Martial Peak
chapter-5084

Hei Yuan would naturally recover much quicker than the other Territory Lords under such circumstances. It wasn’t that he wanted to suppress the other Territory Lords, just that anyone would’ve done the same thing if they were in his position.

In fact, if possible, Hei Yuan would rather have sent these Territory Lords back to their respective territories upon their return from the battlefield so that he wouldn’t have to share the power of his Black Ink Nest; however, those Territory Lords were horribly injured at that time as they had all fallen into a state of deep sleep, so he couldn’t possibly toss them out. Left with no other choice, he brought them back to his own Black Ink Nest and they recuperated together. That way, they could take care of each other.

Despite all this, the Territory Lords were still grateful to Hei Yuan and not dissatisfied one bit. It was true that they hadn’t fully recovered, but they were now able to protect themselves at the very least. They just had to return to their territories and get some more rest in their own Black Ink Nests so that they would recover as time passed.

The entire process would only take them a few more years.

After stepping out of the Black Ink Nest, the Territory Lords thanked Hei Yuan before shooting into the sky to leave in a hurry. This was Hei Yuan’s territory after all, so it wasn’t appropriate for them to linger here. They naturally had to go back to their territories.

Hei Yuan watched them leave.

Not long after the Territory Lords left, Gui Liao, who had received the news, led a group of Black Ink Clansmen and arrived at this place in a rush to welcome Hei Yuan.

Soon, they returned to the castle. After Hei Yuan was seated on his throne, Gui Liao stood in front of him and reported to him about what had happened in the territory over the years in a respectful manner.

Hei Yuan listened to him in silence.

No major events had taken place over the past few years. The Humans were recuperating, and there hadn’t been any serious conflicts between the two Races; hence, Gui Liao was done with his report soon.

Hei Yuan nodded and praised him by saying, “You’ve done a great job.”

Gui Liao replied humbly, “It is all thanks to Sir’s excellent management of the territory. I am just taking care of it on your behalf, so I wouldn’t dare to take the credit.”

Hei Yuan didn’t comment on it. Suddenly, he asked, “The new Black Ink Disciple named Yang Kai that I’ve taken on is an Artifact Refiner?”

There wasn’t a hint of surprise on Gui Liao’s face as he replied respectfully, “Yes, he has refined a lot of artifacts for the Feudal Lords over the years.”

Hei Yuan had been recuperating in the Black Ink Nest since his return, and he had never come into contact with anyone else. Despite that, he was still aware of all this information thanks to the Black Ink Nest.

The realm built on the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness was where the Feudal Lords would communicate with each other. Certainly, these exchanges couldn’t be hidden from the primary Black Ink Nest’s owner. In other words, as long as Hei Yuan wanted to, he could monitor all the conversations that took place within that domain while he was recuperating inside his Black Ink Nest.

Many Feudal Lords were aware that Yang Kai was an Artifact Refiner, so they would certainly talk about it. It was expected that Hei Yuan would become aware of this fact.

Furthermore, Gui Liao knew that this fact couldn’t be hidden from Hei Yuan, so he never attempted to do so.

“The Feudal Lords seem to be pleased with the artifacts he’s made. What do you think about his skills in Artifact Refining?” Hei Yuan asked.

Gui Liao replied, “I have no idea how the Humans classify the skills of an Artifact Refiner, but I think that he’s fairly talented in Artifact Refining. The artifacts made by him are just as good as the ones owned by the Humans. With those artifacts in possession, the Feudal Lords have enjoyed varying degrees of increase in their strengths. This will help them tremendously when they go to war.”

Hei Yuan nodded lightly, “Since you’ve said as much, it must mean he’s truly skilful in Artifact Refining.”

He couldn’t help but be surprised. It never crossed his mind that the Black Ink Disciple he had taken on was a valuable Artifact Refiner. The reason he decided to personally corrupt Yang Kai was that the latter had showcased exceptional combat strength back then.

Other than being powerful, Yang Kai was also an expert in Artifact Refining. It seemed that Hei Yuan had accidentally picked up a treasure.

A few years ago, he lost the resource harvesting area to the enemy, and many of his soldiers were killed during the war, so the Royal Lord would definitely punish him. As a Territory Lord, Hei Yuan wouldn’t be slapped with a serious punishment; a part of his territory would be taken from him at most. However, he wouldn’t want to see that happen.

Nevertheless, he could probably make up for the losses by presenting a skilled Artifact Refiner to the Royal Lord.

Certainly, he would feel heartbroken letting such a talented person go, but since Yang Kai was an Artifact Refiner, he would have to take part in that plan. Regardless of whether Hei Yuan wanted to make up for his losses or not, he couldn’t keep Yang Kai by his side; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to bear the Royal Lord’s wrath.

“Where is he now?” Hei Yuan asked all of a sudden.

Gui Liao replied honestly, “He’s in Zha Gu’s place. There’s a dead Great Sun Star that is useful for him to refine artifacts with.”

“Tell him to come over and see me now.”

“Yes.”

Four hours later, Yang Kai, who was refining an artifact, realised that the restriction was touched, which caused him to frown. Over the years, Zha Gu’s subordinate would always wait outside of the restriction instead of triggering it, so this behaviour was a little unusual.

Moreover, he could sense that the person triggering the restriction was none other than Zha Gu himself.

Yang Kai initially decided to ignore him; after all, he was in the final stage of refining the artifact he was working on and it would be completed in just three to five days.

Zha Gu waited for a bit, but upon seeing that the restriction was not open, he directly broke it and entered.

The restriction Yang Kai had set up was a simple one, not something powerful, so it was easy for a Feudal Lord like Zha Gu to break it.

