Martial Peak
chapter-5285

Despite the timely warning of the ape Territory Lord, he still could not save his fellow Territory Lord from his fate.

This strange space was created from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest. It was a platform that connected the consciousnesses of all the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests linked to it. It seemed very large, but at the same time very small without any definite shape.

For someone proficient in the Dao of Space, this was the perfect battlefield.

After sacrificing his own Soul ruthlessly, Yang Kai opened his mouth at an unfamiliar Soul Avatar, and a Soul Rending Thorn turned into a golden light that broke through the confines of space as soon as it appeared, nailing straight into the Soul Avatar’s body.

The Territory Lord was not unprepared. Since the enemy he was facing was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, how could he have lowered his guard down? At the same time as when Yang Kai charged towards him, he had already condensed his power to protect himself.

However, it was all in vain.

The Spiritual Energy that he used to protect his avatar was no different than paper in front of the Soul Rending Thorn, easily tearing.

The Territory Lord’s Soul Avatar was instantly frozen in place, as if he were struck by lightning. The next instant, his figure began to shake.

Yang Kai did not even look at him as his Soul Avatar weakened once more. Then, he turned his head to look towards the ape Territory Lord and opened his mouth again, spitting out another flash of golden light.

The ape Territory Lord feared for his life.

He couldn’t understand how he could be targeted by the enemy despite being so far away from him; however, he was the one who was too loud earlier, so if not him, who else would Yang Kai target?

Space Principles began to surge as a golden light flashed. Almost at the same time, a bright green barrier appeared in front of the ape Territory Lord that looked as if it were made of vines.

This was clearly a Soul-type artifact, and a defensive Soul-type artifact at that. It was not known where the ape Territory Lord got his hands on this thing, but it must have been made for him by a Black Ink Disciple proficient in Artifact Refining.

This Soul-type artifact was of decent grade. Whoever created it must have been at least a Great Master in the Dao of Artifact Refining.

However, even with the Soul-type artifact protecting him, it was only able to block the golden light for only a moment before the green barrier shattered into wisps of light and the Soul Rending Thorn pierced into the ape Territory Lord’s body.

The ape Territory Lord instantly felt an unbearable pain.

At the same time, a frenzy of attacks once again covered Yang Kai from all directions as wild waves of Spiritual Energy rippled through the strange space.

How could any of the Territory Lords go easy on him after discovering that this was the same Human as last time? While Yang Kai made his move, they also sent out their own ruthless attacks.

Using the Soul Rending Thorns twice had caused Yang Kai’s Soul to become incredibly weak. He would not be able to hold on if he were hit by these attacks again, and so he wailed, “My destined end has come!”

With those words, his avatar dissipated, disappearing from sight.

The chaos subsided after just a couple of breaths, but all of the Territory Lords present felt as if they had just walked the border between life and death. Even thinking back to what they just encountered was enough to cause them to shudder.

One tall Territory Lord with bull horns on his head looked left and right nervously, “Was that the same Eighth-Order Human from last time?”

The tall bull-horned Territory Lord was the very same Territory Lord Hong Di who led the retreat of the Army from Great Evolution Pass and gave away the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest to the Humans.

Hong Di was both very lucky and very unlucky.

Several years ago, he led peace talks with the Human Mi Jing Lun that led to the safe evacuation of the Black Ink Clan Army from Great Evolution Pass. However, the price that he paid was a great number of resources, the many fortifications throughout the entire Great Evolution Pass, all of the Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, as well as his own Black Ink Nest.

No Territory Lord had ever voluntarily given up their own Black Ink Nest before. In all of history, Hong Di could be said to be the very first.

However, it had been worth it since he was able to ensure the safe evacuation of their Army.

To avoid running into the Old Ancestor or the other Human Army along the way, Hong Di had specifically made a long detour after leading his Army out of Great Evolution Pass, and they had to march for an entire month before they finally saw the Royal City again from afar…

However, the Human Old Ancestor literally appeared out of nowhere at that moment.

That was undoubtedly one of Hong Di’s misfortunes.

In that battle, several Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples perished at the Old Ancestor’s hands. There was no need to mention the Black Ink Clan soldiers, as their casualties exceeded 100,000.

Fortunately, Hong Di was unharmed in that battle, not because he fled due to fear of death, but because he was lucky. The Old Ancestor had killed her way in and out of his Army without even sparing a glance at him.

Now that the Humans were trying to stir up a storm using his Black Ink Nest, he naturally could not sit out of this matter. The reason why he did not wait in ambush here before was mainly because he was still recovering from his injuries.

When he encountered the Old Ancestor several years ago, the Old Ancestor may not have spared him a glance, but the fallout from her rampage still wounded him a little.

Now, after recuperating for a few years, he finally managed to recover.

Of the 2 previous Territory Lords posted here, one was dead, and the other was in critical condition. Now that two were being added to replace the fallen members, Hong Di was naturally obligated to join.

He heard about what happened last time from the ape Territory Lord, and that was why he asked such a question.

The other humanoid Territory Lord who participated in the last fight nodded at his words, “That’s right, it has to be the same Eighth-Order Human.”

Hong Di wondered, “Didn’t you say that he died back then?”

The humanoid Territory Lord shook his head, “I have no idea about that. Maybe he did not die and we all just thought he was dead, just like this time.”

