Chai Hao was a patient teacher. Since he was aware that Yang Kai was just an amateur in Artifact Refining, he decided to modify his approach accordingly and teach him everything from scratch.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was a serious learner.
One was studious while the other one was teaching attentively, so they got along pretty well.
Be it the Martial Dao or Alchemic Dao, Yang Kai had shown exceptional aptitude; however, he wasn’t particularly gifted in the Dao of Artifact Refining.
Fortunately, he was now in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm; moreover, there were many similarities between Alchemy and Artifact Refining. Therefore, even though he lacked aptitude in the Dao of Artifact Refining, his mastery of it was improving by the day.
With that said, given his situation, it was impossible for him to reach the pinnacle of the Dao of Artifact Refining. There would come a point when he would be faced with an insurmountable bottleneck, which would be the limit of his achievements in his lifetime.
In any case, Yang Kai didn’t intend to be an Artifact Refining Grandmaster. He was learning it to make it easier for him to gather information behind enemy lines, so he just needed to be slightly more skilful in Artifact Refining than average.
Chai Hao didn’t understand why Yang Kai was suddenly interested in learning Artifact Refining, but after spending some time with him, he could feel that Yang Kai was greedily learning everything he could. With the effort he had put in, he was able to rapidly improve his skills in Artifact Refining. He was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, after all, so he was able to learn anything quickly.
Time passed by slowly.
Yang Kai basically stayed in the Refining Hall and never stepped out of it. He even neglected his own cultivation just to study Artifact Refining. Fortunately, the living beings in his Small Universe would continuously help increase his heritage, so he didn’t lag behind compared to the other cultivators.
He went on to learn Artifact Refining for the next 10 years. It wasn’t until Chai Hao thought that there was nothing else he could teach that Yang Kai ended this special training.
Chai Hao was no longer able to teach Yang Kai not because the latter had surpassed him when it came to Artifact Refining of course, but because he had taught Yang Kai all the theoretical knowledge he knew about the Dao of Artifact Refining. As for how far Yang Kai could go in this Dao, that would depend on his aptitude and effort.
Although he had an excellent teacher, Yang Kai was responsible for his own achievements. Even if two people learned the same Secret Art, their achievements would be different. It was the same case for the Dao of Artifact Refining.
According to Yang Kai’s own classification of the Dao, he had only reached the beginning of the third level, Taking the Initial Steps, after tirelessly learning all about the Dao of Artifact Refining for 10 years.
An Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster like Dong Guo An Ping was at least on the seventh level, Standing Above All Others Within Sight, when it came to the Dao of Artifact Refining.
Only someone at this level was capable of refining Warships. In the entire Blue Sky Pass, there were only a small number of Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters that were comparable to him.
On the other hand, Chai Hao, who had taught Yang Kai for 10 years, should be at the fifth level, Attaining Mastery Through Comprehensive Understanding, when it came to his Dao of Artifact Refining.
The further one traversed any Dao, the more difficult it was to improve. It was even harder than ascending to the next Order in the Open Heaven Realm.
Yang Kai was 2 levels below Chai Hao and 4 levels below Dong Guo An Ping, which showed the stark differences between them.
If he was able to put enough time and effort into studying the Dao of Artifact Refining, Yang Kai figured he might be able to reach Chai Hao’s current level in this lifetime, but he could never become a Great Grandmaster like Dong Guo An Ping. That was the limit of his aptitude, and there was nothing he could do about it.
The Black Ink Disciple in the Yin-Yang Theatre was already developing prototype Warships, so it was apparent that he was just one step away from becoming a Great Grandmaster in the Dao of Artifact Refining. According to Yang Kai’s estimation, the Black Ink Disciple should be at the sixth level of comprehension, Exceeding the Ordinary to Reach the Extraordinary.
If there had been enough time, Yang Kai would have preferred to keep improving his Dao of Artifact Refining. At the very least, he wanted to reach the fourth level, Traversing a Familiar Path; however, he had spent the last 10 years in the Refining Hall, and during this period of time, Zhong Liang had visited him several times. Even though he didn’t say anything, Yang Kai could feel how anxious he was.
The more time Yang Kai spent in the Refining Hall, the more likely that the Black Ink Clan would be able to successfully create Warships. 10 years was basically the limit.
Zhong Liang was startled for a moment when he saw Yang Kai appearing before him. Nevertheless, he soon came to his senses as he put down a document and asked seriously, “Are you ready?”
“I’m sorry for making you wait, Sir.”
Zhong Liang shook his head, “This is a dangerous task. If you’re not willing to do it, no one can force you to.”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “I’ve been preparing for the past 10 years for this moment, why would I back down now?”
Approval and gratification were written all over Zhong Liang’s face, “If everyone was like you, we wouldn’t have to worry about achieving our ultimate goal. Have you told the members of Dawn about it?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “There’s no need for that. I suppose the secret that the Black Ink Clan is capable of refining pseudo-Warships hasn’t spread yet. I don’t even know when I will come back, and it’s hard for me to explain it to them, so it’s better not to tell them about it at all. Moreover, they’re still able to go to the battlefield without me. They’ll take good care of themselves. This matter cannot be delayed, so I’ll head to Yin-Yang Pass now.”
Zhong Liang nodded gently, “Good. Come with me. Those from Yin-Yang Pass have been urging us, so if you delayed much longer, that old fart Tang Qiu would have come over to curse at us.”
Upon finishing his words, Zhong Liang rose from the chair and led the way.
On the way to their destination, Zhong Liang passed a jade slip to Yang Kai, “There’s some basic information about Yin-Yang Pass and the surrounding theatre. You can have a look when you’re free.”
Yang Kai took it, but instead of immediately going through it, he put it inside his Small Universe.
Zhong Liang kept rambling on along the way, as though he was a Father who was sending his Son to the battlefield. He was worried about what Yang Kai would face in the near future.
While feeling warmth in his heart, Yang Kai also felt slightly helpless.
Soon, they arrived at the Hyper Space Array which was guarded by a few soldiers; however, since Zhong Liang was there, the guards directly let them pass.
Inside a Grand Hall, Yang Kai stood atop the huge Array on his own.
He was surrounded by more than 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in different corners of the Grand Array, placing valuable resources into the Array Nodes.
It required a lot of resources to activate the Hyper Space Array, and the more powerful the cultivator who was going to be transferred, the more resources were needed.
That was the reason the Humans from different Great Passes rarely came into contact with each other despite being able to do so. Too many resources had to be consumed to do that.
The last time the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters gathered together in Blue Sky Pass was because of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Yang Kai had to personally seal Purifying Light inside those vessels, so they had no choice but to come.
“This is a Faith Token given to you by the Old Ancestor. He has left his Imprint inside it, so if there’s anyone who questions you in Yin-Yang Pass, just take this thing out to prove your identity.” Zhong Liang passed a piece of jade to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took it with a solemn expression.
“Regardless of the outcome of your mission, you must come back alive!” Zhong Ling ordered seriously, “If it comes down to it, just give up and escape. You’ll only be able to contribute more to the Human Race by staying alive.”
Yang Kai cupped his fist, “I’ll not disappoint you, Sir.”
Zhong Liang nodded and stepped out of the Grand Array. After looking around, he ordered, “Activate the array!”
These Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were well prepared, and upon receiving the order, they immediately activated their powers. The Grand Array started buzzing and shining brightly as the resources on the Array Nodes were sucked dry and turned into dust in just a moment.
Space started contorting as though the world was going to fall apart at any moment.
Barely a breath later though, calm was restored.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around the Grand Array were pale, and their auras were unsteady. It showed that they had exerted themselves greatly to do this. Meanwhile, Yang Kai was nowhere in sight.
Despite being a Master in the Dao of Space, Yang Kai was still overwhelmed by dizziness as he was being transferred to such a faraway place. As he navigated through the Void, he felt like a leaf on the wind, though he had no idea where he would eventually land. This kind of uncertainty made him feel uncomfortable.
Fortunately, this sensation only lasted a short while.
When Yang Kai came to his senses, he was already standing atop a different Grand Array. The lights around him went out and revealed several figures, who were standing around him.
Those people exchanged glances and communicated with each other using Divine Senses. Soon, one of them stepped forward and cupped his fist, “Yin-Yang Pass Jing An greets this Junior Brother. From where do you come?”
Since Yang Kai was transferred to this place through the Hyper Space Array, he was definitely a Human from one of the Great Passes; however, Open Heaven Realm Masters like them who were responsible for guarding the Grand Array couldn’t identify where Yang Kai came from, so they had to ask him about it.
Yang Kai shook his head to clear up his dizziness. Upon making sure that he was in Yin-Yang Pass, he replied, “Blue Sky Pass’ Yang Kai greets Senior Brother Jing.”
Jing An appeared excited upon hearing that, “You’re from Blue Sky Pass?”
“Yes,” Yang Kai nodded.
Jing An hurriedly said to his companions, “Tell Martial Uncle Tang that the person he’s been waiting for has arrived.”
One of them came to his senses and sent the message.
Jing An gazed at Yang Kai and said with a smile, “You’re finally here, Junior Brother Yang. Martial Uncle Tang has been asking about you. Every month, he sends us a message to ask whether someone from Blue Sky Pass has arrived. Should you have come any later, we would’ve been fired.”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but smile upon hearing that, “What does my arrival have anything to do with you all?”
Jing An put on a helpless smile, “Martial Uncle Tang is not the most reasonable person. He scolded us because you did not come, as though it was our fault. You have no idea how much we’ve been longing for you to arrive. It’s great that you’re finally here.”
The people around him nodded repeatedly to show that Jing An was telling the truth. At the same time, they examined Yang Kai with curiosity as they wondered why Tang Qiu had been waiting for him. They didn’t think there was anything special about Yang Kai. Just like them, he appeared to be just another Seventh-Order Master.
Judging from their reactions, Yang Kai reckoned that the fact that the Purifying Light stemmed from his hands had been kept secret in Yin-Yang Pass. Other than a small number of people who were aware of it, no one knew anything about this matter. That was the reason these people never mentioned Purifying Light when they heard his name.
Yang Kai was famous throughout Blue Sky Pass because he could use Purifying Light to help dispel Black Ink Strength since the beginning, so this matter couldn’t be hidden from them.
On the other hand, it was different in Yin-Yang Pass. Although they knew that there were four Purifying Black Ink Battleships in the Inner Sanctum that were filled with Purifying Light, the Army Commanders never told them where the Purifying Light came from.
A moment later, the cultivator, who sent a message earlier, received a reply. After going through it, he looked up and said, “Martial Uncle Tang is not in the Inner Sanctum, Senior Brother Jing. It seems that he has some matters to attend to. Those from the Army Headquarters told us to help settle him in. Martial Uncle will be back in a few days.”
Upon hearing that, Jing An nodded, “In that case, we’ll just follow orders.”
He then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Please come with me, Junior Brother Yang.”
After he finished speaking, he led the way for him with Yang Kai following behind closely.
A short while later, they arrived at a small courtyard that was quiet and serene. This was supposedly a place where guests stayed. There was a similar place in Blue Sky Pass, but it was usually unused.
Even though the courtyard had been vacant for a long time, it remained clean.
“Please get some rest here for a few days, Junior Brother Yang. I’ll inform you when Martial Uncle Tang returns,” Jing An said.
“Many thanks, Senior Brother Jing.” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
Jing An replied with a smile, “If you get bored, feel free to walk around to kill time.”
After Jing An was gone, Yang Kai stepped into the room and sat down with his legs crossed.
He had received a Faith Token from Zhong Liang that was given by the Old Ancestor. It was to be used when someone asked about his identity; however, there didn’t seem to be a need for that thing.
On the other hand, he was surprised that Tang Qiu wasn’t in the Inner Sanctum. Apparently, something major had happened in Yin-Yang Pass, which was why Tang Qiu had to deal with it personally.
With that said, Yang Kai had other friends in Yin-Yang Pass.
He thus fished out a communications artifact and sent a message.
However, he didn’t receive any reply. It suggested that the person he wanted to contact was either not in Yin-Yang Pass or was cultivating in seclusion, thus cutting off all contact with the outside world.
Regardless, Yang Kai was unable to reach him for the time being.
He had sent a message to Xu Ling Gong, but since he was unable to reach him, Yang Kai decided to contact Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue.
Surprisingly, they also didn’t respond.
Yang Kai furrowed his brows. It seemed likely that they were not in the Inner Sanctum, which was why they didn’t reply to his messages. Su Ying Xue and Qing Kui were Xu Ling Gong’s Disciples after all. It was reasonable that they had headed out together if there was a task to perform. It was also probable that they had followed Tang Qiu.
Since Yang Kai was unable to contact any one of them, he decided to put this matter aside. The reason he was here was to sneak into the Black Ink Clan’s base in the Yin-Yang Theatre to gather information. Reuniting with his friends was a secondary priority.
Suddenly, he thought of the jade slip given to him by Zhong Liang before he departed. Since he had some free time, he decided to go through it.
There was some basic information about Yin-Yang Pass and its Theatre in the jade slip, which was given to Yang Kai to help him quickly grasp the situation in this place.
The powers of all the Great Passes were more or less the same, with even the structures and layouts being similar.
There were also about 30,000 fighters in Yin-Yang Pass. They were the brightest Open Heaven Realm Masters who came from different Cave Heavens and Paradises. This kind of scale was accumulated over many years. Over the aeons, countless people were killed on the battlefield, and more people were sent over from the 3,000 Worlds.
It could be said that 80 to 90% of all the elite Open Heaven Realm Masters of every generation from the Cave Heavens and Paradises were sent to the Black Ink Battlefield. Only a small number of them stayed in the 3,000 Worlds to maintain their operation. That was the reason Yang Kai felt that the Cave Heavens and Paradises didn’t live up to their names in the past.
Since most of the powerful cultivators had been sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, he naturally couldn’t see a lot of them in the 3,000 Worlds.
Just like Blue Sky Pass, there were four Armies in Yin-Yang Pass.
There were four Army Commanders, Tang Qiu, Wu Qing, Liu Zhi Ping, and Fei Yu Shan, who respectively led the Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Armies.
Yang Kai was startled for a moment when he saw the name Liu Zhi Ping, for it was clearly a woman’s name. It wasn’t that women were no match for men; however, there were indeed fewer women in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Moreover, the fact that Liu Zhi Ping was an Army Commander suggested that she was extraordinarily powerful, definitely one of the strongest cultivators in the Eighth Order. Perhaps she had even reached the peak of the Eighth Order, but due to the limits of her aptitude, was unable to ascend to the Ninth Order.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Black Ink Clan in the Yin-Yang Theatre was named Mu Guang Royal Lord. It could be said that this entire war zone was his territory.
Similarly, those from Blue Sky Pass had to deal with Men Xie in its Theatre.
There was an Old Ancestor who was in charge of every Theatre to deal with the Black Ink Clan’s Royal Lord.
Mu Guang commanded over 100 Territory Lords, which was a significantly higher number than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Yin-Yang Pass, and this was just one Theatre. On the entire Black Ink Battlefield, there were countless formidable beings from the Black Ink Clan, which made things extremely difficult for the Humans.
There wasn’t a lot of information in the jade slip; after all, it was just some basic knowledge, so Yang Kai went through it quickly. Since he had some free time now, he decided to refine a set of Seventh-Order materials.
He stayed in the room for half a month.
During this period of time, no one looked for him, nor did Tang Qiu send anyone to summon him. This made Yang Kai worried as he wondered what had happened to Tang Qiu that the latter had been held up for such a long time. Jing An told him that Tang Qiu would be back in a few days, but half a month had passed since then.
Of course, Tang Qiu was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so he should be fine.
It wasn’t the best idea for him to keep waiting in seclusion though, so after giving it a thought, Yang Kai decided to walk around and take in the sights of Yin-Yang Pass.
It was serene in Yin-Yang Pass as there were no signs of any war. That was because they had just fended off an invasion from the Black Ink Clan not too long ago. Just like the Black Ink Clan in the Blue Sky Theatre, Mu Guang and his subordinates were still recuperating.
There were not a lot of people that walked around the Inner Sanctum. After all, during a time of peace like this, it was the best chance to cultivate. Many Open Heaven Realm Masters had seized the chance to increase their heritage so that they would be prepared for the next round of war.
The layout of Yin-Yang Pass was similar to that of Blue Sky Pass, so Yang Kai soon lost interest after walking around for a bit; after all, he was not in the 3,000 Worlds where there were a lot of bustling places. Every Great Pass was practically a gigantic Mobile Palace Artifact where the soldiers gathered together.
The several tens of thousands of soldiers staying here, ready to face the Black Ink Clan at any moment.
As Yang Kai strolled around, no one bothered to probe him for his identity. There were thousands of soldiers in Yin-Yang Pass, so it was impossible that there was anyone who could recognise everyone else in this place at a glance. No one would pay attention to a stranger like Yang Kai.
Just when he was ready to go back to his place, Yang Kai’s expression changed as he listened attentively.
A moment later, he moved forward in a particular direction with an awkward expression. After taking a turn, he saw a street that was bustling with activity.
The street wasn’t wide as it could only allow two carriages to pass side by side; however, the street was filled with people who were chatting with each other.
It was also lined with shops on both sides. There were all sorts of products that were on sale, and merchants were heard shouting to attract customers.
Yang Kai even saw someone selling skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded at the sight before his eyes. If not for the fact that he was aware that he was in Yin-Yang Pass, he would have thought that he had returned to a city in the 3,000 Worlds.
Countless people were streaming into and leaving the street like the fish in a river.
Yang Kai looked up and saw that there was a huge plaque above the street. The characters for ‘Marketplace’ were written on it.
The characters ‘Observing the World’ were written on the left stone monument while ‘Experiencing Prosperity’ was written on the right stone monument.
Yang Kai frowned as he had a feeling that this street was a little unusual. At the very least, he had never seen anything like it in Blue Sky Pass.
His curiosity had been piqued as he decided to look into it. After taking a deep breath, he stepped into the street and was instantly greeted with all sorts of noises as people were heard shouting.
“Delicious sugar-coated hawthorn fruits!”
“We have freshly made steamed stuffed buns!”
“It’s the first day of our business. You’ll enjoy a 30% discount on all the dishes. Limited seats. First come, first served.”
…..
Instantly, Yang Kai was overwhelmed by a sense of dizziness, as though he had just been punched by a Territory Lord. Even his Soul had become unstable.
The old man, who was selling sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, happened to be approaching him. The red sugar-coated hawthorn fruits over his shoulder appeared appetising. The hair and beard of the old man were all grey. He was clad in simple clothes, as though he was just an average old man. All of a sudden, he grabbed the collar of a young man who happened to pass by, “Brat, why don’t you get a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits?”
The young man sported a bitter expression, “Martial Uncle, I just bought some from you two hours ago.”
The old man, who was addressed as Martial Uncle, shook his head, “You bought those two hours ago, so it’s time for you to buy one more. Rest assured. I’m sure you’ll love the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits I’ve personally made.”
The young man appeared crestfallen, “Martial Uncle, can I not buy it?”
The old man extended his hand with a smile, “That will be 10 copper coins.”
Since it was useless to protest, the young man let out a sigh of defeat and fished out 10 copper coins from his clothes before passing the money to him.
The old man took out a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits and stuffed it into the young man’s hands.
Just when the young man was about to leave, the old man grabbed his collar again, “Why aren’t you eating it now?”
The young man was on the brink of breaking into tears, “Martial Uncle, must I eat it now?”
“Yes, right now; otherwise, it’s no different from looking down on my craft!” The old man glared at him.
The horrified young man took a bite of the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. A myriad of expressions came over his face, but he still went against his conscience and praised the old man by saying, “You’re truly skilful in making sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, Martial Uncle.”
The old man guffawed, “Of course. Don’t you know who I am?”
Upon finishing his words, he released the young man. Yang Kai could see that as the young man shuffled forward, he kept eating the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits with a smile that was uglier than crying.
Yang Kai felt his face twitching as he couldn’t believe his eyes. If he wasn’t mistaken, the young man who bought the skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits was a Seventh-Order Master, while the old man was an Eighth-Order Master.
[What’s going on?]
“Young man, do you want a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits? It’s a craft passed down from my ancestors. I’m sure you’ll not be disappointed.”
While Yang Kai was in a dazed state, the old man suddenly stood in front of him and looked smilingly at him.
Yang Kai took a glance at the old man and examined the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits over his shoulder. He reckoned that the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits were probably made from some kind of Spirit Fruit, which was why they could be sold here.
Yang Kai became interested in the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. As he recalled what he had seen, he asked probingly, “10 copper coins?”
The old man nodded with a smile, “Yes, 10 copper coins for a skewer. It’s fair, isn’t it?”
“I’ll get one skewer, then.” As Yang Kai spoke, he fished out 10 copper coins and passed them to the old man.
As a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he naturally didn’t bring any copper coins with him. Copper, silver, and gold were used by the mortals to buy goods. Most cultivators wouldn’t need such things; however, there were a lot of Humans living in Yang Kai’s Small Universe. Copper, silver, and gold coins were commonly used in the exchange of goods. Therefore, the 10 copper coins he had fished out were taken from his Small Universe.
Surprisingly, the old man glanced at the copper coins but didn’t take them. Instead, he sported a dark expression, “Are you messing with me just because I’m old, you brat?”
A puzzled Yang Kai asked, “What do you mean, Old Sir?”
Upon seeing that the young man appeared sincere, the old man frowned. As he examined Yang Kai, he suddenly realised what was going on, “Oh, I get it. Brat, since you’re new to this place and know nothing, I’ll not settle the score with you. Instead, I’ll teach you something today.”
Yang Kai replied respectfully, “I’m all ears.”
The old man said with a smile, “The copper coins used in this Marketplace are specially made. These ordinary copper coins can’t be used here.”
After he finished speaking, he flicked a copper coin at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took the coin and carefully examined it. He realised that even though the material used to make the copper coin wasn’t special, it was indeed custom-made. The Yin character was engraved on one side, while the Yang character was on the other side.
There was no kind of restriction on the copper coin, nor was there a unique way of making it. It wouldn’t be hard to make a fake one. At the very least, Yang Kai could easily make many of them if he wanted to.
Nevertheless, it would be inappropriate for him to do so.
Left with no choice, he could only be honest with the old man, “I’m sorry, Old Sir. I don’t have this kind of copper coin.”
The old man chuckled, “I know you don’t. It’s fine. I’m sure you have cultivation resources. You can trade them for copper coins with me.”
“Does it work that way?” Yang Kai was stunned.
“Why would I lie to you?” The old man nodded firmly.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai fished out a Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal as he couldn’t suppress his curiosity, “How about this thing, Old Sir?”
The old man arched his brow and took the Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal, then he became elated, “It’s a wonderful Sixth-Order Yang Element material. That’s great. I haven’t seen anything as pure as this in a long time.”
Yang Kai quipped to himself that this thing was certainly pure, for it was a result of the crystallisation of the Burning Light’s power. There was no Yang Element material in the world that was purer than this.
“You can trade it for 10 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits,” the old man said firmly, then was ready to fish out 10 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits.
“Wait a moment!” An astonished Yang Kai quickly stopped him.
Since a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits was worth 10 copper coins, 10 skewers would be 100 copper coins. How was it possible that a Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal could only be traded for 10 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits?
A Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal was worth at least 20 million Open Heaven Pills, and a resource that rare couldn’t really be bought with money. Given the conversion rate, it would mean that 1 copper coin in this Marketplace was worth 200,000 Open Heaven Pills.
Yang Kai was overwhelmed by a sense of unease. He didn’t think the old man was conning him, but this thing was simply too expensive.
It was no wonder that when the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master bought a skewer of hawthorn fruits from this old man earlier, he appeared as if some of his flesh had been shaved off.
That was because a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits was worth 2 million Open Heaven Pills.
[Why is it so expensive?]
Yang Kai was quick to stop him, but the old man was extremely swift. The moment he started speaking, the old man had taken out 5 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits.
“Old Sir, even though I’m new to this place, you can’t oppress me like this,” Yang Kai stared at the old man with a solemn expression.
The old man replied with a smile, “I certainly won’t oppress a young man like you. Don’t worry, I’m an honest trader. If you don’t believe me, you can ask around.”
Yang Kai scowled. After pondering on it for a moment though, he said, “I’ll just get one skewer. I can’t have so many.”
The old man shook his head repeatedly, “No no, I’ve taken out 5 skewers already. You have to buy them all.”
A speechless Yang Kai refuted, “Can’t you just put them back in?”
The old man lowered his head and said in a grim voice, “If a person jabs a dagger into your body and takes it out, can you pretend that nothing has happened?”
Yang Kai was dumbfounded, “It’s like comparing oranges with apples.”
The old man shook his head, “It’s all the same to me.”
A furious Yang Kai snapped, “You just said that you’re an honest trader, but here you are compelling me to buy your goods. It’s not fair!”
The old man ignored him and stuffed five skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hands. After passing him 50 copper coins, he said solemnly, “Young man, just take it as me giving you a lesson today. You have to be careful whenever you head out from now on.”
After he finished speaking, he left in a hurry with his skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits.
Yang Kai was left dumbfounded as he clutched the 5 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in one hand and 50 copper coins in the other.
He didn’t understand what kind of damned place this Marketplace was. Why was there such a place in Yin-Yang Pass? What was the purpose of building it?
It was apparent that Yang Kai had been conned by the old man, but he still felt somewhat comforted. At the very least, he still had 5 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits and 50 copper coins.
Since the fruits were so expensive, they might have some amazing effects. Perhaps they could soothe one’s mind or increase the heritage of the Small Universe.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai put away the copper coins and grabbed one skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits before taking a bite.
As he chewed the fruit, he realised that it was refreshingly sweet with a tinge of sourness. The flesh was tender and fresh. More importantly, the fruit pit had been removed, so he didn’t have to spit it out.
After having one of the fruits, he stood still on the same spot for a moment; then, he sported a dark expression.
It was just the most common sugar-coated hawthorn fruit that did nothing to help increase a cultivator’s heritage.
Yang Kai cursed at the dishonest trader and had the urge to chase after the old man and fight him to the death.
With that said, he never put his idea into action, for the other party was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. If he really ran after the old man, he would be the one to suffer.
After gritting his teeth for a moment, he let out a sigh. As he was having the costly sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, Yang Kai shuffled further into the Marketplace.
The busy street was lined with all sorts of shops.
Yang Kai soon stopped in his tracks in front of an accessories shop. The accessories in the shop were all quite beautiful. They were apparently made by a skilful artisan.
After getting conned by the old man who sold sugar-coated hawthorn fruits though, Yang Kai was far more cautious this time. However, he was shocked to see that there were a lot of cultivators going in and out of the shop, and the accessories were selling fast.
Since business was booming in this shop, it suggested that the accessories here were extraordinary.
Perhaps they were no ordinary accessories and instead, they were artifacts made by some Grandmaster.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai nodded as he believed that his speculation was right.
“Hey, this generous Senior Brother. Are you looking for some accessories?” After seeing off his customer, a shop assistant hurriedly came over to serve Yang Kai.
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai couldn’t help but laugh, “Why do you think I’m generous?”
The shop assistant pointed at the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hands, “If you’re not wealthy, you wouldn’t have bought so many sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. The one who sells sugar-coated hawthorn fruits is famous across this Marketplace.”
It was then Yang Kai realised what was going on, “I see.”
It was no wonder that a lot of people looked at him with awkward expressions when he walked along the street. That was because he had many skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hands.
He didn’t even know that holding a few skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in one’s hands was a symbol of wealth these days.
Nevertheless, that was indeed the case in this Marketplace.
“What accessories would you like to buy?” The shop assistant asked hospitably.
Yang Kai didn’t have anything specific that he wanted, for he was just wondering whether these accessories were some kind of artifacts. After looking around, he pointed at a red hairpin, “Can I have a look at this?”
The shop assistant promptly took out the hairpin and said with a smile, “This thing is made by the owner. The accessories he makes are the best in this Marketplace. The other accessory shops are not comparable to us. If you give this hairpin to a woman you love, she’ll definitely be pleased.”
The hairpin was placed inside a transparent container. Even though Yang Kai could clearly see the hairpin, he was unable to examine it.
He frowned, “Can you open it?”
The shop assistant put on an apologetic smile, “You can only open the box after buying the hairpin.”
[What kind of rule is this?] Since the hairpin was inside some kind of special container, Yang Kai was unable to determine the Order of the accessory. How was he going to find out whether it was truly valuable or not?
However, he had seen many people buying these accessories in the same way, so he knew that it was impossible for him to have a closer look at it.
Left with no choice, he asked, “How much is it?”
“That will be 50 copper coins,” the shop assistant replied with a smile.
Yang Kai’s face twitched visibly. He couldn’t help but suspect that this shop assistant and the old man who sold sugar-coated hawthorn fruits might be from the same gang; otherwise, how could this shop boy know exactly how much money he was left with?
Still, Yang Kai decided to pass the 50 coins to the shop assistant without hesitation and left with the hairpin.
After stepping out of the shop, he immediately took the hairpin out of the container and examined it.
A moment later, he snarled through clenched teeth, “Another black-hearted conman!”
This was just an ordinary hairpin, not an amazing artifact. First, he was forced to buy five skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits from the old man. Then, he was conned into buying this useless hairpin. He was completely disappointed in this Marketplace.
Everything in this place was a farce; however, he didn’t understand why there was such a place in Yin-Yang Pass. Moreover, a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters were seen wandering around here.
After such terrible experiences, Yang Kai had lost all interest in shopping here, so he decided to go back to his place.
He initially wanted to toss the hairpin away, but he thought that it was wasteful to throw away something that he had bought with half of a Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal; therefore, he just put it in his Space Ring.
As he was heading towards the exit, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to ask, “Why are you following me?”
The moment he stepped out of the accessories shop, he already realised that someone was following him. He initially thought that it was just a coincidence, but the person behind him never went away. It was then he confirmed that he had been tailed.
When Yang Kai turned around, he realised that no one was in sight.
He frowned and looked down, only to see a little girl standing in front of him. With her big eyes, she stared fixedly at the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hand.
[A little girl?] Yang Kai was stunned.
Upon closer look, he realised that she was indeed a little girl who was seven or eight years old. Although she was clad in simple clothes, she looked quite adorable. Her eyes were bright, and her jet-black hair hung low at her waist.
[Why is there a little girl in Yin-Yang Pass?] Yang Kai instinctively thought that she was an Open Heaven Realm Master who had cultivated some kind of unique Secret Art. Such Secret Arts did exist in this world. Or maybe an accident happened when she was cultivating, which was why she never grew taller and appeared to be a child.
However, after examining the little girl, he realised that even though she had cultivated before, she wasn’t very strong. She was in the Origin King Realm at most.
With that said, it was inconceivable that she was already an Origin King at her age. Yang Kai still hadn’t started cultivating when he was eight years old, which showed that this little girl had extraordinary aptitude. Her achievements would surely be staggering in the future.
Nevertheless, on the Black Ink Battlefield where everyone was an Open Heaven Realm Master, an Origin King was indeed too weak.
Those from the Cave Heavens and Paradises would only send cultivators who were at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Black Ink Battlefield. Those who were below the Sixth Order wouldn’t be asked to come here. What could an Origin King do in such a place? This little girl would probably be turned into a Black Ink Disciple the instant she came into contact with Black Ink Strength.
Yang Kai was greatly puzzled about where this little girl came from.
She was only seven or eight years old, so there was no way she was sent to this place from the 3,000 Worlds by the Cave Heavens and Paradises. The only possibility was that she was born in Yin-Yang Pass.
It wasn’t that there were no couples in the Great Passes. As they had to fight against the Black Ink Clan all year long, they might lose their lives at any moment, so special feelings would naturally develop among people when they were under such immense pressure. In fact, there were a lot of couples in different Great Passes.
