, and so did the Human Race. Even the Evil Purging Divine Spears were completely exhausted in that battle.
Refining Evil Purging Divine Spears themselves wasn’t difficult, but just refining them wasn’t of any use as they still needed to have Purifying Light sealed into them to pose any real threat to the Black Ink Clan.
The Human Race Army fought several wars over the next few centuries, even exhausting almost all of the Purifying Light sealed in the Purifying Black Ink Battleships. So, how could they even create new Evil Purging Divine Spears? Furthermore, Yang Kai, the only person who could create Purifying Light, had disappeared after the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction war, pushing the Human Race into a difficult situation.
The Evil Purging Divine Spear was basically never used after the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction War. This was also the reason why the No-Return Pass was quickly overrun. At that time, the No-Return Pass might not have been lost if they had a supply of Evil Purging Divine Spears; after all, there were a lot of powerful Divine Spirits stationed there, led by Dragons and Phoenixes. Even if they lost, they would have at least been able to hold on for longer.
The Human Race was currently in a state of decline with more than 90% of the 3,000 Worlds being occupied by the Black Ink Clan. All they could do was gather all of their remaining forces and tightly defend a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields. Facing the constant attacks of the Black Ink Clan Armies, the Human Race Armies defending various Great Territory Battlefields were thoroughly exhausted. They were walking on the edge of life and death where even the slightest mistake could send them tumbling to their doom.
After decades of gruesome battles, the Black Ink Clan witnessed the tenacity of the Human Race and also all kinds of bizarre methods employed by them. The Black Ink Clan originally thought that they already knew the Human Race’s limits.
Until Chen Yuan took out an Evil Purging Divine Spear.
Hundreds of years ago, the Evil Purging Divine Spears had struck terror into the hearts of the Black Ink Clan in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction War. Today, its brilliance shone once more as it severely wounded one of the five Territory Lords with just one strike.
The Territory Lords fighting the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters turned pale with fright as they instantly recognized this spear as the artifact that turned the tides at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
All the Territory Lords were struck with terror.
Fortunately, the Human Race no longer showed any intention of using the Evil Purging Divine Spears in the ensuing battle. The Territory Lords guessed that the Human Race didn’t have many such weapons, otherwise, they would not have been so sparing in using them.
In fact, the current number of Evil Purging Divine Spears was indeed not high; after all, it had only been less than a year since Yang Kai had returned. So, even if the Human Race refined Evil Purging Divine Spears as quickly as possible, they could only produce so many.
Of course, the main reason they did not use another spear was because the Territory Lords were already on guard. Chen Yuan and the others didn’t have any confidence in succeeding, which was why they had been exercising more patience.
Sometimes, trump cards didn’t necessarily need to be used to intimidate others.
At the very least, after a Territory Lord was injured in the initial strike, the remaining Territory Lords were no longer as aggressive as before, giving the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters a lot more room to breathe.
After receiving the message from the Seventh-Order communications officer though, Chen Yuan immediately summoned his own Evil Purging Divine Spear. His World Force started surging as the Evil Purging Divine Spear before him started slightly trembling. It was ready to shoot at any moment.
The Territory Lords started to have a headache, especially the Territory Lord who was facing Chen Yuan. His eyes were glued onto the Evil Purging Divine Spear hovering in front of Chen Yuan as he pushed his strength to the limit, ready to resist at any moment.
After witnessing the fate of his companion, this Territory Lord knew that if he couldn’t block this artifact’s attack, he would be seriously injured if not dead.
His entire attention was focused on dealing with the incoming attack.
The Warship that had come to deliver the message was fleeing around in the vicinity, with countless Black Ink Clansmen in close pursuit. By the looks of it, the Warship would meet a tragic end in a short while.
At some point, the Warship had started flying randomly while paying no heed to where it was, panicking and even rushing straight towards the battlefield of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords.
The Territory Lords were enraged when they noticed this. If this was any other time, just a casual blow from them would have been enough to send this Warship and everyone aboard it to eternal damnation, but with the threat of the Evil Purging Divine Spear looming over their heads, none of them dared to be distracted.
The Evil Purging Divine Spear hovering before Chen Yuan started vibrating even more violently, giving the impression that it would shoot off at any moment.
The tattered Warship was now very close to the Territory Lords and the fear and panic on the faces of the dozen or so soldiers aboard it was apparent as the threat of impending death gripped their hearts.
Right then, a powerful Spiritual Energy fluctuation suddenly flared, distracting the Territory Lord who was fighting Chen Yuan. The next moment, he felt a sharp force tear through his Soul. The sudden excruciating pain caused him to instantly falter and lose concentration.
The Territory Lord was horrified as, although he didn’t know what just happened, how could he not understand that he was ambushed?
[Who? Who could manage to do this?]
He had been keeping a close eye on Chen Yuan’s movements and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had also been pinned down by his companions, while the Territory Lord had not noticed any signs of another Human approaching.
The Territory Lord was unable to fathom how he could be ambushed under these circumstances.
Regardless of how it happened, he did not have any time to give it much thought as the instant that burst of Spiritual Energy appeared, the Evil Purging Divine Spear hovering before Chen Yuan was also activated and shot towards his chest, leaving a dazzling trail of light behind it.
The Evil Purging Divine Spear might be effective against the Black Ink Clan, but it also had its drawbacks; after all, it was just an artifact in the end. If the Black Ink Clansmen were on guard against it, it might not necessarily be effective.
That was why Chan Yuan had not made a move after summoning the Evil Purging Divine Spear, he was waiting for the right opportunity.
Chen Yuan’s patience was rewarded at this moment.
The Territory Lord was already in a state of shock and was unable to defend against Chen Yuan’s attack at all.
The Evil Purging Divine Spear exploded after it pierced into the Territory Lord’s chest. In an instant, a small pure white Sun suddenly appeared in the void and enveloped the Territory Lord, melting away the Black Ink Strength in his body.
The Territory Lord was unable to endure the twin attacks on his Soul and body and let out a miserable cry.
Chen Yuan, on the other hand, didn’t pause for even a moment. After launching the Evil Purging Divine Spear, he charged towards the Territory Lord, brandishing his sword.
A cold gleam flickered across the long sword in his hand as it cut across the Territory Lord’s thick neck.
A frigid look blanketed Chen Yuan’s face as they passed each other. The next moment, the Territory Lord’s head shot into the sky behind him as a fountain of black blood gushed out from the severed neck. The long sword was so sharp and cut so swiftly that the wound on the Territory Lord’s neck was as smooth as a mirror.
A Territory Lord had fallen.
Only at the moment of his death did the Territory Lord vaguely catch sight of an elusive figure flying out from the shadow of the tattered Warship, one he had not noticed the figure before now.
He finally understood where this sneak attack had come from, but unfortunately, he no longer had the strength to warn his companions. The pair of eyes on his massive head remained open, angrily glaring in some direction. It gave the impression that he had been unresigned in his death.
Compared to the Territory Lord’s anguish, Chen Yuan was feeling quite satisfied.
He was also a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with impressive strength. Although he was not as extraordinary as Xiang Shan, he was almost on par with Ou Yang Lie. In fact, in the past, he too was an Army Commander.
Be that as it may, even a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like him felt powerless in the current war against the Black Ink Clan.
In the past, the battles on the Black Ink Battlefield were slightly easier. Although the Territory Lords were still greater in number, most of them were weaker than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, not to mention veterans like him.
He had also killed some Territory Lords in the past.
Things changed after the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction War. Before then, all the ordinary Territory Lords were wiped out, while the newly appeared Territory Lords were all Innate Territory Lords who came directly from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Each and every one of them was far stronger than the Territory Lords of the past.
After hundreds of years of fighting, Chen Yuan had only managed to kill three Territory Lords. Moreover, each time he had to team up with others to score a kill. Each battle was extremely arduous and he had put his life on the line several times to achieve such results.
Today, he finally managed to vent all the frustrations in his heart. He finally got to enjoy the feel of killing a Territory Lord with a single slash of his sword.
Even though the success of his attack was not entirely due to his own efforts and more so because of Yang Kai’s sneak attack, he was the one to take the Territory Lord’s head. That was more than enough for him.
While he was still immersed in his flurry of emotions, the other four Territory Lords’ expressions changed drastically.
The originally tense situation suddenly turned into a battle where life and death could be decided at any moment, making the Territory Lords shocked and apprehensive. They could not understand what just happened.
Not just them, but even the other Eighth-Order Human Masters were confused as to why Chen Yuan suddenly became so fierce.
But soon, they understood the root of everything, Yang Kai had arrived!
After shooting a Soul Rending Thorn, Yang Kai could not hide his tracks any longer. As such, he simply chose to come out from the bottom of the Warship and fire another Soul Rending Thorn, targeting another Territory Lord.
After firing the first Soul Rending Thorn, Yang Kai did not pay any attention to Chen Yuan’s opponent. If Chen Yuan was unable to finish his opponent even with the help of a Soul Rending Thorn and an Evil Purging Divine Spear, his years of arduous cultivation would be a waste.
What Yang Kai needed to do now was to kill as many of these Territory Lords as quickly as possible. If he hesitated for even a moment, these Territory Lords might escape.
This was a rare opportunity as the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory was under the impression that he was still trapped in Acacia Territory, and thus, had wantonly launched an assault on the Human Race. They had no idea that Yang Kai had already escaped. This was a huge oversight.
Nonetheless, it could not be blamed on the Black Ink Clansmen in Acacia Territory; after all, how could they have known that Yang Kai could freely use the World Tree to travel to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and then to other Universe Worlds?
Only a small number of Humans knew about this secret.
A war was not just about differences in strength, information also played a crucial role in determining the course of battle.
While the members of both races were still reeling from shock, Yang Kai had already fired a second Soul Rending Thorn, making a defenceless Territory Lord cry in pain as he staggered unsteadily.
Yang Kai didn’t stop there and immediately fired a third Soul Rending Thorn at the next closest Territory Lord.
The Soul Rending Thorns carried impressive destructive might, but they were also quite simple to defend against. As long as one shielded their Soul diligently, it would greatly weaken the Soul Rending Thorn’s effectiveness. Yang Kai could not give these Territory Lords any chance to mount a defence.
With another set of miserable screams, two Territory Lords were heavily injured by the Soul Rending Thorns and staggered as their auras started fluctuating wildly.
There were five Territory Lords here, of which one was seriously injured while the other four were completely unharmed. They had the absolute upper hand against the four Eighth-Order Human Masters presiding over this front.
But the tides had turned in an instant. One Territory Lord was decapitated in a single stroke, and another two were injured and had their auras plummet. So, including the one who was already seriously injured, only one Territory Lord was currently left unscathed.
From the moment Yang Kai had hidden himself under the Warship and used it to approach the battlefield, to when Chen Yuan beheaded the Territory Lord in one attack and Yang Kai’s successive Soul Rending Thorns, only three breaths had elapsed, that’s all.
This sudden turn of events caught both the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters off guard.
Nevertheless, the Eighth-Order Masters came to their senses the next moment and hurriedly summoned their own Evil Purging Divine Spears before hurling them at their opponents.
The two Territory Lords who had been injured by the Soul Rending Thorns were completely unprepared.
It was not because their responses were slow, but because they were on the verge of losing consciousness. The Soul Rending Thorn was too insidious, able to heavily injure both stealthily and soundlessly, causing not just extreme pain, but also dizziness and disorientation.
Only Yang Kai, who had experienced this kind of pain many times, was now a little accustomed to it. Any enemy hit by a Soul Rending Thorn would be in so much agony that they would temporarily be dazed.
Deafening explosions rang out one after another as small pure white Suns manifested in the void, their pure light roasting the Territory Lords alive. Immediately, the Territory Lords started howling as their auras plunged.
Having been presented with such a great opportunity, the Eighth-Order Masters went all out, using their strongest Divine Abilities or even their Divine Manifestations as they charged at their respective opponents.
Their fates were already set in stone.
Meanwhile, the unharmed Territory Lord, having barely regained his composure, promptly dodged the oncoming Evil Purging Divine Spear.
There were a total of five Territory Lords on this auxiliary front, out of which one was grievously injured from the start. Yang Kai had incapacitated three others using three Soul Rending Thorns, but he was unable to do anything about the last one.
This last Territory Lord was quite decisive, so when he witnessed one of his companions being killed and two others being ambushed, he immediately turned into a Black Ink Cloud and fled towards the horizon.
At that moment, Chen Yuan had just decapitated his opponent and was still relishing in the aftermath. When he saw the Territory Lord flee though, how could he let him go? He flicked his sword before giving chase.
“Help kill them, I’ll stop him!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted as he summoned his spear and stepped in front of the Black Ink Cloud, enduring the excruciating pain in his Soul as he unleashed a flurry of spear shadows.
Even though Chen Yuan was quite strong, it would be difficult for him to stop a Territory Lord who was determined to escape. He would most likely return empty-handed.
Since Yang Kai had decided to attack this front, how could he allow any of the Territory Lords here to escape from right under his nose? He wanted to eliminate all of them today!
A flurry of spears filled the void, distorting the local space and causing the Territory Lord to be unable to tell up from down for a moment. Helpless, he had no choice but to reveal himself and fight Yang Kai.
On the other side, Chen Yuan and the other three Eighth-Order Masters were currently facing three injured Territory Lords, two of whom had critical injuries to both their bodies and Souls.
The die was cast.
When the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters surrounded the three Territory Lords, the latter knew that they would not be able to escape today.
However, as the saying went, a beast is most dangerous when cornered. The desperate situation brought out the innate savagery and viciousness of the Territory Lords who let out loud war cries and all attacked in one direction together. So long as they could create an opening, they might still have a chance to escape.
But the next thing they saw left them in despair. Each of the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had summoned another Evil Purging Divine Spear and hurled them out without a moment of hesitation.
Previously, Chen Yuan and the others had not done so because they didn’t have many Evil Purging Divine Spears on hand. They were not willing to waste these valuable tools unless necessary. In addition, the Territory Lords had been on guard against them, so even if they used them earlier, they would not do much damage.
The current situation was different. They could not hold back against these trapped Territory Lords, as the enemy would surely struggle with reckless abandon. As for whether it would be wasteful or not…
Once they won the battle, would they still need to worry about the lack of Evil Purging Divine Spears with Yang Kai here?
If they were parsimonious with external tools, and that allowed the Territory Lords to break out of their encirclement and escape, or if they lost an Eighth-Order Master to a final life-or-death struggle, it would be a far greater loss that would be impossible to rectify.
The Eighth-Order Masters could easily evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions.
One after another, small Suns exploded again, bathing the void in pure white light. It did not matter whether or not the Evil Purging Divine Spear hit the Territory Lords directly as just the radiant Purifying Light would be enough to give them a hard time. The pure light would constantly melt away their strength, weakening and injuring them further.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters did not drop their guard though. Even if they had the absolute advantage, they didn’t try to force a quick end to the battle with the Territory Lords, instead choosing to seal off all escape routes before slowly chipping away at the enemy’s strength.
In less than the time it takes one to boil a cup of tea, another Territory Lord had fallen.
A moment later, another!
And then another!
After finishing the three Territory Lords, Chen Yuan immediately ordered, “Jing An, Zhou Heng, you go take care of the leftover trash. Dao Hong, come with me to assist the Army Commander!”
The sudden change in the highest-level battlefield had a massive impact on the Armies of the two races. Originally, the Humans could only passively defend against the continuous attacks of the Black Ink Clan Army. This kind of defense had lasted for several decades and the soldiers had already grown accustomed to it.
But today, when the first Territory Lord fell and the three heavily injured Territory Lords were surrounded by Chen Yuan and the others, the Black Ink Clan Army was thrown into confusion.
Every member of the Black Ink Clan Army knew that even if they held a great advantage over the Human Race in terms of numbers, once the Territory Lords were all defeated, they would be mercilessly slaughtered by the unencumbered Human Masters next.
Thus, many Feudal Lords instantly led their subordinates to try to rescue the trapped Territory Lords, but unfortunately, these Black Ink Clan reinforcements did not even manage to get close to the battlefield. The rich Purifying Light blocked most of the Black Ink Clansmen’s advance, and even if some of the Feudal Lords still tried to rush in fearlessly, they were easily taken out by Chen Yuan and the others.
The Eighth-Order Masters might struggle against the Innate Territory Lords, but slaughtering Feudal Lords was a simple matter for them.
As a result, the pressure on the Human Race’s defensive line was greatly reduced. When Territory Lords fell one by one, the Black Ink Clan Army besieging the Human base knew that the tides of war had turned against them, so how could they dare to remain here? They immediately fled in a helter-skelter.
On the other hand, the morale of the Human Race Army soared as they charged out. Assisted by two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Jiang An and Zhou Heng, countless Black Ink Clansmen’s corpses were left floating across the void as the Humans hunted down the routed enemies.
By now, Chen Yuan and Dai Hong had already converged with Yang Kai and the three of them were attacking the fleeing Territory Lord together.
To be honest, this Territory Lord was quite shrewd. When he saw that the situation wasn’t looking good, he immediately tried to escape, and he would have gotten away had Yang Kai not been here.
Trying to escape from a Master of the Dao of Space was nothing more than a futile dream.
In the entire Universe, if Yang Kai declared he was second when it came to escaping, no one would dare claim to be first. Throughout his life, he had been chased by countless powerful enemies and faced innumerable near-death situations, but he had managed to escape all of them by relying on his Space Secret Techniques.
The Territory Lord wanted to escape from right under Yang Kai’s nose, but his skill was lacking to achieve such a feat.
Quickly realizing he couldn’t escape, he could only fight with his life on the line. This Territory Lord was originally quite wary of Yang Kai; after all, when the latter appeared in Profound Nether Territory a few months ago, he had taken out three Territory Lords on his own in a single battle. Furthermore, it was reported that multiple Territory Lords had also died under his spear at the No-Return Pass.
But after fighting with Yang Kai for real, he discovered that although Yang Kai was strong, he was not strong enough to crush a Territory Lord head-on. At the very least, he could still handle him.
Suddenly, he remembered the information he had received from the No-Return Pass. The Royal Lord had speculated that the Human named Yang Kai had the means to severely wound his enemies’ Souls, because every time a Territory Lord died at his hand at the No-Return Pass, their deaths were preceded by a flash of Spiritual Energy. Ordinary Black Ink Clansmen were unable to sense this, but everything was clear to the Royal Lord.
It was through this method that this Human was able to kill Territory Lords so easily.
Since this means of attack was so strong though, it seemed to put a great burden on the Human. In other words, he wouldn’t be able to use it too many times in quick succession.
Remembering the Royal Lord’s speculation, the Territory Lord had been extremely wary of this method, but after fighting for a while, Yang Kai did not seem to have any intention of using it. How could the Territory Lord not realize that the Royal Lord’s guess was correct?
[This Human should not be able to use that strange method for the time being.]
Nonetheless, he was still having a hard time dealing with Yang Kai. He had fought many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but those that were as strong as the one before him were extremely rare. All of Yang Kai’s methods were extremely bizarre, and his spear skills were superb, making it all but impossible to guard against.
After a short exchange, both sides had suffered heavy losses. The Territory Lord was in a sorry state, but the same went for Yang Kai. Both their bodies were covered in blood.
Strictly speaking, the injury Yang Kai had received to his Soul from using the Soul Rending Thorns in Acacia Territory had not fully healed yet; after all, only a few months had passed since then. Even if he had spent some time resting in the Star Boundary, the Soul Warming Lotus was still unable to completely repair his Soul in such a short time.
After using three Soul Rending Thorn just now, Yang Kai felt like he had hit his limit and could lose consciousness at any moment.
Even so, he had to stop this Territory Lord from escaping.
Fortunately, Chen Yuan quickly rushed over with Dai Hong to assist Yang Kai, attacking the Territory Lords from all sides.
The situation had been decided!
Four of the five Territory Lords had been killed on this auxiliary front, and the last one remaining was besieged by three Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it was certain he would also die sooner or later.
Whether it was Chen Yuan or Dai Hong, both of them felt extremely satisfied.
They had been posted to this front for several decades now and had fought with the Black Ink Clan Army countless times, but every time they clashed, they would be forced to passively defend themselves. The few times they had taken the initiative to attack they were quickly repelled.
They had killed a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, but not a single Territory Lord had fallen in this decades-long war. This left these Eighth-Order Masters very discouraged. They had been painstakingly cultivating for thousands of years, but they felt powerless in the face of the current situation.
Today, however, four Territory Lords had died at their hands in less than an incense stick worth of time, and the fifth one would join his comrades on the journey to the Yellow Springs soon!
All of this was thanks to Army Commander Yang Kai.
Originally, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were apprehensive when they heard about Yang Kai being appointed as the Army Commander from the Supreme Headquarters. After all, Yang Kai was far inferior to the other Eighth-Order Masters both in terms of age and seniority. Yang Kai’s personal strength might be great, but strength alone was not enough to lead an entire Army, one must also have the skills to break the deadlock and show the Army a path towards victory.
Previously, when Yang Kai left with two Warships through the Black Ink Clan’s Territory Gate under the watchful eyes of many of the Territory Lords by himself, many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters admired him, but some felt he was being impetuous and reckless. If the Territory Lords were to suddenly attack him at that time, it would lead to terrible consequences. Taking such risks as the Army Commander was truly unwise.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had returned safely.
Now, when Yang Kai led these Eighth-Order Masters to kill several Territory Lords in succession with unstoppable force, Chen Yuan could not say anything about others, but he and his comrades were totally convinced.
No matter whether this newly appointed Army Commander was young and impetuous, just his overwhelming personal strength alone put him ahead above the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
They had never fought side by side with Yang Kai before, so although they knew he was strong, they didn’t know how strong exactly.
Until today.
Although the last surviving Territory Lord was going all out, he was still suppressed by Yang Kai to the point where he could not even catch a breath. Chen Yuan and Dai Hong basically did not need to put their guard up, all they had to do was keep attacking the Territory Lord with their strongest methods. They found this battle quite cathartic.
With someone so powerful overseeing Profound Nether Territory, everyone’s future would be much brighter.
On the auxiliary front, the Black Ink Clan Army collapsed like loose sand following the fall of the Territory Lords. The Black Ink Clan soldiers panicked and fled, allowing the tens of thousands of Human soldiers to relentlessly chase after them.
The situation on the main battlefield was originally extremely tense; furthermore, the Black Ink Clan held the upper hand. However, when the first Territory Lord fell in the distant void, the hearts of all the Territory Lords on the main battlefield skipped a beat. No one had any idea what happened, but a Territory Lord undoubtedly died.
Although it was quite far away, and the disturbance was very faint, all the Territory Lords had sharp senses and naturally, the death of another Territory Lord did not go unnoticed by them.
It had to be known that not many Territory Lords had fallen in Profound Nether Territory, only five over several decades, three of which were killed by Yang Kai last time. If these three were excluded, the Profound Nether Army had only managed to kill two Territory Lords in several decades.
Innate Territory Lords were not easy to kill, especially when the Black Ink Clan had the overall advantage in terms of numbers.
The Human Race had paid a great price just for this.
But today, another Territory Lord was killed.
Six Arms, who was overseeing this place, stared into the distance as a deep furrow appeared on his brow, seemingly wanting to see through the void and determine what was happening.
Unfortunately, the distance was too great and he had no idea what was going on. All he could do was ask a subordinate Feudal Lord to send a message to inquire about it. There was a Black Ink Nest on the auxiliary front, and although it was only Low-Rank, it was enough for the Black Ink Clan to quickly gather information.
The death of a single Territory Lord was not a critical blow to their Army, but it was not a small matter either. Just as Wei Jun Yang had said, however, Six Arms was an extremely cautious Territory Lord, so he immediately wanted to inquire about the situation of the auxiliary front.
While waiting for the report, Six Arms looked towards the raging battlefield as his gaze swept over the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters one by one, like a poisonous snake staring at its prey.
If any of the Eighth-Order Masters showed any signs of weakness, he would make a move.
He had done this multiple times over the past few decades, and many Eighth-Order Masters had fallen victim to his ploys. So, all the Eighth-Order Masters in Profound Nether Territory were extremely wary of him.
It would not have been a big deal if he really fought with the Eighth-Order Masters head-on, the problem was that not only was Six Arms powerful, he was also cunning and insidious.
Therefore, every time he appeared on the battlefield, the Eighth-Order Masters would have to divert part of their attention to guard against him. As a result, he alone was able to restrain many Eighth-Order Masters.
This was an open scheme and Six Arms did not attempt to conceal himself as he kept a hawk eye from the edge of the battlefield. The Human Race Army was helpless about this though, as the Eighth-Order Masters were fewer in number than the Territory Lords so they could not spare one to especially guard against Six Arms.
One time, Ou Yang Lie had taken a risk to act as bait, feigning injury to make it appear he was no match for his opponent, enticing Six Arms into attacking him. In the end though, he was almost beaten to death by Six Arms, leaving Ou Yang Lie fuming in anger. He had sworn that he would tear Six Arms to pieces to soothe his rage.
As the battle continued, Six Arms patiently waited for an opportunity.
At a certain moment, his eyes lit up as he spotted an Eighth-Order Master being besieged by two Territory Lords. Just as he was about to make his move though, his head suddenly swivelled as he stared off into the void.
Spreading from that direction were the undulations of another Territory Lord’s fall.
[Another one?]
Six Arm’s expression now became solemn.
The death of a single Territory Lord was not that big of a deal. The situation on the battlefield was constantly changing, and if a Territory Lord showed the slightest neglect, the Eighth-Order Human Masters would seize the opportunity to kill. But now, two Territory Lords had fallen in quick succession, which was highly abnormal.
[Did a Human Race Master come to help!?]
In the direction he was staring was one of Profound Nether Territory’s auxiliary fronts. According to the intelligence Six Arms had gathered, four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were stationed on that front, while the Black Ink Clan had five Territory Lords. The Territory Lords had always maintained an upper hand all these years, so the known Eighth-Order Humans couldn’t kill a Territory Lord.
[Why has the situation changed so suddenly today? Could Xiang Shan have come?]
A possibility crossed Six Arms’s mind. If there was any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master he feared, it was Xiang Shan. Xiang Shan had been moving between the various Great Territory battlefields, his whereabouts always elusive. He would suddenly appear and attack a Territory Lord while the battle was raging before slipping away, only to reappear on a distant battlefield sometime later.
Quite a lot of Territory Lords had fallen at the hands of Xiang Shan over these past years, and many more were injured.
Be that as it may, even if a Territory Lord had fallen victim to Xiang Shan’s ambush, another couldn’t fall! The Territory Lords were not stupid and would promptly raise their guard or even flee upon noticing that the tides were not in their favour.
Six Arms suddenly felt uneasy.
He had always been a cautious individual and could not tolerate any surprise or situation which he had no control over, so having no information on what was going on at that auxiliary front was giving him a headache.
The deaths of two Territory Lords did not go unnoticed by the other Territory Lords either.
This left every Territory Lord confused and even a bit nervous. Even their suppression over the Eighth-Order Masters had weakened, allowing the Human Masters to catch their breath.
Many Territory Lords who were engaged in fierce battles shot a questioning glance at Six Arms, who slowly shook his head in response. He was completely oblivious to what was happening on the auxiliary front, the only thing he was certain of was that something highly unexpected had happened there for the things to have changed so suddenly.
The Feudal Lord, who was responsible for relaying intelligence, had yet to report back, causing Six Arms to grow even more restless. Originally, his entire focus was on finding a flaw in the Eighth-Order Masters’ defences, waiting for an opportunity to strike. But now, he was in no mood to do so.
When he sensed the demise of the third Territory Lord, Six Arms’ face turned ashen.
[Xiang Shan! It’s definitely Xiang Shan!]
Xiang Shan was the strongest of the Eighth-Order Human Masters, and he appeared and disappeared mysteriously. The Humans couldn’t kill three powerful Innate Territory Lords in a short time without his help. However, Xiang Shan alone could not achieve such a feat. The Humans must have deployed more reinforcements to the auxiliary front!
Before Six Arms could finish speculating though, he felt the passing of a third Territory Lord followed soon after by the fourth. The two deaths happened so close together they practically occurred at the same time.
[The auxiliary front has been lost!]
The interval between the Territory Lords’ deaths became shorter and shorter, indicating that the Human Race’s advantage was getting bigger.
Nonetheless, what Six Arms failed to understand was how all five Territory Lords could be so stupid. Even if the Humans had received powerful reinforcements, why did the Territory Lords not run when they could not defeat them? Innate Territory Lords were quite strong, and if they were determined to flee, no Eighth-Order Master could stop them.
Unless the Humans had somehow sealed the entire battlefield.
But how could the Human Race have such ability? If they wanted to seal off the entire battlefield, they would need many, many Eighth-Order Masters, a force that they simply did not possess.
Six Arms didn’t consider the possibility of a Ninth-Order Master appearing, because the only two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were pinned down in Wind Mist Territory. They couldn’t leave.
Of the five Territory Lords on the auxiliary front, four were already dead.
Six Arms blew his top as he silently cursed those Territory Lords for being foolish and useless.
Gloom filled his eyes as he stared into the depths of the void with regret, but ultimately, he could only raise his hand and shout, “Retreat!”
Originally, they planned to make the best of the absence of the Profound Nether Army Commander, who was trapped in Acacia Territory, but unbeknownst to them, the Humans seemed to have already made arrangements. Not only had they failed to achieve their original objective, but they had also lost four Territory Lords, forcing Six Arms to withdraw their forces.
The auxiliary front had collapsed, and the Human Race’s reinforcements would surely be arriving soon. Before that happened, the Black Ink Clan had to withdraw before they were flanked and overwhelmed.
The Black Ink Clan Army slowly started retreating under Six Arm’s command. The Territory Lords who were fighting against the Eighth-Order Masters also gradually left the battlefield.
The Human Race had no intention of pursuing them as the situation on the main battlefield was different compared to the auxiliary front. The Territory Lords on the auxiliary front had been defeated and the enemy army routed, so it was only natural for the Humans to give chase. On the contrary, the Black Ink Clan here was retreating on their own initiative, in an orderly manner, so chasing them was risky.
The Eighth-Order Masters gradually gathered around. Everyone’s body was riddled with wounds, but fortunately, most of them weren’t seriously injured. They would recover after some rest. Some of the injuries were serious, but they were not fatal. Only, they all had grim looks on their faces.
This was the greatest advantage the Humans had over the Black Ink Clan.
When a Human was injured, they could take healing pills to recover from their injuries. Whereas if Black Ink Clansmen were injured, and the injuries were not light, they would need to enter a Black Ink Nest to recover.
That was why there were so many Territory Lords hibernating in the Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass. It could even be said that the only reason the Humans had been able to hold on for so long was because of this advantage. If the Black Ink Clan could use Spirit Pills to heal themselves, the Humans would have been facing at least 30% more Territory Lords on every battlefield. That kind of pressure was definitely not something the Human Race could bear.
Although the Territory Lords were greater in number than the Eighth-Order Masters, the Human Race was still able to barely hold their ground because the Eighth-Order Masters were willing to exchange injuries with injuries during their battles. As long as a Territory Lord was seriously injured, they would have to go to the No-Return Pass to rest for several years if not decades.
Ou Yang Lie was drenched in blood, and his face was pale.
He was a valiant man who fought with all his might in every battle, so his injuries were not light at all. Be that as it may, he would go all out again in the next battle, no matter how serious his injuries were.
The Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory found Ou Yang Lie to be a pain to deal with. Although Ou Yang Lie had not killed any Innate Territory Lords over the last few decades, he had forced at least seven of them back to the No-Return Pass.
So now, every time the Black Ink Clan fought, two Territory Lords would join forces to pin him down, making Ou Yang Lie feel helpless and angry.
He felt like he was being targeted.
Gazing in the direction the Black Ink Clan Army was retreating, Ou Yang Lie asked, frowning, “What’s going on at the auxiliary front? How did four Territory Lords die? Has Big Head Xiang come?”
His questions were naturally directed at Wei Jun Yang.
In Ou Yang Lie’s opinion, this sudden unforeseen change on the auxiliary front was most likely related to Xiang Shan. It wasn’t as if this had never happened before. Xiang Shan had a few times snuck into a Great Territory Battlefield and then suddenly attacked, beheading a Territory Lord and turning the tide in the Human Race’s favour.
There were several peak Eighth-Order Masters like Xiang Shan attached to the Supreme Headquarters. They were not deployed to any particular Great Territory Battlefield, but they could suddenly appear anywhere, knocking the Black Ink Clan’s advances on their head.
It was partly thanks to these peak Eighth-Order Masters that the Humans had been able to maintain the frontlines in various Great Territories at critical moments over the years.
Without their assistance, the Humans would have at least lost two or three Great Territory Battlefields.
But soon, Ou Yang Lie shook his head, “That’s not right, even Big Head Xiang wouldn’t be able to do something like this.”
The deaths of four Territory Lords had not gone unnoticed by any of the Masters here. There were only a total of five Territory Lords on that auxiliary front, and by the looks of it, they were about to catch all of them in one net.
Ou Yang Lie had worked with Xiang Shan for many years and was well aware of what the latter was and wasn’t capable of. He didn’t believe that Xiang Shan had the strength to kill four Territory Lords in a row. Even if he was helped by other Eighth-Order Masters, that was simply an impossible feat.
As soon as he finished speaking, Ou Yang Lie sensed the death of the fifth Territory Lord.
Ou Yang Lie was stunned for a moment before grinning ear to ear, [Good, now that all the Territory Lord there have been wiped out, the Profound Nether Army detachment should be able to completely occupy that auxiliary front!]
“Has the Army Commander returned?” Fei Yong Ze suddenly glanced at Wei Jun Yang and asked.
Xiang Shan might not be able to accomplish this, but that didn’t mean that no one in this world could. In fact, among all the Eighth-Order Masters alive today, there was only one person who could make this impossible feat possible!
Profound Nether Army Commander, Yang Kai!
The last time he appeared in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai managed to kill three Territory Lords all by himself, so it would not be impossible for him to kill five with the help of four other Eighth-Order Masters.
The other Eighth-Order Masters were astounded after hearing this.
[The Army Commander is back? Wasn’t the Army Commander trapped in Acacia Territory? How did he return?]
The Territory Gates in Acacia Territory had been blockaded by millions of Black Ink Clan soldiers and at least a dozen Territory Lords had also been deployed there. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, he probably would not be able to break out of such an encirclement.
Immediately, someone anxiously asked, “Senior Brother Wei, has the Army Commander really returned?”
Wei Jun Yang slightly nodded in agreement, “Yes, the Army Commander is back. He also took charge of that auxiliary front.”
“No wonder!” Realization suddenly dawned on everyone. They had at first thought that it was Xiang Shan’s handiwork, but apparently, it was Yang Kai’s doing.
“How did he return? Did he kill his way out in Acacia Territory?” Ou Yang Lie looked confused. He had been quite worried when he heard that Yang Kai had been trapped in Acacia Territory; after all, the Black Ink Clan had deployed a massive force to keep him trapped. Yang Kai was responsible for rescuing the Human refugees trapped in Acacia Territory, so he was surely encumbered by a huge burden. Ou Yang Lie was afraid that Yang Kai wouldn’t be capable of taking the ruthless path and instead decided to live and die together with the trapped cultivators. That would be incredibly foolish. However, who would have thought that Yang Kai had already returned?
It was too strange.
Moreover, the war broke out in Profound Nether Territory because the news of Yang Kai being trapped in Acacia Territory had spread, allowing the Black Ink Clan to act fearlessly.
Did the Black Ink Clan not know that Yang Kai had escaped?
Ou Yang Lie was confused, and it wasn’t not just him; all the other Eighth-Order Masters had similar doubts.
Wei Jun Yang replied, shaking his head, “I don’t know how the Army Commander managed to escape, you can try asking him yourselves if you’re curious.”
Saying so, he stared into the depths of the void. The deadlock at the auxiliary front had been broken with the fall of the five Territory Lords stationed there. The Human Army should be able to eradicate the Black Ink Clan Army before long.
This was a huge win for Profound Nether Territory, enough to set everyone’s heart aflame.
The Human Race was currently lacking such victories. After continuously fighting for decades, everyone, from the higher-ups to the lowest-level soldiers, was mentally and physically exhausted, and with so little good news coming from the various battlefields, everyone had started to lose hope.
But now, perhaps there would be a new light!
At the same time, the Territory Lords were also looking in the direction of the auxiliary front. When they sensed the passing of the fifth Territory Lord, resentment took over the Territory Lords’ faces.
The Black Ink Clan had held the superior position on the Profound Nether Territory Battlefield for years and had not suffered any significant losses during that entire time, but ever since Yang Kai came, they had suffered two consecutive defeats.
The first time, he had killed three Territory Lords, and this time, five had perished. Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan still had no clear idea what happened at the auxiliary front.
“Sir Territory Lord!” A Feudal Lord hurriedly rushed over and saluted him, panic clearly visible on his face. It was the very same Feudal Lord who was sent by Six Arms to inquire about the auxiliary front’s situation. The Black Ink Clan could quickly gather information throughout the entire Profound Nether Territory with the help of their Black Ink Nest network.
The Feudal Lord hurried over to Six Arms, who asked him in a deep voice, “What happened at the auxiliary front? Is Xiang Shan here?”
A look of fear covered the Feudal Lord’s face as he shook his head and reported, “It’s not Xiang Shan, it’s that Human named Yang Kai! Some Feudal Lords witnessed him suddenly appear and kill the Territory Lords one by one!”
“What!?” The Territory Lords were greatly taken aback.
Six Arms also had a serious look on his face, “Yang Kai!? Are you certain?”
The Feudal Lord replied, “That is what the reports said.”
“Impossible!” One of the Territory Lords firmly shook his head, “Mo Na Ye in Acacia Territory sent word that Yang Kai was still trapped and there hasn’t been any movement on that side, so how could he appear here?”
The other Territory Lords also felt that it was impossible. Even if Yang Kai was somehow able to kill his way out of Acacia Territory, he would not have been able to return to Profound Nether Territory in such a short time. Everyone felt that the information from the auxiliary front was wrong.
“Check it again! Also, send a message to Mo Na Ye in Acacia Territory to ask about the situation over there,” even though Six Arms himself didn’t believe it, this was a critical matter, so he had no choice but to be prudent.
The Feudal Lord received the order and hurriedly flew towards the Black Ink Clan’s base camp. There was a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest at the camp that could communicate with all the other Black Ink Nests in Profound Nether Territory.
“Sir, how about I go take a look personally?” One of the Territory Lords asked.
Six Arms pondered for a moment before refusing, shaking his head, “There’s no need, that front… has already fallen into enemy hands. It’s pointless to go there now. On the contrary, you might fall victim to the Human Race’s ambush. Go back and rest.”
He looked around and noticed that two Territory Lords’ auras were in disorder. Obviously, they were seriously injured. He could not help but lightly sigh in his heart. These two probably wouldn’t be able to participate in the war for quite some time as they would need to return to the No-Return Pass to heal their wounds.
He didn’t know if the No-Return Pass would be able to transfer more Territory Lords here as recently, the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory had suffered quite a few casualties. If there were any more losses among the top ranks, the Black Ink Clan might not be able to maintain pressure on the Human Race.
At the same time, a sense of unease gripped Six Arm’s heart, [Has Yang Kai really returned and made an appearance at the auxiliary front? But that shouldn’t be possible…]
Meanwhile, Yang Kai, leading four Eighth-Order Masters and tens of thousands of soldiers, was chasing after the Black Ink Clan. Chen Yuan and the others were on a rampage.
It had been a few decades, no, several centuries since they had been able to kill Black Ink Clansmen so easily and freely after the great crusade.
For the past few hundred years, every time they fought, their opponents would be the powerful Innate Territory Lords.
But now, with all five Territory Lords in the vicinity dead, there were no more Black Ink Clansmen who could match them. Once they started the bloodbath, none among the Black Ink Clan here could stop them. Even the Feudal Lords were being taken down in one attack.
A million-strong Black Ink Clan Army lost countless soldiers under this pursuit and the Human Race Army soon killed their way to the enemy’s camp, a Universe World where dozens of Low-Rank Black Ink Nests had been planted.
In just the time it took to burn a stick of incense, these dozens of Black Ink Nests were completely destroyed and ransacked. Although the quality of resources looted from these Black Ink Nests was not that great, they won out in quantity.
Half a day later, the battle came to an end. The Black Ink Clan were wiped from this Universe World and the Human Race Army that had chased them all the way here let out a thunderous cheer.
After several decades, the Black Ink Clan at this auxiliary front had finally been purged. This also meant the Human Race would no longer need to deploy significant forces here in the future and could instead send more troops to the main battlefield.
Now that the battle was over, everyone started cleaning up the battlefield and collecting the corpses of the fallen soldiers. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
Yang Kai did not immediately leave and instead lay in ambush on the Universe World with Chen Yuan and the other Eighth-Order Masters. He was not sure if the Black Ink Clan would send someone to check up on the situation here, so he was just taking a chance.
If a Territory Lord came to investigate this place, it would be an unexpected bonus.
Unfortunately, there was still no movement even after waiting for several days. Yang Kai did not want to waste his time waiting here any longer so he immediately ordered the troops to return to camp.
Leaving the aftermath to Chen Yuan and the others, Yang Kai flew alone to the frontline camp.
The Eighth-Order Masters were waiting for him, and when they saw him, they all cupped their fists in greeting. Yang Kai returned the gesture to everyone one by one. When he saw that most of them were injured, especially Ou Yang Lie and several other Eighth-Order Masters, who were seriously wounded, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you all healing?”
Ou Yang Lie explained, grinning, “Old Wei said you’re back, but we could not believe him. We wanted to see it for ourselves.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t trust Wei Jun Yang, but this matter was simply too bizarre.
The Black Ink Clan started a war in Profound Nether Territory because they wanted to take advantage of Yang Kai being trapped in Acacia Territory and inflict heavy casualties on the Profound Nether Army. Unexpectedly, the information was wrong, and the Profound Nether Army took advantage of the situation to deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai stated with a smile, “You’ve all fought hard, please go and heal your injuries.”
Everyone quickly dispersed.
Yang Kai also wanted to leave, but was stopped by Wei Jun Yang, “Sir, hold on a moment.”
“What’s the matter?” Yang Kai curiously asked.
Wei Jun Yang stated, “Although we have won, our Profound Nether Army has also suffered some casualties. Sir, as the Commander of the Profound Nether Army, it is only right for you to coordinate the entire army and have a grasp of the Profound Nether Army’s information so that you can deal with the next battle.”
Yang Kai immediately felt a headache coming on, “There’s no need for that, you and Senior Brother Kong can take care of it.”
Wei Jun Yang shook his head in response, “Brother Kong and I are just assisting Sir; after all, the Profound Nether Army is still under Sir’s command.”
Yang Kai sincerely stated, “I trust my two Senior Brothers.”
“This isn’t about trust…”
Before Wei Jun Yang could say anything else, Yang Kai raised his hand and prevented him, “Senior Brother Wei, my injuries are serious and I urgently need to recuperate. I’ll have to trouble you and Senior Brother Kong to manage the Army.”
Wei Jun Yang sized up Yang Kai from head to toe as a look of ridicule appeared on his face.
Yang Kai earnestly added, “It’s an internal injury. My Soul is currently unstable, I feel like I’m about to pass out.”
After much persuasion, Yang Kai finally managed to get rid of Wei Jun Yang.
He knew that what Wei Jun Yang said was true, but the military affairs of an Army were too cumbersome, and he did not want to interfere in it either. The Profound Nether Army had been functioning fine without him, so there was no reason for him to be the one in charge of it now.
Strictly speaking, asking him to be the Army Commander was like asking a donkey to dance. Deep down, he would rather be like Ou Yang Lie, a fierce general who charges into battle.
Shouldering the hopes and lives of millions of soldiers was a heavy responsibility.
As he walked outside the palace, Yang Kai saw a large group of people waiting in the distance, all of them covered in blood and radiating intense murderous intent. By the looks of it, they had just withdrawn from the battlefield. After seeing who these people were, Yang Kai immediately understood why they were waiting here.
Seeing him arrive, the leader, Zhu Jian, quickly approached him and cupped his fists, “Sir.”
The other Divine Spirits also bowed, wearing complicated expressions.
They had been waiting in Profound Nether Territory these past few days, but when the war broke out, they had no choice but to join the battle as well and had contributed a lot to the effort. In any case, there were several dozen Divine Spirits here, so they were a force to be reckoned with in any place.
The deaths of five Territory Lords in succession on the auxiliary front had also been noticed by all of them. Originally, none of them had a clear idea about the situation, but after learning that it was connected to Yang Kai, all of them were relieved.
The scene of the unruly Tao Wu being killed in one blow a few months ago was still vivid in their minds.
“What’s the matter?” Yang Kai looked at them, not having expected these Divine Spirits to be waiting here.
Zhu Jian explained, “Sir, you told us to kill two Territory Lords within three months to make up for our mistakes. We fought numerous bloody battles, and fortunately, we did not fail in our mission. We are here to report our success.”
Saying so, Zhu Jian took out two corpses from his Space Ring.
These were the corpses of two Territory Lords, mangled beyond recognition. Clearly, they had experienced a brutal battle before their deaths.
In fact, these Divine Spirits had arrived in Profound Nether Territory long ago, but Yang Kai had already left by the time they came, so they had no choice but to wait here for his return.
Yang Kai did a quick check before slightly nodding, “Good work. Don’t make the same mistake again.”
Yang Kai brought these Divine Spirits out from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, but they had not been very obedient because he was not around. After making a show of force by killing Tao Wu, and with their Bloodline Oath as a constraint, Yang Kai was sure that these Divine Spirits would not dare act rashly in the future.
In any case, these Divine Spirits were indispensable to the Human Race. Yang Kai could kill one to set up his prestige, but he didn’t want their relationship to become too strained so he refrained from further killing.
