Martial Peak
chapter-4786

[These feelings of gloomy darkness, silence, and restraint are not my own but that of the Black Ink Clansman!] As soon as Yang Kai realised that fact, he cursed in his heart. [Shit! If we resonate with each other during the sacrificial offering ritual, then the Black Ink Clansman will surely realise that I am not part of the Black Ink Disciples!]

He immediately tried to cut off the connection, but his efforts were completely useless.

The magnificent Will plunged straight in and invaded his consciousness, causing him to feel an involuntary sense of adoration. It felt as though the Will reigned supreme in the world. Any kind of resistance was a form of blasphemy and disrespect. Only surrender was the correct path!

A dense layer of cold sweat immediately broke out across his forehead. There was an immense battle taking place in his heart, and the look in his eyes became uncertain.

At that critical moment, a cool feeling spread out across his mind and abruptly brought him back to his senses. It was the Soul Warming Lotus! When things reached a critical point, the Soul Warming Lotus reacted automatically.

In the next moment, he raised his hand to summon his spear and thrust it out. His World Force burst out at the same time. The altar in front of him shattered in response, and the dense Black Ink Strength scattered into the surroundings. Holding his spear in one hand, he gasped for breath with an expression of lingering fear on his face.

The situation just now had undoubtedly been very dangerous. If the Soul Warming Lotus had not stepped in at the last moment, he was uncertain as to whether he could resist the influence that the Will exerted on him. Moreover, if he had failed to withstand the pressure, he would have suffered tragically even if he did not become corrupted by the Black Ink.

The Black Ink Strength was extremely strange indeed!

A short while later, Yang Kai walked out from the Yuan Du’s Small Universe. Many of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had been waiting for several days, so they quickly questioned him as soon as he appeared.

Yang Kai told them all about the situation he encountered in detail, but he concealed the existence of the Soul Warming Lotus. He only told them that he struggled with all his strength just to deal the critical blow, which cut off his connection between him and the Black Ink Clansman.

Li Yuan Wang’s expression was extremely solemn, “Is the Black Ink Clan capable of affecting one’s consciousness out of thin air?”

That was extremely important information. Although the Cave Heavens and Paradises had some understanding of the Black Ink Clan, they only knew that the Black Ink Strength was extremely aggressive and corrosive. That was why they had always been on guard against the Black Ink Strength; however, if the situation was as Yang Kai had described, then there would be far more precautions to be taken in the future.

Yang Kai pondered in silence, “The Black Ink Clan’s Will is certainly powerful, but it might not necessarily be that terrifying.”

“What do you mean?” Yu Chang Dao asked.

Yang Kai explained, “This situation did not happen when I experienced the sacrificial offering ritual with Yuan Du. The only difference is that Yuan Du was the one presiding over the sacrificial offering ritual back then and I was the one presiding over it this time. There’s a high possibility that only the person performing the sacrificial offering ritual will be directly affected by the Will. The others are unable to form a direct connection with the Black Ink Clan member, so they naturally will not be affected.”

Everybody nodded lightly. It was not impossible. If that was the extent of the Black Ink Clan’s Will power, then the threat of the Black Ink Clan was not that terrifying after all.

Yang Kai sighed again, “It’s such a pity. While the sacrificial offering ritual barely succeeded this time, there was no way to figure out where the Black Ink Clansman was hiding.”

Li Yuan Wang replied, “It doesn’t matter. The universe might be large, but now that we have a goal, as long as we patiently keep searching, we will definitely locate them one day.”

That was something the Cave Heavens and Paradises had to handle. It was no longer something that Yang Kai could handle alone.

“I heard you have the Profound Yin Bamboo in your possession.” Li Yuan Wang suddenly turned to look at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai blinked, “There might be a need for everybody to sit down and discuss this matter!”

