Yang Kai was on his last legs, so he wouldn’t dare to be negligent when he was facing a Territory Lord.
Although Hei Yuan didn’t intend to kill him as he wanted to capture him alive, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t grant his wish. If he was really captured by Hei Yuan and sent to the Royal City, he would become a servant for the Black Ink Clan for the rest of his life.
Before Hei Yuan could get close to him, Yang Kai drew on whatever power was left in his Small Universe.
Strike first to gain the advantage!
As the Golden Crow cawed, a Great Sun leapt from behind him, burning with a brilliant radiance.
At the same time, a Full Moon rose as well, casting its frigid cold glow.
As the Sun and Moon appeared simultaneously, Space Principles madly fluctuated. The Sun and Moon started spinning around in tandem, transforming into a kaleidoscope where Space Principles and Time Principles intertwined and formed into Space-Time Strength before spiralling towards Hei Yuan.
Sun and Moon Divine Wheel!
Faced with a formidable enemy like Hei Yuan, Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to hold back any of his strength and directly used his most powerful method.
Hei Yuan stopped in his tracks and instinctively felt a horrifying power coming from this Secret Technique. This caused his expression to turn solemn. Covered in the mysterious force, he even felt that his mind and body had been affected.
Thick Black Ink Strength erupted from his body and formed into a shield around him.
Right after he did that, he was stunned to realise that the Secret Technique, which had looked far away just now, was already about to strike him.
A violent force swept across the void and caused the local space to tremble. Hei Yuan was forced backwards several steps while the Black Ink Clansmen who were surrounding Yang Kai were instantly vaporized despite only being hit by the attack’s fallout.
A moment later, the terrifying force settled. Hei Yuan stood there stiffly, a strange and mysterious force wandering around his figure like arcs of lightning.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen stared at Hei Yuan in shock, as they were worried he had been killed just like that; after all, they had witnessed how terrifying Yang Kai’s Secret Technique was. They had no idea what would happen to their Territory Lord after being struck head-on by such an attack.
Fortunately for them, even though Hei Yuan seemed affected by the Secret Technique, he wasn’t at risk of losing his life. Just a moment later, his figure shook and the lingering arcs of lightning around him were shattered. After he sprayed out a mouthful of black blood, his aura weakened slightly.
He then turned to look in a different direction and gritted his teeth. The next instant, he transformed into a dark light and shot forward.
It wasn’t until this moment that the surviving Black Ink Clansmen realised that Yang Kai was gone. Apparently, Yang Kai ran away right after he cast his Secret Technique. However, they were not powerful enough to resist the influence of the Secret Technique on their senses, so they were not aware that Yang Kai had fled.
Hei Yuan was far stronger though, so he definitely wouldn’t let the wretched Human off.
Just then, Yang Kai reappeared from the Void. He staggered and almost couldn’t support his own weight, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.
Presently, he was like a lamp that was running out of oil.
There was no doubt that the heritage of his Small Universe was indeed far richer than those of the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, since he started fleeing from the Sealed World near the Royal City, he had been constantly manipulating Space Principles and pushing himself to his limits. It also took him quite a bit of effort to kill Liu Zi An and Gui Liao earlier. Furthermore, he almost used up all his energy to cast his most powerful Secret Technique at Hei Yuan.
Fortunately, he had the World Tree clone with him; otherwise, his Small Universe would have been affected given the state he was in. That would have been a huge problem.
Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to remain and quickly fished out a handful of Open Heaven Pills from his Space Ring and stuffed them into his mouth. Although Open Heaven Pills couldn’t help restore his power quickly, it was better than nothing. Moreover, the living creatures in his Small Universe would continuously produce World Force for him, which helped restore his strength over time.
The moment he took a step forward though, Yang Kai realised that an aura had locked onto him from afar.
There was no doubt that it was Hei Yuan.
As a Black Ink Territory Lord, he could easily ascertain Yang Kai’s whereabouts as long as the latter wasn’t too far away.
Yang Kai cursed. He didn’t expect his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to kill Hei Yuan; after all, there was a huge gap between their powers as Hei Yuan was in a higher relative Realm. Despite that, he still hoped that the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel could wound Hei Yuan and tie him down for a moment. As long as he could escape Hei Yuan’s perception range, he could shake him off and gain some safety.
However, Yang Kai hadn’t expected that Hei Yuan would recover so quickly. Now that he had been targeted by Hei Yuan’s aura, it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of him, unless Yang Kai could continuously use Instantaneous Movement to open a large gap between them.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai was unable to do so at this moment. He couldn’t even activate Instantaneous Movement once, let alone repeatedly.
Left with no choice, he could only try to restore his energy while doing his best to flee.
An enraged Hei Yuan moved across the void swiftly, shortening the distance between them.
To add insult to injury, Yang Kai would come across some Black Ink Clansmen who got in his way from time to time. There was no doubt that they were all residents of Hei Yuan’s territory. Upon receiving Hei Yuan’s order, they started forming into different teams to cover a wide range. There were only a small number of people in every team, ranging from 10 to 30, their leader usually a single Feudal Lord.
Although these Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t harm Yang Kai, they could slow him down. Yang Kai either had to avoid clashing with them or force his way through them. Regardless of what option he took, he would have to consume both strength and time.
Barely one hour later, Yang Kai broke through his third blockade; however, Hei Yuan was also getting closer to him.
Seeing that it would reach a critical point where Hei Yuan would be able to make a move against him, Yang Kai hesitated no more and pushed his Space Principles. By using Instantaneous Movement, he disappeared from the spot in an instant.
He used up what little energy he had recovered with that one move.
Over the next day or so, such incidents would happen roughly every hour. The gap between Yang Kai and Hei Yuan would shorten and widen in a seemingly endless cycle.
Yang Kai felt extremely bitter as he was unable to get rid of Hei Yuan, who was just like maggots on rotting bones.
On several occasions, he almost couldn’t widen the gap between them at the most critical moments, allowing Hei Yuan’s attacks to graze him from afar, which exacerbated the horrible situation he was already in.
By straining himself for a long period of time, Yang Kai realised that his vision had turned blurry. The pounding of his heart against his chest could clearly be heard, as though it couldn’t endure the immense strain and would explode at any moment.
While he was trying his hardest to escape, Hei Yuan wasn’t exactly feeling any better. Pursuing such a fast and tricky enemy had left him exhausted as well; however, in order to make up for his mistake, he would never let Yang Kai go. Only by capturing Yang Kai and bringing him to the Royal City would he be able to appease the Royal Lord; otherwise, he would be doomed.
The Warship plan was critical to the future of the entire Black Ink Clan, yet it was ruined because of his negligence. It was expected that the Royal Lord wouldn’t easily let him off.
With one escaping and the other pursuing, the pair crossed billions of kilometres in the void.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that things would get better after he left Hei Yuan’s territory; after all, all the Black Ink Clansmen he came across all along were Hei Yuan’s subordinates.
However, he realised he was mistaken upon fleeing from Hei Yuan’s domain.
Instead of getting better, things actually got worse.
The Black Ink Clansmen he bumped into in Hei Yuan’s territory only came in small teams; therefore, he was able to force his way out despite being besieged.
However, right after he left Hei Yuan’s territory, Yang Kai came across an entire Black Ink Clan army!
It was an army consisting of several tens of thousands of troops.
Among all those Black Ink Clansmen, Yang Kai clearly detected a powerful aura coming from another Territory Lord. Moreover, the direction they were travelling suggested that they were heading towards Yin-Yang Pass.
If Yang Kai rashly charged forward, he wouldn’t stand a chance to escape. The Territory Lord in charge of the Army just had to cooperate with Hei Yuan, who was chasing him from behind, and they would easily capture him.
Soon, Yang Kai came to realise something.
The Black Ink army wasn’t there to intercept him. Instead, they were heading to the main battlefield.
In order to facilitate the Old Ancestor’s plan and save Yang Kai, the Humans had emptied out Yin-Yang Pass. Certainly, the Black Ink Clan had to meet the Humans in battle. The Territory Lords and Feudal Lords called the roll in the shortest time possible and set out towards Yin-Yang Pass from all different directions.
The army before Yang Kai’s eyes was just one of many.
At that instant, Yang Kai fell into a dilemma.
If he continued heading in Yin-Yang Pass’ direction, he would only come across even more Black Ink Clan armies. Even if he was in peak condition, he still could never hope to break through all of their blockades, unless the Masters from Yin-Yang Pass could work with him to open a safe passageway.
However, Yang Kai was in a terrible state, and he hadn’t managed to restore a lot of his strength, so this idea was not feasible. Once he blindly used Instantaneous Movement, he might land right in the middle of a large Black Ink Clan army. When that happened, it would be akin to stepping right into the enemies’ trap.
It was impossible for him to avoid running into these Black Ink Clan armies and return to Yin-Yang Pass. Worse, every enemy army had a Territory Lord overseeing it as they were practically the Territory Lord’s own subordinates. Hei Yuan alone was able to leave Yang Kai battered and exhausted. If he had to contend with other Territory Lords as well, he would fall into an even more horrible state.
Nonetheless, where could he go if he couldn’t return to Yin-Yang Pass?
While he was hesitating, the Territory Lord from the army up ahead scanned his surroundings with his Divine Sense and seemed to detect Yang Kai’s presence.
After gritting his teeth, Yang Kai turned around and transformed into a ray of light.
Soon, the Territory Lord’s Divine Sense detected a trace of aura left behind by Yang Kai. After giving it a thought, he soon figured out what was happening. However, he was tasked with dealing with the Humans’ Army, so he wouldn’t dare to be distracted. A moment later, he decided to ignore it and retracted his Divine Sense.
The moment Yang Kai turned in a different direction, Hei Yuan followed, a hint of surprise flashing across his face.
He was surprised to realise that Yang Kai didn’t head straight towards Yin-Yang Pass, but after pondering on it for a moment, he soon figured out what Yang Kai was worried about. He snorted and thought, [Where else can you go if you can’t go back to Yin-Yang Pass?]
Hei Yuan had somewhat figured out the condition that Yang Kai was in, so he firmly believed that as long as he persevered, he would capture Yang Kai sooner or later. Now, he just had to wait for Yang Kai to lose all of his strength.
While he was in his thoughts though, he suddenly lost track of Yang Kai.
The realisation astounded him.
Mid-pursuit, Hei Yuan suddenly stopped in his tracks and spread out his powerful Divine Sense to scan the surroundings; however, regardless of how hard he tried, he couldn’t find Yang Kai’s whereabouts.
This caused his expression to darken.
[I can’t believe I lost him! How is that even possible!?]
Yang Kai was on his last legs with little energy left. How did he escape Hei Yuan’s range of perception in such a state?
Hei Yuan didn’t think Yang Kai was powerful enough to cut off the thread of aura he had locked onto him as there was a huge gap between their powers. If Yang Kai was capable of doing that, he would’ve done it earlier instead of waiting until now. Moreover, Hei Yuan didn’t feel that his aura was forcefully cut off; rather, it felt like Yang Kai just vanished somehow.
The only logical explanation was that Yang Kai had massively widened the gap between them in an instant. As a result, Hei Yuan’s aura wasn’t able to locate him.
However, Yang Kai didn’t have much strength left. Even though he could use a special technique that would help him move across several tens of thousands of kilometres in an instant, he couldn’t possibly have done such a thing repeatedly in his current state.
How could he have regained so much energy in such a short period of time?
With a gloomy expression, Hei Yuan stood still in the same spot, not knowing what to do.
The void was expansive, so now that he had lost track of Yang Kai, how was he supposed to look for him? But soon, he pulled himself together. The Black Ink Clan’s armies were heading in Yin-Yang Pass’ direction, so Yang Kai couldn’t possibly go that way. That was the reason he turned around and continued fleeing. In other words, regardless of where he was, he was still within the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
As long as Yang Kai was still in their territory, his whereabouts would be exposed sooner or later.
At the thought of this, Hei Yuan started taking action by heading to the Fief of a Feudal Lord nearest to this place.
The Feudal Lord of the Fief had led his tenants towards the battlefield, so although there were still a lot of Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind, none of them was particularly powerful.
Since Hei Yuan had shown up, these weak Black Ink Clansmen would naturally obey his orders without question. Soon, with the Black Ink Nest in this place as the centre, word was spread across all of Mu Guang Royal Lord’s domain. Within moments, Black Ink Clansmen from all over could be seen searching for Yang Kai.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was hiding in a Black Ink Cloud and recuperating.
Just like Hei Yuan had speculated, Yang Kai had relied on Instantaneous Movements to shake off his tracking aura. The reason he had enough energy to use Instantaneous Movement repeatedly was that he had consumed a Low-Rank World Fruit.
When he left the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary back then, Yang Kai brought 16 World Fruits with him. The 3 Mid-Rank World Fruits had been put to good use while the remaining 13 Low-Rank World Fruits were somewhat useless.
He had given one Low-Rank World Fruit to Guo Zi Yan, which allowed him to ascend from the Second-Order to the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. As for the remaining Low-Rank World fruits, he basically had no use for them. Although they came from the World Tree, they were not valuable to him at all.
Most had stayed in his Small Universe for such a long time that Yang Kai had almost forgotten about them.
It wasn’t until his Small Universe was thoroughly exhausted this time that he recalled them. Although they were not valuable, they were the best Spirit Fruits to replenish one’s World Force.
After consuming a Low-Rank World Fruit, Yang Kai regained enough strength in his Small Universe in a short time to use Instantaneous Movement several times in a row.
It was thanks to the Low-Rank World Fruit that he shook off Hei Yuan and hid inside this Black Ink Cloud.
Even though he was safe for the time being, he knew that he would not be safe for long as he was still deep inside the Black Ink Clan’s territory. There was no way Hei Yuan would let him off.
At least he finally had a chance to take a breather. It felt terrible to have so little energy left in his Small Universe. If he had enough energy, he could fight or flee despite being no match for his opponents.
Upon making sure that Hei Yuan hadn’t found him, Yang Kai quickly tried to restore his energy.
He didn’t consume another Low-Rank World Fruit. With this experience, he naturally wouldn’t waste something that could quickly restore a large amount of his strength. Instead, he stuffed a lot of Open Heaven Pills into his mouth before fishing out a set of Seventh-Order materials to refine in order to replenish his spent World Force.
Unfortunately, this moment of rest didn’t last long. Barely half a day later, Yang Kai felt several auras barge into the Black Ink Cloud he was hiding in.
Those auras were not powerful, only High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
With a frown, Yang Kai tried his best to conceal his aura.
There were countless Black Ink Clouds of different sizes in the Black Ink Clan’s territory and usually, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t pay them any mind. However, the fact that these High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen carefully searched this Black Ink Cloud showed that they were looking for Yang Kai.
Initially, Yang Kai hoped that they would be negligent so that he could continue recuperating; unfortunately, one of the High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen directly flew towards his hiding place.
A moment later, the High-Rank Black Ink Clan stood right in front of him. Lifting his gaze, he saw a vague figure hiding somewhere inside the Black Ink Cloud, but before he could get a closer look, he saw a fist flying out and striking him.
As the violent force exploded, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman turned into a blood mist without even a chance to scream.
“Over there!” One of the Black Ink Clansmen exclaimed upon detecting the movement. As soon as he finished speaking, he was struck by an immense force and sent to the afterlife.
Two breaths of time later, Yang Kai dashed out of the Black Ink Cloud. The High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen who had barged into the Black Ink Cloud had all lost their lives.
“That Human is here!”
“We found him!”
“Quickly inform Sir Hei Yuan!”
The moment the surrounding Black Ink Clansmen saw Yang Kai, they became startled for a moment before coming to their senses and shouting.
Yang Kai looked around and realised that the Black Ink Clansmen were scattered everywhere. They were thoroughly searching through the void in order to ascertain his whereabouts. Although they were weak, there were too many of them to avoid.
Hei Yuan didn’t think these weaklings could harm Yang Kai, he just wanted to make sure that Yang Kai had nowhere to hide.
Amidst the chaos, the Black Ink Clansman closest to Yang Kai cast a Secret Technique at him.
Yang Kai secretly cursed. Although he knew that Hei Yuan wouldn’t let him off, he hadn’t expected the other party to move so swiftly. Judging from the way these Black Ink Clansmen searched for him, it seemed that he would have nowhere to hide no matter where he went.
After dodging the attack, Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear and displayed his Supreme Limitless Spear Art to the enemy. Despite being besieged by so many Black Ink Clansmen, he managed to force his way out.
Those Black Ink Clansmen hadn’t expected Yang Kai to be so ferocious, but after suffering a setback, they had learned their lesson. Wherever Yang Kai went, they would keep their distance and not directly engage him.
Yang Kai continued charging forward until there were no longer a lot of Black Ink Clansmen around him. It was then he manipulated Space Principles and left this area using Instantaneous Movement.
A moment later, Hei Yuan arrived, but after asking around, he could only snarl through clenched teeth, “Keep searching for him! When you find him, do your best to delay him! Anyone who dares not to fight will die by my hand!”
Upon receiving the order, these Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to disobey Hei Yuan despite feeling bitter.
Soon, Yang Kai realised that he was like a rat that these Black Ink Clansmen were determined to corner. Wherever he went, the Black Ink Clansmen would soon find him. Furthermore, he realised that the way these Black Ink Clansmen dealt with him had changed. Initially, he just had to kill a few of them and the rest would flee, allowing him to escape with little effort.
Now, however, these Black Ink Clansmen refused to back down regardless of how ferocious he was. It was as though they were determined to drag him down even if they had to die.
However, without a Territory Lord around, how were they supposed to stop Yang Kai from escaping? Their reckless charge only caused even more casualties.
Presently, Yang Kai was glad that the Yin-Yang Pass Armies had tied down the main Black Ink Clan force; otherwise, he couldn’t have kept moving around the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
At the very least, the only Territory Lord he had to deal with so far was Hei Yuan. Mu Guang Royal Lord was locked in battle with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass while most of the Territory Lords had probably left this place to intercept the Humans from Yin-Yang Pass.
Perhaps there were still some Territory Lords who stayed back in Mu Guang’s territory, but there wouldn’t be a lot of them. Yang Kai reckoned that he would be fine as long as he was cautious enough.
The only problem he had to face was how he could get rid of Hei Yuan and circumvent the Black Ink Clan’s army to rejoin the people from Yin-Yang Pass. That was indeed a difficult task.
With that said, he was already in a better situation than before. At the very least, he had restored some of his strength, so unlike some time ago he was no longer running on empty.
Most of the Territory Lords must have headed to the battlefield, so there wouldn’t be a lot of them who stayed back.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai racked his brain and came up with a bold plan.
The more he thought about it, the more he was inclined to believe that this plan was feasible. If this plan was successfully carried out, it would deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan.
He became excited in an instant. Hei Yuan would never have thought that Yang Kai would be so reckless.
Since he had made a decision, Yang Kai did not hesitate to carry out his plan. After killing for a bit, he stopped dealing with the Black Ink Clansmen around him and manipulated Space Principles to flee.
Hei Yuan had been in a terrible mood recently, but despite feeling vexed, he had no way to vent his anger.
Just like he had expected, Yang Kai didn’t have a chance to leave the Black Ink Clan’s domain after escaping from him and was instead now wandering around the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
With the help of the Black Ink Nests, Hei Yuan could easily get feedback from different places and accurately locate Yang Kai.
However, this method couldn’t help him capture Yang Kai. Every time he received the news and rushed to the place where Yang Kai appeared, he would only find the corpses of Black Ink Clansmen while Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
Although he was stronger than Yang Kai, he didn’t have a chance to make a move against him, leaving him feeling frustrated and helpless.
In his fury, Hei Yuan even killed 100 or so Black Ink Clansmen who had retreated in fear when they confronted Yang Kai.
Based on what Hei Yuan learned from the surviving Black Ink Clansmen who had fought with Yang Kai, he confirmed that this annoying Human was recovering. Yang Kai seemed to be doing his best to restore his energy, and after such a long period of time, he should have almost fully recovered by now.
Nevertheless, Hei Yuan didn’t understand what Yang Kai was up to.
Since Yang Kai had almost restored all of his strength, he should be trying to leave the Black Ink Clan’s territory. However, from the looks of it, he didn’t seem to have any intention of doing so. Instead, he seemed to be enjoying the game of hide-and-seek with the Black Ink Clansmen. During this period of time, several thousand Black Ink Clansmen were killed by his spear, and although only several of them were Feudal Lords, as most were High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, it was still humiliating for Hei Yuan.
Hei Yuan was moving across the void at the speed of lightning as he headed straight to a particular battlefield. When he finally arrived at his destination, what came into his sight were corpses and broken limbs scattered all around. They were the Black Ink Clansmen who were killed.
Many of the horribly injured Black Ink Clansmen groaned in pain. The battlefield was like a living Hell. After sweeping a glance over the place, Hei Yuan estimated that more than 100 Black Ink Clansmen were dead.
He sported a grim expression. Since he started chasing after Yang Kai, he had encountered the same sight many times. Whenever he received the news and rushed over, he would see the same sight. On the other hand, Yang Kai would always run away before he arrived, leaving no chance for him to act.
He had never come across a Human who was as skilled as Yang Kai when it came to fleeing. Despite his burning fury, he had no way to vent it out.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t dare to go near Hei Yuan upon his arrival. Recently, Hei Yuan had killed many of their companions. If Hei Yuan blamed them for not doing their best and decided to kill them, they would be wronged.
In fact, they had tried their hardest to stop Yang Kai earlier; however, how were they supposed to make him stay behind when they were no match for him? They could only watch as Yang Kai went on a killing spree and then left.
Since no Black Ink Clansman took the initiative to tell him what happened, Hei Yuan asked grimly, “Where did he go?”
A High-Rank Black Ink Clansman closest to him pointed in a particular direction with caution.
Hei Yuan turned to look in that direction and frowned.
That was because his territory was in that direction. Although a large area of the void could be considered his territory, his foundation was where his Black Ink Nest was located. That was his direct territory.
Upon that realisation, Hei Yuan felt his chest tightening. As he recalled the route Yang Kai had been moving around, he suddenly had a bad premonition. It seemed that Yang Kai wasn’t aimlessly wandering around anymore, he was heading towards a particular goal.
Just then, a Feudal Lord rushed over from afar. Upon reaching Hei Yuan, he said anxiously, “Sir Territory Lord, something terrible has happened!”
“What makes you so nervous?” Hei Yuan turned to look at him, the ominous feeling in his chest strengthening.
This couldn’t be helped, as this Feudal Lord was in charge of the Fief that was closest to his Black Ink Nest. This Feudal Lord was also responsible for monitoring the perimeter. He must have received some shocking news, so he rushed over and informed Hei Yuan about it.
As expected, the Feudal Lord replied, “We’ve received word that Yang Kai is invading your territory, Sir.”
Hei Yuan’s head started buzzing as though it had been struck by a hammer. While feeling dizzy, he also instantly figured out Yang Kai’s plan and roared, “How dare he!”
He had never expected that Yang Kai, who was all on his own, didn’t have the intention of fleeing at all. Instead, he wanted to raise hell when most of the Black Ink Clan had left for war.
It had to be said that Yang Kai was truly audacious and his move caught Hei Yuan off guard.
Many of the Territory Lords who worked for Mu Guang had left their domains to deal with the Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass; therefore, there was a serious lack of soldiers in their home territories right now. That was also the reason Hei Yuan was unable to capture Yang Kai after such a long time.
Now, Yang Kai was heading straight to his territory. Although there were a lot of Feudal Lords left behind, Hei Yuan wasn’t confident that they could repel Yang Kai; after all, he had witnessed the latter’s capabilities during this pursuit.
On the other hand, it was apparent that Yang Kai was aiming for his Black Ink Nest.
The foundation of a Feudal Lord or Territory Lord’s territory was their Black Ink Nest. Without a Black Ink Nest, they couldn’t be considered a real Feudal Lord or Territory Lord.
This was what Zha Gu taught Yang Kai back then.
A massive amount of resources had to be consumed to grow a Black Ink Nest. For a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to hatch and fully mature, it required a colossal amount of resources, not to mention a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. In comparison, the resources needed to grow a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest were many times more than what would be required to nurture a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
If his Black Ink Nest was destroyed, Hei Yuan’s foundation would be gone for good. That would be an unbearable blow to him. Although he could still get a new sub-nest from the Royal Lord and hatch it, it would be a heavy burden on the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Furthermore, it would also cost the Royal Lord a lot of time and energy to do this.
Also, after such a catastrophic failure, it wasn’t even certain whether the Royal Lord would still give him a new sub-nest.
Throughout the war against the Humans, it wasn’t rare for Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests to be destroyed. However, only a tiny number of Black Ink Nests belonging to Territory Lords were ever destroyed. It was a great humiliation to the Black Ink Clan for a Territory Lord Black Ink Nest to be destroyed, and the only way to wash this shame away was by killing many more Humans.
With a great roar, Hei Yuan flew straight towards his home territory. At the same time, he prayed that the Feudal Lords who stayed behind could stop Yang Kai. He also hoped that Yang Kai didn’t really intend to destroy his Black Ink Nest.
However, it was apparent what Yang Kai’s plan was by him heading straight to his territory. It was likely that he had his eyes on the Black Ink Nest; after all, he had pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple and lived in this place for years, so he might have heard of the Black Ink Nests’ secrets from somewhere.
While feeling worried, Hei Yuan was moving forward at full speed.
Given that he was a Territory Lord, it would usually take him half a day to return to his territory from the previous location, but in his haste, he managed to arrive in just four hours.
When he finally arrived at the universe fragment where his direct territory was located, what came into his sight made him feel cold all over.
That was because the universe fragment had been shattered and traces of the battle could be seen everywhere. The originally flourishing city was nothing but a disaster zone now. Every part of the place had been turned into ruins, and innumerable Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives.
All of that was inconsequential though compared to what happened to the Black Ink Nest, which was originally in the centre of the city. The Black Ink Nest, which had always looked like a giant flower bud, was starting to wither. Black Ink Strength was leaking out of the Black Ink Nest like fresh blood, and its roots had clearly been cut off by a violent force.
What Hei Yuan dreaded had become a reality, and he could not accept it.
The Black Ink Nest was withering, and it couldn’t be saved. In other words, his foundation had been destroyed. In order to rebuild his foundation, he would need a new Black Ink Nest.
Even if the Royal Lord was magnanimous enough to give him another sub-nest from her Black Ink Nest, it would take Hei Yuan at least 100 years to nurture it and cost him an enormous amount of money and manpower.
To make matters worse, the Feudal Lords working for him would all experience the same problem.
In other words, he and his subordinates had to rebuild everything from scratch, which would take a very long time.
“Sir!” A blood-soaked Feudal Lord detected Hei Yuan’s aura, so he quickly shot into the sky.
“Where is Yang Kai?” Hei Yuan growled through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t detect Yang Kai’s aura, so he could only hope that the Feudal Lords had killed him. With that said, he knew that it was unlikely to be the case.
“We did not see that Human named Yang Kai!” The Feudal Lord replied.
Hei Yuan snapped, “You didn’t see him? Then what happened to my territory!? What happened to the Black Ink Nest!? Did you all destroy it!?”
The Feudal Lord shuddered and quickly replied, “Sir Hei Yuan, we really didn’t see Yang Kai. Everything was destroyed by a Grand Dragon.”
He then hurriedly gave an account of what had happened.
According to this Feudal Lord, a Grand Dragon which was far more than 20,000 metres long had appeared out of nowhere. It was overbearing, and its entire figure radiated a golden glow. As soon as the Grand Dragon appeared, a lot of Black Ink Clansmen were killed by its opening Dragon Breath. Strangely, the Grand Dragon was holding a huge spear in its claws. With this weapon, it smashed the universe fragment to pieces and destroyed the Black Ink Nest, leaving the entire city in ruins.
What was even more outrageous to the Black Ink Clansmen was that the Grand Dragon had even robbed their shops and snatched up their resources.
Although the Feudal Lords tried their best to resist, they couldn’t possibly defeat the Grand Dragon. After kicking up a storm, the Grand Dragon nonchalantly departed, leaving this mess behind.
The Black Ink Clansmen knew nothing about Grand Dragons as they had never seen such creatures before. Fortunately for them, the Black Ink Disciples had some ideas.
“Grand Dragon? How could there be a Grand Dragon here?” Hei Yuan appeared puzzled.
The Feudal Lord replied cautiously, “According to the Black Ink Disciples, Yang Kai is probably not a Human, but rather a member of the Dragon Clan. That Grand Dragon was his true form.”
Hei Yuan roared, “I don’t care whether he’s a Human or a member of the Dragon Clan! Find him! I must rip him to pieces!” Only by doing so could he vent his fury. He was so enraged that he had even forgotten about the Royal Lord’s order, which stated that Yang Kai had to be captured alive.
“But Sir…” The Feudal Lord spoke in a shaking voice, “Since the Black Ink Nest is destroyed, we can’t send any messages.”
Hei Yuan grabbed him by the collar and yanked him towards himself, his eyes practically spitting fire as he snarled, “Since the Black Ink Nest is gone, go out and inform everyone yourself! Mobilise all the clansmen in the territory! Leave him nowhere to hide! If you can’t do that, all of you must die!”
“Yes!” The Feudal Lord replied anxiously.
After the Feudal Lord flew off, Hei Yuan turned to look in a different direction.
There seemed to be a mysterious force that was dissipating in the void. The energy fluctuations were consistent with what Yang Kai would leave behind each time he used Instantaneous Movement; therefore, Hei Yuan speculated that Yang Kai had fled in that direction.
Previously, he already didn’t have a way to capture Yang Kai, and now that his Black Ink Nest was gone, he knew it would be even harder to locate him. Nevertheless, he had to get his revenge after his foundation was destroyed.
Despite his slim chances, he had to hunt Yang Kai down. Regardless of the cost, he had to capture that damn Human and bring him to the Royal Lord to make up for his mistakes.
At this moment, in a place that was far away from the universe fragment, Yang Kai was hiding inside a Black Ink Cloud and recuperating.
After assuming his Grand Dragon Form and making a scene in Hei Yuan’s territory, not only did he shatter the universe fragment, but he also destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest. It was expected that he would be pleased with himself.
However, he had paid a hefty price to achieve this victory.
There were indeed a lot of Feudal Lords who had stayed behind, and there were also innumerable High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen around. Although he could easily kill more people when he was in his Grand Dragon Form, it also made him a huge target. While Yang Kai destroyed the Black Ink Nest, he also inevitably got struck by the Black Ink Clansmen’s attacks.
To the Black Ink Clansmen, he had made a scene and left the place in a nonchalant manner; however, only Yang Kai knew that he wasn’t as nonchalant as he appeared to be when he left. In truth, he just didn’t dare to remain; otherwise, he would most likely be captured.
Presently, his entire figure was covered in wounds. Every time he moved, he would grimace in pain. Three wounds on his back were so deep that one could even see his bones.
Fortunately, these injuries didn’t injure his foundation, and given his intrepid physique and astonishing restorative powers, he would recover in no time.
Yang Kai’s trip of turning into a Grand Dragon and making a fuss in Hei Yuan’s territory was rewarding. Not only had he killed a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, but he had also destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest and snatched a massive amount of cultivation resources. The price he paid was worth it.
When Yang Kai pretended to be a Black Ink Disciple back then, he already realised that the city where Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was located was flourishing. There were ample supplies, which included all sorts of materials of different Orders. The Black Ink Clan couldn’t directly use these resources, so they were basically thrown into the Black Ink Nests to help produce Black Ink Strength. Nevertheless, these were precious cultivation resources for the Humans.
Since Yang Kai decided to make a move, he certainly had to take those resources away.
Furthermore, there was one discovery that surprised him.
He realised that his Grand Dragon form had lengthened.
When he was in the Divine Spirits’ Ancestral Land in the Shattered Heaven back then, he made use of the Dragon Palace and Ancestral Strength to become a Grand Dragon. At that time, his Grand Dragon Form was 10,000 metres long.
Then, with the help of Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan in the Chaotic Dead Territory, his Dragon Vein was significantly enhanced, which allowed him to turn into a 20,000-metre Grand Dragon.
