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Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The light in this world was bizarre and the scenery was distorted. Yang Kai looked around only to see that nothing in this world was normal.
Li Yuan Wang was sitting on something that resembled a throne, not far ahead. He leaned forward slightly with one hand under his chin, staring at Yang Kai calmly, but with great hostility. Around him, terrifying bursts of energy emerged one after another to form sharp swords that hummed uncontrollably. Sword Intent permeated the air with overpowering murderous intent.
[This is the world within that painting!] Yang Kai immediately understood the situation. The painting really turned out to contain a universe inside! It was not until this moment that he realised he had underestimated Lang Ya Paradise’s Sect Master. The painting was not a random scribble. It was just that he didn’t know how to appreciate it.
Gu Pan stood nearby, feeling a little shocked. It was obvious that she had also realised the peculiarity of the world within the painting. She had always thought that her Honoured Master’s painting skills were terrible. Who could have known that he had such strange methods?
“Boy, what did you say just now? Can you repeat what you said? I didn’t hear you clearly,” Li Yuan Wang stared at Yang Kai with a sharp gaze. Naturally, he heard everything clearly and was simply seeking confirmation. Pretending not to know anything earlier was so that he could mislead Yang Kai in order to drag him into the world within the painting while the other party remained unguarded.
Yang Kai turned to look at Gu Pan. At this time, it was useless for him to explain, so it was better for her to speak instead.
Gu Pan understood and blurted out a shocking statement, “Honoured Master, Elder Shi Zheng has been corrupted by the Black Ink!”
Li Yuan Wang’s hostility froze abruptly. He could distrust Yang Kai, but he was willing to believe the words of his own Disciple; thus, he asked with a grim expression, “Where did you receive this information? Can it be trusted?”
She nodded heavily, “Senior Brother Yang witnessed it himself and came here from the Star Boundary for this very reason.”
“Tell me more!” He turned to look at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai quickly repeated what he told Gu Pan earlier. Li Yuan Wang’s expression changed, becoming more and more solemn.
It was not until Yang Kai finished explaining that Li Yuan Wang finally asked, “You managed to test Zong Yu Quan with those words, so you tried to test this King too?”
Yang Kai nodded, of course, he would never say that the main reason was that the terrible painting had rendered him speechless, so he randomly blurted out that phrase.
“Words have no proof. Open your Small Universe, this King wants to check for himself,” Li Yuan Wang stood up. He subconsciously believed that Yang Kai was not lying; otherwise, Yang Kai would not have come all this way from the Star Boundary for no apparent reason. However, this matter was related to the Black Ink Clan, so it was better to err on the side of caution.
Yang Kai felt helpless. His Small Universe had been checked too frequently recently. Unfortunately, this was the simplest and most effective method to determine whether the other party had been corrupted by the Black Ink.
Yang Kai opened the portal to his Small Universe and Li Yuan Wang’s Divine Sense immediately poured in. A short while later, he looked at Yang Kai in shock, “You sure are bold. I can’t believe you dared to suppress and seal the Black Ink Smoke in your Small Universe.”
Yang Kai laughed wryly, “If not for the World Spring, this Junior would not have dared to act so rashly.”
Li Yuan Wang nodded lightly, but just as he was about to speak, he heard Yang Kai saying, “Senior, it’s your turn now!”
His mouth fell open, “Huh?”
Yang Kai stared at Li Yuan Wang and said, “Senior, please open your Small Universe and allow this Junior to inspect it.”
Li Yuan Wang was so furious that he laughed, “You want to check my Small Universe?”
Yang Kai replied seriously, “That’s the only way to confirm that you have not been corrupted by the Black Ink, Senior!”
“If this King had been corrupted by the Black Ink, you would be dead by now!”
“That’s not true. Who knows? Maybe you’re just trying to misdirect us!” Yang Kai shook his head.
Li Yuan Wang looked at Gu Pan and pointed a finger at his head, “Is there something wrong with your friend’s head?”
Gu Pan replied, “Honoured Master, I would also like to take a look.”
