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Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
It was not just Nu Yan. From what Yang Kai observed just now, most of the Black Ink Clansmen who entered the Black Ink Nest would bring one or two Black Ink Disciples with them. Through the ages, who knew how many Black Ink Disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises had perished inside this massive, evil Black Ink Nest?
Yang Kai clenched his fist tightly. The urge to charge straight in and destroy the Black Ink Nest flooded him, but he firmly suppressed the impulse. This was not the only Black Ink Nest in the Black Ink Clan. Even if he were to destroy the Black Ink Nest in front of him, it would not change the fate of many Black Ink Disciples. On the contrary, it would only expose his identity. The existence of the Black Ink Clan was the root cause of the problem. Only by completely eradicating the Black Ink Clan from the world would the crisis faced by the 3,000 Worlds since time immemorial be resolved.
Yang Kai and the others waited silently, and Nu Yan’s figure finally emerged from the entrance of the Black Ink Nest a few days later. However, Yang Kai immediately noticed that Nu Yan seemed rather weak at the moment. Not only was Nu Yan’s aura fluctuating unevenly, but his expression was also dark and gloomy. It was obvious that he was not in a good mood.
Yang Kai’s heart stirred at the sight. Combined with what B-2 said earlier, how could he not realise that Nu Yan had failed his breakthrough?
Every time a Black Ink Clansman failed during their advancement, they would be weakened for some time. In addition, it was already the second time Nu Yan failed. It would be strange for him to be in a good mood.
Yang Kai glanced behind Nu Yan. There was a person following behind the tall figure. It was D-4. Meanwhile, C-3, who went inside with them, was nowhere to be seen.
Yang Kai’s eyes dimmed slightly. He understood that C-3 had probably met a tragic end. Nu Yan might have failed to break through, but he must have devoured the World Force of C-3’s Small Universe during the process. How could C-3 survive when his World Force had been devoured and his Small Universe had collapsed? Although Yang Kai had neither interacted much with C-3 nor built up a friendship between them during this period, the death of C-3 still weighed heavily on his heart.
Nu Yan walked out of the Black Ink Nest without saying a word. Yang Kai and D-4 glanced at each other and nodded lightly in greeting. Then, Yang Kai quickly followed after Nu Yan with B-2 and E-5 in tow.
Returning to the place where they rested again, Nu Yan sat down cross-legged. His chest and abdomen swelled as he inhaled the Black Ink Strength that could be found everywhere in the Fierce Wind Estate. As he absorbed the Black Ink Strength, his weakened aura gradually recovered.
D-4 seemed to be feeling a lingering sense of fear after narrowly escaping death. Even though he had known what kind of fate awaited him when he followed Nu Yan into the Black Ink Nest, it was impossible for a Black Ink Disciple like him to refuse his Master’s command.
Nevertheless, anybody would instinctively feel fear when faced with the threat of death. Even a talkative person like D-4 fell into a heavy, brooding silence for quite some time. It was fortunate that Nu Yan had failed in his breakthrough though. If Nu Yan had succeeded, then he too would have shared C-3’s fate.
An entire month later, Nu Yan finally made a full recovery. He slowly stood up and glanced in the direction of the gambling arena. Hesitating for a moment, he eventually shook his head slowly and beckoned to the others, “Let’s go!”
The Black Ink Coins that Yang Kai earned for him in the gambling arena had mostly been spent on the Black Ink Nest. If he wanted to enter the Black Ink Nest again for cultivation, then he would need to earn more Black Ink Coins.
Unfortunately, Yang Kai’s fame had spread throughout the Fierce Wind Estate. Nobody was willing to fight him again, so this method of making money had lost its effect. If he wanted to earn more Black Ink Coins, then he could only switch to another place and begin anew. That was one of the reasons why Nu Yang had rejected the offers from the Black Ink Clan Feudal Lords when they wanted to purchase Yang Kai at high prices. His subordinate known as A-1 was practically a money tree after all. How could he sell off his source of income for a mere 20 or 30 thousand Black Ink Coins?
