Martial Peak
chapter-4782

The Will that descended from the altar just now had subsided, but Yuan Du continued to stand there with a deep frown on his face. The others did not dare to disturb him carelessly, so they could only wait quietly.

After a while, he finally blew out a breath softly and raised his hand, “Let’s go out first before we talk.”

When the words left his mouth, his Small Universe that was spread outward closed swiftly.

Yang Kai felt his vision blurring for a moment, and by the time it returned to normal, he was already standing in the room from before. He anxiously asked, “Senior, what were the instructions of the Divine Lord?”

Yuan Du shook his head and said nothing.

Yang Kai was extremely anxious, but did not dare to ask questions rashly lest he roused Yuan Du’s suspicion again. It had taken a lot of effort for him to infiltrate the Black Ink Disciples’ organisation and obtain Yuan Du’s recognition; therefore, things would not end well if he roused Yuan Du’s suspicions again.

A long time passed before Yuan Du finally looked up at Yang Kai, “Martial Nephew, can I trouble you to make another trip to the Divine Spirit’s Ancestral Land? Please figure out a way to determine the life or death of the Giant Spirit God.”

Yang Kai nodded, “Of course, that’s not a problem. I’ve already received the recognition of the Divine Spirits in the Ancestral Land during my last trip there. Ordinary people are not allowed to enter that place at will, but as a Grand Dragon, I can freely enter and leave that place without obstruction.”

“That’s good. This matter is not urgent though, so you can go when you are free, Martial Nephew.”

Yang Kai then asked, “Senior, it’s one thing if the Giant Spirit God is dead. But, what if he is still alive? Do I need to think of a way to rescue him?”

Yuan Du asked, “Can you do that?”

Yang Kai pondered in silence for a moment, “It will be difficult! Senior, you might not know this, but the Divine Spirits all gather in the Ancestral Land. There are many Divine Spirits with strength comparable to Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. My strength is very insignificant there. But, if the Giant Spirit God is still alive and I can figure out a way to rescue him, then no matter how many Divine Spirits are in the Ancestral Land, they will not be his opponents!”

Yuan Du nodded, “A Giant Spirit God is powerful indeed, but he has been suppressed and sealed for so many years. Even if he is alive and receives help from you, it will be difficult for him to wield his full strength for some time.”

The gears in Yang Kai’s head spun, “Maybe I can figure out a method to bring all of you into the Divine Spirit’s Ancestral Land! That way, we can cooperate from both the inside and the outside! Senior, how many Black Ink Disciples do we have? How powerful are they?”

Yuan Du replied, “All of them are already gathered here. By the way, there’s also Jiang Yan. He left on a mission and has yet to return. The last one would be Elder Shi Zheng, who oversees the Star Boundary!”

Yang Kai’s mouth fell open, “Are there only so few Black Ink Disciples?”

Yuan Du laughed, “Did you think enlightening a Black Ink Disciple is easy?”

Yang Kai answered, “I only know that you need the Black Ink Insect.”

“That’s right. The enlightenment of each Black Ink Disciple requires the use of a Black Ink Insect. The Black Ink Insects are bestowed by the Divine Lord and are extremely rare. It took me several thousand years to get just a few, and I gave the last one to Elder Shi Zheng to use on you.”

“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai showed an expression of realisation, his heart calming down considerably.

[This is great! I’m glad there are only so few Black Ink Disciples in Lang Ya Paradise!] Although he could not rule out the possibility that Yuan Du was lying to him, Yuan Du had already accepted his identity, so there should be no need for him to conceal anything anymore. What’s more, this matter was related to the Giant Spirit God.

If there were many Black Ink Disciples, Yuan Du would definitely have shown some greater ambitions. Unfortunately, with so few Black Ink Disciples, it was practically impossible for them to rescue the Giant Spirit God, who was suppressed and sealed in the Divine Spirit’s Ancestral Land.

