LANG YA’S OPEN HEAVEN STAGE TRIAL WAS QUITE SPECTACULAR, AND ALTHOUGH THE END RESULT WASN’T PERFECT, IT WAS STILL ACCEPTABLE.
IN THIS TRIAL, YANG KAI HAD SHOWN OFF A GREAT DEAL. AS THE TARGET OF THIS TRIAL, HE HAD ALMOST BEATEN UP ALL OF LANG YA’S SIXTH ORDER OPEN HEAVEN!
ALTHOUGH IN THE TRIAL, ALL OF LANG YA’S SIXTH ORDER OPEN HEAVEN HAD GNASHED THEIR TEETH IN HATRED TOWARDS YANG KAI, YANG KAI’S STRENGTH HAD WON THE ADMIRATION OF MANY.
LANG YA HAD LANG YA’S FOUNDATION, SO THE DISCIPLES WEREN’T SORE LOSERS. IF THEY LOST THIS TIME, THEY WOULD HAVE TO WORK EVEN HARDER AND WIN BACK THE NEXT TIME. THE PATH OF THE MARTIAL DAO WOULD ALWAYS BE FILLED WITH SHAME AND HONOR.
SO AFTER THE TRIAL ENDED, YANG KAI RECEIVED MANY INVITATIONS.
MANY OF LANG YA’S SIXTH ORDER MASTERS INVITED HIM TO THEIR CAVE MANSION TO DISCUSS THEIR CULTIVATION EXPERIENCES.
THIS WAS ALSO A VERY COMMON OCCURRENCE. ON THE PATH OF A CULTIVATOR’S CULTIVATION, IT WAS EASY TO TAKE A DETOUR BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. SOMETIMES, DURING THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION, ONE WOULD EXPERIENCE A FLASH OF INSIGHT.
THERE WERE AT LEAST A DOZEN INVITATIONS SENT TO GU PAN’S RESIDENCE.
ORIGINALLY, HE HAD BEEN SOMEWHAT WORRIED ABOUT HOW HE SHOULD NATURALLY INTERACT WITH THESE INKED CULTIVATORS, BUT NOW, THESE INVITATIONS WERE LIKE PILLOWS SENT TO HIM WHEN HE WAS SLEEPY.
THE PEOPLE WHO HAD INVITED HIM, HAD NATURALLY INVITED THEIR FRIENDS AS WELL, SO EVERYONE WAS ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER. FOR THE NEXT HALF A MONTH, YANG KAI WAS EXTREMELY BUSY. EVERY DAY, HE WOULD TRAVEL TO THE VARIOUS SPIRIT PROVINCES IN LANG YA AND HEAD TO THE CAVE MANSION WHERE LANG YA OPEN HEAVEN HAD INVITED HIM, HOLDING A SMALL BANQUET FOR THREE DAYS.
WHEN THERE WERE FEWER PEOPLE, THREE OR FIVE PEOPLE WOULD GATHER TOGETHER, AND WHEN THERE WERE MORE PEOPLE, EIGHT OR TEN PEOPLE WOULD GATHER TOGETHER TO EXPRESS THEIR OPINIONS OR SPAR.
EVERYONE HAD BENEFITED GREATLY.
YANG KAI HAD ALSO WITNESSED THE POWER OF LANG YA OPEN HEAVEN.
DURING THE PREVIOUS TRIALS, IN ORDER TO FIND OUT THE IDENTITY OF THE INKED CULTIVATORS, YANG KAI HAD USED A LOT OF FORCE, SO ALMOST EVERY TIME LANG YA OPEN HEAVEN MET HIM, YANG KAI WOULD DEFEAT THEM IN AN EXTREMELY SHORT TIME.
HOWEVER, THIS DIDN’T MEAN THAT LANG YA OPEN HEAVEN WAS NOTHING MORE THAN AN EMBROIDERED PILLOW. AS ONE OF THE 72 PARADISE THAT HAD BEEN PASSED DOWN FOR COUNTLESS YEARS, IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A GROUP OF EMBROIDERED PILLOWS TO REMAIN STANDING.