He previously opened up his Small Universe and allowed the others to investigate him to clear the suspicion of being corrupted by the Black Ink. Therefore, some of the secrets in his Small Universe had been exposed. The existence of the Profound Yin Bamboo was witnessed by many of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. Besides, this was one of the bargaining chips that he had prepared to negotiate with the Cave Heavens and Paradises, so there was no need to deny its existence.

The Profound Yin Bamboo was one of the Twelve Minor Universe Pillars. Its effects were not as powerful as the Four Universe Pillars, and its cultivation required a massive cost. Nevertheless, it was extremely useful for every Open Heaven Realm Master with a Small Universe that had materialized. It was certainly a treasure. Unfortunately, in order for it to show its strengths, one would have to spend massive amounts of their own strength to cultivate it.

Yang Kai had personally verified this fact. The Profound Yin Bamboo mainly devoured the World Force in order to grow and spread into a forest. In that way, it would take at least hundreds to thousands of years of hard work to turn the Profound Yin Bamboo into a bamboo forest that was not very large in terms of scale.

That was equivalent to turning the World Force stemming from hundreds to thousands of years of intense cultivation into the nutrients required for the growth of the Profound Yin Bamboo. As a result, the heritage of the Open Heaven Realm Master would weaken and their strength would decline.

If it was before, they might not have been so desperate to obtain the Profound Yin Bamboo; however, with the reappearance of the Black Ink Clan, their desire to obtain the Profound Yin Bamboo had changed.

Even if this treasure could not make their Small Universe as robust and flawless as the World Spring, or prevent the invasion of external forces completely, it could at least increase their resistance against the Black Ink Strength.

In other words, the existence of the Profound Yin Bamboo might save their lives at a critical moment. Comparatively speaking, the risk of losing the heritage of their Small Universe or declining in strength was not worth worrying about. No matter how much their strength decreased, their Order would not decline.

After hearing what Yang Kai said, the many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters subconsciously clutched at their respective Space Rings. They couldn’t help recalling what happened during the training at Lang Ya Paradise.

During the training, Yang Kai had treated all the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Lang Ya Paradise as fat sheep and sheared off their thick layer of wool for his own use. His actions left many Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters resentful and miserable due to the heavy losses they suffered.

With those people as an example, how could anything good happen to them? They could practically foresee a greasy, smiling face as he tried to take the lion’s share from them.

Negotiations over the Profound Yin Bamboo took place in a secret room, along with the discussion for the Good Fortune Divine Furnace.

The matters regarding the Good Fortune Divine Furnace remained up in the air. The main reason for the situation was that both parties were unsatisfied with the terms offered by the other side. Before Yang Kai was attacked by Shi Zheng, the foreign affairs envoys at the Star Boundary were supposed to discuss this matter with him after two days. Unfortunately, the reappearance of the Black Ink Clan had immediately disrupted all their plans. It was not until now that this issue was brought up again.

Yang Kai was fixated on the Small Source Worlds of the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Even though he named his conditions in the past, none of the Cave Heavens and Paradises had shown any intention of giving in to his demands.

The opportunity to enter the Small Source Worlds was extremely precious to any Cave Heaven or Paradise. More so, since it was not enough for the use of their own disciples. The disciples often had to wait in line for hundreds of years, sometimes even thousands of years, before they could enter. How could they possibly give such an advantage to outsiders?

If not for the reward from the training previously, Gu Pan would not have the qualifications to enter the Five Lights World for training either. That was the case even for a Core Disciple like her, so what more need be said about the Common Disciples?

Since Void Land did not have a Small Source World of their own, they could only set their sights on others instead.

Although it was said to be a negotiation, the truth was that Yang Kai one-sidedly refused everybody else. The rights of use for the Profound Yin Bamboo and the Good Fortune Divine Furnace were very attractive to all the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Be that as it may, Yang Kai refused to accept any other conditions aside from the qualifications to enter the Small Source World for training.

