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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Black Territory was shrouded in mystery. It seemed that Yang Kai had to personally look into the matter.
He initially intended to wait for Xin Peng to come back before heading to Black Territory with him, but he had changed his mind; after all, if he went with Xin Peng, he would immediately see Luan Bai Feng, and he wouldn’t be able to investigate the truth on his own.
Hence, faced with Yuan Tong Guang’s invitation, he only gave it a thought for a moment and agreed to it, “Good. I’m sorry for troubling you then, Brother Yuan.”
An elated Yuan Tong Guang passionately told his fellow Brothers to come over and introduce themselves.
Yang Kai told them a fake name, but the surname was still Yang.
He wouldn’t dare to say that everyone in the 3,000 Worlds knew his name, but there must be a lot of people that were aware of who he was. As for his background, he lied to them that he was from Great Moon Province.
Upon hearing that, Yuan Tong Guang and the others became at ease.
In this expansive universe, great forces with the name ‘Province’ wouldn’t be too powerful; therefore, upon learning that Yang Kai and his companions were from Great Moon Province, Yuan Tong Guang and the others stopped feeling pressured.
Moreover, they believed that Yang Kai and his companions were attracted to the materials in Black Territory. The Open Heaven Realm Masters who came here to extract materials wouldn’t be too powerful, with the strongest generally being Fifth-Order.
The group then headed to the Territory Gate together.
It wasn’t hard to hide one’s cultivation. As long as they were careful when activating their powers, Yuan Tong Guang and the others wouldn’t find out anything.
The other men from White Fang Province were obviously interested in Qu Hua Shang and the two ladies as they kept trying to chat them up, but the two only responded in a dispassionate manner.
An hour or two later, they arrived at the Territory Gate.
Yuan Tong Guang summoned a flight-type artifact and nodded at Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, we’ll go first and wait for you at the other end.”
Following that, they subsequently entered the artifact, which turned into a ray of light and dashed into the Territory Gate.
It was then Yang Kai recalled that he was pretending to be a less powerful cultivator. Supposedly, he was unable to pass through the Territory Gate with his body alone.
In fact, one would feel immensely pressured when going through a Territory Gate. Only High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters were able to safely pass through a Territory Gate without any protection. Mid-Rank Masters could still cross the gates if they were willing to expend a large amount of strength, while Low-Rank Masters would need a protective artifact.
Yang Kai was an expert in the Dao of Space, and his physique was robust; hence, he would usually just move through the Territory Gates without any protection, and he hadn’t come across any danger so far.
That was the reason he didn’t have an artifact that was specifically used for passing through the Territory Gates.
Fortunately, Qu Hua Shang was well prepared. Knowing what was on Yang Kai’s mind, she summoned an ordinary-looking flight-type artifact. After the four of them entered it, the artifact charged towards the Territory Gate.
The next moment, they arrived at Black Territory.
Qu Hua Shang stored the artifact, and then their figures were revealed.
The ladies looked around curiously as it was the first time they had visited Black Territory. This place was different from all other Great Territories. There wasn’t even a single shining star in the void, as though it was engulfed in endless darkness. A desolate aura permeated every corner of this Great Territory. Even the great Sun Star in the depths of the void only exuded a faint light, as though it was an old man whose days were numbered.
Luo Ting He frowned as the aura in Black Territory made her feel a sense of discomfort.
Yang Kai could immediately see Yuan Tong Guang and the others, who arrived at this place first. Presently, they were looking around casually.
Upon seeing Yang Kai and his companions, Yuan Tong Guang hospitably waved his hand, “Brother Yang, we’re here!”
Yang Kai nodded and led the ladies to shuffle towards them.
After they gathered together, Yuan Tong Guang said, “Brother Yang, I’ll bring you all to go through the registration process first. We can only extract materials from Ore Stars after getting Identity Tokens.”
“Good.” Yang Kai nodded.
Yuan Tong Guang led the way for them, and the rest followed him closely.
There was a shattered Spirit Province that wasn’t far away from the Territory Gate, one that was just big enough for a palace to sit on.
Many people could be seen entering and leaving this palace. Some of them were dejected while the others appeared joyful.
These people were mostly Third-Order and Fourth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Additionally, there were a small number of Fifth-Order ones.
It was apparent that they had willingly come to Black Territory to mine ores, and there were indeed a lot of people. Just like Yuan Tong Guang had said, many people had already arrived at this place barely three months after the news was spread that anyone could freely come to Black Territory and extract materials. It wasn’t hard to predict that more people would come in the near future.
Furthermore, Yang Kai was concerned about the fact that the incident took place three months ago.
A few months ago, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of uneasiness, then he discovered that the names of Luan Bai Feng and Xin Peng had disappeared from the Loyalty List. After some calculations, he realised that the turn of events in Black Territory started after their names vanished from the Loyalty List.
The people who entered and left the palace were mostly in groups. Only a small number of people walked around as individuals. It seemed that they understood they had to join forces to keep themselves safe.
Yuan Tong Guang had been to this place, so he was familiar with the procedure. He led all of them to enter the palace. Yang Kai looked around and saw that there were a lot of desks inside. Many people had lined up in front of the desks. Behind the desks were the busy Open Heaven Realm Masters who asked about their names, cultivations, and backgrounds. After the registration was done, they would give each participant an Identity Token.
“This way,” After looking around for a moment, Yuan Tong Guang led them to a particular desk and entered the back of the queue.
