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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“I was… the one who helped you back then,” the ferocity on Zha Gu’s face faded. Faced with imminent death, he pleaded with the other man.
Yang Kai looked around and nodded, “I can’t deny the fact that you’d helped me before, but how did your Black Ink Nest come about? How did you gather enough resources to hatch this Black Ink Nest? Do you really think I have no idea? All you have now is because of me, and it’s only apt that I am compensated for my work.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he channelled more World Force into the Azure Dragon Spear and Zha Gu exploded, leaving no traces behind.
There was no denying that they had gotten along pretty well, and Yang Kai had earned a lot of Black Ink Coin with his help and made himself known as an expert in Artifact Refining; however, he was pretending to be a Black Ink Disciple at that time, and Zha Gu was just making use of him. They were fundamentally on different sides, so Yang Kai had no qualms about killing him.
A Feudal Lord was still a pretty significant force on the battlefield, so if Yang Kai let him off on this day, some Humans might be killed by him in the future.
Zha Gu was still in the early stage of building his Fief, so he was the only Feudal Lord here and the rest of them were insignificant. There weren’t even that many High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
As Zha Gu was dead, these Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t possibly ward off Yang Kai. Despite their resistance, they were all killed within a cup of tea’s worth of time.
By the time Yang Kai was gone, no one was alive in the Fief.
Yang Kai initially wanted to destroy all the Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests under Hei Yuan’s wings, but what he saw in Zha Gu’s Fief made him realise that it wasn’t necessary to do so.
In fact, after a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all the sub-nests it spawned would be affected.
That explained why, after he destroyed Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, the Black Ink Clan became slower in their response. After Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, not only was the information network in Hei Yuan’s territory disabled, but all the sub-nests had also withered. The Feudal Lords who had their own Fiefs must be flustered now, so they wouldn’t be in the mood to search for Yang Kai despite Hei Yuan’s order.
To play it safe, Yang Kai decided to head to another Feudal Lord’s Fief to see it for himself.
Just like what happened in Zha Gu’s Fief, the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was withering, and its Black Ink Strength was leaking out. It would die in no time.
Finally, Yang Kai could set his mind at ease.
It never crossed his mind that destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest would bring about such a pleasant surprise. It seemed that there were pros and cons when it came to the special connection between the Black Ink Nests.
Inferring from this, if the Black Ink Nest in the Royal City was destroyed, all the Territory Lords’ Black Ink Nests would wither, which would lead to the decline and eventual fall of all the Black Ink Nests in Mu Guang’s territory.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but have the urge to head back to the Royal City and shatter the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Nevertheless, he soon gave up on the idea. This couldn’t be helped as, given his current strength, he could only make a scene in a Territory Lord’s territory as most of the Black Ink Clansmen had gone to the battlefield. However, if he barged into the Royal City, it would be akin to stepping right into the enemies’ trap; he would be doomed; after all, there was more than one Territory Lord guarding the Royal City.
At the thought of the Royal City, Yang Kai couldn’t help but recall the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass. With the help of the ancient coin, a Void Corridor was formed and the Old Ancestor arrived and saved him before getting into a fight with Mu Guang. A few days had passed, so he wondered if there was any outcome now.
Although the Old Ancestor was powerful, the battle took place near the Royal City, after all, so she might not gain the upper hand since she was on her own. Nevertheless, he wasn’t in any position to worry about her. Given his current power, he was unable to intervene in the fight between the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor. Perhaps Eighth-Order Masters could assist the Old Ancestor in this situation, but a Seventh-Order Master like him was still too weak.
Yin-Yang Pass’ Army and the Black Ink Clan’s main force must be clashing at the frontline as well. Yang Kai had no idea what was going on over there, but judging from the collective powers between the two Races, the Human Army would have to return to the Inner Sanctum soon. That was because there was a huge gap between the numbers on both sides. Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan did not care about casualties. On the other hand, the life of every Human soldier was valuable. The Humans were in a disadvantageous position by fighting against the Black Ink Clan in the void. They could significantly reduce casualties by staying near Yin-Yang Pass.
The reason the Army had left Yin-Yang Pass this time was that they had to facilitate Yang Kai’s return; however, he was unable to circumvent the Black Ink Clan and join up with those from Yin-Yang Pass back then as he was in a horrible state. It was destined that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass wouldn’t achieve their goal.
Therefore, Yang Kai speculated that the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass should have retreated by now. Presently, Yin-Yang Pass must be surrounded by the Black Ink Clan. The two Races had gotten into a battle where one side would defend while the other side would attack. It was the pattern of battle they were most familiar with.
Over the years, this kind of battle had taken place at every Great Pass numerous times. Be it the Humans or the Black Ink Clan, they were already familiar with how this would go.
If that was indeed the case, the situation would be in Yang Kai’s favour.
Since the Black Ink Clan’s Army had gathered outside of Yin-Yang Pass, there wouldn’t be any blockades in front of him. He could stealthily head to the battlefield and wait for a chance to return to the Inner Sanctum during the fighting.
