Martial Peak
chapter-4859

Upon hearing that, Luo Ting He and Qu Hua Shang nodded in agreement. The former said, “That’s right.”

Yang Kai praised her by saying, “You’re indeed an observant person, Wan’er. I share the same sentiment.”

Tao Ling Wan smiled bashfully upon getting the compliment, then stopped talking.

This was indeed a strange incident. Their names had disappeared from the Loyalty List for no reason, so they were supposed to be dead; however, not only were they still alive, they were also not aware of this fact.

Just then, a small group of people were seen coming from the Star City’s direction. The smiles on their faces as they chatted suggested that they were familiar with each other.

Nevertheless, the auras exuding from their bodies were not powerful. The one at the front was only in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm while the rest were in the Third-Order.

It wasn’t until they came near Yang Kai and the others that they discovered their presence, which astounded them.

It was very common to kill people and snatch goods in the void; hence, the less powerful cultivators were at risk of losing their lives at any moment.

However, since both parties were so close to one another, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to change direction now. By doing so, they would appear weak. They stopped talking and kept their guard up. They brushed past Yang Kai and the others before leaving in a hurry.

Seeing that Yang Kai and the others didn’t have any ill intentions or try to stop them, they breathed a sigh of relief.

Nonetheless, the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master soon returned.

Yang Kai looked curiously at him.

Upon confirming that Yang Kai didn’t have any malicious intentions, the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master cupped his fist, “White Fang Province’s Yuan Tong Guang offers greetings.”

Yang Kai nodded dispassionately, “What’s wrong?”

Although he had never heard of White Fang Province before, he reckoned that it was just a Second Class great force in some Great Territory, just like Great Moon Province. A great force could be considered Second Class when there were Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Sect, but most such forces only had one or two Fifth-Order Masters assuming command.

Such great forces were innumerable in the 3,000 Worlds.

Yuan Tong Guang was only in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Since Yang Kai and the others were just standing there, he was unable to judge their cultivation; however, he had a feeling that they were more powerful than he was, so he remained polite, “Nothing serious actually. This Yuan just wants to ask whether you’re also heading to Black Territory.”

Yang Kai’s expression changed when he heard that, then he played along by saying, “Indeed. Are you going there as well?”

At the same time, he was puzzled in his heart. Before his arrival, Black Territory had always been under Luan Bai Feng’s strict control. Even though there were ore slaves in Black Territory, they were all snatched from other places using all sorts of means. After those from Heavenly Sword Union were defeated, the captives were brought to Black Territory as prisoners.

Hence, those who had entered Black Territory were all Luan Bai Feng’s ore slaves. They had to extract materials for her until their death.

She had never allowed anyone else to have a hand in this place.

However, judging from Yuan Tong Guang’s words, it seemed that Black Territory had been opened up and anyone could enter now.

Yuan Tong Guang replied with a smile, “Yes. I heard that there were a lot of materials in Black Territory, but I had never had the chance to have a look. Now that Warden Luan has been kind enough to open up Black Territory for us to extract materials, it’s a great opportunity for cultivators who are not so powerful like us. Many people have already entered.”

Yang Kai frowned and asked probingly, “Brother Yuan, we’ve just come from another Great Territory after hearing rumours of this place, so we know little about Black Territory and Warden Luan. However, I’ve heard that Warden Luan is not a kind-hearted person. Instead, she’s ruthless and fierce. Can we even survive if we enter Black Territory? Will we be able to own the materials we’ve extracted? I don’t really believe it.”

Yuan Tong Guang sized him up and replied with a smile, “I see. That’s what you’re worried about. Is that why you’ve been staying here instead of entering Black Territory?”

This guy seemed to have misunderstood something, but Yang Kai didn’t intend to explain anything. He was just trying to extract some information out of him anyway.

As Yuan Tong Guang spoke, he nodded his head, “Your concern is not unfounded. In the past, no one would’ve believed Warden Luan if she said such a thing; however, it’s different now, for she has joined Void Land and become the Elder there. By the way, have you heard of Void Land before?”

“Yes,” Yang Kai replied in a perfunctory manner.

There was a sense of admiration on Yuan Tong Guang’s face as he continued, “Void Land is incredible, especially its Lord. I heard that he’s only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but he has killed Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters before. Also, he is still alive and well after offending Thousand Cranes Paradise back then. What’s more, he’s a Great Emperor of the Star Boundary. I’m sure you’ve heard about the Star Boundary before. One of the most precious treasures in the universe, the World Tree, is in the Star Boundary. Now, the Cave Heavens and Paradises have all set up Dao Temples in the Star Boundary, and they have a lot of collaborations with the Void Land’s Lord.”

“En, I’ve heard his name a lot,” There was an awkward expression on Yang Kai’s face. He didn’t know how to deal with this kind of situation when someone praised him right in front of him.

To the side, Qu Hua Shang covered her lips and giggled.

“Warden Luan is an Elder of Void Land. With the assurance from Void Land, there’s nothing to worry about. In fact, there are some people who have become filthy rich after getting immense benefits from Black Territory.”

