“All Great Passes will contribute to this mission to recover the Great Evolution Pass. Blue Sky Pass will probably deploy about 500 people, with Senior Brother Xiang leading the team. So, when you get there, you cannot act without Senior Brother Xiang’s order!” Ding Yao looked at Yang Kai with a serious face.
Yang Kai accepted the order, “Understood!” Then, he asked, “When will we be leaving?”
Ding Yao answered, “It won’t be a long wait, within a few months at most.”
Shen Tu Mo added, “I am telling you this today because I want you to be prepared; otherwise, you will be confused when you get there. On the other hand, Dawn doesn’t have enough members, so the Inner Sanctum has chosen a ten-person Squad to join Dawn. They will be heading over for the transition within these few days.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You can head back and make the necessary preparations,” Shen Tu Mo waved his hand.
Yang Kai cupped his fist and left.
After leaving the Army Headquarters, Yang Kai breathed in a light breath to calm his excitement. The Humans were going to recover Great Evolution Pass. After countless years of defending against the Black Ink Clan, Blue Sky Pass’ initial crusade could be said to be a small step forward for the Humans, while taking back Great Evolution Pass was like a big step forward.
Once Great Evolution Pass was retaken, the real crusade would not be too far away. By then, there would be a world-shaking battle to the death between the two races in this huge and vast Black Ink Battlefield, and no one could predict what the final result would be. On this vast battlefield, a single Human’s strength was too weak to matter, and Yang Kai was a mere Seventh-Order Master. Even an Old Ancestor could only affect the situation of their own designated Theatre, not the entire situation of the war.
The only thing Yang Kai could do now was prepare himself for the upcoming campaign.
After returning to his home, he entered retreat and began cultivating to improve his Small Universe’s heritage as much as possible.
A few days later, two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You, came for a visit. They were the Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader of a ten-man Squad and were both veterans who had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for at least 2,000 years, killing countless enemies and earning a lot of Merits.
Because they were about to embark on a campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass, Dawn naturally needed to be as strong as possible; however, since the establishment of Dawn, the Squad had never filled its ranks, so after some consideration, Ding Yao took the initiative to choose a ten-member Squad to fill in the vacancies and increase Dawn’s strength.
The team led by Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You were the lucky Squad.
The two were not repulsed by this order and were even a bit happy. This couldn’t be helped, as every ordinary Squad’s desire was to develop their Squad to become an elite Squad with grand accomplishments. Unfortunately, there were only five Special Operations Squads here in Blue Sky Pass, so if the others wanted to be promoted, they had to perform exceptionally well and play a decisive role in battle; otherwise, promotion was impossible.
The creation of Dawn was also because Yang Kai was too important for Blue Sky Pass, which was why the Army Commanders granted a special exception. Of course, the Military Merits Dawn earned after its establishment did live up to its title as a Special Operations Squad. They even outshined the other four elite Squads.
Although Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You’s Squad was quite strong and had earned a lot of Military Merits in its time, their capabilities were still far from being able to be promoted.
So, when they were suddenly ordered to join Dawn, they were a bit confused, but were still happy to report to Yang Kai.
In every war it participated in, Dawn would rank first in the War Materials Hall in terms of Military Merits. More importantly, Dawn still had vacancies.
Many cultivators wanted to join Dawn and fight as part of the Squad, but unfortunately, Yang Kai, the Squad Leader, never intended to recruit new members over the years.
Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You did not expect that a sudden transfer order from the higher-ups would allow them to fulfil this wish.
In the courtyard, Yang Kai gave the two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters a warm welcome. Although they had never met each other before, they were comrades who fought together on the Black Ink Battlefield, so there was no estrangement between them when talking about killing the Black Ink Clan and restoring peace. After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became very lively.
During that time, the two Seventh-Order Masters had asked about the reason behind the transfer order given by the higher-ups, but Yang Kai dodged the question.
The matters Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo told him about had to be kept confidential for the time being. Although these secrets would soon be revealed during the battle to recover Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai still couldn’t say anything in this situation. At least, the announcement shouldn’t be coming from him.
After a while of chatting, both the host and guests were having a good time.
With the addition of Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You’s ten-person Squad, the number of Dawn team members instantly increased to forty-seven. Though it wasn’t completely full, it was not far off and there were as many as 8 Seventh-Order Masters in the Squad.
As time passed, some rumours gradually spread within Blue Sky Pass. No one knew where those rumours came from, but all the soldiers who were transferred back to the Inner Sanctum were soon vaguely aware of the news that the Humans were going to take back Great Evolution Pass.
Everyone was so excited that they could barely wait for that battle to start!
Several months later, it was finally time.
A message was sent to all the members of Dawn. Once they had all assembled, they were led by Yang Kai to Blue Sky Pass Main Square, where Squads of varying numbers had gathered from all directions of the Inner Sanctum.
By the time Yang Kai arrived with Dawn, hundreds of people had already assembled and more were on their way.
In less than a half cup of tea’s time, about 500 people had gathered at the square, which was the number Ding Yao had revealed to Yang Kai earlier.
Despite the large number of people, the square was silent. Under the calm exterior though was suppressed excitement.
Chai Fang, the Old Turtle’s Squad Leader, was standing not far from Yang Kai while squinting at him to attract his attention. Chai Feng said, “Brother Yang, judging from this situation, it seems like the rumours about recovering Great Evolution Pass might be true.”
When the news of recovering the Great Pass began spreading around the Inner Sanctum, Chai Fang also came to Yang Kai to discuss this matter with him, but Yang Kai didn’t dare to reveal anything and pretended not to know about it when talking to Chai Feng.
However, everyone knew that without the tacit approval from the higher-ups, the news wouldn’t have spread throughout the Inner Sanctum; therefore, Chai Feng had expected it to be more than 80% true back then, and now it seemed like he was right.
After realising that, Chai Fang felt very excited. Since the battle 200 years ago, the soldiers of Blue Sky Pass had been bored and idle. It was unbearable for them not to kill any enemies for 200 years, but now they could finally kill as many enemies as they could during this campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass.
“I think you’re right,” Yang Kai replied.
Then, Chai Fang added, “For more than 30,000 years, Great Evolution Pass has been occupied by the Black Ink Clan, resulting in a lot of pressure on the Great Passes to the left and right of the Great Evolution Theatre. If we can take back Great Evolution Pass, the pressure on those two Great Passes will be greatly reduced.”
Every Great Pass had a corresponding Theatre, so when Great Evolution Pass fell, all the Black Ink Clan in that Theatre would naturally be free of constraints and would have extra manpower to reinforce their fellow clansmen in the two neighbouring Theatres. Although the efficiency of their reinforcements wasn’t high due to the distance, they were still able to make the two Great Passes suffer a lot of hardships throughout the years.
