Martial Peak
chapter-5156

When Yang Kai left Black Territory, he was only in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. He only recently, a little more than 100 years ago, managed to advance to the Seventh Order on the Black Ink Battlefield. Thus, technically, he was still a newly promoted Seventh-Order Master.

Thus, he should be on par with Zhang Zhou in terms of them both being new to the Seventh Order.

Even so, the difference in their strength was so astonishing it left all the newcomers in shock.

Zhang Zhou was still struggling, but under the shackles of Space Principles, he seemed to have been exiled to another time and space. No matter how hard he struggled, it did not help.

Yang Kai did not immediately disperse the Black Ink Strength in his body; rather, he continued his lesson, “Black Ink Disciples are rare nowadays, but even so, you need to be aware of this truth. Everyone here should already know that if a Black Ink Disciple does not stimulate the Black Ink Strength inside of them, their outer appearance will be no different to that of a normal cultivator, making it difficult to identify them. In the past, if a cultivator was invaded by Black Ink Strength, it was impossible to resolve unless they sacrificed a piece of their Small Universe.”

“That was the only method our ancestors had to deal with the corruption of Black Ink Strength. The moment Black Ink Strength invaded their Small Universe, they would immediately cut off that part of their Small Universe. That was the only way to protect themselves. This is why you will see some in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm in Blue Sky Pass. When they came to the Black Ink Battlefield, they were the same as you. They were in the lowest Order acceptable here, the Sixth Order, but after continuously sacrificing parts of their Small Universe, their Order regressed. Naturally, sacrificing one’s Small Universe comes with risks and side effects. Their future Martial Dao was cut off, and their situation became more dangerous. With their more unstable foundation, it became harder to resist Black Ink Strength. So, they either ended up dead or could no longer resist the corruption of Black Ink Strength and eventually degenerated into Black Ink Disciples, “

“For our ancestors, being reduced to becoming Black Ink Disciples was a fate far worse than death; after all, once they became Black Ink Disciples, they would become slaves of the Black Ink Clan and would be enemies of the Human Race. So, most would choose to die rather than become Black Ink Disciples. However, life is full of uncertainties, and after each war, there would be an indefinite number of Humans who were corroded by Black Ink Strength and reduced to Black Ink Disciples.”

“Fortunately, we Humans now have means to fight back against the invasion of Black Ink Strength.” While speaking, Yang Kai took out a Spirit Pill, “Blue Sky Pass was fortunate enough to obtain an incomplete ancient pill recipe while exploring a Sealed World. Under the leadership of two Great Grandmaster Alchemists, the Pill Hall was able to deduce the pill recipe for the Purifying Black Ink Pill. This pill in my hand is one such pill. Once taken, you will be able to resist Black Ink Strength for a certain period of time. It can also disperse a certain amount of Black Ink Strength inside one’s Small Universe; however, this pill has its own limitations. If you have already become a Black Ink Disciple, taking it will have no effect, so you cannot be too over-reliant on it when fighting against the Black Ink Clan and always need to remain cautious.”

Someone then asked, “Senior Brother Yang, according to you, it is useless for Senior Brother Zhang Zhou to take a Purifying Black Ink Pill in this situation, so what should we do?”

Yang Kai smiled and explained, “In this situation, we have to use other means to deal with it.”

Saying so, his left and right hands suddenly lit up with yellow and blue light. He clasped his palms together, and a pure white light illuminated the void. The white light enveloped Zhang Zhou, and in an instant, a sound which reassembled sizzling oil could be heard.

Zhang Zhou struggled in pain, but as the sound died down, the Black Ink Strength in his body was dispersed and purified, allowing him to calm down within a few breaths.

“That was Purifying Light. It can be used to dispel and purify Black Ink Strength and is arguably the greatest nemesis of Black Ink Strength!”

The newcomers whispered to each other for a while. Many obviously held great interest in the Purifying Light; after all, if they could learn this Secret Technique, they would no longer need to fear the Black Ink Strength’s corruption when they fought on the Black Ink Battlefield.

Yang Kai didn’t tell them that only he could perform this Secret Technique; after all, they would stay on the Black Ink Battlefield for a long time and would naturally learn more about it when the time was right.

Even he had to learn how it could be used in the Black Territory. At that time, he had little understanding of Purifying Light’s properties, but eventually, he learned and managed to restore most of the Black Ink Disciples to their original states.

He then turned his head to look at Zhang Zhou, “You should have asked for help as soon as possible. Before the appearance of Purifying Light and Purifying Black Ink Pills, the corruption of Black Ink Strength was an unsolvable problem for the Human Race. Even those in the Eighth Order were helpless against it and would need to sacrifice part of their Small Universes just to maintain their sense of self, not to mention someone like you who has just entered the Seventh Order.”

Zhang Zhou was drenched in a cold sweat as he fearfully said, “This Junior Brother was careless. What Senior Brother has taught me will forever be engraved in my mind.”

Yang Kai nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

The group continued on their way, but because the large ship was destroyed in the conflict between Yang Kai and Zhang Zhou, everyone could only fly the rest of the way to the forward base. Fortunately, this place was not far from their destination; thus, they only needed to avoid some large Black Ink Cloud on the way.

Yang Kai had no intention of making Zhang Zhou understand he was being too arrogant, it was just that as the person tasked to be their escort, he had the obligation and responsibility to teach these newcomers about the dangers of Black Ink Strength. Furthermore, letting them witness these dangers with their own eyes was far more convincing than mere verbal warnings.