He had done the same thing when he and Feng Ying saved several hundred Black Ink Disciples and brought them back to Blue Sky Pass previously.
However, Yang Kai didn’t intend to do that.
He had a taste of successfully destroying Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Nest, which resulted in the fall of all its sub-nests. As this was a rare opportunity, Yang Kai naturally didn’t want to miss it as he reckoned that it wouldn’t come again.
Therefore, he left Hei Yuan’s territory several days later and headed towards another Territory Lord’s territory.
He had no idea whose territory it was, nor did he know where that Territory Lord’s home territory was. Regardless, it didn’t matter to him. He directly headed to the Feudal Lord’s Fief nearest to him and went on a killing spree.
In just half a day, most of the Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief were either dead or dying. Some of the Black Ink Clansmen seized the chance to flee from the place, but Yang Kai didn’t have the intention of pursuing them.
To him, destroying the Black Ink Clan’s foundation was the most important objective, while killing stray Black Ink Clansmen came second. Moreover, the most powerful Black Ink Clansmen in this Fief had followed their Feudal Lord and left for the battlefield, so the ones who stayed back were undoubtedly weak.
Yang Kai then directly barged into the Black Ink Nest in this place.
This was a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, and with the prior experience of visiting Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai soon realised that the inner structures of all Black Ink Nests were more or less the same.
There were still some Black Ink Clansmen inside the Black Ink Nest, but they appeared oblivious to what had happened outside. The moment they saw a Human entering this place, they were puzzled.
They were all killed by Yang Kai before they realized what was happening.
A moment later, Yang Kai stood inside an empty chamber and opened the portal of his Small Universe. His Word Force was instantly drawn by a powerful force and absorbed by the Black Ink Nest.
With his World Force serving as a bridge, he was soon connected to the consciousness of this Black Ink Nest.
He had done the same thing in Zha Gu’s Black Ink Nest back then, so he was familiar with the process.
The next instant, Yang Kai found himself in a special space where a lot of consciousnesses wandered around.
This was the secret behind the information network that the Black Ink Clan had built using the Black Ink Nests.
These Black Ink Clansmen had entered this place through the consciousnesses of the Feudal Lords’ Black Ink Nests. They could then exchange all sorts of information here and find out what was going on in the other Feudal Lords’ Fiefs.
The arrival of a new consciousness like Yang Kai’s didn’t catch the attention of the Black Ink Clansmen; after all, there would be unfamiliar consciousnesses entering the place from time to time, so they were used to it.
After listening to them for a while, Yang Kai realised that he couldn’t gather any useful information. He wanted to find out what was going on at the front lines through the conversations between these consciousnesses, but the latest information from the battlefield was apparently not available to these Black Ink Clansmen who stayed behind.
Just when he was ready to carry out his plan, a message was sent from a consciousness. The message wasn’t encrypted in any way, so the other consciousnesses could easily read it.
Yang Kai soon found out what the message was about.
“The Royal Lord is still in a fight with that Human. I wonder if she can kill her.”
Another consciousness replied, “That Human is the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass. Although the Royal Lord is powerful, it’s not easy for her to kill that Human. However, I heard that several Territory Lords have gone over to help. With their assistance, I believe that Human will be defeated.”
“No. From the looks of it, the Royal Lord is in a disadvantageous situation. Although she has the help of several Territory Lords, both parties are only equally matched now.”
The moment the message was sent, the other consciousnesses were evidently shocked. One of the consciousnesses asked, “How could it be that the Royal Lord is at a disadvantage? They’ve fought with each other countless times in the past, and they’ve always been equally matched. Neither side could defeat the other. What happened this time?”
The consciousness from earlier replied, “I have no idea, but for some reason, they arrived somewhere near our Fief and continued fighting. My Feudal Lord was the one who saw it. Fortunately, they soon left; otherwise, our Fief would’ve been destroyed. We wouldn’t be able to defend against the fallout from their battle.”
“Could it be that the Royal Lord hasn’t recovered?”
“That’s possible.”
“However, the Royal Lord has the help of some Territory Lords now, so the Human Old Ancestor certainly won’t get the upper hand.”
…..
The consciousnesses continued chatting and soon changed the topic.
Although Yang Kai hadn’t gathered a lot of information, he had at least found out that the Old Ancestor was fine. On the other hand, he was surprised at the fact that the Royal Lord had fallen into a disadvantageous position. It never crossed his mind that the seemingly unreliable Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass would be so powerful, able to battle against the Royal Lord and several Territory Lords on her own.
He wondered what the outcome of the battle would be.
Nevertheless, he didn’t have the right to interfere in this matter, and he had bigger fish to fry.
He then focused on sensing his surroundings.
According to Zha Gu, this special space was actually a platform linked to the consciousness of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The consciousnesses of the sub-nests could easily connect to it, which allowed the Feudal Lords to communicate with one another.
In that case, Yang Kai reckoned that he could make use of it and find out the whereabouts of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Yang Kai, cryptographer
Thanks for the chapter