After wandering around the battlefield for a while, Yang Kai arrived somewhere near the Royal City.
The Royal City had been around for several hundreds of thousands of years. It could be said to be the foundation of the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre. But now, the Universe World where the Royal City was located had shattered, and the city itself was ruined.
The gigantic Black Ink Nests had either fallen to the ground or been destroyed. Only a small number of them were intact.
There wasn’t a hint of vitality in the Universe World where the Royal City was located.
The Black Ink Clan had lost the war, and those who had survived were running for their lives now. The large Royal City was completely empty and desolate.
Yang Kai didn’t even spare a glance at those surviving Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests and instead headed straight to the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
He initially thought he had smashed this Black Ink Nest with his strike, but the truth was that it wasn’t completely destroyed.
That was because there were still some remaining Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. If the High-Rank Black Ink Nest had been completely destroyed, these Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests would have withered as well.
Once the higher rank Black Ink Nest was destroyed, the lower rank Black Ink Nests would die as a chain reaction.
Although the High-Rank Black Ink Nest had collapsed to the floor, it was still a magnificent sight to behold.
Yang Kai stared silently at the damaged Black Ink Nest for a while. As an idea flashed across his mind, he stepped forward. Soon, he found the entrance and entered.
Following that, he could feel an immense force surging within the flesh walls of the Black Ink Nest. It was imaginable that the Royal Lord must have stored a huge amount of power in this Black Ink Nest so that he could draw energy from it at any moment while dealing with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.
If not for the fact that Yang Kai had damaged this Black Ink Nest, it wouldn’t have been so easy for Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to kill the Royal Lord.
Now, the power stored in this Black Ink Nest was no longer useful. Since the Royal Lord was dead, who else could make use of it?
It certainly was useless to the Humans.
[How wasteful!] Yang Kai thought. He wondered how many resources had the Black Ink Clan wasted to build up the energy reserves in this place. Those resources could have greatly benefited the Human soldiers.
Since the Black Ink Nest had collapsed, it wasn’t easy to move around the passageways as many places had been blocked. With that said, it took Yang Kai little effort to clear the way forward.
Soon, he arrived at the Black Ink Pool.
The internal structures of all Black Ink Nests were similar, the only real difference being their size. Yang Kai had seen the Black Ink Pools of Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, but in comparison, the Black Ink Pool within this High-Rank Black Ink Nest was undoubtedly larger.
If a Black Ink Pool inside the Low-Rank Black Ink Nest was like a puddle, then a Black Ink Pool inside a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest was like a pond. On the other hand, the Black Ink Pool inside the High-Rank Black Ink Nest was like a lake.
Black Ink Strength could be felt surging in the Black Ink Pool.
Many sarcomas that nurtured new Black Ink Clansmen were squirming on the flesh walls, like they would hatch at any moment.
Yang Kai wasn’t bothered at all. Even if these Black Ink Clansmen were born, they would be extremely weak and pose no threat to the Humans. Any Open Heaven Realm Master could easily kill them.
He wanted to look for the Black Ink Nest’s centre and make use of it to find out what was going on in other Theatres.
The Humans had routed the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre, but no one knew what was going on in the other Theatres. Although the Humans had made a lot of preparations for this final battle and the Evil Purging Divine Spears were finally revealed, the battlefield was an ever-changing environment. Before there was any verified news, no one could guarantee the Humans had gained the upper hand on every battlefield.
Certainly, there was transmission of information between the Great Passes, but that was the communication between the Humans.
Yang Kai wanted to find out what the Black Ink Clansmen were talking about so that he could have a clearer picture of the situations in the different Theatres.
Perhaps he could gather some useful information by making use of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
At this moment, he was glad that he never decided to completely destroy the Black Ink Nest during the battle; otherwise, he wouldn’t have such an opportunity now.
Soon, he found the Black Ink Nest’s centre. As the Black Ink Strength undulated, Yang Kai selected a spot and sat down with his legs crossed.
Although he had entered the Spaces of Low-Rank and Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests on several occasions, it was the first time he had done such a thing in a High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
In fact, there wasn’t any difference. He just had to open his Small Universe and let the Black Ink Nest absorb his World Force. With the World Force as a bridge, he could connect to the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness.
The next instant, Yang Kai found himself inside a huge space.
He didn’t reveal his Soul Avatar. He was a Human after all, so his Soul Avatar would be quite conspicuous. In this place where everyone was a Black Ink Clansman, his identity might be exposed.
At this moment, his consciousness looked like a kind of cloud. This type of form wasn’t peculiar as many Black Ink Clansmen existed in similar shapes in the space that connected the Black Ink Nests.
The instant Yang Kai entered this space, he felt the chaotic fluctuations of Divine Senses all around him. At the same time, he could read a lot of messages.
“The Humans have gone all out this time! They have developed an artifact that emits a very pure light that can restrict Black Ink Strength. The Territory Lords under Mo Bu Royal Lord have suffered immense losses.”
“We need help in the Xuan Yuan Theatre. Many of the soldiers are dead. Can any Royal Lord lend us assistance?”
“The Humans have arrived at the Royal City. We might lose it at this rate…”
“The Humans have gone mad! They’ve even driven their Great Pass to this place. The Azure Nether Theatre is at risk of falling…”
…..
As the Divine Senses communicated in this space, they revealed the fact that the Black Ink Clan was in a state of despair. Most of the Divine Senses were flustered and it was apparent that the Black Ink Clan were in perilous situations in various different Theatres. Numerous Royal Cities even seemed to be on the verge of destruction.
Only a small number of Divine Senses remained calm and collected; however, affected by the atmosphere, they still appeared a little uneasy.
The Humans had launched an all-out crusade this time. There were over 100 Great Passes in an equal number of Theatres. Several million Human soldiers had made a move, so there was no turning back.
The Humans’ stance was clear; they would either win this war or die trying.
With the help of the Great Passes and the Evil Purging Divine Spears, and coupled with the advantage they had accumulated over the past several hundred years, the Humans marched forward in these Theatres and rendered the Black Ink Clan powerless to counterattack.
The Evil Purging Divine Spears had been widely employed, causing a large number of Feudal Lords and Territory Lords to lose their lives. Without the Feudal Lords and the Territory Lords to take charge, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could let loose. As long as they managed to gain the upper hand on the battlefield, they could assist the Old Ancestors and join forces to deal with other Territory Lords. They could also try to destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nests to cripple the enemy forces.
On the battlefield, one party could gain the upper hand by achieving a breakthrough, and the Humans had found a way to do that.
Therefore, the Black Ink Clan was in danger in every Theatre. In the weaker Theatres, the Royal Cities were on the brink of being occupied, so they had no choice but to ask for help.
However, at this point, none of the Theatres could lend a hand to other places, for they couldn’t even save themselves.
Even if they still had the power to offer help, it was unrealistic to do so as there was a long distance between the Theatres.
These pieces of bad news were like music to Yang Kai’s ears. Even though there was some transmission of information between the Great Passes and the higher-ups in Great Evolution Theatre must be aware of what was going on in the other Theatres, such information was still restricted for now.
Therefore, when Yang Kai found out about such information in this Black Ink Nest Space, he was thrilled.
The Humans were on the winning side!
These flustered Divine Senses continued to share distressing news in this space that connected the Black Ink Nests, filling the atmosphere with a sense of despair.
Yang Kai was secretly pleased. The Black Ink Clan had suppressed the Humans for millennia and repeatedly invaded their Great Passes. Now, they finally had a taste of their own medicine. It seemed that the Humans were bound for victory.
However, there was no news of any Royal City being conquered or any Royal Lord being killed so far.
It seemed that the progress in Great Evolution Theatre was the quickest.
It wasn’t hard to figure out the reasons behind this. When the Great Evolution Army re-took Great Evolution Pass 200 years ago, they had managed to significantly weaken the Black Ink Clan. To achieve that goal, they had lost almost 40% of their forces.
At that time, many Territory Lords had lost their lives, and even the Royal Lord was severely wounded.
200 years had passed, but the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre still hadn’t restored their foundation when the Humans arrived with Great Evolution Pass and launched an all-out assault.
In such a situation, it was only natural that the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre would be the first to fall.
Although the progress was slower in other Theatres, it shouldn’t be too difficult for them to win. Everything depended on their own powers to make contributions that were similar to those in Great Evolution Theatre.
Yang Kai wondered how these Black Ink Clansmen would react if he shouted that Mo Zhao was dead at this point.
While he was pondering on this though, he suddenly noticed something and shifted his attention to another place in the vast space.
When he entered this space earlier, he was drawn to those chaotic Divine Senses, so he never paid attention to the silent side. As he looked intently now, an odd feeling rose within him.
There were more than 20 Soul Avatars that remained completely silent over there. They were not flustered or worried at all. These 20-plus Soul Avatars were so quiet that it was as though they were sleeping, a stark contrast to the Soul Avatars who were actively exchanging information with their Divine Senses.
It was because of their silence that Yang Kai didn’t immediately notice them.
This Black Ink Nest Space seemed to have been divided into two parts.
On one side, there were these anxious Soul Avatars who were spreading information and asking for help. On the other hand, there were those eerily silent Soul Avatars.
The moment Yang Kai noticed them, he felt his chest tightening as a feeling of incongruity rose within him.
The next instant, he realised why he had this feeling all of a sudden; the number wasn’t right.
There were 108 Cave Heavens and Paradises in total. Every Cave Heaven or Paradise corresponded to a Theatre.
However, the actual number was fewer than that because the Dragon Clan’s Dragon Pool and the Phoenix Clan’s Phoenix Nest had occupied two places that belonged within the Cave Heavens.
Meanwhile, the two Clans stayed in the No-Return Pass.
In other words, there should be 106 Theatres on the Black Ink Battlefield.
Although Yang Kai hadn’t counted, he believed that there were over a hundred Soul Avatars, whose Divine Senses were communicating with each other, that had gathered together.
Since these Soul Avatars were able to enter this space, it meant that they had made use of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest in the respective Theatres.
The number of the Soul Avatars and the number of Theatres should have matched; however, what about these extra 20 or so Soul Avatars? Where were they from?
Yang Kai initially thought that those Soul Avatars came from some other Theatres. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had told him that not every Theatre only had one Old Ancestor and one Royal Lord.
In some Theatres, there was more than one Old Ancestor and Royal Lord. If there were two or three Royal Lords in a given Theatre, then it was reasonable that there were more than 20 extra Soul Avatars here.
However, the moment he realised how formidable those Soul Avatars were, he knew something was amiss.
Despite being restrained, those silent Soul Avatars were extremely powerful. Even Yang Kai was no match for them.
Although he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, his Soul was equivalent to that of an Eighth-Order Master’s. Other than the Old Ancestors, only the Royal Lords were more powerful than he was when it came to their Souls.
These more than 20 Soul Avatars belonged to Royal Lords!
Yang Kai was shocked, [Why are there so many Royal Lords here?]
This was quite unusual. One had to know that the Humans had launched attacks on all the Royal Cities with their Great Passes, so the Royal Lords definitely had to take command of the war. Perhaps they also had to fight with the Old Ancestors, so why would they even have time to let their Soul Avatars sit idly here?
It might be understandable if there were just one to two of them, but there were over 20 Royal Lords here now.
With the intense battle against the Humans raging, even a single Territory Lord was indispensable on the battlefield, let alone a Royal Lord. There was no way they would just sit back and do nothing in their Black Ink Nests.
On the other hand, those over 100 flustered Soul Avatars were not powerful. All of them were just Feudal Lords, which was considered normal.
[What’s going on?] Yang Kai was unable to figure it out.
Regardless, he didn’t have time to ponder on it as he must have alerted those Royal Lords, causing a Divine Sense to probe him.
Faced with immense pressure, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar trembled and almost dissipated. He still hadn’t recovered from the injury caused by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, so he was unable to bear such a forceful impact. Fortunately, he pulled his Soul together at the most critical moment.
There was a new message in his Divine Sense, “Which Theatre are you from?”
It was apparently a question from the other party.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai replied, “I’m from Great Evolution Theatre, Sir.”
“What is the situation in Great Evolution Theatre?”
Yang Kai lied to him by saying, “The situation is dire. Sir Royal Lord is locked in a life-and-death battle with the Human Old Ancestor, but he’s in a disadvantageous position. We need assistance right away.”
As soon as Yang Kai finished speaking, the other party was startled for a moment before asking doubtfully, “Isn’t Mo Zhao supposed to be dead?”
[Damn it!] Yang Kai felt his chest tightening. Only then did he realise the information in Great Evolution Theatre must have already spread through this space.
After giving it some thought, he realised it wasn’t so surprising. So many Divine Senses from different Theatres had gathered together in this space and were constantly communicating with one another. One of them had to have been from Great Evolution Theatre.
It was pretty violent and showy when Mo Zhao was killed, so the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest at that time must be able to detect it.
“A Territory Lord? No! You’re a Human!” The Divine Sense suddenly realised Yang Kai’s identity. The next instant, a tremendous force surged in this space.
In fact, Yang Kai was ready to leave the moment the other party’s suspicion was aroused because of what he had said. Since the other party realised he was a Human, he definitely couldn’t stay in this space any longer.
Yang Kai successfully left the space the moment the power of the other party’s Divine Sense burst forth, so he was only lightly impacted.
Even so, he still felt an excruciating pain in his head when he regained his senses. It seemed that his Soul had been damaged.
His Soul still hadn’t recovered from the injury caused by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple when he was attacked by another Royal Lord. If not for the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection, he would have lost his life by now.
Ignoring his pain, Yang Kai left and shot into the sky in a hurry.
As Space Principles undulated, he arrived at Great Evolution Pass in the blink of an eye and headed straight to the Space Array.
At this moment, it was actually quite busy around the Space Array. Usually, there would only be a few Open Heaven Realm Masters in charge of this place, but there were more than ten of them now.
The light of the Space Array kept flickering, and every time it happened, a jade slip would appear out of thin air, containing reports from another Great Pass.
When Yang Kai arrived, he realised that these Open Heaven Realm Masters appeared thrilled. This couldn’t be helped, as the information they received indicated that the Humans had gained the upper hand in every Theatre. In some of the Theatres, the Royal Cities would be conquered soon.
When a Seventh-Order Master saw Yang Kai rushing over with a worried expression, he quickly greeted him and asked, “What’s wrong, Junior Brother Yang?”
Enduring the excruciating pain, Yang Kai clenched his teeth and replied, “Quickly inform the other Great Passes that apart from the Royal Lords we already know of, there are still over 20 Royal Lords hiding somewhere in the dark. Please tell the Old Ancestors to be on guard!”
Hearing that, the Seventh-Order Master was flabbergasted, “Where did you get the information? Is it accurate?”
Yang Kai explained, “Just now, I entered the High-Rank Black Ink Nest Space and saw over 20 Soul Avatars that belonged to the Royal Lords there. The reason they haven’t participated in the war must be that they’re waiting for a chance to deal a fatal blow to the Old Ancestors.”
On the battlefield, the threat of hidden Royal Lords was lethal.
The reason Great Evolution Pass was lost 30,000 years ago was that Mo Zhao appeared all of a sudden after hiding in the dark all along. When the Old Ancestor from Great Evolution Pass was engaged in battle with the veteran Royal Lord, Mo Zhao suddenly appeared and joined forces with the Royal Lord to kill the Old Ancestor.
Previously, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had wanted to do the same by concealing himself; however, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao became vigilant after receiving a warning from the Snow Wolves Squad before their demise, which was why the Black Ink Disciple failed to achieve his goal.
It could be said that the message sent from the Snow Wolves Squad in their last moments had been critical to the war. If not for their warning, those from Great Evolution Pass wouldn’t have been on guard for a second Royal Lord, and things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly for them.
Just one hidden Royal Lord had caused the loss of Great Evolution Pass 30,000 years ago. Now, there were over 20 such Royal Lords. If the Black Ink Clan managed to achieve their goal, many Old Ancestors would lose their lives.
Once some of the Old Ancestors were dead, the Human soldiers would be in danger.
Therefore, the expressions of these Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were still elated a moment ago, changed drastically when they heard what Yang Kai had said. The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who spoke to Yang Kai just now, yelled, “Quickly spread this information around!”
Jade slips were soon engraved with such information and sent to the other Great Passes as the light of the Space Array repeatedly flickered.
It wasn’t until one hour later that all 105 jade slips were sent out.
Everyone in the Grand Hall held their breath. They were no longer as joyful as before and the atmosphere had instead turned solemn. They stared fixedly at the Space Array as they were worried that they would receive some bad news.
However, Yang Kai furrowed his brows at this moment.
His head was in pain as his Soul had been struck twice and even his ability to think critically had been affected. When he saw those 20-plus Royal Lords in the Black Ink Nest Space earlier, the first thing that came to his mind was that the Black Ink Clan had plotted an ambush, so he hurriedly returned to Great Evolution Pass and informed everyone about it.
Nevertheless, after the ache in his head calmed down and he was able to think more clearly, he realised that something was off. The truth might be different from his speculation.
Before he could figure out what was wrong though, a powerful aura approached from a distance and hovered above Great Evolution Pass in the blink of an eye.
The aura’s owner didn’t try to conceal herself, so the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass easily detected her presence.
Yang Kai dashed out of the hall and looked up, only to see Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao hovering in the void with her hair flapping in the non-existent wind. Even though her clothes were stained with blood, she still looked high-spirited.
Noticing his stare, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked down and nodded at Yang Kai, declaring gently, “We have won.”
[We won the war!]
Behind her brief words were the fierce resistance over the years, the sacrifices of countless lives, and the hard work of the Humans over countless generations.
The Humans had won the war!
They had no idea what was going on in the other Theatres, but at the very least, the Humans in the Great Evolution Theatre were the winners.
The soldiers were all ecstatic upon learning the news.
The Humans who gradually returned from the battlefield also roared euphorically, as though they were trying to vent the vexation accumulated over all the years.
The entire Great Evolution Pass seemed to shake as the soldiers cheered in ecstasy.
Just then, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao disappeared from her spot. A moment later, Great Evolution Pass, which had been rotating slowly, finally stopped.
Inside the Great Pass’ core, the last five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were exhausted beyond words. Their faces were pale, and their auras were unstable.
Just like what Yang Kai had expected, these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were the bare minimum required to keep the core operating. Unless the Old Ancestor took over the core from them, they were unable to leave.
Now that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had returned and given them a hand, they could finally stop letting the core absorb their energy.
The cheers in the Inner Sanctum never stopped.
The next instant, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao appeared in front of Yang Kai and asked, “What happened?”
She immediately noticed there was something off about Yang Kai’s expression when she returned earlier, and it wasn’t because of his injury, so something must have happened.
Yang Kai told her about his discovery in the Black Ink Nest Space and that he had returned in a hurry to ask the ones manning the Hyper Space Array to spread the news to the other Great Passes.
Hearing this, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned, “Do you think those Royal Lords are trying to ambush the other Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “That was what I thought before, but it now seems to me that if they wanted to ambush the Ninth-Order Masters, they should have hidden themselves on the battlefield instead of staying in their Black Ink Nests.”
That was what he found odd about his discovery.
It was pointless for those Royal Lords to stay in their Black Ink Nests. If they wanted to deal with the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the best choice would have been to hide themselves on the battlefield and then strike when they saw an opening.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement, “You have a point. 20 Royal Lords is a force to be reckoned with. They would be powerful enough to destroy the Human Army in any Theatre with ease, but if they’re not trying to ambush the Ninth-Order Masters, what are they doing in their Black Ink Nests?”
“That’s something I’m unable to figure out.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao couldn’t make sense of the situation either. Yang Kai’s discovery in the Black Ink Nest Space was indeed strange.
A moment later, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao raised her hand and shot a thread of World Force into the void. Soon, that flash exploded and shone brightly.
Yang Kai took a look and speculated that she was trying to gather all the soldiers together.
It had been two or three days since the Human soldiers started hunting down the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen. They had killed all the Black Ink Clansmen that they could kill, so it was pointless to continue chasing after those they were unable to catch.
After Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was done with this, she said, “Let’s wait. Since we’re not intelligent enough, we’ll just wait for Big Head Xiang and Big Head Mi to come back and see what they think of this matter.”
In the Great Evolution Army, Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun had the sharpest strategic minds. In such a situation, the best solution would be to wait for their return.
Soon, the Old Ancestor shouted another order, “Prepare the Space Array to send out Eighth-Order Masters to different Theatres so that they can assist as needed.”
“Yes!” All the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Grand Hall replied at the same time.
Everything was ruined in Great Evolution Pass.
When they launched an attack on the Royal City previously, the Great Pass was faced with a counterattack of unprecedented intensity. Even though the Old Ancestor was in charge of their defence, a lot of cracks still appeared in the shields after the heavy bombardment.
The attacks from the Black Ink Clan rained down on the entire Great Evolution Pass and shattered all the buildings.
Besides the most important places in Great Evolution Pass like the Grand Hall where the Space Array was located, only the Monument of Heroes and the cemetery remained intact.
Although the Humans had won the war, they had paid a huge price.
Two days after Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sent a signal to gather all the soldiers together, the Humans, who had left to chase after the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen, gradually returned. After the war, all of them were in high spirits.
The courtyard that belonged to the Dawn was a mess, but Yang Kai didn’t bother to clean up and just sat down on the floor and started recuperating.
The damage to his Soul had a huge impact on his ability to think clearly so he still couldn’t make sense of what he had seen in the Black Ink Nest Space.
He felt that he had neglected something.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had helped him resolve the Sword Qi that lingered in his flesh wound and he felt much better after two days of recuperation. As he had a powerful Dragon Vein, such a flesh wound didn’t bother him.
There came a moment when Yang Kai opened his eyes and looked in a particular direction as a group of familiar people came into his sight.
The Dawn Squad members had returned!
However, some people were missing. There were 50 members of Dawn before they set off. Excluding Yang Kai and Feng Ying, who had just ascended to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there should have been 49 people now.
Nevertheless, only 31 people returned at this moment.
Among the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, only Shen Ao, Yu Zi You, Bai Yi, Blood Crow, and Miao Fei Ping survived. Ning Qi Zhi and Ren Bing Bai were nowhere to be seen. Those who had returned were soaked in blood with varying degrees of injuries.
Yang Kai’s pupils shrank at this sight. He knew it was impossible that all of the Dawn would come back unscathed because it was the final battle in the Great Evolution Theatre. Dawn had to engage a Territory Lord and pin him down, so it was inevitable that some of them would lose their lives. However, when he saw that so many familiar faces were missing, Yang Kai felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Ning Qi Zhi, who was one of the founding members of Dawn, had escaped from death’s door in the previous war, but he couldn’t come back alive this time.
Since the founding of Dawn, they had experienced countless battles, but other than the war in the Royal City two hundred years ago where Qi Tai Chu had lost his life, there had never been any other deaths.
However, some 30% of Dawn’s members were gone for good now.
The fact that the Dawn could always come back unscathed in the previous wars had something to do with Yang Kai. He was far more powerful than cultivators in the same Order, so with him around, the risk that Dawn faced on the battlefield would be minimised.
Before they were even hit with a crisis, it would be resolved by Yang Kai.
Nevertheless, he wasn’t by their side during this war, for he had a more important role to play. He was the one who damaged the High-Rank Black Ink Nest and destroyed the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. He was also the one who killed Che Kong and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
Without Yang Kai, a pillar of strength in Dawn Squad, their collective power had weakened, and on such a chaotic battlefield, they couldn’t ensure everyone’s safety.
With Shen Ao leading the way, over 30 people stood in front of Yang Kai and cupped their fists. Shen Ao said solemnly, “We’ve returned, Squad Leader. Fortunately, we did not fail our mission. We managed to kill one Territory Lord, 34 Feudal Lords, and about 5,000 mixed Black Ink Clansmen.”
Just like the Territory Lord who fought with the Old Turtles, the one held up by Dawn ended up getting crippled by Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao. Shen Ao and the others took advantage of that opening to kill him on the spot.
Then, as the Black Ink Clan routed and ran, Dawn pursued them and killed many. It wasn’t until they saw the Old Ancestor’s signal that they returned.
Yang Kai nodded gently, “Many thanks for your hard work. The Human Race has won this war, and peace has come to the Great Evolution Theatre. All of you should get some rest and recuperate.”
“Yes!” All of them responded and sat down in different places to treat their wounds.
None of them mentioned the deceased. It wasn’t that they had forgotten about them, but it was unnecessary to bring it up. All the soldiers on the Black Ink Battlefield were prepared to sacrifice their lives if need be. As they went through repeated wars, they knew that they might lose their lives at any moment.
Death wasn’t something to be afraid of for the Human soldiers, dying without making a difference was.
It was silent in the courtyard as over 30 people recuperated in silence. However, Yang Kai gently let out a sigh. While he had expected it to be a tragic war, it surprised him that so many had lost their lives.
Even a Special Operations Squad like Dawn suffered such immense losses, so what about the ordinary Squads? How many from the Great Evolution Army had survived this war?
The Great Evolution Army was founded over 300 years ago when two groups of soldiers departed from Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass and headed to Great Evolution Pass.
At that time, all of them were equipped with the finest arms and armaments. There were 60,000 soldiers and 120 Eighth-Order Division Commanders in total.
200 years ago, they managed to re-take Great Evolution Pass, but they had suffered tremendous losses. Only some 70 Eighth-Order Masters and 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers remained.
How many of them were still alive now?
Previously on the battlefield, while the auras of the Territory Lords withered, Yang Kai could also detect the deaths of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
There were bound to be casualties in any war, especially when it was a war that would determine the future of the two Races. It was expected that a lot of people would lose their lives.
With that said, all the sacrifices were worth it. Their deaths could be traded for peace in the future. The reason the Humans had been toiling away over the millennia was to ensure that future generations wouldn’t have to trod down the same path.
The survivors could cheer for their victory while the dead would be remembered forever.
Yang Kai emptied his mind and focused on his recovery. It wasn’t until Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao summoned him that he opened his eyes.
The Main Conference Hall had been impacted during the war, and it was nothing but ruins now, so a temporary one had been put up on the same spot.
When Yang Kai arrived, the four Army Commanders had gathered together in the hall, with the Old Ancestor present as well.
Among the four Army Commanders, Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun didn’t seem to be injured at all. On the other hand, Liu Zhi Ping’s face was pale and her aura was unstable. It was apparent that she was wounded.
Ou Yang Lie was the most severely wounded among them. He must have gotten into a fierce battle with the Territory Lords as his head had clearly been smashed in. Yang Kai could even see several cuts on his forehead and some cracks on his skull.
It could be said that he was just a step away from being killed.
As Yang Kai looked at his injury, he was secretly astounded, thinking that this Army Commander was really too reckless.
Noticing his stare, Ou Yang Lie glared at him and snorted, “I killed two Territory Lords, so some degree of injury is inevitable.”
Yang Kai didn’t know what to say as he saluted all of them.
Mi Jing Lun cut to the chase, asking, “Did you enter the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest?”
Yang Kai nodded, “I was curious, so I decided to find out what the Black Ink Clan’s reaction in the other Theatres was. I was surprised to discover something else.”
Xiang Shan ordered, “Tell us what you saw in detail.”
Yang Kai quickly narrated his experience in the Black Ink Nest Space.
Upon hearing his story, all of them exchanged solemn glances.
Liu Zhi Ping frowned, “You said there were over 120 Soul Avatars that had gathered together in that Black Ink Nest Space?”
“Yes.”
Each Royal Lord Black Ink Nest corresponded to a Soul Avatar. In other words, there were at least over 120 High-Rank Black Ink Nests spread across the entire Black Ink Battlefield.
“Do you think they’re trying to ambush the Old Ancestors?”
Yang Kai frowned, “That was the first thought that came to my mind, but after giving it some consideration, I realised that shouldn’t be the case. If they wanted to ambush the Old Ancestors, they should have hidden themselves on the battlefield instead of staying in their Black Ink Nests.”
He had told Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao the same thing before, but he still couldn’t figure out why things had been that way.
“The Humans from all the different Theatres began the crusade at the same time. When we clashed with the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre, wars had also broken out in the other Theatres. Regardless of which Theatres the 20 Royal Lords you saw were hiding in, they shouldn’t have just loitered about in their Black Ink Nests even if they didn’t hide themselves on the battlefield. What are they trying to achieve?” Mi Jing Lun scowled. Even though he was quick-witted, he was unable to see through this strange incident.
He didn’t ask if Yang Kai was mistaken, for the latter couldn’t be so negligent when it came to such an important matter.
Moreover, Yang Kai’s Soul cultivation was basically on par with an Eighth-Order Master’s. If he could have made such a basic error in observation inside the Black Ink Nest Space, his cultivation over the years would have been in vain.
Therefore, they didn’t doubt Yang Kai’s statement. What they were unable to figure out was the intention of those over 20 Royal Lords and their whereabouts.
Furthermore, were there only 20 additional Royal Lords? That was the number of Royal Lords that Yang Kai could detect, but was that really all? Could there be even more Royal Lords hiding in the dark?
Xiang Shan was unable to make sense of the situation as well.
Just then, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao spoke up, “Regardless, we’ve shared this piece of information with the other Great Passes, so the Ninth-Order Masters will keep their guard up. Even if those Royal Lords really want to launch a sneak attack, they might not achieve their goal.”
All of them nodded in agreement.
Suddenly, Xiang Shan turned to Yang Kai, “What else did you see in the Black Ink Nest Space?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “There was nothing else that was worth my attention. The Soul Avatars of those Royal Lords were silent, so they were different from the rest of the Soul Avatars that belonged to the Feudal Lords…”
As he spoke, he furrowed his brows all of a sudden. While trying to recall what he had seen, he sported an awkward expression, “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I realise that the Royal Lords’ reaction was also odd.”
“What do you mean by that?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
“The Souls of those over 100 or so Feudal Lords corresponded to the various Theatres they were in, and the numbers matched. The Territory Lords would have all needed to fight, so only Feudal Lords could be stationed in the Black Ink Nests. It was apparent that they were flustered while communicating with one another.”
That was understandable, for the crusade came as a surprise to the Black Ink Clan, and the Humans had even sailed their Great Passes to the Royal Cities. Furthermore, they had developed lethal weapons such as the Evil Purging Divine Spears. The Black Ink Clan had suffered immense losses in different Theatres after being caught off guard, so it was expected that they were flustered. At that time, many Feudal Lords were trying to seek help from other Theatres; however, the Humans had gone all out for the crusade, and wars broke out in all the Theatres. It was pointless for the Black Ink Clan to ask for help.
“Compared to those anxious Feudal Lords, those Royal Lords were unusually calm. It almost felt as though they were just watching a show.”
After two days of recuperation, the damage to Yang Kai’s Soul had healed to a certain degree, which allowed him to think more clearly. As he went through the details he didn’t pay attention to at that time, he found some clues.
“It was like they were watching a show?” Mi Jing Lun was astounded.
“Yes.” Yang Kai nodded solemnly, “It was like the war between the two Races had nothing to do with them. If I hadn’t examined them out of curiosity, they wouldn’t have shifted their attention to me.”
