Martial Peak

Chapter 5845: Retrieving a Great Pass

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10 years seemed like a long time to a normal Human without any cultivation, but for top Masters, especially those whose cultivation had reached that of Mo Na Ye and Yang Kai, it was nothing more than a flick of the hand.

Thus, it was only natural that Mo Na Ye was dissatisfied with Yang Kai’s proposal and immediately began to haggle as if he were arguing with a merchant at the market.

Nevertheless, Yang Kai was the one with all the leverage, and he insisted on 10 years. Mo Na Ye was so frustrated that he fumed, “Since you want to do business, shouldn’t you at least show some sincerity? I don’t detect even the tiniest bit of sincerity from your stance at all. Sure, you may be able to throw your weight around right now, but you won’t always get so lucky. Don’t the Humans have a saying, Yang Kai? He who often walks by the river can’t avoid getting his shoes wet! You’re not invincible; moreover, we will be on guard from now on, so how often will you get to succeed in the future?”

Mo Na Ye hit the nail on the head. After Yang Kai’s latest stunt, the No-Return Pass was bound to impose even tighter security measures. Even though Yang Kai was banking on his superior strength, he would still get himself into a sticky situation if he was unlucky.

That was why Yang Kai was willing to strike a deal with the Black Ink Clan. He would not have bothered wasting his breath with them if he was certain he could destroy all of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests. If he had such confidence, he would have focused on doing just that no matter how long it took him.

The High-Rank Black Ink Nests were the very foundation of the Black Ink Clan, so if they were all destroyed, the Black Ink Clan would no longer have the means to replenish their Army. They would not be getting any new Royal Lords either.

With the heritage that the Black Ink Clan had right now, if they could not increase their numbers and create more Royal Lords, the Humans would simply need to keep fighting at a steady pace and sooner or later they would be able to wipe out the enemy.

Yang Kai could not resist clicking his tongue; alas, he could not pull one over Mo Na Ye. After mulling it over briefly, he declared, “Fine. 30 years. I won’t come back to the No-Return Pass for 30 years. This is my final offer. If you don’t agree, then the deal’s off.”

Mo Na Ye opened his mouth to speak, but Yang Kai gave him a hard look and swiftly added, “Think carefully before you speak. If you so much as utter the word ‘no’, I will turn around and leave at once!”

Mo Na Ye’s mouth remained open, but he could not say anything…

He glared at Yang Kai before communicating with Mo Yu with his Divine Sense.

Yang Kai calmly waited for their decision, but his eyes swept over all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, his sinister gaze making them tremble in fear…

A moment later, Mo Na Ye spoke up, “It’s a deal. You can take one Great Pass in exchange for staying away from the No-Return Pass for 30 years. I hope you’ll honour your end of the deal.”

Yang Kai grinned, “You can rest assured that I’ll do just that. We’ve dealt with each other many times, but have I ever broken my word?”

Mo Na Ye did not respond.

It was true that Yang Kai had never broken his promise before, but the situation at this point was a far cry from what it had been back then. In the past, though they were on opposing sides, both Races were busy building up their strength and thus acted with restraint. That was the reason why Yang Kai did not do anything reckless back then; however, the situation was different now. A full-scale war had broken out between the two sides and they were constantly at each other’s throats. In all honesty, Mo Na Ye had little faith in Yang Kai’s likelihood of keeping his promise. Even if Yang Kai had no intention of following through though, the Black Ink Clan could not do anything about it.

Mo Na Ye agreed to the deal for two reasons. The first was that he could not do anything anyway, but secondly, it was also his way of sounding out Yang Kai.

“The Humans left a total of 49 Great Passes here, which one do you want?” Mo Na Ye asked.

“I’ll take a look first,” Yang Kai replied. Naturally, he wanted to take the one that was the least damaged; otherwise, even if he did retrieve one, the Humans would have to use a hefty amount of their resources to repair it, and resources were exactly what they currently had the least of.

Thus, Yang Kai flew towards the No-Return Pass while the Black Ink Clan instinctually backed away.

Once Yang Kai got close to the No-Return Pass, he stopped and carefully studied the Great Passes.

Although he had made trips to the No-Return Pass numerous times, he was always busy trying to cause damage to the Black Ink Clan and had not paid much attention to the condition of the Great Passes that had been left here. Now that he was scrutinising them, he could sense just how intense the war back then had been.

During the great battle at the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai was still inside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, and by the time he managed to escape and return to the fight, the Humans had lost the No-Return Pass and retreated to the Barren Territory.

Therefore, he had not been a part of that battle and only knew that the Humans suffered terrible casualties, including the deaths of over a dozen Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.

The Black Ink Clan did not come out unscathed either of course. One of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had been heavily wounded by the Humans during the Black Ink Clan’s siege of the No-Return Pass. It was that Black Ink Giant Spirit God that was killed in the Barren Territory with Ah Er’s assistance. If it had not been for that, there would not be just two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods remaining.

None of the many Great Passes left here at the No-Return Pass was in perfect condition. All of them were littered with traces from that battle, including blood stains from both Races.

In the end, Yang Kai’s eyes fell on one of the Great Passes and he pointed at it, “I’ll take that one.”

He could vaguely see two characters on one of the walls, but it was hard to decipher them, possibly due to the passage of time as well as the damage sustained during the battle. However, Yang Kai could just barely make out their meaning.

[That should be Pure Yang Pass!]

The Old Ancestor of Pure Yang Cave Heaven was the one who was in charge of Pure Yang Pass, and among all of the Old Ancestors back then, he was one of the oldest and most powerful.