WITH THE SAME CULTIVATION FOUNDATION, YANG KAI CLEARLY FELT THAT LANG YA OPEN HEAVEN WAS STRONGER THAN THE OPEN HEAVEN CULTIVATORS OUTSIDE. IF SOMEONE LIKE MAO ZHE WAS THROWN INTO LANG YA, HE MIGHT NOT EVEN BE ABLE TO RANK AMONG THE TOP HUNDRED IN THE SIXTH ORDER.
MANY OF LANG YA SECRET TECHNIQUES HAD GREATLY BROADENED HIS HORIZONS, AND SOME OF THE SECRET TECHNIQUES HE CULTIVATED BENEFITED HIM GREATLY.
EVERY DAY, YANG KAI WOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SITUATION, AND RETURN WHILE HE IS HAPPY.
ON THE MORNING HALF A MONTH LATER, YANG KAI WAS HOLDING AN ANCIENT-LOOKING INVITATION CARD. THE WORDS WRITTEN ON THE INVITATION WERE ELEGANT AND BEAUTIFUL, OBVIOUSLY WRITTEN BY A WOMAN. ON TOP OF THAT, THERE WAS A FAINT FRAGRANCE COMING FROM THE INVITATION.
THE SIGNATURE ON THE INVITATION WAS ACTUALLY GU LING’ER!
GU LING’ER’S INVITATION HAD BEEN SENT SEVERAL DAYS AGO, AND TODAY’S APPOINTMENT WAS FROM GU LING’ER!
COULD SHE HAVE FOUND SOMETHING? YANG KAI DIDN’T KNOW, BUT SOMEHOW, HE FELT THAT HE WAS NOT FAR FROM THE CORE OF THE INKED CULTIVATORS!
AS LONG AS HE COULD FIND THE CORE OF THE INKED CULTIVATORS, HE WOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO FIND THE HIDDEN BLACK INK CLAN.
THE SOUND OF BREAKING AIR RANG OUT, AS IF SOMEONE HAD FLOWN IN FROM OUTSIDE AND LANDED IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE, FOLLOWED BY GU LING’ER’S GENTLE VOICE, “JUNIOR BROTHER YANG!”
YANG KAI ACCEPTED THE INVITATION AND PUSHED OPEN THE DOOR TO SEE GU LING’ER STANDING OUTSIDE. AS THEIR EYES MET, GU LING’ER SMILED SLIGHTLY, CAUSING THE WORLD TO PALE.
YANG KAI ASKED IN SURPRISE, “WHY IS SENIOR SISTER GU HERE PERSONALLY? I WAS JUST ABOUT TO GO OVER.”
GU LING’ER PURSED HER LIPS AND SMILED, “ISN’T JUNIOR BROTHER NOT FAMILIAR WITH LANG YA? I HEARD THAT A FEW DAYS AGO, WHEN YOU WENT TO MEET JUNIOR BROTHER WANG, YOU TOOK THE WRONG PATH, AFTER WAITING FOR HALF A DAY, THEY STILL DIDN’T SEE YOU.”
“HAHAHA…” YANG KAI’S FACE WAS FILLED WITH EMBARRASSMENT, “IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, THERE WERE SIMPLY TOO MANY SPIRIT PROVINCES IN LANG YA, I CAN’T REMEMBER ALL OF THEM.”
GU LING’ER SAID MEANINGFULLY, “I’M AFRAID JUNIOR SISTER GU HAS GONE TO THE FIVE LIGHTS WORLD TO GAIN EXPERIENCE, SO JUNIOR BROTHER IS A BIT DISTRACTED, RIGHT?”
