Martial Peak
chapter-4981

Who would have known that cleaning up the battlefield would result in realising such an important plan that could change Blue Sky Pass’ future?

The four Army Commanders passed down orders, and men immediately swarmed out of the Inner Sanctum to the battlefield to rapidly clean it.

Only when the battlefield was fully cleaned could Yang Kai open the various portals to the Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises. After that, they would let those who were proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays enter them and get to work.

Because the battlefield was so vast, it would take at least two or three months to clean it no matter how many people were helping, so Yang Kai had nothing to do in the meantime. He had to wait until the battlefield was cleaned up before he could start working.

Thus, he followed Feng Ying back to Blue Sky Pass.

It was only then that Yang Kai was registered at Blue Sky Pass and officially became one of the members of the Army. Yang Kai arrived here in the middle of a war, so no one was available to help him get registered. After the war, he went into retreat to break through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, and then he was punished to clean up the battlefield; therefore, he only had the time to go through the registration procedures now.

Now that he had his own Identity Token, Yang Kai felt a weight on his shoulders. Throughout the ages, every Human Master on the Black Ink Battlefield had an Identity Token, yet so many had died and the only way to trace their existence was to search for this token.

He had witnessed how fierce the battles here were, and knew how difficult it was for an Open Heaven Realm Master to survive on the Black Ink Battlefield. The more he learned, the more he resented the Black Ink Clan.

While Yang Kai was lost in thought, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had registered him suddenly handed over a jade slip with a smile, “Yang Kai, here is a Letter of Appointment authorised by the four Army Commanders. Please accept it.”

“Letter of Appointment?” Yang Kai took it curiously and was shocked when he used his Divine Sense to read it.

The content of the jade slip was very simple. It said he had performed well and worked hard during this battle, so he was being promoted to Squad Leader as a reward for his valour.

Also, the jade slip had Imprints from all four Army Commander, which no one could and would dare to fake.

[So, I’m a Squad Leader now?] Yang Kai was confused.

First, he was punished and made to clean up the battlefield, and now he was rewarded. What was this all about? Was this what they called a carrot-and-stick approach?

“Senior Sister Feng also has one.” The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master added while handing a jade slip to Feng Ying.

Feng Ying took it curiously and nodded lightly after checking its contents.

Yang Kai wanted to ask Feng Ying about her jade slip, but if it was something bad, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to ask, so he kept quiet. However, Feng Ying directly turned her head to look at him and said, “From now on, I am your Deputy.”

Yang Kai looked at her in astonishment.

After putting away the jade slip, Feng Ying reiterated, “You heard correctly. From now on, I am to serve as your Vice Squad Leader.”

Yang Kai was surprised, “But, aren’t you a Battalion Commander?”

A Battalion Commander ranked higher than a Squad Leader. Feng Ying also performed well in this battle, but not only wasn’t she rewarded, but she was demoted from Battalion Commander to Deputy Squad Leader. What were the Army Commanders up to?

But on second thought, Yang Kai figured it out.

The four Army Commanders made this arrangement to one, let Feng Ying protect him, and two, to keep an eye on him; after all, he had disobeyed their orders, disregarded his own safety, and ran straight to the battlefield, which greatly frightened the four Army Commanders. They weren’t certain if he would do it again, so they had Feng Ying stick close to him to make sure this didn’t happen a second time.

Among all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters, Feng Ying was one of the strongest, so even if they did get into a dangerous situation, she could protect him.

[All this happened because of me…]

Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, “Martial Aunt, I’ll go talk to the four Army Commanders and ask them to rescind their orders.”

Feng Ying shook her head, however, and declared, “There’s no need. I have someone in mind to take over my place in the Battalion. Also, this decision was jointly made by the four Army Commanders, so they can’t change it at will. You, on the other hand, do need someone to watch over you.”

Her words meant that she didn’t mind monitoring Yang Kai, which made him blush.

Feng Ying frowned again and added, “But, there is something strange about this letter of appointment.”

“Is it a fake?” Yang Kai cheered. He didn’t care about being a Squad Leader, but it didn’t feel good to have someone watching him all the time.

While glaring at him, Feng Ying said, “There’s no way this is fake. What I mean is, the Army Commanders appointed us as Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader, but they didn’t say which Army, Wing, Division, or even Battalion we would be joining.”

Only when she said this did Yang Kai realise what the problem was. It was true that the Letter of Appointment only said that he was promoted to Squad Leader, but it didn’t mention who he would be serving under.

He hadn’t been on the Black Ink Battlefield for long, but Feng Ying had been here for thousands of years, so she knew exactly what should be included in such letters. However, something vital was missing from both their letters, so both of them felt doubtful.

“I’ll ask them when I have time.” Feng Ying said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the Merit Hall and War Materials Hall. You’ve just broken through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so take advantage of this free time to consolidate your cultivation.”

The Merit Hall and War Materials Hall were in the same central building, so there were many cultivators coming and going.

This place was usually packed because one could check their Military Merits and exchange them for supplies here; thus, this was naturally a place that many cultivators would frequent.

Especially now that the war had just ended, the place seemed even more lively than normal.

