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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
More than ten days had passed since Tang Qiu’s return.
As usual, the little girl would bring Yang Kai to the Marketplace every day and spend a long time there.
One day, after she was done having steamed stuffed buns, Yang Kai bought her several skewers of sugar-coated hawthorn fruits. The little girl, who was skipping at the front, suddenly stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at Yang Kai.
“What’s wrong?” Yang Kai was perplexed.
“Close your eyes.”
Yang Kai replied with a smile, “What do you want to do? Why are you trying to be mysterious?”
The little girl pouted, “Just close your eyes.”
“Alright, alright,” Yang Kai closed his eyes as he was told.
“Stick out your hand,” the little girl was heard saying.
Yang Kai extended his hand, and following that, he realised that something was placed on his palm. When he opened his eyes, he saw a copper coin.
He broke into laughter, “Why did you give me a copper coin?”
With her head tilted, the little girl said, “You’ve been treating me to meals every day, and you also bought me a hairpin. There’s nothing else I can give you other than this thing.”
[Well, at least she’s grateful!] Yang Kai felt warmth in his heart. Even though it was just a single copper coin, it showed the little girl’s sincerity.
“Thank you for this, then.” Yang Kai put on a smile. Just when he was ready to keep the copper coin, he realised that it was different from the ones circulating in the Marketplace; it was obviously far more ancient.
He asked curiously, “Where did you get this from?” There had never been any money with the little girl, so where did she find this ancient copper coin?
While munching on her sugar-coated hawthorn fruits, the little girl replied in a muffled voice, “I took it from the Old Ancestor.”
Upon hearing that, Yang Kai was astounded, “You took it from the Old Ancestor?”
“En,” the little girl replied nonchalantly, “You have to keep it in a safe place. If you come across any danger, you might be able to save your life by taking this coin out.”
The ancient coin in Yang Kai’s hand felt much heavier all of a sudden and he quickly said, “No, no, this thing is far too valuable…”
“Just keep it. You’re an adult, don’t be so uptight. En, let’s call it a day. I’m sleepy now, so I’ll go back and get some rest,” Upon finishing her words, the little girl directly skipped off.
Just when Yang Kai was ready to race after her, a figure descended from the sky and stood in the way. It was none other than Xu Ling Gong, and upon seeing Yang Kai, he hurriedly said, “The time is here. Come with me!”
Yang Kai took a look in the direction the little girl was heading and briefly hesitated before leaving with Xu Ling Gong in a hurry. Meanwhile, he carefully put the ancient coin away.
In the Marketplace, the little girl, who was skipping along, suddenly stopped in her tracks and became unmoving.
As she stood still, the entire Marketplace seemed to have frozen in time.
A moment later, a breeze whisked across the street and the flags on both sides started flapping in the air.
In an instant, everyone in the Marketplace turned to look at the little girl.
The little girl, whom Yang Kai thought was an Origin King, saw her aura increasing madly like a tsunami. Soon, it reached the Open Heaven Realm, and it didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.
As her cultivation increased rapidly, her body seemed to be going through a transformation as well. While engulfed in a faint light, her petite figure grew quickly.
In just a cup of tea, the little girl, whose aura was originally in the Origin King Realm, turned into an alluring woman in her late twenties or early thirties.
The dense aura swirling around her suggested that she was above the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
“Welcome back, Old Ancestor!”
In the Marketplace, congratulations were heard coming from all directions in a continuous manner.
The young woman opened her eyes and said in a clear voice, “It has been difficult for all of you. Let’s call it a day.”
“Yes, Old Ancestor.”
After they responded to her, the shops started closing rapidly. In just an incense stick, the originally bustling Marketplace fell into silence, and no one was in sight.
The young woman turned her head to look out of the Inner Sanctum with a dispassionate expression. As her clothes flapped in the wind, she disappeared abruptly from the spot the next instant.
In the meantime, Yang Kai and Xu Ling Gong were standing on the deck of a Warship that was hovering in the void outside of the Inner Sanctum.
Xu Ling Gong was a Squad Leader, and including himself, there were 2 Seventh-Order, 8 Sixth-Order, and 3 Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in his Squad for a total of 13.
This was a fairly typical configuration for a Squad in the Great Passes.
Dawn was an outlier that was unlike the others. On the entire Black Ink Battlefield, there were only a small number of Special Operations Squads like Dawn.
Even though there were only 2 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in this Squad, such a roster, along with their Warship, allowed them to exert the strength of 5 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters when dealing with enemies on the battlefield, which greatly enhanced their collective power.
At this moment, Xu Ling Gong was explaining to Yang Kai about the situation they were facing.
“As per your request, the Army Commanders in the Inner Sanctum have had a serious discussion and confirmed that your target will be Hei Yuan Territory Lord. He’s one of the most powerful Territory Lords working for Mu Guang Royal Lord, and he has gained the latter’s favour as well. If you can become his Black Ink Disciple, you’ll have a chance to follow him to the Royal City, which will make it easier for you to gather information; however, some manoeuvres are needed in order to help you become his Black Ink Disciple. With that said, you don’t have to worry about it as the Army Commanders have come up with a comprehensive plan. If everything goes well, we’ll be able to achieve our goal. You just have to play it by ear and act at the right time.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Got it.”
