Chapter 5017, Beginning and End

With Dawn Squad’s heritage and the capabilities of the Warship, Dawning Light, they could easily crush any small group of Black Ink Clansmen that they bumped into. However, that the Squad’s members all had injuries proved that they had experienced a fierce battle. Perhaps they had bumped into some big Army from the Black Ink Clan.

Shen Ao answered, “We were unlucky and ran into a Territory Lord.”

[Territory Lord!] Yang Kai frowned slightly, “What happened?”

Shen Ao quickly gave him a rundown of what happened then.

When Yang Kai left to chase after Bai Yi, they stayed behind to clean up the battlefield; then, when they followed the direction Yang Kai left in, they failed to find any traces of him and had to give up.

There was a Universe Array set up on Dawning Light, so Yang Kai need only use the Universe Transference Law to return safely anytime he wished to. And, with Yang Kai himself being exceptionally strong, as well as a master of the Dao of Space, his life should not be in danger even if he were to run into a Territory Lord. So, Dawn didn’t need to worry much about him.

Dawning Light continued to roam the resource zone and hunt down Black Ink Clansmen as they waited for Yang Kai.

Unfortunately, they inadvertently ran into a Territory Lord. Naturally, Dawn was manned with elites, so they had a back-and-forth fight with the Territory Lord for a time and that was how their injuries came about. The battle had also left many of Dawning Light’s arrays damaged.

Even though the Territory Lord was fierce, Dawn was not defenceless, so it was difficult for even a Territory Lord to try to eliminate them.

At the critical moment, Xu Bo Liang appeared and engaged the Territory Lord.

Every one of Dawn’s members were injured, and even Dawning Light had sustained serious damage. Naturally, they couldn’t stay on the battlefield anymore and could only return to the forward base first.

As for the outcome of the battle between Xu Bo Liang and the Territory Lord, they had no idea.

However, within half a day of their retreat back to the forward base, Xu Bo Liang also returned. Now, he had replaced Cha Hu as the one assuming command here.

After Shen Ao finished his recounting, Feng Ying said, “Division Commander Xu must have sustained some injuries. When he returned, his aura was slightly unstable.”

Once he finished hearing everything they had to say, Yang Kai and Bai Yi exchanged glances, their expressions looking a little funny.

“What is it?” Feng Ying was confused.

Yang Kai shook his head, “It’s nothing. Coincidentally, I also met the Territory Lord who attacked you.”

Feng Ying was surprised, “You saw him too? Did you fight?”

Yang Kai nodded, “It was a big fight! I almost didn’t make it back.”

Feng Ying immediately chastised, “Foolishness! Even though that Territory Lord was hurt by Division Commander Xu, he was still a Territory Lord! He’s not someone that one or two Seventh-Order Masters can fight against!”

Yang Kai deeply agreed, “That’s right. Bai Yi and I had to expend a lot of effort in order to kill him.”

“K-Kill… Kill him?” Shen Ao and the others were dumbfounded. Feng Ying’s eyes also widened in surprise. If they had not heard those words from Yang Kai themselves, then they would not even dare to believe it.

“Luckily, I managed to ambush him with a point-blank strike of Purifying Light that greatly damaged his strength. Then, with Junior Sister Bai Yi’s help, it was a difficult fight, but we managed to come out of it with just a scare,” Yang Kai explained simply.

Everyone was shocked.

Feng Ying turned to look at Bai Yi, and Yang Kai hurried over to introduce them.

Feng Ying realized, “So, Junior Sister Bai was the one who left Squad Leader in a mess? Junior Sister Bai is powerful indeed.”

Bai Yi blushed, “I was corrupted by Black Ink Strength and was not in control of myself. I’ve made Senior Sister laugh. Now, with Senior Brother’s help, I’ve regained my senses.”

Feng Ying smiled, “You must have no idea, but besides me, everyone in Dawn was once a Black Ink Disciple that he saved.”