At that time, he felt that something was off, so he examined the place where the Royal Lords had come together. It was at that moment when he caught the attention of one of the Royal Lords.
His Eighth-Order Divine Sense exposed his identity. Before he even entered the Black Ink Nest Space, the fact that Mo Zhao was killed had been spread among the Black Ink Clan. If he hadn’t run away as soon as possible, he would’ve been more severely injured if not killed.
Xiang Shan and the others fell silent, for they were unable to figure out the Black Ink Clan’s intention after hearing what Yang Kai had said. Regardless, this piece of information had been shared with the other Great Passes, so the Ninth-Order Masters were on guard. Even if those hidden Royal Lords really intended to ambush the Old Ancestors, it would be hard for them to succeed now.
It was unrealistic to let Yang Kai enter the Black Ink Nest Space again as his identity had been exposed. If he still entered the space, he would be targeted by those Royal Lords and perhaps he would even lose his life.
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai said, “There was something else that bothered me.”
“What was it?” Xiang Shan asked.
“It’s the Black Ink Nest Space itself!” Yang Kai turned solemn, “From what we’ve gathered, there’s a strict hierarchy between Black Ink Nests. The High-Rank Black Ink Nests give birth to Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, which then give birth to the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. The consciousness of a High-Rank or Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest can form into a space which serves as a platform for the lower-rank Black Ink Nests to communicate with each other. In that case, what about the space that I entered through the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest? Is it formed from a Black Ink Nest’s consciousness as well? Does that mean that there’s a higher-rank Black Ink Nest above the High-Rank Black Ink Nests?”
As he spoke, he observed the expressions of Xiang Shan and the others. Realising something, he asked, “Do you have a speculation, Seniors?”
He saw that the others remained unfazed. It was apparent that they were not surprised by his hypothesis.
Xiang Shan nodded, “We do have a speculation, but we can’t verify it. We have never gathered enough information about the Black Ink Nests to make a judgement. It was you who entered the Black Ink Clan’s territory and found out some useful information. In fact, we had such a speculation a long time ago. The High-Rank Black Ink Nests can give birth to the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, which can then give birth to Low-Rank Black Ink Nests. Where do the High-Rank Black Ink Nests come from, then? It’s not like they had appeared out of thin air. There has to be a source.”
Mi Jing Lun then said, “The way the Black Ink Clan named the Black Ink Nests is also interesting, and there’s a trail to trace. Since the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests were born from the High-Rank Black Ink Nests, they are the latter’s sub-nests. Similarly, the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests are the sub-nests of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. Since there are sub-nests, shouldn’t there be a Mother Nest? However, the term ‘Mother Nest’ has never been mentioned among the Black Ink Clan; therefore, we have a speculation that the High-Rank Black Ink Nests are also the sub-nests of a Black Ink Nest, which is supposedly the Mother Nest of the Black Ink Clan. It is also the source of everything!”
“The Mother Nest!” Yang Kai arched his brow.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “However, this is just our speculation and we have no way to verify it. From what you experienced though, we can conclude that there’s indeed some kind of Mother Nest. The space you entered has to be the Mother Nest Space. Only the Mother Nest’s power could connect all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests together.”
Yang Kai fell into his thoughts for a moment, then said, “In that case, could those over 20 Royal Lords be the… Mother Nest’s guards?”
Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun exchanged glances before nodding, “That’s possible.”
Since the Mother Nest was the source of the Black Ink Clan, it must be extremely important to them. In that case, there had to be a heavy level of protection around it.
20 plus Royal Lords was a force to be reckoned with, and with such protection, the Mother Nest’s safety could be ensured under most circumstances.
It was a similar case for the Small Stone Race in Yang Kai’s Small Universe. The strongest Small Stone Race members would always stay inside the nests, not leaving unless absolutely necessary.
That explained why the 20 or more Royal Lords didn’t seem concerned about the war between the two Races.
Their job was to protect the Mother Nest, so they would never leave that place. Regardless of how perilous the situation was for the Black Ink Clan’s outer forces, it had nothing to do with them.
“We know too little about the Black Ink Clan, so we don’t know if the truth is just like what we’ve speculated. Regardless, as long as the Human Race wins the war in all the Theatres, we’ll get to the truth.”
It was ironic that even though the Humans had been entangled with the Black Ink Clan for countless aeons and millions had lost their lives on the Black Ink Battlefield, they still knew so little about the Black Ink Clan.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan was able to corrupt Open Heaven Realm Masters, so they understood the Humans pretty well.
Everything they had said was giving Ou Yang Lie a headache so he snapped, “Stop worrying too much. If there’s really a Mother Nest, we’ll just find it and smash it. It’s not like a mere 20 Royal Lords is enough to stop us. We have more than 100 Old Ancestors on our side, why should we be afraid of them?”
It was a wonder why he had the confidence to say 20 Royal Lords was not a lot when he was just an Eighth-Order Master.
With that said, he had a point. Even if there was indeed a Mother Nest, they just had to find and destroy it. At the end of the day, they had the power to do so.
During the discussion, a voice reverberated across the entire Great Pass all of a sudden.
“Blue Sky Pass has won! The Royal Lord has been killed! Most of the Territory Lords fell in battle! The Royal City has been ruined!”
“Blue Sky Pass has won! The Royal Lord has been killed! Most of the Territory Lords fell in battle! The Royal City has been ruined!”
“Blue Sky Pass has won! The Royal Lord has been killed! Most of the Territory Lords fell in battle! The Royal City has been ruined!”
…
The person repeatedly made the announcement.
Great Evolution Pass had originally fallen silent, but when they heard the announcement, they started cheering so loudly that the entire Great Pass seemed to be shaking.
Blue Sky Pass had won. The Royal Lord was dead. The Royal City was destroyed. There was no denying it was good news for the Humans.
Even though the dust had settled in the Great Evolution Theatre, the average soldiers knew nothing about the situations in the other Theatres.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had returned were doing their best to restore their strength so that they could head out to other Great Passes through the Space Array to provide reinforcements.
The victory in Great Evolution Theatre wasn’t much of a surprise as the Black Ink Clan here had basically been defeated 200 years ago and were forced to hide inside their Royal City. They even used thousands of Low-Rank Black Ink Nests to build a defence line made of Black Ink Strength around the Royal City.
Faced with a battered and cowering Black Ink Clan, there was no way Great Evolution Army wouldn’t win given all the advantages they had.
Even though they were surprised by the sudden appearance of a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, it wasn’t enough to turn the situation around.
It could be said that before the crusade started, the Great Evolution Army had the confidence that they would definitely win this war. Although they were ecstatic about the victory, they were not surprised.
However, the news they had just received was different. In addition to the Great Evolution Theatre, the Human Race had conquered another Theatre.
Everyone believed that it was just the beginning. As the war continued to unfold, more and more good news would come from the other Theatres.
The voice had come from the Space Array Hall, and as the announcement was made, a messenger was also coming over in a hurry.
A moment later, a Seventh-Order Master dashed into the Main Hall. He was a member who was responsible for protecting the Space Array. With an excited expression, he said, “Blue Sky Pass has won! The news has been spread to all the Great Passes!”
Xiang Shan laughed, “Give it to me!”
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master stepped forward and respectfully held out a jade slip.
After taking the jade slip, Xiang Shan scanned it with his Divine Sense and smiled brightly.
Mi Jing Lun and the others took turns to read the content in the jade slip, and they were all elated.
The good news from Blue Sky Pass had diminished their worries about the Mother Nest. Furthermore, it was pointless to worry about it now. If the Black Ink Clan really had hidden arrangements, they would be revealed soon enough.
Three days later, more good news arrived.
The same Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s voice reverberated across the entire Great Evolution Pass again, “Yin-Yang Pass has won! They killed 87 Territory Lords and the Black Ink Clan survivors are on the run. The Royal City has been shattered!”
A few days later, there was another piece of good news.
“Azure Void Pass has won! The Old Ancestor single-handedly beheaded the Royal Lord with his sword!”
…
“Wind and Cloud Pass has won!”
“Myriad Demons Pass has won!”
…
Over the next half a month, good news arrived almost every single day. Sometimes, there were two to three announcements in a day. All of the news showed that the Humans had managed to destroy the Black Ink Clan in those Theatres.
Many Royal Lords were killed, and countless Territory Lords had lost their lives in battle, not to mention the Feudal Lords.
Some of the announcements didn’t mention Royal Lords, so it was obvious that the Royal Lords in those Theatres were still alive.
It wasn’t easy to kill a Royal Lord. Over the years, the Old Ancestors in all the Theatres had clashed with the Royal Lords frequently, with both parties repeatedly being wounded after exchanging moves. However, rarely would any Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master or Royal Lord lose their life.
The fact that they were able to kill so many Royal Lords this time was largely thanks to the Evil Purging Divine Spears.
The Old Ancestors were not equipped with Evil Purging Divine Spears because these artifacts were not harmful to the Royal Lords. The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors’ had to depend on their own heritages if they wanted to kill the Royal Lords.
Even though the Old Ancestors didn’t have Evil Purging Divine Spears, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were all given these weapons. The unsuspecting Territory Lords were struck by the spears and became easy targets. Once enough Territory Lords were killed, some of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were able to assist the Old Ancestors.
As long as there were five or six Eighth-Order Masters who fearlessly assisted, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors would have a chance to kill the Royal Lords.
However, these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might lose their lives during the fight, which was the price they had to pay.
Only good news was mentioned in the announcements, with no details about the casualties on the Humans’ side. Nevertheless, everyone knew that behind the good news were the sacrifices and blood of many Human Race Masters.
It was also apparent to everyone that the Theatres where the wars were won in the shortest time all had something to do with Yang Kai.
Blue Sky Pass, which was the first to share the good news, needed no introduction. Yang Kai had first arrived in Blue Sky Pass and stayed there for centuries until he was transferred to the Great Evolution Army.
It was a similar case for Yin-Yang Pass, which was the second to share the good news. Yang Kai had been to Yin-Yang Pass to carry out an important mission and not only provided them with great assistance but also managed to do serious damage to the Black Ink Clan’s territory.
It was the same case for Myriad Demons Pass. Yang Kai had stayed there for a while to study the two Eye Secret Techniques under the Old Ancestor of Myriad Demons Heaven. He had paid quite a bit of Military Merits for that opportunity.
In these three Theatres, Yang Kai had found the entrances to the Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises outside of those Great Passes, which the Humans then used to set up different traps to slaughter large numbers of Black Ink Clansmen, especially Territory Lords.
It could be said that the Black Ink Clan had suffered immense losses in these three Theatres before the crusade even began. Blue Sky Pass’ forward base was built halfway to the Royal City, and was connected to the Great Pass by a pair of Universe Arrays. If the Humans wanted to attack the Royal City, they could transfer people around with far more convenience than any other Theatre.
As such, it was natural for Blue Sky Theatre to be the second to destroy the Black Ink Clan after their counterparts in the Great Evolution Theatre.
It was also understandable that those from Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass could also pull off similar feats immediately after them.
When the Great Evolution Army was founded some 300 years ago, they initially departed from these two Great Passes. The Great Evolution Army had participated in the wars against the Black Ink Clan in those Theatres before they set out towards Great Evolution Pass.
At that time, there were respectively 60,000 soldiers and more than 200 Eighth-Order Masters in those two Great Passes. During those wars, they managed to deal severe damage to the Black Ink Clan forces and kill a large number of Territory Lords.
It could be said that the Black Ink Clan in the Azure Void Theatre and Wind and Cloud Theatre had suffered immense losses at that time which laid the foundation for their victory today.
More and more good news arrived from the other Great Passes, and of course, Great Evolution Pass wasn’t the only receiver of such good news. The Great Passes would spread the news to other places upon receiving the information.
After Great Evolution Pass won their war a while back, they immediately sent the news to other Great Passes in the vicinity so that they could boost the Human soldiers’ morale. That way, the Human soldiers in the different Theatres would be increasingly assertive.
10 days after the dust settled in Great Evolution Theatre, over 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Great Evolution Pass were deployed to other Theatres where the Humans were in deadlocks with the enemies to provide assistance.
It wasn’t smooth sailing for all the Theatres like in the Great Evolution Theatre. In some of the Theatres, the Black Ink Clan had ample heritage, so it wasn’t easy for the Humans to win the war.
With that said, those leading the Armies had naturally made some arrangements for these Theatres.
They didn’t have to fight with the Black Ink Clan head-on; they just had to deal with them with patience and stall for time.
When victory was obtained in the other Theatres, there would be powerful Masters who could be sent as reinforcements. For example, those in Great Evolution Theatre had won their war fairly early on, so they were able to sent aid to those Theatres that were caught in stalemates.
A dozen or so Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was a force to be reckoned with; moreover, many Seventh-Order Masters were carried along inside their Small Universes.
Although only a dozen or so Eighth-Order Masters were deployed from the Great Evolution Theatre, they were accompanied by some 200 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Furthermore, this was just the support from Great Evolution Pass.
The other Great Passes from different victorious Theatres were able to help out as well. When the wars were settled in those Theatres, even more Human Masters would be free to render assistance in the Theatres where wars were still ongoing. This kind of support would only increase like a rolling snowball. How was the Black Ink Clan supposed to fend off the Humans under such circumstances?
As long as there were two or three Great Passes that could send reinforcements, any Theatre could easily break the stalemate they found themselves in.
This kind of large-scale support operation had never been seen before. At the very least, not before Yang Kai’s arrival at the Black Ink Battlefield.
The Great Passes were far away from each other, so even though they were connected by Space Arrays, it was expensive to transfer Humans around. Given the scarcity of resources, they couldn’t afford to do so.
Furthermore, the more powerful a person was, the more expensive it was to send him or her to another Great Pass through the Space Array.
In the past, even if they just wanted to send over 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to the nearest Great Pass, all the reserve resources from a Great Pass would be used up.
Without any resources left, how were the Humans supposed to cultivate? How would they treat their wounds if they were injured? How would they repair the damaged Warships?
Therefore, even though the Humans had a method to send assistance to other Theatres, they were unable to do so due to the lack of resources.
But it was different now, for the Great Passes had all accumulated a massive amount of resources over the past few centuries. Moreover, they had acquired a lot of resources after conquering the Royal Cities. Therefore, they had sufficient resources to transfer people around freely.
The Humans’ plan was that they would support their neighbours whenever they could.
In simple terms, they would only try to support the Great Passes nearest to them. That was because the longer the distance was, the more resources would be required to power the Hyper Space Arrays. Although the Humans were not short on resources, it was not like they could easily squander them all away either.
As such, Great Evolution Pass only needed to send out a small number of people because the neighbouring Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass had mostly destroyed the enemies, so help wasn’t really needed.
The Great Passes nearest to the Theatres where the Humans were in deadlocks with the enemies spared no effort to lend their counterparts a hand. As long as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was still able to fight, they would be re-deployed as soon as possible.
Even some of the Old Ancestors headed to different Theatres to help out.
It was no different from a nightmare to the Black Ink Clan.
They were initially able to hold back the Humans and even counterattack in some Theatres, but with the sudden influx of Eighth-Order and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the situation instantly became treacherous. When the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors began appearing in other Theatres, the deadlocks instantly turned into massacres where the Black Ink Clansmen were slaughtered.
On the other hand, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao remained in Great Evolution Pass.
The information Yang Kai had discovered in the Black Ink Nest Space made her feel a little uneasy, so she didn’t dare to leave this place at this point. She was worried that something terrible would happen in the Great Evolution Theatre if she wasn’t around.
Furthermore, she had been forced to overexert herself in order to kill Mo Zhao as quickly as possible, so she had suffered some serious injuries as well.
This went to show that it wasn’t easy to kill a Royal Lord no matter the condition they were in. Mo Zhao had never managed to heal from his wounds over the years while Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was at peak strength, but it still took her a great deal of effort to swiftly kill the enemy. It was expected that it was even harder for the other Old Ancestors in the Theatres where the Royal Lords were perfectly healthy.
Yang Kai didn’t leave the Great Evolution Theatre either. It wasn’t that he wasn’t willing to lend a hand, but rather he couldn’t.
When they came up with a list of people that would be sent to other Theatres, Yang Kai ranked first among the Seventh-Order Masters because he was far more powerful than those in the same Order and was even able to fight with Territory Lords after transforming into an Ancient Dragon. No one would neglect him.
If he was sent to another Theatre, he would prove to be just as useful as an Eighth-Order Master.
However, when Xiang Shan tried to keep him inside his Small Universe, he realised he was unable to do so. When he tried to forcefully do so, he realised that his Small Universe was on the brink of bursting.
It didn’t take long to figure out that because Yang Kai was so much more powerful than others in the same Order, with a Small Universe that was significantly bigger and heavier than an ordinary Seventh-Order Master’s, trying to carry him inside another’s Small Universe just wasn’t feasible.
Moreover, the damage to Yang Kai’s Soul hadn’t healed, and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao also needed him to remain so that he could help with her recuperation.
The wars in the other Theatres were still raging, while it was peaceful in Great Evolution Pass. The injured could finally get some rest and recuperate.
Yang Kai had spread out his Small Universe to help with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s recuperation while he tended to his own injuries.
Good news still kept coming from other Great Passes and more and more soldiers headed out to help out. The deadlocks in the Theatres were resolved and the advantage the Humans had accumulated continued to increase with time.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters responsible for guarding the Space Array meticulously informed everyone about the good news.
Initially, everyone was excited upon hearing each piece of good news, but as time passed, it became almost routine.
They had been preparing for centuries to deliver a fatal blow to the enemy, so it shouldn’t surprise them that they eventually won the war.
Along with a certain piece of good news, another piece of information was delivered. A Seventh-Order Master passed it to Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao without disclosing it to everyone.
Yang Kai didn’t ask her about it, nor did she intend to tell him. He believed that the information contained the number of casualties on the Humans’ side.
If they talked about Great Evolution Theatre alone, the casualty rate was quite shocking.
Before the crusade, there were some 40,000 soldiers and over 70 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Great Evolution Army.
But now, Yang Kai could only detect the auras of about 30,000 soldiers and fewer than 40 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
If he included the dozen or so Eighth-Order Masters who had left to help other Great Passes, that was still only about 50. Where were the rest?
After the war, Yang Kai had scanned the battlefield and helped retrieve a number of corpses, so he knew the answer.
It could be said that the losses that the Great Evolution Army had suffered this time were just as great as what they had experienced 200 years ago.
When the Great Evolution Army was founded, there were 60,000 soldiers and 120 Eighth-Order Division Commanders. In just 300 to 400 years, half of them had perished in battle.
Even the Great Evolution Army, which had the finest arms and armaments as well as a huge advantage over the enemy, suffered such tremendous losses. The situations in other Theatres could only be worse.
More and more good news came from the other Theatres. The support system they had for each other proved to be useful.
Two months later, there came a moment when a familiar voice reverberated across the entire Great Evolution Pass again.
“The Humans have won the war in the Great Battle Theatre! The Royal Lord has fallen and all the Black Ink Clan soldiers were killed!”
…
As he ran around the Great Pass, he loudly announced this piece of good news to everyone.
Everyone in Great Evolution Pass started cheering again. All of them danced excitedly as howls of joy spread across the entire place.
In the Small Universe, Yang Kai let out a breath.
Even though he had already expected this day to come, he still couldn’t stop his ecstasy from rising within him when he heard about this particular piece of good news.
The reason these soldiers, who had been silent for quite a while, became excited again was that the Great Battle Theatre was the last place where the Humans were still fighting.
In the past two months, they had received good news from over 105 Theatres, with the latest report coming from the Luo Sheng Theatre three days ago.
Three days later, good news from the Great Battle Theatre arrived.
At this point, the Humans had gained total victory on the Black Ink Battlefield as they had occupied all the Theatres.
Furthermore, according to the good news, all the Black Ink Clansmen had been wiped out. It was a very rare statement as only three out of over 100 reports had used such wording.
It wasn’t easy to wipe out all the Black Ink Clansmen in a given Theatre. Even Great Evolution Pass was unable to achieve this.
The Great Battle Theatre was the last place where the Humans managed to achieve it. It certainly had something to do with the fact that they had a lot of reinforcements from the other Theatres. There was no way the Black Ink Clan could fend off hundreds of Eighth-Order and thousands of Seventh-Order Open Masters who arrived at the battlefield from different Great Passes.
Recalling something, Yang Kai turned to look at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and asked, “Old Ancestor, you told me before that there were two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and two Royal Lords in the Great Battle Theatre.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “It seems that one of them escaped.”
Only one Royal Lord was mentioned in the good news, so it was apparent that the other one had run away.
Doing a quick count, aside from the ones he had seen inside the Black Ink Nest Space, Yang Kai reckoned that about 50 to 60 Royal Lords had fled.
That was indeed a worrying number, for they were not Feudal Lords or Territory Lords. If those Royal Lords gathered together, no Great Pass would be a match for them.
In the past, they were in charge of their Royal Cities where they had many subordinates and their own Black Ink Nests to worry about, so they wouldn’t easily leave. In this way, the Human Old Ancestors were able to pin them down.
But now, their Royal Cities had been shattered, their Armies killed, and their Black Ink Nests destroyed. Even though they appeared to be in a sorry state, they had actually broken free from their restraints.
Now, they were able to move around freely.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel worried. Those surviving Royal Lords would surely prove to be a threat to the Human Race in the future.
Just when he was worrying about this, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao suddenly said, “The news from Theatres everywhere show that there is only one Royal City in each Theatre, and only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest in each Royal City!”
Yang Kai listened with doubts as his eyes narrowed and asked, “No exceptions?”
The Old Ancestor shook her head and replied, “No exceptions! Moreover, there are no extra Royal Lords that we have not accounted for participating in all the Theatres!”
Yang Kai was silent and sighed, “That’s not necessarily good news.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao did not say anything, but lowered her eyes and pondered.
When Yang Kai reported what he found in the Black Ink Nest Space, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked Great Evolution Pass to send another message to the other Great Passes, telling the other Old Ancestors to be on the lookout for a possible surprise attack.”
By now, every Theatre had been pacified. The Black Ink Clan was badly beaten with many killed and wounded. More than half of the Royal Lords were killed, and no additional Royal Lords participated in the battle.
All the Royal Lords who participated in this battle were those who had been fighting with the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in their Theatre already, and there were no unfamiliar faces.
It was fortunate that there were no interferences on the battlefield; otherwise, there was no way that the Human Race Army could be victorious in such a short time.
The 20 or so Royal Lords Yang Kai saw were undoubtedly real as well; yet, they did not hide in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to sneak up on the Old Ancestors.
In the Royal City of each Theatre, there was only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest, even in the Great Battle Theatre.
There were 2 Royal Lords there, and since there are 2 Royal Lords, there should be two High-Rank Black Ink Nest, but there was only one!
It seemed that the 2 Royal Lords shared a High-Rank Black Ink Nest, or one of the Royal Lords did not have his own Black Ink Nest.
This was indeed not good news for the Humans.
There were exactly as many Theatres as there were High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
But how many Divine Senses did Yang Kai see in the Black Ink Nest space at that time?
120 to 130!
There should be as many High-Rank Black Ink Nests as there were Souls in that space!
This meant that the 20 Royal Lords who were watching from the sidelines were not involved in the war at all, and their Black Ink Nests remained undiscovered by the Humans.
Where could they be hiding?
Could the previous speculation about the Mother Nest be true? Were they really the Mother Nest’s guards?
Then, where was the Mother Nest?
Yang Kai suddenly had a bad feeling that the war between the two Races… was far from over.
Other than that, the dozens of Royal Lords that escaped from the major Theatres were an immediate problem. Now that it was confirmed that there were at least 20 more Royal Lords and corresponding High-Rank Black Ink Nests that were not discovered, these issues needed to be resolved.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling vexed.
He had thought that after this great battle, the Black Ink Battlefield would be completely pacified, but now this unforeseen situation had popped up.
This Black Ink Clan situation was more complicated than anyone had expected.
Yang Kai suddenly remembered the phrase ‘Black Ink Eternal’ that Mo Zhao shouted before he died. As a Royal Lord, Mo Zhao should have known the secrets of the Black Ink Clan. He naturally knew that even if the Black Ink Clan of all the other Theatres fell, the Black Ink Clan would not be easily defeated.
At that time, Yang Kai had scoffed at him. The cries of a defeated enemy were laughable, especially when they were about never being defeated.
However, now it seemed that everyone had underestimated the Black Ink Clan, including the Old Ancestors!
Although there were still unseen problems, it was a fact that the Black Ink Clan were defeated in the major Theatres.
When the news of the victories in all the other Theatres was received, the entire Great Evolution Pass fell into a celebratory mood.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao left to discuss important matters with the Army Commanders, while Yang Kai kept his Small Universe and recuperated in silence.
A few days later, Yang Kai felt clear Space Principle fluctuations coming from the Grand Hall where the Space Array was located, followed by Xiang Shan’s aura.
The reinforcements deployed by Great Evolution Pass were led by Xiang Shan, who brought about a dozen Eighth-Order a few hundred Seventh-Order Masters to support other Great Passes. They had finally returned.
Xiang Shan departed with more than 10 Eighth-Order Masters, but only returned with seven.
Those Eighth-Order Division Commanders who did not return would probably never return.
This made Yang Kai angry as so many people had died, yet the Black Ink Clan endured. When would this war finally be resolved?
This also made him realize that he was still too small and weak.
He thought that after this battle he could return to the 3,000 Worlds and the Star Boundary. That he could spend his days with his parents, return to his beautiful Wives, frolic in the rivers and gaze up at the stars. Now, it seemed that he had to quickly break through to the Eighth-Order in preparation for another war!
He had a vague sense of urgency in his heart, like the entire Human Race was facing a huge challenge ahead. Unless he became an Eighth-Order Master, he might not be able to protect himself.
However, cultivation in the Open Heaven Realm was basically a matter of accumulation over time, one that could not simply be skipped over.
Yang Kai’s Small Universe reared countless living beings and had a World Tree clone helping maintain and strengthen it. Time even flowed faster in his Small Universe allowing his cultivation speed to be much faster than any others. Still, it was not that easy to break through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm for him.
In the following days, Yang Kai did not engage in the celebrations; instead, he was madly refining various cultivation materials so that he could enhance the heritage of his Small Universe.
All of Dawn was inspired by him and did not waste any time, all of them entering retreat.
Half a month later, several figures flew out of Great Evolution Pass, followed by a voice in Yang Kai’s ears, “Follow me!”
Yang Kai opened his eyes, looked up, and flew off without saying a word.
With a few movements, he had caught up with the ones ahead of him.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was among them, along with the four Army Commanders.
With such a lineup, it appeared that something big was about to happen.
Yang Kai, braced himself, approached Xiang Shan, and asked, “Sir, what is our plan.”
Xiang Shan did not hide anything from him as he said, “To find out what’s going on with the Black Ink Clan!”
Since Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao wanted him to follow them, there was no need to hide what they were going to do.
Yang Kai instantly understood, “We’re going into the Black Ink Nest Space?”
They were flying towards the Royal City. If they were going to find out what was going on with the Black Ink Clan, they had to use the High-Rank Black Ink Nest to enter its Black Ink Nest Space.
Xiang Shan nodded.
Yang Kai immediately looked at the Old Ancestor and said, “Old Ancestor, this Junior would like to serve as the vanguard!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao glanced at him briefly and shook her head, “No, you are too weak.”
Yang Kai felt as if his heart had been pierced; however, when he thought about it, there were six of them. A Ninth-Order Old Ancestor, four peak Eighth-Orders Master, and him, a Seventh-Order Junior.
Indeed, he was too weak.
“You were lucky to escape last time. If there are really 20 Royal Lords lying in wait inside that Black Ink Nest Space as you said, you won’t be coming back if you enter again this time.”
Yang Kai could not refute her.
Although his Soul was as strong as any Eighth-Order Master’s, there was still an enormous gap between him and a Royal Lord. Even with the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection, he may not be able to resist the combined attack of several Royal Lords.
Moreover, even if he could block such attacks, once the Black Ink Nest Space was completely closed like the last time, he would also be trapped inside, unable to get out.
Last time, Yang Kai was trapped in the High-Rank Black Ink Nest Space for years in order to help Great Evolution Pass fully control their seized Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest. However, he relied on his Soul Rending Thorns to kill or cripple several Territory Lords, forcing them to open the Black Ink Nest Space.
If he was trapped this time, what would he use to fight with the Royal Lords?
“I asked you to come this time so I could borrow your Soul Warming Lotus.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao explained, “No one knows what is going on in that Black Ink Nest Space, so we have to take precautions.”
Hearing this, Yang Kai frowned, “Old Ancestor, last time I was there, I saw some 20 Royal Lords inside. It is not safe for you to enter alone, even with the Soul Warming Lotus.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao smiled and said, “I will not be entering alone.”
Yang Kai was amazed and asked, “Others are going with you?”
Suddenly, Yang Kai thought of something and asked, “With the Old Ancestors from the other Theatres?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded and said, “Since you sent out that warning that day, the Human Race naturally became concerned. The other Theatres all searched for the location of the other High-Rank Black Ink Nest, but so far they’ve yet to discover anything. At the same time, instead of outright destroying them, orders were passed down to preserve as many High-Rank Black Ink Nests as possible in the other Theatres. Although we didn’t manage to capture many, there are still more than 20.”
It was not an easy task to keep a High-Rank Black Ink Nest intact during the crusade. In fact, it was more of a coincidence that the High-Rank Black Ink Nest in Great Evolution Theatre survived than anything else.
Yang Kai had not hesitated or held back when he attacked the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest. At that time, he just wanted to destroy it so that Mo Zhao would have no way to borrow strength from it. He wanted to help Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao gain a decisive advantage.
As a result, the Black Ink Nest collapsed and Mo Zhao could not draw Black Ink Strength from it, causing his combat strength to be greatly reduced. However, the Black Ink Nest itself was not completely destroyed.
If the other Theatres wanted to preserve these Black Ink Nests though, they would have to pay a much higher price.
With over 100 Theatres, it was not easy to leave more than 20 High-Rank Black Ink Nests behind; however, this meant that more than 20 Old Ancestors could join hands to explore the Black Ink Nest Space!
If those Royal Lords really ambushed them, the Old Ancestors need not be afraid of them!
Of course, no one could say if those 20 Royal Lords were still in the Black Ink Nest Space at this moment; so, the Old Ancestors were just taking precautions.
In line with that thinking, borrowing Yang Kai’s Soul Warming Lotus would indeed provide another layer of safety.
Yang Kai naturally did not refuse such a small request.
The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure which ordinary cultivators would conceal at any cost for fear of its existence being exposed, leading to their death.
However, this was the Black Ink Battlefield and Yang Kai would never be wary of Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao. It was impossible for her to hold the intention to harm him; thus, he did not hesitate to take it out.
A seven-coloured lotus suddenly emerged from the Knowledge Sea. The lotus looked ethereal and illusory, almost as if it was material and immaterial all at once. As soon as it appeared, a wondrous aura permeated from it, one that allowed everyone present to feel their Soul being nourished.
Even Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao felt the same, and she was in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm where very, very few treasures could benefit her.