At that time, Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan respectively left a mysterious power in his body that could stimulate the power of his Dragon Vein. Even after Yang Kai reached 20,000 metres in his Grand Dragon Form, he had a feeling that the mysterious power hadn’t been used up and most of it still remained hidden in his Dragon Bead.
Then, he got into a fight with Zhu Feng. At the critical moment, he spat out his Dragon Bead and dealt a lethal blow to Zhu Feng, which caused his Dragon Bead to be damaged.
Over the years, the damaged Dragon Bead had slowly healed with the nourishing of his Dragon Vein. Now, it seemed his Dragon Vein had also been strengthened. When he transformed into a Grand Dragon in Hei Yuan’s territory, he was nearly 30,000 metres long.
Apparently, the damage to his Dragon Bead had stimulated the mysterious power left behind in his body by Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan. During this period of time, not only had his Dragon Bead gradually healed, but his Dragon Vein had also been strengthened.
This came as a pleasant surprise.
The strength of a Grand Dragon was manifested in their length.
Usually, only a 10,000 metre Dragon could be regarded as a Grand Dragon, which was equivalent to a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Now that Yang Kai’s Dragon Form was 30,000 metres long, his power was equivalent to that of a peak Seventh-Order Master.
However, there were pros and cons to fighting as a Grand Dragon. Since his Grand Dragon form was so massive, he could cause serious damage over a wide area, especially when doing things like destroying Hei Yuan’s territory and the Black Ink Nest some time ago. There was no doubt that it was easier for him to achieve his goal by turning into a Grand Dragon. Nevertheless, his large size also meant that he wasn’t as agile or manoeuvrable. He might suffer a setback if he faced certain opponents in such a state.
Fortunately, there were no powerful beings in Hei Yuan’s territory at that time. Although the Feudal Lords had gone all out, they couldn’t really kill him, only inflict some injuries on him at most.
Presently, Yang Kai was recuperating in a Black Ink Cloud with peace of mind; however, he knew that he couldn’t stay here for long. According to past experiences, these omnipresent Black Ink Clansmen would soon find him, and more Black Ink Clansmen would quickly arrive to hunt him down.
As expected, barely one hour later, some Black Ink Clansmen barged into the Black Ink Cloud and found his whereabouts.
Yang Kai charged forward and easily killed these Black Ink Clansmen, and soon, he arrived at a different place and snuck into a new Black Ink Cloud.
When the nearby Black Ink Clansmen rushed over upon receiving the news, Yang Kai was already nowhere in sight.
Over the following days, Yang Kai kept changing his locations as he seized every chance to recuperate.
Soon though, he realised something was off.
The Black Ink Clansmen were reacting much slower than before.
Previously, regardless of where he went, as long as his whereabouts were exposed, a large number of Black Ink Clansmen would promptly swarm in from all directions and besiege him. Now, it seemed that they couldn’t mobilize as quickly.
This was a situation he had already expected though.
Yang Kai had learned some secrets behind the Black Ink Nests. With Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest as the centre, all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests formed a huge information network, which was used to spread information quickly.
Now that he had destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest though, the central node was gone for good, disabling the information network between the Black Ink Clansmen.
That was the reason he decided to head straight to Hei Yuan’s direct territory. Only by disabling their information network would he be able to move around easily. Now, it seemed that he had made a wise decision.
Although he was still on his own, Yang Kai had already greatly improved his situation.
Nevertheless, destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was just the first step of his plan. Since the Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, he naturally wouldn’t want to leave so soon as this chance was rare. Even though the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was gone, there were still a lot of Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests remaining. For every Black Ink Nest that was destroyed, it would cause a huge loss to the Black Ink Clan.
It only took Yang Kai a few days to fully recover, and after fishing out a Universe Chart to ascertain his own location, he looked for the nearest Feudal Lord’s Fief.
Soon, he found a target.
However, the situation he came upon surprised him a bit.
After killing some Black Ink Clansmen who were searching for him along the way, he soon reached his destination, but the huge Black Ink Nest was already withered and collapsed on the ground, as though it was dying. Countless Black Ink Clansmen knelt around the Black Ink Nest with solemn expressions. It seemed that they were holding a kind of sacred ceremony.
The Feudal Lord at the front crossed his arms and chanted something.
However, regardless of how hard they tried, they couldn’t save the Black Ink Nest from dying. Its Black Ink Strength was leaking out like fresh blood, and for every bit of Black Ink Strength that was lost, the aura of the Black Ink Nest would weaken a little. It seemed that this Black Ink Nest would wither and die within half a day.
Yang Kai flew forward as though no one else was around while the Black Ink Clansmen, who were completely focused on the ceremony, didn’t detect his presence.
Standing in front of the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai swept his gaze around and frowned, a perplexed expression on his face.
The Feudal Lord at the front finally detected Yang Kai’s aura and turned his head. When he made out Yang Kai’s face, he snapped, “It’s you!”
It wasn’t until this moment that these Black Ink Clansmen came to their senses and stood up. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai was surrounded by all these Black Ink Clansmen.
Yang Kai turned to look at the Feudal Lord and nodded gently, “Brother Zha Gu.”
The Feudal Lord was none other than Zha Gu, who was the owner of this Fief. Yang Kai had been here once and witnessed everything when Zha Gu planted the Black Ink Nest and hatched it. It was also through Zha Gu that he learned a lot of the secrets about Black Ink Nests that the Humans were previously unaware of.
The way Yang Kai addressed Zha Gu startled him. With a doubtful look, he glanced at Yang Kai and asked, “You… Is the rumour about you real? Have you betrayed Sir Territory Lord?”
Yang Kai replied impassively, “I’m a Human, and I’ve never pledged to be loyal to him. How could you say that I’ve betrayed him? As for the rumour… I have no idea what you’ve heard, but it’s most likely to be true.”
Zha Gu snapped, “Did you destroy Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest?”
Yang Kai nodded, “En.” Then, he pointed to the front with a perplexed expression, “What happened to your Black Ink Nest?”
The reason he came all the way here was to destroy this Black Ink Nest. Besides the one here, he had decided to destroy all of the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests under Hei Yuan.
Only by doing so could he deal the heaviest blow to Hei Yuan. After all the Black Ink Nests were shattered, Hei Yuan and his subordinates would lose all of their foundation. This was a bigger contribution than killing several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield.
“My Black Ink Nest…” Zha Gu appeared furious, “My Black Ink Nest is a sub-nest of Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest! Since you’ve destroyed the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, do you think the sub-nest wouldn’t be affected!?”
In fact, Yang Kai already had a speculation the moment he saw this Black Ink Nest; however, when his speculation was verified by Zha Gu, he was still surprised.
Prior to this, he wasn’t aware that the death of a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest would affect the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests it spawned as well.
After giving it a thought though, he realised that it wasn’t so surprising. Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest was a sub-nest of Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, so there was a close connection between them. Since Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, it was expected that Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest would be implicated.
Following a moment of deliberation, Yang Kai asked, “Is your Black Ink Nest the only one that’s been affected? Or have all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests been implicated as well?”
Zha Gu said through gritted teeth, “Do you think I’ll tell you?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Don’t bother, I think I’ve figured it out.”
Judging from the situation Zha Gu was in, it wasn’t hard to speculate that the other Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests had been affected as well. They were probably all withering at this very moment.
Initially, Yang Kai planned on destroying all the Black Ink Nests in Hei Yuan’s territory one by one. Now, it seemed that it wasn’t necessary for him to do so.
As a thought flashed through his mind, Yang Kai asked, “Brother Zha Gu, what if the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest is destroyed?”
“Don’t even dream about destroying any Black Ink Nest ever again!” Zha Gu roared. Apparently, he no longer wanted to listen to any of Yang Kai’s nonsense. He extended his hand and summoned a giant halberd. At the same time, a dark fog swirled around his figure and soon, he was clad in an Artifact Armour that covered the upper half of his body.
The giant halberd and Artifact Armour were the artifacts that Yang Kai previously refined for him.
With the giant halberd in hand and the Artifact Armour on his body, Zha Gu appeared quite imposing. He directly thrust out his halberd at Yang Kai.
Presently, Yang Kai was holding his Azure Dragon Spear, and faced with the attack, he didn’t intend to dodge. His spear thrust forward like a Dragon and skirted past the giant halberd before jabbing towards Zha Gu’s chest.
A hint of ferocity flashed through Zha Gu’s eyes as he also didn’t intend to dodge the attack. He exerted even more force with the giant halberd as he was determined to wound the other party despite knowing that he would be injured as well.
He was aware that Yang Kai was extraordinarily powerful; after all, he had witnessed Yang Kai going on a killing spree back then. Those Feudal Lords were as frail as paper tigers when they were dealing with Yang Kai and Zha Gu didn’t think he was more powerful than them. Even though he had two artifacts in his possession now, he didn’t think he could defeat Yang Kai in a one-on-one fight.
In order to survive, he had to take risks despite knowing he would get hurt as well.
In fact, it was a good idea, but when the Azure Dragon Spear easily stabbed into his chest and its explosive force shattered all the organs in his body, he still appeared bewildered.
With a dispassionate expression, Yang Kai looked at him and said, “I’m the one who made that Artifact Armour. It’s ridiculous that you think you can use it to defend against me!”
Zha Gu came to his senses and asked, “Are there weaknesses in all the things you’ve made?”
Yang Kai roared, “The things I’ve made will not be used to go against my people. None of them will shed a drop of blood because of those artifacts!”
“I was… the one who helped you back then,” the ferocity on Zha Gu’s face faded. Faced with imminent death, he pleaded with the other man.
Yang Kai looked around and nodded, “I can’t deny the fact that you’d helped me before, but how did your Black Ink Nest come about? How did you gather enough resources to hatch this Black Ink Nest? Do you really think I have no idea? All you have now is because of me, and it’s only apt that I am compensated for my work.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he channelled more World Force into the Azure Dragon Spear and Zha Gu exploded, leaving no traces behind.
There was no denying that they had gotten along pretty well, and Yang Kai had earned a lot of Black Ink Coin with his help and made himself known as an expert in Artifact Refining; however, he was pretending to be a Black Ink Disciple at that time, and Zha Gu was just making use of him. They were fundamentally on different sides, so Yang Kai had no qualms about killing him.
A Feudal Lord was still a pretty significant force on the battlefield, so if Yang Kai let him off on this day, some Humans might be killed by him in the future.
Zha Gu was still in the early stage of building his Fief, so he was the only Feudal Lord here and the rest of them were insignificant. There weren’t even that many High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
As Zha Gu was dead, these Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t possibly ward off Yang Kai. Despite their resistance, they were all killed within a cup of tea’s worth of time.
By the time Yang Kai was gone, no one was alive in the Fief.
Yang Kai initially wanted to destroy all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests under Hei Yuan’s wings, but what he saw in Zha Gu’s Fief made him realise that it wasn’t necessary to do so.
In fact, after a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all the sub-nests it spawned would be affected.
That explained why, after he destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, the Black Ink Clan became slower in their response. After Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, not only was the information network in Hei Yuan’s territory disabled, but all the sub-nests had also withered. The Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs must be flustered now, so they wouldn’t be in the mood to search for Yang Kai despite Hei Yuan’s order.
To play it safe, Yang Kai decided to head to another Feudal Lord’s Fief to see it for himself.
Just like what happened in Zha Gu’s Fief, the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was withering, and its Black Ink Strength was leaking out. It would die in no time.
Finally, Yang Kai could set his mind at ease.
It never crossed his mind that destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest would bring about such a pleasant surprise. It seemed that there were pros and cons when it came to the special connection between the Black Ink Nests.
Inferring from this, if the Black Ink Nest in the Royal City was destroyed, all the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests would wither, which would lead to the decline and eventual fall of all the Black Ink Nests in Mu Guang’s territory.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but have the urge to head back to the Royal City and shatter the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Nevertheless, he soon gave up on the idea. This couldn’t be helped as, given his current strength, he could only make a scene in a Territory Lord’s territory as most of the Black Ink Clansmen had gone to the battlefield. However, if he barged into the Royal City, it would be akin to stepping right into the enemies’ trap; he would be doomed; after all, there was more than one Territory Lord guarding the Royal City.
At the thought of the Royal City, Yang Kai couldn’t help but recall the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass. With the help of the ancient coin, a Void Corridor was formed and the Old Ancestor arrived and saved him before getting into a fight with Mu Guang. A few days had passed, so he wondered if there was any outcome now.
Although the Old Ancestor was powerful, the battle took place near the Royal City, after all, so she might not gain the upper hand since she was on her own. Nevertheless, he wasn’t in any position to worry about her. Given his current power, he was unable to intervene in the fight between the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor. Perhaps Eighth-Order Masters could assist the Old Ancestor in this situation, but a Seventh-Order Master like him was still too weak.
Yin-Yang Pass’ Army and the Black Ink Clan’s main force must be clashing at the frontline as well. Yang Kai had no idea what was going on over there, but judging from the collective powers between the two Races, the Human Army would have to return to the Inner Sanctum soon. That was because there was a huge gap between the numbers on both sides. Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan did not care about casualties. On the other hand, the life of every Human soldier was valuable. The Humans were in a disadvantageous position by fighting against the Black Ink Clan in the void. They could significantly reduce casualties by staying near Yin-Yang Pass.
The reason the Army had left Yin-Yang Pass this time was that they had to facilitate Yang Kai’s return; however, he was unable to circumvent the Black Ink Clan and join up with those from Yin-Yang Pass back then as he was in a horrible state. It was destined that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass wouldn’t achieve their goal.
Therefore, Yang Kai speculated that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass should have retreated by now. Presently, Yin-Yang Pass must be surrounded by the Black Ink Clan. The two Races had gotten into a battle where one side would defend while the other side would attack. It was the pattern of battle they were most familiar with.
Over the years, this kind of battle had taken place at every Great Pass numerous times. Be it the Humans or the Black Ink Clan, they were already familiar with how this would go.
If that was indeed the case, the situation would be in Yang Kai’s favour.
Since the Black Ink Clan’s Army had gathered outside of Yin-Yang Pass, there wouldn’t be any blockades in front of him. He could stealthily head to the battlefield and wait for a chance to return to the Inner Sanctum during the fighting.
He had done the same thing when he and Feng Ying saved several hundred Black Ink Disciples and brought them back to Blue Sky Pass previously.
However, Yang Kai didn’t intend to do that.
He had a taste of successfully destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, which resulted in the fall of all its sub-nests. As this was a rare opportunity, Yang Kai naturally didn’t want to miss it as he reckoned that it wouldn’t come again.
Therefore, he left Hei Yuan’s territory several days later and headed towards another Territory Lord’s territory.
He had no idea whose territory it was, nor did he know where that Territory Lord’s home territory was. Regardless, it didn’t matter to him. He directly headed to the Feudal Lord’s Fief nearest to him and went on a killing spree.
In just half a day, most of the Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief were either dead or dying. Some of the Black Ink Clansmen seized the chance to flee from the place, but Yang Kai didn’t have the intention of pursuing them.
To him, destroying the Black Ink Clan’s foundation was the most important objective, while killing stray Black Ink Clansmen came second. Moreover, the most powerful Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief had followed their Feudal Lord and left for the battlefield, so the ones who stayed back were undoubtedly weak.
Yang Kai then directly barged into the Black Ink Nest in this place.
This was a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, and with the prior experience of visiting Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai soon realised that the inner structures of all Black Ink Nests were more or less the same.
There were still some Black Ink Clansmen inside the Black Ink Nest, but they appeared oblivious to what had happened outside. The moment they saw a Human entering this place, they were puzzled.
They were all killed by Yang Kai before they realized what was happening.
A moment later, Yang Kai stood inside an empty chamber and opened the portal of his Small Universe. His Word Force was instantly drawn by a powerful force and absorbed by the Black Ink Nest.
With his World Force serving as a bridge, he was soon connected to the consciousness of this Black Ink Nest.
He had done the same thing in Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest back then, so he was familiar with the process.
The next instant, Yang Kai found himself in a special space where a lot of consciousnesses wandered around.
This was the secret behind the information network that the Black Ink Clan had built using the Black Ink Nests.
These Black Ink Clansmen had entered this place through the consciousnesses of the Feudal Lords’ Black Ink Nests. They could then exchange all sorts of information here and find out what was going on in the other Feudal Lords’ Fiefs.
The arrival of a new consciousness like Yang Kai’s didn’t catch the attention of the Black Ink Clansmen; after all, there would be unfamiliar consciousnesses entering the place from time to time, so they were used to it.
After listening to them for a while, Yang Kai realised that he couldn’t gather any useful information. He wanted to find out what was going on at the front lines through the conversations between these consciousnesses, but the latest information from the battlefield was apparently not available to these Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind.
Just when he was ready to carry out his plan, a message was sent from a consciousness. The message wasn’t encrypted in any way, so the other consciousnesses could easily read it.
Yang Kai soon found out what the message was about.
“The Royal Lord is still in a fight with that Human. I wonder if she can kill her.”
Another consciousness replied, “That Human is the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass. Although the Royal Lord is powerful, it’s not easy for her to kill that Human. However, I heard that several Territory Lords have gone over to help. With their assistance, I believe that Human will be defeated.”
“No. From the looks of it, the Royal Lord is in a disadvantageous situation. Although she has the help of several Territory Lords, both parties are only equally matched now.”
The moment the message was sent, the other consciousnesses were evidently shocked. One of the consciousnesses asked, “How could it be that the Royal Lord is at a disadvantage? They’ve fought with each other countless times in the past, and they’ve always been equally matched. Neither side could defeat the other. What happened this time?”
The consciousness from earlier replied, “I have no idea, but for some reason, they arrived somewhere near our Fief and continued fighting. My Feudal Lord was the one who saw it. Fortunately, they soon left; otherwise, our Fief would’ve been destroyed. We wouldn’t be able to defend against the fallout from their battle.”
“Could it be that the Royal Lord hasn’t recovered?”
“That’s possible.”
“However, the Royal Lord has the help of some Territory Lords now, so the Human Old Ancestor certainly won’t get the upper hand.”
…..
The consciousnesses continued chatting and soon changed the topic.
Although Yang Kai hadn’t gathered a lot of information, he had at least found out that the Old Ancestor was fine. On the other hand, he was surprised at the fact that the Royal Lord had fallen into a disadvantageous position. It never crossed his mind that the seemingly unreliable Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass would be so powerful, able to battle against the Royal Lord and several Territory Lords on her own.
He wondered what the outcome of the battle would be.
Nevertheless, he didn’t have the right to interfere in this matter, and he had bigger fish to fry.
He then focused on sensing his surroundings.
According to Zha Gu, this special space was actually a platform linked to the consciousness of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The consciousnesses of the sub-nests could easily connect to it, which allowed the Feudal Lords to communicate with one another.
In that case, Yang Kai reckoned that he could make use of it and find out the whereabouts of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Following the faint traces, Yang Kai’s consciousness tracked the signs back to the source and soon found what he was looking for.
Although he wasn’t certain about the exact location of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, he was confident that he got the direction right. As long as he moved in that direction, he would find the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Since he had achieved his goal, he retracted his Divine Sense and left the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest before shooting into the sky.
He didn’t waste any of his energy to destroy this Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest since all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests were linked to the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. As long as he destroyed the source, all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests would wither as well.
The moment Yang Kai’s consciousness left this special space, a certain consciousness temporarily fell into a dazed state in another similar but even more magnificent space.
The consciousnesses of the Feudal Lords’ Black Ink Nests would gather together in the special space transformed from the consciousness of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Similarly, the consciousnesses of the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests would assemble in the special space transformed from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
This even bigger space was where the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was located. The consciousnesses that had gathered together in this place came from the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests. Hence, the consciousnesses in this place represented the Territory Lords.
Upon detecting the anomaly, the other consciousnesses quickly inquired about it.
The consciousness from earlier fell silent for a moment and said hesitantly, “Just now, someone seemed to be searching for my location.”
“Someone was searching for your location?” Another consciousness asked curiously.
The third consciousness was equally inquisitive, “What’s the point of ascertaining your location? Are you mistaken?”
The first consciousness replied, “Maybe. I’m not sure about it.”
Since he had said so, the other consciousnesses stopped asking about it. This matter ended here, and they went on to talk about another topic.
“What’s going on with that Human named Yang Kai? Has Sir Hei Yuan captured him?”
“There’s no news about him yet, but it seems that Human has destroyed Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest.”
“What? Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed? When did that happen?” Another consciousness exclaimed. It was apparent that he had not heard about this news yet.
“It happened not long ago. The person guarding the Black Ink Nest sent me a message at the last moment. Apparently, the Human named Yang Kai directly invaded Sir Hei Yuan’s home territory. Now, we can’t contact anyone from Sir Hei Yuan’s side. Our connection with them has been cut off.”
The other consciousnesses fell into silence.
Something must have gone wrong as they were unable to contact anyone from Hei Yuan’s side. The only possibility was that Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest had been destroyed; otherwise, this shouldn’t have happened.
All of these consciousnesses felt their hearts sinking at the revelation that a Human had destroyed a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. At the same time, they felt furious and humiliated.
The only thing they knew was that Hei Yuan was chasing after the Human, but they had no idea whether he would succeed.
The consciousnesses felt that the topic was too depressing, so they quickly moved on to another. They started discussing the war between the two Races and tried to speculate on the outcome.
While they were engrossed in the discussion, a certain consciousness suddenly exclaimed.
As the conversation was cut off, the other consciousnesses looked at him in puzzlement.
The consciousness explained, “Some Feudal Lords reported to me that the Human named Yang Kai came to our territory.”
“He’s in your territory? What is he doing there?”
“Regardless of what he is up to, quickly inform Sir Hei Yuan about it so that he can come over to help. Also, mobilise the Black Ink Clansmen in your territory and restrain the Human until Sir Hei Yuan arrives. We must not let him flee!”
“Got it.” The moment the consciousness finished speaking, he passed on an order through the Black Ink Nest network and the Black Ink Clansmen in his territory started taking action.
The other consciousnesses waited with concern as they asked about what was going on from time to time. Certainly, the consciousness wouldn’t hide anything from them.
Half a day later, a consciousness suddenly said in a puzzled manner, “The Human doesn’t seem to be running away from Sir Hei Yuan. Instead…”
“Go on.”
“It seems that he has targeted my Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.”
Upon hearing that, the other consciousnesses paled, especially the one who represented the area of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located.
Just then, another consciousness said, “Earlier, you said that someone was trying to figure out your location, right?”
The consciousness that represented the area of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located replied, “Yes, that’s what I felt. Wait, you mean…”
“That’s right. The Human named Yang Kai didn’t know the exact location of your Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, so he made use of a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to find it. He then headed straight to your place after that. His target is the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest!”
“What?” the consciousness exclaimed, “What should I do?”
“What about Sir Hei Yuan? Have you reached him?”
“Sir Hei Yuan is on his way, but he’s still far away from the Human. It seems that he can’t arrive in time to stop him.”
“Assemble the Feudal Lords to stall him! We must not let that Human destroy another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Otherwise, it will be a humiliation we can never wipe away! When Sir Hei Yuan reaches there, he’ll easily capture that Human!”
“It’s too late…” The consciousness sounded despondent.
“Why?”
“It seems that Yang Kai has arrived. I can feel the fluctuations of battle outside.”
“How is it possible that he has arrived so soon?” The other consciousnesses were astounded, “Are you sure that Human is there?”
“It’s not a Human. It’s…”
“What are you talking about? What do you see?”
“It’s a monster that’s several tens of thousands of metres long with a humongous spear in its claws. The Feudal Lords can’t block him… it’s heading straight for the Black Ink… Argh!”
The shriek sent a shockwave across the other consciousnesses. Although they were not the ones experiencing the disaster, they could feel how heart-wrenching it must have been for their companion the moment they heard the shriek. Feelings of panic and fear overwhelmed these consciousnesses, causing them to tremble.
The Black Ink Nest’s consciousness was a medium through which one could connect with the other consciousnesses via Divine Sense. Although one could communicate with others swiftly and easily, he had to promptly cut off the connection when he fell into danger; otherwise, his Soul would die following the destruction of the Black Ink Nest. This was an unbearable pain for any living creature.
“This won’t end here!” The consciousness wailed. The message made the entire space descend into despair. The next moment, the consciousness vanished into thin air, as though he had never existed before.
The other consciousness fell into silence in this special space.
Another consciousness tried to contact him, but regardless of how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach the other side.
In the meantime, in a particular Territory Lord’s home territory, a colossal Black Ink Nest was cut down by the Azure Dragon Spear. A violent force caused the entire Black Ink Nest to collapse and countless Black Ink Clansmen lost their lives while the expansive territory shattered.
Those Black Ink Clansmen tried their hardest to repel the enemy, and many attacks of varying power were sent out at the 30,000-metre-long Dragon. Although most of the attacks were weak, they came in massive numbers.
The Golden Dragon Scales on the Dragon trembled upon impact and as its gigantic figure flew across the void, Dragon Blood fell to the ground.
Yang Kai didn’t intend to keep fighting with them. After destroying the Black Ink Nest and killing those who got in his way, he went on to snatch up as many resources as he could before turning around and escaping. A while later, he withdrew his Dragon Form and returned to his Human Form. Following that, he manipulated Space Principles and disappeared from the place with a flicker.
The Black Ink Clansmen dashed out of the broken territory and fearlessly pursued their hated enemy; however, they soon lost track of Yang Kai and could only aimlessly search for him. The Territory Lord’s territory behind them was now in a giant mess.
After a long time of silence, the consciousnesses that had gathered together in the grand space formed from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest finally started reacting.
One of the consciousnesses said, “Another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest has been destroyed.”
“We haven’t received any definitive news yet, so it’s too early to say that.”
“The truth is right before our eyes, why else wouldn’t we be able to contact them? You might want to deny it, but you can’t change the fact that a calamity has happened.”
“It was a several tens of thousands of metres long monster with a huge spear in its claws that destroyed the Black Ink Nest? What was it?”
“It’s a Grand Dragon! According to the Black Ink Disciples, a Grand Dragon is a powerful being. Sir Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed by that same Grand Dragon. Furthermore, from what I’ve gathered, Yang Kai is not a Human. The Grand Dragon is his true form.”
“I don’t care whether he’s a Human or Grand Dragon, he’s destroyed two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests so far, and I don’t have to remind all of you that before our comrade passed away earlier, he said that ‘it won’t end here’. I’m sure you all know what that means.”
A consciousness asked in horror, “Does that mean that Yang Kai is going to destroy even more Territory Lord Black Ink Nests?”
“In order to repel the Human Army, the Territory Lords have left for the battlefield with their respective Armies. Apart from a few Territory Lords who have remained in the Royal Lord’s territory to guard the Royal City and coordinate other matters, there are no powerful Masters left. Moreover, some of those Territory Lords had to join up with the Royal Lord to fight against the Human Old Ancestor. It’s not surprising that Yang Kai would seize this chance to raise chaos. Although Sir Hei Yuan has been hunting him down, he hasn’t managed to achieve his goal so far. The Human’s next target could be me, or any one of you.”
Upon hearing that, those consciousnesses became apprehensive.
“We can’t pin all our hopes on Sir Hei Yuan. To put it bluntly, if he was able to capture the Human, the second Black Ink Nest wouldn’t have been destroyed. We have to save ourselves.”
“How are you going to do that? That Human is too powerful. We can’t fend him off even if we have a lot of subordinates with us.”
“Regardless of how powerful he is, he is on his own; moreover, he must be injured after destroying two Territory Lord Black Ink Nest. I believe he’ll have to recuperate for some time before acting again, so all of you don’t have to worry. However, once he recovers, he’ll probably make a move again.”
“Do you have a suggestion? Tell us about it.”
The consciousness then told everyone about his plan, and the rest of them nodded in agreement.
Life hadn’t been peaceful in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain recently. First of all, the Royal Lord’s plan that was hundreds of years in the making was derailed by a Human just before its imminent success, flushing all her efforts down the drain. Then, the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass suddenly appeared in her territory and started a huge fight against her and several Territory Lords. Space shattered and many Black Ink Clan Fiefs were devastated while countless Black Ink Clansmen were killed from the fallout of their battle.
The Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass had also gone all out. The Territory Lords in the Royal Domain had no choice but to lead their own armies to deal with the Humans.
The Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind had no idea what was going on at the frontline. Usually, they just had to wait patiently; after all, even though the Humans were powerful, they could never break through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade and storm the Royal Domain.
However, there was now a lone Human who was raising all kinds of havoc in the Royal Domain when most of the powerful Black Ink Clansmen were not around. He was the very Human who derailed the Royal Lord’s plan.
This Human wasn’t particularly powerful. According to the classification of the Humans, he was just a Seventh-Order Master, equivalent to a Feudal Lord.
Nevertheless, it was this Seventh-Order Human who threw Mu Guang’s Royal Domain into absolute chaos.
In just half a month, he managed to destroy two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests and killed several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen. Although Hei Yuan was personally hunting him down, he hadn’t achieved his goal so far.
From what they had gathered, this Human could transform into a several tens of thousands of metres long Grand Dragon and wield a gigantic spear in his claws. Once he got close, he could destroy a Territory Lord Black Ink Nest with one strike and shatter the universe fragment it sat on.
The reason he was able to evade Hei Yuan’s pursuit for so long was that he was a Master in the Dao of Space.
With the help of Space Secret Techniques, this Human could move with shocking speed. Even if Hei Yuan was stronger than he was, he couldn’t capture the Human intruder without being able to restrict his movements first.
After destroying two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests, the Human went missing; however, the consciousnesses staying in the Territory Lord Black Ink Nests believed that he was recuperating somewhere. When he fully recovered, he would make a move on another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
This made the consciousnesses staying in the Territory Lord Black Ink Nests feel anxious as they were worried that one of them would be Yang Kai’s next target.
Black Ink Clansmen were seen thoroughly searching for Yang Kai across the void, leaving no stone unturned.
Nevertheless, they couldn’t find the Human after several days, as though he had vanished into thin air. This made many Black Ink Clansmen suspect that Yang Kai might have left Mu Guang’s Royal Domain.
One day, a team of 2o or so were examining a cluster of thick Black Ink Clouds. From what they had gathered, this Human liked hiding in places like this; therefore, the Black Ink Clouds of different sizes that scattered across the void would be thoroughly inspected. After all, no one knew if he was hiding in a certain Black Ink Cloud, just waiting to catch the nearby Black Ink Clansmen off guard.
After they inspected all of the Black Ink Clouds here though, they still couldn’t find the Human.
Just when the team of Black Ink Clansmen were preparing to leave, the leading High-Rank Clansman detected something and turned to look in a particular direction.
What came into his sight astounded him, for a series of ripples had suddenly appeared in the void. As the ripples expanded, a portal glowing with a faint light abruptly formed.
This High-Rank Black Ink Clansman was a quick-witted person, instantly realised something, and hurriedly ordered, “Hide!”
After he finished speaking, he led his team to charge into the nearest Black Ink Cloud. They concealed themselves and withdrew their auras as best they could as quickly as possible.
As they lifted their gazes, they saw that a portal had fully taken shape. While the ripples continued to expand, a figure appeared all of a sudden.
He was the Human that the Black Ink Clan had been looking for!
The High-Rank Clansman narrowed his eyes and soon realised something. It was no wonder that so many Black Ink Clansmen were unable to find a trace of this Human even after several days of searching, it turned out he had been hiding inside a Sealed World! The portal that suddenly opened up was obviously a portal that led to that Sealed World. Despite the distance between them, the High-Rank Clansman could clearly feel the aura coming from the portal. It was the aura of the World Force that the Black Ink Clan loved the most.
[So, that’s how it is!] Upon figuring out everything, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman couldn’t help but think that Yang Kai was blessed with luck to have found a Sealed World and hidden inside it.
It seemed that the news they had received was true. Yang Kai had been badly injured when destroying the previous Territory Lord Black Ink Nest and was hiding and recuperating recently.
