Martial Peak

Chapter 5644: Conspiracy

The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters solemnly received and carefully put away the several dozen World Beads.

Then, Yang Kai told them, “If you encounter a Black Ink Clan Army, just use the Small Stone Race Soldiers to kill them. There’s no need to worry about preserving them if it’s going to cost you your lives.”

Even though the Small Stone Race Soldiers in the World Beads weren’t tamed, they still retained their basic instincts, so they would try to kill any Black Ink Clansmen they encountered. With the protection from so many Small Stone Race Soldiers and Masters, these Seventh-Order Masters could safely return to Human territory. 

After thanking Yang Kai again, the Seventh-Order Masters left. 

Yang Kai watched until the Seventh-Order Masters disappeared from his sight before withdrawing his attention and diving deep into the Ancestral Land to focus on healing his injuries. 

At the same time, in the No-Return Pass’ Main Hall, the Royal Lord was sitting on his throne of bones with a gloomy expression. Below him were 12 guilty-looking Innate Territory Lords with their heads bowed. 

The atmosphere inside the Grand Hall was silent and depressing, and the many Innate Territory Lords on both sides of the hall wore differing expressions. The only similarity was the look of disbelief on all their faces. 

When they heard that the mission to kill Yang Kai had failed, the Black Ink Clan Masters were all shocked. 

A Pseudo-Royal Lord had led 20 Innate Territory Lords and had help from a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Grand Array, all just to kill a single Eighth-Order Master. How could they have failed?

This mission was supposed to be an easy success, and the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have even attempted it if they weren’t fully confident. 

But they had failed! 

Not only did they fail, but the Black Ink Clan suffered enormous losses. The deaths of eight Innate Territory Lords weren’t too heartbreaking considering the Human killing star had killed far more than eight Innate Territory Lords already.

But Di Wu was dead as well?

That was the first Pseudo-Royal Lord the Black Ink Clan had ever created through the Source Fusion Technique!

When the many Innate Territory Lords heard this news, they were all terrified. Had Yang Kai grown that much stronger?

At that moment, the Territory Lords were worried as they wondered if even a Pseudo-Royal Lord wasn’t enough to deal with Yang Kai anymore. If that was true, did it mean that the Royal Lord would have to take action personally for there to even be a chance at success?

The depressing atmosphere was like an approaching storm, causing the Territory Lords to feel suffocated. Meanwhile, the silent glare from the Royal Lord on his throne made the few Territory Lords below feel like they were sitting on pins and needles. 

“Wastes! All of you!” The Royal Lord roared, “Di Wu, that stupid piece of shit! I trusted him so much, yet he went and got himself killed by an Eighth-Order Human?! How could he be so useless!”

In the meantime, the Territory Lords maintained their silence because they didn’t dare to interrupt while the Royal Lord was raging. 

Above them, the Royal Lord had risen to his feet and continuously cursed and reprimanded the 12 Territory Lords that had just returned and the dead Di Wu. His aggressive aura was like a huge mountain pressing down on the Territory Lords to the point that they couldn’t breathe. 

Only after a long tirade did the Royal Lord calm down and through gritted teeth snarl, “Report every detail of what had happened to me!”

Even though it pained him to suffer such a huge loss, and he hated Di Wu for being useless, this incident had already happened. At the very least, he should know what went wrong during this plan and how Yang Kai, a mere Eighth-Order Master, was able to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord. 

Immediately, the 12 Territory Lords began talking one after another as they told the Royal Lord what happened after Di Wu arrived at the Ancestral Land. Of course, they skipped over the 300 years they were waiting for Yang Kai to come out because nothing worth mentioning happened during that time. 

When the Territory Lords on both sides of the Grand Hall heard that Yang Kai could now use his mysterious Soul Secret Technique to hit five targets, and even kill four Territory Lords in rapid succession while being trapped inside the Grand Array, their expressions immediately changed. 

