Martial Peak
chapter-4979

Just after Zhong Liang and the others left Feng Ying’s courtyard, someone else came for a visit.

Yang Kai didn’t know them, but after Feng Ying’s introduction, he learned that the visitor was from Blue Sky Pass’ Merit Hall. The Merit Hall was a very important organisation in Blue Sky Pass, as its main responsibility was to document everyone’s Military Merits in each battle.

The Military Merits could be exchanged for cultivation resources at the War Materials Hall.

Now that Yang Kai knew who this person was, he naturally wouldn’t show him any disrespect. It was fine when he didn’t know who he was before, but now that he knew the identity of the person before him, he was curious to know what Military Merits he had obtained in this battle.

However, to his shock, the visitor hadn’t come to announce his Military Merits. Instead, that person came here under the order of the Army Commanders of the Four Armies to announce his punishment.

He had defied orders from the Western Army Commander, disregarded the overall situation, and put himself and others in danger. After a discussion, the four Army Commanders decided to punish Yang Kai by making him clean up the battlefield.

The punishment left Yang Kai dumbfounded.

The man from the Merit Hall laughed sheepishly, handed Yang Kai the jade slip, and cupped his fist while saying, “Brother Yang, I’m only following orders, so please don’t be upset with me. Cleaning the battlefield is not difficult, but it’s time-consuming. This isn’t really much of a punishment. Oh, right, the area you will be responsible for cleaning is demarcated inside this jade slip. Just take a look and you’ll know what I mean.”

There was nothing Yang Kai could say, so he accepted the jade slip.

The man from the Merit Hall left without saying anything else.

Then, as Yang Kai stood in the same spot, he looked at the jade slip and noticed that a basic map of Blue Sky Pass and its surroundings was engraved into it. Also, the area he was assigned to clean up was also highlighted on the map.

He turned to look at Feng Ying and asked, “What should I do?”

Feng Ying answered, “There’s not much to do, actually. The main thing is to clean up any leftover Black Ink Clouds and Black Ink Strength. If those are left near Blue Sky Pass, they will become something the Black Ink Army can use when they attack us again. Come with me.”

Saying so, she walked forward to lead the way.

A few moments later, the two arrived at the War Materials Hall. Inside the hall, everyone was bustling like busy bees, and there was a continuous stream of people heading in and out. There were many who recognised Yang Kai and nodded or smiled at him. Some even came forward and greeted him so that they could have a chance to get to know him.

Yang Kai politely responded to all of them.

When Feng Ying finally found someone from the War Materials Hall, she asked for a set of tools used for cleaning the battlefield before leading Yang Kai away.

Leaving Blue Sky Pass, moved towards the region indicated in the jade slip and soon arrived at a certain area of the battlefield. As they looked ahead, they saw the whole area was filled with Black Ink Clouds of various shapes and sizes, as well as some dead Black Ink Clansmen.

Though Blue Sky Pass also suffered casualties during this battle, the dead and injured had all been carried away by their companions; therefore, only the corpses of the Black Ink Clan were left.

The area Yang Kai was responsible for was about 100,000 kilometres in length, breadth, and width. It wasn’t particularly big, but it wasn’t small either.

At this moment, there were already many others cleaning up in other areas of the battlefield. Looking from where they stood, they saw most of the cleaning crews working in groups of two, each person holding one end of a net that they dragged across the void. As these nets passed through the void, the Black Ink Clouds would be gathered into them and then brought somewhere else.

Once the clouds in the net were dealt with, those with nets would return to another part of their area and repeat the process.

Yang Kai came to the realization that these nets were special artifacts the Human Masters had come up with because Black Ink Strength was very difficult to deal with. Up till this point, besides his Purifying Light, there was nothing that could disperse and purify it.

Therefore, if they wanted to clean up the battlefield, they had to find another method. These nets were something they came up with through countless years of research and testing.

“This is the Black Ink Trawling Net,” While Feng Ying spoke, she took out something that looked like a net that was about as long as a forearm. However, when she channelled World Force into the net, it rapidly enlarged, “This is the only thing we can use to clean up the battlefield, so we generally refer to cleaning up the battlefield as fishing.”

Hearing that made Yang Kai laugh. The scene before him did resemble fishermen working with their nets. The only difference was that instead of fish, there were only Black Ink Clouds here.

The Black Ink Trawling Net had no other use besides collecting Black Ink Clouds that were from battle.

“Where are the Black Ink Clouds being sent to?” Yang Kai asked.

Feng Ying replied, “We move them about 1 million kilometres away from here.”

It was no wonder that the man from the Merit Hall said being on the cleanup duty was not difficult but time-consuming. The Black Ink Clouds had to be sent 1 million kilometres away at minimum, so moving back and forth alone would be quite time-consuming.

After a rough estimation, Yang Kai concluded that cleaning up this 100,000-kilometre area might take at least one or two months.

He had just advanced to the Seventh Order, and what he needed now was to consolidate his cultivation. He didn’t have time to waste on fishing for clouds.

Once he had a decision in mind, he immediately waved his hand, “That’s too much trouble.”