Although there were over 20 members in the group he led, this High-Rank Black Ink Clansman didn’t dare to make a rash move upon sighting Yang Kai. He knew that this Human was too powerful for them and he and his team were no match for him. Exposing themselves at this point would be no different from committing suicide.
Despite acting swiftly though, Yang Kai, who had just stepped out of the Sealed World, still sensed something and quickly looked in their direction. Apparently, he had realised they were there. As their eyes met, the High-Rank Clansman felt a chill shoot up his spine.
Before he could react, Yang Kai pushed out his palm as his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm’s World Force burst forth. Without having a chance to resist, the Black Ink Clansmen hiding in the Black Ink Cloud were all instantly killed.
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman thought that Yang Kai was simply lucky enough to have found a Sealed World to recuperate in, but the truth was that luck only played a part in it. As a Master of the Dao of Space, Yang Kai could easily find Sealed Worlds that the Black Ink Clan hadn’t discovered.
Not only had he been recuperating during this period of time, but he had also picked clean all of the resources in this particular Sealed World.
Although he had already obtained an astonishing harvest from robbing the home territories of two Territory Lords, Yang Kai didn’t mind collecting even more resources.
He was already pleased that he could snatch so much from the Black Ink Clan, and it was even more satisfying that he had also destroyed two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests.
Just like the Black Ink Clan expected, Yang Kai’s next target was still a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Nevertheless, even though he had killed this search party, another nearby group of Black Ink Clansmen soon noticed what happened. Realising that Yang Kai might have appeared, they quickly spread the word.
By the time everyone found out that Yang Kai had reappeared, he had arrived at a Feudal Lord’s Fief.
With the previous experiences, Yang Kai was already familiar with how to look for the local Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
The Black Ink Clansmen in this Feudal Lord’s Fief were weak, so it only took Yang Kai a little effort to kill them all. He then headed straight to the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
The moment he entered the central chamber, he opened his Small Universe and let the Black Ink Nest absorb his World Force. With that serving as a bridge, he connected himself with the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness.
Just a moment later, his Divine Sense entered the special space with the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness as the medium.
As usual, there were a lot of consciousnesses in this special space. These consciousnesses represented the Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs and Black Ink Nests. Many of the Feudal Lords had left for the battlefield to fight against the Humans. Despite that, other Black Ink Clansmen could stay back and guard their Black Ink Nests.
Hence, Yang Kai wasn’t surprised one bit.
However, he soon realised that something was off.
Previously, when he entered this space with his consciousness, the other consciousnesses didn’t pay much attention to him; however, on this day, all the consciousnesses around him appeared hostile to him.
Yang Kai could clearly feel that these consciousnesses were paying close attention to him. Hostility and formidable powers exuded from these consciousnesses.
[Was I exposed?] A thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind, but he soon realised something. In fact, it wasn’t surprising. He had done the same thing before, so it was expected that the Black Ink Clan had put their guard up.
Nevertheless, since he had the audacity to make a move, he had the confidence to keep himself safe.
The consciousnesses didn’t intend to say anything to Yang Kai. The moment Yang Kai understood all this, however, the special space froze as a restrictive power spread across it, like a Heaven sealing Earth locking array.
Yang Kai instantly appeared surprised, for he had never expected that such a turn of events would happen in this space. With that said, this space was transformed from the consciousness of a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, so it wasn’t surprising that there were secrets that he wasn’t aware of.
He tried cutting off his connection with the Black Ink Nest, but he realised that it wasn’t possible to do so. The space had been completely sealed up, so unless he could shatter this place’s barriers, he couldn’t possibly withdraw his Divine Sense. If he forcefully tried, his Soul might be damaged.
It seemed that his consciousness had been locked inside this space.
“I’ve been waiting for you!” The moment the space was sealed off, a voice reached him, one that sounded furious and vexed.
Yang Kai could sense that this consciousness gave off a familiar aura. Moreover, this consciousness was unlike the others, it was far more powerful. It was like a crane standing among the chickens.
A doubtful Yang Kai asked, “Hei Yuan?”
The consciousness roared, “I’m glad that you recognise me!”
Yang Kai was astounded, “It’s really you! So, you were waiting for me?”
Hei Yuan replied, “En. I knew that you wouldn’t stop trying to destroy the other Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests, so I chose one and waited for you. It surprises me that you really came to Kong Chan’s territory. It seems that I’m in luck.”
Yang Kai had no idea who Kong Chan was, but he reckoned that he was the owner of this territory, and a Territory Lord.
The reason Hei Yuan decided to wait here was that Kong Chan’s territory was the closest to the Territory Lord’s territory where the Black Ink Nest was previously destroyed by Yang Kai. He reckoned that Yang Kai would most likely come to this area.
Now, it seemed that his wait was worth it, for Yang Kai had really come to this place. At that instant, Hei Yuan felt slightly less aggrieved.
As a Territory Lord, he was equivalent to an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master; however, he had been trying to hunt Yang Kai down recently, but he couldn’t even find out the latter’s whereabouts. It was expected that he was frustrated.
Having fought with Yang Kai several times, Hei Yuan was now aware that the other man was proficient in the Dao of Space, which could be utilised to swiftly escape from his enemies. That was the reason Yang Kai could always shake off his pursuit.
Presently though, Yang Kai’s consciousness was sealed off in this space. Since he was unable to use his biggest strength, he was basically trapped.
“Keep him alive. Don’t kill him!” Hei Yuan ordered. He still remembered Mu Guang’s order that Yang Kai had to be captured alive so that he could replace Nie An to preside over the construction of Warships. If he killed Yang Kai here, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself to the Royal Lord.
Following his command, the surrounding consciousnesses exuded powerful forces which then blasted at Yang Kai.
Every Territory Lord had a few dozen Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs, and Kong Chan was no exception. He had about 30 Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs; therefore, roughly the same amount of consciousnesses belonging to Feudal Lords were here.
If these Feudal Lords came across Yang Kai in their physical bodies, they wouldn’t dare to provoke him; after all, a large number of Feudal Lords were killed by Yang Kai recently. Despite being a Seventh-Order Human, he was more powerful than any Seventh-Order Master they had dealt with before.
However, this space was transformed from the Black Ink Nests’ consciousnesses, so the Feudal Lords didn’t have to directly face Yang Kai. They could achieve their goal simply by confronting Yang Kai’s consciousness.
That was the solution that they came up with after Yang Kai went missing previously. It was a trap targeted specifically at Yang Kai.
This wasn’t the only trap though as similar traps had been set up in every Territory Lord’s territory. In other words, whichever Territory Lord’s territory that Yang Kai headed to, he would fall into the same trap if he dared to make use of the Black Ink Nests.
The only difference was that only Kong Chan’s territory had Hei Yuan assuming command. The other Territory Lord’s territories only had Feudal Lords who were patiently waiting for Yang Kai to show up.
With that said, regardless of whether there was a Territory Lord around or not, as long as Yang Kai stepped into such a trap, he would never be able to run away. He could only escape by defeating all the consciousnesses here, but that was practically impossible.
These consciousnesses exuded powerful forces as a tide of violent energy soon formed in this special space and shot towards Yang Kai like a tsunami.
This became a battle between Souls.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but turn solemn. He had never expected that the Black Ink Clan would deal with him using such a trick, nor was he aware that the space transformed from the Black Ink Nests’ consciousnesses could trap a person’s consciousness inside. Nevertheless, since he had fallen into the trap, he had no choice but to act accordingly.
Fortunately, he was no ordinary Open Heaven Realm Master.
Faced with the tide of powerful attacks, Yang Kai’s consciousness appeared small in comparison. It seemed that he would directly perish the moment the waves struck him.
Hei Yuan, who was watching on the side, couldn’t help but be worried. What if Yang Kai couldn’t withstand this bombardment and was killed directly? It had to be noted that if a consciousness passed away in this space, its body back in the Black Ink Nest would become a Soulless husk. It was just a matter of time before such a person would die.
While Hei Yuan was watching with concern, Yang Kai’s consciousness was drowned in the tide. All of a sudden, an explosive power burst out from Yang Kai’s consciousness and warded off the strike. He was as unshakable as a rock.
An astounded Hei Yuan exclaimed, “Impossible!”
If he were in Yang Kai’s place, he wouldn’t have been able to fend off the joint assault of 30 Feudal Lords. According to his estimation, the best outcome would be that Yang Kai’s consciousness was instantly injured. Once that happened, he would lose the ability to fight. Presently, following Hei Yuan’s order, a large number of Black Ink Clansmen were rushing towards Yang Kai’s real body. As Yang Kai would be unable to flee, they could easily capture him.
However, the sight before Hei Yuan’s eyes was simply unbelievable, for Yang Kai had flawlessly defended himself against all the attacks from the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses.
How was that even possible? Why was a Seventh-Order Human’s Soul so powerful? Although the Feudal Lords didn’t use their full powers following Hei Yuan’s order, the sight before the latter’s eyes was still inconceivable.
Besides Hei Yuan, these Feudal Lords couldn’t believe their eyes either and they promptly exerted more force with their attacks.
The tide rose again and became even more violent.
Yang Kai’s consciousness was finally affected. Faced with the bombardment of the Black Ink Clansmen, he felt his Spiritual Energy being drained rapidly. He couldn’t endure attacks of such intensity for long.
Fortunately, Yang Kai had obtained the Soul Warming Lotus when he was just a budding cultivator. Over the years, his Soul became much stronger than other cultivators in the same Realm because he had continuous nourishment coming from the Soul Warming Lotus. Furthermore, his Spiritual Energy had increased significantly after he obtained Yu Ru Meng’s Primordial Yin. It had to be noted that Charm Demons were the best when it came to utilising Spiritual Energy, not to mention that Yu Ru Meng was a Demon Saint at the time.
Although he was just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, Yang Kai’s Soul was on par with an Eighth-Order Human Master’s. That was the reason he could ward off the tide of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses on his own.
In this space, a consciousness was the manifestation of one’s Soul, so the stronger a person’s Soul was, the stronger they were in this place.
On top of that, most of the Black Ink Clansmen were not experts in using their Souls. However, Yang Kai reckoned that the Royal Lord Secret Technique that was exclusive to the Royal Lords must be a form of Soul Technique.
These Feudal Lords were basically trying to show off meagre skills before an expert by trying to fight Yang Kai with their consciousnesses alone.
With that said, even though he could temporarily defend himself from the bombardment, he couldn’t persevere for long; after all, he couldn’t endure the barrage of attacks forever, regardless of how impenetrable his defence was.
Furthermore, his consciousness was trapped in this special space, so he had no idea what was going on in the outside world. If the Black Ink Clan seized the chance to harm his physical body, he wouldn’t even be able to defend himself.
Therefore, after tentatively defending himself for a moment, he decided to act ruthlessly.
The Black Ink Clansmen, who were ready to channel more of their powers to suppress Yang Kai, suddenly felt chills running down their spines. Before they could figure out what was going on, Yang Kai’s aura flared up.
His powerful consciousness slowly solidified in this special space and turned into a Soul Avatar. What astonished these Feudal Lords was that this Soul Avatar was holding a sabre!
The Feudal Lords were befuddled while Hei Yuan was flabbergasted.
Over the years, they had never seen a consciousness that could take on his true form in this place. The communication between consciousnesses had always been accomplished in a kind of intangible form. How powerful must a person’s Soul be in order to actually take on a visible, almost solid form?
What made them feel despondent was that they had no idea why there was a sabre here. How did Yang Kai bring an artifact to this space where only consciousnesses were supposed to exist? Was this a special skill unique to the Humans?
They had never interacted with the Humans’ consciousnesses before; however, the Black Ink Nests belonged to the Black Ink Clan, so why was a Human in a favourable position in this place?
The Feudal Lords thought that the sabre was an artifact Yang Kai brought to this place, and in fact, they weren’t wrong; however, this weapon was no ordinary artifact.
It was a Soul-type artifact.
It was the Emperor Artifact, Soul Splitting Saber!
This was an artifact that Yang Kai had obtained all the way back when he was still in the Heng Luo Star Field. He was still weak at that time, so this Emperor Artifact was of great help to him when it came to killing his enemies. However, as his strength increased, this Emperor Artifact was no longer useful to him. He simply kept Soul Splitting Saber in his Soul and had not used it for years.
It never crossed his mind that he would use this Emperor Artifact again one day.
Although this Emperor Artifact was too weak compared to his current Realm, it was better than fighting against the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses with only his raw Spiritual Energy; after all, he was on his own while the Black Ink Clansmen came at him in large numbers.
With the Soul Splitting Saber in hand, Yang Kai felt his murderous intent surging and grinned, “Don’t worry. I’ll make this quick!”
The moment he finished speaking, he brandished his sabre as a cold light slashed across this special space. Yang Kai’s powerful Spiritual Energy allowed the light of the Soul Splitting Saber to fill the entire space.
Following the attack, the consciousnesses of 4 Feudal Lords died in silence.
At the same time, the Feudal Lords, who were respectively in charge of 4 Black Ink Nests in Kong Chan’s territory, collapsed to the ground. Although they were still technically alive, they were now completely immobile.
The destruction of their consciousnesses meant that they wouldn’t survive for long.
The power of the sabre astonished the Feudal Lords. The barrage of attacks, which was the agglomeration of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses, instantly weakened. With most of the pressure lifted off, Yang Kai slashed with his sabre again.
This time, the Feudal Lords promptly dodged the attack so only 2 were killed; still, they were shaken to the core after witnessing the power of the sabre twice.
They initially thought that they could easily capture Yang Kai with this trap, but they had never expected that this Human was actually so ferocious. Even though he was in a trap set up by the Black Ink Clan, he was still the one slaughtering them.
Faced with the threat of death, the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses tried to flee from this place in a hurry; after all, none of them wanted to be killed, especially when Yang Kai was chasing after them with his strange sabre.
To their dismay though, they soon realised that they were unable to leave this place.
The moment Yang Kai’s consciousness barged into this special space, it was completely sealed off. Only Hei Yuan, who was in charge of this place, could open it again.
Apparently, Hei Yuan didn’t have the intention of opening this space. The turn of events not only startled the Feudal Lords, but also Hei Yuan. He had never expected that instead of harming Yang Kai, the trap they had set up in advance became a battlefield where they were the ones being slaughtered.
Nevertheless, he soon came to his senses. Seeing that the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were trying to run away from Yang Kai, he roared, “Stand and fight! We must not let him flee this time!”
This chance was hard to come by, and if they let Yang Kai escape, Hei Yuan didn’t have the confidence to trap him again. Regardless of the price he had to pay, he had to defeat and capture Yang Kai today.
The next instant, Hei Yuan took the initiative to charge towards Yang Kai. His consciousness, which was even more powerful than the rest, clashed with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai’s consciousness, which had basically replicated his true form, was caught off guard and staggered backwards upon impact while the light around him also dimmed.
The instant Yang Kai was attacked, he responded with his sabre. Hei Yuan’s consciousness promptly backed off, but he couldn’t be as quick as the sabre light.
Struck by the sabre light, Hei Yuan groaned in pain like an injured beast. His powerful consciousness weakened in an instant and it was obvious that he was wounded.
As horror overwhelmed him, thinking that he was doomed, Hei Yuan heard something crack. As his consciousness refocused, he realised that the sabre in the hands of Yang Kai’s Avatar had shattered upon impact.
An elated Hei Yuan roared at the Feudal Lords who were running away, “His weapon has been destroyed! Do not fear!”
Upon hearing that, the Feudal Lords turned around and realised that, just like what Hei Yuan had said, the sabre in Yang Kai’s hands had fallen apart for some reason. In an instant, they become energised.
The consciousnesses were all essentially naked, so the Feudal Lords were stunned when they saw Yang Kai summoning a sabre.
After Hei Yuan was done barking, he madly activated his power and charged towards Yang Kai. Seeing that, the Feudal Lords promptly assisted him.
At that moment, Yang Kai was immensely pressured.
In the end, the Soul Splitting Saber was just an Emperor Artifact. Although it had been nurtured in his Soul over the years, its original quality couldn’t be changed. It couldn’t bear the power of Yang Kai’s Spiritual Energy, so three strikes had been its limit. Therefore, before Yang Kai could kill all of his enemies, the sabre broke apart.
Presently, with Hei Yuan leading the charge, the attacks from the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses came right at Yang Kai in a continuous manner from all directions. Regardless of how powerful Yang Kai’s Soul was, he couldn’t possibly bear such a bombardment.
Seeing that Yang Kai’s consciousness became immobile, as though it had been suppressed, the Feudal Lords struck their opponent harder, determined to take him down.
Yang Kai was aware that he was in an unfavourable position. It had to be said that the Black Ink Clan had come up with a brilliant method to deal with him. In such a place, Space Principles were practically useless. This was purely a contest of the strength of their Spiritual Energy.
He had to quickly come up with a solution; otherwise, he would be doomed.
At the most critical moment, Yang Kai realised that since he could summon the Soul Splitting Saber to this place, what about the Soul Warming Lotus? The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure, so if he could summon it, there wouldn’t be any suspense regarding the outcome of this battle.
However, he had never summoned the Soul Warming Lotus to fight his enemies before. Usually, he would only counterattack when others attempted to invade his Knowledge Sea, so the idea of summoning it hadn’t crossed his mind.
As he thought about this, a seven-coloured light burst from his figure.
When the Feudal Lords, who were bombarding Yang Kai with their attacks, saw the light, they were bewildered. Hei Yuan had no idea what was going on either, but through his battles with Yang Kai, he came to realise that this Human had all sorts of tricks up his sleeve; therefore, the moment the seven-coloured light appeared, he felt that something was off and promptly shouted, “Take him down, now!”
As soon as he finished speaking, he focused all of his power and charged towards Yang Kai. At this moment, he had no choice but to ignore the Royal Lord’s order that Yang Kai had to be captured alive. Whether Yang Kai could survive this strike would depend on his luck.
Following Hei Yuan’s order, the Feudal Lords wouldn’t dare to hold back any of their strength and madly attacked.
Invisible attacks came right at Yang Kai from all directions and drowned him; however, the seven-coloured light only became brighter and soon filled the space.
The Feudal Lords watched apprehensively while Hei Yuan turned solemn.
A moment later, the storm subsided as the originally noisy space fell silent. A lotus that radiated a light of seven colours abruptly appeared in the place where Yang Kai previously stood. The lotus spun gently, exuding an aura that the Black Ink Clansmen coveted.
“What is that?” One of the puzzled Feudal Lords asked. Although he had no idea what this seven-coloured lotus was, he could clearly feel that it was hugely beneficial to any Black Ink Clansman who could possess it.
“Where is he?” There was another Feudal Lord who was concerned about Yang Kai’s whereabouts. Other than the seven-coloured lotus sitting in the place where Yang Kai previously stood, the Human himself was nowhere in sight.
“I suppose he’s dead. Although he is strong, he couldn’t possibly survive that bombardment.”
“Well done! That Human was too arrogant as he had no regard for us. He deserved his death!”
…..
Besides these Feudal Lords, Hei Yuan also believed that Yang Kai had perished. Yang Kai had indeed showcased powerful Spiritual Energy, but regardless of how formidable he was, he couldn’t possibly stave off the joint attack of all the Feudal Lords and Hei Yuan.
However, if Yang Kai was really killed, how was Hei Yuan going to explain himself to the Royal Lord?
This was giving Hei Yuan a headache. Also, what was this seven-coloured lotus that Yang Kai had left behind?
While he was puzzled, the flower petals of the spinning seven-coloured lotus started to unfurl, and as that happened, a figure revealed itself. Seated among the stamens, this person radiated a vague glow.
Upon making out the person’s face, Hei Yuan was shocked.
That was because not only wasn’t Yang Kai dead, he wasn’t even wounded!
[How can this be?]
He might have been lucky enough to have survived the bombardment of attacks, but how was it possible that he wasn’t injured at all? Could the strange lotus have blocked all their attacks?
Before Hei Yuan could figure it out, Yang Kai’s Soul power burst forth. The power of this Soul was as magnificent as the ocean and as profound as the abyss. As the mass of Spiritual Energy increased in intensity, the special space started trembling.
“It wouldn’t be polite if I didn’t offer a gift in return! Please accept this!”
The moment the clear voice reverberated across the space, clearly discernible Spirit Energy turned into visible sabre lights that pointed in all directions as they hovered above Yang Kai’s head.
Faced with the sabre lights, the Feudal Lords felt chills running down their spines.
As soon as Yang Kai finished speaking, the Spiritual Energy sabre lights shot out in all directions and mercilessly rained down on them.
The Feudal Lords were horrified as they all scrambled to escape or defend themselves.
Nevertheless, their efforts were futile. As the sabre lights swept across the space, half of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were destroyed. Even Hei Yuan was struck by two sabre lights and roared in pain. The surviving Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses all trembled in fear.
Hei Yuan knew that if they let Yang Kai attack again, all of the Black Ink Clansmen here would be killed. Yang Kai’s Soul was unimaginably powerful. Besides that, he had a lot of special offensive skills when it came to the Soul, something that the Black Ink Clan were not aware of previously.
Ignoring his own injuries, Hei Yuan launched another attack in an attempt to turn the tide. Seeing that, some of the Feudal Lords joined in and made a move; however, the incident that took place the next moment sent Hei Yuan into a state of despair.
The attacks of Hei Yuan and the Feudal Lords were all blocked by the seven-coloured lotus. As a result, Yang Kai wasn’t harmed one bit.
Now, Hei Yuan could confirm that the reason Yang Kai was safe earlier was that the latter had this strange seven-coloured lotus. He wondered what kind of treasure it was that could defend against so many Spiritual Energy attacks. Even a Territory Lord like him was unable to hurt Yang Kai despite having personally made a move.
The defensive strength of the seven-coloured lotus was simply impenetrable.
With the protection of the seven-coloured Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai had no more worries. As his Spiritual Energy condensed into another attack, he slashed out at the surviving Black Ink Clansmen.
More and more of the Feudal Lords’ were eliminated, and inside the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests in Kong Chan’s territory, numerous bodies passed out and collapsed to the ground. These Feudal Lords no longer reacted regardless of how loud the other Black Ink Clansmen called out to them.
Within moments, fewer than 5 of the original 30 Feudal Lord remained. These consciousnesses were running about madly as Yang Kai relentlessly chased after them, completely powerless to counterattack. Hei Yuan’s aura was also weakening by the breath.
It was not possible to use any kind of technique in a pure clash of Spiritual Energy, so in such a place, it was hard for Hei Yuan to use his formidable strength.
Finally, one of the Feudal Lords shouted, “Sir Hei Yuan, we can’t persevere any longer. Please open this space; otherwise, all of us will die!”
Hei Yuan was unperturbed though, for he firmly believed that the seven-coloured lotus wasn’t as impenetrable as it seemed. He thought that by exerting more force with his attacks, he could shatter the lotus’ defence. However, his goal was still not achieved after so many of the Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses perished.
Regardless, their defeat in this place didn’t mean that the Black Ink Clan had lost. They still had a chance to turn things around.
That was because the moment Yang Kai entered this space through the Black Ink Nest’s power, Hei Yuan managed to ascertain his whereabouts.
This could be achieved easily, for Yang Kai made use of a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest to come into this space. Just by finding out which Black Ink Nest it was, Hei Yuan could effortlessly discover where Yang Kai was.
After all, the Fiefs and Black Ink Nests of the Feudal Lords were fixed.
Therefore, the moment Yang Kai’s consciousness entered this space, Hei Yuan ordered more than 10 Feudal Lords to rush over to Yang Kai’s location.
Hei Yuan’s initial plan was to damage Yang Kai’s consciousness so that this team could easily capture him in a weakened state.
However, things were not going to plan. Not only was Yang Kai not injured, but he had also made use of a seven-coloured lotus to commit a massacre. They were not in a favourable position in this special space, so it was inevitable that so many Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses were wiped out.
Nevertheless, as long as Yang Kai’s consciousness was trapped here, he couldn’t return to his body, and the team that Hei Yuan had sent would soon capture Yang Kai.
That was the reason Hei Yuan refused to open this space despite the fact that so many Feudal Lords were injured or dead.
There was still a ray of hope for them to turn things around.
With that said, regardless of how swift the team of Feudal Lords were, it would take them at least four hours to arrive at the Black Ink Nest where Yang Kai was located.
Could Hei Yuan persevere for another four hours?
He had no idea, but he knew that there were not a lot of Feudal Lords’ consciousnesses left. Once they were all dead, he would have to face Yang Kai alone.
Despite the fact that a lot of Feudal Lords were killed, Hei Yuan continuously channelled his power to attack the seven-coloured lotus in the hope that he could shatter its defence.
There was no doubt that the outcome was disappointing for him, as the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus was so impregnable that even a Territory Lord like him couldn’t hope to destroy it.
Shrieks were heard reverberating across this special space, each one representing the demise of a Feudal Lord’s consciousness.
Hei Yuan felt his heart sinking.
When the last Feudal Lord’s consciousness died, Yang Kai slowly turned around. While standing on the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, he stared dispassionately at Hei Yuan’s consciousness.
The tide of Spiritual Energy swirled around Yang Kai like a violent storm.
“You’re the only one left, Hei Yuan. Are you ready to die?” Yang Kai stepped towards his enemy, the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus following closely.
Hei Yuan roared, “You’ll pay for underestimating me!”
Despite the ferocity in his tone, it was apparent that he was just acting tough. Just now, he had joined forces with more than 30 Feudal Lords, but they still couldn’t hurt Yang Kai at all. Instead, they were the ones that were wiped out. More than 30 Feudal Lords had died, and he was the only one left now, so how was he supposed to be a match for Yang Kai?
The only thing he could do was to stall for time so that the team he had sent could capture Yang Kai.
After a sneer, Yang Kai said, “Let’s see how you’re going to make me pay then!”
Upon finishing his words, he drove the Soul Warming Lotus to charge towards Hei Yuan.
A flustered Hei Yuan promptly ran away.
While relentlessly chasing after him, Yang Kai mocked him by saying, “Didn’t you say you’ll make me pay the price? Is this how you do it? It’s an eye-opener for me, Sir Hei Yuan!”
Hei Yuan was thoroughly ashamed and had the urge to stop in his tracks and fight it out with Yang Kai, but he didn’t have the courage to do so. His consciousness was already wounded after the exchanges of moves with Yang Kai. If his injuries were exacerbated, he would have to get into a Black Ink Nest and recuperate for a long time.
Therefore, he did his best to avoid fighting with Yang Kai so that he wouldn’t get hurt.
Yang Kai wasn’t a fool, so he soon realised what the other man was trying to achieve, “Are you stalling for time?”
Certainly, Hei Yuan wouldn’t respond to him, but his silence only confirmed Yang Kai’s speculations. After giving it a thought, he figured out the other man’s plan, “If I’m not mistaken, there should be some Black Ink Clansmen coming to capture me. Am I right?”
Hei Yuan finally responded, saying, “You can’t flee. Surrender without a fight now.”
Yang Kai sneered, “We’ll talk if you can survive.”
Upon figuring out Hei Yuan’s plan, Yang Kai certainly wouldn’t waste any time on him. He was worried that his physical body would be harmed by the Black Ink Clansmen coming to attack him, so he exerted even more force with his attacks. Although Hei Yuan was trying to dodge, it was hard for him to do so.
Left with no choice, he had to exchange moves with Yang Kai several times, which resulted in his aura weakening even further. On the other hand, with the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, Yang Kai became increasingly ferocious, abandoning all semblance of defence and only attacking.
Barely an incense stick later, Hei Yuan realised that he could no longer persevere.
His consciousness was badly wounded. It would take him several hundred years to heal this kind of injury. If he clashed with Yang Kai again, his consciousness would be destroyed, just like what happened to the Feudal Lords.
Despite his unwillingness, there was nothing else he could do. He had paid a huge price, losing more than 30 Feudal Lords and suffering horrible injuries himself; however, he still hadn’t managed to capture one Seventh-Order Human like Yang Kai.
This was the biggest humiliation in his life.
Nevertheless, things had come to such a point where he could no longer turn things around. If Hei Yuan still didn’t give up, he would be killed by Yang Kai before the team of Feudal Lords he sent could capture him.
Therefore, at the last moment, he promptly decided to escape.
Just as Yang Kai dashed forward with his violent tide of Spiritual Energy, he realised that Hei Yuan was nowhere in sight. At the same time, this special space, which had been locked since his arrival, was reopened.
[He ran away!] Yang Kai ground his teeth, thinking that it was such a shame. If he could keep fighting with Hei Yuan, he had the confidence to kill the latter’s consciousness. Unfortunately, Hei Yuan was the one who could decide whether he would open up the space, and he didn’t give Yang Kai a chance to kill him.
Killing a Territory Lord would be a huge contribution. By doing so, not only could it significantly weaken the Black Ink Clan’s power, but it could also reduce the possible casualties of the Human soldiers on the battlefield.
Although Yang Kai had killed a Territory Lord before, he had joined forces with Bai Yi at that time to do so, and Zhu Feng, the Territory Lord in question, was already badly injured. Despite that, it had still been a perilous situation. In the end, Yang Kai managed to deal a lethal blow to Zhu Feng only by resorting to his Dragon Bead.
The chance to fight with Hei Yuan this time was rare, and it was impossible to have such a chance again.
However, even though Hei Yuan had fled, it wasn’t like Yang Kai had achieved nothing.
When he was dealing with Hei Yuan just now, he managed to ascertain his whereabouts. If he raced after him now, he might be able to kill him.
Therefore, the instant Yang Kai realised that Hei Yuan had fled, he quickly retracted his consciousness and dashed out of the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
It was silent all around him with no Black Ink Clansmen in sight, so he turned to look in a particular direction and shot into the sky.
As Space Principles undulated, Yang Kai charged forward swiftly.
About an hour later, he saw a group of Black Ink Clansmen rushing over in his direction. What surprised him was that this team was entirely composed of Feudal Lords, about a dozen in total.
This was obviously unusual.
The strongest Black Ink Clansmen had left to deal with the Human Army from Yin-Yang Pass, and although there were still a lot who stayed back, and Yang Kai had come across many of them recently, it was the first time he saw a group that consisted of only Feudal Lords.
This powerful team was obviously tasked with capturing Yang Kai.
Was this the arrangement Hei Yuan had made? When Yang Kai was dealing with Hei Yuan earlier, these Feudal Lords must have been heading in his direction. Unfortunately, they came too late as the battle in the special space had ended long ago. They were still on their way when Yang Kai happened to run into them.
It seemed that Hei Yuan was really located in that direction.
While Yang Kai had discovered the team of Feudal Lords, the other party had certainly seen him as well. These Feudal Lords, who were moving at full speed, were flabbergasted as they stopped in their tracks and got ready to fight.
Recently, Yang Kai had sent a shockwave across the Black Ink Clan. All the teams that had come across Yang Kai were destroyed. Although they were all Feudal Lords, they still didn’t have the confidence to defeat Yang Kai here.
However, this Human’s consciousness was supposed to be trapped inside the Black Ink Nest’s network, and they just had to go over and capture his body. So, why was he here? Had Hei Yuan failed in his attempt to injure this Human in that special space?
Before these Feudal Lords could figure it out, Yang Kai was seen turning into a ray of light and charging towards them.
Before he even arrived, his spear turned into countless shadows.
The instant both parties clashed, the Feudal Lords exclaimed and grunted, feeling that the violent force had torn their defences apart. In an instant, they were all blown backwards.
Yang Kai directly moved past them and left this place without turning his head, soon disappearing from sight.
The place was in a mess as black blood and Black Ink Strength scattered everywhere. The Feudal Lords looked around with horrified expressions. Three of them were killed by Yang Kai in the blink of an eye, and the rest were injured.
It seemed that this Human was even more powerful than they had heard.
The surviving Feudal Lords were glad that Yang Kai didn’t intend to kill them. They had no idea why he was in a hurry as he only attacked them once and left; otherwise, all of them would’ve lost their lives.
One of the Feudal Lords suddenly realised something, “Is he after Sir Hei Yuan?”
When the Feudal Lords heard that, a myriad of expressions came over them. Even if that was true, there was nothing they could do. Now, they could only hope that Hei Yuan could capture that Human; otherwise, all the Black Ink Clansmen in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain would be humiliated.
