Martial Peak
chapter-5342

There was still about half a month before Great Evolution Pass’ arrival, so Yang Kai wasn’t in a hurry to attack the nearby two Black Ink Nests.

What he was more curious about was whether the Black Ink Clan’s defensive line was really as effective as they had thought.

With this Black Ink Nest under their control, it wouldn’t be difficult for them to verify this.

Without any delay, Yang Kai arrived at the chamber where the Black Ink Pool was and opened a portal to his Small Universe, allowing the Black Ink Nest to absorb his World Force and use it as a bridge to connect their consciousnesses.

At first, he felt nothing out of the ordinary, but when Yang Kai immersed his mind and carefully sensed his surroundings, he felt his consciousness expanding. Not only had the Black Ink Nest become a part of him, but even the surrounding void seemed to be within his reach.

The range of his consciousness was the area filled with the Black Ink Nest’s Black Ink Strength, though the further away it was from the Black Ink Nest, the blurrier his perception became.

Nonetheless, he was able to detect a foreign body if it intruded into the region.

As he had guessed, the defence line formed by the Black Ink Strength did serve as the warning system. This was also the reason why the Black Ink Clan sent a team to investigate them the two times they had approached to within a certain range of the Black Ink Nests so quickly.

Although Great Evolution Pass had seized a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest and had done a lot of research on it over the years, they had no idea that it had such a function.

It wasn’t that the people studying the Black Ink Nest were careless, but rather that the Humans had invested all their energy into spawning sub-nests. Why would they even think about producing Black Ink Strength? For one, the Black Ink Strength was highly dangerous to the Humans.

Even the Low-Rank Black Ink Nest in Yang Kai’s Small Universe only gave birth to the weakest Black Ink Clansmen and did not produce any Black Ink Strength beyond what he deemed absolutely necessary.

As such, Yang Kai was also oblivious to this function of the Black Ink Nests.

After carefully examining it for a moment and making sure he hadn’t missed anything, Yang Kai finally relaxed somewhat.

By the looks of it, the Black Ink Clan’s defence line had two purposes; firstly, it served as a detection net, so once a Human broke in, the Black Ink Clan would be alerted, and secondly, it would create an advantageous environment for the Black Ink Clan to fight in.

Over the years, the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests had been constantly producing Black Ink Strength, enveloping the region around the Royal City, making it difficult for Human cultivators to enter this place.

This was the Black Ink Clan’s strategy to protect themselves.

Correspondingly, if the Black Ink Nests’ warning was only effective to this extent, then his previous plan would work. If he could capture the nearby Black Ink Nests, then a gap would appear in defence line. At that time, Great Evolution Pass would be able to pass through and charge straight at the Royal City undetected.

The Black Ink Clan probably hadn’t even imagined that the Great Passes could be moved!

The Great Passes had remained in place for countless millennia. Although they were strong and sturdy, they had only been used for defence, never to attack.

Now, they were being mobilized for the first time ever. The Humans would definitely be able to catch the Black Ink Clan off guard with this move. Furthermore, the influence of the Black Ink Strength on the Humans would be greatly diminished with Great Evolution Pass acting as a barrier and shield. If someone was not able to withstand the Black Ink Strength’s invasion, they could simply return to Great Evolution Pass and recuperate.

This was unlike before, where they could only rely on Warships.

Warships were constantly at risk of destruction, but if the Black Ink Clan wanted to destroy Great Evolution Pass, it would be extremely difficult.

Suddenly, hurried footfalls came from outside. Yang Kai returned to his senses and looked towards the entrance.

Shen Ao hurriedly walked in and looked at Yang Kai with a solemn expression, “Squad Leader, Bai Yi said that a Black Ink Clan team is approaching.”

“How many?” Yang Kai asked.

[That’s surprising. We just seized this Black Ink Nest, and now a Black Ink patrol is coming? Did one of the nearby Black Ink Nests notice the disturbance and come to investigate?]

Dawn was extremely fast and had completely suppressed the fallout from their attack, so being noticed was unlikely, especially since even the closest Black Ink Nests were quite some distance away and there was a thick cloud of Black Ink Strength between them. Logically speaking, it should be impossible for them to detect anything.

“I don’t know,” Shen Ao shook his head.

Yang Kai hurriedly went out and soon arrived outside.

The Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn were hiding at the entrance of the Black Ink Nest, concealing their auras.

Seeing Yang Kai arrive, Bai Yi waved at him and pointed in a certain direction.

Yang Kai focused his gaze, using the Demon Eye of Annihilation, and noticed a Black Ink Clansman was indeed flying towards them.

Only one!

In this place, where everyone moved around in teams of no less than a dozen, it was quite strange to see a lone Black Ink Clansman acting like this.

Judging by the approaching aura, it was a Feudal Lord, and they seemed to be heading straight for this particular Black Ink Nest.

[Damn it!]

Originally, Yang Kai wanted to quickly capture the two nearby Black Ink Nests to prepare for Great Evolution Pass’ attack, but he had never expected such an unforeseen event to occur. Be that as it may, since this Black Ink Clansman had come knocking on their door, Yang Kai and his Squad had no choice but to silence him.

The occupied Black Ink Nest had a huge flaw, which was that the Black Ink Clansmen here had been completely wiped out. With not a single Black Ink Clansman guarding this place, if the other party became even a little suspicious, he would very likely realize that something was amiss.

Nevertheless, Dawn could do nothing about it. Yang Kai could not ask Shen Ao and the others to disguise themselves as the difference between Humans and the Black Ink Clan auras was too great. Their physiques also didn’t match.

Many Black Ink Clansmen did have humanoid forms, and although some were Human-sized, most of them were far taller and imposing, with various warped shapes.

