Martial Peak
chapter-5066

Only the Black Ink Disciples who had made immense contributions on the battlefield and proved their worth had a chance to be rewarded with a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit by the Black Ink Clan to repair their damaged Small Universes; however, Yang Kai had received this kind of treatment when he was just a newcomer, which was why Feudal Lords like Gui Liao were surprised.

With that said, since Hei Yuan had given the order, Gui Liao naturally wouldn’t object to it and bowed respectfully.

Hei Yuan then stepped into the Black Ink Nest. As he disappeared, the Black Ink Nest automatically closed.

Since the Territory Lords had to recuperate here, the Black Ink Nest wouldn’t reopen for a few years. In fact, the Black Ink Clansmen previously cultivating in the Black Ink Nest were all chased out in advance to make way for the Territory Lords so that they could derive enough energy to recuperate.

After the Territory Lords entered the Black Ink Nest, the Feudal Lords, who had returned alongside the large ship, dispersed. Soon, only Gui Liao, Zha Gu, and Yang Kai were left standing in front of the Black Ink Nest.

Gui Liao shot a meaningful glance at Yang Kai and asked, “What’s your name?”

Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Yang Kai greets Sir Gui Liao.”

Gui Liao nodded gently, “Come with me.” He then turned to Zha Gu, “You too.”

Upon finishing his words, he led the way for them.

Yang Kai followed him closely. Despite not knowing what was going on, Zha Gu had no choice but to follow them as it was Gui Liao’s order.

Soon, they arrived at an exotic-looking castle that was in a prime location. It should be Hei Yuan’s castle.

There were many Black Ink Clansmen who resided in this castle. Following Gui Liao, Yang Kai stepped inside and looked around curiously.

Gui Liao called out to a Black Ink Clansman and ordered, “He’s the new Black Ink Disciple that Sir Territory Lord has taken on. Help him settle in.”

The person was just a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, and his weak aura suggested that he was only equivalent to a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. This kind of Black Ink Clansmen only served as cannon fodder to exhaust the Human cultivators on the battlefield, and they were not in a prestigious position within the Black Ink Clan. Having said that, they were good enough to be servants in such a castle.

Upon hearing that, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman bent his back, “Yes.” He then turned to look at Yang Kai, “Come with me.”

Yang Kai cupped his fist at Gui Liao, then left the place with the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman.

Gui Liao watched him leave in silence. It wasn’t until Yang Kai was out of sight that he continued moving forward.

A moment later, Gui Liao sat down on a large chair in a side hall. Then, he fished out a World Sphere, which was full of World Force, from his Space Ring and sniffed at it. In an instant, he felt rejuvenated.

Zha Gu simply stood in front of him.

Even though both of them were Feudal Lords, one obviously had higher status than the other. This couldn’t be helped though as Gui Liao was Hei Yuan’s confidant; otherwise, Hei Yuan wouldn’t have said that Gui Liao would manage all the affairs while he was recuperating.

In fact, whenever Hei Yuan went to war, Gui Liao would be the one handling the affairs in his territory. Every Territory Lord had their own confidant; moreover, Gui Liao would most likely ascend to become a Territory Lord within 100 years. By then, he would no longer be in the same calibre as Zha Gu.

Therefore, even though Zha Gu was standing in front of him while he was still wounded, he wouldn’t dare to appear displeased.

Gui Liao breathed in the World Force from the World Sphere before asking slowly, “Tell me. What’s so special about that Yang Kai that Sir Territory Lord regards him so highly?”

[I knew he was going to ask about it!]

In fact, Zha Gu already had a speculation when Gui Liao told him to tag along, and it seemed that his speculation was right.

After giving it a thought, he replied with a solemn expression, “He’s very strong.”

Gui Liao narrowed his eyes, “Very strong? How strong?”

Zha Gu went on to say, “After the Sirs were ambushed by the Human Army in the resource harvesting area, they were defeated and forced to retreat. That Yang Kai led a single Human Squad around the battlefield to ambush our clansmen as they were escaping. He single-handedly killed several thousand of our clansmen, including more than 10 Feudal Lords.”

Gui Liao initially appeared nonchalant, but his expression turned solemn when he heard that, “He killed several thousand, including more than 10 Feudal Lords? Are you sure?”

Zha Gu put on a helpless smile, “Sir Territory Lord was standing beside me as we watched it happen. It’s because that person was so powerful that Sir Territory Lord wanted to subdue him despite the fact that he was badly injured.”

Gui Liao fell into a dazed state for a moment before saying, “Tell me everything you know in detail.”

Certainly, Zha Gu wouldn’t dare to hide anything as he vividly narrated the battle on that day. Gui Liao could instantly imagine an epic fight unfolding before his eyes.

“That guy gave up a part of his Small Universe twice. In order to let his companions escape, he took the initiative to stay behind and halt our forces. In the end, when he realised that he was unable to escape, he decided to kill himself. Sir Territory Lord promptly made a move and captured him,” Zha Gu felt the emotions in his heart undulating when he recalled what happened that day. He had a feeling that if Yang Kai hadn’t intended to protect his allies, he could’ve easily fled, and the wounded Hei Yuan wouldn’t have been able to turn him.

At that time, Hei Yuan was worried that the Human Masters were still pursuing him, so he wouldn’t have taken the risk of chasing after Yang Kai if the latter was determined to flee.