It only took Yang Kai another hour to rush over to a certain Feudal Lord’s Fief.
The Feudal Lords guarding this Fief were startled upon seeing Yang Kai, and before they could figure out what was going on, they were easily killed.
When the only two Feudal Lords were dead, the other Black Ink Clansmen in the Fief certainly wouldn’t be able to counterattack.
Yang Kai directly barged into the Black Ink Nest and searched around, but Hei Yuan was nowhere in sight. However, some of Hei Yuan’s aura was left in the chamber inside the Black Ink Nest, which suggested that he had been here not long ago.
After dashing out of the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai caught a horrified High-Rank Black Ink Clansman by the throat and asked in a grim voice, “Where’s Hei Yuan?”
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman breathed out a puff of Black Ink Strength in an attempt to corrupt Yang Kai, but an unperturbed Yang Kai simply exerted more force with his hand and broke the other party’s neck. He then caught another Black Ink Clansman and asked, “Where’s Hei Yuan?”
Having witnessed what happened just now, the Black Ink Clansman replied in horror, “I have no idea where Sir Hei Yuan went! He left in a hurry just now!”
“In what direction did he head?”
The Black Ink Clansman quickly pointed in a particular direction.
Yang Kai tossed him away, and by the time the Black Ink Clansman landed, he had lost his life.
In the meantime, Yang Kai shot into the sky and raced after Hei Yuan.
Since Hei Yuan had fled, it suggested that he was badly injured, and he had speculated that Yang Kai would come for him; otherwise, he wouldn’t have immediately run away after leaving the special space. Although Yang Kai had promptly pursued, he was still too late.
Even if Yang Kai chased after Hei Yuan now, he might not be able to find him as the void was too vast. He also wouldn’t have any solution if Hei Yuan was determined to hide.
However, he wouldn’t want to miss this rare chance. It would be best if he could kill Hei Yuan, but there was nothing he could do if he couldn’t find him.
One day later, Yang Kai stopped in his tracks somewhere in the void.
Although he had searched around a large area for the entire day, he still hadn’t discovered Hei Yuan’s whereabouts. He felt that it was such a shame.
With that said, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for him.
Most of the Black Ink Clansmen had left Mu Guang’s Royal Domain to fight with the Humans from Yin-Yang Pass, so there were not a lot of them left in this place. The Territory Lords who stayed back had to assist Mu Guang to deal with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass, so they wouldn’t have time to hunt Yang Kai down.
Previously, he had to put his guard up as Hei Yuan was relentlessly pursuing him. Now that Hei Yuan had gone into hiding though, no one else in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain could restrain him.
In other words, Yang Kai could basically go anywhere in this Royal Domain. Given his mastery of the Dao of Space, he wouldn’t fall into danger as long as he was cautious enough.
At the thought of this, he turned to look in a particular direction and grinned.
Kong Chan’s home territory was located in a dead Universe World where there was a magnificent Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest. Over the years, the Black Ink Strength that had been emanating from the Black Ink Nest had enveloped everything. There were over a million Black Ink Clansmen living in this place, which was just as flourishing as Hei Yuan’s territory.
The strongest and most competent Black Ink Clansmen had left with Kong Chan to intercept the Human Army, so although there were some Feudal Lords around, the rest of them were mostly High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
Over the past few days, a slight sense of tension could be felt among the Black Ink Clansmen in Kong Chan’s territory. Rumour had it that a Human named Yang Kai was on a killing spree in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain. He had already destroyed two Territory Lord Black Ink Nests, and his next target was Kong Chan’s.
Most of the Black Ink Clansmen didn’t believe this rumour. As far as they were concerned, even though the Humans were strong and resilient, they couldn’t resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength; therefore, they had been hiding in their Great Passes all these years. Faced with the Black Ink Clan’s soldiers, they could only defend themselves. How was it possible that a single Human had barged into the Black Ink Clan’s territory and even destroyed Black Ink Nests belonging to the powerful Territory Lords?
One day though, a 30,000-metre-long creature, which was covered in scales and radiating a golden light, arrived at this place, wielding a giant spear in its claws. The horrifying pressure this creature exuded sent chills down the spines of these High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
The humongous creature descended from the sky and forcefully swept his spear across the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
The Black Ink Nest, which had stood in this place for tens of thousands of years, given birth to countless Black Ink Clansmen, and provided a resting place for all the Black Ink Clansmen who were born here, was cut in half with just one strike.
As the Black Ink Nest fell, Black Ink Strength gushed out of it like a flood. The Black Ink Clansmen in Kong Chan’s territory were naturally flustered.
The Feudal Lords promptly shot into the sky to repel the enemy; however, the Black Ink Clansmen, who were much larger than ordinary Humans, appeared as petite as ants in front of this behemoth.
The terrifying creature didn’t even spare these Feudal Lords a glance as he opened his mouth and spat out a horrifying flame.
In an instant, many Black Ink Clansmen were slaughtered. Kong Chan’s territory was set ablaze, and countless Black Ink Clansmen perished.
The terrifying creature flitted across the sky, and wherever he went, he easily killed all the Black Ink Clansmen within his reach. On top of that, he swept his claws across all the shops that were filled with resources. The moment his claws came into contact with the shops, they simply disappeared.
Barely a cup of tea’s time later, Kong Chan’s territory was dyed with black blood.
The Black Ink Clansmen tried their best to resist by bombarding the creature with their attacks. Their attempt wasn’t effective in the beginning, but soon, the creature grunted in pain as his blood scattered about.
The battle didn’t last for long. Only an incense stick of time had passed from when the terrifying creature appeared to when he was forced to retreat.
Despite that, over 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives and Kong Chan’s territory had been destroyed. Innumerable amounts of resources and manpower were lost.
What sent these Black Ink Clansmen into despair though was that Kong Chan’s Black Ink Nest was thoroughly destroyed.
Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan. It could be said that all the Black Ink Clansmen living in this place were nurtured by this Black Ink Nest. To them, Kong Chan’s Black Ink Nest was profoundly important to them, a symbol of their very lives.
But now, this Black Ink Nest was destroyed. Although it was still alive, it would inevitably wither after it was cut down by the giant creature. Soon, this Black Ink Nest would perish.
These Black Ink Clansmen were furious as they vowed to get their revenge, but how were they supposed to look for the colossal creature?
After breaking the siege, the creature abruptly disappeared.
Furthermore, after the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests in Kong Chan’s territory died. The information network had been disabled, so their ability to coordinate their efforts was severely hampered.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was hiding inside a Black Ink Cloud and recuperating.
In the past, he would be nervous when he recuperated as he was worried that Hei Yuan would find him; however, he didn’t have to worry about that now. In the Black Ink Nest space, he had severely injured Hei Yuan’s Soul. Just like him, Hei Yuan was probably hiding somewhere and recuperating, so he wouldn’t dare to mess with Yang Kai. He should be glad that Yang Kai stopped trying to look for him.
Without any Territory Lords around, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid of the other Black Ink Clansmen given his current strength.
In such a situation, his presence in the Black Ink Clan was like a Flood Dragon plunging into an ocean or a tiger in the mountains. He was simply unstoppable.
Several days later, Yang Kai dashed out of the Black Ink Cloud and headed straight in a particular direction. Although he ran into some Black Ink Clansmen on his way, he easily killed them off as they were no match for him.
Sometime later, he arrived at a new Territory Lord’s territory.
He had destroyed three Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests already, so the Black Ink Clansmen were obviously aware of his plans. Knowing that he had targeted the Black Ink Nests belonging to the Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clansmen resisted in an even more ferocious manner.
The instant Yang Kai assumed his Grand Dragon Form, the Feudal Lords, who had been hiding, rushed out to deal with him.
Upon seeing so many Black Ink Feudal Lords, Yang Kai counted and realised there were over 100 of them.
Despite being a Grand Dragon, Yang Kai still felt apprehensive. He was indeed powerful and able to escape from a Territory Lord as he was no match for such a Master; however, there was no way he could defeat 100 Feudal Lords in a frontal clash.
Yang Kai had no idea whose territory this was, but from the looks of it, he knew that all of the Feudal Lords who stayed behind had gathered together in this place to defend the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
It was no wonder that when he arrived at a Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest to ascertain the location of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest earlier, he faced no organized resistance at all.
That was because they were all waiting for him here.
After a moment of hesitation, Yang Kai still charged at the Feudal Lords, who apparently hadn’t expected that he would be so unrelenting. Seeing that the 30,000-metre creature was coming at them with a gigantic spear, the Feudal Lords instinctively dodged.
The Grand Dragon directly ploughed through the Feudal Lords’ lines, forcefully enduring the attacks that came at him. Dragon Blood splashed everywhere and Dragon Scales were shattered and broken while some unlucky Feudal Lords were instantly killed as they came into contact with Azure Dragon Spear. With that said, the casualties were insignificant compared to the total number of Feudal Lords in this place.
Regardless, Yang Kai just had to break through their blockade. Ignoring the attacks coming from behind, he directly struck the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest with his Azure Dragon Spear.
After a long time of dealing with the Black Ink Clan, Yang Kai came to realise that the Black Ink Nests were actually quite frail. Basically, the Black Ink Nests were defenceless. Even if he was in his Human form, he could easily destroy a Black Ink Nest with one strike, not to mention in his Grand Dragon Form with the Azure Dragon Spear in his claws.
Therefore, Yang Kai didn’t need to get tangled up with these Feudal Lords. His target had always been to destroy the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
As a Grand Dragon with the Azure Dragon Spear, Yang Kai’s attack was unimaginably destructive. Following the strike, the Black Ink Nest collapsed to the ground.
Yang Kai didn’t even take another glance at it as he flew across the sky above the prosperous city and spat out Dragon Breath, instantly killing tens of thousands of weaker Black Ink Clansmen. The 100 Feudal Lords were relentlessly pursuing him from behind as they continuously cast violent attacks at him in an attempt to take him down.
Although Yang Kai did his best to dodge the attacks, his figure was too massive, so almost all of them struck him, causing him to tremble and roar.
In such a situation, he couldn’t possibly rob the shops as a moment of delay would greatly exacerbate his injuries.
Despite thinking that it was such a shame, he had achieved his main goal; therefore, Yang Kai did not hesitate to shoot into the sky and leave.
The Feudal Lords were still chasing after him; however, after Yang Kai returned to his Human Form, he manipulated Space Principles several times and easily shook off his pursuers.
Since Yang Kai was nowhere in sight, these Feudal Lords had no choice but to give up. They turned around and saw that the Black Ink Nest was withering and could not be saved. Although they had caused some damage to the Grand Dragon, they didn’t manage to make him stay behind and he had successfully fled in the end.
Another Territory Lord Black Ink Nest was destroyed and all of the Black Ink Clansmen in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain were alerted. No one knew when Yang Kai would jump out of nowhere and make a move on another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. More importantly, no one knew which Territory Lord Black Ink Nest would be his next target.
Based on this experience though, they understood that even 100 Feudal Lords couldn’t stop Yang Kai from destroying a Black Ink Nest. It wasn’t that they were unable to defeat Yang Kai, but that he could break through their formation and head straight to the Black Ink Nest, though he would be injured in the process.
Presently, the Royal Lord and several Territory Lords were dealing with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass while Hei Yuan had gone missing. The Feudal Lords couldn’t find anyone who could take charge, leaving the entire Royal Domain leaderless and flustered.
Now, the only thing the Feudal Lords could do was to gather together around their respective Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests and wait. They had to prepare should Yang Kai launch a surprise attack on them all of a sudden, and they could only hope that they could stop him or kill him on the spot eventually.
Therefore, in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain, every Territory Lord Black Ink Nest now had over 100 Feudal Lords surrounding it. Through the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests that hadn’t been affected, they constantly exchanged information and reported on Yang Kai’s whereabouts. The Territory Lord’s territories neighbouring the Black Ink Nest that Yang Kai previously destroyed were the centre of attention.
They speculated that Yang Kai’s next target would be one of those Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests.
Therefore, countless weaker Black Ink Clansmen were sent from these Territory Lords’ territories to search for Yang Kai. As time passed, Yang Kai was still nowhere in sight though, and the pressure on the Black Ink Clan intensified.
Based on past experiences, Yang Kai would go into hiding every time he destroyed a Black Ink Nest, but when he reappeared, he would stir up a bloody storm.
The Black Ink Clan speculated that Yang Kai was probably hiding somewhere to recuperate; after all, every time he appeared, he would be wounded. However, it wouldn’t take him a long time to recover. The Human named Yang Kai seemed to have an incredible restorative ability. Regardless of how badly injured he was, he could always recover in ten days to half a month.
Based on the information they had gathered from the Black Ink Disciples, this kind of restorative power must have something to do with his Dragon Clan bloodline. Dragon Clan members were known to be able to heal their wounds quickly.
As expected, Yang Kai reappeared half a month later. Just like the Black Ink Clan had speculated, he appeared in a neighbouring Territory Lord’s territory of the Black Ink Nest that he previously destroyed.
Although over 100 Feudal Lords were already waiting there, and they had set up a restrictive Spirit Array with the help of the Black Ink Disciples, they still couldn’t ward off the 30,000-metre-long Grand Dragon.
Just like what happened previously, the Grand Dragon destroyed the Black Ink Nest and shattered the Universe World it sat on. Although he was badly injured, he still managed to break through the siege and escape.
Another Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was gone for good.
This caused the Black Ink Clansmen to be furious. The destruction of the Black Ink Nests united all these Black Ink Clansmen as the Feudal Lords swore that they would kill Yang Kai for the humiliation he had inflicted upon them.
The Black Ink Clan intensified their search for Yang Kai, which made it hard for him to recuperate in peace.
Despite their best efforts though, a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest would be destroyed by Yang Kai every half a month. Faced with the ferocious Grand Dragon, these Black Ink Clansmen didn’t have a solution as there were no powerful Masters among them who could confront the enemy head-on.
One day, when Yang Kai transformed into a Grand Dragon and arrived at a Territory Lord’s direct territory, he saw nearly 200 Feudal Lords charging towards him.
After an intense battle, he managed to kill quite a number of them, but their defence line held, so he was unable to get close to the Black Ink Nest. Faced with so many Feudal Lords, he wouldn’t dare to be reckless; otherwise, he would most likely be killed.
Left with no choice, he fled for now.
It had been about half a year since Yang Kai destroyed the first Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. During this period of time, he had destroyed 10 Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests.
In the past, the Feudal Lords were unable to stave him off regardless of how hard they tried, but this time, they managed to force him to withdraw without achieving his goal.
Seeing that the Grand Dragon turned around to flee, the Feudal Lords became high-spirited and cheered in ecstasy. Some of the bold Feudal Lords even chased after Yang Kai, but they eventually lost track of him.
Although the Feudal Lords were unable to make Yang Kai stay, it was the first time they gained a victory against this opponent. With their hard work and perseverance, they saved a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest that Yang Kai had targeted. This was a meaningful victory for all the Black Ink Clansmen that was worth celebrating.
Unlike how joyful the Black Ink Clansmen were, Yang Kai was extremely vexed.
He had repeatedly made a move recently, and even though he had made a huge contribution by destroying quite a number of Territory Lord Black Ink Nests and killing a lot of Feudal Lords, he came to the realisation that, as time passed, he faced increasingly strong resistance.
One thing he had noticed was that the number of Feudal Lords he had to face increased each time he arrived at a new Black Ink Nest.
Furthermore, he found many of the Feudal Lords familiar. In other words, he had seen them before.
After giving it a thought, he soon realised that those familiar-looking Feudal Lords came from the other territories to help.
His target was clear, which was to destroy Territory Lord Black Ink Nests.
Usually, a territory where a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was located would have 100 or so Feudal Lords inhabiting it. Once he managed to destroy the nest though, these Feudal Lords would head to the neighbouring Black Ink Nests to provide reinforcements. That was the reason he came across so many Feudal Lords on this day, and many of them looked familiar to him. It was apparent that he faced them before.
In that case, as he destroyed more Black Ink Nests, he would face stiffer resistance.
Yang Kai was unable to achieve his goal on this day as nearly 200 Feudal Lords went all out to protect the Black Ink Nest. Although he had turned into a Grand Dragon, he was still unable to break through their defences and instead, he was terribly injured.
It seemed that he had to stop this game at this point. If he still recklessly continued, an accident was likely to happen.
Fortunately, he had already destroyed a lot of Territory Lord Black Ink Nests, thus dealing a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan. He had also snatched vast amounts of resources from several Territory Lords’ territories and killed countless Black Ink Clansmen. It could be said that he had made a huge contribution.
Despite his reluctance, Yang Kai still decided to end his actions here.
He believed that after the chaos he raised this time, the foundation of the Black Ink Clan in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain had been severely damaged. It would take them several hundred to 1,000 years to fully recover. The Black Ink Clan must be extremely vexed that 10 Territory Lord Black Ink Nests had been destroyed, which resulted in several dozen more Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests withering as well.
Since he had made up his mind, Yang Kai found a remote place to recuperate in peace.
It was destined that his journey back home wouldn’t be smooth sailing though. Other than the fact that he would run into a lot of Black Ink Clansmen along the way, he would also have to deal with the Black Ink Clan Army besieging Yin-Yang Pass.
Several days later, Yang Kai, who was recuperating, suddenly thought of something. He turned into a Soul Avatar and appeared in his Small Universe.
This was a place with lush mountains and clear rivers. The 300 Artifact Refiners that Yang Kai had kept inside his Small Universe were settled down here. In any case, other than recuperating in such a serene place, there was nothing else they could do.
This was Yang Kai’s Small Universe, after all. If they activated their World Forces as they pleased, it would cause a burden on Yang Kai. They might even damage or contaminate Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
With that in mind, they had been doing nothing recently, which was why they were quite bored.
However, after such a long time, they still had no idea what was going on in the outside world, and Yang Kai didn’t seem to have the intention of releasing them. It was expected that Wu Xing He and the others were worried about Yang Kai, and they wanted to ask him what was going on.
Therefore, the moment Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar appeared, they promptly surrounded him.
“What’s wrong, Senior Brothers?” Yang Kai asked.
Wu Xing He said, “Junior Brother Yang, haven’t we returned to the Inner Sanctum?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Not yet. There’s been an accident. We’re still inside the Black Ink Clan’s territory.”
“We’re still in enemy territory?” Guan Ning was astounded.
Wang Si Bo asked with concern, “What kind of accident? Is there anything we can help you with?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “The Black Ink Clan’s territory is filled with Black Ink Clouds and Black Ink Strength, so it’s best you stay here lest you become corrupted again.”
Wu Xing He and the other Grandmaster Artifact Refiners had cut off large sections of their Small Universes, causing them to drop to the Sixth-Order from the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm so that Yang Kai could easily keep them inside his own Small Universe. Now that their Orders had dropped and their Small Universes were incomplete, they would easily be invaded by Black Ink Strength. The other Artifact Refiners were unable to help either because they were only in the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
“As for what accident occurred… It’s no big deal. Recently, I’ve been destroying some Black Ink Nests.” Yang Kai briefly told them what he had been up to. It wasn’t that he wanted to brag, but he understood that these Artifact Refiners were apprehensive as they had been staying in his Small Universe and unable to find out what was going on in the outside world. Therefore, he decided to tell them what he had done to let them know that it wasn’t that he was unable to return to the Inner Sanctum. He just didn’t want to go back without dealing a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan first.
Upon hearing that Yang Kai had single-handedly destroyed so many Territory Lord Black Ink Nests and killed countless Black Ink Clansmen, these Artifact Refiners were dumbfounded.
They couldn’t really believe what they had just heard.
After all, Yang Kai was just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Although most of the strongest Black Ink Clansmen had left the Royal Domain, even an Eighth-Order Division Commander would be unable to pull off such a feat.
However, they knew that it wasn’t necessary for Yang Kai to lie to them. In other words, such things had really happened.
Wu Xing He and the others were astonished as admiration was written all over their faces.
A moment later, Wu Xing He came to his senses and asked, “Junior Brother, you mean, after a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest is destroyed, all of the sub-nests that originated from that Black Ink Nest will wither as well?”
Yang Kai nodded, “That’s right.”
Wu Xing He quickly ran the numbers in his mind, “A Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest is connected to several dozen Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests. In other words, hundreds of Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests have been destroyed as a result.”
“I think so.”
All of them gasped.
Wang Si Bo said in a shaking voice, “You’ve also injured Hei Yuan?”
Yang Kai nodded, “He wanted to fight me using only our Souls, but he had no idea that I possess the Soul Warming Lotus. He basically found the wrong opponent. Unfortunately, even though I’ve managed to wound his Soul, I have no idea where he is now. I’ve failed in my attempts to find him; otherwise, I could seize this chance and end his life.”
“The Soul Warming Lotus…” Wu Xing He muttered under his breath. He had certainly heard of this Supreme Treasure before, but it never crossed his mind that such a valuable item was in Yang Kai’s possession.
With the Soul Warming Lotus protecting Yang Kai’s Soul, it was expected that Hei Yuan would lose in such a contest.
“Anyway, the Black Ink Clan have suffered immense losses recently; however, the Feudal Lords who are still around have gathered together around the surviving Territory Lord Black Ink Nests, so I’m no longer able to keep attacking. It’s time we went home.”
Upon hearing that, Wu Xing He nodded, “You’d better keep yourself safe, Junior Brother. You’re just a Seventh-Order Master now, but you’ve managed to make such a huge contribution. When you ascend to the Eighth Order in the future, you’ll be a pillar of strength for the Human Race. You must prioritise your safety at all times.”
Yang Kai replied humbly, “Many thanks for your compliment, Senior Brother.”
“How confident are you that you can kill Hei Yuan if you find him?” Wang Si Bo suddenly asked.
After pondering on it for a moment, Yang Kai shook his head, “I have no idea; however, since Hei Yuan’s Soul is damaged, he must be significantly weakened now. If I run into him, I’ll stand a chance to end his life. Why do you ask, Senior Brother Wang?”
A hint of hesitation flashed through Wang Si Bo’s face.
Realising something, Yang Kai asked, “Do you have a way to locate Hei Yuan?”
Wang Si Bo remained silent.
Nevertheless, his silence meant that he definitely had a way to find Hei Yuan. Yang Kai promptly said, “Senior Brother Wang, if you have a solution, why don’t you tell me about it? Although I’ve destroyed a lot of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests and severely damaged their foundation, Black Ink Nests can still be hatched again. It will just take them some time and energy to nurture these Black Ink Nests. However, it will be different if we have a chance to kill Hei Yuan, who is one of the top five Territory Lords serving Mu Guang. Killing Hei Yuan will deal much longer-lasting damage than destroying 10 Territory Lord Black Ink Nests. His death will be a severe blow to the Black Ink Clan.”
After a sigh, Wang Si Bo said, “I wouldn’t dare to say that I can definitely find him, but I can give it a try.”
Yang Kai’s eyes brightened, “I’m all ears.”
Wang Si Bo went on to say, “Hei Yuan has a defensive artifact that was made by me.”
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai soon realised what the other man was talking about, “That arm ring?”
Certainly, he was aware that there was an arm ring on Hei Yuan’s right arm; after all, he had frequently come into contact with him. Although Yang Kai knew that it was an artifact made by a Human Artifact Refiner, it never crossed his mind that it was crafted by Wang Si Bo.
As expected, Wang Si Bo nodded, “Indeed. It was an arm ring. Back then, Hei Yuan found me and told me to make a defensive artifact for him; therefore, I specifically made the arm ring for him. Although the defensive artifact isn’t very strong, it’s not weak either. It might save his life at a critical moment. Since you’ve seen it before, it means that he’s still wearing it.”
Yang Kai nodded, “En.”
“It will be easy, then,” Wang Si Bo put on a smile, “Junior Brother, you’re an Artifact Refiner yourself, so you know that we have a habit of leaving unique marks on the artifacts we make to show that they are our works.”
Certainly, Yang Kai was aware of this custom. Just like Wang Si Bo had said, many Artifact Refiners had a habit of leaving their unique mark on the artifacts they refined. Of course, they wouldn’t leave a mark on every artifact they crafted, only the special and unique ones. The reason Artifact Refiners did such a thing was that they wanted to make a name for themselves. On the other hand, an artifact with a unique mark of an Artifact Refining Grandmaster would be costly.
The marks could either be conspicuous or hidden, it was fully at the Artifact Refiner’s discretion.
In fact, Yang Kai had done such a thing as well; however, he didn’t leave a unique mark but instead a kind of hidden restriction. He left such a restriction in every artifact he refined for the Feudal Lords. When he dealt with Zha Gu, he activated the corresponding restrictions, disrupting the flow of energy in the artifacts on Zha Gu’s body, rendering them brittle and useless. That was how he managed to kill him with one strike back then.
Therefore, he could easily understand what Wang Si Bo was talking about at this moment, “Did you leave a mark in that arm ring?”
“En,” Wang Si Bo nodded. There was no doubt that the arm ring he made for Hei Yuan was valuable, which was why he left his unique mark on it, “I can make something to trace that mark. Perhaps it will allow you to find Hei Yuan. However, if he’s hiding in a Sealed World or if he’s too far away, it won’t work.”
If Hei Yuan was hiding in a Sealed Would, he couldn’t be traced as the signal from the mark couldn’t be traced across a World Barrier. On the other hand, if he was too far away, they simply would be able to connect to the mark.
With that said, it was worth giving it a try and Yang Kai promptly said, “In that case, please do what you can, Senior Brother Wang. It would be best if we can seize this chance to kill Hei Yuan, but if that’s not possible, we can just return to the Inner Sanctum.”
Certainly, Wang Si Bo wouldn’t turn him down.
However, he wasn’t able to freely use his power in Yang Kai’s Small Universe. Left with no choice, Yang Kai could only look for a safe place first.
Fortunately, there were a lot of Sealed Worlds within the Black Ink Clan’s territory. While Yang Kai was raising chaos, he discovered a lot of hidden portals to Sealed Worlds, but he didn’t have time to explore them; hence, it wasn’t hard for him to find a Sealed World now.
It only took him a day to locate a Sealed World, and after opening the portal, he entered and let Wang Si Bo out from his Small Universe. He had already prepared all the materials needed for Artifact Refining.
It wasn’t difficult to craft a tracker, but it would still most likely take Wang Si Bo several days. Yang Kai thus released Wu Xing He and the others so that they could protect Wang Si Bo while he searched around the Sealed World for any potential dangers. By doing so, he could explore this place as well.
If there were any rare Spirit Herbs or Profound Yin Spirit Fruits, he could pick them.
As he explored the Sealed World, Yang Kai pondered on where Hei Yuan was hiding.
Although Wang Si Bo could craft a tracker, it wouldn’t be useful if Hei Yuan was too far away; therefore, Yang Kai had to speculate where Hei Yuan was so that they could make better use of the tracker.
Since Hei Yuan’s Soul had been badly injured, he must be recuperating now.
A Black Ink Nest would be the best choice if a Black Ink Clansman wanted to recuperate. As a Territory Lord, Hei Yuan certainly had to go into a Territory Lord Rank Black Ink Nest to properly heal; however, Yang Kai was causing a storm in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain, targeting Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. Hence, Hei Yuan might not have the guts to enter one. If he was cornered by Yang Kai in a Black Ink Nest, he would be in hot water.
Hence, Yang Kai was 80% sure that Hei Yuan wasn’t in any Black Ink Nest.
He believed that Hei Yuan would be hiding in a region where those Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest had already been destroyed. That was because there were no longer Black Ink Nests in such a place. Judging from what Yang Kai had been doing, he wouldn’t revisit such a place; thus, it would be considered a safe zone for Hei Yuan.
He might even be hiding in his own territory to fool his opponent.
A few days later, Yang Kai returned from the depths of the Sealed World. There were no valuable items in this Sealed World. He had picked a few herbs, but there were no Profound Yin Spirit Fruits.
During this period of time, Wang Si Bo had finished making the tracker.
Seeing Yang Kai, he passed something that looked like a compass to him and explained, “With the help of this thing, you’ll be able to detect the arm ring as long as it’s within range. You should find Hei Yuan when you detect the arm ring’s presence.”
“Got it.” Yang Kai nodded.
“Be cautious, Junior Brother. Although Hei Yuan has been weakened, he’s still a Territory Lord. Run away if you can’t defeat him,” Wang Si Bo said with concern.
Yang Kai replied, “Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I have to bring all of you back to the Inner Sanctum, so I won’t take any big risks.”
After moving Wang Si Bo and the others back inside his Small Universe, Yang Kai left the Sealed World. Upon identifying the direction with the help of his Universe Chart, he headed straight towards Hei Yuan’s territory.
Yang Kai held the compass in his hand, and he would take a look at it from time to time. Nevertheless, it didn’t react along the way.
Whenever he ran into a group of Black Ink Clansmen, he would directly kill them all. There wasn’t even a single Feudal Lord among the Black Ink Clansmen that he came across, so how were they supposed to stop him?
It seemed that his speculation was right. All the Feudal Lords had headed to the neighbouring Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests to help and waited for Yang Kai to arrive; therefore, there wasn’t a single Feudal Lord among the Black Ink Clansmen on patrol.
Yang Kai went on a killing spree for the next seven to eight days before he arrived at Hei Yuan’s territory.
He headed straight to Hei Yuan’s home territory, since he speculated that Hei Yuan was trying to deceive him by hiding in the least likely spot for him to look. This place also made sense for Hei Yuan though as this was where his foundation was. If he wanted to recuperate without relying on a Black Ink Nest, this place would be the best choice.
However, when Yang Kai arrived at the universe fragment and took a look at the compass, he realised that there was no reaction.
[Is Hei Yuan not here?]
Yang Kai frowned.
He certainly had trust in the thing Wang Si Bo crafted. This compass wasn’t a complicated artifact and Wang Si Bo was an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, so the items he refined couldn’t possibly be useless.
Since the compass didn’t react, it suggested that Hei Yuan wasn’t here.
It seemed that Yang Kai’s speculation was wrong, so he was disappointed.
Nevertheless, since he was already here, he wouldn’t want to go back without achieving anything. As he took a glance at the shattered universe fragment, he activated the power of his Dragon Vein and roared. The next instant, he turned into a 30,000-metre-long Dragon.
Life hadn’t been peaceful for the Black Ink Clansmen living on this universe fragment.
When the Human named Yang Kai appeared as a Grand Dragon previously, not only did he destroy the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest and kill a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, but he also shattered the universe fragment. As a result, the city was ruined, and a lot of the resources in the shops were stolen.
There was originally a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest that continuously produced Black Ink Strength here, which was the foundation that the Black Ink Clansmen relied on to survive. Now that the Black Ink Nest was destroyed, the Black Ink Strength around the universe fragment became thinner and thinner. A long time had passed, but the injured Black Ink Clansmen still hadn’t managed to recover.
It was imaginable that the remaining Black Ink Strength would be gone for good in no time. When that happened, the situation here would only exacerbate.
On the other hand, Hei Yuan was missing. Initially, there were still some Feudal Lords in this area, but they had left soon after. It seemed that they had headed out to protect other Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
The Black Ink Clansmen living on the universe fragment were apprehensive about their future. Although some High-Rank Clansmen assured them that Hei Yuan wouldn’t abandon them, and that he would get another Black Ink Nest to rebuild their foundation, their efforts did little to assuage these fears.
Just as the Black Ink Clansmen on the universe fragment were lost in their own anxiety, they heard a Dragon Roar coming from the distance, and it sounded familiar.
The Black Ink Clansmen looked up and saw that there was a colossal Grand Dragon with a golden glow descending from the sky, shaking its head and flicking its tail as it swam towards them.
[Why is he here again!?]
The Black Ink Clansmen on the universe fragment were stunned. It was said that this Grand Dragon had been targeting Territory Lord Rank Black Ink Nests, but since the Black Ink Nest in this place had been destroyed, why was he here now?
Before they could figure out the reason, the Grand Dragon was upon them. Wherever he went, Black Ink Clansmen would die.
