Martial Peak
chapter-5508

Yang Kai intended to use the Great Sun and Moon Marks to disrupt the Royal Lord’s aura lock on him, but another thought occurred to him and he swiftly changed his mind. Instead, he dragged his injured self further and further away in an attempt to flee.

By using Purifying Light, he could still use Instantaneous Movement and escape from the Royal Lord at a moment’s notice. He was no stranger to performing such a feat. Back when he was under the attack of the sheep-headed Royal Lord, he had used this very trick to widen the gap between him and his foe, and in the end, he managed to flee into the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon.

Today, Yang Kai succeeded in destroying three High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killing an Innate Territory Lord along with tens of thousands of lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen, so everything had been worthwhile!

However, right now, Yang Kai was being doggedly chased down by an enraged Royal Lord.

Once the Royal Lord charged out of the No-Return Pass, dozens of Innate Territory Lords followed closely behind. These Territory Lords were mostly injured in some way and had retreated from the 3,000 Worlds, planning to rely on the many Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass to recuperate.

Unfortunately, these Territory Lords were slower than the Royal Lord, and it was only an hour later that they all lost sight of the Royal Lord and Yang Kai. They had no choice but to return at that moment.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai wanted nothing more than to gripe about his situation.

It was not his first time being hunted down by a Royal Lord, but at this moment, he had to avoid using Purifying Light unless absolutely necessary, which meant that he could not shake off his enemy.

The distance between them kept getting smaller, and the Royal Lord continued to launch attack after attack from behind. Each attack was powerful enough to shake the void around them, causing Yang Kai’s body to toss and turn like a rag as more and more injuries piled up.

Thankfully, Yang Kai had thick skin and a tough hide, so he could withstand quite a beating. With the blessing of his Dragon Vein, these long-range attacks were not enough to cause a fatal injury; otherwise, he would not have been able to hold out this long.

In between the attacks, the Royal Lord did not stop sending wave after wave of Divine Sense at Yang Kai to make things even more difficult for the latter; however, with the Soul Warming Lotus protecting his Soul, even attacks from a Royal Lord’s Divine Sense were ineffective against Yang Kai.

And so, Yang Kai bided his time.

He was waiting for the Royal Lord to lose all patience and utilise his Royal Lord Secret Technique.

Yang Kai did not know for certain whether or not his opponent would resort to the Royal Lord Secret Technique as this was not something he could control, so what he was doing right now was gambling.

What he needed to do now was to keep taunting his opponent and enrage the latter.

The Royal Lord Secret Technique was a fatal move against any Human below the Ninth Order. On the Barren Territory battlefield, a Royal Lord had used this exact move to turn Lu An and two other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters into Black Ink Disciples. Although that Royal Lord was severely weakened after using the Secret Technique and was quickly slaughtered, the Black Ink Clan gained three Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples as a result, which then allowed them to revive the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land and establish a connection between the Barren Territory and Wind Mist Territory.

It could be said that the Royal Lord’s use of his Royal Lord Secret Technique was one of the most crucial pieces of the puzzle that led to the Black Ink Clan’s subsequent invasion of the 3,000 Worlds! The Royal Lord who had been killed was a heroic martyr for the Black Ink Clan.

In this particular situation, Yang Kai did not have to go to any lengths to do anything else. All he had to do was focus on escaping. He had destroyed three High-Rank Black Ink Nests and killed an Innate Territory Lord, so the Royal Lord who was trying to hunt him down was hellbent on killing him. If Yang Kai could drag this out long enough, there was a decent chance that the Royal Lord would resort to the Royal Lord Secret Technique.

Once the Royal Lord did that, then it would be Yang Kai’s opportunity to strike back!

During the fight outside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, the sheep-headed Royal Lord had used his Royal Lord Secret Technique, which heavily weakened his foundation, and that was how Yang Kai managed to use the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to land a devastating blow on the former before eventually killing him.

It was partly luck that led to Yang Kai’s successful killing of that Royal Lord as Yang Kai himself did not know exactly how he managed to do it.

Yang Kai was not fully confident that he would be able to repeat that feat, but if this Royal Lord did use his Royal Lord Secret Technique, then even if Yang Kai failed to kill him, he would still be able to turn it into an equal fight with both sides suffering injuries.

Even in that sort of a lose-lose situation, Yang Kai had the upper hand as he had his Dragon Vein and the essence of the Immortal Tree; thus, his restorative abilities were far superior. The Royal Lord, on the other hand, would have to fall into a deep slumber inside a Black Ink Nest for a long time to recover from grievous wounds.

During such a time, Yang Kai could accomplish a lot in the No-Return Pass.

These were the calculations he made that led to Yang Kai deciding against using Purifying Light to block the Royal Lord’s aura before fully escaping. Since he wanted to provoke his opponent, he had to let his opponent see a glimmer of hope yet fail at every turn.

This was an incredibly risky choice, as one false move and Yang Kai might truly end up dying.

Still, he was willing to make this bet.

The two figures, one the hunter and the other the hunted, travelled further and further away from the No-Return Pass, headed towards the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield.

Even after half a day of chasing, the Royal Lord still did not show any signs of using his Royal Lord Secret Technique. Perhaps in his eyes, it would not be worth it to take such a huge risk just to hunt down a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

Alas, Yang Kai could not hold out any longer.

Yang Kai could not completely lose his opponent via conventional methods as he was not as powerful either. Anyone would fail to hold out for long when being chased down like this. Upon seeing that his opponent was nearly as close to him as he could safely allow, Yang Kai knew that he might not be able to escape if he did not act now. Thus, he used Purifying Light and enveloped himself.