Bai Yi looked up in surprise, “All of them?”

Feng Ying nodded, “All of them!”

Bai Yi looked at each one of their faces and suddenly smiled, “Bai Yi is honoured to greet all my Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers!”

Shen Ao waved his hand and said, “Since you’ve returned, then you should kill more Black Ink Clansmen in the future. We should make them pay for our past frustrations.”

Bai Yi answered with a soft yes.

Yang Kai said, “I’ll bring her to see Division Commander Xu. You should focus on recovering first, we can talk later.”

Nobody had any objections.

Yang Kai then led Bai Yi to see Xu Bo Liang. On the way there, Bai Yi clearly looked nervous. Not to mention anything else, she was the one who hit Xu Bo Liang with her arrow back then and wounded him, even helping Zhu Feng to escape.

Even though Yang Kai noticed this, he did not try to comfort her. Some things had to be faced head-on.

However, after talking with Feng Ying and the others, Yang Kai finally understood what happened that day.

Dawn Squad first encountered Zhu Feng, and then both sides ended up in a large battle where Dawn was defeated, and even Dawning Light was damaged. Obviously, Zhu Feng had also eaten quite a loss from Dawn. Afterwards, Xu Bo Liang appeared and Zhu Feng was heavily injured during their fight. During the critical moment, Bai Yi ambushed him with an arrow which gave Zhu Feng the opportunity to escape.

Following that, Xu Bo Liang retreated, and Yang Kai managed to take down Bai Yi. Under her suggestion, the two of them then headed to Zhu Feng’s hidden nest.

Now, there was no way that Yang Kai did not understand why he failed to connect with the Universe Array on Dawning Light when he used Universe Transference Law that day. It was obviously because of the damage that Dawning Light sustained.

Now that the resonance was back, it meant that the Universe Array had been repaired.

Even though the Array Masters on the Humans’ side could not arrange new Universe Arrays, they could do simple repairs on them. Of course, that was on the premise that the Universe Array was not too damaged to begin with.

Soon, Yang Kai and Bai Yi arrived at where Xu Bo Liang was located and waited outside for a while as they asked someone to pass on the word for them. A while later, someone came to invite them inside.

Yang Kai thanked him and stepped inside with Bai Yi.

At the end of the long table sat a brave and heroic figure with a dignified look on his face. Yang Kai had seen Xu Bo Liang from afar, and though he did not see him too clearly, he could still tell that this face was about a seventy to eighty percent match to the face he saw before. It was Xu Bo Liang, no doubt about it.

Yang Kai quickly cupped his fist, “Dawn’s Yang Kai greets Division Commander Xu!”

Bai Yi also saluted him, “Bai Yi greets Division Commander Xu.”

Xu Bo Liang nodded gently and reached his hand out, and then the two of them were lifted by an invisible force.

He looked at Yang Kai first, then at Bai Yi. The next moment, his brow rose in surprise, “It was you who attacked me that day, right?”

Naturally, he was able to recognize Bai Yi the instant he saw her.

Bai Yi dropped her head, “I was not myself then, please forgive me, Division Commander Xu!”

Xu Bo Liang chuckled, “It doesn’t matter. You were a Black Ink Disciple back then, so it was only natural that you did what you did; however, your archery skills are indeed amazing. I have met many from Divine Feather Paradise, yet there are few who are on par with you. Have you cultivated the Sun Chaser Arrow Heart?”

Bai Yi answered respectfully, “Yes!”

Xu Bo Liang nodded lightly, “I heard that it is extremely difficult to cultivate the Sun Chaser Arrow Heart. Inside Divine Feather Paradise, it is rare to find even one each generation that achieves success with it. For you to have reached this level of mastery in the Seventh Order, you will surely become a great asset when your Order rises in the future!”

Bai Yi was humble, “Division Commander Xu is too polite.”