Hearing this, Zhu Jian and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
“Does Sir have any other instructions?” Zhu Jian cautiously asked.
“Go back to the Supreme Headquarters and listen to their deployment orders,” Yang Kai simply waved them away.
Since he was overseeing Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan probably wouldn’t dare act up here. On the other hand, the situation was quite tense in other Great Territories, so these Divine Spirits would be of great use there.
The Divine Spirits felt like they had been granted amnesty as they quickly bid farewell and left.
Divine Spirits had been arrogant since ancient times, not taking any other being seriously. This was especially so with the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary as they rarely had the opportunity to interact with the outside world. This was why they had been disregarding the Supreme Headquarters’ orders before Yang Kai’s return.
They could ignore the other Human Masters, but they couldn’t ignore Yang Kai as he had proven he was willing to kill in a heartbeat. Tao Wu was a good example for this.
Moreover, Yang Kai was not a Human anymore, but a member of the Dragon Clan. All Divine Spirits revered the Dragons and Phoenixes as their leaders. Their pitiful pride was nothing in front of a Pureblood Dragon.
Yu Ru Meng’s Squad also returned soon after. Although the 10 of them were dishevelled, none of them were seriously injured.
Few Human Squads had survived so many battles without losing a single member. Even when Yang Kai was leading Dawn, he had lost Ning Qi Zhi and Qi Tai Chu in battle.
One of the reasons why Yu Ru Meng’s Squad was able to achieve this feat was because their individual strength was extraordinary. Not only were all of them in the Seventh Order, there were also Dragon Clan and Phoenix Clan members among them. Even if they were to encounter a Territory Lord, they would still be able to put up a fight.
Everyone in the Squad was a Seventh-Order Master or equivalent. In all the battlefields, this was the only Squad to have such a luxurious lineup. Generally, there would only be one or two Seventh-Order Masters in a Squad, but the higher-ups of the Profound Nether Army knew that they were Yang Kai’s Wives or close associates, so they made an exception and allowed them to do as they pleased. Otherwise, how could a single Squad have such a grand lineup?
Secondly, their Warship was transformed from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, so its defence was much stronger than ordinary. It could even be said that if one wanted to kill them, they would have to first destroy Bi Xi’s Clone.
But how could Bi Xi’s Soul Clone be so easy to kill?
The Black Ink Clan would have to send two Territory Lords to deal with such a Squad, which would clearly be a waste of manpower, so up until now, Yu Ru Meng’s Squad had been able to rampage about freely.
Everyone had suffered varying degrees of injuries and all of them required rest and recovery, especially Yang Kai. The pain of his Soul being torn apart was simply unbearable.
After speaking to Yu Ru Meng briefly, Yang Kai immediately went into retreat.
Both the Humans and Black Ink Clan had suffered great losses in Profound Nether Territory recently, but the Black Ink Clan’s casualties were far more substantial than the Human’s. Not only did they lose five Territory Lords, but they even lost the battle for one of the auxiliary fronts they had been contesting for several decades. This sent Six Arms, who had been overseeing this place, flying into a rage as a cold and grim look permanently covered his face.
From the information he had received, the loss of the Territory Lords and the auxiliary base was likely related to the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army’s unexpected return.
Only, Six Arms was unable to determine the authenticity of this news. There were indeed many Feudal Lords who claimed that they had seen Yang Kai, but how was that possible?
The Black Ink Clansmen in Acacia Territory had sent word that Yang Kai was now just a turtle hiding in its shell.
Deep down, Six Arms was actually willing to believe that Yang Kai had returned. A single Human Master like Yang Kai was enough to give the Black Ink Clan a serious headache, but if there was another who had abilities on par with his, able to slay multiple Territory Lords at once, how was the Black Ink Clan supposed to survive?
But if that was the case, what was Mo Na Ye doing? Acacia Territory had been thoroughly sealed off, so how could Yang Kai have escaped?
Unable to understand, Six Arms sent out scouts to the Human Race’s side to investigate, while at the same time, he waited for news from Acacia Territory.
Half a month later, Acacia Territory sent a message.
Six Arms checked it at once.
The five Territory Gates in Acacia Territory had been completely cordoned off and not a single Human had breached their defences. All the Hunters who tried to enter Acacia Territory to gather information had been either captured or killed by the Black Ink Clan Army.
Be that as it may, according to the Black Ink Clan’s investigation, the Universe Cave Heaven in Acacia Territory where the Human Race cultivators were originally hiding was now empty…
Reading this report, Six Arms’ face sank as he cursed, [That idiot Mo Na Ye has caused us a lot of harm.]
He was almost certain that Yang Kai had already left Acacia Territory, and the previous loss in Profound Nether Territory was definitely because of him.
The Feudal Lords who managed to escape that slaughter were indeed not mistaken!
Cursing inwardly, Six Arms continued reading the report.
In the message, Mo Na Ye also swore that Yang Kai was still trapped in Acacia Territory, but he had no idea where he was hiding. He planned on having the Black Ink Clan Army sweep the entire Great Territory and swore that he would find Yang Kai sooner or later.
[Find him my ass!]
Six Arms couldn’t be bothered to read any further. Yang Kai was already back in Profound Nether Territory, so who the Hell was Mo Na Ye going to look for?
If it weren’t for the unforeseen incident in Profound Nether Territory, Six Arms would have firmly believed Mo Na Ye’s report; after all, how could such a large group of Humans escape when all the Territory Gates were sealed?
But all hopes and speculations were false in the face of facts.
Yang Kai had long since disappeared without a trace. It was laughable that that idiot Mo Na Ye was still wasting his time in Acacia Territory.
However, what shocked Six Arms even more was that the Black Ink Clan in Acacia Territory had also suffered incredible losses. To his shock and dismay, Yang Kai had managed to kill seven Territory Lords with the help of a mere three Squads!
Six Arms was horrified.
Three at the No-Return Pass, a total of eight in Profound Nether Territory, and seven in Acacia Territory…
In total, the number of Territory Lords who had died due to Yang Kai directly or indirectly had reached 18!
This was all the information he could gather, but there were still some things he had yet to grasp.
[What is this Human?] Holding the jade slip from Acacia Territory in his hand, Six Arms felt that Yang Kai was definitely the Black Ink Clan’s greatest, and most dangerous enemy!
What was laughable was that although Yang Kai had killed so many Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan did not actually have much information on him. All the Black Ink Clan knew that he used some kind of strange method to attack Souls, and finished off his opponent in one blow after his initial sneak attack. He could not use this Soul attack method too frequently in a short period, but apart from this, the Black Ink Clan knew nothing else.
[I guess… I’ve to collect some information about this person.]
Six Arms began making plans.
After the most recent battle, Profound Nether Territory once again welcomed a rare period of peace. The Human Race and Black Ink Clan Armies stood on opposite sides of the void, glaring at each other. Although there were some small skirmishes, both the Human Race and Black Ink Clan were restraining themselves, as if they were afraid that another war would embroil the entire territory.
For the Humans, this period of peace was extremely precious. Many of the soldiers had suffered injuries in the last battle and needed to recuperate, but how could the Black Ink Clan fare any better?
Not only did the Black Ink Clan need to recuperate, they also needed to call in more troops. Below the Territory Lord level, their individual strength was inferior to the Human Race’s so they could only rely on numbers to win.
Two years passed by in a flash.
From a certain palace, Yang Kai finally emerged from his retreat.
This time, it took him quite a long time to heal, mainly because he had used the Soul Rending Thorns too frequently. While he had still not recovered from the injuries his Soul had sustained in Acacia Territory, he had used more Soul Rending Thorns as soon as he returned to Profound Nether Territory. The damage had simply become too much at that point.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s Soul had stabilized after recuperating for such a long period thanks to the Soul Warming Lotus. Furthermore, he could feel that his Soul cultivation had progressed a little further.
In the past, he discovered that every time his Soul recovered after using a Soul Rending Thorn, his Spiritual Energy would become slightly more refined. This was also in line with the principle of ‘there is no construction without destruction.’
Perhaps one day, he would be able use Soul Rending Thorns four, or even five times in a row without much stress. At that time, it would be even easier for him to kill his opponents.
Walking out of the palace, Yang Kai immediately sent a message to Wei Jun Yang and the others.
A short while later, all the Eighth-Order Masters were gathered in the Main Conference Hall.
Ou Yang Lie looked at Yang Kai in excitement and asked, “Are we going to fight?”
He was quite a belligerent fellow. Even though he had not yet recovered from his injuries, he had been crying for war all the time. Unfortunately for him, Yang Kai was in a retreat, so the Profound Nether Army could not make a rash move. Now that Yang Kai had finally come out of his seclusion, how could Ou Yang Lie restrain himself?
Yang Kai nodded slightly, “We can’t just keep resting forever. It’s been two years since the last major battle, and although everyone has yet to fully recover, I don’t think the Black Ink Clan is in any better shape. No one will have the upper hand right now.”
Ou Yang Lie immediately became excited, “This Old Master requests to serve as the vanguard!”
Wei Jun Yang, on the other hand, was a little hesitant, “Sir, Profound Nether Territory has been in a constant state of war for decades, and it’s rare for us to have peace for even a few days. If we start another war now, I’m afraid the soldiers won’t be able to hold on.”
If a Black Ink Clansmen got seriously injured, they could get back on their feet after slumbering in a Black Ink Nest for a while. On the other hand, if Humans got injured, although they were not bogged down by so many nuisances, it was not that easy to heal either.
For example, Ou Yang Lie had still not recovered from his injuries even after two years of rest.
Ou Yang Lie shot a glance at him, “What’s there to be afraid of? Yang Boy is right, we might not be in top shape, but the Black Ink Clan isn’t faring any better. As such, no one will have the advantage. What’s more, things are different now. We have more Evil Purging Divine Spears than before.”
The Artifact Refiners in the Profound Nether Army had been constantly refining Evil Purging Divine Spears over these past two years, and although they had not refined many of them, it was enough for a single large-scale battle. With the Evil Purging Divine Spears, the Human Masters would surely have it easier.
Wei Jun Yang shook his head, stating, “It’s not that I’m afraid, it’s just…” He looked at Yang Kai, “Sir, what is your idea?”
He wasn’t convinced that in their current position the Humans should be the ones to initiate a war, but he still decided to listen to Yang Kai’s plan.
Yang Kai explained, “The Black Ink Clan has a stronger and bigger Army, while our Human Race Army is weaker and fewer in number. In all these years, it has always been the Black Ink Clan on the offence, while we Humans are forced to passively hold our ground, which is understandable. I want to launch an attack, but not because I want to end the battle in Profound Nether Territory in one fell swoop. We Humans don’t currently have that kind of strength.”
Kong Cheng De pondered for a moment before asking, “Sir, you mean…”
Yang Kai added, “I want the Profound Nether Army’s main force to launch a campaign to divert the attention of the Black Ink Clan Army.” He raised his hand and pointed towards a certain spot on the Void Chart, “I will head here and assist the Eighth-Order Division Commanders in taking down the Territory Lords here, allowing us to occupy this front.”
Ou Yang Lie happily smiled, “Just like last time?”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement.
Yang Kai’s last ambush had brought about stellar results. Not only did he kill five Territory Lords, but the Black Ink Clan Army at one of the auxiliary fronts was utterly routed and had suffered massive casualties.
The auxiliary fronts in Profound Nether Territory were not just limited to one area. There were several of them, and they were now Yang Kai’s targets.
Kong Cheng De and Wei Jun Yang glanced at each other before the former smiled wryly and explained, “Sir, you’ve been in a retreat for the past two years, so I’m afraid you don’t know about the situation in Profound Nether Territory. It’s my fault for forgetting to report it to you.”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai looked at him in confusion.
Kong Cheng De answered, “The Black Ink Clan suffered such immense losses the last time you struck that they have completely given up on all the auxiliary fronts. All the Black Ink Clan Armies have retreated and they’ve even moved their Black Ink Nests away.”
Yang Kai was at a total loss.
He had been planning on attacking the other auxiliary fronts one after another, but it never occurred to him that the Black Ink Clan would withdraw completely after just a single defeat.
[What the Hell?]
“Six Arms is quite decisive!” Yang Kai lightly nodded his acknowledgement.
This really came as a surprise to him. If Yang Kai really targeted the other auxiliary fronts, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to defend themselves and would be forced to retreat sooner or later, but it seemed Six Arms understood this and simply decided to cut their losses and retreat preemptively. This was a frustrating development for Yang Kai.
Nonetheless, this was also quite beneficial for the Human Race. Since the Black Ink Clan was no longer attacking the auxiliary fronts, the Profound Nether Army could concentrate all of its forces to guard the main battlefield and did not have to divert manpower elsewhere.
Kong Cheng De pondered for a moment before asking, “Sir, were you planning to kill more Territory Lords?”
Yang Kai nodded his agreement, “The Territory Lords are much higher in number than our Eighth-Order Masters. Although we’ve killed a number of them here, that hasn’t really closed the gap in high-level combat strength between our two races. In fact, this gap may never be closed, but where there is a will, there is a way. We can only reduce the pressure on our Human Race by killing more Territory Lords. I want all those Territory Lords to tremble in fear in the future!”
The Eighth-Order Masters looked at each other, sighing at the hot-bloodedness of this young man. Although these old Eighth-Order Masters weren’t afraid of dying in battle against the Black Ink Clan, they were still lacking in vigour compared to Yang Kai.
Perhaps this was also the reason why the Supreme Headquarters had appointed Yang Kai as the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army. Yang Kai’s fearsome strength was a critical factor, but the other reason was that the Supreme Headquarters wanted to bring some changes to the war situation. The other Army Commanders were all old and serious people, but that also meant that they acted more conservatively and cautiously.
Kong Cheng De stated, “Sir, if that’s what you want, there is no need to hesitate then. The Army will press forward and draw the Black Ink Clan into a battle. The Eighth-Order Division Commanders will be tasked with keeping the Territory Lords occupied, so you just need to find an opportunity to kill them.”
Someone worriedly stated, “The Profound Nether Army prioritized defence mainly because there was a gap in strength, so we’ve been relying on various tricks and traps to defend against the enemy. If we were to rashly launch an attack without any support, we might land ourselves in trouble.”
The Human Race had also been primarily focused on defence on the Black Ink Battlefield because the Human Race had the Great Passes. The same was true for the Profound Nether Army. Although there weren’t any impregnable Passes they could use here, being able to decide the battlefield allowed them to set up numerous defensive emplacements that bolstered their combat strength.
These arrangements could greatly make up for the difference in combat strength between the Humans and Black Ink Clan.
Kong Cheng De interjected, “That’s not a big problem! While launching an offensive does have its fair share of drawbacks, we can compensate for them with the Evil Purging Divine Spears. If we disregard consumption, the Black Ink Clan may not be able to gain any advantage for a short time. Of course, the more drawn out the battle, the harder it will become for our side.”
Yang Kai asked, “Senior Brother Kong, by your estimation, how long can the Profound Nether Army persist if we utilize every Evil Purging Divine Spear we have?”
Kong Cheng De pondered for a moment before replying, “Half a day!”
After two years of continuous refining, they would only be able to hold strong for half a day at most, which was understandable as it was quite difficult to refine the Evil Purging Divine Spears en masse, but using them was extremely simple. It all depended on the right timing.
Yang Kai understood and ordered, “In that case, our troops must withdraw within half a day after the start of the battle, or else we will suffer excessive casualties.”
Yang Kai then focused his attention on the Void Chart, remaining silent.
The Eighth-Order Masters patiently waited for Yang Kai to finish contemplating, whereas Ou Yang Lie kept signalling Yang Kai with his eyes. His face filled with encouragement, as if he wanted this little brat to let him do as he pleased.
After a long time, Yang Kai suddenly looked up and shouted, “Relay my orders, unless a war breaks out at the frontline, all forces are to return to the main camp. We will attack in three days with each Division acting as an independent unit, forcing the Black Ink Clan’s Army to come out and fight. We will engage the Black Ink Clan Army for 12 hours and then retreat. Every Eighth-Order Division Commander will find an opportunity to join the battle and draw out the Territory Lords. You don’t need to kill them, your task is simply to fully occupy their attention!”
“Yes, Sir!” The Eighth-Order Masters received their orders. Some were excited, some were worried, and some wore a stoic look.
After the military order was given, the Profound Nether Army’s main force could be said to have completely mobilized. Something like this had never happened in the last few decades. It was quite a risky move, and if the Black Ink Clan came to learn of it in advance, it would have disastrous consequences.
All the Black Ink Clan needed to do was divide their forces and cut off the Profound Nether Army’s retreat to inflict heavy damage.
It wasn’t that Yang Kai didn’t understand this point, but how could he kill Territory Lords without taking some risks? He needed to defeat the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory in the shortest time possible to imbue a sense of terror of him into them.
These weren’t just empty words, this was his real objective.
Yang Kai then turned to Kong Cheng De and stated, “Senior Brother Kong, I’ll leave the rear to you to coordinate the overall situation.”
Kong Cheng De nodded in response, “Rest assured, Sir, this Kong will do his best.”
“Prepare yourselves!” Yang Kai waved everyone away.
The Eighth-Order Masters quickly dispersed.
Ou Yang Lie, on the other hand, followed Yang Kai out of the hall. Yang Kai turned around and asked, “Senior Ou Yang, do you need something?”
Ou Yang Lie glanced around before pulling Yang Kai to a remote corner by his arm.
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. If someone who didn’t know what was going on saw them acting sneaky, who knows what they would think?
“Sir Ou Yang, if you have something to say, just say it.” Yang Kai was planning to return to his temporary palace to warn Yu Ru Meng and the others on some matters, so he didn’t have the time to chat with him.
Ou Yang Lie beamed with a broad smile, “Junior Brother, we’ve known each other for many years, how did your Senior Brother treat you?”
Whenever he needed something, he would address Yang Kai as Junior Brother, if not, he would call him Yang Boy.
Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, “I saved Senior Brother’s life!”
Ou Yang Lie’s expression froze. Yang Kai had not said a single lie. Back then, Ou Yang Lie was separated from the Human Race Army and got stranded beyond the No-Return Pass with a group of remnant soldiers. It was Yang Kai who had led him and the other Humans to the Barren Territory from the No-Return Pass.
In truth, Yang Kai had saved his life.
Ou Yang Lie agreed, nodding, “That’s right, in other words, we have a life-and-death-friendship.”
[How did he come to that conclusion?]
Yang Kai couldn’t be bothered to refute him.
Ou Yang Lie happily smiled, “Since that’s the case, Junior Brother must take good care of your Senior Brother.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but shoot a glance at him, “I didn’t expect Senior Brother to be so afraid of death!”
Ou Yang Lie was stunned for a moment before cursing, “What nonsense! This Old Master has fought on the battlefield for so many centuries, but when have I ever feared death?”
“Then what does Senior Brother mean?”
Ou Yang Lie cursed, “Chen Yuan that bastard, ever since he had returned from the auxiliary front, he’s been bragging that he beheaded an Innate Territory Lord with a single stroke of his sword! Others may not have any idea about that bastard’s strength, but I’m well aware. In a one-on-one fight, this Old Master can beat him with just one hand to the point that not even his Disciples would recognize him. He was only able to kill a Territory Lord thanks to you, Junior Brother.”
At this point, Ou Yang Lie put on a meaningful grin and continued, “Junior Brother, you can’t let your fertile water into another’s land. Speaking of which, we’re also one family, and we both have served in the Great Evolution Army. When you were injured, Gong Lian and I even took care of you. You want to kill Territory Lords, right? Then, this Senior Brother will find a Territory Lord and try my best to keep him occupied. Then, you can sneak over and give him a blow to the head. Do… you understand?”
Yang Kai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and quickly nodded, “I understand, I understand.”
Ou Yang Lie was overjoyed, “So, we have a deal?”
Yang Kai earnestly stated, “Senior Brother, I can only promise to do my best. Senior Brother also knows that the situation on the battlefield is constantly changing, and I can’t attack too many times either…”
Without waiting for him to finish, Ou Yang Lie cut him off, “I understand, your Senior Brother understands. Then, I’ll leave everything to you!”
After smacking Yang Kai’s shoulder a few times, he turned around and flew away.
Yang Kai stared at his back, thinking, [What do you understand?]
A heavy and murderous aura pervaded the Universe Fragment where the front line’s main camp was located. Although no direct order had been issued yet, the soldiers could feel the oppressive pressure of the calm before a storm.
Having fought the Black Ink Clan for years, most of the soldiers had developed a keen perception of an impending war, and there were clear signs everywhere that a battle was about to break out.
The Human Race Army on the Universe Fragment at the main front all began preparing for the war.
Inside a certain palace, Yang Kai watched as Yu Ru Meng’s Squad took off, heading towards the gathering point of their Division.
He did not give them too much advice as there was nothing for him to worry about. All of the women in this Squad were Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and they had a customized Warship built around Bi Xi’s Soul Clone. In terms of safety, they were far better off than other soldiers.
Since a foreign enemy had invaded the 3,000 Worlds, every Human capable of contributing their strength had to do so. So, even if Yu Ru Meng and the others were his family, they couldn’t shrink from this.
Especially now when Yang Kai was the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, he could not show any kind of favouritism. Quite the contrary, he had to set an example.
Watching Yu Ru Meng and the others gradually disappear into the distance, Yang Kai’s figure also flickered as he disappeared from the spot. The entire main Army was just a distraction, while his actions were the key to this operation. Yang Kai hoped that he could return with a full harvest this time.
The Human Race troops began to gather in the void, with each Division acting as a unit and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters patrolling back and forth. The Army looked quite imposing.
Soon, the void was filled with densely packed Warships, forming a massive fleet.
Ou Yang Lie was standing on the deck of a huge Purifying Black Ink Battleship, staring into the void. His expression was cold and his fighting spirit was soaring. After receiving the go from the central command, Ou Yang Lie pointed ahead and shouted, “Set off!”
There was a specially made battle drum on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. As Ou Yang Lie’s only Disciple, Gong Lian was holding the drum sticks and personally struck it.
Even in the vast void, when Gong Lian started beating the drum, sonorous inspiring beats resounded out one after another, lifting the Army’s morale.
The vanguard set off!
Ou Yang Lie loved fighting, so almost every time the Profound Nether Army took action, he would be at the head of the charge.
Right behind the vanguard forces were the various Divisions, which began to move out one after another, fanning out to the left and right while Kong Chen De remained behind at the command centre, coordinating the entire battle.
The original boisterous Universe Fragment was now completely empty, leaving only a few non-combatants or cultivators who were still too injured to participate seeing the Army off.
The Black Ink Clan quickly noticed the Human Race Army’s movements.
Nothing could be done about this though as the size of the Profound Nether Army’s main force this time was 400,000 strong, and if the Small Stone Race members were included, the size of the Army would easily reach the million mark. If the Black Ink Clan did not notice the movement of such a massive Army, they would simply be blind.
The Black Ink Clan scouts who were monitoring the situation were all taken aback and quickly reported back to the main camp.
Unlike the Human Race frontline camp that was located on a Universe Fragment, the Black Ink Clan main camp consisted of several Universe Worlds, one of which was originally located here, while the others had been moved over by the Black Ink Clan’s Masters.
Black Ink Nests were indispensable for the Black Ink Clan, and so were these Universe Worlds. All these Universe Worlds had many Black Ink Nests planted on them, some of them even Mid-Rank, which towered over the others.
Currently, Black Ink Clansmen were healing in and around these Black Ink Nests.
Reports from the frontline scouts came one after another, and soon were in Six Arms’ hands. When he learned that the Human Race’s main Army was advancing, Six Arms was shocked.
This had never happened before. Ever since he had taken command of the Black Ink Clan’s war in Profound Nether Territory, the Human Race had been on the defence. Of course, there were some occasional attacks, but nothing even close to this level.
[What is the Human Race planning?]
Six Arms was unable to understand, which made him a little depressed.
In fact, Six Arms had been feeling quite frustrated because of Yang Kai for the past two years.
Even if he shrugged off the fact that eight Territory Lords had died in Profound Nether Territory because of him, the thing that was giving Six Arms the biggest headache was the fact that the Black Ink Clan’s actions were being completely restrained because of Yang Kai’s presence.
In the past, the Black Ink Clan held the initiative, able to fight and retreat whenever and wherever they pleased while the Human Race was helpless against them.
The Territory Lords also outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters, which was a source of great confidence for the Black Ink Clan.
But now?
So what if there were more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Humans? Six Arms didn’t dare act rashly, afraid that Yang Kai would suddenly appear from somewhere and butcher them. Even he did not have the confidence to resist Yang Kai’s insidious means. If he accidentally fell into Yang Kai’s hands, he would be severely injured in the best-case scenario, and at worst, he would die.
Because of this, Six Arms cursed Mo Na Ye an uncountable number of times these past two years. Had Mo Na Ye not sent out false information, leading him to think that Yang Kai was still trapped in Acacia Territory, how could he have lost five Territory Lords two years ago?
On the other hand, Mo Na Ye’s reply was only that Yang Kai was definitely in Acacia Territory and could not have escaped.
But what was the end result?
Millions of Black Ink Clansmen and nine Territory Lords searched through the entire Acacia Territory, but didn’t find any trace of Yang Kai. They were unable to figure out when or even how he had left Acacia Territory.
If it weren’t for the Royal Lord’s orders, Mo Na Ye would still be wasting his time combing through Acacia Territory.
Thinking of this, Six Arms couldn’t wait to skin Mo Na Ye alive. Information played a decisive factor on the battlefield, and one mistake could lead to the destruction of a million soldiers and the death of several Territory Lords.
Just as he was thinking this, Mo Na Ye rushed into the hall, shouting, “Sir Six Arms, the Human Race Army is advancing.”
Obviously, he had also obtained some information.
Six Arms glanced at him coldly and indifferently stated, “I know.”
The loss in Acacia Territory had pushed Mo Na Ye’s hatred for Yang Kai to a whole new level. After confirming that Yang Kai had indeed left Acacia Territory, he immediately sent a message to the Royal Lord, requesting permission to transfer to Profound Nether Territory, vowing to kill Yang Kai to redeem himself.
The Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory had suffered a massive loss and needed to be replenished anyways, so the Royal Lord naturally agreed.
As such, Mo Na Ye led a few other Territory Lords and some Black Ink Clan troops to Profound Nether Territory a year ago as reinforcements.
For the past year, Mo Na Ye had repeatedly requested to launch a war, but he had always been suppressed by Six Arms, making Mo Na Ye dissatisfied with him.
However, Six Arms was the one in charge of Profound Nether Territory, so even if Mo Na Ye was dissatisfied, he could do nothing about it.
Today, after learning that the Human Race Army had actually taken the initiative to attack, Mo Na Ye was extremely excited and felt that he finally had a chance to take revenge.
Yang Kai was indeed strong, Mo Na Ye acknowledged that much. Seven Territory Lords in Acacia Territory had died because of Yang Kai’s actions, and because of this, Mo Na Ye regarded Yang Kai as the greatest enemy of the Black Ink Clan. As long as he could kill Yang Kai though, they would not need to fear any other Eighth-Order Masters in the future.
Moreover, Mo Na Ye felt that he had found a way to deal with Yang Kai.
“Since the Human Race Army is attacking, Yang Kai will definitely appear. This is a good opportunity to kill him,” Mo Na Ye excitedly stated.
Six Arms coldly snorted, “That Human is quite strong, his movements elusive, and his methods bizarre. Do you think you can kill him?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head in response, “I alone won’t be able to, I’ll need help.”
Six Arms was surprised at this admission. He was dissatisfied with Mo Na Ye because Territory Lords under his command had suffered heavy casualties as a result of the misinformation, but judging by Mo Na Ye’s words, it seemed he was willing to cooperate to deal with Yang Kai, which was good news.
On another note, Mo Na Ye was even more incensed than Six Arms. If he did not want to wash away his shame, he would have never have come to Profound Nether Territory where he would be forced to listen to Six Arms’ orders. He was more than capable of being in charge over one of the other Great Territory Battlefields.
After a moment of silence, Six Arms lowered his tone and asked, “Do you have any ideas?”
Mo Na Ye replied, “There is a way, but it will depend on whether or not Sir Six Arms is willing to sacrifice a pound of flesh.”
“Let’s hear it,” Six Arms asked. The biggest problem in Profound Nether Territory was Yang Kai. If they could really deal with him, it would solve essentially all of their problems.
Mo Na Ye explained, “I’m sure Sir Six Arms also knows that Yang Kai has some kind of strange method to target his opponent’s Soul. This method is so powerful that even Innate Territory Lords like us find it difficult to guard against. Since the Human Race Army is attacking us, Yang Kai will definitely be hiding and waiting for an opportunity to strike. As such, our Territory Lords will all be on edge, and if they are worried about something else during their fights, it will be difficult for them to display their full strength.”
“Indeed!” Six Arms nodded his agreement. When he received the news of the Human Army’s advance just now, what he was most worried about was Yang Kai. He didn’t even bother sending anyone to investigate as he knew that they definitely wouldn’t be able to find Yang Kai’s whereabouts. Just as Mo Na Ye had said, this Human would definitely be hiding in the shadows and waiting for an opportunity to kill!
With someone like him on the Human Race’s side, every Territory Lord would be worried. It could be said that Yang Kai alone was enough to suppress the combat strength all the Black Ink Clan’s top Masters in Profound Nether Territory.
“However, his methods aren’t without cost. According to what I’ve gathered, he can only use that strange Soul attack three times in quick succession. Furthermore, it’s quite possible that doing so comes at a heavy cost, such as injuries to his own Soul. The Human Race has a saying; the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Since he wants to secretly attack our Territory Lords, all we need to do is give him a chance to do so, and he will definitely take advantage of it! However, once he makes a move, he won’t be able to hide himself anymore. At that time, I will lead several Territory Lords to attack him. At that point, what does it matter how strong he is?”
Six Arms’ eyes lit up when he heard this and glanced over at Mo Na Ye, “If Yang Kai is the mantis, then are you the oriole?”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “Only then will we have a chance to kill him.”
“Then who will be the cicada?”
“That will have to depend on Sir Six Arms’ arrangements.”
Six Arms pondered for a moment. He had no choice but to admit that Mo Na Ye was quite smart. This was indeed an excellent way to deal with Yang Kai, but if he really went with this plan, he should be mentally prepared to sacrifice a Territory Lord, because once Yang Kai struck, the Territory Lord who was targeted would most likely die.
No wonder Mo Na Ye had said he would need to be willing to give up a pound of flesh to succeed.
However, what was there to hesitate about? As long as they could kill Yang Kai, it did not matter if a Territory Lord was lost; after all, almost 20 Territory Lords had died because of Yang Kai already.
If he could sacrifice a Territory Lord in exchange for eliminating Yang Kai, Six Arms would more than welcome it.
Seemingly seeing through his thoughts, Mo Na Ye continued in a grave tone, “Sir Six Arms, one cicada won’t be enough to act as bait.”
Six Arms asked, “How many do you want?”
Mo Na Ye replied, “Since Yang Kai can attack three times, at least three. It would be best if there were five.”
Six Arms couldn’t help but furrow his brow, hesitantly asking, “You want that many?”
Mo Na Ye explained, slowly shaking his head, “Sir, from what I can tell, Yang Kai is an extremely cautious person, despite his actions seeming so bold and bombastic. If he doesn’t have absolute confidence in succeeding, he won’t act rashly. What’s more, he is now the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, so he will be more cautious than ever. Even a fool will get suspicious if there is just one vulnerable target. Yang Kai won’t take such obvious bait. We need to dispel his suspicions. Of course, we can’t use too many as too much vulnerability will also be suspicious.”
Six Arms pondered for a moment. Although he had some resentment towards Mo Na Ye, he had to admit that what the latter said made sense.
Seeing him hesitate, Mo Na Ye added, “Sir, this Yang Kai is already so strong when he is just an Eighth-Order Master. Has Sir thought about what would happen if he were to break through to the Ninth Order someday?”
Six Arms had not considered this before, but after giving it a thought, he couldn’t help but shiver.
[That’s right, Yang Kai is already so powerful in the Eighth Order, what would happen if he broke through to the Ninth Order? At that time, even Royal Lords would not be his opponent!]
Without any more hesitation, Six Arms declared, “Go get ready. I have arrangements to make on my side.”
Although he didn’t obtain the answer he wanted, Mo Na Ye knew that Six Arms was tempted, and since he was tempted, he would definitely act according to his plan. Without further ado, Mo Na Ye nodded and left.
A short while later, the Black Ink Clan Army also began to mobilize under a series of Six Arms’ orders, preparing to deal with the assault of the Human Race. The Black Ink Clansmen who were healing in the Black Ink Nests also emerged one after another.
The battle was about to begin.
The scouts of both sides constantly shuttled back and forth, passing information they had obtained from the frontline back to their respective command centres. Half a day later, the two Armies drew closer to each other; they looked like two swarms of locusts.
Seventh-Order cultivators were shuttling around the fleets, passing orders for the Squads to check their armaments and prepare for battle.
This was the first time the Profound Nether Army had launched such a large-scale attack on their own initiative and it was quite a significant move. As a result, the morale and fighting spirit of the soldiers had risen to a whole new level.
Soon, when the distance between the two Armies had reached a critical point, the beats of war drums started reverberating across the battlefield from the vanguard one after another.
Under the leadership of Ou Yang Lie and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the Human Race Army began their attack.
The battle broke out in an instant, and the moment the two Armies clashed, the entire Profound Nether Territory appeared to shudder. The brilliance of Secret Techniques and artifacts filled the entire void, brightly illuminating the previously dark Profound Nether Territory.
Warships shuttled here and there, coordinating with each other as they bombarded the approaching Black Ink Clan troops.
Every time a war broke out, the Human Race would always hold the advantage in the opening moments as they killed countless enemies at long range. This was not because the Human Race Army was stronger per se, but rather because the Black Ink Clan always sent out weak cannon fodder first as a means of exhausting the Humans.
The Black Ink Clan could spawn as much cannon fodder as they wanted, so no matter how many of them died, so long as they had Black Ink Nests and ample resources, the ranks could be refilled.
It was completely different for the Human Race. The current Human Armies might not hold a candle to the elites who fought back on the Black Ink Battlefield, but they were still plenty stronger on average than the Black Ink Clan cannon fodder. Not to mention the Humans still had their Warships to bolster their strength.
Most of the Black Ink Clan cannon fodder charging at the forefront had been killed in less than an hour, while the main force of the Black Ink Clan Army took action soon after. The main Black Ink Clan Army mainly consisted of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, equivalent to Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Human Masters.
The Black Ink Clan’s casualties continued to rise, but the Human Race’s momentum had been blunted quite dramatically; after all, the Human Race was at a huge disadvantage in terms of numbers.
Six Arms in the rear failed to understand the Human Race’s plan, nor could he understand where the Human Race was getting its confidence from. Even if they could kill some useless cannon fodder, they still wouldn’t be able to resist the main Army of the Black Ink Clan.
It might look like the Black Ink Clan had taken quite huge losses, but their casualties were still within a tolerable range. On the other hand, if the Humans tired themselves out too quickly and got themselves surrounded by the Black Ink Clan Army, their losses would be devastating.
Since he couldn’t figure it out though, Six Arms did not brood too much over it. Right now, his entire focus was on finding Yang Kai’s whereabouts.
Unsurprisingly, Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen. He must be hiding somewhere and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Intentionally or unintentionally, Six Arms’ gaze swept across a few particular locations on the battlefield. Those were the locations where he had set the bait. If Yang Kai really made a move, he would definitely target those Territory Lords.
Mo Na Ye was nowhere to be seen either, and would not make an appearance unless Yang Kai did.
Six Arms furrowed his brow and looked behind him towards where the main camp of the Black Ink Clan was situated. There were many Black Ink Nests there, which could be considered the foundation of Profound Nether Territory’s Black Ink Clan. Could Yang Kai be planning to invade their main camp?
Six Arms was a little suspicious, but it did not matter even if Yang Kai really went to the main camp as 10 Territory Lords were still standing guard there. Yang Kai would not be able to raise any waves, even if he tried to sneak in.
The Territory Lords were far greater in number than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, which was why Six Arms had made such arrangements.
The battle had been raging intensely from the very start. It was like the Human Race Army had lost their minds as they were going all out right from the start, as if they wanted to vent all the resentment they had accumulated over the years in this one battle.
Nonetheless, the Human Race’s offence was stopped soon after when the Black Ink Clan main Army launched a counterattack and quickly put them into a disadvantageous position.
[Yang Kai has still not been sighted. It seems he’s quite patient.]
Just as Six Arms was thinking so, a sun-like brilliance suddenly flashed somewhere on the battlefield!
This sun-like flash appeared to be some kind of a signal as small white suns erupted all over the battlefield, one after another, illuminating the entire void.
Even though the suns had erupted quite a distance away from him, the pure rays of white light blaring one after another made Six Arms feel extremely uncomfortable.
Six Arms had seen this light before and knew that it was the power of some artifact. The Human Race also used these artifacts in the war two years ago.
Six Arms had no idea about this artifact’s name, but Black Ink Clan survivors of that battle had reported that it had an extremely suppressive effect on Black Ink Strength. The rays originating from what seemed to be spears could actually vaporize Black Ink Strength.
Back then, much to the Black Ink Clan’s dismay, a Territory Lord hit by this artifact was instantly injured and had he not quickly escaped, he would have been killed by an Eighth-Order Human Master.
When these flashes of light reappeared, a despondent look appeared on Six Arms’ face.
They had been fighting the Profound Nether Army for several decades now, but the Human Race had not used this artifact before. It was used for the first time two years ago, but at that time, the Humans did not possess many of these artifacts, so the Black Ink Clan did not suffer too many casualties from them.
However, the current situation was different. That pure white brilliance was erupting all across the battlefield one after another, and it covered a vast expanse of space every time.
[How could the Human Race have so many such artifacts? Why didn’t they use them before?]
Although he was unable to understand, Six Arms knew it was this Human Race trump card that gave them the confidence to launch an attack. He reached this conclusion because the Human Race Army, which was at a disadvantage just a moment ago, instantly became as fierce as a Tiger and mighty as a Dragon after the appearance of these brilliances, overwhelming the Black Ink Clan Army to the point that they were unable to mount any counterattack.
Some Territory Lords were injured, and numerous Feudal Lords died at the hand of this artifact.
Six Arms would not even bat an eye at the deaths of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, regardless of how many of them died, but the deaths of Feudal Lords were different. The birth of each Feudal Lord was not easy, and the Black Ink Clan was counting on these Feudal Lords to become Territory Lords and then Royal Lords in the future. Their annihilation would set the Black Ink Clan towards a bleak future.
Fortunately, the Black Ink Clan Army quickly stabilized the situation and maintained their formation after a short period of panic and loss. Now though, they didn’t try to kill their opponents and instead focused on defending themselves.
For a time, the situation on the battlefield reached a stalemate.
The Black Ink Clan had the absolute advantage in terms of numbers, but thanks to the Evil Purging Divine Spears, the Human Race would not be at a disadvantage for a short time.
Be that as it may, the Evil Purging Divine Spears would eventually be exhausted, and once that happened, if the Humans had not yet retreated, what awaited them then would be a merciless slaughter.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Ou Yang Lie was bathed in blood as he engaged in a life-and-death battle.
Since the start of the battle, he had been caught in a one versus two situation. It had been a difficult fight, but fortunately, he had been through this very situation multiple times, so even though he had fallen into a disadvantageous position, his life was not in immediate danger.
On top of that, Ou Yang Lie was also keenly aware that his two opponents were not using their full strength as they were obviously on guard against something.
Regarding this, Ou Yang Lie was well aware that these people were worried about Yang Kai sneak attacking them. Although this situation would make it difficult for Yang Kai to launch a sneak attack here, it did make Ou Yang Lie’s situation a little more bearable.
Pitifully, he had just asked Yang Kai to give him a helping hand in killing a Territory Lord so he could brag about it, but by the looks of things, it was highly unlikely to happen this time. Since two Territory Lords were targeting him, it would not be the best choice for Yang Kai to attack here.
In the void, Mo Na Ye and four other Territory Lords were hiding inside a Black Ink Cloud, concealing their auras as they observed the battlefield.
Black Ink Clouds were everywhere on the battlefield, and the Human Race would not venture inside to investigate them if they could avoid doing so, so it was the best place to hide without worrying about being exposed.
Through the Black Ink Cloud, Mo Na Ye’s sharp eyes were scanning the surroundings. He was certain that Yang Kai was hiding somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to attack.
[Perhaps… Yang Kai was also hiding in a Black Ink Cloud?]
Mo Na Ye looked towards the various Black Ink Clouds, having no clue. Suddenly, he muttered, “You Gong, if you dare to escape again, I will not forgive you.”
Beside him, You Gong’s face flushed red as he muttered, “Don’t worry, I also want to kill that Yang Kai. If he dares to show his face, he will definitely die!”
Mo Na Ye glanced at him coldly and snorted, stating, “That’s for the best.”
Last time, in Acacia Territory, You Gong was scared witless by Yang Kai, which Mo Na Ye still felt indignant about. If it weren’t for You Gong’s cowardice back then, they would not be in this trouble today.
Five Territory Lords had set up an ambush for Yang Kai this time. Mo Na Ye was confident that so long as Yang Kai dared to show himself, he could hold him down.
While they were talking, a burst of Spiritual Energy fluctuation suddenly surged somewhere on the battlefield before disappearing in a flash.
All kinds of energy fluctuations were surging across the chaotic battlefield, so if one was not deliberately paying attention, it would be difficult to detect these specific fluctuations. But since Mo Na Ye had been constantly monitoring the surroundings, how could he miss this sign?
A bright gleam flashed across his eyes, [Yang Kai made his move!]
These Spiritual Energy fluctuations were extremely familiar. In Acacia Territory, every time Yang Kai launched a sneak attack, such fluctuations would appear.
Mo Na Ye immediately looked towards the source of the Spiritual Energy fluctuations and instantly spotted Yang Kai rushing out from a Black Ink Cloud!
[As expected, he was hiding inside a Black Ink Cloud,] Mo Na Ye had been keeping an eye on the various Black Ink Clouds, but he had no idea when Yang Kai had snuck inside of this particular one. Helpless, he could not help but secretly sigh at Yang Kai’s elusiveness.
The other four Territory Lords also caught sight of Yang Kai and were about to rush out, but Mo Na Ye raised his hand and stopped them, “Wait!”
The Territory Lords were puzzled. They were hiding to ambush Yang Kai, but now that Yang Kai had appeared on the battlefield, they could not understand what they were waiting for.
Mo Na Ye had no intention of speaking further, but he still patiently explained, “He can use that attack three times!”
He did not elaborate after that, but the Territory Lords instantly understood. Mo Na Ye… was quite insidious. He was waiting for Yang Kai to exhaust his trump card on the other Territory Lords. Once Yang Kai had used up his unique method, he would be no different than an ordinary Eighth-Order Master. At that time, what did this team of five Territory Lords have to fear?
However, one of the Territory Lords hesitatingly asked, “If we don’t act now, how would we explain it to Sir Six Arms?”
If a Territory Lord died because of their delay, Six Arms would definitely blame them.
Mo Na Ye indifferently stated, “Killing Yang Kai is the best explanation.”
The Territory Lords looked at each other in dismay as a chill gripped their hearts. Apparently, Mo Na Ye had gone somewhat insane after the defeat in Acacia Territory. He was now even willing to sacrifice a few Territory Lords just to kill Yang Kai.
Doing so might be cruel and unacceptable, but it could still significantly increase their own safety. After all, they were reluctant to face Yang Kai when he still could use his ultimate move; thus, no one had any objections.
By the time they looked in that direction once more, the battle had already ended on that part of the battlefield as they sensed the fall of a Territory Lord.
The Territory Lord’s opponent was none other than Chen Yuan, who knew right away that Yang Kai was making his move the moment he sensed the unique Spiritual Energy fluctuations.
Having experienced the same thing two years ago, why would Chen Yuan hesitate? He immediately unleashed his strongest Divine Ability, splitting his sword into 3,000 beams of light that rained down on the Territory Lord.
Two years ago, when Yang Kai had launched a sneak attack, Chen Yuan had beheaded a Territory Lord in one attack. It could be said that everything had gone very smoothly.
But this time, the Territory Lords were obviously on guard so Chen Yuan failed to kill the opposite party in one move, only managing to severely injure him. Fortunately, Yang Kai timely attacked with his spear, piercing it straight through the Territory Lord’s heart.
Chen Yuan swung his sword once more, beheading the Territory Lord!
The Territory Lord seemed to have cursed something or someone before his death, his eyes filled with indignation, but Chen Yuan could not be bothered with the cries of the defeated. He raised his head to look around, but Yang Kai was nowhere in sight. He had already gone back into hiding who knows where.
Chen Yuan lifted up his sword, turned around, and flew towards another battlefield where another Eighth-Order Master and Territory Lords were locked in a heated battle to provide assistance! The Eighth-Order Master was besieged by two Territory Lords, so, even if he used an Evil Purging Divine Spear, he would still be in danger.
What he did not know was that the Territory Lord had cursed Mo Na Ye before his death. According to what he had heard from Six Arms, Mo Na Ye would immediately come to assist him once Yang Kai appeared.
He also knew that he was a bait arranged by Six Arms to lure Yang Kai out, so he had always been on guard and had been defending his Soul zealously. This was the reason why the Soul Rending Thorn failed to completely incapacitate him and Chen Yuan failed to kill him in one attack. If Mo Na Ye had timely come to his aid, he might not have lost his life, but Mo Na Ye did not show up, so how could he not curse the latter?
The death of a Territory Lord affected the entire battlefield.
From the get go, the Territory Lords had always been on guard against Yang Kai’s sneak attack. They had not been using their full strength against the Eighth-Open Heaven Realm Masters, worried that Yang Kai would suddenly appear out of thin air and attack them, but even after all of their preparations, a Territory Lord had still died.
