Martial Peak
chapter-5704

Yang Kai sliced his way across the entire Late Ancient Era Battlefield, slaughtering more than 200 Territory Lords; then, he immediately returned along the same route he came without pausing to rest. Along his journey, he occasionally encountered some Territory Lords who escaped his initial attack and smoothly annihilated them too.

It only took half a year for him to travel through the Late Ancient Era Battlefield and arrive outside the periphery of the No-Return Pass with the help of the Space Beacons that he scattered during his first journey.

Concealing his figure and aura, he searched for where Sun Zhao was hiding before taking him back into his Small Universe. He was relieved and overjoyed to see that Sun Zhao had managed to remain hidden for so long; otherwise, a mere Emperor Realm Master who had just condensed his Dao Seal would never have survived.

In truth, Mo Na Ye had ordered his men to search for Sun Zhao’s whereabouts. When he used the communication bead to contact Yang Kai previously, he deduced that somebody was impersonating Yang Kai to communicate with him. More importantly, they could not be too far from each other because the communication beads would not have been able to transmit messages across great distances.

Be that as it may, the not-too-far distance still covered a vast area in the spacious void. The Black Ink Clan had searched intensively, but their efforts proved futile in the end. In any case, Mo Na Ye did not pay much attention to this matter. During this time, he had been travelling back and forth to meet the various Territory Lords with all his energy and attention focused on investigating Yang Kai’s movements. How could he be bothered by such a trivial distraction?

There were two reasons for Sun Zhao’s survival. The first reason was pure luck, and the second reason was the difficulty of the situation which prevented the Black Ink Clan from using their full strength.

Yang Kai looked in the direction of the No-Return Pass with a solemn gaze. Despite the distance, he could sense the subtle changes that had taken place.

In the past, only 100 or so Territory Lords were gathered in the No-Return Pass. Some might also have been hidden inside the High-Rank Black Ink Nests to rest or cultivate, but there were never many more than that.

However, the number of Innate Territory Lords gathered in the No-Return Pass now was hard to estimate. The best proof of their increased numbers was the High-Rank Black Ink Nests settling inside the No-Return Pass that constantly shuddered and produced extremely dense Black Ink Strength.

The Territory Lords who came from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction were heavily wounded, so they urgently needed to treat their injuries. Black Ink Strength was essential for the healing process; furthermore, these Territory Lords had brought back many High-Rank Black Ink Nests with them. The number of Black Ink Nests in the No-Return Pass had also increased noticeably, bolstering the foundation of the Black Ink Clan.

Yang Kai did not hang around for long. Quickly turning around, he sped into the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield and found a spot to wait in silence.

It would be too difficult for him to search for the scattered Innate Territory Lords as he did not know where they were hiding or coming from. When he returned through the Late Ancient Era Battlefield, he had only managed to encounter several dozen Territory Lords along the way.

In that case, he could only resign himself to waiting for gains without pains. The ultimate destination of these Territory Lords was the No-Return Pass, so he only needed to find a suitable position and wait for them to walk right into his trap by themselves.

Naturally, Yang Kai’s plan would not allow him to intercept many Territory Lords and it would also be very easy for his whereabouts to be exposed. The Territory Lords in the No-Return Pass were not idle either. At this moment, they had formed into teams of four or five to establish Battle Formations in their efforts to receive their clansmen. Nevertheless, Yang Kai was bound to gain something for his efforts!

After waiting in ambush for half a year, Yang Kai’s efforts finally came to fruition. He couldn’t help grumbling to himself about the Territory Lords’ travel speed, but this couldn’t be helped. He could travel back and forth in a very short time thanks to his Space Principles, but others did not have such convenience.

These heavily wounded Territory Lords naturally could not cross the gap between the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and the No-Return Pass without at least 10 years of continuous travel. For that reason, even the Territory Lords who were lucky enough to escape his initial sweep would need a long time to arrive from the Late Ancient Era Battlefield.

From a distance, an aura approached cautiously. This Territory Lord was trying his best to remain hidden, but his efforts were not perfect. He was clearly a cautious person, and the closer he got to the No-Return Pass, the less he dared to relax his guard.

Unfortunately for him, the group of Territory Lords that he had been travelling with previously had long since scattered and the Black Ink Nest was in the possession of another Territory Lord, so he had no means to contact the No-Return Pass and request support.

He had travelled through the Late Ancient Era Battlefield by comparing the surrounding scenery with the map he received before splitting ways with his initial group. When he determined that he was only half a year’s journey from the No-Return Pass, he couldn’t help feeling overjoyed. However, he felt a sharp murderous intent enveloped him before the thought could even form in his head fully.

Turning in that direction, he saw the tip of a spear was rapidly magnifying in his vision. He hastily and desperately condensed his Black Ink Strength in defence, but this layer of protection was as vulnerable as paper before the spear.

Yang Kai retrieved his spear a moment later. Reaching out with his large hand, he stored the Territory Lord’s corpse and the black blood that gushed out of the corpse in his Small Universe to wipe away the traces that were left behind by the battle. Then, he went back into hiding.

The Territory Lords originally travelled in small groups before they split up and went their separate ways; hence, their travel speed should not be very different from each other. It would not be long before more Territory Lords appeared in the wake of the first Territory Lord’s arrival. It had taken Yang Kai half a year to find just one Territory Lord, but he successively killed four more in the following month!