When Yang Kai arrived at this place as a Grand Dragon previously, he faced resistance from a lot of Feudal Lords; however, this time, the most powerful opponents were just High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Faced with Yang Kai’s intense Dragon Pressure, these Black Ink Clansmen were so terrified they ran away at first sight, not daring to clash with him.
The Grand Dragon destroyed everything in sight as though there was no one else in this place. As he breathed out his Dragon Breath, the Black Ink Clansmen screamed in terror and pain.
When Yang Kai left two hours later, the entire universe fragment was thoroughly shattered.
Countless Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives during the carnage. It was estimated that over 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen had perished. Although there wasn’t a Feudal Lord among them, these High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen were still part of the Black Ink Clan’s foundation. Their deaths could potentially affect the Black Ink Clan’s survival as a whole.
What’s more, all the resources in all the shops had been snatched up.
Although Yang Kai had previously looted several shops, he didn’t obtain everything as he was in a hurry. This time, he could pillage without any worries, so he picked the Black Ink Clan clean.
The entire universe was shattered, and innumerable Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives. It could be said that Hei Yuan’s home territory was thoroughly destroyed.
This was probably the first Territory Lord territory to be completely wiped out by a Human in history.
Unfortunately, Hei Yuan wasn’t here.
Hei Yuan’s Soul had been damaged, so if Yang Kai could find him here, he had the confidence to kill him; however, the void was expansive, so Yang Kai wasn’t even sure where to start looking for him.
Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do at this point.
It was time he returned to Yin-Yang Pass. The Black Ink Clan’s Army was currently besieging the Great Pass, but Yang Kai had no idea about the specifics over there.
Since he had made up his mind, he headed straight towards Yin-Yang Pass. As Space Principles flared, his figure flickered. There weren’t any obstacles along the way. Perhaps the Black Ink Clansmen were too terrified of him now, so they wouldn’t dare to wander about.
Half a day later, just as he was about to leave Hei Yuan’s territory and enter another Territory Lord’s domain, the compass in his hand shook a little all of a sudden.
Although he didn’t find Hei Yuan in his home territory, Yang Kai still held out hope. Perhaps he might find a trace that would lead him to Hei Yuan on his way back, so he kept the compass made by Wang Si Bo on his person the whole time.
Hence, he was pleasantly surprised that it finally reacted.
The vibration was weak; however, Yang Kai was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and he had been hoping to find Hei Yuan, so he had been paying close attention to the compass. Therefore, the moment the compass vibrated, he immediately noticed it.
Yang Kai abruptly stopped in his tracks and looked down, only to see that the pointer was slightly swaying as it pointed in a particular direction.
His eyes brightened. Since the compass was reacting, it suggested that it had detected the arm ring’s presence. Hei Yuan was always wearing the arm ring on his right arm, so wherever it was, Hei Yuan should be hiding there.
The reason the pointer was swaying was that Hei Yuan was still far away. It was barely within the range where the compass could detect the arm ring, so it could only roughly point out a direction.
That was enough though.
Yang Kai was ecstatic. He initially thought that he would miss the chance to kill Hei Yuan, so he was surprised at the turn of events.
He immediately concealed his aura and charged in the direction that the compass had pointed.
There was no doubt that Hei Yuan was recuperating. Although his Soul had been injured, he was still a Territory Lord; therefore, it wouldn’t be easy to take him down. Yang Kai reckoned that his best hope was to launch a sneak attack on him.
As he got closer, the pointer gradually stabilised and eventually stopped swaying.
Half a day later, Yang Kai hid inside a Black Ink Cloud and silently examined the universe fragment in front of him.
The universe fragment was pretty huge as it was left behind from a shattered Universe World. Such universe fragments were innumerable on the Black Ink Battlefield, especially inside the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Many Feudal Lords and Territory Lords built their bases on such universe fragments.
Hei Yuan’s home territory was also built on a universe fragment.
As Yang Kai observed this place, he realised that there were no Black Ink Clansmen moving around on the universe fragment. Hei Yuan was nowhere in sight, nor could he detect his aura.
However, the compass was pointing in this direction. In other words, Hei Yuan must be hiding in this universe fragment.
After observing for a bit, he still couldn’t find Hei Yuan. Yang Kai frowned and dashed out of the Black Ink Cloud before charging towards the universe fragment.
Since he had no idea where Hei Yuan was, he could only search for him.
He did his best to conceal himself as he moved around the universe fragment like a ghost. Initially, Yang Kai was worried that his whereabouts would be exposed; after all, regardless of how well he could conceal his aura, Hei Yuan might detect his presence in such close proximity. However, after he searched around most of the universe fragment, there was still no reaction from Hei Yuan.
It was only then that Yang Kai set his mind at ease. It seemed that Hei Yuan was indeed badly injured. When a Black Ink Clansman was horribly injured, the best way to recuperate was to enter an unconscious state. In other words, Hei Yuan was probably hibernating somewhere on this universe fragment.
That would allow Yang Kai to make a move with ease.
However, after inspecting most of the places on the universe fragment, he still couldn’t find Hei Yuan. Fortunately, there came a moment when a hint of Black Ink Strength caught his attention.
In the Black Ink Clan’s territory, Black Ink Strength was practically omnipresent. Some of it had even formed into Black Ink Clouds; therefore, Yang Kai didn’t pay attention to this wisp of Black Ink Strength initially.
It wasn’t until he realised there was something off about this particular patch of Black Ink Strength that he decided to examine it.
A moment later, he noticed that the source of the Black Ink Strength was inside the universe fragment; in other words, Hei Yuan was hiding within the universe fragment.
It was no wonder that Yang Kai was unable to find him even after such a long time.
With that thought in mind, he traced the Black Ink Strength and soon found a cave that led to the depths of the universe fragment.
As he held his breath, Yang Kai snuck into the cave and descended for quite some time. The deeper he went, the thicker the Black Ink Strength was. This led him to believe that his judgment was right.
There came a moment when he saw light at the other end of the cave.
There was a huge empty space in the centre of the universe fragment, and as he looked up, Yang Kai couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
That was because there was a several-dozen-metre tall Black Ink Nest in the centre of this universe fragment. Just like the other Black Ink Nests that Yang Kai had seen before, this one looked like a dark flower bud and as it breathed, the entire Black Ink Nest pulsated like a heart.
He was surprised that there was a Black Ink Nest in this place.
One had to know that he had destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, so supposedly, all the sub-nests bred from it should have withered by now. Why was there still a Black Ink Nest here?
The only possibility was that this Black Ink Nest wasn’t a sub-nest of Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, nor was it a sub-nest of any of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests Yang Kai had destroyed.
This might even be another Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest; otherwise, it couldn’t possibly have survived.
However, its scale wasn’t even comparable to the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. Hei Yuan must have hatched it in a hurry to help him recuperate, so he didn’t have time to grow it yet.
As Yang Kai looked down at the compass, the pointer was pointing at the Black Ink Nest.
[Found you!] Yang Kai stored the compass and examined the Black Ink Nest in front of him.
The entire Black Ink Nest had been sealed up, so it was impossible for him to sneak inside without alerting Hei Yuan.
Nevertheless, Hei Yuan still didn’t react even though Yang Kai was in such close proximity. It seemed that he was really in a state of deep sleep.
Yang Kai took a deep breath and reached out his hand, summoning the Azure Dragon Spear into his grip. The next instant, he madly pushed the power of his Small Universe.
As a Golden Crow cawed, a Great Sun leapt up from behind Yang Kai. Fixing the Great Sun at the tip of his spear, he hurled it towards the Black Ink Nest. At the same time, Space Principles flared, turning the local space viscous, giving Hei Yuan no chance to flee.
Under the Great Sun, the several-dozen-metre tall Black Ink Nest was blown away. Right then, a roar with a hint of fury reverberated across the space. The next instant, a golden light dazzled Yang Kai’s eyes as a ring-shaped light shield appeared and blocked his attack.
It was the arm ring refined by Wang Si Bo!
Yang Kai long ago realised that the arm ring was a defensive artifact that Hei Yuan wore on his right arm. Although he had been sound asleep, he, as a Territory Lord, still instinctively reacted to the danger the moment Yang Kai launched the attack and the arm ring’s shield was instantly activated.
Wang Si Bo was an Artifact Refining Grandmaster, so the defensive artifact with his unique mark that he had personally refined certainly wouldn’t be weak when it came to its defence.
However, it wasn’t enough to withstand Yang Kai’s attack either; after all, he was significantly more powerful than an average Seventh-Order Master. Furthermore, Golden Crow Casts the Sun was a Divine Manifestation, so ordinary Secret Techniques were not comparable to it.
Under the Great Sun, the golden defence shattered and Yang Kai directly thrust his Azure Dragon Spear towards Hei Yuan’s chest.
It was expected that Hei Yuan was in a terrible mood as he was faced with such an attack right after he awakened. As his power burst forth, he forcefully threw out his fist.
In an instant, the ground cracked and rocks flew around.
The universe fragment, which had been drifting around the void in silence over countless years, was subject to a violent clash, and in the next instant, it exploded into pieces.
Two figures shot out of it. While in mid-air, Yang Kai sprayed out a mouthful of blood, his face as pale as a sheet.
He almost couldn’t bear Hei Yuan’s all-out attack. Some of his ribs were broken and his five viscera and six organs were throbbing. Just like what Wang Si Bo had said, even though Hei Yuan had been weakened, he was still a Territory Lord.
Yang Kai stabilised himself and lifted his gaze, only to see that Hei Yuan was looking furious. There was a hint of puzzlement behind his eyes, as it was apparent that he hadn’t figured out what was going on yet.
The arm ring on his right arm had turned dim with cracks all over it. Most of its spirituality had been lost.
It was only thanks to this arm ring that blocked Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun at the critical moment that his life was saved; otherwise, he could’ve been killed by Yang Kai in that sneak attack.
Even so, blood was still streaming from his chest at this moment as the blow had still hurt him.
A short while later, Hei Yuan figured out what was going on. As he looked up and made out the person who launched a sneak attack on him, he said through clenched teeth, “It’s you!”
Yang Kai spat out the blood in his mouth and sneered, “You’re pretty lucky.”
It was thanks to the arm ring that Wang Si Bo had made for Hei Yuan that Yang Kai could find Hei Yuan. Nevertheless, it was also because of the arm ring that his strike was rendered ineffective. His success and failure were all because of Wang Si Bo.
With that said, he had found Hei Yuan at the very least, and the battle had just started.
“How did you know that I was here?” Hei Yuan was both surprised and shocked as he couldn’t figure it out. The void was vast, and he was hiding inside an empty universe fragment to recuperate. How did Yang Kai discover him?
One had to know that he randomly chose this place to settle down for the time being. No one else was aware of his whereabouts.
Despite that, Yang Kai had still accurately located him and launched a sneak attack on him, which was inconceivable.
“Is it hard to find you?” Yang Kai sneered as he wielded his spear, “I can smell the stench coming from your body even if we’re billions of kilometres apart. So, don’t even think about hiding from me. Wherever you are, I can find you and kill you.”
Hei Yuan’s expression darkened, “Do you think you’re capable of doing it?”
“You’ll soon find out if I’m capable or not!” Yang Kai snorted, looking high-spirited as he pointed his spear at his opponent, “Don’t even think about running away, as today, either you die, or I perish, there is no third possibility!”
“Run?” Hei Yuan was so furious that he started laughing as his Territory Lord aura rose. Black Ink Strength swirled around his burly figure as he roared, “How dare a trivial ant like you challenge this Lord! You court death!”
As his horrifying pressure burst forth, space started contorting. Under the influence of his fury, Hei Yuan’s robust figure expanded and became even more intimidating.
Standing in front of Hei Yuan, Yang Kai was so petite that it was as though he was really just an ant.
In the next instant, a huge fist came at Yang Kai. Faced with such an imposing attack, Yang Kai had never been more solemn, because wherever the fist went, space would shatter apart.
This showed how powerful a Territory Lord truly was, and the situation was quite unlike what Yang Kai had imagined. The damage to Hei Yuan’s Soul didn’t seem to affect his strength at all.
This reality surprised Yang Kai, but he didn’t have time to ponder on it. Faced with Hei Yuan’s punch, he didn’t hesitate to cover himself in spear light and charge towards his opponent. As he infused his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm World Force into the Azure Dragon Spear, he was determined to pierce through whatever stood in front of him.
As the violent forces clashed, Yang Kai felt an immense power sweeping across his figure. He almost lost grip of his spear as the force easily shattered all of his defences, causing him to see stars as he was sent flying backwards while spraying out a mouthful of blood in mid-air.
If not for the fact that he had the World Tree’s clone, his Small Universe would have turned upside down because of this one attack. Once a cultivator’s Small Universe was shaken, his power would severely weaken. When that happened, his life or death would be controlled by his opponent.
Despite the fact that Yang Kai’s Small Universe was robust, he couldn’t make up for the gap between their powers.
A relentless Hei Yuan was determined to capture Yang Kai and charged forward, throwing out his fist again.
Yang Kai raised his spear to intercept the attack, but his attempt was futile and he was sent flying away again.
*Hong hong hong…*
A violent force swept across the void with every attack that Hei Yuan launched. Despite being defiant, Yang Kai was powerless to counterattack, as though he was a mere sandbag.
Barely a moment later, he was covered in blood, looking completely battered.
Struck by Hei Yuan’s fist again, Yang Kai flew out several hundred kilometres and crashed into a universe fragment and remained there, unmoving.
Hei Yuan strode towards Yang Kai, and with every step he took, he crossed several dozen kilometres. It only took him a moment to reach Yang Kai, and as he looked down at him, he spoke in a voice so loud that it reverberated across the void, “Have you lost all hope, ant? Don’t worry. I won’t kill you, for you are still useful to the Royal Lord. I initially had no idea where to look for you, but since you’ve delivered yourself right to me, I’ll not let you go.”
Upon finishing his words, he extended his hand towards Yang Kai.
“Stop shamelessly boasting,” Yang Kai sneered as he stood straight up without a warning, the blood on his face giving him a hideous look, “Do you seriously think I’m unable to fight back? I was just trying to ascertain the gap between our strengths.”
As he spoke, Hei Yuan managed to grasp him. Yang Kai was stuck in the huge hand and was restrained by thick Black Ink Strength. Aware that Yang Kai was a Master in the Dao of Space, Hei Yuan ensured that his opponent wouldn’t be able to flee.
The calm expression on Yang Kai’s face made Hei Yuan even more furious though and he exerted more force with his grip, resulting in the sounds of bones cracking. He lifted Yang Kai and said grimly, “Have you ascertained the gap between us now?”
Yang Kai let out a breath, “En, and you’re not as powerful as I thought.”
“Now who is boasting shamelessly?” Hei Yuan growled, “You’re in my grasp now. I can squeeze you to death if I feel like it!”
Yang Kai just grinned at him though, and in the next instant, an invisible force condensed into a spike and stabbed into Hei Yuan’s forehead. An unsuspecting Hei Yuan felt that a stake had penetrated his head. He was instantly overwhelmed by excruciating pain, which caused him to flail and groan in agony.
Yang Kai, who was right in front of him, gripped his spear and stabbed it into Hei Yuan’s left eye, directly destroying it. Black Ink Strength and dark blood gushed out of the now empty eye socket and dyed Yang Kai black.
Hei Yuan roared even louder as he staggered backwards.
In excruciating pain, he instinctually tightened his grip in an attempt to kill Yang Kai. Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t let that happen. As he roared, he transformed into a 30,000-metre-long gigantic creature and effortlessly broke free from Hei Yuan’s grip. Yang Kai next directly struck Hei Yuan with his Dragon Tail and sent him flying away like an arrow.
Hei Yuan only managed to stabilize himself with difficulty after flying across several thousand kilometres. As he covered his wounded eye with one hand, he sported a grim expression, dark blood streaming through the gaps between his fingers.
Yang Kai had turned back into his Human Form, and with the Azure Dragon Spear in hand, he sauntered towards Hei Yuan. Although he still looked battered, he wasn’t dispirited at all; instead, he appeared condescending.
As the Human drew closer, Hei Yuan couldn’t help but step backwards, his only remaining eye filled with horror.
Yang Kai said impassively, “Do you think you can intimidate me just by showing your strength? Such a display only proves how weak you are. I guess it’s really hard to heal the damage in your Soul. Am I right, Sir Hei Yuan?”
“You knew from the start!” Hei Yuan said through clenched teeth.
Yang Kai snorted, “Of course I knew. If I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have looked for you in the first place. This place will be your grave. Are you ready to die, Hei Yuan?”
Upon finishing his words, he lifted his spear and vanished into thin air.
When he reappeared, he was already right in front of Hei Yuan. In an overbearing manner, Yang Kai thrust his Azure Dragon Spear towards his enemy’s other eye.
A flustered Hei Yuan extended his fist in a hurry in an attempt to intercept this attack, but in that instant, Yang Kai pushed his Spiritual Energy again and launched another attack on Hei Yuan’s Soul.
Instantly, Hei Yuan growled, feeling as though someone had stuck a knife into his head. The pain caused his figure to shudder. Just like Yang Kai had said, it wasn’t easy to heal the damage to one’s Soul, and Hei Yuan’s was badly injured during their previous confrontation in that special space. It was now a fatal weakness which Yang Kai could use against him.
If he were at his peak, Yang Kai couldn’t have easily attacked his Soul; however, given the state he was in, Hei Yuan couldn’t possibly fend off Yang Kai’s attack on his Soul.
His injured Soul was attacked once again, which caused his defence to slip and Yang Kai easily bypassed it with his spear.
At the critical moment, Hei Yuan tilted his head and saved his remaining eye from being gouged out. Although there was now a wound on his head, physically he was still fine.
Just as Yang Kai was ready to push out his spear again, Hei Yuan swung his arm out and swept him away. The next moment, he turned around and ran away at full speed.
Yang Kai couldn’t believe that his opponent had fled just like this. He had been targeting the damage in Hei Yuan’s Soul, so the latter was completely powerless to go against him. If Hei Yuan hadn’t fled, he would be doomed.
Since he didn’t want to die though, Hei Yuan could only run away.
As Yang Kai stared at his opponent’s back, he slightly lowered his head, “No one can flee from me. Don’t even dream about it, Hei Yuan!”
Saying so, he manipulated Space Principles.
Instantly, Hei Yuan’s movements became sluggish, as though he was stuck in a quagmire. But soon, a powerful force burst from his figure, which allowed him to struggle out of the constraint.
Yang Kai frowned in surprise, for this was the first time he saw that someone able to break through his Space Principles restraint with such ease.
However, Hei Yuan was still a Territory Lord while Yang Kai was just a Seventh-Order Master, so the raw power difference between them was still quite large. It wasn’t surprising that Hei Yuan could do this.
Based on Yang Kai’s observation, Hei Yuan was still able to fully utilize his strength as long as his Soul wasn’t attacked.
But when his Soul was targeted, his power would drop considerably.
Initially, Yang Kai wanted to settle this issue quickly, but now it seemed that he had to act carefully. It would be terrible if Hei Yuan became desperate and went all out against him without caring for his own life.
Yang Kai still remembered vividly that when he joined forces with Bai Yi to deal with the wounded Zhu Feng back then; they were almost killed despite the Territory Lord being terribly wounded.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai chased after his opponent and shouted, “You can’t run, Hei Yuan!”
At the same time, he struck with his spear and manipulated Space Principles to restrict Hei Yuan’s movements.
Noticing the danger coming from behind, Hei Yuan turned around and roared before pushing out his fist.
A well-prepared Yang Kai used the same trick by sending out a Spiritual Energy attack. Instantly, Hei Yuan staggered, and his punch was significantly weakened.
While enduring the attack, Yang Kai jabbed his spear into the side of Hei Yuan’s belly and madly surged his World Force. A hole was formed in Hei Yuan’s abdomen as a result.
The two of them traded injuries, and seeing how Yang Kai was forced back, Hei Yuan quickly turned around and fled.
Soon, Yang Kai caught up though and repeated the process.
Barely half a year ago, Yang Kai had been running away from Hei Yuan for such a long time that the World Force in his Small Universe had almost dried up. Now, the prey had become the hunter. He was the one pursuing Hei Yuan. It seemed that Hei Yuan had run out of luck.
Hei Yuan knew that he was unable to flee from Yang Kai as the latter was a Master of the Dao of Space; however, he didn’t lose hope. Every time Yang Kai attacked him, he would be injured as well. As they kept wounding each other, Hei Yuan hoped that Yang Kai would be the one who could no longer persevere. Only then would he stand a chance to escape.
Unfortunately for Hei Yuan, he wasn’t aware that this was the situation Yang Kai had deliberately created.
In fact, Yang Kai wasn’t unable to dodge Hei Yuan’s counterattacks at all. There were several times when he could have completely evaded such attacks, but he still chose to clash with Hei Yuan despite knowing that he would be wounded as well.
Yang Kai wanted to give the prey in front of him the illusion that he could still survive and escape.
Yang Kai’s cultivation may not be as high as Hei Yuan’s, but in terms of restorative abilities, Hei Yuan was far inferior to him. Trading injuries put Yang Kai at an advantage. Hei Yuan was destined to grow weaker over the course of this chase, and at the right time, perhaps Hei Yuan would die from exhaustion even without his intervention!
Nonetheless, Hei Yuan was not an idiot. He might not know what Yang Kai was planning, but he was still trying his very best to escape from his pursuit.
He repeatedly fled to the Fiefs of a few Feudal Lords, hoping to use the Black Ink Clansmen in those territories to stop Yang Kai.
However, the remaining Black Ink Clansmen in those Feudal Lord Fiefs were basically just the Low and High-Rank Clansmen with no Feudal Lords at all. How could they possibly stop Yang Kai?
They might delay him for a few breaths, but it was impossible for Hei Yuan to completely escape.
The chase continued across billions of kilometres and Hei Yuan’s injuries became more and more severe. He was riddled with wounds now, and not a single part of his body was left unbloodied. The fury and grievance boiling in his heart could not be expressed in words.
He was far stronger than Yang Kai in terms of raw power, but Yang Kai kept deliberately targeting his heavily injured Soul, rendering him unable to display the strength of a Territory Lord. Otherwise, why would he be in such a miserable condition?
Several times, Hei Yuan had an urge to turn around and fight to the death with Yang Kai, but in the end, he didn’t have the courage to do so. In his current state, he would not survive if he truly tried to fight to the death with Yang Kai. He wasn’t even sure that he could take Yang Kai down with him at this point.
His desire to survive pushed him to constantly flee, hoping for some miracle to happen which would help him overcome his current crisis.
Suddenly, a variable indeed appeared.
At some point, Hei Yuan suddenly felt a few familiar and powerful auras rapidly approaching him; obviously, they were other Territory Lords, existences like him! He could even ascertain the identities of these people from the auras.
Hei Yuan was overjoyed!
Currently, most of the Territory Lords in Mu Guang’s Royal Domain had basically led their respective armies to fight against the Humans from Yin-Yang Pass. Only a few Territory Lords remained to guard critical areas like the Royal City.
However, Hei Yuan also knew that the Territory Lords in the Royal City had been assisting the Royal Lord in besieging the Human Old Ancestor. Hei Yuan had been recuperating recently, so he had no idea about the current situation of the battlefield.
Since he could sense the auras of these Territory Lords appearing in the distance though, it meant that the battle between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord had come to an end. Regardless of what the final outcome of the battle was, these Territory Lords could provide some assistance at the front lines. And judging by the direction they were heading, it seemed that they were heading in that direction.
Running into them here was truly a stroke of luck.
Hei Yuan immediately flew in the direction of the Territory Lords without a moment of hesitation. So long as he met up with them, Yang Kai, who was chasing after him, would definitely have to act cautiously. He could even team up with the other Territory Lords and find a way to capture Yang Kai. With their help, even if Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, he might not be able to escape.
At this moment, Hei Yuan couldn’t help but recall a saying passed down in the Human Race, ‘every cloud has a silver lining.’
But right then, a petite figure appeared in his sight all of a sudden. Hei Yuan suddenly felt so cold, it was like he had been frozen solid.
When Hei Yuan sensed the auras of these Territory Lords, Yang Kai also noticed them. Even from a great distance, the monstrous auras of these Territory Lords were as clear as the bright moon in the night sky.
Yang Kai immediately became anxious.
He had originally planned to slowly exhaust Hei Yuan to death as, no matter how weakened, the latter was still a Territory Lord. If he was forced into a corner, Yang Kai had no idea what kind of methods Hei Yuan could pull out in desperation. However, the sudden appearances of other Territory Lords had thrown his plans off entirely. He could sense Mie Qiong and Qing Lei among these auras, and apart from those two, he also sensed the aura of another unfamiliar Territory Lord.
In other words, there were three Territory Lords up ahead!
[What are they doing here?] According to the information Yang Kai had received, a few Territory Lords were assisting Mu Guang in besieging the Old Ancestor. That was why, when he had severely wounded Hei Yuan’s Soul, Yang Kai had been able to continue acting freely within the Black Ink Clan’s territory. After all, there was no other Territory Lord present to stop him.
But now, three of them had appeared all of a sudden, [Has the battle between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord ended? Who won?]
Yang Kai had no time to give it another thought though as he only hesitated for a moment before immediately activating his Space Principles and disappearing like a ghost.
The next moment he appeared, he was not too far behind Hei Yuan. He promptly manipulated the local Space Principles to seal the surrounding space and thrust out his Azure Dragon Spear. At the same time, he fired a blast of his Spiritual Energy straight at Hei Yuan’s head while shouting, “Hei Yuan, suffer death!”
The three Territory Lords were still some distance away, so Yang Kai figured he still had enough time to escape after killing Hei Yuan.
Yang Kai was already prepared to defend against Hei Yuan’s final counterattack, but Hei Yuan appeared as if he was completely oblivious to the danger even when this fearsome spear thrust was upon him. Rather, all his attention was focused on something in front of him.
Suddenly, a glimmer of cold light flashed by as a petite figure, holding a longsword, flew past Hei Yuan. The longsword was devoid of even a stain of black blood and just so happened to collide with Yang Kai’s spear.
Yang Kai’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets at the sight of this figure and he frantically retracted his spear, but the powerful impact still caused his vitality to tumble in his chest.
The petite figure rushed to Yang Kai and asked in surprise, “Why are you here?”
Yang Kai was also stunned as he asked in a dumbfounded voice, “Old Ancestor?”
He had not expected to run into the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor here. Yang Kai had been wondering about the battle between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord when he felt the auras of Mie Qiong and the other Territory Lords up ahead. Nonetheless, it never crossed his mind that the Old Ancestor would suddenly appear before him the next moment.
[Does this mean that the Old Ancestor was fighting Mu Guang for an entire half a year? Astonishing!]
However, now was obviously not the time to reminisce about such things. The three Territory Lords behind the Old Ancestor were relentlessly chasing after her and would be here soon. So, after the Old Ancestor finished asking, she mustered her World Force, wrapped Yang Kai in it, and shouted, “Let’s get out of here first!”
Yang Kai could only allow himself to be dragged along by the Old Ancestor, flying forward as fast as lightning.
While escaping, he took a quick look back and saw Hei Yuan’s huge body collapse into countless pieces all of a sudden.
Apparently, in the brief moment the Old Ancestor passed him by, she had ruthlessly attacked him.
Hei Yuan was already on his last legs and had no strength to take on an attack from an Old Ancestor. A load had been taken off Yang Kai’s mind when he saw this.
Hei Yuan might not have died at his hands, but in the end he didn’t escape.
“Didn’t I tell you to meet up with the Army? Why are you still here?” The Old Ancestor curiously asked as she led Yang Kai away.
Yang Kai respectfully replied, “Mu Guang’s army moved to engage the Army from Yin-Yang Pass. At first, the huge army was blocking my path, so it was difficult for me to break through alone. I wasn’t able to join up with the others. Later, something happened, so I stayed here.”
“You might be young, but your courage isn’t small,” the Old Ancestor indifferently stated. Who knows whether she was mocking him or praising him. She then suddenly asked, “Were you the one who injured that guy?”
“Hei Yuan?” Yang Kai nodded, “Yes, it was me.”
“No wonder he didn’t have any strength to resist my attack,” the Old Ancestor instantly understood, “If he was at his peak, I might not have been able to kill him in my current state.”
Yang Kai was taken aback after hearing this and immediately took a closer look at the Old Ancestor’s face, “Are you injured?”
The Old Ancestor gloomily nodded, “My injuries aren’t light.” But the next moment, she suddenly sneered, “Don’t worry, that old hag’s injuries are even worse, she’s currently unconscious inside her Black Ink Nest.”
Yang Kai’s heart was shaken. He knew that the ‘old hag’ she was referring to should be Mu Guang.
Both of them had fought countless times since they had taken command of this war zone, so a deep blood feud had already been forged between the two. Both were Supreme Masters of their respective Race and they had always been on par with each other. Since the Old Ancestor had suffered heavy injuries, Mu Guang would not have fared any better either.
Otherwise, not just these Territory Lords would be chasing after the Old Ancestor.
Just now, Yang Kai had been wondering why someone like the Old Ancestor was even being chased by a few Territory Lords, but now he knew the answer. Apparently, her injuries were quite serious.
However, there was one thing that piqued Yang Kai’s curiosity, “Old Ancestor, those Territory Lords don’t seem to be injured at all.”
The Old Ancestor pursed her lips in disdain, “These cowards were just hovering around in the background while I was fighting with that old hag. They didn’t dare to interfere, so why would they be injured? However, when I broke through the encirclement, I killed one of them; otherwise, the ones chasing after me would have been four Territory Lords. Heh heh, I’m pretty awesome, aren’t I?”
Saying so, she even winked at Yang Kai.
At that moment, Yang Kai couldn’t remain calm and the corners of his mouth twitched as he praised, “Old Ancestor is truly too amazing and awesome, your might is simply boundless!”
The Old Ancestor seemed to be quite happy to hear the praise, no matter how obviously forced it was. Quickly composing herself though, she asked, “I’m quite curious, how did you injure a Territory Lord to the point you could chase him down? You’re only in the Seventh Order, right?”
If all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were so powerful, the Black Ink Clan would have long been wiped out.
Yang Kai explained, “Hei Yuan dug his own grave.”
Afterwards, he briefly explained what he had done so far and how Hei Yuan had worked together with many others to set up a trap, waiting for Yang Kai to fall into it. In the end, Hei Yuan only lifted a rock just to drop it on his own foot. He failed to do anything to Yang Kai’s consciousness in that strange space and instead was badly wounded. With the help of the compass refined by Wang Si Bo, Yang Kai coincidentally found Hei Yuan’s location and engaged in a fierce battle with him before pursuing him.
The Old Ancestor’s eyes lit up as she listened, “Their Black Ink Nests actually have such a connection?”
“Did Old Ancestor really not know?”
The Old Ancestor explained, shaking her head, “The Human Race actually knows very little about the Black Ink Clan. Because of the Black Ink Strength, we are unable to explore the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory, let alone their Black Ink Nests. What’s more, Black Ink Nests are the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, so they naturally do not reveal secrets about them. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to obtain this intel at all.”
Having said so, a solemn look appeared on her face before she continued, “According to what you said, each Black Ink Nest can be counted as a sub-nest of a higher-grade Black Ink Nest. If a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest is destroyed, all of its sub-nest will wither as well. If that old hag’s Black Ink Nest were destroyed, wouldn’t all of the Territory Lord Black Ink Nests also wither, thereby affecting all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests as well?”
Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “That should be the case.”
The Old Ancestor asked again, “Then whose nest bred the Royal Lord Black Ink Nests?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “I don’t know either. According to the Black Ink Clan, a Royal Lord Black Ink Nest is the highest-grade Black Ink Nest.”
The Old Ancestor remained silent for a long time before finally adding, “There must be a source. If we can find this source, perhaps we can eliminate the Black Ink Clan once and for all.”
Yang Kai asked worriedly, “If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean there’s an even stronger Black Ink Clansman, stronger than even the Royal Lords?” Since that source could give birth to a High-Rank Black Ink Nest owned by a Royal Lord, it would naturally be guarded by an even stronger Black Ink Clansman. That was quite a terrifying prospect.