All the Territory Lords started to feel insecure after the first of them fell, especially the Territory Lords who had been arranged to act as bait by Six Arms. They could not wait to turn tail and flee.
Mo Na Ye, who was hiding in the Black Ink Cloud, was also feeling nervous now.
Mo Na Ye believed that as long as Yang Kai’s whereabouts were exposed, he would be unable to hide once more. It was for this reason he had decided to wait until Yang Kai had exhausted all his special Soul attacks before taking him down.
Mo Na Ye’s plan was quite good, but he had never expected that Yang Kai would be able to vanish without leaving any trace after swiftly taking down his target.
It was as if he had simply disappeared into thin air.
The problem was that Yang Kai had finished his assault too quickly. In less than three breaths after making an entrance, he had chewed up and spat out the bait with the assistance of another Eighth-Order Master. Mo Na Ye was simply powerless to track him.
Mo Na Ye’s expression suddenly became extremely unsightly as he came to realize that he had still been too naïve. The situation had developed completely differently from his calculations. How was he supposed to track Yang Kai if the latter could just up and vanish?
Right then, another burst of Spiritual Energy fluctuations flared up. Mo Na Ye immediately looked towards its source, where he saw Yang Kai reappear in a distant location.
Mo Na Ye could not sit still anymore and fiercely shouted, “Let’s go!”
Having said so, he flew straight towards that location. You Gong and the other Territory Lords were momentarily taken aback, but quickly chased after him.
At this moment, Yang Kai was wantonly attacking a Territory Lord with another Eighth-Open Heaven Realm Master. His Azure Dragon Spear moved back and forth, leaving gaping wounds on the Territory Lord’s body.
It was a simple matter to defend against the Soul Rending Thorns. Once the Territory Lords decided to heavily shield their Souls, the Soul Rending Thorn’s might was greatly reduced, but so what?
In a life-and-death battle between Masters, even a momentary flaw could lead to a disastrous end. No Eighth-Order Master was to be trifled with, so once they saw an opportunity, they would seize upon it with all their might.
The moment a Territory Lord was struck by a Soul Rending Thorn, whether they were on guard or not, they would be momentarily distracted, which was a huge flaw.
Yang Kai promptly followed up with a deadly attack!
In this world, how could a Territory Lord resist the combined might of him and another Eighth-Order Master?
Killing the second Territory Lord took a bit longer, about 10 breaths from start to finish, but the moment this Territory Lord fell, Yang Kai felt a few fierce aura lock onto him from a distance.
Looking up, he saw five Territory Lords rushing over, three of whom… looked a little familiar.
[Didn’t I encounter them in Acacia Territory? He’s… You Gong if I recall correctly.]
[Five Territory Lords, they really think highly of me.]
Yang Kai sneered in his heart as he realized that these five Territory Lords were specifically targeting him; otherwise, they had no reason to rush straight towards him.
Obviously, the Eighth-Order Master had also noticed them and promptly proposed with a stern look on his face, “Sir, please leave first, I’ll block them!”
Yang Kai snapped, “Block them my ass. You go help the others!”
Anyone who stood in the way of these five Territory Lords would be killed right then and there. Even Yang Kai himself did not dare to confront them head-on.
Hearing this, the Eighth-Order Master didn’t hesitate and headed straight towards a nearby battlefield, like Chen Yuan. Yang Kai didn’t escape using Space Principles like before, but rather glanced provocatively at the five Territory Lords charging towards him before shooting off in another direction.
In that direction was another bait arranged by Six Arms.
Since it was bait specially prepared for him, it naturally attracted Yang Kai’s attention. Just like the two Territory Lords who had been killed before, this Territory Lord was also fighting an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master one-on-one in a remote part of the battlefield. Only by doing so could he be considered bait.
Heeding Mo Na Ye’s advice, Six Arms had arranged a total of five such bait on the entire battlefield.
Whereas other battles between Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords were group battles, like with Ou Yang Lie, one against two, or two against three. In short, the Human Race was at a disadvantage almost everywhere.
Fortunately, the Territory Lords were preserving their strength to defend against sneak attacks; furthermore, the Human Race Masters had Evil Purging Divine Spears to defend themselves, so things were not that bad for the moment.
Otherwise, the Humans would have suffered heavy losses as they were the ones to initiate the attack and had no additional Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters for backup.
All the Territory Lords on the entire battlefield were wary of Yang Kai’s movements, and the death of two of their comrades in such a short time had struck terror into their hearts.
When the nearest bait noticed Yang Kai charging straight at him with murderous intent, the Territory Lord immediately discarded any notion of continuing his battle and focused his entire strength on fleeing.
Although the Human Race Eighth-Order Masters tried their best to stop him, he was unable to. Innate Territory Lords were powerful to begin with, so if they were determined to flee, even Eighth-Order Masters were powerless to stop them.
Witnessing the Territory Lord transforming into a streak of black light, trying to flee, Yang Kai sped up and surged his Space Principles, solidifying the nearby space. At the same time, he launched a Soul Rending Thorn.
The Black Ink Cloud that was about to leave the battlefield momentarily froze before suddenly scattering, reverting back to the Territory Lord’s figure. However, the Territory Lord was howling in pain at this moment, his face distorted in pain. His cry was so sharp that even the Eighth-Order Master who was fighting him felt his heart clench.
In fact, Yang Kai’s use of Soul Rending Thorns to assassinate the enemy was no secret among the higher-ups of the Profound Nether Army; after all, Ou Yang Lie knew about the Soul Rending Thorn and was not one to hold his tongue when asked.
They also knew that every time Yang Kai used a Soul Rending Thorn, he would need to sacrifice a piece of his own Soul; however, very few people had personally experienced such heart-wrenching pain so they could not understand just what sort of agony this technique produced.
Although the Eighth-Order Master had never tasted such pain, he could imagine how much it would hurt from the reaction of the Territory Lord after he was hit by the Soul Rending Thorn.
The Soul Rending Thorn was a sacrificial technique, and once used, both the user and its target would suffer intense pain.
The Territory Lord was in so much agony that he would rather die, but even though Yang Kai’s face had gone completely pale from the pain, he did not utter a single cry. The Eighth-Order Master was awe-inspired after seeing Yang Kai’s endurance and perseverance.
Yang Kai had paid such a huge price, so if he were to let the enemy escape now, that would truly be a joke.
This Eighth-Order Master’s face immediately darkened as he promptly summoned his Divine Manifestation, preparing to go all out!
Unlike Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun, and Feng Ying’s Myriad Sword Dragons Venerable, this Eighth-Order Master’s Divine Ability Manifestation was even more majestic and brilliant. Impressively, it conjured up a dazzling golden humanoid phantom that was exuding a fearsome and overwhelming aura, giving the impression as if an ancient god had descended.
The humanoid phantom stood behind the Eighth-Order Master, holding a long sword just like him, but the sword was bigger and thicker.
The next moment, the Eighth-Order Master raised his sword and swung it hard as the phantom behind him mirrored his actions. Immediately after, the Void was cut apart and Black Ink Strength started dissipating. Right then, a slit spread across the Territory Lord before his body separated into two.
The Eighth-Order Master was filled with joy after successfully killing the Territory Lord, but before he could rejoice, Yang Kai’s voice rang in his ear. When he looked up, Yang Kai was already quite a distance away.
At the same time, he also sensed several fearsome auras rapidly heading in his direction.
When the Eighth-Order Master looked towards the auras, he saw five powerful Territory Lords, including Mo Na Ye, heading straight towards him. This scared the Hell out of him and he quickly turned tail and fled in the opposite direction from Yang Kai.
Apparently, Mo Na Ye and the others were not interested in this Eighth-Order Master as their target was only Yang Kai.
Quite a lot of Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory had lost their lives because of Yang Kai, so unless he was killed, not a single Territory Lord could feel at ease.
Furthermore, Yang Kai had already used his ace three times in a row, killing three Territory Lords. Yang Kai did not have the strength to use it again.
The current Yang Kai was like a Tiger without his fangs, so how could Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords be afraid of anything? This was a rare opportunity. If they failed to kill Yang Kai this time, who knows when they could find another opportunity like this.
As such, Mo Na Ye, leading the other four Territory Lords, chased after Yang Kai doggedly.
During the chase, they crossed the vast battlefield. At some point, Mo Na Ye and the others heard the beating of war drums from the Human Race. The rhythm was quite distinct and powerful, but they had no idea what kind of order they were issuing.
In any case, the five Territory Lords couldn’t care less about it as all of their focus was on Yang Kai.
Mo Na Ye’s face distorted with frustration after chasing Yang Kai for a while as he realized that even if Yang Kai had become a toothless tiger, they were still powerless to do anything to him because he was simply too fast. They could not catch him, and thus, could not kill him no matter how badly they wanted to.
Just like how Eighth-Order Humans could not do anything if an Innate Territory was determined to escape, Territory Lords were powerless to do anything if an Eighth-Order Master tried to escape with everything they had.
This was also the reason why not many Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords had fallen over the last few decades. When things went south, no one just sat around waiting to die.
Two Eighth-Order Masters had fallen in the battle two years ago mainly because Profound Nether Territory was about to fall and they had no choice but to fight to the death. Had they not been willing to sacrifice their lives, the Humans would have suffered even greater casualties, and they might have even lost Profound Nether Territory to the Black Ink Clan.
Mo Na Ye had fallen into an awkward situation. With the five Territory Lords working together, they indeed had a real chance of killing Yang Kai, but that was only if the other party stopped fleeing and faced them in battle.
This left Mo Na Ye with a stomach full of grievances but nowhere to vent them. He was the one to propose this strategy to Six Arms, and Six Arms had done his part to cooperate; however, if he failed to gain anything despite the fact that they had sacrificed three Territory Lords, Six Arms would definitely lose his temper.
Left with no choice, Mo Na Ye summoned a Black Ink Nest into his hand. It was an extremely small Black Ink Nest, roughly the size of his palm. It was an incompletely hatched Black Ink Nest, and naturally incapable of breeding Black Ink Clansmen. Be that as it may, it could still be used for communication.
This was only a Low-Rank Black Ink Nest, for it was just used for communication so its rank did not really matter.
Mo Na Ye’s Divine Sense surged as he sent a message using the tiny Black Ink Nest in his hand.
Unable to catch Yang Kai, Mo Na Ye had no choice but to request reinforcements.
A short while later, three of the Territory Lords remaining on the primary Universe World where the Black Ink Clan’s main camp was located rose into the sky and flew off into the void.
Frustration piled up in the pursuing Mo Na Ye’s heart as he continued to make new arrangements while the fleeing Yang Kai was completely relaxed. Although the repeated use of the Soul Rending Thorns ended up giving him a splitting headache, he was already used to it by this point so it did not affect him much. At most, his combat effectiveness had suffered a little.
As he was unable to use more Soul Rending Thorns for the time being, he could not bother to engage the Territory Lords. The main reason he was fleeing now was that he wanted to lure these five Territory Lords away from the battlefield.
According to the original plan, the Human Race Army should be withdrawing right about now. The Humans did not have that many Evil Purging Divine Spears, and their Army’s strength was no match for the Black Ink Clan in a straight up fight.
Yang Kai had already heard the beating of war drums, signalling the retreat, and he knew that leading five Territory Lords away would make it easier for the Army to withdraw.
In fact, he could easily escape from his pursuers using Space Principles if he wanted to. Even if the Territory Lords’ auras had locked onto him, so what?
When even Royal Lords failed to capture him in the past, what could mere Territory Lords do?
Since he could escape at any moment, Yang Kai naturally had nothing to fear, and that was why he was letting them follow him.
After a while, Yang Kai sensed something and looked up, vaguely sensing a powerful aura rapidly approaching him.
Yang Kai raised his brow as he muttered to himself, [Someone is blocking the way ahead.]
He thus promptly changed direction.
But a moment later, another Territory Lord rapidly approached him from the front, blocking his way.
Yang Kai changed direction once more.
After about an hour of this situation repeating itself, Yang Kai stopped in the void and looked around.
Mo Na Ye was gleeful as his request for help had not gone in vain. Having been chased and intercepted like this, Yang Kai now had nowhere to run.
[Let’s see how you will escape from this!]
For the distance, Territory Lords’ powerful auras had locked onto Yang Kai like chains. If he made any rash move, he would be showered with attacks from all sides.
As the gap between them was shortened, Mo Na Ye could faintly see Yang Kai’s figure.
While both sides were looking from across the distance, their eyes suddenly met. Mo Na Ye’s eyes were burning with fury, but a look of joy was also present in the depths of their eyes, whereas Yang Kai had a completely calm and stoic look on his face.
Yang Kai’s lips moved up and down, but Mo Na Ye did not hear what he said, but from his lip movements, he could only vaguely tell that Yang Kai was calling him an idiot…
Immediately after, he saw Yang Kai lift his hands as they started radiating yellow and blue light.
Mo Na Ye immediately had a bad feeling and shouted, “Kill him!”
Immediately after giving the order to attack, Mo Na Ye’s aura surged as fearsome Black Ink Strength started to gather, transforming into a pure and powerful Secret Technique that shot straight towards Yang Kai.
The other Territory Lords beside him also simultaneously attacked Yang Kai.
In a flash, the world was flipped upside down.
Nonetheless, Mo Na Ye’s heart started pounding in anxiety because the moment they attacked, the yellow and blue light suddenly converged and transformed into a burst of pure white light. Under the brilliance of this white light, the Territory Lords’ senses that had locked onto Yang Kai were all cut off. Following which, they lost track of Yang Kai’s aura.
When the dust settled, eight Territory Lords converged together, staring at the place where Yang Kai once stood. Yang Kai’s traces were still there, along with faint fluctuations of Space Principles lingering in the void.
Everyone looked at each other while Mo Na Ye’s face filled with such grief that it was as if he had just lost both his parents.
…..
After making a few detours, by the time Yang Kai returned to the frontline camp, the Human Race Army had already retreated. As it was an organized large-scale retreat, even if the Black Ink Clan relentlessly pursued them, they did not gain any advantage.
On the other hand, since the Human spared no expense and used countless Evil Purging Divine Spears, the Black Ink Clan had suffered massive casualties.
When the Eighth-Order Masters saw Yang Kai appear, they hurriedly came forward and greeted him one by one, cupping their fists.
Yang Kai’s gaze alternated between the Eighth-Order Masters. Discovering that despite all of them being injured, not a single one was missing, he lightly nodded, “Everyone who is injured, go and recuperate, we won’t be engaging in any battle for the time being. Also, order the Artifact Refiners in the Army to focus on refining more Evil Purging Divine Spears.”
“Yes, Sir!” Everyone loudly responded.
Yang Kai waved off everyone, “Go, I’m going to heal my injuries.”
Saying so, he headed straight towards his palace, leaving behind a group of Eighth-Order Masters who still had something to say.
This battle could be considered to be the most satisfying battle they had ever fought over the decades they had defended Profound Nether Territory. It was also the first time the Human Race had launched such a large-scale attack.
All the battles they had fought in the past had lasted from half a month to even half a year, but today, from the moment they engaged with the Black Ink Clan to the moment the Army retreated, only half a day had passed, that’s all. It could even be said that this battle was as fast as lightning, yet the results were simply amazing.
Just the number of Territory Lords alone killed in this battle had reached three, while the Black Ink Clan casualties below the Territory Lord level reached the million mark. Although most of the Black Ink Clansmen killed were cannon fodder, there were also many Feudal Lords among the dead.
Although the Profound Nether Army had also suffered some casualties, compared to their gains, it was completely negligible.
All of this was thanks to the Evil Purging Divine Spears.
The Human Race Army had taken a great risk by attacking the Black Ink Clan without any reinforcements. In the past, the Humans had always relied on various pre-arranged defensive emplacements to resist the Black Ink Clan’s attacks, but such a strategy could only prolong the war, not win it. It was not that the Eighth-Order Masters did not want to go on offence, it was just that they did not have the capital to do so.
However, the Evil Purging Divine Spears made up for this shortcoming.
Using the Evil Purging Divine Spears without any regard to the expense had greatly restrained the Black Ink Clan Army. However, in just one clash, the Profound Nether Army had consumed all the Evil Purging Divine Spears they had amassed over the past two years.
And this was when the battle had lasted just half a day.
Without the Evil Purging Divine Spears’ suppression, the Human Race’s casualties would have definitely been tremendous if they had not retreated in time.
Of all the gains though, the death of three Territory Lords was undoubtedly the biggest. No matter how many Black Ink Clansmen were killed, if none of the Territory Lords died, everything would have been useless. The Territory Lords were the top forces of the Black Ink Clan. If the Humans managed to kill all the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory someday, no matter how many Black Ink Clansmen were left thereafter, they wouldn’t amount to anything.
“Sir Army Commander is young and promising. Every Soul Rending Thorn momentarily stuns a Territory Lord, leaving them at the mercy of us Humans. Just one swing is enough to behead a Territory Lord, like chopping off a melon,” Chen Yuan’s blood started boiling as he recalled the scene of the last battle.
He had killed a Territory Lord with Yang Kai’s help two years ago, and got the opportunity to kill another one during this battle.
“En, Soul Rending Thorns are the best method to attack the Territory Lords. When the Territory Lord who was fighting me was hit by one, his strength plummeted by about 70%. He tried to escape, but Sir Army Commander arrived in the nick of time and stopped him.”
“Sir Army Commander is really brave and unflappable. He even managed to escape safely from the pursuit of five Territory Lords. That’s truly admirable.”
The group of Eighth-Order Masters were chattering like children who had seen something for the first time in their life, singing praises in admiration.
It wasn’t that they wanted to brag, but the dire situation in Profound Nether Territory had suddenly improved after Yang Kai’s arrival, a fact they all had to acknowledge.
“The Soul Rending Thorn is so powerful. I wonder if we can cultivate it too?” Someone pondered.
If this method could be disseminated to everyone, it would be a huge boon to the Human Race as from then on, they could all easily kill Territory Lords.
“From what I’ve heard, this technique requires the use of a special artifact, and the price of using it is too high; both the user and its target will have to endure the pain of their Souls being torn apart. So, it can’t be used by just anyone.”
“Where’s Brother Ou Yang? He’s the most familiar with the Army Commander and he knows about the Soul Rending Thorn the best.” Chen Yuan looked around and soon spotted Ou Yang Lie standing in the corner. He then politely asked Ou Yang Lie, “Brother Ou Yang, you’re here…”
“Go away, I don’t know anything, don’t ask me!” Ou Yang Lie turned around and stormed off.
Chen Yuan scratched his head. He had no idea how he had offended Ou Yang Lie.
After that intense battle, Profound Nether Territory once again fell into a period of calm and quiet. Be that as it may, both the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race knew that this calm was only temporary and the next storm was already brewing.
While the Human Race Army was diligently recovering, the Black Ink Clan’s morale was crumbling.
They still failed to stop the killer even after sacrificing three Territory Lords. This sent Six Arms into a rage while Mo Na Ye was also extremely unresigned.
His original plan was to kill Yang Kai with the combined assault of five Territory Lords, but apparently, this strategy was completely useless. Yang Kai’s ability to escape was top-notch, and he simply refused to face them head-on, giving Mo Na Ye no chance to use this strategy.
Yang Kai was a true thorn in their side. Ever since they had left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the Territory Lords had never encountered such a difficult and terrifying enemy.
The Black Ink Clan had no way to deal with the current predicament.
The only thing they could rejoice about was that there was only one Yang Kai among Humans! If there were a few more Human Masters like him, the Black Ink Clan would be in a very dangerous spot.
Although Xiang Shan was strong, the Territory Lords were not too afraid of him as they could see the limits of his strength. On the other hand, Yang Kai was simply unfathomable.
Two years later, Yang Kai emerged from retreat and gathered the Eighth-Order Masters to discuss dispatching troops. Though, there was nothing much to discuss. Having gained such a huge harvest in the last battle, all they needed to do was repeat the same strategy.
Obviously, the Black Ink Clan had no way to counter this strategy; after all, they had no choice but to defend themselves if the Human Race Army attacked them. So long as the Black Ink Clan defended themselves, Yang Kai would have a chance to kill.
It might be a simple strategy, but as long as it worked, it did not matter.
After some orders and arrangements, the Eighth-Order Masters left.
Ou Yang Lie, on the other hand, looked at Yang Kai with a bitter expression before leaving, like a wife who had been wronged, leaving the latter quite puzzled.
The Human Race Army launched another attack. Although they had suffered some casualties in the last battle, the Recruitment Hall in High Heaven Territory had seen a massive increase in those signing up to fight, so the Supreme Headquarters had dispatched reinforcements over the past two years. Yang Kai had also pulled 100,000 more soldiers from the Auxiliary Army, so the Profound Nether Army was even more powerful than last time.
When the Black Ink Clan received word that the Humans were on the march again, a solemn look appeared on the faces of every Territory Lord.
They had lost three Territory Lords in the last Human attack, so who knew how many would die during this one?
Even though the Territory Lords were not confident in taking down Yang Kai, they had come up with various countermeasures to deal with his various methods.
After all, the Territory Lords still held a numerical advantage over the Eighth-Order Masters. Not to mention, several more Territory Lords had come from the No-Return Pass to assist.
A day later, the battle broke out between the two races as they clashed in the void, shaking the universe.
The Human Race Army held nothing back this time and immediately summoned their Evil Purging Divine Spears. After two years of constant accumulation, the Profound Nether Army had the capital to squander Evil Purging Divine Spears for a short time.
One after another, glowing white suns flared up in the void. Even though the Black Ink Clan had the absolute advantage in terms of numbers, they were the ones being suppressed in this battle. Countless Black Ink Clansmen fell under this dazzling light, causing many formations to collapse.
Everyone in the Profound Nether Army knew the battle plan. All Warships were to advance and retreat in an orderly manner. As such, none of the Warships recklessly pursued the enemy and instead focused on maintaining their positions regardless of how great their advantage was.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was hiding in the shadows amidst this fierce battle, searching for a target like a predator hunting for prey.
The Black Ink Clan was smarter this time though, with no Territory Lords acting alone unlike last time. Obviously, they knew that once they were alone, they would become victims of Yang Kai’s hunt.
All the Territory Lords were acting in groups of threes or even fours. Everyone in the team was covering each other’s back, making it much harder for Yang Kai to sneak attack anyone.
After searching for a long time, Yang Kai finally decided to act.
He was targeting a group of three Territory Lords. Two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters happened to be fighting them, and these two Eighth-Order Masters had already used five Evil Purging Divine Spears, but all they had managed to do was weaken their opponent’s strength slightly. They had been unable to gain any kind of advantage.
Fortunately, the Territory Lords were also not using their full strength. All the Territory Lords had diverted some of their strength to defend against the sneak attack that was surely lurking behind them, just like in the previous battle.
As such, even though the two Eighth-Order Masters were hard-pressed, they were still able to hold their ground.
When Spiritual Energy fluctuations suddenly appeared nearby, the two Eighth-Order Masters, who were already prepared, immediately used their strongest methods to attack their opponents without a moment of hesitation.
The three Territory Lords had always been on guard, but frustration and indignance could not help appearing on their faces at that instant, unable to figure out why they were so unlucky. There were so many Territory Lords on the battlefield, but Yang Kai just had to target them.
But before they could react, their heads started ringing as they felt excruciating pain as if their Souls were being torn apart. Obviously, they had been hit by Soul Rending Thorns.
Fortunately, the three Territory Lords had their guards up, so while the damage to their Souls might be unbearable, they still retained enough clarity to instinctually retreat. Be that as it may, the already prepared Eighth-Order Masters had timely attacked one of the Territory Lords together, stopping him in place.
At the same time, Yang Kai appeared and swept his Azure Dragon Spear towards the other two Territory Lords.
He had fired three Soul Rending Thorns almost instantly, so the pain in his Soul was even worse than before. He was in so much agony that he felt as if his entire head was about to explode.
As such, Yang Kai was unable to bring out his full strength.
The result was that the two Territory Lords managed to get past him by working together before escaping in the blink of an eye. By the time Yang Kai wanted to stop them, it was already too late.
He could not help but admire the decisiveness of these Territory Lords.
Without any regret, he decisively turned around and charged towards the last Territory Lord who had been stopped.
It was three against one, and the Territory Lord’s Soul was badly injured, so the result was already decided.
The Territory Lord was killed by one of the Eighth-Order Masters in a few breaths.
At the same time, the drums signalling retreat echoed out as the Human Race Army started slowly withdrawing.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye was already rushing towards Yang Kai with four other Territory Lords. Although Mo Na Ye and the other Territory Lords had returned empty-handed last time, they were still responsible for keeping an eye on Yang Kai. They did not participate in the battle as their mission was only to kill Yang Kai. Once Yang Kai appeared, they rushed straight towards him. It did not matter whether they could succeed or not, they had to ensure that Yang Kai could not just run rampant.
Yang Kai had also sensed their auras, which was why he didn’t try to pursue the two injured Territory Lords despite having the ability to stop at least one of them.
The Black Ink Clan chased after the retreating Human Race Army, with the soldiers of both races attacking each across the void, leaving blood and corpses littered everywhere. The Black Ink Clan only retreated reluctantly when the Profound Nether Army reached the defence perimeter of their frontline camp.
In the distance, fire was almost spewing out of the eyes of every Territory Lord. They could not wait to charge the Human Army, but owing to the home advantage the other side had, the Black Ink Clan had no choice but to retreat.
The result of this battle was unsatisfactory, as although they had killed many Black Ink Clansmen, they only managed to kill one Territory Lord. The Territory Lords’ strategy for dealing with Yang Kai’s sneak attack might not completely guarantee their safety, but it could still greatly reduce their casualties.
Although Yang Kai had injured three Territory Lords using his Soul Rending Thorns just like last time, he only managed to kill one.
Compared to losing three Territory Lords like last time, the loss of one Territory Lord was within acceptable range for the Black Ink Clan.
The Human Race thus entered another round of recuperation.
After another two years, the Human Race Army attacked for the third time.
…..
After tasting success during their first attack, the Profound Nether Army would attack the Black Ink Clan almost every two years, and basically, the Black Ink Clan would lose Territory Lords every time. Sometimes it was just one, and sometimes two. Only twice did all the Territory Lords targeted by Yang Kai manage to escape alive with heavy injuries.
Luck was quite a big factor those two times as Mo Na Ye and the four Territory Lords, who were responsible for keeping Yang Kai in check, happened to be nearby and had quickly arrived. Seeing that things were not looking good for him, Yang Kai did not stubbornly try to finish his targets.
In any case, there was over a 50% chance that the Territory Lords hit by Yang Kai’s Soul Rending Thorns would not escape death even with Mo Na Ye and his team keeping a vigilant eye out for Yang Kai.
In just a short span of 30 years, the Human Army had attacked over a dozen times and killed some 20 Territory Lords.
Counting the Territory Lords who had died at Yang Kai’s hands previously, the Black Ink Clan had lost almost 30 Innate Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory alone.
This was an enormous figure.
The entire Profound Nether Territory had basically become the burial ground of the Territory Lords.
The Territory Lords who were slumbering at the No-Return Pass to recuperate were now terrified of being sent to Profound Nether Territory as Yang Kai’s name struck fear into the hearts of all of them.
It wasn’t that the Black Ink Clan had no way to turn things around.
The Human Race’s attacks followed a very set pattern; they would basically attack once every two years. The Black Ink Clan speculated that this was because the Humans needed time to recuperate and reorganize, and also, Yang Kai needed time to heal after using that strange attack.
The Territory Lords were not afraid of the Human Army, they were only afraid of one person, Yang Kai; therefore, after going through the same thing a few times, the Black Ink Clan Army relentlessly pursued the Profound Nether Army when they retreated, trying to take advantage of Yang Kai’s injuries to deal a heavy blow to the enemy.
However, the Universe Fragment where the Human’s frontline camp was located had already become impregnable after decades of preparation. Thanks to various arrangements, the Human Race Army was not completely helpless in facing this assault.
This was especially true now that the Human Race also had Evil Purging Divine Spears in their arsenal. An Eighth-Order Master could kill an Innate Territory Lord with the help of Evil Purging Divine Spears if they got lucky.
The Black Ink Clan’s desire to take down the frontline camp of the Profound Nether Army was no different from a fool’s dream.
The Territory Lords grew even angrier and more frustrated.
Too many Territory Lords had died because of Yang Kai, but they had not been able to do anything about it. They could not catch him, much less kill him. It was as if the entire Profound Nether Territory had become his slaughterhouse. Every time he appeared, Territory Lords would fall prey to his spear, the only difference was whether it would be one or two.
The Black Ink Clan did have many Innate Territory Lords, many more than the number of Eighth-Order Masters, but they still could not bear this kind of loss. If this situation continued, it would not be long before they would lose Profound Nether Territory to the Human Race.
Inside a majestic meeting hall at the Black Ink Clan’s main camp…
Territory Lords were convened, wearing solemn looks on their faces.
The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory had been having a difficult time these last three decades. Compared to the other Great Territory Battlefields, the Black Ink Clan casualties in Profound Nether Territory were simply astronomical, so much so that Profound Nether Territory received about 30% of all reinforcements sent to the various Great Territories.
It had to be brought to notice that the Black Ink Clan currently occupied the vast majority of the 3,000 Worlds and had abundant resources to use in their innumerable Black Ink Nests to constantly spawn more Black Ink Clansmen. A terrifying number of Black Ink Clansmen were born everyday, and all the members born would be sent to various battlefields like Profound Nether Territory.
Currently, the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race were fighting in over a dozen Great Territory Battlefields. Under normal circumstances, the Black Ink Clan reinforcements would be evenly distributed among these Great Territories, but nothing was normal in Profound Nether Territory. Things here were quite tense and the Black Ink Clan had suffered enormous losses, so naturally, more troops were sent here.
It would have been alright if things were just limited to this, but the crux of the problem was that the Black Ink Clan had lost nearly 30 Territory Lords here, which was by far the greatest loss the Black Ink Clan had suffered in the entire war for the 3,000 Worlds.
And all of this was because of one person!
The Royal Lord at the No-Return Pass had repeatedly summoned and reprimanded Six Arms, leaving the latter disgraced and aggrieved, but what could he do? He also wanted nothing more than to kill Yang Kai, but Yang Kai was cunning and treacherous, as well as terrifyingly strong, so how was he supposed to accomplish this?
Once, even Six Arms almost got himself killed at Yang Kai’s hands as he had used himself as bait to lure the latter out.
As expected, Yang Kai took the bait and attacked him, making a lightning-fast attack that was so overwhelming that even Six Arms couldn’t defend himself. Had Mo Na Ye and the others not saved him in a nick of time, Six Arms would have died then and there.
Having personally stared death in the face, Six Arms was extremely fearful of Yang Kai.
Now, the two-year countdown was rapidly reaching its end.
The Human Race would definitely launch another attack within a month, and when they did, another Territory Lord or two would be killed.
At this moment, all the Territory Lords had been convened in the hall to discuss how to deal with Yang Kai’s sneak attacks; however, when Six Arms presented this question to them, the hall immediately sunk into silence.
This exact same meeting had been convened many times over the past three decades. Every time the Human Race Army attacked, Six Arms would gather all the Territory Lords to discuss possible countermeasures, but each meeting would end up with nothing accomplished.
Watching every Territory Lord remain silent, Six Arms flew into rage, “Are we really going to let him continue to run rampant? He’s just one Eighth-Order Human, yet none of you can think of any way to deal with him!?”
The Territory Lords remained silent. If there really was a way, Profound Nether Territory’s situation would not have been so gloomy all these years.
The Territory Lords had racked their brains and tried all kinds of methods to deal with Yang Kai, but they were simply unable to stop him. No matter what kind of tactics they applied, all of them proved useless.
One of the Territory Lords thoughtfully suggested, “I’m afraid only if Sir Royal Lord took action would it be possible to take down Yang Kai. We Territory Lords are not weak, but if he is determined to escape, we are all powerless to stop him.”
Many Territory Lords, especially Mo Na Ye, nodded in agreement.
All these years, he had been targeting Yang Kai with four other Territory Lords. They had managed to stop him from killing others multiple times, but so what? He had still fled right under their noses.
Space Secret Techniques were truly unmatched when it came to escaping.
“The Royal Lord is guarding the No-Return Pass, a matter of the utmost importance; how can he take action so easily?” One Territory Lord shook his head.
Almost all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were planted at the No-Return Pass, making it the foundation of the current Black Ink Clan. If the Human Race Masters attacked the No-Return Pass when the Royal Lord was away and destroyed those Black Ink Nests, the Black Ink Clan would become a tree without roots, a river without a source.
The Black Ink Clan only had one Royal Lord left, leaving them in quite an awkward situation, but the Territory Lords were also a little relieved at this situation. If at that time the last Royal Lord had not stayed behind to guard the No-Return Pass, he too would have died in the Barren Territory.
The Barren Territory War was especially tragic, as almost all of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Humans had sacrificed their lives to kill all but two Black Ink Clan Royal Lords.
Every time the Territory Lords thought back to that battle, shivers would shoot up their spines. Even they were shaken by the ruthlessness the Human Race had displayed that day.
Six Arms stated, coldly snorting, “It’s impossible for the Royal Lord to act, so it is up to us to come up with another strategy.”
Though he dismissed this idea decisively, Six Arms could not help feeling some regret about it. It would not be a problem for the Royal Lord to take down Yang Kai as no matter how great the latter was at escaping, so long as the Royal Lord attacked the Profound Nether Army, Yang Kai would have no choice but to come to their aid.
The Territory Lords remained silent.
Six Arms blew his top again, “Is there really nothing we can do!? Yang Kai is already so strong despite only being in the Eighth-Order! If he breaks through to the Ninth-Order some day, what will happen then!?”
Six Arms’ roar echoed throughout the hall, causing the Territory Lords to look at each other, but they still remained silent.
Mo Na Ye suddenly stated, “If Sir Six Arms is worried about him advancing to the Ninth-Order, you need not be.”
Six Arms looked at him gloomily and asked, “What do you mean?”
Mo Na Ye explained, “According to the information I obtained from some Black Ink Disciples, it is impossible for Yang Kai to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. The Human Race’s method of cultivation is very different from our Black Ink Clan’s. Every Human has their own innate limits, with their future achievements determined the moment they break through to the Open Heaven Realm.”
After pondering for a moment, Six Arms agreed with a nod, “I’ve heard a bit about this. So, is the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Yang Kai’s limit?”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “That’s right. According to the Black Ink Disciples, Yang Kai broke through to Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Originally, his limit was the Seventh-Order, but after consuming something called a World Fruit, he managed to increase that limit to the Eighth-Order. However, this is already his limit. It’s impossible for him to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.”
It had been many years since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds. So, the number of Black Ink Disciples that corrupted was naturally not small, especially among the Hunters who would accidentally run into large Black Ink Armies or Territory Lords. The Black Ink Clan liked to turn Human cultivators into Black Ink Disciples to make Humans serve them, so there was now an abundance of Black Ink Disciples out there.
This was how they had gathered some of their current intelligence on the Human Race.
Yang Kai was now a great threat to the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory, so obviously Mo Na Ye tried to find out more about him. Yang Kai’s reputation had also spread far and wide in the Human Race. As such, his initial breakthrough to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and subsequent consumption of a World Fruit was not a big secret.
It was not surprising that Mo Na Ye had been able to learn about this.
Many Territory Lords looked gratified after hearing Mo Na Ye’s revelation.
As a matter of fact, Six Arms was not the only one who was worried about Yang Kai advancing to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm one day. The other Territory Lords were also worried about this. Yang Kai was already this strong when he was just in the Eighth-Order, so if he really broke through to the Ninth-Order, even a Royal Lord would find it hard to survive a conflict with him. If that really happened, how was the Black Ink Clan supposed to survive?
These Territory Lords were all afraid of being killed by Yang Kai.
One of the Territory Lords stated solemnly, “Nothing is absolute. I heard that the Human Race has a way to break these innate shackles. As long as they can find Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace, they can break their limits.”
Mo Na Ye nodded in agreement, “En, that is indeed true, but that so-called Universe Furnace is an Innate Supreme Treasure of the Universe. It is ethereal and cannot be found even if one seeks it out. No one knows when or if it will appear. Moreover, even if this Universe Furnace did appear, why would we allow the Human Race to get their hands on it? The Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace might be useless to us, but we can’t let the Humans have them either.”
All the Territory Lords nodded.
If that Universe Furnace really appeared, it would definitely set off a bloody storm. The Black Ink Clan would never allow the Humans to get their hands on it, no matter what price they had to pay.
Six Arms tapped the armrest as he stated, “Let’s not talk about this for now, everyone should think of a way to contain Yang Kai. We’re approaching the two year deadline so the Humans will surely invade again. You don’t want another Territory Lord or two to die, right?”
As soon as he brought this up, the Territory Lords immediately turned pale.
Although there were quite a few Territory Lords present, who knew if they would be the unlucky one this time?
Nonetheless, if they were really asked to find a way to suppress Yang Kai, they simply had no idea…
Just as the Territory Lords were at a loss, a Feudal Lord suddenly rushed in and reported with a bewildered look on his face, “Sirs, there is something going on on the Human Race’s side.”
The Territory Lords turned pale as one of them hurriedly asked, “Is the Human Race attacking?”
“Why is the Human race moving so early? There should still be some time left.”
“Those bastards! I say we ignore Yang Kai entirely! If they can kill a Territory Lord, why can’t we respond by killing their Eighth-Order Masters?”
…
The Territory Lords started shouting all at once, setting off Six Arms once again. Speaking of which, he felt quite aggrieved. In all the other Great Territory Battlefields, the Black Ink Clan basically held the initiative and were able to attack and retreat as they pleased. But Profound Nether Territory’s situation was the exact opposite. When had the Black Ink Clan ever been worried about the Human Race attacking them?
Saying it out loud would be a disgrace.
Looking at the Territory Lords under him all but panicking, Six Arms suddenly felt tired. He looked at the Feudal Lord who had come to report and asked, “Is the Human Race really attacking?”
The Feudal Lord replied, “The Human Race Army is showing no signs of mobilization, but a Human is approaching us. According to the scouts’ report… this person is suspected to be Yang Kai.”
The Territory Lords were all shocked.
Mo Na Ye anxiously asked, “Alone?”
The Feudal Lord nodded, “There is only one person.”
[What the Hell are Humans up to now? What is Yang Kai’s planning?] For the moment, Mo Na Ye was unable to grasp the situation. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, it was foolish for him to come here alone. What’s more, Yang Kai had proven himself to be both cunning and insidious, so he wouldn’t do something as stupid as this without purpose.
Of course, Six Arms also understood this and frowned for a moment before ordering, “Double the scouts monitoring the situation. Immediately report if anything happens.”
“Yes!”
The Feudal Lord accepted the order and left.
Not long after, the scouts indeed sent a series of reports, further confirming the situation.
The Human Race Army was not attacking, but there were signs of large-scale mobilization. This was not surprising though as the Human Race would basically attack once every two years, so the Black Ink Clan was already used to this.
A lone Human was indeed approaching the Black Ink Clan, and that person was none other than Yang Kai, who the Territory Lords feared.
Furthermore, he seemed to be intentionally exposing his whereabouts. He didn’t try to conceal himself at all along the way, and his speed wasn’t fast either. Some Black Ink Clan scouts were even closely monitoring him, but he made no move to kill them.
This made the Territory Lords even more confused.
[What the Hell is he planning?]
[Is he just trying to taunt us?]
This Human was simply too arrogant!
In the void, Yang Kai was flying towards the Black Ink Clan’s main camp at a leisurely pace.
There were many Black Ink Clan scouts hiding along the way, but these scouts were only at the level of Feudal Lords at best so they were unable to hide themselves from his senses.
Yang Kai was indeed unafraid of revealing himself as he was not here to kill anyone, rather he was here to discuss some business with the Territory Lords.
The Human Race Army had attacked the Black Ink Clan over a dozen times during the past three decades, killing some 30 Territory Lords, which was more than enough already. It was the right time for him to initiate his plan as the sooner it was implemented, the better.
Looking towards the depths of the void, he could vaguely see the Black Ink Clan’s main camp that was spread across a few Universe Worlds. He could not wait to slaughter all of them, and why would he not? But not only would this take a lot of time, even if he did manage to kill all the Black Ink Clan troops in Profound Nether Territory, what would that really accomplish?
Perhaps it would ease some of the Human Race’s current troubles, but it would not solve the root of their problem. Ultimately, it would all be in vain.
As long as Mo was still alive and kicking, it would be able to continuously breed more Black Ink Clansmen and even create more Black Ink Giant Spiritual Gods.
If Yang Kai wanted to solve the problem once and for all, he would have to go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and kill Mo!
Of course, that was impossible to do with just an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Cultivation. Only by reaching the Ninth Order would this even become a remote possibility.
There was only so much one man could do alone. The Human Race’s future depended on the efforts of the entire younger generation.
More and more Black Ink Clan scouts started to gather around Yang Kai, and even Black Ink Clan patrol teams were beginning to move around him, but because of his reputation, none of them dared to get too close.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai kept moving forward.
Chaos and confusion had already broken out in the Black Ink Clan main camp. Yang Kai’s act of venturing into the Black Ink Clan’s perimeter alone was extremely bewildering. Some Territory Lords believed it to be another one of the Human Race’s schemes and that Yang Kai was just bait to attract their attention. They believed that the Human Race Masters were lying in ambush somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to deliver a fatal blow.
Some Territory Lords were clamouring that it was a rare opportunity, saying that the most important thing right now was to use all of the Black Ink Clan’s strength to kill Yang Kai. His death would definitely cripple the morale of the entire Profound Nether Territory’s Human Race Army, leaving them vulnerable and giving the Black Ink Clan an overwhelming advantage.
Listening to their constant bickering and shouting, Six Arms finally couldn’t help but roar, “Shut up!”
The chaotic voices finally fell silent.
Six Arms glanced around with a gloomy expression as his face turned dark and disgraced. The fact that one Eighth-Open Human had sent so many Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory into utter panic had left him speechless.
Although he knew that it was because many Territory Lords had died at this Human’s hands, his subordinates’ behaviour here had still disappointed him.
After glancing around for a moment, Six Arms’ gaze finally landed on Mo Na Ye as he asked, “What do you think the Human Race’s plan is?”
Although Six Arms and Mo Na Ye had not been on good terms these past few decades, Six Arms had to admit that Mo Na Ye was not only strong, but his mind was also sharp.
Mo Na Ye replied, “The Human Race may not have any plan.”
Mo Na Ye’s reply left the Territory Lords speechless, [What nonsense!? What do you mean by no plan?]
Six Arms’ face turned black. He had lowered himself to ask for Mo Na Ye’s opinion, but he had not expected the other party to give such an answer.
Fortunately, Mo Na Ye quickly continued, “The Human Race Army is showing signs of mobilization, but they haven’t dispatched any troops yet. The scouts also haven’t discovered any trace of other Eighth-Open Heaven Realm Masters moving, which means that Yang Kai really came alone. He didn’t conceal his tracks either, so I think he didn’t come here to start a war. Perhaps… he wants to discuss something with us?”
“Discuss what?” Six Arms raised his brow.
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “I don’t know either. Yang Kai is both strong and bold, but most importantly… His ability to escape is unmatched. He probably thinks that even if he comes here alone, we wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.”
Mo Na Ye felt a little ashamed when he said this last sentence, but it was the truth. He had pursued Yang Kai countless times with four other Territory Lords over the years, but they had never once managed to even hit him.
“So what do you think he’s here to discuss with us?”
Mo Na Ye replied, “It’s just my guess, whether it’s true or not, Sir Six Arms will have to determine.”
Six Arms nodded slightly. To be honest, he also felt this was the case as there was no other explanation for Yang Kai’s strange actions today.
[There is an irreconcilable feud between the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race. Rivers of blood flow every time a war breaks out, so what could Yang Kai want to discuss?]
After a moment of silence, Six Arms stated, “Since that’s the case, let’s go and meet him.”
He then selected 9 other Territory Lords and ordered, “Follow me, as for the rest of you… conceal yourselves and wait for my orders!”
If possible, he did not want to miss an opportunity to kill Yang Kai. If he could kill Yang Kai somehow, they would be able to suppress the entire Profound Nether Territory within a couple of years.
The Territory Lords understood this and immediately obeyed.
In the void, Yang Kai continued to move forward at a leisurely pace. He had already gotten quite close to the Black Ink Clan main camp when suddenly, he looked up and saw 10 figures with powerful auras flying out of a Universe World in front of him. Their leader was none other than Six Arms.
Not only that, Yang Kai also keenly noticed many more Territory Lords hiding in the nearby Black Ink Clouds.
He had already anticipated this, so he just continued moving forward with a smile on his lips, fearlessly.
On the other side, Six Arms couldn’t help feeling a sense of admiration, watching Yang Kai flying towards them in a totally undisturbed manner. [This Human…truly doesn’t know any fear.] No one else would have dared to act like this, for walking into the enemy’s encirclement alone was akin to suicide.
The distance between them was rapidly shortening, and at some point, Yang Kai came to a halt and smiled at Six Arms.
Six Arms almost couldn’t help but give the order to attack.
Yang Kai’s current position was quite tempting to the Black Ink Clan as he was surrounded by Territory Lords from all directions and was locked onto by all of them. The Territory Lords were ready to attack at a moment’s notice, so as soon as Six Arms gave the order, they would rain down Hell on Yang Kai.
[Even if he is proficient in the Dao of Space, he might not be able to escape unscathed, right?]
[Should we attack or not?]
At this moment, Six Arms’ heart rate began to accelerate.
But before he could make a decision, Yang Kai chuckled, “Six Arms, since I dared to come alone, I naturally have the confidence to escape too. I might be surrounded by many Territory Lords, but you won’t be able to kill me. At best, you would only be able to seriously injure me.”
