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Translator: Silavin & Sara
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
All of a sudden, Mo Yu spoke up, “He stopped.”
Mo Na Ye looked over and saw that Yang Kai had indeed come to a stop just barely within his view. Even though Yang Kai did not say anything, it looked as if he was silently taunting them and daring them to come after him…
Mo Na Ye’s eyes dimmed and he was so infuriated that he nearly passed out.
The Space-Time River was churning with ferocious waves and it was clear that the Pseudo-Royal Lord stuck inside it was struggling to get out; however, considering the power Yang Kai had right now, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was not going to succeed when he was the only one Yang Kai had to suppress.
“Not coming after me, huh…” Yang Kai eyed the Black Ink Clan with flashing eyes. [They’re all so cautious. I guess they’re scared that I’ll turn around and attack them again.]
[In that case…]
A thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind and his silhouette rippled as he dashed into the Space-Time River. All at once, the already choppy water of the Space-Time River began swirling even more fiercely.
Mo Na Ye’s expression changed as he viewed this from a distance. He nearly rushed over, but before he could do anything, the churning river quietened down as Yang Kai reappeared.
He was holding onto the Pseudo-Royal Lord, who was barely breathing and whose vitality was weak.
The Pseudo-Royal had returned to the No-Return Pass to recuperate inside the Black Ink Nest after being heavily injured during a fight with the Eighth-Order Masters out on the battlefield.
He had not fully recovered yet and was not at the peak of his strength; furthermore, he had been trapped inside the Space-Time River, so it took Yang Kai no effort to subdue him.
With the Pseudo-Royal Lord in hand, Yang Kai gazed coldly at the powerful Masters from the Black Ink Clan who stood in a group some distance away from him and his grip began tightening.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord sensed what was happening and tried to struggle with the last of his strength, but it was to no avail. He could only look up at Mo Na Ye and the others as he cried out, “Save…”
Before he could finish, he burst into a cloud of blood as Black Ink Strength exploded and turned into a huge Black Ink Cloud.
Yang Kai scoffed and flicked his hand a few times.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords opposite him were beside themselves with rage while Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu were livid as well. They could not stay calm in the face of Yang Kai’s repeated taunts, but they could not do anything about it either.
The previous fight proved just how powerful Yang Kai was. Even with the combined strength of two Royal Lords and several dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords, they failed to kill him and could only chase him off. Even if they started a fight now, it was unlikely that they would benefit from it.
It could be said that Yang Kai, who was now a Ninth-Order Master and a Divine Dragon at the same time, was entirely capable of freely moving about among the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai did not leave right away after killing the Pseudo-Royal Lord though. Instead, he eyed Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu with interest and asked, “Between you two, who’s in charge now?”
Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu stayed silent. Their gazes were dark and they appeared to be uninterested in entertaining Yang Kai.
Yang Kai snorted, “The feud between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan runs deeper than the ocean of blood that has been spilt. The relationship between us is absolutely irreconcilable and we will forever be at each other’s throats trying to kill each other. Have the Humans not lost countless lives to your Black Ink Clan as well? All I did was kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord, so why are you reacting in this manner? What’s wrong? Are you just sore losers?”
[Just one!? Eight Pseudo-Royal Lords died at your hands when you showed up at E-5 Territory!] The thought of this made Mo Na Ye’s blood boil, [You would’ve killed the rest of them there if it had not been for the fact that they fled the moment they realised the situation didn’t look good for them.]
Mo Na Ye took a deep breath to quell his anger before gritting his teeth and spitting out, “What do you want? Just spit it out.”
At last, he deduced from Yang Kai’s game of cat and mouse that the latter must want something from them, so instead of wasting time staring each other down, Mo Na Ye figured it was better to just address things head-on.
Yang Kai looked at him with a startled expression, “Are you the one in control of the Black Ink Clan now? Did you manage to overthrow Mo Yu’s rule?”
He turned to Mo Yu, “You’re the Senior Royal Lord, you know? Even if Mo Na Ye has become a Royal Lord, he’s still your Junior. How can you let someone younger climb up on your head and order you around? That’s not the way things should be.”
Mo Yu was unphased as Yang Kai’s words meant nothing to him.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye’s expression was cold as he growled, “Don’t bother trying to instigate conflict. We don’t scheme and stab each other in the back the way you Humans do!”
Yang Kai pursed his lips as he was merely giving it a try. It would be great if he successfully drove a wedge between the two Royal Lords, but either way, he would not be losing anything by trying.
Nevertheless, it did not seem to be effective.
Yang Kai shrugged and said, “Since you’re in charge, it’s all good to me. We’re well-acquainted with each other and have never done each other wrong. I came here today to do business with the Black Ink Clan.”
Mo Na Ye’s brow twitched. Just the word ‘business’ was enough to give him a headache as he recalled what it had been like when Yang Kai ripped him off last time.
Thus, when he heard what Yang Kai said, he had a bad feeling and sorely wished he could sew Yang Kai’s mouth shut…
He did not respond and Yang Kai did not care as he continued, “I want to retrieve something from the No-Return Pass, so I hope you all know what’s good for you and cooperate with me.”
Mo Na Ye’s eyelids twitched even harder, “What is it?”
Yang Kai pointed with his finger.
Mo Na Ye turned to see what he was pointing at and saw a few towering Black Ink Nests. These were all Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests save for one High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
“A Black Ink Nest?” Mo Na Ye queried in confusion.
