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Translator: Silavin & Pia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Since the Star Boundary was well and good, and High Heaven Palace was thriving with strong momentum, what else could possibly worry Yang Kai? On the other hand, disciples of the Cave Heavens and Paradises willingly shed their blood in the Black Ink Battlefield as they waged war against the Black Ink Clan for no other reason than a strong sense of responsibility to protect the 3,000 Worlds.
The situation of the Star Boundary and High Heaven Palace was enough to allow Yang Kai to rest easy.
“Actually, I didn’t expect to meet you so soon,” Grandmaster Ma Fan sighed, “I wanted to settle down in the Black Ink Battlefield first, and then find out where you were. I didn’t think that you would be here. Say, Yang Boy, you are something like a half-disciple of Yin-Yang Cave Heaven, so why didn’t you go to Yin-Yang Pass?”
Yang Kai shook his head and said, “I didn’t come here through the normal route, so Blue Sky Pass was the first Great Pass that I encountered. As a result, I settled here. Overall, against the Black Ink Clan, it’ll be the same no matter which Great Pass I go to.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan gave him a fixed look, then nodded, “Fair enough.”
Yang Kai suddenly remembered something and curiously asked, “Why did you come to the Black Ink Battlefield, Grandmaster? You are a remnant of Great Evolution Paradise, so even if you’ve made it to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, logically speaking, you didn’t need to come here.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted, “I don’t need to be part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises to fight against the Black Ink Clan, right? As long as I have the heart it is more than enough. Brat, what qualifications do you have to tell an Old Master like me that I need to be part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises to come here?”
Yang Kai scratched his head and could only laugh bitterly, “Grandmaster, please calm yourself!”
Being asked to calm down only sent Grandmaster Ma Fan into a rage, “Just because I was no longer part of the Cave Heavens and Paradises this Old Master needed to ask their permission to come here! Great Evolution Paradise used to be one of them, and ever since I advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm I had repeatedly requested to be assigned to the Black Ink Battlefield, but every single time they rejected me! Bastards! The Black Ink Battlefield is not their backyard, so why not just let me come!?”
Yang Kai didn’t know how to answer; he wouldn’t have known about it if Grandmaster Ma Fan hadn’t mentioned it himself. However, he guessed that it was probably because of this very fact that Grandmaster Ma Fan always seemed unhappy with the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
But from another standpoint, were the Cave Heavens and Paradises not trying to protect Grandmaster Ma Fan? After all, Great Evolution Paradise had fallen, and only this old man was still around, struggling to support it by himself. If he was sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, then the whole legacy of Great Evolution Paradise would probably end with him.
Even Grandmaster Ma Fan must have known how the Cave Heavens and Paradises felt about this situation. However, anger does not listen to rational explanations.
“If you weren’t allowed to come before, why did they let you come this time?” Yang Kai asked.
Grandmaster Ma Fan explained, “Isn’t Blue Sky Pass in dire need of Artifact Refiners? This Old Master may be sloppy, but Artifact Refining is my speciality. So, this time, a few of those old ghosts actually came to me and asked me to come and support this Pass. Of course, I refused. Those bastards refused Father here so many times in the past, yet they had the gall to ask me, their Father, to come out here on a whim now? Who do they think I am, huh? How dare they!”
Yang Kai nodded like he was a chicken pecking rice and flattered, “Yes, yes, that’s how it should be, Grandmaster. It was right for you to refuse. But, Grandmaster… why did you change your mind? “
Grandmaster Ma Fan snorted and said, “This Father has a firm will, but I’m still no match for those old bastards when it comes to cunning. They kept using soft and hard tactics to get me to agree and eventually, after thinking it through, I realised that Great Evolution Paradise now has no lack of worthy successors. So, I decided I should come over to join in on the fun.”
Yang Kai expressed his understanding, but was laughing secretly in his heart, [This old man is certainly prideful. He wanted to come all along but refused out of pure stubbornness.]