In comparison to the other Great Passes, the two Great Passes adjacent to Great Evolution Pass also had more troops.
For example, there were about 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers in Blue Sky Pass, which was the same for most of the Human Great Passes. Even if there were Passes with over 40,000 soldiers, it still wouldn’t exceed that number by much.
But for those two Great Passes, they had more than 50,000 soldiers each. Otherwise, they would not be able to resist the Black Ink Clan’s attack because each of them needed to deal with an enemy with numbers equivalent to one and a half Theatres.
Chai Fang added, “Blue Sky Pass alone is sending out 500 troops. If every Great Pass dispatches a similar amount, wouldn’t we have gathered an army of 50,000 soldiers? Adding on the reinforcements sent from the two Great Passes themselves, *tsk* seems like the higher-ups are really determined to get back Great Evolution Pass.”
With a smile, Yang Kai elaborated, “Since we’ve decided to take it back, the higher-ups must have gone through a lot of consideration. Blue Sky Pass is a special case though, and deploying 500 people is not much of a burden for us, but the other Great Passes might not be able to send so many people.”
Because the war at Blue Sky Pass had entered a lull, it wouldn’t affect them too much if they sent out more soldiers; however, the other Great Passes didn’t have the same advantages as Blue Sky Pass, and although 500 people didn’t sound like much, it was equivalent to the strength of several Battalions.
While the two of them were communicating secretly, a sudden stream of light came from Eastern Army Headquarters and appeared before them in the blink of an eye.
The light dispersed and revealed the figures of 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters led by Xiang Shan and Ding Yao.
Yang Kai saw that among these Eighth-Order Masters was Grandmaster Ma Fan. It seemed like Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo had finally given in to the old man’s stubbornness.
Then, in front of everyone’s eyes, Xiang Shan took a step forward with his hands behind his back, looked around, and opened his mouth to speak, “Recently, there have been some rumours circulating in the Inner Sanctum, and I think you all have heard them, so today, I am here to tell you all that the matter of taking back Great Evolution Pass is true.”
Even though everyone standing here had guessed this already and was almost certain about it, there was still an uproar when Xiang Shan formally announced it.
Ignoring the excitement of the soldiers, Xiang Shan continued, “Since the fall of Great Evolution Pass more than 30,000 years ago, it has been under the control of the Black Ink Clan, and the strong defence line built by the Ancient Masters has become vulnerable. The Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass even dared to venture forward and challenge the No-Return Pass. That is a humiliation to the entire Human Race!”
“For 30,000 years, we have been trying to recover Great Evolution Pass, but the situation here on the Black Ink Battlefield was horrendous and each Great Pass couldn’t afford to divide our forces, even if we wanted to. Now that 30,000 years have passed, after generations of hard work and effort, the chance has finally come. I can’t comment on the rights and wrongs of my ancestors, but as one of their descendants, I have only one goal.”
“To reclaim Great Evolution Pass!”
“Today, all 500 of you will join me on this endeavour, and whether we face life or death in the days to come, we will not embarrass the Human Race’s prestige. We will not forget the efforts of our forefathers and their original intentions. The enemy stands before us, so let us prepare for battle!”
“For victory!”
“Victory!” The crowd roared in excitement, and their shouts echoed across the sky.
With a slight nod, Xiang Shan suddenly waved his hand, and dozens of streams of light scattered to all parts of the crowd. The streams of light hovered in front of each Squad Leader level Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and in the streams of light was a Space Ring.
“Squad Leaders, please take care of your own supplies. There are Purifying Black Ink Pills and a spare warship inside each Space Ring. You will distribute those pills accordingly when the time comes.”
“Yes, sir!” The Squad Leaders all responded.
Xiang Shan nodded his head again and ordered, “Move out!”
Xiang Shan turned around and dashed towards the Central Hall, where the Hyper Space Array was located. Following behind him was Ding Yao and 9 other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, with the 500 Human soldiers further back.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai led Dawn at the front of the pack, followed by Chai Fang and the members of the Old Turtles.
Soon, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the 500 soldiers arrived at the Hyper Space Array. Fortunately, the Central Hall was spacious enough to hold hundreds of people without being crowded.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master greeted them and cupped his fist to Xiang Shan, “Everything is prepared.”
Xiang Shan nodded, “Many thanks.”
The Eighth-Order Master moved aside, and Xiang Shan led hundreds of soldiers straight to the front of the Space Array. The array’s light glowed brightly while the patterns flashed and the array hummed, obviously indicating that it was already opened and ready to use.
Xiang Shan turned around, looked at the 500 people behind him and ordered, “Get into groups of 50 and spread out!”
The crowd followed the order, and under the leadership of their Squad Leaders, three to four Squads formed groups of 50 each.
Only Dawn and the Old Turtles did not need to move because the total number of members in those two Special Operations Squads was about 50 people.
Xiang Shan turned his head, looked at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around him, and nodded lightly. The next moment, the group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters moved to a group of soldiers.
The one who arrived before Dawn was Grandmaster Ma Fan. No one could tell if it was pre-arranged, but like the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Grandmaster Ma Fan activated the power of his Small Universe, opened its portal, and turned it into a channel before he shouted to Yang Kai and the others, “Get in!”
Yang Kai naturally understood what the Eighth-Order Masters had planned, which was to use these 10 Eight-Order Masters to send all 500 soldiers to another Great Pass.
Due to the large distance between the Great Passes, each transmission across the Hyper Space Array consumed a huge amount of materials. The higher the strength of the cultivator being transmitted, the more materials they would have to consume.
Since Blue Sky Pass was sending 500 soldiers, it could still afford to do this one by one because it was rich with materials, but it was an unnecessary waste.
It also consumed a lot of time.
Instead of that, it would be better to use the Eighth-Order Masters’ Small Universes to expedite the process.
In comparison to transmitting 500 people, transmitting 10 Eighth-Order Masters would definitely consume far fewer materials, and it would take less time as well.
As a matter of fact, whenever cultivators moved from one Great Pass to another, they would usually use this method, which was to let lower-order cultivators enter the Small Universe of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. That way, they could save as many materials as possible.
The Small Universe of an Eighth-Order Master was, if they were only to accommodate Fifth-Order Masters, capable of carrying upwards of 1,000 people. If they were trying to hold Sixth-Order Masters, around 100 people would be the limit. For Seventh-Order Masters, perhaps 10 would be the limit. Any more would add a significant burden to the Eighth-Order Master’s Small Universe and cause unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, after Xiang Shan and others had carefully discussed this matter, they thought that using 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to transport 500 people would be the best choice.