Then, he explained to Yang Kai in a small voice, “I’m on good terms with that guy, so I can ask him to assign a better Ore Star to us later.”
It was then Yang Kai realised why the other man chose to queue up in front of this desk in particular.
The people behind the desks were supposed to be Luan Bai Feng’s subordinates. Yang Kai had been to Black Territory twice, so most of Luan Bai Feng’s subordinates had seen him.
He was initially worried that his identity would be exposed, but he soon realised that he didn’t know the person who Yuan Tong Guang claimed to be on good terms with. It was apparent that he had never seen him before, so he set his mind at ease.
Just a while later, it was Yuan Tong Guang and the others’ turn.
They were indeed on good terms. The friendship strengthened after Yuan Tong Guang secretly passed him a Space Ring.
The person put on a bright smile, “You’re quick to return, Little Brother Yuan. You left this place barely more than ten days ago.”
Yuan Tong Guang replied with a smile, “Warden Luan is kind enough to present this great opportunity to us. Warden Luan’s efforts will go to waste if this Yuan doesn’t seize the chance.”
The person nodded, “I’m glad that’s what you think. Well, even though we’re friends, we still have to follow the rules. Are they from your Sect?”
Without hesitation, Yuan Tong Guang dipped his head, “Yes.”
“Take turns to tell me your name and cultivation, then,” the person demanded.
Yuan Tong Guang motioned for them to step forward.
It wouldn’t take a lot of time to go through the registration process and receive Identity Tokens and a moment later, everything was settled.
With a solemn expression, the person said to Yuan Tong Guang, “Little Brother, you’ve been here once, so you know the rules in Black Territory. I’ll not go through them again. I hope that you’ll stick to the rules and not keep any treasures to yourself. You’ll end up in a horrible state if we find out about it.”
“I wouldn’t dare to break the rules.” Yuan Tong Guang quickly nodded, then spoke in a hushed voice, “The Ore Star this time…”
The person shot him a glance that suggested that a tacit agreement had been reached between them, “Don’t worry, Little Brother. The Ore Star I’ve assigned to you this time is very good. Just ten days ago, someone extracted a Seventh-Order Wood Element material from there and received 10 million Open Heaven Pills.”
Yuan Tong Guang caught his breath and gulped, “10 million…”
According to the market rate, a Seventh-Order Wood Element material was worth a 150 million. Even a Sixth-Order one was worth 15 million.
Certainly, 10 million Open Heaven Pills were not enough to purchase a Seventh-Order Wood Element material; however, the figure was considered ample as a reward for just finding one. After all, the entire Black Territory was Luan Bai Feng’s territory. If she hadn’t opened up this place, no one could’ve come in and extracted the materials. Not only had she allowed outsiders to come in, but she would also reward those who handed in valuable materials. Certainly, the ones who sought wealth in this place were satisfied.
The person patted Yuan Tong Guang’s shoulder, “Work hard, Little Brother. If you become wealthy, you must not forget about me. To be honest with you, I’m envious of all of you. If not for the Madam’s orders, I would’ve been tempted to extract materials as well.”
“Don’t worry, Big Brother. If this Yuan has the luck to obtain a Seventh-Order material, I’ll not forget the help you’ve offered me.”
The person put on a bright smile, “I’ll take your word for it, then.”
After they were done with the small talk, the person waved his hand, then a short Open Heaven Realm Master came over. The person ordered, “Bring them to Ore Star 16.”
The short Open Heaven Realm Master nodded upon receiving the order, then said to Yuan Tong Guang, “Come with me.”
After bidding the person behind the desk farewell, Yuan Tong Guang led Yang Kai and the others to follow the short Open Heaven Realm Master.
Upon leaving the shattered Spirit Province, the short Open Heaven Realm Master summoned a ship and asked them to board.
Standing on the deck, Yuan Tong Guang appeared elated, “Ore Star 16 is one of the top-ranking Stars, so there must be a lot of materials. Junior Brothers, we have to work hard when we reach there, for we’re responsible for making White Fang Province thrive.”
The Junior Brothers nodded as they appeared prepared to do their best to get their hands on those valuable materials.
Yuan Tong Guang then turned to Yang Kai, “Brother Yang, I’m sorry for lying that you all are from my Sect. I just wanted to save us the trouble.”
Yang Kai waved his hand, “Don’t worry about it, Brother Yuan. We should be thanking you for saving us the hassle.”
Yuan Tong Guang put on a smile, “However, there’s one thing I need to make clear to you.”
“Please go ahead, Brother Yuan.”
“It’s the rules I told you previously. You all have to remember the Orders of the materials you can keep or have to hand in. When we leave Black Territory, we have to go through an inspection. Those who try to keep the materials to themselves will end up in a horrible state. In the past, there was a person who kept a Sixth-Order material, and…”
“What happened to him?” Qu Hua Shang asked.
Yuan Tong Guang let out a sigh, “I guess he’s still not dead.”
Tao Ling Wan was perplexed, but she wouldn’t dare to ask Yuan Tong Guang about it. She said to Qu Hua Shang in a small voice, “Isn’t it a good thing that he isn’t dead?”
Qu Hua Shang replied with a smile, “Sometimes, it’s better to be dead than alive. Senior Sister, have you ever heard about ‘fates worse than death’ before?”
It was then Tao Ling Wan understood what Yuan Tong Guang really meant. In an instant, her face turned pale.
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.