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MARTIAL PEAK 5437

Under normal circumstances, there were only two criteria for a veteran Eighth Order master to be evaluated. The first was that Small Universe's foundation needed to reach a certain level.

Generally, after advancing to the Eighth Order, one would not be considered a veteran Eighth Order master for at least two thousand years after being promoted.

Two thousand years was enough for an Eighth Order to stabilize his foundation and display the strength of an Eighth Order Open Heaven.

The other point was the experience of fighting against enemies.

No matter how strong one's foundation was, if one didn't have the experience to fight an enemy, they would eventually be unable to display their full strength.

In the Ink Battlefield, aside from a few newly promoted Eighth Order Human Race masters, most of them were veteran Eighth Order masters. After advancing to the Eighth Order, they would cultivate and fight with the Black Ink Clan, tempering their strength and control in battle, so there was no way they would be unable to display their full strength.

Yang Kai was an exception.

He had broken through to the Eighth Order in the River of Time and cultivated for two thousand years before breaking out.

After leaving the Celestial Phenomenon Sea, Yang Kai immediately engaged in a great battle with the Goathead Royal Lord and killed him, but in that battle, there was a great disparity in strength, forcing Yang Kai to use his full strength and even activating the Soul Shattering Spike four times in a row, causing him to lose consciousness. In the end, he didn't even know how he had killed the other party and when he woke up, he found himself holding the Goathead Royal Lord's head.

This time was different.

The strength of a Territory Lord-level Black Ink Clan master was neither too strong nor too weak for him, so it was perfect for him to use as a whetstone.

After killing two Territory Lords in a row, he was not in a hurry to kill the third Territory Lord. Instead, he used the remaining Territory Lords' strength to familiarize himself with his explosive strength.

This was especially true for the many Dao forces that had been absorbed and refined in the Celestial Phenomenon Sea. By polishing them in a fierce battle, it would allow them to become more refined and more flexible.

It was precisely because of this that the Tusk Territory Lord could feel the power Yang Kai was displaying becoming stronger, because Yang Kai currently controlled too many Daos power, so much so that he was unable to fully display this power.

He desperately needed a battle like this.

That was why he had chosen to kill those two Territory Lords at the risk of being injured.

Half a day later, the Tusk Territory Lord felt a sense of despair. From the beginning of this battle, they had been evenly matched, but now, he had fallen into a disadvantageous position and was slowly walking towards the abyss.

His heart filled with bitterness.

Now that the situation had been reversed, Yang Kai's attacks were neither fast nor slow, continuing to temper his strength while the Tusk Territory Lord fought with his life on the line. He knew that the longer this battle dragged on, the stronger the enemy would become, and when he reached his limit, it would be time for him to make the move.

However, when it came to fighting, sometimes it wasn't as simple as risking one's life.

Half a day later, the Tusk Territory Lord's aura had become incredibly weak and his body was covered in wounds of various sizes. Black blood and Ink Force leaked from his wounds and his aura had almost fallen below the Territory Lord's.

At this moment, he was quite envious of his two companions. At the very least, they had simply died.

On the other hand, he feels like his flesh had been cut by a blunt knife and he had to endure the torture of his body and mind.

Knowing that his death was certain, the Tusk Territory Lord gave up on defending and rushed towards Yang Kai.

A dozen or so breaths later, a long spear stabbed into his eye socket, causing many Daos force to explode, turning his head into a paste. The Tusk Territory Lord's fierce face gradually calmed down, a look of relief appearing on his face as his eyes dimmed.

Yang Kai drew his spear and frowned slightly, somewhat dissatisfied with his current strength.

Putting aside the time he fought with the Goathead Royal Lord, at the end of that battle, he had completely lost consciousness and could only rely on his physical body instinct to kill the enemy.

In his battle with these three Territory Lords, Yang Kai had realized his shortcomings.

When he was at the Seventh Order, he could crush anyone in the same realm. No matter how powerful a Feudal Lord was, in front of him, they were like children, unable to fight back.

However, now that he had reached the Eighth Order, it was difficult for him to display the glory of the Seventh Order.

In order to quickly kill the Charming Territory Lord and the Bird Claw Territory Lord, Yang Kai had paid a great price, not to mention the Tusk Territory Lord in the end. Although he had tempered his own strength, it was still somewhat unsatisfactory to spend so much time to kill him.

According to the information he had obtained from the expedition, these three Black Ink Clan Territory Lords could all be considered Innate Territory Lords, born directly from the Royal Lord-level Ink Nest. Compared to the powerful Black Ink Clan Territory Lords who had been promoted through cultivation, they were all considered as Innate Territory Lords.

This was already the strongest strength of the Black Ink Clan's Territory Lord.

In other words, the current him could be said to be invincible amongst his peers, but he was far from being able to crush them!

However, on second thought, he had only cultivated for two thousand years after breaking through to the Eighth Order, so his Small Universe's foundation had not yet reached its limit. When he reached the peak of the Eighth Order, it should not be a problem for him to suppress his peers.

In addition, he also noticed his biggest problem.

There were too many Dao Realm to control!

In order to escape from the Celestial Phenomenon Sea, he had no choice but to absorb the undercurrents to enhance his mastery of these Great Daos.