AFTER THE TRIAL ENDED, UNDER LI YUAN WANG’S ORDERS, GU PAN WENT TO THE FIVE LIGHT WORLD TO TRAIN, SO YANG KAI HAD BEEN LIVING ALONE ON GU PAN’S SPIRIT PROVINCE RECENTLY.
LI YUAN WANG’S ACTIONS WERE OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE HE WAS CONSIDERING GU PAN’S SAFETY. THERE WAS A SUPREME ELDER GUARDING THE FIVE LIGHTS WORLD, SO EVEN IF THERE WAS A STORM ON LANG YA’S SIDE, IT WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO SPREAD THERE, SO IT WAS NATURALLY SAFE.
“SENIOR SISTER MUST BE JOKING,” YANG KAI SAID SERIOUSLY, “THERE’S REALLY NOTHING BETWEEN JUNIOR SISTER GU AND ME.”
GU LING’ER COVERED HER MOUTH AND SAID, “YOU SHOULD TELL THE OTHER FELLOW DISCIPLES ABOUT THIS AND SEE IF THEY BELIEVE YOU OR NOT!”
YANG KAI’S TEETH ACHED. LANG YA WAS CERTAIN THAT HE AND GU PAN HAD SOME KIND OF AMBIGUOUS RELATIONSHIP, SO HE REALLY COULDN’T EXPLAIN.
WHAT WENT WRONG? YANG KAI COULDN’T FIGURE OUT WHERE THE INITIAL MISUNDERSTANDING CAME FROM.
HOWEVER, HE COULDN’T BE BOTHERED TO ARGUE ABOUT IT.
“SENIOR SISTER, SHOULD WE GO?” YANG KAI ASKED.
GU LING’ER NODDED, “JUNIOR BROTHER, PLEASE FOLLOW ME.” SAYING SO, SHE LED THE WAY.
YANG KAI’S FIGURE FLASHED AS HE STOOD NEXT TO HER, WALKING SIDE BY SIDE WITH HER. THE TWO OF THEM WERE NOT FLYING VERY FAST, CASUALLY CHATTING AS THEY WALKED. GU LING’ER’S VOICE WAS AS GENTLE AS WATER, SOUNDING EXTREMELY PLEASANT.
YANG KAI SIGHED IN HIS HEART. SUCH A PERSON WAS ACTUALLY AN INKED CULTIVATOR, IT COULD BE SAID THAT FATE PLAYED TRICKS ON PEOPLE.
PREVIOUSLY, HE HAD ASKED LI YUAN WANG IF THERE WAS ANY HOPE OF RETURNING TO NORMAL AFTER BEING CORRODED BY THE POWER OF THE INK, BUT LI YUAN WANG HAD ONLY REPLIED WITH THE WORD ‘IMPOSSIBLE’.
IN OTHER WORDS, ONCE ONE WAS TURNED INTO INK, THEY WOULD BECOME AN ENEMY! NO MATTER HOW NORMAL ONE’S APPEARANCE WAS, NO MATTER HOW ORDINARY ONE’S APPEARANCE WAS, THEY WOULD ALWAYS BE INKED CULTIVATORS.
THINKING ABOUT IT, THE ROOT OF THE INKED WAS THE EROSION OF THE CULTIVATOR SMALL UNIVERSE'S POWER. YANG KAI COULDN’T THINK OF ANY WAY TO CLEANSE THE SMALL UNIVERSE'S POWER.
THIS POWER WAS TOO STRANGE.
AS THEY APPROACHED A SPIRIT PROVINCE, GU LING’ER SUDDENLY SAID, “JUNIOR BROTHER, THERE WILL BE AN IMPORTANT GUEST LATER, JUNIOR BROTHER MUST NOT BE IMPOLITE!”
WHEN SHE SAID THIS, HER EXPRESSION BECAME ABNORMALLY SOLEMN, CLEARLY DIFFERENT FROM HER USUAL GENTLE SELF.
YANG KAI’S EXPRESSION REMAINED UNCHANGED, BUT IN HIS HEART HE WAS FILLED WITH EXCITEMENT.
