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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Over the following half a month, Yang Kai spent a fair amount of time setting up a simple array so that he could make use of the Great Sun’s power to craft artifacts. Additionally, the Array stabilized the space he had opened up at the centre of the Sun.
After he was done with all of that, he got some rest for a few days to restore his energy. It was only then that he started refining artifacts.
He fished out the jade slip given to him by Zha Gu and realised that he had to make two artifacts this time. One of them was offensive while the other one was defensive. He wondered who this Black Ink Clansman was.
Regardless, it was none of his business, he just had to craft the artifacts according to the demands.
With the help of the Great Sun’s power, he had indeed become more efficient in refining artifacts; furthermore, his skills in Artifact Refining had been improving day by day.
In just three months, he was done crafting these two artifacts.
There was already a Black Ink Clansman waiting for him outside of the Array he set up. In fact, this Black Ink Clansman had been there for half a month. Yang Kai was aware of this, but his focus was on refining the artifacts, so he decided to ignore him.
Now that he was done, Yang Kai opened up the restrictions and let this person in.
The Black Ink Clansman, who had never dared to disturb Yang Kai, instantly noticed and dashed forward before cupping his fist, “Sir Yang!”
Perhaps the only Black Ink Disciples who could be addressed as ‘Sirs’ by the Black Ink Clansmen were Artifact Refiners.
Yang Kai glanced at him and realised that this Black Ink Clansman was a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman who worked for Zha Gu. He had also followed Zha Gu to come all the way here to this Fief.
After a nod, Yang Kai asked, “Has Brother Zha Gu sent you here to tell me something?”
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman stepped forward and held out a Space Ring, “Sir Zha Gu said this is the next artifact you have to make. The materials, demands, and payment are all inside. Additionally, he wants me to retrieve the artifacts you’ve refined.”
Yang Kai took the Space Ring and realised that just like what the Black Ink Clansman had said, there were a lot of materials for Artifact Refining, a jade slip with the specifications recorded in it, and 7,000 Black Ink Coins inside the ring.
Upon confirmation, Yang Kai passed him the two artifacts he had recently made and put on a bitter smile, “Your Sir doesn’t even give me some rest time.”
The High-Rank Black Ink Clansman put on a fawning smile, “Sir Zha Gu said that your skills in Artifact Refining are exceptional. Many Feudal Lords have heard about you, so they want you to make artifacts for them.”
“It’s fine. I’m earning Black Ink Coins to buy some cultivation resources anyway. Just tell your Sir that he can accept all the orders. I’m fine with it.”
“Yes,” the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman replied, then asked, “When should I come again?”
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai said, “For each artifact, you can come again after two months.”
He then watched the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman leave and reactivated the restriction. Instead of starting right away, Yang Kai fished out a set of Seventh-Order materials from his Small Universe and began refining them.
During this period of time, he had been busy refining artifacts for the Feudal Lords. In Zha Gu’s previous territory, it wasn’t convenient for him to refine Seventh-Order materials; after all, Zha Gu might come over at any moment. It would be hard for Yang Kai to explain himself if Zha Gu saw him refining such expensive materials.
Now that he was inside a Great Sun though, and with the Arrays he had set up, he didn’t have to worry about privacy.
On the other hand, since he had helped so many Feudal Lords craft artifacts, his skill in the Dao of Artifact Refining must be well known by now. That was exactly what he had hoped to see, and the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman’s statement just now proved this point.
Everything was going according to plan, and Yang Kai just had to wait for Hei Yuan to leave the Black Ink Nest.
The days went by slowly.
Zha Gu would send someone to pass Yang Kai materials for Artifact Refining and payment for his services every two months. Most of the time, it would be the same High-Rank Black Ink Clansman who looked for Yang Kai. Zha Gu had just obtained his own Fief, so he seemed to be swamped with work and would only visit Yang Kai sporadically.
Nevertheless, the High-Rank Clansman wouldn’t stay for a long time. After passing Yang Kai the Space Ring that contained the materials and money, he would take the artifact that had been made and leave.
Five years passed by in the blink of an eye.
Including the amount of time Yang Kai had spent in Zha Gu’s previous castle, he had now been refining artifacts for the Black Ink Feudal Lords for seven or eight years. During this period of time, he had produced dozens of artifacts that were all high-quality.
Given his near complete focus on Artifact Refining, Yang Kai’s comprehension of the Dao of Artifact Refining had improved significantly; however, he didn’t feel one bit pleased about it.
That was because he knew that every artifact he refined would be of great help to the Black Ink Clan on the battlefield. Those artifacts might injure or even kill Human soldiers.
He had thought about pulling some tricks by designing the artifacts in a way that they would collapse when the Black Ink Clansmen clashed with the Humans; however, even though he could be considered a Great Master when it came to his mastery of Artifact Refining, he was not able to do such a thing without anyone discovering it. If he really tried, the Feudal Lords would realise it very quickly and that would only destroy the reputation he had built up and derail his following plan.
Hence, he decided to give up on the idea.
Although Yang Kai had spent most of his time refining artifacts over the past few years, he would still take some time off to cultivate after crafting each item. As time passed, he managed to make up for some of the losses in his heritage due to the fact that he had sacrificed a part of his Small Universe in the past.
He had been waiting for Hei Yuan to summon him, but his wish was still not granted.