Only innate Supreme Treasures like the Soul Warming Lotus were of some use to her.
Without standing on ceremony, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao accepted the Soul Warming Lotus into her body and refined it a little.
At the same time, everyone arrived in front of the Black Ink Nest, where several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were standing guard in the shadows. When they saw the Old Ancestor arrive, they only verified her identity but did not show themselves.
Following the passage opened by Yang Kai, the group of six soon arrived at the center of the Black Ink Nest.
Xiang Shan checked around and bellowed, “Assume your positions!”
Mi Jing Lun, Ou Yang Lie, Liu Zhi Ping quickly dispersed and blended in with the shadows.
Xiang Shan remained on guard in the open, while Yang Kai simply observed. As a Seventh-Order Master, there was no other role for him to play here.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao searched for a place and sat down cross-legged, not interacting with the Black Ink Nest, but just waiting patiently.
There might be nothing in the Black Ink Nest Space, or they might be ambushed by more than 20 Royal Lords. Since the Human Race wanted to enter it to investigate the situation, they had to take appropriate precautions.
If only one or two Old Ancestors entered it, then it would be difficult for them to defend against the potential dangers.
Yang Kai was not sure how the Old Ancestors worked out the details, but when one’s cultivation had reached their realm, such trivial matters were naturally not difficult for them.
Yang Kai and Xiang Shan waited silently on the side.
It was only after half an hour or so that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao suddenly opened her eyes.
The time had arrived!
In the next moment, her Small Universe opened up and World Force emerged and was swallowed by the Black Ink Nest.
Using her World Force as a bridge, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao mentally connected to the Black Ink Nest and instantly entered the Black Ink Nest Space.
At the same time, at the High-Rank Black Ink Nests in 21 other Theatres, 21 other Old Ancestors did the same.
In an instant, there were 22 more figures in the Black Ink Nest space.
The moment Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s Soul entered the Black Ink Nest Space, both Yang Kai and Xiang Shan’s expressions changed as they gasped.
This could not be helped as at that instant, both of them could not sense Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s Soul, as if it was completely annihilated.
Xiang Shan immediately coldly snorted, “The Black Ink Clan was prepared!”
Yang Kai also realized immediately and remarked, “The Black Ink Nest Space has been sealed!”
The last time his Soul Avatar was sealed in the Black Ink Nest Space, he was in such a state where his physical body was still alive but it contained no Soul. That frightened Ou Yang Lie, who was guarding him, as he thought something had happened to Yang Kai.
While he was trapped in that Black Ink Nest Space, Yang Kai was totally unaware of what happened in the outside world.
Now that he had seen what happened to Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, he immediately understood it was similar to his situation at that time.
Xiang Shan nodded solemnly, “Must be!”
Yang Kai’s expression turned ugly.
The Old Ancestor had just entered, and the Black Ink Nest space had been closed off.
With more than 20 surviving High-Rank Black Ink Nest, the Black Ink Clan must have noticed and realized that the Humans might use those High-Rank Black Ink Nest to make some moves.
Since the Black Ink Clan had already anticipated this, it must be dangerous for the Old Ancestors to enter the Black Ink Nest Space.
However, they had to enter as there were too many uncertainties about the Black Ink Clan. If the Human Race wanted to find out more about the Black Ink Clan, they would have to take some risks.
Of course, the Old Ancestors had already deliberated about this before they decided to go in; otherwise, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would not have borrowed the Soul Warming Lotus from Yang Kai in preparation.
Even though it was dangerous, they had to step forward.
Only by entering the Black Ink Nest Space could they tear off the veil of mystery that hid the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai’s brows furrowed. There was no way for others to help in this situation. The Old Ancestors had to rely on their own strength.
Meanwhile, inside the Black Ink Nest space.
Powerful Soul Avatars were revealed, 22 of them.
Naturally, these were the Ninth-Order Supreme Masters of the Human Race, and they revealed themselves almost at the same time.
However, before the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could investigate the situation, a fierce wave of Spiritual Energy rushed in from all directions.
Immediately after that, violent Soul attacks blasted towards the Old Ancestors like a tidal wave.
There was no fancy Soul Secret Techniques, it was just a simple brute force attack, similar to what Yang Kai previous did to Che Kong. This was the simplest, most direct, and brutal kind of Soul attack.
In an instant, the Old Ancestors’ Soul Avatars were enveloped by violent storms.
Muffled grunts could be heard and several Old Ancestor’s aura suddenly weakened.
[This is bad!]
Just by stepping into this place, several Old Ancestors Soul Avatars were already injured!
Soon, each of the Old Ancestors quickly summoned their defensive artifacts, to guard their Soul Avatars.
Soul-type artifacts were rare, and defensive Soul-type artifacts were even rarer. Nonetheless, they were all Old Ancestors, and had lived more than long enough to have acquired some rare artifacts.
In a flash, various forms of defensive artifacts blossomed with dazzling lights and enveloped the Old Ancestors’ Soul Avatars. The Soul attacks coming from all directions were instantly blocked, causing the light halos to ripple continuously.
“So many!”
Only now were the Old Ancestors able to check the situation here, but with one look, the Old Ancestors exclaimed, “There are too many!”
There were 50 Royal Lords gathered here! That was more than twice the number of Human Masters.
There was a huge mistake in the intelligence report!
Or maybe it was not a mistake, but what Yang Kai saw at that time was not all the hidden Royal Lords the Black Ink Clan possessed!
This time, the Black Ink Clan sent more Royal Lords to ambush the Humans who entered to investigate the situation.
None of the Old Ancestors were fools, so they immediately understood the situation.
What’s more, the 50 they saw today, was that all there were?
Perhaps, but then again, perhaps not.
Although they were taken by surprise, and some of their Soul Avatars were injured, the Old Ancestors did not panic. It could be said that before entering this place, everyone had already expected the worst.
What they now saw confirmed their previous suspicions.
The battle between the two Races was far from over. The Black Ink Clan still had a very powerful force lurking in the shadows. Although the Humans had won every war in all the various Theatres, that was only a surface victory.
Having realized this, the purpose of entering this space had been achieved.
22 against 50, that was a huge difference in numbers. Additionally, this was the enemy’s home turf! It was impossible to prevail in such a situation; thus, in just a blink of an eye, someone shouted, “Retreat!”
The next moment, someone said, “We can’t get out, the Space here has been sealed!”
Another Old Ancestor roared, “Then we break through it!”
Even if this Black Ink Nest Space was the domain of the Black Ink Clan’s Mother Nest, there had to be a limit.
When Yang Kai was trapped previously, it was only naturally that he couldn’t get out because he was nowhere near strong enough to forcefully break through the sealed space.
Now however, this place had 22 Human Old Ancestors. When unified, there was nothing in this World that could suppress and seal them.
This was also the reason why the Old Ancestors wanted to act together. Yang Kai’s last encounter in the Black Ink Nest Space made them wary. The Black Ink Clan seemed to be able to control the opening and closing of the Black Ink Nest Space, which they had planned for.
Not to mention, the 50 Royal Lords’ Soul attacks would also have a significant impact on this space.
Perhaps there were more Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan, but even if there were, they likely did not dare to move; otherwise, this space may not be able to withstand the stress.
The Old Ancestors were all veterans of countless battles, so although the situation here was unexpected, and there were twice as many enemies as allies, they quickly stabilized their formation and gathered in one place. With their Soul defensive artifacts covering all sides and resisting attacks from all angles. Some Old Ancestors even used Soul Secret Techniques to counter-attack those Royal Lords.
At the same time, streams of light flashed into existence. Naturally it was the Old Ancestors summoning offensive artifacts and each one of them was very powerful.
More than seventy top Masters were now fighting inside this Black Ink Nest Space, causing it to begin to tremble.
“Presumptuous!” Some of the Old Ancestors coldly snorted.
The Black Ink Nest space was indeed powerful, able to seal the Souls of 72 Supreme Masters at once; however, it was now clearly shaking from the clash, which meant that it indeed had a limit.
If the space was still as stable as a rock under such circumstances, then it would be truly terrifying. If that was the case, then the Old Ancestors would have no hope of escaping.
However, now that the space was shaking, the Old Ancestors saw an opportunity.
Spiritual Energies exploded as the attacks came out one after another. The Soul defensive artifacts summoned by the Old Ancestors were extremely powerful, but they could not last long under such circumstances. The artifacts rapidly dimmed and began to shatter after just ten breaths of time.
Grunts sounded when their Soul Avatars were injured, but the situation was not that grave yet.
With one less defensive artifact, the Human defense became more precarious. When the second defensive artifact was about to be broken, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shouted, “Gather around me!”
As soon as she yelled, a seven-coloured lotus flower suddenly emerged, which quickly expanded to hold all the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on insides its petals.
Outside the lotus, a brilliant seven-coloured halo of light converged to form a sturdy barrier, stopping all of Royal Lord’s attacks.
“Is this that brat’s Soul Warming Lotus?” An Old Ancestor recognized the origin of the lotus and exclaimed, “A Supreme Treasures of the Universe is indeed extraordinary.”
The defensive artifacts that they summoned could not withstand the barrage of attacks from the Royal Lords for long, but this Soul Warming Lotus’ protection was unwavering, which showed how extraordinary it was.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shouted, “Enough nonsense! Hurry up and kill them!”
What situation were they in for them to be marveling at this lotus? They were all Old Ancestors, yet they were acting like bumpkins that had not seen and explored the World yet.
The Old Ancestor who spoke smiled awkwardly. Suddenly, a mass of Spiritual Energy transformed into a fierce beast, leapt out of the lotus heart towards the opposite Royal Lord, and gave a huge bite. Although it was a quick burst, it managed to viciously tear into the Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar before it dissipated.
“Wastes! I dare you to fight one-on-one!” An Old Ancestor shouted with indignation.
In a one-on-one fight, the Old Ancestors were not afraid of these Royal Lords. Although the might of their Souls was basically the same, the Old Ancestors felt that they were still slightly stronger.
The key point, however, was that these Royal Lords were far too limited in their usage of Soul attacks, only able to wield their Spiritual Energy in a clumsy manner.
With how they were attacking, a fair amount of the strength of their Souls was simply being wasted.
The Old Ancestors were different as they had all practiced and polished their Secret Techniques in thousands of life-and-death clashes. They all had several handy artifacts as well. Given what power they had, each Old Ancestor was able to display far more combat efficiency than any of their enemies.
Thus, if they fought one-on-one, the Old Ancestors could certainly defeat these Royal Lords.
However, under such circumstances, why would the Royal Lord pay attention to that Old Ancestor roaring at them? They had the absolute numerical advantage, so they would naturally use it.
In this battle, the losing side had only one fate, death!
With twice the numbers on their side and the geographical advantage, the Royal Lords were certain of their victory. Since their entry into this space, the Humans were forced into the defensive, and could only counter-attack occasionally with negligible effects.
If Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had not borrowed Yang Kai’s Soul Warming Lotus, the situation would have been even worse.
However, the Soul Warming Lotus was not all-powerful. The seven-coloured light enveloping them was continuously weakened by the relentless impacts it faced, and once the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus was broken, then the Humans would no longer have the power to protect themselves.
Even so, this was a truly unprecedented battle in terms of scope, scale, and importance. The result of this battle would have a direct impact on the future of the entire Human Race.
“Don’t hold back, it’s time to go all out!” An Old Ancestor roared furiously as his Soul Avatar suddenly expanded atop the Soul Warming Lotus, turning into a giant in the blink of an eye.
The giant reached its hand out of the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus and was quickly cut to pieces by the Soul attacks from the Royal Lords; however, it soon re-condensed.
The giant made a low roar like a wounded beast.
His arm was torn apart, which meant his Soul Avatar was wounded. Furthermore, any damage to the arm of his Soul Avatar was also damage to his Soul.
He remained undaunted though and firmly grabbed a Royal Lord on the periphery.
The Royal Lord went pale and was about to flee when suddenly a mysterious force shot out and caused him to freeze in place.
Not only that, he also felt his Soul Avatar receiving a huge shock and he was overwhelmed by an indescribable pain.
Inside the Soul Warming Lotus, an Old Ancestor’s Soul Avatar surged with Demon Qi, an ominous aura pulsing from his as he smiled treacherously.
Such obvious features could only come from Myriad Demons Heaven.
In fact, this was the Old Ancestor of Myriad Demons Cave Heaven that Yang Kai had once met and studied the two core Eye Secret Techniques under for a time.
The left eye of the Myriad Demons Pass Old Ancestor turned into a golden vertical slit that radiated an imposing aura as it reflected the Soul Avatar of a Royal Lord. It was his Secret Technique that made that Royal Lord freeze.
His right eye was pitch-black, and wherever its gaze landed, a large area of space was covered in darkness that swept up several Royal Lords.
If Yang Kai were here, he would have been amazed by this sight.
He had cultivated Myriad Demons Heaven’s two Eye Secret Techniques, and his attainments in them weren’t bad; however, he had never used them like this.
This showed the differences between Yang Kai and the Myriad Demons Pass Old Ancestor in terms of their attainment in these two Eye Secret Techniques.
Since these two Eye Techniques were the core secrets of Myriad Demons Heaven, they naturally had their unique features.
With one person’s power against several Royal Lords, the Myriad Demons Pass Old Ancestor was also a bit overwhelmed and his Soul Avatar was violently shaken. It would not take too long for his Eye Secret Technique to be broken.
Still, it was enough.
The big hand that reached out and caught the Royal Lord directly in his palm clenched fiercely at that moment.
A mournful howl sounded as the clutched Soul Avatar almost directly collapsed. However, at the critical moment, other Royal Lords intervened and broke the enormous hand, saving the Royal Lord within.
Even so, despite this Royal Lord surviving the attack, his Soul Avatar became very dull. He had obviously been seriously injured.
Just two Old Ancestors were able to launch a near deadly attack by joining forces.
There were several other Old Ancestors who used their own methods to attack the Royal Lords who were affected by the Myriad Demons Pass Old Ancestor’s Black Purgatory Eye, damaging several of them.
No one remained idle, neither the Royal Lords, nor the Old Ancestors.
Soul Avatars were struck one after another as all sorts of exquisite Soul Secret Techniques and Soul-type artifacts clashed inside the Black Ink Nest Space.
This type of battle was far more dangerous than ones in the outside world; after all, this involved their Soul. Thus, the slightest mistake would spell death for them.
The seven-coloured light of the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection was wavering and its brilliance was weakening at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Once the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus collapsed, with the space here still sealed, the Old Ancestors who entered here would definitely meet tragic ends.
Everyone was attacking their opponents furiously except for Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.
Firstly, she needed to use most of her strength to keep the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection up.
Secondly, she was looking for the right opportunity to strike.
In this kind of fight, timing was critical and chances were fleeting.
However, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was able to seize any opening around her. Her Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm insight was enough to capitalize on such opportunities.
Three breaths later, when Myriad Demons Pass’ Old Ancestor once again used the Demon Eye of Annihilation to freeze a figure he was focused on, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao grit her teeth, let out a war cry, and shot out a golden light from her forehead.
When the golden light appeared, the aura of her Soul suddenly weakened, and even her Soul Avatar lost part of its form.
This was a serious injury that not even an Old Ancestor could easily restore.
However, it was still worth it.
When the golden light shot out, it directly struck into a Royal Lord who was locked down by the Myriad Demons Heaven Old Ancestor’s Eye Secret Technique.
In the next instant, the intense golden light penetrated deep inside the Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar, drawing a deafening cry of anguish from his lips as his Soul Avatar rapidly weakened.
In the blink of an eye, the might of his Soul dropped from that of a Royal Lord to a Territory Lord’s.
With the follow up attacks of two other Ninth-Order Masters, this Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar was blasted apart!
The Black Ink Nest Space, which was already trembling, shook even more violently!
All the Royal Lords were shocked by what had just happened.
Although they had injured a few Old Ancestors in the two dozen breaths or so since the battle began, the first to fall was actually one of them.
That was when they outnumbered the Humans two to one!
They were alarmed at just how deadly these Humans were!
What was that golden light? It was undoubtedly that golden light which had the power to condemn a Royal Lord to death!
Of course, the Royal Lord was not killed directly by the golden light, but rather due a series of attacks.
Not only were the Royal Lords surprised by this outcome, many of the Old Ancestors were also astonished.
No one expected Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to have such a terrifying trump card.
Only two of the Old Ancestors, who were good friends with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, looked at her with concern. It was as if they had guessed the nature of the golden light, so they were both happy and a little worried.
If what they suspected was true, then that golden light, which had a great killing power, also has a considerable impact on its user.
It was a Soul Rending Thorn!
If the Old Ancestor could pass on to Yang Kai the method to refine and use Soul Rending Thorns, then she would naturally be able to use them as well. In order to refine this artifact, one needed to imbue a thread of their Soul into it, and in order to activate it, a Secret Technique which sacrificed a large portion of their Soul was required.
For tens of thousands of years, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had kept and nourished three Soul Rending Thorns in her Knowledge Sea.
She had never used them, as once these things were used, she would deal significant damage to herself in order to deal critical damage to an enemy. If she was not careful, she might get herself into a bind instead of killing the enemy.
The last time she thought of using a Soul Rending Thorn was when she last fought against Mo Zhao. She would have used it if Yang Kai could not cut off Mo Zhao’s link to his Black Ink Nest.
At that time, there was a great risk of using a Soul Rending Thorn because there was still the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple on the battlefield.
Fortunately, Yang Kai did not disappoint her and destroyed the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, thereby cutting off Mo Zhao’s source of power.
She did not use one of these vicious artifacts to kill Mo Zhao, but she had no choice but to use one now.
In fact, before entering this space, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was already prepared to use the Soul Rending Thorns because the Black Ink Nest Space was a battlefield of the Soul.
The effect of the Soul Rending Thorns could be fully displayed here!
Yang Kai did not spend much time nurturing his Soul Rending Thorns yet at that time, he was able to cripple and even kill several Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples despite his Soul only being roughly on par with an Eighth-Order Master’s.
On the other hand, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had been nourishing and refining her Soul Rending Thorns for millennia.
At this point, each of her Soul Rending Thorns could be regarded as a peerless treasure.
When unleashed, just one could deal enough damage to weaken a Royal Lord’s Soul to the level of a Territory Lord’s.
In the chaotic Black Ink Nest Space, the first to suffer a fatality was the numerically superior Royal Lords, which caused the remaining Royal Lords to go into a frenzy.
At that moment, a second Soul Rending Thorn was fired.
Again, a golden light shot out, and in an instant, it penetrated the body of another Royal Lord.
That Royal Lord immediately looked terrified. He saw what happened to his companion, so now he knew what was about to happen to him.
The Soul Rending Thorn dug in and began shredding his Soul Avatar, causing his strength to plummet.
Although the remaining Royal Lord’s rushed to shelter him, the Old Ancestors acted faster, raining down Secret Techniques upon the wounded target.
The effects of the attack were devastating and caused the Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar to shatter.
A second Royal Lord had fallen!
The Black Ink Nest Space shook wildly.
The Royal Lords were horrified now.
The Myriad Demons Cave Heaven Old Ancestor shouted, “Xiao Yue Ya, I’ll trap them, you kill them!”
After he said that, the Demon Eye of Annihilation reappeared. This time, instead of using the Black Purgatory Eye, the Myriad Demons Old Ancestor used all his efforts to activate this Eye Secret Technique.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao cursed to herself, [How old is this Great Aunt now? How dare you call me Xiao Yue Ya! Fortunately, we’re all Ninth-Order Masters and there are no Juniors around; otherwise, wouldn’t those damn brats all die laughing?]
Though she was snarling to herself, her actions remained swift.
The third golden light shot out.
All the Royal Lords tried their best to dodge, but the Myriad Demons Old Ancestor, who had fully committed to using his Demon Eye of Annihilation, proved to be too much.
He locked his sights onto one of the fastest retreating Royal Lords and captured his figure in the vertical golden slit of his eye. In the next moment, the vertical slit actually rotated and turned into a horizontal line.
At the same time, the Royal Lord who was targeted felt that his Soul Avatar warp and distort, like it was being crushed and torn apart all at once. His whole body began to tremble and he was barely able to maintain a coherent form.
In that brief moment of delay, the third golden light had already plunged into his body.
“Die!” The Myriad Demons Old Ancestor roared furiously. His Spiritual Energy maddeningly gushed out as a series of golden rings suddenly manifested and contracted down into a single point.
The trapped Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar was crushed towards a central point, and despite his best efforts to resist, it was all useless.
The Soul Rending Thorn exploded inside of him, making it difficult for him to focus his strength, and in the blink of an eye, the Royal Lord’s Soul Avatar was crushed under tremendous pressure before exploding into pieces.
The third Royal Lord had perished!
The two previous Royal Lords who fell had their auras regress to the level of Territory Lords before they were blasted apart. However, this time, the Royal Lord’s aura did not even have the time to fall as he was directly killed by Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Myriad Demons Cave Heaven Old Ancestor.
The entire Black Ink Nest Space was now filled with the Spiritual Energy that escaped from the death of these Souls and shaking violently.
When Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Myriad Demons Old Ancestor were unleashing their powers, the other Old Ancestors did not remain idle either. Just after the third Royal Lord fell, a fourth perished in quick succession.
Although none of the Humans had died yet, all were wounded and their Soul Avatars’ luster were not as before.
This battle had only raged for 30 breaths, yet in such a short duration, all of the 22 Old Ancestors had been injured in one form or another while 4 Royal Lords had died. It was not an exaggeration to say this was the most dangerous and fiercest battle in history.
Although the Humans had achieved huge successes so far, the situation was deteriorating quickly.
Apart from their individual injuries, it was clear that the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus would not last long. In fact, the protection provided by this Supreme Treasure had already been vastly exceeded everyone’s expectations. No one would be surprised if it were to collapse in the next breath.
In addition, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had used three Soul Rending Thorns in a row and her Soul was now severely damaged, causing her control over the Soul Warming Lotus to falter.
The Myriad Demons Old Ancestor obviously noticed this and did not ask Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to cooperate with him to kill the enemy again.
The Humans were at risk of collective annihilation at any moment.
Temporary gains would hardly resolve their crisis.
All the Old Ancestors realized that if they did not break the Black Ink Nest Space and escape from this entrapment, they would all fall the moment the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection collapsed.
An old man suddenly stepped forward and said, “No wonder my right brow kept twitching today. So, it ends here. My Fellow Daoist Brothers and Sisters, stand guard for me one last time!”
A Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master turned his head to look at him and exclaimed, “Ping Yu…”
“Enough nonsense!” The old man bellowed, “I am from Bright King Cave Heaven and Soul attacks are not this Old Master’s strength. I’m not much use here, but if I can open a way for my Fellow Daoist Brothers and Sisters, then I would not have lived in vain.”
As this Old Ancestor called Ping Yu said, he was from Bright King Cave Heaven, and although his Soul cultivation was indeed in the Ninth-Order, he was less powerful than the others and his methods of attacking were very limited.
Simply put, the role he could play on this kind of battlefield was minimal, and he felt that he was of not of much use to the rest of his Brothers and Sisters.
Everyone immediately understood what his intentions were and many Old Ancestors looked grim, but they were powerless to stop him.
The Old Ancestor who tried to object earlier immediately clenched his fists and bellowed, “Push them back!”
As soon as he said that, all the Ninth-Order Masters activated their Soul Secret Techniques and artifacts and sent out a concentrated burst of attacks.
To the surprise of the Royal Lords, the Human’s attacks were not directed at them, but at a certain point in the Black Ink Nest Space, opening up a passageway free of interference.
A Royal Lord quickly realized what the Humans were trying to do and shouted frantically, “Stop them!”
Following the shout, more than 40 Royal Lords blasted at the passage in order to destroy it.
However, it was too late. The Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor laughed heartily and charged out of the protection of the lotus. He dashed into the passage, and in an instant reached towards the edge of the space. His Spiritual Energy maddeningly surged as he roared, “Break!”
*Hong…*
As his Ninth-Order aura was annihilated, a tsunami of Spiritual Energy burst forth and opened a visible crack in the void.
A loud boom reverberated throughout the Black Ink Nest Space, causing all inside to have their Soul Avatars shake.
Even the outer protective layer of the Soul Warming Lotus rippled continuously, as if it might shatter at any moment.
All the Royal Lords were stunned.
That Human… had actually detonated his Soul without any hesitation!
Although the Humans were clearly in a dire situation, trapped inside this Black Ink Nest Space, they had still killed four Royal Lords and had the strange lotus to protect them. The battle was nowhere near its end yet.
Yet, this Human chose to self-destruct?
Just what kind of courage was required to do that?
The Human Race… was terrifying!
At the same time, all the Old Ancestors were staring at the invisible shell which encompassed the space, and the next moment, their eyes lit up.
The Bright King Old Ancestor’s self detonation was not in vain. A crack had developed on the shell, and although it was not large, it was still a crack.
The power of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s self-destruction was unimaginable.
When the four Royal Lords fell earlier, it only caused this space to shake violently, but Bright King Cave Heaven’s Old Ancestor’s targeted sacrifice immediately tore the space open.
“Go!” Some Old Ancestors roared.
If there was a break in the sealed space, then there was a way out. So, why hesitate to leave?
However, before they could make a move, the Royal Lords frantically counter-attacked. They were no fools and immediately understood what the Humans were trying to do.
If they let these Ninth-Order Masters escape, their entire ambush would become a joke.
They had the Humans trapped and outnumbered two to one, yet four Royal Lords had perished and although one of the Humans also fell, that was due to him sacrificing himself, not their own efforts to kill him.
All of a sudden, Soul Warming Lotus protection started to waver and the Old Ancestors found themselves stalled in place.
During this momentary delay, the crack on the shell was filled with a powerful force and was quickly closing up!
All Old Ancestors seethed with anger when they saw this happen.
No one expected that this space could repair itself so quickly. Now their hopes of escape had evaporated.
The protective glow of the Soul Warming Lotus had already faded to almost nothing, and it would surely be gone in less than five breaths.
Once that happened, while they could probably take some of the Royal Lords down with them, the entire group of Old Ancestors would surely perish as well.
…..
When the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor self-destructed, a gap tore through the Black Ink Nest space. Far away in the depths of the void, in an unknown place where the Human Race had not set foot for countless eons, a surge of energy fluctuations disturbed the countless years of silence.
This fluctuation was extremely faint and came and disappeared almost instantly.
A withered figure with almost no aura at all was disturbed by this fluctuation and suddenly opened his eyes.
This figure could almost be regarded as a corpse. There was hardly any life in his body which was now extremely withered with only skin and bones remaining.
Anyone who saw him would not think that he was still alive.
However, when he opened his eyes, they bloomed with dazzling light like two Great Sun.
The next moment, the living corpse suddenly laughed. It was impossible to know how many years he had not spoken for, so now his voice was dry and hoarse, making it extremely difficult to listen to, “Finally! Do we now have a promising generation of descendants?”
He had sat here for countless years. At the beginning, there were some like-minded friends to chat with, but after so many years and without any resources to supplement themselves, his companions had fallen one by one.
Now, he was the only one left to guard this place and slowly became a living dead.
He did not dare to die so easily, and he could not leave, otherwise all their efforts would be in vain.
He did not know how many years he had been asleep as this place was devoid of all sound and light; however, just with those brief energy fluctuations, he was able to gain a lot of insight into what had happened.
Someone’s descendants had begun to counter-attack, and had touched the root of the Black Ink Clan; otherwise, it was impossible for the calm that had lasted for so many millennia to be broken.
He had waited for untold generations for the Human Race to reach this point. The wait had been so long that even he felt despair.
Today, when this ray of hope appeared before his eyes, he began to cackle happily.
As he laughed, he suddenly raised his hands into the dark and slowly said, “Mo, you are the ancient supreme being of the Black Ink Clan, why cause trouble for the little ones.”
His hand was nothing but skin and bones when it was raised, but in the blink of an eye, his physique was restored and it became like flawless jade.
The calm within void was completely broken in the next instant as the boundless darkness started to stir and surge towards the jade white hand.
As the hand crept forward, it began to crumble, and when it plunged into the heart of the darkness, only bones remained.
It was this small skeletal hand that stirred up the entire surrounding space.
There was a harsh wave of Spiritual Energy coming towards the Ninth-Order Master, which was more powerful than anything a Ninth-Order Master could produce, along with an angry roar, “Cang! How dare you interfere! You court death!”
The living dead man called Cang scoffed, “Until I destroy you, old thing, I dare not die so easily!”
As he spoke, his hand slapped down onto the endless darkness.
…
Inside the Black Ink Nest Space, the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection was so weak that it was barely visible.
All the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters knew that they were on the verge of death. They knew that they already had no hope of escaping from this place; so, they steeled their resolve to kill as many Royal Lords before they fell.
They had already come to terms with dying, but even if they all perished, they wanted to ensure that the Black Ink Clan did not feel any better.
The Human Race was gaining strength with each generation, so even if they all fell here, there would be more Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in time to take their place.
The only thing that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao felt a little regretful over was that when she died here, the Soul Warming Lotus would be left behind. She was worried that Yang Kai would blame her for this.
Still, she set aside those worries as she was about to die anyways.
*Kacha…*
The sound of something shattering suddenly reverberated in everyone’s heart. After Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had summoned the Soul Warming Lotus, they had held on for 30 breaths of time before its protection finally broke.
All the Royal Lords were overjoyed, but soon, their smiles froze. At the moment the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection shattered, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Masters all shot forward with overwhelming murderous intent. Each of them pushed all the might from their Souls without reservation, clearly not caring about their own lives.
This confused the Royal Lords. It was as if the Humans thought that they had the advantage over them.
Just like the Old Ancestor who detonated his Soul previously, the Royal Lords realized that these Old Ancestors were not afraid of death!
“Kill!” Roared the Royal Lords.
The Human Race was not afraid of death and likewise they were not!
Today’s deaths were just the materials to lay the foundation for the future.
Supreme Masters from both Races no longer concerned themselves with surviving, only caring about slaughtering more enemies before they crossed the gates of death.
Just before the two sides could engage in the final clash though, the entire Black Ink Nest Space suddenly shook violently, and the shaking this time was an order of magnitude greater than when the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor self-destructed!
It happened so suddenly that no one knew what was going on. The Supreme Masters of both sides who were about to fight to the death all stopped and took a step back, looking at each other warily.
They were not afraid of death, but the anomaly in the Black Ink Nest Space made them wary; after all, no one knew if the other side had set up some kind of trap.
Kacha…
Another shattering sound was heard, this one much louder than before. All the Old Ancestors and Royal Lords looked up, but as soon as they gazed into the distance, they were all stunned.
The crack opened by the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestors that had just closed, opened up again for some reason.
The Old Ancestors were overjoyed.
The reason why they decided to fight the Royal Lords to the death was because they had no hope of escape; now that the crack had opened up again though, there was hope. Why should they die if they had a chance to live?
They did not know why the crack opened again, but what surprised them most was that the crack seemed to open up much wider than when their fellow Old Ancestor self-destructed.
Through the crack, they caught a glimpse of some vague images.
There was no time to hesitate, so the Myriad Demons Old Ancestor bellowed, “Let’s go!”