Li Yuan Wang immediately looked heartbroken, “Xiao Pan’er, why are you being like this? Is it true that girls will always side with outsiders when they grow up? Your Honoured Master raised you up with such difficulty. Do you think it was easy?”
Yang Kai stepped forward and quickly interjected, “Senior, this matter is too important to simply brush aside. If you insist on refusing to allow us to check your Small Universe, then this Junior can only assume that you have been corrupted by the Black Ink and you do not dare to let others inspect you. If that is the case, please don’t blame this Junior for disrespecting you!”
Li Yuan Wang looked at Yang Kai with a smile, “What are you going to do if this King has been corrupted?”
“Those who have been corrupted by the Black Ink consider me their comrade now. If you and I begin fighting, then this matter will remain unresolved. Those corrupted by the Black Ink will surely become vigilant as a result. If you have not been corrupted by the Black Ink, then you will not want something like that to happen. Senior, please cooperate!”
Li Yuan Wang couldn’t help feeling a headache. Nevertheless, he had to admit that Yang Kai was right.
Now that Yang Kai had given Zong Yu Quan the impression that they were comrades, the latter would definitely have passed the message to the others who were corrupted. Therefore, they would alert their enemies and create needless trouble if a fight were to break out between them now.
Yang Kai could ignore these matters because he was not a member of Lang Ya Paradise; however, as Lang Ya Paradise’s Sect Master, Li Yuan Wang could not disregard such concerns. Gritting his teeth, he turned to look at the sky with a despairing expression, “Good! Go on! Look!”
While saying so, he opened the portal to his Small Universe.
Yang Kai and Gu Pan’s Divine Sense immediately poured into the portal.
Li Yuan Wang’s body shuddered as he woefully despaired, “The humiliation… To have my own Disciple inspect my Small Universe. Not to mention, there’s a man looking around inside my body! Ah! This King has been defiled!”
Yang Kai leaned close to Gu Pan and whispered in her ear, “Has your Honoured Master always been so dramatic?”
Gu Pan nodded with a complicated expression.
Yang Kai sighed, “It must have been hard for you while growing up!”
“Brat!” Li Yuan Wang roared in anger, “This King can hear you! I’m not deaf!”
“Hahahahaha!” Yang Kai withdrew his Divine Sense and nodded at Li Yuan Wang, “There are no problems, Senior.”
“Hmph!” Li Yuan Wang looked extremely upset. With a wave of his hand, the distorted scenery in their surroundings vanished, and the three of them returned to the room from before. He then looked at Gu Pan and warned her earnestly with a serious expression, “In the future, you should not interact so much with friends like this one. It is best if you cut off your friendship and never communicate with each other again, so as not to be led down the wrong path!”
Yang Kai’s expression darkened, “Senior, I’m not deaf either!”
Li Yuan Wang snorted, “So? Do you want to hit me? Go on then, come and hit me!”
“Honoured Master!” Gu Pan glared at Li Yuan Wang sternly, “Please show some propriety!”
Li Yuan Wang coughed lightly and clasped his hands behind his back with the air of a senior expert. He then spoke in a low voice, “At present, we know that Shi Zheng and Zong Yu Quan have been corrupted by the Black Ink. Shi Zheng is dead, and Zong Yu Quan is overseeing the Star City’s Void Dock. I don’t know how many more of their accomplices are in the Sect… This will be troublesome.”
Yang Kai nodded and said, “There is only one thing that we can be sure of right now, the people who have been corrupted by the Black Ink are unable to sense each other.”
Li Yuan Wang glanced at Yang Kai and nodded in agreement after a moment.
If they could sense each other, then Zong Yu Quan would definitely have sensed that something was wrong with Yang Kai’s identity. In that case, he would not have responded to the probe either. Needless to say, they did not rule out the possibility that he was simply playing along to lull them into a false sense of security, but his reaction had been very natural under those circumstances. He did not look like he was carrying out any nefarious plans.
In this way, it seemed Yang Kai would be able to hide himself and infiltrate the enemy ranks successfully.
