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Translator: Silavin & VictorN
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
In the Black Ink Clan, hierarchy was extremely strict in all things. The higher-ranking Black Ink Nests birthed the lower-ranking ones, and there was a one-way symbiotic relationship between them. If the Humans had some suspicions about this, then Black Ink Clan themselves naturally had them too.
However, Ge Chen, an Acquired Territory Lord, had never come in contact with the Mother Nest; thus, he really knew nothing about it.
Furthermore, the Mother Nest was a term that was coined by the Human Race. Even if it did exist, who knew what the Black Ink Clan called it.
Those Innate Territory Lords, such as Che Kong, may know more about these matters because they themselves were bred directly from the High-Rank Black Ink Nests; thus, they had a connection to the Source Domain where the Mother Nest was suspected to exist.
It was a pity that Che Kong was already dead; otherwise, there was still a chance to find out something from him.
Now, Yang Kai understood why some of the Territory Lords were so much more powerful.
Under normal circumstances, a Territory Lord’s strength was less than that of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s; however, in every Theatre, there were always some exceptions.
For example, Che Kong’s strength was at least on par with an Eighth-Order Division Commander. In fact, in a one-on-one fight, there were hardly any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Masters in the Great Evolution Army who were his match. Only Xiang Shan and a few other top elites could take him on.
Che Kong was killed by Yang Kai primarily because he was too careless and allowed himself to be hit by a Soul Rending Thorn.
Innate Territory Lords were directly spawned from High-Rank Black Ink Nests; so naturally, they were more powerful, but this method of birth likely exhausted their potential entirely, so they would never be able to become Royal Lords.
On the contrary, Ge Chen, who was comparatively weaker, had room to grow and a chance of becoming a Royal Lord.
Of course, it was still incredibly difficult for a Black Ink Clan Territory Lord to advance to become a Royal Lord, no less so than for a Human to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. If this wasn’t the case, there would be a lot more Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan after so many years, considering their innate advantage in numbers.
There were surely a lot more Innate Territory Lords such as Che Kong long ago, but after countless years of war with the Humans, most of these Innate Territory Lords must have died. Only a few survived.
A rough estimate would say that before the latest war, the top three Territory Lords in all the Theatres were Innate Territory Lords.
“Now, tell me about the Source Domain. How much do you know?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
Ge Chen was an Acquired Territory Lord, so perhaps he did not know much about confidential information related to the Black Ink Clan’s origins. From the conversation so far, it appeared that the Innate Territory Lords seemed to ostracize the Acquired Territory Lords.
However, they should know more than the Humans.
Ge Chen thought about it and said, “The Source Domain… is something I only heard about from other Territory Lords. The Source Domain should be the source of the Black Ink Clan.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao waited for a moment, but when he did not say anything else, she frowned and asked, “That’s it?”
Ge Chen said helplessly, “No…”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao almost laughed.
The Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan? That could be inferred from the name alone. Was there a need for him to state the obvious?
“The Black Ink Clansmen who survived are all escaping in this direction. Could it be that you all are heading towards the Source Domain?”
“I think so,” Ge Chen nodded and said, “I don’t know where the Source Domain is, but since I became a Territory Lord, I have become able to faintly sense something that I believe is the Source Domain. Thus, the Source Domain should be in this direction.”
It was because the Source Domain was in this direction that he fled this way. Only by fleeing this way could he hope to survive, but little did he expect that even as a Territory Lord. he would end up being trapped here.
Yang Kai could not help but raise his brow. The Black Ink Clan’s situation was somewhat similar to his Dragon Source.
On Dragon Clan’s side, if an individual’s Dragon Vein and Dragon Bloodline reached a certain degree of purity, they would be able to vaguely sense where Dragon Pool was, because the Dragon Pool was the origin of the Dragon Clan.
Since the Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan, it was not surprising that Ge Chen would be able to sense it.
“If the Source Domain is the origin of Black Ink Clan, there should be a lot of Territory Lords and also, many Royal Lords there. Why don’t they come out? What is preventing them from doing so?”
It was now certain that the 50 Royal Lords encountered in the Black Ink Nest Space previously were all from the Source Domain, or at least somewhere nearby; otherwise, there was no way to explain their origin.
They appeared to be trapped in or around the Source Domain; thus, even though the battles in the Theatres were raging, they were indifferent to them.
It was not that they did not care about the battles, but rather that they simply could not intervene.
Ge Chen shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”
“You said that the Royal Lords came out of the Source Domain and brought their own Black Ink Nests with them. How did they leave the Source Domain?”
“I don’t know.”
“How far is this place from the Source Domain?” The Old Ancestor asked.
“I don’t know.”
“What was your Black Ink Clan fighting against in the olden days? How did this stretch of void behind the Royal Cities form?” This time after the Old Ancestor finished her question, she mercilessly warned, “If you dare to say you don’t know, you will die.”
Ge Chen’s expression became more and more bitter. He did not know the answers to these questions. Although he was a Territory Lord, he was just an Acquired Territory Lord, and a low ranked one in the Great Evolution Theatre at that. So, how could he know anything too confidential?
Whatever Mo Zhao discussed with the Innate Territory Lords was never shared with him.
That was why he was willing to answer Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s questions. For so many years, Acquired Territory Lords like him had felt excluded from the core of the Black Ink Clan. He knew very little about the inner workings of the clan and he did not want to die unnecessarily.
“Although it is not clear, it should be related to you Humans. The feud between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clans goes back to ancient times. This void should be the original battlefield left behind by the Human Race Masters during that war.”
