Martial Peak
chapter-4862

Moreover, it was obvious that the Blue-Eyed Toad was venomous, so its tongue must be coated in venom as well. The average Open Heaven Realm Master wouldn’t be able to fend it off, so how did this woman even grip its tongue with her fingers?

Yuan Tong Guang didn’t quite understand Luo Ting He now as he had a feeling that something was off. He thus quickly turned to look at Yang Kai.

However, Yang Kai didn’t even bother to look in their direction, as though he wasn’t aware of the conflict going on. After a moment, he simply said, “I’ll leave it to you. I’m going out to have a look.”

Upon finishing his words, he shot into the sky and headed towards the depths of Black Territory.

[He’s leaving just like that?] Before Yuan Tong Guang even came to his senses, he saw Luo Ting He exerting more force with her hand, after which the gigantic Blue-Eyed Toad was thrown into the air and then crashed into the ground. The old man surnamed Yu, who was on the toad’s back, was covered in dust as well.

Before he could get to his feet, Luo Ting He directly stepped on his chest and said smilingly, “You were going to teach me a lesson?”

The old man surnamed Yu immediately begged for mercy, “Please forgive me, Great Aunt! I’m sorry for my impudence, and I should be taught a lesson instead! From now on, 30% of all the materials extracted here will go to you! I’m willing to work for you!”

Yuan Tong Guang and the others were dumbfounded.

Yang Kai shot towards the depths of Black Territory. As Space Principles undulated, he was able to move at an astounding speed.

This area was supposed to be filled with the strange strength, and the average Open Heaven Realm Master wouldn’t be able to come anywhere near here; however, at this moment, his progress was unimpeded, which concerned Yang Kai.

He had never figured out what the strange strength truly was. In the past, he planned on thoroughly investigating Black Territory when he was free one day. Perhaps he could get to the bottom of the strange strength when the time came.

He knew that Black Territory was an expansive place with ample materials, but the reason it was easily occupied by Luan Bai Feng, a mere Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, was that this place was filled with that strange strength.

Without the strange strength, the Ore Stars in Black Territory would have been targeted by others long ago. Even the Cave Heavens and Paradises would covet such treasures.

However, it was because of the strange strength’s presence that it was extremely difficult to extract materials in Black Territory. Most of the time, Human lives had to be traded for materials; therefore, the Cave Heavens and Paradises had never had their eyes on this place before.

The strange strength could be said to be the natural barrier of Black Territory.

Nevertheless, the barrier was now gone.

On the other hand, Luan Bai Feng made a counterintuitive decision by spreading the news to attract a lot of Open Heaven Realm Masters to come over and extract materials. There was something off about what was going on.

Yang Kai passed by a lot of Ore Stars along the way and it was obvious that many Open Heaven Realm Masters were busy extracting materials on those Ore Stars. They used their own Secret Techniques and were making a lot of noises. Some of the smaller Ore Stars were completely shattered as all of the Black Stones had been found.

As he continued moving forward, there came a moment when Yang Kai suddenly felt the strange strength engulfing him. He couldn’t help but arch his brow, as he finally realised that the strange strength that had originally filled Black Territory was not completely gone. It was just that the area it covered had significantly shrunk; therefore, the safe area in the periphery had expanded, which allowed others to mine Ore Stars that were previously too dangerous to visit.

However, the strange strength was still existent in Black Territory’s Inner Region, and it was extremely dense.

On his previous visits to Black Territory, Yang Kai used his Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation to protect himself and ward off the strange strength’s corrosion. However, even with his Wood Element Power that was condensed from the Immortal Tree’s essence, he was still unable to go very deep into Black Territory.

Once his Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation was no longer able to bear it, he couldn’t proceed any further.

Nonetheless, it was different now. Yang Kai had obtained the World Spring in the Shattered Heaven, and with one of the Four Universe Pillars in possession, it could ensure that his Small Universe would always remain intact and impenetrable.

Therefore, even though he could feel the strange strength’s presence, it didn’t have any influence on him.

His expression changed upon that realization.

Perhaps he could finally find the source of the strange strength.

This strength had engulfed a large portion of Black Territory, so there must be a source. In the past, Yang Kai had wanted to find the source, but he was incapable of doing so. Now that he had the World Spring, he was no longer afraid of the strange strength’s corrosion. He was also not worried about the heritage of his Small Universe leaving his body anymore.

Perhaps he could really find the source of the strange strength this time and properly investigate the matter.

In this region, there was no one extracting materials on the Ore Stars, for Humans were unable to stay here. Yang Kai kept moving further and soon reached an area he hadn’t managed to visit on his previous trips.

The strange strength kept intensifying. Yang Kai reckoned that even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like Luo Ting He wouldn’t be able to remain here for long.

In this place, Yang Kai could faintly feel the presence of another kind of strength; however, with the interference from the strange strength, his perception was blurred, so he was unable to identify what that strength was.

He continued moving forward, but barely two hours later, he found it hard to go any further.

What stopped him from going further wasn’t the strange strength. With the World Spring’s protection, the strange strength in Black Territory wouldn’t pose a threat to him.

What hindered him were the Natural Spirit Arrays that were seemingly everywhere in Black Territory.