After Grandmaster Ma Fan’s shout, Yang Kai charged into the portal first, followed by his team members. Then, one after another, each figure disappeared.
Only after everyone had entered the Small Universe did Grandmaster Ma Fan close the portal.
This was not the first time Ma Fan had done something like this; still, this was something that most would avoid doing if possible. Under normal circumstances, even if a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master could store someone of a lower Order in their Small Universe, they wouldn’t as the dangers of doing so were too great. It would be extremely difficult to stop their Small Universe from being damaged from the inside if someone they took in had malicious intentions. The High-Rank Masters could use their World Force to suppress such behaviour, but their Small Universe would still inevitably be contaminated with another person’s World Force as long as the other party simply circulated their strength, which was very troublesome to deal with.
Therefore, the cultivators in Yang Kai’s Small Universe had to leave when they were about to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Another reason was that everyone had different paths of cultivation, and the disciples of the Void Dao Temple would have a low chance of success if they stayed in Yang Kai’s Small Universe when they wanted to break through.
However, the Black Ink Battlefield was a special case. It wasn’t uncommon to see High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters using their Small Universe to accommodate lower-order Masters. All Humans here were life-and-death comrades and fought side by side, so trust was not an issue.
After receiving the entire Dawn Squad, Grandmaster Ma Fan turned a little pale despite receiving less than 50 people.
On the other hand, Xiang Shan and others all seemed normal, especially Xiang Shan. He had taken in nearly 60 people yet still seemed like he was perfectly fine.
From that, it was obvious that though the two were in the same Realm, Ma Fan’s heritage was incomparable to those veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Blue Sky Pass. After all, the Dao of Artifact Refining consumed a lot of his time and energy, so his foundation was not nearly as rich.
After receiving all 500 people into their Small Universes, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters did not immediately teleport away through the array but instead stood in place and waited in silence.
That was because Blue Sky Pass wasn’t the only one sending people. As all the Great Passes were deploying some soldiers for the campaign, it was impossible for the receiving Space Array to support them all at once, so they had to wait for the signal from the other side.
It wasn’t a long wait. About half an hour later, the Hyper Space Array suddenly shone out a light that was extremely dazzling but was quickly withdrawn. It happened three times.
That was the signal they and that had been agreed on.
After the light around the array stabilised Xiang Shan took the lead, stepping onto the array, followed by the other Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Activate the array!” The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who was monitoring the Central Hall ordered. Then, the many already prepared soldiers around the array each formed a set of seals and started the array.
A dazzling light shone out from the edge of the Grand Array and gradually diffused towards the centre. It soon enveloped Xiang Shan and the other 10 Eighth-Order Masters.
The array hummed, and the hall shook.
A dozen breaths later, the dazzling light disappeared, and the array became dark. Xiang Shan and others who had been standing there were gone along with it.
The crystals placed in the seven Array Nodes around the Grand Array also dimmed.
Those seven Array Nodes corresponded to the Seven Elements. These crystals were originally arranged here, created by a special technique that gathered Energy from different materials. Even a crystal the size of a fingernail consumed a set of materials that could help create a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
If the crystals used up in this one transfer were gathered together, they could fill up an entire washbasin. One could imagine how many materials this teleportation had consumed.
Meanwhile, inside Ma Fan’s Small Universe, Yang Kai and others sat down cross-legged, calmed their powers, and tried to remain motionless.
This was the self-awareness every Open Heaven Realm Master that had been invited into a Small Universe should have.
Perhaps because he had cultivated the Dao of Artifact Refining too, Yang Kai noticed that there were a lot of Artifact Refining Dao Essences in this Small Universe as soon as he entered.
They were inside Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe after all, and as an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster, it was normal to have such a dense Dao Essence.
If Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe could rear living beings like Yang Kai’s Small Universe, there would certainly be a lot of Artifact Refining prodigies to emerge from here.
In fact, because of the special characteristic of the Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe, whenever a cultivator’s strength reached the Seventh Order, their Small Universe would turn from immaterial to material. By then, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a Legacy Disciple because they could raise a batch of living beings themselves, and following the subtle influence of their own Grand Dao Essence, there would eventually be a perfect candidate to inherit their legacy.
Under normal circumstances, however, High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would not do such a thing because their Small Universe would easily become unstable when fighting fierce battles, and the living creatures inside would be killed or injured. There was a possibility that hundreds of years of hard work would be lost in a single clash.
According to Yang Kai’s knowledge of this place, only those High-Rank Open Heaven from Cave-Heavens and Paradises who were about to die would do such a thing.
They knew they didn’t have long to live, and there was no hope for them in the future; therefore, the only thing they could do before their lives came to an end was to contribute to the continuation of their Sect.
That was the reason why there was no shortage of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners in the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and why special Sects like Divine Cauldron Heaven and Divine Medicine Heaven could ensure the continuation of their inheritance from generation to generation.
Actually, Yang Kai could have taken the chance to cultivate in this environment and perhaps gain something.
But he did not care much about Dao of Artifact Refining, and the reason why he practised it was simply because it was related to a mission.
Now that his mission was long over, he hadn’t actively cultivated the Dao of Artifact Refining for a long time.
After waiting for almost an hour or so, the Small Universe suddenly buzzed, and a portal to the outside world opened.
The members of Dawn got up and exited the portal under Yang Kai’s lead, leaving Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe.
When the world suddenly changed, they found themselves in the middle of a huge open area.
Before the crowd could even stand firm, a vague buzzing noise entered their ears as they felt energy fluctuations coming at them from all directions.
These signs were all very familiar as all of them had encountered such scenes many times in their lives.
Shen Ao, who was standing beside Yang Kai, raised a brow and asked what everyone was thinking, “Is the Black Ink Clan attacking?”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
He didn’t know which Great Pass this was, but it must be one of the two adjacent to Great Evolution Pass; after all, in order to recover Great Evolution Pass, starting from the two adjacent Great Passes would be the shortest route.
However, they didn’t anticipate that they would bump into the Black Ink Clan attacking the Great Passes. Also, Yang Kai couldn’t figure out whether this attack was a coincidence or a situation planned out by the Humans.
He guessed that it was most likely the latter. The Black Ink Clan’s sieges would generally last for many years, but there would be an equally long period of rest in between, so if the Humans were willing to, they could easily avoid such incidents.
In this case, it seemed like the higher-ups had decided to inflict serious damage on the Black Ink Clan forces in the neighbouring Theatres before retaking Great Evolution Pass so that the enemy wouldn’t be able to send reinforcements.
