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Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Fortunately, Yang Kai had acted very carefully just now. His Divine Sense had retracted after a brief touch. Although the Black Ink Clansmen around the crystal balls detected what he did, they couldn’t be bothered to care.
“What are those?” Yang Kai asked softly.
D-4’s expression became rather complicated as he lowered his voice and answered, “World Spheres. They contain large amounts of World Force in them.”
“World Force?” Yang Kai raised his brow with a look of astonishment.
It was his first time hearing that World Force could be sealed into a container. Judging from the appearance of the so-called World Spheres, they were clearly refined artifacts.
“Many Open Heaven Realm Masters die in each battle. After these Open Heaven Realm Masters die, their World Forces will disperse. Under normal circumstances, the Black Ink Clansmen can devour and refine the World Force on the spot; however, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing. If they greedily try to devour the World Force then and there, they will most likely encounter various dangers. Besides, the Black Ink Clan is not allowed to devour and refine World Force at will during a battle. There is a group of people on the battlefield who are specially tasked with collecting and sealing World Force inside World Spheres. These World Spheres are considered treasures to the Black Ink Clan.”
Yang Kai’s heart was heavy when he heard those words, but his expression remained unchanged on the surface.
These World Spheres had never been seen in the 3,000 Worlds because they were useless to cultivators. On the other hand, the World Force sealed within these items was very useful to the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai believed that these items were artifacts specially developed by Black Ink Disciples who were proficient in Artifact Refining; after all, the war between the Black Ink Clan and the Humans on the Black Ink Battlefield had been ongoing for countless years. It was highly probable that some bizarre objects had been produced as a result.
During their conversation, they saw a Black Ink Clansman completing a negotiation with the seller. Then, he took out a large handful of pitch-black round objects that resembled copper coins. After handing these coins over, he casually reached out to grab a World Sphere and strode out of the shop.
Yang Kai was astonished, “Does the Black Ink Clan have their own currency?”
D-4 nodded, “Black Ink Coins. They have no value and cannot be used to cultivate, but they are used by the Black Ink Clan for trading. Every Black Ink Coin is produced by a Royal Lord, so they have the mark of that Royal Lord and cannot be replicated.”
Yang Kai exclaimed in wonder, “If they are worthless and cannot be used to cultivate, then what is the significance of the Black Ink Coins?”
Open Heaven Pills were the primary currency in the 3,000 Worlds and any kind of resources could be valued in terms of them. That was because Open Heaven Pills were Spirit Pills used by Open Heaven Realm Masters in their cultivation. Anything that was used in circulation should have its own intrinsic value.
D-4 laughed, “If they are in circulation, then there must be a reason. Let’s put it this way; if a Black Ink Clansman spends a certain amount of Black Ink Coins, then they can enter a Black Ink Nest to cultivate. You should know that Black Ink Nests are the place where those from the Black Ink Clan are born. Hence, entering the Black Ink Nest is like returning to their Mother’s womb. It is very beneficial for the improvement of their cultivation. Furthermore, if they want to advance, the advancement must be done inside a Black Ink Nest!”
Only then did Yang Kai understand. Black Ink Coins might not have any value on their own, but they could be used to purchase things the Black Ink Clan required. That made Black Ink Coins valuable. Just the fact that their advancement had to be done inside a Black Ink Nest was enough to make the entire Black Ink Clan gather these Black Ink Coins.
“Did Master come here to buy a World Sphere?” Yang Kai saw the Black Ink Clansman who brought them here lingering around the World Spheres and constantly haggling with the seller over the price. It was easy to guess the other party’s intentions.
D-4 shrugged nonchalantly, “He probably can’t afford one.”
Their Master was only a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman whose strength was equivalent to a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Even if he had some Black Ink Coins, what he had was not enough to pay for a World Sphere.
As D-4 had been serving under this Black Ink Clansman for a long time, he was familiar with the other party’s finances.
Sure enough, despite his efforts, the Black Ink Clansman eventually shook his head in disappointment and led Yang Kai and the others out of the shop.
Yang Kai secretly laughed to himself, [Looks like my ‘Master’ is poor.]
After leading Yang Kai and the others out of the shop, the Black Ink Clansman walked in a certain direction without stopping.
D-4, who had always been a chatterbox, fell silent all of a sudden. In fact, Yang Kai had the feeling that D-4 was rather nervous about something. It was not just D-4 alone. A-1 and the others also showed the same reactions; therefore, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling curious. He did not understand what was making them so nervous.
It didn’t take long before the Black Ink Clansman led Yang Kai and the others to a gathering place bustling with people.
Even before approaching the area, Yang Kai detected the violent collision of World Forces coming from that direction. There seemed to be several Masters fighting each other. Moreover, the battle was extremely fierce. The explosions of their battle rang out incessantly, and blinding rays of light flashed out from time to time.
[Are fights allowed within this Fierce Wind Estate?] Yang Kai was absolutely bewildered. It had to be said that there were rules at any place where cultivators gathered in the 3,000 Worlds that basically prohibited personal fights. On the contrary, the Black Ink Clan did not seem to prevent such occurrences.
The place of battle was a large basin-like crater in the ground with a radius of several hundreds of metres. Even so, this space seemed relatively small for both parties participating in the fight. That was because the ones fighting in the crater were two Sixth-Order Masters.
In addition, there was a Barrier Array that formed a semi-circular light dome over the crater. The light barrier was extremely powerful so even though both parties participating in battle were attacking furiously, they could not deal any damage to it.
