Martial Peak
chapter-5000

Combined with the loss of the Black Ink Cloud’s deterrent effect, the Black Ink Clan’s higher-ranking members came to a consensus that the Humans must have come up with some way of resisting the corruption of Black Ink Strength. Otherwise, how could this have happened?

However, the Black Ink Clan had yet to find out what this new method was.

Under Men Xie Royal Lord’s command, many Territory Lords had received orders to uncover the truth no matter the cost, and this struggle for the resource harvesting areas was a good opportunity to ascertain just that. If they could figure out how these Humans were stopping the encroachment of their Black Ink Strength, that would be a great merit which would allow any Black Ink Clansman the opportunity to return to the Royal City’s Black Ink Nest to cultivate and advance into the next realm.

The enthusiasm of countless of these Black Ink Clansmen was part of the reason why the resource harvesting area was so hotly contested.

The Feudal Lord continued lying still in wait inside of the Black Ink Cloud, having the vague feeling that this great merit was perhaps not far from him. That was because this Seventh-Order Master would definitely be corrupted by Black Ink Strength if he rushed into the Black Ink Cloud like that, and when that happened, he would surely be able to see how he resisted it.

Inside the Black Ink Cloud, a full-blown massacre was taking place when suddenly, all went silent.

The Feudal Lord who had been lying in wait inside of the Black Ink Cloud for his opportunity felt his heart clench and his instincts were screaming at him that something bad was about to happen.

In the next moment, he felt a huge suction power coming from where the Human was standing, and the dense Black Ink Cloud was being pulled in, converging towards him.

The Feudal Lord was delightfully surprised at first, but that surprise soon turned to shock.

He was delighted that this Seventh-Order Master had actually taken the initiative to open a portal to his Small Universe to suck in the Black Ink Cloud. Would that not mean that he was going to be converted into a Black Ink Disciple very soon?

But the Feudal Lord was soon anxious because once the Black Ink Cloud was swallowed up, he would have nowhere to hide and would instantly be exposed to the enemy.

Where did this Human come from, and how could he act so recklessly? He had been fighting with Humans for so many years, yet he had never seen anything like this before.

In no more than a dozen breaths, the dense Black Ink Cloud was completely gone, revealing all the bodies hiding in its midst.

And, at the centre of these bodies stood Yang Kai, a cold gaze on his face and a sharp spear in his hand.

Though he had culled many Black Ink Clansmen after charging into the Black Ink Cloud, there were obviously going to be fish who had slipped through the net. The Black Ink Clouds’ ability to interfere with a Human’s sense was so strong that he was unable to find all of the Black Ink Clansmen in a short amount of time.

Irritated, Yang Kai opened his Small Universe and swallowed all of the Black Ink Strength into his body.

The effect was remarkable, as all of the Black Ink Clansmen hidden inside of the Black Ink Cloud were instantly revealed.

Looking around, Yang Kai sneered. Even though many Black Ink Clansmen had ambushed them this time, their average strength was too low. There was one Feudal Lord among them, but the rest were all High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.

At this moment, the Black Ink Clansmen who remained alive were all gawking at Yang Kai as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight. The Feudal Lord’s expression was especially shocked. He thought that Yang Kai would turn into a Black Ink Disciple soon, but now it seemed like this Human was completely unaffected by Black Ink Strength.

After all of the Black Ink Clouds were sucked into this Human’s body, he was still not corrupted in the slightest. At once, the Black Ink Clan Feudal Lord thought of something and called out in alarm, “Four Universe Pillars!”

The Four Universe Pillars were not only famous among the Human Race, but also among the Black Ink Clan; after all, it was a precious treasure that could perfectly resist Black Ink Strength. Humans who possessed a Four Universe Pillar simply had no need to fear being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.

The Black Ink Clan had a deep hatred for the Four Universe Pillars, and they were very much concerned about who held one of them. Any cultivator possessing one of the Four Universe Pillars would be noted on record by the Black Ink Clan, and if ever they were to meet any of these Humans, the Black Ink Clan would do whatever it took to kill them.

This Feudal Lord was not someone in a low position, so he had read that special list before; however, there were few people on the list, and all of them were in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

That was because only those in the Eighth Order had the ability to protect a Four Universe Pillar and keep them out of the hands of the Black Ink Clan.

And yet, he had encountered a Seventh-Order Master with a Four Universe Pillar here. This Human was definitely not on that list.

This was an extremely important piece of news, and if he could bring word of this back, it would definitely be a merit not much lower than finding out how the Humans were able to resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength now.

With that thought, the Feudal Lord opened his mouth, spitting out a cloud of inky blood, hoping to escape from here.

Judging from the power of this Seventh-Order Master’s rampage, he did not believe himself to be his match. If he wanted to live, then he had no choice but to flee immediately.

This was undoubtedly the most correct move to make; however, even after burning his Blood Essence and using a costly Secret Technique, his body remained stagnant. An inexplicable force had seemingly caused the space around him to become extremely viscous, as if he had fallen into a pool of quicksand, making it hard to move.

“Where do you think you’re going?” When that cold voice entered his ears, the Feudal Lord looked over just in time to see the tip of a spear enlarging before his eyes. There, at the tip of the spear, was a terrifying power that had yet to erupt. Once it did, it would surely send him to the next life!