That was also a very natural choice.
Turning his head to look at the 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Blue Sky Pass, Yang Kai guessed that the Black Ink Clan in this Theatre were about to suffer a heavy toll.
Dawn’s members were whispering to each other, just like in the other Squads. They seemed to have noticed the special situation here.
However, they were all still confused about which Great Pass they were in.
The Universe Chart they brought over from Blue Sky Pass was useless because each Theatre had its own Universe Chart. Although the chart had details about some nearby Theatres, the Universe Chart showed nothing of Great Passes that were further away.
While the members of Dawn were talking amongst themselves, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master suddenly came in from not far away and cupped his fist at Xiang Shan, “Senior Brother Xiang!”
Xiang Shan returned the greeting, “Junior Brother Hong.”
Though no one knew which Great Pass the man called Junior Brother Hong came from, he obviously was not a local. After he met up with Xiang Shan, they interacted via Divine Sense.
Yang Kai took the opportunity to look around and realised that many cultivators had gathered in different groups in the square.
The number of people in each group varied from about 200 to 300, but none of them had 500 like Blue Sky Pass.
Those groups of cultivators gathered together should have been the soldiers deployed by various Passes, and it seemed like Yang Kai’s guess was right. Because the situation in Blue Sky Pass was different, they could deploy 500 soldiers, while the other Great Passes couldn’t deploy as many.
In contrast to the 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers in each Great Pass, a few hundred people wouldn’t affect their strength too much.
But once all of them had gathered in this place, it would be a considerable amount of manpower.
Yang Kai estimated that there were almost 6,000 to 7,000 people gathered in this square, and this was before everyone had arrived. Once everyone had assembled, there would likely be several tens of thousands in total.
In every group of cultivators, there would also be Eighth-Order Masters, but their numbers varied as well; each group basically had more than five though.
It seemed like the other Great Passes had made the same choice as Blue Sky Pass, using the Small Universes from Eighth-Order Masters to send their soldiers here.
Yang Kai was secretly speechless. Besides the 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers gathered in this square, there were already about 100 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present.
The Black Ink Clan besieging this Great Pass at this moment were not only unlucky, they were about to feel miserable.
Just as Yang Kai was about to ask Grandmaster Ma Fan which Great Pass they were at, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, “Brat, over here!”
Following the direction of the voice, Yang Kai looked around and saw someone waving his hand from one of the groups.
It was Xu Ling Gong!
Yang Kai was stunned as he didn’t expect to see Xu Ling Gong there. Because Xu Ling Gong was a Seventh-Order Master, he must have come here to take part in the mission to recover Great Evolution Pass.
When Yang Kai saw Xu Ling Gong, he was happy because he was still his Elder after all, despite both of them having the same cultivation.
Following that, Yang Kai went up to Ding Yao and said, “Martial Uncle, there’s someone I know over there. I’ll head over and say hello.”
Ding Yao turned his head towards the areas where cultivators from Yin-Yang Pass were gathered and nodded lightly, “You’re free to roam around but do not leave the square.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai replied and turned back to relay a message to the members of Dawn before heading towards Xu Ling Gong.
When he arrived before Xu Ling Gong, Yang Kai bowed, “Martial Uncle Xu!”
He also bowed to Tang Qiu and the others, “Greetings, Seniors.”
On Yin-Yang Pass’ side, not only did Xu Ling Gong join this mission, but so did Tang Qiu and several other familiar faces. Among these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, there were some whom Yang Kai knew and some he didn’t.
Standing behind Xu Ling Gong were Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue, who also nodded at Yang Kai as a greeting.
Xu Ling Gong slapped his hand on Yang Kai’s shoulder and laughed heartily, “I never thought we would have the chance to fight side by side again. It’s good to have you with us because you tend to cause a lot of commotion, which I enjoy the most.”
Hearing that made Yang Kai laugh. Unsure if it was a compliment, he replied casually, “Martial Uncle Xu, you’re flattering me. I feel assured seeing you and the others have been doing fine.”
Xu Ling Gong nodded happily, “I’ll take it as you being filial.”
Yang Kai added, “It looks like quite a number of Yin-Yang Pass soldiers came this time. How is the situation back there?”
Just now, he had noticed that the number of soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass was similar to that of Blue Sky Pass, around 500 with 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Not only did the Eastern Army Commander, Tang Qiu, join this mission, but so did the Western Army Commander, Liu Zhi Ping.
Yang Kai had a deep impression of the Western Army Commander, which couldn’t be helped because the steamed stuffed buns she made were quite delicious. Back when he and the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass were hanging around at the Marketplace, he frequented Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant quite frequently.
Since two Army Commanders had come here in person, it obviously meant that everything was going well at Yin-Yang Pass; otherwise, these two wouldn’t have had the spare time.
One had to know that though Blue Sky Pass also had 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present, only Ding Yao, the Eastern Army Commander, joined this mission.
Hearing Yang Kai’s question, Tang Qiu said smilingly, “Thanks to you, we won a big victory against the Black Ink Clan more than 100 years ago and severely damaged their foundation. So, Yin-Yang Pass will have several hundred years of peace.”
Yang Kai understood what Tang Qin meant as soon as he heard it. The Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises he opened outside Yin-Yang Pass must have made a great contribution to winning the most recent war.
Like at Blue Sky Pass, Yin-Yang Pass took the Black Ink Clan Army by surprise with the help of those Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises. After activating countless traps, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties. Almost the entire Black Ink Clan Army was killed in that war, while more than 20 Territory Lords had either died or were severely wounded.
Despite having experienced those traps once in the Blue Sky Theatre and being very cautious when attacking Yin-Yang Pass, unless the Black Ink Clan stopped besieging the Great Passes entirely, it would just be a matter of time before they fell into those traps. For the Black Ink Clan, there was no good solution to those death traps set by the Humans, and they would pay a high price when they encountered them whether they were prepared in advance or not.
“Originally, Yin-Yang Pass wanted to follow Blue Sky Pass’ example and organise a crusade, but unfortunately, we don’t have a solution to our logistics problem, nor do we have someone to arrange Universe Arrays as transit points, so we had to give up on that idea,” Tang Qiu said with some regret.
Yin-Yang Pass had considered asking Yang Kai to help them set up some Universe Arrays as transit points for their crusade; however, due to various reasons, the plan was eventually shelved.
Although they couldn’t organise a crusade, the situation in the Yin-Yang Theatre was quite stable right now, so they could deploy more people to support the mission to recover the Great Evolution Pass.
That was the reason why Yin-Yang Pass deployed 500 people and even two Army Commanders.