As soon as he shouted, blood flowed from his right eye!
He was currently a Soul Avatar, so it shouldn’t be possible for him to bleed. What flowed from his eyes was his own forceful burned Soul Essence.
This moment, he was going all out.
Blackness suddenly filled the space and wrapped up a number of Royal Lords who were in the way.
The other Old Ancestors immediately did whatever they could to interfere with the Royal Lords while leaping towards the crack in the sky. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had already sacrificed a large part of her Soul and had to be carried away by another Old Ancestor.
Many of the Royal Lords saw this and were extremely unwilling to let the Humans escape. They turned their raging Spiritual Energy into a boundless onslaught to cut off the Old Ancestors’ escape route.
Without the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ Soul Avatars were faltering and some of them may not be able to escape at this rate.
Realizing this, one of the Old Ancestors turned towards the Royal Lords instead of heading to the crack and a violent and fierce power burst from his Soul.
He decided to stay behind and follow in the path of the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor. By detonating his Soul in the faces of the Royal Lords, he could buy a moment of time that the others would be able to use to escape.
Just as he did so though, an even more powerful Soul was already rushing towards those Royal Lords. Halfway there, his Soul Avatar ignited, making him look like a raging ball of flames.
“Great Battle Pass has two Old Ancestors, it can afford to lose one! Get out of here! All of you!”
The one that had rushed out was an Old Ancestor from Great Battle Cave Heaven. He was now burning his Soul using some kind of sacrificial Secret Technique. There was no turning back for him now!
As he roared, he was hit with a continuous stream of Spiritual Energy blasts from the Royal Lords, blowing holes in his Soul Avatar; however, this Great Battle Heaven Old Ancestor did not flinch in the slightest.
In the blink of an eye, he had already rushed to the place where the Royal Lords had gathered and his Soul Avatar flashed a fierce smile as he roared, “Burn!”
As soon as he roared, a dazzling light erupted from his Soul Avatar, and his already burning Soul Avatar suddenly turned into a sea of fire that engulfed the Royal Lords.
The first few Royal Lords caught by this Soul Fire howled in agony, while the others tried to dodge in a fluster.
However, they were too late.
Their Spiritual Energy was like fuel for this Soul fire, and the more they tried to extinguish it, the more intensely the flame burned.
The flames did not discriminate and were rapidly catching up to the 20 surviving Old Ancestors who were fleeing towards the crack.
Seeing that the Soul fire was about to reach them, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, whose Soul Avatar was almost transparent, forced whatever power she had left into the Soul Warming Lotus and formed a thin barrier, covering the many Old Ancestors.
The next instant, everyone rushed out of the crack and disappeared.
The Black Ink Nest Space was left in shambles.
A sea of fire covered the entire Black Ink Nest Space, engulfing everything in flames. The Royal Lords did not dare to remain any longer and rushed towards the crack, dragging their injured comrades along with them.
Within a breath, this Black Ink Nest Space went from an intense battlefield, to suddenly being devoid of anyone, leaving only raging flames behind.
These flames were the product of a Ninth-Order Master sacrificing his Soul; there was no telling how long it would take to extinguish.
..…
Darkness shrouded the unknown place, as harsh hissing sounds transmitted through the void, mixed with endless pain.
Old man Cang chuckled as he casually commented, “This generation’s descendants are all so courageous. It’s no wonder they were the ones who managed to break through. Mo, your end is near.”
A voice filled with hatred echoed back from the darkness, “Your people will forever be slaves!”
Cang faintly snorted, “You are not worthy!”
He turned his head, and looked into the depths of the void. After countless years of waiting, the day had finally arrived.
…..
Great Evolution Royal City, in front of the collapsed High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
Yang Kai and Xiang Shan both wore solemn expressions.
Although Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had only entered the Black Ink Nest for several dozen breaths of time, the two of them felt like years had gone by. They could no longer feel the Old Ancestor’s Soul, which meant that the Black Ink Nest Space was sealed. That also meant that the Black Ink Clan was prepared. They did not know what would happen to the Old Ancestor inside.
Although they were worried, the two of them could not do anything to help at this point. They could only wait.
They thought it would take some time, but who would have thought that just several dozen breaths later, the two of them once again sensed Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s Soul. They quickly looked over and the Old Ancestor also rapidly opened her eyes.
Yang Kai and Xiang Shan’s faces changed dramatically!
Old Ancestor was injured, extremely seriously injured! Her face was as white as paper and she winced painfully as the aura of her Soul fluctuated unsteadily.
Yang Kai and Xiang Shan could not even imagine that in just a short duration of several dozen breaths, an epic battle must have been fought in the Black Ink Nest Space. It was a battle between 22 Old Ancestors and 50 Royal Lords. In this short battle, 4 Royal Lords and 2 Old Ancestors had fallen. The Black Ink Nest Space also had a strange crack opened in it.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao obviously did not intend to explain anything but quickly took some Spirit Pills and stuffed them into her mouth before weakly saying, “During the time I enter retreat to recuperate, Commander Xiang Shan, heed by words, the war is not over. The Black Ink Clan still has very strong forces hidden in the shadows.”
Xiang Shan’s face changed slightly before he cupped his fist and bowed, “Understood!”
If the Old Ancestor was so afraid, then the Black Ink Clan’s hidden forces must be extremely dangerous.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao then turned to Yang Kai and said, “You, come with me!”
Upon saying this, she shot towards Great Evolution Pass followed by Yang Kai.
The Old Ancestor was so badly wounded that she had to use the power of his Small Universe to heal her wounds. Naturally, Yang Kai was used to this.
After following her back to Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai immediately spread out his Small Universe and let the Old Ancestor enter to recover.
He could feel that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s Soul was badly injured. He just did not know what had happened to her in that Black Ink Nest Space.
Fortunately, there was no need to worry about her life. The Soul Warming Lotus was still with the Old Ancestor, and with it, no matter the damage, her Soul would quickly recover. Furthermore, there was the difference in how fast time flowed in Yang Kai’s Small Universe, so it should not take long for Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to fully heal.
If Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was in such a state though, then what about the other Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters? After all, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was not the only one who entered the Black Ink Nest Space this time.
It seemed, this time, some of them must have fallen.
Yang Kai’s heart sank when he thought of this.
When the Human Race launched their crusade across the 106 Theatres, dozens of Royal Lords were killed without any losses among the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Of course, it was inevitable that some of them were injured.
However, this time, it was almost certain that some Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had fallen.
The confrontation in the Black Ink Nest Space was just that dangerous.
While Yang Kai was assisting the Old Ancestor heal, the celebratory atmosphere in Great Evolution Pass slowly changed. Xiang Shan, as the head of the Army, intentionally reversed the atmosphere. People tended to let their guard down if they continued to celebrate. If a battle really began, then they would be caught off guard.
Although it was a bit cruel to deprive the soldiers of this moment of joy, it had been like that for countless years. The Human Race had always been like that, constantly under the pressure of the Black Ink Clan, forced to forge ahead while never compromising!
Within a few days, two shocking messages reached Great Evolution Pass from other Great Passes.
Bright King Cave Heaven’s Old Ancestor had died in the Black Ink Nest Space!
Great Battle Heaven’s Old Ancestor had also perished in the Black Ink Nest Space!
It was said that 22 Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had gathered to explore the Black Ink Nest Space; however, the Black Ink Clan had laid an ambush. The moment the Old Ancestors entered it, the Black Ink Nest Space was sealed and 50 Royal Lords attacked together. The Old Ancestors fought valiantly and managed to kill 4 Royal Lords despite terrible odds. Bright King Cave Heaven and Great Battle Heaven’s Old Ancestors sacrificed themselves in order to give the other Old Ancestors a chance to escape.
Two Old Ancestors had died in battle!
The entire Human Race mourned for this loss.
Now not only Great Evolution Pass, but all the Humans knew that the war with the Black Ink Clan was far from over. On the surface, more than 100 Theatres had been pacified and the Black Ink Clan had been decimated; however, lurking in the dark, the Black Ink Clan had an even bigger hidden force.
The story of Black Ink Clan’s Mother Nest began spreading throughout the Great Passes.
The Mother Nest was perhaps the root of the Black Ink Clan where its hidden forces were located. To completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan, the Mother Nest must be destroyed.
So, after more than 100 Theatres were pacified, the Humans celebrated for a brief moment before they entered a state of war again!
Wounds were treated, and while some began cultivating, others were sent out to mine resources in order to prepare for the coming battle.
There would be more battles ahead, ones that would be even more dangerous than all those experienced before.
Within Yang Kai’s Small Universe, the four Army Commanders gathered in a small house.
The house was left by the Hunter and his Wife, and although hundreds of years had passed in his Small Universe, Yang Kai had kept it in pristine shape because Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would come here every time she needed to heal.
This was the first time Xiang Shan and the others had truly entered Yang Kai’s Small Universe, so it did not take long for them to notice that time flowed faster than normal here.
It was no wonder Yang Kai’s cultivation speed was so much greater than average; this kind of time differential was all but impossible for others to emulate.
They could also perceive that the World Force within Yang Kai’s Small Universe was extremely refined, unlike what ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could have.
This was probably the effect of the World Tree clone, which was able to purify World Force.
This was also one of the reasons why Yang Kai’s Small Universe was different from the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in terms of weight. It also allowed him to showcase power that should not be seen in his cultivation realm
The purer and denser one’s World Force was, the more power they could exert.
Although there was some envy, no one felt sore about it.
The World Tree clone was very beneficial, but it was only the most effective in Yang Kai’s Small Universe.
Even if an Eighth-Order Master obtained it, it would only enhance their own strength. Unlike Yang Kai, whose Small Universe had time flowing at a different rate compared to the outside world, and could amplify the World Tree clone’s effectiveness to its limits.
Although Eighth-Order and Ninth-Order Masters were the main forces of the Human Race today, Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters such as Yang Kai were the hope for the Human Race’s future.
That was why when Yang Kai obtained the World Tree clone in the Blue Sky Theatre, Ding Yao and others did not take it, but rather, allowed him to keep it.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao still looked pale. Her injuries were so severe that even though she had the Soul Warming Lotus and was using Yang Kai’s Small Universe to recuperate, the wounds did not heal so easily.
However, her condition was much better compared to when she just returned from the Black Ink Nest Space.
At this moment, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was telling Xiang Shan and the others about what happened in Black Ink Nest Space. The four Army Commanders all listened solemnly.
Although a lot of information had arrived from other Great Passes already, it was far less detailed than what Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was telling them.
22 Old Ancestors collaborated to probe the Black Ink Nest Space, but they were ambushed by 50 Royal Lords as soon as they entered.
The ensuing battle was so intense that neither the Old Ancestors nor the Royal Lords could hold anything back. In the end, the Old Ancestors managed to kill 4 Royal Lords while 2 of their own sacrificed themselves to allow the rest to escape!
In just a few dozen breaths of time, 6 top Masters from the two Races perished.
“When the Human Race intentionally did not destroy those 22 High-Rank Black Ink Nests, the Black Ink Clan must have guessed our intentions to enter the Black Ink Nest Space to pry for information. Thus, they gathered a number of Royal Lords in advance for the ambush,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said softly.
Xiang Shan frowned and said, “The battle reports from earlier indicated that the Royal Lord that used to be at the Yin-Yang Theatre was among those who escaped. Did Old Ancestor feel her aura in the Black Ink Nest Space?”
Not all Royal Lords were killed in the previous grand war across the 106 Theatres. Roughly half of them were killed, while the other half escaped.
Now, no one knew where they were hiding.
The Royal Lord of Yin-Yang Theatre was known to be one of the survivors.
Yin-Yang Pass was originally the place where Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was assigned and she had fought with that Royal Lord for tens of thousands of years, so they could not be more familiar with one another.
However, later when the Southern Army Commander of Yin-Yang Pass, Wu Qing, broke through and reached the Ninth-Order, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was given the mission of re-taking Great Evolution Pass. Now, Wu Qing was at Yin-Yang Pass, serving as its Old Ancestor.
Wu Qing had just advanced to the Ninth-Order, so compared to the rest of the Old Ancestors, he was not very strong. Although he was unable to kill the old Royal Lord when they fought at the Yin-Yang Theatre, the Royal Lord found herself outmatched when Wu Qing was joined by several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; thus, she eventually fled into the void, her whereabouts now unknown.
The reason why Xiang Shan asked this question was because he suspected that the Royal Lords who ambushed the Humans in the Black Ink Nest Space were not the ones who escaped from the other Theatres.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head and replied, “I didn’t feel her aura.”
Xiang Shan frowned and replied, “Then the problem is very serious… In recent days, I had also queried the other Old Ancestors who were involved. I asked them similar questions, but none of them felt any familiar auras among the 50 Royal Lords that participated in the ambush.”
In other words, among those 50 Royal Lords, not one was an old acquaintance of the surviving 20 Old Ancestors.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao declared solemnly, “Those Royal Lords were all fresh faces! Their strength was there, but they were unable to fully display it. It was as if they did not have much experience in fighting.”
Although the battle only lasted several dozen breaths of time, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had tens of thousands of years of combat experience so she was easily able to notice such details.
At the time, she was too busy fighting and preserving her life to pay attention to this, but now, looking back, there were many questions that were unanswered.
She knew what Xiang Shan was trying to determine.
If there were 50 Royal Lords who they had never seen before, plus those who had escaped from the Theatres, that meant that there were almost 100 Royal Lords still alive!
It was a terrifying force!
What made it even more unbelievable was that these Royal Lords did not have much experience in fighting! It was as if their strength was attained totally from intense cultivation rather than being built up through millennia of tempering in war.
The fact was, if it was not for those Royal Lords’ clumsiness in battle, the Old Ancestors would not have been able to rally themselves so quickly to defend and then counter attack.
Additionally, if those Royal Lords had concentrated on just one or two Old Ancestors at a time, they would have been able to kill all of them very quickly.
However, they did not do that. Instead, they all just wildly pushed their Spiritual Energy to bombard them indiscriminately.
Such a way of fighting could only be described as foolish.
“And I suspect that… the Black Ink Clan has more forces hidden than what we’ve seen.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned with worry.
Liu Zhi Ping remarked softly, “There are more of them?”
100 Royal Lords was already a problem, if there were more of them, then how could the Black Ink Clan be eradicated?
“The Black Ink Clan still has its limits; for instance, that Black Ink Nest Space was not impregnable. With 50 Royal Lords and 22 Old Ancestors fighting, the clashing of Spiritual Energy shook that space quite violently. It looked like that was the limit of what that space could withstand. If there were even a few more, it is difficult to say whether that space could endure the impact.”
The Black Ink Clan was able to estimate the limit of the Black Ink Nest Space’s tolerance; however, when the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor self-destructed his Soul, he managed to exceed that limit and tear open a crack in the Black Ink Nest Space.
The Black Ink Clan must not have expected that a Human Race Master could be so decisive.
Mi Jing Lun understood and said, “So, Black Ink Clan may not only have 50 hidden Royal Lords, they simply deployed 50 because that was the limit the battlefield could handle.”
Ou Yang Lie smacked his lips and said, “That’s bad.”
“There is good news though…” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s expression suddenly became a little odd and she appeared to be contemplating something before she murmured, “We may not be the only ones fighting this war!”
“What does Old Ancestor mean by that?” Liu Zhi Ping asked curiously.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao replied, “In fact, at the end of the battle, the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection had been shattered, and we were already on the verge of death. We were preparing to go all out in a final battle to the death with those Royal Lords; however, at that critical juncture, the sealed Black Ink Nest Space cracked open once again…”
Mi Jing Lun gasped, “The power released by the two Races was so strong that it went beyond the limit of what the Black Ink Nest Space could withstand?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head and explained, “The gap was opened from the outside.”
Everyone was stunned when they heard that.
A gaping hole opened from the outside and saved the lives of 20 Old Ancestors at a critical moment!
Who opened it?
How was it opened?
No one knew.
However, this was also the reason why Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said that their present Army might not be alone in this war.
That crack opened at a very timely moment. If it had opened a little later, more of the Old Ancestors would have been killed and injured.
What surprised Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was that through the crack, she vaguely saw a big hand that looked like it was made of white crystal jade!
It was a pity that she could not see it clearly because the power was too chaotic and the event was so short-lived.
The only thing that was certain, was that the hand was the source that opened the Black Ink Nest Space. Without that hand, there was no way they would have escaped from that space.
“Interesting…” Xiang Shan suddenly smiled inexplicably, “In addition to the other Armies from the other Theatres, there is actually another party that is fighting against the Black Ink Clan!”
Mi Jing Lun’s eyes lowered and pondered aloud, “Is this other party hostile or friendly?”
Ou Yang Lie looked at him as if he was a fool and said with disdain, “If that power helped the Old Ancestors get out of trouble, isn’t that obvious as to whether it was hostile or friendly?”
Mi Jing Lun shook his head with a light smile and said, “Who knows? If it was that obvious, then why didn’t they contact us before? Why did they have to wait till the very last moment before revealing themselves? Was something restricting them from showcasing their power, or was it all intentional?”
Ou Yang Lie raised his eyebrows and said, “Aren’t you over-thinking this?”
He seemed annoyed with Big Head Mi, who always made issues more complicated than they were. Was it not better to keep things simple?
Mi Jing Lun shook his head solemnly and said, “It’s not that I want to over-think things, I just can’t help worrying. According to what the Old Ancestor said, a lone party was able to break open the Black Ink Nest Space from the outside, which means this person or party must be more powerful than all the Old Ancestors combined!”
Ou Yang Lie was dumbfounded.
The Old Ancestors were Ninth-Order Masters, the strongest warriors in existence. Who could be more powerful than them?
If this unknown party was friendly to the Human Race, then it would be a blessing; however, if it was hostile, then it would be far more difficult to deal with compared to the Black Ink Clan. At the very least, the Humans knew the Black Ink Clan quite well today. They did not know anything about this hidden party.
It was easy to dodge a spear in the light, but difficult to avoid an arrow in the dark.
Xiang Shan looked at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and asked respectfully, “Old Ancestor, is the Ninth-Order really the limit of cultivation? Is it possible to go further?”
When he asked this question, even Yang Kai, who had been uninvolved so far, listened eagerly.
No one other than the Old Ancestors, who had reached the Ninth-Order, had any insights into whether there was a higher realm than the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
It was said that there was no peak to the Martial Dao, but was there really no limit?
However, according to the current situation on the Human’s side, the Ninth-Order appeared to be the peak of Martial Dao.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was silent for a moment before replying, “The cultivation of the Open Heaven Realm is mainly related to one’s Small Universe. As the volume of the Small Universe increases, their Order rises. The First-Order is the lowest while the Ninth-Order is the limit! We have been exploring if there is anything higher beyond the Ninth-Order. I don’t know about the others, but personally, with my level of cultivation, the volume of my Small Universe has reached its limit and there is no way to improve any further.”
In other words, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s limit.
She could not say if that was the same situation for the other Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
In all these years, no one had ever gone beyond the Ninth-Order. No one had ever seen any power beyond the Ninth-Order.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao then added, “Moreover, in regards to that party that helped us escape, we do not know how powerful or what realm they were in. The situation was too chaotic and there was no way to perceive it accurately. Even if the other party is stronger than us, perhaps they have not transcended the Ninth-Order.”
After a lifetime of cultivation, the concept of Ninth-Order being the peak was deeply rooted in their psyches. When someone suggested the possibility of a higher realm than the Ninth-Order in this world, it was difficult for Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao to believe it.
After all, she had made this judgement based on thousands of years of her own experience.
“No matter what realm the other party has reached, or whether they are friend or foe, at least, in terms of dealing with the Black Ink Clan, their stance is the same as ours,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao continued, “Furthermore, this other party should be under some kind of restriction; otherwise, it makes no sense why they have not contacted the Human Race after all these years. I even suspect… that they are some ancient force or a remnant of a force from a distant era.”
Before this, no one had thought that there was another force in the world that stood against the Black Ink Clan.
Before coming to Great Evolution Pass, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao guarded Yin-Yang Pass for tens of thousands of years, but even she had never heard anything about another force before. Neither had the other Old Ancestors.
If the other party had not taken the initiative to help them out this time, they would still be ignorant of their existence.
There was only one possibility now, that the power was a remnant from a very distant era. So long that even the Old Ancestors had never heard of it.
Mi Jing Lun nodded slightly and said, “Since the other party has a similar stance to ours, we can ally with them. The question is… where are they, and who made that move?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes and said, “If I am not mistaken, their location should be where the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest is!”
All the Army Commanders’ pupils contracted, but after a moment of reflection, they understood why the Old Ancestor had made such a judgment.
The Black Ink Nest Space that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the other Old Ancestors entered this time should be the creation of the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest. Since the unknown Master was able to break open the space from the outside, it meant that they could not be too far away from the Mother Nest. They must have directly attacked the Mother Nest; otherwise, it was impossible to accomplish this.
In other words, if they found the Mother Nest, they should be able to find the person behind that mysterious attack.
But where was the Mother Nest? Although they might be able to find some clues in the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, who would dare to enter that place again considering what just happened?
The Black Ink Clan’s ambush must still be there, so going back would be suicidal.
Even so, the Humans had some suspicions as to where the Mother Nest was.
Since ancient times, those in the Great Passes had never conquered a Royal City, not to mention the void beyond the Royal Cities.
“The war is not yet over, and the crusade will continue. For now, let the soldiers in the Inner Sanctum recuperate some more. I have a feeling that… the next battle may be more dangerous!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao finally commanded. Xiang Shan and the others listened gloomily.
As a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, she had an extremely keen perception for danger, even danger that had yet to manifest. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would not have said such words for no reason.
Soon, Xiang Shan and the others left so that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao could continue to recuperate.
…
The Theatres everywhere were pacified and the Black Ink Clan was defeated; however, the Human soldiers only enjoyed a few days of peace and quiet before they entered a state of intense war preparation again.
Alchemists and Artifact Refiners at every Great Pass became busy.
Information was passed back and forth between the Great Passes.
The term ‘crusade’ was used by the top brass of the Human Race when attacks were launched against the Royal Cities in the Theatres. However, now the Human Race’s Army was preparing for an even grander crusade!
A crusade to the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest!
Yang Kai also could not help but feel a sense of urgency.
In the previous battles, he played an indispensable role on the battlefield. He was able to kill a powerful Territory Lord like Che Kong and even destroyed a lot of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. He was also the one who killed a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with a punch.
However, all those achievements had many coincidental elements.
In the end, he was still just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
When Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said that the future battle was going to be more dangerous than ever, how could he protect himself and the others around him unless he was at least in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm?
[But the Eighth-Order…]
Yang Kai estimated that even with his current rate of cultivation, he would require at least 1,000 years to reach the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. By the time he managed to get to the Eighth-Order the wars would be over.
Time was not on his side.
In fact, he took only a few hundred years to advance to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so even if he took another 1,000 years to break through once more, his rate of advancement was already extremely terrifying. Which Eighth-Order Division Commanders had not taken several thousand years to break through from the Seventh-Order to the Eighth-Order?
Just look at Feng Ying. She was one of the most talented cultivators of her generation, but she spent 3,500 years in the Seventh-Order before just recently achieving a breakthrough and advancing to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
And that was already considered faster than usual.
On average, it took Seventh-Order Masters 5,000 years to break through.
As for the advancement from the Eighth-Order to the Ninth-Order, that was a 10,000 year endeavour at best
The growth of a Human was simply too slow.
Yang Kai did not lack resources to cultivate with, so during Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s recuperation, he was constantly refining materials and spared no expense to expand the number of Small Stone Race in his own Small Universe.
Although there was no way for him to break through and enter the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in a short period of time, he could still increase his strength.
Xiang Shan, would from time to time come over to pass on some messages to Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and to seek her opinion on certain matters. He did not keep anything from Yang Kai either; thus, Yang Kai was able to hear some confidential information.
Three months after the Old Ancestor’s return from the Black Ink Nest Space, the Great Evolution Army, which had been resting outside of the Royal City, began to buzz again. It started to move beyond the Royal City towards the depths of the void.
It was the same for all the major Theatres and the Great Passes.
Another crusade had begun!
According to the Old Ancestors, it was vital for them to eliminate the remaining enemy! Previously, the Human Race in the other Theatres had decimated the Black Ink Clan such that they could no longer form a coherent army. Regardless of the situation at the Mother Nest though, they could not give those fleeing Black Ink Clansmen any opportunity to re-group and reorganize.
There were dozens of Royal Lords who had escaped, and several times more Territory Lords and Feudal Lords who, though wounded, still breathed.
There were no concerns about the morale of the Humans. After the news of the Mother Nest was intentionally spread, all the soldiers knew that the war was far from over.
Until the Black Ink Clan was destroyed, the Human Race would never relent!
Scouts were sent out to perform reconnaissance on the route ahead so the Army Commanders could adjust their strategy.
In fact, the Human Race had always been curious about the void beyond the Royal Cities as it was a land that Humans had never set foot in.
However, before the Theatres were pacified, the Human Race had no ability to explore that void as the Royal Cities in front of this void were an impassable biggest obstacle.
Now, the Human Race was finally going to explore this mysterious place.
There was nothing unusual in the first month.
However, after another month, some of the scouts who had gone on ahead found the corpses of Black Ink Clansmen in the void, which was very unusual.
When the Squad tried to investigate, they were attacked by an unexplained force. There would have been casualties if not for their Warship’s protection.
When the encounter was reported to the Great Evolution Army. Xiang Shan took it very seriously and went to check the situation personally. He came back soon after.
In Yang Kai’s Small Universe, in the same small courtyard, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned and remarked, “A residual Divine Ability?”
Xiang Shan nodded and said, “Yes, one that is still very powerful. Though I don’t know how many years have passed since it was formed, those dead Black Ink Clansmen must have been the ones who escaped from the Royal City and ventured into that area. They ended up triggering the residual Divine Ability, and died as a result.”
“How strong is it?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
“The one I touched was almost equivalent to the full powered strike of a Seventh-Order Master.”
“That is indeed strong…” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao appeared grave and asked, “Are there many such Divine Abilities left?”
Xiang Shan replied with a grave expression, “There was no way to investigate. I sensed some Divine Abilities as they were obvious and could be detected at a glance, but there were others that were extremely well hidden. Some are completely unnoticeable unless they are triggered. I suspect that there are not only residual Divine Abilities, but many other Arrays as well!
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned as she muttered, “Residual Divine Abilities and Arrays…”
There were two kinds of Spirit Arrays in this world, innate and man-made. If the road ahead had residual Divine Abilities, then it was impossible that these Arrays were naturally formed. They had to be man made.
“Old Ancestor, I suspect that in ancient times, there was a force that fought against the Black Ink Clan in this stretch of void. There must have been countless Great Experts involved who set up and arranged those residual Divine Abilities and Natural Arrays.”
Yang Kai suddenly interjected, “A Divine Ability Sea!”
“Hm?” Xiang Shan looked at him in confusion.
Yang Kai said, “Once, when I was in Shattered Heaven, I was chased by an Eighth-Order Master and had to escape to the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land in the Shattered Ruins. That Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was surrounded by a massive Divine Ability Sea, which concealed innumerable Divine Abilities and Spirit Arrays. It was almost certain death for any trespassers, even Eighth-Order Masters.”
“At that time, I did not know why the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was surrounded by such a dangerous layer of traps and arrays, so I ventured in unaware. I originally thought that those Divine Abilities were left by the Divine Spirit themselves, but later I learned that it must have been arranged by some Great Experts in ancient times who were trying to seal in a Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Of course, those arrangements became unnecessary as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was eventually eroded by the Ancestral Land’s Ancestral Strength and his vitality was completely worn down before he could get that far.”
“From ancient times to the present, even after countless years, the Divine Ability Sea set up by those Great Experts of the past is still extremely powerful. While it must have weakened after so much time, its effectiveness is still quite shocking. In fact, if the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was able to get out of the trap, it would still be greatly hindered by that Divine Ability Sea.”
“The situation in the void ahead is somewhat similar to the Divine Ability Sea outside of Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, only that it’s not as obvious.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded and said, “Now that you mention it, I do have some memory of that. Rumour has it that there is indeed a vast field of Divine Abilities outside the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, though I have not seen it before.”
She had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for so long that if Yang Kai did not mention about this Divine Ability Sea, she would not have thought about it.
“So, it seems that the source of the Divine Abilities and Arrays up ahead and the Divine Ability Sea outside of the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land should be from the same era. Let’s call them the Ancients. They may have had a great battle against the Black Ink Clan here, so there are many residual Divine Abilities, as well as many restrictions and Arrays…” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said and then her eyes lit up, “If the Divine Ability Sea outside of the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was to protect against the sealed Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Then who is this Divine Ability Sea set up to guard against?”
Yang Kai and Xiang Shan looked at each other, and almost without thinking, immediately said, “The Mother Nest!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “That’s the only possibility. The Mother Nest must be located at an even deeper location, and many methods were used to guard against it.”
“But from the perspective of the later generations, that meant that the Ancients had failed as the Black Ink Clan managed to break out from the Mother Nest and built one Royal City after another, harvested the nearby resources, hatched their Black Ink Nests, bred more soldiers, and expanded the scale of the Black Ink Battlefield.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s eyes flashed as she speculated on the vital events of the ancient times.
“In order to fight against the Black Ink Clan, the Ancients must have built the Great Passes. These Passes were created to resist the invasion of the Black Ink Clan. Yes… the appearance of the Cave Heavens and Paradises must also be connected to them. They are likely the founders who created the Cave Heavens and Paradises in the 3,000 Worlds, cultivated various talents, selected the right people, and brought them to the Black Ink Battlefield, a cycle which has continued on till this day.”
While talking, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao vaguely recalled an ancient book she saw in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven once. It was very old, and unlike the other Secret Arts or Secret Books. It was more akin to a journal of sorts, which she came across by accident.
The ancient book mentioned a little bit about the founding of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, which was very consistent with their current speculations.
However, she was not very strong at that time, and there were many ancient characters in that journal that were extremely obscure and difficult to understand. She had no interest in such dusty history back then, so she casually browsed through before placing it back.
These were only her own speculations and no one knew how things turned out during the ancient times unless they could find someone who survived from that era.
However, that period was at least a million years ago, and none of the living Old Ancestors was nearly that old.
After gathering her thoughts, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said, “We should only be at the outer edge of this Divine Ability Sea now. If even the outer edge is so dangerous, just imagine what it is like inside! Pass the order down, maintain the highest level of alertness as we progress. We cannot get bogged down here before we even locate the Mother Nest.”
“Yes!”
“What about the other Great Passes?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked next.
Xiang Shan replied, “Almost all the other Theatres are facing the same situation as ours.”
“It’s that big!?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s pupil constricted.
The Black Ink Battlefield was enormous, taking over 100 Great Passes to span it from one side to the other. Now, all the Great Passes were proceeding deeper into the void, searching for the Mother Nest, but the Divine Ability Sea was baring all of their path’s forward.
This meant that the Ancient Great Experts had filled this entire region of the Black Ink Battlefield with Divine Abilities and Spirit Arrays! Such a feat was truly astonishing!