Yang Kai listened in confusion, but he could guess that the Sun Chaser Arrow Heart must be a type of Secret Technique from Divine Feather Paradise. Just like the Eye Secret Techniques of Myriad Demons Heaven, it was rare to find anyone who could successfully cultivate it.

After a few words of encouragement, Xu Bo Liang turned to Yang Kai, “You are not bad either. Saving a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master is no small merit. On that topic, were you also hiding nearby on that day?”

Yang Kai was a little embarrassed, “Please forgive me, Division Commander Xu. I was so determined to capture Junior Sister Bai that I did not help, worrying that I would disturb the grass and alert the snake.”

Xu Bo Liang nodded lightly, “You made the right decision. It’s good that you have your own considerations, but it was also a shame that Zhu Feng was allowed to escape.”

“We were just about to speak to Division Commander about that.” Yang Kai cupped his fist, “After capturing Junior Sister Bai, this Junior received critical intelligence from her and was able to infiltrate Zhu Feng’s hidden nest. While he was trying to recover, we were able to kill him, as well as three of his subordinated Feudal Lords.”

Xu Bo Liang was surprised, “You were able to kill Zhu Feng?”

He had fought with Zhu Feng and knew just how powerful that guy was. Even though Zhu Feng was heavily injured, he was still not an easy target to take down, much less with three of his subordinated Feudal Lords present.

“Yes!”

Xu Bo Liang looked slightly spirited, “How did you kill him? Tell me in detail.”

Yang Kai pondered for a moment before starting his account from when he and Bai Yi entered the nest, disguised themselves as Black Ink Disciples to get close to Zhu Feng, and then used Purifying Light to deal a heavy blow to him. Then, Zhu Feng used a Secret Technique to recover his strength while his three subordinated Feudal Lords came forward to buy time for him. The fight ended quickly, and after dealing with the three Feudal Lords, they laid down a flurry of attacks on the Black Ink Nest. As a result, Zhu Feng used some kind of sacrificial Secret Technique to rapidly recover. Yang Kai described their desperate fight at the end in great detail.action

Xu Bo Liang’s expression kept on changing as he listened.

Even though Yang Kai and Bai Yi now stood before him unharmed, suggesting that the fight was less risky than it let on, he could almost feel just how perilous it had been. If the two of them were less fortunate that day, they would have died there.

When he heard that Zhu Feng was actually killed by the combined efforts of five Emperor Realm cultivators who beheaded him, Xu Bo Liang also didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

For a Territory Lord like Zhu Feng to die in such a manner was truly sad. Nobody would have expected that Emperor Realm cultivators would actually be able to achieve such a great feat on the Black Ink Battlefield.

However, if all had to be said, then Zhu Feng’s death was not only the result of Yang Kai and Bai Yi’s efforts. It had to also be attributed to his fights with Dawn and Xu Bo Liang.

Yang Kai and Bai Yi knew that they had only picked up a bargain at the end.

“So, the Black Ink Clan can actually use Black Ink Nests to recover rapidly. I have never heard of such a thing before. This is a very important piece of information you’ve brought back. This knowledge may be able to reduce unnecessary casualties on our side in the future.”

They had never encountered such a thing before, mainly because of how precious the Black Ink Nests were for the Black Ink Clan. They were all placed in the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory, so no Human had even seen a Black Ink Clan Master use one to recover their injuries like this.

Had it not been for a coincidental opportunity, then Yang Kai and Bai Yi would not have learned of this either. They had also paid a steep price because of their ignorance.

“In any case, the two of you have rendered a great service this time,” Xu Bo Liang looked approvingly at them.

Yang Kai smiled, “Division Commander Xu, if we did a great service, then does that mean we can ask for some benefits, too?”

Xu Bo Liang scolded while laughing at him, “Smelly brat, what sort of benefits do you want? Let’s hear it.”

Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Junior Sister Bai has only just rid herself of her Black Ink Disciple Status. This Junior asks that Division Commander please register her and assign her to my Dawn Squad.”