After he finished his words, Yang Kai approached the Black Ink Clouds, opened the portal to his Small Universe, and generated a suction force that began drawing everything towards it.

In just a matter of breaths, the massive Black Ink Cloud was sucked inside his Small Universe.

Feng Ying watched speechlessly and worriedly from the side while Yang Kai’s figure dashed to and fro, gathering Black Ink Clouds of various sizes.

Though Yang Kai had a World Spring with him, it was uncertain if he would experience any complications from taking in so much Black Ink Strength.

Nevertheless, she relaxed after seeing that Yang Kai was doing fine.

It only took Yang Kai two days to clean up the 100,000 kilometres area; yet, he didn’t return to the Inner Sanctum after he finished. Instead, he stopped somewhere in the void and stared fixedly ahead.

Feng Ying approached him and asked, “What’s the matter?”

After faintly sighing, Yang Kai suddenly reached out his hand. Space Principles surged and his hand disappeared, as though it had passed through an invisible curtain of some kind.

Feng Ying’s brow rose, feeling confused as to what had just happened.

Space Principles continued to undulate for a while before Yang Kai suddenly shouted, “Open!”

Once he said that, his hand rotated sharply and the place where it had disappeared was now replaced by a vortex-like phenomenon. The vortex was like a whirlpool, and as it swirled, the aura of a Small Universe emerged from it.

Feng Ying was shocked, “Is that…”

“A Universe Paradise.” Yang Kai’s eyes looked a little dim as he replied, “I’m not sure who left this behind though.”

When a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master passed away, there was a chance for their Small Universe to remain intact and merge with the Void. If one didn’t know the exact location, it would be very difficult to find these Sealed Worlds, and even if one knew the exact location, they would have to know how to open the portal leading to it.

These Sealed Worlds that were left behind after the death of a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master were known as Universe Cave Heavens or Universe Paradises.

A Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would leave behind a Universe Paradise, while an Eighth or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would leave behind a Universe Cave Heaven.

The Blood Monster Cave Heaven which Yang Kai had explored once before was the Universe Cave Heaven left behind by Blood Monster Divine Monarch.

Later, when he and Bright Sun Divine Monarch Cheng Yang worked together in the Shattered Heaven, they found and opened a total of five Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises. With his mastery over the Dao of Space, Yang Kai was adept at finding and then forcing open Universe Cave Heavens or Paradises.

These Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises were left behind by powerful Masters, and if one were lucky, one might be able to inherit the previous owner’s legacy.

Therefore, among the 3,000 Worlds, Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises represented fortune and opportunity. Once one was found, people would swarm over to seize a piece of the pie.

Every time Blood Monster Cave Heaven was opened, it would attract many elite disciples to enter and explore it, which showed how precious these Sealed Worlds were.

However, they were on the Black Ink Battlefield now, and just outside Blue Sky Pass.

Throughout the ages, countless Human Masters fought the Black Ink Clan right here, painting the void in blood.

The number of Human Masters that died here must have been too many to count.

When the armies were locked in battle, there were bursts of energy everywhere, so Yang Kai wasn’t able to sense anything. While he was cleaning up the battlefield though, he could feel slight, almost imperceptible, spatial fluctuations coming from certain points around him.

No matter how strong he was, if he were not proficient in the Dao of Space, Yang Kai wouldn’t have been able to discover anything. But due to his experience of discovering and opening so many Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises before, coupled with the special conditions here, he naturally knew what these space fluctuations meant.

After giving it a try, just as he predicted, he easily opened up a portal to a Universe Paradise.

Though it seemed easy for Yang Kai, it was mind-blowing for Feng Ying.

Many knew that countless Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises were located outside of Blue Sky Pass; after all, an uncountable number of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had died here over the millennia.

To this point though, there had been no one besides Yang Kai who could easily find and open those lost Small Universes.

If he could open one, he could open a second, third…

What did that mean? It meant the legacies of the owners of those Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises could be found and retrieved. Though there might not be much, even retrieving some memorial items of these Masters who had fought and died to stop the Black Ink Clan would have meaning.

“Do you want to head inside?” Yang Kai nudged his head towards the portal.

Nodding, Feng Ying added, “I just need to report about this first.”

As she spoke, she took out her communication artifact and notified the higher-ups. Once she did that, she followed Yang Kai through the portal.

Their vision blurred for a moment; then, they were inside. As Yang Kai predicted, this was a Universe Paradise that was left behind by a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

However, this Universe Paradise was dilapidated and barren, and some places looked like parts had been cut away. Yang Kai could guess that the owner of this Small Universe had been invaded by Black Ink Strength and was forced to cut out a part of his Small Universe to continue fighting.

Unfortunately, the owner still died in battle.

After the owner died, his Small Universe didn’t rupture and was preserved to create an incomplete Universe Paradise.

This Universe Paradise wasn’t very big, nor did there seem to be anything of value.

Yang Kai and Feng Ying explored the place but couldn’t find anything. Yang Kai was puzzled by this because the owner of this Small Universe was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and such people would normally keep all their important belongings inside their Small Universe, so whatever they had would end up here after they died.