With the heritages of the Cave Heavens and Paradises, they could surely accomplish something similar, but the expenditure of time and resources would surely be beyond astronomical.
“Proceed carefully and report immediately if there are any abnormalities!”
“Yes!” Xiang Shan received her orders and retired respectfully.
After he left, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao murmured, “The Ancients…”
Yang Kai frowned and pondered. He could not help but recall the scene he saw in the Dragon Clan Sacred Treasure. The Crystal Palace seemed to carry with it the memory of ancient times. At that time, he thought it was all quite strange, but now it seemed to be somehow related to the Dragon Clan’s Bloodline Talent.
After all, the Dao of Time was the Bloodline Talent of the Dragon Clan.
Back then, he saw the scene in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, where two Supreme Masters, the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress of that age, fought against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. They finally suppressed it and sealed it with the help of the Sacred Treasure of the different Divine Spirit Clans.
Yang Kai naturally did not know how many years ago that battle took place, but from the situation of that battle, the Ancient Great Experts might not have been able to hold back the invading enemy.
When Black Ink Strength invaded the 3,000 Worlds, even a Giant Spirit God had been corrupted by it.
[Right! Black Ink Strength must have invaded the 3,000 Worlds in the past!]
“Was that Royal Lord suppressed and sealed in the Black Prison back then as well?” He exclaimed.
Yang Kai had entered the Black Ink Battlefield through the Black Territory.
It now seemed that the Royal Lord who was suppressed and sealed in the Black Prison had been there much longer than anyone could have imagined.
Such ancient events were no longer traceable, so there was no way to really know what happened so many years ago.
The situation that the Human Race needed to face today was grim.
“But this is also an opportunity,” Yang Kai suddenly chuckled.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked at him and asked curiously, “An opportunity?”
Yang Kai said, “If the path ahead is really that hazardous, not many of the Black Ink Clan that escaped will be able to survive. Those that do will clear a path for us.”
During the war to take the Royal Cities, not all the Black Ink Clansmen were killed. In fact, many had escaped, and these Black Ink Clansmen had varying levels of strengths. In the Great Evolution Theatre alone, numerous Territory Lords, Feudal Lords, even weaker Black Ink Clansmen had managed to flee.
With those Black Ink Clansmen fleeing to the rear, it was as good as opening up a path for the Great Evolution Army. Thus, the Great Evolution Army could avoid many unknown dangers.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao thought about it and agreed that was indeed the case. She could not help but snicker slightly and suddenly regretted that she had hunted down too many Territory Lords.
If they had let a few more Territory Lords escape, perhaps the path ahead could be more thoroughly cleared for them.
However, under the circumstances, after the death of Mo Zhao and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, as someone in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, she was unchecked on the battlefield. Thus, naturally she wanted to kill ruthlessly.
As Xiang Shan said, some of the residual Divine Abilities were very obvious and could be seen at a glance, while others were hidden and would only flare up on contact.
The scout Squads experienced a lot of hardships because of this. Thankfully after so many years, the power of many of these residual Divine Ability restrictions had degraded. Under the protection of the Warships, there were no casualties.
Even inside Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai could detect the occasional energy fluctuations outside. They were naturally the hidden Divine Abilities or restrictions that were triggered.
However, Great Evolution Pass was so large and had such strong barriers around it that these occasional bursts did not pose any threat to it.
Suddenly, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, who was sitting on a wicker chair and resting peacefully, had her eyes shoot open as she looked up suspiciously towards the sky.
Yang Kai, who was cultivating nearby, noticed and also turned to where she was looking.
At first, he did not notice anything unusual, but soon, his face changed slightly and he retracted his Small Universe.
The barrier protecting the Great Pass had a crack in it, and looking beyond this opening, Yang Kai saw the scene outside.
Out in the void, a huge figure was charging forward, carrying a huge bone of unknown origins in his hand. He brandished it around as if there were endless enemies on all sides and he was smashing them apart.
Every time he swung the bone in his hand, the Void itself shuddered.
The huge figure shot past Great Evolution Pass, causing it to tremble noticeably. The mere passing of this enormous figure had caused the protective barriers around the Pass to quake. Even those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were responsible for protecting the Pass, were affected.
Yang Kai had no doubt that if the bone in that figure’s hand had hit Great Evolution Pass, even if all the defensive arrays were fully operational at this moment, it might not have been able to withstand the impact!
“A Giant Spirit God!” Yang Kai shouted out loud.
In the deep depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, he had actually seen a Giant Spirit God. But, why would one be here?
Yang Kai was confused.
This was the third Giant Spirit God he had encountered in his life!
When the Star Boundary was dying, it attracted a Giant Spirit God called Ah Da, who fed on the dead Worlds. However, Ah Da had waited outside the Star Boundary for decades, just snoring loudly as he slumbered. In the end, Yang Kai brought back a World Tree clone which enabled the Star Boundary to recover.
Eventually, Ah Da left. The Giant Spirit God Clan was born with unmatched power, but they were childlike in their innocence and quite gentle, only feeding on completely dead worlds. When the Star Boundary recovered, Ah Da did not linger any longer.
Later, Yang Kai met a second Giant Spirit God, Ah Er, in the vast void. By catching a ride with Ah Er, Yang Kai entered the Chaotic Dead Territory, where he befriended Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan and gained a lot of benefits.
However, after they parted, Yang Kai heard no news of either Ah Da or Ah Er. Although they were huge and transversed the 3,000 Worlds freely, it was like they simply disappeared, never to be seen again. It was truly bizarre.
Yang Kai never expected that there would be a Giant Spirit God in the Black Ink Battlefield, and very much unlike Ah Da and Ah Er’s mildness, this Giant Spirit God radiated an intense fury, as if he was out to kill all living beings!
This was very strange.
Just like Yang Kai and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, the entire Great Evolution Army was dazzled by the sight of the Giant Spirit God dashing through the void.
The Giant Spirit God Clan were very few in number, so although all of them had heard of these strange beings before, almost none of them had ever seen one before.
Not to mention, this was the Black Ink Battlefield!
No one had ever heard of a Giant Spirit God living on the Black Ink Battlefield.
After a moment of silence, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao suddenly shot up and chased after the Giant Spirit God.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment before following suit.
He had been in Great Evolution Pass this whole time and had not checked out the surrounding void. When he got out of Great Evolution Pass and looked around, Yang Kai was stunned.
The surrounding void was actually dotted with points of light, just like a sky that was full of stars, a beautiful sight to behold.
Even as Yang Kai marveled at this beauty, he could sense the dangers hidden within.
The dots of light were all Divine Abilities left over from the ancient times. The whole void was filled with chaotic and dense energies, and it was these energies that had been nourishing these Divine Abilities and Arrays for countless years, allowing them to persist to this day.
However, these Divine Abilities were extremely unstable and would explode at the slightest touch.
As Great Evolution Pass advanced, it inevitably touched a lot of these things. All the bursts of energy were blocked off by the shields of Great Evolution Pass, so the soldiers inside were not affected at all.
Without dallying any further, Yang Kai followed after the Old Ancestor.
Although he was proficient in the Dao of Space, he still could not keep up with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao who was in the Ninth-Order; thus, was steadily falling behind her.
Soon though, he perceived the Old Ancestor’s aura rapidly coming towards him.
In the blink of an eye, the Old Ancestor appeared in front of him, looking somewhat frantic, as if there was some great danger behind her. Yang Kai still did not understand why the Old Ancestor came back all of a sudden but she did not give him time to ponder on it as she simply grabbed his hand and shouted, “Run!”
After she said that, she dragged Yang Kai away. In the blink of an eye, they were hundreds of thousands of kilometres away.
Along the way, they inadvertently touched a hidden restriction which was blown apart by her fist.
It was only when the Old Ancestor dealt with this restriction that Yang Kai came to his senses and turned around to look back!
The Giant Spirit God’s huge figure was rushing over again, waving the huge bone in his hand, smashing the void on all sides, causing it to crumble and crack.
Yang Kai was stunned for a moment and said with surprise, “Another Giant Spirit God?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head and said, “It’s still the same one!”
“Why is he back?” Yang Kai was puzzled.
The Old Ancestor had no answer to his question and quickly said, “Just wait and see.”
Yang Kai frowned, observed, and saw the Giant Spirit God come back towards them. He then flew off into the distance and disappeared in a flash. Though his movements appeared awkward and clumsy, his speed was astonishingly fast. He only appeared unwieldly because of his enormous size.
Yang Kai did not understand what he was doing and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao did not explain.
After waiting for a time, Yang Kai’s eyes narrowed and as he struggled to see the Giant Spirit God dash back towards them during his rampage all through the void, then disappear again.
Yang Kai frowned deeply, wondering what the Giant Spirit God was doing.
On the other hand, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao just sighed.
Although Yang Kai had some suspicions now, he wasn’t certain yet. However, after the Giant Spirit God flew back and forth three times, he was able to confirm his theory.
“Is this Giant Spirit God… already dead?” Yang Kai asked.
Although the Giant Spirit God exuded a strong killing intent, there was no trace of vitality coming from his body. What caused Yang Kai to feel frightened was seeing that the Giant Spirit God’s body was full of wounds, ones that had obviously been inflicted long ago but never healed.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said with great concern, “You could say that.”
“Then why…”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao knew what was on Yang Kai’s mind and said, “Although the Giant Spirit God Clan is incredibly powerful, their thought process is extremely simple. Although I do not know what actually happened to him before he died, from his behaviour, he must have been fighting against countless mighty enemies before he died.”
As he traveled back and forth, the Giant Spirit God kept waving the giant bone in his hands, as if there were an endless number of enemies around him that were attacking him.
The Giant Spirit God’s malevolent aura was also extremely terrifying.
“The Black Ink Clan!” Yang Kai gasped.
Under such circumstances, who else could be Giant Spirit God’s enemy? It had to be Black Ink Clan.
Although he did not know what the ancient battles were like, he could tell by looking at the state of the Giant Spirit God that he was in a desperate situation. He must have defeated untold numbers of enemies before eventually dying of exhaustion.
Although his vitality had dissipated, his last Will remained unbroken. Endless eons had passed by, yet he was still charging around this battlefield, tirelessly trying to kill the invisible enemy, never once ceasing.
Perhaps, only when his physical body eventually collapsed would he stop.
Yang Kai’s heart inexplicably sank. Although he did not have any previous contact with this Giant Spirit God, both Ah Da and Ah Er were incredibly friendly and good to him. They were truly gentle and innocent, never using their great strength to bully others.
However, in ancient times, even a Race as peace-loving as the Giant Spirit God were drawn into the war and eventually fell on the battlefield, which showed how dire the situation was at that time.
The Black Ink Clan was not only the greatest enemy of the Human Race, but also the greatest enemy of all living beings in the vast Universe.
“Let’s go.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao muttered solemnly.
The Giant Spirit God was not alive. He was just repeating the actions of when he was alive, running back and forth on the battlefield, smashing those enemies that no longer existed.
It was truly sad, but also worthy of respect!
As Yang Kai followed Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao towards Great Evolution Pass, the Giant Spirit God once again charged forward from behind.
Yang Kai suddenly looked back and thought that this Giant Spirit God might not simply be killing the enemy. Perhaps he was saving some Humans or holding back the advance of the enemy.
With the strength of a Giant Spirit God, it was obvious he could have escaped if he was defeated, but he persisted and remained rampaging on the battlefield. That meant that someone or something caused him to remain and fight, something more important to him than his own life.
Perhaps, in that ancient battlefield, the ancient Humans were fighting side by side with the Giant Spirit God right here, blocking the Black Ink Clan Army!
They had no means to uncover such ancient events. Those who came after them could only retrace the journey of their forefathers; as for how it ended, that was anyone’s guess.
The deeper they traveled into the Black Ink Battlefield, the more dangerous it became.
It was hard to imagine the far past, and the amazing battle that must have happened between the Ancients and the Black Ink Clan. It was a war destined to end only in the total destruction of one side!
The void was full of chaotic energy, with Black Ink Clouds and seas of Black Ink Strength scattered about. Where the chaotic energy and Black Ink Strength entwined after countless years, they evolved to form endless dangers through the ages.
Six months after Great Evolution Pass departed from the Royal City, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao could no longer heal in peace.
There were so many dangers around that it was sometimes impossible for the Eighth-Order Division Commanders to handle on their own. For instance, when a certain massive Spirit Array was triggered, and the entire Great Evolution Pass’ defensive barrier nearly shattered and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had to personally go out to protect the Pass.
At this point, the hidden dangers in the void had become strong enough to threaten Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
This situation was true for all the Human Race Armies. Many Great Passes had lost contact with each other already due to these chaotic energy outbursts.
Yang Kai began to wonder if the Royal Lords who had escaped from the Humans in each Theatre would even be able to make it back to the Mother Nest safely.
After fighting the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, those Royal Lords would surely be seriously wounded, and in this kind of environment, if they were not careful, they might die.
At this time, Yang Kai was leading Dawn to scout ahead of Great Evolution Pass to check for possible dangers.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sat inside the Pass as she monitored the four directions in case something happened, ready to respond if she needed to.
Dawn was a Special Operations Squad and was adept at dangerous scouting missions; however, just in case of trouble, Dawn had an extra Eighth-Order with them.
She was none other than Feng Ying!
In the last battle in the Royal City, Feng Ying rushed out at the critical moment and held back a Territory Lord who was pursuing Yang Kai. As a newly promoted Eighth-Order Master, Feng Ying was naturally no match for that Territory Lord and was injured during the battle.
Later, there was a breakthrough in the situation. Che Kong, Mo Zhao and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, each died one after another. Feng Ying’s Territory Lord opponent realised that the situation was not in the Black Ink Clan’s favour and attempted to escape.
Feng Ying went all out to pin her opponent down, and with the help of other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, she eventually managed to kill that Territory Lord.
Now that Feng Ying was in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, she was supposed to have left Dawn to assume greater responsibilities. In fact, the Army was reorganized just before Great Evolution Pass left the Royal City.
This was the third time the Great Evolution Army went through a mass-reorganization.
The first time was when the Great Evolution Army was first established. The second time was when they re-took Great Evolution Pass. Now was the third and probably the last time.
Feng Ying was now a Division Commander of the Western Army.
Dawn also had some new faces.
Yang Kai stood on the deck at the bow of the Warship, using his Divine Sense to monitor in all directions, checking for possible hidden dangers.
Apart from Dawn, there were dozens of other Squads that were fanning out on the path ahead of the Great Pass.
The reconnaissance teams would quickly map the route ahead and send their findings back to Great Evolution Pass, so that they could avoid any impending dangers.
If there was a strong restriction or Divine Ability detected in front, the scouts would be responsible for triggering it. However, if it was too strong, then the Eighth-Order Division Commanders who had gone along with the scouts would have to take action.
If even the Eighth-Order Masters could not handle the threat, then they could only call the Old Ancestor to come forward to deal with it.
The road ahead was known to be dangerous, so no one bothered to contact the Old Ancestor unless the threat was so great that even Great Evolution Pass’ shields would be unable to withstand the impact.
So far, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had to intervene twice. The restrictions that were neutralized by the Old Ancestor were truly terrifying. If one was accidentally triggered by the scouting Squads, there was a high possibility that they would be wiped out.
On this day, Yang Kai was checking out the possible dangers ahead when a Divine Sense transmission reached his ear, “Brother Yang, come and take a look. There’s something interesting here.”
Yang Kai turned his head to look over there, and without hesitation, he called out to Feng Ying to take command and dashed off.
A short while later, when he reached the area that another Squad was exploring, he took a look at the situation and was stunned by what he saw.
He saw a figure standing in the void in front of him, his body covered in black blood. It was a Black Ink Clansman.
He was not just any Black Ink Clansman though. From his aura, he was clearly a Territory Lord.
Yang Kai even recognized this individual, smiled, and said, “It’s really fate that we meet again after so long. How should I address you?”
This couldn’t be helped. This Territory Lord was the one who chased after Yang Kai in the previous battle. Yang Kai did not know his opponent’s name, but in the end, he had summoned Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone to block him.
This Territory Lord had obviously defeated Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone, which now remained as a lifeless feather. Yang Kai placed the feather in his Space Ring and planned on returning it to Si Niang when he had the chance to see her at the No-Return Pass.
He did not expect to meet this Territory Lord in such a place.
Previously, the Humans had relentlessly pursued the enemy, trying to eliminate as many as possible.
In the battle over the Royal City, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao personally hunted down and killed most of the remaining Territory Lords. Only a few were lucky enough to escape.
Yang Kai did not expect this Territory Lord to be one of those lucky few.
Unfortunately for him, he managed to escape Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s pursuit, but failed to avoid the dangers of this Divine Ability Sea, and was now trapped here by some kind of restriction.
This Territory Lord’s aura was a bit unstable and was obviously severely injured. There were several huge wounds all over his body with black blood still leaking out.
Yang Kai knew what happened as soon as he arrived.
This piece of the void was actually filled with numerous tiny Void Cracks, which must have been left behind by Masters fighting during the ancient times. Furthermore, there were also some very powerful Killing Arrays nearby.
Some of these Void Cracks could be seen with the naked eye, but others were completely invisible. When the Territory Lord fled to this place, he must have run head-long into this fractured region of the void, resulting in many fresh wounds. Now he was trapped and dared not move.
In fact, Great Evolution Pass had encountered many Void Cracks along the way, ranging in size from tiny slivers to huge rifts that filled the sky, seemingly cutting the entire Black Ink Battlefield apart.
That was why Yang Kai was specially assigned to reconnaissance, as he was a Master of the Dao of Space and able to detect all the hidden Void Cracks.
However, it was still rare to see a place as broken and cracked as this. It was almost like a prison for the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen.
This Territory Lord was fortunate to have even survived after barging into this kind of place. However, he was equally unlucky as he could not escape from this trap.
Yang Kai was in a good mood when he saw this Territory Lord, not only because he could avenge Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone, but also because if he was trapped here, that meant that the Great Evolution Army was going in the right direction.
One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters near Yang Kai was also overjoyed, “This guy is really unlucky to come here of all places. Now he has truly gotten caught in a trap.”
Yang Kai laughed lightly and reached out at the space in front of him with his hand.
The Territory Lord looked at the scene and scoffed sarcastically. This damned place was full of Void Cracks, each one practically indestructible. Even he could not withstand being cut by those cracks. He knew this well as he had tried several times to break out and each time he ended up being cut up even worse than before.
What made him feel more desperate was that while some of these cracks were visible to the naked eye, others were totally invisible, so there was no way he could detect them.
The location of these cracks was also not fixed as their location changed as time went by.
He was a Territory Lord. How could he be trapped here if not for all these damned Void Cracks?
Now this Seventh-Order Human even dared to grab at these Void Cracks with his bare hand. He would definitely suffer some pain, and if he was unlucky, his hand might even be cut off.
While he was thinking about this, he saw Yang Kai’s hand wave, and the hidden cracks of the Void appeared one after another. Then with some mysterious power, Yang Kai grabbed a huge crack and held it in his hand!
The Territory Lord was dumbfounded when he saw the Void Crack shatter in Yang Kai’s hand. He could not believe what he had just seen!
Territory Lord was stunned and frozen in place.
Then he suddenly remembered that he had encountered this Human in the previous battle. He seemed to have some power related to the Dao of Space. He did not understand such a power, and did not recall this immediately; however, what just happened undoubtedly explained something.
After destroying one of the Void Cracks, Yang Kai asked, “Do you want to die or live?”
Words were not as convincing as showing the other party that he had the means to save his life. Now, all that was left was the other party’s desire to live.
The Territory Lord pursed his lips and did not say a word.
However, Yang Kai did not mind the snub. There was a blood feud between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan, one that could never be resolved. Turning down Yang Kai’s offer was only to be expected.
Yang Kai asked, “What’s your name?”
The Territory Lord was silent for a long time before he replied, “Ge Chen!”
Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly as a response meant that the other party had some desire to live and might cooperate with them.
It was easy to understand how this Ge Chen felt. He was caught between a death trap and his enemy was now willing to give him a chance to survive. Anyone would grasp the opportunity to survive.
“I’ll ask you a question. If you answer me honestly, I’ll save you and guarantee that no one will do anything to you for half a day. After half a day, whether you live or die depends on your own ability.”
Ge Chen said in a gruff voice, “How can I trust you?”
He knew that if the tables were turned and it was he who discovered a trapped Human Master, he would definitely not let him go so easily.
Yang Kai snickered and said, “Let me summarize the situation you are in. Whether you like it or not, you have to trust me. If you choose to trust me, there is a chance you will survive, if you choose not to trust me, you can remain here. I will not kill you, but good luck trying to get out of here on your own.”
Ge Chen’s expression turned grim.
He also knew that what Yang Kai said was the truth. It felt horrible to him that his head was on the chopping block while Yang Kai held the axe. If he could get away from here on his own, would he still be standing here?
He had already attempted many times and each time he only wound up worse than before. If hadn’t acted cautiously, he would have already died long ago.
However, Yang Kai was just a Seventh-Order brat who had no right to represent the Human Race.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master standing beside Yang Kai said impatiently, “Enough nonsense. Yang Kai said that no one will attack you for half a day, which means that you can escape for half a day. Mo Zhao, that son of a bitch, died during the battle over the Royal City. You are one of the few Territory Lords that managed to escape. What else can you do to survive? Yet, you still dare to question us?”
The Humans did not know much about the situation in the Black Ink Clan, especially about the previously speculated Mother Nest. Although it was certain that there was a higher rank Black Ink Nest above the High-Rank Black Ink Nests, they still did not really know what exactly the Mother Nest was. What was there to lose from letting a Territory Lord live if he could tell them something about the Mother Nest?
This Eighth-Order Open Heaven Master was definitely aware of Yang Kai’s intentions, which was why he said this.
Ge Chen shook his head, looked past the two of them and said, “If it’s the Old Ancestor who guarantees to spare my life, I will tell you anything you want.”
“Impudence!” The Eighth-Order Master sternly shouted.
After the Eighth-Order Master roared though, the Old Ancestor suddenly appeared behind them. Apparently, she also found out about the situation somehow and rushed over long ago, but hid from sight.
When the Territory Lord saw Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, he obviously looked a bit nervous.
This was the Supreme Human Master who killed Royal Lord Mo Zhao. Every Black Ink Clansman would be terrified of her.
“Upon my name, I swear I will not kill you as long as you answer a few questions,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked at Ge Chen and said flatly, “You can choose not to answer, but if you dare to lie… I have ways to make you beg for death.”
Ge Chen looked conflicted for a while, but soon resigned himself to his fate and nodded, “Good!”
Old Ancestor replied, “Regarding your High-Rank Black Ink Nests, is there a higher Black Ink Nest that is the source of the Black Ink Clan?”
Ge Chen frowned and answered, “I’m not sure. Maybe.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao stared at him with narrowed eyes and asked, “Do you have a death wish?”
Ge Chen quickly said, “I’m really not sure about this. I’m not lying.”
The Old Ancestor narrowed her eyes and asked, “How could you not know such a simple matter as a Territory Lord?”
Ge Chen explained, “There are differences between Territory Lords. These things may be known to Innate Territory Lords, but I am an Acquired Territory Lord and don’t know much about the secrets of the clan.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was puzzled and asked, “Innate? Acquired? What are the differences between an Innate Territory Lord and an Acquired Territory Lord?”
Even Yang Kai, who had lived amongst the Black Ink Clan for years, never knew that there were any differences between the Territory Lords.
“After a High-Rank Black Ink Nest is fully grown, the earliest Territory Lords spawned from it are considered Innate Territory Lords. After that, they are all Acquired Territory Lords.” As he said that, he glanced at Yang Kai, “Sir Che Kong, the one this boy killed, was an Innate Territory Lord.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao glanced at Yang Kai, but he just shrugged and smiled awkwardly.
He was in a life-or-death situation, so who would care about whether a Territory Lord was Innate or Acquired? Furthermore, he had never heard of such a difference.
“What’s the difference?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked. She had a hunch that this time, she might be able to get a lot of extremely confidential information about Black Ink Clan from Ge Chen.
Ge Chen thought for a moment before answering, “There are definitely big differences. Innate Territory Lords existed long before Acquired Territory Lords and are generally much more powerful. However, the biggest difference is that they were directly born from the High-Rank Black Ink Nests. Thus, when they are born, they immediately have the strength and status of a Territory Lord!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s eyes constricted and Yang Kai was even more surprised as he exclaimed, “A Royal Lord Black Ink Nest can directly spawn Territory Lords?”
If that was the case, how come there were so few Territory Lords?
Although there were more Territory Lords compared to Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, if what Ge Chen said was true, then there should be many, many more Territory Lords. Why did the Black Ink Clan not simply create more Territory Lords and overwhelm the Human Race?
“Is there some kind of limit?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked curiously.
Ge Chen nodded, “Yes. There is a limit. I have heard other Territory Lords say that the birth of an Innate Territory Lord is inseparable from the Source Domain. In the ancient times, the Royal Lords emerged from the Source Domain with their own High-Rank Black Ink Nests. Those Black Ink Nests carried some of the Source Domain’s power in them, and only by relying on that power could Innate Territory Lords be born.”
[Source Domain…] Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Yang Kai were both in awe.
It was the first time they had heard the term ‘Source Domain’. The term alone caused their imaginations to run wild.
This was revealed by Ge Chen of his own accord, so they did not know if he did it intentionally. It now was clear that he did not want to die; otherwise, why would he reveal such secrets so easily?
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao wanted to urge him to reveal more and said, “In that case, the power of the Source Domain as you call it is what allowed the High-Rank Black Ink Nest to directly birth to Territory Lords, but by doing so, that power is drained and cannot be replenished.”
“That’s right,” Ge Chen said bitterly, “We Acquired Territory Lords climb up slowly through hard work and cultivation; yet, when compared to the Innate Territory Lords, we are much worse in terms of status and strength.”
“Then you guys must really be miserable…” Yang Kai snickered.
Ge Chen shook his head and said, “There is a saying among your people, the Heavens are fair in all things. Although Innate Territory Lords are born extremely powerful, they will forever be Territory Lords for the rest of their lives. On the contrary, Acquired Territory Lords who achieved our status through cultivation have a chance to one day become Royal Lords.”
“Why is that?” Yang Kai was puzzled. According to reason, the Innate Territory Lords should be more privileged.
Why was it different when it came to the Black Ink Clan?
“I don’t know,” Ge Chen shook his head, “Sir Mo Zhao was once an Acquired Territory Lord too!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao fell silent.
It was a short conversation, but the information gathered was enormous.
Innate Territory Lords, Acquired Territory Lords, Source Domain…
There were also Royal Lords who came out of the Source Domain with their own Black Ink Nests.
Mo Zhao, who had advanced to become a Royal Lord through his own efforts, was not one of them. The High-Rank Black Ink Nest that they found at Great Evolution Pass was left behind by a Royal Lord 30,000 years ago. Mo Zhao simply took over the nest.
Without dwelling too much on it, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked, “Back to my question, is the Mother Nest… in your so-called Source Domain?”
Ge Chen shook his head and replied, “I have never heard of a Mother Nest, so I don’t know if it is in the Source Domain. None of us Acquired Territory Lords have ever been in contact with the Source Domain; however, some of us had some guesses about the existence of a greater Black Ink Nest. If there really is a ‘Mother Nest’, as you call, it in this world, then it can only be in the Source Domain.”
In the Black Ink Clan, hierarchy was extremely strict in all things. The higher-ranking Black Ink Nests birthed the lower-ranking ones, and there was a one-way symbiotic relationship between them. If the Humans had some suspicions about this, then Black Ink Clan themselves naturally had them too.
However, Ge Chen, an Acquired Territory Lord, had never come in contact with the Mother Nest; thus, he really knew nothing about it.
Furthermore, the Mother Nest was a term that was coined by the Human Race. Even if it did exist, who knew what the Black Ink Clan called it.
Those Innate Territory Lords, such as Che Kong, may know more about these matters because they themselves were bred directly from the High-Rank Black Ink Nests; thus, they had a connection to the Source Domain where the Mother Nest was suspected to exist.
It was a pity that Che Kong was already dead; otherwise, there was still a chance to find out something from him.
Now, Yang Kai understood why some of the Territory Lords were so much more powerful.
Under normal circumstances, a Territory Lord’s strength was less than that of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s; however, in every Theatre, there were always some exceptions.
For example, Che Kong’s strength was at least on par with an Eighth-Order Division Commander. In fact, in a one-on-one fight, there were hardly any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Masters in the Great Evolution Army who were his match. Only Xiang Shan and a few other top elites could take him on.
Che Kong was killed by Yang Kai primarily because he was too careless and allowed himself to be hit by a Soul Rending Thorn.
Innate Territory Lords were directly spawned from High-Rank Black Ink Nests; so naturally, they were more powerful, but this method of birth likely exhausted their potential entirely, so they would never be able to become Royal Lords.
On the contrary, Ge Chen, who was comparatively weaker, had room to grow and a chance of becoming a Royal Lord.
Of course, it was still incredibly difficult for a Black Ink Clan Territory Lord to advance to become a Royal Lord, no less so than for a Human to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. If this wasn’t the case, there would be a lot more Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan after so many years, considering their innate advantage in numbers.
There were surely a lot more Innate Territory Lords such as Che Kong long ago, but after countless years of war with the Humans, most of these Innate Territory Lords must have died. Only a few survived.
A rough estimate would say that before the latest war, the top three Territory Lords in all the Theatres were Innate Territory Lords.
“Now, tell me about the Source Domain. How much do you know?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
Ge Chen was an Acquired Territory Lord, so perhaps he did not know much about confidential information related to the Black Ink Clan’s origins. From the conversation so far, it appeared that the Innate Territory Lords seemed to ostracize the Acquired Territory Lords.
However, they should know more than the Humans.
Ge Chen thought about it and said, “The Source Domain… is something I only heard about from other Territory Lords. The Source Domain should be the source of the Black Ink Clan.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao waited for a moment, but when he did not say anything else, she frowned and asked, “That’s it?”
Ge Chen said helplessly, “No…”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao almost laughed.
The Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan? That could be inferred from the name alone. Was there a need for him to state the obvious?
“The Black Ink Clansmen who survived are all escaping in this direction. Could it be that you all are heading towards the Source Domain?”
“I think so,” Ge Chen nodded and said, “I don’t know where the Source Domain is, but since I became a Territory Lord, I have become able to faintly sense something that I believe is the Source Domain. Thus, the Source Domain should be in this direction.”
It was because the Source Domain was in this direction that he fled this way. Only by fleeing this way could he hope to survive, but little did he expect that even as a Territory Lord. he would end up being trapped here.
Yang Kai could not help but raise his brow. The Black Ink Clan’s situation was somewhat similar to his Dragon Source.
On Dragon Clan’s side, if an individual’s Dragon Vein and Dragon Bloodline reached a certain degree of purity, they would be able to vaguely sense where Dragon Pool was, because the Dragon Pool was the origin of the Dragon Clan.
Since the Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan, it was not surprising that Ge Chen would be able to sense it.
