Martial Peak

Chapter 5513: Restrained

Yang Kai and the Royal Lord locked eyes as Yang Kai made a slitting gesture across his neck, childishly taunting the Royal Lord before turning around and leaping into the portal.

The Royal Lord was so infuriated that he nearly spat blood!

He was about to dash after Yang Kai when he quickly stopped, his expression darkening as he realized a hard reality: He couldn’t leave.

The No-Return Pass was the Black Ink Clan’s most important base, with all of their High-Rank and many of their Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests having been set up here. As he was the only surviving Royal Lord, if an unexpected crisis occurred at the No-Return Pass because of his departure, then it would surely threaten the entire foundation of the Black Ink Clan.

Thus, even though he wished more than anything to chase after that Human and slaughter him, he had to suppress that impulse.

“Sir…” One of the Territory Lords approached the Royal Lord for orders.

The Royal Lord had not given chase, and they did not dare to do so either. Over the last six months, three Territory Lords had died at the hands of that Human and his spear despite him not even targeting them.

His target had only been the High-Rank Black Ink Nests, which all of the Black Ink Clansmen had figured out by now. If he had intended to assassinate Territory Lords instead, the number of dead would not be a paltry three.

Their opponent was far stronger than they could ever imagine.

If they went after him without the Royal Lord, what would happen if that Human had set up an ambush on the other side of the Territory Gate?

No one wanted to be sent off to their death just like that.

However, if the Royal Lord gave the order, then they had to give chase no matter how fearful they were.

Thankfully, the Royal Lord had considered the same possibility. He had personally witnessed just how formidable Yang Kai was, and he knew that the Territory Lords here were mostly injured; therefore, after mulling it over for a brief moment, he quickly said, “Don’t bother going after him!”

His words washed over the Territory Lords like a pardon from the Heavens.

Still, all of them were heavy-hearted.

It could not be helped as they had lost too much.

Not only did they lose another Territory Lord this time, but four High-Rank Black Ink Nests and over a dozen Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests had been destroyed as well.

Initially, that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had only destroyed two High-Rank Black Ink Nests, but when the dazzling white light exploded around them, the Black Ink Nests that were closest to the epicentre were shattered into dust as well, including two more High-Rank Black Ink Nests.

Over a dozen Territory Lords had also regressed to Feudal Lords, while the others who were showered by the white light had their strength affected to varying degrees.

Their fear and apprehension only increased when they noticed that even the Royal Lord’s aura seemed to have weakened…

Six months ago, that Human appeared out of the blue, destroyed five High-Rank Black Ink Nests, and killed two Territory Lords.

Although he only destroyed four High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killed one Territory Lord this time, the total losses were actually more severe.

And these losses did not even take into account the lower-ranked Black Ink Clansmen, who were immediately vaporized when that burst of Purifying Light hit them.

All of the Black Ink Clansmen had one question in mind. What was that light and why did it have such a horrifying effect on the Black Ink Clan?

All they saw was the Human summoning two Small Stone Race Armies, and then everything went white, literally.

Now, the Small Stone Race Armies had turned into shattered rock and no longer existed.

While the Territory Lords were caught up in their uneasy thoughts, Yang Kai was already waiting on the other side of the Territory Gate, but to his dismay, no one came after him, even though he waited for quite some time.

Once he was certain that the Black Ink Clan dared not come after him, he casually sealed the portal again. 

Although the Black Ink Clan had the means to reopen the Territory Gate, it would take them significant time and effort to do so. Yang Kai was more than happy to make things a little more difficult for his enemy.

After taking stock of the outcome, Yang Kai felt fairly satisfied. The only thing he felt bad about was the loss of 2 million Small Stone Race soldiers.

Still, this couldn’t be helped. There was no way he could avoid making sacrifices if he wanted to oppose a Royal Lord. The only thing he could do now to face off against a Royal Lord was to use a large number of Small Stone Races to set off a massive explosion of Purifying Light. Even the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel could not compare to this in terms of effectiveness.

The Sun and Moon Divine Wheel was Yang Kai’s most powerful Secret Technique, but it did not have the special characteristic of being able to directly counter the Black Ink Clan.

Once the portal was sealed up once more, Yang Kai exhaled lightly. He achieved a lot in this risky gambit of his, and suffered significant injuries in the process as, at the last moment, he had to focus on igniting the Great Sun and Great Moon Strengths inside the Small Stone Race soldiers, disallowing him to block the attacks from the various Territory Lords.

While most of the attacks were significantly weakened or blocked entirely by the wave of Purifying Light, with so many Territory Lords attacking him at once, some of them inevitably hit their mark.

However, none of the attacks had been deadly, so Yang Kai simply checked over himself a little without bothering to spend time recuperating. He then turned around and flew in a different direction where he sensed devastating shockwaves emanating from.

The last time Yang Kai was in the Barren Territory, the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race were engaged in a fearsome battle that turned the entire Great Territory into a battlefield.

Now, all that remained were the scars left from that battle.

As he made his way forward, he saw far too many scattered remains belonging to both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan. There were also lots of wreckage from Humans’ Warships, as well as tufts of Black Ink Clouds of varying sizes.

