The woman's anxious mood slowly eased as she gazed at the figure within the pavilion. She drew a deep breath and walked forward at a measured pace.
When she reached the person, she performed a curtsy with her hands folded before her. "This servant greets her Master."
The person seemed not to hear, his gaze fixed on some distant point, lost in a vacant stare.
The woman followed his line of sight but saw nothing but an endless expanse of white clouds.
She stood quietly beside him and waited, meek as a house cat, every trace of her usual sharpness tucked away.
After a long while, Yang Kai suddenly spoke. "If one day you suddenly discovered that everything around you was an illusion — that even the world you lived in was nothing like you believed it to be — what would you do?"
Blood Maiden's mind raced. She weighed her words carefully before responding with caution. "What does Master mean by that?"
Yang Kai shook his head, withdrew his gaze, and turned to look at her. "You are a clever woman. Someday you will understand. Until then, I need you to do something for me."
Blood Maiden immediately dropped to her knees. "Whatever Master commands, this servant will obey without question."
"Take me to the Ink Abyss!"
The Ink Abyss was the birthplace of the Ink Cult. The Gate of the Mysterious Female was located there, and a portion of Ink's origin had been sealed within it as well. But Yang Kai had only arrived a few days ago and had no idea where the Ink Abyss actually was. After mulling it over, he decided it would be most convenient to have Blood Maiden guide him. That was why he had used the faint bloodline resonance to find this woman and was waiting for her outside this small city.
Blood Maiden's body trembled slightly. A visible flicker of fear crossed her raised face, and she hesitated before asking, "What does Master intend to do at that place?"
Yang Kai replied flatly, "Don't ask questions that aren't yours to ask. Just guide me there."
Blood Maiden lowered her head. "Yes."
She looked up again, her gaze hazy and expectant as she stared at Yang Kai. Her red lips parted and closed as if she wanted to speak but held herself back.
Yang Kai relented with a sigh. He sliced open his finger and flicked a wisp of dragon blood to her.
Blood Maiden received it as though it were a priceless treasure, swallowing it at once. It quickly dissolved into a mist of blood that shot off into the distance. Her voice drifted back: "Please wait half a day for me, Master. This servant will return shortly!"
Half a day later, Blood Maiden returned drenched in fragrant sweat, but her aura had clearly risen to a dramatically higher level — so much so that she could barely suppress it herself.
Having received benefits from Yang Kai three times now, Blood Maiden's strength had grown enormously. She had already been a peak Shenyou Realm powerhouse, and had it not been for the limitations of this particular world, she would likely have broken through long ago.
This woman possessed extraordinary talent in the Blood Path. She even had a rare constitution uniquely suited to it. But fate had been unkind — born in this Primordial World, she was bound by the River of Space-Time and unable to break free from the shackles of the realm.
Had she lived in some stronger world, her power would have advanced by leaps and bounds.
"I'll teach you a technique for suppressing your aura. Study it well," Yang Kai said.
Blood Maiden was overjoyed. "This servant thanks Master for the gift of this technique!"
She practiced the technique, and indeed her surging aura was brought well under control. This only deepened the mystery Yang Kai already held in her eyes — she found him more and more unfathomable.
The two set off together, heading straight for the Ink Abyss.
Along the way, Yang Kai asked about the Apostles, but even someone like Blood Maiden — a high-ranking division commander within the Ink Cult — knew very little about them.
"Master may not know this, but the Ink Abyss is the birthplace of our Cult. To those of us in the Ink Cult, it is an extraordinarily sacred place. No one is permitted to approach it without cause. Only those who have rendered some service to the Cult are allowed to cultivate and study near the Abyss. Additionally, those of us in elevated positions, such as this servant, receive an annual allotment that permits us entry into the Ink Abyss for a set period."
"The Power of Ink is treacherous and unpredictable. It can easily corrupt and warp one's mind. So while studying the mysteries of Ink's power within the Abyss is both a great opportunity, it is also a great gamble. A stroke of good fortune means a tremendous advance in cultivation. A stroke of bad fortune means losing oneself entirely. Within the Ink Cult, there are actually many such people — even among the division commander rank."
Yang Kai nodded. He had noticed this when he previously encountered members of the Ink Cult. Though they carried traces of the Power of Ink within them, those traces were exceedingly faint, and the Ink seemed not to have thoroughly warped their nature. Blood Maiden, for example, was still able to maintain her sense of self.
This was entirely different from the Ink Slaves Yang Kai had encountered before. Every single one of those had been completely consumed by the Power of Ink, reduced to mindless servants of Ink's will.
As Blood Maiden spoke, a glimmer of fear surfaced in her eyes. "Those who have lost themselves look no different from normal on the outside. But inside, everything has changed. This servant once nearly succumbed as well — fortunately I withdrew in time, and that is how I preserved myself."
Yang Kai said, "So when you cultivate within the Ink Abyss, you're essentially seeking a balance between maintaining your sense of self and delving into the mysteries of Ink's power?"
Blood Maiden nodded. "That's a fair way to put it. If you can hold that balance, your strength grows. But if the balance breaks, you're lost completely. The Apostles — they must be exactly such beings!"
"How so?" Yang Kai raised an eyebrow.
"From this servant's observations over the years, every year many cultists lose themselves while cultivating in the Ink Abyss. The vast majority of them withdraw from the Abyss and return to their previous lives, seemingly unchanged. But a very small minority venture deeper into the Abyss and are never seen again. Those are the Apostles!"
"If they're never seen again, how did the existence of the Apostles ever come to light?" Yang Kai frowned.