“If the Source Domain is the origin of Black Ink Clan, there should be a lot of Territory Lords and also, many Royal Lords there. Why don’t they come out? What is preventing them from doing so?”
It was now certain that the 50 Royal Lords encountered in the Black Ink Nest Space previously were all from the Source Domain, or at least somewhere nearby; otherwise, there was no way to explain their origin.
They appeared to be trapped in or around the Source Domain; thus, even though the battles in the Theatres were raging, they were indifferent to them.
It was not that they did not care about the battles, but rather that they simply could not intervene.
Ge Chen shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”
“You said that the Royal Lords came out of the Source Domain and brought their own Black Ink Nests with them. How did they leave the Source Domain?”
“I don’t know.”
“How far is this place from the Source Domain?” The Old Ancestor asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What was your Black Ink Clan fighting against in the olden days? How did this stretch of void behind the Royal Cities form?” This time after the Old Ancestor finished her question, she mercilessly warned, “If you dare to say you don’t know, you will die.”
Ge Chen’s expression became more and more bitter. He did not know the answers to these questions. Although he was a Territory Lord, he was just an Acquired Territory Lord, and a low ranked one in the Great Evolution Theatre at that. So, how could he know anything too confidential?
Whatever Mo Zhao discussed with the Innate Territory Lords was never shared with him.
That was why he was willing to answer Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s questions. For so many years, Acquired Territory Lords like him had felt excluded from the core of the Black Ink Clan. He knew very little about the inner workings of the clan and he did not want to die unnecessarily.
“Although it is not clear, it should be related to you Humans. The feud between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clans goes back to ancient times. This void should be the original battlefield left behind by the Human Race Masters during that war.”
This point was the same as what they had speculated.
It was not surprising to think that the only ones in this world who could compete with the Black Ink Clan was the Human Race.
The Divine Spirit, although strong, were too small in number, so it was difficult for them to wage a war across such a wide battlefield.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded and asked a few more questions, all of which were answered honestly by Ge Chen.
“Is there anything else you feel that you should tell us?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao finally asked.
Ge Chen’s expression suddenly tensed up, shook his head guiltily, and said, “I don’t know much…”
“In that case…” She turned her head to look at Yang Kai and said coldly, “Kill him.”
Ge Chen’s expression changed dramatically as he protested, “We had an agreement! You swore to let me go if I answer your questions truthfully!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked at him and asked mercilessly, “You trust the word of a woman?”
She never planned to let Ge Chen go. Although a Territory Lord was not a threat to her, he must have killed many Human soldiers over the years; how could she let an enemy like him live?
Yang Kai grinned and extended his hand, “Old Ancestor indeed swore she would not kill you, but I never did.”
Space Principles surged, stirring the Void, and in a flash, countless Void Cracks appeared. They then surged towards Ge Chen as Yang Kai manipulated them.
Ge Chen grit his teeth and rushed out with determination against the countless cracks. His Black Ink Strength surging as he roared, “You will die a horrible death!”
The Void Cracks sliced through him and black blood splattered everywhere. Just before the cracks hit Ge Chen, he managed to launch an intense blow towards Yang Kai, which hit him and flung him a distance back.
By the time Yang Kai steadied himself, Ge Chen had already been sliced into countless pieces by the Void Cracks.
Yang Kai looked at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Eighth-Order Division Commander in disbelief and asked, “You just stood there, watching?”
He thought that these two would act at the critical moment, which was why he did not defend himself at all. Due to their inaction, he almost suffered serious injuries.
That Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master grinned and said, “Well, aren’t you still fine?”
“Wouldn’t it be too late to ask if I wasn’t?” Yang Kai was indignant, but he knew in his heart that the Old Ancestor would ensure that he would not be hurt. Most likely, she did not intercede because she knew that the blow from Ge Chen would not hurt him.
“The Source Domain…” The Old Ancestor murmured, “It seems that there is a reason why there is only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest in each Theatre.”
Yang Kai shook off the pain he felt, pondered a little, and understood what Old Ancestor meant.
Ge Chen said earlier that the original Royal Lords who came out of the Source Domain brought their Black Ink Nests with them.
The information they received from the other Theatres showed that there was only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest in each Royal City. Furthermore, there was only one Royal City in each Theatre, regardless of how many Royal Lords were present.
Since the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were brought out from the Source Domain by the first Royal Lords, they must have been spawned by the Mother Nest.
Thus, when a Territory Lord became a Royal Lord, they did not have their own Black Ink Nest and could only share one with the previous Royal Lord.
“The limitations on the Mother Nest must be due to some restrictions placed on the Black Ink Clan!” The Old Ancestor looked off into the void and continued, “Otherwise, when they found themselves losing the battles in the Theatres this time, the Royal Lords at the Mother Nest should have come out to offer support! That restriction… is most likely the other party had helped us get out of the trap the last time we were there.”
However, this restriction was clearly not complete; or perhaps, there was some interference which made it incomplete. Otherwise, the Royal Lords could not have taken Black Ink Nests out of the Source Domain.
Was there a higher realm of Martial Dao above the Ninth-Order? At that time, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and others saw the big jade hand coming from the outside of the Black Ink Nest Space, which tore open a crack for them to escape through.
Although there could be some other reason, there was no denying that the power of that hand was immense.
The jade white hand gave them a feeling as if it had surpassed the might of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and at the same time, it seemed that it had not. It was extremely odd.
What happened during ancient times?
What secrets were hidden at the birthplace of the Black Ink Clan?
No one knew, so no one could give them an answer.
However, the crusade by the Human Race continued. Although the road ahead was still dangerous, as long as the Human Race could destroy the Source Domain, there was a chance to completely solve the issue called the Black Ink Clan.
Nonetheless, it was a long way to go!
“What Ge Chen said should not be taken at face value. Don’t trust this information too much.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao warned.
Although Ge Chen seemed to be very cooperative, who knew what he really thought. They could not verify any of the information he provided, whether it was true or false.
Furthermore, some of the information he gave could easily be figured out by the Humans, so it wasn’t all that useful.
His words had to be taken with a pinch of salt. Some might be true while others, false.
It would be foolish to believe him verbatim.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Continue to scout out the road ahead,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao ordered, turned around, and returned to Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai nodded lightly to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master before flying back to Dawning Light.
He did not say anything more to Feng Ying and the others, but the urgency in his heart became increasingly obvious.
All the Theatres and the Great Passes set off from the Royal Cities without a clear goal, but today, they had a destination.
The Source Domain!
The Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan, where the Mother Nest was, along with a gathering of many Royal Lords!
Not only were there Royal Lords, there must be many Territory Lords and soldiers as well.
Furthermore, there were not just Acquired Territory Lords like Ge Chen, many of the Territory Lords there were probably Innate Territory Lords.
The Great Evolution Army now had less than 30,000 soldiers, 45 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and one Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Such an army was considerable in size and strength.
The other Great Passes likely had fewer forces than Great Evolution Pass, but there were 106 of them on this crusade. When all the Armies converge into one, by then, the Human Army would exceed 2 million.
This was a full 2 million Masters at or above the Fifth-Order! It was also the heritage accumulated over the ages by the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
Such a force was extremely powerful, but could it defeat the Black Ink Clan in the Source Domain?
Yang Kai was not sure, and neither were the Old Ancestors.
Even though the Human race was strong now, who could guarantee that they would win this battle?
What if they lost?
Also, what was the power that limited the Black Ink Clan in the Source Domain.
Who did that jade white hand that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the others saw previously belong to? Would this unknown force aid them in battle?
The road ahead was full of uncertainty, but they had to forge ahead.
The Great Evolution Army continued to march forward. The reconnaissance Squads were always out front to check the situation. Inevitably, they encountered a lot of dangers and unintentionally triggered many restrictions which caused them to suffer some casualties.
Even Dawn, led by Yang Kai, nearly met its demise.
Fortunately, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had arrived in time to save them at the critical moment.
The deeper they went, the more dangerous the void became. Yang Kai wondered if Ge Chen could have returned to the Source Domain safely even if they had let him go.
He might if he was lucky; however, he was likely to encounter a lot of dangerous traps along the way.
Considering that even after countless years, the leftovers from the ancient war were still so dangerous, it was hard to imagine what kind of violent clashes had taken place in ancient days.
As time passed, years had gone by.
It had now been a full three years since the crusade to the Source Domain began. The road was fraught with dangers, but there was still no sign of the Source Domain. This made some wonder if they were going in the wrong direction.
However, with more than 100 Armies continuing to march forward, sweeping across such a vast swath of the void, there was bound to be one of them who was advancing directly at the Source Domain.
All the Great Passes kept in touch with each other regularly; however, many Great Passes would occasionally lose contact because of the chaotic energy in the void. Fortunately, communications were always restored after a while.
There were no enemies along the way, though the hidden Arrays and residual Divine Abilities still made the void treacherous.
One day, Yang Kai was exploring the hidden dangers ahead when he suddenly sensed something unusual.
When he focused his senses on it though, he found nothing.
A short while later, he flashed back to Dawning Light and greeted Feng Ying, “Stand guard for me.”
Feng Ying nodded her head and acknowledged Yang Kai’s words.
Yang Kai then formed a set of hand seals, causing his World Force to undulate as a mysterious Grand Array suddenly appeared under his feet.
The troops aboard Dawn were puzzled, not knowing why Yang Kai had activated the Universe Transference Law.
The Universe Transference Law allowed one to teleport across vast distances to a Universe Array. Ever since Yang Kai installed Universe Arrays in the Purifying Black Ink Battleships, many soldiers had begun using the Universe Transference Law to save their lives during the battle with the Black Ink Clan.
However, Yang Kai rarely used the Universe Transference Law because he was proficient in the Dao of Space, making him faster than any Territory Lord or Eighth-Order Master. The only ones he could not escape from on his own were the Royal Lords.
Although Dawn was scouting ahead of Great Evolution Pass, they were not far from each other. If Yang Kai wanted to return to Great Evolution Pass, he could just travel there on his own using Instantaneous Movement and did not need to activate the Universe Transference Law.
The members of Dawn were puzzled, but Yang Kai appeared truly shocked.
He was following a hunch just now, but did not expect to find anything.
He did not intend to return to Great Evolution Pass, but wanted to use the Universe Transference Law to investigate something else.
The Universe Arrays in all the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were personally arranged by Yang Kai; thus, his Imprint was left on every single Purifying Black Ink Battleship. As long as the distance allowed, he could travel to any Purifying Black Ink Battleship with the Universe Transference Law.
Others could only return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleships they had left their Imprints on.
At this moment, Yang Kai could sense the location of all the closest Purifying Black Ink Battleships with the Universe Transference Law, but apart from the four ships around Great Evolution Pass, he was able to faintly sense four more to his left, and another four to the right.
There were now 12 Purifying Black Ink Battleships within range of the Universe Transference Law.
Of course, there were many more, in extremely distant locations, which all felt so faint that even Yang Kai could not reach them.
However, he could clearly perceive the 12 ships closest to him were within the range he could teleport to.
This was a very abnormal situation.
The distance between each Great Pass was at least a year’s journey for the average Warship. When the Great Evolution East-West Army set off from Wind and Cloud Pass, it indeed took them a year to reach Great Evolution Pass.
A year’s travel by Warship was much too far for even someone skilled in the Dao of Space like Yang Kai to cross using the Universe Transference Law.
However, he could now!
What did this mean?
It meant that the distance between the Great Passes had shortened to the point where he could use the Universe Transference Law.
How could this have happened?
Yang Kai was at a loss, so he hurriedly dispersed the Universe Transference Law and shot towards the Pass, yelling from afar, “Continue to explore the path ahead!”
Soon, Yang Kai arrived at the middle of Great Evolution Pass where Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sat with her legs crossed. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him curiously and asked, “What happened?”
Over the past three years, Yang Kai had been out leading Dawn to scout the road ahead, never once returning to Great Evolution Pass until today. Yang Kai quickly explained, “We are getting closer to Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass. We’re now just three months away by Warship.”
The two Great Passes closest to Great Evolution Pass were Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass. Yang Kai could sense the other eight Purifying Black Ink Battleships that belonged to these two Great Passes were now a three-month journey away, which was the extreme limit that he could traverse via the Universe Transference Law.
Ordinary Seventh-Order Masters could not travel such a large distance using the Universe Transference Law. Not to mention a 3-month journey, even a single month’s distance would undoubtedly be fatal for them as transferring that far was basically the limit of an Eighth-Order Master via the Universe Transference Law.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was stunned by what he said and asked, “How can you tell?”
Yang Kai explained what he had just experienced.
She pondered deeply for a moment before saying, “Come with me.”
Dashing off, the two of them quickly arrived at the Hyper Space Array.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Master, who was guarding this place, saw Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and rushed to greet her.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao waved her hand and asked, “Is there anything unusual on this side of the Space Array?”
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master did not know what the Old Ancestor was referring to and replied honestly, “There is nothing unusual.”
“Nothing has changed from before?”
The Seventh-Order thought about it and replied, “If we talk about changes… I am not sure if it’s anything noteworthy, but recently, when we sent out some jade slips to the other Great Passes, the energy required seemed to have decreased, but the reduction was not obvious.”
It was because the reduction in consumption was not obvious that he did not report it; after all, the transmission of a jade slip did not consume much energy in the first place, much unlike the transfer of a cultivator, which required an enormous amount of resources.
When Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao heard his response, she immediately determined that what Yang Kai said was likely true. Other Great Passes may not have detected anything yet, but with Yang Kai’s unique circumstances, he was able to notice this anomaly. Great Evolution Pass was indeed getting closer to Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass, much closer in fact.
The distance between the Great Passes was originally about a year’s journey; however, they were now just three months apart. This resulted in the reduced consumption for the transmission of jade slips through the Space Arrays.
“Activate the Array,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao ordered. Whether the distance was truly shortened, they would know once they tried it.
That Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master hastily told his many co-workers and they began to work.
“Head to Wind and Cloud Pass,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said to Yang Kai, who nodded and replied, “Understood.”
Soon after, the Grand Array was ready. Wind and Cloud Pass was set as the target destination, and Yang Kai stepped onto the Space Array. The array buzzed, and when the light dissipated, Yang Kai was gone.
After Yang Kai disappeared, several Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters immediately checked the consumption of energy and were all flabbergasted.
“How does it compare to before?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
Yang Kai had been to Wind and Cloud Pass before through the Hyper Space Array. Since those assigned to watch and operate the Space Array had been here for years, they should know the usual consumption required.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master replied, “The consumption is much less than before, less than 30% of the last time!”
The ones on duty here were thoroughly shocked.
The consumption required to teleport through the Hyper Space Array increased according to distance; thus, teleportation was only done between neighbouring Great Passes. If the destination was too far, they would have to transit through several Great Passes to arrive there as that was the most economical method.
Now, the consumption of teleportation was less than 30% of the last time. Since Yang Kai’s strength had not changed significantly, and the Hyper Space Array had not been enhanced, the only factor that could be different was the distance between the destinations…
Was the distance between Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass getting shorter? This thought came to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s mind.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes slightly. It seemed that what Yang Kai said was true. Although she also did not doubt him, what happened before her eyes served as firm proof of his words.
Great Evolution Pass was only just three months away from Wind and Cloud Pass now!
Why was this?
All the Great Passes were advancing in tandem towards the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, so logically speaking, the distance separating them should not change much. Now however, they were somehow approaching one another.
This was true for Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass, as well as Azure Void Pass, so what about the other Great Passes?
Were they all getting closer?
If that was true, then in time, more than 100 Great Passes would converge in one place!
What was the mysterious place that they were converging to?
Was it the Source Domain of the Black Ink Clan?
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s expression changed a bit. The distances between the Great Passes were getting shorter, which was actually good news for the Human Race.
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had considered that if any Great Passes found the Black Ink Clan Source Domain, the other Great Passes would have to rush over to support them; however, if they all gathered in one place, at the same time, it would save them a lot of trouble. When the Human Race gathered all their might, they were confident they could decimate even the Black Ink Clan’s Source Domain, no matter how powerful it was!
Meanwhile, Yang Kai appeared above Wind and Cloud Pass’ Space Array.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master there was an old acquaintance and was surprised to see Yang Kai, so he asked, “Brother Yang, why are you here? Is there some urgent information from the Great Evolution Army?”
These days, there was basically no direct interaction between the Great Passes; all information was passed in the form of jade slips.
For Yang Kai to suddenly appear in person, something important must have happened.
“There’s nothing urgent. This is just an experiment,” Yang Kai said. He then turned his head towards the Space Array that had not completely closed and disappeared.
The few Open Heaven Realm Masters were bewildered.
“Did someone teleport here?” Wind and Cloud Pass’ Eastern Army Commander, Yuan Xing Ge, stepped into the hall and asked.
He obviously noticed the commotion and came over to check the situation; however, he was a step too late.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master on guard duty rushed forward to report, “Yang Kai from Great Evolution Pass just came by, but went back almost immediately. He said that he was conducting an experiment.”
“An Experiment?” Yuan Xing Ge frowned and barked, “What is he trying to do?”
Each time a teleportation was conducted, it required a large amount of resources. Though the Great Passes were no longer starved for resources now, they should not waste them in such a manner.
When the Grand Array lit up once again, the fluctuations generated were much subtler than before; thus, everyone knew that it was a jade slip rather than a person being sent.
Sure enough, when the glow waned, a jade slip was lying quietly on the Hyper Space Array.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master went forward to pick up the jade slip and injected his Divine Sense, his expression soon changing as he frantically said, “Sir, Great Evolution Pass has discovered something!”
As he said so, he offered the jade slip to the Army Commander.
Yuan Xing Ge took it, and after checking it out, his expression also changed.
“Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass are now only three months apart?”
This was very surprising news. How could there be only a three months’ journey separating them? The jade slip that was transmitted from Great Evolution Pass also speculated that not only had the distance between Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass been reduced, the distances between all other Great Passes had also been shortened. The jade slip instructed them to spread the news and at the same time seek confirmation of this.
Yuan Xing Ge did not dare to delay. He quickly continued to spread the word while arranging men to go to the neighbouring Great Passes through the Space Arrays.
In less than half a day, jade slips from all the Great Passes were collected in Great Evolution Pass’s Space Array Hall.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao checked the jade slips before tossing them to Yang Kai, nodding at him as she said, “It’s confirmed. The distances between all the Great Passes have shrunk.”
Yang Kai took a look at the messages, frowned, and asked, “What is causing this?”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shook her head and said, “I don’t know. Whatever the case, it means that all the Human Great Passes will eventually converge in one place.”
This was a good thing for the Human Race. If all the Great Passes gathered in one place, then their power would not be scattered and they would not need to fight separately as before.
With more than 2 million Open Heaven Realm Masters, more than 100 Ninth-Order Old Ancestors and thousands of Eighth-Order Masters, such a force would be enough to take on any enemy.
Even if the Source Domain was really that dangerous, the Human Army could still overcome it.
“You have an advantage in your ability to sense the Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Pay more attention to the position of the other Great Passes’ Purifying Black Ink Battleships and judge the distances between them.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao instructed.
“Yes!”
…..
As they ventured deeper into void, they not only encountered remnants of war between the Ancients and the Black Ink Clan, but also a number of vivid Celestial Phenomenon, naturally formed by the Universe itself.
Each of the Celestial Phenomenon was extremely magnificent, occupying massive regions of the void, hiding unimaginable dangers beneath their beautiful appearances.
Even the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors could feel a sense of danger coming from these Celestial Phenomenon, making them aware that falling into them would be disastrous.
According to Feng Ying, there were many similar Celestial Phenomenon in the 3,000 Worlds during ancient times; however, as the number of Human Race Masters increased and their activities became more frequent, the Celestial Phenomenon in the 3,000 Worlds gradually faded away.
However, in the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, these Celestial Phenomenon remained unchanged throughout the ages.
Technically speaking, the Chaotic Dead Territory was also a type of Celestial Phenomenon; however, it was not naturally formed but rather the result of the collision of Big Brother Huang and Big Sister Lan’s powers.
The Chaotic Dead Territory was so dangerous that even the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not enter for long. Only the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could move about for a short period in such a place.
Yang Kai had experienced the dangers of the Chaotic Dead Territory first-hand. If Giant Spirit God Ah Er had not protected him at that time, he would never have survived.
Many of the Celestial Phenomena in the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield felt even more dangerous than the Chaotic Dead Territory.
The Celestial Phenomena were so dangerous that even Great Evolution Pass needed to go around them.
A year later, Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass were now less than a month’s journey away from Great Evolution Pass, and this distance continued to shrink.
This was the same for all the other Great Passes as well, with the two furthest Great Passes now only two months apart.
If this persisted, the Great Passes would converge in another year’s time.
Even though Yang Kai was scouting ahead of the Army, he could clearly sense the tense atmosphere within Great Evolution Pass. The Great Evolution Army had begun to sharpen its swords.
Although there were no clear orders to do so, almost everyone had felt that when the Great Army of the Human Race gathered, it would be the time to fight to the death with the Black Ink Clan.
Furthermore, the Human Race had always anticipated this battle.
Six months later, Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass were only ten days apart from each other!
If this was an ordinary stretch of void, Yang Kai would already be able see Wind and Cloud Pass; however, the energy in the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield was too violent and chaotic. There were countless restrictions and dangers all over the place; thus, even though he knew where Wind and Cloud Pass was and how far it was from him, he still could not see it clearly.
He could only vaguely see that there was a huge object off in that direction.
The Great Passes were about to converge!
On this day, Yang Kai was looking towards Wind and Cloud Pass when he suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in that direction.
The next moment, Feng Ying, who was beside him, also sensed something and followed his gaze.
There was nothing as far as the eye could see, but there was definitely something different about the energy fluctuations in the void.
“Is someone fighting?” Feng Ying asked gruffly.
Yang Kai silently perceived for a moment, before shaking his head and saying, “Something must have triggered some massive restriction…”
The shockwaves of a battle would not be this violent. Although he also did not know what happened in that direction, it was certain that the place where the disturbance occurred was extremely far from them, at least two months journey by Warship.
At such a distance, even if a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Royal Lord fought, they could not possibly create such a huge disturbance.
The only explanation was the triggering of some massive Array. Previously, Great Evolution Pass also accidentally triggered such a huge restriction, and the impact was so intense that the Pass’ shields were almost torn apart.
As they were talking, a surge of power suddenly came from inside Great Evolution Pass, followed by a pillar of light that shot out into the void.
Yang Kai turned his head to look and frowned.
“The Old Ancestor has set out!” Feng Ying shouted.
What just happened was obviously the Old Ancestor teleporting through the Space Array. An Eighth-Order Division Commander would not create such a disturbance during teleportation. Only the teleportation of an Old Ancestor could consume such a huge amount of energy and create such violent Space Principle fluctuations.
[She has gone out!]
Yang Kai did not know where the Old Ancestor went, but since something had alerted her, it was obviously something extraordinary.
When Yang Kai turned his head to look, he vaguely caught a glimpse of a lofty and huge figure, covering the sky and tearing through the void.
The next moment, there was a familiar aura from Wind and Cloud Pass, enveloping Great Evolution Pass.
It was the aura of Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor!
Additionally, on the other side, there was also the aura of Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor!
The aura of the two Old Ancestors intertwined in the sky above Great Evolution Pass, turning into a protective layer.
Yang Kai immediately understood. Since Great Evolution Pass’ Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had left, that meant that there was no Old Ancestor in the Pass to ensure its safety. The Pass would not be able to protect itself if it encountered a huge danger; therefore, the Old Ancestors of the Passes to the left and right immediately joined forces to shelter Great Evolution Pass.
This way, if there was any danger, these two Old Ancestors could respond immediately.
In other words, now the two Old Ancestors have joined hands to protect Azure Void Pass, Wind and Cloud Pass, and Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai was now clearly concerned…
A short while later, a more violent aftershock came from the direction where the anomaly was first detected.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched.
If it was just a single disturbance, a huge restriction being triggered would make sense, but with repeated fluctuations occurring, it could only be due to a huge fight.
Two top Masters fighting would not create such intense fallout; it would take at least 10 or 20 such powerhouses to create a disturbance of such magnitude.
When Yang Kai thought about how Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao rushed out just now, he immediately understood that there must be several Old Ancestors fighting with some strong enemies in that direction.
The only ones who could compete with the Old Ancestors were the Royal Lords.
It must be the Royal Lords who had escaped from the Theatres several years ago!
A lot of Royal Lords died when the Royal Cities of each Theatre fell, but there were quite a few who escaped as well. It was not that the Old Ancestors did not want to kill them, but rather that they couldn’t as long as the Royal Lords were determined to escape.
Those Royal Lords that fled that day all went towards the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield!
Yang Kai had been thinking about this since he found out that the Great Passes were converging and would eventually meet up at some point.
If the Great Passes converged, then what about the Royal Lords who escaped from the other Theatres?
Would they converge in one place as well?
There wasn’t just one or two Royal Lords, but dozens!
If all those Royal Lords joined forces to target a single Great Pass, that Great Pass would be able to resist. It would soon be destroyed, along with all the human soldiers inside.
He had mentioned this previously with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao; however, she just told him that preparations had been made. Thus, Yang Kai did not ask any more questions; after all, he was only a Seventh-Order Master and should just focus on what he could do, rather than things he had no ability to interfere with.
Now, it seemed that the Old Ancestors did have an arrangement for such a situation.
From looking at what just happened. When there was movement nearby, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was the first to go provide support, while the Old Ancestors of Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass, quickly took Great Evolution Pass into their protection.
This was the safest arrangement.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was definitely not the only Old Ancestor who had set out.
There were dozens of Royal Lords, so many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would have to be deployed to face them.
Perhaps some Old Ancestors would fall in this battle, but the Royal Lords would surely suffer even more.
At that moment, a strange fluctuation appeared from another direction.
Yang Kai frowned and quickly looked in that direction.
The Royal Lords… had split up their forces.
They did not all converge in one place, but instead divided into two groups to attack the Human Great Passes in two locations.
However, were their attacks going to be limited to only two locations? After all, with dozens of Royal Lords, they could attack at multiple places at the same time without any difficulty.
If Yang Kai was in the position of the Royal Lords, he would also divide his forces to hit the Humans before the Great Passes fully converged.
What he was concerned about turned out to be reality as the Black Ink Clan did exactly what he feared.
“Brother, I’ll leave this to you,” said the Old Ancestor of Azure Void Pass. The next moment, his aura faded and a pillar of light shot up into the sky from Azure Void Pass.
The Azure Void Pass Old Ancestor also went to support the second Great Pass that was attacked by the Royal Lords.
The void trembled and the sky shook from an ox’s bellow as a Master’s aura approached rapidly.
Yang Kai turned his head and saw the Wind and Cloud Old Ancestor, riding a mighty bull, charging over from the direction of Wind and Cloud Pass.
Great Evolution Pass was in the center, Wind and Cloud Pass on the right, and Azure Void Pass on the left. Now that Old Ancestors of Great Evolution Pass and Azure Void Pass have left, the Old Ancestor of Wind and Cloud Pass had to shelter the three Great Passes all on his own. Thus, it was only natural that he came to Great Evolution Pass so that he could be positioned at the center, and monitor the left and right passes.
“Greetings, Old Ancestor!” Yang Kai and the members of Dawn saluted.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor did not go to Great Evolution Pass directly and instead landed on Dawning Light.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor nodded lightly, smiled at Yang Kai, and said, “Well done.”
He was referring to the battle at the Royal City a few years ago. Yang Kai, as a Seventh-Order Master, killed a Territory Lord and a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple. This must have been the only achievement of its kind in the entire history of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Normally, the Old Ancestors did not take much note of those in the Seventh-Order; however, Yang Kai had drawn his attention.
“It was a fluke, Old Ancestor,” Yang Kai said modestly.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor chuckled and said, “With your abilities, if you can reach the Ninth-Order, you should be more useful than us old guys. What a pity…”
Unfortunately, Yang Kai’s advancement to the Open Heaven Realm started at the Fifth-Order, and then he took a Mid-Rank World Fruit, which raised his innate limit, but only to the Eighth-Order.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was strong, but still not comparable to a Ninth-Order Master.
“Of course, if we can find the Universe Furnace, we should be able to help you break through those shackles.”
Yang Kai appeared gloomy as he replied, “This Junior is only a Seventh-Order Master now. It is too early to think about trying to reach the Ninth-Order. Furthermore, if we can completely solve the problem of the Black Ink Clan, then what does it matter if I am an Eighth-Order Master or a Ninth-Order Master in the future?”
The Old Ancestor raised an eyebrow when he heard Yang Kai’s response and remarked, “You’re a sensible one.”
He then raised his eyes, looked to the distance, and said solemnly, “I hope that will be the case!”
If this time, they really could completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan, then whether Yang Kai was a Seventh-Order or Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, it would not matter. Likewise for the others such as the Old Ancestors.
They had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for so many years, but if they really could return to the 3,000 Worlds, they would no longer need to cultivate and could just play with their descendants and enjoy a comfortable life.
The war had lasted far too long, so the Old Ancestors were all eager for such peaceful days.
Following his gaze, Yang Kai asked, “Old Ancestor, is the situation dire?”
Old Ancestor laughed lightly and said, “They’re just courting death.”
On hearing him say that, Yang Kai suddenly felt much better. He then raised his eyebrows and asked, “Had the Old Ancestors anticipated this?”
“Not really, it was just a precaution; after all, so many Royal Lords escaped and such a force could not be taken lightly,” the Old Ancestor casually replied, “We can’t find them if they hide, but since they chose to attack, we must capitalise on the opportunity to kill them. It’s better for us that the enemy is out in the open rather than hiding in the dark.”
“But now that the Royal Lords are splitting their forces between several places, it will be difficult for the Humans to deal with them, no?”
The Old Ancestor slowly shook his head “They divided their troops, but so can we. Didn’t Xiao Yue Ya… your Great Evolution Pass and Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestors go to support the fight?”
[Xiao Yue Ya?]
Yang Kai raised his brow as he realized that he had heard something unbelievable.
“And… the Black Ink Clan is ultimately different from the Human Race. They are indeed rather strong and have caused problems for us Humans when they defended their respective High-Rank Black Ink Nests; however, they have a very obvious disadvantage. Do you know what it is?”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment and said, “They have to use their Black Ink Nests to heal their wounds?”
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor smiled and said, “Correct. That is their biggest flaw, a fatal one if you will! The Black Ink Clan’s very survival is based on their Black Ink Nests, so they are nothing without them. Although these Royal Lords escaped previously, all of them are seriously wounded in the process, and without Black Ink Nests, they would not have been able to recover from their injuries in just a few years.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up as he listened and his worries eased significantly.
He had forgotten about this.
The reason why Mo Zhao had not been able to recover from his injuries over the past few hundred years was because Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had been harassing him. Occasionally, she would use Space Beacons to teleport to the outskirts of the Royal City to threaten him. When that happened, how could Mo Zhao have the time to fall asleep inside his Black Ink Nest to heal?
Mo Zhao had no way to recover, so he had to drag his injuries out until the final battle, when his Black Ink Nest was destroyed and he was killed by Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.
That was the case for Mo Zhao, and now the other Royal Lords would suffer similar fates.
