Chapter 5848: Tea
Chapter 5848: Tea
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At this point, the Humans rarely had any new Open Heaven Realm Masters beneath the Fourth-Order. The Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World, the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, had boosted the floor of the Human Race greatly and allowed the Open Heaven Realm Masters to have a far better start than they did in the past.
Therefore, materials beneath Fourth-Order were not of much use to the Humans. On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan did not have the same requirements when it came to the Order of materials. Everything would be tossed inside the Black Ink Nest anyway, so it did not matter to them how low the quality was.
Mo Na Ye briefly mulled over Yang Kai’s demand before agreeing to it. He gave the Pseudo-Royal Lords a look and over a dozen of them returned to the No-Return Pass to start organising their resources.
Meanwhile, the other Black Ink Clansmen kept staring at Yang Kai from a distance.
Since there was nothing else to do, Yang Kai took out a table and a few chairs from his Small Universe, as well as a tea set. As he began preparing a pot of tea, he looked over at Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, “Why don’t the two of you come over and have a seat?”
Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu exchanged glances and scoffed under their breaths before heading over in a flash and taking their seats in front of Yang Kai.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were still watching on from a distance could not resist circulating their power just in case they needed to provide some form of aid; however, the three most powerful Masters simply sat there in silence. No one showed any sign of wanting to start a fight.
It was a strange sight to behold and the Pseudo-Royal Lords nursed complicated feelings seeing it.
In just a few moments, the tea was ready. Yang Kai filled the cups in front of the two Royal Lords before pouring himself some tea as well. After taking a sip, he set his cup down and said, “I’m not much of a tea connoisseur; after all, I haven’t had the luxury of time to spare on such things. But, a lot of Humans are passionate about tea, many even considering it an art form. Ever since the Black Ink Clan’s invasion into the 3,000 Worlds, countless Humans were displaced from their homes and many of the Great Territories are now empty and lifeless. Perhaps many traditions such as this will die out as a result. What a pity.”
Mo Na Ye took a sip of the tea and responded curtly, “I prefer the taste of the Humans’ wines and liqueurs. Tea is a little bland.”
Yang Kai cocked his eyebrows, “You’re quite picky, aren’t you? Doesn’t matter to me whether you drink it or not. You know, considering the Black Ink Clan’s speciality of destroying any place you invade, if you truly take control over everything, you won’t even be able to drink tea anymore.”
Mo Na Ye set his cup down and staunchly declared, “In the future, Black Ink will be the only constant existence!”
Yang Kai raised his hand to stop Mo Na Ye, “Don’t bother spreading your propaganda. We’ll never see eye to eye and we’ll never be on the same side. You’re just a bunch of invaders who’re running amok in someone else’s home.”
“When everything first came into existence, the Divine Spirits were the ones in power,” Mo Na Ye coolly retorted, “Then, it was the Monster Race who ruled before the power finally fell into the hands of the Human Race. As the years go by, control of the Universe switches between different Races, there is no true preordained owner. If the Humans can be in charge, then so can the Black Ink Clan.”
Yang Kai side-eyed him, “You know a thing or two, huh? There was balance and progress in the Universe during the reigns of the Divine Spirits, Monster Race, and the Human Race, but if the Black Ink Clan does succeed, what can you bring about? There will be nothing but destruction and desolation. If everything else is gone, do you think the Black Ink Clan will survive? You’re just digging your own graves, and yet you make it sound so wonderful by calling it the only constant existence! Since you know so much, let me ask you this. Do you know how the Divine Spirits came into existence?”
Mo Na Ye frowned, “Do you?”
“Of course!” Yang Kai declared with a smug smile.
However, he did not give Mo Na Ye any time to ask any questions as he swiftly added, “But, I’m not going to tell you!”
Mo Na Ye could not resist rolling his eyes, but his temper did not flare up.
