Chapter 5004, Mantis Catches Cicada Translator: Silavin & Raikov Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys Following his attempt to activate the Universal Transference Law, Yang Kai’s face turned solemn. He had arranged a Universe Array on Dawning Light, and also left behind his Imprint on it. As long as the distance was not too great, then the Universe Transference Law could resonate with Dawning Light, creating a connection between them. He wasted a lot of time chasing down a powerful foe, but judging from the distance he actually travelled, he should still be well within range to use it. However, he was completely unable to establish a connection with Dawning Light using the Universe Transference Law, which surprised him. There was only one possibility for such an occurrence, and that was that the Universe Array on Dawning Light had been damaged, rendering the Universe Transference Law ineffective. The Universe Array was located in the deepest part of Dawning Light. If the defensive arrays and hull were not seriously damaged, then it was simply impossible for the Universe Array to have been affected, yet Dawning Light’s Universe Array was indeed damaged. It was not hard to infer from that that Dawn must have encountered a strong foe and engaged in a fierce battle with them. [Was it a Territory Lord that they bumped into this time, or just a very large swarm of Black Ink Clansmen?] Yang Kai frowned. No matter how he thought about it, these were the only two possibilities; otherwise, it was impossible for anything to happen with Dawn Squad’s combat capabilities. However, he did not have to worry too much. There were 4 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Dawn, and Feng Ying was also there. Even if they did have to face off against a Territory Lord, they could escape if they could not beat them. Being wiped out was basically impossible. It was no use worrying about it now since he had no way of rushing back quickly through the Universe Transference Law. The fight on that side should also have long subsided given how long he had been gone for. Right now, there was a great possibility that Dawning Light was returning to the forward base. After taking out his Universe Chart and checking his position, Yang Kai found his bearings and began making his way back to the forward base as well. On his way back, he occasionally encountered Black Ink Clan Squads, all of which he eliminated. After chasing that sneak attacker for so long yet still failing to beat them, Yang Kai was nursing a stomach full of grievances. The only thing he could do was vent his annoyance on those unfortunate Black Ink Clansmen. In just half a day, he encountered two Black Ink Clan Squads. Their numbers were not high, and they were not very strong in general either. They did not even have any Feudal Lords among them. They seemed to be scouting parties. However, since they bumped into Yang Kai, there was naturally no other fate for them except death. After advancing for a short amount of time, violent power fluctuations could be felt from the void a distance away. Yang Kai’s thoughts stirred, realising that there had to be Masters fighting up ahead. He immediately focused his eyesight as far as possible on the energy fluctuations. He could see two figures tangling up with each other in the void. One of the figures was extremely large, while the other was of ordinary size. Both of them attacked with such ferocity that even from a great distance, Yang Kai could feel the terrifying fallout of their clash. This was a fight between a Territory Lord and an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master! The battle was too far away, so Yang Kai could not see who this Eighth-Order Master was, much less how they were faring in the fight, but after a moment’s deliberation, Yang Kai hastily concealed his aura and quietly approached them. Universe Fragments littered the battlefield, meaning there were many good hiding spots nearby. If this were any other time, then the two Masters would definitely have noticed Yang Kai at this distance; after all, his concealment skills were good, but it was still difficult to hide from a Master an Order above himself. However, both the Territory Lord and the Eighth-Order Human Master were preoccupied with their fight, so how could they have any time to pay attention to their surroundings? Yang Kai easily reached a spot 1,000 kilometres away from the battlefield and hid behind a small Universe Fragment. Then, he gathered in his aura as much as he could. If one were not paying attention, then one would miss his existence even if they were looking directly at him. After a careful glance, Yang Kai quickly looked away again, not daring to stare too long. Masters such as the Territory Lord and the Human Eighth-Order Division Commander were extremely sensitive to the gazes of others, and one could easily reveal their whereabouts if they were not careful. With that quick glance, Yang Kai realised that he did not recognize who the Eighth-Order Master was. There were 4 Eighth-Order Division Commanders standing guard in the fourth forward base; of them, Yang Kai had met Cha Hu and also knew Lu An, but he did not know this man, which meant that this was either Xie Xiu Ping or Xu Bo Liang. Whoever it was, this Division Commander lived up to his name as he had an absolute advantage over the Territory Lord, who could hardly catch his breath under the former’s relentless assault. Yang Kai was amazed by this fight. Under the premise that one was in the same Order, due to the difference in accumulation of cultivation experiences, Humans were slightly stronger on average compared to Black Ink Clansmen. However, the higher the Order, the smaller that gap between them became. Upon becoming Old Ancestors and Royal Lords, the gap was almost negligible. Any Black Ink Clan Royal Lords had amassed thousands, if not tens of thousands of years of cultivation, making them no less experienced than any Human Race Old Ancestor. The gap between Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Feudal Lords was still quite obvious, but the difference between Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords was still noticeable, but not by a significant amount. Back then, when Zhong Liang fought with a Territory Lord around Blue Sky Pass, he still suffered some losses. However, what Yang Kai saw on this day was an Eighth-Order Human Master holding an absolute advantage over a Territory Lord, who could only defend without any ability to fight back. Not only that, but the Territory Lord’s body was covered in horrific injuries, and ink-black blood was flowing out from all over his figure. [Is this Eighth-Order