However, none of them would rashly make a decision to give birth to children in such a place. That was because no one could guarantee whether they would survive the next battle. It would be the height of irresponsibility to bring a child into the world in this kind of place.
Therefore, it never crossed Yang Kai’s mind that he would come across a little girl who was in the Origin King Realm in the Marketplace in Yin-Yang Pass.
On the other hand, the cultivators in the Marketplace didn’t seem curious about the little girl, which showed that she had been around here for quite some time.
Seeing that she was just a little girl, Yang Kai didn’t intend to probe her, he just asked in a gentle voice, “Where are your parents, little girl?”
Just then, a passing cultivator crashed into a rack with a thud, which caused all the goods on it to fall to the ground. The merchant cursed at him while the cultivator apologised and picked up the goods.
The little girl, who was standing in front of Yang Kai, never moved her eyes away from the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in his hand. Without replying to his question, she gulped and asked, “Are you going to eat them?”
Yang Kai looked down at his hand and realised why she had been following him. As he broke into laughter, he passed the remaining 4 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits to her, “You can have them all.”
The little girl beamed at him and took the skewers. After thanking him, she started munching on the fruits and said in a muffled voice, “You’re a good guy. For some reason, the old man who sells sugar-coated fruits is missing today. I still couldn’t find him after looking for him for a long time.”
Yang Kai secretly snorted. The old man must be worried that Yang Kai would settle the score with him after conning the latter into buying 5 skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, which was why he had left in a hurry.
Seeing that she was enjoying her food though, Yang Kai felt the displeasure in his heart melting away. He felt that the Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal he had spent was finally worth it. He thus patted and stroked the little girl’s head before saying, “Go home after you’re done having your food. Don’t make your parents worry.”
*Dong!*
Right then, the same rack was hit again and the merchant quickly squatted and picked up the goods.
At the same time, Yang Kai furrowed his brows. For some reason, he had a feeling that time was frozen for a moment, as though the entire Marketplace had fallen silent. However, when he looked around, he realised that everything had become normal again.
The little girl, whose head was being stroked, grinned from ear to ear.
Yang Kai nodded at her and turned around to leave.
However, he soon turned his head and gazed at the little girl, who was still tailing him, “Why are you following me? I’ve given you all my sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. There’s none left.”
It only took the little girl a short time to finish having all 4 skewers. It was surprising that she had such a huge appetite. After tossing the skewers away, the little girl put on a faint smile, “Since you’ve given me some sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, I’ll treat you to a meal. How about some steamed stuffed buns?”
Yang Kai smiled helplessly, “There’s no need for that…”
After getting conned into buying the sugar-coated hawthorn fruits and the hairpin, he was certain that all the things being sold in this Marketplace were just ordinary items. There wasn’t a need for him to pay any attention to this place anymore.
Since he had some free time, he’d rather go back and refine materials to strengthen the heritage of his Small Universe.
Nevertheless, before he finished speaking, he sported a helpless expression, “What’s wrong?”
The little girl appeared to be on the brink of breaking into tears, as though she had just suffered from the greatest grievance in the world.
She sobbed and said, “I want to get some steamed stuffed buns! The steamed stuffed buns from Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant are the best!” As she spoke, she sucked the drool back into her mouth.
A speechless Yang Kai massaged his temples, “If you want the steamed stuffed buns so badly, you can go ahead and buy them.”
The little girl hung her head low and said in a small voice, “I don’t have any money.”
Yang Kai was torn between tears and laughter, “But you said you’d treat me to a meal.”
“I’ll treat you to a meal, but you’ll have to pay…” There was an embarrassed expression on the little girl’s face.
“That’s ridiculous…” Yang Kai was lost for words. He wanted to tell her that he also didn’t have any money as the copper coins he had traded for the Sixth-Order Yellow Crystal were used up.
However, the little girl walked up to him and took his hand before swaying it, “Please. Steamed stuffed buns are delicious…” She gulped.
Yang Kai was unable to bear the little girl pleading with him in such a way. He thought that her parents were irresponsible by giving birth to her as they never even bothered to give her some allowance. It was simply outrageous.
“Please… I really love their buns…” The little girl was relentless.
Left with no other choice, Yang Kai could only agree to it, “Alright, alright. Stop swinging me. I’m feeling dizzy!”
“So you agree?” The pleasantly surprised little girl asked.
“Yes, I’ll treat you to a proper meal,” Yang Kai nodded. In any case, he could trade materials for some copper coins, so he didn’t have to worry about not being able to foot the bill.
“You really are a good guy!” The little girl was ecstatic.
Yang Kai let out a sigh. He wasn’t aware that being nice meant he had to treat someone to a meal. With that said, the world of a little girl was simple. It wasn’t a bad thing to experience some innocence on this dangerous Black Ink Battlefield.
Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant was filled with the aroma of steamed stuffed buns. There were only a few tables, and they were all occupied. A bowl of soup and a small bamboo basket of steamed stuffed buns were all it took for one to wind down and observe the Marketplace.
The owners of the restaurant seemed to be a couple. One of them prepared dough while the other formed the buns. They appeared skilful in their craft. There was also a shop hand to serve the customers.
The instant Yang Kai stepped into the restaurant, hand in hand with the little girl, the shop hand became rooted to the spot as if struck by lightning, staring fixedly at their hands.
The owners, who were preparing dough and steamed stuffed buns, shook a little.
Meanwhile, the customers in the shop, who were eating the steamed stuffed buns and soup, felt their brows twitching.
“Here it is! Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant!” The little girl said joyfully.
Yang Kai swept a glance over this place. Despite knowing that there were no ordinary people here, he still felt ill at ease.
The owners of the steamed stuffed bun shop were apparently Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. On the other hand, the shop hand, who was responsible for serving the customers, was a Seventh-Order Master.
Yang Kai had never seen any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters whose faces were covered in flour as they were preparing dough and steamed stuffed buns. He had the luck to see it in this Marketplace.
“There are a lot of people today,” the little girl took a glance around the shop. Seeing that all the tables were occupied, she turned to Yang Kai, “It seems that we’ll have to wait.”
As soon as she finished speaking though, the customers started stuffing steamed buns into their mouths and gulping down the soup.
“Get me the bill!”
They all started shouting. The shop hand quickly went around to collect money from them. In just a moment, all the customers in the restaurant were gone.
“Oh, there are seats now!” The little girl appeared elated as she pulled Yang Kai into the shop and took a seat at one of the tables. Since the chair was too tall, her feet couldn’t come into contact with the ground as they swayed in the air.
While cleaning up the things on the table, the shop hand asked with a smile, “What would you like to get?”
Yang Kai replied nonchalantly, “Get me 2 baskets of steamed stuffed buns…”
Before he could finish speaking though, the little girl cut him off by shouting, “I’ll have 10 baskets!”
Yang Kai batted his eyes, then said to the shop hand, “We’ll have ten baskets of steamed stuffed buns and two bowls of soup, then.”
“Alright, I’ll be right back,” the shop hand replied and headed to the kitchen.
A moment later, 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns were served, piled up on the table. The little girl then began wolfing them down as her cheeks bulged.
Yang Kai took a steamed stuffed bun and had a taste. He realised that even though it was delicious, it was just some ordinary food. It was unable to help increase a cultivator’s power. Still, he remained silent and waited for the little girl to finish having her food.
“Why aren’t you having any?” The little girl asked curiously.
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “You can have them all.”
The little glutton smiled happily and continued devouring the buns.
Yang Kai helped her wipe the crumbs off her mouth and said, “Take it slow. No one is going to take them away from you.”
He was curious about what was going on with her parents. Had they never given her enough food? Why did she look like she was starving?
The little girl devoured all ten baskets of steamed stuffed buns and two bowls of soup on her own. Yang Kai couldn’t help but wonder how the petite little girl was able to wolf down so much food. It was no simple feat.
More importantly, her belly didn’t bulge at all. He wondered where all the food went.
“Are you full?” Yang Kai asked.
The little girl nodded, “Yes.”
Yang Kai then shouted, “Get me the bill!”
The shop hand promptly came over and said with a smile, “That will be 100 copper coins for 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns. The bowls of soup are on the house.”
“Many thanks.” Yang Kai nodded, “But I don’t have any money with me. Can I cover the bill with this?”
Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai fished out a Sixth-Order Blue Crystal.
The shop hand, who was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, took the crystal and examined it, then appeared elated, “It’s enough.”
Yang Kai nodded and beckoned to the little girl before bringing her out of the restaurant. The shop hand said hospitably, “Please come again.”
[I’ll be a fool if I come again!] Yang Kai thought. The things in this Marketplace were ordinary but extremely costly. Sixth-Order Yin and Yang Element materials were worth approximately 40 million Open Heaven Pills, but he squandered them away in barely half a day.
He reckoned that this place should be renamed as ‘Black Market’.
The little girl still followed him closely. Yang Kai turned around to gaze at her and look around. Suddenly thinking of something, he took out the hairpin from his Space Ring and fixed it on her hair.
She was already truly adorable, and even though the hairpin wasn’t an artifact, it was finely made. They perfectly matched each other.
The little girl was evidently startled.
Yang Kai said with a smile, “It’s a gift.”
He then turned around and waved his hand, “I’ll go back now. You should head home early so that your parents won’t have to worry about you.”
This time, the little girl didn’t tail him. While standing in the same spot, she just touched the hairpin and watched him leave.
Yang Kai headed straight to his resting place. When he recalled his experiences in the Marketplace, he couldn’t help but grin wryly. After emptying his mind, he sat down with his legs crossed and started cultivating.
One day later, he suddenly heard a clear voice calling out to him from outside the courtyard, “Yang Kai! Yang Kai!”
Yang Kai frowned and stored the materials he hadn’t fully refined. After opening the courtyard’s door, he saw the little girl that he came across the day before in the Marketplace. She was standing outside his courtyard with a smile. The hairpin that he gave her the day before was still in her hair.
A puzzled Yang Kai asked, “How did you find me?”
There was a smug smile on the little girl’s face, “I asked around. It wasn’t hard to find out where you live.”
It was apparent that she had also found out his name by asking around. Yang Kai couldn’t help but think that this little girl was truly clever.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai asked curiously as he had no idea why she had come all the way here to see him.
“Let’s go to the steamed stuffed bun shop!” The little girl said firmly.
Yang Kai rubbed his forehead, “You want me to foot the bill, right?”
“Hehe…” The little girl appeared bashful as her intentions were seen through. However, she soon cast the bashfulness away as the foodie in her got the better of her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him away, “Let’s go. You have nothing to do anyway.”
A speechless Yang Kai refuted, “What do you mean I have nothing to do? I was cultivating when you disturbed me.”
“There’s no hurry to cultivate. I’m hungry.”
Despite her petite figure, she was full of strength; Yang Kai also wouldn’t really dare to resist her so he was gradually pulled towards the Marketplace.
When they arrived at Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant, she ordered 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns, just like she had done the day before. While the little girl wolfed down the food, Yang Kai waited patiently by the side.
The same thing happened every day for the next few days.
Yang Kai felt helpless as he wondered who were the ones who had given birth to such a reckless little girl. He wanted to tell her parents what was going on, but to his dismay, when he asked the little girl to bring him to see her parents, she started sobbing and said that they passed away a long time ago.
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai didn’t dare to keep asking lest her sorrowful memories were stirred up. If the little girl really started bawling her eyes out, he wouldn’t know how to appease her.
This little girl was seven or eight years old, and she was only in the Origin King Realm. She must have been born in Yin-Yang Pass, but her parents passed away a long time ago. How was she going to survive in this place?
Yang Kai consoled himself by thinking that he would just keep her company for the time being as she was truly pitiful.
For the next few days, the little girl would bring Yang Kai to the steamed stuffed bun shop in the Marketplace so that he would pay for her meal. They got along pretty well.
One day, Yang Kai was seated in Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant while the little girl scarfed down the food, the same as the past few days. It wouldn’t take the little girl a long time to finish having 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns. After that, Yang Kai would fish out a Sixth-Order Yellow or Blue Crystal to pay for the meal.
Suddenly, Yang Kai’s expression changed as he turned to look out of the restaurant, where he saw four people shuffling inside.
His eyes brightened as he rose from the chair and greeted them, “Senior Tang!”
The person at the front was none other than Tang Qiu whom Yang Kai had been waiting for. It was apparent that he had just returned from outside and hadn’t even had time to clean himself up. It seemed that he had fought against some formidable enemies, so his aura was a little unstable.
Behind him was Xu Ling Gong, who was followed by Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue. Just like Yang Kai had speculated, the four of them had headed out together, which was why he couldn’t contact any one of them.
Yang Kai then greeted Xu Ling Gong and his two Disciples, who all nodded in response.
Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue were still in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but their auras had become far deeper. It was obvious that they had grown in strength after fighting against the Black Ink Clan since their arrival in Yin-Yang Pass.
“I came to this place because I was told that you’re here,” Tang Qiu explained.
Yang Kai replied, “I decided to take a stroll since I had nothing to do. Senior, since you’re back, you could have just told someone to summon me. Why did you come all the way here?”
Tang Qiu waved his hand, “I’m sorry for making you wait. I was held up because I came across an accident when I was on my way back.”
“It’s fine. Have a seat, please.” Yang Kai extended his hand.
Tang Qiu nodded, then sat together with Xu Ling Gong.
As soon as they sat down though, they shot out of their chairs as if there were some sharp stick that poked their butts. They stared dazedly at the petite figure behind the baskets of steamed stuffed buns.
Since the little girl was seated behind the baskets that had been piled up, Tang Qiu and Xu Ling Gong hadn’t noticed her presence before.
“S-She…” Tang Qiu stammered.
Yang Kai explained, “I came across this little girl a few days ago. She’s quite pitiful as her parents passed away a long time ago, and there’s no one to take care of her. Since she loves the steamed stuffed buns here, I bring her to this place every day.”
“Ah… er… en! I see!” Tang Qiu came to his senses and sent a signal to Xu Ling Gong with his eyes. Then, he slowly took a seat.
Qing Kui, who was standing behind Xu Ling Gong, coughed, “Honoured Master, I’m going to take a little stroll.”
An absent-minded Xu Ling Gong replied, “En, go ahead.”
“I’ll tag along!” Su Ying Xue quickly said.
After offering an apology, they left the restaurant together.
In the steamed stuffed bun shop, four figures, three adults and one little girl, were seated at the table. Yang Kai looked at Tang Qiu and Xu Ling Gong with a frown, “It seems that both of you are badly injured.”
Yang Kai could feel that there was something wrong with both Tang Qiu and Xu Ling Gong. Their solemn expressions suggested that they were trying to suppress something, as though they were anxious or in pain somehow.
“We’re fine,” Tang Qiu replied casually.
“Yes, we’re fine.” Xu Ling Gong nodded repeatedly.
“That’s good.” Yang Kai nodded, then brought up a serious topic, “What’s going on with the Black Ink Clan?”
“Black Ink Clan?” Tang Qiu appeared perplexed, as though he didn’t hear Yang Kai clearly. Nevertheless, he soon regained his senses, “Oh, the Black Ink Clan… I was about to discuss it with you.”
Yang Kai frowned as he had a feeling that something really was wrong with Tang Qiu. The latter appeared to be completely distracted. He was the one who told Yang Kai to come over to find out who made the Warships for the Black Ink Clan, but he appeared puzzled at this moment when the topic was brought up.
The little girl, who had been eating her steamed stuffed buns in silence, suddenly gazed at Tang Qiu and asked with a smile, “Would you like some buns?”
Tang Qiu was unable to respond immediately as he appeared to have been caught off guard.
Yang Kai directly knocked on the little girl’s head and chastised her by saying, “Don’t interrupt us. We’re having a discussion here!”
“Impudence!” Tang Qiu landed a slap on the table that caused it to collapse. The baskets and the freshly made steamed stuffed buns all fell to the ground.
Yang Kai was stunned.
Tang Qiu was dumbfounded as well.
On the other hand, Xu Ling Gong hung his head low and remained unmoving.
The little girl grabbed a steamed stuffed bun in each hand. Her cheeks were bulging as she soon gulped down the food.
“Senior, you…” Yang Kai scowled at Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu hesitated for a bit before saying in a muffled voice, “The impudence of the Black Ink Clan!”
Yang Kai broke into laughter, “What happened to you on the way back?”
The shop hand hurriedly came over. While cleaning the things up, he said, “Please calm down, everyone. Do not fight here.”
The little girl glared at Tang Qiu, “Give my steamed stuffed buns back!”
“Right away!” Tang Qiu nodded repeatedly, then said to the shop hand, “Give us more steamed stuffed buns!”
“Alright, please give me a moment,” the shop hand replied.
Since the table was broken, they had to move to another one. Fortunately, there were not a lot of customers in the restaurant right now. Apart from them, there were only a few other diners; hence, there were still some vacant seats.
New steamed stuffed buns were soon served. Yang Kai was waiting for Tang Qiu to talk about what was going on with the Black Ink Clan, but the latter actually started stuffing the buns into his face, even ordering Xu Ling Gong to do the same.
Therefore, apart from Yang Kai, who sported a half-dumbstruck expression, the little girl, Tang Qiu, and Xu Ling Gong were gulping down the food together. While they were enjoying the food, Tang Qiu and Xu Ling Gong kept saying that the steamed stuffed buns were delicious.
Yang Kai was dumbfounded at the scene before him. Those who had no idea what was going on might think that they had been starving for a long time.
The little girl’s appetite seemed to be enhanced as the two men fought over the food. Soon, more and more baskets were piled up. The speed at which the owners made the steamed stuffed buns could no longer keep pace with them as they would finish having the food too quickly.
Unable to take it anymore, Yang Kai said tactfully, “Senior, about the Black Ink Clan…”
“I’ll tell you about the Black Ink Clan at a later time,” Tang Qiu replied in a muffled voice.
Yang Kai looked away as he could no longer bear to keep watching them.
In just half a day, they finished having 100 baskets of steamed stuffed buns and the owners of Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant had to close the shop early.
The little girl leaned against the chair and stroked her belly. With a pleased expression, she belched and said, “I’m full!”
Yang Kai couldn’t help but smile, “You’re finally full for once.”
“En, I’m stuffed. I need to head home and get some sleep,” The little girl rose from the chair and skipped out of the shop. It was apparent that she was in a joyful mood.
After she was gone, Tang Qiu got up as well, “I’ll head back now. Yang Kai, look for me tomorrow.”
“Yes,” Yang Kai replied.
Xu Ling Gong patted Yang Kai’s shoulder and gazed at him. After hesitating for a bit, he warned, “Be careful!”
Yang Kai was perplexed upon hearing that, but before he could ask any questions, Xu Ling Gong had left with his hands folded behind his back.
Yang Kai frowned as he watched Xu Ling Gong leave. He had a feeling that there was an insinuation in the latter’s words.
Just then, the shop hand came over and looked smilingly at Yang Kai, “Your bill comes up to 1,000 copper coins. The boss said that since you’re a frequent customer, you don’t have to pay for the broken table.”
Yang Kai’s face fell as he had the urge to curse.
Despite being frustrated, he still fished out a Seventh-Order Yellow Crystal to pay for the meal.
After leaving the Marketplace, he returned to his resting place. Surprisingly, Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue were waiting for him.
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened when he saw them and he quickly called out, “Brother Qing Kui, Senior Sister Su.”
Qing Kui nodded and looked around. Appearing to be stealthy, he said in a small voice, “Let’s go inside first.”
Upon finishing his words, he took Yang Kai’s arm and strode forward. They were followed by Su Ying Xue. After entering the courtyard, Qing Kui quickly told Yang Kai to activate the restriction to prevent anyone from eavesdropping.
Yang Kai was puzzled by their actions. After inviting them to have a seat, he poured some tea for them; then, he sat across from Qing Kui and asked curiously, “What’s going on, Brother Qing Kui?”
Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue acted as though they were wary of someone; however, who could make them act this way inside Yin-Yang Pass?
Without replying to his question, Qing Kui stared fixedly at Yang Kai and said in a grim voice, “You are truly ignorant and reckless!”
A perplexed Yang Kai asked, “What do you mean by that?”
With a solemn expression, Qing Kui went on to say, “Do you know who the little girl was that was with you in the steamed bun shop?”
Yang Kai was surprised, “Isn’t she a little girl whose parents passed away a long time ago?” Seeing that both Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue appeared solemn, Yang Kai was astonished, “Is there anything special about the little girl’s identity?”
Qing Kui grabbed his head and muttered, “Where do I even begin? Why didn’t you just stay here after arriving at Yin-Yang Pass? Why did you come into contact with her?”
There was a serious expression on Yang Kai’s face as he cupped his fist, “Who is the little girl that makes you feel so concerned? Please enlighten me.”
Qing Kui looked around before he leaned close to him and said in a hushed voice, “She’s the Old Ances…”
“The Old Ancestor?” Yang Kai was flabbergasted, then came to his senses, “No, no, no. I initially thought that she was an Open Heaven Realm Master, but I inspected her cultivation and realised that she’s only in the Origin King Realm. How could she be the Old Ancestor?”
On the other hand, Qing Kui was rooted to the spot. His forehead was beaded with sweat, as though he was going through some difficulties. As his brow twitched, he said, “…. the Old Ancestor’s adopted daughter!”
A speechless Yang Kai quickly picked up a teacup and took a sip, “Brother Qing Kui, I was almost frightened to death. You should have finished your sentence quickly.”
Qing Kui nodded, “Yes yes, she’s the Old Ancestor’s adopted daughter. Right, Junior Sister?”
On the side, Su Ying Xue replied obediently, “Yes.”
Upon that revelation, Yang Kai said, “It’s no wonder that she’s already in the Origin King Realm despite her age. So, she’s the Old Ancestor’s adopted daughter.”
There was an impassive expression on Qing Kui’s face as he said, “Yes, fate has been unfair to the little girl. Her parents passed away not long after she was born. She has an outstanding aptitude, and she’s adorable. The Old Ancestor was fond of her the moment she saw her, so she decided to keep her by her side.”
Yang Kai let out a breath, “She’s truly blessed to be personally guided by the Old Ancestor. Given her aptitude, she’ll be an important figure in the future.”
Then, he turned to look at Qing Kui, “By the way, why have you come all the way here?”
Qing Kui gazed at Su Ying Xue, “Junior Sister, what are we here for?”
Su Ying Xue remained unperturbed, “Nothing.”
Qing Kui nodded repeatedly, “Yes, nothing. We’re just here to see you.” He then examined Yang Kai and said, “I’d never expected that you’d ascend to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm before we did.”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “I was just lucky, and the Black Ink Battlefield is filled with adversity that stimulates one’s potential. That’s how I achieved an ascension. I can tell that both of your auras are much more condensed than before. I suppose you’ll achieve a breakthrough soon.”
There was a proud smile on Qing Kui’s face, “It will happen in the next 20 years.”
20 years was a very short period of time to Open Heaven Realm Masters as it would usually take them several thousand to over 10,000 years to achieve a breakthrough. Since Qing Kui had said so though, he must have the confidence to succeed.
Yang Kai promptly congratulated him.
They then asked about Qu Hua Shang. Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t hide anything from them.
Two hours later, they left together.
Not long after they stepped out of Yang Kai’s place, they took a turn and became rooted to the spot.
That was because there was a little girl skipping towards them. She seemed to be in a jolly mood. There was an ordinary-looking hairpin on her hair and she was holding a skewer of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in each hand. One of the skewers was half-finished.
As the little girl approached them, both Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue felt that the entire world was rapidly fading away around them. It was as though they had been tossed into the endless Void.
A moment later, the little girl stood right in front of them. It wasn’t until this moment that the world returned, which made them feel relieved.
At this point, they were already soaked in cold sweat.
The little girl was just standing in front of Qing Kui, looking up at him.
Qing Kui somehow forced out a smile.
The little girl also put on a smile before suddenly jumping up and delivering a light pat to his face.
When Qing Kui came to his senses, the little girl already brushed past him, her clear voice was heard saying, “That’s what you get for having a big mouth!”
Qing Kui was shuddering like a quail without shelter in winter. The two of them turned around and saluted the little girl.
A while later, Qing Kui asked in a small voice, “Is she gone?”
Su Ying Xue nodded, “Yes, she’s gone.”
Qing Kui let out a long breath as he almost collapsed to the ground. He felt that the momentary torture he had just gone through was more taxing than an epic battle against the Black Ink Clan.
All of a sudden, Su Ying Xue exclaimed, “Senior Brother, your mouth…”
Qing Kui turned pale, “What happened to my mouth?”
The little girl flicked him just now, and even though he didn’t detect any anomaly, he reckoned that she must have done something horrible to him.
Su Ying Xue covered her lips and giggled, “It’s nothing.”
“What happened?” Qing Kui asked as he had a bad feeling.
Su Ying Xue whirled around, “It’s really nothing.” Her shaking shoulders suggested that she was trying to stifle her laughter.
The sense of unease in Qing Kui’s heart intensified and he quickly fished out an artifact that looked like a mirror and took a glance at his reflection.
In an instant, he sported a dark expression.
That was because he could see from the reflection that his lips were swollen, both of them incredibly plump, literally giving him a ‘big mouth’.
However, he was unaware of such a drastic transformation just now. If he hadn’t seen his own face through the reflection, he wouldn’t have believed it.
He was on the brink of breaking into tears.
How was he supposed to face anyone with such a ridiculous look?
The little girl obviously wanted to let him know the consequences of being big-mouthed.
When he lifted his head, his eyes were already soaked in tears, “Junior Sister, I’d rather die.”
Su Ying Xue scoffed, “You had it coming.”
…..
The next day, Yang Kai headed to the Eastern Army Headquarters to look for Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu must have informed everyone in the Army Headquarters about Yang Kai’s visit, so he wasn’t probed by anyone. Soon, someone led him to the conference hall.
Including Tang Qiu, there were four people in the conference hall, all in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Seeing Yang Kai, Tang Qiu quickly rose from his chair and introduced him to the other three people.
They were the other Army Commanders of Yin-Yang Pass.
However, Yang Kai was dumbfounded as he gazed at the Northern Army Commander, Fei Yu Shan, “You…”
Fei Yu Shan put on a grin, “What? Did you like my sugar-coated hawthorn fruits? I made them myself, so they must be delicious.”
This Army Commander of the Northern Army was none other than the old swindler who sold sugar-coated hawthorn fruits in the Marketplace. That revelation astounded Yang Kai.
Besides that, he had also seen the Western Army Commander, Liu Zhi Ping before; in fact, he saw her practically every day these the past few days.
That was because she was the owner of Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant!
No one would have believed that the Army Commander of the Western Army in Yin-Yang Pass would prepare dough and steamed stuffed buns in the Marketplace while the Army Commander of the Northern Army would sell sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. Over the past few days, Yang Kai had spent quite a lot of money to buy their wares.
However, he had never seen the Army Commander of the Southern Army Wu Qing before. Wu Qing was burly, and he looked like a reticent man.
Nevertheless, the Marketplace and the Army Headquarters were two different places. Upon Tang Qiu’s introduction, Yang Kai saluted all of them.
As they examined Yang Kai, Wu Qing nodded gently, “You’re indeed a talented young man.”
Yang Kai replied humbly, “Many thanks for your compliment, Senior.”
Wu Qing waved his hand, “I’ve heard a lot about what you’ve done in Blue Sky Pass. You were already able to achieve amazing things when you were in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and now you are in the Seventh-Order. This Wu is no match for you, and you don’t have to be overly humble. If you weren’t strong enough, we wouldn’t have asked you to come over.”
Tang Qiu nodded, “Yang Kai, I’m sure you’re already aware of the reason we’ve asked you to come here.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I have to sneak into the Black Ink Clan’s territory, then locate and identify the Black Ink Disciple who can refine Warships.”
“That’s right.” Fei Yu Shan ran his fingers through his beard, “This matter has far-reaching implications, so we have to come up with a proper plan; otherwise, we wouldn’t even consider having a Junior like you take on such a risk. Moreover, you have the experience of pretending to be a Black Ink Disciple before, and you’re unmatched when it comes to escaping. After a discussion, we believe that you’re the best suited to carry out this task. That was the reason we transferred you from Blue Sky Pass to this place.”
With a solemn expression, Liu Zhi Ping said, “Since time immemorial, Warships have always been the greatest advantage of our Human Race. If the Black Ink Clan manages to refine their own Warships and deploy them in large-scale wars, our advantage will be gone for good. By then, the foundation passed down to us from our ancestors will be ruined. In that case, how are we going to face our ancestors when we pass away in the future?”
“I understand,” Yang Kai replied solemnly, “That is the reason I requested to come to Yin-Yang Pass.”
“I’m glad that you understand.” Tang Qiu nodded with gratification, “Let’s cut to the chase. Tell us what you’re thinking and what you might need to help with the plan. We’ll satisfy your needs as long as we can.”
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai asked, “How much information have you gathered so far?”
The Army Commanders shook their heads.
Tang Qiu said, “In truth, we’ve only gathered a tiny bit of information. It’s almost negligible. We just found a pseudo-warship that was used by the Black Ink Clan more than 10 years ago. As for who made it or where it was made, we have no idea.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai frowned, “Is there really no useful information at all?”
An embarrassed Tang Qiu shook his head, “The only thing we can give you is a list of a dozen names. As for whether one of them is really the Black Ink Disciple who is able to refine Warships, you’ll have to find out on your own.”
Yang Kai nodded and gently tapped the table.
The information provided by those in Yin-Yang Pass was limited, which was what he had expected. If it was so easy to ascertain the Black Ink Disciple’s identity, they wouldn’t have sought his help.
This was only natural though as the Black Ink Clan would definitely do their best to protect such a valuable talent. Even the ordinary Black Ink Clansman wouldn’t be aware of such inside information, so how could the Humans gather any useful clues?
“Although we can’t give you any concrete information, we speculate that the Black Ink Disciple probably resides in their Royal City.”
“Royal City?” Yang Kai arched his brow.
Tang Qiu nodded, “Yes, the Royal City, where their Royal Lord is located.”
“In that case, this will be a difficult task.” Yang Kai felt his heart sinking. If the Black Ink Disciple really lived in the Royal City, even the Old Ancestor might not be able to capture him alive.
Yang Kai initially thought that as long as he could find out the Black Ink Disciple’s whereabouts, he could try to send a message back to Yin-Yang Pass, and they would handle the rest of the matter, with the Old Ancestor likely making a move at that point; however, if the Black Ink Disciple really resided in the Royal City, it would be useless for the Old Ancestor to make a move, for it wasn’t easy to deal with any Black Ink Clan Royal Lord.
After pondering on it for a moment, Yang Kai said, “Regardless of the risk, I have to find my way into the Black Ink Clan’s territory first. Has there been any skirmishes between Yin-Yang Pass and the Black Ink Clan recently?”
Tang Qiu replied, “Yes. 10 years ago, Wu Qing and Ding Yao joined forces to dive into the Black Ink Clan’s territory and make a scene. The Black Ink Clan retaliated in response. Even though they haven’t marshalled their Army to invade Yin-Yang Pass, there have been small-scale conflicts. They have also never stopped harassing the resource harvesting areas we occupied.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai appeared puzzled, “Are there no Void Yin-Yang Mirrors in Yin-Yang Pass? Why are there still conflicts with the Black Ink Clan in resource harvesting areas?”
The method of refining the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors had been spread across the Great Passes. The Universe Worlds in Blue Sky Pass’ occupied resource harvesting areas had been moved back to Blue Sky Pass, so they could just extract resources at their doorstep. They no longer had to go to faraway places. That way, their safety and efficiency had been improved significantly.
