Martial Peak

Time flew by quickly, and two months passed in the blink of an eye. The war had gotten more and more intense during this period. Although the Black Ink Clan had suffered countless casualties, a steady stream of reinforcements continued to arrive from the rear as though their numbers were infinite. On the other hand, the Human Race relied on Blue Sky Pass’s sturdy defences in order to repel the Black Ink Clan’s repeated onslaught. There were not many casualties on their end. Blue Sky Pass itself was an enormous Mobile Palace Artifact, so it had its own defensive mechanisms. Furthermore, warships and Masters were frequently sent into battle to break through and disrupt enemy lines. As long as the Blue Sky Pass and the various warships remained intact, the lives of those hiding inside would not be endangered. Be that as it may, the number of people who were corroded by Black Ink Strength every single day remained very high. Knowing that they now had the means to dispel and purify Black Ink Strength, the Human Masters no longer had any scruples when fighting the Black Ink Clan. If they had the chance to kill an enemy, they would not pass up on the opportunity even if they would be corroded by Black Ink Strength as a result. In the beginning, the Black Ink Clan had been happy to see these changes. That was because many Black Ink Disciples corrupted by Black Ink Strength would voluntarily defect to their side every time the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan clashed. Contrary to their expectations though, they were surprised to discover that not a single Black Ink Disciple was born from the Human Race after a certain point in time. This phenomenon was extremely unusual, and this matter soon attracted the attention of the higher-ups in the Black Ink Clan. They tried to learn more about this phenomenon, but were powerless to do anything about the situation. In the Central Square of Blue Sky Pass, Yang Kai cast Purifying Light to help those infected dispel and purify the Black Ink Strength in their bodies. All of a sudden, he heard the sound of something travelling through the air at a high speed. It did not sound like the arrival of another infected person though; thus, he took a moment out of his busy schedule to glance in that direction and was promptly astonished by the sight. Over there was a ship which by no means could be called small. Judging by its appearance, the ship did not seem to be a simple flight-type artifact but a warship. Yang Kai had seen many of the warships belonging to the Human Race during the time he spent on the battlefield previously. While there were various shapes and sizes to them, the vast majority of them seemed to adopt the appearance of a large ship. There were evident traces of an assault marring the surface of this particular warship, so it was clear it had seen action on the battlefield. Nevertheless, what surprised Yang Kai was the people standing on the deck of the ship. They were none other than Dong Guo An Ping, Fan Xun, and the others. As soon as he saw them, Yang Kai became excited and hurriedly finished the tasks he had on hand. Only then did he soar into the sky and land on the deck of the large ship. After greeting Dong Guo An Ping and the others, he examined the large ship with interest. Dong Guo An Ping smiled, “This old girl was taken out of the storehouse. Since you needed a finished product in a hurry, there was no time to refine a new one. The other functional warships are already in use by others, so although this one was badly damaged in the past, it has been patched up since then. You can use it with peace of mind.” Yang Kai nodded and asked suspiciously, “Does it work?” Dong Guo An Ping laughed, “Whether it can be used or not, you will know once you’ve tested it out. Since you wanted to seal the Purifying Light while also having a convenient method for entry and exit, this was the only solution that I could come up with. Fan Xun and the others also made many modifications during this period before they finalised the design. We brought this here for you to make the final verification. Come, follow me.” While saying that, he beckoned and guided Yang Kai towards the cabin inside. Upon entering the cabin, Yang Kai discovered that ship’s interior had undergone a lot of changes. The entire hull had basically been hollowed out, so the entire cabin was nothing more than a huge empty space. The surrounding walls of the cabin were engraved with complex patterns, and a Space Array had also been prepared in the centre of the cabin. Dong Guo An Ping explained, “Those who were corrupted by Black Ink Strength can be teleported into this room via the Space Array on the deck. In addition, they can be teleported out in the same manner after the Black Ink Strength has been dispelled from their bodies.” Yang Kai nodded, “Your arrangements are very