Martial Peak

Chapter 5714: Whose Victory

According to the information from the Black Ink Disciples, the Universe Furnace was the most mysterious treasure in existence. It was generally elusive and impossible to locate, so there was no way to discover its whereabouts unless it appeared on its own. More importantly, the Universe Furnace contained Innate Open Heaven Pills. These Innate Open Heaven Pills had the miraculous effect of helping cultivators break through their innate shackles!

Mo Na Ye was shocked by the information.

If these Innate Open Heaven Pills could help cultivators break through their innate shackles, then the Human Race Masters at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm would be able to advance to the Ninth-Order. It would be bad enough if an ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, but the strength of one or two additional Ninth-Order Masters would not render the Black Ink Clan helpless.

However, what if Yang Kai was the one who obtained one of these Innate Open Heaven Pills instead?

Over the past several thousand years, most of the obstruction and pressure faced by the Black Ink Clan came from Yang Kai. Whether it was the peace treaty between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan or the matter regarding the surrendering of 30% of their cultivation resources, the Black Ink Clan had been forced to accept those terms due to the existence of the Human Race’s killing star.

That was especially true for the peace discussions between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan. At the time, the Black Ink Clan had considered that they might be able to produce more Royal Lords in the future by accepting the peace deal. That would have greatly reduced the deterrent effect that Yang Kai, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, had on the Black Ink Clan. Unfortunately, the Universe Furnace had appeared before the Territory Lords could even become Royal Lords.

If Yang Kai could get his hands on an Innate Open Heaven Pill and advance to the Ninth Order, then all the Black Ink Clan’s efforts and compromises over the millennia would be nothing more than a complete farce. With his tyrannical strength and ruthless means, the Black Ink Clan would be no match for Yang Kai once he advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!

After considering all these factors, Mo Na Ye felt alarm bells blaring in his heart.

[Yang Kai must never be allowed to obtain the Innate Open Heaven Pills no matter the cost! He cannot be allowed to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm! If he does, the Black Ink Clan will be in mortal danger! Why did the Universe Furnace appear at this point in time!? Is the Human Race really blessed by the Heavens?]

Mo Na Ye’s main concern was stopping Yang Kai from obtaining the Innate Open Heaven Pills, but how was he supposed to achieve that? They were currently trapped inside the illusory phantom of the Universe Furnace with no means of escape. The distance might not seem far visually, but the space was actually extremely distorted and chaotic in reality.

The information from Meng Que indicated that there was more than one illusory phantom of the Universe Furnace as it had appeared on various battlefields across the Great Territories, as well as the Barren Territory…

After compiling all the information, the Black Ink Disciples from the Human Race speculated that the illusory phantoms were not the real body of the Universe Furnace but a mysterious projection. The Universe Furnace itself was hidden somewhere. Nevertheless, the appearance of the projections meant that the Universe Furnace was about to emerge. It might be that the Universe Furnace would finally be revealed when the projections became completely solidified.

These speculations were reasonable. Mo Na Ye pondered in silence for a while before he sent a message to Meng Que. He wanted the Black Ink Clan to search for more information. At the same time, he urgently summoned all the Innate Territory Lords wandering outside to return in preparation for the future.

Not only was Meng Que generally difficult to deal with, but he was also always attempting to take over control from Mo Na Ye. Be that as it may, he had one good point about him: He was self-aware of his shortcomings. He did not object to Mo Na Ye’s requests during such important situations because he knew that he was no match for Mo Na Ye when it came to schemes and tactics. Besides, Mo Na Ye had been appointed by the Royal Lord himself to take command. That was why he quietly did as Mo Na Ye asked.

Putting away the miniature Black Ink Nest, Mo Na Ye frowned and pondered for a long time. He calculated all the possible scenarios that might occur in the future and created countermeasures against these scenarios. After great consideration, he decided that his top priority was to obtain as much information regarding the Universe Furnace as possible.

[Yang Kai might know something…] When the thought crossed his mind, Mo Na Ye immediately glanced over at Yang Kai and offered a ceasefire, “Brother Yang, given the situation, what do you say we have a truce?”

He had called Yang Kai by name during their confrontation, but he was now respectfully calling Yang Kai by the title ‘Brother Yang’ again.

Yang Kai ignored Mo Na Ye. [He pursued me so fiercely earlier that I nearly had no escape, not to mention the curses and death threats that were thrown at me. How dare he propose to call for a truce now? What does he think of me? Does he think that I’m so easy-going?]

Mo Na Ye continued, “Now that you and I are both trapped here, why must you hold a grudge for everything that happened earlier? At the end of the day, the Black Ink Clan suffered the greatest loss. So many Innate Territory Lords died in battle already. Although you are wounded, Brother Yang, you came out alive in the end.”

This time around, Yang Kai failed to stop himself from responding and gave a cold sneer, “Serves you right! It’s your own fault that so many Innate Territory Lords died in battle. If not because you were trying to trap me, then they would not have died in vain. Besides… you might be trapped here, but do you really think this place can trap me?”

Mo Na Ye’s expression suddenly changed with those words. He suddenly realised that he had overlooked a major problem. It was true that both he and the Territory Lords were trapped in this strange space with no means to escape, but what about Yang Kai? This place would not be able to trap Yang Kai. If he really wanted to leave, it would not be difficult for him.

[This is bad…] Mo Na Ye quickly suppressed the distracting thoughts in his mind. Either way, it was a good thing that Yang Kai was willing to speak with him.

He thus casually probed, “Brother Yang, do you know what this illusory phantom shrouding this area is?” After asking that question, he chuckled to himself, “Of course, you’re aware, Brother Yang. This is the legendary Universe Furnace after all. I’m sure the Human Race Masters have heard about the Universe Furnace to a certain extent.”

