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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Yang Kai wasn’t surprised at the fact that this Black Ink Clan Army could quickly find out what was going on and even intercept him here. In fact, he had already expected it.
Compared to the Humans, the transmission of information between the Black Ink Clansmen was far quicker.
In Zha Gu’s territory, Yang Kai learned about some of the Black Ink Nest’s secrets. With the Black Ink Nests of different sizes as the foundation, a colossal information network could be built. Through the information network, everything that happened in the Black Ink Clan’s territory could spread around quickly.
Since Mu Guang had found out about what had happened in the Sealed World, the Royal Lord could make use of the Black Ink Nests and spread the word across the entire Yin-Yang Theatre, allowing the Black Ink Clan to promptly respond.
Certainly, given Yang Kai’s current strength, he wouldn’t have any regard for a mere Feudal Lords’ force. If he wanted, he could easily kill these mixed soldiers with only a few Feudal Lords in charge.
However, he didn’t have the intention of fighting with them. Mu Guang’s aura had locked onto him from afar, so he wouldn’t dare to waste any time or energy. If possible, he wouldn’t want to battle against any Black Ink Clansmen so that he would have a better chance of fleeing.
Hence, before the private force could even approach him, he manipulated Space Principles and disappeared.
Several hundred Black Ink Clansmen were left dumbfounded.
However, this was just the beginning. In the following half a day, Yang Kai would come across a number of private forces trying to block his path. Nevertheless, he was determined not to deal with those Black Ink Clansmen, and since he was bent on fleeing, those Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t do anything to him either.
They couldn’t capture him unless they could cordon off a stretch of space and seal it. Unfortunately for them, the void was expansive, so even if they knew where he was heading, they couldn’t set up a trap in advance.
It was a thrilling escape.
In fact, Yang Kai was familiar with this kind of escape as, throughout the years, he had been in this exact situation a number of times. He managed to get away every time with the help of his mastery of Space Principles.
He couldn’t remember when the last time such an incident took place, but every time he ran into this kind of situation, he was facing an opponent he couldn’t hope to defeat.
As time passed, all the Black Ink Clansmen in Mu Guang’s territory seemed to have been mobilised. After experiencing several setbacks, the Black Ink Clansmen began using a different tactic. Instead of gathering together, they separated into small teams and scattered around the void as they awaited Yang Kai’s appearance.
That way, regardless of how reluctant Yang Kai was, he inevitably had to fight at least some of the Black Ink Clansman he happened to bump into. After all, when manipulating Space Principles, he couldn’t be certain whether there would be a Black Ink Clansman waiting for him in his next location.
Fortunately, he never came across a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, and most of his enemies were weak, so it took him little effort to kill them all.
This kind of delay wouldn’t ordinarily pose a problem, but it was lethal at this moment as he was being pursued by a Royal Lord.
As time passed, he could feel that Mu Guang was getting closer. Although he had no idea about Mu Guang’s exact location, Yang Kai realised that the aura that had locked onto him became heavier. He felt a kind of pressure, as though he was held down by something, making it more difficult to manipulate Space Principles. The entire Void felt viscous to him.
Despite his calm expression, Yang Kai felt helpless in his heart.
As expected, he was unable to escape from a being like a Royal Lord. The huge gap between their powers couldn’t be made up for with Space Principles alone.
While fleeing, he turned his hand around as an ancient coin appeared in his palm.
This coin was given to him by the little girl who wandered around the Marketplace in Yin-Yang Pass all the time. According to her, she acquired this thing from the Old Ancestor and it might save his life if he cast it out at the critical moment.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t expect the little girl, who knew nothing but how to eat all the time, to help him in any way; however, this thing came from the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass, so it must have some special power.
As the Old Ancestor, she must be fully aware of everything that was going on in Yin-Yang Pass. Yang Kai didn’t think a little girl, who had never cultivated before, could steal anything from the Old Ancestor.
In other words, the Old Ancestor must be aware that the little girl had given this ancient coin to him. Perhaps she had even instructed the little girl to do so.
Why would the Old Ancestor give him this ancient coin, though? After giving it a thought, Yang Kai reckoned this coin was some kind of life-saving tool; after all, he was asked to come to this place by those from Yin-Yang Pass. Moreover, he could be considered a half-disciple of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, so it was expected that the Old Ancestor in Yin-Yang Pass would give him something to protect himself.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t explain why the Old Ancestor had never shown up even though he had been staying in Yin-Yang Pass for quite some time. The fact that the Black Ink Clan were building a Warship was a critical matter, so it was impossible that the Old Ancestor wasn’t concerned about it. The reason she never showed up was that she must have made a special arrangement.
This ancient coin could very well be the Old Ancestor’s arrangement.
Yang Kai had inspected this ancient coin before, but couldn’t find out the secrets inside it.
Given the situation he was in, he could only pin his hope on this ancient coin. He secretly prayed that this thing had better be useful; otherwise, he and 300 Artifact Refiners would perish today.