[It seems like the killing star’s strength has indeed grown. He wasn’t capable of this 2,000 years ago.]

Meanwhile, the Royal Lord could roughly guess the rest of the story after hearing that Yang Kai summoned a massive batch of Small Stone Race Soldiers. 

Back when Yang Kai came to the No-Return Pass, he had also summoned a large Small Stone Race Army to deal with him. Di Wu should also have known about this, but this was the first time the Black Ink Clan learned that even after those Small Stone Race Soldiers died, they could still be used by Yang Kai.

As a result, all the surviving Black Ink Clansmen, including Di Wu, were enveloped in an intense burst of Purifying Light that dramatically diminished their strength. 

The Black Ink Clan fell into an irreversible disadvantage in the battle after that.

After listening to the full story, the Royal Lord’s expression was dark as a storm cloud, while the uninvolved Territory Lords felt slightly relieved. 

The Territory Lords thought that Yang Kai was now strong enough to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but now it seemed like the main reason Di Wu failed was that Yang Kai had many coincidental advantages on his side, especially when it came to the battlefield. 

The Divine Spirit Ancestral Land could suppress the Black Ink Clan’s strength and even offered its strength and protection to Yang Kai. Such a situation greatly reduced the difference in strength between the two sides. 

In addition, Yang Kai was a scheming fellow who used Purifying Light to weaken the Black Ink Clan Masters and deal a crippling blow to Di Wu. 

Now it seemed like, though Yang Kai was strong, he still had obvious limits. 

For some unknown reason, this realisation made the Territory Lords feel relieved. 

After the 12 Territory Lords finished reporting, they stood silently in their spot, not daring to speak. 

The Royal Lord sat back on his throne and swept his gaze across them before looking to the side, “Mo Na Ye, what do you think?”

One Territory Lord stepped forward, and it just so happened to be someone Yang Kai knew. It was the Innate Territory Lord who led the operation against Yang Kai back in the Acacia Territory. Later, Yang Kai faced off against this same Territory Lord in Profound Nether Territory. 

Mo Na Ye was undoubtedly the most strategic and insightful of all the Territory Lords, which was why the Royal Lord decided to still use him after the humiliating incident in Acacia Territory.

After Di Wu became a Pseudo-Royal Lord 300 years ago, the Royal Lord recalled Mo Na Ye from the frontlines to serve as his right hand. 

First, Mo Na Ye bowed to the Royal Lord before speaking, “Sir Royal Lord, I think that what we must do now is prepare for Yang Kai’s retaliation.”

The Royal Lord frowned, “You think that fellow would come to the No-Return Pass and try to raise chaos?”

Mo Na Ye nodded heavily, “He definitely will! Although I haven’t encountered him many times, everything I have observed and learned of him indicates that he is not one to simply suffer a loss. The Black Ink Clan planned to deal with him in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land while the agreement between our two Races was still in effect, so he definitely won’t let this matter slide. The Human Race needs to maintain this current situation, so he wouldn’t openly break the agreement. On top of that, he knows that we will not just let him go around killing Territory Lords. In such a situation, his only real option to gain revenge is to attack the No-Return Pass.”

Slightly angered, the Royal Lord bellowed, “He dares!?”

He was personally overseeing the No-Return Pass. Even though it happened before, if Yang Kai caused a scene here again, it would mean that Yang Kai had disregarded him, a Royal Lord, completely. 

Mo Na Ye added, “He has always been a reckless risk-taker.”

The Royal Lord was silent because he had to agree that what Mo Na Ye said was justifiable. No matter what the Black Ink Clan had done in the Ancestral Land, both Races still needed to maintain the so-called agreement to ensure the overall situation. Since they needed to maintain the agreement, it was unlikely that Yang Kai would go off and kill Territory Lords on the various Battlefields lest he force the Black Ink Clan to launch an all-out retaliatory war. That was the last thing the Humans wanted right now.

On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan also didn’t want to break the agreement because if they did, many more Innate Territory Lords would die in the coming days. 

