Martial Peak

Chapter 5723: Purely by Accident

Yang Kai did not know how the Open Heaven Pills that could help cultivators break through their innate shackles were formed, but the Universe Furnace was bound to contain various mysteries. Things would not end well for him if he was dragged into the Universe Furnace just like that.

After realising the precarious situation looming over him, he immediately began drawing upon his strength in desperation to break free from the connection between himself and the Universe Furnace. Nevertheless, his efforts were in vain. The invisible and intangible rope bound him tightly. The force that came from the other end of the rope was so overpowering that even a Master at the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm like him was powerless to resist.

Space Principles flared, causing the Void to become extremely distorted, but to his astonishment, he discovered that a vortex had appeared at the place where he was standing. Immediately after that, his figure was rapidly swallowed up and vanished out of sight!

At the last moment, only one thought flashed through his mind… [I haven’t killed Mo Na Ye yet!]

A wave of sorrow flooded his heart. He had persevered with so much effort, and if nothing unexpected had occurred, Mo Na Ye would not have survived. Unfortunately, Mo Na Ye was saved because his own future had become uncertain due to the Universe Furnace.

A great sense of resentment and reluctance filled Yang Kai’s heart. He would have been much more accepting if he had been dragged into the Universe Furnace after he succeeded in killing Mo Na Ye.

[Forget it. Even though I failed to kill Mo Na Ye, I did manage to eliminate many Innate Territory Lords. I’ve done my best.] Yang Kai felt much better after comforting himself with such words.

The unexpected turn of events inside the Universe Furnace’s projection occurred extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai vanished without warning. The bloodstained and dishevelled Mo Na Ye was desperately shifting his body to avoid the attacks caused by the layers of folded Space when the chaotic and oscillating Space suddenly calmed down. Even the ubiquitous murderous intent around him disappeared in an instant.

Mo Na Ye was stunned for a moment; then, he turned to look in Yang Kai’s direction only to find that the latter was gone. Be that as it may, he did not dare to relax his guard and remained cautious of his surroundings.

Nothing abnormal occurred even though a long time had passed though, so he couldn’t help sending out an inquiry via Divine Sense, “Sir Royal Lord, where is Yang Kai?”

Mo Yu frowned and briefly explained the events that took place just now. The truth was that he had not understood the reason behind Yang Kai’s disappearance either, he only saw a vortex inexplicably appearing where Yang Kai was standing. Immediately after that, Yang Kai was swallowed by the vortex and vanished without a trace.

Mo Na Ye was astonished, [Yang Kai was swallowed by a vortex that appeared out of nowhere? Is it some sort of trickery? If that’s the case, then he must be hiding somewhere in this Space. It’s just that nobody in the Black Ink Clan can detect his whereabouts.]

But, what was the point of doing that? The Space within the projection was sealed by a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Grand Array, so Yang Kai couldn’t leave this place and his whereabouts would be revealed once the Universe Furnace’s illusory phantom completely solidified.

Besides, Yang Kai clearly looked determined to kill him and was on the verge of success. So, there’s no reason for Yang Kai to create further disturbances at a time like this.

Inside this weird space within the projection, there was nothing Mo Na Ye could do to defend against Yang Kai’s attacks. As long as Yang Kai persisted for a little longer, Mo Na Ye would have died without a doubt. By that logic, it made more sense that something happened which caused Yang Kai to be swallowed by that strange vortex rather than him voluntarily giving up on all his accumulated efforts.

Mo Na Ye racked his brains but could not fathom the reason behind Yang Kai’s actions. The Black Ink Clan’s understanding of the Universe Furnace was far too shallow, so much so that he couldn’t even be certain whether Yang Kai was still hiding inside the projection at this moment.

After pondering in silence for some time, he finally spoke once more, “Sir, the Universe Furnace is about to truly emerge. The real war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan is imminent. You need to return so that you can protect the No-Return Pass and coordinate the movements of the Black Ink Clan!”

Mo Yu nodded lightly, “What about you…”

Mo Na Ye gave a light smile, “Please don’t worry. If Yang Kai wanted to kill me, he would not have given up just now. Since he stopped halfway, he must have other plans. This subordinate will act accordingly, but just to be on the safe side, we should maintain the Grand Array around the perimeter lest he try to escape. It will also give this subordinate more capital to negotiate with him if he reappears.”

Mo Yu had no objections to Mo Na Ye’s suggestions, so he instructed the Territory Lords in charge of maintaining the Grand Array to remain behind and heed Mo Na Ye’s orders. Then, he studied the projection intently for a moment before he transformed into a streak of black light that sped off in the direction of the No-Return Pass.

The No-Return Pass was the Black Ink Clan’s largest base, and all the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were currently sheltered there. Although Royal Lord Mo Yu had personally come to deal with Yang Kai during this incident, he could not afford to stay away for too long lest the Human Race Masters took advantage of his absence.

Watching the Royal Lord disappearing into the distance, Mo Na Ye sat down cross-legged and glanced around him, “Brother Yang, the Royal Lord has left. Can you show yourself so that we can have a good talk? Now that things have come to this, there’s no point in hiding anymore, right?”

He had the feeling that Yang Kai was no longer here, but he could not be certain. Nevertheless, he could not understand the situation. Where could Yang Kai have gone if he wasn’t here? What was the vortex that swallowed him?

In any case, Mo Na Ye had to consider all the possible scenarios. Assuming that Yang Kai was hiding somewhere, then he had to try and make contact. 