The aura behind him was getting closer and Yang Kai could feel the grand Will that was unique to Royal Lords. It wasn’t the first time he sensed this kind of Will. He had the same experience in the Black Prison and outside of Blue Sky Pass.
However, those experiences were not as profound as what he was going through at this moment.
After all, the Royal Lord in the Black Prison had been sealed off since ancient times, so she was already weak and frail. On the other hand, the one outside of Blue Sky Pass was badly injured and not really paying much attention to him.
However, Mu Guang, who was behind him, was at full strength and was completely focused on him, which was different from the two Royal Lords he had encountered before.
The pressure coming from this Will alone had almost devastated him. Yang Kai felt as if he was carrying a huge mountain on his back, which made it extremely difficult for him to take even a step forward and he could no longer manipulate Space Principles with ease.
After fleeing with difficulty for a bit, he suddenly froze on the spot and became immovable.
First of all, he had consumed too much energy by madly manipulating Space Principles for a prolonged time. Secondly, a pressure had engulfed the entire Void and cordoned off the space around him.
He didn’t even have the strength to turn around.
In the void, a figure slowly stepped out of the darkness.
Lifting his gaze, Yang Kai saw that there was an elegant-looking, curvy woman standing in the void in front of him. The woman was in an imperial dress, which was a form of clothing commonly worn by Humans. The imperial dress perfectly outlined her hourglass figure.
Yang Kai almost thought that he was having a hallucination.
Upon closer look though, he realised that the person indeed looked perfectly Human; however, her grand Will, indescribably authoritative demeanour, and overwhelming Black Ink Strength, suggested that she wasn’t just any Black Ink Clansman. She was the Royal Lord!
Mu Guang!
Yang Kai had heard of the Royal Lord’s name on several occasions from the mouths of the Humans in Yin-Yang Pass as well as the Black Ink Clansmen; however, it wasn’t until this moment that he realised this was what Mu Guang looked like.
It was the first time he came across a Black Ink Clansman that looked entirely Human. Most of the Black Ink Clansmen were burly, and came in various different forms. Yang Kai had been living in the Black Ink Clan’s territory for quite a long time, and he had seen all sorts of Black Ink Clansmen, but he had never seen someone like her before.
This was an eye-opener.
If Mu Guang never revealed her Black Ink Strength, no one would have thought that she was a Black Ink Clansman.
Although the woman was stepping forward in a leisurely manner, her expression was as cold as a frigid winter’s day and she spoke dispassionately, “Despite being weak, you’re pretty audacious.”
Apparently, she had heard from Mei Qiong about what happened in the Sealed World. She knew that not only had all the Artifact Refiners gone missing at the same time, but the Warship that was almost completed had also been destroyed.
It could be said that her centuries-long plan, which could potentially change the status quo and secure the Black Ink Clan’s ultimate victory, was ruined right before it succeeded.
It was expected that she wasn’t pleased with what had happened.
Yang Kai’s figure was stiff as he remained silent. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to retort, but rather that he didn’t even have the strength to speak in front of Mu Guang.
Mu Guang stopped in a place that was just 100 metres away from Yang Kai and asked grimly, “Where is Nie An?”
To her, Nie An was key to the success of her plan. They could build a new Warship and nurture a new batch of Artifact Refiners, but there was only one Nie An. Without this Great Grandmaster, they would never be able to construct a functional Warship.
It had to be noted that the Black Ink Clansmen had been waiting for countless years before they finally had a Great Grandmaster like Nie An. That was the result they had achieved with the Royal Lord’s full support; otherwise, Nie An couldn’t have safely ascended to the Eighth Order on his own, let alone become a Great Grandmaster.
As she spoke, Mu Guang slightly retracted her pressure.
Yang Kai was finally able to speak; still, his voice was hoarse, as though he hadn’t drunk anything for several days, “Nie An is dead!”
“Impudence!” Mu Guang roared. Impacted by the invisible pressure, Yang Kai sprayed out a mouthful of blood, and he instantly looked dispirited.
Her eyes were burning with fury as she glowered at Yang Kai, “I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me where Nie An is, and I’ll spare your life!”
Yang Kai guffawed, “Nie An’s natural limit was only the Sixth Order, so he couldn’t bear his Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation. Why would I lie to you about him being dead? Moreover, he exploded right in front of me. What? Are you going to kill me to avenge his death?”
Mu Guang was enraged, but she soon thought of something and calmed herself down. She sneered, “You want to die? It won’t be so easy. I heard that you’re pretty talented in Artifact Refining. With proper training, you might be the next Nie An.”
After she finished speaking, her eyes filled with an endless darkness all of a sudden.
Yang Kai felt a force trying to break into his Small Universe, but it soon dissipated. Upon coming to his senses, he exclaimed, “Royal Lord Secret Technique!”
When he was in the Black Prison back then, some of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who fought alongside him were struck by the Royal Lord’s Secret Technique and instantly became Black Ink Disciples. Yang Kai still vividly recalled the incident, and coupled with his own experience, he came to realise what the woman before his eyes had done just now.
Yo
World Tree! Do your thing!