Martial Peak
chapter-5085

Gui Liao turned around and saluted Hei Yuan before explaining, “Sir, as you know, it is difficult to acquire Profound Yin Spirit Fruits. After you started recuperating, I did my best to look for one, but was regretfully unsuccessful in short order. Because of that, Yang Kai might have misunderstood my intentions. After asking for the Spirit Fruit several times but to no avail, he got into a conflict with my Black Ink Disciple, Liu Zi An. I punished them respectively. After that, Yang Kai became furious and left the castle. It wasn’t until you summoned him that he returned.”

“Is that the case?” Hei Yuan frowned.

Yang Kai replied dispassionately, “I’m not sure if Sir Gui Liao had done his best to look for the Spirit Fruit; however, after I went to Zha Gu’s place and promised that I would refine two artifacts for him, he obtained a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit for me within three days.”

Gui Liao explained, “That was when the Profound Yin Spirit Fruits became available in the territory. I seized the chance and bought one, thinking that I’d give it to you when you came back, but you didn’t seem to have the intention of returning.”

Upon finishing his words, he fished out a box from his Space Ring and opened it. There was a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit sitting inside it.

Yang Kai widened his eyes and secretly cursed at him, thinking that Gui Liao must have prepared it beforehand.

Gui Liao sighed, “You never showed up, and I didn’t know where you were. It wasn’t until a long time later that I found out you had been refining artifacts in Zha Gu’s place, and your Small Universe had fully recovered.”

At that instant, Yang Kai was lost for words despite feeling aggrieved. He initially wanted to expose Gui Liao to Hei Yuan, but he hadn’t expected that this guy had already come up with an immaculate explanation. Now, he was in a dilemma.

After pulling himself together, Yang Kai adjusted and said, “In that case, I must have misunderstood you, Sir Gui Liao. Please accept my apology.”

“It’s fine. You are Sir Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple. Since it was his order, I would definitely do my best to execute it.” Gui Liao emphasized his loyalty to Hei Yuan.

Hei Yuan wasn’t willing to waste his time dealing with such a minor issue, so he waved his hand and said, “Since it’s a misunderstanding, let’s end this matter here. Now that your Small Universe is complete, you won’t face any issues when cultivating.”

Gazing at Yang Kai, he changed the topic by saying, “You’re an expert in Artifact Refining?”

Yang Kai replied respectfully, “I wouldn’t dare to say that I’m an expert in Artifact Refining; I simply know a thing or two about it.”

Hei Yuan nodded lightly and extended his hand towards Gui Liao, who got the hint and hurriedly fished out a lance from his Space Ring before shuffling towards Yang.

“Did you make this artifact?” Hei Yuan asked.

After taking the lance, Yang Kai examined it and recognised that it was an artifact he made. Furthermore, if he wasn’t mistaken, it was the first artifact he crafted after he followed Zha Gu to his new Fief.

Although he had crafted quite a number of artifacts over the years, there wasn’t an overwhelming number of them; therefore, he could remember every piece distinctly. This lance was one of the artifacts he was tasked to refine at that time, together with an Artifact Armour that could cover the upper half of the body.

As he recalled the customer’s demands and the specifications of the Artifact Armour, Yang Kai instantly realised that Gui Liao was the patron who wanted him to make the lance and Artifact Armour.

It seemed that Gui Liao had already come into contact with Zha Gu at that point in time. The reason Zha Gu could obtain his new Fief might even have something to do with Gui Liao.

Yang Kai stopped pondering on it and nodded, “I was the one who made it.”

Upon hearing that, Hei Yuan became energised, “How long did it take you to make it?”

Yang Kai replied, “About two months.”

Hei Yuan’s eyes brightened, “It only took you two months to make such an artifact. It seems that you really are skilful in Artifact Refining.”

“Many thanks for your praise, Master. According to Human standards, I am barely qualified to be called a Great Master when it comes to my skills in Artifact Refining. This is already the best I can make.”

“It’s already incredible that you’re able to refine such artifacts. I’m sure you’re aware that due to the Black Ink Clan’s unique powers, we’re not proficient in Artifact Refining. Therefore, it’s difficult for us to get artifacts that suit us. That’s why Human Artifact Refiners are valued highly among the Black Ink Clan.”

To the side, Gui Liao smiled and nodded, “You’re right, Sir. Great Master Artifact Refiners like Yang Kai are even rarer. Given enough time to grow, he’ll be able to create even better artifacts.”

Hei Yuan looked fervently at Yang Kai, “If I want you to focus on crafting artifacts, how much do you think you can improve on your Artifact Refining skills?”

“Focus on crafting artifacts?” Yang Kai appeared bewildered, “Master, please understand that the Dao of Artifact Refining is just a hobby of mine. I hope that I can focus on Martial Dao so that I will be able to assist you out on the battlefield.”

A gratified Hei Yuan nodded, “That’s very thoughtful of you; however, what if I insist that you focus on the Dao of Artifact Refining?”

Without hesitation, Yang Kai replied, “Since it is your order, Master, I will definitely obey it. However…”

“Go on,” Hei Yuan said.

“I do not have an exceptional aptitude in the Dao of Artifact Refining. Regardless of how hard I try, at best I will become a Grandmaster in the future. There is no possibility I can become a Great Grandmaster.”

“You have a chance to become a Grandmaster?” Hei Yuan’s eyes lit up as he laughed, “Wonderful!”

A hesitant Yang Kai asked, “Do you need me to make any artifacts for you, Master? If that is the case, I shall do my best not to disappoint you.”