Even if the Black Ink Clan discovered this, there was nothing they could do as they wouldn’t dare to launch an invasion; after all, the Black Ink Clan in the Blue Sky Theatre suffered a big defeat more than 10 years ago, and they were still recuperating.
Tang Qiu explained, “We’ve made some Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, and they’re indeed useful. We’re still in the midst of moving those Universe Worlds back; however, the Black Ink Clan has never stopped harassing us, so some of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors have been damaged. That’s why our progress lags behind that of Blue Sky Pass.”
Upon hearing his explanation, Yang Kai finally understood.
The Void Yin-Yang Mirrors were artifacts he made for him, so he could easily control them. Nevertheless, it was harder for others to use these artifacts, so they were unable to move the Universe Worlds as quickly and easily as he did.
Moreover, the Black Ink Clan in the Yin-Yang Theatre were almost at full strength, which was why their harassment was more intense than in the Blue Sky Theatre.
As such, the conflicts were still ongoing in the resource harvesting areas in the Yin-Yang Theatre.
“That was the reason I was held up when I was on my way back,” Tang Qiu said.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, “Did you come across a Territory Lord?”
Only a Territory Lord would be able to injure Tang Qiu.
Tang Qiu replied, “Yes, there was a Territory Lord.”
Yang Kai let out a breath, “This will be easy, then.”
Upon hearing that, the Army Commanders turned to look at him and a perplexed Fei Yu Shan asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Yang Kai explained, “As you are aware, in the past, I was forced to pretend to be a Black Ink Disciple in the Black Ink Clan’s territory so that I could survive. At that time, I was only in the Sixth Order, and the one who tried to corrupt me with Black Ink Strength was only a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman. Now, I’m in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so if I want to pretend to be a Black Ink Disciple, a Feudal Lord or Territory Lord will have to make a move. In order to gather more information, I think that I’ll have a greater chance to achieve my goal by following a Territory Lord; hence, I need a Territory Lord to corrupt me with their Black Ink Strength so that I will become his Black Ink Disciple.”
Fei Yu Shan finally realised the younger man’s intention, “You want to join the battle in one of the resource harvesting areas and get captured?”
“Yes.”
“That will be risky.” Tang Qiu frowned, “Since the deployment of Purifying Black Ink Battleships, there hasn’t been a single Human who has been corrupted in the past 20 years. If you’re suddenly corrupted by Black Ink Strength, the Black Ink Clan might grow suspicious. Moreover, if the Territory Lord is determined to kill you, how are you going to resist?”
Yang Kai said, “I have a way to make sure that they won’t grow suspicious. Even though it’s risky, I’ll most likely succeed. On the other hand, as long as I can show them that I’m valuable, the Territory Lord wouldn’t want to kill me.”
A Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple was precious to a Territory Lord, especially if the Seventh-Order Human was more powerful than the others in the same Order.
That was the reason Zhu Feng Territory Lord treasured Bai Yi back then.
The Army Commanders exchanged glances and nodded.
Seeing that, Yang Kai went on to say, “Since we’re all on the same page, we now have to select a Territory Lord that I’ll submit to so that it will be easier for me to carry out this task. I’ll leave that decision to all of you. Additionally, we have to look for a suitable chance.”
Wu Qing replied, “Don’t worry, we’ll come up with a comprehensive plan so that the risk will be minimised.”
“I shall trouble you all, then.”
Tang Qiu said, “You can go back now. I’ll inform you when the right time comes.”
“Yes, I’ll take my leave now.” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
“By the way, take a stroll around the Marketplace if you have some free time,” Tang Qiu suddenly said.
Yang Kai didn’t directly agree to this request. To be honest, if not for the fact that he was forced by the little girl to head to the Marketplace, he would never want to go to that damned place. He had no idea why Tang Qiu suddenly wanted him to visit the Marketplace.
He soon left the Army Headquarters, but the moment he arrived at his courtyard, he saw a petite figure sitting on the steps in front of the door. Perhaps she had been waiting for too long, so she was now sound asleep with her head resting against the door frame.
Yang Kai walked up to her, but it didn’t seem that she would be waking up anytime soon.
Gazing at the little girl, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh and pat her head.
The little girl awakened slowly and rubbed her eyes. It was obvious that she was still sleepy, “Where were you? I’ve been waiting for you.”
“I went to the Army Headquarters to attend to some matters.”
The little girl didn’t seem to hear what he had just said; instead, she just looked up at him and said, “Yang Kai, I’m hungry.”
“Let’s go. We’ll get some steamed stuffed buns,” Yang Kai replied.
The little girl leaped to her feet and chanted joyfully, “Steamed stuffed buns! Steamed stuffed buns!”
They then headed straight to the Marketplace.
The moment Yang Kai stepped into the restaurant, he saw Liu Zhi Ping, who was clad in simple homespun clothes, working hard to prepare dough. Her face and hair were covered with flour.
Yang Kai’s face twitched at the sight. This highly respected Western Army Commander was in the Army Headquarters of the Eastern Army just moments ago, but here she was acting as the owner of a steamed bun shop now.
Yang Kai felt awkward as he was already aware of her identity.
As usual, the shop hand hospitably welcomed them into the restaurant and 10 baskets of steamed stuffed buns were soon wolfed down.
Usually, Yang Kai could return to his room at this point as even though the little girl was a big eater, she could easily be appeased with this amount of steamed stuffed buns.
However, she wouldn’t let Yang Kai go on this day.
“What else do you want to do?” Yang Kai asked in puzzlement.
The little girl pointed in a particular direction, “There’s a teahouse at the other end of the street. The stories told by Mister Storyteller are interesting.”
Yang Kai asked curiously, “Mister Storyteller? Why haven’t I seen him before?”
He visited this Marketplace almost every day for the past few days, so he was familiar with all the shops here already. He was also aware of the teahouse’s existence, but he had never seen this ‘Mister Storyteller’ there when he passed by the shop.
The little girl giggled, “That’s because Mister Storyteller left town to travel around some time ago. He just returned yesterday.”
[He just returned yesterday?] Yang Kai suddenly had an ominous feeling.
With the little girl leading the way, they soon arrived at the teahouse. The place was filled with people, and there were a lot of tables on the floor. In front of them was a curvy woman, who was clad in a fancy costume, standing on the platform. She was singing a song in a melodious voice. The performance was so excellent that she earned a round of applause from the audience.
Yang Kai took a deep breath at the sight of such hustle and bustle. Despite having visited this Marketplace many times, he still couldn’t get used to it.
It had to be noted that the spectators and the singer were all Open Heaven Realm Masters, with many of them in the Seventh Order and even Eighth Order.
Did those in Yin-Yang Pass have nothing better to do?
“This way,” the little girl seemed to be familiar with the place as she pulled Yang Kai towards an empty table.
A shop hand promptly approached them, “What would you like to order?”
The voice sounded familiar to Yang Kai, and the instant he turned his head, he was dumbfounded, for the shop hand was none other than Qing Kui, though his subservient manner didn’t look anything like his usual self.
“Qing…” Yang Kai called out.
“Qing Luo tea, is it?” Qing Kui cut him off, “Excellent, it’s the best tea we have in this teahouse.”
Yang Kai gazed at him as if the latter was a fool.
Seemingly oblivious to his expression, Qing Kui asked, “What else do you need?”
The little girl said, “Snacks!”
“Good, please give me a moment,” Qing Kui replied hospitably and turned around to leave.
A moment later, a plate of fruits and some nuts were served. There was no doubt that the service here was top-notch.
After the singer was done, she elegantly stepped down from the platform.
The next instant, the elderly Mister Storyteller walked up on stage.
The moment Yang Kai saw this person, he couldn’t help but press his face into his palm.
As expected, Mister Storyteller, who was said to have just returned from travelling around, was none other than Tang Qiu who Yang Kai had seen in the Army Headquarters just a while ago.
Instead of staying in his room to recuperate from his injuries, Tang Qiu had come to the Marketplace to tell some stories. It was all highly improper.
However, Tang Qiu ignored Yang Kai as he swept a glance over them and placed a wooden block on the table before he began telling a story.
More than ten days had passed since Tang Qiu’s return.
As usual, the little girl would bring Yang Kai to the Marketplace every day and spend a long time there.
One day, after she was done having steamed stuffed buns, Yang Kai bought her several skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. The little girl, who was skipping at the front, suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Yang Kai.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai was perplexed.
“Close your eyes.”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “What do you want to do? Why are you trying to be mysterious?”
The little girl pouted, “Just close your eyes.”
“Alright, alright,” Yang Kai closed his eyes as he was told.
“Stick out your hand,” the little girl was heard saying.
Yang Kai extended his hand, and following that, he realised that something was placed on his palm. When he opened his eyes, he saw a copper coin.
He broke into laughter, “Why did you give me a copper coin?”
With her head tilted, the little girl said, “You’ve been treating me to meals every day, and you also bought me a hairpin. There’s nothing else I can give you other than this thing.”
[Well, at least she’s grateful!] Yang Kai felt warmth in his heart. Even though it was just a single copper coin, it showed the little girl’s sincerity.
“Thank you for this, then.” Yang Kai put on a smile. Just when he was ready to keep the copper coin, he realised that it was different from the ones circulating in the Marketplace; it was obviously far more ancient.
He asked curiously, “Where did you get this from?” There had never been any money with the little girl, so where did she find this ancient copper coin?
While munching on her sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, the little girl replied in a muffled voice, “I took it from the Old Ancestor.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai was astounded, “You took it from the Old Ancestor?”
“En,” the little girl replied nonchalantly, “You have to keep it in a safe place. If you come across any danger, you might be able to save your life by taking this coin out.”
The ancient coin in Yang Kai’s hand felt much heavier all of a sudden and he quickly said, “No, no, this thing is far too valuable…”
“Just keep it. You’re an adult, don’t be so uptight. En, let’s call it a day. I’m sleepy now, so I’ll go back and get some rest,” Upon finishing her words, the little girl directly skipped off.
Just when Yang Kai was ready to race after her, a figure descended from the sky and stood in the way. It was none other than Xu Ling Gong, and upon seeing Yang Kai, he hurriedly said, “The time is here. Come with me!”
Yang Kai took a look in the direction the little girl was heading and briefly hesitated before leaving with Xu Ling Gong in a hurry. Meanwhile, he carefully put the ancient coin away.
In the Marketplace, the little girl, who was skipping along, suddenly stopped in her tracks and became unmoving.
As she stood still, the entire Marketplace seemed to have frozen in time.
A moment later, a breeze whisked across the street and the flags on both sides started flapping in the air.
In an instant, everyone in the Marketplace turned to look at the little girl.
The little girl, whom Yang Kai thought was an Origin King, saw her aura increasing madly like a tsunami. Soon, it reached the Open Heaven Realm, and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
As her cultivation increased rapidly, her body seemed to be going through a transformation as well. While engulfed in a faint light, her petite figure grew quickly.
In just a cup of tea, the little girl, whose aura was originally in the Origin King Realm, turned into an alluring woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
The dense aura swirling around her suggested that she was above the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
In the Marketplace, congratulations were heard coming from all directions in a continuous manner.
The young woman opened her eyes and said in a clear voice, “It has been difficult for all of you. Let’s call it a day.”
“Yes, Old Ancestor.”
After they responded to her, the shops started closing rapidly. In just an incense stick, the originally bustling Marketplace fell into silence, and no one was in sight.
The young woman turned her head to look out of the Inner Sanctum with a dispassionate expression. As her clothes flapped in the wind, she disappeared abruptly from the spot the next instant.
In the meantime, Yang Kai and Xu Ling Gong were standing on the deck of a Warship that was hovering in the void outside of the Inner Sanctum.
Xu Ling Gong was a Squad Leader, and including himself, there were 2 Seventh-Order, 8 Sixth-Order, and 3 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in his Squad for a total of 13.
This was a fairly typical configuration for a Squad in the Great Passes.
Dawn was an outlier that was unlike the others. On the entire Black Ink Battlefield, there were only a small number of Special Operations Squads like Dawn.
Even though there were only 2 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in this Squad, such a roster, along with their Warship, allowed them to exert the strength of 5 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters when dealing with enemies on the battlefield, which greatly enhanced their collective power.
At this moment, Xu Ling Gong was explaining to Yang Kai about the situation they were facing.
“As per your request, the Army Commanders in the Inner Sanctum have had a serious discussion and confirmed that your target will be Hei Yuan Territory Lord. He’s one of the most powerful Territory Lords working for Mu Guang Royal Lord, and he has gained the latter’s favour as well. If you can become his Black Ink Disciple, you’ll have a chance to follow him to the Royal City, which will make it easier for you to gather information; however, some manoeuvres are needed in order to help you become his Black Ink Disciple. With that said, you don’t have to worry about it as the Army Commanders have come up with a comprehensive plan. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to achieve our goal. You just have to play it by ear and act at the right time.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Got it.”
Xu Ling Gong said, “This opportunity was hard to come by, which is why we’re in a hurry. The Army Commanders wanted me to ask you if you’re prepared.”
Yang Kai replied seriously, “I’m ready to carry out our plan.”
“Good,” Xu Ling Gong nodded gently.
“Are we going to look for Hei Yuan now?” Yang Kai asked.
Xu Ling Gong shook his head, “No, we’re not. Hei Yuan is in one of the resource harvesting areas now. Presently, Army Commander Wu Qing is dealing with him. If everything goes well, Hei Yuan will be badly injured and forced to flee.”
A glint flashed through Yang Kai’s eyes as he had somewhat figured out the plan those from Yin-Yang Pass had come up with.
Just like Xu Ling Gong had said, Hei Yuan Territory Lord and Wu Qing were in a fight in the resource harvesting area. Hei Yuan was one of the 5 most powerful Territory Lords working for Mu Guang. On the other hand, Wu Qing was the Southern Army Commander here, and the strongest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in Yin-Yang Pass.
It was expected that their fight would be intense, with space collapsing all around them as they battled.
Both of them knew each other well as it wasn’t the first time they fought. Despite that, Hei Yuan still felt his heart sinking as Wu Qing was acting far more ferocious than in the past. He seemed determined to kill even if he was wounded in the process. It was apparent that Wu Qing didn’t care if both of them ended up in a horrible state.
Furthermore, Wu Qing possessed one of the Four Universe Pillars, so he wasn’t afraid of Black Ink Strength at all. The biggest advantage of the Black Ink Clan was useless against him.
Meanwhile, Hei Yuan Territory Lord became increasingly discomfited. Even though he did manage to injure Wu Qing, he was unable to kill him. On the other hand, he was also badly wounded.
Other than the two of them, Human soldiers and the Black Ink Clan’s Army were clashing with one another on the battlefield. There were also other locations where the Eighth-Order Humans and Black Ink Territory Lords were locked in intense battles.
Humans were the ones who launched the attack this time, which caught the Black Ink Clan off guard. Hei Yuan didn’t understand why the Humans were acting so aggressively all of a sudden.
However, things had come to a point where he could only clench his teeth and keep fighting.
The Black Ink Clan had suffered immense losses in just half a day, but it wasn’t until this moment that Hei Yuan realised that the Humans had secretly sent reinforcements to this battlefield. Initially, even though the Humans were at an advantage in this particular resource harvesting area, they were not overwhelmingly more powerful than the other party. Now that they had helpers though, how was the Black Ink Clan supposed to resist?
Seeing that they were on the losing side, Hei Yuan wanted to flee; however, Wu Qing seemed to have gone mad as he aimed fixedly at Hei Yuan, which ensured that the latter would not be able to escape.
Two or three days later, the Black Ink Clan had suffered near catastrophic losses while, even though some of the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass were killed, the number was tolerable.
Amidst the chaotic battle, a column of light suddenly shot into the sky.
It was obviously a signal.
The Black Ink Clan, who had no idea what was going on, were astounded as they wondered what the Humans were up to. Hei Yuan, who was battling against Wu Qing also sported a solemn expression.
All of a sudden, Wu Qing dropped all his defences and went all out to strike at Hei Yuan.
A flabbergasted Hei Yuan instinctively counterattacked.
As their powers clashed, the void around them trembled fiercely. Both of them were sent flying away as they sprayed out a mouthful of blood. Both parties ended up being horribly injured.
Wu Qing had gained the upper hand as he was the one who made a move first, so his injury was less severe than that of Hei Yuan. Therefore, he recovered quickly and tried to follow up with his assault.
Seeing the other party act so madly, Hei Yuan didn’t dare to keep fighting. Moreover, the Humans had just sent a signal, so more reinforcements might be on their way.
At the thought of this, Hei Yuan quickly released a large Black Ink Cloud and concealed himself in it.
Wu Qing charged into the cloud, but Hei Yuan was already nowhere in sight.
Half a day later, the battlefield fell dead silent. The Humans had gained a victory while the Black Ink Clan fled in embarrassment.
All of a sudden, a weakened Tang Qiu appeared beside Wu Qing. He was already injured, to begin with, and before he could recuperate, he came all the way here to fight against a Black Ink Clan Territory Lord, which exacerbated his wounds. As such, it would probably take him several years to recuperate.
“Are you alright?” Tang Qiu asked.
“His injury is more severe than mine,” Wu Qing snorted.
Tang Qiu was rendered speechless as he once again witnessed how much this guy hated suffering a loss. After taking a glance at the battlefield that was in a mess, he let out a sigh, “The stage has been set. I wonder if things will go to plan.”
Wu Qing replied impassively, “There’s only so much we can do, the rest is up to the Heavens.”
“You always tend to look on the bright side.” Tang Qiu put on a smile, and then the light in his eyes went out, “We’ve paid a huge price here; a lot of our people have died. I hope it is worth it.”
“Everyone who lost their life on the Black Ink Battlefield did not die for nothing,” Upon finishing his words, Wu Qing turned around and returned to his ship, leaving Tang Qiu with a dampened expression on his face.
A Warship navigated through the void like an agile fish in water. As the Open Heaven Realm Masters channelled their World Force, the Arrays they were powering activated. The next moment, they launched violent attacks towards their enemies.
Every strike was equivalent to the attack of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
The Black Ink Clansmen, who were running away, were unable to fend off the attacks and a large number of them were killed instantly, with the survivors scattering randomly.
This Warship was commanded by none other than Xu Ling Gong, who had his Squad members assisting him. They departed from Yin-Yang Pass and arrived at their destination just in time.
Before they could settle in though, they saw some Black Ink Clansmen fleeing in their direction.
Both Yang Kai and Xu Ling Gong knew that these Black Ink Clansmen must have fled from the resource harvesting area. The sight before their eyes suggested that the Humans had gained the upper hand on the battlefield, and they might have even broken the main force of the Black Ink Clan. That was the reason these Black Ink Clansmen were fleeing.
There wasn’t even a single Feudal Lord among this group, so they could be considered insignificant. Yang Kai and the others were not even interested in fighting against them as, by relying on the Warship’s power, they could destroy these Black Ink Clansmen with ease.
Presently, they were stationed on the route the Black Ink Clansmen had to pass through if they wanted to retreat to their territory. It was a plan devised by those from Yin-Yang Pass.
Now, they were waiting for the wounded Hei Yuan to arrive at this place. That would be the key moment when they would execute the plan that those from Yin-Yang Pass had come up with.
In order to make this plan a success, Yin-Yang Pass prematurely launched a comprehensive assault in the resource harvesting area so that Yang Kai could pretend to become a Black Ink Disciple and safely reach the Black Ink Clan’s hinterland. The different parts of this plan were connected in a meticulous way. Those from the Black Ink Clan could never have expected that the Humans would go to such great lengths just to sneak Yang Kai into their territory.
After the Warship navigated through the void for another half a day, they managed to kill a lot of Black Ink Clansmen. Eventually, they came across a group that was worthy of their attention.
There were over 100 Black Ink Clansmen in this group with 2 Feudal Lords leading them; however, both of them were wounded as they had been in a prolonged battle just now. The entire group was obviously dispirited.
The instant the Feudal Lords saw the Warship approaching, they were flabbergasted.
They could not understand why a Warship belonging to the Humans would appear in this kind of place.
It wasn’t the first time the Feudal Lords battled against Humans, so they were aware that this kind of Warship was powerful. Even though there were only a dozen or so people in a Human Squad, there would normally be 2 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters with them. The Squad members, coupled with this Warship, were more than enough to deal with these wounded Black Ink Clansmen.
However, as the Feudal Lords thought of the fact that more of their comrades were on the way to this place, they set their minds at ease.
Regardless of the reason this Warship had appeared in this place, it was their best chance to earn some merits. As long as they could trap this Human Squad here, they could eventually subdue them when more of their clansmen arrived.
They had just suffered a humiliating defeat, so if they could make a contribution here, they might be spared some punishment when they returned.
At the thought of this, the Feudal Lords exchanged glances and nodded. They had come to a consensus without the need for a discussion.
One of the Feudal Lords quickly waved his hand and ordered, “Encircle them here, don’t let them flee!”
Upon finishing his words, he charged forward like a cat that had caught a whiff of fish. It was as though he was worried that he wouldn’t get a reward for not being the first one to make a move; however, what he saw the next instant astonished him.
He initially thought that this Squad, which was alone in this place, would immediately flee upon seeing so many Black Ink Clansmen, but things turned out very different from what he had anticipated. Instead of fleeing, the Squad actually sailed their Warship towards them.
Before the Warship even arrived, its Arrays started flickering.
The Feudal Lord, who was at the front, was dumbstruck as a sense of danger overwhelmed him. He quickly dodged away, and in the next instant, a powerful beam of light shot out and tore through the void.
Even though the Feudal Lord had successfully evaded the attack, he still felt an impact from it. He was already injured to begin with, so if he had been struck just now, he would most likely have lost his life.
When he turned his head, he felt his heart being cut to pieces. A gap had appeared in the middle of the group of over 100 Black Ink Clansmen. More than 20 of his subordinates had lost their lives following the attack.
Energy fluctuations flared again as two more beams of light were shot out from the Warship.
Even though the Black Ink Clansmen tried to dodge, many of them were still killed. After 3 attacks from the Warship, more than half of the Black Ink Clansmen were sent on the road to the Yellow Springs.
It didn’t end there though as all of a sudden, a figure dashed out of the Warship with a spear in his hands. With a simple thrust, the weapon seemed to ignore the distance between them and soon reached the Feudal Lord.
The Feudal Lord was horrified as he had never expected this Human to be so quick and hurriedly surged his Black Ink Strength to form a shield in front of him.
The usually impenetrable shield was unable to withstand this attack. As soon as the spear came into contact with the shield, the solid Black Ink Strength burst apart.
However, this momentary delay allowed the Feudal Lord to shift his figure so that his vitals wouldn’t be hit.
As dark blood spurted out, the spear pierced the Feudal Lord’s shoulder and stuck out the other side. The wounded Feudal Lord was both shocked and furious as he looked up and roared, clenching his fist tight as he punched out.
The attack contained a power that could destroy Heaven and shatter Earth.
However, the Feudal Lord missed his target.
He had no idea how the enemy disappeared, but when he detected the other party’s aura again, he felt a sense of danger coming at him from the side.
When he turned his head, he saw a dispassionate-looking young man and a sharp spear rapidly enlarging before his eyes.
At this life-and-death moment, the Feudal Lord raised his arms in an attempt to blunt the attack. At the same time, he puffed out a Black Ink Cloud from his mouth to engulf the Human in the hopes that the latter would back down.
The spear thrust through the Black Ink Cloud and slid past his arms before striking the Feudal Lord’s head and causing it to burst.
The young man dashed out of the Black Ink Cloud and brushed past the headless Feudal Lord without pause, his entire figure engulfed in murderous intent.
The battlefield fell silent.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen were astonished, while at the same time, Xu Ling Gong and his Squad aboard the Warship felt their brows twitching.
“So strong…” Qing Kui, who was in charge of one of the arrays, gulped.
Even though he had been operating the array, he could clearly see what happened just now. It only took Yang Kai a couple of breaths to fly out of the Warship and kill a Feudal Lord in less than five moves.
A Feudal Lord was killed just like that.
Even though he was already injured to begin with, he was still a Feudal Lord equivalent to a Seventh-Order Human Master. Despite that, he was still as powerless as a child in front of Yang Kai.
This kind of overwhelming power was simply unheard of. Even though Qing Kui had seen a lot of Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters since coming to the Black Ink Battlefield, none of them was comparable to Yang Kai, not even his Honoured Master Xu Ling Gong.
He recalled that when he first met Yang Kai, both of them were only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Due to various reasons, Yang Kai took part in the Dao Theory Assembly which was meant to select a Husband for Qu Hua Shang, and he eventually won first place. Since then, Yang Kai had become a famous figure among the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
Many years had passed, and now Yang Kai surpassed Qing Kui by a large margin when it came to strength.
After making some calculations, Qing Kui realised that he was already a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master when the brat was just Emperor Realm Junior. He was still in the Sixth-Order when this boy ascended to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. When the brat made it to the Sixth Order, he was still a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Now that same Brat was in the Seventh-Order, while he was still in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
At the thought of this, Qing Kui felt dejected, thinking that he had wasted all the years he had lived.
Su Ying Xue, who was in charge of another array, seemed to have detected the change in his emotions, so she said gently, “There are always some people in the World who are extremely blessed with luck and talent, so there’s no point feeling bothered by it, Senior Brother. Since you’re not comparable to them, you should strive to be better by improving yourself each day. The only person you have to surpass is yourself.”
Qing Kui put on a helpless smile, “I understand, but… it’s the first time I realise there’s such a huge gap between someone else and me.”
Xu Ling Gong said in a serious tone, “Since you’re aware of your shortcomings, you can improve yourself. Considering that you’re not as lucky and talented as him, you have to work extra hard. On the road to the peak, nothing is more important than your own efforts.”
“Yes,” Qing Kui replied respectfully.
The Deputy Squad Leader, who was also a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, approached Xu Ling Gong and asked in a hushed voice, “Do we need to give him a hand, Squad Leader?”
Xu Ling Gong shook his head, “There’s no need for that. Just watch.”
Judging from the speed Yang Kai was able to kill a Feudal Lord, he would destroy these Black Ink Clansmen in no time even without any help from them.
As they spoke, the surviving Black Ink Clansmen had descended into chaos. The remaining Feudal Lord was horrified by the fact that his companion was killed in just a couple breaths of time. His strength was on par with that of his companion who was killed, but the latter was easily dispatched by Yang Kai with just two or three moves. He reckoned that he wouldn’t be a match for the young man either.
[Is this Human really a Seventh-Order Master?] The Feudal Lord almost went mad. He reckoned that even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master couldn’t give him so much pressure. Why would there be such a horrifying Seventh-Order Human in this world?
Therefore, the instant Yang Kai turned to look at the Feudal Lord and locked his senses onto him, the latter directly turned around to flee without the intention to fight.
However, before he could escape any notable distance, he shuddered and became rooted to the spot.
When he lowered his head, he saw that the tip of a spear had stuck out from his chest. Black blood was streaming out of the wound, and it wasn’t until this moment that he was overwhelmed by a sense of excruciating pain.
While feeling despondent, the Feudal Lord wanted to make a final retaliatory strike, but Yang Kai quickly wielded his spear and surged his World Force. Following that, the Feudal Lord exploded into blood mist as his broken limbs scattered around the void.
“What a shame,” Yang Kai muttered under his breath. The first Feudal Lord had the guts to exchange moves with him in order to resist; however, this Feudal Lord just wanted to flee, which only accelerated his demise.
There were initially more than 100 Black Ink Clansmen in this group, but half of them were destroyed by the Warship in the opening salvo. Then, the two Feudal Lords were killed by Yang Kai’s spear. How were the remaining Black Ink Clansmen supposed to be a match for them now?
As the Warship and Yang Kai acted together, all the Black Ink Clansmen were soon killed.
Even though a group of more than 100 Black Ink Clansmen had been destroyed, the battle still hadn’t ended.
More and more groups of Black Ink Clansmen of different numbers were fleeing from the resource harvesting area. These Black Ink Clansmen, who were basically half-dead from taking part in the great battle, could no longer form an effective formation. Not only were they apprehensive while running away, but they were scattered and in disarray. They just wanted to flee from this area and return to a safe place as soon as possible.
Although Yang Kai was the only one who had left the Warship to directly deal with the enemy, the Warship led by Xu Ling Gong would assist him. These dispirited Black Ink Clansmen no longer had the courage to keep fighting, so they were easily killed the moment they clashed with Yang Kai. Coupled with the Arrays on the Warship, they could effortlessly wipe out most of the enemies.
Of course, a small number of the Black Ink Clansmen were lucky enough to successfully flee.
It was a good start for the Humans. The Black Ink Clansmen were easily killed regardless of their numbers. First of all, these Black Ink Clansmen were scattered around. Secondly, there weren’t any truly powerful Masters, so they were unable to resist Yang Kai’s spear. The few Feudal Lords who appeared were all executed as soon as they arrived.
However, as time passed, it became increasingly difficult to deal with the enemies.
An increasing number of Black Ink Clansmen arrived at this place and were astonished upon seeing the intense battle taking place, thinking that the Humans had arranged an ambush here.
Nevertheless, when they had a clearer picture of the battle, they set their minds at ease.
There was indeed an ambush, but it was just a Squad-level Warship. In other words, only one Squad of Human soldiers was trying to ambush them here.
They had no idea why there was a Human Squad in this place, but they reckoned that these Squad members wanted to earn merits by trying to take advantage of them as they were injured, which was why the other party had left the main force of the Humans.
There was nothing to be afraid of since there was only a Squad. Following the Feudal Lords’ orders, countless High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen charged towards the Warship.
Instantly, Yang Kai felt immensely pressured.
Given his current strength, he wasn’t afraid of these High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Even if he was unable to kill them all, his only option was to flee. However, his purpose was not to flee, and he couldn’t showcase any of his Space Secret Techniques; therefore, when faced with the tide of Black Ink Clansmen, he could only grit his teeth and fight on.
Right then, two figures shot out of the Warship. They were none other than Xu Ling Gong and the other Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader, who decided to help.
At that instant, 3 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were assisted by a Warship, began a massacre.
There were Black Ink Clansmen who were killed with every breath. Minced meat, dark blood, and Black Ink Strength soon covered the void.
Some of the Feudal Lords would hide among the cannon fodder and secretly approach the 3 of them, waiting for a chance to launch sneak attacks. In such a chaotic battle, even a veteran Seventh-Order Master like Xu Ling Gong was unable to detect such hidden danger.
Fortunately, Yang Kai still had some energy to spare as he continuously monitored their surroundings. Every time a Feudal Lord approached, he could instantly identify them.
After some of these reckless Feudal Lords were killed, the remaining Feudal Lords didn’t dare to move forward. They watched the battle from a distance as they wanted to deplete the energy of these Seventh-Order Humans using the cannon fodder before capturing them.
On the battlefield, Yang Kai sported a calm expression. His hands were steady as he wielded his spear, and every attack could deal critical damage to his enemies. He had rarely experienced a battle with such intensity, but everything was still within his control.
However, Xu Ling Gong and the Vice Squad Leader grew increasingly apprehensive. As they were surrounded by more and more Black Ink Clansmen, they couldn’t help but think that they might not survive this day.
A Squad of a dozen members in theory shouldn’t be able to resist such a large group of Black Ink Clansmen, so both of them were surprised that they had persevered for such a long time. However, they knew that the reason behind it was that Yang Kai had fended off most of the enemies. If not for him, their Squad would have been destroyed.
Rays of light were shot from the Arrays on the Warship into the Black Ink Clansmen, with each strike dealing a heavy blow to the enemies.
Nonetheless, even a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Qing Kui was unable to sustain activating the arrays for such a long time. The defensive light around the Warship was also on the brink of collapsing following the relentless attacks from the Black Ink Clansmen.