Hong Di frowned, “You’re saying that he isn’t dead this time either? But we clearly saw him being beaten to within an inch of his life just now.”

The humanoid Territory Lord looked deeply at him, “That’s what we thought last time.”

Hong Di did not ask any further questions and frowned silently. If that Human had some method that could bring him back from the brink of death, then it was very possible that he would come to stir trouble for them again.

But how did that Human achieve such a thing? How could damage to the Soul be healed so quickly and easily? Unless it was not the real Soul of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master that entered, but rather something similar to a Soul Clone?

However, that did not make sense either. Even if it were just a Soul Clone, his true body would still be affected if it were destroyed.

While Hong Di was communicating with the humanoid Territory Lord, the other 2 Territory Lords had already gone to examine the injuries of their peers.

The Territory Lord who was first targeted by Yang Kai was a newcomer, just like Hong Di. Not knowing the severity of the situation, he charged in the quickest, and so he was also the most severely injured.

When Hong Di went over to investigate, he saw the long needle artifact that was constantly digging deeper into his peer’s Soul Avatar, seemingly trying to tear it apart.

It was just like the other Territory Lord who was lingering on a last breath of life after facing the same attack.

With just a glance, Hong Di knew that his peers were fated for a tragic end. Even if they did manage to survive, their foundations would still be severely damaged.

When he turned to look at the ape Territory Lord, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Since the ape Territory Lord was well-prepared, and he also had the artifact to protect him, his injuries were not too serious. The long needle-like artifact had only drilled halfway into his Soul Avatar, and though it was still trying to work its way in deeper, the ape Territory Lord was able to force it into a standstill by resisting it with great effort.

The other Territory Lords did not dare to dally. With one of them watching over the less fortunate Territory Lord, the other three gathered around the Ape Territory Lord and poured out their Spiritual Energies to lend him a hand.

And so, 10 days passed by.

It was not until a certain moment that the long needle-like artifact was forced out by the ape Territory Lord from his Soul Avatar. Even then, the ape Territory Lord appeared extremely weak and his Soul Avatar was clearly unstable.

The other Territory Lord was in a much worse situation. The long needle artifact had sunken completely into his avatar, so who knows when he would be able to force it out of his body, or if he could even live long enough to do so.

“That Human must not be dead yet. He will come again. That man is strange, he’s no longer someone that we can deal with. We must report this to the Royal Lord and ask him to make a decision!”

The ape Territory Lord declared weakly.

Even though he had seen the Soul of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master being beaten to the brink of death with his own eyes, that was also the case last time. They all thought he was dead, but then he appeared before them again just 3 years later.

The reappearance of a similar situation could only mean that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could live even if his Soul was shattered.

Perhaps he would come to stir up another storm in another 3 years.

All the Territory Lords present knew that the ape Territory Lord was right. Even though they were powerful Territory Lords, there was nothing more that they could do in this situation.

The only way to resolve this matter now was to report it to the Royal Lord.

Hong Di’s voice was a little weak, “Sir Royal Lord… has not been in a good mood lately.”

Despite being heavily injured, the Royal Lord was unable to enter his Black Ink Nest to sleep and heal from his wounds, so it would be strange if he were in a good mood.

This was all the fault of that dastardly Old Ancestor, who would run over to the Royal City from time to time and show her aura, causing fear and trepidation among the Black Ink Clansmen while also driving the Royal Lord to exhaustion.

She would not attack the Royal City, just sit outside of it and taunt them. The power of a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was released in an unbridled manner, like a beacon of light in the darkness, making the Black Ink Clan feel miserable.

Nobody knew what sort of technique it was she used to be able to mysteriously appear near the Royal City. After she left, the Black Ink Clan organized a large number of soldiers to search the area, but to no avail.

Worse yet, the Old Ancestor would suddenly wheel around from time to time, and none of the Black Ink Clansmen who were sent out would fare well when that happened.

So, for a while now, no Territory Lord dared to draw the Royal Lord’s ire. They had also hidden the death and injury of the previous 2 Territory Lords because they were worried that the Royal Lord’s fury would explode and he would take his rage out on them.

However, the matter had already reached a point that they had no choice but to report it.

They thought that they could stop the Humans from using the Black Ink Nest with their own power, but now it seemed that the methods of the Humans were beyond even their imaginations.

After hearing what Hong Di said, the ape Territory Lord answered weakly, “There’s no need for Sir Royal Lord to act personally. He just needs to agree to allow us to utilize the power of his Black Ink Nest. The next time that Eighth-Order Human returns, we won’t give him the chance to escape.”

Hearing this, Hong Di understood, “If that’s the case, it would not be a problem.”

The ape Territory Lord did not speak too clearly, but how could Hong Di not know what he meant?

The most troublesome thing about the situation they were currently facing was the fact that they were unable to kill off that Human completely. During both of their brief encounters, it seemed as if they had already brought their opponent to the brink of death; but in reality, a glimmer of vitality still remained, and he had escaped.

However, with the help of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest’s power, they could seal off this space completely so that the Human had no way to run. Then, after paying a certain price, the Territory Lords would be able to take him down slowly!

There was no such thing as an opponent that was impossible for them to kill, only a lack of power and opportunity.