He could not figure it out. Why would Yang Kai want a Black Ink Nest?
Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, but they were fairly useless to the Humans. Back then, the Humans did grab a few Black Ink Nests to study, and during the first crusade, they also used the Black Ink Nests’ communicative functions to make arrangements for their separated Armies.
However, ever since then, the Humans stopped having any ideas about the Black Ink Nests.
“You misunderstand. Why would I want a Black Ink Nest?” Yang Kai pointed once more, “I want what’s beneath those Black Ink Nests.”
Mo Na Ye was startled but he soon realised what Yang Kai meant and could not resist snorting, “You’re quite greedy, aren’t you?!”
The only thing beneath the Black Ink Nests was a Great Pass.
Back then, when the Human Race’s Crusade Force had been defeated outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, they had been forced to retreat to the No-Return Pass; however, during that time, some of the Great Passes remained behind to delay the enemy. They suffered heavy casualties and most of the Great Passes were also either badly damaged or destroyed.
In the end, only some 70 to 80 Great Passes gathered back at the No-Return Pass. Following that, several more had been destroyed when the Black Ink Clan invaded the No-Return Pass. The only Great Passes remaining here at the No-Return Pass numbered approximately half of what the Humans had at their peak, and most were heavily damaged.
The majestic Great Passes were legacies from the Human Race’s Ancestors. It was the heritage that was collected and passed down from generation to generation. These Great Passes greatly contributed to the Humans’ ability to resist the Black Ink Clan across the many Theatres of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Every Great Pass was a massive Mobile Palace Artifact that could be used for both offence and defence.
The Suppressing Black Ink Fortress had been created to mimic these Great Passes, but it was far smaller in comparison. It was like comparing a child to an adult.
However, due to the overwhelmingly large size of these Great Passes, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had no way of taking them with them when they retreated; thus, when the Humans lost the No-Return Pass, the Great Passes had been left behind.
Even though the Black Ink Clan took over the No-Return Pass, they could not use these Great Passes, so they simply used them as platforms to plant their Black Ink Nests.
So many years had passed since then and the Humans had never considered reclaiming these Great Passes as they could not do so. Mo Na Ye never expected Yang Kai to make this request now.
The Black Ink Clan could not do anything with these Great Passes because the Humans had taken all the Cores with them when they evacuated. Even the arrays and artifacts built into the Great Passes had been destroyed. They left nothing but empty shells for the Black Ink Clan.
Thus, Mo Na Ye was puzzled by Yang Kai’s request for a Great Pass. It was no big deal to give one to Yang Kai, but since they were enemies, he was not going to agree to it.
Mo Na Ye was about to reject the request when he heard Yang Kai adding airily, “I only wish to take a Great Pass. I’ll let you move your Black Ink Nests away first. All you have to do is agree to my request, but if you refuse… Well, I have nothing much to do anyway. I guess I’ll just drop by for a visit every now and then.”
Mo Na Ye had to choke down what he was about to say. No words could describe the bitter taste in his mouth right now.
If Yang Kai had made this request two months ago when he first showed up, there was no way Mo Na Ye would have agreed; however, the fight two months ago allowed the Black Ink Clan to witness Yang Kai’s might. Furthermore, his sneak attack earlier resulted in the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest and a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
How could they afford to bear such losses if this situation happened a few more times? The Pseudo-Royal Lords did have the ability to sense danger approaching, but the Black Ink Nests were inanimate objects. If Yang Kai focused on attacking the Black Ink Nests, then no matter how many High-Rank Black Ink Nests they had at the No-Return Pass, the number would eventually drop to zero someday. Yang Kai had proven himself capable of doing such a thing.
Therefore, after taking everything into account, Mo Na Ye realised he had no way of rejecting the request.
He could not resist glancing at Mo Yu. Although Mo Yu trusted him and allowed him to be in charge of all military matters, he could not decide such a thing by himself so he had to discuss it with Mo Yu first.
The two Royal Lords communicated with their Divine Sense and Yang Kai did not rush them.
Moments later, Mo Na Ye gritted his teeth and declared, “We can give you the Great Pass, but I want something from you as well.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Well, this is a business transaction. As always, the price starts off sky-high before coming back down to close the deal. Go ahead and say what you want.”
“Once we give you the Great Pass, you are not to come back to the No-Return Pass ever again,” Mo Na Ye declared.
“Do you want to go back to sleep and carry on with your dreams?” Yang Kai eyed Mo Na Ye as if he were staring at a fool.
Mo Na Ye shrugged, “You’re the one who said the asking price should start off high. Who knows? Maybe you might’ve agreed to it.”
Yang Kai’s mood soured, “Do I look like a fool to you?”
“1,000 years then! Don’t come back to the No-Return Pass for 1,000 years!”
The veins along Yang Kai’s forehead started to pulse, “I said the price starts off high, but I didn’t say it should be ridiculous!”
“I learned from you…” Mo Na Ye fired back mockingly.
Yang Kai glared at him before waving his hand, “10 years. I’ll stay away from the No-Return Pass for 10 years!”
“900 years!” Mo Na Ye started bargaining.
“I think you have misunderstood the situation you’re currently in,” Yang Kai remarked incredulously, “It’s not a must for me to retrieve something today. I can always come back to the No-Return Pass whenever I want. Staying away for a decade is the most sincerity I can offer, so don’t push your luck!”
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.