“I do need you to refine an artifact for me, but…” Hei Yuan caught himself and paused for a moment, “Go back and get some rest first. You will accompany me somewhere in a few days.”

Despite appearing puzzled, Yang Kai saluted him and left the hall.

After he was gone, Gui Liao asked, “Are you bringing him to the Royal City, Sir?”

An excited Hei Yuan nodded, “Yes. The Royal Lord has already given the order that whenever we find Human Artifact Refiners in our territories, we have to send them to the Royal City. I’ve told you the reason behind it, so I’m sure you still remember it.”

“Yes,” Gui Liao replied respectfully, “How is the Royal Lord’s plan progressing, Sir?”

At the mention of this, Hei Yuan appeared worried, “It’s not going well. Although some prototypes have been made, they’re weak and unreliable, totally incomparable to the Warships owned by the Humans. That’s why they desperately need skilled Artifact Refiners. Yang Kai is a Great Master now, and he might grow to become a Grandmaster one day. Perhaps he won’t be able to take charge of the plan, but he can surely help out in some important parts. Someone like him is exactly what the Royal Lord needs.”

Hei Yuan then let out a sigh, “It’s a shame. He was quite strong after all.”

The reason he personally corrupted Yang Kai back then was that the latter had showcased exceptional combat power; however, compared to Yang Kai’s strength, the Royal Lord’s plan was definitely more important. Hei Yuan had no choice but to let him go.

Yang Kai was told to wait for a few days before leaving with Hei Yuan. Although he pretended to be perplexed, he knew that his plans were progressing smoothly.

He reckoned that Hei Yuan was bringing him to see the Royal Lord.

This made him feel both excited and anxious. He was excited because everything was going according to plan. If nothing unexpected happened, he would soon figure out who were the Human Artifact Refiners were that made artifacts for the Black Ink Clan as well as their whereabouts.

On the other hand, he was anxious because it wasn’t easy to deal with a Royal Lord, who was as powerful as a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor. Faced with such a being, he wouldn’t dare to say that he wouldn’t be exposed.

When he was in the Royal City on his own, once his identity was exposed, he wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences.

Instead of idling in the castle, Yang Kai headed to the city.

Over the years, the main reason he worked with Zha Gu to refine artifacts was that he wanted to make himself known as an expert in Artifact Refining and attract Hei Yuan’s attention. At the same time, he had also accumulated quite a lot of Black Ink Coins.

For every artifact he made, he received 7,000 Black Ink Coins. Over the past seven to eight years, he had made about 50 artifacts and had thus earned more than 300,000 Black Ink Coins.

In fact, the purchasing power of Black Ink Coins was incredible. Based on the conversion rate, 300,000 Black Ink Coins would be equivalent to 3 billion Open Heaven Pills. Although Black Ink Coins were useless to Yang Kai, he could use them to purchase cultivation resources.

This was the first time he brought so much money with him and bought things in the city, so he was curious about everything. There were quite a number of Black Ink Disciples in the city, but they all followed behind their Masters. He was the only Black Ink Disciple who was on his own, which was why he caught the attention of many Black Ink Clansmen.

Although they were curious, they wouldn’t dare to do anything to him upon detecting his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation.

The person who could corrupt a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had to be a Territory Lord at the very least; furthermore, they heard that the ruling Territory Lord here had taken on a Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple recently. Perhaps this Human was that Black Ink Disciple. Certainly, no one would dare to have their eyes on the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Disciple.

There were a lot of shops in the city, and after visiting several of them, Yang Kai realised that the Black Ink Clan possessed a truly massive amount of cultivation resources.

After giving it a thought though, he realised that this wasn’t surprising. The Black Ink Battlefield was vast, and the Black Ink Clan occupied most of it. There were countless Universe Worlds in those territories that could be mined; hence, they were not lacking cultivation resources.

This was starkly different from the situation that the Humans were in. They would only be able to snatch some resource-harvesting areas and extract the resources there for a short period of time after defeating the Black Ink Clan’s Army. After the Black Ink Clan was done recuperating, the Humans would have to give up those resource-harvesting areas.

This kind of cycle never ended.

With that said, the Black Ink Clan were unable to directly refine these resources to cultivate; instead, they had to throw them into the Black Ink Nests, which would produce Black Ink Strength. It was only then that the Black Ink Clansmen could make use of Black Ink Strength.

The resources that the Human cultivators yearned for couldn’t be directly used by the Black Ink Clansmen; therefore, these resources were surprisingly affordable in this Black Ink Clan city.

The 300,000 Black Ink Coins that Yang Kai had were worth 3 billion Open Heaven Pills. If he were in a city run by the Humans, he would use up all the money purchasing two or three sets of Seventh-Order materials.

Nevertheless, in this city, he managed to buy more than 10 sets of Seventh-Order materials with his Black Ink Coins. The difference between the purchasing powers of these two currencies was astonishing.

Yang Kai suddenly felt regretful, thinking that he should have gotten some Black Ink Coins from Zhong Liang and the others when he was in Blue Sky Pass back then.

The Humans from the various Great Passes had amassed a staggering amount of Black Ink Coins over the years, all of which were collected from the battlefield after they defeated the Black Ink Clan over the years.

They would pick up Black Ink Coins from the dead Black Ink Clansmen, but the money was useless to them, so they would just pile them up.

Over the years, Blue Sky Pass had probably amassed trillions of Black Ink Coins. If Yang Kai had brought those Black Ink Coins with him, he could’ve snapped up all the resources in Hei Yuan’s territory.