Yang Kai continued, “The Black Ink Clan came about because of Mo. Its thoughts and beliefs are what determine your actions and choices. Even though Mo is incredibly powerful, it was suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction all of those years ago. Unable to escape, it has been stuck there ever since; however, it doesn’t seem to do well with loneliness. Nevertheless, it’s like a frog that has been stuck inside a well and thinks that what it sees is everything there is to see and know. It cannot possibly fathom that there’s so much more out there that it has no idea about.”
*Peng!*
Mo Yu, who had been silent the whole time, slammed his cup onto the table and glared at Yang Kai, “How dare you question the Supreme One!”
Yang Kai side-eyed him, “What’s wrong with you? Getting all worked up over a few words I said? What gives you the audacity to lash out at me after drinking my tea, huh?!”
Mo Yu had a stormy expression as he retorted, “Don’t think you’re invincible just because you’re a Ninth-Order Master now, Yang Kai. Perhaps Mo Na Ye and I can’t stand against you, but can you stand against the Supreme One’s Soul Clone?”
Naturally, he was referring to the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Yang Kai snorted, “Why would I need to stand against them? They have their own opponents.”
Mo Yu could not think of a retort to that.
Yang Kai pursed his lips, “Forget it. I can’t be bothered to talk about these things with you. Why would we need to cultivate if everything could be resolved through debates?” He cocked his eyebrows at Mo Na Ye, “Isn’t that right?”
It was clear that Mo Na Ye did not want to dwell on this topic either, so he changed the subject, “We’ll give you the materials in three days, but I have a small request as well.”
“Go on,” Yang Kai raised his cup of tea to his lips before swirling it around.
“You need to remain here until all the Pseudo-Royal Lords have returned to the No-Return Pass before you can leave.”
Mo Na Ye had dealt with Yang Kai many times, and though this Human had never broken a promise he made, Mo Na Ye could not be sure that he could trust Yang Kai this time. If Yang Kai left right after taking all the materials with him, he would certainly head over to kill those Pseudo-Royal Lords. To avoid that, they could only allow Yang Kai to leave when all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had returned.
He was worried that Yang Kai would not agree to his request and was even considering withholding a portion of the materials and only handing them over to Yang Kai once the Pseudo-Royal Lords arrived safe and sound; thus, he did not expect Yang Kai to agree without any fuss, “I was going to do that anyway, even if you didn’t ask it of me.”
Startled, Mo Na Ye gave him a blank stare, [Why would he do that?]
With a faint smile, Yang Kai explained, “I have to see whether the number of materials you give matches the number of Pseudo-Royal Lords who come back. It’s no issue if you give more than what we agreed upon, but if you give me less… Heh heh. I won’t be pleased.”
Mo Na Ye’s expression darkened as he growled, “You can rest assured that I know even better than you just how many Pseudo-Royal Lords there are out there. You won’t be getting any less than what we agreed.”
“That’s good then,” Yang Kai nodded and refilled Mo Na Ye’s cup, but he ignored Mo Yu and the latter’s expression became a little unpleasant.
Mo Na Ye chuckled and shook his head. He personally topped up Mo Yu’s cup before letting out a heavy sigh, “The advantage we had for thousands of years is all gone now. Henceforth, the Humans will be able to easily reclaim the 3,000 Worlds.”
Previously, it would not have been easy for the Humans to reclaim the 3,000 Worlds. There was no telling how long it would take for them to go on fighting to reclaim each Great Territory one by one, not to mention all the effort and the sacrifices that needed to be made as well.
However, due to the overwhelming threat that the Black Ink Clan was up against in the form of Yang Kai, they were forced to withdraw all of their most powerful Masters lest the Human seized his chance to eliminate them.
Due to this, the Black Ink Clan Army out on the battlefields would not be able to put up a fight against the Humans, and the Black Ink Clan did not plan on sending out any reinforcements either. Therefore, the Humans simply needed to put in a bit of time and they would be able to reclaim the rest of the 3,000 Worlds.