The four Black Ink Disciples left the Fierce Wind Estate under Nu Yan’s leadership and rushed towards a certain direction in the void.
More than ten days later, they arrived at another territory.
Yang Kai stealthily checked the Universe Chart that Meng Qi had given to him and discovered that this territory was known as the False Decree Estate. The False Decree Estate did not look very different from the Fierce Wind Estate. It might be slightly bigger in size, but the difference was not very significant.
Standing in the void, Yang Kai saw the towering Black Ink Nest in the False Decree Estate from a distance. The Black Ink Nest was releasing Black Ink Strength that covered the entire Spirit Province.
Upon arriving at the False Decree Estate, Nu Yan headed directly for the gambling arena without pause. There was a gambling arena in almost every territory because the Black Ink Clan seemed to like sending their Black Ink Disciples into battle.
When the battle in the gambling arena ended, Nu Yan shot a look at Yang Kai. Yang Kai understood and immediately flew downward.
Then, Nu Yan repeated his previous trick and recited the gambling rules that he used back at the Fierce Wind Estate. It was just that he had increased the compensation for the first match from 100 to 500 Black Ink Coins!
His statement caused a huge uproar in the gambling arena. If they won, they could walk away with a Sixth-Order Black Ink Disciple. If they lost, they would only need to pay 500 Black Ink Coins. Who could miss out on such a fantastic deal?
Nearly 100 Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples immediately flew into the battlefield under their Master’s command and surrounded Yang Kai so tightly that not a drop of water could leak out. If somebody did not know better, they would have thought that these Black Ink Disciples were about to gang up on Yang Kai.
Nu Yan had long expected this situation as something similar had happened back at the Fierce Wind Estate. Therefore, he applied the same rule and allowed Yang Kai to choose his own opponent. The Black Ink Clan naturally had no objections to this.
Yang Kai did not hesitate and randomly chose an opponent. When the others left the battlefield, the match immediately began. Needless to say, the results went as expected. Nu Yan cheerfully received the 500 Black Ink Coins, then he recklessly announced that he wanted to continue with a second match. The bet for the second match was 1,000 Black Ink Coins!
The Black Ink Clansmen who failed to seize the opportunity earlier were both surprised and delighted, so they dispatched their Black Ink Disciples into the battlefield again.
It was soon time for the third match. Moreover, the wager for the third match had been increased to 2,000 Black Ink Coins.
After three consecutive battles, a blood-drenched Yang Kai finally withdrew from battle. Nu Yan happily earned 3,500 Black Ink Coins, which was more than double the income he received at the Fierce Wind Estate. One battle here was equivalent to two battles back at the Fierce Wind Estate. The efficiency had increased significantly.
Thanks to the bloody battle on the first day, Yang Kai caught the attention of many Black Ink Clansmen. Many people became interested in him. In fact, a Black Ink Feudal Lord immediately approached Nu Yan and expressed his intention to buy Yang Kai.
Nu Yan had already rejected such offers countless times in the Fierce Wind Estate, so naturally he would not agree here either. The Black Ink Feudal Lords might hold higher positions than him, but the Black Ink Clan had their own rules. No matter how much one liked another person’s Black Ink Disciple, they could not forcefully snatch them away; otherwise, Nu Yan would not have been able to hold onto Yang Kai.
He allowed Yang Kai to rest and recover for a few days before he brought him back to the arena.
A month later, all the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples in the False Decree Estate had been soundly defeated and nobody accepted the challenge again. Nu Yan turned out to be surprisingly decisive. Once the challengers dried up, he immediately led Yang Kai and the others out of the False Decree Estate and travelled to the next place.
