Martial Peak
chapter-5016

Yang Kai’s Dragon Bead was hidden under his maw, and when he looked inside now, he could clearly see the tiny cracks covering its surface and its lustre had also dulled.

Unleashing his Dragon Bead did succeed in causing great damage to Zhu Feng, but Zhu Feng’s counter-attack also led to his Dragon Bead being damaged.

This was also the reason why Yang Kai would not dare to simply bring out his Dragon Bead. Once it was brought out, its power was indeed awe-inspiring, but the dangers were equally immense. Once the Dragon Bead was destroyed, his life would immediately be put in danger. It was fortunate that the worst-case scenario did not happen.

However, now that his Dragon Bead had been damaged, Yang Kai had a vague feeling that he would not be able to use his Dragon Transformation anytime soon, much less assume his Grand Dragon Form.

He had spent some time in the Dragon Clan’s Crystal Palace inside the Divine Spirit’s Ancestral Land. During his seclusion there, following the refinement of his Bloodline purity, Yang Kai had also awakened some of his Dragon Clan Inheritance and knew that once a Dragon Bead was damaged, it was extremely difficult to repair.

It had to be gently nurtured with the power of one’s own Dragon Vein, and it was a slow process that could not be rushed.

So, while the problem with his Dragon Bead was not a big one for Yang Kai right now, it was by no means small either. Since he could only rely on his own Dragon Vein’s power to repair it though, there was no point in feeling anxious.

As the Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation continued to do its job, Yang Kai inhaled a mountain of Open Heaven Pills before taking out a set of resources to silently refine and replenish his depleted World Force.

After two or three days of this, Bai Yi’s lashes suddenly fluttered, and she opened her eyes with a slightly laboured grunt.

“You’re awake?” Noticing her movements, Yang Kai quickly opened his eyes to check on her.

Bai Yi’s injuries were serious, and even though Yang Kai had already helped her recover from some of them, he was only an external aid in the end. It was good news that she had woken up on her own. Now, she could recover much faster if she focused on healing herself.

Bai Yi still looked disoriented, but she soon remembered what happened before she fell unconscious and was startled, “Where is this? Where’s Zhu Feng?”

Yang Kai explained, “We are still in Zhu Feng’s hideout, and he’s dead.” Saying so, he pointed to the side.

Bai Yi turned her head around and saw Zhu Feng’s large body lying on the ground a short distance away, his head separated from it. The eyes on his large head had widened into circles as they stared straight in their direction, almost as if he wanted to stare them down even in death.

Bai Yi could not help but feel shocked that Zhu Feng actually died! Before falling unconscious, Zhu Feng’s power was still close to its peak. Even though he had also been hurt through the combined efforts of Yang Kai and herself, a Territory Lord was still not an entity that two Seventh-Order Masters could hope to compete with.

She thought that she and Yang Kai would not be able to escape death, but who knew that she would wake up to see Zhu Feng’s headless corpse?

She had no idea what happened after she fell unconscious, but she knew that it had to have been an astonishing battle.

“Senior Brother saved me?” Bai Yi asked.

Yang Kai could not help but laugh, “There is no one here besides you and me. Naturally, it was I who saved you.”

Bai Yi had a complicated look in her eyes before she sighed, “There was no need to save me.”

Yang Kai frowned at her words. There was something not quite right with that sentence, but after pausing for a moment, he simply said, “First, heal your injuries. You were badly wounded, so if you don’t focus on recovering, you might suffer from lingering danger in the future.”

Bai Yi nodded slightly and struggled to sit cross-legged, silently circulating her strength.

There was silence inside of the Sealed World for a while as the two healed their wounds and restored their energy. With Towering Evergreen nourishing and shielding them, the lingering Black Ink Strength could not encroach upon their position in the slightest.

Another eight days passed, and Yang Kai had finally made a recovery. The injuries to his physical body were basically healed, and the emptiness inside of his Small Universe was also somewhat replenished. Even though he had not returned to full strength, he was not far from it.

Bai Yi was a little slower to recover than he was, but after noticing Yang Kai’s movements, she opened her eyes and slowly got up, elegantly saluting him, “Many thanks for your life-saving grace, Senior Brother.”

Yang Kai looked at her silently for a moment before speaking, “If you really want to thank me, then live on and kill more Black Ink Clansmen. You are strong, so it would be a great loss to the Human Race if you were to fall here.”

Bai Yi pursed her lips and nodded.

Yang Kai did not notice it previously, but he realized the problem with what Bai Yi said when she woke up now.

Bai Yi clearly had a death wish!

Perhaps she was determined to die when she stood in front of Yang Kai and blocked Zhu Feng’s ferocious blow for him.

Yang Kai had treated many Black Ink Disciples so he had seen this condition before. The hands of these Black Ink Disciples were all stained with the blood of their own people.

To Black Ink Disciples, the Black Ink Clan was supreme, and they would follow any order given to them without question, even if it meant murdering their own people. After being saved by Yang Kai, these events became something of a trauma for them.

It had to be known that those whom they killed used to be the allies whom they fought side-by-side with, so it was likely that these experiences would continue to haunt them for a long, long time.

This was particularly true for Bai Yi. With her incredible archery skills and her powerful Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, even Yang Kai suffered three serious losses at her hands, so how could ordinary cultivators even hope to survive when facing her?