More importantly, Yuan Du no longer had any Black Ink Insect in his possession! For most of the Open Heaven Realm Masters, the Black Ink Insect was the most troublesome aspect. Without this threat hanging over their heads, they would have much less scruples when taking action in the future.

“Looks like we have to work hard to gather more companions!” Yang Kai rubbed his chin, looking as though he was thinking hard about the future.

“This King would like that too, but the instances when the Divine Lord bestows the Black Ink Insects are simply too unpredictable.”

Yang Kai gave a leisurely sigh, “If that was the case, you should have enlightened more Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Senior!” After saying that, he seemed to realise something and turned to give Gu Ling’er and the others an apologetic look, “Please don’t take offence. This Junior Brother is not looking down on you. It’s just that the gap in power between a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is extremely large. Of course, you will also advance into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm soon.”

Gu Ling’er and the others looked indifferent and turned a deaf ear to him.

Yuan Du smiled slightly and said, “It’s not that simple. The Black Ink Insect might be able to convert others into Black Ink Disciples, but the Black Ink Insect itself is actually extremely fragile. Even a First-Order Open Heaven Realm Master can effortlessly kill a Black Ink Insect if they are prepared. That is why I have to catch others off guard in order to enlighten them. Elder Shi Zheng and I are very close friends, so he was always unguarded around me and became enlightened as a result. That would not work for the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Lang Ya Paradise. Moreover, if I failed in my attempt to convert them, this King’s identity would not be secret anymore.”

Yang Kai’s eyes brightened, “Senior, have you ever thought of enlightening Sect Master Li? We can bring him back to the right path.”

Everybody was shocked by his words. In their opinions, Yang Kai was far too daring. They could not believe that he had set his sights on the Sect Master. However, upon further consideration, they realised that although the risk was very high, if they succeeded, the benefits that they would enjoy were also correspondingly terrifying.

If the Sect Master were to convert others in turn, the strength of the Black Ink Disciples would surely expand like a snowball rolling down a hill. The entire Lang Ya Paradise would become the Black Ink Disciples’ base of operations if that were to happen.

“It can’t be done!” Yuan Du waved his hand forcefully in a dismissive action, “The Sect Master’s cultivation is at the point where he can break through his shackles and advance into the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm at any time. There is no chance of success at all unless we can get very close to him. Even if we manage to approach him, it would be hopeless as long as he does not lower his defences.”

Yang Kai smiled, “It will naturally be impossible if we take action ourselves, but what if Gu Pan were to do it instead?”

Yuan Du stiffened slightly in surprise, but he immediately came back to his senses, “Martial Nephew, are you saying…”

“The reason you didn’t convert Gu Pan earlier was that she had yet to advance into the Open Heaven Realm, isn’t that right? Now that she has advanced directly into the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there is hope for her to advance into the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. She has more than enough qualifications for you to use a Black Ink Insect on her now. Once she becomes a Black Ink Disciple, she can then enlighten the Sect Master! Our chances are very high!” Yang Kai earnestly enticed Yuan Du.

Yuan Du rubbed his chin in contemplation, looking rather interested in the idea.

Just as Yang Kai mentioned, the reason he had not converted Gu Pan earlier was that her cultivation had been too low and there was no guarantee whether she could successfully advance into the Open Heaven Realm.

By the time he made plans to enlighten Gu Pan, the news about the Star Boundary’s World Tree came out. Comparatively speaking, he had greater interest in Yang Kai. That was why he used the last Black Ink Insect on Yang Kai in hopes of using his strength to control the Star Boundary.

In that way, all the rising stars produced in the Star Boundary would become the reserve force of the Black Ink Disciples. When they had gathered enough power, the Black Ink Disciples could set off a storm in the 3,000 Worlds!

“What you’ve said holds true, Martial Nephew. Unfortunately, we lack the Black Ink Insect right now,” Yuan Du nodded lightly, “Leave this matter to me. I will do my best to ask the Divine Lord to bestow more Black Ink Insects. On the other hand, I will have to trouble you over the matter regarding the Giant Spirit God in the Ancestral Land.”