At times, Yang Kai had no choice but to admire Nu Yan’s business acumen. Nu Yan was obviously taking advantage of the lack of information circulation at the moment. Every time they arrived at a new place, the Black Ink Clan would be unaware of Yang Kai’s strength and as a result, all of them were tempted into taking their chances against him. Who could have known that they would fall into Nu Yan’s trap and contribute Black Ink Coins to him for nothing?
In any case, this continuous stream of battles was not without benefit to Yang Kai.
Unlike others in the Sixth Order, his Small Universe had fully materialized. Combined with the fact that his Small Universe had been integrated with the Sealed World Bead, his heritage had always been far greater than others in the same Order from the start; therefore, he always obtained crushing victories when fighting other cultivators in the same Order.
Be that as it may, he had to suppress his strength in every battle inside the gambling arenas. He did not dare to expose too much, lest he revealed his secrets to the others. Under the premise that he fought while suppressing his strength, repeatedly fighting battles that culminated with heavy injuries on both parties had the effect of polishing his combat techniques.
If that were not the case, Yang Kai would have considered losing some battles a long time ago. Being treated as a cash cow by Nu Yan was not a pleasant experience; however, things might not be different if he changed to a different ‘Master’.
They did not stay in any of the territories for more than two months. It was meaningless to stay any longer as once people learned about Yang Kai’s strength and stopped accepting the challenge, there would be no more Black Ink Coins to earn.
It could be said that Nu Yan swept from one territory to the next with Yang Kai and the others in tow. Furthermore, he earned a huge fortune everywhere he went. For every three battles, he would earn 3,500 Black Ink Coins. Even if he could only fight seven to eight times in each territory, that was an income of 20 to 30 thousand Black Ink Coins. It was an astronomical amount for a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman.
Yang Kai had been worried that Nu Yan would attempt a breakthrough again. If that happened, D-4 would be in danger, but on second thought, Yang Kai realized that the reason Nu Yan brought C-3 and D-4 into the Black Ink Nest with him last time was to prepare for any emergencies. Now that Nu Yan possessed such a large amount of Black Ink Coins, he could buy some World Spheres to use instead of sacrificing a Black Ink Disciple under his command.
In a chat with D-4, Yang Kai learned that once a Black Ink Clansman failed their advancement, they generally did not choose to try again for the next few decades. That was because the probability of success was much lower. Only once the backlash from their previous failure had been completely removed would they make another attempt.
This discovery was a huge relief to Yang Kai.
Nevertheless, passing the days in this manner was not in line with his goal. Meng Qi had sacrificed himself so that the existence of the Void Corridor would remain a secret and Yang Kai could escape alive.
Originally, Yang Kai was supposed to rush to one of the great passes guarded by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, then confront the Black Ink Clan on the battlefield. He was not supposed to impersonate a Black Ink Disciple and become the cash cow of a Black Ink Clansman. Unfortunately, Yang Kai did not dare to act recklessly and could only wait patiently.
Nu Yan was a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, so it was impossible for him to avoid the battlefield forever. But, as long as he entered the battlefield, then Yang Kai would be able to find an opportunity to break free from him.
Two years passed by in the blink of an eye.
Inside the gambling arena, Yang Kai was in a closely matched battle with a Sixth-Order Black Ink Disciple. This was already the third fight of the day. Having won two other matches earlier, he had already earned 1,500 Black Ink Coins for Nu Yan. The outcome of the third battle involved 2,000 Black Ink Coins and even his ownership, so many Black Ink Clansmen were naturally paying close attention.
Outside the battlefield, Nu Yan watched the battle calmly. Although Yang Kai was covered in blood, Nu Yan was not worried in the slightest. On the contrary, he was cheerfully chatting with his clansmen beside him. That was because Yang Kai always had such a miserable appearance during the third match of each round of battles. Even though he looked like he was in a dangerous situation where he could be defeated at any time, he always won in the end.
In the beginning, Nu Yan had been extremely on edge whenever this happened. However, he had gotten used to the sight after two years. No matter how terribly Yang Kai seemed to perform, he had great confidence in the latter’s victory.
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.
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