Gu Pan looked at Yang Kai and asked, “Senior Brother, do you have a plan?”
Yang Kai pondered in silence for a moment, “The top priority is to invite the rest of the Seniors over. They snuck into Lang Ya Territory with me, but exposing their presence would make things inconvenient, so they remained hidden. If they join us, it will be easier for us to deal with those who have been corrupted by the Black Ink.”
Li Yuan Wang nodded, “I will handle this matter. Give me their location.”
Yang Kai immediately took out a jade slip. With a surge of his Divine Sense, he engraved the location of where Yu Xiang Die and the others were hiding in the jade slip. After that, he handed the jade slip to Li Yuan Wang. With the help of Lang Yan Paradise’s Sect Master, it would be easy for Yu Xiang Die and the others to quietly enter the core of Lang Ya Territory.
“Then, the only thing left to do is to identify those who have been corrupted by the Black Ink.” Yang Kai looked at Li Yuan Wang, “Senior, the Cave Heaven Paradises have some understanding of the Black Ink Clan, so do they not have a method to distinguish between friend and enemy?”
Li Yuan Wang nodded, “There is one!”
Yang Kai raised his brow, “What is it?”
Li Yuan Wang pondered for a short while before he spoke, “The power of the Black Ink Clan is treacherous, but also extremely hidden, so it is very difficult to detect. That is why our Ancestors developed a Spirit Array especially to identify those corrupted by the Black Ink Clan. It is called the Revealing Black Ink Array! All the Cave Heaven Paradises have this inheritance. As long as somebody who was corrupted by the Black Ink stands on the array, their identity will be revealed. That is how we can easily determine who has been infected. But, if we actually do that, we will also need to narrow down our inspection targets. You can’t expect me to summon all the Open Heaven Realm Masters in Lang Ya Paradise and ask them to stand on top of the array for inspection.”
Yang Kai nodded. If they did that, it would be no different from inspecting the Small Universes of others. They would definitely alert their enemy to their movements. At the time, the identities of those who have been corrupted by the Black Ink would be exposed and a huge battle would break out among the Open Heaven Realm Masters in Lang Ya Paradise. The situation would surely go out of control.
“That is why you will still need to infiltrate the enemy and identify who has been corrupted by the Black Ink!” Li Yuan Wang looked at Yang Kai, “In a sense, Lang Ya Paradise is pretty lucky. You immediately figured out Zong Yu Quan’s identity as soon as you arrived, so perhaps you can go from there!”
Yang Kai nodded “That’s what I think too. Hmmm. I will need you to provide me with a list of names, Senior.”
“What list of names?”
“A list of the names of all the people who were on good terms and had close relationships with Shi Zheng and Zong Yu Quan, including both the Sixth-Order and the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters,” Yang Kai said pensively, “I think we don’t need to inspect the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Even if the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters are corrupted by the Black Ink, their value isn’t high. I don’t think they will be targeted.”
“Good!” Li Yuan Wang agreed readily, “I’ll prepare a list of names and have it delivered to you soon. Just stay with Xiao Pan’er for now and act as the situation requires!”
“Senior may rest assured, I will handle this matter diligently.”
“I’ll leave everything to you!” He suddenly cupped his fist at Yang Kai with a solemn expression.
Yang Kai responded, “You are too polite, Senior. I might not be part of a Cave Heaven or Paradise, but I understand the dangers of the Black Ink Clan. I may be helping Lang Ya Paradise, but it is also for my own sake.”
Li Yuan Wang nodded. All of a sudden, he turned around and warned Gu Pan, “Xiao Pan’er, take care of yourself. Don’t let any smelly man take advantage of you. If anybody dares to bully you, tell me immediately. I will beat him up on your behalf!”
While saying so, he glared at Yang Kai threateningly.
Gu Pan stomped her feet, “Honoured Master, just stop talking!”
[Having a Master like him is way too embarrassing!]
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.
Hail Hydra!
Men who can’t bear children tend to treat someone else as such
If u have such an array, why no mandatory inspection when someone enters or exits the sect… you could ezly combine it with the gates…