“Oh?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows in astonishment, “It seems that the connection between the Black Ink Nests has not been severed. Does that mean you can gather intel from outside of here?”

Mo Na Ye looked proud, “The Black Ink Nest has its own mysterious ways. It seems that you are aware of the Universe Furnace, Brother Yang. In that case, do you have more information regarding the Universe Furnace?”

Yang Kai remained indifferent, “What does it matter if I do? And, what does it matter if I don’t?”

Separating out a thread of consciousness to chat with Mo Na Ye did not impede his healing process. Since Mo Na Ye wanted to discuss the Universe Furnace, Yang Kai was more than happy to fish for some information. Besides, he was honestly feeling quite troubled due to his lack of knowledge on the Universe Furnace. It would be great if he could extract some from the Black Ink Clan.

Mo Na Ye responded seriously, “The Universe Furnace has not been seen for hundreds of thousands of years. Even if you have some knowledge regarding the Universe Furnace, I’m sure your information is not comprehensive. Brother Yang, how about you and I exchange what we know?”

Yang Kai immediately snorted coldly, “The Universe Furnace is a great opportunity for the Human Race. Don’t tell me the Black Ink Clan has their eye on it as well?”

Mo Na Ye replied lightly, “It is precisely because the Universe Furnace is such a great opportunity for the Human Race that the Black Ink Clan will not allow the Human Race to succeed so easily. As you know, Brother Yang, the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race will soon engage in a battle to the death now that the Universe Furnace has emerged.”

Yang Kai fell silent…

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Mo Na Ye was correct. Over the past several thousand years, the war between the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race had never ceased; however, both sides had been concentrating on accumulating their respective strengths since the peace talks. As a result, both the number of Masters among the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race had increased dramatically. The situation was only maintained thanks to the tacit cooperation between the higher-ups of the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race.

However, the delicate balance was bound to be broken with the sudden emergence of the Universe Furnace. The Human Race was desperate to seize the opportunities inside the Universe Furnace. Likewise, the Black Ink Clan was desperate to stop the Human Race from doing so. Once the war broke out, the bloodshed was bound to sweep across the entire world like a tidal wave.

This battle might be the deciding factor in the entire war; moreover, it would only end when one party was completely annihilated. The Human Race… was not ready, but the Black Ink Clan was not ready either!

Although there were more Innate Territory Lords and High-Rank Black Ink Nests at the No-Return Pass now, none of these newly emerged Innate Territory Lords would be able to recover from their injuries without spending at least 100 to 200 years healing. It was fortunate that the Human Race had some newly-advanced Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters while it seemed the Black Ink Clan had not produced any new Royal Lords so far.

While Yang Kai was silent, he heard Mo Na Ye speaking once more, “Brother Yang, did you know that this is not the true Universe Furnace, but just a projection looming over this piece of the void while there are many others out there?”

Yang Kai calmly went along with the flow of the conversation, “Of course, it is just an illusory phantom. Isn’t it only natural for it to appear in more than one place?”

However, he was actually very confused inside, [What does he mean? Could there be many other manifestations in other places? Mo Na Ye, this bastard! Is he trying to trick me? Or, is he up to something else?]

At the same time, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling rather annoyed. If he had known this would happen earlier, he would have studied more of the ancient records from the Cave Heavens and Paradises where there was bound to be some information on the Universe Furnace. Now that the Universe Furnace had appeared, Yang Kai was completely stumped by the situation. In fact, he knew even less than Mo Na Ye, who still could ask the Black Ink Clan to gather more intelligence.

Mo Na Ye studied Yang Kai’s expression carefully but failed to detect any clues. Thus, he bluntly said, “Brother Yang, why don’t we exchange information with each other? Although the Universe Furnace is about to emerge, it has yet to truly appear in the world. Gathering more information would not hurt.”

Yang Kai couldn’t help nodding in agreement, “There is some truth to your words. Why don’t you tell me what you know first, then I’ll tell you what I know. You should understand my character. Over the years, I’ve never broken a single promise I’ve made with the Black Ink Clan.”

Mo Na Ye nodded, “Of course.”

Speaking of which, this was true. Although they were mutual enemies who shared an absolutely irreconcilable blood feud, Yang Kai had never violated the agreements he made with the Black Ink Clan.

As such, Mo Na Ye suddenly broke into a smile, “But, you don’t seem to know much about the Universe Furnace, Brother Yang. Let’s forget about exchanging information with each other.”

Yang Kai was stunned, “Who says I don’t know anything about the Universe Furnace?”

Mo Na Ye smiled lightly, “If you knew anything about the Universe Furnace, Brother Yang, then why would you agree to exchange information with the Black Ink Clan? The fact that you agreed to the information exchange shows that you don’t know much either; otherwise, you would not have mentioned your ‘excellent character’.”

Yang Kai was startled before snarling, “You tricked me!”

Mo Na Ye sighed, “As I suspected…”

Yang Kai’s expression immediately darkened at those words. It was only at this moment that he realised the truth. Mo Na Ye had not been sure about how much he knew regarding the Universe Furnace before, but the truth had been confirmed now…

[This bastard…] Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling secretly annoyed at his carelessness. Regardless, it did not matter much. This was just a small loss that did not affect the big picture anyway.

After confirming that Yang Kai did not know much about the Universe Furnace, Mo Na Ye lost interest in talking to him and instead took out the small Black Ink Nest again to maintain constant communication with the outside world.

Yang Kai secretly watched Mo Na Ye’s actions and coldly snorted to himself in his heart. [Once I’ve spent some time healing, I will find a way to make you cough up everything you know. So what if I lost in this verbal confrontation? This strange Space shrouded by the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom is practically my home ground! It will be my victory in the end!]