“Really?” Yang Kai appeared doubtful, “Does Warden Luan really allow others to extract materials in her territory as they please?”

He was furious at this news as he wondered what Luan Bai Feng was up to. The materials in Black Territory were immense, but if all of them were extracted by others, there wouldn’t be anything left for Void Land and High Heaven Palace.

Nevertheless, he soon recalled something. There was a mysterious power in Black Territory. The further one headed into the place, the quicker one would lose the heritage of their Small Universe. The average person was unable to reach the depths of the Black Prison.

After years of extraction, the Ore Stars in the periphery had practically become barren. In the past, Yang Kai relied on the effects of his Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation, coupled with the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors that he had created, to move several Ore Stars from Black Territory’s Inner Region to the periphery.

In other words, he was the only one in the world who could reach the depths of the Black Prison.

Where would these people mine Ore Stars after entering Black Territory? Why had some people even reaped tremendous rewards to begin with?

Yuan Tong Guang asked with a smile, “Where are you from, Brother? It seems that you know little about Black Territory.”

Yang Kai nodded, “I’ve only heard about it from others.”

“No wonder!” Yuan Tong Guang sported an expression that showed he had already expected it, “I’ll put it this way. Even though Warden Luan has allowed outsiders to extract materials in Black Territory, she wouldn’t want to be taken advantage of. There are rules to follow if we want to go in.”

Yang Kai said humbly, “Please enlighten me, Brother Yuan.”

Yuan Tong Guang responded politely, then explained, “Regardless of your origin or cultivation, you may enter Black Territory and extract materials. However, the materials you’ve discovered won’t be entirely yours. Warden Luan has her own rules. For materials in the Third Order and below, we can pocket everything. For those that are above the Third Order and below the Fifth Order, we can keep half of them. For those above the Fifth Order, we can’t keep any of that as we have to give everything to Warden Luan. Certainly, she won’t let you work for free though. When you hand in the materials above the Fifth Order, she will give you some Open Heaven Pills as a form of compensation. The compensation won’t be a lot, but it is satisfactory.”

Upon hearing that, Yang Kai arched his brow, “So, those are the rules.”

“The rules are pretty fair,” Yuan Tong Guang smiled.

Indeed, the rules were fair.

If Luan Bai Feng hadn’t opened up Black Territory, the outsiders couldn’t have entered the place and extracted materials. Materials below the Third Order didn’t have much value, so they could just keep them. Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order materials were expensive, so they could only keep half of them. For materials above the Fifth Order, they couldn’t keep any of them, but Luan Bai Feng would compensate them with some Open Heaven Pills.

In that case, it would attract a lot of weaker Open Heaven Realm Masters to work for her.

Yuan Tong Guang, who was in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm, was one such person. This group’s cultivation was neither high nor low, so they wouldn’t have much wealth nor a way to get more. There was no doubt that working in Black Territory was a good option.

Besides Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, even Fifth-Order ones would be interested in such a deal, not to mention those who were below the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Their Orders were too low, so it was extremely difficult for them to obtain cultivation materials. Once the news was spread, a lot of people would stream into Black Territory.

“Are there already a lot of people in Black Territory?” Yang Kai asked.

“I don’t think so; after all, it was only a short time ago when the news was spread. I believe that there will be more people in a few months.”

“When was the news spread?” Yang Kai asked with a frown.

“About three months ago,” Yuan Tong Guang replied as he looked doubtfully at Yang Kai, “When did you hear about the news?”

“Half a month ago,” Yang Kai said nonchalantly, “I heard someone mention it in a certain Star City, so I became curious. However, I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

Yuan Tong Guang guffawed, “It’s expected that you’re worried. In fact, I didn’t believe it either at first. If not for the fact that I was short on money, I wouldn’t have taken the risk. The truth is that the situation in Black Territory is just like what I’ve described. You’ll find out after going in.”

Yang Kai gazed at him with surprise, “Do you mean that you’ve entered Black Territory before?”

Yuan Tong Guang nodded, “En, I went in once two months ago and got some rewards. Certainly, I wouldn’t keep them to myself, so I returned to the Sect and brought my Fellow Brothers here,” As he spoke, he pointed at the people behind him. They were apparently the disciples from the same Sect that he had mentioned. Their cultivations were also similar to his.

He then paused for a moment before saying, “If you don’t mind, you can come with me. To be honest with you, there’s some risk when we extract materials in Black Territory. Although Warden Luan is generous as she won’t deduct the rewards that belong to us, she won’t care about our safety either. If we don’t come together and join forces, others might have their eyes on us if we manage to extract something good.”

It was then Yang Kai figured out why Yuan Tong Guang returned to talk to him.

It was apparent that he wanted to invite Yang Kai and the others to enter Black Territory together and form a small group. Although Yang Kai and his companions never showed their cultivation, it was apparent that they were powerful. Moreover, the three beautiful ladies in the group were undoubtedly attractive to them.