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Translator: Silavin & Sara
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
A fierce battle broke out in the desert. It was so intense that the desert seemed to be on the verge of crumbling apart. Although it was Yang Xiao and Yang Xue’s first time dealing with Chaos Entities and the Chaos Spirit Clan, they were not flustered at all as they had fought countless battles on numerous Great Territory Battlefields for millennia now.
At first, they had a harder time as they had not figured out the best way to face off against their opponents, but as time passed, they began to take control of the fight.
Pure World Force, Dragon Force, and even ordinary Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities had limited effects when it came to injuring these monsters, but when the two of them worked together to unleash pure Time Principles in the form of Time Dao Strength, they were able to restrain their opponents.
The three Chaos Spirits with physical forms were as powerful as Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords, but the Chaos Entities without physical forms had varying levels of strength. Some were incredibly weak and were instantly exterminated under the rush of Time Principles, while others were able to put up a struggle for a little while.
However, there was a seemingly endless number of Chaos Entities amid this sea of sand made out of Shattered Dao Essence…
Thankfully, the two had decided from the start that they would be targeting the leaders first to win the battle.
One of them had the body of an Ancient Dragon and an abundance of strength, while the other was at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and naturally possessed power that could not be underestimated. Furthermore, they had cultivated the Dao of Time since their youth, and after thousands of years of effort, the Dao Strength they wielded when they joined forces to harness Time Principles far surpassed what was to be expected from someone of their cultivation realm.
They expended a fair amount of effort and paid a big price to kill the three Chaos Spirits, but in the end, all that was left was a sand dune several thousand metres tall that was fleeing deeper into the desert…
While Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were busy battling against the Chaos Spirit Clan, Yang Kai and Liao Zheng were travelling together along the Infinite River. After asking about Xiang Shan and hearing that he did not manage to become a Ninth-Order Master, Yang Kai found it lamentable.
However, this meant that the moment the Black Ink Clansmen came across either him or a seasoned Eighth-Order Master like Xiang Shan, they would immediately target the two of them.
The Black Ink Clan would not want to let either one of them gain an opportunity inside the Universe Furnace which would allow them to become Ninth-Order Masters.
All of a sudden, Liao Zheng asked, “Senior Brother Yang, was a Black Ink Clansman spying on us in secret just now?”
He recalled the way Yang Kai shot off on a chase immediately after they joined forces to kill the Territory Lord earlier. It meant that Yang Kai had noticed something.
Yang Kai nodded, “There was one, but they fled soon after realising that the situation didn’t look good for them. I couldn’t figure out where they went.”
By the time he went over to chase that Black Ink Clansman down, all that was left was a tiny trace of the enemy’s aura. Even Yang Kai had difficulty ascertaining the direction in which the Black Ink Clansman had fled amid the endless Shattered Dao Essence inside the Universe Furnace, so he had to return without achieving his goal.
Had this been the world outside, there was no way Yang Kai would have allowed a Territory Lord to escape from right under his nose when he could use Space Techniques.
Alas, this was a unique environment that greatly increased the difficulty of doing things like searching, tracking, and investigating.
Liao Zheng could not help but feel a sense of belated fear when he heard this. He knew that if Yang Kai had not discovered him by coincidence, then the tables would have turned and he would have been the one to suffer the fate of the Territory Lord instead.
As they travelled, the two of them remained on the lookout for both Open Heaven Pills and other Human Race Masters.
Less than half a day later, Liao Zheng’s expression abruptly changed. He took out a communication bead and checked it before exclaiming happily, “Senior Brother Yang, there’s a Seventh-Order Master up ahead.”
It had to be said that the Supreme Headquarters, or perhaps more specifically Mi Jing Lun, had given a lot of thought to this operation and prepared everything in great detail. Naturally, this was also because the Humans had ample knowledge regarding the Universe Furnace World.
Mi Jing Lun knew that most of the Humans would be separated when they entered, so he had them stick to the Infinite River as they travelled. That way, they would be able to encounter other Humans regardless of which direction they moved in. Inside the Universe Furnace, the Humans had to team up in groups to defend themselves against the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Furthermore, Mi Jing Lun even asked Divine Cauldron Heaven to create communication beads that would allow the Human Race Masters to contact each other and handed these out to all of them.
Previously, Liao Zheng had dedicated a thread of his Divine Sense to the communication bead at all times to see whether there were any communications happening nearby. He also sent out regular messages to the general region but he never got a response.
However, just moments ago, a Seventh-Order Master got in touch with him.
Since their communication beads made contact, it meant they were fairly close to each other.
Yang Kai nodded at once, “Let’s go and look for him. Also, tell whoever it is to not enter the river.” Even though he did not think that others would be as careless as he was, it was still better to give a warning anyway. There were a lot of Chaos Entities inside the Infinite River and for the time being, Yang Kai had not encountered any Chaos Spirits, but it was still dangerous for a Seventh-Order Master to enter the river.
Liao Zheng acknowledged his instructions and complied with a flicker of Divine Sense.
The two continued forward for a little while longer, and sure enough, they saw a figure approaching from the distance, a woman. She had not known that Yang Kai would be here as well when she contacted Liao Zheng, so when she saw him, she was visibly excited as she greeted respectfully, “Disciple Qu Ling Ling, greets Palace Master!”
“You’re a disciple of High Heaven Palace?” Yang Kai remarked in surprise.