Although those Royal Lords escaped from the other Theatres with their lives, they did not have Black Ink Nests to enter retreat and heal; therefore, they were like Mo Zhao, unable to recover from their wounds.
“Moreover, they fled all the way to this place, passing by many dangers along the way. If they were lucky extremely, their journey may have been smooth, but you have experienced the hidden dangers in this region of the void. We relied on the protection of the Great Passes to remain safe, but those Royal Lords had to travel alone. Many of them must have suffered additional injuries along the way.” The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor patted the head of the bull he was riding and joked, “These Royal Lords would be lucky to have 70% of their strength remaining.”
70%! It still seemed like a lot, but it was significantly lower than their peak, and unlike the Royal Lords who had no way to heal, the Old Ancestors were different. When the Old Ancestors were wounded, they might take a few decades of recuperation to heal, but they would eventually recover from their injuries as long as they were given enough time and resources.
“So, if they didn’t reveal themselves, we old folks would have to constantly remain on guard against them. Since they are out attacking us though, it can be considered a good thing. We can kill them now, and it should not be difficult to do so. Now it only depends on how many we can eliminate.” The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor slightly narrowed his eyes and continued, “However, the fact that they chose to attack us here meant that we are not far from the Source Domain. They certainly don’t want us to get close too, so even if they know that they can’t win, they still have to fight hard.”
Yang Kai asked, “What about those Royal Lords in that Black Ink Nest Space? If they also intervene…”
“It’s possible, but highly unlikely.” Old Ancestor mused, “From all the information we’ve gathered, those Royal Lords in the Black Ink Nest Space should be under some kind of restriction with no way for them to easily move their true bodies. They were able to ambush our Ninth-Order Masters in that Black Ink Nest Space only because they had the help of the Black Ink Nest’s power. However, nothing is certain; after all, we do not know anything about the situation in the Source Domain. Whether those Royal Lords will intervene or not, we will find out soon enough.”
Of course, they would know when the final battle began.
Things would not bode well for the Humans if those Royal Lords that appeared in the Black Ink Nest Space could intervene in this battle.
Thus, the result of this battle would directly verify the Human’s previous speculations.
It was always torturous to have to wait. The after-effects of the fight in the void seemed to be increasingly violent, and even from a long distance, the fallout was clearly transmitted to them.
Yang Kai could not tell who had the upper hand.
Then, a strange fluctuation radiated towards them. The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor raised his eyebrows, smiled, and said, “There… A Royal Lord has fallen.”
The fluctuation was due to the death of a Royal Lord!
Those aboard Dawn all punched their fists in the air and cheered in celebration. Yang Kai also heaved a long sigh and began to relax.
A Royal Lord had fallen, which meant that the Human Race had the upper hand. It looked like the Royal Lords that appeared in the Black Ink Nest Space really had not moved; otherwise, a Royal Lord could not have been killed so quickly.
After the first Royal Lord fell, the Humans seemed to gain momentum and soon the Royal Lords were killed one after another.
The battle continued, and the energy disturbances became increasingly violent.
The number of fallen Royal Lords was increasing, and the energy fluctuations were getting progressively more intense!
The Royal Lords who had escaped from the Theatres were now fighting to the death!
It was not until several days later that the commotion in the distance suddenly subsided.
Yang Kai and the others all looked at the Wind and Cloud Old Ancestor. Although they already had a guess in their hearts, since the Old Ancestor did not give a conclusive answer, they remained unsure.
The Old Ancestor obviously noticed their gazes and smiled, “This was a huge victory!”
A huge victory!
Cheers erupted aboard Dawning Light.
At the same time, there was also a loud cheer from Great Evolution Pass.
Apparently, the Inner Sanctum had also found out about the results of the battle.
Yang Kai and the others were extremely excited, but there was a hint of doubt in the Wind and Cloud Old Pass Ancestor’s smile.
He had sensed that in the battlefield, all the Royal Lords auras had withered.
In other words, all the Royal Lords he could sense had fallen.
This was not normal.
In the past, when these Royal Lords could not defeat the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they still had the sense to escape. Why had they not attempted to flee this time? As for whether or not they could escape, they could still at least try.
Although not personally involved in this battle, Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor’s investigation found out that all those Royal Lords fought bravely to the bitter end. Not only did none of them try to escape, they went all out right from the beginning, not seeming to care about their own lives. That was why the energy fluctuations were so intense.
These Royal Lords wanted to destroy a Great Pass, but even after noticing the response of the Human Race, they still did not back down.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor sensed that in the two battlefields, a total of 11 Royal Lords fell. Five in one and six at the other.
Under normal circumstances, a Great Pass could not withstand a combined attack from five or six Royal Lords; however, the Human Race was prepared. The moment the battle broke out, the nearby Old Ancestors all raced over to provide support…
At the beginning, there were some losses at the two Great Passes targeted by the Royal Lords; however, when the other Old Ancestors rushed over to provide support, the Royal Lords could no longer attack with impunity.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor could only sense two battlefields, but there could be farther battlefields that even he was unable to detect as there were enough Royal Lords for them to split into more than two groups.
If 11 Royal Lords fell at these two battlefields, then what happened to the Royal Lords at the other battlefields?
Did they succumb as well?
Could they not escape?
Why did they not escape?
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor squinted slightly and pondered.
That was when Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao returned.
Now that the distance between the Great Passes had become much shorter than before, even for a Supreme Master like an Old Ancestor, the consumption of resources to use the Space Array had been greatly reduced.
Thus, Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor did not stay. Immediately after Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s return, he left in style, returning to Wind and Cloud Pass.
Inside the Main Conference Hall, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s aura was slightly weakened. Although she did not suffer serious injuries in the last confrontation, there was always a price to pay for killing several Royal Lords.
It was also fortunate that those Royal Lords were heavily injured to begin with and had greatly diminished strength; otherwise, a winner of this battle might not have been determined so quickly.
Xiang Shan reported gloomily, “A total of four Great Passes were attacked by the Royal Lords. Azure Nether Pass, Purple Jade Pass, Exquisite Pass, and Constellation Pass. A total of 21 Royal Lords were killed in the four battles.”
The Royal Lords’ attacks were launched almost simultaneously.
The two battlefields that the Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor felt before were the ones at Azure Nether Pass and Constellation Pass. Exquisite Pass and Purple Jade Pass were a little further away, so the Old Ancestor was unable to monitor them.
These four Great Passes each encountered an attack by five or six Royal Lords. A total of 21 Royal Lords had fallen in a battle with none escaping in the end.
The results of this battle were more than just significant.
These were 21 Royal Lords! Not Territory Lords nor Feudal Lords.
Previously, the total number of Royal Lords in the entire Black Ink Battlefield numbered slightly more than 100 before the pacification of the major Theatres killed about half of them. Of those survivors, 21 were now dead, which meant that there were not many Royal Lords left alive from the Theatres
However, many were apprehensive about this victory and some were even a little frightened.
Most of the soldiers were unclear about the situation, only thinking that the Old Ancestors were indeed powerful, managing to kill 21 Royal Lords outside the four Great Passes. However, those Old Ancestors who participated in that battle felt differently.
[Those Royal Lords… None of them ever even considered retreating… They seemed to be on a suicide mission…]
When Exquisite Pass was attacked, its Old Ancestor was the first to go out to face the enemy. It was one versus five, so in less than 10 breaths of time, he was nearly killed by those five Royal Lords. Under normal circumstances, even though the Exquisite Pass Old Ancestor was facing five Royal Lords, he would not be at risk of falling that quickly. It was because of this that he went confidently to fight against them.
However, the five Royal Lords seemed completely prepared to sacrifice themselves if they could take their enemy down with them. It only took a moment of inattention for the Exquisite Pass Old Ancestor to nearly lose his life. It was only thanks to the timely arrival of the Old Ancestors from the other Passes that he managed to turn the tables around.
A Royal Lord even cast a sacrificial Secret Technique upon his death and almost succeeded in dragging an Old Ancestor down with him.
In that battle, 21 Royal Lords were ruthlessly killed, while many Old Ancestors were injured.
“I’m afraid the Source Domain… is not far away,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao quickly said, coming to the same conclusion as Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor.
It was because the Source Domain was not far away that those Royal Lords fought so hard to stop the Humans Armies from advancing. They also knew that they could not stop every Pass, so they had divided into several groups and attacked at different locations. Their intention was clearly to inflict as much damage as possible.
However, they did not expect that the Humans were prepared or that their response would be so rapid; thus, their plans failed.
Xiang Shan frowned and said, “According to the information we collected before, there were 45 Royal Lords who had managed to escape the initial war. With 21 killed, there are still 24 remaining. There is no way to know where they are hiding or what they are planning to do.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “Those Royal Lords are a grave hidden danger. No matter what their plans are, we can only stop them when they choose to appear.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao also carried this strong sense of unease.
According to the number of Royal Lords who originally escaped, they could have allocated five Royal Lords to attack nine Great Passes at once; however, only 21 Royal Lords showed up to attack four Great Passes. The remaining 24 Royal Lords were nowhere to be seen while those who did appear all died.
Where were those missing Royal Lords? It would be good if they had emerged to fight like the other Royal Lords, but now that they were hiding, it became a huge problem for the Humans.
“No matter where those Royal Lords are hiding, Great Evolution Pass need not feel dispirited about it. Send out orders for the reconnaissance Squads to return.”
The reconnaissance Squads of the four Great Passes that were attacked earlier were all nearly wiped out, so Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was also afraid that if something like this happened again, the Squads Great Evolution Pass sent to scout the way would not be able to resist and be annihilated.
Xiang Shan was about to issue the orders when a long, sharp whistle suddenly came from outside Great Evolution Pass.
Xiang Shan was stunned and turned his head towards the source of the sound.
This was obviously a signal from a Squad doing reconnaissance.
When he turned around again, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had already disappeared, rushing out the moment she heard the sound.
Xiang Shan frowned and hastily tried to catch up with her.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao swiftly appeared aboard Dawning Light but found no trace of the enemy, so she couldn’t help frowning and asking, “What’s going on?”
Yang Kai replied, “Old Ancestor, there is something wrong with the road ahead.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes slightly and investigated the situation for a moment before her expression changed.
There was indeed something wrong with the road ahead. All this time, the deeper they traveled into the void, the more dangers they encountered. There were Arrays and Divine Abilities left from the ancient era everywhere, along with various Celestial Phenomenon.
However, up ahead, all the dangers seemed to suddenly reduce significantly.
The reduction was very obvious, with there being practically no sense of crisis from anywhere. In fact, even Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters no longer felt threatened.
Before this, even the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not take the dangers in the void lightly.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned, looked into the situation, and found that it was indeed as Yang Kai said.
“When did you first notice?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked. Such an obvious change was really a bit unusual as there might be some different hidden dangers ahead if they went down this path.
Yang Kai replied, “Just now.”
Nothing seemed off when the Old Ancestors and Royal Lords were fighting; however, Yang Kai suddenly noticed a change in the void soon after that battle ended.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned as she was not sure why there was such a change.
She had planned to recall the Squads back to Great Evolution Pass to avoid them being attacked by the hidden Royal Lords; however, now she could not recall them anymore. So, instead of going back to Great Evolution Pass, she remained on Dawning Light to personally monitor the frontline situation. If a Royal Lord did attack, she would be able to immediately protect the scouting Squads from this position.
With a flash of her Divine Sense, she sent a message to Xiang Shan back in Great Evolution Pass instructing him to ask the other Great Passes how their situations were.
Soon, it was reported that almost all the Great Passes had encountered such changes and the dangers of the road ahead had been significantly reduced…
…..
At the same moment.
Deep in the void at an unknown place.
There was a violent surge of Black Ink Strength. The energy rampage involved 24 figures, each possessing a strong aura.
These 24 figures were the surviving Royal Lords who had previously escaped from the Theatres.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was worried that these unseen Royal Lords were hiding in the shadows, preparing to ambush the Great Passes; however, the truth was they had long returned to this unknown land.
The other 21 who did not come back here were mainly trying to delay the advance of the Human Race.
The original 21 Royal Lords’ strength was strong as even if they were wounded, they were still Royal Lords. They split into four teams and as long as they were fast enough, they had a good chance of destroying a few Great Passes.
They did not need to inflict widespread damage; even if they destroyed one or two Great Passes, the Humans would have their momentum blunted and be forced to delay their follow-up actions while focusing on defense.
However, the Humans were prepared for this possibility, so the Black Ink Clan’s plan failed.
The 21 Royal Lords were all killed, while the Human Race’s crusade was not affected in any way.
Of course, these 24 Royal Lords had no way to perceive the fall of their companions nor any time to worry about them as they had their own mission.
At this moment, these Royal Lords had gathered together in a certain place and were each using their own means and Black Ink Strength to bombard a certain place in the void.
When 24 Royal Lord made a move together, they could unleash a fearsome power that was enough to shake the Heavens and Earth.
At the place where their raging attacks struck, a skinny figure that was basically just dried up flesh and bones sat. This figure had no Aura and to any outside observer was as good as dead. Only his eyes remained bright and full of life.
He was Cang!
His location was not hidden in any way, so anyone who could reach this place would be able to find him as long as they were determined enough.
The 24 Royal Lords were currently attacking him.
However, the fierce attacks, which was enough to tear apart space itself, failed to even injure Cang in the slightest. All the attacks were stopped by an inexplicable energy field just one step away from Cang.
This energy field seemed to be a kind of restriction that resisted all outside interference and simply distributed all impacts out across an enormous area.
Although the Royal Lords had been attacking for a long time, they showed no signs of giving up, but there was also no hint of progress being made.
Meanwhile, surrounding Cang, there was now rich Black Ink Strength that filled the void.
Though the Royal Lords were attacking, Cang did not consider it to be a crisis. It was as if he was certain that these Royal Lords could not do anything to him. Not only did he not try to stop them, he even tried to chat with them.
“Did you guys come back from out there? Look what a mess you are in! Were you beaten up before you came running here?”
“Hmm… Seems to be the case. All of you are quite injured. Must have been a significant defeat. En, en… the current generation have finally made their mark. Looks like this Old Master has not wasted his effort in sitting here for so many years.”
“Can you tell me about the situation outside? I’ve been here for so many years and I don’t know anything about the outside world. What’s more, there’s no one to talk to here. Hey, don’t be like your Great Aunt. She was like a boring bottle gourd or a woman. Even when beaten, she never made a sound.”
“Hey, seriously? What is the situation in the outside world today? You lowlifes have actually been driven back all the way here? Has my Human Race flourished so much that you are no longer their match?”
“There are not many Innate Royal Lords anymore, hm? Most of you are Acquired and have advanced from below. It looks like a lot of those who went out from here died already.”
“Look, don’t waste your energy. Do you think that this Old Master will be easy for you to defeat? Save your energy and take a break. Isn’t it better for us to have a chat? Hello?”
“Hey you, yes, the one with the horns on your head. Yes, you, tell me how things are out there? In exchange, I can give you a gift.”
…..
The Black Ink Strength surged as they madly attacked; however, even with the combined efforts of 24 Royal Lords they couldn’t even scratch Cang.
The more he nagged, the fiercer the Royal Lords attacked. It was as if they were determined to shut him up.
At one point, a voice from the dark depths exclaimed in surprise, “You can control Shi’s power? The power to devour?”
Although Cang’s movements were extremely subtle, they were still detectable so he usually concealed them extremely well. However, this time, he accidentally revealed something.
Cang laughed and said, “Oh, you’ve found out.”
The voice said coldly, “So that’s why! Old thing, no wonder you survived for so many years! You can control Shi’s power!”
Cang sighed and said, “Not like I can help it. This damned place has been turned into a soulless, spiritless land by your underlings, so if this Old Master wants to live, the only way is to secretly steal from you from time to time.”
For countless years, he had relied on the manipulation of Shi’s power to occasionally devour some energy from the darkness in order to survive; otherwise, he would have died many years ago.
The voice in the darkness sneered and said, “You’re really good at hiding. You managed to hide your flaws for so many years that even I was unaware of it.”
“It was unbecoming of me to keep it from you, the Master of this domain. Now that you’ve found out, should I be ashamed of it?”
“I’m afraid that you’ve forgotten how Shi died.”
“I can’t help it. This is the only way if I want to live.”
How could Cang not know how Shi died? It was because Shi had devoured too much Black Ink Strength and was at risk of being corrupted by it that he had to integrate himself into the restriction at the last moment.
Even an existence as powerful as him could not completely resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength.
The voice in the darkness laughed coldly and said, “Very well, you want it, don’t you? If you want it so badly, then I’ll give it to you!”
As the voice spoke, the calm darkness suddenly rumbled. It was as if there was a violent energy surging in it, boiling from the inner depths and impacting the invisible restriction.
Cang frowned and called out hastily, “Mo, do not be rash. Let’s talk about this!”
The voice in the darkness kept silent and the power rumbled more and more fiercely.
Cang was originally withered to skin and bones, but now, he visibly swelled up. In the blink of an eye, he turned into a plump old man.
This transformation was not done though as his body continued to expand and soon bulged up, like a blown-up ball.
“Stop stop!” Cang shouted, appearing terrified as he yelled, “Mo, stop, if you keep doing this, this Old Master will burst!”
Mo naturally would not stop. He wanted nothing more than to make this noisy old man explode.
The 24 Royal Lords saw this scene from outside the restriction and smiled happily. They felt re-invigorated, and increased the intensity of their attacks.
After a few moments, Cang’s whole body was swollen into a ball. He was so puffed up that no one could see his facial features. He seemed like he could burst at any moment.
He shouted with difficulty, “I can’t, I can’t hold on anymore!”
After he said so, he lifted his chubby palm and thrusted it forward.
The Royal Lords, who were bombarding him indiscriminately, instantly froze as if death itself had enveloped them.
In the darkness, Mo suddenly roared, “Dodge!”
But it was too late.
When Cang thrust his fat palm out, the vast void trembled and the restriction which covered the darkness visibly rippled.
The five closest Royal Lords were swept up by the violent burst of power and instantly exploded into blood mist.
More Royal Lords behind them were hit hard and began to bleed.
The whole world suddenly fell silent with just one blow.
Cang’s swollen body, which was like a round ball, now began to deflate and shrink rapidly. He eventually reverted to an old man, heaved a long sigh of relief, and said, “Ah… much more comfortable.”
The Royal Lords, who were still alive, were all terrified as they stared at Cang with immense fear.
They were Royal Lords, the most powerful in existence in this world. 24 of them joined hands to attack Cang for so long but they couldn’t even hurt him. However, with just one counter-attack, five Royal Lords perished and more than 10 of them were seriously injured. The ones who weren’t further injured were simply lucky to have avoided the blow.
The power of that palm just now had surpassed their understanding.
There should not be such a force in this world.
In the darkness sealed by the restriction, the black ink coloured ocean no longer had ripples on it.
A while later, Mo angrily scolded, “You tricked me!”
Just now, when Cang pleaded for him to stop, he really thought that this old thing was about to burst, so he spared no effort to funnel more power into him. In reality, Cang was borrowing his power to fight! Thus, once Cang unleashed the accumulated power, it violently blasted out, resulting in casualties among the Royal Lords. It could be said that the power of that blow was not his real strength, but his combined with Mo’s.
The Royal Lords were unaware of what happened, but Mo understood. He knew that Cang’s attack was done with the help of his power and also the power of the entire restriction, that was why the damage it inflicted was so terrifying.
It was impossible for Cang to do this with his strength alone.
If he really had such strength, he would not have been trapped here so close to the restriction for so long.
“How dare you lie to me!” Mo roared hysterically, as if he was a jilted woman.
Cang shuddered a little as his body was covered in goosebumps, “Settle down Mo. Don’t make frivolous accusations as if this Old Master has taken advantage of you. Furthermore, isn’t it expected that I would fool you? You’re such an idiot and deserve to be fooled.”
“You lied to me back then too!” Mo hissed, “You led me here, and laid this restriction, imprisoning me for millions of years! You all deserve to die!”
Cang sighed slightly and said, “It really couldn’t be helped, Mo. Your power… is just too overbearing, if you weren’t imprisoned here, the 3,000 Worlds would have been destroyed long ago. Haven’t we old guys been accompanying you? Now, there is only one old man left, while everyone else is dead.”
Mo coldly laughed, “There’s no way for you to live any longer!”
It was a huge restriction that required someone to be here to make sure Mo remained trapped; thus, those Cang mentioned had to remain here at all times.
Unfortunately, Mo’s life and no natural end while those people who guarded this place were not immortals. Regardless of how strong they were, they would eventually pass away.
“So be it, the past is the past, let’s not mention it anymore,” Cang waved his hand with a look of despair and continued, “This Old Master will not last long. When this Old Master dies, you will no longer be trapped. Then whatever you do in this vast universe is none of my concern.”
There was a long silence in the darkness before Mo muttered, “I await that day.”
Cang raised his eyebrows and asked, “Do you want to do it yourself? Just like earlier, perhaps if we do it a few more times, this Old Master will really burst!”
“Hmph!” Mo coldly snorted, fell silent, and ignored him.
Cang looked at the 19 Royal Lords who were still alive, waved to them casually, and asked, “Shall we continue?”
The Royal Lords looked terrified and none of them dared to move.
Since they knew that this man could devour Black Ink Strength and turn it into his own power, why would they still want to fight against him? They just witnessed him vaporise five Royal Lords with a simple thrust of his palm!
If he did it a few more times, they would all die meaninglessly.
The next moment, the Royal Lords seemed to have received some instructions. All of them bowed towards the darkness where Mo was sealed, turned around, and dashed off. Soon, they were nowhere to be seen.
Cang secretly heaved a sigh of relief at this sight.
Although Mo’s intelligence had grown considerably compared to back then, and he was much more mature, making it not as easy to deal with him, he was still rather naive.
If he really pumped up Cang a few more times with his power, Cang was certain that he would not be able to survive.
After all, there were originally 10 guardians of this huge restriction; however, he was now the only one remaining.
He could still make use of the restriction, but he was now all alone.
He sighed in his heart as he looked in the direction of where the Royal Lords departed, “Shi, if you do not return soon, this Old Master really won’t be able to hold up much longer…”
[Will I be able to last until that day?]
He had guarded this place for so many eons, in this barren place with no means of restoring his strength or increasing his lifespan. One by one, his old friends exhausted their powers and died. Before they died, all of them integrated themselves into the restriction to reinforce it.
The last one to leave was Shi.
Before integrating his body into the restriction, Shi told Cang a plan that he would retain a trace of his Soul, which would cross the void, and return to the 3,000 Worlds.
Doing so, he might have a chance to live again.
He wanted to find a complete solution to the problem in his next life.
Needless to say, this was an extremely bold plan, because even Shi, himself, did not know whether it would work.
But there was always hope.
Now, more than 100,000 years had passed yet Shi still had not returned. Cang did not know whether his plan had worked or not.
Perhaps Shi’s Soul never made it back to the 3,000 Worlds.
After all, the road was very dangerous, with plenty of traps. An empty spirituality did not have the slightest self-preservation power and might be destroyed if it encountered any dangers.
Even if Shi managed to return to the 3,000 Worlds, there was very little chance that he could resurrect.
Cang was mentally prepared for this. The reason why he agreed to this plan was also because there was really no other way. A sliver of hope was better than sitting on the sidelines and waiting to die.
However, after waiting for so many years, Shi’s plan must have failed; otherwise, he should have heard something from him in these 100,000 years.
The good thing was, now the descendants of the Human Race had finally struck back. They actually were able to drive back the Royal Lords from the outside, allowing Cang to see a glimmer of hope again.
However, Cang was trapped here and unable to move. There was no way for him to provide any help to the Human Race.
Now, he could only wait!
The 19 Royal Lords who left earlier were obviously moving to intercept the Humans.
In this regard, Cang was not worried. Since the Human Race could drive them back, then they would not have any problems dealing with these remnants.
The real problem now was how to handle Mo!
This was the source of all the problems. Without resolving him, all other efforts were ultimately futile.
When they discovered this problem millions of years ago, they also tried to eliminate Mo. Unfortunately, they failed and could only create a cage here to seal Mo inside.
For millions of years, Mo could not get out of this trap.
It was as much of an imprisonment for them as it was for Mo.
Cang gazed far away, hoping that this generation of Humans could give him a pleasant surprise!
…..
In the void, both Yang Kai and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had an ominous feeling as they stood on Dawning Light’s deck.
It had been a month since the Royal Lords attacked and the void ahead had changed dramatically.
The further they went, the fewer dangers they encountered.
Then, at a certain point, Yang Kai suddenly felt as if Dawning Light had entered a different world, one without a trace of energy at all!
So far, although the void had been vast and seemed both silent and empty, the fact was it was still filled with all kinds of energy. It was just a matter of how much.
The most common energy in the void was the various Starlight Strengths.
The Nine Heavenly Layers Grand Array that was placed in Void Land was able to draw in Starlight Strength to replenish itself. Thus, as time passed, the more powerful the Nine Heavenly Layers of Grand Array would become.
The Black Ink Battlefield also had Starlight Strength, as well as many other strange powers in it.
Although these powers could not be absorbed by Humans directly, they were real, and many Mobile Palace Artifacts and Warships had the ability to draw on such energies to power themselves.
This way, the reliance on cultivators to power Warships was reduced.
It could be said that these kinds of chaotic powers filled all of space in the void.
However, this place was a complete vacuum.
There were no restrictions, no residual Divine Abilities, no colourful and diverse Celestial Phenomenon, not even the power of the Void itself!
This was a place where there was literally nothing, only endless space.
Being in such a place, one could not help but feel surreal. Even being in it, Yang Kai could not help but wonder if there really was such a place in this world.
“A Spiritless Land!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao murmured and frowned slightly.
Yang Kai had previously heard of Spiritless Lands; however, this was the first time he had actually seen one.
“Is it manmade or naturally formed?” Yang Kai asked.
The Old Ancestor shook her head, “I don’t know.”
It was fine if it was naturally formed, but if it was artificially created, then it was a big deal.
[Does this place have anything to do with the Black Ink Clan’s Source Domain? Is the Source Domain hidden here? But, if this is a Spiritless Land, why would the Source Domain be hidden here? Was this done by the Great Experts of ancient times for some reason?]
Nothing was known.
At that moment, an energy fluctuation flickered from the depths of the void. Although it was fleeting, both Yang Kai and Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sensed it.
Yang Kai immediately turned his head to look in that direction while Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned and narrowed her eyes.
Not only did they sense it, all Humans in the Great Passes sensed it. Be it Ninth-Order Old Ancestors or Fifth-Order soldiers, all clearly sensed that energy fluctuation.
In all the Great Passes, all eyes and Divine Senses focused in that direction. Some even rose into the sky hoping to get a better look.
“Strong!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao exclaimed softly.
Although the place where the fluctuation came from was still incredibly far away, she clearly perceived that whatever caused it was so powerful that she could not hope to replicate it.
In other words, the one who caused this fluctuation was a Master beyond her.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao could not help but feel intimidated.
She was instantly reminded of the jade white hand that she saw in the Black Ink Nest Space previously.
At that time, she sensed that the Master of that hand seemed to be more powerful than a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. With a single strike, he actually managed to tear apart the Black Ink Nest Space, which had sealed 22 Ninth-Orders Open Heaven Realm Masters and 50 Royal Lords inside of it.
This showed that the jade white hand’s Master and the Mother Nest were very close to each other, and that the Master who attacked had unfathomable strength.
[Was the intense energy fluctuation made by the owner of that jade white hand? If not, who is this Master that is fighting in the depths of the void?]
This crusade was increasingly puzzling and incomprehensible.
After a month passed, the distances between the Great Passes had become extremely close to each other. Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass were now just an hour or so away from Great Evolution Pass. In fact, Yang Kai could clearly see the two Great Passes on his left and right.
It could also be said that the Human Race had effectively become a single Army. Any one of the Great Passes could support the other Great Passes in a timely manner.
The power of more than 100 Great Passes had gathered. There were more than 100 Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, thousands of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and around 2 million soldiers. Furthermore, they had the accumulated heritages of the Cave Heavens and Paradises, over hundreds of thousands of years.
With such a powerful force, the Human Race had the confidence to deal with the Black Ink Clan, regardless of how strong its hidden forces were!
In this battle, the Black Ink Clan would be eradicated once and for all!
After the energy fluctuation, there was no more movement from the depths of the void and it remained unknown what caused it.
Three days later, while Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was meditating aboard Dawning Light, she suddenly opened her eyes, gazed ahead momentarily and then dashed out.
A long continuous whistling sound followed.
At the same time, from a number of Great Passes, Ninth-Order Open Heaven Masters flew out like long bolts of lightning towards the depths of the void.
“Enemy attack!” Yang Kai shouted, “Take your stations!”
He clearly perceived that as many as 30 Old Ancestors had rushed out from the Great Passes.
The only enemy who could make so many Old Ancestors move was the Royal Lords.
Last time, 21 Royal Lords divided their four groups to launch an attack which eventually resulted in their annihilation. Not much time had passed since then, but now another wave of Royal Lords was attacking.
These had to be the Royal Lords who did not show themselves previously.
Yang Kai wondered why they did not attack together and instead split into two separate waves. Were they not aware that splitting their forces and attacking at different times would be less effective? That couldn’t be. There had to be some reason why they had to do so; after all, the Royal Lords were not fools.
Shortly after Yang Kai shouted, a battle broke out in the depths of the void ahead, a very fierce battle.
Previously, when Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao went to another Great Pass to support them, the distance was too far for Yang Kai and the others to perceive anything.
However, this time it was different. The location of this battle was not far from Great Evolution Pass, about half a day’s journey by Warship.
Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques began to erupt, and extremely dazzling and gorgeous lights bloomed at that distant location.
Underneath that glorious glow was nothing by violence and death.
The battle was extremely ferocious!
This was the rawest feeling this battle gave to Yang Kai.
There were no probing attacks or measuring of the enemy, just an immediate life-or-death struggle.
“One, two, three…” Yang Kai concentrated on perceiving the battlefield ahead and after a moment, he frowned and mumbled, “The number isn’t right. There are only 19 Royal Lords.”
A total of 45 Royal Lords escaped after the pacification of the Theatres. 21 died in their attack on the Great Passes. Then there should still be 24 Royal Lords remaining. So, why were there only 19 in this battle? Where did the other five go?
Feng Ying also nodded and said, “It’s 19.”
Yang Kai immediately ordered, “Return to Great Evolution Pass!”
There were still five missing Royal Lords, and no one knew where they were hiding. If they attacked Dawn at this moment, they would not be able to resist. The Old Ancestors from Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass next to them might not be able to rescue them in time; thus, it was better for them to return to the Great Pass.
Naturally, there was no way for Yang Kai to know this was unnecessary; after all, those five Royal Lords were killed by Cang before this and there were only 19 Royal Lords left.
What’s more, these 19 were far more seriously injured compared to the previous 21 Royal Lords.
Cang may have only killed five Royal Lords, but he seriously injured more than 10 of them as well. As a result, these 19 Royal Lords were in worse condition than the previous 21 who had attacked, with many of them not even able to display 50% of their peak strength.
