Chapter 5542, A Promising Future Translator: Silavin & Tia Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys [Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, my three Disciples, Xiao Xiao, Liu Yan, Qiong Qi, Xiao Hong, and even Xiao Hei are in Acacia Territory?] When Yang Kai received the news, he was so shocked that he nearly revealed his aura. Fortunately, he managed to regain his composure quickly. At this point, he had no time to question why all the little ones were in Acacia Territory. In any case, it would not be too late to question them later. His top priority at the moment was to slaughter these Territory Lords. After pondering for a moment, he sent a Divine Sense transmission, “Senior Brother Bi Xi, how strong are they now?” He had not gone back to the Star Boundary since his return from the Black Ink Battlefield, so aside from meeting Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei in Void Land previously, Yang Kai had not seen the others in close to 1,000 years. Hence, he truly did not know their current cultivation level. However, they were bound to have a certain level of strength if they were courageous enough to become Hunters, and that was especially true for his three Disciples. Therefore, he had great confidence in them. Bi Xi’s Soul Clone sent a transmission, “After Yang Xiao followed the Dragon Clan to the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, he returned as a Grand Dragon. Yang Xue has been in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm for many years and should be at the very peak by now. As for your three Disciples… All of them advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.” Although all the cultivators who came from the Void Dao Temple in Yang Kai’s Small Universe more or less received some inheritance from him, only Zhao Ye Bai, Zhao Ya, and Xu Yi could be regarded as his Legacy Disciples. Those three little ones had respectively inherited his three Grand Daos, namely the Dao of Space, the Spear Dao, and the Dao of Time. Among his three Disciples, his Second Disciple Zhao Ya was undoubtedly the most talented in terms of aptitude. Her cultivation speed could be said to progress at 1,000 kilometres a day. Back when she had been cultivating in his Small Universe, Yang Kai had instructed her to suppress her cultivation at all times lest it advance too quickly. Otherwise, she would not receive the full benefits of the feedback from the World Tree clone when he transferred her to the Star Boundary. Many cultivators originated from the Void Dao Temple, and about 10% of them advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. However, Yang Kai had yet to meet another cultivator who could compare with Zhao Ya in terms of cultivation aptitude. She was the kind of individual who was inherently suited to cultivation. No matter the Secret Art or Secret Technique, she would quickly attain mastery over it; hence, she was truly extraordinary even among the myriad geniuses out there. Xu Yi came next. Although he was not as good as Zhao Ya, his aptitude was undeniably good. His most commendable aspect was that he had great compatibility with the Dao of Time. Zhao Ye Bai had the worst aptitude by far among the three. To put it nicely, he was average, but to put it bluntly, he was slow. However, Yang Kai was the most optimistic about Zhao Ye Bai out of his three Disciples. Being average and mediocre meant that Zhao Ye Bai would work harder and build a stronger foundation. As the saying went, ‘All buildings began from the ground’. The more solid the foundation, the greater the heights one could ascend to. Zhao Ye Bai might be slow-witted, but he had an extremely keen perception towards the Dao of Space. Yang Kai sent his three Disciples back to the Star Boundary before he departed for the Black Ink Battlefield; thus, they not only received feedback from the World Tree in the Star Boundary for many years but also enjoyed large amounts of cultivation resources provided by High Heaven Palace. Thanks to these factors, his three Disciples had successively advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm several hundred years ago. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚 In the past, they would have been treated like the most precious of treasures by the various Cave Heavens and Paradises. As candidates to become future Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, any one of them would have been raised as the future successors of their Sects. It was just that the powerful feedback from the World Tree in the Star Boundary had resulted in the constant emergence of Juniors who advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm nowadays, which made these future Ninth-Order Old Ancestor candidates less rare in comparison. Even so, any cultivator who advanced directly into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would receive the highest level of attention and resources from the Cave Heavens and Paradises because they were the future hope of the Human Race. Liu Yan, Xiao Xiao, and Qiong Qi had Divine Spirit Bloodlines and Sources, and had cultivated in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land for many years. Now that their Bloodlines had been further purified, they were each comparable to Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in strength. Since they were also experienced Divine Spirits, they were most likely stronger compared to the average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. As for Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei, they were unqualified to enter the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land because their Bloodlines were too impure. They had been cultivating by Bi Xi’s side all this time though, so while their strength was slightly inferior, it was still comparable to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Out of the 10 people aboard the Warship, there were as many as seven on par with the Seventh Order and three on par with the Sixth Order! If they included Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, they could even put up a fight against an Innate Territory Lord! They had been Hunters for more than 10 years now. It was partly thanks to the protection they received from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone that they remained safe and sound for so long, but their immense strength also played an important role. The foundation of anyone’s strength was themselves. If one’s strength was not enough, then one would remain weak and useless no matter how much protection they received from others. How could Bi Xi fail to see through their intentions when he initially agreed to bring them out? He too believed that flowers grown in a greenhouse would not grow strong enough to withstand wind and rain. Blindly cultivating behind closed doors would not bring about much progress now that the world was in chaos. Wandering around and fighting the Black Ink Clan would undoubtedly serve as an excellent training experience; unfortunately, the enormous battles between the two Races’ Armies had too many uncontrollable variables. On the contrary, one would have more freedom and convenience as a Hunter. After learning about the growth of the little ones from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone, Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling amazed. Not only was he growing stronger, but the little ones were also growing stronger. The entire Human Race was working hard to increase their respective strengths. The future of the Human Race was certainly promising! With the sudden appearance of such a powerful and still hidden reinforcement, Yang Kai realised that he could make some changes to his original plans. He might be able to take this opportunity to let the little ones experience the strength of an Innate Territory Lord directly; after all, none of them had fought such an enemy before. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he sent out a Divine Sense transmission. In the next moment, the two Warships immediately separated and fled in different directions, seemingly escaping in a panic. Seeing this, the five Territory Lords chasing behind the Warships immediately split up and continued their pursuit without any hesitation. Two Territory Lords went after the Bi Xi Battleship and three went after Dawning Light. To the five Territory Lords, the two Warships before them were undoubtedly big fish. Although an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was protecting the two Warships, they did not think much of her. Only one Territory Lord was needed to restrain that Eighth-Order Master, while the others could easily slaughter the remaining Humans. That was exactly what the five Territory Lords planned to do. Everything was within their calculations. Gradually, the distance between them closed to just over 100,000 kilometres. The speed of the two Warships might be fast, but they could not escape from the pursuit of the Territory Lords. The Human cultivators aboard the Bi Xi Battleship evidently realised this fact. After suffering another round of attacks from the two Territory Lords, countless cracks appeared on the Warship’s shields, and the defensive light barrier seemed ready to collapse at any moment. When one of the Territory Lords saw the opportunity, he did not hesitate to stretch out a large hand to grab at the Bi Xi Battleship. Black Ink Strength surged and the universe went dark. In that moment, the Bi Xi Battleship that was escaping in a hurry abruptly turned around and brazenly charged towards the two Territory Lords. The Territory Lord who attacked just now gave a cold snort, “Overconfidence!” He then slammed his palm down hard. These Human cultivators clearly knew that it would be difficult for them to escape their current crisis and had prepared themselves to fight back like a cornered beast. Numerous Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities blasted out from the Bi Xi Battleship, slamming towards the two Territory Lords. It was just that their attacks seemed weak and pointless to the Territory Lords. These Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters seemed ridiculously weak. If all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were only at this level of strength, then they wouldn’t even be difficult for a Feudal Lord to defeat. Black Ink Strength gathered in the enormous palm as it pressed down on the Bi Xi Battleship. The Warship shuddered violently under the impact. Yu Ru Meng and the others who were standing on the deck lost their balance, looking extremely miserable, their expressions turning ugly. The Territory Lord abruptly clenched his large hand as if to grab hold of the entire Bi Xi Battleship, laughing loudly as he increased his strength to completely crush its defences. Once the shields were broken, his Black Ink Strength would be able to penetrate the Warship directly. He had no intention of killing these Humans. Regardless of how weak they were, they were still 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. If he could convert them into Black Ink Disciples by corrupting them with the Black Ink Strength, they would become his pawns. He could order them to disguise themselves as Hunters and then kill or lure out others, making his next mission easier. Due to the scheming thoughts in his head, he held back the strength of his attacks, but it was at that moment that a sense of crisis suddenly washed over him, causing him to panic for some inexplicable reason. He immediately focused his mind and glanced in the direction of the Bi Xi Battleship, hoping to see why these ants were now giving him such a strong sense of terror. Before he could get a good look though, a flash of Spiritual Energy appeared next to him. Immediately after that, the defences of his Soul were ripped open and he felt as though something was stabbing into his mind, giving him a splitting headache. He howled from the pain, and the Black Ink Strength coming from his large hand that was restraining the Bi Xi Battleship immediately dispersed. At the same time, a ripple emerged in the Void beside him and a humanoid figure stepped without any warning, thrusting a spear towards him in a slow manner. Both space and time seemed to warp at that moment as many different Dao Strengths fluctuated and wove together as they pierced out. The spear stabbed out at a speed that could not be considered fast. The Territory Lord suffering from the splitting headache saw the spear heading towards him and tried to avoid the attack; however, to his astonishment, he discovered that he could not avoid the spear no matter what he did. At that moment, all his senses and reflexes seemed to have been dulled. The other Territory Lord, who stood beside him but had not made a move so far, gave a loud yell, “Watch out!” Among the two Territory Lords chasing after the Bi Xi Battleship, one had attacked while the other had held back to monitor the situation. When Yang Kai attacked, the Territory Lord he targeted suffered heavy damage to his Soul. Although the first Territory Lord could not save himself, the second one quickly recovered from the shock and retaliated. He opened his mouth, and a whip-like black light blasted towards Yang Kai. It was too late to save his companion, so he could only choose to attack the enemy instead. At this moment, he suddenly discovered that their ambusher was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master! [Two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters! One of them drew our attention while the other lurked in the shadows!] All five Territory Lords had been distracted by the two Warships and failed to detect the hidden Eighth-Order Master. This was probably not a premeditated plan, but one that they had come up with at the last moment after their whereabouts were exposed. Although the Territory Lord did not think much of this newly appeared Eighth-Order Human, he did not hold back in his attacks. If the other party did not wish to die, then he would need to withdraw his spear to defend himself. In that way, his companion Territory Lord would survive, but in the next moment, he discovered that he was mistaken. Despite facing a Territory Lord’s all-out attack, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who suddenly emerged from the shadows showed no intention of dodging or even responding. The spear in his hand stabbed forward firmly, and he looked as though he was determined to drag his enemy down with him even if he were to die as a result. [What a fierce and merciless Human! He is not only merciless towards the Black Ink Clan, but also towards himself!] The Territory Lord was horrified. Nevertheless, this situation was favourable to him. Even though his companion might be heavily injured or even killed by this Eighth-Order Human, he would be able to take down the latter in return. It was not a bad deal. In any case, he was not the one who would die.