However, now, it seemed that it is not a coincidence that Grandmaster Ma Fan was assigned to Blue Sky Pass. Due to Blue Sky Pass’ crusade, they had an urgent need for a large number of Artifact Refiners. Furthermore, Ma Fan was extremely proficient in the Dao of Artifact refining; thus, it was only natural that he was assigned here.
Grandmaster Ma Fan added, “Half of the 1,500 reinforcements who had came to support Blue Sky Pass this time are proficient in Spirit Arrays, Alchemy, or Artifact Refining. Those who are proficient in Artifact Refining actually account for 80% of those numbers. I have to ask, what happened in Blue Sky Pass. Did all its Artifact Refiners die or something? Why do you need so many to come and support you? “
Yang Kai laughed and said, “Spirit Arrays, Alchemy, Artifact Refining are all specialized professions. No matter which Great Pass, talents proficient in them are heavily protected and will not easily enter the battlefield. In fact, unless a Great Pass is destroyed, these Masters won’t die. No Artifact Refiners from Blue Sky Pass have died. The reason why we needed your help, is because Blue Sky Pass launched a crusade recently, and we have now established a forward base deep within the territory of the Black Ink Clan. Of course, it’s still a distance away from a Royal City, with three Territory Lord territories between them. Over there, soldiers have been engaging in skirmishes with the Black Ink Clan on a daily basis, so Warships are constantly being damaged. The original number of Artifact Refiners wasn’t sufficient to keep up.”
“A crusade?” Grandmaster Ma Fan’s eyes lit up. Not only him, but the other Open Heaven Realm Masters, who had already been registered, were interestedly listening in. They were not specifically trying to eavesdrop, but Yang Kai and Grandmaster Ma Fan’s conversation was quite open, so it was natural for those nearby to overhear. After all, everyone here was at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Before they arrived, the Elders of their Sects had mentioned the situation of the Black Ink Battlefield to them; thus, they had a general understanding of the status quo.
But, as far as they knew, the armies of the Great Passes on the Black Ink Battlefield were extremely passive and defensive. Every 100 years or so, the Great Passes would fall under siege. On the other hand, it was extremely difficult for them to go on the offensive.
Thus, when they just arrived at Blue Sky Pass, and heard a crusade had been made, it made them excited. After all, one would always get more passionate when on the attack than when passively defending.
“Senior Brother, can you share more about this crusade? I’m new here, so although I know a little bit about it, it’s just from word of mouth. I haven’t seen it, nor participated in it. So, I’m really curious.” A young man asked.
Yang Kai turned his head to look at the source of the voice. It was from a handsome youth who looked like he came from a wealthy background and had a face as smooth as jade. He had a dignified appearance and wore a spotless white robe. Even amongst all those in the Open Heaven Realm, he stuck out. He seemed so perfect that those around him, be it consciously or unconsciously, seemed to distance themselves, as if afraid of being compared to him if they stood too close.
However, this man obviously did not let this bother him. There was even a hint of arrogance in his indifferent expression.
Yang Kai was now in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and he had cultivated for many years so his vision was quite sharp. Thus, as soon as he saw this young man, he understood that he didn’t just look young, but was young. He was unlike most cultivators in the Open Heaven Realm, who, because of their long lifespans, it was difficult to judge their age based on their appearance alone.
Based on Yang Kai’s estimation, this youth before him was only two or three hundred years old!
Yang Kai’s face remained as usual, but his heart was slightly shaken, [Seventh-Order at two or three hundred years old? It’s not an exaggeration to say this person is a favoured Son of Heaven. For someone at his age to reach the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, the only possible way is to directly ascend to the Seventh-Order! It’s impossible for him to directly enter the Sixth Order and then cultivate to the Seventh Order in such a short time.]
It had to be noted that those who directly entered the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm were basically precious seedlings who had the opportunity to become Old Ancestors in the future.
Yang Kai had only met one such person so far, Luo Ting. He met her in Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Samsara Pavilion; however, at that time, Luo Ting He had already been in the Seventh Order for thousands of years and she had broken through to the Eight Order shortly after, so her temperament was naturally very different from this man.