He believed that after the incident with Zhang Zhou, no one would dare to underestimate the Black Ink Clan ever again.

Grandmaster Ma Fan flew over to Yang Kai and used his Divine Sense to send him a message, “Brat, who developed the Purifying Light Secret Technique? Is it difficult to learn?”

Yang Kai was a little speechless as he didn’t expect that Grandmaster Ma Fan would be so interested in Purifying Light.

“If I could teach you, I would, but this Secret Technique is unable to be used by anyone besides me. So, I have to apologize.”

Grandmaster Ma Fan then wondered, “If that’s the case, why are you able to use it?”

Yang Kai replied, “Because of a gift from the Sun’s Burning Light and Moon’s Serene Glimmer…”

After some explanation, Grandmaster Ma Fan showed a regretful look, “So that’s how it is. This Secret Technique can only be performed by you alone, and others cannot do it.”

“Exactly.”

Although the number of people in this group was large, all of them were above the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm; thus, their pace was pretty quick.

After another month, the forward base came into view. Along the way, the newcomers’ enthusiasm for killing the Black Ink Clan was still high, but their initial careless attitude had been thoroughly ground down and they were now much more wary of the enemy.

The arrival of the newcomers did not cause any waves. After all, there were not that many people idle in the forward base. Most of those who were stationed here were either resting or out on hunting missions.

Yang Kai went straight to Ding Yao, which marked the completion of his task. He then bid farewell to Grandmaster Ma Fan and returned to where Dawn was stationed.

The Squad members were all recuperating, and Yang Kai did not want to bother them, so he just went back to his residence to cultivate.

There was still a little time left before the next mission, so he took advantage of this time to restore his energy.

Two months later, Dawn was ready to go. Yang Kai picked up the repaired Dawning Light from the Refining Hall and set sail once again.

The plan of fortifying the forward base and clearing the area around it had been going smoothly. Now, all conflicts in the Blue Sky Theatre would basically only break out around the forward base. As such, for the Human Race, it was necessary to eliminate the Black Ink Clan wandering around, and further reduce whatever territory the Black Ink Clan controlled.

Meanwhile, for the Black Ink Clan, their priority was to recapture occupied territories; thus, both sides engaged in a continuous campaign around the forward base.

However, major conflicts were rare, as it was even rarer for the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters to get involved.

The Territory Lords had suffered huge losses in the previous war, and it would be difficult for them to restore their numbers in a short time. Thus, none wanted to venture out too far from the Royal City. On top of that, unless circumstances were special, if they wanted to withdraw from a fight, the Eighth-Order Humans could do nothing about it. As such, the top Masters from both sides preferred to spend their time recuperating.

After the newcomers joined the forward base, its strength increased greatly. The arrival of hundreds of Artifact Refiners alone was enough to ensure the continuous combat capability of each Squad.

Some years later, the small-scale skirmishes between the two sides only became fiercer. It was especially obvious to the Squads who were out hunting. The biggest change was that when they were out of the forward base, they would encounter larger groups of Black Ink Clansmen. Enemy groups were sometimes so large that they numbered in the tens of thousands. Thus, the initial plan to clear the surrounding region and build up a solid defensive position got more difficult as time passed. Furthermore, they did not know why the Black Ink Clan’s resistance suddenly became so strong once again.

There were more Humans casualties, and even more in the Black Ink Clan. Even the Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Masters fought more frequently than before.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that this was basically the Black Ink Clan’s final stand; after all, as long as they could survive this period, the overall situation would stabilize. If the Human Race continued to push forward, and more territory was taken from them though, the Royal City would be in peril. Not to mention, the flanks between the forward base and Blue Sky Pass would eventually also fall under the control of the Human Race.

If this came to pass, Blue Sky Pass would completely change the landscape of the battlefield and hold a significant advantage.

…..

Inside the forward base, in a sealed space, deep underground, a pillar was rooted to the ground. The floor was covered with Spirit Arrays, and there was a Black Ink Clansman bound by the Arrays to the pillar. No matter how the Black Ink Clansman struggled, he could not break free from his shackles.

Judging from the power emanating from this Black Ink Clansman, he was obviously a Feudal Lord. In fact, even among the Feudal Lords, this one was quite strong.

It was unfortunate that even he did not know who had captured him and imprisoned him here.

Right in front of that Feudal Lord, two figures stood side by side.

One was Yang Kai, and the other was Grandmaster Ma Fan.

After showcasing the power of Purifying Light in front of Grandmaster Ma Fan, the old man became extremely interested in it. Although Yang Kai repeatedly reiterated that only he could cast it, he still continued to pester Yang Kai with questions, obviously wanting to study it more.

However, his research was built on the foundation of torturing Black Ink Clansmen.

For decades, in his spare time, Ma Fan had been researching and refining an artifact that could exert the power of the Purifying Light.

He was, after all, an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster, someone capable of even refining Mobile Palace Artifacts and Warships. Furthermore, Yang Kai was not staying somewhere far away; thus, he would go up to him and get him to help in his research whenever possible.

Naturally, Ma Fan was swamped with work most of the time; after all, he was an Artifact Refiner and needed to repair the damaged Warships and fortify the forward base, so his research was somewhat intermittent.

Nonetheless, a decade ago, he had a breakthrough in his research.

He had developed a spear artifact, which was no more than three metres long. He named it the Evil Purging Divine Spear, an extremely rustic name. In fact, Yang Kai had expressed his disdain for the name more than once, but the old man ignored him and continued to name it as he pleased.