He had refined and absorbed too many undercurrents and had made great achievements in many different Great Daos. With so many Dao Realm under his control, he was able to use many techniques against his enemies, which was a good thing.

However, Yang Kai found it difficult to coordinate all of these Dao Realms. Simply put, the Dao Realms he controlled were too complex, and when he used them, there would often be a situation where they countered each other.

Yang Kai had a faint feeling that if he could combine all these Dao Realms together, his strength would undergo a tremendous change.

However, he could only think about such things. Although he did have some attainments in the Dao Realm now, compared to the Space, Time and Spear Dao he mainly cultivated, they were far inferior. Before completely comprehending the true mysteries of these Dao Realms, it was easier said than done.

His main Dao of Space and Time had just shown signs of converging.

Shaking his head to dispel these distracting thoughts, Yang Kai turned his head towards a certain direction and after a moment of silence, he said, "Come out."

Under the cover of the messy battlefield before, several figures walked out and stared at him with complicated and shocked expressions.

In the battle just now, they had witnessed a powerful Innate Territory Lord being tortured to death, which had given them quite a shock.

"Great Evolution Yang Kai greets everyone!" Yang Kai bowed.

When he was fighting with the Tusk Territory Lord, Yang Kai had already noticed that there were people watching from nearby. These people weren't very strong and there weren't many of them, they should have been attracted by the battle here.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to not have noticed them on his way here.

However, the intruder had been hiding nearby and had no intention of showing themselves, so Yang Kai was unable to distinguish between friend and foe.

Only now did he confirm that these people were humans!

"It's Senior Brother Yang!" One of the human race Seventh Order masters in the middle was overjoyed when he heard Yang Kai announce his identity.

Originally, they were worried that this Eighth Order Open Heaven master who had killed the Black Ink Clan's Territory Lord would be corroded by the Ink Force. After all, his body was also covered in a black aura, so even if Yang Kai killed the Tusk Territory Lord, they would not show themselves.

But now, this concern had disappeared.

Yang Kai's name had spread far and wide across the various mountain passes, and all human cultivators knew that he was the one who had brought the Light of Purification and was not afraid of the corrosion of the Ink Force.

Anyone could be turned into Black Ink Disciples, but not Yang Kai.

The others also showed looks of joy and quickly approached Yang Kai. After seeing his face, they finally confirmed his identity.

Yang Kai also felt that the person who spoke was somewhat familiar, and after a quick glance, he hesitantly said, "You're the Senior Brother guarding the Space Array."

He had been to Azure Void Pass several times before, so he had naturally seen the few Seventh Order masters guarding the Space Array. This person in front of him was one of them.

The Seventh Order master seemed to be crying tears of joy as he sobbed, "Sun Mao greets Senior Brother Yang."

Yang Kai's eyes swept over the crowd and his expression became gloomy, "Azure Void Pass… is it just the few of you?"

Sun Mao calmed himself down and replied, "There are also a few fellow disciples who are hiding outside. We noticed the commotion and came to investigate."

"How many?" Yang Kai asked.

Sun Mao said bitterly, "Less than a thousand…"

Yang Kai's face twitched slightly as his heart felt like it was being stabbed by a knife.

As a normal mountain pass, Azure Void Pass should have around thirty thousand troops stationed here, similar to Blue Sky Pass. After taking down the Black Ink Clan's King City in the Azure Void War Zone, they should have suffered some losses, but during the expedition, there were at least twenty thousand troops.

Of the twenty thousand troops, only less than a thousand remained. The death of their Old Ancestor was a tragic sight.

"Senior Brother Yang, is there still a Black Ink Clan in the pass?" Sun Mao asked again.

Yang Kai shook his head and said, "I haven't checked carefully, but I don't think so."

The three hidden Territory Lords had all been killed. If there was still the Black Ink Clan, they would definitely have appeared.

Sun Mao immediately let out a sigh of relief, "This time, there's hope for Garrison Chief Huang and my fellow disciples."

Yang Kai frowned, "What do you mean?"

Sun Mao explained, "General Chief Huang and some of the fellow disciples are currently suffering from the corrosion of the Ink Force, and the Expelling Black Ink Pills have been used up. Although they have been suppressing the Ink Force, without the Expelling Black Ink Pills and the Light of Purification, it is impossible to disperse it. Previously, the Garrison Chief had brought people here to snatch the Expelling Black Ink Battleship that was left here, but after they left, there was no news of them, so they probably encountered some kind of accident."

Many of the thousand or so people who had gathered here had been corroded by the Ink Force and had been suppressing the Ink Force in their bodies for many years. Every once in a while, some of them would be unable to withstand it and die.

In the battle two hundred years ago, not only had Azure Void Pass been destroyed, the Human Race's supplies had also been nearly cut off, and even the Expelling Black Ink Pill and Evil-Breaking Divine Lance had been used up.

Although there were Alchemists, without materials, it would be difficult to refine pills.

Garrison Chief Huang's strength was as high as an Eighth Order master, so he was still able to resist the corrosion of the Ink Force for a few more years, but if it was too long, it would be difficult for him to persist.

Right now, the only thing that could save them was the Expelling Black Ink Battleship left behind in the pass. The Expelling Black Ink Battleship might still have a purifying light inside it, so only by taking back the Expelling Black Ink Battleship would they be able to survive.

TO BE CONTINUED