Martial Peak

Chapter 5713: Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

Many Innate Territory Lords were trapped inside the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom. When they suddenly saw Yang Kai approaching them with such fierce momentum, they couldn’t help turning pale with horror and fright. Yang Kai was in absolutely dire condition, and his aura also seemed exceedingly weak; nevertheless, their experience during the fierce battle from before had traumatized them deeply, so they were naturally horrified by his arrival.

It had to be said that these Territory Lords were not in good condition either. They had been severely wounded when they snuck out from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and had almost no chance to heal and recuperate from their wounds at all. After that, they were sent here under Mo Na Ye’s orders to besiege Yang Kai. Although they were lucky enough to survive the previous battle, their injuries had only gotten more severe. If Yang Kai were to attack them now, they would not have much power to fight back at all.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Yang Kai plunged into the illusory phantom of the Universe Furnace. He instantly felt the distortion of Space around him. Just as he had noticed earlier, the Space inside the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom was twisted and folded upon itself. It was impossible to make sense of this Space with common sense. Even if something seemed close at hand, there might be countless layers of space overlapping and folding over each other between them, so that the actual distance was unfathomably large.

The slightest movement inside this chaotic region would cause a person to land in a different layer of space. That was why the Territory Lords could not escape once they were surrounded by the illusory phantom. They were forced to remain here not because they did not want to leave, but because they simply could not.

The mysteries of the Universe Furnace were perfectly illustrated in this scenario!

For the Territory Lords, everything seemed so close yet so far inside the space shrouded within the illusory phantom, and the same was true for Yang Kai. The difference was that Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles as soon as he stepped into the Universe Furnace’s range. As a result, the layers of folded Space instantly became comprehensible and traceable to him.

Yang Kai lightly took a few steps forward. A layer of ripples spread out all over his body, then he abruptly materialised in front of a Territory Lord. Raising his hand, Yang Kai summoned the Azure Dragon Spear and thrust it directly into the heart of the Territory Lord.

On the other hand, the Territory Lord simply had a look of disbelief on his face. His eyes were also filled with complete incomprehension, as though he never imagined that Yang Kai would appear in front of him and stab him with such ease!

One thing had to be said about their current situation. Although these Territory Lords seemed to be gathered together in one spot, they were actually scattered across different layers of Space. After being trapped inside the Universe Furnace, they could neither escape nor rally together at the same spot. No matter how much they struggled, they could only spin around in circles.

It was also for that reason that the Territory Lords were not too worried about their safety even though they had been terrified to hear Yang Kai’s ruthless threat just now. That was because they knew the strangeness of this Space better than anybody else, but their confidence only lasted until this moment!

When one of their companions was run through by Yang Kai’s spear, the Territory Lords finally turned pale with fright. Yang Kai had easily and effortlessly achieved what they had not been able to do despite their best efforts!

At that moment, they promptly recalled the information given to them by Mo Na Ye regarding Yang Kai’s mastery over the Dao of Space! This place might be able to trap the Territory Lords, but Yang Kai could traverse it as though he were walking on flat ground!

With a shake of the spear, the Territory Lord who was stabbed in the chest immediately exploded into pieces. Yang Kai subsequently retrieved his spear and charged towards the nearest Territory Lord.

Having seen what happened to his companion just now, the Territory Lord was filled with absolute horror and shouted at the top of his voice, “Save me, Sir Mo Na Ye!”

Yang Kai smiled wickedly with a sinister expression on his face, “No one can save you now! Die!”

“Yang Kai, you dare?!” Mo Na Ye’s furious roar came from behind. While he was chasing Yang Kai, he had naturally seen the Territory Lords and the Alchemy Furnace’s illusory phantom surrounding them from a distance.

Yang Kai might have figured out that the phenomenon was caused by the emergence of the Universe Furnace, but Mo Na Ye was completely clueless about the situation. It was only natural though as Mo Na Ye was from the Black Ink Clan. Why would he know about the Universe Furnace? Not to mention, the Black Ink Disciples would not mention such things without reason either.

Mo Na Ye was initially vigilant towards the unknown object, but his vigilance was soon overcome by his rage when he saw Yang Kai casually slaughtering the first Innate Territory Lord and aiming for a second. His figure swayed, and he plunged into the illusory phantom after Yang Kai. In the next moment… his expression became blank with shock.

Yang Kai threw his head back as he laughed wildly. Meanwhile, the expressions of the Territory Lords changed drastically.

While laughing, Yang Kai suddenly coughed up a mouthful of Golden Blood. The power that he had forcibly gathered withered like a deflated balloon, and he rapidly collapsed. His entire appearance made him seem like he was about to die on the spot.

He was a dry oil lamp at this point. When he pushed himself just now to butcher a Territory Lord in one blow, his actions had only been to distract and provoke Mo Na Ye as he was worried that the latter would be too vigilant to follow him into the Universe Furnace.

In truth, Yang Kai would have been powerless to kill the second Territory Lord even if Mo Na Ye had not stepped forward to stop him. Fortunately, things had taken a turn for the better. Mo Na Ye had followed him into the Universe Furnace, which swung the situation in Yang Kai’s favour. He could sleep with peace of mind now!

“Mo Na Ye, oh, Mo Na Ye… Even a scheming and treacherous bastard like you can fall into a simple trap! Just wait for me to recover, then I will deal with you!” While saying that, Yang Kai took out a handful of Spirit Pills and stuffed them into his mouth as all the Innate Territory Lords watched. He subsequently took out a set of cultivation materials to refine while completely ignoring all the Territory Lords around him. The recent period had been too difficult on him. After all, he didn’t even have the time to swallow any Spirit Pills when he was being pursued by Mo Na Ye.