This point was the same as what they had speculated.
It was not surprising to think that the only ones in this world who could compete with the Black Ink Clan was the Human Race.
The Divine Spirit, although strong, were too small in number, so it was difficult for them to wage a war across such a wide battlefield.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded and asked a few more questions, all of which were answered honestly by Ge Chen.
“Is there anything else you feel that you should tell us?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao finally asked.
Ge Chen’s expression suddenly tensed up, shook his head guiltily, and said, “I don’t know much…”
“In that case…” She turned her head to look at Yang Kai and said coldly, “Kill him.”
Ge Chen’s expression changed dramatically as he protested, “We had an agreement! You swore to let me go if I answer your questions truthfully!”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked at him and asked mercilessly, “You trust the word of a woman?”
She never planned to let Ge Chen go. Although a Territory Lord was not a threat to her, he must have killed many Human soldiers over the years; how could she let an enemy like him live?
Yang Kai grinned and extended his hand, “Old Ancestor indeed swore she would not kill you, but I never did.”
Space Principles surged, stirring the Void, and in a flash, countless Void Cracks appeared. They then surged towards Ge Chen as Yang Kai manipulated them.
Ge Chen grit his teeth and rushed out with determination against the countless cracks. His Black Ink Strength surging as he roared, “You will die a horrible death!”
The Void Cracks sliced through him and black blood splattered everywhere. Just before the cracks hit Ge Chen, he managed to launch an intense blow towards Yang Kai, which hit him and flung him a distance back.
By the time Yang Kai steadied himself, Ge Chen had already been sliced into countless pieces by the Void Cracks.
Yang Kai looked at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Eighth-Order Division Commander in disbelief and asked, “You just stood there, watching?”
He thought that these two would act at the critical moment, which was why he did not defend himself at all. Due to their inaction, he almost suffered serious injuries.
That Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master grinned and said, “Well, aren’t you still fine?”
“Wouldn’t it be too late to ask if I wasn’t?” Yang Kai was indignant, but he knew in his heart that the Old Ancestor would ensure that he would not be hurt. Most likely, she did not intercede because she knew that the blow from Ge Chen would not hurt him.
“The Source Domain…” The Old Ancestor murmured, “It seems that there is a reason why there is only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest in each Theatre.”
Yang Kai shook off the pain he felt, pondered a little, and understood what Old Ancestor meant.
Ge Chen said earlier that the original Royal Lords who came out of the Source Domain brought their Black Ink Nests with them.
The information they received from the other Theatres showed that there was only one High-Rank Black Ink Nest in each Royal City. Furthermore, there was only one Royal City in each Theatre, regardless of how many Royal Lords were present.
Since the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were brought out from the Source Domain by the first Royal Lords, they must have been spawned by the Mother Nest.
Thus, when a Territory Lord became a Royal Lord, they did not have their own Black Ink Nest and could only share one with the previous Royal Lord.
“The limitations on the Mother Nest must be due to some restrictions placed on the Black Ink Clan!” The Old Ancestor looked off into the void and continued, “Otherwise, when they found themselves losing the battles in the Theatres this time, the Royal Lords at the Mother Nest should have come out to offer support! That restriction… is most likely the other party had helped us get out of the trap the last time we were there.”
However, this restriction was clearly not complete; or perhaps, there was some interference which made it incomplete. Otherwise, the Royal Lords could not have taken Black Ink Nests out of the Source Domain.
Was there a higher realm of Martial Dao above the Ninth-Order? At that time, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and others saw the big jade hand coming from the outside of the Black Ink Nest Space, which tore open a crack for them to escape through.
Although there could be some other reason, there was no denying that the power of that hand was immense.
The jade white hand gave them a feeling as if it had surpassed the might of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and at the same time, it seemed that it had not. It was extremely odd.
What happened during ancient times?
What secrets were hidden at the birthplace of the Black Ink Clan?
No one knew, so no one could give them an answer.
However, the crusade by the Human Race continued. Although the road ahead was still dangerous, as long as the Human Race could destroy the Source Domain, there was a chance to completely solve the issue called the Black Ink Clan.
Nonetheless, it was a long way to go!
“What Ge Chen said should not be taken at face value. Don’t trust this information too much.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao warned.
Although Ge Chen seemed to be very cooperative, who knew what he really thought. They could not verify any of the information he provided, whether it was true or false.
Furthermore, some of the information he gave could easily be figured out by the Humans, so it wasn’t all that useful.
His words had to be taken with a pinch of salt. Some might be true while others, false.
It would be foolish to believe him verbatim.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master nodded and said, “Yes.”
“Continue to scout out the road ahead,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao ordered, turned around, and returned to Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai nodded lightly to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master before flying back to Dawning Light.
He did not say anything more to Feng Ying and the others, but the urgency in his heart became increasingly obvious.
Really a bit ridiculous how little the Humans have learned (or how much they have forgotten) about their enemy over such a long period of time.
Guess he should have taken YK’s deal.
Going for crystals and asking the 2 higher beings for answers is not a bad idea
1st off, there is no such thing as a a one way symbiotic relationship.
Symbiosis inherently means that both sides are in harmony and both sides benefit.
If only one side benefits and the other side gains this is called a parasitic relationship.
Also if Che Kong was an inherent territory lord born from the high rank black ink nest. Why was he tied to a mid rank black ink nest thus losing some of his power when YK destroyed it…
Because the high rank isn’t his.
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.