Among the two Army Commanders, Liu Zhi Ping would be joining the campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass while Tang Qiu would return to Yin-Yang Pass soon to oversee matters there. However, Yang Kai and the others weren’t informed about the decisions made by the higher-ups.
The only thing Yang Kai desperately wanted to know now was which Great Pass they were at.
When he asked this question, Tang Qiu said, “Didn’t Ding Yao tell you?”
Yang Kai replied, “I haven’t had time to ask yet.”
Tang Qiu explained, “This is Wind and Cloud Pass.”
Then it dawned on Yang Kai. Wind and Cloud Pass naturally corresponded to Wind and Cloud Paradise. Because of the Star Boundary’s World Tree and the Good Fortune Divine Furnace, Yang Kai had dealt with people from almost all of the Cave Heavens and Paradises and knew at least one or two people from each of them. In a way, he now had quite a wide network.
When mentioning Wind and Cloud Paradise, Yang Kai’s deepest impression of it was its auction houses. Thinking back, it was from Wind and Cloud Auction House that he got the pill recipe for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
If this place was Wind and Cloud Pass, the other Great Pass adjacent to Great Evolution Pass should be Azure Void Pass.
Azure Void Pass corresponded to Azure Void Cave Heaven, and these two Great Passes sandwiched Great Evolution Pass between them. Originally, they could have helped each other in battle, but after the fall of Great Evolution Pass, both Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass fell under even more pressure.
Since the Black Ink Clan of the Great Evolution Theatre had no opponent to fight, they could gather their forces and develop without worry. They could frequently gather hundreds of thousands of soldiers to pass through the vast void and aid their fellow Black Ink Clansmen in the Azure Void and Wind and Cloud Theatres.
On average, Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass faced more frequent assaults from the Black Ink Clan than other Great Passes. Usually, the Black Ink Clan would rest for 100 years between attacks on a Great Pass, but these two would see assaults every 70 to 80 years, and with far greater force than at other Great Passes.
Due to the immense pressure they faced, these two Great Passes had more than 50,000 troops each, or else they wouldn’t be able to resist the attacks.
Knowing that this place was Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai nodded lightly and asked, “Senior, what’s our situation? I noticed that there are only 20 to 30 groups of reinforcements here. When will the troops from other Great Passes arrive?”
Tang Qiu explained, “Not all of the troops that the 108 Great Passes are deploying for this mission will be gathered at Wind and Cloud Pass. Only half of them will assemble here, while the other half will gather at Azure Void Pass, which is also facing an attack from the Black Ink Clan at this very moment. With the strength from the other Great Passes and the strength from the local garrison, we will crush the besieging Black Ink Clan Armies first. Then, Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies will be formed on the Wind and Cloud Pass side, while the Northern and Southern Armies will be formed on the Azure Void Pass side.”
“I’m not sure about the situation at Azure Void Pass, but here, the Eastern Army Commander will be Xiang Shan from Blue Sky Pass, and the Western Army Commander will be Liu Zhi Ping from Yin-Yang Pass. At that time, the four Armies will set out from both Great Passes and advance together with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass leading the Army to recover Great Evolution Pass.”
Now that Yang Kai had the gist of the situation, he glanced at the troops in the square and silently estimated in his mind, “According to your words, each Army will have about 10,000 soldiers, and all four armies will have a total of some 40,000 people, right?”
Tang Qiu shook his head, “It will be more than that. According to the original plan, the estimated manpower needed to recover the Great Evolution Pass should be around 60,000. In other words, each army will have at least 15,000 soldiers. The only way to take back Great Evolution Pass is to ensure we have 60,000 soldiers.”
A war to re-take territory was different from simply defending it. 30,000 to 40,000 troops in a Human Great Pass were sufficient to ensure that they wouldn’t be defeated, but the risks of attacking an entrenched position also played a part in that.
By the same token, the Black Ink Clan had been occupying Great Evolution Pass for more than 30,000 years. Even if they didn’t have the same means as Humans, 30,000 years of managing that place would be enough for them to set up traps and other defensive arrangements.
This time it was the Black Ink Clan’s turn to rely on the risk of attacking a Great Pass. If the Humans wanted to conquer the Great Evolution Pass, they had to ensure that they had a much superior force, so 60,000 was thought to be the minimum requirement.
In the case of Wind and Cloud Pass, if they gathered all the troops deployed by the other Great Passes, they might be able to assemble 15,000 soldiers, equivalent to an Army’s strength.
But considering that once Great Evolution Pass was successfully retaken, Wind and Cloud Pass wouldn’t be under as much pressure anymore, so they wouldn’t need 50,000 soldiers to hold the line anymore. Therefore, Wind and Cloud Pass would be deploying 15,000 troops to help fill in the vacancies for Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies.
It was the same for Azure Void Pass. They would assemble an Army gathered from all the troops sent by the other Great Passes and deploy an Army of their own, forming two Armies as well.
The Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Armies would meet at Great Evolution Pass, where Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor would take command and decide how to recover the Great Pass, which had been lost for more than 30,000 years.
Tang Qiu let out a light sigh as he spoke with mixed emotions, “We don’t know how many of us will survive this battle. Yang Boy, this campaign to recover our lost territory will be more dangerous than any battle you’ve faced before. You must remember not to act impulsively and put your safety first out of all things.”
“Yes, Sir!” Yang Kai nodded respectfully.
After Tang Qiu’s explanation, Yang Kai now had a deeper understanding of the situation and the obstacles he would be facing later. On the other hand, these weren’t exactly secrets, so he guessed the others might find out from all sorts of sources in short order.
Back at the square, the atmosphere was becoming increasingly lively as cultivators from different Great Passes arrived one after another, and early birds, like Yang Kai, were socialising with the others.
Many Fellow Brothers and Sisters came from the same Cave Heaven or Paradise, but were allocated to different Great Passes after arriving at the Black Ink Battlefield. Once they separated, it would be hundreds to thousands of years, or even longer, before they could meet again. They might even never see each other again until they meet in the afterlife.
The battle for Great Evolution Pass had called for all Great Passes to deploy troops and gather in Wind and Cloud and Azure Void Pass, which provided those cultivators from the same Sects a chance to reunite.
Though everyone came here from different Great Passes, they only had one goal, which was to recover Great Evolution Pass.
All the Open Heaven Realm Masters had thrown the thought of life and death out of their heads. Also, there wasn’t much sadness in the air. Instead, they all felt proud and delighted to be reunited with their friends.