Six Arms’ face turned dark and gloomy, but he did not retort back. The other Territory Lords’ faces also turned ugly as they felt that Yang Kai was being too arrogant.
Had it been any other Eighth-Order Human, the Territory Lords would scoff at these words, but since Yang Kai said them, they had no choice but to take his words seriously. They knew that this Human was no fool. If he didn’t have absolute confidence, why would he dare come here all alone and let himself be surrounded?
Yang Kai continued without any sense of urgency, “So long as I’m alive, you’ll always have to watch your backs. I’ll keep killing one or two of you every time we fight. I wonder how many Territory Lords the Black Ink Clan can sacrifice?”
Listening to this, a Territory Lord beside Six Arms angrily shouted, “Yang Kai, don’t act so arrogantly! Since you’ve come here alone, you can forget about leaving here alive!”
Yang Kai looked at him, sizing him up before indifferently stating, “I remember you. You managed to escape from my hands 10 years ago. Have you recovered yet?”
The Territory Lord immediately choked and couldn’t speak as he subconsciously touched his waist where there was still a deep wound that had yet to heal.
Even to this date, he would tremble in fear whenever he recalled the scene of him escaping from Yang Kai’s spear a decade ago. He was lucky that time as Mo Na Ye and the others had hurriedly come to his rescue, forcing Yang Kai to retreat.
Yang Kai’s tone suddenly turned cold, “The next time war breaks out, you will die first.”
The Territory Lord’s expression changed drastically as terror filled his eyes. He couldn’t help but step back in fear, but the next moment, when he felt everyone’s gaze on him, he felt so ashamed that he wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole and never come out.
Although he was ashamed, he did not speak again. He was not confident that he would manage to escape if he was really targeted by Yang Kai on the battlefield
Profound Nether Territory… was too dangerous right now. He wanted to go back to the No-Return Pass to recuperate.
“Enough!” Six Arms coldly snorted as his expression turned ugly.
Yang Kai had come alone, but not only did he not act cautiously, he was even more imposing than ever. Worse, with just a few words, he managed to frighten a Territory Lord under him so badly that he actually stumbled backwards in panic, enraging Six Arms completely.
[How could the Human Race produce such a monster?!]
He stared deeply at Yang Kai and asked, “Your Excellency, you didn’t come here to fight with us, right?”
A calm and peaceful smile appeared on Yang Kai’s lips, “Of course not. I came here mainly to negotiate peace with all of you.”
“Negotiate peace?” Six Arms and the Territory Lords were stunned.
Everyone had guessed that Yang Kai had come here alone for some purpose, but no one had expected him to say something like this.
[Peace? What peace!?]
The Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had been locked in a bloody war for millions of years. The Black Ink Clan could not help but think that Yang Kai had lost his mind. It’s impossible for them to co-exist peacefully. The war between the two races would only come to an end once one side was completely annihilated, yet Yang Kai actually said he came here to discuss peace.
The Territory Lords almost thought they might have heard wrong. They looked at each other, subconsciously thinking that this was another one of the Human Race’s schemes.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, earnestly continued, “That’s right, I’m here to negotiate a ceasefire. Of course, not a complete ceasefire, just one between the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Human Masters.”
Yang Kai then let out a heavy sigh before continuing with a look of frustration, “My Human Race is suffering. We have lost countless people over these years. We even lost the 3,000 Worlds. Now, we are confined to just a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields, struggling to resist your Black Ink Clan’s onslaught. Not to mention other Great Territory Battlefields, Profound Nether Territory alone has suffered heavy casualties over these few decades of fighting. Every war would result in a river of blood flowing across the void and corpses piling up like mountains. Soldiers sacrifice their limbs, and even their lives to block you all. My Human Race is really suffering deeply.”
Hearing his sorrowful overtures, Six Arms’ face turned red with rage while all the other Territory Lords wore warped expressions.
[What nonsense is this bastard spewing!? It might be the case for other Great Territory Battlefields, but could the Human Race be suffering more than the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory?]
Indeed, the Human Race suffered casualties in every battle, but compared to the losses the Black Ink Clan endured, the Human Race’s casualties were insignificant. The Black Ink Clan’s casualties here were so high that 30% of all Black Ink Clansmen spawned for battle were sent to Profound Nether Territory just to maintain their lines.
No less than a million Black Ink Clan soldiers would die every time a war broke out here.
Not only that, ever since Yang Kai arrived at Profound Nether Territory, some 30 Territory Lords had been slaughtered by him either directly or indirectly.
[Why is this guy speaking such drivel, and in such a serious manner!?]
[The shamelessness!]
This was a new impression the Territory Lords had of Yang Kai.
Usually, the strong cared a great deal for face, even the Territory Lords did, let alone the Humans. So, with Yang Kai waxing so forlornly like this, the Territory Lords couldn’t help but feel like their horizons had been broadened.
Six Arms’ expression became unsightly as he asked, “The Human Race and Black Ink Clan have an irresolvable enmity, it’s impossible for us to coexist in this Universe, so why are you proposing an armistice?”
He had a feeling that Yang Kai was up to something, so although Six Arms felt that the two races couldn’t agree, he still wanted to ask.
Yang Kai stopped lamenting and replied as a smile appeared on his lips, “I just said it’s not a real ceasefire, only one limited to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords.”
Six Arms thoughtfully murmured, “You mean…”
“It’s very simple. From now on, your Territory Lords won’t participate in the battle regardless of its scale, and the same goes for the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race.”
The moment he stated this, the Territory Lords broke into an uproar. Even the Territory Lords who were concealing their auras and hiding in the nearby Black Ink Clouds were shocked and accidentally exposed themselves.
“Really?” One of the Territory Lords excitedly asked.
Six Arms could not help but glare at that Territory Lord, who immediately shut up as shame filled his face.
Nonetheless, Six Arms did not blame him. To be honest, even he was tempted by Yang Kai’s proposal.
Be that as it may, he warned himself that this was definitely one of the Human Race’s schemes and he should not easily believe it. They had all experienced just how cunning and underhanded Humans were.
Six Arms stared deeply into Yang Kai’s eyes, as if he wanted to see into the depths of his soul, and suspiciously asked, “What does Your Excellency mean?”
Yang Kai replied, “I mean exactly what I said.”
Six Arms didn’t say anything more. He couldn’t understand what was going on, so he turned to Mo Na Ye to seek his opinion. Mo Na Ye too furrowed his brow, appearing to be deep in thought.
Yang Kai added, “There is no need to be suspicious. I have sincerely come here to negotiate an armistice with you, and I feel that it’s also a good proposition for the Black Ink Clan. The Black Ink Clan has lost almost 30 Territory Lords at my hands in Profound Nether Territory over these years, yes? If you agree to this ceasefire, I will withdraw from the frontlines too. Of course, the premise is that you and the other Territory Lords also uphold the conditions of the ceasefire.”
An ugly look immediately appeared on the face of the Territory Lords.
The death of 30 odd Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory was a matter of great humiliation for them. By mentioning this, Yang Kai was simply rubbing salt into their wounds, which was truly infuriating.
Nonetheless, it was the truth, and they could not refute it.
Seeing the Territory Lords remain silent, Yang Kai’s smile slowly faded as his tone became dark and cold, “What’s wrong? I’ve shown you sincerity by coming alone to discuss this matter and giving you an enormous concession. Are you still not satisfied? Perhaps I need to kill a few more of you before you agree?”
Saying so, he took out his Azure Dragon Spear and arrogantly declared, “Good, since that’s the case, we all know what will happen next. Every two years henceforth, when war breaks out, I’ll kill one or two Territory Lords until all of you are gone. Let’s see how you dare to disagree then!”
The moment he summoned his Azure Dragon Spear, all the Territory Lords immediately became tense and their aura instantly broke out as they began circulating their Black Ink Strength. The calm and peaceful situation immediately became highly agitated.
Six Arms jumped back in fright, no longer having any thoughts of killing Yang Kai as he quickly raised his hand and stated, “Your Excellency, please don’t be rash!”
Yang Kai pointed his spear at him and asked him in a grim voice, without any trace of politeness, “Agree or disagree, it’s a one-word answer!”
Six Arms was completely infuriated. He was one of the top Innate Territory Lords, and also the Commander of the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory. Never had he been pointed at and shamed by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
If Yang Kai’s proposal had not been so tempting, he would have already given the order to attack.
He solemnly looked at Yang Kai and stated, “Your Excellency’s proposal is truly intriguing, but this ceasefire is really unimaginable, I find it hard to believe you would request it.”
“Why is that?”
Six Arms enquired, “According to Your Excellency’s proposal, the Human Race’s Eighth-Order Masters and our Territory Lords won’t be able to join the battle in the future, which on the surface appears extremely beneficial to my Black Ink Clan. So my question is, what does the Human Race get out of this?”
This was the sticking point he simply couldn’t figure out. The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory was currently at an extreme disadvantage. They would lose one or two Territory Lords every time a war broke out every two years. Now, every time war was about to break out, the Territory Lords would become restless, terrified they would be targeted by Yang Kai.
However, if they could agree with the Human Race to not send their Eighth-Order Masters into battle after today, it would be wholly beneficial to the Black Ink Clan. Six Arms could not figure out why the Humans would make such a proposal, much less uphold it.
Why would the Humans do something which would not bring them any benefit? Six Arms wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Yang Kai was considering the Black Ink Clan’s interests. The two sides were sworn enemies, so it made no sense.
Yang Kai asked, frowning, “What does my Human Race’s gains from this have to do with you? Why ask so many questions?”
Six Arms solemnly stated, “If Your Excellency can’t give us a satisfactory answer, we can only think that this is some type of sinister plot and we will have to move to capture Your Excellency here today.”
“Do you think you can?” Yang Kai sneered as he swept his gaze around arrogantly.
Six Arms shouted, “Since you’re here to discuss an armistice, show us real proof of your sincerity. Do you really think we Territory Lords are afraid of you?”
Yang Kai pursed his lips in annoyance, obviously not wanting to explain himself, but in the end, he still answered, “Fine, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. The reason I want to discuss an armistice with you is because I want to let my Human Race’s soldiers rest. Although the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race have not suffered any casualties over the past few decades, we have lost far too many below the Eighth-Order, and most of them died because they were caught up in the fights between the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords. You might not care about the deaths of your weaker Clansmen, but it is very different for my Human Race. Every Human who dies was a loyal patriot of my Human Race. It would not have been an issue had they lost their lives while fighting the Black Ink Clan, even when Masters on our level clash, it is more often those around us who suffer the consequences, dying pointless deaths. As the Territory Lords outnumber the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the Eighth-Order Masters must go all out and have no ability to care about anything else around them. Even if other Human soldiers get swept up in their battlefields, they can do nothing about it, which is not just heart-breaking, but a costly loss. However, if there is a treaty which prevents the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords from joining the battle, then such situations won’t happen again. It is for this reason I am here today to negotiate a ceasefire with you. Are you satisfied with this answer?”
The group of Territory Lords glanced at each other, somewhat believing Yang Kai’s words.
The important thing was that Yang Kai was telling the truth. Low-rank soldiers of both races were caught up in the clash between the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords every time they fought, and many of them died as a result.
The Territory Lords did not care about the deaths of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, but the deaths of so many Human soldiers obviously troubled the Eighth-Order Masters. Be that as it may, they could not hold back in the current environment.
On top of that, the Territory Lords outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters, so the Territory Lords would often be able to slaughter their way into the midst of the Human Race Army. At that time, even the Eighth-Order Masters, who were already short-handed, would be forced to rush to block them. This put the Human Race into an even more passive situation.
Six Arms tightly furrowed his brow and glanced at Mo Na Ye, who looked back and lightly nodded.
Although Yang Kai’s answer was still a little suspicious, it was indeed a valid reason.
Six Arms asked, “Can you represent the entire Human Race?”
Yang Kai scoffed, “You wish! Of course, I can’t represent the entire Human Race, but I am the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, so I can represent all Human forces in Profound Nether Territory!”
Six Arms probed, “In other words, the scope of this treaty is limited to the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters in Profound Nether Territory?”
“That’s right.”
“The Human Race is quite devious, how can we trust you?”
“I can swear, but would you believe me?” Yang Kai looked at Six Arms with a serious expression, “Trust is built based on mutual understanding between two sides. No matter what I say, you won’t believe me anyway, but the fact that I came alone is enough to show my sincerity. You will know whether I’m telling the truth or not after seeing how the Human Race acts in the future. From today on, the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race will not take the initiative to take part in the war in Profound Nether Territory. I hope that you Territory Lords can also abide by the agreement. Of course, you can also not abide by it, but I will kill anyone who dares to do so. Don’t think that you’ll be safe if you go into hiding. Even if you scurry back to the No-Return Pass, I can still go there, kill you, then escape!”
The Territory Lords’ expressions immediately became ugly as this was a naked threat.
“I’ve said what I came to say, farewell!” Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear, turned around, and left, without caring whether the Territory Lords agreed or not.
The group of Territory Lords stared at Six Arms, seeking an answer from him. Six Arms, on the other hand, appeared to be struggling as to what to do.
Only when Yang Kai had truly left did the Territory Lords break the encirclement, while Six Arms heaved a long sigh of relief as a sense of exhaustion hit him. Just now, he was almost unable to hold himself back from giving the order to attack Yang Kai. If he gave the order, this so-called peace treaty would have naturally been broken, and the Profound Nether Army would have undoubtedly retaliated.
The reason why he didn’t give the order was because he wasn’t confident he could take Yang Kai down here as the latter was just too calm.
Six Arms was not the only Territory Lord who let out a sigh of relief. It had to be said that many Territory Lords were tempted to accept Yang Kai’s so-called peace treaty. If they could reach an agreement with the Human Race that the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords would not partake in the battle here any longer, then they would have nothing to worry about in the future.
Over the past few decades, every time the Human Race Army attacked, it would cause the Territory Lords extreme anxiety. No one knew which Territory Lord would become Yang Kai’s target. Only when Yang Kai really made his move could they finally put their pounding hearts to rest.
When Six Arms saw the expressions on the Territory Lords’ faces, he became a little depressed. These Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory had been thoroughly traumatized by Yang Kai and likely would never recover. He then turned to Mo Na Ye and asked, “What do you think?”
Mo Na Ye confirmed, frowning, “Does Sir Six Arms mean the peace treaty or…”
“Naturally, the peace treaty.”
“It’s a good deal!” Mo Na Ye replied, “Although I doubt we understand all its implications and I don’t think the Human Race will be so kind, if they abide by the agreement, it will be a good thing for us Territory Lords.”
Six Arms nodded slightly in agreement, “I think so too, I’m just afraid that the Humans have some hidden agenda that we’re still unaware of.”
Mo Na Ye added with a smile, “The Territory Lords are the most important targets in Profound Nether Territory, and since Yang Kai is willing to give up the opportunity to kill us to negotiate, it’s not surprising that he has some ulterior motive. It also feels that the reason he gave is lacking.”
“For the consideration of the Human Race soldiers, huh?” Six Arms understood.
Mo Na Ye agreed with a nod, “En, although many of the Human Race’s soldiers have died at the hands of the Territory Lords over the years, giving up on killing Territory Lords for the sake of those weaker Human soldiers is very foolish. Perhaps… there is some greater motivation we haven’t guessed yet.”
Although he realized that Yang Kai was hiding something, Mo Na Ye couldn’t figure it out.
When Yang Kai returned to the Human Race’s main camp, all the Eighth-Order Masters happened to be waiting for him.
Yang Kai raised his head and nodded lightly to the crowd, “It’s settled. From now on, the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords will not be allowed to participate in further battles.”
Yang Kai had discussed the treaty with the Eighth-Order Masters before heading out. Some were against it, some were puzzled, but none of them endorsed it.
The Human Race had the upper hand in Profound Nether Territory. Everyone believed that they should be taking revenge, especially when Yang Kai could kill one or two Territory Lords in every battle.
The Territory Lords had suffered heavy losses over these past 30 years, but not a single Eighth-Order Master from the Human Race had fallen. If this continued, the Human Race’s advantage would grow bigger and bigger. The Eighth-Order Masters could already imagine flattening the Black Ink Clan Army in Profound Nether Territory after a few more centuries.
As such, no one had expected that Yang Kai would actually want to make a peace treaty with the Black Ink Clan in these circumstances, especially since this treaty was only limited to the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords, which was equivalent to the Human Race giving up their greatest advantage.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai eventually convinced them.
The Human Race must train its soldiers!
The Human Race happened to have many good seedlings who had advanced directly to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm thanks to the Star Boundary World Tree Clone’s feedback. These seedlings had high hopes of reaching the Eighth or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. So, if they could grow, it would greatly alleviate or even reverse the decline of the Human Race.
Many of the geniuses who had advanced to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm had entered the battlefield right away, but those who had broken through straight to the Seventh-Order were regarded as precious treasures by every Cave Heaven and Paradise. They were hidden away, where they were given a large amount of resources. They were painstakingly cultivating in seclusion, hoping to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible and lead the Human Race out of this predicament.
Even Hua Qing Si of High Heaven Palace had hidden 200 such elites.
But was it possible to cultivate to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in seclusion?
If it was really that easy to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, the Human Race wouldn’t only have had 100 or so Old Ancestors at its peak.
Even if someone somehow managed to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm like this, they would be like a flower in a greenhouse that had never experienced true winds and rains. As such, their strength would be doubtful.
Yang Kai only managed to reach his current heights because he had forged his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The same was true for every Eighth-Order Master present today.
As such, the Human Race needed to temper their troops! They needed to send the geniuses who had broken through straight to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the battlefields and let them taste real hardship while allowing them to understand the predicament of the Human Race.
However, the current Great Territory Battlefields were a little dangerous to train these geniuses.
The Territory Lords outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters. Sometimes the Eighth-Order Masters failed to contain all the Territory Lords, giving them a chance to kill unscrupulously. Because of this, even the most talented elites had a high chance of dying.
In fact, many geniuses have fallen over the years because of this.
Losing the geniuses who had advanced straight to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm was one thing, but losing even just one who had advanced straight to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would be quite heartbreaking. The purpose of training them was to make them stronger, not to let them die in vain.
On the Barren Territory Battlefield, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors willingly sacrificed their lives to kill all the Royal Lords to create a safe space for their Juniors to grow. They even managed to severely injure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God to buy more time.
The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors played a huge part in the current status quo the Human Race had managed to maintain, barely holding their ground in a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields.
Nonetheless, it was not enough.
Yang Kai’s wish to make a peace treaty with the Territory Lords was simply an extension of the wills of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. The Old Ancestors had wiped out most of the Black Ink Clan Royal Lords whereas Yang Kai kept the Territory Lords in check in Profound Nether Territory, thereby creating a haven for the Human Race’s younger generation to grow.
This was the reason why the Profound Nether Army had constantly been on the offensive for the last three decades and why he had been indiscriminately killing the Territory Lords on the battlefield.
He was attacking the Territory Lords so that he could force them to accept this peace treaty!
This plan was already in motion when Yang Kai had returned from the Star Boundary, but he had never told anyone about it.
Now, since the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory would not be making any further moves, the Human Race could send their geniuses to this Battlefield, where they could wander between life and death, comprehend the mysteries of the Grand Dao, and stimulate their potential.
Of course, some geniuses would lose their lives in the process; after all, the Black Ink Clan still held the advantage over the Human Race currently, but such losses could be accepted for the future of the Human Race. In any case, a dead genius was not a genius.
The Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World were constantly being nurtured by two World Tree clones, so how could the Human Race lack geniuses in the future?
Of course, by doing this, the Profound Nether Army had tied themselves up and let the Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory gain an immediate advantage. From now on, they no longer had to worry about being ambushed by Yang Kai in battle.
Be that as it may, this war was not just Yang Kai’s war alone, it was a struggle the entire Human Race had to participate in as it concerned its very survival. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, he could not end it alone.
He had advanced straight to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and then consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit, which allowed him to have a foundation of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Owing to this, his current cultivation of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm was his limit.
It would be next to impossible for him to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm without the appropriate opportunity. The current him could kill a Territory Lord with the help of his Soul Rending Thorns, but if he was up against a Royal Lord, he would have no choice but to flee.
In the future, the Black Ink Clan would not be lacking Territory Lords and Royal Lords. After thousands of years, when the advantages created by the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were completely gone, what would the Human Race do?
What the Human Race lacked was peak Eighth-Order Masters who could kill Innate Territory Lords, and Ninth-Order Masters who would fight neck and neck with Royal Lords in the future!
All of this depended on the effort and growth of the young geniuses.
As such, Yang Kai had to make arrangements while he still had some deterrence against the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai’s reasoning had convinced the Eighth-Order Masters of Profound Nether Army. Many Eighth-Order Masters even felt ashamed after the discussions came to a close. They only saw the current success of the Profound Nether Army and failed to look further into the future. Every time war broke out, the Black Ink Clan was unable to lift their heads, and the Territory Lords would be in complete panic.
Only a few people could see that the current advantage of the Profound Nether Army was nothing more than a reflection of the moon in the water. The Human Race’s advantage would slowly fade away and eventually disappear with time.
When this matter was reported to the Supreme Headquarters, they promptly agreed to the arrangements of the Profound Nether Army. They even deliberately turned Profound Nether Territory into a testing site.
However, the Profound Nether Army had also made preparations to launch an all-out attack when Yang Kai went to negotiate the treaty. The moment the Territory Lords made a move on Yang Kai, the Profound Nether Army would definitely charge out to attack.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s negotiation went extremely smoothly. The Territory Lords also did not take advantage of the fact that Yang Kai was alone to try to attack him.
Yang Kai’s calmness made the Territory Lords doubt whether they could kill him or not. Furthermore, the treaty was also quite tempting to the Territory Lords. Because of these points, Yang Kai was able to safely return.
After hearing from Yang Kai that the matter was settled, Ou Yang Lie shouted as a look of disbelief took over his face, “Don’t the Territory Lords have any balls?”
Wei Jun Yang smiled, “It’s not that they don’t have any balls, it’s more like they are too afraid of being killed.”
30 Territory Lords had lost their lives at Yang Kai’s hands over the past 30 years, so who wouldn’t be afraid?
Only because of Yang Kai was this possible; if it were anyone else, even if it was Xiang Shan, the Territory Lords would have swarmed him.
If one couldn’t exert this level of deterrence, they would only be courting death if they went into the enemies’ den alone.
“Then doesn’t it mean that we won’t have to do anything in Profound Nether Territory in the future?” Stated an Eighth-Order Master, frowning, [This is going to be boring!]
Ou Yang Lie rolled his eyes and stated, “We can go support the other Great Territory Battlefields.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Yang Kai shook his head, “Although we have made a treaty, Profound Nether Territory still needs Eighth-Order Masters to act as deterrents. Firstly, it would be hard to ensure that the Black Ink Clan don’t go back on their word without sufficient Eighth-Order Masters present. The Black Ink Clan cannot be trusted. We may have agreed to a peace treaty, but if they found an opportunity to devastate our Army, they would definitely take it despite the risks. For that matter, I want to establish 10 forward outposts in Profound Nether Territory, which will require everyone here to oversee them.”
“Forward outposts?” An Eighth-Order Master asked curiously.
Yang Kai explained, “Since we’re going to be training our soldiers, a large-scale Army strategy will no longer be suitable. In the future, the confrontation between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan’s soldiers in Profound Nether Territory will probably only happen on a small scale. Profound Nether Territory is quite large, so we’ll be building forward outposts as places where our soldiers can rest and heal.”
The Eighth-Order Masters immediately understood after hearing this. Wei Jun Yang agreed with this plan, nodding, “You’re right, these outposts can also provide a certain degree of security to our soldiers.”
“That’s right. Training is one thing, but we still need to minimize our losses.”
10 outposts could roughly cover the entire Profound Nether Territory. Even if each forward outpost only needed three Eighth-Order Masters to oversee it, that would still be 30 Eighth-Order Masters.
Because of this, the Eighth-Order Masters of the Profound Nether Army could not easily withdraw, so Ou Yang Lie’s request to go support the other Great Territory Battlefields was simply a fantasy.
“Sir is quite thoughtful,” Wei Jun Yang nodded.
“If none of you have any objections, then let’s start immediately. You can discuss the location of the 10 forward outposts among yourselves, there’s no need to consult me.”
The Eighth-Order Masters glanced at each other, none of them having any objections.
They were already used to Yang Kai acting like an arm-flinging shopkeeper. Basically, the Profound Nether Army’s affairs had been managed by Wei Jun Yang, Kong Cheng De, and the others all these years. Yang Kai was only in charge of a general plan, not the details or implementation.
Soon, the Profound Nether Army began moving.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were divided and sent out in various directions in units of two or three Divisions each.
The Black Ink Clan instantly got the news and sent out scouts to investigate. When the scouts sent back their reports, Six Arms and the others were shocked to discover that the Human Race was establishing numerous outposts in another Profound Nether Territory, each one overseen by several Eighth-Order Masters.
Although Yang Kai had come to discuss a peace treaty with them, the Territory Lords did not completely believe him. No one could guarantee that this was not a scheme of the Human Race.
The treaty did not prevent them from sending out some of their forces to investigate though, so after a few days, an army of over 1,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers appeared near a Human outpost that was recently built, secretly scouting it.
However, their whereabouts were soon discovered and they were pursued by several Human Squads. Although they had suffered heavy casualties, they were not completely wiped out.
The Black Ink Clan kept testing the waters multiple times over the next few months. Although they were hunted down by the Humans every time, the Eighth-Order Masters never came forward. The Human Race was indeed keeping their side of the treaty!
While the Human Race’s military training was in full swing in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai had already rushed to Wind Mist Territory.
He had come here to see the last two living Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Wind Mist Territory was the first Great Territory that the Black Ink Clan Army had invaded and it was in complete shambles now. Traces of the Black Ink Clan’s invasion could be seen everywhere and all its Universe Worlds lay in utter ruin.
At the place where the Territory Barrier was breached, Old Ancestors Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were sitting cross-legged in the void, each of them slowly forming hand seals one after another. Right in between the two of them, an arm that seemed capable of shattering the sky was reaching out through the Territory Barrier.
This arm belonged to none other than the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who had awakened in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
When the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was awakened, he had rushed straight to the Barren Territory from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. Resisting the fierce attacks of the Human Race Masters, he reached the weak point of the Territory Barrier and smashed it with a single punch, thrusting its arm through two Great Territories.
Since then, the passage between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory had been forced completely open. The Black Ink Clan Army, which was locked in a fierce battle with the Human Race in the Barren Territory, passed through this broken Territory Barrier and flooded into Wind Mist Territory. Ever since, the Black Ink Clan’s invasion became unstoppable.
Soon after that incident, the vast majority of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors sacrificed themselves to open up an opportunity for the next generation of the Human Race, exterminating all but two of the Black Ink Clan Royal Lords and severely wounding this Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The surviving Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing led the Human Race Army out of the Barren Territory and ordered the remnants to split up and go to the various Great Territories to preside over a mass evacuation and migration of the Human Race’s cultivators.
As for the two of them, they rushed straight to Wind Mist Territory and restrained the Black Ink Giant Spirit God with a joint Secret Technique, taking advantage of the fact that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had to keep its arm in place to ensure the Territory Barrier remained open.
In the blink of an eye, nearly 100 years had passed.
Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing had managed to restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God all these years, but that also trapped them in Wind Mist Territory.
If the Human Race still had the help of these two Ninth-Order Masters, the situation in the Great Territory Battlefields would not have been nearly as tense as it was now.
When Yang Kai arrived at this place and laid eyes on that thick and enormous arm, his expression still changed, even if it was not his first time seeing it.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was simply too powerful.
As for Mo, who was able to create the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, Yang Kai was simply unable to gauge its true depths.
The arm was currently tightly bound by numerous chains. If one looked closely, one would discover that these chains were actually manifested from innumerable complex runes. Obviously, these chains were the manifestation of the Secret Technique executed by the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that there would be many Black Ink Clansmen here monitoring the situation or worse, attacking the two Old Ancestors, but after arriving, he realized that he was mistaken. There was not a single Black Ink Clansman here.
This left him quite puzzled. Logically speaking, since the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was so powerful, the Black Ink Clan’s top priority should be helping him escape. In order to help him escape, attacking the two Ninth-Order Masters was the fastest solution.
The reason Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing were able to restrain this Black Ink Giant Spirit God was not because they were stronger, but because they had certain advantages on their side.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God had shoved its arm through a Territory Barrier, meaning its main body was in one Great Territory, while its fist and forearm were in another. This had allowed the Black Ink Clan Army to pass through this opening, but it also helped Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing to shackle the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. While the two Old Ancestors could use their full strength, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could only exert a fraction of it as most of its strength was used to keep the passage open.
If it weren’t for this, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would have broken free long ago. In the past, a dozen Old Ancestors had needed to join forces to resist a single, heavily injured Black Ink Giant Spirit God, and even then they were barely a match. Now that the Human Race only had two Ninth-Order Masters remaining, how could they possibly restrain it?
Sensing Yang Kai’s aura, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao opened her eyes and asked in surprise, “Why are you here?”
Yang Kai respectfully bowed, “Greetings, Old Ancestors.”
He was quite familiar with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao. As for Wu Qing, Yang Kai had met him when he went to Yin-Yang Pass, but he was not that close to him.
Wu Qing nodded slightly in response.
Yang Kai then answered, “I came to see the two Old Ancestors. Is there anything I can help you with?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head, “It’s alright, you can’t help us in this matter. How is the Human Race doing recently?”
The two perennially remained in Wind Mist Territory and had no contact with the outside world. Although Xiang Shan had come here twice, he could not remain for long. The last time he had come was some three or four decades ago, and the Great Territory Battlefields happened to be in dire straits at that time.
Yang Kai replied, “The situation is still relatively stable for the time being. Although the fighting never ceases, it will not be easy for the Black Ink Clan to defeat the Human Race. In addition, this Junior is highly valued by the Supreme Headquarters and has been appointed as Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “You deserve it.”
Suddenly, a smile appeared on her lips as she asked, “Since you are overseeing Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan there must be having a difficult time, right?”
Yang Kai thought for a moment before replying, “Junior has negotiated a peace treaty with them.”
Xiao Xiao was taken aback by this revelation, “A peace treaty?”
Wu Qing, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, also frowned and asked, “What treaty?”
“The Human Race must train!” Yang Kai explained his thoughts, to which Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing repeatedly nodded in agreement.
“You’ve considered it carefully. In fact, when Xiang Shan first came here, he also mentioned this matter,” Wu Qing thoughtfully stated.
This time, it was Yang Kai’s turn to be surprised, “Sir Xiang was also considering signing a peace treaty?”
Wu Qing shook his head in response and explained, “He didn’t say anything about a treaty, he was just worried about the future of the Human Race. He said that the good seedlings who had been hidden away might not be of much use in the future; however, he didn’t have any solution to this problem. You on the other hand have already taken a step ahead of him. Good work.”
Yang Kai immediately understood something that had puzzled him. It was no wonder the Supreme Headquarters quickly agreed when he reported the matter of treaty to them. Apparently, Xiang Shan had long considered this issue and had been searching for a solution all this time.
Thinking about it, it was impossible for a prudent and far-sighted man like Xiang Shan to just focus on the present.
“The Black Ink Clan actually agreed?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was a bit puzzled.
“After killing enough of them to leave them terrified and traumatized, they naturally agreed,” Yang Kai calmly stated.
Wu Qing and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao glanced at each other, secretly wondering just how many of the Territory Lord had died at his hand for them to be this afraid.
“Boy, you are quite arrogant for your age.”
Suddenly, a voice rang out in their ears. This voice seemed to be coming from an extremely faraway place, and yet it also seemed someone was whispering in their ears. Obviously, it was the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who was speaking.
Yang Kai could not be bothered with it though and simply looked at the two Ninth-Order Masters and continued, “The situation in Profound Nether Territory has stabilized for the time being, but if we want to train the next generation up, a single Great Territory may not be enough. This Junior is planning on patronizing the other Great Territory Battlefields in the future to open up a few more training grounds.”
Wu Qing agreed with a nod, “Good, but we still need to leave a few as they are. When those brats advance to the Eighth Order, they will need to fight with the Territory Lords to stimulate their growth.”
“This Junior had the same idea.”
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God spoke again, “Brat, why must your Human Race keep struggling so strenuously? Now that Cang and the others have all fallen, the Universe is destined to belong to my Black Ink Clan. The day this Supreme One breaks free will be the day all submit to us.”
Yang Kai frowned and thought for a moment before activating the Great Sun and Moon Marks, creating an enormous ball of Purifying Light that shot straight towards that thick arm.
The ball of pure light immediately disintegrated the lingering Black Ink Strength and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could not help but let out a groan, but he still continued, “If you submit to this Supreme One now, I can guarantee on the behalf of the entire Black Ink Clan that we won’t corrupt you with Black Ink Strength and will allow you to retain your sentience.”
Yang Kai remained silent for a moment before creating another massive ball of Purifying Light.
In any case, he now had a lot of Yellow and Blue Crystals. Even if he ran out of them, he could still go to the Chaotic Dead Territory and ask Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan for more.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God groaned again and shut its mouth.
It had finally discovered that the dog that bit him didn’t bark. Yang Kai simply had no intention of communicating with it. If it continued to blabber on, Yang Kai would definitely just use that Purifying Light again.
Although it would not hurt its foundation, the dissipation of its strength was extremely discomforting.
“This thing seems to be full of energy, can the two Old Ancestors restrain it?” Yang Kai worriedly asked.
Wu Qing replied with a smile, “If it decides to escape, the two of us won’t be able to stop it.”
Many things had become clear to them over the past century.
Yang Kai immediately became worried, “Then what should we do?”
If this Black Ink Giant Spirit God really managed to escape, the Human Race would not be able to resist him. Even if Fu Guang came out of seclusion and teamed up with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, they still would not be its opponents.
“Don’t worry,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao reassured, “He would have to pay a huge price in order to forcefully break free right now. At the very least, he will have to leave behind this arm that has crossed the two Great Territories. Furthermore, he is currently injured, so even if he breaks free, his strength will be greatly reduced.”
In the past, when the Black Ink Giant Spirit God awakened from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, he traversed through the Shattered Heaven and rushed to the Barren Territory, bearing the bombardment of countless Human Race Masters. No matter how powerful he was, he was still injured at that time, and to break the Territory Barrier, he had no choice but to pay a certain price.
After the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had shattered the Territory Barrier, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors went all out to kill the invaders. By sacrificing their lives, not only did they manage to completely wipe out all but two Royal Lords, they also heavily injured the trapped Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
“He’s also waiting for an opportunity while healing himself. There won’t be any problem for the time being,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao explained.
Yang Kai nodded in response, feeling much more relieved. Only now did he understand why the Black Ink Clan had not sent troops to attack the two Human Race Old Ancestors. Even if they helped the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in escaping, he would still need time to heal himself.
On the other hand, this way the top Masters of both races could still restrain each other.
Fu Guang was still recuperating in the Dragon Pool, and it would probably take him hundreds or even over 1,000 years before he could leave. Once he came out of seclusion, he could come and help Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing, making it safer.
What troubled Yang Kai was that he didn’t know where Ah Da had gone.
It had been so many years, but he was still nowhere to be found.
Logically speaking, now that the Black Ink Clan had invaded the 3,000 Worlds and countless Universe Worlds had died, Ah Da should have appeared by now.
Yang Kai suspected that this guy was fast asleep in some remote Great Territory, which would make it all but impossible to find him without an exhaustive search.
“Old Ancestors, you don’t need to worry about the matters of the Human Race, us Juniors will handle them.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “Do your best, but don’t feel too pressured. We old fogeys have failed to live up to their expectations and forced the burden onto all of you.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Do you need anything? Do you have enough supplies?”
Wu Qing replied, “You can leave us just a few supplies, we don’t need that much right now.”
Yang Kai immediately took out some provisions and placed them into a Space Ring before handing them to Wu Qing.
He then bowed again and bid his goodbye, “This Junior will take his leave.”
“Go on,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded.
Yang Kai stared at the thick arm for a moment before using Space Principles and teleporting away.
Yang Kai returned to Profound Nether Territory.
In just several months, things had gotten on the right track when it came to training the Profound Nether Army. Based on Yang Kai’s initial plan, they had managed to build 10 forward outposts which served as resting places for the Human soldiers. Every forward outpost was guarded by at least three Eighth-Order Masters to ensure its safety.
During this period, the Profound Nether Army had broken up and scattered around the territory. On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan had repeatedly tested the waters and confirmed that the Eighth-Order Masters indeed wouldn’t make a move, allowing them to finally set their minds at ease.
Now, no large-scale battles were occurring in the entire Profound Nether Territory, though the number and intensity of smaller conflicts had soared.
Since the Human soldiers had scattered around, the Black Ink Clan soldiers had to follow suit. The soldiers of both Races now clashed and killed each other in every corner of this territory.
In every great battle in the past, the fights between the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords were the focal point as well as the key to determining victory or defeat; however, after the peace deal, the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords abstained from taking part in any kind of fighting. Now, the Seventh-Order Masters and Feudal Lords took centre stage. The Squads, led by Seventh-Order Squad Leaders, went all out to destroy the enemy, while some powerful Feudal Lords now rose up to lead their subordinates to slaughter the Humans.
Inside his palace, Yang Kai had started cultivating in seclusion.
It hadn’t been a long time since he ascended to the Eighth-Order in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon; as such, there was still much room for improvement in the Eighth-Order Realm for him.
Nevertheless, to increase his strength quickly, he had to actually sit and cultivate hard. He had been travelling around everywhere for the past 100 years, never having a chance to focus on his cultivation.
This was another reason he was eager to secure a peace deal with the Black Ink Clan. The need to train the next generation of Human soldiers was the primary reason, but Yang Kai also needed such an environment so he could enter retreat to cultivate. The Eighth Order was indeed his limit, but he was far from being at the peak of this Realm.
Right now, he needed to use Soul Rending Thorns to swiftly kill Innate Territory Lords, but if he managed to reach the peak of the Eighth Order, he had the confidence to pull off the same feat without the help of Soul Rending Thorns.
The accumulation process in the Eighth-Order was extremely long. Fortunately, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone.
The reason Duan Hong Chen and the others could rapidly increase their cultivation was that they had the Star Boundary’s help. They were Great Emperors acknowledged by the Star Boundary’s Will; as such, the abundance of heritage in the Star Boundary could be absorbed by them so they could cultivate far more swiftly.
The Great Emperors of the Star Boundary had gained massive benefits by sharing the benefits of a World Tree clone between them, but Yang Kai had a World Tree clone all to himself in his Small Universe.
He wasn’t short on any resources either. What he needed was a stable, safe place to cultivate.
While the Human soldiers were training, Yang Kai had to cultivate hard as well; hence, he had no choice but to secure a peace deal with the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai had one more reason to secure a stable environment for himself; for a long time, he would probably fall into a weakened state. He had no idea how frail he would become, but he was certain that his strength would be significantly weakened.
As such, he had to force the Territory Lords off the battlefield before he could carry out his plan with peace of mind.
Yang Kai ordered that unless it was a critical matter, no one was to disturb him, and then he set up multiple layers of restrictions around his cultivation chamber to ensure he was not interrupted.
A large amount of resources were stored in his Space Ring so that he could use them at any moment. It had come to a point in his cultivation where consuming Open Heaven Pills to cultivate was far too inefficient; hence, he had to refine Seventh-Order or even Eighth-Order sets of resources.
Having said that, even though he had loads of resources, Yang Kai only had a small amount of Eighth-Order ones. The resources he possessed were mostly in the Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order.
All the same, the resources were more than enough.
In the past, no one could ever squander resources to cultivate like him; after all, even though the Cave Heavens and Paradises had a large reserve of Five-Element resources, high Order Yin and Yang Element materials were still extremely rare.
On the other hand, Yang Kai had countless Yellow and Blue Crystals, so Yin and Yang materials were the least of his concerns. On the contrary, it was a lack of high Order Five-Element resources which restricted his lavish consumption.
Yang Kai hadn’t been able to cultivate with uninterrupted focus for a long time, so as a massive amount of resources were consumed by him, he could sense the heritage of his Small Universe gradually increasing. This kind of noticeable growth was quite gratifying.
While cultivating, he also diverted some of his attention to monitor the entire Void Continent, for he had to look for a suitable carrier to carry out his next plan.
Before Yang Kai parted ways with Wu Kuang outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the latter had taught him a method that would help him break through to the Ninth Order. It was a kind of Secret Art created by Shi back when he was alive.
Cang and the others each had different talents, and among them, Shi was skilful in the formulation of Secret Arts and Techniques. Evidence of this was he was the one who created the astonishing Heaven Devouring Battle Law. In modern times, some 50% of all Secret Arts and Techniques that the Human Race had inherited had traces of Shi’s influence.
As such, this method passed down from him was extremely precious.
However, even though Shi had worked out this Secret Art, he had done so after the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was established. No one had cultivated the method before, so no one could be certain if it was even feasible at all.
All the same, Yang Kai didn’t mind giving it a try as the Eighth Order was the limit in his lifetime. Giving a dead horse medicine can’t harm it after all.
This couldn’t be helped.
There was no doubt that as an Eighth-Order Master, he could charge around Profound Nether Territory and slaughter Innate Territory Lords; however, what would happen a few thousand years from now?
By then, there would be new Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan and new Ninth-Order Masters in the Human Race. As an Eighth-Order Master, how useful would he be then? Any random Royal Lord would be able to kill him with ease when that time came.
Yang Kai wanted to secure a place for himself in the future when battling powerful enemies. It wasn’t like he could just sit back and pin all his hopes on the next generation.
For that reason, he longed to become a Ninth-Order Master.
It would be wonderful if this method worked, but even if it didn’t, there was no harm in giving it a shot.
The Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art was the method that Shi had come up with. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a Secret Art, it was more of a Secret Technique that was supposed to make up for the deficiencies in the Open Heaven Realm method that had been passed down from the Late Ancient Era.
During that era, Cang and the others made use of the World Tree’s power to gain enlightenment into the Open Heaven Realm cultivation method, which allowed the Humans to rise to power and build a foundation that lasted for many generations.
However, there were some clear deficiencies in this Open Heaven Realm method. Strictly speaking, it was incomplete.
That was because every cultivator who used this method to make it to the Open Heaven Realm had their own innate limit.
The Fifth Order was the limit for those who directly ascended to the Third Order. Similarly, the Sixth Order and the Ninth Order were respectively the limits for those who directly made it to the Fourth Order and Seventh Order.
What about the road after the Ninth Order?
The Martial Dao was a long journey of exploration, so there wasn’t a true peak or limit to speak of.
Cang and the others might’ve realised the deficiencies in this method; however, this method was the only option available for the Humans at that time. Given enough time, the Martial Ancestors might have devised a more perfect method of cultivation, but the Great Monsters roamed the Universe in that era and Humans struggled to survive. Hence, they didn’t have time to experiment with and adjust the method.
Cang had said that he was still a Ninth-Order Master, though he was further ahead than the current Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.
He also declared that there was a higher Realm beyond the Ninth Order.
While Cang was stuck in the Ninth Order, it was the same case for Shi, Mu, and the others. That was because the Open Heaven Realm method they had cultivated was incomplete. As such, the road ahead of them had been cut off when they reached the Ninth Order. Regardless of how far they went, they were unable to move past the Ninth Order.
Having been trapped in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction for several million years, Shi kept pondering this issue and eventually came up with a solution. Before he merged with the restriction, he had sent out a thread of consciousness, which surmounted countless obstacles and was reborn. He had the intention to start over and cultivate from the beginning, but unfortunately, his wish wasn’t granted in the end.
Eventually, Wu Kuang, Shi’s partial reincarnation, passed down this method to Yang Kai.
Over the past 100 years, Yang Kai had been trying to comprehend this method. He had memorised every bit of it and fully understood every detail. What he had to do now was put it into action.
According to Shi, it seemed that the Universe itself had a Will. When Mo plunged the Universe into chaos, that Will led the 10 Martial Ancestors to enter the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary. With the World Tree’s help, they comprehended the Open Heaven Realm method, which allowed them to fight Mo’s expansion. In the following aeons, those who had the chance to enter the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and obtain World Tree clones were akin to cards that Will had drawn in order to protect itself.
However, those cards were all basically destroyed. Yang Kai was just the latest example and probably the last one.
During the Primordial Era, Divine Spirits ruled over the Universe, and during the Early Ancient Era, the Monster Race was the most powerful force. It wasn’t until the Late Ancient Era that the Humans rose to dominance.
If the Heavenly Way really had a Will, there was no denying it favoured these three kinds of living creatures, for their presence represented three different magnificent eras.
These three kinds of living creatures were probably the chosen ones of the Heavenly Way’s Will during the different eras. If Yang Kai could merge these three favoured existences into his own being, he might be able to make up for the deficiencies and find a way forward in his cultivation.
Although the method sounded abstruse and even a bit fantastical, it wasn’t actually difficult to put it into action.
Yang Kai just had to come up with a way to integrate the powers of these three kinds of living creatures. Simply put, he had to cultivate Soul Clones, which were his Divine Spirit Self, Monster Self, and Human Self. As these three Selves united, he might be able to break through the shackles of the Open Heaven Realm and ascend to the Ninth Order.
It was for this reason that he headed to the Demon Realm back then and retrieved Embodiment. He had to get prepared for cultivating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art by taking back his other living Soul Clone.
Yang Kai was originally a Human, but in the past, he happened to obtain a Divine Dragon’s Source. Gradually, his bloodline was Dragonized, and after he cultivated in the Dragon Pool, his Human bloodline was permanently purged. Now, he was technically a pure Divine Spirit. Moreover, he was a part of the Dragon Clan, the head of the Divine Spirits. There was no doubt he was formidable in his own right.