Yang Kai had no idea how many Humans had died at Bai Yi’s hands, but he knew that it was far more than just one or two.

It was exactly for that reason that Bai Yi desired to die. She felt ashamed to return to the side of the Humans with her hands dripping in their blood and with their souls lingering behind her.

Her perfunctory reply seemed to suggest that she was not taking his words seriously, so Yang Kai frowned and scolded, “One Zhu Feng is not enough to make up for your sins. If you feel guilty, then for everyone you killed, you must take ten or a hundred from the Black Ink Clan! If you were to die so easily, then those who fell to you would truly have died in vain!”

He hadn’t been planning to be this blunt with her, but Bai Yi was clearly not in the right state of mind at the moment, so he had no choice but to use some sharp words.

The blood suddenly drained from Bai Yi’s face, turning her as pale as snow. Her body trembled and she gritted her teeth, “Senior Brother’s teachings are correct. I will definitely not let Senior Brother down!”

Yang Kai shook his head, “This isn’t about whether you let me down or not. It’s about your own conscience you have to clear.”

After thinking through his words, Bai Yi nodded again.

As Bai Yi steadied herself, Yang Kai followed up, “That’s all I have to say. You think about it on your own. I’m no good at consoling people so I may have spoken a little harshly, but I hope you don’t take it to heart. It would be inconvenient for us to stay here any longer, so let’s get out of here first.”

Bai Yi had no objections.

While helping Bai Yi heal, Yang Kai had used his Divine Sense to look through this Sealed World. It was not a large place, so he could naturally examine its entirety without much trouble. Unfortunately, he did not find anything valuable. The Black Ink Nest would have been an excellent specimen to be studied; however, after Zhu Feng used his Secret Technique, it had already withered completely and broken apart, rendering it useless.

In just a short moment, the two of them arrived at the exit which was blocked by some kind of Secret Technique; however, this was no problem for Yang Kai.

Using Space Principles, he pried open the World Barrier so the two of them could leave.

Once they were back in the void, Yang Kai immediately checked his surroundings, but found nothing unusual.

It had been almost a month since he had been separated from Dawn, so Yang Kai naturally wondered how they were doing.

Back then, Yang Kai had run off chasing Bai Yi; as a result, he ended up on a tumultuous ride that delayed him until now. However, there was no need for Yang Kai to worry too much about Dawn. Even without him, there were still 4 Seventh-Order Masters to take charge. And, Dawning Light was a far stronger Warship than normal. As long as they did not bump into a Territory Lord, they would basically be fine.

However, the last time that Yang Kai tried to use the Universe Transference Law, he was surprisingly unable to connect with the Universe Array on Dawning Light, which left him a bit puzzled.

He had no idea what happened.

Once again, Yang Kai used the Universe Transference Law in the silent void.

This time, the Universe Transference Law was able to resonate with the Universe Array on Dawning Light; in other words, as long as he was willing, he could return that instant.

However, though he could return, Bai Yi couldn’t. So, after confirming that he could connect with Dawning Light, Yang Kai dismissed the technique and turned to her, “Let’s go.”

After saying that, he led the way while Bai Yi followed in a somewhat depressed manner.

Even though neither of them was in peak condition, they were not existences with whom ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could compete to begin with, so they did not even bother trying to hide themselves. They had even killed a Territory Lord, so they were eager to meet some Black Ink Clansmen along the way to satisfy their appetites.

Unfortunately, they had an uneventful journey back. It was as if the Black Ink Clansmen in this region had all been ruthlessly killed off.

Not even a single Human was seen either.

Yang Kai found this very strange, as when he was pursuing Bai Yi, he would still occasionally bump into Human or Black Ink Clan Squads.

This was not a safe or peaceful area and soldiers from both sides had been fighting all over the place just a few days ago. Something was clearly not right about the current situation.

It seemed that something big had happened in this region during the time that he and Bai Yi were in Zhu Feng’s nest.

Realising this, Yang Kai increased his speed.

A few days later, the asteroid where the fourth forward base was located came into view, and Yang Kai led Bai Yi straight towards it. There were naturally Human Masters who stopped them in order to question them, only allowing them to pass after Yang Kai identified himself.

Yang Kai flew straight over to Dawn Squad’s camp and a figure rushed out from within one of the huts a moment later. It was Feng Ying.

Feng Ying’s eyes lit up the moment she saw Yang Kai and she breathed a sigh of relief, “Squad Leader, you’ve finally returned.”

They were naturally a bit worried when Yang Kai did not show his face for so long. They had no idea whether something had happened to him. As Yang Kai was a special member of the Human Race, then the loss they would be incurring would be far greater than the loss of an Eighth-Order Master if he were to die.

Yang Kai nodded and looked at her surprised, “Are you hurt?”

Feng Ying’s aura showed some signs of instability, which was a clear sign that she had been injured.

“It’s nothing major,” Feng Ying smiled casually.

Their conversation drew the attention of even more of Dawn’s members. One by one, they all came out of retreat and were all overjoyed to see Yang Kai.

But although all 35 of Dawn’s members were present, most of them were injured, especially the Seventh-Order Masters who seemed to be in serious condition.

Yang Kai was shocked at this sight; wondering what Dawn had encountered in his absence, he could not help but ask, “Was there some kind of great battle with the Black Ink Clan?”