Martial Peak

The air was filled with endless, chaotic Dao Essence. It was as if Grand Dao had shattered in this area. Both Space and Tseemed blurred.

This was what it was like inside the Universe Furnace. It was an expansive World that was mysterious and unimaginable.

Yang Kai traversed through the void as he used his Great Sun and Moon Marks to locate the nine Open Heaven Pills. He was also familiarising himself with the environment.

He did not know much about the Universe Furnace, but based on what he experienced, he was able to confirm that the opportunity from the Universe Furnace was found inside it.

Thus, he surmised that both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan would send a large number of Masters into the Universe Furnace, and Mo Na Ye, who was caught inside the Universe Furnace’s projection with him, would have probably entered the Universe Furnace World by now.

Yang Kai raised his brow ever so slightly. He was determined to give Mo Na Ye a hard tif their paths crossed. Had it been any other time, Yang Kai would not be able to hold his own against Mo Na Ye, but back when they were in the Universe Furnace projection, he had given Mo Na Ye a heavy beating, so it remained to be seen whether the latter could even wield a third of his power. If they did run into each other, Yang Kai might even be able to kill Mo Na Ye!

Alas, the Universe Furnace World seemed endless. It would not be easy to run into Mo Na Ye.

Yang Kai quieted his thoughts and continued surveying the Universe Furnace World.

He thought that this Sealed World would be empty on the inside; after all, this was merely the space inside the Universe Furnace. It did not experience the changes of the Heavenly Way like the many Great Territories outside. There was nothing but chaotic and disorderly Dao Essence inside this place, so what could possibly exist here?

However, as Yang Kai travelled through the Universe Furnace World, he realised how mistaken he was.

Exceptional scenery was found inside the Universe Furnace.

Mysterious sights could be found wherever the chaotic and disorderly Dao Essence gathered. These scenes could rarely be seen outside, and they were similar to the many Celestial Phenomena he had seen deep within the Black Ink Battlefield.

The largest of all these was a great river!

Yang Kai did not know where the Great River started or where it ended. It meandered on and on, and Yang Kai followed it as he observed the Universe Furnace World around him.

However, he had been travelling for three days and crossed a few billion kilometres already, yet the end of the river was nowhere in sight.

The great river was brimming with the chaotic Shattered Dao Essence. It seemed to be made entirely out of it, the kind that was impossible for cultivators to absorb and refine.

To Yang Kai’s even greater shock, strange living beings existed inside the great river.

When he first encountered the great river, he had approached it out of curiosity as he wanted to check what it was, but soon, he was attacked by an unidentifiable monster.

It was hard to describe the monster as, not only did it not have a fixed form, but even its presence was difficult to sense. It seemed to be one with the great river as Yang Kai did not detect it at all before it attacked him.

Even its strength was hard to ascertain; but fortunately, Yang Kai had his guard up the whole tsince he was in an unfamiliar environment, allowing him to avoid the attack.

After Yang Kai’s abrupt encounter with this monster, he wanted to catch it and study it close up. A bout of intense fighting took place, but even though he managed to overpower the monster, it swiftly dove into the great river and vanished completely.

It was as if it had only been a wave that rippled out of the strange great river or a part of the river itself…

Following that encounter, Yang Kai made a few more probes and was finally able to confirm that unending dangers were hidden inside the seemingly peaceful great river. Those peculiar monsters were easily found everywhere as well.

[I can’t believe that such a peculiar living thing can be found inside the Universe Furnace!]

To avoid wasting time, Yang Kai did not enter the Great River again to do his inspection. He merely followed it.

Three days later, Yang Kai cacross a strange scene. He looked up and saw a massive mountain range with towering peaks cutting through the void in front of him.

Yang Kai was awed by the fact that such things could be seen inside the Universe Furnace. Not only did he cacross the great river that began and ended beyond his sight, but he was also now staring at a colossal mountain range.

[The mysteries of the Universe Furnace are far greater than I thought.]

He used his Great Sun and Moon Marks to see if he picked up on anything, but he did not. In other words, the nine top-quality Open Heaven Pills were not within his detectable range.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Yang Kai began heading towards the mountain range.

He knew too little about the Universe Furnace, so it was better for him to familiarise himself with his surroundings above all else.

Just like the great river that seemed to span the entire Universe Furnace World, the mountain range seemed perfectly ordinary when observed from a distance. However, upon closer inspection, Yang Kai realised that the mountain range was also made up of bountiful Shattered Dao Essence. It appeared to balance between the line of something that was material and immaterial.

[The great river was hto those strange monsters, so what about this mountain range?]

Divine Sense seemed to be severely hindered in this place, so even someone of Yang Kai’s calibre could not examine much further than his immediate surroundings. He experienced this firsthand when he scouted inside the great river, and it seemed to be caused by the interference from the Shattered Dao Essence.

Yang Kai moved around without finding anything useful, so he was just about to leave when he cto an abrupt halt and looked into the distance.

He noticed skind of energy fluctuations coming from somewhere up ahead.

