Martial Peak

Since the birth of the vast Universe, there have been three important eras in history. The Primordial Era where the Divine Spirits ruled over everything under the Heavens, the Early Ancient Era where the Monster Race trod the lands freely, and the Late Ancient Era where the Human Race rose to dominance. Each era had thousands upon thousands of wonderful chapters, and each one represented the favourite of the Heavenly Way at the time.

As a Race that represented an era, each of them had their unique characteristics. For the Monster Race, their biggest advantage was their strong physical bodies, keen perception, and diverse clans.

Thunder Shadow was the Monster Self created by Yang Kai using the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art, but since birth, he had been living in Myriad Monster World, filled with ancient aura. He grew up in an environment where they obeyed the law of the jungle. Furthermore, he cultivated the Monster Race’s Primal Art, which could be said to be no different from the Great Monsters of the Early Ancient Era. The only difference was the era they lived in.

Thunder Shadow was actually very strong; otherwise, he would not be able to fight against so many Territory Lords alone. Only, Yang Kai’s true body was just so strong that his light covered the sharpness of his claws.

It was only through innate keen perception that Thunder Shadow was able to alert Yang Kai before the latter noticed anything unusual.

A Pseudo-Royal Lord was chasing them, and since the two of them were not his opponent, they had no choice but to leave first.

However, just as Yang Kai was about to make his escape using his Space Principles, he suddenly changed his mind, though he still activated his Space Principles, shifting the Void slightly around him…

Seeing this, the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was chasing after him panicked and slammed a palm out at Yang Kai’s location from afar, not caring whether or not he could even stop the latter with this blow.

There was no way for him to not panic; after all, he received news from several Territory Lords telling him that they had discovered an Open Heaven Pill, but a Monster Race leopard was keeping them at bay, making it difficult for them to get their hands on it. The leopard was strong, and he also heard that it seemed to be one of Monster Race’s Great Emperors from the Myriad Monster World called Thunder Shadow.

This was not because the Black Ink Clan had a strong intelligence network, but mainly because Thunder Shadow had been baring his fangs too fiercely since descending the mountain and had even killed several Territory Lords. Thus, his existence was recorded by the top members of the Black Ink Clan.

The Pseudo-Royal Lord was always looking over the No-Return Pass, and even though he was usually engrossed with fighting against Mo Na Ye for power, for many years, he had not made much progress. As he could not gain the Royal Lord’s attention, he could only check for more information around the place and return to report.

Coincidentally, this Pseudo-Royal Lord was the third Pseudo-Royal Lord of the Black Ink Clan, Meng Que!

The first Pseudo-Royal Lord to be created by the Black ink Clan was Di Wu, who was killed by Yang Kai at the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. The second was Mo Na Ye, and Meng Que was the third.

Compared with Di Wu’s vigour and Mo Na Ye’s intellect, the third Pseudo-Royal Lord remained obscure. Without even mentioning the Humans, even the Black Ink Clan knew very little about his existence despite him being active for over 1,000 years, which made him depressed.

That was the reason why Meng Que had been wanting to do something big, something to promote himself and to establish his position. The best he could hope for was to trample Mo Na Ye under his foot…

Unfortunately, the Royal Lord never gave him a chance, and before he even had the tto show his strengths, the Universe Furnace cinto existence.

Due to the large outpour of Innate Territory Lords from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, who brought many High-Rank Black Ink Nests with them, the Black Ink Clan now had more than enough resources to create more Pseudo-Royal Lords. Thus, the Royal Lord decisively gathered all the veteran Innate Territory Lords who were in good condition to create a large batch of Pseudo-Royal Lords.

Originally, Meng Que and Mo Na Ye were the only Pseudo-Royal Lords, so he only needed to focus on Mo Na Ye in their battle of wits and courage. Even if he was largely unknown, Meng Que was still the left or right arm of the Royal Lord, but with the increase in their Pseudo-Royal Lords, his presence becinsignificant.

So, when he received a message from several Territory Lords that an Open Heaven Pill was discovered, he rushed over without delay.

That Open Heaven Pill was the greatest opportunity for the Humans. As long as he could get it and destroy it, then he could prevent the Humans from gaining another Ninth-Order Master. Such a great feat would be enough to make him stand out among all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords.

However, when Meng Que arrived, he discovered that the Territory Lords had all been killed; all that was left behind was a large amount of Black Ink Strength from their deaths. Furthermore, the rumoured Open Heaven Pill was nowhere to be found.

Following the faint traces left behind, Meng Que pursued the culprits until he happened upon Yang Kai!

There was also a small black leopard crouching on Yang Kai’s shoulder…

Instantly, Meng Que realized that Yang Kai must undoubtedly be the one who killed those Territory Lords, and the missing Open Heaven Pill must have fallen into his hands.

Meng Que was overjoyed. Snatching an Open Heaven Pill was a great enough achievement as it was, but if he could take advantage of this situation to cull Yang Kai, then his position in the Black Ink Clan would definitely rise beyond Mo Na Ye’s. When that tcame, he would stand under Mo alone and above all his other clansmen.

After all, Mo Na Ye had been fighting with Yang Kai for so many years but still failed to deal with him; instead, the Black Ink Clan suffered a lot from that struggle. They had lost not only resources but also many Masters along the way.

If Meng Que could kill Yang Kai, then would that not be proof enough that he was superior to Mo Na Ye?

But soon, Meng Que remembered that killing Yang Kai was no easy task. This Human was indeed not as strong as he was, but he was proficient in the Dao of Space and unparalleled when it cto escaping. Even a Royal Lord could do nothing to Yang Kai if the latter was determined to flee. If he were to run away here, then where was he supposed to go to look for him?

