Martial Peak
chapter-5079

Since Gui Liao had said so, there was nothing Zha Gu could do about it other than nod in agreement.

Gui Liao then asked, “Do you have any specific demands when it comes to your Fief?”

After giving it a thought, Zha Gu replied, “I don’t have any specific demands really, but it seems that Yang Kai needs to rely on an external aid like Earth-Fire to refine artifacts. Do you have a recommendation for that, Sir Gui Liao?”

Upon hearing that, Gui Liao started going through his Universe Chart and a moment later, he left a mark somewhere and passed it to Zha Gu, “There was originally a Great Sun in this area. Although the Sun is dead now, it still has a great amount of residual power. Let’s just make this place your Fief. The power of the Great Sun is still much greater than an Earth Fire.”

In the meantime, Zha Gu was glancing at the Universe Chart. Upon locating the dead Great Sun, he nodded, “Good.”

Gui Liao then waved his hand, after which Liu Zi An stepped out of the darkness with a unique-looking box in his hands. It wasn’t certain what the box was made from as it didn’t look like metal nor jade. It also wasn’t certain what was inside the box.

However, the moment Zha Gu saw the box, he became agitated and could not peel his eyes away.

Gui Liao said with a smile, “You have to keep this sub-nest in a safe place. I only have one sub-nest, so if you lose it, it will be gone for good.”

An excited Zha Gu took the box and thanked him repeatedly. This was the key to becoming a Feudal Lord with a Fief, and it was also the thing he had always dreamed of getting. It never crossed his mind that he could easily obtain it on this day.

“Do you need me to teach you how to hatch it?” Gui Liao asked.

“There’s no need for that,” Zha Gu shook his head. Suddenly recalling something, he said hesitantly, “Sir, it requires a lot of resources or World Force to hatch a Black Ink Nest. I…”

A generous Gui Liao waved his hand, “Just buy the resources with the 300,000 Black Ink Coins you have. It should be enough to hatch a Black Ink Nest. As for the 500,000 Black Ink Coins required to buy this Black Ink Nest, you can pay me back later.”

“Many thanks, Sir Gui Liao!” Zha Gu was grateful.

Although he now owed Gui Liao 500,000 Black Ink Coins, it was worth it for a Feudal Lord like him.

He secretly made some calculations and realised that if what Gui Liao said could be achieved, he would get 46,500 Black Ink Coins for every artifact. After making Yang Kai craft more than 11 artifacts, he would be able to pay off his debt.

He couldn’t help but think that it was easy to make money with a Human Artifact Refiner with him. He also felt fortunate that Yang Kai and Gui Liao were on bad terms; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to earn so much cash. Gui Liao would have taken full control over this matter.

Now, Gui Liao only assisted him in secret instead of taking matters into his own hands. He must be worried that the Territory Lord would investigate certain matters when he was done recuperating; therefore, even though Zha Gu would earn even more money, he would also have to take some risks.

Despite knowing all of that, Zha Gu still happily obliged.

After leaving the castle, Zha Gu was still in a dazed state. He still couldn’t believe that his dream had finally come true.

The box that contained the sub-nest couldn’t be kept inside a Space Ring. To the Black Ink Clan, a Black Ink Nest was also a living creature; therefore, Zha Gu returned to his castle and carefully put the box in a safe place before touring around Hei Yuan’s territory. He then spent his wealth by buying a lot of World Spheres and materials of different Orders.

300,000 Black Ink Coins were soon used up. Despite that, the substantial amount of resources in his Space Ring made him feel at ease.

While Zha Gu had gotten everything ready, Yang Kai was completing another artifact.

After telling Yang Kai to get some rest, Zha Gu started dealing with the Feudal Lords who were there to have their artifacts crafted.

Since he had come to an agreement with Gui Liao, he wasn’t willing to keep wasting time here; after all, he could only charge these Feudal Lords 30,000 for one artifact while Gui Liao promised that they would be able to charge 100,000 per artifact. Since there was a huge difference between the prices, Zha Gu naturally knew which one to choose.

Certainly, the Feudal Lords were not pleased with this; however, Zha Gu said that Gui Liao had summoned Yang Kai back to the castle. With this being the case, there was nothing these Feudal Lords could do about it.

After all, Yang Kai was the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple, so it wasn’t appropriate for him to keep staying in Zha Gu’s abode.

When everything was prepared, Zha Gu gathered all his subordinates together and led Yang Kai to navigate across the void.

On the way to their destination, Yang Kai said worriedly, “Brother Zha Gu, it’s inappropriate that I’m suddenly leaving without informing Sir Gui Liao about it.”

Zha Gu replied with a smile, “Don’t worry about it, Brother Yang. I’ve informed Sir Gui Liao already, and he’s aware that you’ve been staying in my place for the past two years.”

“Did he say anything?”

Zha Gu shook his head, “Sir Gui Liao is busy dealing with the affairs in the territory. He can’t be bothered to handle such a trivial matter.”

Yang Kai nodded gently, “That’s good.” Then, he asked in puzzlement, “Where are we going?”

An energetic Zha Gu replied, “We’re going to my Fief!”

Yang Kai nodded.

Upon seeing the other man’s lukewarm reaction, Zha Gu said with a smile, “Brother Yang, since you’re a Human, I suppose you have no idea how important a Fief is to a Black Ink Clansman.”