Once the Warship’s shields failed, the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Squad would lose the Warship’s protection. When that happened, they would be unable to ward off the Black Ink Strength, thus falling into a perilous situation.
Even though they had been taking turns to operate the Arrays, they couldn’t get enough time to really rest given the battle’s intensity. It was simply impossible for them to persevere for long.
All the Squad members were exhausted after half a day of battle. Even Xu Ling Gong and his Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader were no longer as ferocious as when they started. Only Yang Kai remained as ruthless and energetic as always.
The strength of an Open Heaven Realm Master’s heritage was manifested in such a battle.
In fact, Xu Ling Gong was supposedly more powerful than Yang Kai when it came to his heritage; after all, he was a veteran Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master while Yang Kai was a newly promoted one. Simply put, his cultivation was ahead of Yang Kai’s by thousands of years.
However, Yang Kai had the World Tree clone in his Small Universe, so he wasn’t afraid of Black Ink Strength at all; hence, there wasn’t a need for him to divert any of his power to resist Black Ink Strength in this battle.
On the other hand, Xu Ling Gong had to continuously spend a part of his World Force to fend off the Black Ink Strength, thus exhausting himself more quickly.
Moreover, the living beings inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe would constantly replenish and increase his heritage and World Force; therefore, his stamina was much greater than that of the average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Additionally, every time the World Tree clone breathed, his World Force would be purified. That was the reason he could deal a heavier blow to the enemies than most Seventh-Order Humans.
Countless Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives, including a number of Feudal Lords. As time passed, an increasing number of Black Ink Clansmen were killed, but this epic battle didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
1,000 kilometres away from the battlefield, there was a large ship that was navigating through the void. On the large ship were defeated Black Ink Clansmen. Many of these injured people were lying on the deck and groaning in pain.
It could be said that they had suffered immense losses in the battle that had just ended. For some reason, the Humans had gone mad and mobilised a lot more soldiers than expected, which caught the Black Ink Clan off guard. Even the Territory Lords in charge of the battlefield were all badly wounded. One of the Territory Lords was even killed by two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had joined forces.
It wasn’t easy fleeing from the battlefield as the Humans were still relentlessly pursuing them, seizing every chance they could to kill even more.
It wasn’t until an hour ago that the Humans finally stopped chasing after them, which allowed these Black Ink Clansmen to take a breather. The pursuit also exacerbated the injuries of these Territory Lords.
Other than Hei Yuan, the other Territory Lords had fallen into a state of deep sleep. They had to be immediately sent to Black Ink Nests; otherwise, their rank might drop from their injuries.
They had already lost the battle, so if several Territory Lords saw their rank regress at the same time, Hei Yuan wouldn’t be able to explain himself to Mu Guang; after all, the number of Territory Lords that a Royal Lord commanded was a direct measure of their strength.
Therefore, Hei Yuan had to get back to his territory as soon as possible in order to send these unconscious Territory Lords into Black Ink Nests.
As for Hei Yuan himself, he was worn out as well. He yearned to get some rest inside his Black Ink Nest, but he was the only Territory Lord who was still conscious at this point. As such, he had to persevere to prevent any accidents from happening.
Unfortunately, what he dreaded most still happened. While he was lost in his thoughts, a Feudal Lord came to him quickly and reported, “Sir, there’s a battle going on 1,000 kilometres up ahead. There seems to be an ambush by the Humans!”
A shocked Hei Yuan rose from the large chair and shouted, “An ambush? Where did those Humans come from?”
The Feudal Lord was horrified, and faced with the pressure from his superior, he replied in a trembling voice, “I have no idea.”
“Go find out then!” Hei Yuan snapped.
“Yes!” The Feudal Lord left the place upon receiving the order.
An absent-minded Hei Yuan started pacing back and forth. He wasn’t even sure if he could survive since there was an ambush ahead of them.
Presently, he was in a terrible state. Even though there were other Territory Lords on the ship, they were injured and had all basically fallen into comas. Their foundations would be damaged if they were forcefully awakened, and it was questionable how much help they would be even if they were.
However, he couldn’t figure out why there was an ambush ahead of him.
It had to be noted that even though the Black Ink Clan had suffered tremendous losses in the previous battle, the Humans did not fare much better. Some of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were horribly wounded, and if not for the Human deploying more reinforcements to join the battle, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have been humiliated so badly.
Nevertheless, the place in front of him was very close to the Black Ink Clan’s base, but the Humans had arranged an ambush there. Weren’t they worried that the Royal Lord would notice and decide to kill them?
When that happened, it would mean massive losses for the Humans, who were known for their cunning. It was inconceivable that they would do such a reckless thing.
In fact, if there was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the battle ahead of him, Hei Yuan would have no choice but to make a detour. Given the state he was in, he wouldn’t dare to directly deal with an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He certainly had to flee.
Soon, the Feudal Lord returned and reported, “Sir, I’ve gathered some useful information. There’s only one Human Squad ahead of us.”
Upon hearing that, Hei Yuan sported a dumbfounded expression, “One Squad? Are you sure?”
The Feudal Lord nodded, “Yes, there’s only a Squad. I saw it with my eyes. There are only 3 Seventh-Order Humans while the rest aren’t worth our attention.”
“So there’s only one Squad…” Hei Yuan was startled for a moment before moving to the deck to intently observe the battlefield.
As a Territory Lord, he was able to see what was happening 1,000 kilometres away with ease, so soon he took in what was happening on the battlefield.
Just like his subordinate had reported, there was only a standard Human Squad with a Squad-level Warship in front of them. There were 3 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, while the rest were in the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order.
Hei Yuan’s expression still darkened though as he asked, “How did one Human Squad kill so many of our clansmen?”
He could see that a lot of minced meat and dark blood were scattered around the battlefield, which suggested that they had suffered immense losses.
The sight before Hei Yuan’s eyes made him extremely furious. To begin with, they had already suffered a setback in the previous battle. The treacherous Humans suddenly mobilised a lot of soldiers to come over and help, which caught them off guard. Now, there wasn’t even a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in this Squad, but they had managed to kill so many of the Black Ink Clansmen. Certainly, Hei Yuan would never tolerate this.
When did the Black Ink Clan become so weak? He was already in a terrible mood, and now, he was practically fuming.
The Feudal Lord said in a shaking voice, “Sir, one of the Seventh-Order Humans is unbelievably strong.”
Hei Yuan remained silent. In fact, he had already noticed this. The 3 Seventh-Order Humans were the core of this Squad, and while 2 of them were quite normal, displaying what would be expected from Seventh-Order Humans, the spear-holding young man was distinct as he was able to easily wipe out any Black Ink Clansmen that came near him. The extent of his strength was inconceivable.
While gazing at the spear-holding young man with narrowed eyes, Hei Yuan was astounded. It was no wonder that the Humans had the guts to intercept them here, for they had this young man with them.
However, such a young man was still too weak in front of a Territory Lord.
Hei Yuan snorted, “Pass on my orders. Kill them all regardless of what it takes!”
The Feudal Lord replied, “Yes.”
Without stopping, the large ship continued to inch closer to the battlefield. Following Hei Yuan’s order, the already intense battle became even more violent.
Initially, after Yang Kai killed some reckless Feudal Lords, the remaining hidden Feudal Lords didn’t dare to make a rash move again. They remained hidden and waited for better opportunities to strike.
Nevertheless, following Hei Yuan’s order, these Feudal Lords wouldn’t dare to delay despite their fear. They all started moving at once.
In an instant, Yang Kai and the others felt tremendously pressured and Xu Ling Gong and the Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader were injured by some Feudal Lords in a moment of carelessness.
On such a battlefield, even the slightest injury could be fatal, for the Black Ink Strength permeating this place was highly corrosive. As time passed, even if their injuries didn’t worsen, they would still turn into Black Ink Disciples as they were no longer able to resist the Black Ink Strength.
Presently, Yang Kai’s left eye had turned golden while his right eye was completely black. In the darkness, he saw a Feudal Lord coming at him from the side. The Feudal Lord came at the worst possible moment as Yang Kai had just used a powerful attack and had yet to regain his balance. If nothing unexpected happened, this sneak attack would be successful.
However, the figure that Yang Kai was seeing through his black eye contorted in a weird manner all of a sudden. As if struck by lightning, the ferocious-looking Feudal Lord felt like a blade had cut across his waist. An excruciating pain spread from out, which delayed his sneak attack.
It was because of this momentary delay that he lost his life.
The Azure Dragon Spear bluntly jabbed into the Feudal Lord’s head as easily as if it were tofu.
As World Force surged, the bulky head exploded as dark blood started spurting from the neck of the headless corpse.
Right then, a Golden Crow was heard cawing as a Great Sun leapt into existence and crashed into the Black Ink Clansmen. Wherever the dazzling light covered, the Black Ink Clan instantly lost their lives.
Several Feudal Lords were killed by Yang Kai in just 10 breaths of time; however, there didn’t seem to be an end to this torrent as the Black Ink Clan continued charging towards him. The battle didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
On this battlefield, Yang Kai was like a sheep that was surrounded by a pride of lions. Regardless of how hard he tried to resist, he was fated to be eaten alive.
Xu Ling Gong felt his heart sinking. While battling against the enemies, he caught sight of a large ship that had come to a halt not far away from them.
This was a flight-type artifact that the Black Ink Disciples had specifically refined for the Black Ink Clan.
In such an environment, only the Territory Lords had the right to ride such a flight-type artifact.
Their target might very well be on this ship, and Xu Ling Gong could feel that someone strong was paying attention to them with a pair of gloomy eyes.
According to their plan, as long as Yang Kai came across that Territory Lord and got captured, their objective would be achieved.
Unfortunately, the Territory Lord didn’t seem to have the intention of showing up. Judging from the fierce reaction of these Black Ink Clansmen, Xu Ling Gong reckoned that the Territory Lord must have given the order to kill them ruthlessly.
In that case, how were they supposed to achieve their goal? It wasn’t like Yang Kai could simply go ahead and request to be a Black Ink Disciple. That would be a foolish thing to do.
It seemed that this Territory Lord had become bloodthirsty after the previous battle; hence, whenever he saw Humans, he just wanted to kill them all instead of turning them into Black Ink Disciples.
This was giving Xu Ling Gong a headache. However, things had come to such a point where he could only grit his teeth and soldier on.
A moment later, more Feudal Lords were killed.
On the deck, Hei Yuan sported an extremely gloomy expression. This couldn’t be helped, as the Feudal Lord he had sent to pass on his order was killed right in front of him.
The extent of the spear-holding young man’s power was inconceivable, which made Hei Yuan determined to end his life. This young man was only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm now. When he grew to be powerful enough one day, even Hei Yuan wouldn’t be a match for him.
At the thought of this, he turned to look to the side.
There was an injured Feudal Lord who was just standing beside him, and the instant their eyes met, the Feudal Lord knew that Hei Yuan wanted him to join the battle as well. At that moment, he was terrified.
Presently, he was badly wounded, so he wouldn’t be of much help if he did join the battle. Even if he was still at the peak of his power though, he still wouldn’t be a match for the spear-wielding young man.
It was clear that this Human could chop up a Feudal Lord as easily as one would chop fruits and vegetables.
The Feudal Lord quickly racked his brain to come up with a solution, and before Hei Yuan could say anything, the Feudal Lord cupped his fist, “Sir, this Seventh-Order Human is indeed significantly more powerful than the others in the same Order. If you can capture him, he will be of great service to you.”
Hei Yuan frowned and fell silent when those words were spoken.
In fact, he had thought about turning the Seventh-Order Humans here into Black Ink Disciples; however, he was horribly injured right now, so it was difficult for him to make a move. Certainly, he would be more than happy if these Feudal Lords were able to corrupt them with Black Ink Strength. By then, he could just give an order, and these Feudal Lords wouldn’t dare to keep the Black Ink Disciples to themselves.
Nevertheless, these Feudal Lords were too timid in front of the young man, so they wouldn’t stand a chance to corrupt him. That was the reason he decided to kill the young man.
Still, Hei Yuan became increasingly tempted as the spear-holding young man was indeed an extraordinary cultivator. After corrupting such a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he could start nurturing him, and by the time this Black Ink Disciple ascended to the Eighth-Order or even the Ninth-Order, Hei Yuan would have the right to stand on equal footing with the Royal Lords.
Having said that, it wasn’t easy to corrupt a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with Black Ink Strength. Most Humans didn’t seem to fear death at all, and there had been countless precedents where the Humans would rather commit suicide than become Black Ink Disciples.
If he decided to make a move, he had to achieve his goal in one swift strike; otherwise, the young man would definitely launch a desperate counterattack.
If he was still at the peak of his power, dealing with a Seventh-Order Human would be a trivial matter; however, since he was wounded now, Hei Yuan had to be more cautious.
Therefore, if he wanted to turn this young man, he had to weaken him first in order to achieve his goal.
Just then, the Feudal Lord exclaimed in a pleasantly surprised tone, “Sir, that Human has been invaded by Black Ink Strength!”
Hei Yuan looked over and saw that the young man’s face was indeed covered in a thin black aura, which was obviously Black Ink Strength. Hei Yuan was naturally familiar with this sight.
After giving it a thought, he realised that it wasn’t surprising. Regardless of how powerful a Seventh-Order Human was, he couldn’t possibly resist Black Ink Strength forever.
If nothing unexpected happened, this young man would have to give up a portion of his Small Universe in order to save himself soon.
This kind of situation was commonly seen on the battlefields. Whenever the Humans were corrupted, they would rather damage their own foundations than degenerate into Black Ink Disciples.
Hei Yuan was already used to this, but he was pleased to see this moment. When the young man’s foundation was damaged, it would be much easier to corrupt him. Humans could give up a small part of their Small Universe once or twice, but they couldn’t possibly keep doing it endlessly.
However, what happened next was vastly different from what Hei Yuan had imagined.
On the battlefield, the young man fished out some kind of Spirit Pill and stuffed it into his mouth.
After a short moment, the dark aura around the young man’s face dissipated.
Hei Yuan widened his eyes in disbelief, “What did he just eat?”
The Feudal Lord was unable to reply to him as he had no idea what had happened either.
“What the Hell did he just eat!?” Hei Yuan roared. The young man had shown signs of being corrupted, but he resolved that crisis by consuming a Spirit Pill. In other words, the Humans had developed a method to resist Black Ink Strength!
In fact, the Black Ink Clan already had some speculations about this. That was because they hadn’t managed to turn any Humans into Black Ink Disciples since more than 10 years ago. However, that remained a speculation that couldn’t be verified.
Now, Hei Yuan saw it with his own eyes.
In that case, the thing that the Humans relied on to deal with Black Ink Strength was a kind of Spirit Pill. What kind of pill would have such an effect? Hei Yuan was deathly curious about this and was determined to get to the bottom of it.
If he could figure out this secret, it would be a huge merit that would more than offset the fact that he had lost the previous battle.
On the battlefield, Xu Ling Gong seized the chance and secretly spoke to Yang Kai via Divine Sense, “Brat, what are you doing?”
He was fully aware of Yang Kai’s situation. This guy had a World Spring, so he could never be corrupted by Black Ink Strength; however, he pretended to be invaded by Black Ink Strength and consumed a Spirit Pill to put on an act.
Since Xu Ling Gong was literally standing beside Yang Kai, he saw that it was just an ordinary Open Heaven Pill, not a Purifying Black Ink Pill.
Yang Kai swept his spear across the Black Ink Clansmen in front of him and killed them all. While catching his breath, he replied, “Since we’re putting on an act, it has to be convincing. This Territory Lord is a patient one, so we have to tempt him to show up.”
A speechless Xu Ling Gong decided to stop talking and focused on killing the enemies.
The Territory Lord hadn’t shown up despite being nearby, which suggested that he was badly injured and was thus acting more cautious in every decision he made.
Xu Ling Gong became a bit more at ease at the thought of this. A wounded Territory Lord would naturally be less intimidating to them.
The intense battle continued, but it wasn’t long before Xu Ling Gong appeared exhausted as he secretly spoke to Yang Kai, “I’m running out of energy.”
A Seventh-Order Master was unable to bear the intensity of such a battle over a long time. Even though half of the pressure was borne by Yang Kai, Xu Ling Gong and his Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader still found it difficult to deal with these enemies.
It had come to a point where all 3 of them were wounded. Worse, as more Black Ink Clansmen were killed, the Black Ink Strength on the battlefield became increasingly ample. Xu Ling Gong and his Vice Squad Leader were no longer able to keep resisting the Black Ink Strength.
Black Qi had begun appearing around their faces.
“Both of you, retreat to the Warship. We’ll have to fight our way out of here!” Yang Kai shouted.
“We’re going to fight our way out?” Xu Ling Gong was astounded upon hearing that. If they really did that at this point, all their efforts would go to waste; however, he soon realised Yang Kai’s intention. He nodded and sent a signal to the Vice Squad Leader, and then the two of them returned to the Warship.
The current situation was vastly different from their original plan. With that said, it was to be expected. Regardless of how immaculate a plan was, there would be unexpected incidents when they went to carry it out. Only by reacting accordingly would they stand a chance to succeed.
It was the best idea to fight their way out of here at this point. As for how the situation would unfold, that was beyond their control. Even if they couldn’t achieve their goal this time, there was nothing they could do about it. They could only come up with a new plan.
The next moment, Yang Kai turned to look in a different direction and led the way for them. As he was followed by the Warship, they tried to fight their way out of this battlefield that was covered with corpses.
On the Black Ink Clan’s flight-type artifact, Hei Yuan narrowed his eyes and snarled, “Trying to flee? Dream on! Stop them at all costs!”
“Yes,” Upon receiving the order, the Feudal Lord hurriedly left to pass down the order.
The Black Ink Clansmen did their best to stop the Humans from running away, causing the battle to further intensify.
Hei Yuan paid close attention to the battlefield. He could see that the spear-wielding young man had been invaded by Black Ink Strength again, but this time, he didn’t consume any Spirit Pills. Instead, he clenched his teeth and persevered. As time passed, the Black Ink Strength around him became increasingly richer.
It seemed that the Spirit Pills were extremely rare. The young man probably only had one with him.
[Finally, some good news!] Hei Yuan relaxed slightly. If those Spirit Pills were easily made and widely available, every Human could bring several of them with them. In that case, life would become difficult for the Black Ink Clan.
Seeing that the Warship led by the young man was about to break through the siege, Hei Yuan snorted and stomped his foot on the deck.
In an instant, the Territory Lord’s immense pressure reached out, forming into an invisible force and clashed with the young man’s spear.
The next moment, the seemingly unstoppable young man froze for an instant. While he was in a dazed state, a nearby Feudal Lord seized the chance and landed a punch on his chest, which caused him to spray out a mouthful of blood.
“A Territory Lord!?” The young man appeared horrified as he turned to look at the large ship. As their eyes met, one of them sported a solemn expression while mockery was written all over the other one’s face.
The young man appeared surprised, as though he had never expected to come across a Territory Lord here.
The next moment, he yelled, “All of you, leave now! I’ll bring up the rear!”
Aboard the Warship, Xu Ling Gong was finally able to put down his worries. Even though the Territory Lord didn’t show up in person when he made a move, it showed that he was no longer able to sit back and do nothing.
In that case, they had partially achieved their goal, and their task ended here. It then depended on luck whether Yang Kai would succeed; therefore, without hesitation, Xu Ling Gong sported a sorrowful expression and yelled, “Let’s go!”
The Warship started glowing up as the defensive and propulsion arrays were activated to the fullest, sending the Warship charging forward.
Just a moment later, the defensive array on the Warship dimmed. Following that, some of the propulsion arrays stopped working as the Warship slowed down.
With that said, they had finally broken through the siege after paying a hefty price.
Without the defensive array, the Warship had become far less intimidating; after all, the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters aboard the Warship were unable to resist Black Ink Strength for a long time.
The instant they got out of the encirclement, they launched some attacks from the Warship on the Black Ink Clansmen that were chasing after them. Although many of them were instantly injured or killed, it wouldn’t change the overall situation.
“Go!” Yang Kai roared as he wielded his spear, which turned into innumerable shadows and cut many Black Ink Clansmen to pieces.
On the Warship, Xu Ling Gong appeared mournful. After a short moment of hesitation, he gave the order to withdraw from the battlefield.
Despite being soaked in blood, Yang Kai resolutely stood in the void with his spear in hand. With determination written all over his face, he blocked the Black Ink Clansmen from pursuing the Warship.
Aboard the large ship, Hei Yuan narrowed his eyes, “I really don’t understand. Are the Humans foolish or courageous?”
He had seen on the battlefield many times that a powerful cultivator would bring up the rear so that the weaker ones could flee; therefore, he wasn’t surprised when he saw what was going on as it was within his expectations.
However, regardless of how many times he witnessed it, he still didn’t understand why the Humans would act this way. All the Humans seemed willing to sacrifice themselves, but didn’t they know that a powerful Master was significantly more valuable than a bunch of weaker ones?
Just then, the Feudal Lord beside him asked, “Sir, do we pursue the enemy Warship?”
Hei Yuan took a glance at the fleeing Warship, then shook his head, “There’s no need for that. With this young man around, those useless dregs wouldn’t be able to break through his blockade for some time. Moreover, this person is the most valuable. It would suffice as long as we can capture him.”
Upon hearing that, the Feudal Lord secretly let out a sigh of relief. He was worried that the Territory Lord would tell him to keep pursuing them.
Meanwhile, Xu Ling Gong’s Squad soon arrived at a safe place. When they turned their heads, they realised that there wasn’t even a single Black Ink Clansman in sight.
Presently, all the Squad members were panting for breath. They had to exert themselves as the battle was truly intense. In fact, up until this moment, they still hadn’t figured out how a small Squad like them had managed to persevere for such a long time when facing the tide of Black Ink Clansmen.
They were fully aware of their Squad’s strength. In the past, they would’ve been destroyed after just an hour of such combat.
Nevertheless, not only had they fought against the Black Ink Clansmen for half a day this time, but they had also escaped unscathed. Even though the Warship was tattered, the Squad members didn’t suffer from any serious injuries. As for the damage to the Warship, that could be repaired by spending some Military Merits when they returned to the Inner Sanctum.
All of this was made possible because of Yang Kai.
Qing Kui gazed at Xu Ling Gong and asked in a grim voice, “Honoured Master, are we really leaving Yang Kai behind?”
Although the Squad members were directly involved in this plan, only Xu Ling Gong was aware of the details and objectives. The Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader had some speculations, but he couldn’t verify them.
Qing Kui had no idea what the plan was; after all, this was top secret, so it would be best to let fewer people know about it.
Presently, Qing Kui felt extremely apprehensive as the Squad had escaped while Yang Kai brought up the rear for them. He had the urge to go back and stand by Yang Kai’s side. Being killed on the battlefield would be much better than waiting here.
“What do you intend to do?” Xu Ling Gong sported a dark expression.
Qing Kui appeared hesitant as he had no idea what to say, but a moment later, he said resolutely, “Honoured Master, please allow me to go back and assist Yang Kai!”
Besides him, the other Squad members sported the same kind of expression.
“You want to go back and get killed?” Xu Ling Gong glared at him, “You’re just a Sixth-Order brat! What can you do even if you go back? You’ll only become a burden to him!”
Qing Kui clenched his teeth. Just when he was ready to speak, Su Ying Xue suddenly pulled his sleeve and said in a small voice, “Senior Brother, stop. Have you forgotten about a particular ability he possesses?”
With a frown, Qing Kui soon realised she was talking about the fact that Yang Kai was a Master of the Dao of Space.
Therefore, Yang Kai was extremely adept at fleeing. Even if he was unable to deal with so many Black Ink Clansmen, he could easily escape. Qing Kui supposed that was the reason Yang Kai decided to bring up the rear.
All of a sudden, the Seventh-Order Vice Squad Leader said, “Qing Kui, do not act on a whim. Your Honoured Master and I are unable to persevere any longer. We have to return to the Inner Sanctum as soon as possible.”
Qing Kui was shocked upon hearing that. It wasn’t until this moment that he realised the faces of his Honoured Master and the Deputy Squad Leader were tinged with some Black Ink Strength. It was apparent that they were being corrupted by it. Despite being Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they had been contaminated by Black Ink Strength from a protracted battle with the Black Ink Clan. Moreover, there was only one Squad here. Presently, the 2 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had to divert most of their attention to suppress the Black Ink Strength.
They wouldn’t fall into danger immediately; nevertheless, if this dragged on, their Small Universes would be completely eroded by Black Ink Strength. By then, they would turn into Black Ink Disciples.
Xu Ling Gong ordered in an authoritative tone, “Listen up. Head back to the Inner Sanctum as soon as possible. We must not delay!”
Despite being unresigned, these Open Heaven Realm Masters wouldn’t dare to disobey the Squad Leader’s order.
A moment later, huge arrays started appearing beneath everyone’s feet. As a light flickered, they disappeared at the same time. It was obvious that they had used the Universe Transference Law and returned to Yin-Yang Pass.
After all of the members were gone, the Vice Squad Leader nodded at Xu Ling Gong, “I’ll be waiting for you in the Inner Sanctum, Squad Leader.”
Upon finishing his words, he activated the Universe Transference Law as well.
Xu Ling Gong nodded and watched him leave. Then, he turned to look in the direction where they came from and let out a sigh. After transferring the tattered Warship to his Small Universe, he too activated the Universe Transference Law.
On the battlefield, Yang Kai fell into a perilous state without the Warship’s support and was surrounded by a large number of Black Ink Clansmen once again.
Despite being terrified, the Black Ink Clansmen had no choice but to charge forward following the Territory Lord’s order. Fortunately, Yang Kai didn’t seem able to persevere any longer; otherwise, they wouldn’t have the confidence to keep fighting.
An incense stick after the Warship left the battlefield, an asteroid that looked like a universe fragment abruptly appeared on the battlefield. The asteroid was covered with Black Ink Strength, and the instant it appeared, the World Force around it dissipated.
At the same time, Yang Kai, whose aura was already unstable, significantly weakened.
The Feudal Lord’s eyes brightened when he saw what was going on from the large ship. He said in a pleasantly surprised tone, “Sir, that guy can’t hold on any longer. He’s starting to give up parts of his Small Universe.”
After years of conflict, both Races were fully aware of each other’s patterns of behaviour.
On the battlefield, it wasn’t rare to see an Open Heaven Realm Master giving up a part of his Small Universe after he was invaded by Black Ink Strength; therefore, after every major battle, there would be a lot of asteroids floating around the battlefield. Those were the territories that the Humans had cut off from their Small Universes.
When a Human did this, it suggested that they were already on their last legs. In fact, this action wasn’t really useful. Even though he could spare himself the fate of being invaded by Black Ink Strength, his foundation would be damaged, thus causing his strength to plunge. This way, he would only get killed much quicker on the chaotic battlefield. Or, it would be easier for the Black Ink Clan to corrupt him again.
Yang Kai had showcased an incredible power as countless Black Ink Clansmen were killed by him, so it was apparent that he was no ordinary Seventh-Order Master.
It wasn’t until he gave up a part of his Small Universe that the Black Ink Clansmen were relieved. This Human wasn’t invincible; he could be defeated or even killed.
Back then, when Yang Kai decided to give up his World Spring in Blue Sky Pass, he cut off a small part of his Small Universe to do so. He still clearly remembered the excruciating pain he had gone through as though the incident had happened just yesterday.
At this moment, he wouldn’t have done such a thing if he still had a choice.
However, he had to act like a normal Seventh-Order Human. Regardless of how powerful a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was, he couldn’t possibly resist the Black Ink Strength after fighting against the Black Ink Clansmen for such a long time; therefore, he had to show them that he had to take a Spirit Pill, and presently, he also had to sacrifice a small part of his Small Universe.
He was doing all this because he wanted to carry out his plan without arousing anyone’s suspicion.
Fortunately, he had a World Tree clone with him now. Even though he had sacrificed a small part of his Small Universe, the clone would help him repair the missing part over time. He wouldn’t have to worry about his foundation being permanently damaged.
As he cut off a part of his Small Universe, Yang Kai was overwhelmed by a sense of excruciating pain once again. This caused him to tremble and growl like a beast.
In an instant, countless attacks were directed at him. Upon impact, he almost lost his balance as blood spurted from his wounds.
The missing part of his Small Universe caused his strength to plunge. Earlier, he had showcased a power that was much greater than that of the average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but now, he was just like any other cultivator in the same Order.
Given his cultivation, could he save himself in such a hostile environment?
The Black Ink Clansmen around him had undoubtedly noticed this. Emboldened, they started launching violent attacks on him.
At that instant, things could not have been worse for Yang Kai.
One hour later, his face was covered with Black Ink Strength once again, making it seem like his Small Universe was eroded by Black Ink Strength for the second time.
However, as another asteroid was quickly released, his suffering seemed to have been alleviated.
Hei Yuan was watching silently from the ship. At this moment, he couldn’t help but praise, “He’s indeed a resolute person.”
Although he had no idea how much pain a Human had to go through when sacrificing a part of their Small Universe, it definitely wouldn’t be a pleasant experience. A Human could be considered bold and determined when he cut off a part of his Small Universe in order to save himself on the battlefield.
However, this spear-holding young man had done that twice in a short time.
It must have taken him a lot of courage and grit to do so. This Human was not only ruthless to the Black Ink Clan, but also to himself.
“Sir, why don’t I go capture him?” The Feudal Lord, who had not dared to join the battle earlier, suddenly made such a request.
This couldn’t be helped, as Yang Kai’s aura plunged after he gave up a part of his Small Universe twice. He was almost unable to remain in the Seventh Order. If he did that one more time, he would probably regress to the Sixth Order.
The Feudal Lord wouldn’t dare to make a move when he saw how intimidating Yang Kai was just now, but now that Yang Kai was at the end of his rope, the Feudal Lord was certainly not afraid of him.
If he could capture this Human, he would make a big contribution in front of the Territory Lord.
Nevertheless, Hei Yuan snorted, “Who do you think you are to do that?”
The horrified Feudal Lord instantly fell silent. Even though he had no idea what the Territory Lord’s intention was, he reckoned that the latter was interested in this Human. The Territory Lord would most likely turn this Human into a Black Ink Disciple; otherwise, he wouldn’t have stopped and waited here for so long.
On the battlefield, Yang Kai was battered and his hair hung loose over his shoulders.
This wasn’t an act; he really was running out of energy. Despite having the World Tree’s clone, he suffered tremendous damage after giving up a part of his Small Universe twice. The prolonged fight also exacerbated his wounds. Presently, the World Force in his Small Universe was almost completely depleted.
However, the Black Ink Clansman he had been waiting for still hadn’t shown up.
Even though he had no idea who the Territory Lord on the large ship was, he knew that the latter was paying close attention to the battlefield. Nevertheless, the Territory Lord still didn’t seem to have the intention of making a move.
The fact that he was so cautious suggested that he was badly injured. He wouldn’t rashly make a move unless he was confident that he could achieve his goal with one strike.
In that case, Yang Kai had no choice but to lend him a hand.
Upon making up his mind, Yang Kai fiercely swept his spear across the Black Ink Clansmen around him to drive them back. While he was holding his spear, his aura started rising rapidly.
He was imposing as he glared at the enemies around him.
Not knowing what was going on, these Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to move forward.
Disdain was written all over Yang Kai’s face as he sneered, “How dare you trash violate my Human Race’s dignity!”
Then, he shouted, “Long live the Humans!”
Even though his aura had already reached its former peak, it continued to rise. With a resolute expression, he seemed determined to die.
When the Feudal Lord, who was standing beside Hei Yuan on the large ship, saw that, his expression changed as he shouted, “Sir, he’s going to kill himself!”
