Martial Peak
chapter-5578

Inside a majestic meeting hall at the Black Ink Clan’s main camp…

Territory Lords were convened, wearing solemn looks on their faces.

The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory had been having a difficult time these last three decades. Compared to the other Great Territory Battlefields, the Black Ink Clan casualties in Profound Nether Territory were simply astronomical, so much so that Profound Nether Territory received about 30% of all reinforcements sent to the various Great Territories.

It had to be brought to notice that the Black Ink Clan currently occupied the vast majority of the 3,000 Worlds and had abundant resources to use in their innumerable Black Ink Nests to constantly spawn more Black Ink Clansmen. A terrifying number of Black Ink Clansmen were born everyday, and all the members born would be sent to various battlefields like Profound Nether Territory.

Currently, the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race were fighting in over a dozen Great Territory Battlefields. Under normal circumstances, the Black Ink Clan reinforcements would be evenly distributed among these Great Territories, but nothing was normal in Profound Nether Territory. Things here were quite tense and the Black Ink Clan had suffered enormous losses, so naturally, more troops were sent here.

It would have been alright if things were just limited to this, but the crux of the problem was that the Black Ink Clan had lost nearly 30 Territory Lords here, which was by far the greatest loss the Black Ink Clan had suffered in the entire war for the 3,000 Worlds.

And all of this was because of one person!

The Royal Lord at the No-Return Pass had repeatedly summoned and reprimanded Six Arms, leaving the latter disgraced and aggrieved, but what could he do? He also wanted nothing more than to kill Yang Kai, but Yang Kai was cunning and treacherous, as well as terrifyingly strong, so how was he supposed to accomplish this?

Once, even Six Arms almost got himself killed at Yang Kai’s hands as he had used himself as bait to lure the latter out.

As expected, Yang Kai took the bait and attacked him, making a lightning-fast attack that was so overwhelming that even Six Arms couldn’t defend himself. Had Mo Na Ye and the others not saved him in a nick of time, Six Arms would have died then and there.

Having personally stared death in the face, Six Arms was extremely fearful of Yang Kai.

Now, the two-year countdown was rapidly reaching its end.

The Human Race would definitely launch another attack within a month, and when they did, another Territory Lord or two would be killed.

At this moment, all the Territory Lords had been convened in the hall to discuss how to deal with Yang Kai’s sneak attacks; however, when Six Arms presented this question to them, the hall immediately sunk into silence.

This exact same meeting had been convened many times over the past three decades. Every time the Human Race Army attacked, Six Arms would gather all the Territory Lords to discuss possible countermeasures, but each meeting would end up with nothing accomplished.

Watching every Territory Lord remain silent, Six Arms flew into rage, “Are we really going to let him continue to run rampant? He’s just one Eighth-Order Human, yet none of you can think of any way to deal with him!?”

The Territory Lords remained silent. If there really was a way, Profound Nether Territory’s situation would not have been so gloomy all these years.

The Territory Lords had racked their brains and tried all kinds of methods to deal with Yang Kai, but they were simply unable to stop him. No matter what kind of tactics they applied, all of them proved useless.

One of the Territory Lords thoughtfully suggested, “I’m afraid only if Sir Royal Lord took action would it be possible to take down Yang Kai. We Territory Lords are not weak, but if he is determined to escape, we are all powerless to stop him.”

Many Territory Lords, especially Mo Na Ye, nodded in agreement.

All these years, he had been targeting Yang Kai with four other Territory Lords. They had managed to stop him from killing others multiple times, but so what? He had still fled right under their noses.

Space Secret Techniques were truly unmatched when it came to escaping.

“The Royal Lord is guarding the No-Return Pass, a matter of the utmost importance; how can he take action so easily?” One Territory Lord shook his head.

Almost all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were planted at the No-Return Pass, making it the foundation of the current Black Ink Clan. If the Human Race Masters attacked the No-Return Pass when the Royal Lord was away and destroyed those Black Ink Nests, the Black Ink Clan would become a tree without roots, a river without a source.

The Black Ink Clan only had one Royal Lord left, leaving them in quite an awkward situation, but the Territory Lords were also a little relieved at this situation. If at that time the last Royal Lord had not stayed behind to guard the No-Return Pass, he too would have died in the Barren Territory.

The Barren Territory War was especially tragic, as almost all of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Humans had sacrificed their lives to kill all but two Black Ink Clan Royal Lords.

Every time the Territory Lords thought back to that battle, shivers would shoot up their spines. Even they were shaken by the ruthlessness the Human Race had displayed that day.

Six Arms stated, coldly snorting, “It’s impossible for the Royal Lord to act, so it is up to us to come up with another strategy.”

Though he dismissed this idea decisively, Six Arms could not help feeling some regret about it. It would not be a problem for the Royal Lord to take down Yang Kai as no matter how great the latter was at escaping, so long as the Royal Lord attacked the Profound Nether Army, Yang Kai would have no choice but to come to their aid.

The Territory Lords remained silent.

Six Arms blew his top again, “Is there really nothing we can do!? Yang Kai is already so strong despite only being in the Eighth-Order! If he breaks through to the Ninth-Order some day, what will happen then!?”

Six Arms’ roar echoed throughout the hall, causing the Territory Lords to look at each other, but they still remained silent.

Mo Na Ye suddenly stated, “If Sir Six Arms is worried about him advancing to the Ninth-Order, you need not be.”

Six Arms looked at him gloomily and asked, “What do you mean?”

Mo Na Ye explained, “According to the information I obtained from some Black Ink Disciples, it is impossible for Yang Kai to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. The Human Race’s method of cultivation is very different from our Black Ink Clan’s. Every Human has their own innate limits, with their future achievements determined the moment they break through to the Open Heaven Realm.”