Yang Kai agreed readily, “No problem!”

“Let’s stop here for today,” Yuan Du started to climb to his feet as he spoke.

Yang Kai quickly said, “Senior, this Junior has a question to ask you.”

Yuan Du looked at Yang Kai, “Go ahead!”

Yang Kai asked, “Where is the Divine Lord? Is the ritual we performed just now the only method to communicate with him? Wouldn’t it be better to meet him in person?”

Yuan Du smiled bitterly, “How could I not have thought of meeting the Divine Lord in person? I’ll be honest with you, Martial Nephew. In all these years, although the Divine Lord has occasionally responded to my requests, he has never communicated directly with me before. Moreover… I have the feeling that the Divine Lord is trapped somewhere. I don’t know where that place is located, but the Divine Lord is probably on the verge of breaking out soon.”

Yang Kai was shocked, but his expression remained unchanged on the surface, “How do you know, Senior?”

Yuan Du laughed, “That’s because the Divine Lord very rarely responded to the sacrificial offering ritual at the beginning. Nine out of ten times, the ritual would be unsuccessful; otherwise, I would not have had so few Black Ink Insects through so many years. But, the situation began to change about 100 years ago. The frequency of the Divine Lord’s response became higher and higher, especially in the past decade. There have been almost no failures at all.”

Yang Kai immediately ‘cheered up’, “In that case, it must be as you say, Senior.”

The Black Ink Clan’s response towards Yuan Du’s sacrificial offering ritual was becoming more and more frequent. There could only be one explanation for that. Just as Yuan Du mentioned earlier, the Black Ink Clansman was about to break free of whatever prison they were trapped in. That was why the communication between both parties had been greatly enhanced.

[Who was the Black Ink Clansman trapped by? Where are they trapped?] Yang Kai did not know, but Yuan Du was no more informed either.

Yang Kai had countless other questions that he wanted to ask; for example, how did Yuan Du come into contact with the Black Ink Clansman in the first place or how did Yuan Du become corrupted? Unfortunately, he could not ask any more questions at this time. In any case, the information he learned so far was enough. The situation at hand was clear, and it was time to take action. Besides, he was simply grateful that his efforts in Lang Ya Paradise were not in vain.

“Black Ink Eternal!” Yuan Du whispered solemnly before he took his leave.

The rest responded in unison, “Black Ink Eternal!”

Afterwards, Zong Yu Quan and the others left quickly. It was not appropriate for them to remain gathered here after all. If not for the pretext of inviting Yang Kai over for an exchange, it would have been difficult for them to gather together under normal circumstances.

“Junior Brother Yang.” Gu Ling’er called out in a gentle voice, “Junior Sister Gu Pan has already entered the Five Lights World, right?”

Yang Kai nodded, “That’s right. Sect Master Li sent her there as soon as the training ended.”

She then smiled, “To be able to receive kindness from you, Junior Brother Yang, Junior Sister sure is blessed.”

If Yang Kai had not conceded defeat at the last moment, how could Gu Pan have obtained victory? All the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Lang Ya Paradise were well-aware of that fact.

“I couldn’t just defeat everybody after all. Sect Master Li might have beaten me up himself otherwise.”

Gu Ling’er complained resentfully, “You didn’t hold back against me at all, Junior Brother.”

During the training, Yang Kai not only injured her but also forced her to buy his healing pill by compulsion without discrimination. Every time she recalled that incident, she couldn’t help feeling resentful.

“Hahaha…” Yang Kai gave a dry laugh, not knowing what to say in this situation.

“Junior Sister Gu Pan is currently inside the Five Lights World. You’ve been involved in the training all this while, Junior Brother, I’m sure you have not taken a good look at the scenery in Lang Ya Paradise. Why don’t I show you around? There are many fun places in Lang Ya Paradise.”