Martial Peak
chapter-5284

Two years later, the condition of Yang Kai’s Soul had already completely stabilised.

By the three-year mark, he had already been restored to his original condition!

Ou Yang Lie, who witnessed the entire process from beginning to end, was completely speechless. Despite how serious the injuries to his Soul were, it surprisingly only took Yang Kai three years to return to his peak. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he simply would not have believed it.

Ou Yang Lie had a vague suspicion that Yang Kai must have some kind of astonishing treasure which protected and sustained his Soul; otherwise, there was no way he could have recovered from such injuries. As for what that treasure was… Only a few legendary things could have such a miraculous effect.

[This brat is truly a man of great fortune.]

One day, three years after returning from the Black Ink Nest’s strange space, Yang Kai exhaled deeply.

Even though he had now fully recovered, thinking back to that day’s experiences still made him shudder.

This Soul Rending Thorn was truly too sinister.

Yang Kai had already sacrificed a thread of his Soul when refining each of those artifacts; but even so, he did not have to sacrifice ‘much’ back then and would be fine after resting for some time.

However, while facing the Territory Lords, the portion of his Soul that he had to sacrifice was simply incomparable to when he was merely refining the Soul Rending Thorn.

The best way to describe the experience of using the Soul Rending Thorn was to wound oneself to wound one’s enemy. That was why his Soul suddenly turned so feeble when he attacked those Territory Lords, and why he could not hold himself back from screaming.

Based on Yang Kai’s estimation, even in peak condition, he could only use three Soul Rending Thorns within a short period at any moment. After three uses, he would have exhausted so much of his Spiritual Energy and Soul that he simply couldn’t do it again. If he were to try to make a fourth attack, even with the Soul Warming Lotus’s protection, his Soul would still be extinguished.

That was why he made a firm decision to withdraw from the Black Ink Nest’s space after two consecutive attacks. There was no other choice, for if he stayed behind, he would truly meet his end along with the Territory Lords.

The memories of the days after he withdrew his Soul from the strange space were blurry for him because of the damage he sustained to his Soul. With an incomplete Soul, one’s memory would naturally be affected.

Now that he had recovered, Yang Kai’s face would still darken at the thought of going through the same pain again.

Gong Lian had been watching over Yang Kai all this while, and when he saw the latter wake up, he immediately sent word outside. It was not long before Ou Yang Lie arrived. After looking him up and down, Ou Yang Lie beamed, “I’ve never seen someone like you before who can recover after sustaining such injuries to their Soul. How are you feeling now?”

Yang Kai laughed bitterly, “I’m fine now.”

Ou Yang Lie nodded, “After paying such a huge price, how were the results of your battle?”

Yang Kai grinned and lifted two fingers, “Two Territory Lords. Even if they aren’t dead, they should be critically injured!”

Ou Yang Lie was almost eyeing Yang Kai as if he were a ghost, “Truly?”

“This Junior dares not lie.”

“Then, the two Territory Lords suffered severe wounds to their Souls?”

“Indeed.”

“Good!” Ou Yang Lie was overjoyed.

Ordinary wounds were nothing, but things were different when it came to wounds on one’s Soul. Ou Yang Lie had no idea what sort of treasure this brat had protecting him to be able to recover in just three years after having his Soul reduced to the state it was in back then, but those Territory Lords could not possibly do the same.

Now that Yang Kai told him that two Territory Lords were either dead or heavily injured, it meant that those two Territory Lords had completely lost the ability to fight.

Ou Yang Lie was actually very curious how Yang Kai was able to achieve such a feat when he was only in the Seventh-Order; after all, many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had entered that strange space previously by relying on the strength of their own Souls, but all of them returned in failure. Still, Ou Yang Lie decided not to ask since it was beneficial for the Humans regardless.

As he spoke, Yang Kai got up, “Since this Junior is just about done recovering, I will immediately get to work to take down another two Territory Lords.”

“You can still fight?” Ou Yang Lie was astonished. Even though he was just thinking that even though two Territory Lords were killed, it still couldn’t change the overall situation; after all, there were still many more Territory Lords.

However, he was surprised to see that Yang Kai still had another fight in him.

Yang Kai nodded, “We need to strike while the iron is hot. Now is the time for us to pursue the enemy while we have them cornered.”

Ou Yang Lie nodded, “In that case, you should be careful. Don’t get carried away by momentary success.”

Yang Kai gave him a scare last time, so much so that he had to run over to seek out the Old Ancestor for advice, so he had no idea what it would turn out like this time.

After reassuring Ou Yang Lie, Yang Kai went to the centre of the Black Ink Nest and opened up his Small Universe, connecting his consciousness to it.

Inside the Black Ink Nest’s space, 6 Territory Lords were lurking in different corners just like before.

The reason why there were still 6 was because 2 of them were new. Even though it had been peaceful and quiet in this space for 3 years, the Territory Lords did not dare to let down their guard and remained vigilant at all times.

3 years ago, a reckless Human who did not fear death burst in and used a needle-like Soul-type artifact, heavily injuring 2 Territory Lords.

Even though things did not end well for the Human, the 2 heavily injured Territory Lords did not fare any better.

Despite the best efforts of the other 4 Territory Lords trying to save them, one of the Territory Lords unfortunately had his Soul destroyed and died. The other Territory Lord managed to keep his life, but the long needle artifact was still deeply rooted in his Soul, constantly damaging it. Currently, that Territory Lord was struggling to resist the encroachment of the artifact, and it was not even clear yet whether or not he would succeed in the end.