On the battlefield, it was common for Human cultivators to kill themselves in order to avoid being turned into Black Ink Disciples. There were always such people in every major battle; therefore, the moment the Feudal Lord saw what Yang Kai was doing, he realised his intentions.
The self-destruction of an Open Heaven Realm Master would create a terrifying explosion as all the World Force in his Small Universe would burst forth at once. This move would be more violent than any other attack the Human could muster. This was the final move that the Humans would never want to resort to unless it was absolutely necessary to do so.
The spear-holding young man was trapped in a dead end. He had given up a part of his Small Universe twice, so he was at risk of falling back into the Sixth Order. Moreover, surrounded by a sea of Black Ink Clansmen, he would never be able to flee. Other than killing himself, there was nothing he could do.
As soon as the Feudal Lord finished speaking, he turned to look at Hei Yuan, but the latter was already nowhere in sight.
He had no idea when the Territory Lord disappeared.
The Feudal Lord quickly looked back at the battlefield, where he saw the Territory Lord’s figure.
Hei Yuan had abruptly appeared in front of the young man as he hovered his hand above the latter’s head.
At this moment, Yang Kai’s aura had already reached an unstable state, and the illusory phantom of his Small Universe faintly appeared behind him. The moment he detected the Territory Lord’s aura, a glint flashed through his eyes as he thrust out his Azure Dragon Spear.
Hei Yuan effortlessly slapped the spear aside and the hand he extended first firmly came into contact with Yang Kai’s head.
Upon impact, Yang Kai was overwhelmed with a sense of dizziness.
Hei Yuan was indeed badly injured, but Yang Kai was not in any better shape.
The aura he had just accumulated dissipated following the blow to his head.
The next instant, a torrent of Black Ink Strength streamed out of Hei Yuan’s hand as it turned into a Black Ink Cloud that engulfed the two of them.
The Black Ink Clansmen were unable to see what was going on, but they could hear the Human growling furiously, “In your dreams!”
Following a brief exchange of moves, the place fell into silence.
When the Black Ink Cloud dissipated a moment later, the figures of Yang Kai and Hei Yuan were revealed.
Hei Yuan’s aura was slightly unstable while Yang Kai was soaked in blood, looking all battered, his spear still pointing forward.
Soon though, he put the spear away and cupped his fist before calling out in a respectful manner, “Master!”
Upon hearing that, the Black Ink Clansmen around them were evidently relieved. There was no doubt that the Territory Lord had successfully turned this Human into a Black Ink Disciple. From now on, he wasn’t just a Human but also the Territory Lord’s servant.
Hei Yuan nodded gently and examined Yang Kai. He was apparently pleased to be able to subdue him.
“Come with me,” Hei Yuan said, then flew towards the large ship. Yang Kai coughed before following him.
Upon boarding the large ship, he saw a Feudal Lord coming over, “Congratulations on subduing this Human, Sir. I’m sure he’ll be a capable aide to you in the future.”
Hei Yuan ordered impassively, “I’ll get some rest. Take care of him and make sure that no one oppresses him.”
Upon hearing that, the Feudal Lord was surprised, thinking that the Territory Lord truly treasured this Human; otherwise, he wouldn’t have given such an order. After all, Black Ink Disciples were the lowest of beings among the Black Ink Clan.
However, Hei Yuan had a good reason for valuing him, for this Human had showcased incredible power. This person was no ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
After Hei Yuan finished speaking, he strode into the cabin. Meanwhile, the Feudal Lord looked smilingly at Yang Kai.
With a dispassionate expression, Yang Kai looked around.
There were quite a number of Feudal Lords on the ship; however, they were all looking at him with hostile expressions. Just now, they had seen Yang Kai slaughtering their clansmen. Although they didn’t intend to avenge their deaths, they were instinctively resentful of Humans as the blood feud between the two Races had been ongoing for countless years. Despite the fact that Yang Kai had turned into a Black Ink Disciple, they were still displeased.
Nevertheless, having just heard Hei Yuan’s orders, none of these Feudal Lords would dare to make things difficult for him.
Other than these Feudal Lords, there were also a lot of injured High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen who were recuperating on the deck.
Yang Kai even detected the auras of other Territory Lords from the inner part of the ship, which made him feel flabbergasted.
Fortunately, even though there had been some hitches, he had eventually achieved his goal. He had sacrificed a lot by giving up a part of his Small Universe twice, but he had successfully become the Black Ink Disciple of a Territory Lord.
However, there was something he had to ascertain first.
Was the Territory Lord who had stopped him from committing suicide and corrupted him with Black Ink Strength the Hei Yuan that those from Yin-Yang Pass had chosen for him?
Those from Yin-Yang Pass had selected Hei Yuan because he was highly valued by Mu Guang Royal Lord, and he was also one of the most powerful Territory Lords. More importantly, he would frequently visit the Royal City, so it would be easier for Yang Kai to gather information; however, Yang Kai had no idea what Hei Yuan looked like, nor was he aware of what those from Yin-Yang Pass would do to make sure that it would be Hei Yuan who would turn him.
To find out about it, he had no choice but to ask around.
At the thought of this, he turned to look at the Feudal Lord beside him and cupped his fist, “How should I address you, Sir?”
The Feudal Lord was injured when he was in the resource harvesting area previously, but upon hearing that, he replied with a smile, “My name is Zha Gu. Just call me Zha Gu.”
Yang Kai nodded gently, “So, it is Sir Zha Gu.”
Zha Gu was evidently pleased with the honorary title as he put on a brighter smile. He patted Yang Kai’s shoulder with his big hand in a passionate manner, “Don’t be overly polite with me. Since both of us are working for Sir, you can just tell me if you need help in the future.”
“Many thanks.” Yang Kai expressed his gratitude, then brought up the main topic, “What is our Sir’s name?”
With a solemn expression, Zha Gu replied, “Sir is named Hei Yuan in the clan. He’s one of the top 5 Territory Lords working for the Royal Lord. So, consider yourself lucky that you’ve submitted to Sir.”
[It’s really Hei Yuan!] Yang Kai set his mind at ease. It seemed that everything was going to plan.
Zha Gu let out a sigh and turned to look at the cabin, “Other than Sir Hei Yuan, the other Sirs who are in charge of this region have been knocked out by the Humans. When we return, Sir Hei Yuan will most likely be reprimanded by the Royal Lord.” Then, he placated Yang Kai by saying, “Having said that, our Sir has always been valued by the Royal Lord, so the punishment wouldn’t be severe. He will be stripped of some of his territories at most. Forget it. Let’s not talk about it. It seems that you can’t hold on any longer. Find yourself a place and get some rest.”
Yang Kai thanked him again and sat down with his legs crossed on the deck. Then, he stuffed some Spirit Pills into his mouth and adjusted his breathing.
He managed to figure out many things through his brief conversation with Zha Gu. At the very least, he finally realised how those from Yin-Yang Pass made sure that it would be Hei Yuan who would corrupt him.
Other than Hei Yuan, the other Territory Lords were all ‘knocked out’ by the Human cultivators; hence, only Hei Yuan was able to make a move.
However, the Humans must have paid a hefty price in order to achieve this result. To severely injure so many Territory Lords, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders must have suffered serious injuries themselves. To the Black Ink Clan, the best way to recuperate was to fall into a state of deep sleep, and they would recover quicker if they were able to rest inside a Black Ink Nest.
Presently, there were several Territory Lords on this large ship, and apart from the wounded Hei Yuan, the other Territory Lords were sound asleep. Yang Kai couldn’t help but have the urge to secretly kill those Territory Lords.
If he could destroy these Territory Lords here, the pressure they faced in the Yin-Yang Theatre would lessen.
Having said that, he had a more important task at hand, so he suppressed this urge.
With Hei Yuan’s large ship leading the way, the battered Black Ink Clansmen headed to the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
About one day later, a figure suddenly appeared in the previous battlefield as he scanned the surroundings. This place was left with the traces of the epic war, and there were countless Black Ink Clan corpses hovering in the void.
The outcome showed that the war was truly bloody.
After wandering around the battlefield for a while, this person stopped in his tracks and looked towards the depths of the void.
A moment later, a ray of light approached him from a distance and landed beside him.
Wu Qing, who had arrived at this place first to investigate, asked, “How is it? Is there any news from the Inner Sanctum?”
Tang Qiu, who came later, replied, “En, I’ve just received some news. Yang Kai didn’t return to the Inner Sanctum. Have you found anything here?”
“The situation is just like what Xu Ling Gong and his Squad reported, but there’s a notable discrepancy.”
“What do you mean?” Tang Qiu asked with a frown.
“Look over there,” Wu Qing suddenly pointed in a particular direction.
Tang Qiu looked intently in the same direction, then his expression changed, “Those look like universe fragments… That brat gave up parts of his Small Universe?”
Wu Qing nodded, “Xu Ling Gong and his Squad told us that Yang Kai fell into a perilous situation, but they had no idea what happened next. Apparently, Yang Kai sacrificed some parts of his Small Universe after they were gone, which was why they didn’t see it.”
With a solemn expression, Tang Qiu said, “His foundation must have been damaged after he gave up some parts of his Small Universe; however, those from Blue Sky Pass told us that he has obtained a World Tree clone which replaced the World Spring he owned. With the clone’s presence, not only is he immune to the corruption of Black Ink Strength, but it can also apparently repair the missing parts of his Small Universe. Obviously, he did that in order to fool the Black Ink Clan, so it could be considered a clever move. Now, it seems that everything was well under his control. If he were in danger, he wouldn’t have sacrificed parts of his Small Universe to weaken himself.”
Wu Qing nodded, “We can only hope that he has been subdued by Hei Yuan and become his Black Ink Disciple. I was initially worried about this part of the plan as it had the most uncertainty, but his actions seem to have made up for it.”
Even though Wu Qing didn’t point out what the cause of the uncertainty was, Tang Qiu was fully aware of it. In fact, the cause was glaring when they were devising the plan. However, there was nothing they could do about it, so they could only hope that Yang Kai would be lucky enough.
“Yes, I was worried about it as well. Even if he has successfully pretended to be corrupted, his secret will be exposed if Hei Yuan decides to examine his Small Universe.”
Yang Kai was only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm when he pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple previously, and the person who corrupted him was just a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, so it never crossed the latter’s mind that Yang Kai had retained his sanity, so he never thought to examine his Small Universe.
Moreover, the Black Ink Clansmen had always believed that the Small Universe of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master hadn’t materialised, so there was no need to inspect it.
Nevertheless, things were different now as Yang Kai was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
If Hei Yuan suddenly had the urge to ask Yang Kai to open up his Small Universe to him, would the latter agree to it or would he be forced to flee? As soon as the Small Universe was opened, his secret would be exposed.
With that said, there was only a slim chance that this might happen; after all, a Territory Lord had personally made a move on a Seventh-Order Human, so he probably wouldn’t doubt whether he had succeeded. However, accidents happened when one least expected them to.
Now though, during the intense battle, Yang Kai had even given up some parts of his Small Universe, which could effectively fool the Black Ink Clan; after all, no Human would want to go through the pain of cutting off parts of their Small Universe if there was any other choice.
It could be said that Yang Kai’s action landed him in a safer situation.
Moreover, as far as the Black Ink Clan was concerned, the Four Universe Pillars had always been in the possession of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Seventh-Order Humans didn’t have the right to own these treasures that could ward off Black Ink Strength.
If nothing unexpected happened, Hei Yuan most likely wouldn’t try to examine Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
“Given his capabilities, even if something had gone wrong, he could have fled from Hei Yuan. Since he never returned to the Inner Sanctum, it means that he must have followed Hei Yuan to the Black Ink Clan’s territory.” Tang Qiu let out a sigh, “The only thing we can do now is go back and recuperate. As soon as he finds some useful information, there will be an epic battle to fight.”
Wu Qing nodded, “Let’s go.”
The next moment, they activated the Universe Transference Law and two Grand Arrays appeared beneath their feet.
As a light flickered, they disappeared from the spots and returned to Yin-Yang Pass.
The Black Ink Clan had successfully retreated. Along the way, some teams left the larger group and returned to their own places, but the large ship led by Hei Yuan was still heading towards the depths of the void. It wasn’t certain where the ship was going.
On the deck, Yang Kai silently adjusted his breathing and recuperated. He had exerted himself and even given up parts of his Small Universe in the previous battle. These losses couldn’t be made up for in short order.
It could be said that the heritage he had accumulated over the years was almost wiped out due to his actions. If he hadn’t consumed a High-Rank World Fruit picked from the World Tree clone, his heritage would have plunged to when he just ascended to the Seventh Order.
Even so, he had lost a few hundred years’ worth of cultivation by giving up a part of his Small Universe twice.
Black Ink Clansmen were seen recuperating on the deck. The ones who had the right to stay here were all Feudal Lords, so it was expected that they were not friendly to Yang Kai; however, considering the fact that Hei Yuan truly treasured Yang Kai, they wouldn’t dare to make things difficult for him despite feeling displeased.
Moreover, Zha Gu was also seated beside Yang Kai as he was treating his wounds.
A few days later, all of Yang Kai’s flesh wounds had almost completely healed. However, the losses to his Small Universe couldn’t be made up in a short time, especially the missing pieces. Even though he had the World Tree clone to help repair it, it would take him several years to fully recover.
When Yang Kai was meditating one day, he suddenly heard Hei Yuan calling out to him. He quickly got to his feet and headed to the third floor of the large ship.
As he followed the voice, he soon found Hei Yuan in a luxurious room.
Although Hei Yuan still appeared pale, he had clearly restored some of his power. At that moment, he was seated on a large chair with his chin resting on his palm. He seemed to be lost in thought.
“Master!” Yang Kai called out in a subservient manner.
Hei Yuan didn’t respond to him as he was still thinking about something. A while later, he took a deep breath and straightened up, “What’s your name?”
Yang Kai reported his name.
Hei Yuan nodded gently, “Human names are so strange. In any case, I’ve asked you to come here because I have some questions for you.”
“Please go ahead, Master.” Yang Kai remained respectful, which was expected of a Black Ink Disciple.
“You must be an important figure on the Humans’ side, right?”
“I was just the Squad Leader of a Squad.”
“You’re just a Squad Leader?” Hei Yuan was surprised, “Given your strength, you could’ve held a more important position. According to the classification of the Humans, you should be good enough to be the Battalion Commander.”
With a proud expression, Yang Kai replied, “There are no other Seventh-Order Masters who are a match for me; however, I’m not well-versed in commanding soldiers. In previous battles, my conduct was somewhat reckless, so they only let me become a Squad Leader.”
Upon hearing his explanation, Hei Yuan said, “I see. It’s no wonder that you had the guts to ambush so many Black Ink Clansmen when you only had one Squad with you. You were eager to earn merits, weren’t you?”
Yang Kai immediately played along by saying, “Please forgive me, Master.”
Yang Kai was just replying to Hei Yuan’s questions in a perfunctory manner, but it happened to cause the latter to have some misunderstandings. Certainly, he wouldn’t try to correct him.
“I saw you consuming a Spirit Pill in the previous battle to dispel the Black Ink Strength.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded.
Hei Yuan leaned forward, “What kind of Spirit Pill is that? Show me.”
Yang Kai appeared to be in a dilemma, “Master, the pill is called the Purifying Black Ink Pill, which was newly invented by the Humans. Due to the difficulty in producing them though, I was only given one pill. I consumed it on the battlefield, so there are none left.”
“Purifying Black Ink Pill!” Hei Yuan felt his brow twitching, “When was it invented?”
After appearing to give it a thought, Yang Kai replied, “About 20 years ago.”
Hei Yuan gritted his teeth, “It must be thanks to these Purifying Black Ink Pills that the Humans have repeatedly fended off Black Ink Strength. Is that why there have not been any new Black Ink Disciples recently?”
“Yes.”
“Damn!” Hei Yuan was furious as he finally realised why there were no new Black Ink Disciples over the past 20 years. They had speculated that the Humans must have invented a way to defend against Black Ink Strength, but they had no idea what it was. If he hadn’t subdued this Human named Yang Kai by chance, they still wouldn’t have found out about it.
After blowing his top for a moment, he asked, “How difficult is it to make these Purifying Black Ink Pills?”
Since this was an important matter, Hei Yuan had to find out all the details possible and report them to the Royal Lord at a later time.
Yang Kai replied respectfully, “I know nothing about Alchemy, but I’ve heard some rumours that it is difficult to refine Purifying Black Ink Pills. Even the Alchemy Grandmasters wouldn’t always succeed in producing them, so the success rate is fairly low. Usually, a Squad would only be given one pill.”
Hei Yuan’s expression turned milder. Yang Kai’s statement verified what he had seen on the battlefield. There were a total of 3 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in that Squad; however, other than Yang Kai, who consumed a Purifying Black Ink Pill to dispel the Black Ink Strength, the other Seventh-Order Humans didn’t take such pills even though they had been affected by Black Ink Strength as well.
After, they fled from the battlefield and disappeared.
This was good news for the Black Ink Clan as every Squad was only given a single Purifying Black Ink Pill. Hei Yuan was most worried that it would be easy to refine these pills and that all Humans would be given several of them. If that were to happen, the Black Ink Clan would suffer a huge setback if they were caught unprepared.
As he set his mind at ease, he went on to ask, “Has the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass recovered from her injuries?”
Yang Kai was startled for a moment. He wouldn’t have known that the Old Ancestor in Yin-Yang Pass was injured if Hei Yuan hadn’t asked, so how was he supposed to know the Old Ancestor’s condition?
He thus tried to recollect the situation in Blue Sky Pass. Even though he had no idea what had happened, Yang Kai reckoned that the Old Ancestor in Yin-Yang Pass must have exchanged moves with Mu Guang before, so her injuries must have something to do with the latter.
Since the Old Ancestor was wounded, there was no way Mu Guang was in a better state. Yang Kai wondered when the two of them had fought against each other.
After pondering on it for a moment, he replied, “My cultivation is weak, so I haven’t gained the Old Ancestor’s favour. Moreover, her place is heavily guarded, so I was unable to go anywhere near it. However, she has been recuperating for quite some time now, so I would guess she has almost recovered.”
Hei Yuan nodded, “It has been about 100 years since the last great war. Regardless of how badly wounded she was, she must have recovered by now. I’m worried that another large battle will break out again soon.”
It wasn’t until this moment that Yang Kai found out it had been 100 years since the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass was wounded. In other words, there was a grand battle in the Yin-Yang Theatre 100 years ago. Even the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord had exchanged moves at that time.
100 years had passed in the blink of an eye, and both Races had had enough time to recuperate, so war was now imminent.
However, the big battle in the resource harvesting area just recently would probably delay the all-out war by several years; after all, several powerhouses from both the Humans and Black Ink Clan were injured. It would take them some time to restore their strength.
Just then, a Feudal Lord entered the room. It was none other than Zha Gu who cupped his fist and said, “Sir Territory Lord, we’re about to arrive.”
Hei Yuan nodded and waved his hand at Yang Kai, “You can go back now.”
Yang Kai responded respectfully and left the cabin.
Upon returning to the deck, he looked into the distance and saw a huge universe fragment. It was so large that it was comparable to a whole Universe World.
The universe fragment was covered with a layer of darkness, which went to show that Black Ink Strength was abundant. By living in such an environment, the Black Ink Clansmen would see their powers rising quickly.
Yang Kai had lived in the Black Ink Clan’s domain for 2 years and followed the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman he belonged to into many different areas.
However, none of those places was comparable to this universe fragment.
Yang Kai soon realised that this universe fragment was directly owned by Hei Yuan, and the areas occupied by his subordinate Feudal Lords would form the Territory Lord’s territory.
The large ship continued heading towards the universe fragment. As the ship passed through the clouds of Black Ink Strength, it soon hovered above a large city.
The city was so vast that there was no end in sight. In the centre of the city was a gigantic Black Ink Nest that looked like a flower bud that was about to blossom. The Black Ink Nest seemed to be a living creature and every time it breathed, a lot of Black Ink Strength would be released.
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. Although he had seen a lot of Black Ink Nests before, the one before his eyes was undoubtedly the largest. Given enough resources, such a Black Ink Nest would be able to produce many Black Ink Clan soldiers in no time.
Black Ink Nests had always been the foundation that the Black Ink Clan relied on to survive. Black Ink Clansmen were born from the Black Ink Nests, and they also had to achieve breakthroughs inside the Black Ink Nests. If the Black Ink Nests were gone for good, the Black Ink Clan would be like a tree without roots or a river without a source.
For this reason, the Humans always tried to destroy Black Ink Nests so that they could cut the enemy off at its source.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy to carry out such plans. There was basically a Black Ink Nest in every Black Ink Clansman’s territory. Zhu Feng even had a small Black Ink Nest in his temporary hiding place.
There wouldn’t be enough Humans to destroy all of these Black Ink Nests, and it wouldn’t be useful if they only destroyed a few of them, for the Black Ink Clan could easily create new Black Ink Nests.
So far, the Humans still hadn’t figured out how the Black Ink Nests were born. Some people speculated that they were built by the Black Ink Clan, but this speculation was not logical because everyone who had seen a Black Ink Nest knew that this thing seemed to have a life of its own. Nothing the Humans had ever built was comparable to these Black Ink Nests.
There were also some people who speculated that the birth of Black Ink Nests was just like growing flowers. With a seed planted in the ground, it would grow into a new Black Ink Nest when it was well taken care of.
If this speculation was right though, what kind of seed was that? Where did it come from?
In the past, in order to study these Black Ink Nests, an Old Ancestor barged into the Black Ink Clan’s territory and stormed a Feudal Lord’s estate. After killing all the Black Ink Clansmen in that area, he snatched the Black Ink Nest; however, not long after the Black Ink Nest was taken away by the Old Ancestor, it started withering just like a plucked flower.
Obviously, no study could be conducted. Even the Old Ancestors were unable to figure out the secrets behind the Black Ink Nests; therefore, the Humans cast this idea away. Whenever they came across any Black Ink Nests, they would just destroy them.
Regardless, demolishing Black Ink Nests would mean immense losses for the Black Ink Clan.
The large ship directly landed in front of the gigantic Black Ink Nest. Some Black Ink Clansmen were already waiting for them. It was apparent that they had learned about Hei Yuan’s return just now.
Following Zha Gu’s lead, Yang Kai leapt off the deck and stood to the side.
The unfamiliar Human attracted the attention of many Black Ink Clansmen; however, there were already some Black Ink Disciples who resided in this place. Although many Black Ink Clansmen were curious, they soon looked away.
Hei Yuan’s figure appeared on the deck, but instead of leaving the ship, he waved his hand. As Black Ink Strength undulated, he shouted, “Wake up!”
Following his shout, powerful beings inside the large ship’s cabin started awakening.
Yang Kai’s expression changed as he realised that they were the Territory Lords who had been sound asleep in the large ship. Even though these auras were powerful, Yang Kai could feel that they were somewhat frail. It was obvious that they were all severely wounded.
These Territory Lords hadn’t recovered one bit following a long time of deep sleep; therefore, Hei Yuan directly brought them to the Black Ink Nest so that they could make use of its power to recuperate.
A moment later, some burly figures stepped out of the cabin and stood on the deck.
The Black Ink Clansmen below saluted them respectfully.
Yang Kai stole a glance and realised that these Territory Lords were all injured as they were soaked in blood. The most severely wounded one had half of his neck cut. Yang Kai wondered who the Army Commander was that had made such a ruthless move. Black blood was still leaking out of the wound on his neck and there was a mysterious force around the wound that was stopping it from healing.
This Territory Lord was especially unstable and seemed to be muddle-headed. It was as though he would soon lose his life if he wasn’t given immediate treatment.
Including Hei Yuan, there were a total of 6 Territory Lords on the large ship. The 5 Territory Lords who had just awakened nodded at Hei Yuan and silently dashed towards the Black Ink Nest, soon disappearing.
After they were gone, Hei Yuan swept a glance over the rest, “While I am recuperating, all the affairs in the territory will be handled by Gui Liao.”
One of the Feudal Lords, who had been waiting for Hei Yuan’s return just now, bowed, “Yes.”
There was no doubt that this Feudal Lord was Gui Liao.
Hei Yuan then shuffled towards the Black Ink Nest, but he soon stopped in his tracks and turned his head to speak to Gui Liao, “He’s the new Black Ink Disciple I’ve taken on. Get him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit later.”
A hint of surprise flashed through Gui Liao’s eyes as he turned to look at Yang Kai.
In fact, he had caught sight of Yang Kai the moment the latter leapt off the deck, but he didn’t pay much attention to him; after all, it wasn’t rare for them to capture Black Ink Disciples on the battlefields.
However, what the Territory Lord had said suggested that he valued this Black Ink Disciple highly. That was why Gui Liao was surprised.
It had to be noted that most of the Black Ink Disciples had suffered some damage in their Small Universes, so Profound Yin Spirit Fruits were needed in order to repair them.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had some reserves of Profound Yin Spirit Fruits, they were not rewards that could be given out easily.
Only the Black Ink Disciples who had made immense contributions on the battlefield and proved their worth had a chance to be rewarded with a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit by the Black Ink Clan to repair their damaged Small Universes; however, Yang Kai had received this kind of treatment when he was just a newcomer, which was why Feudal Lords like Gui Liao were surprised.
With that said, since Hei Yuan had given the order, Gui Liao naturally wouldn’t object to it and bowed respectfully.
Hei Yuan then stepped into the Black Ink Nest. As he disappeared, the Black Ink Nest automatically closed.
Since the Territory Lords had to recuperate here, the Black Ink Nest wouldn’t reopen for a few years. In fact, the Black Ink Clansmen previously cultivating in the Black Ink Nest were all chased out in advance to make way for the Territory Lords so that they could derive enough energy to recuperate.
After the Territory Lords entered the Black Ink Nest, the Feudal Lords, who had returned alongside the large ship, dispersed. Soon, only Gui Liao, Zha Gu, and Yang Kai were left standing in front of the Black Ink Nest.
Gui Liao shot a meaningful glance at Yang Kai and asked, “What’s your name?”
Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Yang Kai greets Sir Gui Liao.”
Gui Liao nodded gently, “Come with me.” He then turned to Zha Gu, “You too.”
Upon finishing his words, he led the way for them.
Yang Kai followed him closely. Despite not knowing what was going on, Zha Gu had no choice but to follow them as it was Gui Liao’s order.
Soon, they arrived at an exotic-looking castle that was in a prime location. It should be Hei Yuan’s castle.
There were many Black Ink Clansmen who resided in this castle. Following Gui Liao, Yang Kai stepped inside and looked around curiously.
Gui Liao called out to a Black Ink Clansman and ordered, “He’s the new Black Ink Disciple that Sir Territory Lord has taken on. Help him settle in.”
The person was just a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, and his weak aura suggested that he was only equivalent to a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. This kind of Black Ink Clansmen only served as cannon fodder to exhaust the Human cultivators on the battlefield, and they were not in a prestigious position within the Black Ink Clan. Having said that, they were good enough to be servants in such a castle.
Upon hearing that, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman bent his back, “Yes.” He then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Come with me.”
Yang Kai cupped his fist at Gui Liao, then left the place with the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman.
Gui Liao watched him leave in silence. It wasn’t until Yang Kai was out of sight that he continued moving forward.
A moment later, Gui Liao sat down on a large chair in a side hall. Then, he fished out a World Sphere, which was full of World Force, from his Space Ring and sniffed at it. In an instant, he felt rejuvenated.
Zha Gu simply stood in front of him.
Even though both of them were Feudal Lords, one obviously had higher status than the other. This couldn’t be helped though as Gui Liao was Hei Yuan’s confidant; otherwise, Hei Yuan wouldn’t have said that Gui Liao would manage all the affairs while he was recuperating.
In fact, whenever Hei Yuan went to war, Gui Liao would be the one handling the affairs in his territory. Every Territory Lord had their own confidant; moreover, Gui Liao would most likely ascend to become a Territory Lord within 100 years. By then, he would no longer be in the same calibre as Zha Gu.
Therefore, even though Zha Gu was standing in front of him while he was still wounded, he wouldn’t dare to appear displeased.
Gui Liao breathed in the World Force from the World Sphere before asking slowly, “Tell me. What’s so special about that Yang Kai that Sir Territory Lord regards him so highly?”
[I knew he was going to ask about it!]
In fact, Zha Gu already had a speculation when Gui Liao told him to tag along, and it seemed that his speculation was right.
After giving it a thought, he replied with a solemn expression, “He’s very strong.”
Gui Liao narrowed his eyes, “Very strong? How strong?”
Zha Gu went on to say, “After the Sirs were ambushed by the Human Army in the resource harvesting area, they were defeated and forced to retreat. That Yang Kai led a single Human Squad around the battlefield to ambush our clansmen as they were escaping. He single-handedly killed several thousand of our clansmen, including more than 10 Feudal Lords.”
Gui Liao initially appeared nonchalant, but his expression turned solemn when he heard that, “He killed several thousand, including more than 10 Feudal Lords? Are you sure?”
Zha Gu put on a helpless smile, “Sir Territory Lord was standing beside me as we watched it happen. It’s because that person was so powerful that Sir Territory Lord wanted to subdue him despite the fact that he was badly injured.”
Gui Liao fell into a dazed state for a moment before saying, “Tell me everything you know in detail.”
Certainly, Zha Gu wouldn’t dare to hide anything as he vividly narrated the battle on that day. Gui Liao could instantly imagine an epic fight unfolding before his eyes.
“That guy gave up a part of his Small Universe twice. In order to let his companions escape, he took the initiative to stay behind and halt our forces. In the end, when he realised that he was unable to escape, he decided to kill himself. Sir Territory Lord promptly made a move and captured him,” Zha Gu felt the emotions in his heart undulating when he recalled what happened that day. He had a feeling that if Yang Kai hadn’t intended to protect his allies, he could’ve easily fled, and the wounded Hei Yuan wouldn’t have been able to turn him.
At that time, Hei Yuan was worried that the Human Masters were still pursuing him, so he wouldn’t have taken the risk of chasing after Yang Kai if the latter was determined to flee.
“The Humans are still as foolish as ever.” Gui Liao couldn’t help but snort upon hearing that. Then, he asked, “Who do you think will be the winner if he and I fight?”
Zha Gu hurriedly replied, “Sir Gui Liao, you’ll soon ascend to become a Territory Lord. Regardless of how powerful Yang Kai is, he wouldn’t be a match for you.”
Gui Liao snorted as he was somewhat displeased at Zha Gu’s prompt reply. Even though Zha Gu replied to him without hesitation, he didn’t seem sincere.
Nevertheless, Gui Liao didn’t intend to harp on this issue. He tossed the World Sphere, which was only left with half the original World Force, at him and said, “Good, I can see that you’re badly wounded. Go back and recuperate.”
After taking the World Sphere, Zha Gu replied joyfully, “Many thanks, Sir.”
Since the Black Ink Nest was closed due to the Territory Lords having to recuperate there, it would be hard for Zha Gu to treat his wounds as he was unable to make use of this territory’s power. It would probably take him a longer time to recover. However, with the World Force inside the World Sphere, it would significantly reduce his recovery time. Although he could afford a World Sphere as well, this thing was still expensive.
After Zha Gu was gone, Gui Liao narrowed his eyes and tapped on the armrest. Following a moment of silence, he called out, “Liu Zi An.”
A figure emerged from the darkness and replied, “Master.”
Gui Liao lifted his head, “There’s a newcomer in the castle. He’s the Black Ink Disciple that Sir Territory Lord has taken in. Since both of you are of the same Race, you should approach him when there’s a chance.”
Upon receiving the order, Liu Zi An replied, “Yes.”
After bringing Yang Kai to a side hall in the castle and helping him settle in, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman left.