The Royal Lords were already on par with the Old Ancestors. If there really was someone even stronger, what kind of strength could they display?
“Perhaps.” The Old Ancestor couldn’t explain it either, “Right now, our understanding of the Black Ink Clan is still too limited.”
While speaking, she turned her head to look and saw that the three Territory Lords were still hot on their tails. More importantly, instead of opening up a gap, the distance between them had actually gotten shorter. A trace of murderous intent flashed across the Old Ancestor’s eyes as she muttered, “These three stalkers are a bit troublesome. I’m afraid we won’t be able to escape unless we take care of them. Do you have any good ideas?”
Yang Kai decisively shook his head, “I’m unable to take on a Territory Lord, but if it’s just escaping, it shouldn’t be a problem. That’s my forte.”
The Old Ancestor glanced at him before realization dawned upon her, “Right, you’re proficient in the Dao of Space, I forgot about that. But I want to kill them!”
Yang Kai promised upon hearing this, “I’ll help out however I can!”
The Old Ancestor nodded her acknowledgement as she stated, “We’ll act according to the situation, don’t force it!”
“Yes!” Yang Kai replied firmly.
Right then, they spotted an average-sized universe fragment floating up ahead. Who knows how long it had been drifting through the void? In the cover of the universe fragment, the Old Ancestor turned around and landed straight on the universe fragment. The next moment, she thrust her longsword out repeatedly while forming a set of hand seals with her free hand.
Yang Kai couldn’t understand what she was doing, but he knew that the Old Ancestor was probably setting up some kind of Array or trap.
She was done in the blink of an eye. Afterwards, the Old Ancestor bit her fingertip before flicking a drop of gemstone-like Blood Essence into the void. Immediately after doing this, she quickly concealed her aura.
Yang Kai understood the gist of what she was planning and hurriedly concealed his aura as well. Of course, since his cultivation was lacking compared to the Old Ancestor’s his concealment wasn’t as effective. Although the Old Ancestor was standing in front of him right now, if one didn’t use their naked eyes to observe her, they wouldn’t be able to perceive her at all. This showed just how exquisite her Concealing Technique was. Of course, this also had to do with her fantastic strength.
Just as she was finished, the three pursuing Territory Lords flew across the universe fragment.
They failed to spot the Old Ancestor ahead; however, they seemed to have noticed the universe fragment from the corner of their eyes and felt that there was something strange about it.
Mie Qiong, who was leading the group, turned his head. The next moment, he saw the Old Ancestor dressed in white standing alone on the universe fragment with her sword pointed at them with a solemn expression on her face.
Mie Qiong’s hair stood on end. He might not have any idea as to what the Old Ancestor was planning, but judging by her posture, he could tell that it was not anything good for them.
At the same time, Qing Lei and the other Territory Lord whom Yang Kai didn’t recognize also noticed this peculiarity.
The three Territory Lords had never imagined that the Human Race’s Old Ancestor, who they had been chasing all this time, would actually stop here and ambush them.
They had thought that the Old Ancestor was too seriously injured and unable to contend with the three of them, which was why they had chased after her so aggressively. All along the way, the three Territory Lords had been fantasizing about killing an Old Ancestor; after all, the death of such a powerhouse was a rare opportunity. They would have made an enormous contribution to the war if they really did kill her.
It wasn’t until this moment that the three Territory Lords realised that things were different from what they had imagined. The Human Old Ancestor wasn’t completely powerless.
Before they could react, a torrential World Force erupted from the Old Ancestor as she swung her sword.
The universe fragment exploded and was reduced to dust as a giant Yin-Yang Fish pattern appeared in the void, enveloping the three Territory Lords.
The Yin-Yang Fish was filled with endless murderous intent and, as it rotated, it seemed to transform into a giant millstone that crushed everything in its range. The three Territory Lords who were enveloped by it immediately began to bleed profusely as they howled in pain and anguish.
Immediately after, a surge of Black Ink Strength erupted from the Territory Lords. Naturally, they wouldn’t just sit back and wait for death. Each of them released a powerful burst of energy in an attempt to break free.
While they were struggling though, the Old Ancestor arrived before the three Territory Lords with her sword in hand.
No one saw when she had attacked, not even Yang Kai who was standing right next to her.
It wasn’t until a cold light flashed in front of the Territory Lord Yang Kai didn’t recognize and his giant head flew up into the void that Yang Kai came to his senses.
The Old Ancestor had decapitated a Territory Lord with one swing of her blade.
The Old Ancestor had already made her move, so how could Yang Kai stand idly by? His figure instantly teleported in front of Mie Qiong and attacked.
At this moment, Mie Qiong was preoccupied with resisting the grinding force of the Yin-Yang Fish and his entire body was covered in blood as his aura had greatly weakened in this short span.
When Yang Kai attacked Mei Qiong with his spear, the latter was unable to react and was stabbed through the chest by the Azure Dragon Spear. Although this injury was not light, it wasn’t enough to take his life.
On the other hand, the Old Ancestor swung her sword towards Qing Lei, after killing the first Territory Lord.
Qing Lei wasn’t weak though and managed to dodge the oncoming attack, preserving his life. Be that as it may, the sword light cut off one of his arms as a fountain of black blood spurted from his wound, causing him to stagger back, howling in pain.
But his howl was abruptly cut off as the Old Ancestor slashed again. This time, Qing Lei was unable to dodge and his huge body was split in two.
At the same time Qing Lei was killed, Yang Kai was also sent flying by Mie Qiong’s fist, breaking many of his bones.
Yang Kai somehow managed to stabilize himself and grit his teeth as he madly mobilized Space Principles, wrapping himself in spear light as he shot towards his enemy.
Mie Qiong let out a furious roar and ruthlessly thrust out palm. As the palm and spear clashed, Yang Kai felt as if he was struck by lightning and he could see stars circling around his eyes.
Right then, a look of horror flashed across Mie Qiong’s eyes. Yang Kai also spotted the Old Ancestor silently appearing behind Mie Qiong like a ghost. Immediately after, she swung her sword, sending a shocking sword wave down at Mei Qiong.
When the brilliant sword wave disappeared, the frozen Mie Qiong fell to pieces, literally, and scattered in all directions.
Yang Kai stared ahead in a daze, his face covered in blood and filth.
Dead!
Three Territory Lords had died in less than 10 breaths. He might have participated in the battle, but his contribution was minuscule. He had only been able to restrain Mie Qiong for a moment and had even been struck hard by the latter’s counterattack.
It wasn’t wrong to say that these three Territory Lords had all died at the hands of the Old Ancestor.
The fearsome Territory Lords, against whom Yang Kai was completely helpless, were like common chickens in front of the Old Ancestor, unable to fight back or even resist, easily killed in an instant.
Yang Kai got to witness the true strength of an Old Ancestor up close today.
Be that as it may, he was greatly puzzled by the current situation before him and immediately turned to the Old Ancestor.
The Old Ancestor put away her longsword and turned to him, worriedly asking after seeing his state, “How are your injuries?”
Yang Kai lightly coughed before replying, shaking his head, “It’s nothing serious, I can recover after a few days of rest, but Old Ancestor… I don’t understand something.”
The Old Ancestor indifferently asked, “You want to know why I let them chase me since I could have killed them at any point I wished?”
Yang Kai nodded his affirmation.
The Old Ancestor replied, “Because I only had this much strength left. If I killed them before, I wouldn’t have been able to return, but since I met you, I’ll be relying on you to take me back.”
An earnest and serious expression took over Yang Kai’s face, “I will not fail in the duty I have been entrusted with.”
The Old Ancestor suddenly clucked her tongue, “Damn it, I’m about to revert back into a child again.”
Yang Kai was confused, “Huh?”
The moment he was finished speaking, the Old Ancestor suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood as her aura rapidly weakened like a deflating balloon.
Only then did Yang Kai suddenly come to his senses. The Old Ancestor was wounded, and her injuries were not light either.
Furthermore, the Old Ancestor began to shrink with the weakening of her aura.
Originally, the Old Ancestor looked like a young woman in her early twenties, but under Yang Kai’s dumbfounded gaze, this young woman seemed to regress into a seven or eight-year-old kid in less than 20 breaths.
Her white clothes also shrank along with her figure, sticking close to her body. Obviously, this was not an ordinary piece of clothing, but a specially refined artifact.
Yang Kai’s eyes almost popped out, looking at the little girl the Old Ancestor had transformed into, “You…”
He was not just shocked by the Old Ancestor’s transformation, but also by her little girl persona.
It was the same little girl who had been pestering him in Yin-Yang Pass’ Marketplace! It was this little girl who had given him that ancient coin.
When he first met the Old Ancestor, Yang Kai found her a bit familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he had seen her before.
Now he finally understood that the Old Ancestor’s appearance was somewhat similar to that little girl’s. He had never imagined that the Old Ancestor herself was that little girl.
Suddenly, everything that Yang Kai had encountered back then which he failed to understand made sense to him.
Previously, he had been wondering why the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass hadn’t summoned him or given him any instructions before sending him on such an important mission to infiltrate the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory and find the Black Ink Disciple Artifact Refiners.
It wasn’t that the Old Ancestor hadn’t summoned him, but rather that she had been at his side the whole time!
The ancient coin’s origins also made sense now. How could a little girl who wasn’t even in the Open Heaven Realm steal such a precious thing from the Old Ancestor? At the time, Yang Kai had assumed the Old Ancestor had given it to her, but now it seemed that was not the case.
At this moment, Yang Kai couldn’t sense any trace of cultivation from this little girl. She was like an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before. If Yang Kai hadn’t witnessed her transformation with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that this person in front of him was actually the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor!
[What the hell?] Yang Kai was more than a little confused.
“Don’t just stand there gawking, hurry up and run! Who knows when more Black Ink Clansmen might arrive to investigate.” The Old Ancestor’s face was pale and a bit of blood was trickling from the corner of her lips. Her bright eyes had gone grey and lost their shine and she looked extremely tired with her eyelids already starting to droop.
Having prompted Yang Kai, her small body staggered forward.
Yang Kai immediately reached out to support her.
“I’m a bit tired…” The little girl rubbed her eyes with her white, small and chubby baby hand, yawning, “Hurry back to the Pass, and be careful on the way.”
Saying so, she closed her eyes.
Yang Kai called out to her twice but didn’t receive any response. After he carefully examined the little girl in front of him, he found that she had really fallen asleep.
He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He was left with no choice but to pick up the little girl by the waist and make a beeline towards Yin-Yang Pass.
He might not have played a big role in the last battle, but he was still injured by Mie Qiong while he was holding him back. However, this kind of injury wasn’t a big problem for Yang Kai; even if he didn’t take rest, he could still recover.
He looked down at the little girl in his arms, who was curled up and sound asleep, and couldn’t help noticing her extremely pale complexion.
No one would have ever thought that such a small girl would be able to kill three Territory Lords in an instant. Her tiny body actually carried within it the apex strength of the Human Race.
When Yang Kai first met her, he had only felt the aura of an Origin King Realm cultivator from her. At that time, he could not help but wonder how such a little girl could exist in Yin-Yang Pass. She had lied to him at the time, claiming to have been born in Yin-Yang Pass, and Yang Kai believed her.
But at this moment, Yang Kai could not even feel the slightest trace of a cultivator’s aura from her. She was like an ordinary mortal now.
Yang Kai had never encountered such a situation before but he suspected that it had something to do with the Old Ancestor’s Secret Art. Perhaps when she was seriously injured, she would return to her youth to recover.
He tried to place the little girl in his arms into his Small Universe, but he found that he was unable to do so. Even if the Old Ancestor was showing no signs of cultivation right now, her Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm foundation was still present, so his Small Universe was unable to contain her.
Since he couldn’t put her in his Small Universe, he could only remain on guard and try to avoid any conflicts with the Black Ink Clan along the way as he physically carried her.
Furthermore, Yang Kai did not dare to use Instantaneous Movement unless absolutely necessary. Firstly, it would consume too much of his energy. It would have been extremely convenient for him to use Instantaneous Movement if he was alone, but bringing someone along with him would increase his consumption several times over. Secondly, the Old Ancestor’s condition really was not good and Yang Kai had no idea if Instantaneous Movement would negatively affect her.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s cultivation was not low and his speed was not slow. Even if he flew all the way back to Yin-Yang Pass, it would only take him a month or two.
Along the way, Yang Kai avoided the scattered Black Ink Clansmen and the journey remained uneventful for the time being.
Three days later, Yang Kai suddenly felt the small figure in his arms move.
Looking down, he saw the Old Ancestor rubbing her eyes and slowly waking up.
Yang Kai was overjoyed, “Old Ancestor, you’re awake?”
The Old Ancestor’s complexion was still pale, but it had improved compared to before, albeit only slightly.
The Old Ancestor let out a muffled groan as she shifted into a more comfortable position in Yang Kai’s embrace. Having done so, she indifferently asked, “Where are we?”
Yang Kai replied, “We’re still in the Black Ink Clan’s territory, about a month away from the Yin-Yang Pass.”
“So slow,” The Old Ancestor looked displeased.
Yang Kai suddenly felt a bit awkward, “Why don’t you sleep a little longer? Perhaps we’ll arrive the next time you wake up.”
The Old Ancestor deliberately widened her eyes, shaking her head, “I’m not tired, I’m not sleeping.”
Perhaps it was because it was uncomfortable in Yang Kai’s arms, her small body adjusted and changed to other positions a few times, but she was still not satisfied. Finally, she grabbed Yang Kai’s arm, flipped her body over, and straddled his neck, finally stopping.
Yang Kai suddenly felt uncomfortable.
It wouldn’t matter if a real seven- or eight-year-old little girl was riding on his shoulders, but the issue was that she wasn’t a little girl, she was the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass!
The high and mighty Old Ancestor was riding on his shoulders like this, putting him in an awkward position. It would be quite embarrassing if someone from Yin-Yang Pass saw this.
The Old Ancestor, on the other hand, seemed quite happy. Her two little legs dangling over Yang Kai’s chest rocked back and forth as she looked around with interest, as if she was enjoying the picturesque scenery.
However, there was naturally no picturesque scenery in the Black Ink Clan’s hinterland, so after staring for a while, the Old Ancestor grew bored and patted Yang Kai’s head, “I’m hungry!”
“Ah?” Yang Kai thought he misheard her.
“I’m hungry!” The little girl bent over and shouted in Yang Kai’s ear, “I want to eat some hot steamed stuffed buns!”
Yang Kai’s eyes widened in shock, “Where would I get steamed stuffed buns here?”
There were naturally no shops in this vast void. Yang Kai had a nagging feeling that the Old Ancestor’s temperament had greatly changed after turning into a kid.
“I don’t care, I want to eat steamed stuffed buns, right now, right this instant!” The little girl kept shouting, throwing a tantrum like a real child.
Yang Kai was just about to refuse her and say that he couldn’t do anything, but he suddenly remembered that while other Open Heaven Realm cultivators might not be able to accommodate this request, he was raising a large number of Humans in his Small Universe. He could get whatever he wanted from them!
Using his Divine Sense, he immediately found a steamed stuffed bun shop in a bustling city in his Small Universe.
The next moment, a tray of steamed stuffed buns appeared with a flip of his hand before he handed it to her, “Take it.”
The little girl immediately smiled happily. She grabbed a steamed stuffed bun and took a bite, but the next moment, she suddenly spat it out as a furrow appeared on her brow, “Yuck, this tastes like poop, I want to eat delicious steamed stuffed buns!”
Yang Kai immediately had a huge headache. He suddenly understood why those Seventh and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Yin-Yang Pass didn’t have the demeanour of Masters in the marketplace, and why each and every one of them was extremely unscrupulous with their business dealings.
The people of Yin-Yang Pass had to work hard in order to serve an Old Ancestor like her.
…..
Yang Kai’s Small Universe, inside the Main Conference Hall of Seven Stars Sect…
A meeting of the higher-ups was taking place.
Since the last time Yang Kai had borrowed the strength of the Emperor Realm Masters of Seven Stars Sect to kill Zhu Feng, they had gained some understanding of what was above the Emperor Realm.
Yang Kai also taught them the method to condense their Dao Seals and gave them some resources to cultivate with.
Recently, the higher-ups of the Seven Stars Sect had been working hard to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, but their aptitudes came up short. Even if they managed to break through to the Open Heaven Realm in the future, their Order would be extremely limited. They wouldn’t be of much help in the Black Ink Battlefield.
Only Miao Fei Ping had a chance of reaching the Sixth Order.
At this moment, the Emperor Realm Masters were discussing their own cultivation insights with the Sect Master, Shang Guan Ji, as the leader. Although Yang Kai had taught them the method to condense their Dao Seal, they naturally had many questions as they had never come into contact with such things before. They wanted to ask Yang Kai for some advice, but their Ancestor, Yang Kai, had always remained elusive. They were unable to find him, so left with no options, they could only try to learn by discussing with each other.
Just as everyone in the hall was locked in a heated discussion though, Shang Guan Ji suddenly jolted as he stood up straight as an attentive look appeared on his face, apparently listening to something.
His strange actions puzzled many of the higher-ups and they all focused their attention on him.
After a short while, Shang Guan Ji bowed and solemnly stated, “This Junior will obey!”
As soon as he said this, all of the Emperor Realm Masters present became excited. Elder Guan Qian Xing even asking, “Sect Master, does the Ancestor have any instructions?”
In the entire Void World, the only person who could make Shang Guan Ji act so respectfully was the Ancestor.
As he had expected, Shang Guan Ji solemnly nodded his affirmation, “Just now, the Ancestor issued a decree for my Seven Stars Sect to carry out!”
Guan Qian Xing and the others stood up together, perking up their ears!
Shang Guan Ji swept his eyes over the crowd and sonorously declared, “The Ancestor wants to eat steamed stuffed buns!”
Everyone was dumbstruck.
Guan Qian Xing thought he had heard wrong and skeptically asked, “Sect Master, what does the Ancestor want to do?”
Shang Guan Ji stared at him with a serious look on his face, reiterating, “The Ancestor wants to eat steamed stuffed buns, delicious steamed stuffed buns!”
Seven Stars Sect’s gears suddenly started fiercely turning as the Emperor Realm Masters flew about. The disciples below didn’t know what was happening and thought that something big had happened, but soon they found out that one of the Seven Stars Sect’s precious Spirit Beasts had been killed by Elder Guan Qian Xing.
The disciples were all shocked. It had to be known that Elder Guan Qian Xing had spent a great deal of effort to capture this Spirit Beast in the past. It was quite strong and intelligent. Coupled with its beautiful appearance, many of the disciples were quite fond of it. Although it had a bad temper and would occasionally injure others, when this Spirit Beast was killed, many of the female disciples broke into tears. They felt that Elder Guan Qian Xing was simply inhumane, [How could he kill such a beautiful Spirit Beast!? Rather than calling him Guan Qian Xing, we should just call him Butcher Guan…]
The disciples didn’t know why the Spirit Beast was killed, but the Elders did.
The Ancestor wanted to eat steamed stuffed buns, delicious steamed stuffed buns!
They didn’t know what kind of steamed stuffed buns the Ancestor would find delicious, so they could only try their best by using the top materials they could find.
The entire Seven Stars Sect had been mobilized, especially the disciples who were proficient in cooking.
In less than two hours, all kinds of steamed stuffed buns were served.
As soon as the steamer was opened, a basket of steamed stuffed buns strangely disappeared.
In the void, a profusely sweating Yang Kai handed the freshly baked steamed stuffed buns to the Old Ancestor, “Try this.”
The Old Ancestor took it and sniffed before gingerly taking a bite, “It’s acceptable.”
Yang Kai let out a long sigh.
The one hour before the steamed stuffed buns were prepared was definitely the most torturous hour of his life. He wouldn’t feel so tired even if he had to fight a Territory Lord one-on-one.
The tantrum-throwing Old Ancestor was simply a nightmare to deal with.
Fortunately, she had finally calmed down.
Sitting on his shoulders, the Old Ancestor was happily eating. She picked up a steamed stuffed bun and pushed it to Yang Kai’s mouth, “You eat one too.”
Yang Kai said, “I don’t need it…”
“Eat!” The Old Ancestor simply stuffed it into his mouth after throwing a word.
Yang Kai swallowed back his protests and obediently ate the bun.
The few steamed stuffed buns were quickly consumed as the two ate them one after another.
The Old Ancestor licked her little hand and casually muttered, “I also want to eat candied fruits!”
Yang Kai immediately felt as if he had been struck by lightning as a troubled look took over his face, “Old Ancestor, please wait a moment.”
In Seven Stars Sect, Shang Guan Ji stood up straight for a moment before suddenly turning to the Elders who were staring at him and speaking, “The Ancestor wants to eat candied fruits!”
I can tell you guys why the food doesn’t taste good. No MSG.
Ancestor wants to eat pancakes…
Ancestor wants to drink tea…
Ancestor wants…
Almost every other day, a new decree would be issued, sending the entire Seven Stars Sect into a flurry of activity. The Sect Master, Shang Guan Ji, was in charge of coordinating their response, leading the various Emperor Realm Elders to work together. Every time a decree was issued, all of the Sect’s manpower would be mobilized, completing the request in the shortest time possible no matter what the Ancestor demanded.
After completing several of Ancestor’s decrees, an Emperor Realm Elder suddenly asked, “Sect Master, what is the Ancestor doing?”
Shang Guan Ji’s expression turned solemn, “How can we understand the Ancestor’s thoughts? Don’t think too much about it, meticulously completing every task is more important.”
The Elder nodded repeatedly in agreement, “Naturally, we can’t fathom the Ancestor’s thoughts. It’s just that, I think that the requests Ancestor has raised aren’t something he needs personally.”
Shang Guan Ji glanced at him, immersing deep into his thoughts, “You mean…”
The Elder continued, “Sect Master, you must be aware that I became a grandfather a few years ago. My grandson is now six years old and is very playful and gluttonous. When I’m free, he makes all kinds of requests, similar to the decrees issued by the Ancestor. If this Old Master may make a bold presumption, I think that the Ancestor is doing the same thing as this Old Master… coaxing a child!”
As soon as these words left his mouth, it resonated with many of the Elders’ hearts as a few even nodded in agreement.
To be honest, many decrees had been passed down over the last few days, so everyone had been able to infer some things from them. Nonetheless, none of them had the courage to ask questions, or make any assumptions, until this Elder boldly spoke.
Shang Guan Ji raised his brow upon hearing this, “Coaxing a child? You might be right, but does that mean the Ancestor has an heir? This is joyous news!”
The Elder replied, “Of course, it’s joyous news, but if he’s really coaxing a child, we can be more proactive in supporting him. It’s extremely hard to fathom a child’s temperament, but as long as they are happy, they will become obedient.”
“What plan do you have?” Shang Guan Ji asked.
The Elder stroked his beard before replying, “If it’s regarding eating, we’ve already prepared a lot of snacks for the Ancestor, so the direction we should be focusing now should be entertainment! To tell you the truth, my grandson is very fond of a certain toy, and he enjoys playing with it quite a lot. If we can give a similar object to the Ancestor, perhaps we can resolve the Ancestor’s predicament.”
“Oh?” Shang Guan Ji became interested, “What is it?”
The Elder stroked his beard with a smile before giving its name.
Shang Guan Ji lightly nodded his acknowledgement, “An interesting proposal. In that case, we should quickly make one and hand it over to the Ancestor.”
The Elder readily accepted the order.
After the time it takes to boil a cup of tea, Yang Kai suddenly reached out as something appeared in his hand, handing it to the Old Ancestor on his neck, “Here, this is for you!”
The Old Ancestor glanced at it before smacking Yang Kai’s head and angrily asking, “Do you think I’m a child?”
Yang Kai’s neck shrank back.
Be that as it may, the Old Ancestor took the object in his hand with a light snort before she started shaking it in satisfaction.
It was a rattle-drum.
After they gifted Yang Kai the rattle drum that day, the frequency with which the Ancestor issued new decrees greatly decreased. Although they still needed to prepare some food from time to time, it was not as frequent as before. After the initial hustle and bustle, Seven Stars Sect was able to quickly and effectively complete the Ancestor’s orders.
The Ancestor was obviously very satisfied with their performance, even bestowing them with some materials and many insights about condensing their Dao Seals. The Seven Stars Sect’s higher-ups were naturally very grateful.
A month passed in the blink of an eye…
After travelling non-stop, Yang Kai was already close to Yin-Yang Pass. He didn’t run into many Black Ink Clansmen on the way, so the journey was quite smooth and uneventful.
On this day, Yang Kai saw the towering Yin-Yang Pass from afar, but just as he had expected, it was surrounded by the Black Ink Clan’s army.
It had been over half a year since the Black Ink Clan’s army had engaged Yin-Yang Pass’ army. During this time, both sides must have clashed on quite a few occasions already. When Yang Kai arrived, both sides were in a heightened state of tension, but not much fighting was happening.
This also made sense.
Every time the Black Ink Clan army besieged a Great Pass, the battle would last for an extremely long time, ranging from a decade or two to a century. During this time, the Black Ink Clan army would constantly replenish their own forces until their casualties were too many for them to bear.
When the Black Ink Clan army retreated, the Humans would finally have some precious time to rest and recover
Yin-Yang Pass was right ahead, and if Yang Kai was alone, he could have used the Universe Transference Law to return directly. Every Great Pass had four Purifying Black Ink Battleships, and all of them had a Universe Array that Yang Kai had personally installed, so it was only natural that he had left his Imprint on them.
But as he also had the Old Ancestor with him, he was unable to use the Universe Transference Law.
The Old Ancestor’s cultivation had been completely exhausted, so if she were to encounter any danger, she would be powerless to defend herself. If he wanted to return to the Inner Sanctum, he would have to plan his every step very carefully.
The Old Ancestor, on the other hand, seemed to want nothing more than to see the world plunge into chaos. She urged Yang Kai to press on. According to her, if Yang Kai were to appear, the soldiers of Yin-Yang Pass would definitely come to support him. At that time, they might find a chance to safely return to the Inner Sanctum by working together, especially since Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai decisively refused the Old Ancestor’s proposal.
The child version of the Old Ancestor was too reckless. Although her proposal did have a chance of success, it carried a huge risk.
As it concerned the safety of the Old Ancestor, Yang Kai didn’t dare to be careless.
“Then, what do you suggest we do?” Having her proposal rejected, the Old Ancestor was obviously upset.
“Let’s wait. It’s impossible for the two sides to continue staring at each other peacefully. When the fighting really starts, we’ll find a place with weak defences and break through.”
It was not the first time Yang Kai had done something like this, but the last time he did it, he had hundreds of others accompanying him. This time, he could only rely on himself.
Having made his decision, Yang Kai immediately found a universe fragment and settled down.
This universe fragment wasn’t very big, and there were traces of mining on it. Possibly, Yin-Yang Pass had used Void Yin-Yang Mirrors to transport a Universe World back here, mined it, and then discarded the leftovers.
The Black Ink Clan probably didn’t expect any Humans to stop over in such a place, so they did not have any intention of investigating it.
For the next few days, although the two Races clashed with each other, it was only some small skirmishes, nothing too big.
Yang Kai patiently waited.
Finally, after half a month, Yang Kai, who was cultivating, suddenly felt powerful energy fluctuations coming from the direction of Yin-Yang Pass. When he looked up, he saw the Black Ink Clan army attacking Yin-Yang Pass in a frenzy. The entire battlefield was shrouded in rich Black Ink Strength and he could see countless Black Ink Clouds of all sizes spanning over the entire battlefield.
This was his chance!
Yang Kai stood up and started paying close attention to the battle. The Old Ancestor also climbed onto his shoulder and sat down in her special seat, staring at the battle with widened eyes.
Facing the frenzied attacks of the Black Ink Clan, the Humans basically left everything to Yin-Yang Pass’ strong defences. So long as Yin-Yang Pass remained standing, the Black Ink Clan was basically unable to do anything to the Human Race. All of their attacks were just a waste of energy.
On the other hand, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts set up around Yin-Yang Pass could effectively kill the incoming Black Ink Clan.
This assault lasted for three full days before the Black Ink Clan’s momentum weakened all of a sudden. At that moment, Warships suddenly appeared from the gates of Yin-Yang Pass one by one. Immediately after, figures charged straight at them one after another, attacking them.
The soldiers of the two Races were instantly locked into another heated confrontation on this massive battlefield. Countless Black Ink Clansmen instantly lost their lives, whereas many Human Race Warships were reduced to shambles.
“Let’s go!” Yang Kai shouted and rushed towards Yin-Yang Pass.
Riding on his shoulders, the Old Ancestor tightly gripped his hair with one hand, while pointing ahead with the other, looking all excited as she shouted, “Charge!”
In the chaotic battlefield, no one on either side noticed a pair of figures charging towards them from the rear, until a Dragon Roar reverberated across the battlefield and a golden glow flashed, followed by the majestic appearance of a 30,000-metre-long dragon.
There was a giant spear no smaller than its body in one of the Grand Dragon’s claws, and the moment it appeared, it swept this spear out along the battlefield, cleaving through the unsuspecting Black Ink Clansmen just like a violent gust of wind sweeping away fallen leaves. The Black Ink Clan suffered massive casualties in the blink of an eye and when the Grand Dragon whipped its tail, countless more perished.
On such a battlefield, the destruction a Grand Dragon could cause was simply unimaginable, not to mention the long spear held in its Dragon Claw.
Many of the Black Ink Clansmen turned pale in fright and tried to dodge, but it was still difficult for them to avoid the oncoming death.
Soon, the appearance of the Grand Dragon attracted the attention of both sides. The Masters of both Races quickly converged. One side wanted to intercept the Dragon, while the other wanted to rescue it, which naturally resulted in a fierce clash. The resulting battle shook the universe and caused the void to collapse.
The Old Ancestor’s small figure stood atop Yang Kai’s Dragon Head, rocking along the Grand Dragon’s movements. She was surrounded by intense murderous intents, storming from every possible direction, but she still remained steadfast.
Suddenly, a burly figure broke through the rows and rows of enemies and landed on the Dragon Head, bowing and cupping his fist, “Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
The Old Ancestor lightly nodded, “You’ve worked hard!”
The person who had arrived was none other than the Southern Army Commander, Wu Qing. In the entire Yin-Yang Pass, he was the strongest Open Heaven Realm Master besides the Old Ancestor. He also possessed one of the Four Universe Pillars and was a future hope of the Human Race as rumour had it that he was not far from advancing to the Ninth Order.
If he could really break through to the Ninth Order one day, the Human Race would have another Old Ancestor!
Along with Wu Qing’s arrival, many Open Heaven Realm Masters soon gathered around the Grand Dragon. Even a few Eighth-Order Division Commanders had arrived, escorted by numerous Warships.
Surrounded by the elites of the Human Race, Yang Kai and the Old Ancestor were escorted back to Yin-Yang Pass.
The Black Ink Clan had obviously also discovered the situation here. Although they didn’t quite understand why the Humans were defending the Grand Dragon so heavily, since the enemy was paying so much attention to it, it must be important. As such, the Black Ink Clan rushed in, but no matter how many of them tried, they failed to block the Humans’ advance.
A moment later, Yang Kai and the Old Ancestor were brought to one of Yin-Yang Pass’s main gates under Wu Qing’s lead.
Wu Qing summoned his strength and wrapped it around the Old Ancestor before quickly entering the Inner Sanctum while Yang Kai turned around and joined up with the army to fight back against the Black Ink Clan.
This battle lasted for several days and, by the end, Yang Kai couldn’t maintain his Dragon Form and had no choice but to fight in his Human Form. After a few days, both sides withdrew.
The battlefield entered a rare brief period of peace. The armies on both sides focused on recuperating, but so long as the Black Ink Clan did not retreat, Yin-Yang Pass could not really rest.
Fortunately, the Old Ancestor had returned. Although the Old Ancestor had been seriously injured once again and had inevitably returned to her younger self, the news she brought back greatly boosted the morale of Yin-Yang Pass.