Division Commander just that strong? Or is this particular Territory Lord just that weak?] Yang Kai was now quite glad he snuck over. Even though the Human Master had the upper hand in this fight, and the Territory Lord seemed to be on the defensive without any means to fight back, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. That was still a Territory Lord, so although it would be easy for the Eighth-Order Master to injure him, killing him was going to be difficult. Yang Kai felt that if he could find an opening to help the Human Master, there was a chance he could tip the scales just enough for a kill to be made. However, he would have to wait patiently for such a chance, if one even presented itself. He was a Seventh-Order Master, so it would be dangerous for him to intervene in a battle of this level. Not even an Eighth-Order Master would easily choose to face the final desperate blow of a Territory Lord. That was probably the reason why the Eighth-Order Master did not push his enemy too hard and instead focused on wearing down his opponent’s strength while biding his time. As the battle raged on, Yang Kai only peeked at the two figures from the corner of his eye to judge the progress of the fight. As time passed, it became clear that the Territory Lord was losing ground and was repeatedly trying to escape, only to be stopped by the Human Master. Every time he was about to grow desperate, the Eighth-Order Master would slow down his attacks, giving the enemy the illusion that he could hold out just a bit longer. That was how their fight dragged on, seemingly without end. The Eighth-Order Master was also injured during the fight, but not very seriously. The only thing that kept him at bay was the Black Ink Strength used by the Territory Lord. Even though Masters in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm had a high resistance to Black Ink Strength, that did not mean that it was impossible to be corrupted by it after long periods of exposure. Once Black Ink Strength entered his Small Universe, then he would have no choice but to return to the forward base to cleanse it with the Purifying Light. However, this was a rare opportunity, so even though he was powerless to kill this Territory Lord, this Division Commander was determined to hit him hard enough to send him back to a Black Ink Nest to recover for several dozen years. Time seemed to pass quickly, but also dreadfully slowly. Half a day seemed like a million years as Yang Kai kept on waiting for a chance to strike, but that chance never came. Just as he was starting to grow impatient, there was a sudden change in the battlefield. He had no idea what sort of Secret Technique the Territory Lord used, but eight strands of dense Black Ink Strength suddenly gushed out from his body, turning into black chains that suppressed and sealed the surrounding space, trapping the Eighth-Order Human Master almost instantly. The Eighth-Order Division Commander’s movements were sealed, but with a stern look on his face, he launched Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities in the Territory Lord’s direction. The Territory Lord’s face changed at once and he clearly wanted to dodge, but he seemed to be restrained by his own Secret Technique, causing him to freeze in place without being able to move a muscle. One by one, the Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities landed solidly on his body, hitting him until he spat blood repeatedly. Yang Kai was dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, and so was the Eighth-Order Master. It was hard to understand how this Territory Lord could have made such a foolish move. It was an amazing Secret Technique that he used, but what use would it be if even his own movements were restricted by it? Yang Kai’s eyes lit up when he saw this scenario, as the opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived. Just as he was about to rush into the battlefield using his Space Principles to assist the Eighth-Order Master, a brilliant bolt of light suddenly flew over from a Universe Fragment 1,000 kilometres away from the clash. The bolt of light had an astonishing glow to it and swiftly took on the form of two spread wings. As soon as it appeared, it had already reached the side of the Eighth-Order Human Master. At that moment, the Eighth-Order Master’s movements were restricted by the Territory Lord’s Secret Technique and he was unable to dodge. Moreover, the attack came so quickly and so stealthily without so much as a warning. The Eighth-Order Master’s face changed drastically as he pushed his World Force madly to form a shield to protect his body. However, the bolt of light still struck him hard. The barrier that he hastily raised was instantly shattered and fresh blood splattered out. The Eighth-Order Master’s waist had almost blown into a mess of blood and his aura was rapidly weakening. He had been fighting with this Territory Lord for a long time, so he was nowhere near his peak condition. He also suffered many wounds himself in the battle, so when a mysterious assailant suddenly ambushed him from a secret location, he ended up taking a bad hit. Meanwhile, the Territory Lord, who had been suppressed by him all this while, was given the opportunity to withdraw his Sealing Technique and throw a punch forward. The Eighth-Order Master barely managed to block it, but he still coughed up a mouthful of blood. Not only that, but the Black Ink Strength around him was also pouring into his body like crazy. Before suffering such a heavy injury, he was just barely able to withstand the corruption of the Black Ink Strength. Now that he was suffering such severe injuries and had taken a direct punch from the Territory Lord, he could no longer resist the Black Ink Strength’s encroachment. In the past, even an Eighth-Order Master would have to sacrifice a piece of their Small Universe as soon as possible in order to prevent any further corruption in such a situation, incurring great damage to their foundation. However, there was a Purifying Black Ink Battleship on standby at the forward base now which had Purifying Light sealed in it. As long as he was able to return while keeping his sanity, everything would be fine. So, rather than break away from the battlefield immediately, the Eighth-Order Master clasped his hands together before slashing his arms down like a sword at the Territory Lord. The Territory Lord did not expect his enemy to be so brutal as to try and kill him even at the expense of his own foundation. He was planning to ride the wave of victory and advance, but when he saw the Human’s arms come down, he immediately shrieked and turned tail in order to escape.