Yang Kai scoffed, “So what if we reclaim them? The 3,000 Worlds are nothing but tattered ruins left behind by the Black Ink Clan. It’s merely a symbolic victory for us as the 3,000 Worlds won’t be of any help to us.”
After many millennia of damage caused by the Black Ink Clan’s occupation, all of the Universe Worlds in all the Great Territories had died out a long time ago. All the resources had been stripped and the 3,000 Worlds were nothing more than empty ruins. Even if the Humans reclaimed them, they would be of much use.
“That’s true, but the Humans would not be forfeiting an easy victory.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I assume that in the future, the Humans will have control over the 3,000 Worlds while the Black Ink Clan continues to hold the No-Return Pass.” Now that the subject came up, Yang Kai grew curious, “Back when the Black Ink Clan invaded the No-Return Pass, how did you manage to enter the Barren Territory?”
There was only one Territory Gate, and when the Humans retreated to the Barren Territory, they would have already set up an ambush at the Territory Gate. It would not have been easy for the Black Ink Clan to invade the Barren Territory. Even if they kept sending their Army through, the Humans would still decimate them with ease.
Yang Kai did not take part in that battle and he did not seek out much information after the fact, so he was curious to know how the Black Ink Clan could break past the Humans’ defences and launch a successful invasion into the Barren Territory.
“It’s all thanks to the Supreme One’s Soul Clone, of course,” Mo Na Ye replied.
“I presumed as much,” Yang Kai commented after gaining clarity.
Only the presence of a Black Ink Giant Spirit God would have allowed the Black Ink Clan to accomplish what they did. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was the one who barged into the Barren Territory and occupied a sizable chunk of the Human Race’s combat power, which allowed the Black Ink Clan to send their Army in.
“Humans don’t have a third Giant Spirit God. It will be difficult for us to invade the No-Return Pass,” Yang Kai stroked his chin as he seemed to vex over the conundrum.
Mo Yu’s brow twitched. They were all mortal enemies, so Yang Kai was being rather haughty for making that comment right in front of them.
Mo Na Ye had a knowing smirk on his face, “Brother Yang, you probably know of a secret passage that leads from the 3,000 Worlds straight into the Black Ink Battlefield, right?”
This was something the Black Ink Clan deduced a long time ago; after all, Yang Kai made frequent trips to the No-Return Pass without passing through the Territory Gate. Instead, he would simply pop up all of a sudden on the Black Ink Battlefield. Only the existence of a secret passage could explain how he managed to move around.
They had tried to locate the secret passage, but after all these years, they had not found anything.
In Mo Na Ye’s eyes, Yang Kai was simply trying to put on an act by saying it would be tough for the Humans to invade the No-Return Pass. With that secret passage of his, the Humans could easily gather on the Black Ink Battlefield before laying siege to the No-Return Pass.
The Black Ink Clan would surely suffer devastating losses if they did not guard against that possibility.
[Yang Kai’s taking us for fools with that remark of his!] Mo Na Ye was not about to believe him!
“Now that things have come to this, there’s only one thing I wish to ask of you, Brother Yang. Which Great Territory inside the 3,000 Worlds is the entrance of that secret passage located?” Mo Na Ye asked with great sincerity. This question had confounded him for years now. He did not ask where the exit was as he knew Yang Kai would not be telling him that, so he simply asked about the entrance.
Yang Kai flashed him a faint smile, “What a coincidence. I have a question to ask you too.”
“Go ahead, Brother Yang.”
“Is your Supreme One waking up soon? When is it going to wake up?”
Back then, Mo sunk into a deep slumber when the hidden hand Mu left behind had been triggered. It had been thousands of years since then and Yang Kai estimated that Mo would be awakening soon. However, the Old Tree had sunk into a deep slumber too, so the fact that Yang Kai could not head over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on things whenever he wanted was giving him a headache.
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