Therefore, coming to the No-Return Pass to make a scene was Yang Kai’s only option. 

“When do you think he will come?” the Royal Lord asked. 

Mo Na Ye replied, “Within 200 years!”

“On what basis?”

“Back in Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai would make a move every two years to kill Territory Lords. I’m guessing that the reason he took that long in between attacks was he needed time to deal with the huge backlash of using his Soul injuring technique. Every time he used it, he would need a long period to recuperate. However, this time, in the Ancestral Land, Yang Kai not only overused his Soul technique, he also suffered numerous severe physical wounds. Although Humans have an advantage when it comes to healing rate compared to our Black Ink Clan, he must need at least 100 to 200 years to recuperate.”

After listening to the explanation, the Royal Lord nodded as his gloomy eyes showed appreciation. If all the Innate Territory Lords had the same intelligence as Mo Na Ye, he wouldn’t be so troubled. 

Unfortunately, most of the Territory Lords didn’t have sharp minds, while the Humans seemed to have plenty of cunning people. 

“Sir Royal Lord, please take the necessary precautions early. The Humans… might already have a new Ninth-Order Master,” Mo Na Ye added. 

Hearing that, the Royal Lord turned solemn, “Is this news reliable?”

Mo Na Ye shook his head, “The Humans have established extremely strict control over any such news, and only a few higher-ups would know whether a new Ninth-Order Master has been born. The low-level Black Ink Disciples we have converted have no way of knowing about these things. However, according to the reports I have received from the front lines, a few prominent Eighth-Order Masters have completely disappeared from the Battlefields. Without mentioning anyone else, Xiang Shan has been missing for nearly 1,000 years now. No one knows where he is, but if he has not shown up in so long, it must be because he’s trying to break through to the Ninth Order. In the worst case, he may have already succeeded and is simply remaining hidden because it is still not the time for Ninth-Order Masters to appear.”

The Royal Lord’s expression became far gloomier when he heard this. 

Even though the Black Ink Clan had always prided themselves as the mightiest army with the finest arms, never having suffered a true defeat on any of the Great Territory Battlefields, they were constantly wary of some Eighth-Order Masters breaking through to become Ninth-Order as even one such Master could alter the course of the war. 

Among those Humans, the one they were most wary of was Xiang Shan. Even their worries about Yang Kai were dwarfed in comparison. 

After all, Yang Kai’s limit was the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

Yang Kai was destined to come to the No-Return Pass and cause a ruckus, and Mo Na Ye just happened to mention a possible new Ninth-Order Master. All of that made the Royal Lord think about a lot of things. 

Many years ago, Yang Kai had come to the No-Return Pass alone, and though the Black Ink Clan injured and repelled him, he still managed to kill a number of Territory Lords and destroy several High-Rank Black Ink Nests, which made the Royal Lord fly into a rage. In fact, the Royal Lord was still secretly frustrated about this incident even after so many years. 

2,000 years later, Yang Kai had definitely become much stronger than before, and even managed to kill a Pseudo-Royal Lord while borrowing some external aids. 

Yang Kai alone would be tricky to deal with, but if a new Ninth-Order Master came along with him, how could the No-Return Pass stop them?

If the Black Ink Clan lost a few more Black Ink Nests, they would quickly find themselves at a huge disadvantage. 

The Royal Lord soon realized that he alone was not enough. He needed a helping hand. 

Di Wu was a good adjutant, one who was loyal and listened to orders, but unfortunately… a dead helper was worthless. 

The Royal Lord slowly turned to look at Mo Na Ye before gazing at the 12 Territory Lords that returned from the Ancestral Lord before making up his mind. 

“All of you, go and perform the Source Fusion!”

The 12 Territory Lords all showed shocked expressions. They didn’t escape all the way back to be Source Fusioned into a Black Ink Nest. 

Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye lowered his head as his lips undetectably curled into a slight smile. 

[All according to plan!]