Even though he had never met this Qu Ling Ling before, she had to have come from High Heaven Palace since she addressed him as Palace Master.
Similarly, those who addressed him as Dao Lord came from the Void Dao Temple.
High Heaven Palace was now of great renown among the Human Race. It was comparable to any of the Cave Heavens or Paradises. In fact, within the Star Boundary, its fame was actually greater than that of all other Great Forces.
This was because Yang Kai was the Palace Master of High Heaven Palace!
When the World Tree clone at the Star Boundary first exhibited the ability to nurture the World, the Cave Heavens and Paradises set up Dao Temples and split up the territory among them to gather disciples with good aptitude. High Heaven Palace did not stop this as Yang Kai knew that the Star Boundary would be filled with many great talents in the future. High Heaven Palace would not be able to take all of them in, so allowing the Cave Heavens and Paradises to set up Dao Temples of their own would ease High Heaven Palace’s burden and ensure that the talent of these Humans did not go to waste.
Thus, when the Cave Heavens and Paradises started dividing up the Star Boundary among themselves, High Heaven Palace had given its full cooperation.
At the time, the Humans of the Star Boundary were pretty open to the other Cave Heavens and Paradises as they were all the mightiest Great Forces in the 3,000 Worlds. Those who could join them would surely make something of themselves in the future too.
However, as Yang Kai’s prestige continued to rise over the years, his fame soared and High Heaven Palace became the symbol of the Star Boundary. If given a choice, the Humans born in the Star Boundary would choose to join High Heaven Palace.
Qu Ling Ling had turned red from the excitement she felt when she met Yang Kai. Her Palace Master was a legend among the Human Race, and even though she had been a part of High Heaven Palace for many years, so much so that she was now a Seventh-Order Master, she had never met Yang Kai in person before. She had only seen his statue back at High Heaven Palace.
She never thought she would run into him after entering the Universe Furnace.
Liao Zheng was quite amused by this sight. He also possessed peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation and was quite famous among the Wolf Fang Army, but when compared to Yang Kai, he was nothing but a flicker of light against the dazzling bright moon that was Yang Kai.
He could understand what Qu Ling Ling was feeling as he had also felt an instinctive sense of respect and awe when he met Yang Kai earlier. This was due to the seeds his Seniors had sown deep within him from the moment he started cultivating.
“Senior Brother Yang asked you a question, Martial Niece Qu.”
Liao Zheng had to prompt Qu Ling Ling when she failed to respond after quite some time.
That managed to snap Qu Ling Ling out of her reverie. She blushed and quickly replied, “Yes. I am a Disciple of the Hui Gu Divine Monarch, and before that, I was taught by the two Martial Ancestors on Bamboo Peak.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Hui Gu, huh…”
Hui Gu was the subordinate that Yang Kai had taken under his command at Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Prison Star. At the time, Yang Kai had used the strength of the Loyalty List to subdue Hui Gu, recording his name on the seventh page, so he was one of Yang Kai’s earliest subordinates. However, when Yang Kai decided to head off to the Black Ink Battlefield, he gave Hui Gu his freedom.
The moment he stepped onto the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai would be caught up in a constant life-and-death war and he had no idea whether he would make it out alive. If he died, then those whose names were recorded on the Loyalty List would die as well, so before he left, he gave them all their freedom.
However, even when Yang Kai had these subordinates under his command, he never treated them harshly and was willing to form sincere connections with them. Thus, even though he gave them their freedom, none of them left. As Chen Tian Fei said, he did not possess great powers so he would not be benefiting from leaving Void Land. It was better for him to stay in Void Land; after all, thanks to his relationship with Yang Kai, he would never have to worry about cultivation resources.
During the great evacuation, Void Land combined with High Heaven Palace, and the people whose names had been recorded on the Loyalty List became Elders there.
Luan Bai Feng even formed an elite Squad with Su Yan and the others, and they fought hard together in Profound Nether Territory.
After thinking about Hui Gu, Yang Kai could not help but recall many of his old acquaintances. Throughout the past few millennia, he did return to High Heaven Palace from time to time, but he would always arrive in a flurry and leave in a rush, so he could not stop to meet them.
[Who knows how many more familiar faces will disappear by the time this calamity is over…]
As for the two Martial Ancestors that Qu Ling Ling mentioned, they were none other than Yang Kai’s parents. Although his Father and Mother did not possess exceptional power, they longed to join the battlefield and hunt down the enemy too, but Hua Qing Si would never allow that. If anything happened to them because she gave them her permission, she would not be able to face Yang Kai again.
Thus, she gave them a new responsibility to keep them occupied.
Their task was to teach the new talented disciples who had just begun their cultivation journeys and did not possess particularly noteworthy strength yet.
There was more than met the eye to this arrangement, however. These talented disciples would one day become the core pillars of High Heaven Palace, and the fact that Yang Yin Feng and Dong Su Zhu had once mentored them at the beginning of their Martial Dao meant that regardless of how powerful they became in the future, they would still feel gratitude towards the two of them for teaching them in the past.
Yang Kai quietened down his complicated emotions and smiled, “Has Hui Gu reached the Eighth Order?”
Hui Gu used to be called a Heavenly Monarch, but now, Qu Ling Ling addressed her Master as Divine Monarch, which was a step up. In the 3,000 Worlds, there was an unspoken rule that only High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had the right to be called Divine Monarchs!
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