Martial Peak

The void was vast, mysterious, and silent. Based on appearances alone, the Black Ink Battlefield was not that different from the 3,000 Worlds; however, Yang Kai could sense that dangers lurked around every corner here. Numerous Continents and Spirit Provinces were scattered across the void. They contained faint traces of activity, so he did not dare to approach those places and avoided them from a distance. From what he could see from a distance, those lands overflowed with Black Ink Strength regardless of whether they were big or small. Yang Kai’s current position was located deep within the domain controlled by the Black Ink Clan. If he wanted to head towards the nearest great pass under the control of the Cave Heavens and Paradises, then he predicted that he would need to travel for at least ten to twenty days non-stop. Moreover, there was no guarantee that his journey would be smooth-sailing. Nobody could say for certain what kind of dangers he might face along the way. Meng Qi had assumed that it would be impossible for Yang Kai to safely arrive at the nearest great pass, and there were two reasons for this. One of the reasons was Yang Kai’s low cultivation. The other reason was that he had a much better understanding of the situation compared to Yang Kai. Even when he was in his prime, under the same conditions as Yang Kai, it would have been impossible for Meng Qi to escape from the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Be that as it may, he had not discouraged Yang Kai in the slightest. A person should not give up hope after all. All of a sudden, Yang Kai’s gaze was attracted towards a strange scene in the distance. There was a huge Spirit Province stretched out across the void ahead, in addition to an extremely bizarre existence on top of the Spirit Province. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the strange object resembled an enormous flower bud. It was just that the entire entity was pitch-black and gave off an extremely sinister feeling. What’s more, the flower bud seemed to be alive. With every miniscule rise and fall of the petals, concentrated Black Ink Strength would gush out from within the bud and spread out in all directions. It might be due to the existence of this strange flower bud, but Black Ink Strength permeated the void surrounding the Spirit Province for tens of thousands of kilometres. [What is that?] Yang Kai was slightly surprised. Meng Qi had not told him about anything like this. In any case, he did not dare to carelessly approach and investigate the situation. It was a pity that he could not figure out anything after observing from afar and could only continue his escape. Although he did not encounter any danger during his journey, the void was not a safe place. Yang Kai would occasionally come across large patches of Black Ink Strength residue that resembled Black Ink Clouds during his journey. He finally understood why Meng Qi had not escaped with him. Meng Qi was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but his Small Universe was incomplete. An incomplete Small Universe meant that there were flaws to be exploited. Even if he could safely come out from the Sealed World, it would be very easy for him to become corrupted by the Black Ink Strength again in this environment. The consequences would be dire if something like that were to happen. At the very least, Yang Kai would be forced to fight him. The hinterland of the Black Ink Clan was not a place where ordinary cultivators could remain for long. Without a treasure like one of the Four Universe Pillars, even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was at risk of being corrupted by the ambient Black Ink Strength at any moment. On the other hand, both the Black Ink Clan and the Black Ink Disciples took to this environment like ducks to water. Yang Kai travelled in hiding, so his progress was very slow, but that could not be helped. According to Meng Qi, his current status was that of a servant without a master. People like him were easily targeted by the Black Ink Clan. They either wanted to recruit him as their servant or regarded him as food. There was no other option. For that reason, Yang Kai did not dare to meet any Black Ink Clansmen and constantly monitored his surroundings with his Divine Sense. The slightest rustling of grass or the gentlest breeze was enough to put him on guard. Unfortunately, despite his caution, it was impossible to control everything around him. One day, Yang Kai was travelling forward when a large and luxurious ship came towards him from afar. The Black Ink Clan also had flight type artifacts of their own. They themselves might not be proficient in Artifact Refining, but there were many talented people among the Black Ink Disciples. It was not unreasonable for a small number of people to be capable of refining some flight type artifacts. Over the past few days, Yang Kai had seen many of the Black Ink Clan’s flight type artifacts. They came in all shapes and sizes, with the one in front of him right now being pretty normal in comparison. Some of the flight type artifacts came in extremely odd shapes after all. However, there was no exception to one thing, the Black Ink Clan’s flight type artifacts were always very large. Yang Kai could understand the reasoning behind this particular aspect. Inside the Sealed World, he had discovered that the six Black Ink Feudal Lords were each the size of small giants. They were several times larger than normal Humans, so it was only natural that their flight type artifacts were larger too. More importantly, most of these enormous flight type artifacts had at least one Black Ink Clan Master onboard. Seeing this situation right now, how could Yang Kai dare to sit around twiddling his thumbs? He looked around him for a moment before manipulating Space Principles. His figure instantly vanished from the spot. Be that as it may, he did not dare to use Instantaneous Movement over a large distance since he was not familiar with the terrain in this region. It would be self-defeating if he accidentally barged into a place where he should not enter; therefore, the destination was a Black Ink Cloud in his field of vision. There were many such Black Ink Clouds in the void, so it was very easy for him to hide in them. Moreover, Yang Kai had always avoided the Black Ink Clan’s flight type artifacts in the same manner whenever he encountered any of them in the past. The passing Black Ink Clansmen generally could not be bothered to poke around seriously; after all, there was not much that could pose a danger to them in this place and Black Ink Clouds could be found anywhere. Unfortunately, Yang Kai seemed to have used up all his luck. He had only just transported himself into the Black Ink Cloud when he noticed that something was wrong. It turned out that there were several auras hidden within the Black Ink Cloud. Seeming to notice his sudden intrusion, they immediately surrounded him from all directions. The sudden turn of events startled Yang Kai, but he was surrounded by those people before he could use Space Principles again. At the