This side hall was built according to the Black Ink Clan’s average size, so the ceiling was pretty high. This place appeared too spacious when a Human lived here. In any case, Yang Kai didn’t really mind. After looking around, he was satisfied.
He then sat down with his legs crossed, though he wasn’t in a rush to cultivate. Now that his Small Universe had been damaged, it was less efficient for him to cultivate. Even though the World Tree clone would help him repair the damage done, it would take several years to fully recover.
Fortunately, before Hei Yuan entered the Black Ink Nest, he told Gui Liao to get Yang Kai a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, which solved the pressing issue for him.
He had planned on obtaining a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit upon arriving at the Black Ink Clan’s domain so that the secret in his Small Universe wouldn’t be exposed.
If his Small Universe fully recovered without a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit several years later, it would undoubtedly arouse Hei Yuan’s suspicion.
Moreover, there was one thing that concerned Yang Kai. After Hei Yuan and the other Territory Lords entered the Black Ink Nest, the entire territory was closed off.
Yang Kai had no idea how long it would take Hei Yuan to recover, but the latter obviously wouldn’t come out of the Black Ink Nest in short order. In other words, he probably wouldn’t see Hei Yuan for the next few years.
There was both a good and bad to this situation. The good was that Yang Kai could gather information on his own without any restraints. The bad thing was that he wouldn’t be able to head to the Royal City without Hei Yuan. He might not even be able to leave this universe fragment.
There was a Black Ink Disciple, who was approaching the Great Grandmaster level in Artifact Refining, developing Warships in the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s domain. Yang Kai had to ascertain this individual’s identity and location, so if he was unable to leave this universe fragment, his means of gathering information would be limited.
The difficulty of the task made him feel anxious.
While this was giving him a headache, Yang Kai suddenly felt an unfamiliar aura approaching him. After becoming startled for a brief moment, he quickly tried to examine it.
He realised that it was a Human who was coming over.
Soon, Yang Kai heard someone knocking on the door.
He hurriedly got to his feet and opened the door, only to see a burly man standing outside his room.
There was no doubt that the Humans residing in this place were all Black Ink Disciples. Yang Kai had seen some Black Ink Disciples when he followed Gui Liao back to the castle though, so he wasn’t surprised.
However, the Black Ink Disciple in front of his eyes was overly towering as a Human. Standing in front of this man, Yang Kai only came up to his chest.
It had to be noted that even though Yang Kai wasn’t a particularly tall man, he wasn’t short by any means. This went to show how burly the man before his eyes was.
What bothered Yang Kai wasn’t this man’s height though, but his aura.
The energy fluctuations around this man suggested that he was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, but his aura was tinged with a conspicuous sense of ferocity. Black Ink Strength could be seen wafting from his body, which made it look like he was covered in a layer of dark fog.
What concerned Yang Kai even further was the anomalies on his figure. There was a sarcoma on this person’s neck, and his hunched back really had a large hump in it.
The moment Yang Kai saw this person, he felt a sense of danger.
This kind of danger didn’t come from the threat this person might pose, but rather the other party’s own condition.
In other words, this person was constantly in a perilous state.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but recall what Luan Bai Feng, who was corrupted by Black Ink Strength at that time, had shown him in the Black Prison.
Back then, Yang Kai witnessed several people with similar conditions to this man.
One of the primary reasons the Cave Heavens and Paradises had been hiding the existence of Black Ink Strength from the general public was that this Strength was too dangerous, so a panic might be caused if this news was spread. Moreover, they were worried that some people couldn’t resist the allure of Black Ink Strength and would proactively seek to become corrupted.
Human growth was limited, especially in the Open Heaven Realm.
How high a cultivator could eventually push their Martial Dao was decided the moment they ascended to the Open Heaven Realm.
Usually, after a person ascended to the Open Heaven Realm, they could only increase their Order by 2 regardless of how hard they cultivated.
This was the reason the Cave Heavens and Paradises spent lots of time and resources nurturing the brightest disciples from a young age. Only the disciples who directly ascended to the Fifth Order and above had the right to become High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters one day.
If a person directly ascended to the Fourth Order, the limit in their lifetime would be the Sixth Order.
However, after an Open Heaven Realm Master was corrupted by Black Ink Strength, they could break through this limitation and keep ascending to higher Orders.
This was an allure that many Open Heaven Realm Masters could not resist.
That was certainly the case for the Vice Sect Master of Lang Ya Paradise, Yuan Du. Despite his lofty status, he was still unable to resist this temptation, so he proactively sought to become corrupted and turn into a Black Ink Disciple. Ever since then, he became the source of disturbance in Lang Ya Paradise.
It was imaginable that once this news was spread, it would send a shockwave across the entire 3,000 Worlds; after all, Yuan Du wasn’t the only one who was unable to keep moving forward in the Martial Dao due to their innate limits.
However, most were not aware of the hidden dangers that came with this method. While Black Ink Strength could help an Open Heaven Realm Master achieve a breakthrough beyond their initial limitations, there was a price to pay, one that most people wouldn’t be able to bear.
Back in the Black Prison, Yang Kai had seen several Open Heaven Realm Masters who achieved a breakthrough with the help of Black Ink Strength.
Nevertheless, they all ended up in a horrible state.
The breakthrough beyond their limits and the sharp increase in their power could cause them to explode then and there, and those that did survive had their figures radically transformed, developing mishappen features and horrible tumours. In addition, their mental state deteriorated significantly, becoming far more aggressive and irrational.
The Black Ink Disciple in front of Yang Kai undoubtedly suffered such side effects.
The sarcoma on his neck, the hump on his back, and his unusually large build were all the result of the Black Ink Strength’s corruption.
In other words, this person wasn’t supposed to have ascended to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. He broke through the limit by leveraging the Black Ink Strength. Even though he had successfully reached the next Order, his figure had also been transformed.
Yang Kai could clearly feel that even though the aura of this Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was dangerous, his foundation was unstable. Like an insect-infected building, it would fall apart when someone gently pushed it.
If this person kept cultivating to increase his strength, he would most likely explode as his body was no longer able to bear a power that was too great for him.
Someone like him could never be saved even if his Black Ink Strength was dispelled with Purifying Light. The limit of his Small Universe was the Sixth Order, so the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm power had far exceeded what he could sustain. Once he lost the Black Ink Strength’s support, he would undoubtedly lose his life.
Countless thoughts flashed across Yang Kai’s mind as he secretly sighed. He then asked, “You are…?”
The person cupped his fist and grinned, “I’m Liu Zi An, a Black Ink Disciple under Sir Gui Liao.”
“So, it is Brother Liu,” Yang Kai nodded gently, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Liu Zi An put on a big smile, “I heard that Sir Territory Lord personally took on a Black Ink Disciple, so I came here to have a look out of curiosity. Sir Territory Lord is powerful, so he’s usually not interested in ordinary Black Ink Disciples. I’ve not seen him taking one over the years. You’re the first one, Brother Yang.”
“I’m truly honoured, then,” Yang Kai replied humbly. He reckoned that Liu Zi An must have a reason for visiting him, so he stepped aside, “Please come in, Brother Liu.”
Without being overly polite, Liu Zi An stepped into the room.
Yang Kai then closed the door. This side hall was basically empty, so it must have been vacant for quite a long time. He hadn’t prepared anything since he had just gotten here; therefore, he fished out a table and some chairs from his Small Universe and invited the other party to have a seat.
Liu Zi An directly sat down on a chair.
After Yang Kai was seated as well, he asked, “Brother Liu, you said you’re a Black Ink Disciple under Sir Gui Liao?”
“Yes.” Liu Zi An nodded.
“How long have you been living here?” Yang Kai asked.
Liu Zi An smacked his lips and sighed, “It’s been 1,000 years. Not a short time, is it?”
“It’s indeed a very long time.” Yang Kai nodded, “I’m new to this place, so I know nothing about the Black Ink Clan. You’ll have to give me some guidance in the future, Brother Liu.”
Liu Zi An guffawed, “Of course, of course. Since we’re both working for Sir Territory Lord, you can just tell me if you need any help. Although we’re Black Ink Disciples, we’re of the same Race, after all. Let’s meet up more often whenever there’s a chance.”
“You’re right.” Yang Kai agreed with him, “Which Cave Heaven or Paradise did you come from?”
Liu Zi An waved his hand, “Since we’re Black Ink Disciples now, the past no longer has anything to do with us. There’s no need to talk about where we came from. Since you’re now within the Black Ink Clan’s territory, you should quickly try to understand your place.”
“Understood,” Yang Kai replied humbly.
Liu Zi An went on to say, “To be honest, I wasn’t used to it when I first came here; however, after coming into contact with more people, I’ve realised that the Black Ink Clan aren’t any different from Humans. You just have to get along with everyone else. If you want anyone to help you with something, or if you want to be regarded highly, you have to be on good terms with others. If you do that, you’ll be fine.”
A glint flashed through Yang Kai’s eyes when he heard that, “You have a point, Brother Liu.”
Since this guy had made it clear, Yang Kai was naturally aware of his intentions. He then rummaged through his clothes and fished out a Space Ring before pushing it towards him, “Since we’re friends now, I’d like to give you a small gift. I’ll definitely need your guidance in the future.”
Liu Zi An arched his brow and guffawed, “Well, you shouldn’t have. There’s actually no need for that.”
Despite saying that, he directly picked up the Space Ring and scanned it with his Divine Sense. The next moment, his smile froze.
There were only a few hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills in the Space Ring.
This number of Open Heaven Pills could only last him for half a month. Even though he was a Black Ink Disciple, he was still a Human; hence, the cultivation resources he needed were the same as what Humans would use.
He directly shot Yang Kai a glance and made it clear that he was displeased, “That’s not very generous of you, Brother Yang.”
An unfazed Yang Kai explained, “This is already half of all my current assets, Brother Liu. You should know that when Human soldiers go to war, they don’t bring a lot of resources with them.”
The same rule applied to all the Great Passes as they were worried that once a cultivator lost his or her life on the battlefield, their resources would be lost as well. Therefore, the cultivators who went out to fight would leave almost all their assets in their residences. That way, even if they were killed, their fellow clansmen could still take the resources and make use of them.
Yang Kai was aware of this rule, but those from Blue Sky Pass had never restrained him with it; therefore, all his wealth was still in his Small Universe.
Liu Zi An frowned upon hearing that as he was unable to refute Yang Kai since what he said was indeed the truth. The Black Ink Clan had obtained a lot of Space Rings from the Humans on the battlefields in the past, but there weren’t really any valuable items in those rings.
After giving it a thought, he said, “Forget it. It’s the thought that counts.”
“Many thanks for your understanding, Brother Liu.” Yang Kai cupped his fist, then said,” Since you’re Sir Gui Liao’s Black Ink Disciple, can you help me with something?”
Even though Liu Zi An had accepted the gift, he didn’t seem ready to lend him a hand; instead, he asked vigilantly, “What help do you need?”
Yang Kai replied, “Before Sir Hei Yuan entered the Black Ink Nest, he had told Sir Gui Liao to obtain a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit for me. Since you are Sir Gui Liao’s Black Ink Disciple, can you help me ask him when he’ll give me the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit?”
Upon hearing that, Liu Zi An was startled, “Sir Territory Lord ordered a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit be given to you?”
“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded, then asked curiously, “What’s wrong with that?”
Liu Zi An sized him up and shook his head, “Nothing.”
Then, he rose from the chair, “I can help you ask Sir Gui Liao about it, but it’s not up to me to influence his decision.”
“Regardless, I thank you for helping me.”
“En,” Liu Zi An nodded impassively, “I’ll inform you when there’s any news.”
Yang Kai got up and saw him off, “See you around, Brother Liu.”
Liu Zi An left the place and waved his hand without turning his head.
Yang Kai sported a dispassionate expression as he watched him leave. Even though both of them were Humans, he didn’t think Liu Zi An genuinely wanted to get closer to him after their conversation.
This was different from his previous experience.
When he pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple and worked for Nu Yan back then, Yang Kai had been on good terms with B-2, D-4, and E-5. Even though they had different temperaments, they sincerely wanted to get along with him. Perhaps it was because they were all Humans.
However, Liu Zi An was different as he didn’t even seem to regard Yang Kai as someone from the same Race. Perhaps the Black Ink Strength had fully warped his temperament. Even though all Black Ink Disciples would have their thinking changed so they were completely loyal to the Black Ink Clan, the impact of Black Ink Strength was obviously more severe on Liu Zi An.
This must have something to do with the fact that Black Ink Strength had helped him achieve a breakthrough.
Yang Kai had no idea whether it was Liu Zi An’s own intention to visit him or if it was Gui Liao’s order.
It would be interesting if it was the latter. Why did Gui Liao want to probe him? He was Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Disciple on paper while Gui Liao was the designated person to handle the affairs in Hei Yuan’s territory. They basically had nothing to do with each other as they had never met prior to this, nor were there any grudges between them.
Since he was unable to figure it out, Yang Kai decided to put the matter aside. He then returned to his room and refined some Open Heaven Pills.
He wouldn’t dare to refine any resources to cultivate; after all, he had just told Liu Zi An that he was broke. It wouldn’t be sensible if he was suddenly able to fish out a set of Seventh-Order resources.
Moreover, there wasn’t any restriction around his room that could block Divine Senses. Any energy fluctuations in this place could easily be detected by anyone else.
At the same time, in a Grand Hall that was in the deepest part of the castle, Liu Zi An was standing in front of Gui Liao and reporting to him about his conversation with Yang Kai.
Gui Liao listened to it with an unenthusiastic expression.
After Liu Zi An was done with the report, he stole a glance at Gui Liao. Upon seeing that the latter was expressionless, he summoned his courage and asked, “Master, Yang Kai said that Sir Territory Lord had promised to give him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.”
Gui Liao grunted, “Yes, that’s true.”
Liu Zi An frowned, “Why does Sir Territory Lord treasure him so much? He’s a newcomer who hasn’t made any contributions. If he’s given such a reward right away, he’ll most likely become arrogant.”
Gui Liao shot him a glance, “What’s wrong? Are you not happy with it?”
Liu Zi An quickly said he wouldn’t dare to, but he was evidently unresigned.
In the past, he had done everything he could to defend the Humans. After he was corrupted by Black Ink Strength on the battlefield, he sacrificed a part of his Small Universe; therefore, when he became a Black Ink Disciple, his Small Universe was incomplete.
Then, it took him 300 years to gain enough contributions on the battlefield before Gui Liao gave him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to repair his Small Universe.
The treatment he had received was totally not comparable to what Yang Kai could enjoy now, which was why he was unresigned; however, he wouldn’t dare to express his true feelings in front of Gui Liao now.
Upon seeing his expression, Gui Liao snorted, “You heard what Zha Gu said earlier. That guy is strong. That’s why Sir Territory Lord regards him highly. How are you comparable to him?”
A sense of haughtiness flashed across Liu Zi An’s face, “We’ll only find out about it after he and I fight.”
Gui Liao said impassively, “He’s Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple. If you really dare to do anything to him, Sir Territory Lord will not let you off when he’s done recuperating.”
Liu Zi An grinned, “Don’t worry, Master. I’ll only teach him a lesson when there’s a chance. It’s not like I’ll kill him. I won’t make things difficult for you.”
Gui Liao nodded, “Good, just don’t go too far.” After giving it a thought, he shook his head, “Actually, you’d better not complicate the matter. Even though Sir Territory Lord is recuperating in the Black Ink Nest, he’ll come out one day.”
Liu Zi An frowned, “Do we give him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit just like this?”
Gui Liao sneered, “Sir Territory Lord only ordered me to get him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. As for when I’ll find one, that’s up to me. I’ll also see if he’s tactful enough before I’ll decide whether I’ll give it to him.” He tapped on the table, “I guess he’ll look for you again. I’m sure you know what to do then.”
“I get it, Master. Don’t worry about it,” Liu Zi An replied respectfully.
“You may leave now,” Gui Liao waved his hand, then Liu Zi An left the place.
Yang Kai cultivated silently in his room. More than 10 days later, the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit was still nowhere in sight.
Logically, there should be all sorts of resources in the Territory Lord’s territory. When he came to this place with Hei Yuan, he witnessed the prosperity firsthand. Even though Profound Yin Spirit Fruits were rare, the demand for them among the Black Ink Clan should be far smaller than that among the Humans, so there should be a reserve of them in the castle.
Moreover, Hei Yuan had given the order in public, and Yang Kai had asked Liu Zi An to help him ask Gui Liao about it; hence, Gui Liao should’ve sent a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to him by now.
Yang Kai felt that something was off as he still hadn’t got his hands on a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit up until now.
Furthermore, it was truly inefficient to cultivate by refining Open Heaven Pills as it was much slower than what he could achieve in the past. Given his situation, he couldn’t possibly fish out a set of Seventh-Order materials and refine them though. He also couldn’t set up a restriction around this room.
After giving it a thought, he decided to look for Gui Liao and ask about it.
The moment he left the side hall, he saw a Black Ink Clansman who appeared to be in a hurry. This Black Ink Clansman was weak as he was only equivalent to a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Yang Kai directly stopped him and asked, “Excuse me, where is Sir Gui Liao?”
The Black Ink Clansman was startled for a moment as he swept a glance over Yang Kai with surprise. It had to be noted that Black Ink Disciples were lowly slaves in the Black Ink Clan’s territory and had to be subservient whenever they saw any Black Ink Clansmen. It was the first time this Black Ink Clansman came across a Black Ink Disciple who dared to stop him like this.
However, he soon recalled that this Black Ink Disciple was personally corrupted by Sir Territory Lord, so he was unlike the other Black Ink Disciples. He supposed that was the reason this Black Ink Disciple was this audacious.
While suppressing his fury, he shook his head, “I have no idea.”
Upon finishing his words, he stopped responding to Yang Kai and left.
With no other choice, Yang Kai went on to ask several Black Ink Clansmen about it, but none of them knew where Gui Liao was. Perhaps they were aware of Gui Liao’s whereabouts, but they just were not willing to tell him.
This made Yang Kai furrow his brow.
Since he was unable to find Gui Liao, how was he supposed to ask about the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit?
After giving it a thought, he decided to release his Divine Sense to scan the entire castle.
The powerful Divine Sense swept across the castle like a tide, which prompted everyone in the place to react.
There were many Feudal Lords in the castle, so it was only natural that they were furious at Yang Kai who had the gall to scan the place with his Divine Sense.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai retracted his Divine Sense a brief moment later. Before the Feudal Lords could counterattack, his Divine Sense had returned to him.
During the momentary inspection, he was unable to detect Gui Liao’s aura. It seemed that those Black Ink Clansmen were not lying when they said they didn’t know where Gui Liao was.
After pondering on it for a moment, he headed in a particular direction.
A moment later, he arrived at a courtyard where there was a restriction set up. He directly flicked at the restriction and caused a layer of ripples to spread.
Soon, the restriction was turned off. After the door was opened, Liu Zi An’s furious-looking face came into Yang Kai’s sight.
It wasn’t because of luck that he found Liu Zi An’s residence. When he scanned the castle with his Divine Sense just now, the restriction in this place was triggered. For a brief moment, Liu Zi An revealed his aura to ascertain what was going on. That was how Yang Kai found out his whereabouts.
“Brother Liu!” Yang Kai took a step back and cupped his fist.
Fury was written all over Liu Zi An’s face. Upon seeing Yang Kai, he snapped, “It’s you! I was wondering who had the gall to do such a thing.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “I’m sorry, but I had no other choice.”
“What’s wrong?” Liu Zi An asked in a grim voice.
Yang Kai nodded, “There’s something I need to ask you about.”
Liu Zi An frowned and stepped aside, “Come in first.”
After thanking him, Yang Kai entered the courtyard with him.
As he looked around, he arched his brow. This courtyard was definitely much better than the room assigned to him by Gui Liao as it was more suitable for Humans to live in. It was apparently because Gui Liao regarded Liu Zi An highly.
On the other hand, even though Yang Kai was Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Disciple, he wasn’t close to Gui Liao. That was the reason Gui Liao didn’t give him the same treatment and settled him down in a random room.
Even if Hei Yuan found out about it, he wouldn’t be displeased; however, it showed how little Gui Liao cared about Yang Kai.
There was only a table and a chair in the courtyard. Liu Zi An directly took a seat.
Yang Kai stood in front of him and looked around. He felt as if he was here to report to him regarding work-related matters.
“Whatever you have to say, just say it,” Liu Zi An said impatiently.
With a smile, Yang Kai fished out a chair from his Small Universe and took a seat across from Liu Zi An before replying, “Brother Liu, I’m here to ask you about the matter I had mentioned previously. Is there any update?”
Liu Zi An shot him a glance, “What matter are you talking about?”
Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, “Are you playing dumb, Brother Liu? I had only mentioned one thing.”
He felt frustrated in his heart. The last time they met, he already realised that Liu Zi An was haughty and aggressive, but there wasn’t much hostility between them. However, this time, he could feel that Liu Zi An was hostile towards him. He wondered what had happened as Liu Zi An also spoke in a weird tone.
In any case, both of them were Black Ink Disciples, so what was the point of him acting standoffish? Moreover, he had previously asked him to inquire about the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, but the latter played dumb now.
Although he didn’t need the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, Yang Kai had to get his hands on it to cover up the secrets in his Small Universe; hence, he was determined to obtain the fruit.
An unfazed Liu Zi An remained seated and said impassively, “Are you talking about the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit?”
Yang Kai nodded, “You finally recalled it.”
Liu Zi An replied, “I asked Sir Gui Liao about it on your behalf, but he didn’t say anything. It’s not up to me to influence Sir’s decision.”
Yang Kai knitted his brows together, “Where is Sir Gui Liao, then?”
Liu Zi An snorted, “This Liu is a Black Ink Disciple under Sir Gui Liao. Since he’s the Master, it’s not like he has to tell me where he’d go whenever he heads out. How am I supposed to know where he is?”
Yang Kai was rendered speechless as he had the urge to summon Azure Dragon Spear and kill him.
Upon noticing the gloomy expression on the other man’s face, Liu Zi An changed the topic by saying, “Brother Yang, do you remember what I told you previously?”
Yang Kai replied, “You told me many things at that time. Which one do you mean exactly?”
Liu Zi An grinned, “Since you’ve forgotten about it, this Liu will tell you one more time. The Black Ink Clan and the Human Race are not so different. You just have to get along with everyone. If you need someone’s help, you can obtain it by being on good terms with them.”
Instantly, Yang Kai appeared to be in a dilemma, “Brother Liu, I only have a small number of Open Heaven Pills. I gave you half of them, so I’m left with very few now.”
Liu Zi An snorted, “No one is coveting your pathetic number of Open Heaven Pills.”
A puzzled Yang Kai asked, “What do you want then, Brother Liu?”
Liu Zi An replied impassively, “It’s not what I want. I have no say when it comes to the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.”
Upon realising his meaning, Yang Kai leaned closer and asked in a small voice, “What does Sir Gui Liao want, then?”
This guy had been beating around the bush in order to make Yang Kai understand that he had to gain Gui Liao’s favour. It was up to Gui Liao to make a decision regarding the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, and Liu Zi An was Gui Liao’s Black Ink Disciple. Yang Kai was certain that Liu Zi An must have gotten Gui Liao’s permission to do all this.
[So, he’s waiting for me to take the initiative to contact him.]
Yang Kai finally understood why Gui Liao didn’t immediately give him the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit even though it was Hei Yuan’s order. He hadn’t expected that there was such a practice in Black Ink Clan.
He thought that it was a terrible inconvenience.
Then, he went on to say, “Brother Liu, I’m sure you’re aware that I have nothing valuable with me. I’m worried that I can’t give Sir Gui Liao anything he would want.”
Liu Zi An put on a meaningful grin, “Don’t worry, you have plenty of what Sir Gui Liao likes the most.”
Upon finishing his words, he started sizing Yang Kai up. Yang Kai’s expression slowly turned cold as he narrowed his eyes, “Please make it clear to me, Brother Liu.”
It had come to a point where there was no longer a need to beat around the bush.
Liu Zi An said, “I’m sure you know that Black Ink Clansmen are able to consume World Force. This doesn’t just help increase their power, but it’s also a kind of hobby for them. Sir Gui Liao’s hobby is slightly different from others, though I suppose it’s not accurate to say that. Perhaps many Black Ink Clansmen have this hobby. They love consuming fresh World Force.”
Yang Kai was startled upon hearing that. It was the first time he heard someone describe World Force as ‘fresh’. World Force was the foundation of an Open Heaven Realm Master’s power, not a living creature. Was there such a thing as stale World Force, then?
Feeling puzzled, he asked, “What do you mean by fresh World Force?”
Liu Zi An replied with a smile, “Have you heard of the World Sphere before, Brother Yang?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes.”
Liu Zi An explained, “Strictly speaking, World Spheres are a kind of artifact invented by the Black Ink Clan. It’s used to absorb the World Force that leaks out after Open Heaven Realm Masters are killed on the battlefield. World Spheres are sold in every Black Ink Clan’s territory, and they’re quite expensive. By buying a World Sphere, a Black Ink Clansmen can consume the World Force inside it to cultivate. The World Force in Sealed Worlds could be consumed by the Black Ink Clan as well; however, that kind of World Force is like a tree without roots or a river without a source. It’s dead. To the Black Ink Clan, this kind of World Force is not fresh enough. It’s like stale food for Humans.”
He paused for a moment and went on to say, “On the other hand, Open Heaven Realm Masters like us have very fresh World Force in our Small Universes. Sir Gui Liao is pretty picky, so he prefers to consume this kind of World Force.”
Then, he looked fervently at Yang Kai, “So, it’s easy for you to gain Sir Gui Liao’s favour. You just have to open your Small Universe and let him consume your World Force to his heart’s content. After that, he’ll grant your wish.”
Yang Kai lowered his gaze and said impassively, “Is this how you please Sir Gui Liao?”
Liu Zi An directly nodded, “Yes. However, according to Sir Gui Liao, the World Force of every Open Heaven Realm Master tastes different. This Liu has been Sir Gui Liao’s servant for a long time. In the past, he loved to consume my World Force, but he hasn’t done so for a long time now. I suppose he’s already sick of it. Since you’re a newcomer, you can let Sir Gui Liao have a taste of a different kind of World Force. He said that the more powerful a Human is, the more delicious his World Force will be, and you’re a powerful cultivator. If you’re willing to do this, I’m sure Sir Gui Liao will see you in a different light. It’ll be much easier for you to get things done as well.”
“Is this the condition?” Yang Kai lifted his head and asked.
Liu Zi An shook his head, “It’s not a condition. It’s just my suggestion. Brother Yang, a wise man will adapt to the circumstances. This is the Black Ink Clan’s territory, and we’re Black Ink Disciples.”
“I’m Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple, not Gui Liao’s.”
Liu Zi An’s expression changed, “Stop being obstinate, Brother Yang! You’ll only lose a bit of your World Force. If you can get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, you’ll be able to repair the damaged part of your Small Universe. By then, you can slowly cultivate and make up for the losses.”
Yang Kai shot him a piercing glance, “Before Sir Territory Lord entered the Black Ink Nest, he ordered Gui Liao to get me a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. Is he going to disobey Sir Territory Lord?”
Liu Zi An chuckled, “No one has the guts to disobey Sir Territory Lord’s orders. In fact, Sir Gui Liao has left the place to look for a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit for you; however, I’m sure you know that it’s a very rare item. As for when he’ll find it, or whether he’ll be able to find it at all, that is up to the Heavens.”
[Up to the Heavens?] Yang Kai secretly cursed. It was apparent that Gui Liao wanted to force him to make a concession in such a way. He had never expected that Gui Liao had a hobby of consuming fresh World Force from Humans.
Even though the one whose World Force was getting absorbed would suffer some losses, they would be fine as long as not too much of their World Force was sucked and their foundation was undamaged. The lost World Force could be replenished easily enough.
However, there was no way Yang Kai would agree to such a demand.
First of all, there wasn’t a reason for him to agree to Gui Liao’s request. Secondly, if he really opened up his Small Universe in front of Gui Liao, his secret would be exposed.
Previously, he gave up a part of his Small Universe twice on the battlefield because he had no other choice. Additionally, he was doing that to fool the Black Ink Clansmen so that they wouldn’t examine his Small Universe.
Fortunately, everything had gone well. Why would he expose his secret at this point?
Liu Zi An leaned against the seat and said calmly, “Why don’t you go back and sleep on it? Everything I’ve said to you is sincere.”
“There’s no need to sleep on it,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Liu Zi An stared fixedly at him, “You mean…”
Yang Kai snorted, “This Yang is Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple, not Gui Liao’s. Regardless of what Sir Territory Lord tells me to do, I’ll not hesitate to do it for him. As for Gui Liao’s ridiculous demand, I’ll tell Sir Territory Lord about it when he comes out of the Black Ink Nest.”
Liu Zi An’s expression changed drastically as he landed a slap on the table, “Don’t go too far, you little bastard! It’ll take Sir Territory Lord several years to recuperate. During this period of time, you’ll have to work for Sir Gui Liao.”
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai shot him a glance, “Is he going to kill me?”
“You’re just a Black Ink Disciple. If you make a mistake, why wouldn’t Sir Gui Liao kill you?” Liu Zi An appeared ferocious.
Yang Kai sneered, “Let’s see if he has the guts to do so!”
Liu Zi An fell into a dazed state. After staring at him for a long time, he shook his head, “You’re insane! Insane!”
He couldn’t sense any respect for Gui Liao from Yang Kai, which was inconceivable. As a Black Ink Disciple, how did Yang Kai have the guts to dismiss a Feudal Lord like Gui Liao? It seemed that he didn’t know his place.
Was he confident because he was the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple? Liu Zi An couldn’t help but feel bitter.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai extended his hand, “Give them back.”
“What?” Liu Zi An was startled.
“The Open Heaven Pills I gave you the other day,” Yang Kai pulled a long face.
Initially, even though Liu Zi An was deplorable, Yang Kai didn’t intend to be on bad terms with him; after all, he was new to this place, so he didn’t want to complicate things. However, what had happened totally disappointed him.
Gui Liao wanted to consume his World Force, and he even told Liu Zi An to con him into accepting.
Yang Kai would never agree to such a demand; however, he needed a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to cover up the secrets in his Small Universe. After taking everything into consideration, he decided to make a huge fuss so that Gui Liao had to take notice.
In this castle, Liu Zi An was the best breakthrough he could make use of to achieve his goal.
Liu Zi An couldn’t believe his ears. A person must be extremely thick-skinned to have the nerve to take back what he had given out.
Honestly speaking, several hundred thousand Open Heaven Pills didn’t matter to Liu Zi An; however, he could never give them back to Yang Kai given the latter’s attitude. If he really did so, it would be the same as admitting he was afraid of Yang Kai.
After a moment of silence, Liu Zi An sneered, “What Open Heaven Pills? I’ve consumed them all.”
Yang Kai balled up his fists as cracking sounds were heard. His aura was rising rapidly, “Since you’ve consumed my Open Heaven Pills, I just have to make you spit them back out!”
Liu Zi An was astonished as he gazed at Yang Kai in disbelief, “You want to fight with me?”
He couldn’t help but have the urge to laugh.
Previously, he had suggested giving Yang Kai a lesson in front of Gui Liao. At that time, he was just displeased with the different treatments he and Yang Kai received. This brat surnamed Yang could immediately get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit upon arrival while it wasn’t until 300 years after he became a Black Ink Disciple that he got the fruit. Moreover, he only obtained it because he had made many contributions.
Nevertheless, Gui Liao told him not to complicate things, so he cast the idea aside.
