Chapter 5287, Living Corpses Translator: Silavin & Raikov Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys It had to be said that the Black Ink Clan did make the right decision this time. Since this Human that barged into the Black Ink Nest again, and again could not be killed quickly, they had to cut off any chance of him escaping. No Soul could not be killed, it was just that they failed to grasp their opportunities when they had them. As long as they were able to trap the Human’s Soul Avatar in the Black Ink Nest space, then they could do whatever they wanted to him, especially now that the Human had used his needle artifacts twice in a row and could not use them a third time. And, to seal off the Black Ink Nest’s space, the Territory Lords had no choice but to have Che Kong and Hong Di, two Territory Lords, take the lead in meeting with the Royal Lord to request the latter’s help during the critical moment. The entire Black Ink Nest Space was a platform that evolved from the consciousness of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, to begin with. Naturally, the right to enter and leave that space was in the hands of the Royal Lord. If they were to seal off this space completely, then they had to have the Royal Lord’s cooperation. Without the Royal Lord’s explicit permission, the Territory Lords had no ability to control this. However, with the Royal Lord’s permission, they could use a simple Secret Technique to seal up the Black Ink Nest Space. When he was informed about this situation, the Royal Lord let loose a barrage of curses and insults at his disappointing Territory Lord subordinates, but he also had no choice but to cooperate. The days had been harsh on the Royal Lord. His injuries were piling up with no chance to rest and recover, and now he was facing such a rotten problem, which naturally put him in a foul mood. Fortunately, he did not take out his rage on his subordinate Territory Lords too much, which allowed Che Kong and Hong Di to breathe sighs of relief. After confirming that Yang Kai had entered the space, the Territory Lords sent word to the outside so that the Territory Lord waiting on standby inside of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest could activate its power to seal off the space and isolate it from the outside. If they did not do this, then Yang Kai would have escaped long ago. As the strange space was completely sealed off, at the centre of the Black Ink Nest possessed by the Humans, Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple, who were both waiting for Yang Kai’s return, paled instantly. Gong Lian gasped, “Honoured Master, Brother Yang he…” Ou Yang Lie also had a grave look on his face and stepped forward to try to get a better grasp of the situation, the look on his face changing constantly. Just now, the reverberations of Yang Kai’s Soul that they should have been able to feel disappeared completely. In plain terms, it meant that his Soul was gone. Even though his body was still here, it was now just a living corpse. This was a clear sign that something had happened to Yang Kai inside of the Black Ink Nest Space. When Ou Yang Lie thought back to what Yang Kai said earlier, it seemed that he had anticipated that something different would happen this time around. However, this development was far beyond what they had expected, with Yang Kai’s Soul essentially vanishing. What were they going to do now? After a long time, Ou Yang Lie finally showed an anxious expression. From what he could sense, Yang Kai’s Soul had indeed completely disappeared. He could not sense where it was located at all. Twice previously, even though Yang Kai’s Soul became somewhat vague and indistinct after entering the Black Ink Nest Space, Ou Yang Lie could still feel an invisible connection between it and his body. As long as that connection existed, Yang Kai was fine. However, that connection had now been severed. But if his Soul was truly destroyed, then there was no way that the aura of Yang Kai’s body could remain stable. The most likely scenario would be instantaneous death or complete dementia. Strangely enough, the aura of Yang Kai’s body remained perfectly steady. This made Ou Yang Lie confused as to what was going on. After pondering for a moment, he had Gong Lian watch Yang Kai’s body carefully while he left in a flash so that he could find several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters proficient in Soul cultivation to see what was going on. While Ou Yang Lie was busy, Yang Kai was fleeing like mad while forcibly enduring the tearing pain in his Soul. He had no choice but to run as only an Old Ancestor would be able to withstand the combined attacks of 6 Territory Lords and 2 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, not to mention that his Soul already suffered critical damage from using the Soul Rending Thorns. That was the troublesome part about this strange space that was created by the Black Ink Nest’s consciousness. It seemed both large and small, being of no definite shape, which made Yang Kai’s escape particularly difficult. That was because no matter how he tried to run, his enemy’s attacks would still be able to catch him at any moment. In just a short few breaths of time, Yang Kai felt like he could run no more. His entire Soul Avatar was in tatters which severely affected his ability to think and was causing him to make mistakes in his judgment which worsened his injuries. If this went on, then he would surely be doomed. Desperately holding onto the last bit of consciousness in the depths of his Soul, Yang Kai did not dare to hesitate anymore when he saw the attacks coming at him from all directions. He finally summoned the Soul Warming Lotus that he had been hiding all this while. A seven-coloured light blossomed, and in an instant, a seven-coloured lotus appeared in the strange space. The lotus appeared in the form of a bud about to blossom, enveloping Yang Kai’s tattered Soul. The fierce Spiritual Energy attacks hit the seven-coloured lotus, but caused no damage to it in any way, forming only light ripples on the surface of its petals. The Soul Warming Lotus was a Supreme Treasure, unique in the Universe. It may not be able to display much strength under normal circumstances, but in the Black Ink Nest Space, where Spiritual Energy ruled everything, there was no strongest defence in existence. None of the attacks of the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples or the Territory Lords could break through its protection. The Black Ink Clan quickly realized this unusual change; after all, none of them was blind. Who would not be able to see the dazzling seven-coloured lotus that suddenly appeared? To their shock and incomprehension, while looking delicate and fragile, this thing was incomparably solid, remaining completely unaffected as it hovered silently in the void no matter how fierce their attacks were. After a while, the bombardment ceased. 