Chapter 5455, Erosion of Black Ink Strength
Translator: Silavin & Raikov

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

Yang Kai had already disappeared with Ji Lao San, so he was unable to see the glory of the Old Ancestor’s final attack. Naturally, he also had no idea that the Royal Lord at the No-Return Pass had nearly been cut in half by this shocking move.

As the sword light disappeared, so did the Old Ancestor. Only an everlasting Sword Intent remained behind, cleaving open countless cracks in the Void.

The slash also left a three-metre-long gash through the front of the Royal Lord’s chest where his flesh could be seen turning inside out from which Black Ink Strength constantly spurted. With a look of shock still on his face, the Royal Lord turned in Yang Kai’s direction and shouted through gritted teeth, “Follow him!”

In the next instant, eight Territory Lords soared towards the depths of the void in the direction Yang Kai escaped to.

The Royal Lord’s face was incredibly gloomy. Despite him personally overseeing this place, a small Human Army was still able to break through their blockade and pass through the No-Return Pass, which was a great shame to his name.

But what made him feel even more indignant was the Eighth-Order Master from earlier.

That Human was too strong. In just this battle alone, that one Eighth-Order Master had cut down six Territory Lords. The Royal Lord made a move personally to exterminate this threat, but he did not expect a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to come out to hinder him at the critical moment.

Worse yet, that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master came back and rescued the Dragon imprisoned by them in the No-Return Pass after so much difficulty, delivering another slap to his face.

In a fit of rage, the Royal Lord’s body flickered and appeared in front of Niu Niu, who had been beaten to pieces. With just a single punch, the still-defiant Ox Monster was reduced to paste.

“Wastes! All of you!” The Royal Lord roared. Even with several Territory Lords uniting their strengths, they were held up by a literal dead thing until now, which made him extremely dissatisfied with their performances.

The Territory Lords felt ashamed after being criticized, but they did not dare to retort.

At this time, a Feudal Lord came forward to give a report, “Sir Royal Lord, there’s something unusual happening to the Territory Gate on this side. Please inspect it, Sir.”

The Royal Lord’s heart clenched at those words and he turned back to look at the portal, a single glance being enough to send a chill down his spine.

He hadn’t noticed the changes in the Territory Gate before, but now that he looked over, he saw that the portal was gone!

He quickly rushed over to try and pass through the gate, but it was useless. He tried a few more times, but it still did not work. Only then did he realize that the Humans had somehow closed the Territory Gate leading to the 3,000 Worlds by some unknown means!

The Royal Lord became even more livid, and when the eight Territory Lords who had gone to chase after Yang Kai returned empty-handed, his rage reached a peak.

…..

Yang Kai had escaped from the pursuit of a Royal Lord when he was only in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so now that he was in the Eighth-Order, what could a few Territory Lords do even if they tried to catch him?

His Dragon Form made him an extremely conspicuous target, so not long after leaving the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai returned to his Human Form and wrapped Ji Lao San with his power. With a few successive Instantaneous Movements, the pair left the Territory Lords chasing them far behind.

But Yang Kai did not stop immediately and instead continued escaping towards the depths of the void.

It was not until half a month later that he found a barren Universe World to settle down on and recuperate.

While moving deeper into the Universe World, Yang Kai opened up two shelters for them and told Ji Lao San, “Rest by yourself for now. I need to heal my wounds.”

Ji Lao San nodded with a complicated expression on his face, remaining silent.

Yang Kai headed to his spot and sat down cross-legged before taking out a large handful of pills and stuffing them into his mouth.

The injuries he suffered from this battle were not light, not to mention the damage he incurred to his Soul from using four Soul Rending Thorns. As the one leading the Remnant Army, Yang Kai had stood at the vanguard, and so he was also the one who received the most pressure for the majority of the battle.

In particular, the World Force from his Small Universe was severely depleted, so he was in desperate need of time to properly recuperate.