Everyone couldn’t stop talking about how their own Great Pass defended themselves against the Black Ink Clan. Among all the cultivators present, the cultivators from Blue Sky Pass undoubtedly became the centre of attention. That couldn’t be helped as Blue Sky Pass was the only one that successfully launched and completed a crusade. Not only did they manage to secure a forward base in the Black Ink Clan’s territory, they also managed to snatch a large piece of territory from them. It had been over 200 years since then, yet the Black Ink Clan still didn’t dare to cross the new border.
At the temporary camp of the 500 soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass, Yang Kai chatted with Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue for a while longer before excusing himself and walking towards a quiet place where he stopped before a cultivator who was adjusting his breathing while sitting cross-legged on the ground.
That person looked up at Yang Kai and showed him an ugly expression.
With a slight chuckle, Yang Kai said, “Brother Blood Crow, we’ve crossed so much land to meet each other again. Can’t you be at least a little happy to see an old friend?”
That was right. Blood Crow was also included among the 500 people deployed by Yin-Yang Pass. Though Yang Kai noticed him long ago, he had to speak to Tang Qiu, so he didn’t have time to greet the former.
Meanwhile, Blood Crow looked as if he didn’t want anything to do with Yang Kai and snarled, “There’s bound to be trouble wherever you are, so you’d better stay away from me.”
Having been at the Black Ink Battlefield for quite a while, Blood Crow had accepted his fate, but he couldn’t help but think, [If this brat hadn’t got in the way, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. Maybe I would have still been cultivating peacefully inside Blood Monster Cave Heaven, gathering more strength and restoring my cultivation to when I was an Eighth-Order Divine Monarch.]
Yang Kai chuckled, “Brother Blood Crow, why are you still holding on to the past? Now that we’re both here on the Black Ink Battlefield, we’ll have to fight side by side, so we should watch out for each other.”
However, Blood Crow just snapped, “Never. When we get on the battlefield, remember to tell me in advance where you will be. That way, I can stay as far as I can.”
At that moment, Xu Ling Gong approached them, “Emneties should be solved rather than settled. Blood Crow, the way you acted before was too merciless, and Yang Kai only did what he had to to be safe. Why do you have to hold onto past grudges?”
Xu Ling Gong also heard about what happened back at the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, which was why he could understand what was going on after listening to Yang Kai and Blood Crow’s conversation.
“Come on, have you heard of the saying, ‘a smile dissolves hatred, while wine dissolves all resentment’? After you finish these bottles, you’ll let bygones be bygones!” While saying so, Xu Ling Gong took out two bottles of wine and tossed them to Yang Kai and Blood Crow respectfully.
Blood Crow accepted one, but still kept quiet.
Then, Xu Ling Gong slapped Blood Crow’s shoulder with so much force that his figure shrank a little. Following that, Xu Ling Gong ordered, “Drink! If you don’t, I’ll take it as you having no respect for me.”
Feeling his lips twitching, Blood Crow complained in secret that if he still had his Eight-Order cultivation, a mere Seventh-Order Junior wouldn’t have had the guts to act so arrogantly before him. But with his current situation, he could only suppress his anger and abide by Xu Ling Gong’s words.
After opening the bottle, he raised his head and gulped down the wine.
Yang Kai smiled and drank his wine as well.
In the meantime, Xu Ling Gong laughed heartily, “Very good. That’s how you should solve grudges.”
Wind and Cloud Pass only had one Hyper Space Array, but had to receive troops sent from more than 50 Great Passes, so it naturally took quite a long time. Moreover, running the Hyper Space Array continuously was troublesome, so that process was incredibly time-consuming.
Under that premise, the Hyper Space Array could only be used once daily. In other words, only one Great Pass could send their troops here each day.
The 500 people from Blue Sky Pass didn’t arrive too early, and they weren’t late either, as half of the 50 Great Passes were still waiting to send their troops over.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan was still restlessly attacking. There were times when they could feel the strong energy blasts that would pass through the multiple Spirit Array barriers and into the square.
It was tough for those cultivators gathered in the square as they knew large groups of Black Ink Clansmen were attacking outside, yet they couldn’t go out to kill the enemy. Those cultivators from the other Great Passes had to stay put before all the others arrived, and Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies had officially been formed.
This agony continued for 20 more days.
When the last troops from the other Great Passes arrived at Wind and Cloud Pass, there were already 15,000 cultivators gathered in the square, including over 200 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
It was an unprecedented lineup. Though the number of cultivators gathered here did not outnumber any of the Great Passes, the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters far outnumbered all of them.
All those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were here basically because they were tasked with sending soldiers from their Great Passes over and had to stay in Wind and Cloud Pass temporarily because the Hyper Space Array here couldn’t send them back for the moment.
At the same time, their presence was also to lay the groundwork for the upcoming battle.
Following the orders from the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from all Great Passes, those cultivators who were chatting with old friends immediately returned to their assigned spots, and the previously lively square immediately fell silent.
A short while later, a large group of cultivators entered the square from all directions. The incoming troop had about 15,000 cultivators and was on par with those already in the square.
After that, the square now had 30,000 soldiers!
Seeing the situation, Yang Kai knew that if the previous 15,000 soldiers gathered in the square were from the other Great Passes, the 15,000 who had just arrived were soldiers that belonged to Wind and Cloud Pass.
Their actions did seem more orderly. Though Yang Kai didn’t mean to offend anyone, that group of soldiers were from the same Great Pass and had a tacit understanding, but Yang Kai and the others came from different Great Passes, so both troops were incomparable in terms of coordination.
The scene of 30,000 soldiers gathering in one place was spectacular.
At that moment, another two figures dashed over from a distance and stopped right in the middle of the square. It was a man and a woman, and they were both Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The man was Xiang Shan from Blue Sky Pass, while the woman was Liu Zhi Ping from Yin-Yang Pass.
Xiang Shan had a dignified air to him, while Liu Zhi Ping cut a heroic figure. Though there were many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present, these two both had strong and oppressive temperaments that allowed them to attract everyone’s attention whenever they appeared.
Looking around the square, Xiang Shan announced, “Today, there are soldiers gathered here from more than 50 Great Passes with only one goal, to take back Great Evolution Pass. We also have many soldiers from Wind and Cloud Pass joining us, and so, with the recommendations from each Great Pass, and the approval from all Old Ancestors, we will now form Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies. All soldiers, hear my command!”
“I declare Xiang Shan the Army Commander of Great Evolution’s Eastern Army!”
“I declare Liu Zhi Ping the Army Commander of Great Evolution’s Western Army!”
“Yes, sir!” All the soldiers in the square responded in unison.
Then, Xiang Shan continued, “Yan Jia? Step forward and receive your orders!”