As such, he already had a Divine Spirit Self. Now, he needed a Human Self and a Monster Self.
Regardless, Yang Kai decided to cultivate his Human Self first as it was probably the easier one. If there were any problems in the future, he could slowly make some adjustments.
Therefore, during his retreat, while he consumed the resources to cultivate, Yang Kai had also been paying attention to everything on the Void Continent.
Presently, the Void Continent could be considered prosperous. Following Yang Kai’s increase in strength, his Small Universe’s capacity had also greatly expanded. The most conspicuous change was that the Small Universe’s territory had become larger.
As a result, there had also been an increase in population. The flow of time in his Small Universe was different from that of the outside world, and with the World Tree clone’s presence, more and more youths with extraordinary aptitudes appeared. Most of them became part of the major Sects and learned how to cultivate there. When they reached a certain age or level of cultivation, they would be invited to the Void Dao Temple, thus becoming disciples of the Dao Temple.
There were still some conflicts in the Void World. There had been the rise and fall of different families and Sects; regardless, there was one powerful force that had stood the test of time.
It was none other than the Seven Stars Sect.
After all, the Dao Lord was the Supreme Elder of the Seven Stars Sect. As such, no one had the guts to offend Seven Stars Sect; instead, they were all eager to flatter them.
Meanwhile, even though the Seven Stars Sect was the most powerful in the entire Void World, they remained humble and righteous, never committing any kind of outrage or offence since it rose to power several tens of thousands of years ago. For that reason, many talented young people dreamed of joining the Seven Stars Sect, which helped further strengthen the Sect’s foundation and inheritance.
The present Seven Stars Sect was very different from the one Yang Kai had seen in the past. The Sect now occupied countless mountains and rivers, while on the various Spirit Peaks, houses and pavilions could faintly be seen as rare beasts roamed around freely. There was no denying it was now a powerful Sect.
After several tens of thousands of years of accumulation, this Sect, which had migrated from its original location back then, had a very ample heritage now.
Yang Kai hadn’t paid attention to his Small Universe for a long time, so as he looked around Seven Stars Sect, he felt that everything had changed drastically.
There was no doubt he still had some emotional attachment to Seven Stars Sect; after all, his Soul Avatar had stayed in this place for quite some time, and he had even taken his three Disciples from here.
Although he hadn’t found anything useful this time around, he wasn’t disappointed and simply went on to inspect other places.
A few years later, when Yang Kai scanned his Small Universe with his Divine Sense again, something in the Seven Stars Sect caught his attention. His brow twitched as he couldn’t help thinking that he indeed had some predestined fate with Seven Stars Sect.
Other than the fact that he had taken on his three Disciples in the Seven Stars Sect, he had also found his Human Self here.
In fact, he had encountered some suitable options over the past few years, but none were really up to his standards. This was a matter closely related to his future, after all; therefore, he wouldn’t dare to be negligent as he wanted everything to be perfect.
The opportunity he had come across this time was satisfactory.
After some inspection, he stopped hesitating as he began executing the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art. At that instant, his Soul was torn apart and his aura plunged.
When he used Soul Rending Thorns to kill Innate Territory Lords, Yang Kai also tore his Soul apart. By powering the Soul Rending Thorns with a portion of his Soul Essence, he not only destroyed the enemy, but also harmed himself.
However, that feeling of being torn apart was quite different from the present one. As he activated the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art now, Yang Kai felt as if he was slicing himself in half. If not for the fact that he had activated Soul Rending Thorns many times before, this kind of extreme pain would’ve made him pass out directly.
The method that Shi had come up with was ‘intriguing’ to say the least. It would be worth it if it was useful, but if it turned out to be useless, all this pain and suffering would be for nothing.
As his Soul was ripped apart, Yang Kai not only became frail, but he also realised that he had become listless and dazed. His forehead felt scorching, as though he had come down with fever.
Now, he couldn’t even use half of his full strength. If he were to fight an Innate Territory Lord in such a condition, he would undoubtedly die.
He tried to pull himself together as he used the Secret Technique to wrap his Soul Fission with layers of seals. This was a Soul Fission from a powerful Eighth-Order Master, after all, so the average carrier couldn’t possibly bear it. As such, he had to seal it.
When he was done sealing the Soul Fission, Yang Kai let out a long breath. As a thought flashed across his mind, the Soul Fission traversed the Small Universe and descended in a particular direction.
Seven Stars Sect was the strongest Sect in Void World with several tens of thousands of years worth of inheritance. Not only was the inside of the Sect magnificent, but the lands under its jurisdiction were also prosperous.
Several cities surrounded Seven Stars Sect as countless cultivators streamed along the streets.
The Fang Family Village was located some 200 kilometres outside one of these major cities. One of the Fang Family’s Ancestors was a Seven Stars Sect’s disciple; however, his aptitude was weak as he had only managed to make it to the Dao Source Realm.
He passed away 1,000 years ago.
Over the past 1,000 years, the Fang Family had some members who had aptitude for cultivation, but none of them were very talented. As such, they couldn’t restore their family’s former glory.
Now, most people on the Void Continent aspired to be cultivators, and there were a lot who had outstanding aptitudes. Nevertheless, rarely would anyone be considered a prodigy.
Fortunately, the present cultivation environment was much better than it used to be several tens of thousands of years ago. As long as one wasn’t completely crippled, they would have some cultivation talent in them. Having said that, while talent was important, one’s own hard work and will to improve were still the key to achieving success.
The Patriarch of the Fang Family, Fang Yu Bai, was not such a person. His cultivation was weak as he was only in the True Element Boundary. This kind of cultivation was unremarkable on the Void Continent.
All the same, he wasn’t an ambitious person. As time passed, he was no longer as hot-blooded as when he was younger, and more than 10 years ago, he married a woman, and had been living off the heritage he inherited from his ancestors ever since.
His Wife, Zhong Yu Xiu, was even weaker than him as she was only in the Separation and Reunion Boundary. With that said, she was a wise and demure woman.
The married couple lived a harmonious life far away from any kind of conflict. There was no doubt they were happy and carefree.
That was also how most people on the Void Continent lived. Those Heaven-defying geniuses and Masters who could fly through the sky were far removed from most people’s lives.
Nevertheless, Fang Yu Bai had been in a terrible mood recently.
There had never been a lot of offspring in the Fang Family, and for some reason, instead of getting better with time, things had only gotten worse in Fang Yu Bai’s generation.
It had been more than 10 years since he married, and during this period, Fang Yu Bai had never neglected his wife’s needs. To his dismay, however, his wife never became pregnant over the years. As his wife grew older, he couldn’t help feeling dejected, wondering if one of them had some kind of health problem.
Fortunately, they seemed to have the blessing of the Fang Family’s ancestors and six months ago, his Wife was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of discomfort. She felt dizzy in the morning and would frequently retch after eating anything. Upon closer inspection, the couple was surprised to learn that she was pregnant.
Fang Yu Bai then reported to his ancestors about this piece of wonderful news.
Since then, he had been taking extra care of his Wife as he was worried that she would become ill or injured. He had also stopped her from practising her sword, which was a long-time habit of hers. He wanted her to get more rest so that the child wouldn’t be affected.
Zhong Yu Xiu certainly wouldn’t object to this. In fact, now that she was finally pregnant, she felt quite relieved.
Unfortunately, life wasn’t always so kind.
Half a month ago, Zhong Yu Xiu suddenly realised that there were no longer any movements from her child. She was in the Separation and Reunion Boundary, after all. As such, she was aware of what was going on inside her body.
The realisation horrified the couple and they quickly hired a senior expert to examine her.
The result turned out to be terrible for them. The child in Zhong Yu Xiu’s belly didn’t seem to have enough vitality. As such, it was uncertain if she could even give birth to her child. Now, she could only get enough rest, and leave the rest up to the Heavens.
After seeing the senior expert off, a dejected Fang Yu Bai became even more attentive to his Wife; however, both of them could clearly feel that the vitality of their child was weakening by the day.
Fang Yu Bai was downcast as he wondered why their family was so unlucky. It was extremely difficult for his Wife to get pregnant, and now they were at risk of losing their child.
If the child was gone, there would no longer be any offspring in the Fang Family’s main line. At the thought of this, Fang Yu Bai felt too ashamed to face his ancestors.
On the other hand, Zhong Yu Xiu wept every day. Despite knowing that her emotions would affect her child, she still couldn’t help feeling sorrowful.
It was the sorrow of a Mother who knew she might not be able to keep her child.
One day, Fang Yu Bai was leading his subordinates to inspect the Spirit Farm in the village. Seven Stars Sect had many disciples, and as such, they needed a lot of Spirit Pills to cultivate. Outside Seven Stars Sect, those in the villages like the Fang Family Village would nurture some Spirit Farms where they planted a lot of simple Spirit Herbs to make a living.
In fact, there were many similar villages around Seven Stars Sect. It was thanks to the Spirit Herbs grown in these villages that the cultivation needs of those grassroots disciples were met.
In the Spirit Farm, the Spirit Herbs were growing well. Despite that, Fang Yu Bai was disconsolate as he was worried about his Wife and their child.
Just then, a maidservant rushed over and exclaimed, “Patriarch! Madam said that her belly is in pain, so she wants you to return at once!”
Hearing that, Fang Yu Bai was no longer in the mood to inspect the Spirit Farm and used all his strength to run back to his home.
Upon his arrival, he heard his Wife’s muffled moaning. He dashed into the room and shoved the maidservants and midwives away, only to see Zhong Yu Xiu lying on the bed, her face as pale as a white sheet.
He sat down beside the bed and asked anxiously, “How are you feeling, my Wife?”
Zhong Yu Xiu’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and her clothes were all soaked. It was apparent that she was going through some unbearable pain. When she saw her husband, she was deluged with grievances and pain as she cried, “My belly hurts, my Husband. The child…”
“What happened to the child?” Fang Yu Bai’s face turned ashen.
“There hasn’t been any movement from the child for half a day…” Zhong Yu Xiu wailed.
A six-month-old fetus should have been very active in Mother’s belly, and although the child didn’t have enough vitality, it would still occasionally make some movements and kick his Mother. Now that there hadn’t been any movement for half a day though, it was apparent that things had taken a turn for the worse.
As if struck by lightning, Fang Yu Bai was rooted to the spot. He couldn’t help but lament that their family didn’t have the Heavens’ blessings. His wife was finally pregnant with a child, but she didn’t have a chance to give birth to it. Fang Yu Bai had been working hard all his life, and although he couldn’t be considered a philanthropist, he had never done anything wicked. He wondered why he was so unlucky.
All of a sudden, a maidservant yelped, “Ah! Blood!”
Fang Yu Bai looked down and saw that blood was indeed streaming out of his wife’s lower body. The bed had been dyed red.
“Madam has passed out!” The maidservant exclaimed again.
A terrified Fang Yu Bai called out, “My wife!”
The room descended into a mess. The turn of events caught Fang Yu Bai off guard as he had no idea what to do.
*Kacha…*
A sudden loud clap of thunder shocked everyone in the room. The thunder was different from the ones they had heard in the past as it continued for a long time. The instant the thunder was heard, the entire sky lit up. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky as though trying to tear it apart.
“Thunder on a clear day!” One of the midwives muttered under her breath. One had to know that the weather was lovely today with not a cloud in sight. It was obviously not normal for a clap of thunder to sound all of a sudden.
Fang Yu Bai almost went mad. The Fang Family members had been good people for generations; however, he couldn’t even produce a single heir, which was downright miserable. He wondered if the Heavens were also mourning for him.
Presently, he was at a loss as he had no idea what he should do if the child was indeed dead; after all, he had never experienced such an incident before, so it was only natural that he didn’t know how to deal with it.
The maidservants and the midwives were also flustered and uncertain about what they should do.
While they were despondent, a thud was heard all of a sudden. Initially, Fang Yu Bai didn’t pay attention to it as he only wailed in sorrow.
However, when he heard the same kind of thud for the second time, he realised something was off. He quickly kept quiet and glanced at his Wife’s belly in shock.
If Fang Yu Bai wasn’t mistaken, the sound was coming from his Wife’s belly.
Although he wasn’t powerful, he was in the True Element Boundary at the very least. He could hear sounds that the mortals were unable to hear.
Furthermore, he was very familiar with this kind of sound.
When the child was still fine back then, he would always lean his head against his Wife’s belly to listen to the child’s movements. The thudding sounds were the child’s heartbeat.
“Shush!” He suddenly ordered.
Instantly, the maidservants and midwives stopped weeping and kept their mouths shut.
Seated beside the bed, Fang Yu Bai observed his Wife. He wasn’t sure if it was just an illusion, but he believed that some of the colour had been restored to his Wife’s originally pale face.
*Dong…*
Another gentle thud was heard from his Wife’s belly.
Fang Yu Bai trembled and leaned in close to his Wife before pressing his ear against her belly, waiting anxiously.
*Dong, Dong, Dong, Dong…*
The weak heartbeat was a sign that the child in the belly had been brought back to life. Although the heartbeat was initially in a mess, it gradually began pounding normally. Fang Yu Bai even had a feeling that the heartbeat was stronger than what he had heard in the past.
All of a sudden, his Wife’s belly swelled a little. Fang Yu Bai instantly felt that someone kicked him through the flesh. Even though the kick was gentle, he almost jumped in shock.
“Ah!” He widened his eyes in disbelief as he quickly took his Wife’s wrist and examined her pulse.
A moment later, tears started streaming down his face, “Thank the Heavens!”
The maidservants and midwives looked at each other as they had no idea what was going on.
One hour later, Zhong Yu Xiu slowly regained her senses, and the moment she opened her eyes, she saw Fang Yu Bai beside the bed.
“You’re finally awake, my wife,” Fang Yu Bai was pleasantly surprised. Although he had examined his wife and confirmed that she was fine, it wasn’t until she awakened that he breathed a sigh of relief.
A dazed Zhong Yu Xiu stared at her Husband as her mind gradually became clear. Tears slid down from her reddened eyes as she asked, “What happened to the child, my husband?”
Despite knowing that her child was probably gone for good, she still couldn’t help asking her Husband about it to get a definitive answer.
Fang Yu Bai patted the back of her hand and replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, my wife. The child is fine.”
Zhong Yu Xiu didn’t believe him as she cried, “There’s no need to console me, my husband. I’m able to… accept the truth.”
Hearing that, Fang Yu Bai couldn’t help smiling, “I’m not trying to console you. The child is really fine. You’re a cultivator too; if you don’t believe me, you can examine yourself.”
Realising that her husband wasn’t pulling her leg, Zhong Yu Xiu doubtfully activated her power and carefully examined her body. What she discovered astounded her.
Not only was the child in her belly indeed fine, but she could also feel that the child’s vitality was far stronger than before.
[What’s going on?]
She remembered that her belly was in sharp pain on this day, and there hadn’t been any movement from her child for half a day. Before she passed out, her lower body had even started bleeding.
She was ready to accept the fact that her child was gone for good, but the truth turned out to be such a pleasant surprise.
“Am I dreaming, my husband?” She still couldn’t believe that her child was alive.
Fang Yu Bai placated her, saying, “You’re not dreaming. Everything is going well.”
Unable to hold back her tears any longer, Zhong Yu Xiu started bawling her eyes out. All her worries over the past few days were gone as she could finally vent out her sorrow. Although she was crying, she felt relieved.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, it might affect the child,” not knowing what to do, Fang Yu Bai could only help wipe the tears off the corners of her eyes.
Zhong Yu Xiu nodded repeatedly, but she couldn’t stop her tears from sliding down her cheeks. It wasn’t until a long time later that she gradually calmed down. While stroking her belly, she bit her lip and said, “The child is hungry, my husband.”
Fang Yu Bai was startled for a moment before guffawing, “Give me a moment, my wife. I’ll tell the cooks to prepare something for you.”
With that, he turned around and left.
The news of his dead child being brought back to life soon spread around. It was also said that lightning struck on a clear day when it happened, which was an unusual phenomenon.
Soon, everyone heard about this incident. All the villagers thought that the Fang Family’s ancestors had done enough good deeds to make the Heavens bring the child back from death’s door.
Those who believed the story became even more respectful of the Heavens, while the non-believers dismissed it as superstition.
After all, the child was still in her belly. Other than the Fang Family members, no one knew if the child had really been resurrected. With that said, lightning had indeed struck from the clear sky on that day, and the news had sent a shockwave across the entire Void World.
Void Dao Temple and the major Sects had sent some people to look into the matter, but they discovered nothing in the end.
Zhong Yu Xiu’s belly became larger by the day, but what was strange was that since the incident that day, her child’s vitality had never become weaker. On the other hand, Zhong Yu Xiu was originally somewhat thin, but she too had gradually become chubby.
10 months into the pregnancy, she was finally ready to give birth. While Fang Yu Bai was waiting anxiously outside the room, the maidservants and midwives kept streaming in and out of the place.
One hour later, a loud cry was heard coming from the room. The next moment, a maidservant rushed over and reported, “Congratulations, Patriarch! It’s a boy!”
At this point, Fang Yu Bai’s face was covered in tears, for he finally had an heir.
There was a new Young Master in the Fang Family, and his name was Fang Tian Ci. Fang Yu Bai felt that the child was given to them by the Heavens. If not for the Heavens having mercy on them that day, the child would’ve passed away.
Since he only had a single child in his old age, Fang Yu Bai doted on him. Although the Fang Family couldn’t be considered wealthy, the Patriarch was still quite generous to his child.
If the average child had been doted on like this since a young age, he would probably grow up to be a willful person; however, Fang Tian Ci turned out to be well-mannered. Despite growing up in a rich family, he had never done anything that harmed others’ interests. Moreover, he was an intelligent and genial person; as such, the villagers in the Fang Family Village were quite fond of him.
As time passed, the child grew up to be a young man.
Fang Yu Bai wanted him to join the Seven Stars Sect, so he had been trying to build a foundation for him by teaching him some simple cultivation methods since the latter was a young boy.
However, much to his chagrin, even though his child was intelligent, he didn’t seem to be a talented cultivator.
It wasn’t until Fang Tian Ci was 13 that he reached the Initial Element Boundary. Another five years later, he finally ascended to the Qi Transformation Boundary.
There was no doubt his aptitude was slightly better than that of Fang Yu Bai, but it was still quite limited. One had to know that World Energy was abundant in the Void World. If one was a prodigy, they would reach the True Element Boundary by the age of 18.
However, Fang Tian Ci was only in the Qi Transformation Boundary, which was two Great Realms below the True Element Boundary.
Certainly, those from the Seven Stars Sect wouldn’t be interested in someone with such weak aptitude. Even the smaller Sects wouldn’t accept him.
As such, Fang Yu Bai decided to give up on this small dream. He was lucky enough to have a child, so demanding him to have a good aptitude for cultivation was downright greedy.
Fortunately, Fang Tian Ci possessed an unwavering spirit and was quite hard-working, so despite his lack of talent, he still built a very solid foundation.
Since he was an only child, his parents weren’t willing to let him leave the village and become anyone’s Disciple in a faraway place; as such, they decided to just teach him at home.
Time went by slowly.
Fang Yu Bai and his Wife were now old and frail. Their cultivation was weak, so they couldn’t enjoy a long life. With the abundance of World Energy in the Void World, even mortals who had never cultivated before could live past 100 years, but there would still come a day when they passed away. Despite being cultivators, the married couple could only live for slightly longer than that.
They increasingly felt that they didn’t have much energy left, and their days were surely numbered.
Fortunately, Fang Tian Ci was married. Although his Wife wasn’t a Young Lady from a wealthy family, their families were equally matched. She had also given birth to Fang Tian Ci’s children.
Several years later, Fang Yu Bai and Zhong Yu Xiu passed away in close succession.
As time passed, wrinkles started appearing on Fang Tian Ci’s face. When he was 150 years old, his Wife also left him for the next world.
He only had one Wife for all his life, just like his parents. His love for his Wife was steadfast and unshakable. Unfortunately, his Wife was just a commoner who had never cultivated before, so she didn’t live for long.
Although he now had some children and even grandchildren, the death of his Wife was still devastating to Fang Tian Ci. He seemed to have aged significantly overnight as his hair turned grey.
His parents were long gone, and even his only Wife was no longer with him. Since there were quite a few Fang Family members now, Fang Tian Ci felt he no longer had any worries.
He summoned his children to the Fang Family’s Grand Hall and informed them about his intention to leave home.
Certainly, his children were not willing to see him depart. Although Fang Tian Ci had been cultivating since he was a young child, he was only in the Immortal Ascension Boundary now. Given his advanced age and frailty, how was he supposed to take care of himself if he went out to explore the world now?
Although it was generally safe in the Void World, the current Fang Tian Ci couldn’t possibly fend off ill-intentioned people on his own should he come across any danger.
All the same, Fang Tian Ci had made up his mind. He only summoned his children to inform them about his decision, not discuss it with them.
Several days later, Fang Tian Ci left the Fang Family Village on his own. Behind him, his children and grandchildren fell on their knees as they watched him leave.
In fact, Fang Tian Ci had no idea why he had decided to go out on an excursion. Supposedly, he was no longer a high-spirited and ambitious youth. At his age, he was supposed to spend his retirement years having fun with his grandchildren; however, there was a voice in his heart that kept telling him that he should go out and see this wonderful world at least once.
This kind of urge had been with him since he was very young.
Unfortunately, his aptitude was unremarkable, and he was weak. When he was young, he couldn’t possibly leave his parents, and when his parents passed away, he was already married with children. His weakness couldn’t help him realise his dream.
Now that his wife was gone, he reckoned that his children and grandchildren no longer needed him. Since he had no more worries, he decided to make his dream come true despite knowing that he might be killed somewhere along the way.
One night, he arrived at a certain mountain and sat down to cultivate.
Since he started cultivating, he had never slacked off over the years. Although his cultivation was weak, he knew that little drops of water made a mighty ocean over time; therefore, he would never miss cultivating every day.
This helped build a solid foundation for him. Although he was no match for some of the talented young people, his True Qi was quite robust for one in the Immortal Ascension Boundary. Rarely would anyone in the same Boundary be a match for him.
However, the moment he started cultivating on this day, he realised that something was off.
He had reached the Immortal Ascension Boundary Ninth Stage 30 years ago, which he felt was his limit. Over the years, he had never been able to break through this bottleneck.
His aptitude and body simply didn’t allow him to walk any further on the Martial Dao.
Nevertheless, on this day, the bottleneck that had blocked him for 30 years showed signs of cracking.
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t help falling into a dazed state. When he examined himself again, he realised it wasn’t an illusion. The bottleneck that had restricted him for such a long time was finally breaking apart.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t ecstatic. After years of cultivation, his personality had become the epitome of calm and collected. He only thought that he was finally able to achieve a breakthrough in his old age, which was unheard of as far as he knew.
Perhaps it had something to do with his decision to go out and explore the world. Now that he had no more worries, nothing could restrict him again. Since his birth, he had never felt more carefree and unrestrained.
He then circulated his True Qi in an attempt to achieve a breakthrough.
Everything went so smoothly to the point where it was hard for him to believe it. Soon, dark clouds gathered in the sky as lightning crackled and thunder rolled.
He knew that the trial of the World’s Grand Dao had come.
His expression remained as tranquil as an ancient well. Following a bolt of lightning, powerful World Energy penetrated his body and cleansed his aged mind.
He gritted his teeth and persevered, enduring the unbearable pain in silence as he realised that he was gradually growing stronger.
It wasn’t until the next morning that the Heavenly Manifestation dissipated. A long and satisfied roar reverberated across the mountains. Fang Tian Ci, who was originally in the Immortal Ascension Boundary, felt his aura surging as he broke through his shackles and ascended to the Transcendent Realm.
The ascension didn’t only bring about an increase in strength, but some of the wrinkles on his face also disappeared. There was a bit of glow on his originally withered skin now.
He seemed to have become much younger overnight as some of his hair had turned from grey to black.
As he washed his face beside a creek and looked at his reflection, he chuckled lightly.
After consolidating his cultivation for a bit, he built a hut on the mountain and started living there.
He was suddenly able to achieve a breakthrough, but the trial of the World’s Grand Dao didn’t only help increase his power, it also allowed him to comprehend something else.
As such, he needed time to go through this new enlightenment.
Years passed as flowers withered and bloomed in a cycle. When Fang Tian Ci left his seclusion 10 years later, his aura had become much more robust. It was apparent that he had moved further into the Transcendent Realm. Besides that, 10 years of cultivation had allowed him to grasp a different kind of power. It was an abstruse power that was unfamiliar to him.
It was none other than the Dao of Space!
There were some cultivators in the Void World who had cultivated the Dao of Space thanks to the Dao Lord’s blessing.
It was rumoured that the inscrutable Dao Lord had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos and the entire Void World was filled with the Dao Essences of these Grand Daos. These Dao Essences were intangible, but omnipresent. Only the most talented cultivators had a chance to comprehend them and obtain some of the Dao Lord’s inheritance.
The extraordinary people were already able to connect to the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos before they were even born. After they were born, once they cultivated the Grand Daos that matched their talents, their cultivation would rapidly increase. They would easily be led to enter the Void Dao Temple and become Dao Temple disciples.
It was extremely rare to find people who were born compatible with the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos. Perhaps only one such person would be born in many years. It was said that the first disciple that the Dao Lord had taken on in Seven Stars Sect had caught the Dao Lord’s attention before he was even born.
Everyone was envious of such luck.
It was something that could not be forced; nevertheless, the World’s Grand Dao never stopped anyone from obtaining the Dao Lord’s inheritance.
When Fang Tian Ci went through the trial of the World’s Grand Dao and achieved a breakthrough 10 years ago, he sensed a bit of the Grand Dao’s Dao Essence in the Void World. If anyone came across such an opportunity, they might be able to comprehend something.
Many such people benefited from this experience. Whenever they achieved a breakthrough, they could faintly detect a particular kind of Grand Dao.
This was the Dao Lord’s gift to the Void World.
Although he had cultivated over 10,000 Grand Daos, the Dao Lord was said to be particularly skilful in three of them.
They were the Dao of Space, the Dao of Time, and the Spear Dao.
It was rumoured that the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated these three Grand Daos. Many millennia ago, these three Grand Daos were by far the most conspicuous in the Void World. It wasn’t until a long time later that many other Grand Daos rose to prominence.
Since these three Grand Daos were what the Dao Lord had primarily cultivated, anyone who managed to inherit one of these Grand Daos would be treasured.
When Fang Tian Ci was young, he was unable to achieve any such success, and it never crossed his mind that he would make it to the Transcendent Realm in the twilight of his life. Besides that, he had also comprehended the Dao of Space during the trial of the World’s Grand Dao.
His experience left him torn between tears and laughter.
If he had such an opportunity when he was young, he would’ve tried to make a name for himself and gain a footing in this World; however, after experiencing the vicissitudes of life, he was no longer as ambitious as when he was young. Now, he just wanted to travel around the Void World and take in the wonderful sights he didn’t have a chance to see in the past.
He then left the place where he had stayed for 10 years. As he roamed around the world, he simply followed his whims without having any kind of plan in mind.
Perhaps it was because he had severed ties with his past, he felt different now. After leaving the Fang Family Village, Fang Tian Ci could finally chase his dreams and live the kind of life he had always wanted.
Wherever he went, he stood up for the weak and vanquished evil. When he arrived at any Sect, he would spend some time discussing the Martial Dao with their cultivators.
There were some occasions where he fell into danger. He was once hunted down by powerful Monster Beasts through the mountains. Other times, he had been dragged into plots and besieged by disciples of Sects. Fortunately, as his mastery of the Dao of Space improved, he could always find a way to preserve his life.
These dangerous encounters didn’t hold him back or dampen his spirits; instead, they only made him stronger.
He soon became a famous figure. Despite having cultivated for 150 years, he was still only in the Immortal Ascension Boundary back then. The story of such an ordinary cultivator achieving a breakthrough and becoming powerful sent a shockwave across the world.
There had never been a lack of ambitious but ordinary people in the Void Continent, so when they heard about Fang Tian Ci’s story, many had the misconception that they too could pull off a similar feat.
To some extent, Fang Tian Ci’s story had propelled many ordinary cultivators to work harder; nevertheless, only a small number of them could really break through their shackles like he had.
30 years later, Fang Tian Ci ascended to the Saint Realm from the Transcendent Realm.
He went through a World Trial again, but this time, he gained enlightenment into the Dao of Time.
50 years later, he made it to the Saint King Realm and comprehended the Spear Dao.
Every time he broke through to the next Great Realm, Fang Tian Ci would gain massive benefits. Even his appearance had become increasingly younger.
When he left the Fang Family Village, he was old and frail, but after travelling around the world for a hundred years, he now looked like a middle-aged man. While others grew older with time, he seemed to become younger.
His experiences gave him a unique type of charm, and by now his story had become quite famous. Although he still wasn’t a truly powerful Master, his inspirational journey had become a legend in the Void World. Many families wanted him to join them and offers of marriage were never lacking.
Nonetheless, Fang Tian Ci wasn’t interested in such matters and turned them all down as he continued his journey.
Over the years, he made many good friends, but none of them could keep him company for long. Sometimes, he would feel lonely, but he reasoned that this was the price he had to pay for chasing the Martial Dao.
He never intended to return to the Fang Family Village. After his departure, he decided that he would never go back to his hometown. Since he had left behind some offspring, he had no more worries. As such, he could bid farewell to his past without regrets.
Compared to the talented geniuses, his cultivation speed couldn’t be considered rapid; however, his progress was stable, and he was able to build a solid foundation in every Realm.
As he travelled around the world, he had some friendly matches against cultivators in the same Realm, but was never once defeated. It could be said that he was unrivalled in the same Realm.
Moreover, he had inherited the Dao Lord’s three primary Grand Daos, which made him even more popular.
One had to know that even though some cultivators had the chance to inherit the Dao Lord’s Grand Daos, none of them was like Fang Tian Ci who managed to inherit the Dao of Space, Dao of Time, and Spear Dao altogether.
Everyone was curious about why he had such an opportunity.
Supposedly, a prodigy would show signs of having extraordinary aptitude when they were young, however, Fang Tian Ci was different. He only became powerful when he was well over 100 years old. Although the increase in his strength wasn’t rapid, he managed to achieve something that no cultivators in the Void World had ever pulled off before.
He went from the Origin Returning Realm to the Origin King Realm, to the Dao Source Realm, to the Emperor Realm eventually.
Slowly but steadily, he grew from an insignificant cultivator to an important Master. Now, it had been 1,000 years since he left the Fang Family Village.
Many things had changed during this period. It took him over 1,000 years to go from the Immortal Ascension Boundary to the Emperor Realm. There was no doubt his cultivation speed was slow and his aptitude was terrible.
Supposedly, this shouldn’t have happened. If a cultivator was unable to make it to the Emperor Realm within 1,000 years in a wonderful environment such as the Void World, he wouldn’t be able to achieve it in his lifetime.
However, Fang Tian Ci had pulled it off.
Some people had asked him what his secrets were.
All he could tell them though was that he had no idea. After he left the Fang Family Village, even though his cultivation speed was slow, he never faced any bottlenecks again. In other words, although the increase in his power was snail-paced, he would always make it to the next Realm given enough time. It was unlike any other cultivators who might get stuck in the same Realm forever despite rapidly being able to accumulate enough heritage to break through.
This made the Masters in the Void World have some wild thoughts. Perhaps rapidly increasing one’s strength wasn’t the best way to pursue the Martial Dao, perhaps it was better to build a solid foundation in every Realm before trying to advance further.
With such a speculation in mind, many Sects started suppressing the cultivation speed of their prodigies, but regardless of who attempted this, no one could tell if the results were good or bad.
At this point, Fang Tian Ci, who was an Emperor Realm Master, was invited to the Void Dao Temple.
The Dao Temple was a splendid palace hovering in the sky of the Void World. It was every cultivator’s dream to one day join the Dao Temple.
The existence of the Dao Temple was a wonder in itself. Although it was a palace, there seemed to be an entirely different world inside, one that was both vast and expansive. The first time Fang Tian Ci arrived at this place, he sensed the abstrusity of the Dao Temple. This place also seemed to be filled with the secrets of the Grand Dao of Space.
Moreover, regardless of where a person was in the Void World, they could see the Dao Temple clearly as long as they looked up. It was indeed abstruse.
It was rumoured that the Dao Temple was personally built by the Dao Lord. When the Dao Temple appeared back then, everyone was shocked. Furthermore, the Dao Temple was responsible for selecting the most talented people in the Void World all on its own.
The commoners had no idea why the Void Dao Temple had to select talented people. Over the past several tens of thousands of years, countless brilliant cultivators had been invited to the Dao Temple, and there had never been any news about them since then. No one knew where they were, but it was rumoured that those Masters had shattered the Void and left the Void World to pursue a higher Martial Dao.
Certainly, Fang Tian Ci had heard about these rumours before, but he simply dismissed them; after all, rumours were usually unfounded and inaccurate.
However, it wasn’t until he was invited to the Void Dao Temple that he realised those rumours were indeed true.
Things that were secrets to the general cultivators of the Void World were common knowledge to those in the Dao Temple.
It wasn’t until this moment that he realised the Emperor Realm wasn’t the peak of the Martial Dao. Beyond the Emperor Realm was the Open Heaven Realm, which was divided into nine Orders, with each one vastly different from the previous.
One had to condense their Dao Seal, split Heaven and Earth apart in their body, and form a Small Universe. Only then would they ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
What’s more, the entire Void World was just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe.
In other words, all beings in the Void World were living inside the Dao Lord’s body.
When Fang Tian Ci learned this truth, he was utterly dumbfounded. He couldn’t be considered an inexperienced man; after all, he had travelled the entire Void Continent for over 1,000 years.
Nevertheless, when he was told the truth about the Void World, he was astonished.
It was at that moment he realised just how immense the Dao Lord’s power was.
Such an expansive world was just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, making Fang Tian Ci wonder what the extent of the Dao Lord’s strength in the Open Heaven Realm was.
The person responsible for showing him around was a Senior Brother surnamed Liu. He introduced himself to Fang Tian Ci as Liu Jing Shan, and although Fang Tian Ci was actually older than the latter, Liu Jing Shan was stronger as he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master.
Every newcomer to the Void Dao Temple would be greeted by someone, who was responsible for explaining the reasons the Void Dao Temple was built and answering any questions that the newcomer might have.
As such, Fang Tian Ci asked what was on his mind freely.
Liu Jing Shan replied with a smile, “We have no idea how powerful the Dao Lord is in the Open Heaven Realm, but there’s no way he’s weak. We suppose he’s either in the Eighth Order or the Ninth Order.”
Every cultivator in the Void World regarded the Dao Lord as a deity, so it was no surprise they would think highly of him when it came to his cultivation.
After a nod, Fang Tian Ci went on to ask, “Senior Brother Liu, since the Void World is just the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, how were those Seniors supposed to shatter the Void and leave this place back then?”
If they were capable of doing that, it would be no different from forming a hole in the Dao Lord’s belly. Fang Tian Ci shuddered at the thought of this.
Liu Jing Shan chuckled and explained, “Well, they didn’t really shatter the Void. They were only led out of the Void World by the Dao Lord. It has something to do with the reason why the Dao Temple has to select talented people.”
“Please enlighten me, Senior Brother,” Fang Tian Ci said solemnly. Having travelled around the world for over 1,000 years, he had learned to be tactful. As such, even though he was famous, he still acted humbly in front of Liu Jing Shan.
“Well, let’s put it this way. The Humans in the outside world are fighting an extremely evil Race. That Race is so powerful that even the Dao Lord isn’t a match for them. If the Humans are defeated, the outside world will be destroyed; therefore, the Dao Lord needs help in the war. The disciples who have been invited to the Dao Temple will be his helpers in the future.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci was shocked, “What kind of Race is it that even the Dao Lord finds it hard to deal with?”
After giving it some thought, Liu Jing Shan replied, “I remember that they’re called the Black Ink Clan. Supposedly, they possess a highly corruptive power. Once a person is infected, they won’t be able to get rid of it. Moreover, the ‘Black Ink Strength’ as it’s called can twist a Human’s mind and nature, turning them into a slave of the Black Ink Clan.”
Fang Tian Ci gasped, “I can’t believe such an evil force exists in this world.”
Liu Jing Shan sighed, “Indeed. It’s said that many aeons ago, some Black Ink Clansmen were brought into the Void World. The Dao Lord brought them in to train the disciples of the Dao Temple, but for some reason, they vanished at a later time. Now, no one knows what the Black Ink Clan looks like or what will happen when a person is corrupted by Black Ink Strength.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded, “In that case, the Humans in the outside world are most likely in a perilous situation.”
Liu Jing Shan replied, “We have no idea. In fact, it has been a long time since the Dao Lord brought anyone out of the Dao Temple. The last time he did so was about 2,000 years ago. He took several thousand people away at once that time, which is why there are only a small number of people in the Dao Temple now.”
After a pause, he continued, “Since the Void World is only the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, the best that the cultivators living here can achieve is the Emperor Realm. If a person wants to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, they must first leave this place. However, if one chooses to leave, they will have to join the battle against the Black Ink Clan and will be at risk of losing their life. Therefore, the Dao Lord fully respects our decision when selecting talented people. If a person wants to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, they can leave the Void World. If one isn’t willing to bear the risk, they can stay in this place. We have full control over this matter, and the Dao Lord never forces us.”
“The Dao Lord is indeed magnanimous!” Fang Tian Ci remarked. There was no doubt they could all potentially aid the Dao Lord if they were brought out of his Small Universe. All the cultivators in the Void World were only able to cultivate thanks to the Dao Lord; therefore, the Dao Lord had the right to take the suitable ones away from this place at will. Nevertheless, he still let the disciples in the Dao Temple make their own choices.
For that reason, Fang Tian Ci greatly respected the Dao Lord.
As they spoke, they arrived at a Grand Hall that was both magnificent and vast. In the middle of it was a gigantic statue, followed by many smaller ones.
“This is the place where our great predecessor’s names are recorded.” As Liu Jing Shan spoke, he then pointed at the statue in the middle, “And that is the Dao Lord’s likeness.”
Then, he saluted the statue with a solemn expression.
Fang Tian Ci looked in the same direction and realised that the statue appeared to be a handsome young man. With his hands behind his back, he looked truly majestic.
This statue was apparently carved by a senior expert as every bit of it seemed to be extremely life-like. Just by standing there, Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that the statue would come to life at any moment.
For some reason though, he found the statue familiar. It was as though he had seen this person somewhere before.
However, as he went through his experiences over the past 1,000 years, he was certain that he had never come across anyone who looked like the Dao Lord.
[How strange…]
While he was doubtful, he still saluted the statue and asked hesitantly, “Since there’s a statue here, does that mean someone has seen the Dao Lord’s true appearance before?”
Liu Jing Shan laughed, “Certainly, no one here has seen his true body before. However, it’s said that the Dao Lord used his Soul Avatar to travel his Small Universe in the past. I suppose you’re aware of the Seven Stars Sect. Back then, the Dao Lord’s Soul Avatar stayed in the Seven Stars Sect for some time.”
There was no doubt Fang Tian Ci was aware of the Seven Stars Sect. In fact, when he was young, his biggest dream was to join the Seven Stars Sect; however, due to his terrible aptitude, he didn’t have the right to be their disciple.
The Fang Family Village was located in the Seven Stars Sect’s territory; as such, he had heard a lot about the Sect.
“It’s rumoured that the Dao Lord is the Supreme Elder of the Seven Stars Sect. Could this be true?” Fang Tian Ci asked in shock.
“It is true. That is the reason Seven Stars Sect has endured all this time. As ages pass, it’s only natural that different Sects rise and fall. The major Sects that were on equal footing with Seven Stars Sect back then are all long gone, but Seven Stars Sect is still as powerful as ever. This is all thanks to the Dao Lord’s legacy.”
Fang Tian Ci was astonished. At the same time, he was curious about why the Dao Lord had used a Soul Avatar to travel around his own Small Universe. [How bored must he be to do such a thing?]
He shook his head to cast such thoughts away, for he wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful to the Dao Lord.
Then, he looked past the Dao Lord’s statue and saw many smaller ones behind it, “Those are…”
Liu Jing Shan explained, “Those are the statues of the Seniors who have been led out of the Void World by the Dao Lord. Do you see that one over there? He’s the Eldest Senior Brother of the Void Dao Temple, Miao Fei Ping. If you have a chance to leave the Void World, you might see him.”
With a solemn expression, Fang Tian Ci sized up Miao Fei Ping’s statue and memorised his appearance. Then, he said, “Could Eldest Senior Brother Miao be the Dao Lord’s first Disciple? I heard that when the Dao Lord stayed in Seven Stars Sect back then, he took on several direct Disciples.”
Liu Jing Shan shook his head, “Senior Brother Miao is the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother, but he’s not one of the Dao Lord’s Disciples. His Disciples are some other people, but no one knows who they are.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci was puzzled.
Following a sigh, Liu Jing Shan said, “In the past, only a small number of disciples managed to leave the Dao Temple. As such, the Juniors who stayed back made some statues for them. However, as more and more Seniors left, there was not enough space in this Grand Hall for so many statues. Therefore, we no longer make any statues for those who leave. Only their Identity Tokens are enshrined here now.”
Fang Tian Ci looked around and realised there were indeed many tiles adorning the walls. Most places were blank, but some of them had Identity Tokens which contained the names and information of those Seniors.
There was no doubt these Identity Tokens were not as impressive as the statues, but they were still the traces of those Seniors who had stayed here before.
Liu Jing Shan patted the other man’s shoulder and said with a smile, “When we have a chance to leave this place in the future, we’ll leave our own Identity Tokens here as well.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded as he already looked forward to it.
The reason he decided to leave the Fang Family Village and sever ties with the Fang Family was to experience the wonders of the world he had never seen before. After repeatedly achieving breakthroughs and eventually arriving at this place though, Fang Tian Ci realised that there was still so much more he had yet to see and experience.
He had no idea what the other Seniors in the Dao Temple thought, but he was certain he would leave the Void World as long as he had the chance.
He had travelled around this world and seen everything there was to see here; therefore, he was excited to learn that there was a bigger World just waiting outside.
After they left the Grand Hall, Fang Tian Ci asked, “Senior Brother Liu, since the Open Heaven Realm is above the Emperor Realm, what are we supposed to do to split Heaven and Earth apart in our bodies and create our own Small Universes?”
Liu Jing Shan explained, “First of all, you have to condense your own Dao Seal, which is the essence of your cultivation as well as the manifestation of your Grand Dao. If there’s a Grand Dao you primarily cultivate, you have to condense your Dao Seal based on that Grand Dao. After that, you’ll need to refine some precious resources to further your Martial Dao. In any case, since you’re a newly promoted Emperor Realm Master, you’re still some distance away from condensing your Dao Seal. For now, you just have to increase your strength as quickly as possible and reach the peak of the Emperor Realm. Let’s go, I’ll take you to the library, it’s a good place where I’m sure you’ll find something useful, Junior Brother.”
When they arrived at the library, Fang Tian Ci immediately understood why Liu Jing Shan said it was a good place.
There were a massive amount of books containing Secret Arts and Secret Techniques in this library. The best things of all the Sects in the Void World were stored here. There were also things that didn’t seem to belong in this World.
Certainly, these things were no longer useful to Fang Tian Ci; after all, he was an Emperor Realm Master already. As such, there wasn’t a need for him to study any Secret Arts or Secret Techniques. The most pressing issue for him was to quickly increase his strength so that he could ascend to the Third-Order Emperor Realm and condense his Dao Seal sooner.
Fortunately, there was also a massive section of jade slips, scrolls, and books containing precious insights on cultivation in the Emperor Realm in the library. These insights had been written by the disciples of the Dao Temple over the past several tens of thousands of years.
Throughout Fang Tian Ci’s cultivation journey, he had basically explored everything on his own; after all, he didn’t have any Elders to rely on, nor was there a teacher who could give him guidance.
While travelling around the world, he discussed the Martial Dao with the disciples of various Sects and reflected on what he had learned, but that was the only sort of external help he had.
It was fine when he was still a weak cultivator, but now that he was an Emperor Realm Master, Fang Tian Ci was at a loss as to how he should move forward in his Martial Dao.
These insights in the library were what he needed most at this moment.
Fang Tian Ci went on to spend 30 years in the library reading all the insights left behind by the various Seniors. His determination and ability to endure loneliness quickly earned the respect of the other disciples in the Dao Temple.
Everyone knew there were many good things in the library, but few had the level of patience necessary to go through and absorb them despite being in the Emperor Realm as well.
After spending 30 years in the library, Fang Tian Ci finally left. At this point, he had a plan in mind when it came to how to advance his cultivation.
He found an empty courtyard and started cultivating.
As usual, his cultivation speed was quite slow, but he wasn’t in a hurry. He had spent the past 1,000-plus years cultivating slowly to reach his current height, so he was already used to it.
Nevertheless, he didn’t just cultivate in seclusion all the time. When he was free, he would go out and talk to the Seniors of the Dao Temple.
This was his way of doing things and had been throughout his entire cultivation journey.
All the disciples in the Dao Temple were the brightest geniuses who became strong early on in life; as such, everyone in the Void Dao Temple was young, good-looking, and energetic.
On the other hand, Fang Tian Ci, the newcomer, appeared more mature. He was already old and frail when he left the Fang Family Village back then, and although years seemed to have lifted off his face as his cultivation improved, his mentality didn’t really become younger, only his looks did.
Now, he had the appearance of a late thirties or early forties mortal. Based on his looks alone, he indeed seemed older than the Seniors in the Dao Temple. As such, many of them called him Old Fang.
As time passed, Fang Tian Ci’s cultivation became increasingly ample. More and more disciples had been invited to the Dao Temple, but there were still not a lot of them. Someone had estimated that only about 10 people would be led to the Dao Temple every 100 years on average.