This caused Yang Kai to be disturbed and the artifact in his hands that was about to take shape became contorted.

After taking a glance at it, Zha Gu knew that the artifact must have been ruined because of what he had done; however, that was the least of his concerns now as he promptly said, “Sir Territory Lord has left the Black Ink Nest, Brother Yang. He wants to see you now.”

“Sir has left the Black Ink Nest?” Yang Kai was surprised. Previously, Zha Gu told him that it would only happen after a year or two, but only half a year had passed since then.

However, since Hei Yuan wanted to see him, there was no way Yang Kai could tarry; after all, he was technically Hei Yuan’s Black Ink Disciple.

“I’ll set off immediately then. What about this artifact?” Yang Kai turned to look at the warped artifact.

Zha Gu replied, “It’s fine. I’ll pay for the loss. Don’t worry about it.”

“Sorry for the trouble then, Brother Zha Gu.” Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Since I’m going back to Sir Territory Lord’s side, I guess I won’t have a chance to work with you and refine artifacts again. Please take care of yourself. We’ll definitely meet again if there’s a chance. Farewell!”

“I’ll see you off,” Zha Gu said.

A moment later, they dashed out of the Great Sun Star together. After flying alongside Yang Kai for a while, Zha Gu stopped in his tracks and fished out a Space Ring, “Many thanks for your hard work, Brother Yang. It’s been a pleasure cooperating with you over the years. Please take this little gift that I’ve prepared.”

“There’s no need for this…” Yang Kai was ready to turn him down.

Nevertheless, Zha Gu directly stuffed the ring into his hands, “I’ve earned quite a few Black Ink Coins over the years thanks to your skills. You’re the one who has been working hard, and there’s nothing much I can help you with. This is what you deserve, so don’t turn me down.”

“Since you’ve said so much, I’ll accept it. Many thanks.”

“Farewell,” Zha Gu waved his hand. It seemed that he wasn’t willing to part with him.

Yang Kai cupped his fist and left the place.

As Zha Gu watched him leave, he let out a long sigh. Over the years, he had earned about 1.5 million Black Ink Coins thanks to Yang Kai. That was the amount of money he made in less than 10 years. A Human Artifact Refiner like Yang Kai was simply a money tree to him.

Certainly, he wasn’t willing to let him go.

However, he wouldn’t dare to disobey the Territory Lord’s order. He probably would never have a chance to make easy money like this again.

It was expected that he was heartbroken and disappointed.

A long time after Yang Kai’s figure was out of sight, Zha Gu forced himself to turn around and return to his territory. Fortunately, his Fief was on the right track now, and the Black Ink Nest was fully hatched. He had the capital to gain a footing, which was unlike in the past when he had the title and power of a Feudal Lord, but not the wealth and influence to match it.

After leaving Zha Gu’s place, Yang Kai looked into the Space Ring given to him and realised that there were only 10,000 Black Ink Coins in it.

He couldn’t help but break into laughter, thinking that Zha Gu was truly stingy.

Although he wasn’t aware of the exact amount Zha Gu charged the other Feudal Lords as he had been focused on refining artifacts over the years, he at least knew that Zha Gu wasn’t being honest with him.

When he started refining artifacts for Zha Gu back then, the latter was broke, so how did Zha Gu get 500,000 Black Ink Coins to buy a sub-nest in just three years and even purchase a lot of resources to hatch it?

Yang Kai was clearly the one who helped him earn that money. In other words, the price Zha Gu told him was a bald-faced lie. He must have been charging far more than 10,000 Black Ink Coins per artifact.

Despite knowing all of that, Yang Kai didn’t intend to settle accounts with him. Black Ink Coins were useless to him. He just wanted to make himself known as a competent Artifact Refiner.

Fortunately, everything was going according to plan. Yang Kai was glad that after accepting this task in Blue Sky Pass back then, he spent the next 10 years studying the Dao of Artifact Refining; otherwise, he wouldn’t know where to start after arriving in the Black Ink Clan’s domain.

Since Hei Yuan had left the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling apprehensive as it was now the most critical moment.

One day later, Yang Kai arrived at the castle on the universe fragment and soon, he was granted an audience with Hei Yuan.

Inside the Grand Hall, Yang Kai finally saw Hei Yuan again after eight years.

After saluting him, Yang Kai stood respectfully in front of him. He could feel that Hei Yuan was examining him. On the other hand, Gui Liao was just standing beside Hei Yuan in a subservient manner, no longer displaying any haughtiness.

“Your Small Universe has fully healed?” Hei Yuan suddenly asked.

Gui Liao, who had been standing there in silence, suddenly lifted his gaze and glanced at Yang Kai. He had never expected this to be the first question Hei Yuan asked Yang Kai.

In fact, this matter had something to do with him. He could do whatever he wanted when Hei Yuan wasn’t around; however, since Hei Yuan was here, he was worried that Yang Kai would say something that would put him in an unfavourable position.

Yang Kai happened to look at him as well, and as their eyes met, Gui Liao felt his chest tightening.

He suddenly had a bad premonition!

Just as expected, Yang Kai grinned at him and cupped his fist, “Master, I asked Zha Gu to help me buy a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit previously. After acquiring it, I managed to heal my Small Universe.”

Upon hearing that, Hei Yuan frowned, “Why did you ask Zha Gu to help you buy a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit? Didn’t I tell Gui Liao to get you one before entering the Black Ink Nest?”

Yang Kai replied impassively, “You’ll have to ask Sir Gui Liao about that.”

Hei Yuan instantly turned to look at Gui Liao.