Somewhere in the square, an elderly Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Master stepped out from the crowd, flew forward, and stopped before Xiang Shan while cupping his fist, “Yan Jia. Ready to receive my order!”
Xiang Shan then solemnly placed a token representing Yan Jia’s identity on the latter’s hand while seriously ordering, “I assign you as Division Commander of Great Evolution’s Eastern Army’s First Division!”
While holding the Division Commander’s jade token, Yan Jia yelled, “Yes, sir!”
Then, he dashed back to his place.
Following that, Liu Zhi Ping’s crisp voice rang out, “Lu Feng!”
Someone leapt up from within the crowd and landed before Liu Zhi Ping before cupping his fist and bowing, “Lu Feng at your command!”
Looking at him, Liu Zhi Ping nodded lightly, “I declare you Division Commander of Great Evolution’s Western Army’s First Division. I charge you to lead your fellow soldiers and bravely destroy the enemy!”
With a low shout, Lu Feng replied, “I won’t disappoint you!”
Then, Xiang Shan yelled again, “Xu Yong Da!”
“Xu Yong Da is at your disposal!”
“I assign you as Division Commander of the Eastern Army’s Second Division!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Shu Yin, come forward and receive your orders!”
“I declare you as Division Commander for the Western Army’s Second Division!”
“I humbly accept!”
…..
As the orders were given out one by one, and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were assigned their positions, the basis of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies was formed in Wind and Cloud Pass’s central square.
On the Azure Void Pass’ side, the Northern and Southern Armies would similarly be organized.
No one here was a newcomer who was unfamiliar with the Black Ink Clan or the Black Ink Battlefield, so the process was carried out smoothly.
When Yang Kai had just arrived at Blue Sky Pass, Feng Ying explained all of this to him. Simply put, Squads were the most basic grouping of Human soldiers on the Black Ink Battlefield.
10 to 15 people was the norm for a Squad, with a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as the Squad Leader. Of course, other specially formed elite Squads like Dawn also existed in the other Great Passes. However, each Great Pass had different numbers of Special Operations Squads.
Above a Squad was a Battalion, which consisted of around 100 people.
Above a Battalion was a Division, and above a Division was an Army, of which each Great Pass would have four.
Therefore, with over 30,000 people being separated into Eastern and Western Armies, each Army would have 15,000 people, and on average, each army would have 30 Divisions each.
As for the position of Division Commander, only Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were eligible for such a post. In other words, the Eastern and Western Armies would have a total of sixty Eighth-Order Division Commanders.
And that was only for the Eastern and Western Armies.
The Northern and Southern Armies would be formed on Azure Void Pass’ side, and they would be in the same situation here.
Under that premise, the Great Evolution Army would have over 100 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters!
Having 60,000 soldiers, over 100 Eighth-Order Masters, and being personally led by Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, this was the confidence and capital the Humans had to take back Great Evolution Pass.
Of course, just as Tang Qiu had said, this battle would be very dangerous, and no one could tell how many of these 60,000 soldiers would survive.
It only took about one hour to appoint the several dozen Division Commanders.
After the Division Commanders had been appointed, Xiang Shan announced, “All Divisions are to gather their own troops. In half a day, you will all follow me and fight our way out of Wind and Cloud Pass!”
“Yes, sir!”
After that, all the Division Commanders instantly busied themselves with their duties. Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping only announced Division Commander positions. Below the Division Commanders were Battalion Commanders, which they had to deal with on their own as the two Army Commanders wouldn’t interfere with this matter.
However, the higher-ups had already devised a plan to divide the 30,000 soldiers in the square and allocated which Battalion the troops from each Great Pass would belong to, so the Division Commanders only needed to gather the troops according to the provided lists.
While Yang Kai and the others were waiting for the troops to be organized, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters weren’t idle.
As allocating personnel also required careful selection, all the members for each Battalion and Division needed to be coordinated in advance.
The square was constantly filled with shouts from each Division Commander as they delegated positions to the soldiers. Meanwhile, troops from different Great Passes were also moving quickly around the square, finding which Battalion they belonged to.
Yang Kai and Chai Feng looked at each other, and the latter said, “Brother Yang, I don’t think we’ll be allocated to the same Battalion, but I think we should ask about how we will be operating during battle.”
Since the two Special Operations Squads had about 50 people each, equivalent to half a Battalion’s strength, they naturally wouldn’t get allocated into the same Battalion.
Moreover, back at Blue Sky Pass, the Special Operations Squads didn’t follow the same arrangements as the others and only reported to the Army Commanders.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Brother Chai is right. Let’s go.”
The two then walked towards Xiang Shan.
When they arrived before him, they paid their respects, and Yang Kai asked, “Sir, what are both mine and Brother Chai’s Squads going to be doing during battle?”
After glancing at them, Xiang Shan said only five words, “Act according to the situation!”
Yang Kai acknowledged Xiang Shan’s words and replied, “Understood!”
By ‘act according to the situation,’ Xiang Shan meant that there wouldn’t be any restrictions for their two Squads, and they wouldn’t have to follow the ordinary chain of command. This was good news for the two Squads because, without any hindrance, they could better utilise their strengths.
Of course, there were also downsides to this arrangement. Because they were not collaborating with the other Squads, they were unlikely to receive many reinforcements and had to rely on themselves during battle.
Dawn and the Old Turtle were mentally prepared for that because it was the same as when they were back at Blue Sky Pass. The Special Operations Squads were always free to do their own thing during battle, which had both risks and rewards.
After getting Xiang Shan’s reply, Yang Kai and Chai Feng felt reassured and returned to their spots.
While watching the two leave, Liu Zhi Ping frowned slightly, “Senior Brother Xiang, Yang Kai is an important factor in this war. Wouldn’t it be better if we arranged for him to be in the Central Army?”
The centre position inside the Army was the most important position within the Great Army and was also the safest place. If they could arrange for Yang Kai to be a member of the Central Army, it would be easier for them to protect him.
Before they came here, Ding Yao had made the same suggestion as Liu Zhi Ping.
Xiang Shan, however, replied, “While we’re moving as an Army, the centre is indeed much safer, but once we engage in battle, nowhere is safe because it’s chaos on the battlefield, and we have no one to rely on but ourselves. Since he came here, he must have come here to kill the enemy. That brat has been through all sorts of incredible situations already and survived, so it won’t be easy for him to find himself in grave danger.”
If it had been another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, maybe that person would have paid more attention to Yang Kai’s safety and might even arrange a safer position for him; however, Xiang Shan had always been straightforward and made a name for himself in the Blue Sky Theatre by killing many Black Ink Clan Masters with his own blade. For a person like him, how could he possibly give Yang Kai special attention? In his opinion, every soldier was the same, and soldiers who could kill the Black Ink Clan were good soldiers. No one should have special consideration.