There were times when only four to five people were inducted over 100 years.
The Void World was expansive, and countless cultivators were living in it. Despite that, only a small number of people had the right to enter the Dao Temple.
It was said that only those who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order would be invited to the Dao Temple. That was because if a cultivator was too weak, they wouldn’t be of any help to the Humans in the outside world after leaving this place.
Before Fang Tian Ci’s arrival, the Dao Temple had never invited any Emperor Realm Master who was as old as he was. Regardless, his mere presence meant that he had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order or above.
Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that he wouldn’t only end up becoming a Fifth-Order Master. Although he hadn’t condensed his Dao Seal yet, he had the confidence to reach higher than that.
500 years passed since Fang Tian Ci arrived at the Dao Temple, and he finally made it to the peak of the Emperor Realm. There was no denying his pace was slow.
One had to know that the cultivation environment in the Void World was wonderful to begin with, and the Void Dao Temple was the centre of the world’s essence. Any newly promoted Emperor Realm Master who arrived at the Dao Temple would only take 100 to 200 years to make it to the peak of the Realm. Even for the slower ones, 300 years was generally the limit.
As such, it was unusually slow that it took Fang Tian Ci 500 years to achieve the same.
Another 100 years later, he finally condensed his Dao Seal and started refining the Yin, Yang, and Five Elements Powers.
Just like the other fellow disciples, Fang Tian Ci decided to start with his Wood Element. There was another common route where the disciples would choose to refine their Water Element first, but it was still less popular.
Among the Five Elements, the Metal Element was sharp, the Earth Element was heavy, and the Fire Element was destructive. Only the Water Element and Wood Element were gentle. As such, they were the safest for the disciples to start with.
The kinds of resources these disciples refined would determine their future success. The Order of the materials they initially chose was directly related to how far they could rise in the Open Heaven Realm; however, those who ignored their own limits and took huge risks wouldn’t be able to make it to the Open Heaven Realm as their Dao Seals would simply shatter under the impact.
Therefore, every disciple in the Dao Temple would tread carefully at this point.
With that said, when they refined materials for the first time, they would always aim as high as possible. Most of them would choose Wood Element or Water Element resources in the Sixth-Order or even Seventh-Order.
It wasn’t that they would certainly make it to the Sixth Order or Seventh Order, it was just that Water Element and Wood Element materials were much gentler. As long as one’s Dao Seal was firm enough, it could usually endure the impact of such resources. It was a chance for them to test the limits of their Dao Seals when refining resources for the first time. When they select their second resource, they will know the right path for their future.
Fang Tian Ci had compared his Dao Seal with those of the other disciples, and he felt that it was quite firm and sturdy. He reckoned that it could endure the impact of Seventh-Order materials. As such, he chose a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource first.
Liu Jing Shan took the initiative to ask him about this matter, and when he learned about his plan, he nodded gently, “Junior Brother Fang, even though your cultivation speed is slow, it is for this reason that your foundation is so solid; hence, I think it will be alright for you to refine a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource. Fire is born of Wood though, so you’ll have to be careful when selecting a Fire Element material next time.”
Fang Tian Ci nodded in agreement.
It wouldn’t take one a long time to refine a single resource; however, every time these future Open Heaven Realm Masters did so, they had to rest for many years in between. First of all, they had to get used to their powers. Secondly, their Dao Seals were unable to bear another impact in such short order. If they were hasty, all their effort would go to waste.
In just half a month, Fang Tian Ci easily refined the Seventh-Order Wood Element material, and he didn’t feel any discomfort at all. He had a feeling that he could refine a Seventh-Order Fire Element resource next, a realisation that made him feel elated.
As he recalled all the experiences in his life, everything felt somewhat strange.
He had a terrible aptitude, and it wasn’t until he was 150 years old that he left the Fang Family Village to wander the world. His plan was only to travel around a bit before his death, so it never crossed his mind that he would achieve great things one day.
Unlike the other disciples in the Dao Temple, Fang Tian Ci didn’t come from a wealthy background, nor did he have a powerful Master who had guided him when he was young. Also, he never had ample resources and his cultivation speed was incredibly slow. Therefore, it surprised him that with such a method and speed that were unbearable for most people, he was now one step ahead of almost all other disciples.
Only a small number of people in the Void Dao Temple could refine Seventh-Order resources, only 1 in 10 at most.
Liu Jing Shan, who was on good terms with Fang Tian Ci, chose a Seventh-Order Wood Element resource for his first refinement; however, he decided to refine a Sixth-Order Fire Element resource after that because he felt that his Dao Seal wasn’t able to bear the impact of the power of a Seventh-Order Fire Element material. As such, he didn’t dare to push his luck.
It was said that the process of ascending to the Open Heaven Realm was like crafting a barrel. How much water a barrel could hold depended on the shortest stave. Similarly, the Order in the Open Heaven Realm one would achieve hinged on the lowest Order resource that one refined.
There were seven Powers in total, which were Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements. Even if one had refined six types of Seventh-Order materials, they would only make it to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm if they decided to refine a single Fifth-Order resource.
The Open Heaven Realm was divided into nine Orders, and every Order was vastly different from the previous one. The difference of one Order might take a lifetime for a person to make up.
Therefore, the disciples in the Dao Temple did their best to refine resources of the highest order possible. At the same time, they would ensure that they wouldn’t exceed their limits.
Fang Tian Ci had a feeling that the ample heritage he possessed now had something to do with his insistence on building a solid foundation. He always stayed in the same Realm for a much longer time than most people did, and as he had sufficient time to consolidate his strength, he ensured that he made everything perfect in every Realm.
Now, he was able to refine Seventh-Order resources because of his perseverance and hard work over the years.
A few dozen or so years after he refined the Wood Element material, he decided to move on to the Fire Element one.
As expected, Fang Tian Ci successfully refined the resource. Then, it was followed by Earth Element, Metal Element, and Water Element materials. After fully refining the Five Elements, he moved on to the Yin and Yang Element resources.
When he was done refining all the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, 500 years had passed since he refined the Wood Element resource for the first time. In other words, it had been 1,000 years since he arrived at the Dao Temple.
Supposedly, when one was done refining the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, they could split Heaven and Earth apart in their body and form their own Small Universe; however, the Void Continent was only the Dao Lord’s Small Universe. Before leaving this place, none could make it to the Open Heaven Realm.
Over the past 1,000 years, about 100 Juniors had arrived at the Dao Temple. Perhaps it was because Fang Tian Ci appeared to be more mature and reliable, these Juniors would often go to him whenever they had any questions regarding cultivation. As such, he had many followers now.
“How many years have you been in the Dao Temple, Senior Brother?”
Under the moonlight at night, Fang Tian Ci and Liu Jing Shan were seated across from each other as they sipped some wine.
Now that Fang Tian Ci was at the peak of the Emperor Realm, his cultivation wouldn’t improve further regardless of how hard he cultivated; therefore, he had some free time. Liu Jing Shan, who was in a similar situation, would frequently visit him with jars and bottles of wine.
Hearing his question, Liu Jing Shan replied with a smile, “I’ve been here for almost 3,000 years.”
“That’s a really long time,” Fang Tian Ci nodded gently. As he made some calculations, he realised that it had been 2,000 years since he started cultivating. On the other hand, Liu Jing Shan had been staying in this place for some 3,000 years. In other words, Liu Jing Shan had already arrived at the Dao Temple before Fang Tian Ci was even born!
A dejected Liu Jing Shan lamented, “Junior Brother, did you know that I’m one of the oldest disciples in the Dao Temple?”
“Senior Brother, you mean…” Fang Tian Ci formed a speculation.
Suddenly, Liu Jing Shan cried, “Junior Brother, my life is quite miserable!”
Following that, he wrapped his arms around a big wine bobble and started bawling.
Fang Tian Ci was startled as he had no idea why his Senior Brother felt downcast all of a sudden. Liu Jing Shan was a future Open Heaven Realm Master who had already refined the powers of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and he had gone through the vicissitudes of life. Fang Tian Ci wondered why the other man was so sorrowful now.
Fang Tian Ci had no idea how to console him, so he could only pat his back.
A long time later, Liu Jing Shan stopped sobbing and let out a breath. Embarrassed, he said, “I apologize for letting you see such a disgraceful sight.”
Fang Tian Ci didn’t know what to say, so he remained silent.
Perhaps it was because Liu Jing Shan was drunk, and he had no one to talk to about his grievances over the years, but he started speaking about the past, “I was invited to the Dao Temple when I was still young and naïve. At that time, the Dao Temple was bustling with noise with several thousand Seniors in total. Every day, there would be powerful Seniors who hosted forums and preached the Dao. Such experiences were invaluable.”
[Several thousand people?] When Fang Tian Ci learned that there was such a lively period in the Dao Temple back then, he couldn’t help feeling awestruck.
One had to know that the Dao Temple had strict criteria when selecting disciples. Those who could join the Dao Temple all had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order at the very least. On average there would be just 10 new disciples every 100 years, though there were times when as few as four or five would be taken in.
Several thousand people must have been the result of accumulating several tens of thousands of years in the Void World. Furthermore, they were all powerful Emperor Realm Masters. Most of them had condensed their Dao Seals and refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements as they were ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm.
However, presently, there were only about 300 people in the Dao Temple, which was a significantly smaller number than in the past.
“I only started condensing my Dao Seal 200 years after my arrival in the Dao Temple when, all of a sudden, the Dao Lord ordered that those who were ready to make it to the Open Heaven Realm should gather together. Then, he brought them all away,” At the mention of this, Liu Jing Shan felt downcast as he wiped the tears with his sleeves, “It was a tough time for me. Several thousand Seniors were gone just like that, leaving just 20 or so people behind.”
Although Fang Tian Ci didn’t personally experience it, he could feel how helpless and aggrieved Liu Jing Shan must have been at that time.
The originally lively Dao Temple became silent all of a sudden, and all the Seniors Liu Jing Shan was familiar with were brought out from the Void World. It was only natural that he was dejected.
If he had also been ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, he could’ve left with them; unfortunately, he had only started to condense his Dao Seal at the time.
“Junior Brother, do you know why there were so many disciples in the Dao Temple back then?”
“Certainly, it was because the Dao Lord didn’t bring them away.”
“Do you know the reason, then?”
Fang Tian Ci shook his head, “No.”
After taking a breath, Liu Jing Shan explained, “I have no idea either… I reckon that it was because the Dao Lord was held up by something urgent, which was why he hadn’t taken a look at the Dao Temple for several tens of thousands of years. That was why there were so many disciples here.”
After a moment of silence, Fang Tian Ci asked, “Is it possible that the Dao Lord had forgotten about it?”
The Dao Lord was extremely powerful, so it wasn’t likely that there was any emergency that could hold him up for several tens of thousands of years. He might have forgotten about the Dao Temple.
A tearful Liu Jing Shan looked at him as he found his words distressing. As though someone had jabbed a knife into his heart, he was deluged with a sense of melancholy as he cried, “That’s not possible. The Dao Lord will never forget about the Dao Temple. We’re in his Small Universe, so how is it possible that he’s forgotten about us?”
Fang Tian Ci nodded in agreement, “He must be cultivating in seclusion, then.”
Although it sounded strange that the Dao Lord might have cultivated in seclusion for several tens of thousands of years, he was a powerful Eighth-Order or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, after all, so it was only natural that his cultivation sessions would be extremely long.
Liu Jing Shan pressed his hand against his chest as he felt heartbroken, “Keep quiet if you have nothing better to say, Junior Brother Fang. I’ve been waiting for 3,000 years…”
Fang Tian Ci let out a sigh as he shut his mouth.
After a moment of silence, Liu Jing Shan went on to say, “By the way, do you think the Dao Lord is cultivating in seclusion now?”
He was one of the earliest disciples in the current Dao Temple, and those who had arrived earlier than he did had all left for the outside world. On the other hand, he had been waiting in this place for 3,000 years, and he had no idea how much longer he had to wait to have a chance to leave the Void World.
Fang Tian Ci shook his head. Certainly, he couldn’t possibly know what the Dao Lord was doing. Since his Senior Brother was in a terrible mood, he was worried he would say something wrong that might agitate him again. As such, he decided to remain silent.
In any case, he now knew why his Senior Brother was sorrowful.
It had come to a point where they could no longer improve their cultivation. If they wanted to make it to the Open Heaven Realm, they had to leave the Void World.
Nevertheless, they were in the Dao Lord’s Small Universe, so without the Dao Lord leading the way, they couldn’t possibly leave.
[Senior Brother Liu has been waiting for 3,000 years. It’s only natural that he’s feeling dejected. If we have to wait for several tens of thousands of years, just like what happened back then…]
Fang Tian Ci shuddered as he couldn’t imagine how tough their lives would be if that was the case.
Liu Jing Shan, who was quietly seated, got to his feet all of a sudden and roared, “Dao Lord! Please open your eyes and look at us! All of us at the Dao Temple are ready to fight the Black Ink Clan, but we’re trapped here, unable to put our skills to good use! Is this what you hope to see? Do you want us to wait here until our death? That’s not the kind of life I want!”
Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder rolled. The instant Liu Jing Shan was done roaring, a fissure appeared in the sky and even from a distance, they could see the fissure expand slowly.
Liu Jing Shan and Fang Tian Ci were dumbfounded.
In actuality, it wasn’t a fissure, it was an eye that looked authoritative with a hint of mockery in it. Liu Jing Shan could clearly feel that the eye was staring at him, which made him tremble and caused him to fall on his butt.
The next moment, he heard a sacred-sounding voice that ordered, “To the disciples who are ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm and are willing to battle the enemies of Humanity, come to the Open Heaven Palace at once!”
A shockwave rippled through the entire Void Dao Temple as all the disciples, who were ready to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, stopped whatever they were doing and streamed towards the Open Heaven Palace with excitement.
Although the fissure in the sky had disappeared, the intense pressure lingered.
Liu Jing Shan and Fang Tian Ci exchanged glances as both of them were astounded.
Following that, they were deluged with a sense of ecstasy as Liu Jing Shan cheered, “The Dao Lord has heard me! Hahaha! Come, Junior Brother Fang! Follow me to the Open Heaven Palace!”
Then, he raced towards the Open Heaven Palace, followed by Fang Tian Ci.
Liu Jing Shan was evidently excited. As he ran forward, he rattled on, saying, “You’re so lucky, Junior Brother. You’ve just finished refining your Yin, Yang and Five Elements Powers, and the Dao Lord is ready to bring us out of here. Had it taken you a couple dozen more years, you would have to wait for the next opportunity.”
Then, he appeared somewhat frustrated as he muttered, “Why didn’t I have your luck? In any case, we’re finally able to leave.”
When they arrived at the Open Heaven Palace, over 100 people had gathered together in the Grand Hall. There were more people who were still rushing over, all of them appearing joyful. Some of them were just like Liu Jing Shan, who were left behind in the Dao Temple because they were not ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm at that time. After waiting for 3,000 years, they finally had a chance to explore the outside world.
All these cheerful people congratulated each other, as though they were celebrating some sort of festivity.
…..
Outside the Star Boundary, Yang Kai was hovering somewhere in the void in High Heaven Territory with Hua Qing Si patiently waiting behind him.
Yang Kai had suddenly returned from Profound Nether Territory and summoned her. Hua Qing Si had no idea what the Palace Master wanted her to do, and when she arrived, the Palace Master said nothing, so she didn’t ask any questions.
Just then, a beam of light shot out from the Star Boundary and reached them in the blink of an eye.
Hua Qing Si saluted him, “Greetings, Senior Iron Blood.”
Zhan Wu Hen nodded gently, then turned to Yang Kai and asked worriedly, “I heard that you were badly injured. Is that true?”
It had been 300 years since the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters reached a ceasefire agreement in Profound Nether Territory.
During this period, Yang Kai had never shown up. It was rumoured that he was terribly wounded; however, the place where he cultivated was sealed with many layers of restrictions, and no one dared to disturb him. As such, no one knew if he was wounded or not.
Those from Profound Nether Territory dismissed such rumours; after all, Yang Kai had headed to the Black Ink Clan’s base and forced the peace deal with the Territory Lords on his own back then. There was no doubt it was a bold and impressive feat; one he would not have attempted if he was really seriously injured.
Certainly, such rumours were spread by the Black Ink Clansmen or ill-intentioned Black Ink Disciples to bring down the Humans’ morale.
Yang Kai simply replied with a smile, “Sort of.”
Zhan Wu Hen was stunned while disbelief was written all over Hua Qing Si’s face. They all thought that Yang Kai had only been cultivating in seclusion for the past 300 years. As such, they were surprised to learn he was indeed injured.
“I’ve fully recovered,” Yang Kai added.
His injury wasn’t caused by battling the Territory Lords, it was simply a result of cultivating the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
To practise this Secret Art, Yang Kai had to cultivate a Human Self and a Monster Self which were far different from ordinary Soul Clones.
Ordinary Soul Clones wouldn’t be useful; however, the ones formed from the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art had endless possibilities.
To cultivate the Human Self, Yang Kai had practically split his Soul in two and become frail for the following 300 years. Fortunately, he could gradually recover with the Soul Warming Lotus’s help.
While recuperating, he had also been refining resources to increase his power; therefore, he wasn’t wasting any time.
“Why are you here, Senior Iron Blood?” Yang Kai asked.
When he returned to the Star Boundary previously, only Duan Hong Chen was in charge of this place as the other Great Emperors had left to kill the enemies. This time, however, Yang Kai could detect the auras of several Great Emperors.
Among the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, Zhan Wu Hen was the most skilful in combat and would never hesitate to volunteer to fight the Black Ink Clansmen. As such, it was a mystery that he was in the Star Boundary now.
Zhan Wu Hen replied calmly, “I have to give the young ones some chances, don’t I?” After a pause, he continued, “Moreover, we have to take advantage of the opportunities only we possess. As Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, we can cultivate far more efficiently by staying here. Only when we ascend to the Eighth Order can we maximize our contributions to the war effort.”
Realising the other man’s intention, Yang Kai replied with a smile, “You’re indeed a far-sighted person, Senior Iron Blood.”
Zhan Wu Hen stared fixedly at him, “I suppose you share the same sentiment.”
“Indeed,” Yang Kai replied, “I sacrificed our immediate advantage and arrived at a peace deal with the Black Ink Clan so that we could build a training ground for the next generation of soldiers. The Juniors will eventually grow to be powerful. When the Seventh-Order Masters ascend to the Eighth-Order, they’ll have to go to a new battlefield. It’s not like we can ask them to cultivate in seclusion forever.”
Zhan Wu Hen nodded, “I agree with you. It’s not fun killing those Feudal Lords anymore. It would be better to ascend to the Eighth Order sooner so that I can take a few Territory Lords’ heads.”
Then, he looked around and asked in puzzlement, “Who are you waiting for?”
Yang Kai explained, “Some of the people in my Small Universe are ready to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm. I have to bring them out.”
Hearing his explanation, Zhan Wu Hen nodded.
Inside the Void Dao Temple, many future Open Heaven Realm Masters had gathered together. There were around 300 people in the Dao Temple currently, and other than roughly 20 who hadn’t fully refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, the rest were ready to leave and achieve a breakthrough.
In front of everyone’s eyes, the space in the centre of the Grand Hall contorted. Like a stone dropping into a still lake, ripples spread across the place.
Following that, an oval portal appeared in the originally empty space.
The eyes of these future Open Heaven Realm Masters brightened in an instant.
Liu Jing Shan, who had been waiting for 3,000 years, immediately took action. While the others were still pleasantly surprised, he cupped his fist and said, “Fellow Brothers and Sister, I’ll be going on ahead.”
The next moment, he charged towards the portal and disappeared.
After Liu Jing Shan made the first move, the others stopped hesitating as they streamed into the portal in an orderly manner.
Fang Tian Ci was among the crowd. After the world spun around for a bit, he found himself in an expansive void. As he looked around, he realised there were innumerable Stars in the distance. While hovering in this place, he felt how small and insignificant he truly was.
Liu Jing Shan, who was the first to leave the Dao Temple, came over and tugged Fang Tian Ci’s sleeve before jutting out his chin in a particular direction.
Fang Tian Ci looked in the same direction and saw a young man in some casual robes.
“The Dao Lord!?” He exclaimed.
He had seen the Dao Lord’s statue in the Grand Hall where their Seniors’ names were recorded. The young man in front of him had 90% likeness to the main statue; as such, he could recognise him at first glance.
Besides him, the other future Open Heaven Realm Masters, who had just left the Dao Temple, saw Yang Kai as well, their gazes filled with admiration and fervour.
More and more disciples emerged from the portal, and when the last one appeared, the portal disappeared abruptly.
Yang Kai swept a glance over them and announced, “Since you’ve chosen to leave the Void Dao Temple, you should all be prepared to battle the Black Ink Clan; however, all of you are not powerful enough to do that yet. Focus on your ascension first. All of you are the geniuses in the Void World, and you’ve been nurtured for years in the Dao Temple. I suppose it won’t be hard for you to make it to the Open Heaven Realm. Don’t disappoint me.”
As he spoke, he sent a signal to Hua Qing Si with his eyes.
Seeing that, Hua Qing Si raised her hand and shot out hundreds of light beams before saying, “These are Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills. Consume one before attempting your breakthrough. It will be very useful.”
These future Open Heaven Realm Masters took the Spirit Pills and stared at them, evidently excited.
In fact, they had been getting ready to break through to the Open Heaven Realm for many years, so it wouldn’t be a problem for them to achieve an ascension even without any external aids. Now that they had these Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills, they felt even more assured.
They then saluted and thanked the two.
Yang Kai waved his hand, “You may begin now.”
They then dispersed and looked for suitable places to attempt a breakthrough.
Zhan Wu Hen had remained silent all this while, but at this moment, he couldn’t help saying, “If my memory serves me right, you brought a batch of disciples out of your Small Universe just 400 years ago.”
At that time, several thousand people emerged from Yang Kai’s Small Universe. The magnificent sight of so many people achieving an ascension together shocked Bi Xi, Mo Mei, and the others in the Void Land. Although Zhan Wu Hen was not there to witness it, he heard about it at a later time.
To his surprise, there were another 300 good seedlings just 400 years later.
Yang Kai explained, “The flow of time in my Small Universe is different from that in the outside world.”
It was the first time Zhan Wu Hen heard about this, but after giving it some thought, he realised what was going on, “Is it because of Time Principles?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Although only 400 years have passed in the outside world, around 3,000 years have gone by in my Small Universe.”
Zhan Wu Hen did some calculations and realised the flow of time in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was about seven to eight times faster. In other words, a cultivator could grow rapidly before making it to the Open Heaven Realm by cultivating in Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
“There are significantly fewer people in my Small Universe than the Star Boundary; as such, fewer geniuses are produced in the same period; however, due to the difference in the flow of time, the absolute rate at which geniuses are produced isn’t very different from the Star Boundary.”
Currently, several people who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order and above would appear in the Star Boundary every year.
“What about the percentage of those who have the potential to directly ascend to the Seventh Order?” Zhan Wu Hen asked.
“Around 10% of them,” Yang Kai replied.
Hearing that, Zhan Wu Hen was astounded. The percentage was indeed terrific. It was higher than that in the Star Boundary. Over the years, they had estimated that among those who had the potential to directly ascend to the Fifth Order and above, only 5% of them could directly make it to the Seventh Order. Of course, it must have something to do with the fact that there were far more people in the Star Boundary to begin with.
There was only so much a World Tree clone could do, and with such a massive population, fewer top geniuses were produced as the nourishment was shared between more people overall.
With that said, besides the Star Boundary, the Humans also had the Myriad Monsters World now.
It had been some 300 years since Yang Kai planted a World Tree clone in the Myriad Monsters World, and the nourishment of the World Tree clone had started showing its effects. Now, many soldiers would spend Military Merits to get access to the Myriad Monsters World so that their friends and relatives or disciples in the same Sect could live and cultivate there.
As it had only been a short time since the World Tree clone was planted though, things hadn’t yet stabilised in the Myriad Monsters World.
When the World Tree clone fully grew up a few hundred years later, the Myriad Monsters World was bound to become a second Star Boundary.
More importantly, there were not any Great Emperors in the Myriad Monsters World yet.
That was what the Humans valued the most. The Great Emperors of the Star Boundary could cultivate far faster than others; however, the quotas in the Star Boundary had been fully taken up. As such, there wouldn’t be any new Great Emperors in the foreseeable future.
Nevertheless, the Myriad Monsters World was different as it was basically empty now. If anyone could receive the acknowledgement of the World’s Will and become a Great Emperor, their future would surely be bright.
Moreover, there were a lot of Great Monsters in the Myriad Monsters World. Over the past 300 years, some Great Monsters managed to break through their limits and leave their World. Human Masters would then bring those Great Monsters and use them on the battlefields.
The entire Myriad Monsters World was a treasure trove that was yet to be dug up.
As they spoke, the future Open Heaven Realm Masters had found their own places and consumed the Spirit Pills. Soon, streams of powerful aura were felt coming from all directions in the void.
The sight of nearly 300 people achieving an ascension together was magnificent; however, compared to the several thousand people who had done so at the same time back then in Void Land, what was going on now was less remarkable.
It might take the average cultivator some effort to achieve an ascension, but it had been smooth sailing for these cultivators who came from the Void Dao Temple. That was because most had refined the powers of Yin, Yang, and Five Elements a long time ago, and they were fully ready to achieve a breakthrough. Due to the Void World’s suppression, they were unable to explore the secrets of the Open Heaven Realm, so all they could do was further consolidate their cultivation.
Now that they had left the Void World, there were no more restraints, and with the help of Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pills, they certainly wouldn’t dawdle.
People like Liu Jing Shan had been waiting for this day for 3,000 years, and they had imagined themselves achieving an ascension on countless occasions.
As these streams of aura expanded, these disciples from the Dao Temple subsequently achieved their breakthroughs.
A lot of them made it to the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order, but it was the Seventh-Order Masters who caught the most attention.
Zhan Wu Hen soon confirmed that 10% of the disciples who came from Yang Kai’s Small Universe indeed made it to the Seventh Order. In other words, there was 1 Seventh-Order Master in every 10 people.
That was a staggering ratio. For the rest, about 30% of them were Sixth-Order Masters while 60% of them were Fifth-Order Masters.
Given enough time, these people would reach their own limits and become High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters one day.
More and more people broke through to the Open Heaven Realm. Only over 10 people among 300 of them still hadn’t achieved a breakthrough while presently, there were 26 Seventh-Order Masters.
Supposedly, one of these people who was still attempting an ascension would become a Seventh-Order Master.
Those who had made it to the Open Heaven Realm were thrilled as they examined their increased strength.
From the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm, the increase in power was extreme. As such, new Open Heaven Realm Masters could barely control their strength, and it was especially true for those who had achieved a higher Order.
Hua Qing Si looked in a particular direction and smiled, “There’s another Seventh-Order Master.”
Over there, a disciple from the Dao Temple felt his aura surging as a buzzing sound was heard coming from his body. His Small Universe took shape, and his aura rose from the Emperor Realm to the Open Heaven Realm in an instant.
The aura exuding from him suggested that he was in the Seventh Order.
Meanwhile, Liu Jing Shan was looking in the same direction. When he saw that Fang Tian Ci had achieved an ascension, he was elated, “He succeeded!”
However, the moment he finished speaking, something surprising happened. For some reason, Fang Tian Ci’s ample aura plunged all of a sudden as it dropped from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order in the blink of an eye.
Certainly, Fang Tian Ci was shocked to find his aura plummeting as well. He couldn’t help grunting as his power became a mess.
“Junior Brother Fang!” Liu Jing Shan exclaimed as he charged towards Fang Tian Ci.
However, the instant he started moving, he felt an immense force pinning him to the spot. Realising the source of the force, he hunched his back and wouldn’t dare to move a muscle.
It was apparent to him that the Dao Lord had made a move.
At that instant, he was relieved. Since the Dao Lord had decided to help, there shouldn’t be a problem with Fang Tian Ci’s ascension, though he appeared to be in a perilous situation.
At this moment, Yang Kai was paying close attention to Fang Tian Ci. Initially, he was surprised to see Fang Tian Ci ascending to the Seventh Order, but when he felt that aura plunging to the Sixth Order, he knew that he had been too naïve.
He couldn’t help sighing as he took a step forward and appeared in front of Fang Tian Ci. Then, he placed his hand on the other man’s stomach and sent a Divine Sense transmission, saying, “Focus and adjust your aura.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci promptly did as he was told.
He had gone through the vicissitudes of life, and it had taken him 2,000 years to become who he was today; as such, he was more sedate than most new Open Heaven Realm Masters. With Yang Kai’s help now, he managed to restore order to his chaotic aura.
One hour later, Fang Tian Ci opened his eyes and examined himself. What he found shocked him.
He had successfully achieved an ascension, but he was only in the Sixth Order, not the Seventh Order.
It was so strange. One had to know that the resources he had refined in the Dao Temple were all Seventh-Order. Supposedly, he would make it to the Seventh Order when attempting an ascension. In fact, he had indeed made it to the Seventh Order, but for some reason, the moment he succeeded, there was a mysterious force that descended on him, which caused his cultivation to drop from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order.
As he examined himself, he found something even more astonishing.
His Small Universe had materialised!
Although there were no Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Void World, they had some basic information about the Open Heaven Realm in the Dao Temple.
The First-Order to Third-Order were considered the Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm, the Fourth-Order to Sixth-Order were the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm, and the Seventh-Order to Ninth-Order were the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm.
The Fourth-Order and Seventh-Order were thresholds, and the powers of the cultivators in the different Ranks differed greatly.
The Low and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters, while powerful, could not be considered true powerhouses as their heritage simply wasn’t ample enough. As such, even though they had formed their own Small Universes, they remained immaterial.
Only after one ascended to the Seventh Order would their Small Universe materialise.
Fang Tian Ci was only in the Sixth Order, so his Small Universe should be immaterial, but that wasn’t the case. For some reason, his Small Universe had fully materialised.
Moreover, he was certain that he had successfully made it to the Seventh Order, but for some unknown reason, he dropped down to the Sixth Order all of a sudden.
Everything was a mystery to him. His ascension seemed different from those of the others.
In front of him, a calming voice was heard asking, “Do you feel any discomfort?”
Only then did Fang Tian Ci come to his senses as he promptly replied, “I’m fine. Many thanks for your concern, Dao Lord.”
Yang Kai nodded and placed his hands behind his back.
After pondering for a moment, Fang Tian Ci cupped his fist and said, “Dao Lord, I have a question.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai turned to him and nodded, “Go ahead.”
Fang Tian Ci went on to say, “I think my Small Universe has materialised, but I’m only in the Sixth Order. How is that possible?”
Hearing that, the people around him were surprised. It went against common sense for a Sixth-Order Master’s Small Universe to materialise. Furthermore, they had seen Fang Tian Ci’s Order plunging earlier. As such, his friends and Juniors appeared worried.
Yang Kai looked at him and replied calmly, “There were not many instances where a Sixth-Order Master’s Small Universe materialises, but it’s not unprecedented.”
Hearing that, Fang Tian Ci was shocked, “There were such instances in the past?”
Yang Kai replied, “En, I am one such case. I suppose your mastery of the Dao of Space is quite high.”
Fang Tian Ci replied respectfully, “I only know a thing or two. Dao Lord, do you mean that the transformation in my Small Universe has something to do with the fact that I’ve cultivated the Dao of Space?”
[I didn’t say that!] Yang Kai thought; however, there wasn’t a better explanation now, so he could only nod, “When I ascended to the Open Heaven Realm, I didn’t make it to the High Rank. Nonetheless, the same thing happened to my Small Universe.”
Fang Tian Ci fell into his thoughts, but he was evidently relieved.
It was reassuring to know that there were similar instances in the past, and the same thing had happened to the Dao Lord. As such, it didn’t seem to be a serious issue.
Just as he wanted to ask why his cultivation had dropped from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order, Yang Kai beckoned to Hua Qing Si.
She came over and called out, “Palace Master.”
Yang Kai ordered, “Bring them to the Star Boundary. After they manage to stabilize their cultivation, send them to Profound Nether Territory to receive some training.”
Presently, there were a lot of Third-Order and Fourth-Order Masters on the different battlefields, and in Profound Nether Territory, there were even First-Order and Second-Order Masters. On the other hand, the weakest disciples from the Dao Temple were in the Fifth Order; therefore, they had to go through some tempering.
However, Profound Nether Territory was no longer sufficient to meet the needs of training the Human soldiers.
That was because too many people had headed to Profound Nether Territory in the past 300 years.
Yang Kai was now preparing to open several similar training grounds.
Only by having more Great Territories that could be used to train the next generation would they be able to meet the Human Race’s growing needs.
Having made up his mind, Yang Kai cupped his fist at Zhan Wu Hen, “Senior Iron Blood, I’ll take my leave now.”
Zhan Wu Hen nodded in response.
The next moment, Yang Kai disappeared from the spot.
The disciples who had cultivated the Dao of Space were awestruck by this display. There was no denying the Dao Lord was a true Master of the Dao of Space. It was thanks to the Dao Lord’s blessing that these disciples had a chance to cultivate the Dao of Space, but none of them were able to see how Yang Kai disappeared just now.
Hua Qing Si then gathered these disciples together and introduced herself before leading them to the Star Boundary.
Liu Jing Shan approached Fang Tian Ci and gently nudged him with his elbow before saying smilingly, “Don’t feel dejected, Junior Brother Fang. The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm is good as well. Didn’t you hear the Dao Lord say that he didn’t directly make it to the high rank when he first ascended? Given enough time, we can still become as powerful as him.”
He was worried that Fang Tian Ci would feel downcast over the fact that his Order had dropped inexplicably, so he came over and consoled him.
Fang Tian Ci nodded lightly, “You have a point, Senior Brother. I just don’t understand why I failed to make it to the Seventh Order.”
In fact, he didn’t fail. He could feel that he had succeeded, but the moment he achieved his ascension, there seemed to be a force suppressing his cultivation, causing it to drop from the Seventh Order to the Sixth Order.
Regardless, he wasn’t dejected, nor was he dissatisfied. In the past, he was someone with terrible aptitude and in what he believed to be his final years, he just wanted to take in the wonderful sights of the Void World before passing on. It was for such a simple reason that he left the Fang Family Village. It had been more than 2,000 years since then, and he had grown from an Immortal Ascension Boundary cultivator all the way to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. There was still a broad and bright future ahead of him, so he was more than content.
Liu Jing Shan said, “I’m glad that you’ve come to accept it… By the way, that tree is enormous. What do you suppose it is?”
Fang Tian Ci looked in the direction Liu Jing Shan pointed and saw the colossal tree in the centre of the Star Boundary. All the disciples from the Dao Temple were amazed as they had never seen a tree of such enormity before.
In fact, there was a similar tree in the Void World, but no one had seen it before.
Even in one of the newly formed Small Universes here, there was a similar sapling that swayed in the wind. However, the owner of this Small Universe was troubled by other matters and, as such, hadn’t examined himself carefully yet. Otherwise, he would have discovered this sapling’s presence.
After these disciples from the Dao Temple followed Hua Qing Si and landed on the Star Boundary, they dispersed to enter seclusion and consolidate their new cultivation.
On the other hand, Yang Kai headed to the Great Territory adjacent to the Star Boundary. Although there wasn’t any war in this Great Territory, it was extremely bustling. That was because many Human soldiers would gather together in this place to await the Supreme Headquarters’ deployments. Many Alchemy and Artifact Refining bases had also been set up here.
This was the Supreme Headquarters’ Territory, and it served a similar purpose to that of the No-Return Pass back then.
When Yang Kai arrived at this place, he made sure not to alert too many people and soon found Mi Jing Lun in one of the Grand Halls.
When they met up, Mi Jing Lun appeared rather haggard. He was one of the top Eighth-Order Masters, so it was rare to see him looking so exhausted. It was apparent that the affairs in this place had drained his energy greatly.
Seeing the man, Mi Jing Lun was surprised, “You’ve finally stopped cultivating in seclusion.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I’ve just returned from the Star Boundary.”
Mi Jing Lun raised a brow and asked probingly, “What’s your plan?”
Yang Kai glanced at him and laughed, “What kind of plan do you want me to have, Senior Brother Mi?”
Mi Jing Lun let out a sigh, “It seems that we share the same sentiment.”
“We should cut to the chase, then. Which Great Territory is in the most perilous situation right now?”
With a solemn expression, Mi Jing Lun replied, “Twin Poles Territory. The Black Ink Clan have been sending increasing numbers of troops to that place. It seems that they’re determined to occupy Twin Poles Territory. Although we’re dealing with them for now, I’m sure you know that the number of people on our side pales compared to the Black Ink Clan. They have no qualms about sending their soldiers to die, but it’s completely different for us Humans. Now, Twin Poles Territory is just like the Profound Nether Territory of the past. Although Xiang Shan has gone to take charge there now, it’s impossible to turn the situation around without sufficient power.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Got it. I’ll head to the Twin Poles Territory, then.”
Mi Jing Lun breathed a sigh of relief, “That would be for the best; however, if you show up, Profound Nether Territory…”
Yang Kai sneered, “They don’t have the guts to start a war.”
They had arrived at the peace deal in Profound Nether Territory because the Profound Nether Army had given up its absolute advantage, but if Six Arms dared to let the Territory Lords make a move, that peace deal would be nullified.
300 years ago, Yang Kai was able to make all Territory Lords cower, so 300 years later he could do the same.
Mi Jing Lun was stunned for a moment as he deeply felt that old men like them were gradually being surpassed by the young ones, which made him feel slightly dejected. One had to know that for a long time, Eighth-Order Masters like them had been the pillars of the Human Race for millennia. However, even someone like Xiang Shan was unable to affect the overall situation in a Great Territory on his own.
Although Xiang Shan had decided to assume command of Twin Poles Territory, he could only slow the Humans’ defeat, not stop it, much less reverse the situation.
However, this newly promoted Eighth-Order Master named Yang Kai, who was thousands of years younger than them, was confident to the point that he showed no regard for those powerful Innate Territory Lords whatsoever.
If Innate Territory Lords were like vipers, then Yang Kai was like an eagle hovering in the sky or a fierce wolf waiting in the woods. Be it an eagle or a wolf, his presence alone was highly intimidating to the enemy.
While Mi Jing Lun was dejected, he also felt gratified. It was because the rising stars in each new generation were able to cast a light into the darkness and illuminate a path for the Human Race to move forward upon.
They only had Yang Kai now, but there were bound to be more talented people in the future.
On the Profound Nether Territory Battlefield, the new Open Heaven Realm Masters had started showcasing their strength as they made a name for themselves through the blood and lives of the enemy. They were growing stronger by the day, and they would certainly be important figures in the fights against the Black Ink Clan in the future.
Nonetheless, there was only one Profound Nether Territory, and over the past few hundred years, as more and more soldiers streamed into this place, the originally spacious battlefield now appeared cramped.
If Yang Kai could see this, there was no way Mi Jing Lun and Xiang Shan hadn’t.
The Humans needed more training grounds.
Previously, Mi Jing Lun had wanted to ask Yang Kai to create another Profound Nether Territory; however, after the peace deal was reached, Yang Kai went into seclusion for 300 years.
Before that, Yang Kai had ordered that unless there was an emergency that absolutely required his assistance, no one should disturb him. Although no one knew what Yang Kai was doing, he must have had a very important reason to issue such a command.
As such, Mi Jing Lun didn’t dare to disturb him lightly.
Fortunately, Yang Kai headed to the Supreme Headquarters right after he left seclusion, and he shared the same sentiment as Mi Jing Lun, which allowed the latter to relax slightly.
This young Eighth-Order Master wasn’t only powerful, but he could also see the bigger picture. It was delightful to work with people like him.
“If it’s possible, please create several more training grounds. I’m sure the Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to make a fuss if you’re the one proposing,” Mi Jing Lun urged.
Yang Kai guffawed, “That was my plan from the start.”
The war in Twin Poles Territory was at a stalemate.
Around 300 years ago, the Black Ink Clan was in a disadvantageous position in Profound Nether Territory, and many of their Territory Lords were killed. Although they arrived at a peace deal with the Humans later, that didn’t mean those fallen Territory Lords returned from the grave.
As though trying to boost their morale and restore their dignity, the Black Ink Clan had intensified their offensives in several Great Territories, and the one where they were the most aggressive was Twin Poles Territory.
Apparently, the Black Ink Clan had made this Great Territory their primary target. Over the years, they had been continuously sending more soldiers here in an effort to use their advantage in numbers to suppress the Humans.
In the past, if the Humans were faced with attacks of such intensity, they would have lost Twin Poles Territory to the enemy already. Nevertheless, with the continuous production of Evil Purging Divine Spears over the years, the Humans were not without the means to resist.
After the Evil Purging Divine Spears were crafted by the Artifact Refiners, the Divine Spirits who were able to use the Great Sun and Moon Marks would seal Purifying Light into them. Then, the Evil Purging Divine Spears would be distributed to the Human Masters who would put them to good use on the battlefields.
For this reason, half of the Evil Purging Divine Spears originally allocated to Profound Nether Territory had been diverted to Twin Poles Territory.
In any case, the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory wouldn’t dare to make a move; as such, those in Profound Nether Territory didn’t need as many Evil Purging Divine Spears as those in the other Great Territories.
In every great battle, the things that shone the brightest were the Evil Purging Divine Spears when they exploded. These miniature Suns lit up the endless darkness and helped the Humans persevere in battle.
When Yang Kai arrived at Twin Poles Territory, the two Races were already locked in an intense battle. The innumerable Black Ink Clan soldiers hovered in the void, as though trying to announce to the Humans that they were the owners of this place. On the other hand, the Humans could only use the fortresses they had built over the years to fend off the enemies.
The Humans in Twin Poles Territory were no longer able to confront the Black Ink Clan in the open, but even the strongest defence would be broken through one day if it was constantly under assault.
On the battlefield, Human Warships moved around in a narrow range and rained down Secret Techniques and artifact strikes on the enemy. At the same time, the Eighth-Order Masters were soaked in blood as they fought back against the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai concealed his aura and flew towards the battlefield like a phantom.
He didn’t have a particular target in mind, for he didn’t know any of these Territory Lords in Twin Poles Territory. As such, it made no difference as to whom he would kill first.
Since he had cultivated in seclusion for 300 years, he hadn’t used his Azure Dragon Spear for a long time. It was time he let these Black Ink Clansmen know what it felt like to be overwhelmed by fear.
Somewhere on the battlefield, an Eighth-Order Master was in a perilous situation as he was dealing with two enemies at once.
The Eighth-Order Masters were used to such situations by now, and despite being in a tight spot, this one was able to persevere for now. Furthermore, he still hadn’t used his Evil Purging Divine Spears. For this reason, the Territory Lords remained somewhat wary and didn’t dare to go all out, preferring to keep some distance and wear down their opponent.
During the intense battle, World Force and Black Ink Strength clashed as the void trembled. The Black Ink Clansmen who didn’t manage to dodge were either killed or injured by the fallout from this clash.
At this moment, the Eighth-Order Master was focused on dealing with the Territory Lords. He pondered on the feasibility of severely injuring one Territory Lord despite knowing that he would be wounded as well.
When Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords traded injuries, there was no doubt the Humans gained the advantage.
That was because when an Eighth-Order Master was wounded, they could recuperate by consuming Spirit Pills and meditate to restore their strength. However, a Territory Lord couldn’t do that. They could endure the pain if it wasn’t severe, but if a Territory Lord was badly injured, they had to return to a Black Ink Nest and hibernate to heal.
There were not many Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests in Twin Poles Territory, and all of them were currently occupied by wounded Territory Lords. If more Territory Lords were injured, they had to head to the No-Return Pass where there were more Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, as well as some 100 High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
Over the years, more and more wounded Territory Lords headed to the No-Return Pass to recuperate. On the other hand, the Territory Lords who had recovered would return from the No-Return Pass.
It was by using such mutually damaging tactics that the Eighth-Order Masters effectively limited the number of Territory Lords who took part in the war.
If all the Territory Lords could join the fighting, there was no way the Eighth-Order Masters could fend them off. They would have to give up at least three Great Territories to rally their forces together.
However, once they did that, the Black Ink Clan could also concentrate their forces to regain the upper hand. That was the reason the Humans were not willing to lose any Great Territory.
This Eighth-Order Master soon made up his mind as was preparing to expose an opening at the right moment so that one of the Territory Lords would make a move. He was putting his life on the line, but as long as he didn’t die, he would be able to achieve his goal.
Nonetheless, before he could do anything, a Divine Sense transmission suddenly reached his ear. He was startled for a moment before becoming elated.
Although he never showed a chance of expression on his face, he secretly got prepared.
A few breaths of time later, he bellowed, “Bastards, let’s all go to Hell together!”
Following that, an Evil Purging Divine Spear appeared and turned into a light beam that shot towards one of the Territory Lords. The Eighth-Order Master seemed determined to destroy the other party no matter the cost.
The two Territory Lords were fully prepared, however; as such, they immediately surged their Black Ink Strength and formed a thick Black Ink Cloud in front of them.
This was the method the Territory Lords had come up with to deal with the Evil Purging Divine Spears.
Purifying Light was indeed the archnemesis of Black Ink Strength, and once an Evil Purging Divine Spear was sent out, a Territory Lord would find it hard to dodge regardless of how agile they were.
Since that was the case, their best option was to release a lot of Black Ink Strength to block and offset the Purifying Light’s power.
The instant the light exploded, the Eighth-Order Master and the Territory Lords were temporarily blinded.
However, the battle intensified at that moment.
Just as both parties believed they were on the winning side, fatal moves were cast all of a sudden.
The thick Black Ink Strength was dispersed in the blink of an eye. One of the Territory Lords, who was targeted by the Evil Purging Divine Spear, grunted as his aura plunged.