30 Old Ancestors went out to fight them, outnumbering them almost two to one.
This battle broke out suddenly, and ended very quickly.
Yang Kai was just leading Dawn back to Great Evolution Pass when the battlefield in the distance was filled with the sounds of Royal Lords falling, one after another.
On the city walls, the Human soldiers who sensed the battlefield were dumbfounded.
No one expected the Royal Lords to die so quickly.
The battle was actually over before a stick of incense passed, with the auras of all 19 Royal Lords that had appeared withering as they perished.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao soon returned, without a trace of injury.
Xiang Shan and the others rushed to welcome her.
Not rejoicing in victory, the Old Ancestor wore a frown on her face; after all, the previous battle had given her an extremely odd feeling, even more so than the one before it.
It was as if these Royal Lords did not take their own lives seriously. They appeared as if they could not wait to die and practically did not defend themselves, showing no sense of self preservation and only attacking wildly.
What concerned her more was that the 19 Royal Lords that appeared this time were very seriously injured.
More than 10 of them could not even exert half of their usual strength; otherwise, the Old Ancestors could not have won so easily even if they were numerically superior.
The Royal Lord’s injuries were odd, and she wondered if that immense burst of energy some time ago had something to do with it.
Perhaps that was the case, otherwise it could not be explained.
If so, that would mean that someone had struck those Royal Lords before them.
As the Old Ancestor pondered, a vague ‘guidance’ suddenly came to her from the darkness.
It was not a word, nor a Divine Sense transmission, but a simple ‘guidance’.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao immediately turned her head in the direction where the Royal Lords came from.
In that instance, the eyes of more than 100 Old Ancestors from the various Great Passes also converged in that direction.
Some of their brows rose slightly, some looked surprised, while others appeared relieved…
When that ‘guidance’ came, all the Old Ancestors knew that they were close to reaching the Black Ink Clan’s Source Domain, and would soon be able to clear some of their doubts and questions.
Be it whether the jade white hand that saved them that day belonged to a friend or a foe would be revealed soon.
If they were not mistaken, the vague ‘guidance’ in the darkness came from the owner of that jade white hand.
More than 10 days after the 19 attacking Royal Lords were killed, the Great Passes finally arrived at the source of darkness.
The void deep ahead was enveloped by a huge and dense cloud of Black Ink Strength that appeared like an endless ocean that had existed since time immemorial.
Although everything was calm, everyone felt the dread of what was to come. Even from a distance, it still gave people an extremely ominous feeling.
The evil energy in this Black Ink Ocean seemed to be able to devour one’s heart and Soul just by staring at it.
In the Great Passes, all eyes gazed towards the Black Ink Ocean, and all of them looked grave, even the Old Ancestors.
Was this the Black Ink Clan’s Source Domain?
Although no one told them what it was, when they saw the Black Ink Ocean, they all realized that this was definitely the Source Domain, and that the Mother Nest must be inside.
At the beginning of the crusade, no one thought that the Source Domain was so far away, and no one expected that the Source Domain would look like this.
If too many Black Ink Clansmen died in a certain battlefield, the Black Ink Strength would form thick Black Ink Clouds, and if enough Black Ink Clouds came together, they were sometimes called Black Ink Oceans, but those were a far cry from the sight before them.
This was a real Black Ink Ocean, dense and boundless.
The so-called ‘Black Ink Oceans’ that they had seen previously were at most small ponds by comparison.
Most of the Humans only focused on this vast Black Ink Ocean ahead of them, while the Old Ancestors of the Great Passes vaguely perceived that there seemed to be something else beyond this Black Ink Ocean.
It was something that was hidden extremely well and no one would know it was there unless effort was made to sense it.
In Myriad Demons Pass, the Old Ancestor used his Demon Eye of Annihilation to see through the illusion.
At Divine Feather Pass, the Divine Feather Old Ancestor activated his True Vision Eye to pierce the veil of the void.
It was the same for the Old Ancestors of other Great Passes. With their Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, they more or less all practiced some form of Eye Secret Technique, though their attainments varied quite a bit.
At this moment, when the various Eye Secret Techniques were activated, the hidden objects beyond the darkness were instantly perceived by the Old Ancestors, and what they saw left all of them pale with shock.
They saw a restriction at the outer edge of the darkness, which was like a cage that enveloped the entire Black Ink Ocean.
It was because of this seal, which imprisoned the Black Ink Ocean, that it did not spread outward.
It was not hard to imagine that without this seal, the Black Ink Ocean would have been so enormous that perhaps the whole void would have been filled with it, leaving no place for the Human Race to exist.
It was a huge revelation!
Such a seal was definitely not a natural formation and had to be man-made, but even the Old Ancestors had never heard of anything like it.
From the traces left by the passage of time, it was obvious that this seal was ancient. In fact, it was so old that even the Old Ancestors could not figure out when it was even formed.
However, the Old Ancestors did not need to investigate for long as suddenly, something in the void attracted their attention.
There was an old man with a white beard, sitting on the restriction, looking at them with a smile.
All the Old Ancestors gasped.
Initially, they did not even notice this man’s presence. This old man seemed to suddenly appear out of nowhere.
With more than 100 Old Ancestors scanning the area, it was naturally impossible that he could be missed; however, the old man could not possibly had just appeared there. He had always been there, but they did not know what technique he used such that even they, the Old Ancestors, could not detect him.
In other words, if he did not want to be found, none of the Humans here could find him.
This old man… was very strong. So strong that even the Old Ancestors were shaken.
He just sat there with a smile on his face, yet the Old Ancestors all felt that he was facing them individually.
This was a strange feeling, but also a sign of his supreme strength and control.
They did not detect any energy fluctuations from the old man, yet, many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had a clear understanding of the situation.
It was clear to them that he had no ill will towards the Human Race.
Additionally, the old man was obviously Human.
Without coordinating, each of the Old Ancestors stepped out from the Great Passes and converged towards the old man’s location.
Although they were fairly certain this old man helped some of them escape from the Black Ink Nest Space, they remained cautious as they still had not confirmed his origins or intentions.
With more than 100 Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters acting together, the old man would have to consider carefully if he had any malicious intent.
When the old man detected the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ thoughts, his smile only widened.
Then suddenly, the old man appeared disappointed and frowned.
As the Old Ancestors approached from the Great Passes, he clearly saw Duan’s handiwork from the Great Passes.
Back then, one of his comrades, Duan, was supremely talented in Artifact Refining, second to none in it.
In fact, the cage where Mo was imprisoned was created by Duan with the help of the nine others.
Of course, Duan died after he created this cage, along with all the others except him.
It was naturally impossible for Duan to have personally built these Great Passes; however, Cang remembered that Duan had taken a few Disciples during his life and passed down his knowledge to them.
Thus, it seemed that the Great Pass was created by Duan’s Disciples.
But rather than that, what Cang was disappointed about was that he could not find the familiar aura he was searching for among these people.
That could only mean that Shi’s plan had failed!
He must have failed to cross the void and return to the 3,000 Worlds; otherwise, he surely would have come here today.
Aboard all of the Great Passes, all were confused when they saw the Old Ancestors walking towards the darkness.
The Old Ancestors were able to see Cang’s figure only because Cang willingly allowed them to see him, but not the others.
Only Yang Kai stood on the walls of Great Evolution Pass and stared at them with wide eyes. He appeared shocked as if he had seen a ghost in the daytime.
[There’s someone here! There’s actually someone in this accursed place!]
He had heard from Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao that there was a force fighting against the Black Ink Clan and she even speculated that the force was near the Mother Nest; however, he still could not believe it until he really saw this old man.
This was a Spiritless Land, at the deepest part of the Black Ink Battlefield. It was where the Source Domain of Black Ink Clan!
As far as Yang Kai knew, for the past several hundred thousand years, no Human had ever set foot in this place, but there was actually someone here!
Did this mean that this person had been here for at least hundreds of thousands of years?
In the absence of the presence of any energy, how did he survive?
Even if this old man was extremely strong, he must have depleted all his reserves after so many years.
Could it be that this old man’s Small Universe was like his own? One that could raise living beings, allowing him to be self-sufficient?
While Yang Kai was stunned, so was Cang.
After noticing another gaze upon him, Cang turned to look towards the source and found a little Seventh-Order Junior staring at him.
Those in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm could see him because he took the initiative to reveal himself to them, but he did not allow anyone else to see him.
Even the top Eighth-Order Masters at the Great Passes were confused as they did not know where all the Old Ancestors were going, so what was so special about this Seventh-Order boy?
Cang’s eyes flashed.
Yang Kai immediately shuddered as he felt like he was being examined from the inside out. It was a very uncomfortable feeling that sent chills down his spine.
Yang Kai frowned as he cursed to himself. Regardless of who this old man was, he should not pry into other’s secrets. He felt that this old man was up to no good.
On the other hand, Cang now understood why Yang Kai could see him.
When he peered into Yang Kai’s Small Universe, he saw a World Tree clone.
Strictly speaking, Cang had a close relationship with the World Tree, and it was with the power of the World Tree clone that Yang Kai was able to sense the old man’s existence even before the Old Ancestors.
Cang did not bother with Yang Kai and just smiled at the Ninth-Order Masters who came to him and gathered in a semicircle. Unconcerned about their vigilance, he said with a mellow tone, “You’ve finally come. I’ve been waiting for this day for more than a million years!”
..…
On the wall, Yang Kai became curious and restless. Although he resented the old man for prying into his personal details, what was happening was clearly an opportunity to learn the secrets of the ages.
The old man, who had lived here for hundreds of thousands of years, was a character from an era so ancient there were no records of it. He must know more about Black Ink Clan than any of the Humans today.
He could be revealing something about the secrets of the Black Ink Clan right now; thus, Yang Kai also wanted to hear about it.
However, he was not strong enough and he was unqualified to participate in such a discussion.
Seemingly noticing something, Xiang Shan frowned and asked, “Brat, what’s the situation over there? You look like an ant on a hot metal wok. What’s happening?”
Yang Kai said, “Sir, if you don’t know what’s going on, then how could I know what’s happening over there?” He then continued, “Sir, why don’t we utilize our Divine Sense to hear what the Old Ancestors are saying to that Old Sir?”
When he said this, Xiang Shan, Mi Jing Lun, and all the others looked strangely at him.
“What Old Sir?”
There was no such thing as an Old Sir over there!
They only saw the Old Ancestors of all the Great Passes leaving the Passes in unison and converging in one place.
Without orders from the Old Ancestors, they did not dare to do anything rash.
None of them saw any Old Sir!
Yang Kai said, “It’s that Old Senior…”
He pointed his hand to where the Old Ancestors were gathered.
Xiang Shan stared over there, but still could not see anything. He then slapped the back of Yang Kai’s head and snarled, “What nonsense? How can there be anyone there other than the Old Ancestors?”
Yang Kai fumed, [Why did he have to slap my head? Could he not have just used his words?]
However, after seeing Mi Jing Lun and others’ expressions, Yang Kai suddenly understood, “None of you can see him?”
Xiang Shan growled, “If you keep talking nonsense, I will split your head in two.”
Yang Kai turned his head to look at Feng Ying and asked, “Senior Sister, you also cannot see that Old Sir?”
Feng Ying shook her head, “No, there is no Old Sir over there.”
Yang Kai did not know what to say.
Why could he see the old man, when the others could not?
The Old Ancestors all converged in that direction. So obviously the Old Ancestors had seen him as well.
Xiang Shan and the others now realized that Yang Kai did not look like he was joking. They also did not understand why the Old Ancestors had suddenly left.
“There really is an old man over there?” Xiang Shan asked with a deep voice.
“Yes!” Yang Kai nodded confidently.
Mi Jing Lun and the others frowned.
“Could it be the one with the white jade hand?” Xiang Shan remarked as he thought of what Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had said the other day.
“I don’t know if it’s the man with the white jade hand, but he seems Human,” Yang Kai replied casually.
Mi Jing Lun said solemnly, “If there is someone there, yet we can’t detect him, then his strength is simply unfathomable.”
Mi Jing Lun glanced at Xiang Shan before suddenly smiling as they both patted Yang Kai’s shoulder, “You want to know what he is telling the Old Ancestors?”
Earlier on, Mi Jing Lun did not know why Yang Kai looked so frustrated and curious, but now he understood.
How could Yang Kai be the only one who was curious? Although the Old Ancestors would certainly reveal some key information to them later, they might not necessarily tell them everything.
It was certainly better if they could hear it for themselves.
However, none of them dared to do anything rash. Since the Old Ancestors did not call for them, who would dare to go forward on their own? None of them was able to shoulder the responsibility if something went wrong.
Yang Kai had learnt long ago not to get involved in Big Head Mi’s schemes and shook his head decisively, “No!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao once commented that Mi Jing Lun was quite petty and vindictive; thus, Yang Kai knew he should not try to best him in an argument. In fact, if Yang Kai had the necessary strength, he would have resorted to fists first and asked questions later; after all, the best way to deal with anyone petty was to beat them into submission.
Likewise, this same reasoning applied to Xiang Shan.
Unfortunately for him, the two Big Heads were too similar in their thinking.
Yang Kai was alerted as soon as Mi Jing Lun spoke, but it was too late.
“No, you certainly want to!” Mi Jing Lun said firmly, taking out a tea set and shoving it directly into Yang Kai’s hand before ‘casually’ suggesting, “That Old Senior must have grown lonely after so many years and long forgotten the taste of tea. Go and brew the Old Senior a pot of tea!”
Upon saying so, both Mi Jing Lun and Xiang Shan directly used their hands, which were still on Yang Kai’s shoulders, to throw him out.
Yang Kai was shocked and wanted to resist, but was unable to do so.
In a flash, Yang Kai was hurled out towards where the Old Ancestors had gathered.
“Damn you Big Head Xiang! Big Head Mi!” Yang Kai cursed as he flew across the void. Those two Big Heads were such bullies.
“Is this… appropriate?” Liu Zhi Ping appeared confused when she saw Yang Kai flying towards where the Old Ancestors gathered. In fact, she was slightly worried.
She could not see where the so-called Old Sir was; however, she could clearly see that the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Masters had their guards up as they surrounded ‘something’.
Anyone or anything that could cause over 100 Old Ancestors to act so cautiously must be very powerful.
Now that Yang Kai was thrust into their midst, how would he sort out any misunderstanding?
“It’s fine,” Mi Jing Lun said with a smile, “The Old Ancestors are all gathered there, so if something really happens, they can also protect him. Moreover, he is only in the Seventh Order, so the Old Ancestors and that Old Senior should not care if a Junior like him barges into their gathering.”
If possible, Mi Jing Lun wanted to go personally; however, as a peak Eighth-Order Master, it was less appropriate or believable for him to act like a naïve Junior rather than a real youngster like Yang Kai.
“But… but…”
“Look, we can’t see that Old Sir, but Yang Kai can. Maybe there is something unique about him?” Xiang Shan continued along with Mi Jing Lun’s reasoning, “Since he is unique, he should receive preferential treatment as well.”
After saying that, Mi Jing Lun and Xiang Shan looked at each other and grinned.
Ou Yang Lie’s face twitched repeatedly as he stared at these two with narrowed eyes.
[They managed to think up so much sophistry in so little time? How can they live with themselves if they do this every day, all day long?] Ou Yang Lie cursed in his heart and then walked away, feeling ashamed just standing with them.
Yang Kai also cursed and swore at the two Big Heads; however, they just smiled back at him encouragingly, which irked him even more.
He had already been thrown towards the Old Ancestors, and was halfway there before he managed to steady himself, so it was far too late to turn back as that would only be more embarrassing.
Thus, he emboldened himself to hold the tea set with both hands, keep his head up, and strode forward.
The Old Ancestors obviously saw him and appeared puzzled at his sudden intrusion.
With a bull-headed boldness he had cultivated his whole life, Yang Kai ignored them outright and directly flew to the Old Sir and said with a smile, “Old Sir, you must be thirsty. Please have some tea.”
Upon saying this, regardless of whether he caused the Old Ancestors to be upset, Yang Kai placed the tea set on the old man’s side and got busy.
Yang Kai naturally broke out into a cold sweat as Cang curiously observed him.
He came to serve tea and was only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so regardless of whether this Old Sir was a friend or foe, he would not make a move against a Junior thousands of times younger than him, right?
Soon, Cang did not bother about this interesting Junior and turned to look at one of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, “Let’s continue.”
Yang Kai did not know which Old Ancestor spoke, but a voice from behind followed, “According to the ancient records, the Cave Heavens and Paradises seemed to have appeared overnight in the 3,000 Worlds. Then a wide range of disciples began to train the next generation to prepare them for the Black Ink Battlefields for each of the Great Passes…”
Yang Kai listened for a while and understood that the Old Ancestor was talking about the founding of the Cave Heavens and Paradises, which happened so long ago that rather than records, it was more like legends and myths that the current Old Ancestors only somewhat knew of.
After all, there was not much written about it in the ancient books.
Some time later, the same Old Ancestor also briefly spoke about the many years of struggles between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan. It was not until the last few hundred years that the Human Race gradually achieved the upper hand. Eventually, they decided to launch a crusade and advanced to this location.
The Old Ancestor did not say much in detail and just broadly described the events of history. He did not mention anything sensitive such as the Purifying Light or the Evil Purging Divine Spears.
They still had no way to determine whether this old man in front of them was a friend or foe. Though the possibility of him being an ally was very high, it was always good to be cautious.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s had finished his work. He brewed the tea from Mi Jing Lun’s treasured tea leaves collection and respectfully presented it, “Old Sir, have a cup of tea.”
Cang answered with a smile, “You’re quite thoughtful, little one.”
The Old Ancestor who spoke just now glanced at Yang Kai with a frown. He was the one who spoke all the while instead of Cang, who barely spoke a few words. If anyone needed a cup of tea, it was him.
Cang drank the tea and Yang Kai took back the cup and refilled it.
Yang Kai ignored the glare of the many Old Ancestors. There were more than 100 of them here, so surely, they did not expect him to serve every one of them, right? How could he serve so much tea?
It was better for him to serve one person. After drinking three cups in a row, Cang smacked his lips and exclaimed, “I haven’t tasted this for years. I’ve almost forgotten what tea tasted like.”
The Myriad Demons Heaven Old Ancestor softly said, “If Senior wants to drink tea, this brat can stay here to serve Senior as long as you like.”
Yang Kai suddenly shot a glare towards him.
[What is the meaning of this? Why are you so quick to abandon me? Are you all in agreement to isolate me? Don’t think that you can do whatever you want just because you taught me some Eye Secret Techniques!] He thought.
Unfortunately for Yang Kai, he soon realized that none of these Old Ancestors who had lived for so long cared about niceties with a mere Junior. The Myriad Demons Old Ancestor did not even glance at Yang Kai as he continued, “Senior, while drinking tea is a small matter, we have many doubts and hope that Senior can answer them.”
Cang nodded and said, “This Old Master knows, but there is so much to cover. I don’t even know where to start. How about this? Ask me what you want to know and I will answer accordingly.”
The Old Ancestors were surprised that he was so quick to offer up his knowledge.
The Old Ancestors exchanged glances for a moment before one of them asked, “How should we address Senior?”
In fact, since they arrived, they had been telling him about the history of the 3,000 Worlds and had not asked him anything.
The old man said with a smile, “Cang!”
“Cang? As in the Cang from the sky(苍天)?” The Old Ancestor raised his eyebrows slightly.
Cang slowly shook his head, “The Cang(苍) from common people (苍生)”
Although the words were nearly the same, they had very different meanings.
The Old Ancestors were noticeably less wary.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao then asked, “A few years ago, when I and several others were trapped in the Black Ink Nest Space, was it Senior who rescued us?”
Cang nodded and replied, “En, it was me.”
Although they had speculated that it was him, this was not confirmed until now.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao immediately cupped her fists, “Many thanks, Senior.”
If Cang had not broken the Black Ink Nest Space trap from the outside, the Old Ancestors would have died inside. He was their saviour.
“No need to thank me. It could be considered as you having saved yourselves. If not for the leaking of the aura from your battle, I would not have thought to strike at that moment.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao pondered for a moment before understanding what Cang meant.
On that day, the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor detonated his Soul at the border of the Black Ink Nest Space, opening a crack in it in an attempt to open a way out for other Old Ancestors.
It was the Bright King Old Ancestor’s efforts that allowed the aura of that great battle to leak out; otherwise, even if the battle was intense in that enclosed space, how could Cang have noticed it? How then could he have saved them in time?
“Regardless, I will never forget this life-saving kindness. If I don’t die in the battle ahead, I will certainly do whatever is within my ability to assist Senior when you require it.”
Cang smiled and replied, “We can discuss the future in the future.”
In truth, regardless of the result of the war, Cang did not expect to live much longer. It was already pushing the limits of his endurance to live till today, and he was missing his old friends and felt he should reunite with them soon.
His old friends must have been waiting impatiently for him.
Another Old Ancestor asked, “So, is the Black Ink Clan’s Mother Nest really here?”
As he spoke, he looked towards the vast darkness before them.
When the Old Ancestors broke out of the Black Ink Nest Space with the help of an outside force, they had determined that the person who had aided them must be very close to the Mother Nest. Otherwise, there should have been no way to break through the Black Ink Nest Space from the outside.
“Mother Nest…” Cang laughed heartily, “Is that what you call it? Well, that’s apt. Yes, the Mother Nest is indeed here, in the darkness, within this restriction.”
“And this is where Black Ink Clan originated from?”
“Yes!”
Blue Sky Pass’ Old Ancestor pondered for a moment before asking, “What does Senior call the Mother Nest?”
Mother Nest was a term that was introduced by the Humans of today, but it seemed like it had another name from Cang’s reaction.
“Mo,” Cang replied, “It calls itself Mo, the Black Ink itself!”
Many Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters frowned when they heard Cang’s answer. Even Yang Kai, who was still brewing tea, looked at Cang in surprise.
There was nothing wrong with calling the Black Ink Clan’s Mother Nest, ‘Mo’, what was disturbing was the way Cang phrased his statement.
“‘It’ calls itself?” The Blue Sky Old Ancestor looked grim as he asked, “Senior, what do you mean by that? Is it possible that the Mother Nest… is sentient?”
So far, the Human Race had destroyed many Low-Rank to High-Rank Black Ink Nests; thus, the Human Race now had some understanding of Black Ink Nests.
Each Black Ink Nest had its own consciousness, and the Black Ink Clan used the Black Ink Nests’ consciousnesses as carriers to establish Black Ink Nest Spaces. These Black Ink Nest Spaces were in turn created by the Black Ink Nests which bred them. It was a space which transcended distance and could be used to quickly transmit information.
However, whether it was the Low-Rank, Mid-Rank or High-Rank Black Ink Nests, their consciousnesses were all blank. Simply put, they had consciousnesses but weren’t sentient.
From what Cang just said, the Mother Nest seemed to be different from the other Black Ink Nests.
Cang nodded and said, “It naturally has sentience. In the early years, this Old Master would chat with it when I was bored, but as time passed… it became angry with this Old Master and disliked how noisy I was, so it stopped responding.”
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were horrified that the Mother Nest was actually a Black Ink Nest with its own sentience! This was truly shocking.
Previously, they had speculated that the Black Ink Nest, having its own consciousness, might one day develop its own sentience, thus becoming a true living being.
However, the Black Ink Nests on the Black Ink Battlefield had existed for at least a few hundreds of thousands of years with no precedent of any of them becoming sentient. That led them to believe that the Black Ink Nest could never become fully self-aware.
Now, they knew that the Black Ink Nest was truly capable of independent thought, but only the Mother Nest.
However, on second thought, this was the source of the Black Ink Clan, so it was not strange that it was sentient.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao then asked, “If it has a Will, then why didn’t it attack us when we were trapped in its Black Ink Nest Space?”
As the source of the Black Ink Clan, Mo’s Will was definitely extraordinarily powerful. If it had attacked the trapped Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at that time, they would surely have suffered heavy losses.
After asking the question, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao herself also said, “Is it wary of Senior?”
Cang smiled faintly and said, “In a sense, yes, it is. If it secretly makes some small moves, this Old Master wouldn’t notice; however, once it makes a big move, I will surely notice and make it suffer.”
Previously, when the Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor self-destructed and ruptured the Black Ink Nest Space, it enabled some aura of the great battle inside to leak out. That was when Cang took action to tear open the Black Ink Nest Space.
If Mo took the initiative to attack, it would only have been exposed sooner.
It wanted to silently finish off the Ninth-Order Masters, which was why it did not take the initiative and only had 50 Royal Lords under its command ambush them in the Black Ink Nest Space.
“What cultivation realm is Senior at now? Have you surpassed the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm? Is there a higher realm above the Ninth Order?” An Old Ancestor finally asked one of the questions that everyone really wanted to know.
From the aura revealed by the jade white hand alone, it was inferred that the strike had exceeded the power that a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could exert. If not, there would have been no way to tear the Black Ink Nest Space open from the outside.
The Bright King Cave Heaven Old Ancestor had to detonate his Soul to simply crack open the space slightly.
The Ninth-Order Masters speculated that the person with the jade white hand might have exceeded the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Hearing this, Cang smiled, shook his head, and said, “The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm is not so easily transcended. Strictly speaking, this Old Master’s cultivation realm is still in the Ninth Order, just a little further along than you. As for whether there is a higher realm above the Ninth Order… maybe there is, maybe not. Who would know until one reached that point?”
So, Cang was also a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
This was beyond everyone’s expectations. Even though he said that he was in the Ninth Order but a little further along than the others, that was not enough to explain the immense power of his last strike.
Cang seemed to notice the crowd’s doubts and explained, “The strike you sensed was not done by me alone. This Old Master did it with the help of the restriction here.”
This was the condensation of the power of his other nine old friends. Each of them was as powerful as he was, and when the restriction, which contained their strength, was guided by him, even if Cang could not exert all their might, it was still enough to tear open the Black Ink Nest Space.
“Restriction…”
Cang had more than once mentioned the restriction here. In fact, the Old Ancestors were all aware of this enormous restriction. It was the cage that kept the ocean of darkness sealed up.
It was hard to imagine what would happen if the Mother Nest was not shackled by this restriction.
Setting all other issues aside, there must be numerous Royal Lords here in the Mother Nest. Going on the incident in the Black Ink Nest Space alone, there should be at least 50 Royal Lords here, and who could guarantee that there were not multiple times more Royal Lords?
Once an army of Royal Lords escaped from this restriction, they could have struck any Theatre at will, and the Human Race would not have been able to resist.
Cang had been here, imprisoning Mo for millions of years. All the people in the 3,000 Worlds owed him their thanks for his sacrifice.
“Did Senior set up this restriction?”
Cang laughed and shook his head, “I just played a hand in it. This restriction to seal Mo was actually set up by this Old Master and my nine old friends.”
“Then what happened to the other nine Seniors…”
“They have long since passed away, leaving this Old Master alone to guard this place,” Cang sighed.
“Senior, please have some tea.” Yang Kai offered another cup of freshly brewed tea.
He did not know how many years this Senior had been guarding this place, but from the various inferences he could draw, Yang Kai speculated Cang had been here for at least 2 or 3 million years, perhaps longer.
Over such a vast length of time, the Human Race had lost all knowledge of what had happened here.
It was impossible to imagine the loneliness that Cang had endured, all so the Human Race could live on.
He imprisoned Mo, but had to become a prisoner himself.
Yang Kai admired him for his righteousness and sacrifice.
This alone was enough to explain Cang’s position on the Human Race.
At this point in the conversation, the Old Ancestors’ vigilance against Cang was reduced significantly.
After finishing his cup of tea, Cang smacked his lips again as if he was savouring it.
When Yang Kai saw this, he suddenly put away the tea set in front of him and instead took out a bottle of wine before handing it over, “Senior, it looks like tea is not enough to quench your thirst. How about drinking some wine?”
Normally, people would sip on tea, but Cang drank it in gulps. From his mannerisms, it looked like he was more used to draining bottles of wine and feasting.
When Cang saw the wine battle, his expression lit up and he laughed heartily, “That’s more like it, kid!”
He snatched up the wine bottle, popped open the cork, and drank wildly.
After draining 10 bottles, Cang wiped his mouth and laughed, “I’m an uncouth fellow, but I figured I had to act a bit sage-like in front of you Juniors. Damn it, you’re all killing me here!”
The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were amused to see this kind of reaction.
It turned out that the old man’s stately and wise behaviour was all just a pretence.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao smiled, reached out, and with a flick of her hand, hundreds of bottles and jars of wine flew towards Cang as she said, “Since Senior likes wine, these are some of the spirits this Junior has brewed over the years. Please have them if you don’t mind.”
Cang laughed, guided the wine with his hand, and stacked them beside him.
Another Old Ancestor followed up, “I also have some good wine here, please accept it.”
As he said so, he took out a type of gourd bottle and threw it towards Cang. Although the gourd bottle was small, it was obviously a kind of storage artifact with a vast internal space. This one gourd bottle seemed to contain an endless amount of wine.
Many of the Old Ancestors were connoisseurs of wine themselves, and like Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had home-brewed wine or had wine collections that they could not bear to drink. But now, all of them took them out to offer to Cang.
This was not just to please Cang though, it was more-so them empathising with his plight. He had been alone, standing guard here over the Source Domain for uncountable years. This wine was just a token of their appreciation for all he had done.
“How can you drink wine without meat?” One Old Ancestor laughed, reaching out and taking out a large piece of Monster Beast meat, which had been his treasure for many years. It still looked extremely fresh and dripping with blood. The Monster Qi was also quite compelling, so it was obviously not from any ordinary Monster Beast.
Yang Kai even felt a hint of Dragon Aura from it.
This Monster Beast had Dragon Blood in it. Perhaps it was a Flood Dragon or other Dragon Descendant.
Another Old Ancestor said, “Now we have wine and meat, some fruit is a necessity.”
He reached out a hand, and a plate of crystal-clear Spirit Fruits appeared.
One by one, the Old Ancestors took out their collections which they had accumulated over the millennia, and within a few moments, Cang had all kinds of delicious delicacies set out in front of him. Even in the void, the aroma was overflowing and the atmosphere was joyous.
Cang laughed continuously.
All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from every Great Pass were shocked to see that the place where the Old Ancestors gathered had somehow turned into a banquet. They remained dumbfounded and completely did not understand what had happened.
Yang Kai was also dumbfounded that his simple swapping of tea for alcohol had triggered this change.
Unfortunately for him, everyone here was in a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor, while he was the only Seventh-Order Junior. Thus, it was only expected that he did the hard work of pouring wine for each Old Ancestor, serving fruit plates, and roasting the beast meat.
At this point, Yang Kai was cursing Big Head Mi and Big Head Xiang non-stop in his heart.
After three rounds of wine and food, Cang shouted loudly, “In the Primordial Era, Chaos reigned. When the First Primordial Light was born into this world, the Heavens and Earth opened up and the Universe was born. It was naturally a glorious and magnificent sight. At that time, the Universe was simple, pure, and without many disturbances. Although the environment was extremely harsh, all living creatures’ focus was simply to survive. Even if there was fighting and killing, it was only in furtherance of that one goal, survival.”