thorough, Senior.” Dong Guo An Ping waved his hands dismissively, “That was Fan Xun’s suggestion. He claimed that you have tried implementing this method in the past. If this method becomes feasible, then it will certainly be inconvenient to constantly open and close the Grand Array. To prevent any wastage of the Purifying Light, the existence of the Space Array is necessary. I also heard from Fan Xun that you’ve been experimenting for several months but have failed to solve this problem. In any case, this should be enough to satisfy your requirements. I’ve refined the interior of the large ship specifically for that purpose. On the other hand, Fan Xun and the others have supplemented the rest with the Dao of Spirit Arrays. You can think of this cabin as a space similar to the interior of your bottle gourd. It has a strong gathering and sealing effect. Even if an occasional connection is formed between the Space Arrays, the Purifying Light sealed in this place will not escape.” After he finished his explanation, he turned to look at Yang Kai, “Do you want to test it?” “Yes!” Yang Kai nodded. The space in the cabin was rather spacious. If he wanted to perform an experiment on its effectiveness, he would need to fill it with a large amount of Purifying Light to check its effects. That was why he drew upon the energy from a huge number of Yellow and Blue Crystals all at once. At that moment, an extremely blinding white light bloomed in his hand and illuminated the entire cabin. The space inside the cabin was so huge that the Purifying Light seemed weak and scattered in comparison; hence, Yang Kai cast Purifying Light several more times in succession so that it would become a little denser. After careful inspection, he confirmed that the Purifying Light showed no signs of escaping. The Purifying Light was perfectly sealed inside this cabin, allowing Yang Kai to breath a sigh of relief. It could be said that they had taken the first step forward; however, even when he was experimenting with Fan Xun and the others, there were no issues during the first step. Their troubles only came in the next step. If they could not resolve the issue of wastage caused whenever somebody entered or exited the Grand Array, then this matter could not be considered to be completely solved; therefore, he couldn’t help feeling slightly nervous. This matter was simply far too important to him. His ability to cast Purifying Light to dispel Black Ink Strength had certainly brought great fortune to the Human army in Blue Sky Pass, but at the same time, he was constrained by his ability. Due to his ability, Yang Kai had to remain inside Blue Sky Pass at all times. It was impossible for him to go anywhere else. The reason he had been so enthusiastic about solving this issue during this period was so that he could regain some of his freedom. The problem of reducing the Purifying Light’s wastage was secondary. Yang Kai stepped onto the Space Array, breathed out lightly, and immediately manipulated Space Principles. The world spun around him and his vision blurred for a moment, then he appeared on the ship’s deck. Fan Xun, Feng Ying, and the others had been waiting above while paying close attention to the movements of the Space Array. As soon as they saw Yang Kai appear, they carefully observed the Space Array with solemn expressions. “How is it?” Yang Kai anxiously asked. Although he had not felt the loss of the Purifying Light when he was transported out of the cabin, it was better to ask the outside observers about such matters. Fan Xun stroked his beard and said, “It worked. I didn’t see any signs indicating that the Purifying Light had escaped.” “Really?” Yang Kai raised his brow in surprise. Feng Ying nodded as well, “There was none.” “Come, come. You should all come and give it a try then,” Yang Kai gave up his spot. Feng Ying and the others did not refuse. They immediately took turns using the Space Array and teleported themselves into the cabin. A short while later, they used the same method and returned to the deck from inside the cabin. Meanwhile, Yang Kai watched them intently. His Divine Sense inspected the movements of every single person entering and exiting the Grand Array. In the end, he found that there were indeed no signs of the Purifying Light leaking. He rejoiced, knowing that his goal had been accomplished. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help sighing slightly. It had not been easy. Despite joining efforts with Fan Xun and the others for several months, they had failed to produce satisfactory results. On the contrary, the matter was accomplished as soon as Dong Guo An Ping intervened in this matter. It was not to say that the Dao of Artifact Refining was better than the Dao of Spirit Arrays, it was just that the Dao of Artifact Refining was simply more suitable for what he wanted to accomplish. Besides, the many Spirit Arrays inside the cabin were clearly constructed through a careful blending of Artifact Refining and Spirit Arrays. That was why they could produce such effects. “Many thanks for your help, Senior Dong Guo,” Yang Kai sincerely thanked Dong Guo An Ping when the latter walked out to the deck. Dong Guo An Ping waved his hand nonchalantly, “You are too polite. There’s no need to be so stiff, Martial Nephew.” He paused for a moment before he continued, “Actually, I would like to ask you for a favour.” Yang Kai turned solemn, “Please speak freely, Senior.” Dong Guo An Ping replied, “I originally planned to create an artifact specifically for the Purifying Light. It was only because of your idea that I changed my mind and modified this warship instead.” While he was speaking, he suddenly glanced outside the great pass. The Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were fighting fiercely outside the great pass with every passing moment. The sounds of their battle came from afar, accompanied by the violent fluctuations that came from the collision of energies. It was obvious that the Masters of both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were clashing with one another. “Humans have suffered from the Black Ink Clan’s attacks since time immemorial. The Cave Heavens and Paradises would often send a large amount of manpower to the Black Ink Battlefield at regular intervals. Countless elite disciples have died on the battlefield for this cause; even so, we have been unable to eliminate the Black Ink Clan completely. The main reason was that we were powerless to invade the Black Ink Clan’s domain and eradicate them once and for all. Although the Old Ancestor occasionally leads a team into the Black Ink Clan hinterland in person, such measures are nothing more than a temporary solution. It does not strike at the root of the issue. These invasions might even incite the wrath of the Black Ink Clan, provoking a stronger retaliation in return.” He turned to look at Yang Kai, “The existence of Black Ink Strength is a huge deterrent for us; however, your arrival and the appearance of the Purifying Light has greatly reduced the deterrence of the Black Ink Strength and given the Human Race the capital to launch a crusade against the Black Ink Clan. “Looking at the current situation, in order to dispel Black Ink Strength, those infected have to withdraw from the battlefield and come to you for treatment. But, what if we deployed this ship to the battlefield instead? If someone is corrupted by Black Ink Strength in battle, they will no longer need to return to the Inner Sanctum. On the contrary, they can quickly resolve the issue and return to the fight without delay. That will greatly preserve the manpower on the battlefield. “Looking at things from a long-term perspective, if we refine more ships that contain the sealed Purifying Light and dispatch them along with the army, won’t we be able to assault the Black Ink Clan’s core and finally eradicate them completely?” His words were delivered calmly, but anybody could hear the anticipation and excitement hidden in his tone. Following his speech, everybody else’s eyes also began to light up with excitement. That was right. They had been fighting the Black Ink Clan for so many years, and the main reason they could not completely eradicate the Black Ink Clan was that Black Ink Strength posed too much of a danger to the Human Race. They were powerless to invade deep into the Black Ink Clan’s domain as a result. Most of the time, they could only wait passively for the Black Ink Clan to attack. Even if they ultimately repelled the Black Ink Clan’s forces, they could not eliminate the Black Ink Clan from the roots up. They could only watch the remnants of the Black Ink Clan army withdraw from the battlefield. The Black Ink Clan would slowly accumulate their strength and make another comeback after several dozen or hundreds of years. In that way, the cycle would repeat over and over again. Naturally, that was because they had no means to dispel the Black Ink Strength. Now that they had the means to do so though, shouldn’t they utilise this advantage to the fullest? When it came down to it, Dong Guo An Ping was an Eighth-Order Ancestor; standing higher allowed him to see further. While Yang Kai and the others were focused on solving the issue regarding the Purifying Light’s wastage, he had already considered using it to launch a crusade. It was precisely due to his considerations that one of the damaged warships had been brought out from the storehouse and modified. The reason Dong Guo An Ping did that was so that the artifact used to seal the Purifying Light would not only be suitable for a crusade but also come equipped with a strong defence. In this case, a warship in the shape of a large ship was undoubtedly the most suitable choice for such an endeavour.