Martial Peak

Chapter 5955: Transcendent Realm

Xue Ji watched as Yang Kai leapt into the Black Ink Abyss.

Initially, everything looked perfectly normal, but as he went deeper, he felt some faint Black Ink Strength permeating the air. The Black Ink Strength came from the piece of Mo’s Source which had been suppressed and sealed in the deepest part of the Black Ink Abyss.

The entire place was dim. There were stone rooms on both sides of the abyss that were apparently built by the Black Ink Cult members. They stayed in the stone rooms and cultivated in an attempt to comprehend the Black Ink Strength’s secrets and increase their powers. Most stone rooms were empty, with only some of them exuding Human auras.

Yang Kai was curious about this. According to Xue Ji, the Black Ink Cult members were trying to strike a balance between figuring out the secrets and resisting the Black Ink Strength’s corruption. If they were able to retain the balance, their powers would increase significantly; however, if they failed to do so, they would be taken over by Black Ink Strength and turned into Black Ink Disciples.

He had no idea how Black Ink Strength was able to increase a cultivator’s strength as it was unlike anything he knew. Out of curiosity, he moved towards a stone room with someone inside and observed them in secret. In the end, he came to a conclusion that he wasn’t entirely certain about.

Mo’s Source had been cut into many pieces by Mu, so the one in this place was only a small part of it. Furthermore, the Profound Source Gate’s seal made the Black Ink Strength less corruptive.

When the Black Ink Cult members arrived at this place, they were able to break through their bottlenecks while trying to resist the Black Ink Strength’s influence. They could even refine some Black Ink Strength so that they could use it at the most critical moment to receive an explosive increase in power.

When Yang Kai was with Zuo Wu You back then, he killed many Black Ink Cult members. Before their deaths, many activated their Black Ink Strength. However, they were unable to change their fate due to the huge difference between their true strengths.

This was an interesting discovery. Mu said that the birth of the Black Ink Cult was inevitable because Mo’s Source piece existed. No matter who was tasked with guarding this place, even if they were from the Light Spirit Religion, they would be eroded by Black Ink Strength eventually. Their temperaments would be contorted, and they would give up their faith to worship Mo.

Yang Kai also had some speculation as to why Mu said she couldn’t go near the Profound Source Gate and control it herself.

After leaving the stone room, he dove deeper into the abyss. Sometimes, he would bump into enforcers from the Black Ink Cult, but when they saw the Identity Token at his waist, they didn’t make things difficult for him. Some of them even reminded him to weigh his abilities and not push himself too hard. He thanked them and moved on.

As Yang Kai dove deeper, he realised that the Black Ink Strength became increasingly dense. There were fewer stone rooms on the sides of the abyss, and the number of cultivators decreased sharply.

About an hour later, he could no longer feel the aura of any living creature, and there were no more stone rooms.

Yang Kai realised that he had come to depths that the Black Ink Cult members had never reached before. At this point, Black Ink Strength was extremely thick, and the entire place was pitch black. He could only activate the Demon Eye of Annihilation and his Divine Sense to scan his surroundings.

It was dead silent in the abyss, and the entire place felt eerie and horrifying. Yang Kai dove deeper towards the source of the Black Ink Strength. There came a moment when his feet contacted the ground. It seemed that he had reached the deepest part of the Black Ink Abyss. Cracks sounded beneath his feet, drawing his eyes.

The deepest part of the Black Ink Abyss was covered with bones, and there was no end to them in sight. Countless Black Ink Cultists must have passed away in this place over the years, and their bones now littered the floor.

Yang Kai picked up a bone and examined it before frowning. That was because the bone in his hand was strange as it was much larger than an ordinary human’s. He looked at the other bones and realised they were the same. 

[What’s going on?]

The ground started shaking all of a sudden. It was as though a gigantic creature was charging forward in his direction.

Yang Kai looked in the direction of the noise but couldn’t see anything. As he recalled Xue Ji’s words and his purpose for the visit though, he formed some speculations.

The next moment, he tossed the bone away and released his Divine Sense. Soon, he discovered the source of the noise. The noise was caused by a living creature whose aura was unusually vital.

After giving it some thought, Yang Kai decided to avoid contact and backed away. Much to his surprise, the unknown creature chased after him.

It seemed that this creature could detect Yang Kai’s whereabouts, but he didn’t feel any Divine Sense probing him. It was a strange scenario.

He decided to stop moving and wait in the same spot, for he wanted to figure out what was going on with the Apostles that lived in the depths of the Black Ink Abyss.

Soon enough, a gigantic figure emerged from the darkness and appeared before Yang Kai’s eyes.

What Yang Kai saw made him furrow his brow. Although the creature still resembled a Human, it was heavily mutated.

The ‘Apostle’ was three times taller than Yang Kai with a hunched back and unusually long arms. When it ran, it did so with all four limbs. The creature looked like a huge ape, its figure unusually bulky, as though some air had been blown into its muscles.