Naturally, he couldn’t receive a response…

Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s illusory phantom that filled the entire void at each projection appeared for no more than two or three breaths of time before vanishing without warning and the abnormal situation was swiftly reported to the Supreme Headquarters.

Mi Jing Lun, Xiang Shan, and Blood Crow gathered together to discuss the situation in hopes of figuring out what happened. After ruling out the various possibilities, only one answer remained before them: Yang Kai had made contact with the Universe Furnace’s true body!

All the projections originated from the Universe Furnace’s true body, which meant that the Universe Furnace’s true body was the source of everything. Seeing as Yang Kai’s illusory phantom had appeared at each projection at the same time, then the phenomenon was definitely related to the Universe Furnace’s true body.

If Thunder Shadow Great Emperor in Azure Sun Territory could figure this out, then it was only natural for Mi Jing Lun and the others to reach the same conclusion.

For a time, they looked exuberant. Throughout history, nobody had ever learned the location of the Universe Furnace’s true body or even seen it before. At present, it had not been long since the Universe Furnace’s projection appeared. Both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were waiting for the projections to solidify and transform into entrances, yet Yang Kai seemed to have gotten into contact with the Universe Furnace already. That was exciting news! If that were truly the case, then they would have a massive advantage!

As irreverent as Blood Crow was, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of admiration for Yang Kai. Having been a member of Dawn who fought beside Yang Kai for many years, he had quite a good understanding of Yang Kai’s abilities. Nevertheless, he had never held much respect for Yang Kai due to the sense of arrogance in his heart and the long-standing grievances between them. At most, he only felt a subtle sense of competitiveness towards him. They were both Open Heaven Realm Masters, after all, so there was no reason he could not do what Yang Kai could.

Be that as it may, he was completely convinced at this moment. The Universe Furnace was the most profound and mysterious treasure in existence, yet Yang Kai had managed to make contact with its true body. That was something he could never achieve.

He suddenly wondered curiously, “Was Yang Kai trying to use that opportunity to convey a message to us? For example… informing us about the whereabouts of the Universe Furnace’s true body?”

Mi Jing Lun and Xiang Shan glanced at each other. Both of them were feeling rather excited all of a sudden! If that were truly the case, then the information was extremely important. If they could discover the location of the Universe Furnace’s true body, then they could enter the Universe Furnace and obtain the opportunity in advance. Once the entrances were formed, they could then ambush the Black Ink Clan from within the Universe Furnace World and catch the Black Ink Clan unprepared.

After carefully comparing the information he received from various locations though, Mi Jing Lun shook his head and said, “I don’t think he was trying to convey any information to us. Yang Kai’s figure only appeared for a very short time, and judging from the reports gathered from various parties, he seemed to have been caught off-guard. It is written here that Yang Kai looked astonished when he first appeared… This fact undoubtedly indicates that he had not expected this phenomenon.”

Xiang Shan abruptly added, “According to the information that we received earlier, he should have been hunting down the Territory Lords who escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction when all of this happened. Could the Universe Furnace’s true body be located in the Black Ink Battlefield?”

Mi Jing Lun stroked his beard, nodding thoughtfully, “It’s not impossible. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do even if we know that the Universe Furnace’s true body is located on the Black Ink Battlefield. The entrances will manifest within a year or so, so it’s too late to dispatch our forces to the Black Ink Battlefield. Besides, how will we enter the Black Ink Battlefield without Yang Kai’s protection? We can’t just boldly swagger through the No-Return Pass like he can.”

Xiang Shan lamented, “In that case, we can only wait for the entrances to open!”

“It’s our only option!” Mi Jing Lun sighed slightly, “Fortunately, the Black Ink Clan does not have much information on the Universe Furnace. We still have a slight advantage over them in that regard.”

Among other things, the Black Ink Clan most likely did not know that there was a Sealed World inside the Universe Furnace. Moreover, the projections would transform into entrances that led into the Universe Furnace once they solidified completely. They might have Black Ink Disciples providing them with some rumours and hearsay, but the cultivation of those Black Ink Disciples was not high so such secret information would not be leaked easily.

At the moment, the Black Ink Clan had only moved their Armies to the various locations to confront the Human Race Armies outside the projections. They were simply taking countermeasures against the large-scale movements of the Human Race, not planning for an area control battle. Be that as it may, this secret could only be hidden for a short time as, once the projections solidified and the entrances appeared, the Black Ink Clan would immediately understand.

The advantage that the Human Race held in terms of intelligence would only allow them to make various arrangements in advance. Hopefully, those arrangements would give them a slight advantage when competing for the opportunity inside the Universe Furnace.

Although the guesses of Mi Jing Lun and the others at the Supreme Headquarters were not entirely accurate, they had gotten at least two points correct. The first was that Yang Kai had truly gotten in contact with the Universe Furnace’s true body, and the second was that this incident had indeed happened purely by accident. Yang Kai had not been prepared in advance.

What they did not know was that the accident had caused Yang Kai to be dragged into the Universe Furnace. If they knew the truth, they would have been much more amazed by the situation.

At this moment, Yang Kai was overflowing with worry. When he was dragged into the Universe Furnace, aside from the twinge of regret he felt about failing to kill Mo Na Ye, he had also been concerned about his own fate.

The Universe Furnace contained Innate Open Heaven Pills, but as for how these Open Heaven Pills were produced, nobody knew the truth. Regardless of their method of production, the Universe Furnace was ultimately an Alchemy Furnace though. Things might not end well for him if he were dragged into the Universe Furnace. His greatest fear was being refined by the Universe Furnace. If that were to happen, he would definitely die with many regrets.