The Feudal Lord roared in terror and his huge body swelled up, releasing his aura without reserve. By struggling with all his power, the confines of space finally grew loose.

But that was not all. He raised his large fist and slammed it in Yang Kai’s direction. With a single blow, he shattered the surrounding space, so it was clear how powerful that punch was.

However, Yang Kai showed no intention of dodging. With a flick of his spear, he pierced through the Feudal Lord’s fist like a hot knife through butter. The Azure Dragon Spear easily penetrated the Feudal Lord’s defence, and more than half of his spear was embedded into the Feudal Lord’s arm.

Expression changing dramatically, the Feudal Lord let out a pained roar.

Yang Kai shook his spear again, and the condensed power at its tip finally erupted, turning the pierced arm into a bloody mist. Fresh ink-black blood gushed from the Feudal Lord’s shoulder as his furious aura withered away.

Before he could do anything else, a towering shadow came down on him.

A few moments later, Yang Kai retracted his spear, but the Feudal Lord seemed frozen in place, motionless with only a shocked glint in his eyes remaining.

Waves of energy from the spear thrust rippled out, sweeping over the Feudal Lord’s body, shredding it into neat, tiny pieces in an instant, like he had been carefully carved up with a knife.

Yang Kai looked around and saw the figures of Shen Ao, Ning Qi Zhi, and Qi Tai Chu’s bodies flitting about as Dawning Light’s attacks continued blasting out one by one, and the remaining Black Ink Clansmen were quickly wiped out.

Such a group of Black Ink Clansmen might have caused trouble if their ambush had caught another Squad, but they were hardly enough to hold up against Dawn.

After the end of the fight, it took them a bit of time to clean up the battlefield. These Black Ink Clansmen might not have many good things on them, but any resource was considered invaluable to the Humans on the Black Ink Battlefield.

After returning to Dawning Light, Yang Kai sat down cross-legged, contemplating the successes and failures of their latest skirmish.

His opponent was nothing worth mentioning, but since advancing into the Seventh Order, this was only the third time that Yang Kai had fought. He was able to somewhat familiarize himself with his increased strength now and was confident that he would do better the next time he encountered an opponent.

After recuperating in place for an hour, Dawning Light resumed its mission.

In the coming days, Dawning Light was able to get a catch every few days. With the help of the Illusion Array’s disguise, the Black Ink Clan mistakenly took Dawning Light as an ordinary Squad-level Warship; however, once they jumped out of hiding, it was too late for them to escape.

As many as 20 Feudal Lords died at Dawn’s hands.

After going through fight after fight, Dawn Squad became more adept at working with each other. Once they encountered an enemy, they would do what was necessary without needing someone to order them, and their achievements soon surpassed those of any ordinary Squad by far.

One day, Dawn was in the middle of cleaning up a fresh battlefield. Just an hour earlier, Yang Kai and his men had encountered another Black Ink Clan Squad. They were not considered weak as those in the Feudal Lord rank alone numbered 3, but as usual, they were completely wiped out after the fight.

It was at that moment that Feng Ying suddenly appeared and called out, “Leader, there is a nearby Squad that requires our assistance!”

Yang Kai turned his head towards her and saw that she was holding the crystal orb-like communication device that Cha Hu handed them. At that moment, the crystal orb was glowing crimson, and the light gathered into an arrow-like symbol that was pointing in a certain direction.

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes. There was no way he could not tell that Squad had already reached the critical point between life or death after seeing this message; otherwise, the crystal ball would not react this way.

Without hesitation, Yang Kai immediately shouted, “Gather up! We have an emergency!”

Those who were still cleaning up the battlefield immediately converged towards Dawning Light, and within a few breaths, the Warship turned into a stream of light and sped towards the direction the arrow was pointing at.

Yang Kai had no idea whether any other Squads had picked up on the distress call, but the Squad that was calling for help clearly had to be in a bad situation. There might not be any other Squads nearby, so Dawn may be their only hope.

Their fellow clansmen were in grave danger, so Dawning Light pushed its speed to its limit without regard for power consumption.

Within an hour, a Universe Fragment came into Yang Kai’s view.

At that moment, bits of light could be seen flickering at a certain spot around the Universe Fragment. It was clearly the light coming from Human Secret Techniques.

Beyond that glow, dense Black Ink Clouds were threatening to envelop them.

There were seven or eight Human cultivators madly wielding their powers, trying to stop the Black Ink Clan’s advance, but no matter how hard they tried, the enemy’s momentum was unstoppable. Once the Black Ink Clouds fully enveloped them, they would surely be corrupted by the Black Ink Strength.

And, if they were to be corrupted by Black Ink Strength in such a place, they would undoubtedly be converted into Black Ink Disciples.

These cultivators must have been part of a Squad, but their numbers were clearly off. Some members must have been lost already, and Yang Kai did not see their Warship either.

In this case, there was only one possibility, and that was that the Squad’s Warship had lost its functionality, or simply been destroyed.

Without the Warship’s protection, the Human cultivators would surely be at a disadvantage as they faced off against the Black Ink Strength, and that was how they ended up in such a desperate state.

He did not see any Black Ink Clansmen, so they must be hiding inside of the Black Ink Clouds, constantly pushing their Black Ink Strength closer to the Humans.

Every now and then, attacks would appear, directed at the Humans, keeping them trapped here with no opportunity to use the Universe Transference Law to escape.