Mu Guang was seriously wounded in her fight with the Old Ancestor and was currently sleeping in her Black Ink Nest. In other words, Mu Guang would not appear in this battle.
More importantly, the Old Ancestor had eliminated five Territory Lords.
This was an unimaginable loss for the Black Ink Clan.
On top of that, Yang Kai had single-handedly destroyed almost 10 Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, along with hundreds of Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. After such heavy losses, the Black Ink Clan was in a state of chaos. A large number of Feudal Lords had gathered around the remaining Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests to protect them and thus could not be deployed as reinforcements.
Such casualties had shaken the foundation of the Black Ink Clan.
In the past, the reason why the Black Ink Clan was able to besiege the Great Pass for so long was because they could constantly send reinforcements from the rear. But now that Yang Kai had dealt so much damage, the number of troops they could send would be greatly reduced. It could even be said that the Black Ink Clan would not be sending many soldiers at all in order to guard against any future problems.
In that case, the current war would end soon. Without reinforcements, how could the Black Ink Clan resist the Humans when they suffered so many casualties in battle? The Black Ink Clan would have to retreat once the situation on the battlefield became untenable.
Thus, after hearing this news, those from Yin-Yang Pass were all extremely excited.
What’s more, Yang Kai had ventured deep into the Black Ink Clan’s territory alone, destroying many Black Ink Nests, and rescued more than 300 Artifact Refiners, including three Grandmasters. He had made an enormous contribution to the Human Race.
Yang Kai had already let out Wu Xing He and the others from his Small Universe and they were now assigned to the Refining Hall to repair the Warships damaged in the battle.
Wu Xing He and the others were originally Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but in order to assist Yang Kai, their cultivations had regressed to the Sixth-Order so that they could enter the latter’s Small Universe. Be that as it may, it wasn’t too big a deal. As long as they had a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, they could slowly regain their original cultivation.
The war between the two races was in full swing with several dozen small skirmishes breaking out between the two armies almost every day, with a big battle occurring every 10 to 15 days.
Strictly speaking, this was Yang Kai’s first time officially participating in a battle outside a Great Pass.
Although he had participated in the battle at Blue Sky Pass last time, he had not been officially registered to Blue Sky Pass at the time. Likewise, he had been assisting in perfecting the Purifying Black Ink Battleships during the early stages of that war. When he finally managed to sneak out and participate in the fighting, it was not long before he coincidentally discovered the location of the Royal Lord, which ultimately resulted in a decisive battle breaking out. The Black Ink Clan army had suffered heavy losses because of him, giving Blue Sky Pass the chance to capitalize on the situation.
It was different this time.
Without so many twists and coincidences, although the battle was still leaning in Yin-Yang Pass’ favour, they were still a long way from completely repelling the Black Ink Clan.
Fortunately, the Royal Lord was not present on the battlefield, so the Black Ink Clan army seemed to be a bit sluggish either from lack of coordination or morale. Many Territory Lords simply lead their own armies to fight on their own, making it difficult to form an effective strategy.
Those from Yin-Yang Pass would often gain a great advantage on the battlefield using this weak point.
The entire Yin-Yang Pass had essentially transformed into a giant meat grinder.
Every time a big battle broke out, the Black Ink Clan would lose countless Masters. Although the Humans would also suffer heavy casualties, the losses were still within an acceptable range because of the protection of the Warships.
As Yang Kai was a soldier from Blue-Sky Pass, he didn’t have an official position here; however, Tang Qiu had decided to temporarily place him in Xu Ling Gong’s Squad.
As they fought, Yang Kai got to taste how truly cruel the battlefield was, though it was not like this was his first time on such a battlefield. When the Great Demon God had wreaked havoc in the Star Boundary, all the cultivators of the Star Boundary were pulled into the turmoil. That battle almost caused the Star Boundary to shatter and billions upon billions of lives were lost!
In the end, the Great Emperors stepped forward and finally put an end to the Great Demon God’s rampage.
Be that as it may, Yang Kai always found it brutal, like it was the first time, no matter how many times he experienced this kind of battle.
Yang Kai’s addition to Xu Ling Gong Squad had helped them slaughter countless enemies, earning them a massive amount of Military Merits in every battle they fought. After a long period of killing and fighting, every Human came to possess a thick killing intent. Once this killing intent broke out on the battlefield, it would often deter the weaker Black Ink Clansmen.
Fighting, recuperating, fighting, recuperating; the process was repeated over and over again.
Yang Kai had almost lost track of time as all his focus was on making use of every opportunity he could find to either heal himself or kill his enemies.
Every time he fought, he would always stand at the forefront, and every time he did so, his body would be covered in wounds. Nevertheless, as long as his injuries weren’t fatal, no matter how serious they were, he would be able to recover in short order thanks to his Dragon Vein and Wood Element.
His efforts had brought a significant boost in power and safety to Xu Ling Gong’s Squad, and even after fighting for so long, they had not lost a single member. Furthermore, most of the time, no one would even be injured other than Yang Kai. Their Squad was performing 10 times better than the other ordinary Squads.
Tang Qiu once came looking for him, taking time out of his busy schedule, and told him that he could return to Blue Sky Pass at any time he wished.
Although he could be considered half a disciple of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, he was still formally a soldier of the Blue-Sky Pass on this Black Ink Battlefield.
Yin-Yang Pass had transferred him here mainly to gather information about the Black Ink Clan’s Warship program and the Artifact Refiners who were behind it. Now that Yang Kai had completed this task perfectly, the battle at Yin-Yang Pass technically had nothing to do with him.
If Yang Kai wanted to leave, Yin-Yang Pass naturally would not hold him back.
Of course, Yang Kai had no intention of leaving. Compared to returning to Blue Sky Pass where he would have nothing to do but cultivate in retreat, he was more than willing to stay here and kill more Black Ink Clansmen. Although the strength of a single person was meagre, as long as everyone killed a few more, the Black Ink Clan would be exterminated sooner.
The battlefield fell into turmoil again. Surges of World Force and Black Ink Strength came and went as the Human Warships and Black Ink Army fought each other.
A large-scale battle had broken out once more and the four Armies of Yin-Yang Pass charged to blunt the Black Ink Clan’s momentum.
Yang Kai, Xu Ling Gong, and another Seventh-Order Open Heaven Master, Ji Miao Tong, wandered through the battlefield in a triangle formation.
Ji Miao Tong was the Vice Squad Leader of Xu Ling Gong’s Squad and a woman. Yang Kai had met her when he was escorted by Xu Ling Gong’s Squad to intercept Hei Yuan’s retreating army. Although they weren’t close acquaintances, a bit of friendship had blossomed between the two after fighting together for so long.
Ji Miao Tong was extremely impressed by Yang Kai’s courage and strength and she even praised him in private.
Between the three of them was Xu Ling Gong’s Squad’s Warship, which had some Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Masters operating it. Xu Ling Gong’s Disciples, Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue, were among them.
The three Seventh-Order Masters maintained a triangle formation, protecting the Warship while also borrowing its power to kill their enemies. Furthermore, if they got tired or exhausted their strength, they could even temporarily hide inside the Warship to recover.
The Human Race relied on this method in order to preserve their strength. The Human Race would not have been able to defend these Great Passes without these Warships.
This was also the reason why the Humans was so concerned by the appearance of the Black Ink Clan’s Warship. If the Black Ink Clan evened the battlefield, the Human Race really wouldn’t know how to resist in the future.
It had been half a day already since the battle broke out and Yang Kai and the others had been fighting non-stop since it began. Yang Kai’s condition was still good, but Xu Ling Gong and Ji Miao Tong both were clearly unable to continue. Although they had taken many Spirit Pills to keep their strength up, their high rate of consumption had made it difficult for them to replenish their Small Universes’ World Force.
Regardless, the Human Armies should be withdrawing their forces soon, and at that time, they could naturally return to the Inner Sanctum to rest and recover.
After such a long, fierce battle, the Black Ink Clan’s soldiers had greatly decreased and the resistance they faced was no longer as intense as before.
The Eighth-Order Division Commanders had basically been keeping a close watch on the Territory Lords, so as long as everyone was careful on the battlefield, there wouldn’t be any major problems.
At a certain point, Yang Kai thrust his spear, exploding a Feudal Lord charging at him into mist and the thick black blood splashed all over his face. It wasn’t that Yang Kai couldn’t protect his face, it was just that he was too lazy to waste his strength to do so. In any case, Black Ink Strength had no effect on him. With the World Tree clone in his possession, he wouldn’t be corrupted even if he was soaked in this black blood.
As Yang Kai was pulling back his spear, something caught his eye and he looked in a certain direction.
In his sight, the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen were locked in a heated battle when suddenly, a nimble figure entered his sight, but it disappeared soon after.
Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, wondering whether his eyes were playing tricks on him. Nonetheless, he found this figure a little familiar.
Before he could give it another thought, another squad of Black Ink Clansmen attacked from the side. Yang Kai quickly collected his thoughts and raised his spear to meet them, leaving a mountain of corpses in his wake.
As expected, an order to withdraw came from Yin-Yang Pass soon after. Following Xu Ling Gong’s command, the Warship turned around and flew towards the Inner Sanctum. Although the Black Ink Clan pursued them, it was difficult for them to penetrate the defences of the three Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; thus, they no longer dared to continue after chasing for a while.
Not long after, Squads flew back into the Inner Sanctum, leaving countless Black Ink Clan corpses behind on the Hellish battlefield.
“Get some rest, and be ready to fight at any moment. I’ll go get the Warship repaired,” Xu Ling Gong ordered before storing the huge warship in his Small Universe and heading towards the Refining Hall.
Although the members of the Squad weren’t injured, their Warship had suffered damage in many places and needed to be repaired by the Artifact Refiners of the Refining Hall.
The Squad members bid each other goodbye before returning to their residences to rest.
Generally speaking, after such a large-scale battle, no major skirmishes would break out for the next 10 to 15 days. So, nothing major should happen in the next half month.
Yang Kai had been living with Qing Kui ever since he returned from the Black Ink Clan’s territory, so he naturally left with him.
But after taking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked towards a certain direction, where a familiar figure caught his attention.
“What are you looking at?” Qing Kui also stopped and curiously asked.
“You go first, I’ll be right back,” Yang Kai replied before heading in that direction.
Soon, Qing Kui saw Yang Kai stop a person and start chatting with him with a smile. He couldn’t help but ask Su Ying Xue in a low voice, “Junior Sister, is Yang Kai close to someone else other than us here?”
Su Ying Xue shook her head, a look of exhaustion taking over her face, “It’s fine as long as it’s not a woman, why worry?”
Qing Kui nodded lightly, “I guess, you’re right.”
The two of them casually chatted before quickly leaving.
On the other side, the cultivator who was stopped by Yang Kai wore a gloomy expression, “You’re mistaking me for someone else.”
Yang Kai continued with a smile, “Divine Monarch’s noble bearing is still the same, how can I mistake you for someone else?”
The man glared at him, “I’m only a Seventh-Order Master, how could I dare call myself a Divine Monarch?”
Yang Kai replied, “With Divine Monarch’s aptitude, it’s only a matter of time before you reach the Eighth Order. The Seventh Order is just a temporary stopover, so why should Divine Monarch act so humbly?”
“What do you want?” The man grew impatient.
Yang Kai replied, “Nothing, it’s just I was pleasantly surprised to run into a familiar face. I came to chat with the Divine Monarch to talk about old times, that’s all.”
The man immediately flew into a rage, “There is only enmity between you and me, what’s there even to talk about!?”
Yang Kai countered with a smile, “So Divine Monarch admits that you know me?”
The man’s face went black as he grit his teeth and asked, “What exactly do you want?”
Yang Kai replied with a sigh, “I really don’t want anything. It’s just that when I spotted Divine Monarch’s figure, I couldn’t believe it and came here to confirm I wasn’t seeing things. I didn’t expect that Divine Monarch would also be here.”
“Isn’t this all because of you?!” The other party gnashed his teeth, as if he had an irreconcilable grudge with Yang Kai.
Yang Kai innocently stated, “I don’t remember doing anything to Divine Monarch. The one who captured you back then was Senior Fisherman from Bright King Cave Heaven.”
The man waved off, stating, “Don’t call me Divine Monarch anymore, I’m only a Seventh-Order Master now. Others will laugh at you if you keep calling me that.”
“Then… Brother Blood Crow?” Yang Kai slightly raised his brow.
The person in front of him was none other than the Black Crow Divine Monarch he had met in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven centuries ago. After cultivating the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Light Scripture, Black Crow seized the body of a Great Thousand Blood Land disciple named Zhou Yi and escaped from the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. Afterwards, he hid in the Shattered Heaven and committed all sorts of crimes, leaving a bloodbath in his wake, causing many disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises to be killed or injured.
As he already possessed the foundation of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and had obtained the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Light Scripture, his cultivation rapidly rose. Even his strength had also exceeded his own Order.
To a certain extent, the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Light Scripture was similar to Wu Kuang’s Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Both used external forces for their own gain, but in comparison, the Great Evolution Indestructible Blood Light Scripture only consumed Blood Essence, while Wu Kuang’s Heaven Devouring Battle Law could devour anything. Which was superior was obvious.
In the past, Yang Kai had been curious about who would devour whom if Wu Kuang were to meet with Blood Crow; however, this was only a thought experiment as these two had never met.
When he was hiding in the Shattered Heaven, Black Crow had changed his name to Blood Crow.
Yang Kai had fought with him several times before in the Blood Monster Cave Heaven. If Yang Kai hadn’t ruined his plans, he would have closed the Blood Monster Cave Heaven long ago, and everyone who had entered at the time to train would have become his food and nourishment for his growth. The Blood Monster Cave Heaven also had various resources left behind by its previous Master over his lifetime. Once Blood Crow absorbed all of these resources, he might be able to reappear in the world as a Divine Monarch.
By then, even the Cave Heavens and Paradises might not be able to do anything to him.
Later, Yang Kai once again encountered him and fought him in the Shattered Heaven. At that time, Yang Kai was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, the same as Blood Crow.
Relying on his superior Eighth-Order foundation and knowledge, Blood Crow hadn’t taken Yang Kai seriously and wanted to take him down in one fell swoop. However, Yang Kai’s Cow Punch had made him greatly suffer.
In the end, Blood Crow was captured by an Elder from Bright King Cave Heaven.
Afterwards, Yang Kai ventured into the depths of the Shattered Heaven, where he encountered Xia Lin Lang, and obtained the World Spring by chance. Later, Cheng Yang chased him until he entered the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.
Since then, Yang Kai had not heard any news about Blood Crow and presumed he had been imprisoned in Bright King Cave Heaven, unable to free himself.
Therefore, Yang Kai was extremely surprised to see Blood Crow in Yin-Yang Pass. In a place like the Black Ink Battlefield, all battles were against the Black Ink Clan and past grievances between people had long been forgotten.
Yang Kai would never have been so calm and cordial if he had encountered Blood Crow in the 3,000 Worlds. He would have immediately thought that he had escaped from Bright King Heaven and was about to commit something atrocious again.
But it was different here. Every Human on the Black Ink Battlefield was a comrade they could fight side by side with and depend on.
It could be said that Yang Kai didn’t have any great enmity towards Blood Crow, and this was something Blood Crow could clearly feel; however, considering what had happened to him, Blood Crow definitely held some resentment towards him.
All of this was because Yang Kai had ruined his grand plan in Blood Monster Cave Heaven.
Seeing him remain silent, Yang Kai asked, “Brother Blood Crow, why did you come to the Black Ink Battlefield?”
Blood Crow angrily snapped, “What? Can’t I come here?”
Yang Kai patted him on the shoulder, “Calm down, let’s talk things out. The Black Ink Battlefield is a dangerous place after all.”
Blood Crow stepped aside and coldly snorted, rebuking, “Do you think I wanted to come to this damned place? Do you think I had a choice? Between being imprisoned in a dark and damp cell forever and coming to the Black Ink Battlefield to fight the Black Ink Clan, which one would you choose?”
Yang Kai finally understood after hearing this.
Blood Crow was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and with an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm foundation at that. He had quite a good chance of breaking through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. With such potential and strength, instead of leaving him to rot in prison, it would be better to send Blood Crow here to kill the enemy. It was obvious that Bright King Heaven had such considerations before sending Blood Crow here.
No matter how twisted Blood Crow’s temperament was, it was impossible for him to have any treacherous thoughts in a place like this, unless he was willing to be corrupted and become a Black Ink Disciple.
However, Black Ink Disciples had their minds warped by Black Ink Strength and essentially became slaves, so if he really got corrupted by Black Ink Strength, he would no longer be himself, an intolerable fate for almost anyone.
“Brother Blood Crow, you’ve had it hard,” Yang Kai sympathized.
“All thanks to you!” Blood Crow became extremely annoyed.
Yang Kai chuckled, “Now you can finally act openly, it’s better than sneaking around and hiding.”
Blood Crow snorted and glanced at him, “I didn’t expect you to also reach the Seventh Order so quickly.”
“I was just lucky!” Yang Kai smiled, “It can’t compare to Brother Blood Crow’s deep foundation.”
“Don’t even think about it, this King has a belly full of rage whenever I see you!” Blood Crow snorted before flicking his sleeve and leaving.
Yang Kai stroked his chin as a pondering look appeared on his face, watching him leave.
At this moment, a figure suddenly landed beside him. It was Tang Qiu.
Yang Kai greeted him with a bow, “Senior!”
“Follow me!” As Tang Qiu spoke, he mobilised his strength and wrapped Yang Kai in it before quickly disappearing.
Soon, they arrived at the Marketplace, but the bustling scene Yang Kai had first seen was now completely deserted. There was not a single person in sight.
After giving it a thought, he did not find it strange either. The Marketplace was crowded in the past because there had been no ongoing battles. Now that the Black Ink Clan had surrounded Yin-Yang Pass and they were all busy fighting, who would they come here?
Nonetheless, it wasn’t as if there wasn’t anyone here. At Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant, a small figure was sitting at a table while supporting her chin with one hand while playing with her hair with the other. She looked extremely bored.
Spotting the figure, Yang Kai promptly stepped forward and bowed, “Old Ancestor!”
Ever since he had escorted the Old Ancestor back, he had been fighting against the Black Ink Clan and had not seen her again. He had no idea why Tang Qiu had brought him here.
“En,” The Old Ancestor lightly nodded before stretching out her hand, “Sit.”
Yang Kai was just about to sit down when he suddenly felt a sharp gaze on his back. Looking back, he saw Tang Qiu glaring at him and immediately straightened up, “Junior wouldn’t dare! What can I do for the Old Ancestor?”
The Old Ancestor glanced at Tang Qiu but didn’t say anything. Rather she just asked Yang Kai, “Do you know why this Marketplace exists in Yin-Yang Pass?”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment after hearing her question. Although he had some ideas, he didn’t dare to say them out loud and could only shake his head, “Junior doesn’t know.”
The Old Ancestor asked with a smile, “Do you think the Marketplace was built just for me to have fun?”
Having been seen through, Yang Kai could only brace himself and agree, “Yes!”
The Old Ancestor admitted, nodding, “You’re right, this Marketplace was built for me to play around in, but it’s nothing so simple as a way to pass the time. There are circumstances that necessitate it.”
Yang Kai asked, confused, “Please enlighten me, Old Ancestor.”
The Old Ancestor stood up and slowly walked to the door, staring at the empty street, “The reason why the Human Race can hold on for so long is firstly because of these Great Passes, and secondly because of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who can contend with the Black Ink Clan’s Royal Lords. You are now a Seventh-Order Master, so you should also know the importance of top-tier combat power in the huge battlefield of the two Races.”
Yang Kai earnestly nodded his agreement, “Indeed.”
The Old Ancestor continued, “To put it bluntly, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like me are the key to ensuring the safety of the Great Passes to a certain extent.”
Yang Kai listened attentively.
The Old Ancestor continued, “I cultivate a Secret Art called the Samsara Art, and my cultivation improves every time I undergo a cycle of re-birth. As a result, if I am seriously wounded, I become like this. It may seem like my cultivation has been completely destroyed, but in truth, this is simply a cycle of reincarnation to me. However, because of the Samsara Art, the method I use to heal my injuries is different from others. This Marketplace was built for me, and is related to the Secret Art I cultivate. This is where I heal my injuries.”
“Observing the myriad forms of the Human world, seeing all the prosperity of the bustling world…” Yang Kai suddenly recalled the words etched at the entrance of Marketplace.
The Old Ancestor lightly nodded, “Living inside the bustling world can quickly heal my injuries, which is why there is a Marketplace in Yin-Yang Pass.”
Yang Kai suddenly came to a realization.
The Old Ancestor’s healing technique was somewhat similar to Duan Hong Chen’s Secret Art. Duan Hong Chen’s title was Bustling World, and his entire cultivation was based on experiencing the baptism of the Bustling World.
Yang Kai couldn’t comment on the profundities of this technique; after all, he had never cultivated such a technique before, but since the Old Ancestor had said as much, it must be so.
At this point, he suddenly understood why the Old Ancestor had summoned him.
“Does Old Ancestor want this Junior to help you heal your injuries?”
The Old Ancestor agreed, nodding, “I’ve heard that you have raised many living beings in your Small Universe and it can be considered a complete World. It would be a huge advantage if you could help me heal my injuries. I don’t need to heal completely, just enough to regain the strength to fight.”
At this time, Tang Qiu also interjected, “Although the Black Ink Clan army isn’t receiving many reinforcements, it will take at least three to five years to force them to withdraw.”
Compared to previous wars with the Black Ink Clan, which took more than a decade or even a century to end, three to five years was already an extremely short time, and all of this was thanks to Yang Kai. Had he not destroyed so many Black Ink Nest behind the enemy lines and occupied so many Black Ink Clansmen, the Black Ink Clan’s forces wouldn’t have been so strained.
“Although three to five years isn’t a long time, if the war continues, Yin-Yang Pass will definitely suffer some damage. But if the Old Ancestor can take action, she will definitely be able to end things in one fell swoop.”
Yang Kai cupped his fist, stating, “If Old Ancestor requires it, this Junior is duty-bound to comply.”
“Good, many thanks for your hard work in advance,” Tang Qiu patted Yang Kai’s shoulder in relief.
In order to allow the Old Ancestor to experience the hustle and bustle of the mundane world and heal her injuries, Yang Kai needed to spread out his Small Universe and let her wander about inside.
The Old Ancestor was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so Yang Kai naturally couldn’t take her into his Small Universe. He had no other choice but to do things this way.
Since that was the case, Yang Kai would be unable to participate in future battles as he would need to remain in one place. Yang Kai could not easily move before the Old Ancestor had regained her full strength.
Fortunately, Tang Qiu also said that since the Old Ancestor had decided to decimate the Black Ink Clan army personally, Yin-Yang Pass’ next strategy would be to harden its defences and wait. No matter how the Black Ink Clan provoked them, they would pretend they didn’t hear anything. The Humans would only rely on the Spirit Arrays and artifacts around Yin-Yang Pass to kill the Black Ink Clansmen who got too close. They would not be sending troops out onto the battlefield.
Soon, Yang Kai spread his Small Universe in the Marketplace and let the Old Ancestor enter. Not only that, but he also chose the most prosperous city for her to arrive at.
While the Old Ancestor was roaming around the mundane world in his Small Universe, Yang Kai did not remain idle. Although he could no longer freely move due to having spread his Small Universe, cultivating was not an issue for him. As such, he took out a set of Seventh-Order materials and quietly began refining them.
Inside Void World, Miao Fei Ping of Seven Stars Sect had long since matured from an innocent brat to an Emperor Realm Master and was now an Elder of Seven Stars Sect.
His aptitude was quite good, and not too long ago, he even helped the Ancestor kill a powerful enemy, earning him much praise.
After that incident, the Ancestor also bestowed the Seven Stars Sect with many resources and passed down the method to condense one’s Dao Seal. Many of Seven Stars Sect’s Emperor Realm Masters had already begun doing just that. Rumour had it that they would advance the Open Heaven Realm in the future as long as they worked hard.
Miao Fei Ping was naturally no exception. Which cultivator didn’t yearn for a higher Martial Dao? Among all the Emperor Realm Masters who had begun refining Powers into their Dao Seal, Miao Fei Ping’s progress was the fastest.
He originally thought that he would at most be able to condense Fifth-Order Powers with his aptitude. This was also the advice given by the Ancestor when he originally bestowed them with the necessary materials.
Of course, he wouldn’t dare disregard the Ancestor’s advice.
However, when he really began condensing Powers into his Dao Seal, he decided to be a little more courageous and try refining Sixth-Order materials.
Much to his surprise, he actually succeeded. He didn’t feel any discomfort or burden either. In other words, he could condense Sixth-Order Element Powers and attempt to break through to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. He was extremely excited with this result, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled. It was because the Ancestor had said that although his aptitude was excellent, he would only be able to reach the Fifth Order in the future. [The Ancestor could not have made a mistake, so how could I successfully condense Sixth-Order Powers?]
He really wanted to consult with the Ancestor and ask for an explanation, but he was unable to contact him, so he had no choice but to give up. Miao Fei Ping was still in the process of condensing Powers, and he was refining a Sixth-Order material. He wanted to obtain higher achievements and a higher starting point.
Because he knew that his two companions who had entered the Sect with him had received personal guidance from the Ancestor himself, they would surely soar higher in the future. Miao Fei Ping didn’t want to be left far behind by these two, so he could only re-double his efforts.
Thinking back to when he first entered Seven Stars Sect, all the past events vividly flashed in his mind, [So many years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Where is that cold and aloof little girl with Heaven-defying aptitude and that young boy with such poor aptitude that he could barely cultivate? Even Xu Yi who had suddenly appeared in Seven Stars Sect just disappeared one day.]
Those three were the Ancestor’s Personal Disciples, so they might be cultivating with the Ancestor.
One day, while Miao Fei Ping was meditating, a voice suddenly spoke to him.
Miao Fei Ping was both surprised and delighted. He quickly opened his eyes and bowed respectfully, “Ancestor.”
He failed to spot the Ancestor’s figure, yet his voice sounded straight into his mind. It was not the first time he had seen the Ancestor’s divine might, so he did not find it strange.
The Ancestor’s message was actually a secret order, which Miao Fei Ping immediately accepted.
Having done so, Miao Fei Ping quickly requested, “Ancestor, this Junior has a question he would like to ask.”
“What is it?” The Ancestor’s voice sounded again.
Miao Fei Ping took a deep breath and mustered up his courage before explaining, “Ancestor, you gave me some pointers before and said that I should condense Fifth-Order Powers. However, this Junior got greedy and tried to refine a Sixth-Order material. Surprisingly, I didn’t encounter any problems. But this Disciple no longer dares to recklessly advance without understanding why I am alright. Ancestor, please grant me some guidance; should I continue refining Sixth-Order materials, or switch back to the Fifth-Order materials?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Miao Fei Ping immediately felt a majestic Will sweep over him. In the face of this Will, he couldn’t help but feel as insignificant as an ant.
[This is the Will of the Ancestor…]
Miao Fei Ping couldn’t help but slightly tremble.
[The Third-Order Emperor Realm is already the highest Realm in this World, but it is still nothing before the Ancestor. Just how high is the Ancestor’s cultivation?]
Soon after the Will swept over him, Miao Fei Ping heard the Ancestor’s voice in his mind, “Continue. Times are different now and you have a chance to advance to the Sixth Order.”
“Junior obeys!” Miao Fei Ping was overjoyed and gave his thanks. The unease that had been troubling him all the while finally disappeared after receiving his Ancestor’s guidance.
Be that as it may, he didn’t quite get why things were different now. [I haven’t done anything recently, but from what the Ancestor said, it seemed like something had changed, allowing me to advance to the Sixth Order despite only having the aptitude for Fifth Order in the past.]
What changed?
Thinking about it, Miao Fei Peng recalled that the newly recruited disciples of the Sect seemed to have much better aptitude than in the past. And it was not just true for Seven Stars Sect, but for all Sects across Void World. It’s as if the entire World had suddenly become more suitable for cultivation. More and more geniuses were appearing, causing the higher-ups of the various Sects to celebrate.
Thinking so, Miao Fei Ping immediately understood that what changed was not himself, but the World he lived in!
He didn’t continue mulling over the issue though. Rather, he quickly packed up his things and went to Seven Stars Sect’s Sect Master, Shang Guan Ji, requesting a leave to travel the world.
Shang Guan Ji had no reason to refuse and promptly agreed. And so, Miao Fei Ping, without wasting any time, quickly left the Sect.
Purple Phoenix City was among the most prosperous cities in Void World and was under Purple Phoenix Palace’s jurisdiction. Purple Phoenix Palace was also one of the strongest Sects in the entire Void World. More importantly, the disciples of this Sect had a gift for commerce. This commercial success allowed them to attract countless cultivators from all over the world to Purple Phoenix City, and it soon grew into a prosperous metropolis with over 10 million inhabitants.
With Miao Fei Ping’s Third-Order Emperor Realm cultivation, it had only taken him a few days to reach this city from Seven Stars Sect and following the Ancestor’s guidance, he quickly found his target.
A seven or eight-year-old girl!
Wandering alone in this massive Purple Phoenix City, Miao Fei Ping was certain that this little girl had never cultivated and was just a commoner who could be found anywhere.
The secret order Miao Fei Ping had received was to take good care of this little girl and not let her suffer any injustice, while not letting his whereabouts be exposed.
At first, he could not understand why someone like the Ancestor would care so much about a little mortal girl and even ask him to personally keep an eye on her, but when he saw the rattle drum in the little girl’s hand, Miao Fei Ping suddenly understood.
He recognized this rattle drum as it had been personally crafted by an Emperor Realm Elder of his Sect. He had been next to him when that Elder had made this rattle drum.
[This little girl… is the Ancestor’s descendant!]
The Ancestor had given a series of decrees back then, asking for steamed stuffed buns and candied fruits, all to coax this little girl.
Having understood this point, Miao Fei Ping immediately felt a heavy weight on his shoulders. He felt extremely honoured that the Ancestor gave him such an important task.
Because of this, Miao Fei Ping had been secretly following the little girl and protecting her at all times.
After observing her for a while, Miao Fei Ping discovered that she was particularly interested in snacks, but she did not seem to have any money on her. Every time she saw someone eat something, she would always start drooling, making her look extremely pitiful.
Several times, Miao Fei Ping couldn’t bear to watch and almost offered his assistance. At these times, he couldn’t help feeling a little puzzled. Since this little girl was the Ancestor’s descendant, why didn’t the Ancestor give her any money so she could buy the things she wanted? Obtaining mundane coins should be a breeze for the Ancestor.
But since the Ancestor had not done so, he must have had his reasons. So, Miao Fei Ping couldn’t rashly intervene either.
Nonetheless, after seeing the same thing over and over again so many times, Miao Fei Ping really couldn’t bear to sit back and watch any longer, but neither could he expose himself. Ultimately, he gave some coins to the others and asked them to buy some things for the little girl.
The little girl happily ate from then on.
When the night arrived, the little girl had no place to sleep. So, she found a random alley and spent the night sleeping there, curled up. Every night, Miao Fei Ping would secretly protect her from the cold.
Originally, Miao Fei Ping had thought that his days would pass by peacefully, but contrary to his expectations, something did happen.
The little girl’s rattle-drum was stolen!
If it was just an ordinary toy, no one would have paid any attention to it, but the material used to make this rattle-drum was not ordinary, it was a rare piece of Blue Water Wood.
It was a toy for the Ancestor’s descendant, so the Seven Stars Sect Elders had put in a lot of effort to craft this rattle-drum, and it just so happened that the one who ultimately refined it had a suitable piece of Blue Water Wood on hand at the time.
Blue Water Wood was extremely precious as it could be used to refine Emperor Artifacts. It was particularly rare in this World and could be said to be priceless.
A few weak cultivators noticed that the rattle drum in the little girl’s hand was extraordinary. So, they threw some coins at the little girl and snatched the rattle-drum from her in a half-buying and half-threatening manner.
These cultivators weren’t very strong, and as such, they failed to recognize the Blue Water Wood, but they could still tell that the material of this rattle-drum was expensive at a glance.