same time, numerous Divine Senses also locked onto his body. [Two Sixth-Order and two Fifth-Order Masters!] Yang Kai raised his brow in surprise, deducing his opponents’ cultivation from the energy fluctuations coming from around him. Not only were they Open Heaven Realm Masters, but they also appeared in this place. There was no doubt that they were Black Ink Disciples. It would have been bad enough if those people consisted only of Black Ink Disciples, but the key point was that Black Ink Disciples would never stray far from their master’s side under normal circumstances. In other words, the master of these four Black Ink Disciples was definitely within this very Black Ink Cloud as well. Sure enough, when these four people surrounded Yang Kai, an enormous figure stepped out from the depths of the Black Ink Cloud and slowly came to stand in front of him. This person looked down at Yang Kai from above with a look of curiosity mixed with faint surprise in his eyes. Yang Kai immediately felt a bitter taste filling his entire mouth. He was tempted to attack and ruthlessly eliminate the Black Ink Disciples and the Black Ink Clansman in front of him; however, he was worried about the ship that was passing by nearby! Two Sixth-Order and two Fifth-Order Black Ink Disciples were nothing in his eyes, and the Black Ink Clansman did not seem to be particularly powerful either. At the very least, he did not give Yang Kai any sense of oppression. It was incomparable to the Feudal Lords that he had encountered before at least. Unfortunately, there was bound to be a Feudal Lord aboard the ship he had just seen. If Yang Kai stirred up chaos here, the other side would surely be alerted to the commotion and approach to investigate. There would be endless troubles in the future if Yang Kai could not cut weeds and pull out roots related to this matter. In any case, it was impossible to run at this point. A Black Ink Disciple who was brave enough to escape after coming into contact with a Black Ink Clansman; that in itself was an issue worth investigating. Among all the Black Ink Disciples Yang Kai had encountered before, every one of them prioritised the Black Ink Clan above all else. If he made a move here, then his actions would inevitably lead to an endless pursuit. Yang Kai suppressed the murderous intent in his heart and forced a trace of trepidation onto his face. Under the gaze of the Black Ink Clansman, he seemed to take a few steps back in fear. The Black Ink Clansman studied Yang Kai with interest and asked, “Where did he come from?” A sturdy Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master beside the Black Ink Clansman answered, “I don’t know. He suddenly intruded into this place.” Turning to look at Yang Kai, he interrogated Yang Kai on behalf of the Black Ink Clansman, “Where are you from? Who is your master?” Yang Kai’s thoughts swirled around in his head, but he responded without hesitation, “I came from the battlefield. I don’t have a master.” Since the Black Ink Clan had been fighting with the Cave Heavens and Paradises for so long, the front lines of the battlefield must be extremely fierce. Although Yang Kai had never experienced such a battle before, he could guess that many people were corrupted by the Black Ink Strength and become Black Ink Disciples during each clash. These Black Ink Disciples were generally all alone with no support, and it was naturally impossible for them to return to the great pass guarded by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, so their only option was to escape into the hinterland of the Black Ink Clan in search of protection. That was the explanation that Yang Kai came up with along his journey. He had prepared this explanation just in case something went wrong, but he never expected his preparations would actually come in handy. It was just that he did not know if there was anything suspicious about his statement. Fortunately, neither the Black Ink Clansman who resembled a small giant, nor the Black Ink Disciples showed any doubts after listening to his explanation. The Black Ink Clansman even showed a look of great joy and spoke in a voice that rumbled thunderously, “What good luck. I can’t believe I came across such a huge blessing.” While speaking, his large hand loomed from above and stretched out towards Yang Kai’s head, “Since you don’t have a master, then I will be your master from now on!” Yang Kai forced himself to remain still and did not dodge aside because he did not sense any murderous intent coming from the Black Ink Clansman. What’s more, this Black Ink Clansman only had two Sixth-Order and two Fifth-Order Black Ink Disciples under his command. It could be inferred that he probably did not enjoy a particularly high identity or status, so a Sixth-Order Master like Yang Kai would be attractive to him. A gigantic hand covered the top of Yang Kai’s head, then thick Black Ink Strength gushed out to envelope Yang Kai. Yang Kai did not move a single muscle. The Black Ink Strength that invaded his Small Universe was suppressed and sealed by the World Spring. At the same time, he covertly allowed the Black Ink Strength to cover his eyes at just the right time, and his body trembled slightly. A short while later, the Black Ink Clansman withdrew his hand. Sweeping his gaze over Yang Kai, he nodded lightly to himself as though he was very satisfied with the results. “From now on, your name will be…” Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly seemed confused. He scratched his face and asked one of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples, “What is he called?” The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciple answered respectfully, “E-5!” “Ah! That’s right! E-5!” The Black Ink Clansman sneered disdainfully and seemed a little impatient, “You Humans are so troublesome.” Yang Kai did not know why he suddenly received a new name, but he could only accept it passively. The Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciple seemed to notice Yang Kai’s doubts. Pointing at himself, he explained, “I am called A-1!” Then, he pointed to the others and introduced them, “B-2, C-3, D-4!” Yang Kai immediately felt speechless when he realized how they were named. It was most likely that the Black Ink Clansman could not be bothered to remember his servants’ names, so he came up with such a simple method of identifying them. It might even have been suggested by the Black Ink Disciples themselves. A-1 and B-2 were both in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm while C-3 and D-4 were in the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. B-2 was a middle-aged man with a clean and beardless face; C-3 was a woman with a bloated body; and D-4 was a short old man. Yang Kai could not tell which Cave Heavens or Paradises these people came from, but regardless of their origins, they probably used to be elites in their respective Sects who came to the Black Ink Battlefield with the determination to fight and die if need be. However, they had been corrupted by the Black Ink Strength and currently served under the Black Ink Clan as slaves.