“The Humans are still as foolish as ever.” Gui Liao couldn’t help but snort upon hearing that. Then, he asked, “Who do you think will be the winner if he and I fight?”

Zha Gu hurriedly replied, “Sir Gui Liao, you’ll soon ascend to become a Territory Lord. Regardless of how powerful Yang Kai is, he wouldn’t be a match for you.”

Gui Liao snorted as he was somewhat displeased at Zha Gu’s prompt reply. Even though Zha Gu replied to him without hesitation, he didn’t seem sincere.

Nevertheless, Gui Liao didn’t intend to harp on this issue. He tossed the World Sphere, which was only left with half the original World Force, at him and said, “Good, I can see that you’re badly wounded. Go back and recuperate.”

After taking the World Sphere, Zha Gu replied joyfully, “Many thanks, Sir.”

Since the Black Ink Nest was closed due to the Territory Lords having to recuperate there, it would be hard for Zha Gu to treat his wounds as he was unable to make use of this territory’s power. It would probably take him a longer time to recover. However, with the World Force inside the World Sphere, it would significantly reduce his recovery time. Although he could afford a World Sphere as well, this thing was still expensive.

After Zha Gu was gone, Gui Liao narrowed his eyes and tapped on the armrest. Following a moment of silence, he called out, “Liu Zi An.”

A figure emerged from the darkness and replied, “Master.”

Gui Liao lifted his head, “There’s a newcomer in the castle. He’s the Black Ink Disciple that Sir Territory Lord has taken in. Since both of you are of the same Race, you should approach him when there’s a chance.”

Upon receiving the order, Liu Zi An replied, “Yes.”

After bringing Yang Kai to a side hall in the castle and helping him settle in, the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman left.

This side hall was built according to the Black Ink Clan’s average size, so the ceiling was pretty high. This place appeared too spacious when a Human lived here. In any case, Yang Kai didn’t really mind. After looking around, he was satisfied.

He then sat down with his legs crossed, though he wasn’t in a rush to cultivate. Now that his Small Universe had been damaged, it was less efficient for him to cultivate. Even though the World Tree clone would help him repair the damage done, it would take several years to fully recover.

Fortunately, before Hei Yuan entered the Black Ink Nest, he told Gui Liao to get Yang Kai a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit, which solved the pressing issue for him.

He had planned on obtaining a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit upon arriving at the Black Ink Clan’s domain so that the secret in his Small Universe wouldn’t be exposed.

If his Small Universe fully recovered without a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit several years later, it would undoubtedly arouse Hei Yuan’s suspicion.

Moreover, there was one thing that concerned Yang Kai. After Hei Yuan and the other Territory Lords entered the Black Ink Nest, the entire territory was closed off.

Yang Kai had no idea how long it would take Hei Yuan to recover, but the latter obviously wouldn’t come out of the Black Ink Nest in short order. In other words, he probably wouldn’t see Hei Yuan for the next few years.

There was both a good and bad to this situation. The good was that Yang Kai could gather information on his own without any restraints. The bad thing was that he wouldn’t be able to head to the Royal City without Hei Yuan. He might not even be able to leave this universe fragment.

There was a Black Ink Disciple, who was approaching the Great Grandmaster level in Artifact Refining, developing Warships in the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s domain. Yang Kai had to ascertain this individual’s identity and location, so if he was unable to leave this universe fragment, his means of gathering information would be limited.

The difficulty of the task made him feel anxious.

While this was giving him a headache, Yang Kai suddenly felt an unfamiliar aura approaching him. After becoming startled for a brief moment, he quickly tried to examine it.

He realised that it was a Human who was coming over.

Soon, Yang Kai heard someone knocking on the door.

He hurriedly got to his feet and opened the door, only to see a burly man standing outside his room.

There was no doubt that the Humans residing in this place were all Black Ink Disciples. Yang Kai had seen some Black Ink Disciples when he followed Gui Liao back to the castle though, so he wasn’t surprised.

However, the Black Ink Disciple in front of his eyes was overly towering as a Human. Standing in front of this man, Yang Kai only came up to his chest.

It had to be noted that even though Yang Kai wasn’t a particularly tall man, he wasn’t short by any means. This went to show how burly the man before his eyes was.

What bothered Yang Kai wasn’t this man’s height though, but his aura.

The energy fluctuations around this man suggested that he was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, but his aura was tinged with a conspicuous sense of ferocity. Black Ink Strength could be seen wafting from his body, which made it look like he was covered in a layer of dark fog.

What concerned Yang Kai even further was the anomalies on his figure. There was a sarcoma on this person’s neck, and his hunched back really had a large hump in it.

The moment Yang Kai saw this person, he felt a sense of danger.

This kind of danger didn’t come from the threat this person might pose, but rather the other party’s own condition.

In other words, this person was constantly in a perilous state.

Yang Kai couldn’t help but recall what Luan Bai Feng, who was corrupted by Black Ink Strength at that time, had shown him in the Black Prison.

Back then, Yang Kai witnessed several people with similar conditions to this man.

One of the primary reasons the Cave Heavens and Paradises had been hiding the existence of Black Ink Strength from the general public was that this Strength was too dangerous, so a panic might be caused if this news was spread. Moreover, they were worried that some people couldn’t resist the allure of Black Ink Strength and would proactively seek to become corrupted.