Now that he was provoked by Yang Kai though, he could seize the chance to teach him a lesson. Certainly, he wouldn’t dare to disobey Gui Liao’s order; however, there was nothing to worry about now since it was Yang Kai who made the first move. This way, he could explain himself to Gui Liao.
When Zha Gu reported to Gui Liao about the battle that Yang Kai had taken part in, Liu Zi An, who was hiding in the darkness, could hear it clearly as well. He knew that this new Black Ink Disciple that the Territory Lord had taken on was powerful as Yang Kai was able to lead a Squad to kill several thousand Black Ink Clansmen, including more than 10 Feudal Lords.
Liu Zi An didn’t think he was capable of doing that.
However, that was what Yang Kai could achieve when he was at his peak.
During that battle, Yang Kai sacrificed pieces of his Small Universe twice. Now, his Small Universe was incomplete, and his foundation had been damaged. There was no doubt that his power had plunged.
In that case, why would Liu Zi An need to fear him?
He was instantly infuriated by Yang Kai’s provocation and his Seventh-Order aura flared sharply. His entire figure was engulfed in a dark fog as he pushed his power, his figure seemingly expanding as well. The sarcoma on his neck throbbed against his skin like a beating heart.
He slowly rose from the chair and looked condescendingly at Yang Kai. With a grin, he snickered, “Brat, do you know the consequences of provoking me?”
Even though he appeared to be giving Yang Kai a warning, he was actually eager to see him make a move.
Yang Kai scoffed, “Anyone ever tell you, you talk too much?”
Upon finishing his words, he threw out his fist.
Liu Zi An almost had the urge to cheer for Yang Kai. He had never expected this person surnamed Yang to be so impetuous that he would make a move on a whim. It was unlike how polite Yang Kai had appeared to be up until now.
This was exactly the outcome Liu Zi An wanted.
The moment he saw Yang Kai making a move, he also pushed out his fist without hesitation. He was a burly man, so his fist was also significantly larger than that of Yang Kai.
When their fists came into contact, it was as though two Universe Worlds had clashed. As the World Force surged, Liu Zi An abruptly stopped appearing haughty as his huge figure was sent flying away like an arrow. He directly crashed into a wall and formed a pit in the ground.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was forced to back several steps before he managed to stabilise himself.
His surging aura made his clothes flap in the wind.
Shaking his head, Yang Kai stepped forward. He wasn’t used to the condition he was in.
If he were still at the peak of his power, he could’ve severely wounded someone like Liu Zi An with one punch and killed him in three.
However, his strength really had plunged as a result of the damage to his Small Universe, leaving him far weaker than before.
Fortunately, his opponent was Liu Zi An.
Even though Liu Zi An was also a Seventh-Order Master, he reached this Order by using the Black Ink Strength to break through his natural limit, the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Liu Zi An’s foundation was unstable, so he was unable to fully utilise the power of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
After an exchange of moves, Yang Kai had a better judgement of Liu Zi An’s true power. He was indeed a Seventh-Order Master, as manifested by his ample World Force; however, he was unable to fully utilise that power. His cultivation was nothing more than a castle built from sand.
On the other hand, even though Yang Kai had sacrificed a part of his Small Universe twice, which caused his foundation to be damaged, he still had the World Tree clone to continuously purify his World Force; therefore, while he was no match for the other party when it came to strength output, the quality of his power allowed him to overpower his opponent. That was the reason he gained the upper hand following the exchange of moves.
An increasingly ferocious aura billowed from the ruins. A burly figure stepped out of the demolished building. For every step Liu Zi An took, the entire ground seemed to be shaking. Black Ink Strength was seen swirling around him, and even his eyes had turned completely black. He glared at Yang Kai and said through clenched teeth, “Boy, you court death!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he charged towards Yang Kai at the speed of lightning.
While in mid-air, he turned his fists into innumerable phantoms and engulfed Yang Kai with them.
Yang Kai had already intended to make a fuss, so he naturally wouldn’t back down at this point. He charged right at Liu Zi An and engaged him in a brutal melee.
The noise of the battle soon alerted everyone in the castle.
The Feudal Lords, who resided in different places, subsequently appeared and watched them from a distance. When they realised it was a battle between Gui Liao’s Black Ink Disciple and the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple, they were astounded. They had no idea what had happened that caused these two Humans to get into a life-and-death fight.
Nevertheless, these Feudal Lords didn’t have the intention of interfering or stopping them. To them, even though these Humans had been corrupted by Black Ink Strength, they were not the same as Black Ink Clansmen like them, who had a noble bloodline. Naturally, they wouldn’t care whether one of them was injured or even killed. In fact, they had fun watching the battle and chatted among themselves.
The battle in the courtyard between Yang Kai and Liu Zi An was intense. As time passed, Yang Kai realised that this guy indeed had a problem mobilizing his strength.
Sometimes, his attacks would be so forceful that even Yang Kai found it hard to fend off, but sometimes, his strikes would be so powerless that Yang Kai could easily find openings and land direct hits on his figure, which caused him to groan in pain.
It meant that Liu Zi An was unable to use his power flexibly; instead, his utilisation of his World Force was unstable. Sometimes, he could showcase his real power, but sometimes, he would be strong in will while weak in strength.
Any Open Heaven Realm Master with a solid foundation wouldn’t face such a problem. One must be fully at ease with using their power in order to ascend to the Open Heaven Realm, so they wouldn’t have to deal with such a situation. The reason Liu Zi An was unable to effortlessly use his strength was that he didn’t deserve to be in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm in the first place.
Given his condition, he would be killed soon after he stepped onto the battlefield. Once his weaknesses were detected by the opponent, he would lose his life.
In fact, it wasn’t hard for Yang Kai to kill him now, but he didn’t have the intention of doing so. It was no longer possible to save Liu Zi An. Even if the Black Ink Strength inside his body was dispelled using Purifying Light, his Small Universe would shatter as it was unable to bear Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm power. Nevertheless, he was Gui Liao’s Black Ink Disciple, so if he was killed here, Gui Liao would definitely avenge his death.
Liu Zi An was right to say that it would take Hei Yuan several years to recuperate, and Gui Liao was tasked with handling the affairs in the territory until then. Yang Kai would have a hard time here if he offended him too seriously.
It wasn’t long before Liu Zi An fell into a complete disadvantage.
This made him increasingly infuriated. He initially thought that Yang Kai wouldn’t be a match for him as the latter’s foundation had been damaged, but after the battle started, he realised that things were different from what he had imagined. Yang Kai was still powerful even though his Small Universe was incomplete. It was no wonder that when he was at the peak of his power, he was able to kill so many Feudal Lords and Black Ink Clansmen.
At this moment, Liu Zi An found himself in a dilemma. He could only madly push his power in an attempt to suppress Yang Kai while at the same time, he prayed that the latter wouldn’t be able to persevere due to his weakened foundation.
The more he exerted his strength, the thicker the Black Ink Strength around him became while the aura wafting from his body became increasingly unstable.
However, Liu Zi An seemed oblivious to all of that while Yang Kai had faintly detected it.
By activating the power he was unable to control, Liu Zi An would soon suffer a backlash. When that happened, he would be crippled even if he didn’t lose his life.
Just then, Yang Kai detected something as he slowed down his attack.
Liu Zi An was elated upon seeing that, but just as he was preparing to push his advantage, a voice was heard snapping, “Both of you, stop right there!”
In the next instant, a figure descended from the sky and landed between Yang Kai and Liu Zi An.
An agile Yang Kai promptly leapt backwards. On the other hand, Liu Zi An, who was blinded by wrath, forcefully pushed out his fist and attacked the person in front of him; however, the instant he made out the person’s face, he was flabbergasted as he quickly retracted his fist.
Forcefully withdrawing his strike caused Liu Zi An’s Small Universe to shake and his World Force to descend into chaos.
The next moment, he was heard spraying out a mouthful of blood. His aura had withered as he was unable to bear the consequences of this impact.
While trying to support his own weight, he cupped his fists, “Master!”
Gui Liao shot him an impassive glance, which caused his back to be covered with cold sweat and his legs to tremble. A Black Ink Disciple could never go against his Master, and this time, he seemed to have screwed things up. That was why he was apprehensive.
“Sir Gui Liao!” Yang Kai cupped his fist while secretly scoffing at the fact that Gui Liao was finally alerted.
Judging from the direction he came from, he was indeed not in the castle moments ago; however, the repercussions of the battle between two Seventh-Order Masters could spread across half this universe fragment. As long as he wasn’t too far away, Gui Liao could definitely sense it.
Upon hearing that, Gui Liao turned around and glared at Yang Kai.
While the Territory Lord was still recuperating, two Black Ink Disciples got into a fight and caused a large part of the castle to be damaged. Regardless of the cause of the fight, Gui Liao would be held responsible for not managing the situation properly.
When the Territory Lord returned from the Black Ink Nest and asked about it, Gui Liao would probably be reprimanded. Although it wasn’t a big issue, he was still displeased.
“Can anyone tell me what’s going on?” Gui Liao asked in a grim voice.
Liu Zi An wouldn’t dare to say anything. It wasn’t like he could say Yang Kai had turned him down and wanted to get back the Open Heaven Pills given to him, which was why they got into a fight.
While Liu Zi An was timid, Yang Kai was confident as he cupped his fist, “Sir Gui Liao, I’d like to file a complaint against Liu Zi An for oppressing a newcomer like me who doesn’t know the customs in the Black Ink Clan’s base. He has demanded a lot of benefits from me using your name.”
Right after Yang Kai finished speaking, Gui Liao felt his heart sinking as he regretted asking such a foolish question.
He didn’t give it any serious consideration as he was furious earlier, but now that he thought about it, he should’ve brought these two Humans to a quiet place so that there wouldn’t be so many Feudal Lords watching them.
“Is that true?” Gui Liao narrowed his eyes and glanced at Liu Zi An.
Liu Zi An’s face was covered with cold sweat, “No.”
Yang Kai glowered at him, “Do you have the gall to say that you didn’t take my Open Heaven Pills on the first day of my arrival?”
Liu Zi An snapped, “I didn’t make such a demand. You gave them to me!”
Yang Kai snorted, “If you hadn’t asked for them, why would I give anything to you? Indeed, you didn’t make it clear, but you implied that I should give you some benefits if I wanted to live a better life here. I’m not a fool, so it’s expected that I would be able to read between the lines. I’m a newcomer, so I wouldn’t dare to say no. I could only make a sacrifice.” He then turned to Gui Liao and cupped his fist, “Please stand up for me, Sir Gui Liao. I only had a small number of Open Heaven Pills, but I still gave him half of everything I had, thinking that I could befriend him. To my surprise, this guy was greedy as he thought that my gift was not valuable enough. He even used your name and tried to demand more from me today.”
“Stop spouting nonsense!” Liu Zi An roared as he was worried that Yang Kai would break the secret to everyone.
The Black Ink Clansmen in the castle were aware of Gui Liao’s hobby; in fact, many of them enjoyed doing it as well. However, knowing was one thing, but making it public was another.
It would be fine to do some things in private, but it would be ugly when they were talked about publicly. It was especially true as Yang Kai’s identity was special; he was the Black Ink Disciple personally corrupted by Hei Yuan Territory Lord.
It would’ve been fine if Yang Kai wasn’t Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Disciple; however, this relationship was truly significant. Since Gui Liao had his eyes on his Black Ink Disciple, it would suggest that he had no regard for Hei Yuan at all. This issue could be small or big. It might not be worth mentioning as Yang Kai’s life was not at stake; nevertheless, if Hei Yuan felt insulted, it would mean that Gui Liao had crossed the line by offending his superior.
Gui Liao wouldn’t be able to bear the wrath if the Territory Lord blamed him.
It would’ve been alright if Gui Liao could secretly settle the matter. From his standpoint, he believed that a newcomer like Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to resist as it wouldn’t matter to lose a bit of World Force; however, he hadn’t expected the other party to be so obstinate and defiant.
While remaining silent, Gui Liao felt his brow twitching.
Yang Kai asked, “Sir, don’t you want to know how he tarnishes your reputation?”
It had come to a point where Gui Liao had to get to the bottom of it in front of everyone; otherwise, he would only appear guilty, so he replied with a nod, “Speak.”
Despite his casual look, Gui Liao’s eyes were filled with murderous intent.
Seemingly oblivious to this, Yang Kai proclaimed loudly, “Before Sir Territory Lord entered the Black Ink Nest, he had told you to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit for me. I’ve been waiting for days, but there hasn’t been any news about it. I initially wanted to ask you about this; however, since you were not around, I could only look for Liu Zi An. By leveraging his position as your Black Ink Disciple, this guy demanded a lot of resources from me. He said that as long as I could satisfy his demands, he would put in a good word for me in front of you so that I could get the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit sooner. He even said that…”
At this point, he seemed hesitant to continue.
“What else did he say?” Gui Liao gritted his teeth.
Yang Kai went on to say, “He even said that those demands were not for himself but for you, Sir Gui Liao. It was Sir Territory Lord who told you to get me a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, so I’m sure that you wouldn’t be negligent about it. Why would I need his help to begin with? Moreover, it’s not like a Black Ink Disciple like him can affect what you do. After I exposed his lies, he became furious out of shame and started a fight with me. Please stand up for me, Sir!”
A dumbfounded Liu Zi An gazed at Yang Kai with widened eyes.
Liu Zi An hadn’t expected Yang Kai to spout such nonsense, and his upright attitude made it look like it was really what had happened, so he quickly refuted, “That’s not true!”
A calm Yang Kai turned to look at him, “It’s not true? Why don’t you tell everyone why we fought then, Brother Liu? It’s not like a newcomer like me would ask for trouble by offending you for no reason.”
Liu Zi An snapped, “It’s because…”
Yang Kai stared fixedly at him, “Go on.”
Liu Zi An was rendered speechless. The demand he had mentioned to Yang Kai on this day couldn’t be exposed in public; after all, this was just his speculation of Gui Liao’s intention. If it was exposed, Gui Liao would be humiliated. As his Black Ink Disciple, Liu Zi An wouldn’t dare to bring trouble to his Master.
Yang Kai promptly said, “See? He can’t say anything! Sir Gui Liao, the truth is right before our eyes. It’s not that I wanted to get into a conflict with him; instead, he was the one who went too far. Please stand up for me, Sir!”
Gui Liao stared fixedly at him for a moment, then turned to glare at Liu Zi An, “Waste!”
Liu Zi An was unable to say anything despite feeling aggrieved. He felt apprehensive and terrified as Gui Liao reprimanded him. It all happened because of Yang Kai, but he could only keep the resentment in his heart for the time being and try to get his revenge in the future.
“Regardless of the cause of the conflict, you two, as Black Ink Disciples, shouldn’t have gotten into a fight in Sir Territory Lord’s castle and caused so much damage. Both of you have to be punished. Liu Zi An!”
Liu Zi An replied in a shaking voice, “Yes.”
“That will be 3 World Spheres from you.”
Liu Zi An’s face instantly turned pale as he pleaded with Gui Liao, “Sir…”
“If you dare to say anything more, it will be 5 World Spheres!” Gui Liao snorted.
Liu Zi An instantly kept his mouth shut, but his expression was evidently furious and aggrieved.
“As for you…” Gui Liao gave Yang Kai a dispassionate look, “It will be 1 World Sphere.”
Even though Yang Kai had no idea what the punishment was, he knew that it was definitely terrible. That was the reason Liu Zi An turned pale upon hearing it. Yang Kai then cupped his fist, “Sir Gui Liao, I’m the victim.”
“You’re the victim?” Gui Liao sneered, “There’s a saying you Humans like to use, it takes two hands to clap. Both of you are in the wrong for what has happened today. I’m sure Sir Territory Lord will be fine with how I handle this matter. What’s wrong? Are you unwilling?”
[Of course I’m unwilling!] Yang Kai gritted his teeth for a moment before saying, “I’ll accept this punishment, then.”
Gui Liao stared at him for a while before nodding, “You’re quite good.”
“Many thanks for the compliment, Sir,” Yang Kai replied unenthusiastically.
“Enough, enough, go back to your own places.” Gui Liao waved his hand and chastised the Feudal Lords around him. It was then that the Feudal Lords left.
Seeing that Gui Liao was about to leave, Yang Kai called out to him, “Sir, when will you give me the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit as promised by Sir Territory Lord?”
Without turning his head, Gui Liao replied, “Just wait. I’ll give it to you when I find one.”
He soon disappeared, but he never said when he would find the fruit. Yang Kai reckoned that after he kicked up a fuss this time, he wouldn’t be able to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit in short order. Nevertheless, he didn’t regret his decision. There was no way he would agree to opening up his Small Universe and letting Gui Liao feed on his World Force.
With that said, he had to get his hands on a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit quickly; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself when his Small Universe was fully repaired by the World Tree clone.
When he felt a resentful glare on him, Yang Kai turned around and saw Liu Zi An glowering at him. He sneered before striding off. Liu Zi An was so enraged that he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
After the battle, not only was he defeated by his opponent, but he was also punished by Gui Liao. Besides that, his residence was also destroyed. It could be said that he had suffered immense losses.
On the other hand, Yang Kai had received a much lighter punishment. There was no way Liu Zi An could tolerate this.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai wasn’t interested in responding to him. This Black Ink Disciple could never be saved, but he didn’t feel like killing him either, so he could only let him perish on his own.
Not long after Yang Kai returned to his room, a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman came over and passed him a World Sphere. After saying that it was Gui Liao’s order, he left.
Certainly, Yang Kai had seen World Spheres before. When he was Nu Yan’s subordinate in the past, that guy would bring him to different territories to fight against other Black Ink Disciples. The Black Ink Coins he earned would be used to buy World Spheres so that he could cultivate.
Nu Yan had a dream, which was to earn enough Black Ink Coins and head to Black Ink Nest to ascend to become a Feudal Lord.
However, before he could realise his dream, he was killed by Feng Ying.
To Black Ink Clansmen, World Spheres were cultivation resources, and every piece was costly. The average clansman couldn’t afford one.
If not for the fact that Yang Kai was powerful enough to win every life-and-death gambling match he entered, Nu Yan wouldn’t have earned enough Black Ink Coins to keep buying World Spheres.
Another Black Ink Disciple of Nu Yan’s, D-4, once told Yang Kai that the World Force in the World Spheres was basically collected from the battlefield. After Open Heaven Realm Masters passed away, their Small Universes would collapse, and their World Force would dissipate. World Spheres could be used to capture that leaking World Force.
However, Yang Kai felt that the explanation was unreasonable. Even though a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters were killed on the battlefield, there shouldn’t be enough World Force that could fill World Spheres to be sold to so many Black Ink Clansmen.
After asking about this, D-4 told him that Black Ink Disciples could also infuse their World Force into the World Spheres, which was actually the most common way for the Black Ink Clansmen to create World Spheres.
Therefore, every Black Ink Disciple was a valuable asset to their Master. Black Ink Disciples were loyal and would never betray their Master, and they could tag along when the Master went to war. During their free time, Black Ink Disciples could even make World Spheres for the Masters to cultivate with. As long as the Black Ink Disciples were not killed, the Masters would have an unlimited supply of World Spheres.
Back then, Nu Yan had bought several empty World Spheres and told D-4 and the others to infuse their World Force into them; however, Yang Kai was Nu Yan’s money tree, so he was spared from this task. He just had to continuously win battles in different arenas.
When Yang Kai heard the punishment announced by Gui Liao, he didn’t understand what that meant; however, when he saw this empty World Sphere, he finally comprehended Gui Liao’s intention.
It was apparent that he was required to fill this World Sphere with his World Force.
It took a long time to completely fill a World Sphere, at least a few months given Yang Kai’s Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm strength. Not only was this time-consuming, but it would also exhaust his heritage.
Certainly, Yang Kai wasn’t willing to do such a thing. Why would he make a World Sphere for Gui Liao when the latter wasn’t even willing to give him a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit?
Nevertheless, since he had offended Gui Liao, life would be hard for him in the future. At the very least, before Hei Yuan left the Black Ink Nest years later, he had to be cautious so that Gui Liao wouldn’t have a reason to punish him.
Moreover, he had to come up with a way to complete his true objective, which was to find out the Artifact Refining Grandmaster’s identity and whereabouts.
Having said that, the most pressing issue for him was to obtain a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. Since he couldn’t pin his hopes on Gui Liao, he had to look for a different way to achieve his goal.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai rose from the chair and left his room.
It was business as usual inside the castle. The passing Black Ink Clansmen would look curiously at him; after all, they had never seen a new Black Ink Disciple who had the guts to get into a fight in the castle.
Yang Kai randomly caught a Black Ink Clansman and asked, “Do you know where Zha Gu lives?”
The Black Ink Clansman was puzzled, “Who is that?”
Even though Zha Gu was a Feudal Lord, there were many Feudal Lords in Hei Yuan’s territory. Naturally, the Black Ink Clansmen in the castle couldn’t possibly know all the Feudal Lords.
Yang Kai didn’t give up though and kept asking around. After asking more than a dozen Black Ink Clansmen the same question, he finally got some clues. He found a Black Ink Clansman who knew a little about Zha Gu, he had no idea where he lived exactly, but he told Yang Kai to look for him in a particular area in the territory. A Feudal Lord like Zha Gu would generally look for a place outside of the city to establish their own home.
This was permitted by Hei Yuan and the other Territory Lords.
However, if one was incapable of acquiring a Black Ink Nest, he wouldn’t really have a territory to his name.
After thanking him, Yang Kai shuffled in that direction. No one stopped him along the way. It seemed that after the incident earlier, Gui Liao wasn’t ready to complicate the matter.
The universe fragment that was as large as a Universe World was directly owned by Hei Yuan, and the surrounding region occupied by his subordinate Feudal Lords was also considered his territory.
The location of the Black Ink Nest and the castle were the centre of the universe fragment. It could be considered the most prosperous place in the universe fragment.
Flying was not prohibited in the city, so after leaving the castle, Yang Kai directly shot into the sky where he met a lot of passing Black Ink Clansmen.
When the Black Ink Clansmen detected his Human, they looked curiously at him; however, no one made things difficult for him or had their eyes on him.
After all, he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so not just any Black Ink Clansman could capture him.
Soon, Yang Kai left this big city.
After flying a few hundred kilometres, he saw a manor below him. He speculated that it was a Feudal Lord’s territory.
Without hesitation, he descended towards the manor, not hiding his aura.
Before he even landed, a burly figure shot out from somewhere of the manor and came to him.
He soon stopped in front of Yang Kai and examined him. With a surprised expression, he asked, “A Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple?”
There were only a small number of Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples on this universe fragment, and he had met most of them before, but he wasn’t aware of Yang Kai’s existence, which made him feel curious.
“I’m sorry for disturbing you,” Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Sir, do you know where Sir Zha Gu lives?”
Instead of answering his question, the Feudal Lord asked, “Whose Black Ink Disciple are you? Why are you here?”
Yang Kai replied politely, “I’m Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple. Sir Gui Liao told me to look for Zha Gu as there’s a matter he has to discuss with him.”
Upon learning about his identity, the Feudal Lord said, “So, you’re the new Black Ink Disciple that Sir Territory Lord has taken on. It’s no wonder I had never seen you before.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai asked curiously, “Does everyone know about it now?”
The Feudal Lord chuckled, “It’s only natural to pay attention to Sir Territory Lord’s affairs.”
Upon hearing the reason behind it, Yang Kai nodded, “I see.”
The Feudal Lord’s expression turned milder after he found out that Yang Kai was Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Disciple and he replied, “If you’re looking for Zha Gu, just head in that direction. According to Human measurements, he lives in a place that is 3,000 kilometres away from here.”
After looking in the same direction, Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Many thanks.”
He then bid the Feudal Lord farewell and shot in that direction. It took him a short moment to move across 3,000 kilometres.
From afar, Yang Kai could see a castle that was similar to Hei Yuan’s that was built on an island. There were no traces of other Black Ink Clan estates within a 100-kilometre radius. If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be Zha Gu’s residence.
Yang Kai landed in front of the castle and activated his Divine Sense. There were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen inside, but they were all insignificant Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen with High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen being quite rare.
There was an aura that Yang Kai was familiar with in the deepest part of the castle; Zha Gu.
Upon confirming that the other party really resided here, Yang Kai called out, “Brother Zha Gu!”
In an instant, all the Black Ink Clansmen in the castle were shocked as they looked in the same direction. Zha Gu, who was recuperating, was alerted as he opened his eyes and stared out.
A moment later, the gates were opened as Zha Gu stepped out of the castle and looked at Yang Kai with surprise, “Why are you here?”
Yang Kai cupped his fist and smiled, “I’ve come all the way here to visit you, Brother Zha Gu. I hope I haven’t bothered you.”
Zha Gu nodded, “Come in first.”
After entering the castle, they arrived at a room and took seats.
“Has Sir Territory Lord issued any orders?” Zha Gu asked. He reckoned that a Black Ink Disciple usually wouldn’t dare to come all the way here on his own. Yang Kai probably had received a secret order from the Territory Lord.
However, Yang Kai shook his head, “Sir Territory Lord has not shown up since he entered the Black Ink Nest. I heard that it would take him several years to recuperate.”
Zha Gu was evidently relieved upon learning that it wasn’t Hei Yuan who told Yang Kai to look for him.
“The reason I’ve come here to visit you is that I need your help,” Yang Kai expressed his purpose for the visit.
Zha Gu frowned, “What can I help you with?”
Although Yang Kai was a Black Ink Disciple treasured by Hei Yuan, he was still a Black Ink Disciple. Zha Gu was willing to be on good terms with him, but he wouldn’t fawn over him, so he would of course find out what help Yang Kai needed before he would make a decision.
Yang Kai let out a sigh and went on to say, “I’d like to ask you if there is a way I can earn money in Black Ink Clan’s territory.”
“Earn money?” Zha Gu was surprised.
“Indeed,” Yang Kai coughed, “You know, when Human soldiers go to war, we don’t bring a lot of resources with us. I was enlightened by Sir Territory Lord not long ago, so I only have a few resources with me. Now that my Small Universe is damaged, I need a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to repair it, and I need resources to cultivate as well; however, since Sir Territory Lord is recuperating in the Black Ink Nest, I have no means to purchase anything. I can neither repair my Small Universe nor cultivate in this state.”
A puzzled Zha Gu asked, “Profound Yin Spirit Fruit? Before Sir Territory Lord started recuperating, he told Sir Gui Liao to get one for you. Given Sir Gui Liao’s status, it shouldn’t be hard for him to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.”
“Perhaps,” Yang Kai nodded, “However, I’ve offended Sir Gui Liao, so he doesn’t seem willing to give it to me now.”
Zha Gu was shocked upon hearing that, “You offended Sir Gui Liao? What happened?”
A helpless Yang Kai told Zha Gu about what had happened between Liu Zi An and him.
Zha Gu gazed at him with a weird expression, “You offended Sir Gui Liao just because of that?” He seemed to think that it was fine to agree to Gui Liao’s demand, so he didn’t understand why Yang Kai turned him down.
Yang Kai spread his palms, “You’re also aware that I sacrificed a part of my Small Universe twice in the recent battle. My strength has plunged because of the damage to my foundation, so if I still let Sir Gui Liao feed on my Small Universe, my Order might drop. When that happens, I will become useless to Sir Territory Lord. By then, I will most likely be discarded.”
“You have a point,” Zha Gu nodded.
“So, I had no choice but to disappoint Sir Gui Liao; however, since that is the case, I can’t hope to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit from him.”
Zha Gu frowned, “I don’t think so. He wouldn’t dare to disobey Sir Territory Lord’s order, but you might need to wait a little longer.”
Yang Kai internally cried that he couldn’t possibly wait. The World Tree clone was continuously repairing his Small Universe, so if he couldn’t obtain a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit to cover up this process, he would be exposed.
Zha Gu placated him by saying, “Don’t worry. Before Sir Territory Lord leaves the Black Ink Nest, Sir Gui Liao will get you a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I’d rather come up with a way to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit myself. I suppose the fruits are for sale in the city.”
Zha Gu replied, “Yes, but they’ve always been expensive. They cost a lot of Black Ink Coins.”
“That’s why I’ve come here to ask for a way to make money. Can you enlighten me, Brother Zha Gu?” Yang Kai looked humbly at him.
Zha Gu fell into a dilemma.
Since such an incident had happened, he would offend Gui Liao by lending Yang Kai a hand, and this was obviously not worth it just to help a mere Black Ink Disciple. Moreover, he didn’t know any way he could make money. Even if he did, he wouldn’t want to share it with Yang Kai.
As Yang Kai observed his expression, he said, “Don’t worry, Brother Zha Gu. If there’s a proper way that allows me to earn Black Ink Coins, I’ll not forget your assistance and properly compensate you.”
Zha Gu appeared tempted at the prospect of making a profit, so after giving it a thought, he said, “Given your situation, there’s indeed a way.”
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened, “Oh? What is it?”
Zha Gu said, “Do you know World Spheres? I can give you some money to buy some empty World Spheres, then you can infuse your World Force into them and sell them. Each World Sphere will earn you a lot of Black Ink Coins. Just by selling 10 World Spheres, you’ll have enough money to buy a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.”
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he hadn’t expected Zha Gu to mention this method, so he shook his head, “Please stop pulling my leg, Brother Zha Gu. I can’t even cultivate now, so how am I supposed to infuse my World Force into the World Spheres? If I do that, I’ll definitely see my Order regress.”
“You have a point. I suppose this is what your Humans call ‘killing the goose that lays the golden eggs’.”
Yang Kai thought that this guy had misused the idiom, but he didn’t bother to correct him and simply said, “I heard that there’s a Blood Arena in the city.”
“You want to engage in a life-or-death fight with others?” Zha Gu instantly realised his intention.
Yang Kai nodded, “However, I’ll need a Black Ink Clansman to bring me there. Taking everything into consideration, I think that you’re the most suitable person to help me with it. If you can go there and bet against the others, I’ll not disappoint you. When the time comes, I’ll share half the profit with you.”
Zha Gu shook his head, “That’s indeed a good way, but it won’t work for you.”
“Why not?” Yang Kai was perplexed.
Zha Gu explained, “Since it’s a life-or-death fight, both parties have to be equally matched. You are a Seventh-Order Master, so there are no suitable opponents for you in the Blood Arena. The Black Ink Disciples there are all below the Seventh-Order.”
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai realised that he really hadn’t seen any Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting in the Blood Arenas when he followed Nu Yan around. He soon realised the reasons behind this. First of all, the battle between two Seventh-Order Masters would be too destructive. Secondly, there were only a small number of Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples. Since they were rare, the Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t let them go to the Blood Arena and put their lives at risk.
Even though Yang Kai’s idea was not feasible, he was well prepared. He then let out a sigh, “It seems that I have no choice but to make use of my hobby.”
Zha Gu asked curiously, “Hobby? What do you mean?”
Yang Kai explained, “I realised this some time ago on the battlefield. It seems that Black Ink Clansmen rarely use artifacts to fight. Even Feudal Lords don’t use artifacts, let alone the High-Rank and Low-Rank Clansmen. It seems that you all are used to fighting with Humans using only Black Ink Strength and Secret Techniques.”
Zha Gu nodded, “To us, Black Ink Strength is the source of our powers, just like World Force is to Humans. Although we’re physically stronger than Humans, we know nothing about the Dao of Artifact Refining. The artifacts we have were all snatched from Humans or refined by Black Ink Disciples, so they’re quite rare. However, most artifacts we snatch from the Humans are not suitable for us to use.”
Yang Kai asked, “Do you have your own artifact, Brother Zha Gu?”
Zha Gu shook his head, “I once used a sword I obtained from a Human, but that thing’s Grade was too low, and it didn’t suit me. I threw it away after using it a couple times.”