On the other hand, Mo Na Ye was livid. Unable to hold back, he threw a punch in Yang Kai’s direction. The power behind the punch could be said to contain his full strength. Be that as it may, the blow failed to cause the slightest disturbance to Yang Kai as all of the force was absorbed and dissipated by the layers of folded Space between them.

Mo Na Ye’s expression immediately became gloomy. He had sensed that something was wrong as soon as he plunged into this place. The Space inside the illusory phantom was evidently different from the outside world. Combined with Yang Kai’s previous attitude and current reaction, how could Mo Na Ye not know that he had fallen for this rascal’s trick? He could not believe that he was tricked into entering this strange place.

Looking around, he could clearly see the figures of the Territory Lords. The distance between them did not seem very far. Visually, the Territory Lord nearest to him seemed to be only a few steps away; however, the actual distance between them did not reduce whatsoever when he tried to walk over. Mo Na Ye clearly had the perception of moving forward quite a long distance, but he seemed to be walking on the spot without moving forward in the slightest.

“What is this thing?” Mo Na Ye wondered as he quickly realised that the root of the problem was the Alchemy Furnace’s illusory phantom.

Upon hearing Mo Na Ye’s question, the Territory Lords felt a chill running through their hearts. They had been hoping that he could resolve their doubts and bring them out of this place, but it would seem that he was just as clueless as they were.

Staring at the silent Territory Lords around him, Mo Na Ye lost his temper and roared, “Why didn’t any of you warn me about this place!?”

If any of the Territory Lords had warned him in advance, he would not have rashly plunged into this Space and caused himself to be stuck in this trap.

None of the Territory Lords made a sound, but Mo Na Ye knew that his question was unreasonable.

In this case, it was his fault for being too impatient. Yang Kai’s murderous attitude had also given him no time to consider his options. On the other hand, the Territory Lords had been so intimidated by Yang Kai that they were subconsciously expecting Mo Na Ye to protect them. That was how he ended up falling into this trap!

Sure enough, he could not afford to underestimate Yang Kai under any circumstances. Even in such a desperate situation, Yang Kai had actually managed to lure him into a trap. He had to admit that he made the wrong move this time.

Mo Na Ye did not know anything about the Alchemy Furnace’s illusory phantom, much less why the space shrouded by the illusory phantom was so treacherous. The only thing he knew was that he could not give Yang Kai any time to recover. The Black Ink Clan had paid such a large price and sacrificed so many Innate Territory Lords in battle just to push Yang Kai into a corner. He could not give up halfway.

As the saying went, ‘Beat the snake to death in order to avoid future calamity’. If he allowed Yang Kai to walk away alive, then he would be faced with countless troubles in the future. Mo Na Ye had always maintained a certain attitude towards Yang Kai, whereby he tried not to offend the other party as much as possible. Now that their friendly relations were thoroughly destroyed, he needed to ensure that Yang Kai died cleanly.

It was difficult to judge the distance within this strange space, but communicating with each other did not seem to be affected. Mo Na Ye pondered in silence for a moment before he sent a Divine Sense transmission to the Territory Lords around him and prepared a plan.

A short while later, Mo Na Ye and the Territory Lords sprang into action. Every one of them pushed their bodies and tried to move in Yang Kai’s direction. Yang Kai seemed to perceive their movements and opened his eyes to glance at them; however, he quickly ignored them and continued to focus on his recovery.

The Space inside the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom was extremely chaotic and distorted. Unless the Territory Lords had cultivated the Dao of Space and could figure out some of the rules of this place, it was simply a fool’s dream for them to approach Yang Kai by randomly struggling. It was not to say that they had no chance whatsoever as there were always some coincidences, but the chances were infinitesimal.

More importantly, Yang Kai could sense that the Space shrouded by the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom was becoming increasingly complicated as time passed. The Territory Lords could try their hardest to approach him, but even if they were lucky enough to enter his space by some great coincidence, he would only need to take a step in any direction and all their previous efforts would go to waste.

Leaving a thread of consciousness to keep an eye on the situation around him, Yang Kai completely immersed himself in recovering.

On the other side, Mo Na Ye finally realised that this method was futile after trying for some time. Several dozen Territory Lords and himself included had been trying to approach Yang Kai, but their efforts were to no avail. It was difficult for them to achieve any results even if they persisted in their efforts.

Besides, judging by the current condition of the Territory Lords… Even if a Territory Lord managed to reach Yang Kai’s location, the only fate waiting for them was death…

Mo Na Ye sent out Divine Sense transmissions again, telling the Territory Lords to cease their useless efforts. Then, he took out a miniature Black Ink Nest and attempted to contact the No-Return Pass. Regardless of the circumstances, he had to inform the No-Return Pass about his current situation. He also wanted to inquire about the illusory phantom of the Alchemy Furnace, as well as if there was some method to escape this place after getting stuck inside!

It was fortunate that the connection between the Black Ink Nests was not cut off, so Mo Na Ye soon received a response from Meng Que, one filled with cynicism and mockery. It was no secret that he had been locked in a power struggle with Mo Na Ye for a long time now. Now that Mo Na Ye’s plans had not only been thwarted, but also resulted in heavy losses for the Black Ink Clan with even Mo Na Ye himself being trapped in this strange Space, Meng Que probably believed that he was the top dog now.

However, there was still a key piece of information that allowed Mo Na Ye to understand the illusory phantom of the Alchemy Furnace. It was the Universe Furnace!

Although there were many Black Ink Disciples under the Black Ink Clan, most of them had neither high cultivation nor extensive knowledge and experience. That was why they did not know much about the Universe Furnace. Their level of understanding regarding the Universe Furnace was about the same or less than Yang Kai’s, so it was difficult for them to provide any valuable information. However, that was enough to make some guesses.