Everyone thus held their breaths.

The Feudal Lord quickly approached.

What made everyone heave a sigh of relief was that the other party appeared to be completely oblivious to the capture of the Black Ink Nest. It did not look like it even crossed this individual’s mind that Humans could accomplish this. He simply approached in a seemingly casual manner.

Soon, the newcomer arrived in front of the Black Ink Nest. The Feudal Lord examined it for a moment before curiously calling out, “Lord Bo Gao, why is there no one guarding this place? Where did your subordinates go?”

Yang Kai’s expression changed slightly as he learned for the first time that the Feudal Lord he had killed inside the Black Ink Nest was called Bo Gao.

Furthermore, this guy appeared to know him.

This made Yang Kai curious about the purpose of the other party’s visit.

Yang Kai immediately had an idea as he replied in a hoarse voice, “The defence line has been frequently intruded upon recently, so they have all gone to investigate. Sir Feudal Lord has his hands full with the Black Ink Nest, so he is unable to reply. Sir, please come inside.”

He couldn’t disguise himself as Bo Gao, so he could only pretend to be one of Bo Gao’s subordinates.

Presumably, the other party wouldn’t be able to find any fault.

“En,” as expected, the other party didn’t suspect anything and simply walked towards the Black Ink Nest.

However, after taking just one step, he instantly retreated.

Yang Kai cursed, gnashing his teeth. This Feudal Lord was quite crafty.

[Perhaps he really hadn’t noticed anything before, but my reply gave him the confirmation that something was wrong, or perhaps the absence of the Black Ink Clansmen alerted him, so he pretended to move forward before retreating.]

This time, Yang Kai was caught off guard.

Fortunately, Yang Kai’s reaction was extremely fast. With a single Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai appeared beside the Feudal Lord and pounced at him.

The next moment, the Feudal Lord who was about to retreat suddenly froze as Yang Kai’s fist landed on his head, releasing a massive amount of World Force. The Feudal Lord immediately felt dizzy.

But this wasn’t the end of it. Yang Kai got a firm hold of his opponent and began bombarding him with punches.

The Feudal Lord felt extremely aggrieved. He was still a Feudal Lord, but he was being beaten to the point where he couldn’t even fight back. Every time he mustered some strength, it would be dispersed by the other party’s violent assault.

A moment later, he spat out a mouthful of blood as all the colour drained from his face.

Yang Kai grabbed hold of this Feudal Lord and returned to the Black Ink Nest in a flash before throwing him to the ground like a dead fish.

Shen Ao and Ning Qi Zhi glanced at each other, speechless.

[The Squad Leader has grown even stronger.]

Ordinary Seventh-Order Masters couldn’t easily kill Feudal Lords since both were in equivalent Realms, let alone capture one alive, but Yang Kai was able to snatch up the other party like a helpless child.

Although they were shocked, their hands did not stop. Seals were sent out one after another, isolating the Black Ink Nest from the outside world.

After a dozen breaths, the half-dead Feudal Lord slowly regained his senses. He shook his head and opened his eyes, only to see several Humans glaring at him.

The Feudal Lord was beside himself in shock.

Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear with a wave of his hand and thrust it straight at the other party’s eyes, arrogantly asking, “Do you want to live or die?”

The Feudal Lord didn’t dare to move and kept his mouth shut, sensing the Azure Dragon Spear’s sharpness.

“If you want to live, then answer my questions and perhaps I’ll spare you!”

The Feudal Lord’s expression changed several times before he grit his teeth and snarled, “Forget it, you won’t get anything out of me.”

He also realized that the other party had no intention of sparing his life.

It was obvious they wanted to obtain information from him, but Humans and the Black Ink Clan could never coexist. So what if he gave them the information they wanted to know? After they were done with him, he would undoubtedly die!

He might as well just commit suicide.

Saying so, the Black Ink Strength in his body started surging as he let out a low roar and he charged at Yang Kai.

Yang Kai’s spear nailed him to the ground as black blood flowed out of his wounds, “Hmph, want to die? Not so easy.”

He turned his head and shouted, “Blood Crow!”

Blood Crow appeared on the deck and condescendingly looked at the Feudal Lord.

“I’ll leave him to you! Get everything out of him.” While speaking, he tossed the Feudal Lord to Blood Crow with a flick of his spear.

Blood Crow’s eyes lit up as his figure suddenly transformed into a billowing mass of blood mist that rushed towards the Feudal Lord.

A look of fear appeared in the eyes of the Feudal Lord, despite being prepared for death.

He wasn’t afraid of dying; otherwise, his attitude wouldn’t have been so unyielding just now.

However, there was a difference in the way one died.

Although he didn’t know what technique this Human named Blood Crow cultivated, the appearance of this Blood Sea gave him an extremely discomforting feeling.

It pulsed with a malevolent aura not inferior to the one given off by Black Ink Strength.

The Blood Sea continued swirling, without making the slightest noise.

Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear.

Shen Ao leaned over and whispered, “Is it fine, doing this?”

Yang Kai lightly snorted, “What can I do if he insists? Rather than letting him eat on the battlefield, I might as well let him have his fill right now! If there is no other choice… I’ll handle it personally!” As he was speaking, murderous intent flashed across his face.

Yang Kai would not show any mercy if Blood Crow really got corrupted by the Black Ink Strength.

A moment later, the swirling Blood Sea converged and transformed back into Blood Crow’s figure.

The Feudal Lord who was surrounded by the Blood Sea was nowhere to be found.

Blood Crow’s face was aglow as he could hardly suppress the Blood Qi in his body. After devouring over a dozen Black Ink Clansmen’s Blood Essences, two of which were Feudal Lords, he was just barely holding on, somehow.