Martial Peak
chapter-5080

The different Ranks of Black Ink Nests were owned by Black Ink Clansmen of varying statuses. It was a clear and simple system.

After giving it a thought, Yang Kai asked, “Can a sub-nest be born from a Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest?”

Zha Gu shook his head with a smile, “The Feudal Lord Black Ink Nest is the lowest Rank. How can a sub-nest be separated from it?”

“Then, whose sub-nest is the Royal Lord Black Ink Nests from?”

The question startled Zha Gu, “The Royal Lord Black Ink Nest is already the highest Rank.”

Yang Kai frowned, “However, according to you, every Black Ink Nest is separated from a higher Rank Black Ink Nest. In that case, there should be a source where all the Black Ink Nests come from. What is this source?”

A dazed Zha Gu gazed at Yang Kai for a moment before putting on a smile, “It beats me, Brother Yang. I have no idea what or where the source is; however, as far as I know, the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest is indeed the highest Rank. There isn’t a higher Rank Black Ink Nest. Perhaps the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest is the source.”

Yang Kai nodded as he could only acknowledge this statement to be true for now.

He decided not to delve into this topic further; instead, he grew curious about the box in Zha Gu’s hands, “Brother Zha Gu, how are you going to hatch it so that it’ll become a real Black Ink Nest?”

Zha Gu chuckled, “You’ll find out soon.”

As they spoke, they kept moving forward. A few days later, Zha Gu suddenly stopped and fished out a Universe Chart.

Universe Charts were initially invented by Humans; however, as the two Races fought against one another for countless years, many of the Humans’ inventions had been acquired by the Black Ink Clan. Some of the examples were flight-type artifacts and Universe Charts.

“It’s here.” Upon determining their exact location, Zha Gu became energetic, “With this place as the centre, a half-day’s journey radius will now be considered my Fief.”

Yang Kai was stunned, “Your Fief is pretty vast, then.”

It had to be noted that Zha Gu was a Feudal Lord, so he could cross quite a distance by flying for half a day. In other words, his Fief would be massive.

Zha Gu chuckled, “It’s just luck.”

Then, he looked around the area.

Initially, the entire Black Ink Battlefield was supposed to be a flourishing place; however, due to the Black Ink Clan’s characteristics, the Black Ink Battlefield was only filled with dead Universe Worlds now.

Now, all they could see nearby were Universe Worlds and universe fragments that were full of Death Qi.

Zha Gu soon found a suitable place and flew towards a Universe World that was neither small nor big, landing soon after.

The entire World was filled with Death Qi and there wasn’t even a tinge of vitality. Yang Kai couldn’t even feel a bit of World Force around here. With that said, he wasn’t surprised as this was only to be expected.

“I’ll choose this place, then.” Zha Gu looked around, evidently pleased with this area.

As he spoke, he carefully put down the box that he had been carrying in his arms. Although this square box was small, it seemed to be weighty. Yang Kai didn’t realise it when the box was in Zha Gu’s arms, but the moment he put it down, the entire ground shook a little. Even the area around the box sunk somewhat.

With a solemn expression, Zha Gu gazed at the box and said in an equally solemn tone, “Brother Yang, don’t you want to know how a Black Ink Nest is hatched? You should watch attentively, then.”

Yang Kai nodded gently and stared fixedly at the box.

Just then, Black Ink Strength started billowing from Zha Gu’s hand as he placed his palm on the box. It wasn’t certain what he had done, but the box cracked and split. In an instant, a flower bud that was yet to blossom came into Yang Kai’s sight.

This thing was similar to the Black Ink Nests he had seen before, only far, far smaller.

However, he could feel extremely rich Black Ink Strength streaming around this immature Black Ink Nest.

Just like all the Black Ink Nests he had seen before, this thing was like a living creature. Every time it breathed, Black Ink Strength would billow from it.

At this moment, Zha Gu’s subordinates stepped forward. Although no order was given, they all fell on their knees and pressed their heads against the ground in the Black Ink Nest’s direction in a sincere manner. They started chanting something as though they were performing a ritual.

Zha Gu was evidently agitated; then, all of a sudden, he stabbed a finger into his chest.

Yang Kai was stunned at the sight, thinking that Zha Gu was trying to kill himself.

Nevertheless, he soon realised that it wasn’t the case. Although Zha Gu had stabbed a finger into his chest, he wasn’t trying to end his own life. When he pulled out his hand, there was a drop of black blood on his finger.

Black Ink Clansmen were born in Black Ink Nests, so they had no need for sexual reproduction like Humans. With that said, they were not different from the Humans when it came to their anatomy.

Therefore, the moment Yang Kai saw the black blood, he knew that it was a drop of blood from Zha Gu’s heart. It was probably the equivalent of a Human’s Blood Essence. If it was lost, it would destabilise the Black Ink Clansman’s aura and even cause their strength to plunge.

As expected, after Zha Gu extracted a drop of blood from his heart, his aura became noticeably weaker.

Then, he dropped the blood onto the Black Ink Nest, which quickly absorbed it.

The next moment, a connection was formed between the Black Ink Nest and Zha Gu.