The two first stopped at the Merit Hall to check out their Military Merits and soon received a detailed report. Yang Kai wasn’t clear on what the number of Military Merits represented; after all, he was new to Blue Sky Pass and didn’t know how such things were calculated, nor did he know how much they were worth.

After asking Feng Ying though, he found out that his Military Merits were quite high, and that the Military Merits received by Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders after a major battle would only be this much as well.

The Military Merits Feng Ying had earned after the last war were only about 20% of Yang Kai’s, but even so, it was already beyond her expectations.

According to her previous estimates, her Military Merits this time should not be this high.

After a moment of silence though, Feng Ying suddenly realised something and posited, “I think they’ve also taken the hundreds of people we brought back into their calculations.”

When they fought their way back from the Black Ink Clan’s domain, they saved hundreds of Black Ink Disciples, which was also a great merit.

Now that they had their Military Merits, they went to the War Materials Hall to exchange them for resources. The Manager in charge of this matter handed them two jade slips, which included all the materials they could exchange for Military Merits.

Yang Kai used his Divine Sense to look inside and saw that the first item on the list was a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. The number of Military Merits needed was not too high, but it wasn’t too low either. However, there was a ‘Limited Supply’ note beside the Profound Yin Spirit Fruit.

Obviously, Blue Sky Pass was short of Profound Yin Spirit Fruit. Even taking all the Great Passes into account, Profound Yin Spirit Fruits were scarce.

During every battle, there were countless cultivators who had to sacrifice parts of their Small Universes. If they wanted to repair the damage, they needed a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, which could only be found in special Sealed Worlds on the Black Ink Battlefield. Whenever a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit appeared anywhere, it would be exchanged for immediately.

What Yang Kai found surprising was that the second item on the list was actually Profound Yin Bamboo. However, there was also a ‘Limit Supply’ label behind it.

He was planning to contribute a batch of Profound Yin Bamboo to Blue Sky Pass. Previously, he had accumulated too much heritage in his Small Universe, so he had to use up a large amount of World Force to grow Profound Yin Bamboo, which was of little use to him. He had the World Spring in his Small Universe, so there was no need for him to have Profound Yin Bamboo too.

It seemed Blue Sky Pass had gotten word that he would be contributing a batch of Profound Yin Bamboo, which was why they added it to the list of exchangeable materials to boost the Army’s morale.

The various resources following Profound Yin Bamboo were for cultivation. Additionally, among the materials that could be exchanged for were artifacts and even Secret Techniques from all the Cave Heavens and Paradises.

Yang Kai searched through the list and found that among these Secret Techniques were the Demon Eye of Annihilation and the Black Purgatory Eye.

The amount of Military Merits required for these two Secret Techniques were enormous! Even with the Military Merits he had gained today, Yang Kai barely had enough to redeem for one of them.

Even so, Yang Kai was still a bit shocked.

Those two Eye Secret Techniques were the core secrets of Myriad Demons Heaven. In the 3,000 Worlds, only the most elite Core Disciples were qualified to cultivate them, with ordinary disciples never even having a chance to see them, let alone disciples of other Sects.

But here, on the Black Ink Battlefield, these two Secret Techniques were actually purchasable by all.

How could he not be shocked by this?

After thinking about it though, Yang Kai understood.

Such a different situation existed here because this was the Black Ink Battlefield. Since ancient times, Human Masters who stepped on into the Black Ink Battlefield never returned to the 3,000 Worlds, so even if they had exchanged their Military Merits for these two Secret Techniques, Myriad Demons Heaven wouldn’t have to worry about them leaking to the general public.

If someone did manage to cultivate these two Secret Techniques, it would benefit the Humans as well because they could at least improve the strength of said cultivator.

Yang Kai was still curious and asked the Manager while holding the jade slip, “If I exchange Military Merits for these two Eye Secret Techniques, how will I receive them?”

The Manager smiled and said, “We don’t provide the cultivation methods here in Blue Sky Pass. If you want to exchange for them, you will need to go to Myriad Demons Pass. The Old Ancestor of Myriad Demons Cave Heaven resides there, and he will personally teach you the two Eye Secret Techniques.”

Yang Kai now understood the situation. He thought there was a prepared cultivation method here in Blue Sky Pass, but he did not expect that would need to head to Myriad Demons Pass to find the Old Ancestor of Myriad Demons Cave Heaven.

It was obvious that all the procedures were the same if one wanted to practice the specialized Secret Techniques of all the Cave Heavens and Paradises. Yet, to get a chance to be taught by an Old Ancestor was definitely a blessing.

Feng Ying looked at him curiously, “You want to exchange for these two Eye Secret Techniques?”

“I’m just asking,” Yang Kai shook his head. There was no need for him to exchange for them because he already possessed the Demon Eye of Annihilation and Black Pupils of Purgatory. Before coming to the Black Ink Battlefield, A Myriad Demons Heaven Ancestor, Mo Sha, had personally taught him those techniques.

If he had time to cultivate these two Eye Secret Techniques and reached the highest possible level of mastery, he would have another trump card to fight against the Black Ink Clan.

Feng Ying nodded and said from the side, “Those inside the Inner Sanctum exchange materials according to a principle. Only exchange for what you need. Resources are scarce, so don’t take anything you don’t plan to immediately make use of.”