In a panic, Meng Que threw out a palm from afar.

Space Principles surged, turning the local space upside down, but the instant when Yang Kai’s body was about to disappear, the palm cdown just in time. Yang Kai sprayed out a mist of blood from his mouth and turned over to glare at Meng Que, who had attacked him from behind with hatred in his eyes. Space Principles surged once more, with his figure blurred.

Meng Que shouted anxiously, “Coward! Don’t run!”

But it was to no avail, he could only watch as Yang Kai disappeared without a trace. He instantly felt chagrined beyond words, realizing he had acted too hastily. If he had known this would happen, he would have snuck over quietly and taken Yang Kai down in one swoop instead of announcing his presence.

However, for a Pseudo-Royal Lord like him who had to rely on the Black Ink Clan’s Source Fusion Technique, it was impossible to perfectly control his own power, meaning his aura could not be hidden and stealth was not an option.

The auras of Pseudo-Royal Lords like him were always on in a striking display wherever they went, just like fireflies in the night…

He searched everywhere by instinct to try and find Yang Kai, but soon, Meng Que was taken aback for a moment before rushing in a certain direction.

He was actually able to find Yang Kai’s location! This time, his target’s Instantaneous Movement did not take him too far away. Meng Que had no idea whether it was due to the hit he managed to land earlier or because of this special environment, but no matter what the reason was, this situation was favourable to him.

In that direction, Yang Kai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and focused on flying forward.

On his shoulder, Thunder Shadow watched him with narrowed eyes and curiously asked, “You’re not this pathetic, are you? What are you trying to do?”

He had clearly caught on to sclues. If Yang Kai truly intended to leave just now, then there was no way he would have allowed Meng Que’s palm to hit him. In other words, the current situation was all part of Yang Kai’s plans.

“You and I are of one mind, so why don’t you give it a guess?” Yang Kai laughed.

Thunder Shadow curled its lips, “I can’t be bothered. What’s more, you should understand that though I am born from a part of your Soul, reborn as your Monster Self, my living environment and experiences since young have been very different from yours, so my character and temperament are different from yours, the true body.”

Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Naturally, I know that, but fundamentally, you still originated from me, so you should be able to guess what I’m thinking. Don’t be lazy to use your head just because you’re born a Monster.”

Thunder Shadow snorted and said after a moment, “Are you baiting him?”

Yang Kai nodded and his expression turned serious, “To compete with the Humans for the Universe Furnace’s opportunity, the Black Ink Clan have created many Pseudo-Royal Lords. We would be safe even if we were to face a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but if we shook him off, he would surely go find others instead, and they may not be able to deal with him. So, if I can lead him around, it will at least stop him from starting trouble with someone else instead.”

Thunder Shadow nodded, “The Black Ink Clan have indeed spent a lot of their resources. Currently, the Innate Territory Lords outside have all been re-called to the No-Return Pass, most likely for the creation of Pseudo-Royal Lords.”

Yang Kai sighed, “Many Innate Territory Lords have also cout from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, which gives the Black Ink Clan the confidence to make such a gamble. Those Innate Territory Lords are all injured and would not be of great use to them for the tbeing, but as long as they recuperate for 100 to 200 years, then they should be back to peak condition.”

After a pause, Yang Kai turned his head to look at the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was chasing after him, “This guy should not be a newly created Pseudo-Royal Lord. If I’m not mistaken, he should be the one who was hiding in the No-Return Pass all this time.”

Even though a Pseudo-Royal Lord was unable to exert the full power of a Royal Lord, as long as they lived for long enough, they could slowly gain more control over their strength, allowing them to display more of it.

The palm from just now was very close in strength to what Mo Na Ye could display, so this was clearly not a new Pseudo-Royal Lord.

Combine that with the warning signs he felt outside of the No-Return Pass, it was not surprising for Yang Kai to have such a guess.

On his shoulder, Thunder Shadow intertwined his aura closely with Yang Kai’s so that he could help the latter save senergy as he used Space Principles to move.

It was only because Thunder Shadow was Yang Kai’s Monster Self that they could act in concert in such a way. Anyone else would not be able to achieve such a seamless blending of auras.

Behind them, Meng Que was chasing after the pair without pause, constantly closing the distance with Yang Kai using his superior strength and speed. However, every the reached a certain limit, Yang Kai would disappear with Instantaneous Movement, appearing at the edge of Meng Que’s perception, and the loop would continue.

If Mo Na Ye was here, with his intelligence, he would surely have noticed something by now, but Meng Que was far worse in comparison to Mo Na Ye when it cto wits, so not only was he not alerted to Yang Kai’s plans, he becenraged instead and was even more determined to kill Yang Kai.

Though one could say that Meng Que could not best Mo Na Ye in terms of wisdom, one could also say that his understanding of Yang Kai was far inferior. Thus, Meng Que was consumed by his emotions so the feeling of closing the distance repeatedly only to see Yang Kai slip away was extremely irritating.

The pair continued their chase through the void with Yang Kai probing around in all directions at every moment.

For him, his intentions were not only to keep this Pseudo-Royal Lord on his tail to prevent him causing trouble to his allies. His true goal was to find someone who could help him turn the situation around so he could kill his pursuer.

Facing such a Pseudo-Royal Lord, Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow were not his opponents even if they combined their strength, but as long as they could find three more Eighth-Order Masters to form a Five Elements Formation, then it would be enough to contend with Meng Que.