Yang Kai really had no idea about it. Although he had been staying by Nu Yan’s side for two years in the Black Ink Clan’s hinterland in the past, the latter was just a High-Rank Clansman who was equivalent to a Sixth-Order Human. Moreover, Nu Tan simply went from one Blood Arena to the next to earn Black Ink Coins.

Basically, Yang Kai knew little about the internal affairs of the Black Ink Clan. In fact, even though the two Races had been fighting against each other for millennia, the Humans still didn’t know much about the Black Ink Clan.

Yang Kai played along by saying, “Please enlighten me.”

There was a sense of pride on Zha Gu’s face as he spoke, “Let me put it this way, Brother Yang. Only with a Fief in possession will a Feudal Lord be considered a real Feudal Lord. The Feudal Lords who don’t have a Fief are like tigers without teeth.”

A puzzled Yang Kai said, “I don’t get it.”

Zha Gu chuckled, “Since you’re a Human, it’s expected that you don’t get it. Do you know why there are so many Feudal Lords but only a small number of them have their own Fiefs?”

“Is it because there isn’t enough land?” Yang Kai gave a random answer. In fact, he had pondered on this issue before, but he couldn’t figure out the reason behind it. Since Zha Gu mentioned it all of a sudden, he reckoned that his doubt would be solved on this day.

Upon hearing that, Zha Gu was startled for a moment before breaking into laughter, “That’s indeed one of the reasons. Sir Territory Lord has dozens of Feudal Lords working for him. If every Feudal Lord had their own Fief, there wouldn’t be enough land. Nevertheless, the main reason is the limited number of Black Ink Nests.”

“Black Ink Nests?” Yang Kai arched his brow with surprise, “What does it have to do with the Black Ink Nests?”

Zha Gu explained, “Although the Humans have fought against the Black Ink Clan for countless years, I guess you all still don’t know that there are different Ranks of Black Ink Nests. You’ve seen Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Don’t you think it’s enormous and imposing?”

“Yes.” Yang Kai bowed his head.

“The Black Ink Nests are the foundation of the Black Ink Clan, and there are three Ranks in total, which the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nests, the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nests, and the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nests. In the Human’s terms, these Black Ink Nests could be categorised into High-Rank, Mid-Rank, and Low-Rank. Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest is Mid-Rank. You might think that it’s splendid, but if you have the chance to see a Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, you’ll realise that the one owned by Sir Territory Lord is quite petite.”

Yang Kai’s expression changed as it was the first time he heard about this. He reckoned that the Humans had no idea about such a categorisation as well. With his brow raised, he asked, “So, a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest would be considered Low-Rank?”

“Yes.” Zha Gu nodded, “Every Black Ink Nest is dependent on the higher Rank one.”

“What do you mean by that?” Yang Kai frowned.

Zha Gu explained with a smile, “A Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest must be bred from the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, while a Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest is always bred from a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest. Therefore, the Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest is a sub-nest of the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest while a Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest is a sub-nest of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.”

“There’s such a relationship between the Black Ink Nests?” Yang Kai was astonished, thinking that he had learned a great secret of the Black Ink Clan today. In the past, the Humans had some speculations about how the Black Ink Nests were born, but they were never able to discern the truth. It wasn’t until Yang Kai heard about it from Zha Gu that he realised a lower Rank Black Ink Nest was separated from a higher Rank Black Ink Nest.

With a solemn expression, Zha Gu went on to say, “It requires a lot of energy for a sub-nest to be born, so each one is extremely precious. We won’t be able to get it with ease.” As he spoke, he patted the box in his arms, “I bought this sub-nest with 500,000 Black Ink Coins.”

Yang Kai was flabbergasted, “That’s a sub-nest?”

Zha Gu had been carrying this box while on their way to their destination. Yang Kai could certainly see it. Although he was curious, he never asked what was inside the box. It wasn’t until this moment that he realised it was a sub-nest.

“Yes, it’s a sub-nest.” Zha Gu nodded seriously, “However, it hasn’t been hatched. After it’s hatched, it will be a real Black Ink Nest. With that said, it will naturally be much smaller than Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest; after all, it’s just a Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest. With this Black Ink Nest though, I’ll become a real Feudal Lord.”

As he spoke, he started envisioning the bright future ahead of him, “With my own Black Ink Nest, I’ll be able to attract more Black Ink Clansmen to settle down in my Fief. If those High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen want to ascend to become Feudal Lords, they’ll have to rely on my Black Ink Nest’s power, and I can charge them a fee just to use it. When there are enough residents in the Fief, I can form my own Army and follow Sir Territory Lord to fight against the Humans.”

Yang Kai was practically beside himself as it was the first time he found out that a Black Ink Nest had to be hatched. Was it really a living creature? How was it hatched? He had seen a lot of Feudal Lord Black Ink Nests, but they were all gigantic. Although a Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest was not comparable to the one owned by a Territory Lord, it couldn’t possibly be stuffed into a box.

While feeling doubtful, he asked cautiously, “Brother Zha Gu, you said that if those High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen want to ascend to become a Feudal Lord, they would have to rely on your Black Ink Nest. What if you want to ascend to become a Territory Lord?”

Zha Gu replied, “I’ll have to rely on the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Nest, which is the one owned by Sir Territory Lord. This Black Ink Nest is not powerful enough to support my ascension.”

Yang Kai nodded upon hearing his explanation. In other words, a Low-Rank Black Ink Nest could help a Black Ink Clansman ascend to become a Feudal Lord while a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest could help a Feudal Lord become a Territory Lord. However, only the High-Rank Black Ink Nest could help a Territory Lord ascend to become a Royal Lord.