Right now, Yang Kai no longer had complete sets of cultivation materials on hand so he could only rely on Open Heaven Pills to restore himself. Fortunately, the time flow inside of his Small Universe was seven times faster than that of the outside world, and the bustling vitality of the living beings in his Small Universe was also providing him with fresh World Force every moment.

That was why recovering was not a difficult task for him.

After a month or so, Yang Kai had just about recovered all of his depleted energy. Other than the damage to his Soul, which still required some more time to heal, he was generally fine.

The wounds on his Soul did not need him to sit in meditation to recover because he had the Soul Warming Lotus, which would automatically nourish and repair it.

Yang Kai got up and went to where Ji Lao San was resting, and when he heard the noise, Ji Lao San, who was circulating his Dragon Force and recovering his energy, opened his eyes and got up, “Many thanks for this life-saving grace, Brother Yang.”

Looking at the spirited Yang Kai, Ji Lao San could not help but recall the scene from back then when Yang Kai had just arrived at the No-Return Pass all those years ago. At that time, he still looked down on this guy and would repeatedly seek trouble with him. Who would have thought that hundreds of years later, it would be this guy who would save his life?

“I’ve troubled you this time, Brother Yang,” Ji Lao San was no longer the haughty Dragon from back then. Clearly, the shocking events at the No-Return Pass had allowed him to mature a lot.

However, it was not only those events that made him change. Yang Kai was part of it, too.

Even though Yang Kai was a Human who chanced upon a Dragon Source, allowing him to acquire a Dragon Vein, the Source he possessed was actually from the Third Generation Dragon Emperor.

This point alone made it so that no Dragon would dare to underestimate him.

Furthermore, the Dragon Clan’s Elders had intended for Yang Kai to record his name in the Dragon Tome back then at the No-Return Pass.

The Dragon Tome was a Sacred Treasure to the Dragon Clan, which had existed since their founding. It could be said to be one of the Dragon Clan’s most important possessions, on par with the Dragon Pool itself.

There were countless Dragonkin in the 3,000 Worlds, but only True Dragons who were recognised by the Dragon Clan had the qualifications to record their name in the Dragon Tome. Furthermore, Yang Kai was the first Dragonkin to become a True Dragon and gain this qualification since ancient times.

The Elders even promised to record his name with his own surname. If that truly were to happen, then a new lineage would be born in the Dragon Clan. Since the beginning of history, the feat of ancestral establishment was achieved by only three members of the Dragon Clan, resulting in the current Fu, Zhu, and Ji Families. If Yang Kai had agreed at the time, then a new Yang Bloodline would have been born in the Dragon Clan.

However, due to the Bloodline Great Oath from the ancient past, Yang Kai refused the kindness of the Elders and chose not to record his name in the Dragon Tome even though the benefits of doing so were not small…

Even without recording one’s name, Yang Kai had already become a Pureblood Dragon after advancing to become an Ancient Dragon. It could be said that there was no difference between him and Dragons like Ji Lao San, who were born and raised as Dragons. In fact, thanks to his Source, he was even more powerful.

The Dragons would not so much as spare a glance at the Dragonkin of mixed Bloodlines, but how could Ji Lao San act recklessly in front of his own kin?

Not to mention, he just received Yang Kai’s life-saving grace.

Upon hearing Ji Lao San’s words, Yang Kai knew that he had misunderstood him and tried to explain, “I didn’t return to the No-Return Pass just for you, Brother Ji. The main reason was to seal the Territory Gate.”

Ji Lao San was stunned when he heard what Yang Kai said, but then he looked delightfully surprised in realization, “The portal has been blocked?”

He had been confined this whole time and enveloped by a thick Black Ink Cloud, so he was completely oblivious to outside matters.

Yang Kai nodded, “I came from the Barren Territory and blocked the portal using my Secret Technique. The Black Ink Clan should not even think about opening the portal again unless they have a Master as skilled as me in the Dao of Space.”

Ji Lao San was ecstatic, “This way, our side only needs to take care of the enemies in the Barren Territory, and the Black Ink Clan’s plan to invade the 3,000 Worlds will be completely crushed.”