What followed next was another long period of waiting.

As the Territory Lords fled back to the No-Return Pass from different directions, the power of the Black Ink Clan steadily grew stronger. Be that as it may, Mo Na Ye did not feel the slightest sense of joy.

Their losses were simply too great. As many as 400 Innate Territory Lords had been slain by Yang Kai over the years. What’s more, it was obvious that Yang Kai was hiding somewhere nearby to kill more of the approaching Territory Lords. It was a pity that the Black Ink Clan could not pinpoint his location.

The Black Ink Clan had been stepping up their offensive in the battlefields across the various Great Territories, placing greater pressure on the Human Race, but the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield would have no peace until Yang Kai was eliminated.

Even Mo Na Ye was helpless against such an elusive and powerful opponent. The only thing he could do was repeatedly send messages to Yang Kai, but there was never any response. That was because Sun Zhao had destroyed the communication bead on Yang Kai’s order after he responded to Mo Na Ye’s message. It was a countermeasure to prevent Mo Na Ye from figuring out his position. How could Mo Na Ye use the communication bead to contact Yang Kai now?

[I need to figure out a method to locate him…]

Two years later, Yang Kai changed his hiding position and waited quietly for the Territory Lords who snuck out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to come to him. The groups of Territory Lords had split up under Mo Na Ye’s orders, so although they travelled from the direction of the Late Ancient Era Battlefield in general, they would arrive at the No-Return Pass from various directions.

As long as he was not terribly unlucky, Yang Kai would always achieve success no matter where he lay in ambush. Nonetheless, he would change positions at half-year intervals to avoid the Black Ink Clan discovering his whereabouts. The half-year period was only the rough cycle when the Territory Lords would arrive at the No-Return Pass, which meant that he could not stop all the Territory Lords from reaching their destination. He only managed to intercept a small part of the Territory Lords, but there was only so much that he could do at this point.

In any case, he had to reduce the power of the Black Ink Clan as much as possible in hopes of decreasing the pressure on the Human Race in the future.

Half a month later, the aura of a Territory Lord suddenly barged into Yang Kai’s range of perception. Similar situations had already taken place many times over the years, so this had become routine by now. He remained unmoving and simply waited until the Territory Lord had gotten close enough before suddenly launching an attack with his spear.

The Territory Lord was consumed with fear, knowing that he would not survive the encounter. Nevertheless, he neither dodged nor avoided the attack and instead charged towards Yang Kai. Before the spear reached him, the Black Ink Strength in his body surged wildly and his entire body immediately swelled up dangerously.

Yang Kai could clearly see the resolve in the Territory Lord’s eyes, and the sight made him frown. He swiftly condensed his World Force to protect himself and pulled away at the same time; however, he was one step too late. Following a wave of violent energy fluctuations, the local Void collapsed. The vicious impact lifted his body and threw him backwards as the layer of protection he just erected rippled and shattered almost instantly.

After Yang Kai stabilised his figure once more, the Void that had collapsed in front of him remained broken. One could only imagine the power behind the blow. If not for his sturdy Dragon Form, the impact would have seriously injured him.

[I can’t believe a Territory Lord chose to self-destruct!] Yang Kai had never encountered this situation before. In fact, he never even knew that the Territory Lords had such a hidden trump card. Being caught off guard was not a pleasant feeling.

But why did the Territory Lord choose to self-destruct? Even ants would cling hard to their lives, much less a powerful Innate Territory Lord. Even in a desperate situation, a Territory Lord was bound to struggle and resist as much as possible. Although Yang Kai had slain many Territory Lords, he had never encountered a Territory Lord who would immediately choose to self-destruct.

It did not take long before Yang Kai understood the reason why this Territory Lord had chosen to self-destruct though. While he was pondering in confusion, several powerful auras quickly flew over from the distance. It was obvious that they had noticed the commotion that took place here.

That was not all, however, as soon Yang Kai detected even more auras converging around him from various directions. There were at least several dozen of them, and these were only the ones he could perceive. Yang Kai was certain that others were further away that he failed to sense.

It was not as though he had never encountered similar situations in the past. Many Territory Lords from the No-Return Pass had formed Battle Formations and patrolled the surroundings to welcome their clansmen who came from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.

On several occasions, Yang Kai had inadvertently exposed himself and attracted the Territory Lords nearby to investigate the situation when he attacked. It was just that he had never bothered to face them in the past; after all, he was helpless against the Territory Lords who formed Battle Formations unless he used his Soul Rending Thorns. His only option currently was to ignore them.

However, there had never been so many Territory Lords before. It was almost as though they had predicted that he would be here. Knowing that he would attack this place, they had laid an ambush nearby and waited for him to reveal his whereabouts before they swarmed him from all sides. However, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t learn his movements in advance. Not to mention, it had not been long since he moved to this location.

In that case, there could only be one explanation. While he was waiting for gains without pains, the Black Ink Clan had been doing the same. The Black Ink Clan had not predicted the location where he would appear; on the contrary, they had simply set up a lot of traps in various locations with the thought that he was bound to turn up sooner or later.

Although Yang Kai did not know how long the Black Ink Clan had laid in ambush here, he had to admit that this brute force method was effective. At the very least, it had caught him this time. But… so what? The Territory Lords rushing over from all directions would not arrive for some time, which gave him plenty of room to escape.