At such a young age, to achieve such a cultivation, he certainly had every right to be arrogant; after all, he had the capital to back up his haughtiness.
“This Junior Brother is…” Yang Kai looked at him with a smile.
The young man cupped his fist and saluted, “Asura Cave Heaven, Zhang Zhou!”
Yang Kai was a little stunned, “Junior Brother is from Asura Cave Heaven?”
He had also come into contact with those from Asura Cave Heaven, and all of them were fierce and vicious, completely different from Zhang Zhou’s gentle and dignified demeanour. In fact, if Zhang Zhou had not said where he was from, Yang Kai would never have guessed that he was actually from Asura Cave Heaven. That was just how different he was from the usual militant cultivators from Asura Cave Heaven.
Looking at the 3,000 Worlds, out of all the Cave Heavens and Paradises, there were two that stood out when it came to militant behaviour. One was Asura Cave Heaven and the other was Great Battle Heaven. The latter obviously developed this personality in order to fight against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield. Meanwhile, the former cultivated based on the Dao of Battle and Slaughter. Thus, Asura Cave Heaven disciples all fought endlessly to cultivate. If they wanted to get stronger, they just had to risk their lives in life-or-death battles.
Still, in the 3,000 Worlds, Asura Cave Heaven was still one of the 36 Cave Heavens, so it was impossible for their disciples to go around wantonly killing innocents just for the sake of their cultivation. Doing so would damage their prestige too heavily for them to remain stable.
Even so, they still needed some way to continue to cultivate; thus, when their disciples wanted to practice, they just needed to go to the Asura Arenas. In the Arena, they could battle it out and even kill their opponents.
Furthermore, the Asura Arenas were extremely popular and existed in every major Star City. Even the Void Star City and High Heaven Star City had Asura Arenas.
These Arenas also brought in a hefty profit for Asura Cave Heaven; thus, it served two purposes at once. It could be said that the Asura Arenas were the foundation of Asura Cave Heaven.
In the Asura Arena, life and death battles were to be honoured; thus, even if an Asura Heaven disciple died inside, the Sect would not take revenge! This wasn’t just rhetoric, but an established truth as many Asura Cave Heaven disciples had died in the various Asura Arenas over the years, yet the Sect never pursued the matter.
Yang Kai had also fought people in the Asura Arena, so he was familiar with their rules.
Zhang Zhou directly broke through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so if he had come from any other Cave Heaven or Paradise, he would definitely be guarded carefully. He would be allowed to completely immerse himself in cultivation, and strive to become an Old Ancestor in the future. But since he was from Asura Cave Heaven, such a thing was not allowed.
There were no Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Asura Arena who would engage in life-or-death fights; after all, the better use for such Masters was being sent to the Black Ink Battlefield. Thus, Zhang Zhou came here.
Yang Kai had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for more than 100 years, and although he was usually dealing with the Black Ink Clan or cultivating, he had heard a lot of things unrelated to the war itself as well. This included things about Asura Cave Heaven.
All the Cave Heavens and Paradises would only sparingly send reinforcements to the Black Ink Battlefield every 100 years, deploying only the personnel that were really needed. However, Asura Cave Heaven was the sole exception to that trend. They could not wait to send all their Open Heaven Realm Masters here. In fact, they wished they really could send in all their Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
If someone calculated which Sect had the largest proportion of disciples sent to the Black Ink Battlefield, Asura Cave Heaven would definitely take first place. In fact, Yang Kai could not think of any other Sect that had sent as many or more than Asura Cave Heaven.
However, due to how they cultivated, requiring them to engage in killing, it was not uncommon for them to die in the process of growing up. Thus, the number of disciples who would advance to the Open Heaven Realm was much less than other Cave Heavens and Paradises.
Even so, in terms of combat capability, Asura Cave Heaven would definitely rank among the top three of all Cave Heavens and Paradises. Whenever those from Asura Cave Heaven fought, they would do so as though they held no regard for their own lives, and this gave rise to a nickname, Asura Lunatics. They were so notorious for this that it had become widespread throughout the Black Ink Battlefield.
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