Instantly, the aura from the Royal Lord which had locked onto him was broken off.

With a flash of white light and Space Principles, Yang Kai’s figure disappeared.

The Royal Lord was stunned by this turn of events, never having expected that an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would have such a mysterious trick up his sleeve. This explained why the Human dared to launch an attack on the No-Return Pass. It was clear that this tactic of his was his trump card.

However, from the looks of it, the Royal Lord deduced that this technique could not be easily used; otherwise, the Human would not have avoided using it until now.

The Royal Lord was fairly quick to react. Even though it was his first time encountering such an occurrence, just as Yang Kai’s figure disappeared, a powerful wave of Divine Sense surged out and detected the lingering Space Principles where Yang Kai had disappeared towards. Following that, the Royal Lord sensed Yang Kai’s aura in that direction.

He was just about to give chase when even that aura suddenly disappeared.

Yang Kai was only in the Seventh Order when he had been chased down by that sheep-headed Royal Lord, and his mastery of the Dao of Space was not as high as it was now; thus, even when he used Purifying Light, he could only widen the gap between him and his enemy without being able to completely escape from their perception.

Things were different now though. Yang Kai was in the Eighth-Order and was more than 10 times stronger than he used to be. Cultivating within the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon had made him even more proficient in the Dao of Space.

Now, he no longer had to play any sort of games with a Royal Lord who was hunting him down.

If one use of Instantaneous Movement was not enough for him to get his opponent off his tail, then he would do it twice. If twice was not enough, then thrice…

Based on how strong Yang Kai was now, as long as he was not struck down in a single blow, or trapped with a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array, then not even a Royal Lord could do anything to him.

This was the reason why he had the gall to cause trouble in the No-Return Pass.

The Royal Lord’s Divine Sense no longer detected any sign of Yang Kai, and he had no idea how to find him again in this expansive void. He stood still for a moment before his expression changed. He turned back towards the No-Return Pass before clenching his jaw and growling, “Shit!”

The several-metre-high figure instantly turned into a black streak of light as the Royal Lord shot back towards the No-Return Pass.

He just realised that he might have fallen for what the Humans would call a strategy of ‘luring the tiger away from the mountain’! His opponent’s trump card was not something that could not easily be used; instead, that Human had intentionally not used it to lure him away from the No-Return Pass!

The Royal Lord assumed that the Human had a Dragon Clan companion. Considering the Human’s strength and the Dragon Clansman who had been taken hostage by the Black Ink Clan all those years ago, it would be easy enough for the two of them to work together to destroy a few more High-Rank Black Ink Nests.

Anxiety filled the Royal Lord up as he pushed his speed as high as it could go!

At the same time, Yang Kai was stuffing handfuls of Spirit Pills into his mouth and refining them. He had suffered some serious injuries during the chase.

The Royal Lord thought that he had a Dragon Clan companion, which was Ji Lao San whom Yang Kai had rescued from the No-Return Pass back then, but the Royal Lord had no idea that Ji Lao San was not on the Black Ink Battlefield anymore. Yang Kai was acting alone.

However, it was true that Yang Kai was trying to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Yang Kai had prepared two plans during this chase. If the Royal Lord did become enraged enough to use his Royal Lord Secret Technique, then Yang Kai would make sure that neither one of them left without being heavily injured. If the Royal Lord did not give him the opportunity for that, then he had no choice but to drag his opponent as far out as possible before doubling back to launch another attack.

Yang Kai did not intend to let the injuries he suffered be for nothing.

By repeatedly using Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai was a lot faster than the Royal Lord. Unfortunately, during his attempt to flee earlier, he could not leave any Space Beacons behind, or else he would have been able to travel even faster.

Still, in less than an hour, Yang Kai could already spot the No-Return Pass in the distance, but he did not charge over right away.

After everything he had done today, all those stationed at the No-Return Pass had gone onto high alert. The Black Ink Clansmen were sweeping the surrounding area and their Divine Senses, forming a large, invisible web around the No-Return Pass. Several Black Ink Clan squads also patrolled the local space, checking for signs of suspicious activity.

Evidently, the loss of three High-Rank Black Ink Nests was hard for the Black Ink Clan to stomach.

Yang Kai stayed out of the Black Ink Clan’s surveillance range around the No-Return Pass and found a secluded spot to sit down and tend to his injuries.

He had led the Royal Lord on a chase that lasted half a day and had arrived back at the No-Return Pass in just one hour. Even going all out, it would take the Royal Lord at least another eight hours to return.

Yang Kai could use this reprieve to recover from some of his injuries, though he did not have a lot of time to spare and would not be able to recover fully. However, under the circumstances, he would take whatever he could. The stronger he was, the better.

[I need to find some divine medicines that can rapidly heal injuries!] Yang Kai thought to himself. The healing pills he had on hand were the ones he exchanged for Military Merits back in Great Evolution Pass all those years ago. They were not low-quality by any means, but they were not the best there were either. The effects of these healing pills were especially limited when in a time crunch.

Yang Kai quieted down as he focused on refining the medicinal efficacies of the pills and stimulating his Dragon Vein to heal the wounds on his body. Within his Knowledge Sea, the Soul Warming Lotus also kept releasing a clear and cool sensation that swiftly restored his damaged Soul.

He did not dare to waste too much time. Four hours later, Yang Kai stood up and turned towards the No-Return Pass, and with a flash of Space Principles, he charged forward again.