Xu Ling Gong said, “This opportunity was hard to come by, which is why we’re in a hurry. The Army Commanders wanted me to ask you if you’re prepared.”
Yang Kai replied seriously, “I’m ready to carry out our plan.”
“Good,” Xu Ling Gong nodded gently.
“Are we going to look for Hei Yuan now?” Yang Kai asked.
Xu Ling Gong shook his head, “No, we’re not. Hei Yuan is in one of the resource harvesting areas now. Presently, Army Commander Wu Qing is dealing with him. If everything goes well, Hei Yuan will be badly injured and forced to flee.”
A glint flashed through Yang Kai’s eyes as he had somewhat figured out the plan those from Yin-Yang Pass had come up with.
Just like Xu Ling Gong had said, Hei Yuan Territory Lord and Wu Qing were in a fight in the resource harvesting area. Hei Yuan was one of the 5 most powerful Territory Lords working for Mu Guang. On the other hand, Wu Qing was the Southern Army Commander here, and the strongest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in Yin-Yang Pass.
It was expected that their fight would be intense, with space collapsing all around them as they battled.
Both of them knew each other well as it wasn’t the first time they fought. Despite that, Hei Yuan still felt his heart sinking as Wu Qing was acting far more ferocious than in the past. He seemed determined to kill even if he was wounded in the process. It was apparent that Wu Qing didn’t care if both of them ended up in a horrible state.
Furthermore, Wu Qing possessed one of the Four Universe Pillars, so he wasn’t afraid of Black Ink Strength at all. The biggest advantage of the Black Ink Clan was useless against him.
Meanwhile, Hei Yuan Territory Lord became increasingly discomfited. Even though he did manage to injure Wu Qing, he was unable to kill him. On the other hand, he was also badly wounded.
Other than the two of them, Human soldiers and the Black Ink Clan’s Army were clashing with one another on the battlefield. There were also other locations where the Eighth-Order Humans and Black Ink Territory Lords were locked in intense battles.
Humans were the ones who launched the attack this time, which caught the Black Ink Clan off guard. Hei Yuan didn’t understand why the Humans were acting so aggressively all of a sudden.
However, things had come to a point where he could only clench his teeth and keep fighting.
The Black Ink Clan had suffered immense losses in just half a day, but it wasn’t until this moment that Hei Yuan realised that the Humans had secretly sent reinforcements to this battlefield. Initially, even though the Humans were at an advantage in this particular resource harvesting area, they were not overwhelmingly more powerful than the other party. Now that they had helpers though, how was the Black Ink Clan supposed to resist?
Seeing that they were on the losing side, Hei Yuan wanted to flee; however, Wu Qing seemed to have gone mad as he aimed fixedly at Hei Yuan, which ensured that the latter would not be able to escape.
Two or three days later, the Black Ink Clan had suffered near catastrophic losses while, even though some of the soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass were killed, the number was tolerable.
Amidst the chaotic battle, a column of light suddenly shot into the sky.
It was obviously a signal.
The Black Ink Clan, who had no idea what was going on, were astounded as they wondered what the Humans were up to. Hei Yuan, who was battling against Wu Qing also sported a solemn expression.
All of a sudden, Wu Qing dropped all his defences and went all out to strike at Hei Yuan.
A flabbergasted Hei Yuan instinctively counterattacked.
As their powers clashed, the void around them trembled fiercely. Both of them were sent flying away as they sprayed out a mouthful of blood. Both parties ended up being horribly injured.
Wu Qing had gained the upper hand as he was the one who made a move first, so his injury was less severe than that of Hei Yuan. Therefore, he recovered quickly and tried to follow up with his assault.
Seeing the other party act so madly, Hei Yuan didn’t dare to keep fighting. Moreover, the Humans had just sent a signal, so more reinforcements might be on their way.
At the thought of this, Hei Yuan quickly released a large Black Ink Cloud and concealed himself in it.
Wu Qing charged into the cloud, but Hei Yuan was already nowhere in sight.
Half a day later, the battlefield fell dead silent. The Humans had gained a victory while the Black Ink Clan fled in embarrassment.
All of a sudden, a weakened Tang Qiu appeared beside Wu Qing. He was already injured, to begin with, and before he could recuperate, he came all the way here to fight against a Black Ink Clan Territory Lord, which exacerbated his wounds. As such, it would probably take him several years to recuperate.
“Are you alright?” Tang Qiu asked.
“His injury is more severe than mine,” Wu Qing snorted.
Tang Qiu was rendered speechless as he once again witnessed how much this guy hated suffering a loss. After taking a glance at the battlefield that was in a mess, he let out a sigh, “The stage has been set. I wonder if things will go to plan.”
Wu Qing replied impassively, “There’s only so much we can do, the rest is up to the Heavens.”
“You always tend to look on the bright side.” Tang Qiu put on a smile, and then the light in his eyes went out, “We’ve paid a huge price here; a lot of our people have died. I hope it is worth it.”
“Everyone who lost their life on the Black Ink Battlefield did not die for nothing,” Upon finishing his words, Wu Qing turned around and returned to his ship, leaving Tang Qiu with a dampened expression on his face.
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