[There’s a fight happening over there!]

Yang Kai raised his brow and immediately dashed over. Soon, he saw the two parties engaged in a fight.

He was a little startled to find that neither one of the two was a friendly party to him. One was from the Black Ink Clan, and from the looks of his aura, he was a Feudal Lord. The other was one of the strange monsters that Yang Kai had encountered at the great river earlier. 

[I didn’t think they’d be found in this mountain range either.]

It had been difficult for Yang Kai to determine the power of the monsters he encountered at the Great River, and the sapplied to this one as well. Even though he could not detect any form of formidable power inside this monster, it was able to hold its own against a Feudal Lord and was even beginning to overpower him.

The monster did not have a fixed physical form. It was mysteriously able to transform into various shapes as the Shattered Dao Essence that formed its body kept flowing and moving about. It made the monster look like a mass of flowing water.

Shattered Dao Essence kept shooting out of its body and turning into streaks of bizarre attacks that made the Feudal Lord back away in defeat.

It was clear that the Feudal Lord had realised he could not defeat the monster, so after a brief tussle, he began showing signs of retreat. He began channelling Black Ink Strength and with a flicker of his body, a Black Ink Cloud exploded out of him before enveloping the monster. He used this distraction to flee at once.

However, he had not gotten very far when the space around him suddenly solidified and he felt a tight grip around his neck as someone effortlessly locked him in place.

The Feudal Lord was petrified as he turned around and looked right into a grinning face.

[A Human! An Eighth-Order Master!]

A terrifying nimmediately popped up in the Feudal Lord’s head and he all but shrieked, “Yang Kai!”

His heart grew cold. He never would have thought he would be this unlucky. He had only just entered the Universe Furnace when he was attacked by that strange monster, and before he could even make a proper escape, he was caught by the Human killing star!

[How am I going to make it out of here alive?]

“Oh? You recognise me?” Yang Kai looked at the Feudal Lord with a smile before gently setting him down. He did not do anything to restrain the Feudal Lord, but the latter just stood in front of him in total submission without having even the guts to move.

The Feudal Lord knew that whether it was fighting back or running away, both were absolutely impossible in front of this Human Race Master who held the record for the most Black Ink Clan Masters killed. He nodded bitterly in response to Yang Kai’s question, “Of course I recognise you, Sir Yang Kai.”

Yang Kai nodded. His encounter with this Feudal Lord confirmed his earlier suspicion. The opportunity from the Universe Furnace would need to be found inside the Universe Furnace. Since the Black Ink Clan had entered, then the Humans would have cin as well; however, it was far too vast inside the Universe Furnace and the chaotic Dao Essence continued to cause interference with one’s Divine Sense, so it would not be easy to run into the other Humans.

[It’s just as well. I need someone who can tellabout the situation outside.]

As such, he swiftly said, “Since you recognise me, let’s not waste any time. Answer a few of my questions and I’ll make sure your end is painless.”

The Feudal Lord’s expression beceven more bitter and melancholic, [I knew it. No good will cout of running into the killing star. I won’t be leaving with my life…] 

Since he was going to die either way, he decided to ignore Yang Kai.

Yang Kai saw right through his thoughts and coolly remarked, “After so many years of war, with both sides going all out to kill each other, you from the Black Ink Clan have probably never seen what Humans can truly do. For instance, I have a method called Soul Extraction and Refinement. Death is not the most painful end out there. There are many fates that are far worse than death!”

As he spoke, Yang Kai stretched his hand out towards the Feudal Lord’s head, and with a flicker of his Divine Sense, he ripped through the protection around the latter’s Soul.

Yang Kai withdrew his hand a moment later, but the Feudal Lord had crumpled to the ground and was trembling violently. His eyes refused to close as they nearly bulged out of their sockets. He had just experienced pain and suffering so terrifying he had never even conceived of it before now.

What he felt for just the briefest moment was enough for him to understand what Yang Kai meant by ‘a fate worse than death’.

“I’ll ask and you’ll answer! You know what’ll happen to you if you lie toor attempt to hide anything,” Yang Kai commanded as he looked down at the Feudal Lord.

The Feudal Lord nodded frantically. He dared not disobey Yang Kai any more.

“What’s the situation like outside?”

“I don’t know…” The Feudal Lord shook his head. His expression was timid as he said, “I cin from the entrance on the Barren Territory so I don’t know what’s happening on the other battlefields.”

This was also why he recognised Yang Kai right away. Since he cfrom the Barren Territory, he would have been stationed at the No-Return Pass not long ago, and Yang Kai had been loitering around outside the No-Return Pass for the past many years. The Feudal Lord had seen Yang Kai from a distance when the latter wreaked havoc at the No-Return Pass a while back.

Yang Kai frowned, “How many from the Black Ink Clan entered from the Barren Territory?”

“I don’t know exactly how many, but we had between 5 and 8 million clansmen at the Barren Territory, and once the entrance solidified, everyone cin as ordered by Sir Royal Lord.”