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Translator: Silavin & Sara
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
In the past, the Black Ink Clan was annoyed by Yang Kai’s propensity for messing with them at the No-Return Pass, but they were still able to put a stop to it then. However, now that he was a Ninth-Order Master, the Black Ink Clan did not seem to have a way to stop him anymore. This was the reason behind the sense of hopelessness they felt.
Mo Na Ye could not help but regret the fact that he had not been more cautious of Yang Kai in the past. They would not be in this unfortunate predicament now if they had found a way to kill him back then.
However, based on the information they gleaned from the Black Ink Disciples in the past, the Eighth Order was supposed to be Yang Kai’s limit. No one would have thought that the legendary Universe Furnace would suddenly open up just as the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were carefully building up their Armies in preparation for their ultimate showdown, which led to Yang Kai becoming a Ninth-Order Master.
At the end of the day, Mo Na Ye did not have the power to see the future. At the time, he was entirely focused on creating more Royal Lords which meant that the threat of an Eighth-Order Master such as Yang Kai would naturally diminish and he would not have to specifically target this Human menace.
When the Universe Furnace appeared, the Black Ink Clan did attempt to target Yang Kai and put in a lot of effort to do so, but they ended up failing and being the ones who suffered a great loss instead.
“Did he come here just to take a beating?” Mo Yu stared off in the direction Yang Kai had left with his brow tightly knitted as he commented in confusion, “Why is he heading deeper into the Black Ink Battlefield?”
Mo Na Ye could not figure out what Yang Kai was up to either. He considered all of the things Yang Kai had done so far and thought to himself, [That bastard’s always so hard to decipher…]
“Damn it!” All of a sudden, Mo Na Ye whipped his head around and growled, “The Territory Gate!”
Mo Na Ye had been too caught up in the fight with Yang Kai that he did not spare much thought for anything else, but now that things had settled down, it dawned on him that they had a grave problem on their hands.
Yang Kai had used his Space Secret Technique to seal off the Territory Gate!
He had done this before when he returned from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and gathered the remnants of what was left of the Human Race Army outside the No-Return Pass before leading them to charge through the No-Return Pass and into the Barren Territory. Back then, Yang Kai wheeled around after accomplishing his goal and invaded the No-Return Pass once more to save Ji Lao San, who had been captured.
When Yang Kai made his way back from the Barren Territory, he used some Secret Technique to seal up the Territory Gate. At the time, he had only just become an Eighth-Order Master so both his abilities and his mastery over the Dao of Space were nowhere near what they were now, so it had taken him some significant effort.
After rescuing Ji Lao San, Yang Kai brought the former to the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield and used a secret passageway in the Blue Sky Theatre to return to Black Territory.
When that happened, the Black Ink Clan had to put in a lot of effort to reopen the Territory Gate.
Yang Kai had not done anything like that since, until now.
The No-Return Pass was the Black Ink Clan’s main base and largest spawning ground. Many from the Black Ink Clan were being born here at any given moment and they constantly sent out reinforcements to the front lines. The injured Pseudo-Royal Lords would also return to the No-Return Pass to slumber and recover when they were injured.
Now that the Territory Gate was sealed, it meant that the No-Return Pass had been cut off from the rest of the 3,000 Worlds. This greatly threatened the Black Ink Clan Army which was still out fighting in the 3,000 Worlds.
Even though the Black Ink Clan had an exceedingly high number of Masters and could muster up enough force to break open the Territory Gate once more, it would take time for them to do so!
The situation out on the battlefield could change at any moment, so they could not afford to waste any time at all.
In the blink of an eye, all manner of thoughts raced through Mo Na Ye’s mind.
All at once, he realised that this could have been Yang Kai’s main reason for coming over to the No-Return Pass!
Nevertheless, even if he figured this out now, nothing changed. The Territory Gate was still sealed and the Black Ink Clan had to find a way to break it open again as soon as possible.
And so, under the command of Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, the Black Ink Clan began attacking the Territory Gate. Immense force surged as the Black Ink Clan felt as if they had swallowed a fly.
In the void some distance away from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai came to a stop atop a Universe Fragment where he adjusted his breathing and began to tend to his injuries.
As a result of going up against that many Black Ink Clan Masters alone, he had taken a heavy beating. If it had not been for the thick skin and strong flesh he had thanks to his Dragon Form, he would not have been able to hold out as long as he did. Although he injured some of the Pseudo-Royal Lords, he lamented the fact that he could not kill any of them.
Alas, he had not been in a position to do so at the time.
In any case, he accomplished what he set out to accomplish.
The destruction of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and the slaughter of a Territory Lord who could have become a Royal Lord was nothing more than his way of giving the Black Ink Clan a warning. He still had other things to do now.
[The Black Ink Clan would’ve come to a realisation by now, right? The sealed-up Territory Gate would surely give them a headache and keep them occupied for some time. Well, the bigger the headache, the better. It would make it even easier for me to carry out the rest of my plan.]
Several days later, Yang Kai rose to his feet as mighty as a Dragon and as fierce as a Tiger once more.
Even serious physical injuries did not mean much to him now as he could easily recover from them. He glanced in the direction of the No-Return Pass before turning around and heading deep into the Black Ink Battlefield. He had a Space Beacon in hand and was continually pouring his strength into it in search of a response.
One could say that the Black Ink Battlefield was made up of many different Theatres. Still, the expansiveness of the Black Ink Battlefield paled in comparison to the vastness of the Universe. It was like comparing a pond to an ocean.