On this point, neither Yu Chang Dao nor Yu Xiang Die spoke up for Yang Kai. Although they were inextricably linked to him, they were foreign affairs envoys as well. In other words, they represented the interests of the Sects behind them.

The discussion went on for a day and a night. Throughout this entire period, Yang Kai continued to insist on his demands; thus, the others could only give in upon seeing his persistence.

In the end, the final results of the negotiation were decided. Each Cave Heaven and Paradise would provide the qualification to enter a Small Source World once for training. In return, Yang Kai had to provide each Cave Heaven and Paradise with five stalks of the Profound Yin Bamboo and the right to use to the Good Fortune Divine Furnace for two months.

That was the best result that could be achieved.

Nonetheless, over a hundred Cave Heavens and Paradises meant that Yang Kai would need over five hundred stalks of the Profound Yin Bamboo. That was an enormous number. Even he could not come up with such an amount in a short time. As for the order in which the Good Fortune Divine Furnace would be used, the issue of precedence was something the Cave Heavens and Paradises had to discuss among themselves. He could not care less about such matters.

After the negotiations were settled, everybody took their leave and departed.

Even though not all the foreign affairs envoys of the Cave Heavens and Paradises were present during this negotiation, the people present today were enough to represent the rest. Those Cave Heavens and Paradises whose foreign affairs envoys did not participate in this negotiation would also acknowledge the results. That was the tacit understanding and trust accumulated between the Cave Heavens and Paradises over countless years.

All the foreign affairs envoys were in a rush to return to their respective Sects in order to report the results of the negotiation and prepare the materials that would be sent to Great Evolution Paradise. These materials would be used in the Good Fortune Divine Furnace to create higher Order materials.

Before Yang Kai left, he asked Li Yuan Wang a question. This question had been troubling him for a very long time now.

“How are Small Source Worlds created?” Li Yuan Wang reached up to stroke his beard and nodded in understanding, “Do you wish to obtain your own Small Source World?”

Yang Kai nodded, “Indeed.”

Many Open Heaven Realm Masters had been added to the ranks of Void Land, so if they had their own Small Source Worlds, then they could help the disciples improve their cultivation quickly.

It was a pity that only the Cave Heavens and Paradises had something like the Small Source Worlds. He had never seen nor heard of any other great forces with their own Small Source World. Therefore, he had never understood where Small Source Worlds came from or how they had such mystifying effects.

“If this is some kind of taboo secret, then please act as though I never asked, Sect Master Li.” Yang Kai hurriedly said when he saw the pensive look on Li Yuan Wang’s face.

Li Yuan Wang waved his hand dismissively, “It’s a secret, but it’s not really a secret either. You’ve entered a Small Source World before. What did you think about it?”

Yang Kai thought back to his previous experience in the Divine Armament World and said, “It felt very real. There was no sense of being an illusion.”

The decades that he spent while training in the Divine Armament World felt like a cycle of reincarnation and rebirth. His impression of that experience was very profound.

Li Yuan Wang laughed, “Of course, it feels real. That’s because the true nature of the Small Source Worlds comes from the Universe Paradises and the Universe Cave Heavens!”

Yang Kai was stunned by those words, “The Universe Paradises and the Universe Cave Heavens? Sect Master, you don’t mean…”

Only the Small Universe left behind after the death of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters could be called such. The Small Universe left behind by a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was known as a Universe Paradise, and the Small Universe left behind by an Open Heaven Realm Master above the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm was known as a Universe Cave Heaven.

Li Yuan Wang nodded lightly, “It’s exactly what you’re thinking. All the Small Source Worlds stem from the Small Universes left behind by High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.”

“How can that be!?” Yang Kai was shocked to the core.

“There’s nothing impossible about it.” Li Yuan Wang chuckled softly, “But, not every Small Universe left behind by a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master will transform into a Small Source World.”

If that was the case, then there would have been many more Small Source Worlds in existence and they would not have been valued to this extent.