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Translator: Silavin & VictorN
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
[What is Yang Kai doing? With his speed, he should be able to arrive at the No-Return Pass within hours after entering the Barren Territory.]
After waiting for another month, Mo Na Ye could not stand it anymore. Thus, he sent a Territory Lord to the Barren Territory to find out what was happening.
He was surprised to hear that Yang Kai was no longer in the Barren Territory! He struck and wounded a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, and then left.
Mo Na Ye was stunned for a long while when it was reported that Yang Kai was nowhere to be found. If Yang Kai had not entered the No-Return Pass and was not in the Barren Territory, then where could he be? Could he have been wrong and Yang Kai had no intentions to come to the No-Return Pass to retaliate?
Inside the Grand Hall, Mo Na Ye could feel a scrutinizing gaze coming from the bone throne, one which carried a slight hint of dissatisfaction.
The dissatisfaction was not because Mo Na Ye’s speculation was wrong, but because his speculation had caused the Royal Lord to be determined to create another Pseudo-Royal Lord.
13 Territory Lords were sacrificed to create the first Pseudo-Royal Lord, only to have Di Wu die shortly after. 12 Territory Lords were sacrificed for the second Pseudo-Royal Lord, Mo Na Ye. On top of these, the creation of each Pseudo-Royal Lord resulted in the loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
This kind of consumption had a significant impact on the very foundation of the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clan had new Acquired Territory Lords being born frequently on the various battlefields, so even if all the Innate Territory Lords died, the Royal Lord would not feel too distressed. In fact, Acquired Territory Lords were even more valuable now because they had a chance to become Royal Lords in the future.
However, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests couldn’t regenerate. The number of High-Rank Nests they brought out from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was the maximum number they would ever have. The loss of a High-Rank Black Ink Nest was permanent.
Mo Na Ye knew that he had to remedy the situation to soothe the Royal Lord Sir’s dissatisfaction with him. He quickly searched through his mind for clues and information about Yang Kai and soon said, “Sir, if Yang Kai has already left the Barren Territory, then perhaps his objective is not the No-Return Pass. He could be going after the other Territory Lords on the Great Territory Battlefields, especially the six where our two Races’ Masters are fighting!”
Royal Lord looked sternly at Mo Na Ye and his dissatisfaction grew. This was the exact opposite of what Mo Na Ye said 100 years ago. At that time, he said with conviction that Yang Kai would not risk breaking the peace treaty between the two Races by showing up on the primary battlefields. Thus, he would come to the No-Return Pass to retaliate.
Now, 100 years later, he sang a different tune.
“Sir, please send an order to warn all parties and instruct the Territory Lords to be careful in the coming days,” Mo Na Ye said urgently. If Yang Kai really recklessly attacked the Territory Lords outside, there would be huge losses to the Black Ink Clan.
Mo Na Ye’s head ached as he thought of the consequences.
Yang Kai was too frightening and unpredictable. It reminded him once again of the incident at the Acacia Territory. Until now, they still could not figure out how Yang Kai escaped with over 10,000 Human refugees without even creating a sound!
As Mo Na Ye considered that particular incident, however, he suddenly froze as if he just thought of something. Unfortunately, there seemed to be a layer of fog blocking his thoughts.
Immediately, he sank into contemplation as his thoughts spun rapidly. At the same time, the Royal Lord had begun to pass down orders to instruct all Territory Lords of the Great Territories to be on alert for Yang Kai.
Of course, the Royal Lord still felt some dissatisfaction towards Mo Na Ye, but this Pseudo-Royal Lord had already been created and was destined to become his right-hand man in the future; thus, the Royal Lord could not be too harsh on him.
In fact, Mo Na Ye had objectively done a very good job. If not, he would not have called Mo Na Ye back to the No-Return Pass to hear his opinion before he sent out his orders.
The orders were sent down and soon were disseminated through the High-Rank Black Ink Nests to all parties.
Down below, Mo Na Ye’s eyes suddenly lit up as he looked up and said, “Sir, when Yang Kai was harassing the No-Return Pass years ago, I heard that he attacked from the direction of the Black Ink Battlefield.”
Although Mo Na Ye did not experience it personally as he was in charge of some affairs in another Great Territory during Yang Kai’s assault, he had heard some information about the incident from the other Territory Lords. However, most Territory Lords were secretive about that incident and were unwilling to mention too much about it.
After all, it was a disgrace to the Royal Lord; thus, who dared to keep talking about it?
Over the years, the Royal Lord also never mentioned this matter and seemed to actively want to forget those unpleasant experiences.
The Territory Lords in the Grand Hall instantly felt the ominous atmosphere and they all quickly lowered their heads even more.
From above, the Royal Lord’s gaze was much colder than before as he said indifferently, “That’s right.”
As if unaware of the sensitivity of the situation, Mo Na Ye continued to ask, “Before that attack, did he ever pass through the Territory Gate to enter the Barren Territory from the No-Return Pass?”
“Are you questioning me?” As the Royal Lord leaned forward slightly, it felt as if a huge mountain had leaned down on those in the hall with boundless pressure.
Mo Na Ye was startled and bowed, “How could I dare question you? Sir, please don’t be angry, I just want to clarify certain details which are… are very important!”