He had been in the No-Return Pass for a long time, so Ji Lao San naturally knew about the Barren Territory. Every so often, he would even use a Soul Clone to run around the Barren Territory when he was bored. Only, the Barren Territory was quite literally barren, with only the necessities left behind by the Human ancestors to wage war. Ji Lao San only went a few times before losing interest.

Rather than go to that damned place, he might as well stay in the No-Return Pass and quarrel with the Phoenixes.

With his spirits raised, Ji Lao San thought of something again and mentioned tentatively, “But blocking the Territory Gate doesn’t mean the war will end.”

Yang Kai was surprised, “Why do you say that?”

Rather than answer his question, Ji Lao San asked, “I heard that the Humans encountered an extremely ancient Master during a previous crusade called Cang?”

Yang Kai nodded.

Ji Lao San said, “Truthfully, the ancient books of the Dragon Clan do have some records about this, but only in scattered fragments. Perhaps it may have something to do with the Dragon Clan’s decline at the time.

Yang Kai nodded thoughtfully.

Based on what Cang told him back then, the Divine Spirits were active during the Primordial Era, the era in which they ruled over the vast Universe. It was just that their vicious battles against each other caused many Divine Spirits and their Clans to go extinct. By the time the Early Ancient Era arrived, it was the Monster Races that assumed dominance.

During the Early Ancient Era, Monster Beasts ran rampant and the Human Race were put in a difficult position. Under the influence of some sort of mysterious power, Cang and the other nine Martial Ancestors entered the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and with the power of the World Tree, gained enlightenment to the path to the Open Heaven Realm. It was only after this that the Human Race was able to slowly rise.

During the age when the Humans were rising up, the Divine Spirits had already begun to decline, and the Dragon Clan spent all their time in the Ancestral Land, so they did not know much about the outside world.

However, they still had some records from that time.

“Does Brother Yang Know how the Black Ink Battlefield was formed?”

Yang Kai nodded, “Senior Cang told me about it. It was the ten Martial Ancestors that carved out the battlefield.”

Ji Lao San corrected, “What they carved out was merely the Great Territories that had already been taken over by Black Ink Strength. A boundary was built between those Great Territories and those not occupied by the Black Ink Clan!”

After a pause, Ji Lao San said, “Let’s put this another way. Does Brother Yang know why the Black Ink Battlefield is so vast and expansive?”

Yang Kai said hesitantly, “I heard that it was made up of a fusion of many Great Territories.”

Ji Lao San nodded, “Exactly. Then, why did these Great Territories fuse together?”

Yang Kai’s expression changed as he realized what Ji Lao San was trying to say now.

Ji Lao San sighed, “Black Ink Strength is an extremely sinister power. Not only can it corrupt the bodies and Souls of living beings, it can even erode the boundaries between Great Territories. Once the density of Black Ink Strength reaches a certain point in a Great Territory, the boundary wall will disappear, and without that barrier, the Great Territories will naturally fuse into one.”

Yang Kai exclaimed, “The Barren Territory!”

He finally understood why Ji Lao San said blocking the portal would not end the war.

He had indeed sealed off the No-Return Pass from the Barren Territory for now, but if the boundary walls of the Barren Territory were to be eroded, then it would fuse with the Shattered Heaven. If that were to happen, the defensive line constructed by the Humans in the Barren Territory would become meaningless.

Ji Lao San went on, “You don’t have to worry too much though, Brother Yang. Even though the Black Ink Clan is strong right now, without any supplies, it will become difficult for them to produce more members or Black Ink Strength. The Barren Territory is not small by any means, so it would be unfeasible for the Black Ink Clan to try and erode the boundary walls using just the Black Ink Strength available to them. I’m only telling you this in case you suffer a loss due to something similar happening in the future.”

Yang Kai nodded, “Many thanks for the lesson!”

Ji Lao San added, “Besides, if I know about this, then the Elders of my Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan should know about it too. They will take the necessary precautions. No matter what, the Black Ink Clan has already lost half the battle since the Territory Gate has been blocked by you, Brother Yang.”