Supposedly, Hei Yuan should have left the Black Ink Nest by now; although he was badly injured, his speed of recovery shouldn’t be so slow with the help of the Black Ink Nest. Yang Kai wondered what was going on.
One day, Zha Gu came over as usual.
After getting the artifact from Yang Kai and passing him the next set of materials, Zha Gu thanked him and was preparing to leave.
“Wait a moment, Brother Zha Gu,” Yang Kai said.
Zha Gu turned around and asked with a smile, “What’s wrong, Brother Yang?”
Over the years, he had earned a huge fortune through Yang Kai’s skills in Artifact Refining. Gui Liao did indeed have wealthy friends who willingly paid 100,000 Black Ink Coins for a single artifact without blinking an eye. Besides that, those Feudal Lords were eager to get their hands on the artifacts made by Yang Kai. According to Gui Liao, there were still more than 10 Feudal Lords who were waiting to order their artifacts.
They would charge 100,000 coins for an artifact, and other than the 7,000 given to Yang Kai, Zha Gu and Gui Liao would respectively split the rest. Hence, Zha Gu gained 46,500 Black Ink Coins for every artifact.
100,000 was just the amount that Gui Liao told him though, and Zha Gu even suspected that Gui Liao would charge his customers a higher fee. Nevertheless, he wasn’t in any place to demand more.
Over the past five years, Yang Kai had produced more than 30 artifacts, so not only had Zha Gu paid back the Black Ink Coins he owed Gui Liao, but there was a lot of surplus. Now, he focused on managing his own Fief, so all the Black Ink Coins he earned would be used to build up his territory.
Now, his Fief was really beginning to take shape. Not only had Zha Gu nurtured several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen through the Black Ink Nest, but he had also attracted many Black Ink Clansmen from other places to settle down in his territory.
It could be said that he owed his success to Yang Kai, so he was naturally quite friendly with him.
Without beating around the bush, Yang Kai asked, “Do you know what’s going on with Sir Territory Lord? Has he left the Black Ink Nest?”
Upon hearing that, Zha Gu shook his head, “I don’t think Sir Territory Lord has left the Black Ink Nest. I suppose he’s still recuperating.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Why is it taking Sir so long to recover? It’s been nearly eight years since he returned. Supposedly, he should’ve left the Black Ink Nest a long time ago.”
Zha Gu nodded, “Usually, it wouldn’t take Sir such a long time; three to four years at most. However, you’re also aware that Sir Territory Lord wasn’t the only one who entered the Black Ink Nest to recuperate. There were several other Territory Lords as well, and their injuries were even more severe than Sir Territory Lord’s. Although the Black Ink Nest can help Sir recuperate, there are several Territory Lords who need to share that power; hence, it’s not as effective as when he’s on his own. That’s the reason it’s taking him a longer time to recuperate.”
This was the information Zha Gu obtained from Gui Liao; after all, he and Gui Liao knew that once Hei Yuan left the Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai, as his Black Ink Disciple, would be summoned no matter what. By then, their business of selling artifacts would come to a halt. Certainly, Zha Gu wanted this business to last as long as possible.
Therefore, he asked Gui Liao about Hei Yuan’s condition. What he told Yang Kai just now was the information he had obtained from Gui Liao.
Upon hearing his explanation, Yang Kai replied, “I see. Do you know when Sir Territory Lord will leave the Black Ink Nest, then?”
“It will happen within a year or two,” as Zha Gu spoke, he patted the other man’s shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. Sir Territory Lord is powerful, so he’ll be fine; however, after he leaves the Black Ink Nest, you, as his Black Ink Disciple, will have to go back to him. You won’t stay here and keep making artifacts, so during this period of time, you have to work harder in order to earn more money to purchase cultivation resources.”
He thought that Yang Kai was worried about Hei Yuan, so he decided to placate him. Nevertheless, he still reminded Yang Kai to work harder to create more artifacts.
Yang Kai nodded gently, “You have a point, Brother Zha Gu.”
Upon learning that the reason Hei Yuan hadn’t left the Black Ink Nest after such a long time was that he was sharing its power with other Territory Lords, Yang Kai set his mind at ease.
He was most worried that an accident might have happened to Hei Yuan. If Hei Yuan lost his life due to his severe injuries, things would become complicated. Yang Kai definitely didn’t want to see that happen.
After seeing Zha Gu off, he continued refining artifacts.
Several months later, on the universe fragment belonging to Hei Yuan, the Black Ink Nest, which had remained shut since the return of Hei Yuan and the other Territory Lords, shook a little. Following that, a portal opened up at the bottom of the Black Ink Nest.
Several burly figures stepped out from the portal, all of their auras thick and intimidating.
The moment the Black Ink Clansmen, who were guarding the Black Ink Nest, saw these figures, they saluted them in a solemn manner. This couldn’t be helped, as they were all Territory Lords. The person at the front was none other than the owner of this place, Hei Yuan.
Of these Territory Lords, Hei Yuan looked perfectly healthy while the auras of the other Territory Lords were still a little unstable. It seemed that they hadn’t fully recovered.
That was indeed the case. After about eight years of recuperation, their injuries had mostly healed, but they were still some distance away from full recovery.
The only one who had fully recovered was Hei Yuan.
Even though he was indeed a little stronger than the others, that had nothing to do with the speed of recovery. The main reason was that he was the owner of this Black Ink Nest. By having full control over the Black Ink Nest, he could direct most of its power to heal his injuries while the rest would be shared among the other Territory Lords.
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