The little girl looked extremely sad after losing the rattle-drum and tears welled up in her eyes. She tried to snatch her toy back, but how could a seven-year-old little girl catch up to even the weakest of cultivators? The thieves disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The little girl fell to the ground, wailing in grief as dirt smeared her cute face.
Enraged, Miao Fei Ping stopped those cultivators in an alley, beat them up, and took back the rattle drum. After that, he found the little girl who was silently crying in a deserted place and quietly returned the rattle-drum.
Seeing the little girl smiling once more, Miao Fei Ping let out a sigh of relief.
Originally, he had thought that this matter would end there, but no one had expected that it was just the beginning! Among the few cultivators he had beaten up, one of them was actually the son of Purple Phoenix Palace’s Vice Palace Master. The son of the Vice Palace Master was beaten up in Purple Phoenix City; how could Purple Phoenix Palace let the matter rest just like that?
Purple Phoenix Palace cultivators started searching the city for the perpetrator, and soon found Miao Fei Ping. A conflict naturally broke out between the two sides, but Miao Fei Ping was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, so how could these weaklings do anything to him? Naturally he taught them a lesson and sent them packing.
When Purple Phoenix Palace’s higher-ups received the news, they were enraged and deployed some of their Masters. In the blink of an eye, the entire Purple Phoenix City was engulfed in a secret battle.
After suffering several losses, Purple Phoenix Palace finally figured out the identity of the perpetrator. To their astonishment, it was actually Seven Stars Sect’s Miao Fei Ping!
This shocked Purple Phoenix Palace greatly. It had to be known that the Seven Stars Sect was the most powerful Sect in Void World. Not only did they have the largest number of Emperor Realm Masters, but they also had an Ancestor who was shrouded in a veil of mystery.
Rumour had it that the Ancestor’s strength had already surpassed the Emperor Realm, but no one knew what his exact cultivation was.
Although Purple Phoenix Palace and Seven Stars Sect had some business with each other, there wasn’t much friendship between them because of the huge distance between the two. What puzzled Purple Phoenix Palace’s higher-ups was why Miao Fei Ping, the Third-Order Emperor Realm Elder of Seven Stars Sect, suddenly came to Purple Phoenix City and attacked their disciples.
The Vice Palace Master of Purple Phoenix Palace personally went to Miao Fei Ping and asked him for the entire story. Only then did he learn that his son had taken advantage of a little mortal girl, forcing Miao Fei Ping to act.
The Vice Palace Master was naturally vexed. He might have failed to discipline his son, but the fact was that many of Purple Phoenix Palace disciples had been injured because of this matter. No matter what, Miao Fei Ping had to give an explanation; otherwise, Purple Phoenix Palace would lose all face.
But why would Miao Fei Ping give them any kind of explanation? He had already shown mercy by not killing them even when they had bullied the Ancestor’s descendant, so why would he need any justification?
The two sides failed to come to an agreement, and as both were pretty angry, a fight broke out.
In the end, Purple Phoenix Palace Vice Palace Master was completely defeated! He was injured and even fled Purple Phoenix City in a sorry state.
If injuring the disciples was just a trivial matter, the fact that the Vice Palace Master was injured drastically escalated the matter. How could Purple Phoenix Palace tolerate such an insult? They immediately dispatched several Emperor Realm Masters to subdue Miao Fei Ping.
Very soon, even Seven Stars Sect got the news. When they learned that Miao Fei Ping had encountered some trouble in Purple Phoenix City, Shang Guan Ji personally led several Emperor Realm Elders to Purple Phoenix City to assist Miao Fei Ping without any delay.
By the time Shang Guan Ji and the others arrived, Miao Fei Ping had already fought several bouts with Purple Phoenix Palace’s Emperor Realm Masters. At first, Purple Phoenix Palace thought that since Miao Fei Ping was all alone, it would be hard for a single Third-Order Emperor to fight them off. However, after a few skirmishes, they noticed that Miao Fei Ping was different from the Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters they knew.
His strength had already surpassed the limits of the Emperor Realm, and as such, even if he were to fight many Masters alone, he would not be at a disadvantage. Purple Phoenix Palace was still unable to do anything to him even after several confrontations.
When Shang Guan Ji and the others arrived, Purple Phoenix Palace was too afraid to act rashly.
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master couldn’t sit still after hearing that Shang Guan Ji had arrived. No matter what, Purple Phoenix Palace could not ignore the reputation of the number one Sect of the Void World.
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master stepped out to personally receive Shang Guan Ji. Both sides calmly discussed the entire matter, without any animosity. Purple Phoenix Palace didn’t have any other requests, they only wanted Miao Fei Ping to apologize and this matter would be settled. After witnessing Miao Fei Ping’s strength, Purple Phoenix Palace also realized that Seven Stars Sect Emperor Realm Masters couldn’t be judged by common sense. Just Miao Fei Ping alone was enough to give them so much trouble. Now with the addition of Shang Guan Ji and several others, Purple Phoenix Palace would likely suffer a catastrophic loss if they really fought.
Not to mention, the Seven Stars Sect still had their hidden dragon Ancestor who only showed his tail but never his face.
But since so many disciples were injured, Purple Phoenix Palace needed an apology to save face. In their opinion, they were already completely conceding by asking for just an apology.
Shang Guan Ji didn’t immediately agree, all he said was that he would like to ask Miao Fei Ping about the whole story. Purple Phoenix Palace naturally agreed.
Soon after, Shang Guan Ji came to Miao Fei Ping and asked him what this situation was about.
Since things had reached this point, Miao Fei Ping had no choice but to reveal that he had received the Ancestor’s secret order. Shang Guan Ji was extremely surprised after learning that everything was actually because of the Ancestor’s descendant.
However, when he personally saw the little girl and the rattle-drum in her hand, Shang Guan Ji finally got the confirmation that she was indeed the Ancestor’s descendant.
He was immediately enraged!
Purple Phoenix Palace disciples had actually bullied the Ancestor’s descendant? How could he let this go?
If it really was just some ordinary conflict, it wouldn’t have been a big deal to have Miao Fei Ping apologize; after all, no matter what the cause was, the fact was that Miao Fei Ping had indeed injured many of Purple Phoenix Palace’s disciples. To put it bluntly, as a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master, what Miao Fei Ping was doing was just bullying the weak. But the key point was that the Ancestor was involved in this matter, so how could Shang Guan Ji give in?
Shang Guan Ji visited the Purple Phoenix Palace Master and declared that it was impossible for them to apologize. If Purple Phoenix Palace continued pestering them over this, Seven Stars Sect would do everything in their power to maintain the dignity of their Sect.
Purple Phoenix Palace was dumbfounded as they had never expected to receive such a reply.
Many of Purple Phoenix Palace Elders were unable to calm their fury and started clamouring to teach Seven Stars Sect a lesson. The Purple Phoenix Palace Master, on the other hand, was hesitating.
A few days later, a huge number of Seven Stars Sect cultivators rushed to Purple Phoenix City. Judging by the scale, it could be said that the Seven Stars Sect had mobilized all its forces. Everyone had rushed over, from Emperor Realm Elders to disciples who had just entered the Sect, not a single person was left.
If someone were to attack Seven Stars Sect right now, they would easily be able to take over their headquarters.
Purple Phoenix Palace had never thought that Seven Stars Sect’s attitude would be so unyielding that they would mobilize their entire force. It felt as if a battle would break out between two great Sects at any moment.
Nothing of this sort had happened ever since the great migration to Void World.
The unusual actions of the Seven Stars Sect also attracted the attention of all the Sects in this World, and it was only at this moment that they truly witnessed the terrifying foundation of the Seven Stars Sect.
Much to everyone’s surprise, they had several dozen Emperor Realm Masters! Although the other Sects had seen an increase in the number of Emperor Realm Masters they possessed in recent years, it wasn’t too many. Even the strongest of them had perhaps a dozen or so in total.
On the other hand, the Seven Star Sect actually had several dozen Emperors!
In the past, it had been rumoured that the Seven Stars Sect was the strongest Sect in Void World; but now, they finally had a deeper understanding of its strength. No one could understand why so many Emperor Realm Masters had appeared in the Seven Stars Sect.
If the two Sects were to fight, Purple Phoenix Palace would definitely not be their opponent.
After the full mobilization of the Seven Stars Sect, the Purple Phoenix Palace Elders who had been eager to fight it out with the Seven Stars Sect suddenly became mute. Fortunately, Seven Stars Sect’s forces didn’t do anything drastic after entering Purple Phoenix City, all of them just entered local inns and dispersed themselves around the city.
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master once again visited Shang Guan Ji. His tone was no longer as forceful as before; instead, he wore a forced smile on his face, expressing his goodwill. Even the Vice Palace Master came and personally apologized.
Shang Guan Ji stated that so long as Purple Phoenix Palace did not deliberately cause any trouble, Seven Stars Sect would not cause trouble in Purple Phoenix City.
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master let out a long sigh of relief after getting this guarantee.
Be that as it may, it was highly inappropriate for so many Seven Stars Sect disciples to be loitering in Purple Phoenix City. He wanted to ask Shang Guan Ji what exactly they were doing here, and when would Seven Stars Sect be withdrawing.
After pondering for a moment, Shang Guan Ji finally gave an answer, “I can’t say for sure when we will withdraw. As for what we are doing, you don’t need to ask. You can just think of it as the disciples of the Seven Stars Sect coming here to gain life experience. They will leave when the time is right.”
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master was speechless.
Unable to obtain an accurate answer from Shang Guan Ji, the Purple Phoenix Palace Master returned and relayed this conversation to the other Elders. Immediately, one of the Elders angrily rebuked, “Isn’t Shang Guan Ji Seven Stars Sect’s Sect Master? Who in Seven Stars Sect dares to disobey him? Yet he said that he didn’t know when they would be withdrawing! Clearly, he is just trying to make things difficult for our Purple Phoenix Palace!”
Other Elders also flew into a rage.
However, one of the Elders thoughtfully interjected, “According to the Palace Master’s words, this Shang Guan Ji may have some difficulties.”
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master looked at the Elder after hearing his speculation, “What difficulties could he possibly have?”
The Elder asked, “Palace Master, doesn’t Seven Stars Sect also have an Ancestor? What if ‘he’ gave the order?”
The Purple Phoenix Palace Master’s expression changed, “You mean…”
The Elder shook his head, stating, “It’s just a guess, I can’t say for sure.”
In Purple Phoenix City, Seven Stars Sect disciples could be seen everywhere. Fortunately, these people really did not cause any trouble in Purple Phoenix City just as Shang Guan Ji had said.
Purple Phoenix Palace’s higher-ups were both happy and puzzled. Could it be that Seven Stars Sect really only sent their entire Sect here to gain life experience?
But what they could not understand was why they chose Purple Phoenix City.
Nonetheless, Purple Phoenix Palace finally reached one conclusion after numerous investigations, and that was that the Emperor Realm Masters of Seven Stars Sect were attaching a lot of importance to a certain little girl who was wandering around Purple Phoenix City. At any given moment, at least two to three Emperors would be secretly watching over her.
However, they only monitored her from a distance and never exposed their whereabouts nor interfered with her life. They simply let her wander the city as she pleased.
Purple Phoenix Palace finally realized that this little girl was the cause of the entire incident.
Purple Phoenix Palace failed to understand why Seven Stars Sect placed so much importance on this little girl. They tried to investigate her background, but even after a thorough investigation, they came to a shocking conclusion. No one knew which family this little girl was from or when she had arrived in Purple Phoenix City. There was no record of her entering the city through the city gates. It was as if she had appeared in Purple Phoenix City out of thin air.
They might have not understood the origins of this little girl, but they finally understood Seven Stars Sect’s intentions, allowing Purple Phoenix Palace to breathe a sigh of relief.
Since this little girl was so important, Purple Phoenix Palace didn’t dare to be negligent either. The higher-ups immediately ordered everyone in the city to open their doors wide for this little girl, catering to her every need.
Since then, the little girl’s life in Purple Phoenix City had become much more comfortable. She did not need to pay for anything she ate, and when night fell, the owner of a nearby inn would always invite her inside to sleep in a warm bed.
All this while, Yang Kai was sitting cross-legged inside the Marketplace, silently refining cultivation materials.
He had his Small Universe spread out, allowing the Old Ancestor to recuperate, but this did not affect his cultivation in any way.
The people of Purple Phoenix Palace and Seven Stars Sect all thought that the Old Ancestor was just an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before, but as the Master of the Small Universe, Yang Kai could clearly feel some intangible force constantly pouring into the Old Ancestor’s body.
This mysterious energy seemed to be the essence of the mundane world.
The baptism of this mysterious energy was the basis of the Old Ancestor’s healing technique, but even Yang Kai was unable to understand its properties.
Yin-Yang Pass went into a full defensive stance while the Old Ancestor was recuperating. They did nothing even when the Black Ink Clan army taunted and provoked them. Only when the Black Ink Clan approached too close to Yin-Yang Pass did they use the various Spirit Arrays and artifacts to repel the enemy.
Just like that, half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
Just like every other day, Yang Kai was focused on refining cultivation materials when he suddenly sensed something. He promptly focused his Divine Sense towards a certain place in Purple Phoenix City.
Miao Fei Ping was diligently carrying out the Ancestor’s secret order in Purple Phoenix City, keeping an eye on the Ancestor’s descendant at almost every moment. Fortunately, Purple Phoenix Palace seemed to have realized that this little girl’s identity was special after the previous incident, so no one dared to seek trouble with her, which saved Miao Fei Ping a lot of effort.
At this moment, the Ancestor’s descendant was eating breakfast at a stall. Usually, this little girl was like a storm, lively and hopping from one place to another, but today, she suddenly stopped eating as a thoughtful look appeared on her face.
Immediately after, she stood up and walked straight towards Miao Fei Ping.
Miao Fei Ping was beside himself. It had to be said that he was a Third-Order Emperor Realm Master who had not only used a Secret Technique to conceal himself, but had also withdrawn his aura completely. Not to mention an ordinary mortal, even another Emperor Realm Master would not be able to find him so easily.
Nevertheless, the Ancestor’s descendant was actually walking towards him, forcing him to wonder, [Did she discover me?]
Miao Fei Ping quickly denied this possibility. Although the Ancestor was powerful, his descendant didn’t show any signs of cultivation. It was impossible for her to have discovered him.
So, when she was approaching him, Miao Fei Ping just silently stepped aside.
But much to his surprise, the little girl just stood there, and even turned towards him, looking at him with a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eyes.
This time, Miao Fei Ping was truly shocked. He took a few more steps to clear the way, but the little girl just kept staring at him.
“Junior Sister, can you see me?” Miao Fei Ping asked, astounded.
The little girl tilted her head and smiled, “Junior Sister?”
Miao Fei Ping was shocked beyond words, [She really can see me! But how is that possible?] He had been monitoring her for a long time, but he had never sensed any trace of cultivation from her, not in the slightest. He was really unable to explain the current situation.
Just as he was beginning to doubt himself, the little figure in front of him continued with a smile, “Forget it, it’s been hard on you these past few days.”
Miao Fei Ping didn’t know how to respond for a moment and muttered, “Don’t mind it, Junior Sister, it was my duty.”
The little girl nodded her acknowledgement like a worldly-wise old woman before suddenly raising her head to the sky and shouting, “Bring me out.”
Just as she said so, the small figure before Miao Fei Ping suddenly disappeared into thin air.
Miao Fei Ping couldn’t help but stare absent-mindedly.
This sudden abnormality quickly attracted the nearby Seven Stars Sect Emperor Realm Masters’ attention and they instantly rushed over to check up on it. Shang Guan Ji also received word and rushed over, but the little girl was already gone.
Fortunately, Miao Fei Ping soon received the Ancestor’s decree, stating that his mission was over. Everyone from the Seven Stars Sect immediately breathed a long breath.
At the same time, a small figure suddenly appeared in the Marketplace of Yin-Yang Pass.
Seeing the small figure, Tang Qiu, who had been waiting here all the while, respectfully bowed.
The Old Ancestor lightly nodded before looking at Yang Kai thoughtfully, voicing her doubts, “Is the flow of time in your Small Universe different from the outside world?”
Yang Kai replied, “This Junior cultivates the Dao of Time, so the flow of time in my Small Universe is four times faster than the outside world.”
During a bout of enlightenment into the Dao of Time many years ago, the flow of time inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe accelerated to twice that of the outside world. Later, when his Third Disciple Xu Yi was cultivating the Great Nothingness Scripture in the Seven Stars Sect, his Small Universe benefited from it for some unknown reason and the flow of time became four times faster.
Therefore, although Yang Kai had only cultivated in the Marketplace for half a year, the Old Ancestor had already spent more than two years in his Small Universe.
Tang Qiu was stunned for a moment after this revelation, causing him to exclaim, “Four times the speed of the outside world?”
Yang Kai nodded seriously.
Tang Qiu looked at him as if he was looking at a monster, “You have living creatures in your Small Universe, who are constantly increasing your strength. With a four-fold time flow rate, isn’t it just like adding wings to a tiger?” He suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “No wonder you broke through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm so quickly, so this is the reason.”
He had been curious about this all along. Yang Kai had only advanced to the Open Heaven Realm a few centuries ago, and although the world was filled with many opportunities, the speed of his advancement was still too great. But if the flow of time in his Small Universe was different from the outside world, everything made sense.
“What a pity…” Tang Qiu suddenly sighed again. Unfortunately, Yang Kai’s advancement to the Open Heaven Realm started from the Fifth Order. Although he had consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit which had allowed his strength to increase by one Order, his limit was still the Eighth Order.
If he had broken through directly to the Seventh Order back then, he would have had a chance to become an Old Ancestor one day.
With such a Heaven-defying opportunity available to him, he could have saved a lot of time compared to other people who had a chance of reaching the Ninth Order.
“No need to feel sorry, the future is yet unknown,” the Old Ancestor obviously understood what Tang Qiu was sighing about, “It’s not like Yang Kai doesn’t have any hope of breaking through to the Ninth Order, but he still needs to work hard in the future. It would be better to focus on the present first.”
Tang Qiu’s expression immediately became solemn as he requested, cupping his fist, “The four Armies of Yin-Yang Pass are already prepared, please give the order.”
The Old Ancestor looked out of the Great Pass and indifferently ordered, “Engage the enemy!”
A sonorous bugle horn resounded throughout the entire Yin-Yang Pass. The soldiers of Yin-Yang Pass, who had been cultivating for over half a year, quickly arranged themselves at the eastern gate.
The entire periphery of Yin-Yang Pass was surrounded by the Black Ink Clan army, so the eastern gate was no exception.
At this moment, the Black Ink Clan was shouting provocations at this particular gate.
Over the last half a year, this kind of scene had been occurring almost every day. The closing of Yin-Yang Pass had made the Black Ink Clan become increasingly arrogant.
Therefore, when Yin-Yang Pass’s barriers opened and a tide of Humans rushed out from the eastern gate, the Black Ink Clan army, who had been provoking and cursing them, couldn’t react in time.
Everywhere the Human Warships passed, the dumbstruck Black Ink Clan army was torn to pieces.
In the distance, the Territory Lords were extremely excited, noticing the Humans’ movement. They loudly ordered their armies to meet the enemy. They had been feeling suffocated ever since Yin-Yang Pass withdrew, so now that the Humans had finally come out, they naturally wanted to kill to their heart’s content.
The two armies soon clashed with each other in the void. Dazzling Secret Techniques and Artifacts lit up the battlefield as blood and mangled pieces of flesh flew everywhere.
As soon as they clashed, the Black Ink Clan army showed signs of being suppressed.
This was not surprising though, as all of Yin-Yang Pass’s Armies had charged out of the eastern gate, while the Black Ink Clan’s army was spread out around the entire Yin-Yang Pass. Aside from the Black Ink Clansmen outside the eastern gate, the other Black Ink Clan armies were still on their way to reinforce them.
Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan armies’ strength had been reduced after the previous battles.
In the past, the Black Ink Clan had been able to constantly replenish their forces from their home territories, but this time, the Black Ink Clan’s rear had been thrown into chaos. Not only was the Royal Lord seriously injured, but they had also lost five Territory Lords and countless Black Ink Nests. While the Humans were recuperating, the Black Ink Clan had also received reinforcements, but their numbers were far fewer than normal, making it difficult for them to replenish their losses.
Nonetheless, the Black Ink Clan continued to fight to the death. It wasn’t that everyone from the Black Ink Clan was unafraid of death, but if the Territory Lord commanding the army didn’t give the order to retreat, no one would dare to. Retreating in battle without permission was a capital offence.
For the Territory Lords, as long as not too many Feudal Lords under them died, it did not matter to them how many High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen perished. On the contrary, they could rely on the High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen to exhaust the strength of the Humans.
In terms of replenishing their forces, the Black Ink Clan had it far easier compared to the Humans; therefore, this kind of exchange of forces was extremely beneficial to the Black Ink Clan. All the Territory Lords understood this principle.
While the Black Ink Clan army at the eastern gate was retreating again and again, and the Black Ink Clan forces from the other areas were rushing over to provide assistance, a small figure suddenly appeared on an unremarkable Warship.
The Black Ink Clan never imagined that the Human Old Ancestor would actually be hiding in the midst of the Army to launch a sneak attack. What they found even more difficult to understand was how the Old Ancestor got the strength to fight so quickly.
According to the news they had received from the rear, the Human Old Ancestor was severely wounded and would not be able to fight for the next 30 to 50 years; otherwise, they wouldn’t have continued besieging Yin-Yang Pass for so long.
The Royal Lord had fallen into a deep sleep, so their side was without a Supreme Master. Once the Human Old Ancestor took action, the Territory Lords would not be able to resist.
It was precisely because they knew that the Old Ancestor did not have the ability to fight that the Territory Lords were so fearless. As strong as those Eighth-Order Humans were, it was not easy for them to kill a Territory Lord on the battlefield; therefore, when the figure of the Old Ancestor suddenly appeared on the battlefield and killed one of the Territory Lords in the blink of an eye, the Black Ink Clan was beside themselves in shock.
The Old Ancestor didn’t stop there. She wielded her longsword again and quickly killed another Territory Lord with the cooperation of Tang Qiu and the other Eighth-Order Masters.
Two Territory Lords had fallen in succession in less than a dozen breaths, so how could the surviving Territory Lords dare to remain? All of them quickly fled, and without them to hold the line, the Black Ink Clan army instantly routed.
In a flash, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy losses, whereas the morale of the Humans shot through the sky.
All the Territory Lords immediately focused all their energy on escaping while the Old Ancestor didn’t waste any time chasing after them; instead, she turned around and charged towards the South.
On the Southern side, the Black Ink Clan army still didn’t know what was happening on the eastern front, so the Territory Lords were still leading their Army to provide reinforcements.
Before they could arrive though, they were directly intercepted by Eighth-Order Division Commanders led by their Old Ancestor.
In the initial clash, another Territory Lord was swiftly killed off by the Old Ancestor, and the aura of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master began to spread through the surroundings, oppressing the entire battlefield.
Three Territory Lords had died, the Eastern front had collapsed, and the Southern front had been thrown into chaos with the sudden appearance of the Old Ancestor. By now, the Territory Lords in the North and West of Yin-Yang Pass had sensed the Old Ancestor’s aura. They knew that things were not looking good, so they decisively threw a bunch of cannon fodder to divert the attention of the Humans while they led their elites to escape from the battlefield, running towards the Black Ink Clan territory without even looking back, fearing that the Old Ancestor would pursue them.
Since the battle had reached this point, the Black Ink Clan could no longer turn the tide. Only a cup of tea had passed since the appearance of the Old Ancestor, and yet three Territory Lords had died by her hand while many weaker the Black Ink Clansmen were annihilated from the fallout of her attacks. The Black Ink Clan was utterly defeated.
Without the suppression of a Royal Lord on the battlefield, the Old Ancestor was simply too intimidating to the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clan army was fleeing everywhere like stray dogs, so naturally, the Human Race would not miss such a good opportunity. The four Armies pursued the enemy under the leadership of their respective Army Commanders, leaving a bloody trail behind them.
Yang Kai didn’t participate in the battle, for as extraordinary as his strength might be, one more person on such a battlefield in the Seventh Order was not going to make a significant difference. His task was to escort the Old Ancestor back to the Great Pass.
After recuperating for two years in his Small Universe, the Old Ancestor had only managed to recover enough strength to kill three Territory Lords. The Old Ancestor was no longer able to continue after killing the third Territory Lord.
Even if the Black Ink Clan didn’t retreat, it would have been impossible for the Old Ancestor to attack again. Be that as it may, the Black Ink Clan Territory Lords were completely terrified by the appearance of the Old Ancestor, so how could they dare to remain after sensing her presence?
This gave the Humans an opportunity to pursue and slaughter. In the battle between two races, this was the best opportunity to increase one’s Military Merits. Many Eighth-Order Division Commanders deeply understood this principle, so how could they let this chance pass?
Nonetheless, the Humans didn’t dare to pursue the enemy too far and began to withdraw their forces and return to the Pass after 10 days.
The Black Ink Clan Army had suffered heavy losses in this battle and it would take them at least 100 years to replenish their forces. If the Territory Lords’ casualties and the consequences of the Black Ink Nests’ destruction were factored in on top of that, it would probably take several hundred to 1,000 years for the Black Ink Clan in Yin-Yang Theatre to recover.
This battle could be considered a great victory!
The morale of Yin-Yang Pass’ soldiers was still pretty high after the battle. The battle between the two Races had resulted in casualties on the Human Race’s side too, but their casualties were within acceptable limits compared to the losses suffered by the Black Ink Clan.
After calculating the Military Merits, Yang Kai naturally received the highest reward.
Leaving aside the fact that he infiltrated the Black Ink Clan’s domain, ruined their grand plan, and rescued 300 Artifact Refiners, just the destruction of the 10 Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest was something no one could compare to. Not only did he discover many secrets about the Black Ink Clan, he had also brought the Old Ancestor back to the Great Pass. Each of these feats was of great merit.
Yang Kai might have belonged to Blue Sky Pass, but his contributions this time were not small. Furthermore, Yin-Yang Pass had also made an exception to record his Military Merits.
Yang Kai could exchange them for anything he wanted from Yin-Yang Pass’ War Materials Palace with his Military Merits; however, he had looted a huge number of resources from the Black Ink Clan already, so he didn’t need to worry about his own cultivation and naturally didn’t need to exchange for anything at the moment.
After the battle ended, Yang Kai did not immediately return to Blue Sky Pass; instead, he opened the portals to the Universe Paradises and Universe Cave Heavens in the periphery of the Pass at the behest of Tang Qiu and the other Army Commanders.
There were multitudes of hidden Universe Paradises and Universe Cave Heavens around each Great Pass which were all left behind by High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters who had died in battle. It was true for Blue Sky Pass, and so was it for Yin-Yang Pass.
Yang Kai had already opened the portals to the Universe Paradises and Universe Cave Heavens around Blue Sky Pass, and the Array Masters back there had set up multitudes of restrictions and traps inside of them to deal with the Black Ink Clan Army in the future.
Yin-Yang Pass had heard about this matter, so it was only natural for them to follow suit. Unfortunately, these hidden gates were difficult to find, unless one was proficient in the Dao of Space like Yang Kai.
Over the next few months, Yang Kai had been searching around the periphery of Yin-Yang Pass to open these hidden portals, and as long as one was opened, Array Masters would get to work.
After finishing these tasks, Yang Kai began searching for the entrance to the Sealed World portals further afield. It took him almost two years to finish everything.
After returning to Yin-Yang Pass, the Purifying Light in the four Purifying Black Ink Battleships still needed to be replenished, so he had to act again.
Taking into consideration the fact that the Southern Army Commander Wu Qing had one of the Four Universe Pillars, Yang Kai gave him a number of Small Stone Race members to let him raise them inside his Small Universe. It was like a priceless gift to Wu Qing.
He was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but he was not far from breaking through to the Ninth-Order. Now that he had the Small Stone Race, the time it would take him to advance had been reduced.
Everything was ready.
The Marketplace was extremely lively at this moment, just like the first time Yang Kai had come here. The entire street was crowded and bustling with activity, like a mortal city.
But compared to his initial confusion, Yang Kai now knew that this Marketplace was built to treat the Old Ancestor’s injuries.
After easily finding the Old Ancestor, who happened to be listening to a story in the teahouse, Yang Kai sat down next to her without any trace of politeness.
The speaker on the stage was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master whom Yang Kai didn’t recognize. Yang Kai had no idea which Division Commander he was, but he seemed to be telling some kind of fantastical story. It was wonderful and a few among the audience were cheering in excitement.
Yang Kai’s brow couldn’t help twitching as he really couldn’t get used to this kind of scene; after all, everyone in the audience was a powerful Open Heaven Realm Master.
“Are you leaving?” The Old Ancestor asked casually while stuffing food into her mouth.
Yang Kai nodded his agreement, “Everything here has been taken care of, so there’s nothing left for me to do.”
“It’s been hard on you all these years. You’ve been running all over the place and haven’t had time to rest.”
“It is this Junior’s duty,” Yang Kai replied.
“En, when you get back, you should focus on your cultivation and strive to break through to the Eighth Order as soon as possible. In the end, the Seventh Order is not enough to ensure your safety on this Black Ink Battlefield.”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai replied respectfully. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “Does the Old Ancestor need help to heal? If the Old Ancestor needs it, the Junior will not hesitate.”
The Old Ancestor answered with a smile, “There’s no need, healing here is the same. Although the speed can’t be compared to your Small Universe’s, the Black Ink Clan’s forces have suffered heavy casualties and there won’t be any war for the next several hundred years or more, so the speed of my recovery isn’t important.”
Yang Kai was just about to nod when the Old Ancestor suddenly added, “Why don’t you come to Yin-Yang Pass? You’re half a disciple of Yin-Yang Heaven, so it’s only right and proper for you to come here.”
Yang Kai replied, “This Junior cannot make the decision on this matter. If the Old Ancestor really wants this Junior to come to Yin-Yang Pass, Blue Sky Pass must be informed. If Blue Sky Pass allows it, I will not refuse.”
The Old Ancestor chuckled, “It was just a casual remark, don’t take it seriously. Since you’re a Human, no matter where you are, as long as you fight against the Black Ink Clan, it’s all the same. It does not matter which Great Pass you belong to.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded and accompanied the Old Ancestor for a while before standing up and stating, “This Junior will take his leave then!”
“Go on,” the Old Ancestor waved him off.
After leaving the Marketplace, Yang Kai went straight to some place inside the Inner Sanctum and stopped in front of a small courtyard.
There was a barrier outside the courtyard, obviously to prevent anyone from disturbing its occupant. Be that as it may, Yang Kai didn’t pay it any heed and simply lifted his hand to touch it. Soon, a portal opened before Yang Kai entered inside.
In the courtyard, Blood Crow sat up straight and glanced over, “What is it?”
Yang Kai smiled, “Nothing important, I’m preparing to return to Blue Sky Pass, so I came to see you before I left.”
Blood Crow immediately became sullen, “Since when were we friends?”
Yang Kai reached out and grabbed a few bottles of wine out of thin air before placing them on the table in front of Blood Crow.
Blood Crow looked at the wine and then at Yang Kai before clicking his tongue, “Are you trying to make friends with me with just these few bottles? Have you forgotten what you did to me?”
Yang Kai placed two bowls, filled them with wine, and picked one up, “Let me ask you, do you want to drink it or not?”
Blood Crow remained silent for a moment before picking up a bottle, unsealing it, and then pouring it.
Yang Kai didn’t pay attention to this and just lifted his bowl.
They didn’t talk much, just kept drinking.
After drinking a few bottles, Yang Kai stood up and stated in a slightly drunk manner, “Brother Blood Crow, the battlefield is dangerous, and fighting alone will not guarantee your safety. All the Humans here are wearing the same robe, I hope that when next I come to Yin-Yang Pass, I will see you again.”
Saying so, he waved his hand and turned to leave.
Watching him disappear, Blood Crow snorted, “How boring!”