On the other hand, the unaffected Territory Lord extended his hand towards the white light. Enduring the scorching heat, he sent his attack towards the Eighth-Order Master.
Both parties were in close quarters. Since the Eighth-Order Master had just used an Evil Purging Divine Spear, there was no way he could dodge this attack. The Territory Lord could already imagine the Human spraying out a mouthful of blood.
However, just then, a flash of Spiritual Energy could be felt from nearby. Following that, the attacking Territory Lord felt like something had pierced into his head. The sharp pain in his mind made him lose focus for a moment and his Black Ink Strength faltered.
His hand froze as an excruciating pain suddenly came from his chest.
When he looked down, he saw a spear penetrating through him. A violent force burst forth as his burly figure exploded into countless pieces, which then spread out across the void.
These two Territory Lords had been guarding against the Eighth-Order Master using the Evil Purging Divine Spear; as such, neither of them would have expected that someone would use a Soul attack on them at that moment. The Territory Lord lost his life while completely unsuspecting.
As the blood-spattered, Yang Kai hovered in the void with his spear in his hand and arched his brow.
After his most recent seclusion ended, it seemed it had become easier for him to kill a Territory Lord.
He couldn’t help thinking that an Open Heaven Realm Master, especially a High-Rank one, indeed had to cultivate for a long time to build up their heritage.
Over the past 300 years, Yang Kai had consumed an enormous amount of resources to strengthen his World Force. With the purifying effects of the World Tree clone in his Small Universe, he estimated that he was now 10% stronger than before he entered seclusion.
It was said that old ginger was spicier, and this seemed especially true for Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Now, Yang Kai wasn’t someone who had just ascended to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he could be considered an experienced Master.
Besides the increase in heritage, he also had to literally tear his Soul in half to cultivate his Human Self. This kind of tearing was unlike activating a Soul Rending Thorn where Yang Kai would only sacrifice a small portion of his Soul.
For this reason, he became weak for the past 300 years.
It was only thanks to the Soul Warming Lotus’ help that he gradually recovered.
With that said, the improvement this time was conspicuous. Before, whenever Yang Kai activated a Soul Rending Thorn, he would feel a sharp pain in his head, which he could somewhat endure thanks to many repeated experiences.
However, when he used a Soul Rending Thorn today, the pain he felt was less aggravating.
It went to show that his Soul had strengthened.
Many thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as the pieces of the dead Territory Lord floated past him.
On the other hand, the Eighth-Order Master, who received the warning from Yang Kai earlier, forcefully struck out at the Territory Lord who had been affected by the Evil Purging Divine Spear.
The turn of events had stunned the Territory Lord as he had no idea why his companion was killed all of a sudden. While in a dazed state, he turned to stare at Yang Kai.
According to their original plan, he would get hit by the Evil Purging Divine Spear and offset the Purifying Light with the gathered Black Ink Strength from earlier on. Then, he would join forces with his unaffected companion. He was confident that they could injure or even kill this Eighth-Order Master.
Nonetheless, his companion was killed in the blink of an eye.
Following that, he saw a spear-holding young man with a dispassionate expression standing beside him.
He found the young man familiar, as though he had seen him before.
“Yang Kai!” After a moment of pondering, he finally recalled where he had come across this young man before.
This guy was Yang Kai, the one who had managed to completely suppress the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory. He was also the one who had kicked up a storm in the No-Return Pass and even escaped from the Royal Lord’s pursuit.
All the Black Ink Clan’s top Masters had seen Yang Kai’s image before.
It was rumoured that this Human had some mysterious method he could use to kill Innate Territory Lords in an instant.
Some 30 Territory Lords were directly or indirectly killed by him in Profound Nether Territory within just 30 years. The Royal Lord was so enraged by this that he had repeatedly reprimanded Six Arms who was in charge of that place.
Left with no other choice, the Black Ink Clansmen in Profound Nether Territory were forced to accept a peace deal Yang Kai had come up with. As such, the Territory Lords there couldn’t have a hand in the war.
When word got out, the Black Ink Clan Masters in the other Great Territories were both shocked and doubtful. Many of them felt that their comrades in Profound Nether Territory were exaggerating Yang Kai’s abilities. This Human was only in the Eighth Order, after all; therefore, how was he supposed to suppress all the Black Ink Clan Masters in Profound Nether Territory on his own? Even Xiang Shan was unable to achieve that.
This Territory Lord had thought much the same, feeling that Six Arms and the others in Profound Nether Territory were too weak and had simply let Yang Kai run rampant. If this Yang Kai had the guts to come to Twin Poles Territory, he would certainly teach this arrogant Human a lesson.
Now, Yang Kai had really come, and it wasn’t until this moment that the Territory Lord realised how naïve he had been. It was said that Yang Kai was able to cow and intimidate all the Black Ink Clan Masters of an entire Great Territory on his own. Even if there was a bit of exaggeration, there was no denying Yang Kai was powerful, but up until now, the Territory Lord still had no idea how his companion was killed.
There wasn’t any time left for him to ponder though. While he was still in a daze, the Eighth-Order Master struck him with his fist. As the violent World Force exploded, an indent formed on the Territory Lord’s chest, which caused him to spray out a mouthful of black blood.
The Eighth-Order Master was surprised that he had succeeded. It never crossed his mind that the Territory Lord would fall into a dazed state because of his companion’s death. Certainly, he wouldn’t let him off while the other party was beside himself.
He quickly called out to Yang Kai, “Kill him!”
Following that, he charged towards the Territory Lord again.
Certainly, Yang Kai needed no reminder as he shot forward and made sure the Territory Lord couldn’t escape. As he wielded his Azure Dragon Spear, the spear shadows rained down on the Territory Lord. Although his attack seemed unsophisticated, its hidden power was enormous.
As the injured Territory Lord was pincered by his enemies, he swiftly fell into an absolute disadvantage.
10 breaths of time later, the Azure Dragon Spear penetrated the Territory Lord’s head and reaped his life.
Two Territory Lords had died within moments of each other. Despite the noisy battlefield, their deaths couldn’t be concealed.
Everyone on the battlefield froze for a moment when the second Territory Lord fell and countless pairs of eyes turned in the direction of the disturbance.
The Eighth-Order Masters were elated while the Territory Lords were soon overwhelmed with fear.
All of a sudden, one Territory Lord yelled, “Yang Kai!”
At that instant, all the Territory Lords realised who the murderer was.
He was the Human who had suppressed all the Black Ink Clan Masters in Profound Nether Territory on his own. The Royal Lord had even issued a warning to all the Territory Lords to be cautious of this menace.
They had heard about the incident in Profound Nether Territory, and while some felt sympathetic or wary, most dismissed the story; after all, they had never dealt with Yang Kai before, so how were they supposed to know how powerful the latter truly was?
Fortunately for them, after the two Races arrived at a peace deal 300 years ago in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai went missing. Based on what the Black Ink Disciples revealed to them, Yang Kai seemed to be cultivating in seclusion.
Nevertheless, he appeared in Twin Poles Territory today, and the instant he did, he managed to kill two powerful Innate Territory Lords.
The Territory Lords, who had dismissed the stories from back then, now knew that what they had heard was true.
It wasn’t that no Territory Lords had lost their lives before in Twin Poles Territory over the centuries; nonetheless, there was no precedent where two Territory Lords died in such quick succession.
There was no denying Yang Kai had some inscrutable methods up his sleeve.
Fear and wariness soon spread across the Black Ink Clansmen.
With the spear in his hand, Yang Kai guffawed, his laugh as loud as thunder as he called out, “I’m back! Did you miss me?”
[Why didn’t you stay gone forever?] The Territory Lords cursed at him under their breath while wondering, [What’s wrong with Six Arms? This madman exited seclusion, but we’ve received no warning from Profound Nether Territory at all.]
However, at this moment, the Territory Lords didn’t have time to curse out Six Arms. When Yang Kai swept a gaze over them, they felt their chests tightening as they were worried they would be targeted next.
Meanwhile, things got much better for the Eighth-Order Masters.
Originally, the Eighth-Order Masters were at a disadvantage as they were greatly outnumbered by the Territory Lords. Nonetheless, at this moment, all the Territory Lords slowed down their attacks as they were wary of Yang Kai, allowing the Humans to catch their breath.
Many veteran Eighth-Order Masters couldn’t help feeling amazed that Yang Kai alone was able to exude such deterrence on so many enemies.
“No one seems happy to see me. That’s fine, I won’t force you to respond,” as Yang Kai wielded his spear, he disappeared from the spot the moment he finished speaking.
The Territory Lords nearby felt their hair standing on end. None of them had seen how Yang Kai vanished; as such, they had no idea where he would reappear.
This kind of uncertainty was extremely unnerving.
At this moment, the Territory Lords could only carefully guard their Souls against any potential sneak attacks.
That was because they knew that once Yang Kai made a move, he would directly use that strange method that could penetrate one’s Soul before launching life-threatening attacks on them.
A shriek was suddenly heard from a certain direction on the battlefield. As expected, a Territory Lord was hit.
The Soul Rending Thorns were extremely powerful, so even if a Territory Lord was determined to protect their Soul, they couldn’t possibly ward it off entirely, only somewhat weakening the impact.
On this chaotic battlefield, once an individual’s Soul was disturbed, they would immediately find themselves in a life-and-death crisis.
The Territory Lords who hadn’t been hit felt relieved, which immediately after made them feel ashamed, but there was nothing they could do about it.
When they looked at the source of the cry, they indeed saw Yang Kai appearing there like a phantom. Working with another Eighth-Order Master, he bombarded an Innate Territory Lord with attacks.
It was the first time the Territory Lords in Twin Poles Territory witnessed Yang Kai’s power.
The power of his spear seemed able to shatter the Void itself, so while the targeted Territory Lord intended to flee, space around him contorted and warped, causing his movements to become sluggish and disjointed. How was he supposed to escape under such circumstances?
Just several breaths of time later, the targeted Territory Lord was horribly injured. His dark blood and Black Ink Strength spurted out of his wounds at the same time as his aura plunged.
Following that, the Eighth-Order Master, who had been dealing with the Territory Lord, pushed out a palm and smashed his opponent into a paste.
[How brutal!] It wasn’t until the Territory Lords witnessed Yang Kai’s power that they realised he was more formidable than what they had heard.
The Eighth-Order Master then flew to the nearest battle to offer his help. On the other hand, Yang Kai remained on the same spot and said something that horrified the Territory Lords.
“Who’s next?”
It was as though he was playing some sort of sick game, and whoever he had his eyes on would die.
Naturally, no Territory Lord volunteered to be the next victim.
Three Territory Lords had lost their lives in a very short period. It seemed that once Yang Kai made a move, he would certainly succeed. It was only natural that nobody wanted to be targeted by him.
The Territory Lords, who originally had the upper hand on the battlefield, started retreating. On the other hand, the Eighth-Order Masters were relentless. They had been suppressed by the Territory Lords for years, so now that the tables had turned, they ecstatically attacked the enemies while the Territory Lords grumbled in annoyance.
Just as the Territory Lords were feeling anxious, another one of them suffered tragedy.
Spirit Energy fluctuations flared up momentarily, then a violent force exploded as a Territory Lord lost his life.
In one of the battles, a brawny Innate Territory Lord with purple skin and hair roared, “He can only use the same move three times! There’s no need to be afraid of him now that he’s used up all his chances!”
There were over 100 Territory Lords who were involved in this battle in Twin Poles Territory; however, this purple-haired Territory Lord was apparently one of the strongest.
In fact, he was the Territory Lord who was in charge of Twin Poles Territory, his status equivalent to that of Six Arms in Profound Nether Territory.
He had been vigilant after he realized Yang Kai’s presence, but he never said a word. It wasn’t until he was certain that Yang Kai had used the Soul Rending Thorns three times that he reminded the other Territory Lords.
There had been three Territory Lords who got struck by the strange Soul attacks, and now that Yang Kai was no longer able to use this trump card again, he became just a slightly more powerful Eighth-Order Master. Therefore, the Territory Lords wouldn’t need to be as wary of him.
Hearing that, the Territory Lords finally came to their senses, [That’s right. Yang Kai has used that move three times already, why should we be afraid of him?]
The Territory Lords, who had been retreating, immediately turned around and, this time, it was the Eighth-Order Masters who suffered.
“You like running your mouth, don’t you?” Across from the purple-haired Territory Lord, Xiang Shan wielded his sabre as the dazzling sabre light formed a crack in the Void.
For the past 100 years, Xiang Shan had been stationed in Twin Poles Territory, and he had exchanged moves with this purple-haired Territory Lord dozens of times. Since both of them were equally matched, neither could destroy the other. Despite facing this imposing attack, the Territory Lord easily dodged it.
However, the next instant, the purple-haired Territory Lord’s expression turned solemn, for he realised that an aura had locked onto him. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Yang Kai, who was over a million kilometres away just a moment ago, had appeared right beside him.
A spear quietly extended towards him and was about to strike its mark.
Instinctively, the purple-haired Territory Lord leaned backwards to avoid the attack. Nevertheless, when he detected the familiar Spiritual Energy fluctuation and was flabbergasted.
[He can still use his Soul attack? Impossible!]
Yang Kai had used the same move in Profound Nether Territory many times before, but in every battle, he only ever used it three times before he became powerless to fight. Why was it different now when he was in Twin Poles Territory?
It was only then that the purple-haired Territory Lord recalled that Yang Kai had been cultivating in seclusion for 300 years, so it was unlikely that his power hadn’t increased at least a bit.
His three-time limit was information the Black Ink Clan had gathered 300 years ago. Now, Yang Kai could probably use the same move four times, maybe even five times!
Upon that realization, the purple-haired Territory Lord regretted opening his mouth. If he had known this would be the outcome, he wouldn’t have called out and attracted Yang Kai’s attention.
Unbeknownst to him, even if he said nothing, Yang Kai had already saved his last Soul Rending Thorn for him.
Xiang Shan was locked in an intense battle with this guy, so it was apparent that the purple-haired Territory Lord was an important figure in Twin Poles Territory, most likely the Commander of the Black Ink Clan’s forces.
If Yang Kai could kill him, he could deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan’s morale in Twin Poles Territory.
Certainly, Yang Kai could recognize such a tempting target.
Around 300 years ago, he could only activate three Soul Rending Thorns in succession. Now that his Soul had become more robust, he could easily use the same move for a fourth time.
As his Spiritual Energy flared, the Soul Rending Thorn was silently sent. The purple-haired Territory Lord’s Soul was torn open, and the sharp pain in his mind caused him to roar.
At the same time, all his Black Ink Strength undulated violently.
Yang Kai’s spear brushed past the Territory Lord’s face, the intense weave of Dao Strengths scraping off a large piece of flesh, drawing an even more pitiful wail from the latter’s lips.
Since his attack was unsuccessful though, Yang Kai swept his spear down like a whip, forcing the Territory Lord back.
At the same time, Xiang Shan swung his sabre, sending out a burst of sabre lights that formed a cage, covering the section of the void around the Territory Lord.
Xiang Shan was a veteran of thousands of battles, so he naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.
The sabre light cage swiftly contracted towards the centre, and when they dissipated, the purple-haired Territory Lord’s battered figure was revealed. His brawny figure was covered in wounds which were so deep that one could see his bones. There was no denying he was in a sorry state.
All the same, he hadn’t lost his life. As his thick Black Ink Strength undulated, a fire seemed to ignite in his eyes as he charged towards Yang Kai instead of backing down.
Now that he was so badly injured and both Xiang Shan and Yang Kai, two of the most powerful Eighth-Order Masters in the entire Human Race, were targeting him, this Territory Lord had no doubt he would die here today. As such, he abandoned all thoughts of escape and instead was determined to drag one of them down with him in death.
Naturally, Yang Kai was his target. As long as he could kill Yang Kai, his death would be meaningful.
The Innate Territory Lord unleashed every last bit of his power, causing even more dark blood and Black Ink Strength to spurt from his wounds. At that moment, the purple-haired Territory Lord was like a fierce God who emerged from the primordial chaos, his majestic presence causing the universe around him to tremble.
Since his return from the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai had dealt with a lot of Innate Territory Lords and even killed many of them. His impression of these Innate Territory Lords was that, even though they were powerful and overbearing, they were also extremely afraid of death.
Bravery was something that had nothing to do with them; however, he finally met an exception today.
It seemed that not all Innate Territory Lords were the same and that some of them were indeed not scared of dying.
Perhaps it had something to do with their situation as well. The purple-haired Territory Lord knew that he was unable to leave this place alive; as such, his fighting spirit had been ignited.
Xiang Shan moved forward to intercept the enemy, wielding his sabre as he sent out a stream of sabre lights to engulf the purple-haired Territory Lord.
Nevertheless, the other party did not even attempt to dodge this flurry of attacks. Although the sabre lights opened even more wounds on his body, the Territory Lord still steadfastly charged towards Yang Kai.
The next instant, he was faced with a spear.
The purple-haired Territory Lord jerked his head to the side, causing the spear to graze his neck. The fresh wound on his neck exploded as his dark blood spurted out, but despite that, he relentlessly approached Yang Kai.
Yang Kai tried to retract his spear, but his attempt failed.
That was because the other party had already clenched the Azure Dragon Spear and exerted an immense amount of force with his hand, ensuring that Yang Kai couldn’t retrieve his weapon.
“Get over here!” Determination was written all over the purple-haired Territory Lord’s hideous face as he thrust his free hand towards Yang Kai.
He had channelled all his power into this attack, causing the space around them to shatter in an instant.
Initially, Yang Kai wanted to use Space Principles to dodge using Instantaneous Movement, but to his surprise, the other party had anticipated this move and preempted him. Furthermore, he had used four Soul Rending Thorns already, so his head was throbbing and his thoughts had become sluggish. With the nearby Void shattered, Yang Kai’s figure was rooted to the spot.
While he was in a dazed state, the purple-haired Territory Lord seized his shoulder.
Black Ink Strength madly surged as Yang Kai’s shoulder was torn into. The Territory Lord’s sharp nails penetrated Yang Kai’s flesh, and even the Dragon Scales hidden under his skin were unable to block the intrusion.
Seeing his gambit succeed, the purple-haired Territory Lord quickly pulled Yang Kai towards himself and trapped him with both arms.
His face was covered with dark blood, so his original facial features were barely visible. When Yang Kai looked up, all he saw was the Territory Lord looking hideous and smug.
“Let’s see how you run away now!” The purple-haired Territory Lord grinned while ignoring Xiang Shan, who was coming at him from behind. Then, he tilted his head back and brought it forward at a remarkable speed.
He was trying to headbutt Yang Kai.
Following a loud crash, with the two tangled up figures at the centre, a violent shockwave propagated out.
Even Xiang Shan found himself staggering back as he had no choice but to retract his weapon for fear of hitting Yang Kai by accident.
*Hong! Hong! Hong!*
The purple-haired Territory Lord repeatedly struck Yang Kai with his head. At this moment, he looked nothing like a powerful Innate Territory Lord with astonishing cultivation. Instead, he was more like a common thug engaging in a backstreet brawl. There were no sophisticated moves to speak of as he seemed determined to destroy the other party by smashing his head open with his own.
The sight stunned all the other Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters.
No one had ever seen a Territory Lord acting so brutal.
Yang Kai started seeing stars from the first clash. He had already used a massive amount of Spiritual Energy on top of sacrificing a significant portion of his Soul, which was why he was no longer able to keep fighting at full strength. Now that he was repeatedly struck by the opponent’s head, he found himself in a passive position.
Any other Eighth-Order Master would’ve lost his life by now.
Since his ascension to the Eighth Order, Yang Kai had never suffered such a setback because of a lone Territory Lord before.
Even though he was struck dizzy, he only turned more furious and aggressive.
Yang Kai let go of his spear and grasped the purple-haired Territory Lord’s arms. His face, which was covered with Golden Blood, became hideous as fire burned in his eyes. As the other party tilted his head back, he mirrored the action.
A hint of surprise flashed across the Territory Lord’s eyes, for he thought that Yang Kai had lost all his strength before now.
The next moment, an even louder crash was heard. Xiang Shan, who was hovering nearby, waiting for a chance to strike, was dumbfounded as he felt a violent shockwave rush towards him and push him back even further.
When he looked up, Xiang Shan felt his face twitching as a single thought flashed across his mind, [This brat is crazy!]
The headbutt of a powerful Master was no laughing matter, and now both parties were doing the same thing to each other, so the power of the clash was naturally astonishing.
Xiang Shan even thought he heard the sounds of bones cracking.
*Hong hong hong…*
Several booms were then heard, and with the purple-haired Territory Lord and Yang Kai as the centre, the countless limbs, Black Ink Clouds, and Black Ink Strength drifting in the void were all swept away.
Every time their heads smashed, it was as though two Universe Worlds were colliding, sending shockwave after shockwave across the battlefield.
A moment later, both Yang Kai and the purple-haired Territory Lord saw stars and were close to blacking out, their blood-soaked faces looking more menacing than ever.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai could sense that the other party’s grip had weakened. As such, he exerted more force with his hands while grasping the other party’s arms.
The purple-haired Territory Lord’s eyes shook as his maddened determination turned to shock and disbelief.
He had taken such an aggressive stance because he had been pushed over the edge, but for some reason, his final desperate struggle had only caused this Eighth-Order Master to become even more ferocious than him.
Following another headbutt, the sounds of bones breaking became audible and the Territory Lord’s arms lost all strength.
Yang Kai roared, “All you bastards will never understand what it means to fight for the ones you love!”
They were in the 3,000 Worlds, and this Great Territory was one of the last lines of defence for the Human Race. If they allowed the Black Ink Clan to advance further, their very existence would be threatened.
In this place, all the Human soldiers who had been battling the Black Ink Clan were fighting to protect those who huddled behind them.
Unlike these evil invaders, the Humans did not have a choice to retreat. Since the enemies were brutal and ruthless, they had to be even more savage.
After another headbutt, a clear indent was formed on the purple-haired Territory Lord’s head. His eyes had completely rolled back and his aura was weakening by the breath like a ball leaking air.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai appeared bored as he said dispassionately, “It seems my head is harder than yours.”
Then, he sent out one last headbutt, knocking the purple-haired Territory Lord’s head off while sending a headless corpse flying away.
Yang Kai hovered in the void alone. The pain in his body and Soul almost made him lose his mind; however, his ferocity and murderous intent did not wane in the slightest after he killed his opponent. Instead, he became even more bloodthirsty.
As a high-pitched Dragon Roar sounded as a golden light exploded into existence. Following a series of crackling sounds, a 70,000-metre-long behemoth manifested in the void.
“Kill!”
The Ancient Dragon roared as his Dragon Form whirled around and charged towards a place where many Black Ink Clansmen gathered together. Wherever he went, a trail of bodies formed in the void.
“Kill!”
More roars were heard coming from all directions in Twin Poles Territory. Following the purple-haired Territory Lord’s death and the advent of the Golden Ancient Dragon, the Human soldiers, who had been suppressed for almost 400 years in Twin Poles Territory, charged towards the enemies like maddened beasts.
In the blink of an eye, the Black Ink Clan found themselves on the wrong side of a raging slaughter.
Five Territory Lords had lost their lives in less than an incense stick’s worth of time, which horrified the ones still alive. They finally realised the terror the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory must have felt 300 years ago.
The deaths of the first four Territory Lords had already caused a storm to rumble in their hearts, but it was the sheer brutality of the fifth Territory Lord’s demise that finally collapsed their will to fight.
It was said that Yang Kai was only able to use his special Soul attack three times before becoming powerless to fight on, but that was no longer the case.
The purple-haired Territory Lord, who was their Commander, was dead. On the other hand, Yang Kai had transformed into a 70,000-metre-long Ancient Dragon and charged straight into the centre of their lines, his majestic presence causing the entire Twin Poles Territory to shake.
At this moment, none of the Territory Lords was willing to deal with Yang Kai, worried that once they were targeted, they would not be able to survive. Hence, they decided to run as far away as possible.
Back then in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai had to fight over a dozen battles for 30 years before he fully intimidated the Black Ink Clan there.
In Twin Poles Territory, he still carried his imposing reputation from 300 years ago, and after this one war, the spines of the Black Ink Clansmen in Twin Poles Territory would be shattered and never heal again.
Half a day later, the Human soldiers ceased their attacks. All of them were elated, feeling that they had finally vented out the fury that had been accumulating in their hearts over several hundreds of years. As they returned to their bases and camps, all of them smiled brightly as though they were celebrating some kind of festivity.
Killing five Territory Lords couldn’t be considered a war-ending achievement; however, in their follow-up pursuit of the enemy, the Human Army managed to slaughter over a million Black Ink Clansmen, which was a huge strategic victory.
All this had been brought about by Yang Kai alone.
While the soldiers were counting their kills, they realised that the biggest contributor, Yang Kai, was nowhere to be found. They speculated that he must be recuperating; after all, he seemed to be badly injured.
In fact, Yang Kai wasn’t just badly injured, he had almost lost his life.
Other than the drawbacks of using four Soul Rending Thorns in quick succession, his clash with the purple-haired Territory Lord later had left him half-dead.
Although his body was robust as he had a Dragon Vein, the series of headbutts still cracked his skull. It would probably take him several years to heal these injuries.
With that said, it was not like he hadn’t gained something after this battle.
After attacking so many Territory Lords using his Soul Rending Thorns, Yang Kai had become confident he could easily kill them, which caused him to underestimate those Innate Territory Lords as he thought that they were too cowardly to use their strength.
Now, he realised he had overestimated himself and underestimated the enemy.
The simple truth was no Innate Territory Lord was easy to deal with, it was only because of his unique methods and great infamy that most Territory Lords simply lost the will to fight when they were confronted by him. As such, he could easily kill many Territory Lords.
However, if every Territory Lord was like the purple-haired Territory Lord he met today, who was willing to sacrifice his life to drag him down with him, things would become far thornier.
The purple-haired Territory Lord was struck by a Soul Rending Thorn, then hit by attacks from both Xiang Shan and Yang Kai at the same time, but he remained undaunted. If this Territory Lord had been at his peak, Yang Kai wouldn’t have the confidence to defeat him without using a Soul Rending Thorn.
He was still an Innate Territory Lord, and as such, significantly more powerful than those Acquired Territory Lords.
Yang Kai was secretly glad that these Innate Territory Lords were unable to become Royal Lords; otherwise, the Humans might not be able to deal with them.
After giving it some thought, he realised that while he shouldn’t underestimate his enemies, he also shouldn’t dismiss his own capabilities. At the very least, he had managed to kill a lot of Territory Lords. Furthermore, it had only been a short time since he ascended to the Eighth Order, so he was still far from reaching his peak.
When he reached the very peak of the Eighth Order one day, Yang Kai was confident he could defeat these Innate Territory Lords with ease with just his own strength.
Back then on the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai and Bai Yi joined forces and killed a badly injured Zhu Feng, almost losing their lives in the process. Now, he had managed to kill several dozen Territory Lords and even a Royal Lord. Although the process was baffling, he had indeed ended a Royal Lord’s life.
While the Black Ink Clansmen were powerful, Yang Kai also gradually grew in strength. He had the confidence that there would come a day when he would be able to destroy any Innate Territory Lords as he pleased, so calming himself down, he began to recuperate in silence.
Yang Kai, who was supposedly in Profound Nether Territory, appeared in Twin Poles Territory all of a sudden and killed five Territory Lords. Even their Commander, the purple-haired Territory Lord, was gone for good, which resulted in the Black Ink Clan Army in Twin Poles Territory being routed. The advantage they had accumulated over the past several hundred years was lost in one go.
When word got out, many Black Ink Clan Masters from different Great Territories were astounded. While they were shocked by Yang Kai’s strength, they were also wary of his recklessness.
Since this Human was in charge of Profound Nether Territory, he wasn’t supposed to go anywhere else. It was unreasonable of him to appear in Twin Poles Territory and slaughter the Black Ink Clan Masters there.
One had to know that Yang Kai had been missing for 300 years before that. Such a period was neither long nor short; however, that was enough for his notoriety to fade somewhat. Still, he was able to shock the Black Ink Clan the moment he reappeared.
Rather than feeling astonished, the Black Ink Clan Masters were mostly anxious when they heard the news.
Yang Kai had appeared in Twin Poles Territory this time, but what about next time? Would he appear in Lang Ya Territory, Soul Shaking Territory, or some other Great Territory?
It was definitely easier to sneak into someone’s house than keep one’s guard up against a thief all the time. If Yang Kai was allowed to go wherever he pleased, it would pose a huge threat to the Black Ink Clan.
They were worried that when they were dealing with the Human Masters at any given time, Yang Kai would suddenly appear out of thin air.
Now, they could only try to restrict his movements. As such, all the Black Ink Clan Masters shifted their attention to Profound Nether Territory.
Since Yang Kai was from Profound Nether Territory, this issue certainly had to be handled by the Territory Lords from there.
Around 300 years ago, the Humans and Black Ink Clan arrived at a peace deal, which stated that the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords had to abstain from taking part in the war. After that, the Humans built 10 forward outposts in Profound Nether Territory for the Humans below the Eighth Order to launch attacks from and recuperate when they were injured.
Similarly, the Black Ink Clan had built several forward outposts as well; however, every forward outpost built by the Humans was guarded by two to three Eighth-Order Masters to prevent any attacks. On the other hand, none of the Black Ink Clan’s forward outposts was guarded by any Territory Lords. That was because they didn’t dare to do so.
Simply put, if it was just three Territory Lords gathered in one spot, they wouldn’t feel secure. Rather than scattering around and letting Yang Kai have a chance to deal with them separately, they reckoned that they would be safer all huddling together.
Therefore, the Innate Territory Lords had either assembled in the Universe World where the Black Ink Clan’s main base was or recuperated in hidden locations, constantly keeping an eye on the Humans’ movements.
Over the years, the Profound Nether Army had broken up as the Human soldiers practically moved around in Squads or small groups as they roamed around the battlefield to battle the Black Ink Clansmen.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clansmen used similar tactics to fight back. Both parties repeatedly launched sneak attacks and skirmishes against each other which often led to fierce but quick fights. Every breath of time there were countless battles taking place in this expansive Great Territory.
More and more Humans streamed into Profound Nether Territory because it was comparatively safer than the other Great Territories. Both parties wouldn’t fight each other in large Armies, and as such, the Human cultivators could put their innate advantages to good use.
The effects of 300 years of training were starting to show now. Many rising Stars had made a name for themselves. There were also veteran Sixth and Seventh-Order Masters who felt like fish in water as they continued to hone their strength in combat.
Inevitably, there were also some losses. Since the Humans had to train their soldiers in the fires of war, they couldn’t possibly do so without taking casualties. Regardless, the losses were still bearable.
More and more high-ranking officers realised the benefits of training the next generation in Profound Nether Territory; as such, the Juniors with excellent aptitudes, who were previously hidden from the public by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, were all sent to Profound Nether Territory. This allowed them to clash with the Black Ink Clan and experience life-and-death struggles which stimulated their growth.
All in all, even though there were countless battles in Profound Nether Territory, everything was well within the control of the Humans and Black Ink Clan.
For this reason, the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory could enjoy their lives with peace of mind for hundreds of years as they were no longer worried about Yang Kai launching a sneak attack on them.
However, their peaceful days had now come to an end. With those in Twin Poles Territory leading the way, the Territory Lords from a dozen or so Great Territories joined forces to pressure those from Profound Nether Territory, demanding they deal with Yang Kai.
In the Black Ink Clan’s main base in Profound Nether Territory, many Territory Lords had gathered together in the Main Conference Hall. The atmosphere was rather gloomy.
Six Arms was seated at the head of the hall as he swept a glance over them before solemnly declaring, “Let’s discuss how we should deal with this matter.”
However, no one said a word. With a grim expression, Six Arms snapped, “Are you all dumb!?”
Although they were all Innate Territory Lords, he was the Commander appointed by the Royal Lord; furthermore, he was also the strongest among them. Hence, the other Territory Lords were naturally afraid of him.
One of the Territory Lords spoke up, “Sir Six Arms, it’s not easy to handle this issue. The peace agreement we reached with Yang Kai only states that the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords are not allowed to interfere in the war in the Profound Nether Territory. He hasn’t broken his promise, so what can we do?”
Another Territory Lord nodded in agreement and said, “He has a point. Over the past 300 years, the Eighth-Order Humans have never made a move. It is not an exaggeration to say they have rigidly stuck to the agreement. If we make a rash move, Yang Kai might retaliate by slaughtering us.”
Then, a snort was heard, “That’s what those blockheads from the other Great Territories are trying to achieve. Only when we make a move will Yang Kai be forced to return; that way, they’ll have no more worries while we will be the ones suffering.”
“A clever plot indeed. Just because they fear death, they want us to sacrifice ourselves in their stead?”
“Sir Six Arms, you can not agree to this. If a total war breaks out in Profound Nether Territory again, what happened 300 years ago will simply repeat itself.”
…..
The Territory Lords started talking incessantly as they cursed at the Territory Lords from the other Great Territories for being selfish, but as Six Arms listened to them bicker, he only felt dispirited.
Certainly, he knew what was on these Territory Lords’ minds. They were worried that if Yang Kai returned, they would be butchered by him. Although he was mad at these Territory Lords for being cowardly, he couldn’t really blame them.
Forget the other Territory Lords, even Six Arms himself was wary of Yang Kai.
Around 300 years ago, he was confident that even if he was ambushed by Yang Kai, he still stood a chance to escape. Nonetheless, after what happened to the purple-haired Territory Lord in Twin Poles Territory, his confidence had been smashed to pieces.
He knew the purple-haired Territory Lord was just as powerful as him, but even he was killed by Yang Kai. It was even reported that Yang Kai was extremely brutal in that fight as he literally smashed the other party’s head to pieces by repeatedly headbutting him. Six Arms would feel a chill running down his spine just by imagining this kind of savage fight.
At the same time, he was furious at the Territory Lords from the other Great Territories for being so indifferent. They wanted those in Profound Nether Territory to do something to lure Yang Kai back; however, if the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory really did that, they would suffer miserably.
The Territory Lords were still arguing and expressing their complaints when Six Arms raised his hand and turned to a particular person, “Mo Na Ye, what do you think?”
Among the Territory Lords, Mo Na Ye was undoubtedly the most meticulous. Although what happened in Acacia Territory back then was a huge failure and humiliation to him, it wasn’t really Mo Na Ye’s fault. In fact, up until this day, the Black Ink Clan still hadn’t figured out how Yang Kai managed to flee even though the Territory Gates had all been sealed off.
Furthermore, he had even taken a large number of Human refugees away with him. It was an unresolved mystery.
Mo Na Ye had been silent all along, and it wasn’t until Six Arms called out to him that he stopped pondering and replied, “Sir Six Arms, have you ever thought about why Yang Kai headed to Twin Poles Territory to raise chaos after cultivating in seclusion for 300 years?”
Six Arms frowned, “Among all the Great Territories, the Humans in Twin Poles Territory were in the most perilous situation. It was said that Xiang Shan had assumed command of their forces there for the past 100 years, but it still wouldn’t take long before the Humans in Twin Poles Territory would be defeated.”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “I think that’s just one of the reasons.”
“Is there another?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “I have no idea. All I know is that Yang Kai only made a move in Twin Poles Territory at a critical moment. If he had wanted to lend a hand to the Humans in Twin Poles Territory, he would’ve done so a long time ago.”
“Wasn’t he cultivating in seclusion?”
“Humans can interrupt their cultivation fairly easily. Over the years, the Humans in Twin Poles Territory have increasingly been at a disadvantage, so I’m sure they asked for help on several occasions. If Yang Kai had received such a request, he would’ve made a move early on; however, he only headed to Twin Poles Territory recently.”
After giving it some thought, Six Arms realised Mo Na Ye was right. Still puzzled, however, he asked, “What does that have to do with what happened today?”
Mo Na Ye replied, “It has everything to do with it. First of all, we have to figure out Yang Kai’s intentions, or to be precise, the Humans’ intentions.”
The Territory Lords were perplexed.
Mo Na Ye went on to say with a smile, “300 years ago, Yang Kai acted extremely overbearing, like he couldn’t wait to slaughter us all, but then, all of a sudden, he came over on his own to propose a peace deal with us. There’s no denying it was good news to the Black Ink Clan, but what benefits would the Humans get out of it? Do you all remember what he said at that time?”
Many Territory Lords fell into their thoughts.
One of them eventually replied, “At that time, he said that he was worried the weaker Humans would be injured or killed from the fallout of the fights between Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters. Moreover, there were significantly more Territory Lords than the Eighth-Order Masters, so most of the time, without the Eighth-Order Masters’ restraint, the Territory Lords could butcher the Humans to their hearts’ content.”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “Yes, that was what he said.”
“Was that a mere deception?” Six Arms’ face fell.
“Not exactly,” Mo Na Ye shook his head, “However, over the past 300 years, I’ve been observing what’s going on in Profound Nether Territory, and I’ve noticed that even though the excuse Yang Kai gave us wasn’t a lie, he was still hiding his true motive. For the last 300 years, more and more Humans have appeared in Profound Nether Territory, especially Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Fifth Order and above. There have also been a lot of Seventh-Order Masters we have never seen before. Many of those newly appeared Open Heaven Realm Masters weren’t as powerful as the others in the same Order and did not have as stable foundations. It is likely that they only ascended to the Open Heaven Realm recently.”
Six Arms furrowed his brows, “So what?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head with a wry smile as he decided to cut to the chase, saying, “The reason Yang Kai wanted a peace deal with us back then was that he intended to train those soldiers!”
“Training?”
Many Territory Lords frowned and wondered, [What does that mean?]
However, some of the Territory Lords fell into contemplation upon hearing these words.
After pondering for a moment, Six Arms said, “You mean…”
Mo Na Ye continued, “Although all of you have always stayed in Profound Nether Territory, I’m sure you’ve heard about the Star Boundary and the World Tree before.”
All of them nodded.
Even though they rarely stepped out of Profound Nether Territory, they had their own ways of gathering information.
The Black Ink Clansmen had been clashing with the Humans for countless years, and many Human Hunters had been corrupted by Black Ink Strength. With the help of these Black Ink Disciples, the Black Ink Clan had gathered quite a lot of useful information.
The Star Boundary and the World Tree were the names that were most frequently mentioned.
It was said that the World Tree had a mysterious power that allowed the Star Boundary to produce a lot of Human prodigies, many of whom were able to directly break through to the Sixth or even Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Mo Na Ye explained, “You may not have any regard for the Sixth-Order and Seventh-Order Humans born in the Star Boundary, but if given a chance, they will grow to be powerful one day. The Sixth-Order Masters have a chance to become Eighth-Order Masters, while the Seventh-Order Masters will eventually become Ninth-Order Masters. By then, even Territory Lords like us won’t be able to underestimate them. However, compared to the Black Ink Clan, it takes a much longer time for Humans to increase their strength, and cultivating in seclusion might not achieve that goal. As such, these so-called prodigies that the Humans pin all their hopes on need a place where they can fight and grow.”
One of the Territory Lords figured out what he was trying to say, “Mo Na Ye, do you mean the Humans have chosen Profound Nether Territory as a training ground?”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “That must be the reason Yang Kai struck a peace deal with us 300 years ago. Those Human prodigies needed a relatively safe place to grow. As such, Yang Kai’s objective was to restrict Territory Lords like us from acting.”
A Territory Lord roared, “The Humans are indeed cunning!”
Mo Na Ye smiled lightly. There was no denying Yang Kai had hidden his real intentions from them; nevertheless, even if he made it clear to the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory back then, they wouldn’t have had the courage to refuse him.
That was because the Territory Lords were horrified by Yang Kai’s ruthlessness.
With a relatively safe place to fight and grow, those prodigies, who had not appeared on the battlefield before, streamed into Profound Nether Territory.
Just then, a Territory Lord asked, “Sir Mo Na Ye, do you think we should start a war in Profound Nether Territory, then?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “There’s no need for that. While the Humans need to train their soldiers, we should also take this opportunity and do the same. I’m not sure if all of you have noticed or not, but I know Sir Six Arms must have realized. Over the past 300 years, we have had many more clansmen achieve breakthroughs than in the past.”
Six Arms initially didn’t pay attention to such a matter, but upon Mo Na Ye’s reminder, he nodded, “True. Many more Feudal Lords have been born in recent years than in the past.”
Only 300 years had passed, but if they were given more time, the effect would become even more conspicuous.
Mo Na Ye continued with a smile, “Therefore, the Humans are not the only ones who need to train their soldiers, we must do so as well. There is a firm limit to the number of Innate Territory Lords, but there will be many new Eighth-Order and Ninth-Order Humans in the future. If no new Royal Lords rise up in our Black Ink Clan, we won’t be able to deal with those Ninth-Order Humans when the time comes. As such, we can’t break the balance in Profound Nether Territory. Not only must we not make any rash moves, but we also have to take the initiative to protect our agreement with the Humans.”
The Territory Lords nodded as they listened to him. They weren’t fools, it was just that they knew too little about the Humans; therefore, they were unable to make sound judgements in many situations. Mo Na Ye had been collecting information over the years, especially from the Black Ink Disciples, which was why he was more informed than the other Territory Lords.
Six Arms asked, “What do you think Yang Kai’s intention is this time, then?”
Since they were back to the main topic, Mo Na Ye replied with a smile, “Before striking a peace deal with us back then, Yang Kai killed many Territory Lords to intimidate us. What do you think he’s trying to achieve this time, Sir Six Arms?”
This time, Yang Kai suddenly appeared in Twin Poles Territory and slaughtered five Territory Lords while the Humans also eliminated over a million lower Black Ink Clansmen, which was quite similar to how he behaved back then.
Six Arms’ eyes brightened, “He’s trying to turn Twin Poles Territory into a second Profound Nether Territory!”
Mo Na Ye nodded, “Profound Nether Territory is no longer adequate to satisfy the Humans’ need to train their soldiers, and it’s the same for our Black Ink Clan. As more and more Human cultivators have streamed into Profound Nether Territory, this place has become cramped. The Humans probably don’t just want a second Profound Nether Territory, they likely want several of them.”
“I see,” Six Arms guffawed. He was initially in a tight spot as the Territory Lords from the other Great Territories had come together to pressure him, but now it seemed that it wasn’t difficult to deal with this matter. As long as he spread the news, those Territory Lords would stop blaming him for his inaction. Instead, they would be eager to hold peace talks with the Human leaders.
While he was elated, he also saw Mo Na Ye in a different light. Six Arms initially held some grudges against Mo Na Ye while the latter stayed in Profound Nether Territory; after all, it was because Mo Na Ye had sent false information that caused immense losses in Profound Nether Territory back then. Now, it seemed that those losses no longer mattered.
“With Brother Mo Na Ye around, we don’t have to worry about Profound Nether Territory being conquered by the enemy,” Six Arms laughed.
Just then, Mo Na Ye got to his feet and said, “I’ll have to leave this place, Sir Six Arms.”
Six Arms stopped laughing while the other Territory Lords looked at him in shock.
Mo Na Ye went on to say, “Sir Royal Lord has ordered me to head to Twin Poles Territory at once to take charge of that place. Besides that, I’m told that if the Humans want another peace deal, I will have to lead the negotiations from our side.”
Six Arms was startled for a moment, but he soon realised what was going on.
The purple-haired Territory Lord, who was initially in charge of Twin Poles Territory, was killed. As such, that place was basically leaderless now. Although Innate Territory Lords were all-powerful, there had to be a Commander among them. Mo Na Ye was indeed qualified to fill the role.
However, Six Arms felt jealous when he learned about the Royal Lord’s second order, for he wasn’t aware of it at all, and the Royal Lord apparently didn’t have the intention to inform him.
Perhaps there wasn’t a need to inform him since they had already set a precedent in Profound Nether Territory, but it also went to show that the Royal Lord thought highly of Mo Na Ye.
“It’s good that you’re heading to Twin Poles Territory; however, Yang Kai is there at the moment, so you must be careful.” Six Arms pretended to be concerned.
“Every time Yang Kai makes a move, he recuperates for two years. As such, there won’t be any conflicts in Twin Poles Territory for the moment,” Mo Na Ye replied calmly.
Furthermore, he wasn’t going to Twin Poles Territory to fight with the Humans; instead, he was going to strike a peace deal with them.
Just like what he had said to Six Arms, the Humans were not the only ones who needed to train their soldiers, the Black Ink Clan had to do the same. Once a peace deal was reached, no one party would have an advantage over the other.
Nevertheless, the Humans had realised this much earlier on, while the Black Ink Clan were only just understanding this now.
Then, Mo Na Ye left on his own without bringing any Territory Lords or subordinates with him.
In fact, he couldn’t take any Territory Lords with him. Although there had been a peace deal in Profound Nether Territory, both the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords wouldn’t dare to leave as they pleased. If there was a significant enough imbalance between the numbers of the most powerful Masters on the two sides, the stronger party might seize the chance and wipe the other out.
The moment Mo Na Ye arrived at Twin Poles Territory, he summoned all the Territory Lords to a conference hall and announced that he was going to hold peace talks with the Humans. All of them broke into a commotion, with some of them angered while others felt relieved.
However, when they heard that it was the Royal Lord’s order, they accepted it without any complaints. Many of them were even elated. If there was a peace deal in place, they wouldn’t have to worry about bumping into Yang Kai on the battlefield.
It wasn’t that they were just afraid of death, but also that they wouldn’t dare to disobey the Royal Lord.
Since a consensus had been reached, Mo Na Ye ordered some Feudal Lords to head to the Humans’ camp and convey his intention to hold peace talks. At the same time, he shared the information he had gathered with the other Great Territories.
This resulted in the Great Territories, which were initially filled with intense battles, suddenly falling silent. Although there were still some conflicts, they were minor skirmishes compared to the full-blown war from before.