After pondering on it for a moment, Yang Kai reckoned that given Zha Gu’s size, it would be akin to holding a knife for him when he grabbed a Human sword. The weapon wouldn’t be useful for him on the battlefield.
With his brow arched, Yang Kai asked, “What if I refined an artifact that was tailored to you?”
Zha Gu was startled for a moment, “You know how to make artifacts?”
“I know a thing or two.”
“You really know how to refine artifacts?” Zha Gu was astounded, “Are you what the Humans call an Artifact Refiner?”
Yang Kai put on a faint smile, “I supposed I could be considered an Artifact Refiner.”
Zha Gu sized him up while feeling doubtful, “Is that what you mean when you said you wanted to monetise your hobby?”
“Yes.” Yang Kai frowned, “Don’t you believe me, Brother Zha Gu?”
Zha Gu shook his head, “It’s not that I don’t believe you. I’m just… surprised that you’re an Artifact Refiner. Humans are always highly protective of their Artifact Refiners. Why did you appear on the battlefield?”
Yang Kai explained, “Artifact Refining really is just a hobby for me, so I haven’t spent a lot of time practising it. In fact, not many Humans are aware that I’m an Artifact Refiner as I haven’t made anything since I ascended to the Open Heaven Realm. However, I should still be able to make some simple artifacts.” He then leaned forward and spoke in a tempting voice, “Do you want to give it a try, Brother Zha Gu? With a suitable artifact, you’ll be more powerful on the battlefield.”
Certainly, Zha Gu couldn’t resist such a temptation so he rose from the chair and declared, “Come with me.”
Yang Kai followed Zha Gu to the deepest part of the castle. After they descended nearly three kilometres, they arrived at a huge cave where hot air blew right at their faces.
As Yang Kai lifted his head and was surprised by what he saw. That was because there was natural Earth Fire in his underground cave. The omnipresent hot air billowed from that Earth Fire.
In this cave, there were some traces of restrictions set up by Humans and the entire cave was covered with a Grand Array.
The centre of the Grand Array was where the Earth Fire gathered.
There were also some miscellaneous materials strewn around the cave. It seemed that many of the materials had been used here before.
Yang Kai frowned with a puzzled expression.
Zha Gu shuffled towards the centre of the Grand Array. His aura seemed to have triggered the Grand Array’s power and the Earth Fire, which was hot enough to melt metal, came right at him. Ignoring it, Zha Gu covered his hand with Black Ink Strength and extended it into the Earth Fire.
When he retracted his hand from the Earth Fire, he was holding something.
He walked away from the centre of the Grand Array and passed the thing to Yang Kai, “Look at this.”
Yang Kai took it with both hands and instantly felt a hefty weight. Even with his strength, his arms still sank slightly, which went to show how heavy this thing was.
It was a giant halberd that was about 15 metres in length and as thick as a Human leg. This giant halberd looked awkward in Yang Kai’s hands, but it did suit Zha Gu’s size quite well.
“This…” Yang Kai examined the giant halberd in shock. As he scanned it with his Divine Sense, he soon realised something, “Was this created by a Human Artifact Refiner?”
He then turned to look at Zha Gu in astonishment, “Where did you get it?”
Given his eyesight, he could see that even though this giant halberd was made by a Human Artifact Refiner, it wasn’t fully refined. It was more like a half-finished prototype. This kind of weapon wouldn’t be useful on the battlefield as any Open Heaven Realm Master could easily destroy it.
“I used to have a Black Ink Disciple who knew a little about Artifact Refining. He spent a lot of time and resources creating this thing for me.”
Yang Kai was stunned as he hadn’t expected that to be the story behind it.
“It was because of his suggestion that I decided to build my estate here. This place has an Earth Fire he needed for Artifact Refining so that he could make full use of his skills. Unfortunately, before he could finish refining this thing, he… Before that, he left behind a set-up and told me to nurture this thing in the Earth Fire. He said that perhaps it would be usable after 100 years or so.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai shook his head, “It’s useless. Since the foundation isn’t solid, it’s pointless to keep nourishing it.”
Zha Gu arched his brow, “What do you mean?”
Yang Kai explained, “I have no idea what kind of achievements your former Black Ink Disciple had in the Dao of Artifact Refining, but this thing looks mediocre to me. The foundation of this artifact has been set, so even if it is nurtured for 100 years, you will only obtain a Low-Rank artifact.”
Zha Gu’s eyes brightened, “Are you saying that you’re more skilful than he was in Artifact Refining?”
Yang Kai put on a proud smile, “Indeed.”
An agitated Zha Gu asked, “If you were to refine it, what do you think you can make out of it?”
After a moment of deliberation, Yang Kai replied, “The artifacts used by Humans are categorised into Low, Mid, and High, which correspond to the Ranks of the Open Heaven Realm. People who can make High-Rank artifacts are called Artifact Refining Grandmasters. My Artifact Refining skills are average, so I’m far from being a Grandmaster. Nevertheless, it won’t be hard for me to make Mid-Rank artifacts.”
Yang Kai had spent 10 years learning Artifact Refining, and the one who taught him was Chai Hao, who came from Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven.
Chai Gao was the Sixth Disciple of Dong Guo An Ping, and even though he wasn’t as skilful as a Great Grandmaster like Dong Guo An Ping, he was still a Grandmaster. With such a person as a teacher, anyone would grow a lot regardless of how terrible their aptitude was.
Moreover, there were many similarities between Artifact Refining and the Alchemic Dao. Additionally, Yang Kai was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with outstanding strength and aptitude. During the 10 years he had spent learning Artifact Refining from Chai Hao, his skills improved greatly.
Now, his Dao of Artifact Refining had reached the third level of comprehension, Taking the Initial Steps.
However, due to the limit of his aptitude in this Dao, it was destined that Yang Kai wouldn’t achieve great things in Artifact Refining. Perhaps he would be able to refine High-Rank artifacts one day if he kept improving his skills, which would make him a Grandmaster. Nevertheless, that would be the limit he could never break through in his lifetime. He could never become a Great Grandmaster like Dong Guo An Ping.
As Yang Kai had learned from a Grandmaster from Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven, regardless of his level of Artifact Refining now, his vision was much sharper than that of the average Artifact Refiner. He could clearly see the weaknesses in this giant halberd.
He hadn’t expected that Zha Gu had a subordinate who was an Artifact Refiner in the past; nevertheless, judging from the way this giant halberd was made, it was safe to assume that the Artifact Refiner who refined it was not very accomplished in this Dao, and since he wasn’t around, he had probably lost his life on the battlefield. Fortunately, the Artifact Refiner had at least built a set-up to allow the giant halberd to be nourished in the Earth Fire, so it was possible that Zha Gu could obtain a Low-Rank artifact in 100 years.
Nonetheless, as a Feudal Lord, it would be of no help to him to use a Low-Rank artifact in combat.
Meanwhile, Zha Gu became increasingly excited, “You must not lie to me.”
Yang Kai tiled his head and asked, “Why would I lie to you?”
“Prove it to me, then. Make me an artifact based on this one here. I’ll provide all the materials you need. If you succeed, I’ll give you a reward.”
“Fair enough.” Yang Kai directly agreed to it. This was the reason he had come all the way here in the first place, but he hadn’t expected that things would go so smoothly.
Moreover, there was already an environment that an Artifact Refiner needed. It could be said that Yang Kai had acquired the inheritance left behind by Zha Gu’s former Black Ink Disciple.
As he felt the giant halberd with his hands and examined it, Yang Kai commented, “It would be wasteful to create an entirely new weapon. Although this thing is a bit shoddy, and its form has been finalised, the materials used are precious. I just need to enhance it.”
“What do you need? I’ll prepare them for you.” Zha Gu asked, high-spirited.
Yang Kai replied, “Just get me some cultivation materials.”
“You only need those things?” Zha Gu was surprised.
Yang Kai nodded.
This wasn’t difficult. Zha Gu fished out a Space Ring and passed it to Yang Kai, “Do you think these are enough?”
After taking it, Yang Kai realised that there were a lot of Open Heaven Pills and several sets of Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials.
The origins of these Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order materials were untraceable; however, only Humans could refine Open Heaven Pills, and they were only useful to Humans. It was apparent that Zha Gu had acquired these pills from the battlefield.
Judging from the number of Open Heaven Pills in this ring, Yang Kai reckoned that Zha Gu had killed quite a lot of Human soldiers.
While forcing himself to remain calm, Yang Kai put away the Space Ring and examined the Grand Array in this cave. He then turned to Zha Gu, “Where’s the Array Plate that’s used to control this Grand Array?”
Zha Gu landed a slap on his own forehead, “Right.”
Upon finishing his words, he tossed an Array Plate at Yang Kai, who took it and started refining it.
It wasn’t difficult to refine this thing, so it only took Yang Kai a dozen breaths to finish. With this token in possession, he had full control over the Grand Array in this place.
With the help of the Earth Fire in this place, he would achieve twice the results with only half the effort.
When everything was prepared, Yang Kai extended his hand and summoned out a glittering silver hammer.
This nameless hammer was given to him by Chai Hao. It was used by Chai Hao when he was younger, but it fell into disuse after his skills improved and he acquired a better one. If not for the fact that Yang Kai was somewhat talented in the Dao of Artifact Refining, and that he was eager to learn, Chai Hao wouldn’t have given this sentimental hammer to him.
Although this thing was no longer useful to Chai Hao, it was a symbol of his growth that carried special meaning with it.
While it was useless to Chai Hao, it was precious to Yang Kai, and given his level of Artifact Refining, he could only utilise a small part of its full potential. It was also pointless for him to use better tools as he couldn’t bring out their strength with his low comprehension.
Yang Kai gently jabbed the hefty giant halberd into the ground so that it stood straight.
Zha Gu could see that Yang Kai raised the hammer in his hands and forcefully struck the giant halberd.
The moment the hammer was lifted, the Earth Fire in the cave madly streamed into the hammer, making the tool glow red.
A deafening clang was then heard.
A strike of such intensity should have destroyed the entire cave, but what was strange was that all the force stayed within the giant halberd without any of it escaping from the weapon. This was apparently because Yang Kai had full control over his strength, allowing him to put all of it to use.
Zha Gu arched his brow at the sight. For all intents and purposes, a Feudal Lord was equivalent to a Seventh-Order Human Master. However, Zha Gu reckoned that he didn’t have such precise control over his strength.
This went to show the vast difference in power between Yang Kai and himself, and he reckoned that it was no wonder Yang Kai was able to kill so many Black Ink Clansmen on his own.
However, what he saw made him feel puzzled.
In the past, he had observed from the side when his Black Ink Disciple created some artifacts. Although he knew nothing about the Dao of Artifact Refining, he could see that the way his Black Ink Disciple refined artifacts had a certain beauty and abstrusity to it. On the other hand, Yang Kai’s approach was brutal and blunt. It was as though he was just striking with all his might.
While Zha Gu was perplexed, he heard another clang the next instant.
A series of clangs were continuously heard and each time Yang Kai wielded the hammer, he seemed to be using all of his strength. The intervals between the strikes were precise, and every time he lifted the hammer, the Earth Fire in the Grand Array would be drawn into it, causing it to burn.
There were 81 strikes in total as Yang Kai hammered the giant halberd from the tip of its blade to the butt of his shaft.
Initially, Zha Gu hadn’t noticed anything, but as time passed, he could feel that the prototypical giant halberd was going through a kind of transformation. However, the transformation was so vague that he wasn’t even sure if he was seeing an illusion.
After 81 strikes, Yang Kai’s aura had become a bit unstable.
He then stored the hammer and sat down with his legs crossed before stuffing a handful of Open Heaven Pills into his mouth.
Zha Gu knew that Yang Kai’s strength had plummeted as a result of the damage to his Small Universe, so he didn’t dare to disturb him as the latter must be exhausted from all the hammering.
It wasn’t until a few days later that Yang Kai’s aura stabilised and he opened his eyes.
Zha Gu took a step forward and imitated the Humans by cupping his fist, “Many thanks, Brother Yang.”
Yang Kai put on a smile, “Don’t mention it, Brother Zha Gu. Since you trusted me, I naturally wouldn’t disappoint you.”
A puzzled Zha Gu asked, “I watched my Black Ink Disciple refine artifacts before, but the way he did so was different from you. Why is that?”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “There are many methods of Artifact Refining in the Human world, and each Sect has their own distinct Artifact Refining techniques. I have no idea which Sect your Black Ink Disciple belonged to, but my method is named Thousand Tempering Art. It’s from a very ancient Sect in the Human world and it’s a time-tested method.”
Upon hearing his explanation, Zha Gu nodded, “I see.”
Yang Kai wasn’t just talking nonsense. The method he used to enhance the giant halberd was indeed named Thousand Tempering Art. This kind of technique was especially suitable for refining offensive and defensive artifacts. Even in Divine Cauldron Cave Heaven, only people who held important positions had the right to cultivate it.
Yang Kai learned Artifact Refining from Chai Hao, and with Dong Guo An Ping and Zhong Liang giving the order, Chai Hao naturally wouldn’t hide anything from him.
Yang Kai followed up by saying, “Don’t worry about it, Brother Zha Gu. You’ll understand the result when the weapon is fully refined.”
Zha Gu nodded repeatedly, “I certainly trust you, Brother Yang.”
“I’ll continue, then,” Yang Kai said, then got to his feet and lifted the hammer. As he activated his power to draw on the Earth Fire, he repeatedly struck the giant halberd with all his might.
What Zha Gu saw was only the surface. Every time Yang Kai struck the giant halberd, he not only activated his power to draw on the Earth Fire, but also refined the weapon’s internal structure. Yang Kai was imbuing the giant halberd with his own strength each time his hammer struck, purifying and tempering it from the inside out.
Day after day, deafening clangs were continuously heard coming from the cave.
Yang Kai’s movements alternated between fast and slow. Sometimes, he would be gentle with the strikes, as though he was just tapping on the weapon, but sometimes, he would strike it rapidly and loudly as a series of clangs were heard in quick succession.
He also had to rest from time to time.
Initially, Zha Gu watched from the side with excitement, but he soon lost patience as time passed. Furthermore, he was injured in the previous battle and hadn’t recovered, so he needed time to recuperate.
Hence, he would only come over and have a look at the giant halberd every half a month. Each time he did so, he would realise that the weapon had gone through a conspicuous transformation.
Three months later, when Zha Gu came over again, he saw that Yang Kai was seated on the ground with his legs crossed, a shiny giant halberd standing straight in front of him.
This giant halberd was already much thinner than the original one, though the length remained the same. However, Zha Gu could feel that this weapon radiated an imposing aura.
If the initial giant halberd was like a pearl that was covered in dust, then this one radiated a dazzling glow after the dust was removed.
Zha Gu’s breathing became rapid.
As he stepped forward, he grabbed the giant halberd and lifted it off the ground. After holding it in his grip, he realised that the weight, length, and thickness of the weapon perfectly matched his build and strength. It was as though the weapon was custom-made for him.
There were some abstruse patterns on the shaft of the weapon, and as he infused Black Ink Strength into it, the giant halberd started humming and growling like an awakened beast. The complicated patterns were able to amplify the power of his Black Ink Strength.
He couldn’t help but put on a bright smile.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had Black Ink Strength to rely on, and they were physically more robust than the Humans, they were incapable of studying Artifact Refining. They had suffered immense losses during the battles because of the artifacts used by the Humans. Humans had all sorts of artifacts that could strike them in the most unexpected ways. As the two Races clashed, a lot of Black Ink Clansmen were killed by the artifacts that the Humans used.
If the Black Ink Clan were able to make artifacts, the Humans would have been destroyed by now; however, even a Feudal Lord like him found it hard to get an artifact that was useful to him. This couldn’t be helped, as the artifacts snatched from the Humans were not suitable for him. Although he had a Black Ink Disciple who knew a thing or two about Artifact Refining in the past, that Disciple’s skills were mediocre.
It never crossed his mind that he would obtain such a weapon on this day.
With this artifact in his hands, Zha Gu could feel that his combat power had increased by 20%. The increase might not be much, but it might save his life and turn a battle around at a critical moment. Furthermore, with such a giant halberd in his possession, he could easily deal a heavy blow to his enemies even without activating his power.
He could already imagine how imposing he would be when he next went to war.
“It seems that you’re pleased with this artifact, Brother Zha Gu,” Yang Kai was suddenly heard saying.
When Zha Gu turned his head, he saw that Yang Kai had opened his eyes and was smiling at him.
“Yes, I couldn’t be happier with it,” Zha Gu guffawed, “Is this thing fully refined?”
Yang Kai replied, “It was your Black Ink Disciple who created this thing, all I did was enhance it. This is already the best I can do with my skills.”
“Is this considered a Mid-Rank artifact?” Zha Gu asked.
“Yes,” Yang Kai nodded. Given his eyesight, he reckoned that this giant halberd could be considered a Mid-Rank artifact. It was still far from being a High-Rank artifact; however, it was already a wonderful weapon for Zha Gu, which was why he was elated.
“You have some incredible skills in Artifact Refining, Brother Yang,” Zha Gu praised him liberally. The outcome of the Artifact Refining sessions suggested that Yang Kai was significantly more skilful than his former Black Ink Disciple. After all, his Black Ink Disciple had spent many years and resources, but he only managed to create a rough prototype.
“Many thanks for your compliment,” Yang Kai replied humbly.
After examining the giant halberd in his hands, Zha Gu carefully stored it and glanced at Yang Kai, “I said that if you’re able to fulfil my demand, I would give you a reward. Why don’t you tell me what you want? I’ll get it for you as long as I’m able to.”
Yang Kai broke into laughter, “Don’t you know what I want, Brother Zha Gu?”
Zha Gu was startled upon hearing that, but he soon realised what the other man meant, “Got it; however, a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit is quite costly. Even if I sell all of my assets, I might not be able to afford one.”
Yang Kai said, “If you can help me buy a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, I’ll refine an Artifact Armour for you. The quality will be just as good as this giant halberd.”
Zha Gu fell silent for a moment. He couldn’t help feeling tempted when he envisioned himself wearing an Artifact Armour and holding the giant halberd on the battlefield, so he soon nodded, “Deal!”
Yang Kai added, “You’ll have to provide all the materials for making the Artifact Armour, though.”
“Of course.”
“When will I get the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit?”
“I’ll get it for you within three days.” Upon finishing his words, Zha Gu turned around and left. It was apparent that he was trying to come up with a way to buy a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.
Even though he was just a Feudal Lord, he had accumulated some funds over the years, so in truth, it wouldn’t be hard for him to purchase a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.
After he was gone, Yang Kai let out a breath. His most pressing problem had been solved as he had secured a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. After he was done making artifacts for Zha Gu, he hoped to spread the news that he was skilful in Artifact Refining. That way, he would be able to move on to the next stage of his plan when Hei Yuan was done recuperating.
Zha Gu was indeed a man of his word, and just three days later, he returned to the cave and passed a wooden box to Yang Kai.
After taking the box, Yang Kai opened it and saw a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit inside.
“Many thanks, Brother Zha Gu.” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
Zha Gu waved his hand, “There’s no need to thank me for fulfilling a deal. You should quickly refine this Profound Yin Spirit Fruit and repair your Small Universe.”
“That’s what I thought as well.”
“I’ll not disturb you for now. Just notify me when you’re ready.”
Yang Kai nodded.
Zha Gu then turned around and left the place.
It wasn’t until Zha Gu was out of sight that Yang Kai fished out the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. Even though the World Tree clone was continuously repairing his Small Universe, and there were already some results, the progress was quite slow.
He didn’t have so much time to spare, and with the help of this Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, he reckoned that his Small Universe would recover much more quickly.
Without hesitation, he stuffed the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit into his mouth and started refining it.
Soon, a warm stream of energy rose from his stomach and penetrated his Small Universe. As the medicinal efficacies of the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit circulated, the damaged part in his Small Universe was being repaired at an incredible pace.
The average cultivator wouldn’t experience such a rapid result after ingesting this Spirit Fruit. The reason Yang Kai’s Small Universe could heal quickly was that he also had the help of the World Tree’s clone.
Even so, it still took him three months to finish. The moment his Small Universe became complete again, Yang Kai felt his aura surging. He was overwhelmed with a sense of ecstasy.
The damage to his Small Universe made him feel as if something was missing. Be it activating his power or cultivating, he had been greatly affected. Now that his Small Universe was complete again, the sense of discomfort had faded away.
In the battle against Liu Zi An previously, even though he managed to gain the upper hand, it took him quite some time and effort to defeat the other party. If he were to fight against Liu Zi An now, Yang Kai had the confidence to subdue him in just a few moves.
Although the damage to his Small Universe had been repaired, the loss of heritage from sacrificing pieces of his Small Universe had to be made up slowly. There was no rush to do so though as the cultivation of an Open Heaven Realm Master was all about accumulation over the long term.
Yang Kai’s speed of refining materials was already much greater than that of an average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and the living beings in his Small Universe continuously strengthened his heritage, so he would still be able to ascend to the Eighth-Order at an unimaginable speed.
Only by ascending to the Eighth Order would he be considered an important piece on the Black Ink Battlefield. Meanwhile, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were the pillars of strength in their respective Great Passes.
After examining himself and confirming that there was no problem, Yang Kai activated his Divine Sense.
Soon, Zha Gu’s burly figure came into sight as he gazed at him in shock, “You’ve recovered?”
He could feel that Yang Kai was different now. In the past, he always had a feeling that Yang Kai was somehow incomplete, but that feeling was now gone. It suggested his Small Universe had been fully repaired.
“Many thanks for your assistance, Brother Zha Gu!” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
Zha Gu waved his hand, “Don’t mention it, Brother Yang. You deserved that Spirit Fruit.”
Yang Kai said, “Now that my Small Universe is fully repaired, I can start refining an Artifact Armour for you. Are you ready?”
Zha Gu replied, “I’ve prepared some materials, but I’m not sure if they’re enough. Have a look.”
Upon finishing his words, he fished out a Space Ring. After taking it, Yang Kai looked into it with his Divine Sense and realised that there were many precious items inside, mainly rare resources and ores.
“Is it enough? I can get more materials if you want,” Zha Gu asked fervently.
“It’s enough.” Yang Kai put away the Space Ring, “I’ll start refining the Artifact Armour for you immediately. While I’m working, I would prefer not to be disturbed. I’ll inform you when it’s complete.”
After agreeing, Zha Gu left.
When Yang Kai was learning the Dao of Artifact Refining in Blue Sky Pass, he had made some Artifact Armours; however, they were sub-par items in Chai Hao’s opinion; after all, they were not refined well enough for combat use. They would be putting the Human soldiers’ lives at risk by letting them wear such Artifact Armour and going to war.
Although such artifacts were not good enough for Humans, they would be invaluable to the Black Ink Clan.
Therefore, Yang Kai didn’t have to produce a high-quality artifact, he just had to make sure that the Artifact Armour was as good as the giant halberd. Given his mastery in Artifact Refining now, he had the confidence to achieve this.
It took him three months to enhance the giant halberd; however, it only took him two months to create an Artifact Armour from scratch.
There were two reasons why it took him a shorter time. First of all, his Small Universe had been fully repaired, so he had better control over his own power. Secondly, during the process of Artifact Refining, his skills had also improved significantly.
Although he had spent 10 years studying Artifact Refining in Blue Sky Pass, it wasn’t enough time for Yang Kai to really hone his skills. It required a much longer period of work and experience for anyone to become a Master in Artifact Refining.
During the 10 years of training, Chai Hao had taught Yang Kai everything he knew about the Dao of Artifact Refining until there was nothing else he could teach him.
Of course, this did not mean that Yang Kai was already on par with Chai Hao when it came to his mastery of Artifact Refining. It would take a person hundreds, if not thousands of years of studying and practising Artifact Refining in order to become a Grandmaster like Chai Hao.
However, Chai Hao was no longer able to teach him anything else, for Yang Kai had already grasped all the theoretical knowledge that was passed down to him. As for how far he would go in the Dao of Artifact Refining, that would depend on his own efforts and opportunities.
Growth could only be achieved by continuously practising Artifact Refining.
Therefore, when Yang Kai got around to refining this Artifact Armour, his mastery of Artifact Refining was already much better than before, and after he was done, his skills improved again.
The quality of the Artifact Armour he had made was obviously higher than that of the giant halberd, and the glow radiating from the armour suggested that the artifact was quite extraordinary.
He then released his Divine Sense to inform Zha Gu about it. Upon his arrival, Zha Gu eagerly put on the Artifact Armour and realised that it perfectly fit him. The Artifact Armour covered his vital parts like the chest, abdomen, and back very well. More importantly, it made him look even more imposing than normal.
He was evidently elated.
With the Artifact Armour and the giant halberd in possession, Zha Gu felt that his combat capabilities had increased by 30 to 40%.
When he was in a one-on-one fight against a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the past, he wouldn’t be a match for them; however, with these two artifacts in possession, he believed that he could easily defeat any average Seventh-Order Human now.
It was the first time he realised that the artifacts made by Humans could increase a person’s strength so tremendously and his emotions undulated. On the battlefield, the Humans were able to activate the powers of artifacts while the Black Ink Clan could only fight with their fists. It was no wonder that the Black Ink Clan would always suffer huge losses in each battle, even those that they eventually won. It was because they didn’t have any artifacts with them while practically all Humans had one or two artifacts on them.
If the Black Ink Clan could be equipped with these artifacts, they would be able to destroy the Human Race with ease.
“Are you satisfied with it, Brother Zha Gu?” Yang Kai suddenly asked.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Zha Gu nodded repeatedly, grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m glad that I haven’t disappointed you.” Yang Kai got to his feet, “Since I have finished it, I’ll take my leave.”
Zha Gu was astounded, “Where are you going?”
Yang Kai replied, “Well, I’m going back to Sir Territory Lord’s castle. It’s been quite some time since I left the castle. I came all the way here to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, and since my goal has been achieved, and I’ve helped you make two artifacts, it’s time I went back.”
“There’s no hurry to leave!” Zha Gu quickly stopped him.
A puzzled Yang Kai gazed at him and asked, “Is there anything else, Brother Zha Gu?”
After hesitating for a moment, Zha Gu replied, “Brother Yang, just some time ago, you asked me how you could make money. I’ve given it a thought, and I think there’s a good opportunity now.”
Yang Kai broke into laughter, “Are you going to tell me that I can earn money by helping other Black Ink Clansmen refine artifacts?”
“Yes.” Zha Gu nodded with a solemn expression, “There’s no doubt that you’re skilled in Artifact Refining, and if you refine artifacts for other Black Ink Clansmen, you’ll be able to earn a lot of Black Ink Coins. Wasn’t that your initial intention?”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “The reason I helped you make artifacts was that I wanted to get a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. Now that my Small Universe is complete, there’s no reason for me to keep doing it. It takes a lot of time and energy to refine artifacts, and I would prefer to focus on the Martial Dao so that I’ll be useful to Sir Territory Lord when I go to battle with him.”
Zha Gu shook his head, “That’s not right, Brother Yang. By cultivating, you’re just increasing your own power; however, if you can make artifacts for the Black Ink Clan, you’ll help lots of people grow stronger, and that will help Sir Territory Lord as well. I’m sure he’d be more than willing to see you refine artifacts for the Black Ink Clan.”
“You have a point, but…”
“Brother Yang, you need resources to cultivate, right? However, do you have any of such resources with you now?”
Yang Kai parted his lips as he seemed to be lost for words. A moment later, he replied dejectedly, “I don’t.”
“See?” Zha Gu appeared sincere, “Humans always say that one must sharpen their tools before they get to work. In order to cultivate, you need to buy a lot of resources, but what can you do without any Black Ink Coins? By refining artifacts for others, you’ll be rewarded handsomely.”
The corner of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, “You’re indeed knowledgeable, Brother Zha Gu. You seem familiar with many sayings Humans use.”
Zha Gu replied with a smile, “I learned those sayings from my previous Black Ink Disciple. In any case, I’ve been sincere with you, and I don’t intend to harm you in any way.”
“I know…” Yang Kai scowled and fell into his thoughts.
Zha Gu said, “What’s there to consider? If you’re willing to refine artifacts for others, I’ll do all the heavy lifting for you. I’m friends with a lot of Feudal Lords, so I’m sure they’re interested in getting their own artifacts.”
Yang Kai replied hesitantly, “It’s been a long time since I left the castle. If I don’t go back, I’m worried that Sir Gui Liao will punish me.”
Zha Gu said, “You’re Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple. Since he’s not around, no one else can boss you around, including Sir Gui Liao.”
“Well…” Yang Kai appeared tempted, “If I listen to you and help those Feudal Lords make artifacts while they provide all the materials, how much should I charge them?”
Zha Gu instantly replied, “You’ll be able to charge 10,000 Black Ink Coins for each artifact.” His prompt reply suggested that he had been pondering on this issue for quite some time.
Yang Kai was secretly shocked by Zha Gu’s greed. Zha Gu might think that he didn’t know the purchasing power of Black Ink Coins, but when he stayed by Nu Yan’s side in the past, he already gained some understanding of the value of Black Ink Coins. According to his estimation, if there was a conversation rate between Black Ink Coins and Open Heaven Pills, 1 Black Ink Coin would be worth 10,000 Open Heaven Pills.
In other words, 10,000 Black Ink Coins would be worth 100 million Open Heaven Pills, which was about enough to purchase a full set of Sixth-Order materials.
Of course, this was only a rough estimate as no one had ever used Black Ink Coins to trade for Open Heaven Pills before, but the conversion rate should be around there.
A set of Sixth-Order materials obviously didn’t matter to Yang Kai, but it was a lot of money for a Feudal Lord who didn’t own his own estate.
Despite knowing this full well, Yang Kai pretended to know nothing and asked, “What can I buy with 10,000 Black Ink Coins?”
Zha Gu replied in a serious tone, “A set of Sixth-Order materials!”
Yang Kai gasped as he appeared astonished.
Zha Gu persuaded him by saying, “It’s a great business idea. You just have to make a few artifacts for others, and you won’t have to worry about getting resources anymore.”
Yang Kai instantly made a decision, “It’s indeed a viable business.”
Upon successfully persuading the other man, Zha Gu guffawed, “Have you agreed to it, then?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Why wouldn’t I agree to such a great business idea? However, in order to refine artifacts, I’ll need to use the Earth Fire here. Also, Brother Zha Gu will have to help me contact those Feudal Lords. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a Black Ink Disciple like me to directly contact them.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything for you,” Zha Gu appeared ready to make this business a success.
Yang Kai was certainly aware of the other man’s intentions, so he nodded, “Good, we can split the profits evenly from selling the artifacts.”
Zha Gu was shocked upon hearing that, “No no, that’s too much. You’re the one doing all the hard work, and the Earth Fire is practically inexhaustible. I don’t deserve 50% of the profit. I’ll just take 30% of it.”
Yang Kai was startled as it was the first time he saw someone not wanting to earn more when it was offered to them; nevertheless, he wouldn’t waste time persuading him, so he nodded and said, “In that case, do we have an agreement?”
“We do,” Zha Gu nodded firmly.
They smiled at each other as they were ready to make a lot of money.
Since an agreement had been reached, Zha Gu immediately got to work. After telling Yang Kai to get some rest in the castle, he ordered his subordinates to spread out in various different directions.
Three days later, while Yang Kai was cultivating, he felt the aura of a Feudal Lord approaching. The person soon arrived and landed in front of Zha Gu’s castle. Then, Zha Gu’s subordinate led him inside.
The arrival of this Feudal Lord was just the beginning. In the following half a month, more and more Feudal Lords came over. Yang Kai did some calculations and realised there were more than 10 Feudal Lords present now.
It seemed that Zha Gu was on good terms with quite a number of Feudal Lords.