After pondering for a moment, Six Arms agreed with a nod, “I’ve heard a bit about this. So, is the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Yang Kai’s limit?”

Mo Na Ye nodded, “That’s right. According to the Black Ink Disciples, Yang Kai broke through to Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Originally, his limit was the Seventh-Order, but after consuming something called a World Fruit, he managed to increase that limit to the Eighth-Order. However, this is already his limit. It’s impossible for him to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.”

It had been many years since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds. So, the number of Black Ink Disciples that corrupted was naturally not small, especially among the Hunters who would accidentally run into large Black Ink Armies or Territory Lords. The Black Ink Clan liked to turn Human cultivators into Black Ink Disciples to make Humans serve them, so there was now an abundance of Black Ink Disciples out there.

This was how they had gathered some of their current intelligence on the Human Race.

Yang Kai was now a great threat to the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory, so obviously Mo Na Ye tried to find out more about him. Yang Kai’s reputation had also spread far and wide in the Human Race. As such, his initial breakthrough to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and subsequent consumption of a World Fruit was not a big secret.

It was not surprising that Mo Na Ye had been able to learn about this.

Many Territory Lords looked gratified after hearing Mo Na Ye’s revelation.

As a matter of fact, Six Arms was not the only one who was worried about Yang Kai advancing to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm one day. The other Territory Lords were also worried about this. Yang Kai was already this strong when he was just in the Eighth-Order, so if he really broke through to the Ninth-Order, even a Royal Lord would find it hard to survive a conflict with him. If that really happened, how was the Black Ink Clan supposed to survive?

These Territory Lords were all afraid of being killed by Yang Kai.

One of the Territory Lords stated solemnly, “Nothing is absolute. I heard that the Human Race has a way to break these innate shackles. As long as they can find Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace, they can break their limits.”

Mo Na Ye nodded in agreement, “En, that is indeed true, but that so-called Universe Furnace is an Innate Supreme Treasure of the Universe. It is ethereal and cannot be found even if one seeks it out. No one knows when or if it will appear. Moreover, even if this Universe Furnace did appear, why would we allow the Human Race to get their hands on it? The Open Heaven Pills produced by the Universe Furnace might be useless to us, but we can’t let the Humans have them either.”

All the Territory Lords nodded.

If that Universe Furnace really appeared, it would definitely set off a bloody storm. The Black Ink Clan would never allow the Humans to get their hands on it, no matter what price they had to pay.

Six Arms tapped the armrest as he stated, “Let’s not talk about this for now, everyone should think of a way to contain Yang Kai. We’re approaching the two year deadline so the Humans will surely invade again. You don’t want another Territory Lord or two to die, right?”

As soon as he brought this up, the Territory Lords immediately turned pale.

Although there were quite a few Territory Lords present, who knew if they would be the unlucky one this time?

Nonetheless, if they were really asked to find a way to suppress Yang Kai, they simply had no idea…

Just as the Territory Lords were at a loss, a Feudal Lord suddenly rushed in and reported with a bewildered look on his face, “Sirs, there is something going on on the Human Race’s side.”

The Territory Lords turned pale as one of them hurriedly asked, “Is the Human Race attacking?”

“Why is the Human race moving so early? There should still be some time left.”

“Those bastards! I say we ignore Yang Kai entirely! If they can kill a Territory Lord, why can’t we respond by killing their Eighth-Order Masters?”

…

The Territory Lords started shouting all at once, setting off Six Arms once again. Speaking of which, he felt quite aggrieved. In all the other Great Territory Battlefields, the Black Ink Clan basically held the initiative and were able to attack and retreat as they pleased. But Profound Nether Territory’s situation was the exact opposite. When had the Black Ink Clan ever been worried about the Human Race attacking them?

Saying it out loud would be a disgrace.

Looking at the Territory Lords under him all but panicking, Six Arms suddenly felt tired. He looked at the Feudal Lord who had come to report and asked, “Is the Human Race really attacking?”

The Feudal Lord replied, “The Human Race Army is showing no signs of mobilization, but a Human is approaching us. According to the scouts’ report… this person is suspected to be Yang Kai.”

The Territory Lords were all shocked.

Mo Na Ye anxiously asked, “Alone?”

The Feudal Lord nodded, “There is only one person.”

[What the Hell are Humans up to now? What is Yang Kai’s planning?] For the moment, Mo Na Ye was unable to grasp the situation. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, it was foolish for him to come here alone. What’s more, Yang Kai had proven himself to be both cunning and insidious, so he wouldn’t do something as stupid as this without purpose.

Of course, Six Arms also understood this and frowned for a moment before ordering, “Double the scouts monitoring the situation. Immediately report if anything happens.”

“Yes!”

The Feudal Lord accepted the order and left.

Not long after, the scouts indeed sent a series of reports, further confirming the situation.

The Human Race Army was not attacking, but there were signs of large-scale mobilization. This was not surprising though as the Human Race would basically attack once every two years, so the Black Ink Clan was already used to this.

A lone Human was indeed approaching the Black Ink Clan, and that person was none other than Yang Kai, who the Territory Lords feared.

Furthermore, he seemed to be intentionally exposing his whereabouts. He didn’t try to conceal himself at all along the way, and his speed wasn’t fast either. Some Black Ink Clan scouts were even closely monitoring him, but he made no move to kill them.

This made the Territory Lords even more confused.

[What the Hell is he planning?]

[Is he just trying to taunt us?]

This Human was simply too arrogant!