The shockwaves would burst forth in irregular intervals, but each time they did, it seemed like the entire Barren Territory trembled.

The closer Yang Kai got to the source, the clearer he could sense what was causing it.

At last, Yang Kai stopped and stared into the distance as two enormous figures reflected in his eyes.

They belonged to two Giant Spirit Gods.

One was Ah Er, and the other was the Black Ink Giant Spirit God who revived and came out of the Late Ancient Era battlefield.

Yang Kai had surmised as much when he noticed the commotion earlier, but still, he was dumbstruck by what he saw.

It seemed these two really never tired. They must’ve been fighting for over 100 years already, yet they had not even paused to take a break. The Humans and the Black Ink Clan had already retreated from the Barren Territory, but as the fight between the two Giant Spirit Gods was still perfectly even, they continued duking it out.

From the way things appeared now, there was no telling how much longer they intended to continue fighting.

It was fortuitous that Giant Spirit God Ah Er had suddenly appeared and pinned down this Black Ink Giant Spirit God; otherwise, the Human Race would have suffered catastrophic losses on the Barren Territory battlefield.

The fight between two Giant Spirit Gods was violent and brutal. They did not use any Divine Abilities or Secret Techniques and instead engaged in a simple hand-to-hand battle, but every blow delivered was enough to make everything around them quake and shudder. A region of over 10 million kilometres around these two was filled with volatile Void Cracks as space itself seemed unable to withstand the fury of their exchanges.

Yang Kai even wondered whether the Barren Territory would completely collapse if their fight carried on like this for long enough.

After silently observing them for a while, he raised his hands to form a cone around his mouth before yelling with all his might, “Ah Er, kill him!”

As if Ah Er had heard Yang Kai’s cheering, even his tuft of hair started giving off a formidable feeling as his attacks became more vicious.

Yang Kai chuckled and watched them for a little longer before leaving.

He could not get involved in a fight between two Giant Spirit Gods. Though he was in the Eighth Order right now, he could not even get close to them without being sent flying. Only Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could involve themselves in such a battle.

Yang Kai still had a long road ahead of him…

Half a day later, he arrived at a different part of the void. The place here was dark and covered in Black Ink Strength, but strangely, the Black Ink Strength did not scatter or move at all. It was completely concentrated together.

[The second Black Ink Giant Spirit God is standing guard here!]

This Black Ink Giant Spirit God was the one that Lu An and his companion had revived back in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land.

At this moment, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was sitting cross-legged in the void. His towering figure looked like a mountain, and in front of it was the passage that led from the Barren Territory to Wind Mist Territory.

The Black Ink Clan Army had used this breach to invade the broader 3,000 Worlds. One could even say that this place was the starting point that led to everything that happened later in the 3,000 Worlds.

When the portal had not been fully opened yet, Yang Kai had rushed to Wind Mist Territory in time and tried to stop it, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit God rushed from the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory and forced his arm right through the half-opened portal, managing to open up the Territory Gate.

Even now, his arm was still stuck in the same position.

It was not what this Black Ink Giant Spirit God wanted to be stuck here, it was simply that he could not move.

Yang Kai looked over and saw abstruse runes that appeared and disappeared along half of that Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm which was thrust through the boundary wall. These abstruse runes were crawling around like snakes to form a large chain that locked it in place.

Yang Kai detected a familiar aura from those runes.

After calming his mind and focusing for a moment, it soon dawned on Yang Kai that it was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s aura.

It was not just Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao that he detected either. There was another person’s aura which was almost as powerful as Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s.

[Wu Qing?] Yang Kai’s brow rose slightly. The Humans only had two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors left. One was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the other was Wu Qing. This meant that the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were currently in Wind Mind Territory and had used some sort of Secret Technique to restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit God here.

Naturally these two were no match in a battle against a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing had chosen the best opportunity to make their move. Back then, the two of them had commanded the Human Race Army to withdraw from the Barren Territory before making a few arrangements and then immediately rushing over to Wind Mist Territory.

At that time, it seemed that in order to maintain the Territory Gate between the two Great Territories, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could not retract his arm from the breach. The two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors arrived at Wind Mist Territory before the Black Ink Clan Army had fully moved out and then worked together to attach this chain-like Secret Technique to the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm.

The Black Ink Giant Spirit God could have chosen to sacrifice his arm to free himself from these shackles, but he would lose a lot of his strength if he did so, and he was unwilling to do that.

Therefore, for the past few decades, he had been engaging in a silent battle of patience with the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.

The Black Ink Giant Spirit God sensed Yang Kai’s arrival and was secretly shocked by the fact that the latter was still alive. At the time, a Royal Lord had specifically left the Barren Territory to hunt Yang Kai down, yet here Yang Kai was, alive and well. If Yang Kai was alive though, then the fate of that Royal Lord was evident.

However, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God showed no inclination of paying any attention to Yang Kai as most of his focus was on trying to outwit the two Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. Simply put, he felt no need to spare a puny ant-like Yang Kai any mind.

He ignored Yang Kai, who did likewise. Yang Kai narrowed his eyes slightly as he quietly took in everything in front of him.