Yang Kai watched from the side as he thought that this was similar to how some Humans claimed the ownership of some artifacts by dropping their blood onto them. After absorbing Zha Gu’s blood, the Black Ink Nest was left with his Brand. From now on, this Black Ink Nest was Zha Gu’s property, and other Black Ink Clansmen could never snatch it from him, though it wasn’t clear how the Black Ink Nest would be impacted upon Zha Gu’s death.

Yang Kai reckoned that nothing would change though; after all, he had never heard of any incidents where the artifacts would shatter after their owners passed away. There would simply be a new owner after the original owner lost his life.

Although Zha Gu’s aura had weakened after he finished this, he was clearly high-spirited.

He then fished out something from his Space Ring. Yang Kai could see that it was a World Sphere that was filled with World Force. He wondered where Zha Gu got it from.

Without hesitation, Zha Gu threw the World Sphere into the middle of the flower bud.

The next instant, the Black Ink Nest started shaking and throbbing like a heart. The World Force inside the World Sphere was soon swallowed by the Black Ink Nest.

As this happened, the entire Black Ink Nest started squirming violently as something that looked like flesh grew out of it. The initially petite Black Ink Nest started expanding rapidly.

Just moments later, the originally small Black Ink Nest had expanded by several times, and its growth didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Zha Gu continuously threw more World Spheres, which were filled with World Force, into the Black Ink Nest, which never stopped growing.

A few days later, a 1,000-metre-tall Feudal Lord’s Black Ink Nest that occupied a large area was born. Yang Kai was shaken to the core as he watched the entire process.

It wasn’t until this moment that he figured out how the Black Ink Nests came about. In fact, he was probably the first Human to ever witness how a Black Ink Nest was hatched.

Perhaps some Black Ink Disciples had seen it in the past, but such information had never been collected by the Humans.

“It’s almost done,” Zha Gu was pleased as he gazed at the huge Black Ink Nest.

His subordinates had been repeatedly performing the same ritual in a sincere manner, and they didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.

“Is this its final form?” Yang Kai asked. He had seen a lot of Black Ink Nests owned by the Feudal Lords before, but they were all much larger than this. That was why he was curious.

Zha Gu shook his head, “This Black Ink Nest can still keep growing, but I don’t have a lot of resources with me now. I need to use them for other matters. I’ll only be able to keep growing this Black Ink Nest when I have some spare money.”

“I see,” Yang Kai bowed his head.

“Let’s take a look inside,” Zha Gu was in a jolly mood and he couldn’t wait to share his joy with others. Nevertheless, other than his subordinates, Yang Kai was the only Black Ink Disciple there; hence, he could only invite Yang Kai to go in.

Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t turn him down.

In fact, he was curious about what the inside of a Black Ink Nest looked like. Although he had entered Zhu Feng’s Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest before, that one was specifically used for recuperating. Moreover, all his focus was on killing Zhu Feng back then, so he didn’t pay attention to anything else at that time.

After the Black Ink Nest took shape, it looked like a huge flower bud sitting on the ground.

Over the past few days when the Black Ink Nest was growing, Yang Kai could clearly feel that a profound force seemed to have expanded from beneath the Black Ink Nest and turned into roots, which connected the Black Ink Nest to this Universe World.

Zha Gu didn’t seem to have made a move, but the moment he stood in front of the Black Ink Nest, a gap appeared at the bottom and revealed a dark passageway.

He had used a drop of blood from his heart to refine this Black Ink Nest, so as he was now connected to it, he could easily control it.

After Zha Gu stepped inside, Yang Kai followed him closely.

They walked across the long passageway and arrived at an empty room. Yang Kai could see that the walls of this room seemed to be made from flesh. The entire Black Ink Nest was filled with Black Ink Strength and an indescribably evil aura.

Zha Gu said, “With this Black Ink Nest, it will be easier for me to cultivate. There even a chance for me to ascend to become a Territory Lord.”

“I’ll congratulate you in advance then, Brother Zha Gu,” Yang Kai cupped his fist, then asked curiously, “I saw you using up a lot of World Spheres earlier. So, it requires the World Force to hatch a Black Ink Nest?”

Zha Gu replied with a smile, “Yes, it requires the World Fore to hatch a Black Ink Nest. Of course, cultivation resources used by Humans would work as well. Let me put it this way, a Black Ink Nest can absorb anything that contains energy and transform it into Black Ink Strength.”

Upon hearing his explanation, Yang Kai thought that it was no wonder wherever the Black Ink Clansmen went, the Universe Worlds would be filled with Death Qi. The Black Ink Clan was the natural enemy of the 3,000 Worlds. If they were allowed to invade the 3,000 Worlds, all life would be purged.

Since time immemorial, the Masters of every generation from the Cave Heavens and Paradises had been trying to destroy the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield to stop them from threatening the 3,000 Worlds. For this reason, countless people lost their lives.

However, other than the cultivators from the Cave Heavens and Paradises, there was barely anyone in the entire 3,000 Worlds who was aware of what was going on. It was a tragedy for all these sacrifices to be made yet never recognized.