However, even if he did succeed, his foundation would still be severely damaged, causing a drastic drop in his strength.

The loss of 2 Territory Lords was heartbreaking for the Black Ink Clan, whose strength had already taken a sharp dive in the Great Evolution Theatre.

After that encounter, the surviving Territory Lords reflected on the situation and when they combined it with what their Black Ink Disciple subordinates told them, they concluded that the Soul-type artifact that the Human used must have been some kind of sacrificial weapon, one that damaged the user to deal greater damage to the enemy.

Unfortunately, the Black Ink Disciples had no idea what artifact it was either as none of them had ever heard of anything like it. If they had, then they might be able to figure out a defence.

However, that did not matter too much as such an artifact would surely be difficult to create, and if used, would be equally devastating for the Human who used it.

That Human from before must have already been reduced to flying ashes and smouldering smoke.

Because Yang Kai’s Soul was so powerful, despite only being in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, in Soul Avatar form he was indistinguishable from an Eighth-Order Master; thus, the Territory Lords all thought that Yang Kai was in the Eighth-Order.

Territory Lords were valuable existences in the Black Ink Clan, but so were the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters for the Humans. There was no way that the Humans would be crazy enough to sacrifice multiple Eighth-Order Masters to kill a few Territory Lords.

So, what happened before should not happen again.

Probably…

After 3 years of waiting in ambush, sure enough, there had been no movements from the Human side. This made the Territory Lords who were waiting here both angry and helpless.

They were angry that they were unable to return the favour after having suffered such a huge loss, but helpless as well that even if the Humans did not come, they could only sit and wait here.

Unless the Humans voluntarily gave up the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest, any information that the Black Ink Clan passed between themselves in the future could not be hidden from the enemy’s eyes and ears.

One day, as the 6 Territory Lords were feeling bored, a ripple suddenly broke out in the calm space.

A figure appeared out of nowhere, which caused all 6 Territory Lords to sit up and focus. After ascertaining that it was not an Old Ancestor, they all rose from their ambush spots, ready for an attack. 6 powerful Spiritual Energies transformed into a barrage that blasted in Yang Kai’s direction.

The Soul Avatar that Yang Kai brought out was not his own image, but rather the image of a tall, lanky man.

Since Soul Avatars were formed out of Spiritual Energy, they had no definite shape. Just like before, there was a Territory Lord who took on the shape of an eyeball, and another who was like a blob of fluid. It all depended on their personal preferences.

Even if one did not cultivate any sort of transforming Secret Technique, it was still easy to do this.

However, although one’s Soul Avatar could change its appearance freely, the aura of one’s Spiritual Energy could never be changed. Every cultivator’s Spiritual Energy rippled differently, so even if some people had Secret Techniques that allowed them to disguise themselves as others, there would still be flaws.

So, if one wanted to identify someone through their Soul Avatar, the best and only way to find out who they were was to check the aura of their Spiritual Energy.

Yang Kai had purposefully reined in his power as much as he could this time, out of worry that the Territory Lords would recognize him at a glance. He had even taken on a different image.

As expected, the Territory Lords felt assured when this ‘different’ Human showed up and boldly emerged to launch their attacks against him.

6 powers that were completely silent in the outside world transformed into a variety of visible attacks inside of this strange space, all hitting Yang Kai without fail.

Since Yang Kai did not summon the Soul Warming Lotus’s protection, he was truly strong in will but weak in strength even if he wanted to defend against these attacks.

However, he did not even bother trying to defend himself. He was going to be on the verge of death by the time he was done here anyway, so defending himself or not made no difference.

The 6 attacks sent out by the Territory Lords were no joke, and Yang Kai’s Soul immediately felt shaken. The pain was hard to suppress as it felt as if his Soul was going to shatter right then and there.

In fact, if it was any other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in his place, they also would not be in good shape after taking these six attacks.

It was all thanks to the Soul Warming Lotus that Yang Kai had the courage to engage in such a reckless fight. Even though he did not urge the Soul Warming Lotus to protect himself, it still made his Soul far sturdier than normal.

A long, miserable scream rang out next, “Ahhh…”

At Yang Kai screamed, he charged straight at the Territory Lord that was nearest to him.

Of the 6 Territory Lords, other than the two newcomers, the other four were all stunned.

This scene could not be any more familiar to them. 3 years ago, they encountered the same thing twice, and the result of it was that 2 Territory Lords had been severely injured by that bizarre artifact!

The wail of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was simply a death knell for the Territory Lords.

Then, an even more familiar scene emerged. Following the anguished wails of the Human, his Soul sharply weakened.

At the same time, a familiar burst of energy rippled out.

The face of the ape Territory Lord who had experienced this scene before immediately changed and he exclaimed, “It’s him, it’s him!”

Another Territory Lord, who had experienced the same thing, shouted, “Run, quickly!”

Despite Yang Kai’s disguise, he could no longer hide his identity once his Spiritual Energy burst forth.

The 4 Territory Lords who had fought him before recognized him instantly, but what shocked them even more was how this Human could still be alive.

Even though the eyeball Territory Lord had clearly seen this Human on the brink of death during the last moment, he actually reappeared here after just 3 years, running and jumping like nothing was wrong. Just like last time, he screamed and became weak, but at the same time, rushed in for the kill!

[What’s wrong with this Human!?]