WAS HE FINALLY GOING TO GIVE HIMSELF AWAY? HE REPLIED, “SENIOR SISTER, DON’T WORRY, I UNDERSTAND!”
AMONG LANG YA INKED CULTIVATORS, HE HAD ALREADY BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A COMPANION AND HAD COME INTO CONTACT WITH GU LING’ER AND ZONG YUQUAN, SO HE DIDN’T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT EXPOSING HIMSELF, BUT IF HE WERE TO MEET WITH THIS SO-CALLED IMPORTANT GUEST, HOW WOULD HE RESPOND?
WAS THIS GUEST A PURE BLACK INK CLAN OR INKED CULTIVATORS?
FROM AFAR, A SPIRIT PROVINCE COULD BE SEEN. IT WASN’T TOO BIG, BUT IT WASN’T SMALL EITHER. IN THE ENTIRE LANG YA TERRITORY, THERE WERE AT LEAST A THOUSAND OF SUCH SPIRIT PROVINCE.
THERE WAS A LARGE HALL ON THE SPIRIT PROVINCE THAT WAS EXTREMELY EYE-CATCHING.
GU LING’ER LED YANG KAI DIRECTLY TO THE SPIRIT PROVINCE AND SMILED, “THIS IS WHERE I LIVE.”
YANG KAI NODDED, “THE MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS ARE CLEAR AND BEAUTIFUL, NO WONDER IT CAN RAISE A BEAUTY LIKE SENIOR SISTER.”
GU LING’ER LOOKED AT HIM MEANINGFULLY AND SMILED LIGHTLY. WITH A WAVE OF HER HAND, THE SPIRIT PROVINCE’S SPIRIT ARRAY WAS ACTIVATED AND ISOLATED FROM THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
GU LING’ER LED THE WAY TO THE MAIN HALL, YANG KAI FOLLOWING CLOSELY BEHIND.
A MOMENT LATER, THE TWO ENTERED THE MAIN HALL, TURNED LEFT AND RIGHT, AND ARRIVED AT A COURTYARD.
INSIDE THE COURTYARD, THERE WERE ALREADY FOUR PEOPLE WAITING.
PREVIOUSLY, YANG KAI HAD GIVEN LI YUAN WANG FOUR NAMES: GU LING’ER, CHANG ANYI, LIANG QIUHONG, AND JIANG YAN.
THESE FOUR WERE THE ONES WHO HAD SAID "INK WILL LAST FOREVER" TO HIM IN THE TRIAL, AND HE HAD RECOGNIZED THEM AS INKED CULTIVATORS.
AMONG EVERYONE PRESENT, BESIDES JIANG YAN, THE OTHER TWO WERE PRESENT, ZONG YUQUAN WAS ALSO PRESENT, BUT THE OTHER ONE WAS NOT ON THE LIST YANG KAI HAD PROVIDED.
HOWEVER, THIS PERSON LOOKED FAMILIAR TO YANG KAI. WHAT HE WAS CERTAIN OF WAS THAT HE HAD SEEN HIM IN THE TRIAL BEFORE, BUT HE DIDN’T KNOW HIS NAME.
FROM THE LOOKS OF IT, THERE WERE STILL SOME WHO HAD ESCAPED FROM THE NET ON THE TRIAL!
WHEN GU LING’ER AND YANG KAI ARRIVED, ALL FOUR OF THEM LOOKED OVER.
YANG KAI’S EXPRESSION REMAINED THE SAME AS HE STEPPED FORWARD AND GREETED, “YANG KAI GREETS SENIOR BROTHERS!”
ZONG YUQUAN LAUGHED HEARTILY AND SAID, “JUNIOR BROTHER IS TOO POLITE. IN THE PREVIOUS TRIAL, JUNIOR BROTHER YANG WAS EXTREMELY BRILLIANT, WE ALL ADMIRE HIM GREATLY.”