6 Territory Lords and 2 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples surrounded the Soul Warming Lotus, observing it warily. “What is this?” Hong Di asked. He watched as this lotus flower suddenly appeared to protect the Human that they were about to kill, and the fact that they could not break it even with 8 top Masters of the Black Ink Clan joining forces naturally left him annoyed. However, he did not recognize what this lotus flower was. If even he could not recognize it, then there was no need to mention the other Territory Lords. The question now would have to go to the 2 surviving Black Ink Disciples to answer. One of them, who took on the form of an old man, was frowning slightly. As he observed the Soul Warming Lotus carefully, a vague guess came into his mind; however, he had never seen this treasure before, so he dared not be certain. He could only ask his companion, “It’s that, isn’t it? This Old Master should be correct.” The other Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple nodded, “It is as the rumours say. If it truly is that, then it explains why this man has no fear of sustaining damage to his Soul.” Not counting this time, Yang Kai had already invaded this Black Ink Nest Space twice and used the Soul Rending Thorn 4 times, killing or severely wounding 4 Territory Lords. Such aggressiveness was alarming, but what puzzled them even more was his ability to recover from his injuries. This man’s Soul had been fatally wounded, yet he returned running and jumping after just 3 years of recovery. No Spirit Pill or precious treasure could possibly have such an effect, no matter how good they were, save for one legendary object. “Speak clearly, what is this thing exactly?” Hong Di asked in a stern voice. This was what annoyed him most about Humans. They always seemed to talk in a roundabout manner, which was very unpleasant to listen to. The old man bowed, “Reporting to Sir, if this servant is not wrong, then it should be the rumoured Soul Warming Lotus.” “Soul Warming Lotus?” The Territory Lord frowned. Even though he had been dealing with the Human Race for countless years and learned many of their habits, he was still not very clear about some of the Human Race’s more obscure rumours, not to mention something like the Soul Warming Lotus which was basically a mythical existence. Even the Masters of the Human Race themselves would only see such a thing recorded in the ancient books and never in real life. “It is said that there exist two Supreme Treasures in the form of twin lotuses that grow side by side,” the old man explained, “One is the Flawless Purifying Golden Lotus that grants the holder a flawless body, impervious to all impurities, allowing them to gain twice the result with half the effort in their cultivation. The second is the Soul Warming Lotus that, while useless for one’s physical body, can protect and sustain their Soul. Under the nourishment of the Soul Warming Lotus, its holder’s Soul constantly grows stronger, and no matter how severe the damage sustained to their Soul, as long as it is not completely destroyed, the Soul Warming Lotus can allow its holder to rapidly recover to their peak.” “These two Supreme Treasures are unique, with only one of each in existence. Once the first is found, another would never appear again. Not to mention, most had never seen them before, many have never even heard of their existence.” “What Sirs see before you now must be the Soul Warming Lotus of legend.” “It’s that precious?” A Territory Lord asked. The old man nodded solemnly, “A Supreme Treasure of Heaven and Earth is priceless, beyond value entirely. Unless one has great opportunity and great destiny, they can never possess it.” Hong Di rubbed his chin in thought, “If that is the case, the reason why this man has been able to escape death repeatedly and return unscathed was all thanks to the nourishment and protection of this Soul Warming Lotus?” “Indeed!” The old man nodded, “It is said that the Soul Warming Lotus first blossoms with three colours, then five, and then finally seven. What Sirs see before you is already the Seven-Coloured Soul Warming Lotus, which is considered its apex. This man must have come into possession of this treasure many years ago; otherwise, it is simply impossible for him to have nurtured it to its seven-coloured form. With the nourishment of such a Supreme Treasure, he will naturally not fear any sort of injury to his Soul.” The Territory Lords all had ugly looks on their faces now. With such a treasure, it was laughable they even thought they had killed Yang Kai the first time. It now made perfect sense that after just 3 years he was back to full strength and could come back to butcher 2 more Territory Lords. If they had not sealed the Black Ink Nest Space this time and forced him to summon the Soul Warming Lotus to preserve his life, they would probably still be oblivious to the situation they faced. Hong Di frowned, “This man is not making any further moves. I think his Soul is too badly damaged, so he must be resting inside of the lotus flower. Based on our previous experiences, it would only take him 3 years to recover completely. Then, he will definitely use those evil artifacts against us again. We have to find a way to deal with him before then. Does anyone have any ideas?” All the Territory Lords were silent, and the 2 Black Ink Disciples also kept mum. They had all seen what happened. The attacks of 6 Territory Lords and 2 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples couldn’t even disturb the Soul Warming Lotus, so trying to break through its defences was clearly a waste of time and energy. One Territory Lord suggested, “Why don’t we try attacking again? He can only take our attacks now without being able to retaliate, so no matter how powerful this Soul Warming Lotus is, there should be a limit to how much it can take. We might be able to break it.” The old man’s face twitched as he shook his head, “This is a unique Supreme Treasure, it would be a waste to break it. It would be best if we could recover and refine it.” Hong Di was impressed by his suggestion, “That is a reasonable thought. If this treasure is so useful to a person’s Soul, then our Black Ink Clan can also make use if it. If we can refine it, then we will no longer have to fear the Soul Secret Techniques of those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the future.”