For countless years, the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan clashed time and time again across the Black Ink Battlefield; however, following the Humans’ defeat, the once-frenetic battlefields became silent with none of the commotion of yore.
The Black Ink Clan claimed the No-Return Pass and made it their base as they fixed their eyes upon the 3,000 Worlds. Of course, they would send teams out to the Black Ink Battlefield to mine for resources, but they would not venture too far as there was plenty to harvest nearby.
The Theatres were situated in the part of the void much closer to the Late Ancient Era battlefield. At this moment, on a still and lifeless piece of land there, two silhouettes were hidden from sight with their auras suppressed. These two wizened-looking men were both Eighth-Order Masters, their aged visages coloured with looks of worry.
After a long bout of silence, the black-robed old man on the left spoke up, “It’s been nearly 700 years and we haven’t heard anything from Junior Brother Yang. Do you think something happened to him?”
Back then, they had agreed with Yang Kai that he would come and collect mined resources from them every 100 years; however, it had been nearly 700 years since the last exchange so it was unsurprising for them to be worried after not having seen Yang Kai for so long.
The other old man who was dressed in a hemp robe replied, “Out on the deathly battlefields, anything is possible.” Although he did not voice his agreement with his companion’s guess, he figured that Yang Kai must have gotten into some sort of unexpected situation; otherwise, he couldn’t avoid making the trip throughout all these years.
“What should we do then? Where can we go?”
They were deep inside the Black Ink Battlefield, and without Yang Kai to assist them, they would never be able to return to the 3,000 Worlds. They could not even get past the No-Return Pass.
“Junior Brother Zhao and the others sent messages asking about this too. They think we should use our fallback plan.”
“You mean, head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?” The black-robed old man frowned.
The hemp-robed old man nodded and said, “Junior Brother Yang also said that it was our only means of escape as a last resort.”
“The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction is quite some distance away. It would take at least two or three decades for our group to get there. We are Eighth-Order Masters so it would be fine for us, but considering how dangerous the journey would be, the little ones who are in the Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order might not be able to make it. We would end up losing a lot of them.”
“That’s indeed a problem, which is why Junior Brother Zhao didn’t suggest we leave for the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction right away. Although 700 years is not a short time, it’s not all that long for those in the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm. Perhaps Junior Brother Yang is being held up by something he encountered. It’s been so many years and the Black Ink Clan hasn’t detected us yet, so it’s still safe here for now.”
“So, shall we continue waiting?”
“That’s all we can do now.”
They fell silent for a while before the black-robed old man remarked, “I wonder what’s happening with the war in the 3,000 Worlds.”
“Hopefully, everything is going well.”
Silence befell them yet again.
They were all alone out here and could not get any news about the situation back in the 3,000 Worlds. It was incredibly hard to get by without knowing how the war was going.
That being said, they knew what their mission was. Someone had to do it, even though not many people were aware of the sacrifices they made.
Time continued trickling by. Several days later, the hemp-robed old man suddenly opened his eyes and gasped. He flipped his hand over and a round bead appeared. It was a Space Beacon.
When he focused on the Space Beacon, he found that there was something unusual happening. A mysterious energy was pulsing from it.
“That’s…” The hemp-robed old man looked pleasantly surprised.
Something like this had happened many times before. Each time the Space Beacon reacted this way, it meant that Yang Kai was on his way over. The old man kept this Space Beacon on him at all times as he waited and waited. Now, what he was waiting for was finally happening.
The black-robed old man was startled as well. He gazed at the Space Beacon with a hopeful, expectant expression.
The Space Beacon began reacting even more noticeably until at one point, the hemp-robed old man could sense that it had connected with something a great distance away.
In the very next moment, the Void in front of them rippled and a figure solidified in front of them.
[He’s here at last!] The two Eighth-Order Masters exhaled in relief and immediately transmitted the message out to everyone else.
“Junior Brother Yang! You’re finally… Huh?” The hemp-robed old man trailed off as he eyed Yang Kai in confusion. He had a look of complete shock as he exclaimed, “You’re… a Ninth-Order Master now?”
The black-robed old man beside him also noticed that something was different, but as Yang Kai did not exhibit his power clearly, the former could not be certain about it.
“Greetings, Senior Brothers. I’ve kept you waiting,” Yang Kai greeted them with a bow.
“You broke through to the Ninth Order?” The hemp-robed old man pressed again.
Yang Kai nodded, “You have good eyes, Senior Brother. I am indeed a Ninth-Order Master now!”
The two Eighth-Order Masters could not help but exchange looks. They felt both stunned and glad as they cheered, “Good! Very good!”
While they were busy with their conversation, the Space around them quivered as more figures began popping up. These were the other Eighth-Order Masters who were gathering here after receiving the message.
The moment they laid eyes on Yang Kai, the one they spent several centuries waiting for, they could not resist exhaling in relief. If Yang Kai did not show up soon, they would have to follow his instructions and head towards the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to convene with the Suppressing Black Ink Army over there. However, if they chose to make that journey, it would be a long and perilous one, with many of them falling along the way. Thus, it was an extremely dangerous path of retreat that had to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
But now that Yang Kai was here, they would not need to head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
When these older, more experienced Eighth-Order Masters heard the hemp-robed old man saying that Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, they were just as shocked and felt a tinge of suspicion that the old man had made a mistake. However, upon closer inspection, they realised that Yang Kai was indeed a Ninth-Order Master. Though they were no longer suspicious, they could not figure out how Yang Kai managed to do it.
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.