YANG KAI SAID SOMEWHAT AWKWARDLY, “SENIOR BROTHERS, PLEASE DON’T BLAME ME FOR BEING TOO HARSH!”
THESE PEOPLE PRESENT HAD ALL BEEN BRUTALLY BEATEN UP BY HIM, AND EVEN ZONG YUQUAN WAS NO EXCEPTION.
CHANG ANYI SAID, “DURING THE TRIAL, WE HAD NO CHOICE, SO WE NATURALLY WON’T BLAME YOU.”
“THAT'S GOOD!”
GU LING’ER SAID, “JUNIOR BROTHER YANG, SENIOR BROTHER ZONG, SENIOR BROTHER CHANG, SENIOR BROTHER LIANG, YOU ALREADY KNOW HIM. THIS IS SENIOR BROTHER GONG WENSHAN, YOU SHOULD HAVE MET HIM DURING THE TRIAL.”
YANG KAI NODDED, “OF COURSE! I JUST DIDN’T EXPECT SENIOR BROTHER GONG TO BE ONE OF US.”
GONG WENSHAN SMILED AND SAID, “I DIDN’T TAKE THE INITIATIVE TO REVEAL IT, SO JUNIOR BROTHER YANG NATURALLY DOESN’T KNOW. ON THE OTHER HAND, WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT IT ON THE FIRST DAY JUNIOR BROTHER YANG CAME TO LANG YA.”
ZONG YUQUAN SAID, “WITH SUCH A POWERFUL FIGURE LIKE JUNIOR BROTHER YANG IN MY BLACK INK DISCIPLE, THE FUTURE IS QUITE PROMISING!”
BLACK INK DISCIPLE…
YANG KAI REMEMBERED THESE THREE WORDS IN HIS HEART. WHEN HE TALKED TO LI YUAN WANG AND THE OTHERS, THEY ALL CALLED THEM INKED CULTIVATORS, BUT THESE INKED CULTIVATORS CALLED THEMSELVES BLACK INK DISCIPLE.
“SENIOR BROTHER IS TOO KIND!” YANG KAI SAID HUMBLY, “IF IT WEREN’T FOR ELDER SHI ZHENG’S GUIDANCE, I’M AFRAID JUNIOR BROTHER WOULD STILL BE LOST AND UNABLE TO EXTRICATE HIMSELF. I MUST THANK ELDER SHI ZHENG FOR THIS!”
SAYING SO, HIS EXPRESSION BECAME SOLEMN AS HE PLACED A HAND ON HIS CHEST AND SAID, “INK WILL LAST FOREVER!” [MSN: I wonder if Ink Is Eternal will be better?]
THE FEW OF THEM WERE STUNNED FOR A MOMENT BEFORE QUICKLY SAYING, “INK WILL LAST FOREVER!”
YANG KAI REALIZED THAT THESE WORDS SEEMED TO HAVE SOME KIND OF IRRESISTIBLE FORCE TO THE BLACK INK DISCIPLE. AS LONG AS HE SAID THIS IN FRONT OF THEM, THEY WOULD DEFINITELY RESPOND.
HE DIDN’T KNOW IF IT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE IN BATTLE.
HOWEVER, IT WAS UNLIKELY. AFTER ALL, ALTHOUGH BLACK INK DISCIPLE HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED INTO INKED, HIS THINKING WAS ACTUALLY NO DIFFERENT FROM A NORMAL PERSON’S. IT WAS JUST THAT DEEP IN HIS HEART, HE HAD BECOME A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSON. TO THEM, THE BLACK INK CLAN IS SUPREME!
THIS WAS THE GREATEST THREAT TO THE INK'S POWER. IT COULD MAKE A PERSON FIRMLY BELIEVE IN IT AND GIVE UP EVERYTHING THEY HAD FOR IT. NOTHING ELSE COULD COMPARE TO THE BLACK INK.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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