What bothered Yang Kai the most was that the Apostle was full of sarcomas. It reminded him of scenes he had seen in the past.

Many millennia ago, there were numerous Open Heaven Realm Masters who had been corrupted by Black Ink Strength and turned into Black Ink Disciples. The Black Ink Strength helped them break through their innate limits and reach higher Orders, but there was a price to pay as their figures were transformed and their minds warped.

The Open Heaven Realm Masters who had broken through their limits with Black Ink Strength developed sarcomas, which continuously released pus that stank terribly. They also had hard to predict bodily distortions.

Yang Kai put up his guard in an instant.

Meanwhile, the Apostle had dexterously leapt into the air. It descended upon Yang Kai like a mountain and pushed out its palm as it flew.

Yang Kai wanted to figure out the creature’s true power, so he threw a fist of his own instead of running away.

Following a loud boom, the entire ground shook. Yang Kai was forced to lower his figure as he slid backwards upon impact. His feet formed two long traces on the ground as his clothes flapped in the wind.

On the other hand, the Apostle was sent flying away after exchanging moves with Yang Kai. After it landed on the ground, it got to its feet quickly. A dark fog surrounded it as it growled and charged towards Yang Kai again. It knew no pain, nor did it have any sanity left.

Seeing that, Yang Kai quickly got ready for a fight.

With Mu’s help, he was now at the peak of the Immortal Ascension Boundary, which was the limit in this World. If his power continued to increase, he would be suppressed and rejected by this Universe World.

However, given his foundation as a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, it was not an exaggeration to say that no one in the Primordial World could exchange more than three moves with him.

However, the strange-looking Apostle fought Yang Kai for half an incense stick before he found a chance to kill it.

In other words, if such an Apostle left the Black Ink Abyss, it would be peerless in the World. The Chapter Masters from the Black Ink Cult and the Order Lords from the Spirit Religion were simply no match for it.

Putrid blood gushed out of the Apostle as thick Black Ink Strength escaped from the carcass. Yang Kai watched everything with a heavy heart.

He finally realised why there were so many oversized bones in the depths of the Black Ink Abyss. The Apostles were much bigger than Humans, after all. Over the years, countless Apostles lost their lives in this place, so it was only natural that so many massive bones were littered here.

Nonetheless, that wasn’t the crux of the problem. The problem was that the Apostle that Yang Kai had just fought had a power that was beyond the Immortal Ascension Boundary.

Above the Immortal Ascension Boundary was the Transcendent Realm. The Apostle that Yang Kai had killed was obviously in the Transcendent Realm.

However, since it had lost its sanity and could only act on instinct, it was unable to fully utilize the power of a Transcendent Realm Master; otherwise, it would’ve been harder for Yang Kai to kill it.

Why was there a Transcendent Realm Apostle here? The Martial Dao in this World was low, so it supposedly could accommodate Immortal Ascension Boundary Masters at most. If not for this innate limit, some talented people would’ve broken through the limits of the Immortal Ascension Boundary over the years.

Nonetheless, no Transcendent Realm Masters had ever existed in this World before.

As Yang Kai was at the peak of the Immortal Ascension Boundary, he could clearly feel the suppression of the World’s Will. The merciless World wouldn’t allow Transcendent Realm Masters to exist; otherwise, it would cause the Universe World to descend into chaos and its Principles to destabilise.

So why were the Apostles able to reach such a realm?

Yang Kai turned to look in a different direction and faintly saw a door, which he supposed was the Profound Source Gate.

A part of Mo’s Source was suppressed behind the door. It was this Source piece that formed the unique environment in the Black Ink Abyss and gave birth to the Apostles and the Black Ink Cult.

However, Yang Kai didn’t have time to look into the Profound Source Gate’s secrets. That was because tremors could be felt coming from all directions. Sweeping his gaze around, he saw many gigantic figures charging towards him as they roared eerily.

There was more than one Apostle in the depths of the Black Ink Abyss!

Yang Kai’s expression sank. Although he had the foundation of a Ninth-Order Master, his power was significantly suppressed in this independent World. It took him a lot of strength to kill the Apostle earlier, so if he was besieged by so many Apostles, he would end up in a horrible state.

Just as he was preparing to use Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability to conceal himself, he suddenly thought of something and changed his mind. The next moment, he shot upwards from the depths of the Black Ink Abyss. The Apostles growled and chased after him. Although these Apostles looked bulky, they were quite speedy and dexterous.

With so many Apostles racing after Yang Kai, he took on the appearance of a meteor that shot through the darkness.

The noise soon alerted the Black Ink Cult members in the upper part of the abyss. The snarls sent chills running down their spines as they left their stone rooms and looked down, not knowing what was going on.

Soon, a Black Ink Cultist at the lowest depths accessible saw a sight he would never forget.

In the darkness, a figure dashed out from the depths of the Black Ink Abyss. At the same time, many enormous creatures chased after him while growling.

“Are they the Apostles?” The Black Ink Cult member’s pupils dilated as he couldn’t believe he would see such legendary beings in his lifetime.