What was more, the Black Ink Clan were at a distinct advantage in a number of the Great Territories, but even there they decided to take the initiative to retreat.
It was apparent that they were worried about being targeted by Yang Kai and ending up like those in Twin Poles Territory.
The Black Ink Clan decided to keep a low profile for the moment; after all, the reason Yang Kai appeared in Twin Poles Territory was that the situation there was the most severe for the Humans.
Every Great Territory had over 100 Innate Territory Lords assuming command, and Yang Kai could only kill a few of them at any given time; however, no one could guarantee that they wouldn’t be one of those unlucky few.
While Yang Kai was still recuperating, those Territory Lords were already anxiously preparing for the future. Everything would be fine as long as they didn’t push the Humans over the edge and attract the killing star’s attention.
Three years later, in one of the secret rooms in the Humans’ camp, Yang Kai opened his eyes.
This time, it took him longer to recuperate than in the past. Besides the fact that his Soul had been torn apart, he was also left with many physical wounds from his battle with the purple-haired Territory Lord.
At that time, he repeatedly headbutted the Territory Lord and shattered the latter’s head. As a result, many cracks also formed on his own skull.
After the battle, Yang Kai also stopped underestimating the Territory Lords. He came to realise that it wasn’t easy to deal with any of them if they suddenly rose up without fear of death.
He had a right to comment on this topic, for he had defeated many who were much stronger than him in the past. His ferocity and fearlessness played a crucial part in those victories. The Innate Territory Lords, who were struck by the Soul Rending Thorns and subsequently killed due to their own fear, couldn’t represent all of the most powerful Black Ink Clansmen.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai wouldn’t underestimate himself either.
Regardless of how powerful the Territory Lords were, he had killed many of them, which went to show that he was a capable person, and he would kill even more of them in the future.
In any case, he had to settle the issue in Twin Poles Territory first. Then, he would head to the other Great Territories and slaughter the Black Ink Clansmen there until they were thoroughly terrified of him. Only then would he talk to them.
When he left the secret room though, he realised that someone had been waiting for him. The person promptly cupped his fist with a solemn expression and said, “You’ve finally left seclusion, Sir.”
Yang Kai looked up and realised that he knew this person; it was Xiang Shan’s adjutant, Li Xing. Back then in the Great Evolution Army, Xiang Shan was the Army Commander of the Eastern Army while Li Xing handled the miscellaneous affairs and passed on Xiang Shan’s orders.
Yang Kai had come into contact with him on several occasions.
His gaze could not help being drawn to the other man’s right eye as he asked, “What happened?”
Initially, Li Xing was a handsome and dapper man, but he had become more mature after going through the vicissitudes of life. However, his right eye was blind, and there was a hideous scar that ran across his cheek, looking like a centipede crawling on his face.
Li Xing smiled, “It’s inevitable that we get hurt on the battlefield.”
Meanwhile, he thought back to when, back in the Great Evolution Army, just like him, Yang Kai was only a Seventh-Order Master who actually had less experience. However, Li Xing was still a Seventh-Order Master now while Yang Kai was now an Eighth-Order Master who had made a name for himself.
If they looked further back in history, Yang Kai was only a Sixth-Order Master when he arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield for the first time, while at that time, Li Xing was already a Seventh-Order Master.
On top of that, all the Territory Lords feared Yang Kai. The things that had happened over the past few years changed Li Xing’s worldview.
He finally realised that sometimes, just one person was enough to change the status quo.
At the same time, he felt sorry for Yang Kai, who only directly ascended to the Fifth Order back then. As such, he didn’t have a chance to make it to the Ninth Order in his lifetime.
If he was able to ascend to the Ninth Order, the chances of the Humans winning the war would increase by at least 30%.
Just then, Li Xing snapped back to reality and said, “Senior Xiang Shan has ordered that the moment Sir Yang exits seclusion, you must head to the conference hall at once. The higher-ups want to discuss with you.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Understood.”
In the Main Conference Hall, Yang Kai waited for a moment before the other Eighth-Order Masters appeared and greeted him. While they were having some small talk with smiles on their faces, Xiang Shan arrived.
After they were seated, Xiang Shan tossed a jade slip at Yang Kai and said, “Before we begin, I want you to have a look at this. While you were recuperating over the past few years, things have changed a lot on the battlefields.”
Yang Kai’s heart sank, for he thought that something terrible had happened. As such, he quickly went through the jade slip’s content, but his expression soon turned awkward.
He looked up at Xiang Shan and asked, “What is the Black Ink Clan trying to achieve?”
Unlike what he had imagined, things didn’t take a turn for the worse; in fact, the situation had become quite peaceful across all other Great Territories.
Profound Nether Territory remained the same as there was already a peace deal in place, so more and more Human soldiers continued to stream into that place.
Meanwhile, the Black Ink Clan soldiers in Twin Poles Territory had been staying put. They still clashed with the Humans from time to time, but those were minor skirmishes at best.
What made Yang Kai speechless was the situation in all the other Great Territories.
There were a total of 13 Great Territories where the Humans and the Black Ink Clan Armies were fighting. In most of the Great Territories, the Black Ink Clan held the advantage. In some of the Great Territories, the Humans were not doing much better than in Twin Poles Territory three years ago and were on the brink of being forced to withdraw.
However, after Yang Kai reappeared from 300 years of absence, the Black Ink Clansmen in all the Great Territories collectively retreated.
Over the past three years, only a few large-scale battles took place in the various Great Territories. Furthermore, the Humans were the ones who initiated those battles.
What was more, apart from the Profound Nether Territory, the Territory Lords from the other 12 Great Territories subsequently sent some people to the Humans’ camps to convey their intention to hold peace talks. The peace deals were basically copies of the one established in Profound Nether Territory, which stated that the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords would not participate further in the war.
The Eighth-Order Masters were certainly pleased with the Black Ink Clan’s attitude, but they were not sure if they should agree to it. As such, the Eighth-Order Masters from different Great Territories passed the information to the Supreme Headquarters and let the latter make a decision.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded as he went through the information.
After he stopped cultivating in seclusion, he was looking forward to killing some more Territory Lords. Twin Poles Territory was no longer a suitable hunting ground, as after the incident back then, the Territory Lords here would surely have their guards up. With that said, Yang Kai could head to any other Great Territory. For example, Lang Ya Territory would be a good choice.
Nonetheless, he didn’t expect things to turn out this way.
It was no wonder that the Eighth-Order Masters looked at him with meaningful gazes. The changes in these Great Territories naturally had something to do with what he had done three years ago.
“First of all, I guess they must be wary of you. Secondly, they must have seen through our intentions,” Xiang Shan explained, “While we need to train our soldiers, they do too. As such, they’ve decided to just go with the flow.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Did those from the Supreme Headquarters say anything about it?”
Instead of answering his question, Xiang Shan asked, “What do you have to say?”
Yang Kai had single-handedly changed the status quo of the entire war; as such, those from the Supreme Headquarters had to respect his opinion. Otherwise, they could’ve made a decision on their own instead of waiting for Yang Kai to stop cultivating in seclusion.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai replied, “Even though they’ve seen through our intentions, there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s not like we could have hidden it forever. We can’t possibly give up on our plan just to stop the Black Ink Clan from training their soldiers. We have to strike some sort of agreement with them.”
“Do you think we should agree to it?” Xiang Shan asked.
“Yes, but we still need to negotiate with them. Since they’re the ones proposing peace talks this time, they should send a representative from each of the Great Territories over. Twin Poles Territory is as good a place as any for the talks, so we just need to set a time. Both sides will put their cards on the table and hammer out an agreement. In any case, we can’t make a deal without all the Great Territories being included in the negotiations.”
The reason the Humans had to train their soldiers was primarily to let the young talents of the next generation experience life-and-death struggles, which would stimulate their potential and allow them to reach greater heights sooner.
However, once a Seventh-Order Master ascended to the Eighth Order, they wouldn’t be allowed to take part in the war anymore if every Great Territory was included in this peace deal.
The Eighth Order wasn’t the ultimate goal of the Humans training their soldiers, the Ninth Order was.
As such, they needed a stage where Eighth-Order Masters could shine.
In fact, those from the Supreme Headquarters had considered all this without the need for Yang Kai to say anything. Since they had confirmed their agenda, they needed to decide how many Great Territories the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords couldn’t have a hand in the war and how many Great Territories where things would go on as usual out of the remaining 12 Great Territories, including Twin Poles Territory.
To the Humans, they naturally wanted things to go on as usual in the Great Territories where they had an advantage while obviously the Black Ink Clan would want the opposite.
It was expected that there were bound to be disagreements over the details of this peace deal. These arguments were not only between the Humans and Black Ink Clan though, perhaps there would be some disagreement within the Black Ink Clan as well.
After all, none of the Territory Lords hoped that the situation in the Great Territories they were responsible for would go on as usual.
Knowing what Yang Kai meant, Xiang Shan nodded, “We’ll assemble representatives from our side and hold the conference in two months, then.”
“Those from the Supreme Headquarters can just make the arrangements. I’m fine with anything.”
“You mustn’t go anywhere else these two months. We’ll need you to be there during the peace talk,” Xiang Shan reminded him. He was worried that Yang Kai would disappear when he wasn’t paying attention. Yang Kai was an expert in the Dao of Space and was always elusive. If he wasn’t present during the peace talks though, the Humans would be far less intimidating to their enemies.
“I know,” Yang Kai replied. Certainly, he understood the matter’s importance.
Then, the Eighth-Order Masters discussed the agenda that would be brought up during the peace talk. Although the details weren’t confirmed, they soon had a general idea of what would be discussed.
To the Humans, it was necessary to gain several battlefields that were relatively safe.
The Black Ink Clan must have realised the Humans’ intention, which was why they proposed having a peace talk. While they were forced to do it, they were also pushing a sailing boat along at this point. To them, by killing the Open Heaven Realm Masters on the battlefields, they could strengthen their powers by absorbing the World Force from the Human corpses. They were able to directly grow stronger in battle, which was an advantage that the Humans didn’t have.
Both parties seemed to pin their hopes on the growth of their respective rising Stars, who were the key to their success or failure in this war. The Black Ink Clan had the advantage of having a larger population, so given enough time, there would be a lot of new Feudal Lords, Territory Lords, and even Royal Lords.
On the other hand, the Humans had the advantage of having the Star Boundary, Myriad Monsters World, and Yang Kai’s Small Universe. As time passed, there would be quite a number of Eighth-Order and Ninth-Order Masters rising up from these places.
Perhaps the Black Ink Clan was also trying to avoid a thorny issue.
To the Black Ink Clan presently, Yang Kai was the most difficult problem to deal with as he had managed to kill several dozen Territory Lords. However, once more and more Royal Lords were born, Yang Kai, regardless of how powerful he was, would no longer be a deciding factor in the war.
Naturally, the Black Ink Clan wanted to see the Humans giving up on their biggest trump card.
Despite it being called a peace talk on the surface, both sides were secretly waging a battle of wits. Both parties were preparing for the deciding clashes in the future where one party would emerge as the inheritors of the Universe.
For the next two months, Yang Kai focused on cultivating and did nothing else. He refined sets of cultivation resources and gulped down Open Heaven Pills by the handful.
To him, the most important thing now was to increase his strength and reach the peak of the Eighth Order as soon as possible.
If he wanted to have an impact on the war in the future, he had to strengthen himself first. Given his heritage, it wouldn’t be difficult for Yang Kai to reach the peak of the Eighth Order. At that point, even if he couldn’t make it to the Ninth Order, he wouldn’t be powerless when he came across a Royal Lord.
It was his forte to defeat enemies above his Realm after all.
During this period, many Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords from the other Great Territories arrived at Twin Poles Territory.
They had already chosen Twin Poles Territory to be the place where the peace talk would be held, which was because Yang Kai was there. To the Black Ink Clan, what they wanted to restrict the most was Yang Kai; as such, he had to be present during the peace talks.
As the date of the peace talks was just around the corner, both parties frequently mobilised their soldiers in Twin Poles Territory. Although they believed that there wouldn’t be any problem with the conference, they still had to be prepared.
If the discussion fell apart, a war might break out.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai didn’t cultivate in absolute seclusion this time. In other words, he could exit at any time.
One day, while he was refining resources in his room, Yang Kai realised that the restriction outside had been triggered. When he looked up, he saw a curvy figure stepping towards him.
“Ahem…” The corners of Yang Kai’s brow twitched, “I’m cultivating.”
The person guffawed, “I know, so I was just giving it a try. I didn’t expect that I could really just walk in like this.”
[That’s because I didn’t turn on all the restrictions so that people outside could contact me at any moment, or else I might have missed the peace talks.]
“Do you need something, Senior Sister Luo?” Yang Kai asked.
The person was none other than Luo Ting He, who was an Eighth-Order Master from Yin-Yang Heaven. Now, she was the Army Commander of Azure Sun Territory.
Out of all 13 Armies in the Great Territories, she was the only female Army Commander.
She and Yang Kai could be considered close friends. When he went to Yin-Yang Heaven to look for Qu Hua Shang in the past, the latter had entered the Samsara Pavilion to avoid pressure from the higher-ups of her Sect. Yang Kai entered the Samsara Pavilion and went through nine reincarnations with her before he managed to restore her memory. After that, he brought Qu Hua Shang out.
Thousands of years before then, Luo Ting He had been trapped in the Samsara Pavilion as well, and there was no word on whether she was dead or alive.
In the process of saving Qu Hua Shang, Yang Kai also managed to restore Luo Ting He’s memories and allowed her to leave the Samsara Pavilion.
Luo Ting He was a rare talent who had directly ascended to the Seventh Order and was now a longtime veteran Eighth Order Master with hopes of breaking through to the Ninth Order soon.
Although there were many Eighth-Order Masters now, only a small number of them had a chance to rise to the Ninth-Order. Out of the people that Yang Kai knew, Xiang Shan and Wei Jun Yang had the potential to do so. Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun, Ou Yang Lie, and the others had already reached their limits and there was no way they could make further advancements.
After parting ways in Yin-Yang Heaven back then, Yang Kai and Luo Ting He hadn’t met again. He only knew that she was in charge of Azure Sun Territory and that she was the Army Commander of the Azure Sun Army.
He had no idea why she came looking for him all of a sudden.
“The peace talks with the Black Ink Clan will be taking place in a few days,” Luo Ting He sat down across from Yang Kai and said, “I heard that those from the Supreme Headquarters have come up with a general proposal. Out of the 12 Great Territories, six will be included in the peace deal while the other six will remain as they are.”
Yang Kai nodded, “En; however, that’s just the proposal from our side, so the Black Ink Clan might not agree to it. Regardless, there’s bound to be some arguments.”
The Humans were at an advantage in this kind of peace talk, but naturally, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t agree to everything they asked for, and those from the Supreme Headquarters were well prepared for this.
“I hope that Azure Sun Territory will be included in the six Great Territories where things will remain unchanged,” Luo Ting He directly told him about her purpose for visiting.
Yang Kai smiled helplessly, “Those from the Supreme Headquarters will be responsible for the discussion with the Black Ink Clan. I’m only required to show up. Since you have a request, why don’t you head to the Supreme Headquarters and tell Senior Brother Xiang about it?”
[She shouldn’t have come to me!]
Luo Ting He pursed her lips, “I did go to the Supreme Headquarters, but that damn Big Head Xiang didn’t agree to my request.”
Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter, “Then it’s pointless for you to speak to me either.”
“Why would it be pointless? Don’t underestimate yourself. The Black Ink Clan want this peace deal with us because they’re afraid of you. Your word has a huge influence on the outcome of this conference.”
Yang Kai wasn’t sure what he should make of this, so he just asked, “Does Senior Brother Xiang intend to include Azure Sun Territory as part of the peace deal?”
“En,” Luo Ting He nodded.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai said, “Senior Brother Xiang must have his reasons for making such a decision. I know a thing or two about the situation in Azure Sun Territory, so I’m aware the Black Ink Clan has gained the upper hand over there. If Azure Sun Territory could be included in the peace deal, that would be beneficial to the Humans overall. You’ll gain some benefits as well, so what’s the point of you insisting on maintaining the status quo? Furthermore, it has been quite a long time since you ascended to the Eighth Order. If things become peaceful in Azure Sun Territory, you’ll have plenty of time to cultivate to achieve a breakthrough.”
The moment Yang Kai finished speaking, Luo Ting He became infuriated, “That was what Big Head Xiang said as well! However, if cultivating in seclusion was useful at all, what would be the point of you building a stage to train those brats? Of those in my position, I’ve been in the Eighth Order longer than almost all of them and have essentially reached the peak. Nevertheless, it’s not easy to make it to the Ninth Order. To me, cultivating in seclusion is no longer useful.”
Yang Kai instantly understood what she was trying to say, “Do you want to achieve a breakthrough in battle?”
Luo Ting He questioned, “Isn’t that the ultimate goal of all of this?”
“Do you have the confidence to achieve it?” Yang Kai asked solemnly.
Luo Ting He smiled fearlessly, “I can’t guarantee that I’ll definitely succeed, but I’ll do my best. I know Xiang Shan has chosen Azure Sun Territory to be included in the peace deal to do me a favour; however, I know myself best.”
Yang Kai nodded and fell silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll talk with Senior Brother Xiang, then. However, I’m in no way able to influence his decision.”
Luo Ting He beamed at him, “Many thanks, Junior Brother.”
After Luo Ting He left, Yang Kai didn’t continue cultivating.
There were only a small number of Eighth-Order Masters who had the right to ascend to the Ninth-Order currently, because very few people managed to directly ascend to the Seventh-Order in the past. Such a person only appeared on average once every 1,000 years, and many of them died in battle with the Black Ink Clan over the years.
No one could guarantee when the Eighth-Order Masters like Luo Ting He, Xiang Shan, and Wei Jun Yang, who had the potential to make it to the Ninth Order, would achieve this.
Nonetheless, given the situation that the Humans were in, just one or two Ninth-Order Masters wouldn’t be enough to turn things around.
As long as Mo’s true body wasn’t destroyed, the Humans couldn’t root out the Black Ink Clan. However, it was extremely difficult to kill Mo. Now, Yang Kai still hadn’t the foggiest idea about what the Primordial Light was or where to find it. The only thing he was certain about was that Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan had something to do with the Primordial Light.
Two days later, Yang Kai left the secret room as it was time for the peace talks with the Black Ink Clan.
The moment he stepped out of the room, he felt some powerful and unrestrained auras which belonged to Eighth-Order Masters.
In the distant void, where the Black Ink Clan’s camp was located, there were also powerful auras gathered together. The Innate Territory Lords were also trying to make a show of force.
Before the discussion even started, the two sides were already clashing from a distance.
When Xiang Shan registered Yang Kai’s presence, he turned to look at him and nodded.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai sent him a Divine Sense transmission and brought up Luo Ting He’s request, after which Xiang Shan nodded.
“It’s time, let’s go!”
As a roar reverberated across the place, Xiang Shan took the initiative to soar into the void, and he was immediately followed by a dozen or so others.
Noticing the Humans’ movements, the Innate Territory Lords started leaving the Black Ink Clan’s camp as well.
The armies of both Races were well prepared for any possible accidents and the entire Twin Poles Territory was engulfed in a dense murderous atmosphere as a sense of unease spread everywhere. It was as though a little spark would blow everything up.
The location of the peace talk had already been chosen a while back. It was right in the middle of the Humans’ and the Black Ink Clan’s camps.
The Black Ink Clan had even brought a Universe Fragment over from their own camp to use as a platform.
There was a huge table set on the platform, and rough-looking wooden chairs were placed on either side.
The Masters from both parties almost arrived at the same time.
It might have been a coincidence or an agreement, but both parties had respectively sent exactly 13 Masters to this place, one representative from each of the 13 Great Territory Battlefields.
They were supposed to be arch-enemies that could never coexist; nevertheless, due to various reasons, they had no choice but to come together today, which was quite ironic.
The Black Ink Clan Masters were mostly nervous and uneasy, as although they had the same number on their side as the Humans, if a fight broke out, some of them would undoubtedly lose their lives today.
This couldn’t be helped, as Yang Kai was present and had proven he could kill Territory Lords like them with ease.
Nonetheless, they couldn’t exclude him from the discussion; after all, he was the mastermind behind the initial peace deal. As such, these talks would be meaningless without him.
Before this, the Black Ink Clan had thought about sending more Territory Lords, but it wasn’t like the Humans couldn’t do the same by sending more Eighth-Order Masters. In the end, they could only accept this arrangement.
They only dared to steal glances at Yang Kai without looking at him for too long, for they were worried they would be targeted.
These powerful Innate Territory Lords were as timid as mice in a cat’s presence. Although they still pretended to be unperturbed, they were terrified deep down.
In comparison, the Eighth-Order Masters appeared calm and collected.
Yang Kai swept a glance over the Territory Lords and realised he didn’t know most of them; nevertheless, he did recognize two.
He had met them in Acacia Territory back then; in fact, they had appeared in Profound Nether Territory before as well, but for some reason, they were all now in Twin Poles Territory.
The purple-haired Territory Lord, who was originally in charge of Twin Poles Territory, had been killed by Yang Kai, so Mo Na Ye was tasked by the Royal Lord to take over. Since the peace talk was held in this Great Territory, he naturally had to show up.
Meanwhile, You Gong was actually the representative from Profound Nether Territory.
A peace deal had already been established in Profound Nether Territory for over 300 years, and the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords had stayed out of the war as agreed. However, since this was a peace talk that encompassed all the Great Territory Battlefields, Profound Nether Territory couldn’t just stay out of it. Six Arms didn’t want to meet up with Yang Kai; therefore, he only sent You Gong to this place so that the latter could report to him about the outcome later.
Naturally, You Gong didn’t want to come, but he had no other choice as he couldn’t disobey Six Arms’s orders.
As Yang Kai swept a glance over them, You Gong hurriedly hung his head low.
He was still traumatized from the incident in Acacia Territory back then; therefore, Yang Kai’s presence here was like a waking nightmare to him.
As Mo Na Ye observed the Territory Lords’ expressions, he couldn’t help but think that they were all useless. Both parties were there for peace talks, so as long as the Black Ink Clan didn’t cross the line, the Humans wouldn’t attack them. However, the reactions of these Territory Lords from the various Great Territories were quite embarrassing for Mo Na Ye.
As the Commander in Twin Poles Territory, Mo Na Ye naturally couldn’t let the Humans look down on the Black Ink Clan; as such, he extended his hand and said, “Please be seated. We’re all here for peace talks. The Humans always say that even if a deal falls short, both parties shouldn’t fall out. Although these peace talks aren’t really a deal, it’s not so different. Let us set the grudges between us aside for the moment until the peace talks are concluded.”
His calmness infected the other Territory Lords and they soon pulled themselves together.
One Eighth-Order Master sneered, “Destroying the Black Ink Clan is our ultimate goal. There’s no room for mercy.”
Mo Na Ye replied dispassionately, “If destroying the Black Ink Clan is your only goal, all of you wouldn’t have come here. Let’s dispense with the unnecessary probing and get to the main topic, shall we?”
Saying so, he swept a glance over the Eighth-Order Masters and eventually stared at Yang Kai. Then, he nodded gently, “What do you say, Sir Yang Kai?”
Yang Kai smiled, “I’m only here to enjoy the show. Don’t pay me any mind.”
When he was still weak back then, he had never expected that even the powerful Innate Territory Lords would call him Sir one day. It seemed that he was now an intimidating figure to the Black Ink Clan after killing so many of their Territory Lords.
While he was lost in such thoughts, Yang Kai pulled out a chair and took a seat. Then, he placed his legs up on the table and leaned back casually.
Only then did the Humans sit down at the table, followed by the Black Ink Clan Masters.
Realising something, Mo Na Ye turned to look at Xiang Shan and said, “It seems that you’re the lead representative on the Humans’ side, Sir Xiang Shan. Am I right?”
Since both parties had been clashing for years, the top Masters from both Races had heard a lot about each other. Even if they had never met or exchanged moves before, they could still recognise one another the moment they met.
Moreover, before Yang Kai’s rise, Xiang Shan was already a famous figure to the Black Ink Clan. He had been to all the battlefields in over 10 Great Territories, and he had managed to kill a few Territory Lords himself.
Many of these Territory Lords had never met Yang Kai before, but most had at least seen Xiang Shan in the past.
Xiang Shan grunted in response, “En.”
Mo Na Ye said, “In that case, let us cut to the chase. After a discussion with all the Territory Lords from different Great Territories, we’ve come to a consensus. We’d like to imitate the peace deal in Profound Nether Territory. From now on, the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters can’t have a hand in the battles in all the Great Territories. What do you say, Sir Xiang Shan?”
Xiang Shan looked up at him and replied impassively, “No.”
Mo Na Ye kept a smile on his face, as though he had already expected Xiang Shan’s response, “Sir Xiang Shan, do you mean that the Humans do not want a peace deal?”
Meanwhile, he sneered to himself. If the Humans didn’t want a peace deal, they wouldn’t have taken the trouble to show up today. Now, the representatives of the 13 Great Territories from both sides had come together, and since the Humans were here, it showed that they wanted a peace deal as well. Mo Na Ye reckoned that the Humans were only putting up an act.
Xiang Shan said, “We’re pleased with the current situation, so there’s no need to change anything.”
Mo Na Ye refuted, “As far as I understand, the Humans are at a disadvantage in most of the Great Territories. If not for Sir Yang Kai’s appearance in Twin Poles Territory, the Humans would’ve already lost the war here.”
“That was the situation three years ago,” Xiang Shan replied calmly, “Things are different now, so what is the point of you bringing up the past?”
Mo Na Ye frowned, “Sir Xiang Shan, are you trying to say that you want the situation in all the Great Territories to remain unchanged?”
When he noticed Xiang Shan’s silence, he put on a helpless smile, “We’ve shown enough sincerity for this peace talk. Regardless of the advantages we have in those Great Territories, we’ve given up on them and retreated. I’m sure you can see that.”
An Eighth-Order Master scoffed, “All of you are just afraid of Yang Kai. Stop glossing over it, will you? You didn’t have to retreat if you had the guts…”
Before he could finish his words, Mo Na Ye cut him off loudly, “Sir Yang Kai is indeed powerful, and Territory Lords like us find it hard to deal with him. However, every time he makes a move, he can only kill a few of us. After that, he has to recuperate for an extended time. If we wanted to, we could’ve initiated a massive war while he was recuperating and none of you would have resisted us.”
The same Eighth-Order Master snapped, “Give it a try if you dare!”
As he surged his World Force, the Territory Lords were alarmed and raised their guard. At that moment, the atmosphere had become tense.
An unperturbed Mo Na Ye looked at Xiang Shan and said, “A peace deal will be beneficial to both the Black Ink Clan and the Humans. With Profound Nether Territory as an example, I’m sure you’ll make a wise decision, Sir Xiang Shan.”
Xiang Shan replied impassively, “A peace talk at this point will be beneficial to the Black Ink Clan as the Territory Lords no longer have to be anxious; however, what benefits will we get?”
Mo Na Ye said, “Isn’t it your intention to provide a safe space for those below the Eighth Order to fight and grow?”
He initially didn’t want to point it out so blatantly, but he had no choice but to do so now. Xiang Shan’s attitude suggested that the Black Ink Clan had to produce an adequate bargaining chip to make the Humans even begin to bargain.
Xiang Shan wasn’t surprised one bit. Over the years, some Humans had fallen into the Black Ink Clan’s hands and had been turned into Black Ink Disciples. As such, some information about the Humans must have been leaked.
“There seems to be a lot of rising Stars on the Humans’ side. If they’re accidentally killed by the Territory Lords in battle, you will suffer immense losses. After all, a Seventh-Order Master who might turn into a Ninth-Order Master in the future is a rare commodity. Some 300 years ago, Sir Yang Kai slaughtered a large number of Black Ink Clansmen in Profound Nether Territory but still took the initiative to strike a peace deal with us. Wasn’t that part of his consideration? Why are you making things difficult for us when we want a peace deal now? Do you want Profound Nether Territory to be dragged into the war again, Sir Xiang Shan?”
Xiang Shan looked up at him, “Are you threatening me?” It seemed that as long as the peace talk fell short, the agreement in Profound Nether Territory would be nullified as well. In that case, things would revert to the situation 300 years ago, and the Human Juniors would lose their only training ground.
Mo Na Ye replied calmly, “That’s not what I meant at all. I believe there is a phrase among you Humans called ‘standing at death’s door’. We are basically wandering around death’s door by coming to this place. A peace deal is all we want, so we wouldn’t dare to be provocative; after all, if Sir Yang Kai suddenly decides to act out, half of us will likely have to remain here forever.”
Despite knowing that Mo Na Ye’s words were insincere, Yang Kai was still pleased. It felt good to have someone flattering him, especially when that person was a powerful Innate Territory Lord. It was an enjoyable sensation on another level.
Mo Na Ye went on to say, “As for the benefits you’ve mentioned, Sir Xiang Shan, I have to admit that the peace deal will be beneficial to the Black Ink Clan. As such, we’re willing to offer some compensation.”
“What kind of compensation?”
“What about some resources?” Mo Na Ye asked inquisitively, “The Humans need resources to cultivate. For each Great Territory included in this deal, we will provide a certain amount of resources. As for the amount, there’s room for discussion.”
Seeing that Mo Na Ye appeared sincere, the Eighth-Order Masters were tempted.
No one had expected that the Black Ink Clan would be willing to make such a huge concession to secure a peace deal. They couldn’t help suspecting that a peace deal might bring even greater benefits to the Black Ink Clan than they had known.
After pondering for a moment though, they concluded that the Territory Lords were just too terrified of Yang Kai.
There was no denying Yang Kai couldn’t kill many Territory Lords at any given time. If the Territory Lords remained highly vigilant, he might not even kill any one of them; however, no one would be able to be at ease with such a powerful enemy eyeing them in the dark.
“There’s nothing else I can say if you still don’t want this peace agreement,” Mo Na Ye stared fixedly at Xiang Shan and spread his palms.
After a moment of silence, Xiang Shan nodded, “There’s room for discussion.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Territory Lords let out a sigh of relief as they became slightly at ease. Nonetheless, what Xiang Shan was about to say would unnerve them again.
“However, not all Great Territories will be included in the peace deal,” Xiang Shan tapped on the table, “Other than Profound Nether Territory, six places will be part of the peace deal and the other six will remain unchanged out of the remaining 12 Great Territories. If you can’t agree to this, there’s no need for any further discussion.”
Only then did Mo Na Ye realise this was the Humans’ true intention.
After giving it some thought, however, he felt that this condition wasn’t unacceptable. Just like what he had said to Six Arms before, while the Humans needed to train their soldiers, the Black Ink Clan did as well.
When Seventh-Order Masters ascended to the Eighth-Order, they needed a stage to keep on training, and it was the same for the Black Ink Clan when their Feudal Lords became Territory Lords.
As such, it was acceptable that only some Great Territories would be included in the peace deal.
Mo Na Ye turned to look at the Territory Lords and realised that they looked stiff and nervous. At that moment, he couldn’t help but smile helplessly. Although he felt that he should agree to Xiang Shan’s request, it would also put him in a tight spot.
Six out of 12 Great Territories would be included in the peace deal, so only half of the places would enjoy some peace of mind.
However, how was Mo Na Ye supposed to make this decision on his own?
The representatives of each Great Territory certainly hoped that they would be part of the peace deal.
After some deliberation, Mo Na Ye nodded, “We can agree to this, but I also have a condition.”
When the other Territory Lords heard Mo Na Ye’s words, their expressions changed slightly. They quickly tried to recall if there were any grudges or friendship between Mo Na Ye and them. The Royal Lord had put Mo Na Ye in charge of these peace talks, so if the latter wanted to get revenge on them and excluded the Great Territories whose representatives he hated from the peace deal, there wouldn’t be peaceful moments again for them in the future.
“What kind of condition?” Xiang Shan asked with a frown.
Mo Na Ye pointed his finger at Yang Kai, “From now on, Sir Yang Kai must not make a move in any of the Great Territories!”
The Territory Lords were startled as they had the urge to clap their hands for Mo Na Ye.
They had been anxious because they were wary of Yang Kai, but if they could ensure Yang Kai wouldn’t make a move again, they no longer had to worry about anything.
Xiang Shan was slightly surprised as well as he thought to himself, [This Mo Na Ye is a sharp fellow. He directly understood the crux of the matter and made a proposal to deal with it.]
“In your dreams!” A hot-tempered Eighth-Order Master forcefully smacked his palm on the table and stood up. The Humans would be considered foolish if they agreed to such a ridiculous demand. By agreeing to that, they would be removing their strongest trump card, and no one would be able to intimidate the Black Ink Clan again.
An unfazed Mo Na Ye replied with a smile, “Since this is a negotiation, both parties naturally have to make some concessions. It’s not like we’ll let ourselves suffer losses while the Humans reap all the benefits. Even if I agreed to your demands, the Royal Lord wouldn’t.”
“We’ve made the biggest concession by having this peace talk with you, stop being so impudent.”
“That’s why we’re willing to offer a large amount of resources as compensation.”
“We don’t need your resources!”
“If the peace talk falls short, the agreement in Profound Nether Territory will be nullified as well!”
…..
The originally peaceful situation soon turned clamorous. The Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords were cursing at each other across the long table without any poise to speak of. If an uninformed individual arrived and saw what was going on, they might think they had entered a hawker market or something where vendors and customers were haggling back and forth.
Mo Na Ye remained silent. Since he had put forth this condition, the other Territory Lords had to work hard to make sure it would be included in the peace deal. He believed that they wouldn’t want Yang Kai to have a hand in the battles anymore. It was the outcome they all wanted.
“The Innate Territory Lords have an advantage over the Eighth-Order Masters when it comes to numbers, yet you’re now trying to restrict Yang Kai as well? Does that mean we can also limit the number of Territory Lords who will take part in the war!?”
“There’s room for discussion!”
…..
The noise stopped in an instant. All the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords turned to look at Mo Na Ye.
The Eighth-Order Master who spoke just now was dumbfounded. He was just venting while also making what he considered an outrageous demand to make a point; he never expected Mo Na Ye to actually agree to it.
Faced with all the stares, Mo Na Ye said with a smile, “Why are all of you looking at me like that? Just like what I’ve said before, both parties have to give and take to reach an agreement. It’s not like either party here would accept suffering immense losses. As such, we have to come to an agreement that both sides will find acceptable. Only then would the agreement be possible. If Sir Yang Kai is willing to stay out of all the battlefields, we can place some limits on the number of Territory Lords who will take part in the war at any one time.”
The biggest advantage the Black Ink Clan had was that they had greater numbers than the Humans; this was true of grassroots soldiers, but also of the Feudal Lords and Territory Lords compared to the Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters.
It was thanks to this advantage that the Black Ink Clan had gained the upper hand in almost every Great Territory Battlefield. Even though the Humans had Purifying Light and Evil Purging Divine Spears, they still couldn’t overcome this fundamental disadvantage.
After all, the Purifying Light couldn’t be used to deal with enemies on a large scale while it took time to refine Evil Purging Divine Spears. Every Evil Purging Divine Spear that was used was gone for good; furthermore, the Black Ink Clan was now on guard against them, so these artifacts no longer played as decisive a role anymore.
However, if they could limit the number of Territory Lords taking part in the war, the Humans would be able to better stand their ground and limit their losses.
It had to be said that even though Mo Na Ye was a Black Ink Clansman, he understood the Humans very well. Moreover, he was an intelligent and insightful individual.
Yang Kai was suddenly interested. He didn’t pay much attention to Mo Na Ye in the past. Although he had exchanged moves with him in Acacia Territory before and he had come across him in Profound Nether Territory on several occasions, he couldn’t possibly pay attention to all the Innate Territory Lords as there were simply too many of them.
However, on this day, he suddenly had the urge to kill this fellow, for he seemed different from the other Innate Territory Lords.
If they allowed Mo Na Ye to remain alive, he might prove to be a hidden concern in the future.
As though noticing Yang Kai’s murderous intent, Mo Na Ye turned to look at him and nodded, “What do you say, Sir Yang Kai?”
Since the beginning, Yang Kai had never expressed his opinion regarding the peace talks, as though he was only there to watch the show. Nevertheless, Mo Na Ye knew that Yang Kai was the mastermind behind this entire affair. Although Xiang Shan was in charge of the negotiations, both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan had to give serious weight to Yang Kai’s thoughts.
Yang Kai smiled and reigned in his murderous intent. Although Mo Na Ye was a powerful Innate Territory Lord, he was unable to make any further advancements in the future, just like Yang Kai. While Yang Kai had the chance to kill him today, he reckoned that he should prioritise the peace talk for now.
“The conditions we’ve mentioned aren’t sufficient, then.”
Since Yang Kai had been asked to speak, he couldn’t remain silent.
Mo Na Ye said, “There’s room for discussion about anything. If you have any conditions, please state them. We won’t turn you down if they are acceptable.”
Yang Kai replied, “Apart from the six Great Territories we have agreed upon where things will remain unchanged from the current situation, all other Great Territories will be part of the peace deal. If you agree to this, I’ll remove myself from all further battles.”
This was actually to Yang Kai’s advantage as he just so happened to need a lot of time to cultivate so that he could reach the peak of the Eighth Order sooner.
The rising Stars from the Star Boundary, the Myriad Monsters World, and his Small Universe needed battles to temper themselves with to reach new heights, but Yang Kai was different. He had gone through numerous life-and-death battles already and had been baptised in the blood of his enemies many times over. What he was lacking now was only the accumulation of his own heritage.
The reason Yang Kai even took action was to build a solid foundation for the Humans’ future. If he could get greater benefits for the Humans by staying out of the war, he would be glad to do it.
Hearing this, the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Masters were startled; however, Xiang Shan’s eyes soon brightened as he realised the crux of the matter.
The Humans had already set the agenda for the peace talk, but it didn’t include restricting Yang Kai from taking part in future battles. If the Black Ink Clan could agree to Yang Kai’s condition, the Humans could consider accepting the other party’s demand.
Mo Na Ye soon realised what Yang Kai meant as well and said with a frown, “Sir Yang Kai, do you mean that the peace deal will include not only the Great Territories where battles are still ongoing, but also the Great Territories that the Black Ink Clansmen have occupied?”
“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded.
Only then did the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Masters come to their senses as they fell into their thoughts.
Mo Na Ye smiled helplessly, “You’re a little greedy, Sir Yang Kai.”
In the past, the main battlefields between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan were the 13 Great Territories, which included the Profound Nether Territory. However, many Hunters were active in the other Great Territories that ambushed the Black Ink Clan’s supply teams and reinforcement groups. They also destroyed many Black Ink Nests. More often than not, they caused huge trouble to the Black Ink Clan’s logistics.
For this reason, many Territory Lords would patrol the various Great Territories to deal with those Hunters.
If these ordinary Hunters came across Territory Lords, they were naturally powerless to resist. However, the 3,000 Worlds was expansive, and the Black Ink Clan didn’t have so many Territory Lords. Furthermore, the Hunters were both agile and prudent, so as long as they were not too unlucky, they would be safe most of the time.
However, since the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords had arrived at a peace deal in Profound Nether Territory, the number of Hunters had shrunk significantly.
As Hunters, they were at risk of losing their lives if they bumped into Territory Lords; however, once they entered Profound Nether Territory, they didn’t have to worry about being targeted by such Masters.
Now that Yang Kai had come up with such a demand though, it was expected that many Humans would aspire to be Hunters again, which would prove to be a thorny issue for the Black Ink Clan.
Currently, the vast majority of the Human forces were concentrated in the 13 Great Territory Battlefields, while some 99% of the 3,000 Worlds had fallen into the Black Ink Clan’s hands. However, since the Universe was so expansive, it was impossible for the Black Ink Clan to perfectly protect such a vast territory. Once a large number of Hunters appeared, the Black Ink Clan would no longer have any peaceful days.
Originally, the peace deal only considered the 13 Great Territory Battlefields, but Yang Kai’s demand had dragged the entire 3,000 Worlds into this.
“What’s wrong? Are you afraid of Human soldiers entering the other Great Territories? Over the years, many Humans have fallen into your hands and have been turned into Black Ink Disciples. If you want me to stay out of the war, there’s a price to pay,” Yang Kai looked impassively at Mo Na Ye.
After a moment of silence, Mo Na Ye nodded, “You have a point, Sir Yang Kai. In that case, we’ll agree to your condition.”
For both parties, there were pros and cons regarding this matter. Once the Hunters entered the Great Territories that the Black Ink Clan had occupied, they would have to bear a huge risk. If they were besieged by the Black Ink Clan soldiers, they would either fight to their death or be corrupted.
Nevertheless, this was also the Humans’ purpose for training the soldiers.
When the Territory Lords saw Mo Na Ye agreeing to it, they breathed a sigh of relief. Everything would be fine to them as long as they could restrict Yang Kai’s movements.
As for whether agreeing to this condition would bring about any terrible consequences, it was none of their business, for Mo Na Ye was responsible for the peace talks today. If anything went wrong, the Royal Lord would punish him first.
At this point, they’d finally built a foundation for an agreement.
The Black Ink Clan’s condition was that Yang Kai must not make a move in any Great Territory from now on.
On the other hand, the Humans had gained quite a few benefits. Apart from the six Great Territories where things would remain unchanged, all other Great Territories would be included in the new peace deal. The Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords were not allowed to have a hand in the war, and as a price to pay for restricting Yang Kai, the number of Territory Lords would be limited in the Great Territories where things would go on as usual.
Moreover, the Black Ink Clansmen were the ones who initiated the peace talk, so they would give the Humans a certain amount of cultivation resources as compensation.
The conditions were discussed one by one, and from the looks of it, the Humans were at an advantage. After all, they had only agreed to one condition, but the Black Ink Clan had to provide some resources and limit the number of Territory Lords who could take part in the battles in six of the Great Territory Battlefields.
However, in truth, the Territory Lords’ ultimate goal was to restrict Yang Kai as only this condition would allow them to be at ease when roaming around the battlefields.
Since the general direction had been confirmed, it was time for some bargaining.
Both parties were red-faced as they discussed the amount of resources that the Black Ink Clan had to give the Humans. Black Ink Strength and World Force kept clashing, as though a fight would break out at any moment.
Nonetheless, they knew that since the peace talks had come this far, there was no way they would fight. The initially cautious Territory Lords could now argue with the Humans as fiercely as they pleased.
If there was one thing the Black Ink Clan didn’t lack, it was resources; after all, they had occupied so many Great Territories and had the entire Black Ink Battlefield to exploit. As such, they could easily extract as many resources as they wanted. However, no one was willing to give their enemies resources for free. They promised that they would give the Humans some benefits, but they immediately became stingy when the discussion started.
The argument lasted for several days, but in the end, the details were confirmed with Mo Na Ye and Xiang Shan who were the lead negotiators for the two sides.
Then, another round of arguments started about the number of Territory Lords that would be allowed in the six unchanged Great Territories.
There were many more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Masters, which was the fundamental reason that the Black Ink Clan had gained the upper hand in most of the Great Territory Battlefields. The numbers of the most powerful Masters on both sides would influence the state of the war.
Although they had agreed to limit the number of Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan would never accept being at a disadvantage.
The Humans came up with an outrageous demand as they wanted the number of Territory Lords that were allowed in the battles to be equivalent to the number of Eighth-Order Masters, and naturally, the Territory Lords stubbornly refused.
If they agreed to such a demand, their lives would be truly miserable. It wasn’t easy to deal with the Evil Purging Divine Spears. The reason they were at an advantage was that they had more people on their side.
The discussion this time was even more intense than when they talked about the resources.
They were fine with giving resources away, for the Humans needed time to refine those resources to increase their strength; however, once the number of Territory Lords decreased, they would lose control over the situations in many Great Territories.
Nevertheless, an agreement was reached in the end.
In the six Great Territories where things would remain unchanged, the number of Territory Lords couldn’t exceed the number of Eighth-Order Masters by 50%. In other words, if there were 10 Eighth-Order Masters, there could only be 15 Territory Lords.
The Humans were naturally not pleased with the outcome, for this meant there would still be significantly more Territory Lords than the Eighth-Order Masters. That way, the Black Ink Clansmen were still at an advantage.
However, this did ensure that the enemy no longer had an overwhelming edge which would constantly put the Humans on the brink of defeat, like what happened in Twin Poles Territory. Furthermore, because the Humans had to train their soldiers, this amount of pressure was quite suitable. As such, Xiang Shan agreed to it.
If there was no life-and-death pressure, it wouldn’t be training at all. Cultivating in seclusion would be faster in that case.
Since everything had been discussed, they just had to choose the six Great Territories where things would remain unchanged. At this point, the Eighth-Order Masters remained calm while the Territory Lords were apprehensive.
They were not willing to keep fighting the Humans. If the war continued, they would be at risk of losing their lives.
Nonetheless, they didn’t have any say over this matter.
Xiang Shan and Mo Na Ye took turns to select the six Great Territories where things would remain unchanged. When it was time for Xiang Shan to choose the last Great Territory, he hesitated for a bit before finally choosing Azure Sun Territory.
He didn’t agree to Luo Ting He’s request back then because things were not looking good in Azure Sun Territory; as such, it would be beneficial to the Humans if it could be included in the peace deal.
However, the number of Territory Lords would now be restricted, so even if things remained unchanged in Azure Sun Territory, the situation would improve significantly for the Humans.
Since Luo Ting He wanted to achieve a breakthrough in battle, Xiang Shan could only let her be. Apart from her, Xiang Shan also needed battles to train himself. Without these life-and-death struggles to serve as stimuli, it would be hard for them to grasp the opportunity to break through to the Ninth Order.
In the past, around 80% of Ninth-Order Old Ancestors achieved a breakthrough on the Black Ink Battlefield, while just 20% of them made it to the peak while cultivating in seclusion.