Martial Peak
chapter-5286

While the Territory Lords were discussing their countermeasures in that strange space, Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple were both staring in amazement at Yang Kai.

Just like last time, Yang Kai had become slightly dazed after withdrawing from the strange space with a dull expression. Not only was his expression stiff, even his eyes seemed unfocused.

The last time he saw Yang Kai like this, Ou Yang Lie jumped in shock; however, he was more at ease now that he had some experience.

And, under some careful inspection, he realized that just as he thought, Yang Kai was in a Soul-fragmented state.

When his Soul became fragmented, it was natural for him to appear like a fool.

This made Ou Yang Lie sigh a little as this Yang Boy truly did pay a heavy price to secure this Black Ink Nest. Even though he had a special treasure that could repair his Soul, having to bear this kind of pain over and over again was not something that an ordinary person could do.

If they could really take control of this Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest and allow the Humans to build their own intelligence network, then Yang Kai would be the first to take credit.

Just like last time, Yang Kai collapsed to the ground while hugging his head after a few moments, rolling around on the floor while screaming miserably.

Ou Yang Lie and Gong Lian could not bear to watch, but they had no choice but to stay here and stand guard in case anything happened.

Another few days went by and even Yang Kai’s voice had become hoarse. His entire body was extremely weak and the clothes on his body were drenched over and over again in sweat.

It was only at a certain point that his pitiful screams finally stopped; not that it was no longer painful, but because his Soul had recovered slightly under the nourishment of the Soul Warming Lotus, allowing him to regain some control of himself.

As Yang Kai forced himself into a cross-legged position, Ou Yang Lie hurriedly handed over the Spirit Pills that he had prepared earlier, which Yang Kai took with a pale face and swallowed down.

Even though he had the Soul Warming Lotus to repair his Soul, having Spirit Pills on hand would still allow him to recover a little faster.

As time passed, the injuries to his Soul gradually mended, and Yang Kai’s aura also stabilized.

The last time he ended up in this state, it took Yang Kai nearly 3 years of recovery to return to his peak.

The amount of time it took him to recover was not much different this time, shorter only by a single month.

The reason why such a difference occurred was because Yang Kai’s Soul had become a little stronger than before.

He had noticed after his last recovery that recovering from these self-inflicted injuries made his Soul a bit stronger than before.

This was an unexpected surprise for him.

The situation now was the same as last time. After the injury to his Soul recovered, it once again became slightly stronger.

Yang Kai felt as if he had unexpectedly chanced upon a method for him to cultivate his Soul…

However, even if this method was quite effective at strengthening his Soul, Yang Kai was quite unwilling to do it. Unless someone was forced to, who would willingly endure such pain?

It was not strange that such a method was able to strengthen his Soul as it was quite similar to how one would temper their body, constantly battering one’s physique then healing would slowly improve their physical quality over time.

It was a method that only those with great perseverance and determination could use.

When Yang Kai opened his eyes, he saw Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple watching him with concern. Yang Kai first reassured them, “I’m fine now.”

Ou Yang Lie could not help but smack his lips, “Are you going in again?”

“Naturally,” Yang Kai nodded. Since he had already started, then he naturally had to see the Black Ink Nest matter through to the end. How could he even have the thought of giving up halfway? However, he still had to ask, “What’s the situation inside the Black Ink Nest currently?”

Ou Yang Lie told him, “I personally went inside to check last time. There aren’t any changes, so I did not dare to stay long either. I withdrew immediately.”

Yang Kai chuckled, “Seems like the Black Ink Clan hasn’t suffered enough yet.”

After going in twice, he used a total of 4 Soul Rending Thorns which injured 4 Territory Lords in succession. Even under such circumstances, the Black Ink Clan had not diverted from their initial plan. It was clear that they were waiting for his return so that they could take revenge.

As some say, one must not attempt the same trick thrice and expect to get away with it. If Yang Kai went in again, he would probably not be as successful as he was the last 2 times. The Black Ink Clan wasn’t made up of fools. Since they had already figured out his trick, there was no way they would just offer themselves up on a platter for nothing.

So, he was almost certain that the Black Ink Clan had prepared some sort of nasty trick and was waiting for him to fall into their trap.

However, he had the Soul Warming Lotus to protect him, so what was there for him to be afraid of?

Without needing to make any sort of preparations, Yang Kai said, “Senior Ou Yang, things may change this time around, but as for what those changes are going to be, this Junior won’t know until he enters. If all goes well, then this Junior will return soon. In the meantime, I will have to ask for Senior to stand guard for me.”

Ou Yang Lie nodded, “Naturally, that is not a problem. You must be careful.”

Without saying anything more, Yang Kai opened up his Small Universe and allowed the Black Ink Nest to devour his World Force. With a surge of his Divine Sense, he connected with the consciousness of the Black Ink Nest.

Yang Kai’s figure appeared inside of the familiar space. This time, he had also taken on an unfamiliar appearance. Even though his identity would be exposed as soon as he made his move, it did not hinder him to put on a disguise.

As soon as he appeared, he noticed several auras locking onto him. The Black Ink Clan had obviously been waiting here for him.

One of the Soul Avatars had even taken the initiative to approach him, but Yang Kai was surprised to find that the Soul Avatar did not hold much malice.

From afar, he transmitted his thoughts over via Divine Sense, “One moment, Dao Brother. I am Si De Kuai, by order…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Yang Kai wailed in agony and spat out a golden light in his direction.