Yang Kai had long admired the Old Ancestor, but he never got the chance to meet the latter. He heard it was that very Old Ancestor who rallied all the others and led the final charge during the waning moments of the Barren Territory War where they took on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and all the Royal Lords. He and the other Old Ancestors had chosen to sacrifice their lives for the future of the Human Race.

After being reminded of the valiant Old Ancestor, Yang Kai became emotional and levelled a cold glare at Mo Na Ye, “Move your Black Ink Nests away!”

There were four Black Ink Nests on Pure Yang Pass. One was a High-Rank Black Ink Nest while the other three were Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. Quite a number of Black Ink Clansmen were also stationed there.

It had been agreed upon earlier that Yang Kai would allow the Black Ink Clan to move their Black Ink Nests away beforehand. Even though a murderous feeling rose in his heart, he did not want to get into a conflict with Mo Na Ye right now.

Mo Na Ye flicked his hand and over a dozen Territory Lords swiftly came over in a group. They kept a wary eye on Yang Kai as they began moving their Black Ink Nests.

During this process, Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu kept their auras locked on Yang Kai. It was clear they were heavily guarding against him.

Fortunately, Yang Kai did not do anything. Once all the Black Ink Nests had been moved and the Black Ink Clansmen left, Yang Kai moved over to Pure Yang Pass in a flash.

“Can he take it with him?” Mo Yu secretly asked Mo Na Ye.

Mo Na Ye shook his head, “I don’t know, but since he proposed this deal, it’s obvious that he’s confident about it.”

Yang Kai would not have made such a proposition if he did not feel confident.

“What a frightening enemy,” Mo Yu remarked with a complicated expression.

These Great Passes had been left behind at the No-Return Pass because they were too massive. Even the Old Ancestors back then could not easily store them inside their Small Universes.

The Pure Yang Old Ancestor, who was one of the mightiest Ninth-Order Masters, could probably accomplish this, but at the time, the Humans had to make a hasty retreat from the No-Return Pass as the situation had been fairly dire for them, and he did not have the time to do something like that. Furthermore, if he did move Pure Yang Pass into his Small Universe, it would have had a huge effect on his combat strength. Under those circumstances, he had to ensure he was at his strongest and could not jeopardise the situation just for the sake of a Great Pass.

[If Yang Kai manages to store a Great Pass inside his Small Universe, doesn’t that mean his heritage is even stronger than the previous generation’s top Ninth-Order Masters?]

[He hasn’t even been a Ninth-Order Master for long! He still has the potential to grow stronger!] Mo Yu was secretly horrified at the thought of Yang Kai’s terrifying talent and potential. 

“Stick to the plan,” Mo Na Ye secretly communicated to everyone.

He had no choice but to compromise and agree to let Yang Kai retrieve a Great Pass, but at the same time, he wanted to use this chance to see Yang Kai’s limits. After all these years of battling the Humans, the Black Ink Clan was familiar enough with the mysteries of the Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe.

Even if Yang Kai had the ability to take such an enormous Great Pass with him, it would surely affect his strength. If Yang Kai so much as showed signs of weakness, the Black Ink Clan would not hesitate to gang up on him and try to get rid of him once and for all!

The deal would not have been struck so easily if this had not been what the Black Ink Clan was hoping for.

The Black Ink Clan were eyeing Yang Kai with the eyes of hunters when he turned abruptly, looked up, and grinned at them. After all these years of dealing with Mo Na Ye, it was only natural that he figured out what this Royal Lord was up to.

Yang Kai chuckled to himself, [If that’s what Mo Na Ye is hoping for, then he’s going to be sorely disappointed.]

As that thought flickered in his head, he summoned the Space-Time River. This move startled the Black Ink Clan. They had assumed that Yang Kai would have to use the strength of his Small Universe to retrieve Pure Yang Pass; after all, something as massive as a Great Pass could only be stored inside a Ninth-Order Master’s Small Universe if they wanted to move it on their own.

[Why did he summon this Dao Strength River?]

Mo Na Ye’s expression darkened as he realized he had been mistaken…

The sound of flowing water rang in their ears as the Space-Time River slowly unfurled, and under Yang Kai’s control, it looped around Pure Yang Pass until the entire Great Pass was completely engulfed by it.

Inside the river, Space-Time Dao Strength pulsed and the water suddenly started churning as a highly concentrated amount of the Space Dao Strength was released and the space covered by the river began to ripple.

Yang Kai made a grabbing motion at the Space-Time River and carelessly clutched it before turning to Mo Na Ye, “If you don’t make a move now, it’s going to be too late.”

Mo Na Ye stared right back at him with a neutral expression, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Yang Kai snorted and paid him no mind as he began channelling his strength through his hand.

Space quivered as cracks began to appear.

All at once, the Void where Pure Yang Pass was looked as if it was a block of tofu that had been sliced out by something sharp. The area that was enveloped by the Space-Time River broke off from the rest of the surrounding Space.

All Black Ink Clansmen were stunned while disbelief flashed in the eyes of the two Royal Lords. They were powerful and experienced Masters, but even to them, the power Yang Kai exhibited was far too unimaginable.

The Space-Time River began surging even more. It seemed as if the Space Dao Strength was about to explode and send thunderous waves crashing out of the great river.

Yang Kai slowly curled his fist, and as he did that, the piece of the Void that had been cut out began shrinking as if something was squeezing it.

Each time the water of the Space-Time River made a full circle, the chunk of Void grew a little smaller. From the looks of it, the entire piece of Space was going to be compressed by the pressure from the great river.

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