Many large Black Ink Clansmen stood around the crater. Not all the Black Ink Clansmen resembled Humans that were enlarged several times though. Many of them had peculiar and bizarre appearances. Some of them even looked completely like Monster Beasts. That was something Yang Kai had already noticed when he first arrived at the Fierce Wind Estate.
The giant humanoid appearance seemed to be considered mainstream among the Black Ink Clan, followed by some having Monster Beast appearances. There were numerous others, some intense and grotesque, some perfectly ordinary.
The Black Ink Clansmen standing around the crater were showing expressions of great interest, as though they were watching two ferocious beasts fighting each other. They even cheered loudly from time to time.
When Yang Kai and the others arrived, both parties participating in the fight had reached the stage where who lived and who died would be decided. They attacked each other mercilessly as Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques blasted out. The violent forces within the crater ran rampant, and fresh blood splattered across the ground.
Yang Kai looked down for a while and sighed inwardly. He did not know which Cave Heaven or Paradise these two Sixth-Order Masters fighting below were originally from. They might have held lofty positions once, or even knew each other in the past, maybe even fought side-by-side before. In the end though, they had fallen to this state. It was truly a sorrowful sight. Unfortunately, Yang Kai was powerless to stop this. There was nothing he could do to interfere in this spectacle. He could only watch silently.
“Nu Yan, are you here to benefit me again?” A snide voice suddenly rang out from the side.
Yang Kai turned to look in that direction and saw a tall Black Ink Clansman smiling in their direction. There were several Open Heaven Realm Masters surrounding that Black Ink Clansman, probably his Black Ink Disciples.
The Black Ink Clansman who led Yang Kai and the others here coldly snorted at those words, “It’s uncertain who will benefit who. Lang Ya, don’t boast so shamelessly!”
It was only at this moment that Yang Kai realised his ‘Master’ was called ‘Nu Yan’. Although he had been travelling with his ‘Master’ for several days, the Black Ink Clansman had not taken the initiative to reveal his own name. Unfortunately, he was not in the position to ask and D-4 had not told him the name of their Master either.
It would seem that Nu Yan had a grudge against this Black Ink Clansman named Lang Ya; otherwise, they would not have gotten into a dispute as soon as they encountered each other.
“Whether or not my words are shameless boasting, you will know after you try,” Lang Ya remained smiling slightly.
Nu Yan nodded coldly and agreed, “Good.”
As soon as those words came out, Yang Kai distinctly noticed the expressions of D-4 and the others becoming more solemn and anxious. After combining everything he had seen so far, he vaguely formed a guess in his heart.
The winner was soon decided among the two Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting below. Their capabilities were not very different from each other, so they were basically equals in terms of strength. However, there seemed to be a distinct gap in their combat experiences. The one who had a deeper understanding of battle obtained the victory. Even though he paid a price, he succeeded in defeating his opponent.
When the Small Universe collapsed, World Force dispersed into the surroundings. A World Sphere was thrown into the crater at just the right moment. Following the flash of a blinding light, the scattered World Force was absorbed and sealed inside the World Sphere.
The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciple who won was covered in blood and one of his arms had been chopped off at the shoulder, but he endured the pain and cast a Secret Technique to stop the bleeding. When the World Sphere finished absorbing all the dissipating World Force, the Black Ink Disciple reached out his hand to grab the World Sphere. Then, he came over to one of the Black Ink Clansmen standing outside the crater, knelt down on one knee, quickly reporting, “Master, fortunately I did not fail my mission!”
The Black Ink Clansman lowered his head to look at the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciple and nodded lightly, “Very good.”
Reaching out his hand, he placed the World Sphere into his Space Ring and sent the Sixth-Order Black Ink Disciple to rest.
With that, the crater became unoccupied and Lang Ya turned to look at Nu Yan, “Shall we have a warm-up first?”
Nu Yan had no objections and nodded in agreement, “Good!”
Lang Ya asked again, “Just a bout or a deathmatch!?”
Nu Yan’s eyes overflowed with rage and hostility, “Of course, it will be a deathmatch!”
“Bold indeed!” Lang Ya immediately turned to look at the Black Ink Disciples beside him and reached out to point at one of them, “You go!”
The Black Ink Disciple who was picked out by Lang Ya was a fair-faced young man whose expression remained calm as he jumped down into the crater. Judging from the energy fluctuations coming from him, he was probably in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Nu Yan turned to look at A-1 and the others. His gaze flickered between C-3 and D-4 for a moment, then he pointed at D-4, “You go!”
Despite his uneasy expression, D-4 cupped his fist respectfully, “Yes!”
It was impossible for Black Ink Disciples to refuse the commands from their masters. The only thing they could do was show complete obedience.
Yang Kai finally understood why D-4 had been so nervous since earlier. D-4 had clearly known that Nu Yan would bring them to this kind of place and that he might have to participate in a life-or-death battle.
Although Black Ink Disciples were willing to offer up everything to their Masters, no one would be fearless in the face of death.
Both participating parties did not exchange any pleasantries with each other. It could even be said that the opponent cast a Secret Technique to attack as soon as D-4 flew into the crater. An impressive sword light slashed towards him from the front as World Force surged fiercely. In response, D-4 hastily took action to defend himself.
D-4 was in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and so was his opponent. Although their cultivation was one Order lower than the previous battle, the intensity of their battle was not inferior in any way.
The opponent was obviously proficient in the Sword Dao. With the longsword in his hand, he covered the entire sky with a curtain of sword light.
On the other hand, the artifact in D-4’s hands was a pair of daggers. In the first place, he had always been small-sized but agile. His figure floundered under the fierce onslaught from his opponent, and his situation looked very precarious.
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.