The golden light travelled as quickly as lightning, shooting straight into the Soul Avatar.

The person who called himself Si De Kuai immediately broke out into a cry of anguish as his Soul Avatar writhed violently.

Yang Kai forcibly endured the tearing pain and took a few steps forward. His Spiritual Energy was surging madly, turning into beam-like attacks that shot towards Si De Kuai furiously.

The storm of attacks enveloped Si De Kuai, and in just a short three breaths, the Soul Avatar, which had already been severely damaged by the Soul Rending Thorn, shattered and dissipated into nothingness.

Yang Kai’s face was twisting in pain, but he still looked dumbfounded at the Soul Avatars around him and muttered, “What was he trying to say?”

Honestly, Yang Kai recognised at first glance that this Si De Kuai was not a Territory Lord, but an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple. And, in terms of Spiritual Energy, he was on par with Yang Kai. If they were to compete with their respective Secret Techniques, then it was not known who would win.

However, this guy should have received an order from the Territory Lords to try to communicate with him.

Who knew that Yang Kai would not have that intention at all, immediately releasing a Soul Rending Thorn as soon as he stepped up and attacking him until his Soul Avatar shattered?

He was truly dead, unlike Yang Kai, who had the protection of the Soul Warming Lotus. Si De Kuai’s Soul was damaged to the point of shattering, so there was no chance for him to survive.

All the Territory Lords were dumbfounded at what they saw.

This Human had already killed the man, and now he asks what he was trying to say?

The Black Ink Clan lacked high-end combat strength to begin with, and that Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple was a part of the strength that they were heavily reliant on, yet he had just died here, which was heartbreaking news for them.

The fallout of a Soul Avatar’s death gradually spread out to the Territory Lords who had already surrounded Yang Kai in a closed circle.

Just as Yang Kai expected, things were different this time.

During the previous 2 times, 6 Territory Lords were lying in ambush inside the strange space. This time, the number of Territory Lords did not increase, but there was the addition of 4 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples’ Soul Avatars.

Yang Kai cut down one of them earlier, so only 3 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples remained.

At this moment, the 6 Territory Lords surrounded him in an outer circle whilst the 3 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples formed an inner triangle. The intentions of the Territory Lords were obvious. Since Yang Kai had the means to severely damage their Souls in one attack, they would use these Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples to exhaust Yang Kai’s power first.

In this way, even if Yang Kai were to use his needle-like artifacts, the only ones who would be injured would be the Black Ink Disciples.

Judging from the situation during the first 2 times, this human could only use the long needle artifact twice at most, then his Soul probably wouldn’t be able to withstand more.

So, that meant that this Human in front of them only had one attack left!

The Black Ink Disciple that Yang Kai cut down before did not actually intend to try and negotiate with Yang Kai, he was just trying to get close so he could try to launch a sneak attack on him. However, Yang Kai acted even more decisively, immediately going for the kill without even giving the enemy the chance to speak any nonsense.

The Territory Lords realized from this that no amount of clever strategy would help in front of this Human. The best way to face him was through overwhelming force.

“Attack!” Hong Di gave the order.

The 3 Black Ink Disciples in the inner circle had fierce looks on their faces as they all charged at Yang Kai.

Since Yang Kai only had one attack left in him, then he would not be able to stop them all. The Black Ink Clan would only lose one more Black Ink Disciple, which would be much better than a Territory Lord dying.

As soon as Hong Di’s voice came out, Yang Kai did not hesitate to spit out another Soul Rending Thorn and hit the nearest Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple.

He had no specific target in mind. To Yang Kai, the effects of killing an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple or a Territory Lord was the same. Both could help in weakening the Black Ink Clan’s strength so as to reduce the pressure for the Humans in their future crusade.

The lethality of the Soul Rending Thorn was truly terrifying; after all, the user had to sacrifice a big piece of their Soul each time it was used, and the larger the sacrifice, the greater the strength.

So, despite the fact that the 3 Black Ink Disciples left no openings for him to attack, the Soul Rending Thorn still quickly and accurately pierced into its target’s body.

The Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple screamed at once as his Soul Avatar began to writhe.

The remaining 2 Black Ink Disciples calmed themselves and each blasted a Secret Technique in Yang Kai’s direction.

Yang Kai was so mentally and physically exhausted at the moment that he no longer had the strength to defend himself. His Soul Avatar was torn to pieces at once as if it were a mere rag.

On the previous two occasions, he used the tearing of his Soul as a cover to evacuate from the strange space, but this time, something unexpected happened.

The entire strange space seemed to be sealed off by an invisible force, completely isolating him from the outside world so that Yang Kai had no way of leaving and connecting back to his own body.

It seemed that when the lead Territory Lord called for an attack, an unusual change occurred within this space. The pain in his Soul at that time was so hard to bear that Yang Kai was unable to sense it clearly.

Now, it seemed like the unusual change must have been a technique used by the Black Ink Clan to seal off the strange space and isolate it from the outside world.

[So, it’s this again?]

This was not the first time that Yang Kai had encountered such a situation, as it had been the same back in the Yin-Yang Theatre when he was ambushed by a large number of Feudal Lords and Hei Yuan Territory Lord.

Given the situation, Yang Kai quickly understood what sort of plan the Black Ink Clan had come up with. Undoubtedly, they were trying to trap him here and deny him the chance to escape, allowing them to finally kill him!