The Royal Lord stared sternly at Mo Na Ye’s eyes. He did not sense any trickery; instead, he saw the enthusiasm and sincerity which appeased the Royal Lord’s heart. If Mo Na Ye thought that he could disrespect him after he became a Pseudo-Royal Lord, then the Royal Lord did not mind putting him in his place. However, it really seemed that Mo Na Ye was trying to figure something out.
Thus, even though he was ashamed of that incident and was unwilling to revisit it, he swallowed his pride and answered, “No.”
Mo Na Ye’s expression changed slightly and then said, “If he did not pass through the Territory Gate, and attacked from the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, but before that he had appeared in various other Great Territories…”
“Furthermore, during the war in the Barren Territory, he led a group of remnants of the Human Race Army to storm the No-Return Pass and managed to break through. However, he returned alone to rescue that Dragon Clansman before escaping into the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield. Some years later, he reappeared in the 3,000 Worlds…”
In one sentence, Mo Na Ye seemed to be explaining and also muttering to himself.
The layer of fog in Mo Na Ye’s mind quickly dissipated as he looked up and said eagerly, “Sir! Yang Kai must have discovered a passage from somewhere within the 3,000 Worlds to the Black Ink Battlefield other than the one here at the No-Return Pass!”
The Royal Lord raised his eyebrows and asked curiously, “How are you so certain?”
Most of the Territory Lords were also confused, with only a few of them actively trying to figure it out for themselves.
Mo Na Ye was flabbergasted. He had already made it so clear, so why was everyone here unable to figure it out? He suddenly began to worry about their intelligence.
However, this was the sad reality of creations like the Black Ink Clan, which were not regular living beings and had instead been spawned by Black Ink Strength.
Black Ink Strength was unparalleled when it came to the ability to corrupt things and the Black Ink Clan could reproduce at speeds unmatched by other Races. However, nothing was perfect. Perhaps creation through means not deemed natural by the Heavenly Way caused their intelligence to suffer.
Mo Na Ye seemed to be a unique case in the whole Black Ink Clan.
At this moment, Mo Na Ye could only explain patiently, “Sir, Yang Kai did not pass through the Territory Gate connected to the Barren Territory back when he attacked the No-Return Pass, yet he launched that attack from the direction of Black Ink Battlefield when he should be completely isolated from the 3,000 Worlds. Doesn’t that explain everything?”
The Royal Lord pondered for a moment, and then responded, “You’re right!”
[You didn’t notice this until now!?] Mo Na Ye sighed in his heart. If he had known this information earlier, he would have deduced what Yang Kai was planning by now.
“Where is this passage then?” The Royal Lord asked, then remembered something, “Could it be in the Acacia Territory?”
The last time Yang Kai disappeared was in Acacia Territory. It would make sense if the second passage was in the Acacia Territory.
For a moment, the Royal Lord praised himself for his wisdom before frowning and rejecting this idea.
If the passage was in Acacia Territory, he could have entered the Black Ink Battlefield from Acacia Territory, but how could he return without being spotted? According to the information reported by the Black Ink Disciple, after he disappeared from the Acacia Territory, he went straight back to High Heaven Territory.
At this time, a Territory Lord boldly interjected, “This Human is proficient in the Dao of Space, and not only do we have no understanding of the Dao of Space, but the vast majority of Human Masters are also ignorant of it. Perhaps his mastery over the Dao of Space has reached a height where he discovered some means that allow him to travel freely through the boundary walls?”
Mo Na Ye gave an approving look to that Territory Lord and replied, “It is possible.”
Both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were able to speculate and imagine, like how Yang Kai managed to deduce the process of creating Pseudo-Royal Lords. Although he did not know all the details, by analyzing the available facts, he could arrive at a hypothesis that was quite close to the truth.
Likewise, the Black Ink Clan might not be the most intelligent, but they weren’t fools and could come up with reasonable theories once pushed hard enough.
In truth, Yang Kai’s mastery over the Dao of Space, no matter how profound, was still far from allowing him to freely traverse through all of space under the Heavens. He could only do what he did because he had the help of the World Tree which was connected to all Universe Worlds with intact Grand Daos.
Each such Universe World was represented by a World Fruit on the World Tree.
Yang Kai was able to establish a very close relationship with the World Tree, and he was able to use it and his mastery of the Dao of Space to arrive at the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from anywhere in the 3,000 Worlds, then from their head to any living Universe World.
If it was a dead Universe World, then Yang Kai was helpless as when a Universe World died, its World Fruit would wither and die. Hence, he could not use dead Universe Worlds to move around.
“If that’s the case, then it’s not just the Territory Lords of the Great Territory Battlefields who need to guard against Yang Kai, but also the No-Return Pass…” Mo Na Ye slowly murmured. Before he finished his sentence, he turned his head and looked in a direction where a powerful aura was approaching at an extremely terrifying speed.
“Yang Kai!” The Royal Lord stood up from his bone throne. With a flicker of his figure, he rushed out of the Grand Hall and headed straight towards the approaching aura.
Mo Na Ye hurriedly did his best to control his aura while heading to the nearest High-Rank Black Ink Nest, so as not to reveal his existence. Yang Kai, should not know that there was another Pseudo-Royal Lord here at the No-Return Pass, so he could use this to his advantage and may have an opportunity to trap Yang Kai completely.
A few moments ago, Yang Kai lurked in the void at a place 1 million kilometres outside of the No-Return Pass, staring at it as a sense of unease in his heart grew stronger.
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.