Black Territory was dangerous for two reasons. First was the presence of the strange strength, and second was the countless Natural Spirit Arrays.

The reason Luan Bai Feng had such high attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays was that she had been living in Black Territory for a long time. She didn’t have an Honoured Master, so she taught herself the Dao of Spirit Arrays and eventually became an expert in this field. All the Natural Spirit Arrays in Black Territory were her teachers.

Yang Kai was a complete amateur in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, and the reason he could even reach this far was that he was able to see through all illusions with the help of his Demon Eye of Annihilation. He had obtained the Demon Eye of Annihilation from Great Demon God, but it was actually a Secret Technique from Myriad Demons Cave Heaven. The Demon Eye of Annihilation and Black Purgatory Eye were very abstruse Eye Techniques. Yang Kai didn’t have a way to cultivate them as he had only obtained these Eye Secret Techniques by chance. Although they were already fairly powerful, he couldn’t improve them further.

Unless he was able to acquire the proper method to cultivate those techniques from Myriad Demons Heaven one day, he would never be able to strengthen them.

At this moment, Yang Kai could see that it was a land of certain death in front of him through the Demon Eye of Annihilation. If he really barged into it, he would definitely die.

After retracting the Demon Eye of Annihilation, everything he saw became normal; however, Yang Kai knew that underneath the serene facade of the void hid an intense murderous intent.

He could only make a detour, but he soon encountered a similar situation. The same thing repeated a moment later.

A large area in front of him seemed to be covered in Spirit Arrays, which barred anyone from intruding.

The area that was surrounded by the Spirit Arrays was likely the centre of Black Territory. Yang Kai had a feeling that the source of the strange strength was just inside this place. If he could go in and have a look, he would be able to figure out many things.

However, faced with the hindrance from the many Arrays, he could only give up on the idea.

Just when he was ready to return, he suddenly felt some people approaching.

This discovery astounded him. The reasons he could reach this place were that he had the World Spring to protect his Small Universe and the Demon Eye of Annihilation to guide him past the various Spirit Arrays. How were others able to come to this place?

Moreover, he could feel that there was more than one person.

Yang Kai quickly manipulated Space Principles and let his figure merge with the Void.

A moment later, rays of light came into his sight. Soon, these lights reached a place near Yang Kai and revealed themselves.

Yang Kai observed them in silence and realised that he didn’t know them. Furthermore, these people were not powerful as most of them were in the Second-Order and Third-Order Open Heaven Realm. The most powerful one was only in the Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

Their clothes suggested that they were not from the same Sect. There were seven of them in total.

The mass of Natural Spirit Arrays in front of them was like an invisible barrier that blocked their path. They stood silently in front of the Arrays, silently staring forward, making for an eerie atmosphere.

Yang Kai was astounded as the strange strength was extremely dense in this area. Even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Luo Ting He wouldn’t be able to persevere for a long time, so how were these Second-Order, Third-Order, and Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters still fine?

Supposedly, they couldn’t have come anywhere near this place. Before they even arrived, the heritage of their Small Universes would have been completely drained.

Yang Kai thought that perhaps he had perceived it wrongly since he had the World Spring’s protection, but just when he was beginning to doubt himself, he saw something even more shocking.

These people, who had been silent, suddenly shuddered as they were soon engulfed in a dark aura. At the sight of this dark aura, Yang Kai felt a sense of disgust and loathing overwhelming him.

Black Ink Strength!

He almost failed to stifle a cry of surprise at this revelation. Although he hadn’t frequently come into contact with the Black Ink Disciples, he would never forget about the encounters he did have with them. He was fully aware of the Black Ink Strength’s eeriness.

On his trip to Lang Ya Paradise previously, he found some of the hidden Black Ink Disciples and even detected the presence of a true Black Ink Clan member.

After he left Lang Ya Paradise, the Cave Heavens and Paradises examined themselves and looked for more Black Ink Disciples, then began searching for the Black Ink Clansman.

Nevertheless, more than 100 years had passed, but they hadn’t found any traces. All of them suspected that the Black Ink Disciples and Clansman had hidden in the Shattered Heaven, but they hadn’t found anything despite an extensive search.

The fact that there was no progress in this matter worried the leaders of the Cave Heavens and Paradises; after all, the Black Ink Strength was too strange. If they couldn’t find the Black Ink Clansman and kill them, a large number of Black Ink Disciples would start appearing in the 3,000 Worlds eventually and the situation would steadily grow out of control.

Yang Kai had never expected to come across Black Ink Disciples in Black Territory, and so many of them at that.

Unlike the Black Ink Disciples in Lang Ya Paradise who were all Open Heaven Realm Masters with bright futures, these Second-Order, Third-Order and Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters should be valueless.

Hence, it was obvious that they were not transformed into Black Ink Disciples through the invasion of Black Ink Insects.

To the Black Ink Clan, Black Ink Insects were precious items that had to be used sparingly. It would be a waste if the Black Ink Insects were used on these Open Heaven Realm Masters.

The likely explanation was that they had been corrupted by the Black Ink Strength directly.

Compared to using a Black Ink Insect, it was harder to transform someone into a Black Ink Disciple through the Black Ink Strength, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. Less powerful cultivators were unable to resist the Black Ink Strength, and could thus be corrupted given enough time and effort.