Though Yang Kai’s safety was important to the bigger picture, Xiang Shan had previously done careful research on him and knew he was proficient in the Dao of Space, which was a very effective weapon to maintain one’s safety on the battlefield. If Yang Kai didn’t make any foolish decisions, he wouldn’t be in danger.
Seeing that Xiang Shan was so determined, Liu Zhi Ping didn’t say anything more.
Before half a day was up, the Eastern and Western Armies had been successfully formed, and each Division and Battalion was organized and ready, releasing murderous intent into the air.
Until this moment, the Black Ink Clan was still attacking, and they seemed to be pushing harder than before. The entire Wind and Cloud Pass seemed to be filled with the reverberating echoes of explosions from outside attacks. Though several shields and barriers were blocking the fallout, the rumbling could still penetrate the Inner Sanctum.
The Wind and Cloud Pass originally had 50,000 soldiers, and they relied on this great army, which exceeded the other Great Passes’ in number, to ward off the enemy. However, 15,000 out of the original 50,000 soldiers were chosen to join Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies.
In other words, the number of Wind and Cloud Pass soldiers was now around 35,000.
Though relying on the great strength of the Great Pass could help those 35,000 soldiers defend Wind and Cloud Pass for a time, they were still in a disadvantageous spot on the battlefield with their diminished numbers. The current range of movement for Wind and Cloud Pass’ soldiers had been reduced to within a 10,000-kilometre radius of the outer walls. Such a region was the most effective range for the defensive Artifacts and Arrays of the great Pass, any further away and the amount of support that could be given would drop off significantly.
The Black Ink Clan Army was ecstatic about the Human’s sudden weakened force. After many years of battling each other, the Black Ink Clan had never gained such a large advantage. Though they weren’t sure why the Human Army’s strength had suddenly weakened, the Territory Lords responsible for organising this siege saw hope for victory.
It was as if the Black Ink Clan only had to fight a little harder, and they would be able to take down this Human Great Pass and make it into the second Great Evolution Pass.
The Black Ink Clan had yet to gain any further ground in this vast Black Ink Battlefield since the successful conquest of their first Human Great Pass 30,000 years ago because the Humans’ persistence and tenacity rendered them unable to do so.
If they could secure Wind and Cloud Pass, it would definitely be a big blow to the Human’s morale, and the Black Ink Clan soldiers at Wind and Cloud Theatre would become heroes.
Therefore, the Black Ink Clan had almost deployed all of their forces to the battlefield, wanting to successfully conquer Wind and Cloud Pass in one fell swoop and kill off every Human here!
A Royal Lord hid inside a large Black Ink Cloud, silently watching everything.
It had been 20 years since his Army began attacking Wind and Cloud Pass, and he had fought with the Old Ancestor keeping watch over the Great Pass three times. Every time they battled, it would cause a huge commotion, yet it would always end in a tie, with both of them suffering some minor injuries.
But those injuries wouldn’t affect the overall situation on the battlefield, nor would they have any effect on his strength.
He noticed the changes on the Humans’ side and knew it was a strange phenomenon. Though he had no idea what the Humans were up to and why they would intentionally weaken their own forces, he had an instinctive feeling that Wind and Cloud Pass was plotting something.
At first, he wanted to find a chance to sneak a look at the Inner Sanctum’s situation, but the Wind and Cloud Pass had all sorts of barriers protecting it, and despite his strength as a Royal Lord, he couldn’t see through them.
After hesitating for almost half a day, the Royal Lord decided that no matter what the Humans were scheming, it was a great chance for his Army to defeat their enemy. Moreover, he had gotten a message from the front lines, saying that 200,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers from Great Evolution Theatre would be coming to reinforce them soon.
Once this 200,000-strong army arrived, no matter what the Humans had in mind, his side would have an absolute advantage over them, so the Humans could forget their plans.
All he needed to do now was to create more pressure on the Humans and not let them have any time to rest. After the 200,000 reinforcements arrived, they could easily conquer this eye-sore of a Great Pass.
Just as he was thinking about that, a figure suddenly flew out from within Wind and Cloud Pass and charged straight at the Black Ink Cloud where he was hiding.
The Royal Lord was slightly shocked, but soon roared, “Old Dog, you court death!”
He never expected the Old Ancestor of Wind and Cloud Pass would take the initiative to attack him in this situation. Both races had been at war for countless years, and with the Wind and Could Pass’ special situation, it wasn’t easy for the Old Ancestor to actively launch an attack. Therefore, he had always been the one to initiate the battles with the Old Ancestor.
It was very rare that this Old Ancestor would come to him to pick a fight.
In all three times they had battled in recent years, the Royal Lord had always been the first to make a move, with the Human Old Ancestor having to accept his challenge for a battle. However, he never anticipated that the old man would actually attack him first.
Feeling like he was being disdained, the Royal Lord came forward in a rage. When the two figures clashed, chaos erupted all around them.
The vigorous battle had only just begun, but the Royal Lord suddenly sensed something and turned around to look somewhere not far away. What he saw was a child charging at him from the void.
That child looked so young that it was as if he could kill her with a snort. The Royal Lord was stunned, [Is this… a Human child?]
He had been battling the Humans for so many years, yet he had never seen what a Human child looked like. All the Humans in the Black Ink Battlefield were at least Fifth-Order Open Heaven Masters, so how could there be children here?
But at that moment, the seemingly harmless little girl gave the Royal Lord a huge sense of danger.
The Royal Lord didn’t know where that sense of danger came from, as the little girl didn’t seem to have a strong aura coming from her; however, just as he was in the midst of his confusion, he saw the little girl smiling mischievously before quickly forming a set of hand seals. Then, the shape of a Yin-Yang Fish appeared and enveloped a huge portion of the void around her.
At the same time, the little girl’s expression suddenly transformed as she rapidly grew into a lovely young woman.
That young woman was exuding the terrifying air of an Old Ancestor!
The Royal Lord was so frightened his face drained of all colour, [Another Old Ancestor? Why do the Humans have two Old Ancestors?]
For so many years, Wind and Cloud Pass only had one Old Ancestor, so it should have been impossible for a second to appear so suddenly.
Was she a newly advanced Old Ancestor? Or did another Great Pass send her over as reinforcements?
In just a short amount of time, the Royal Lord drew some conclusions. The young woman in front of him was not a recently advanced Old Ancestor. She was Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, who had been sent here as reinforcements.
Because the Black Ink Nests were so efficient in spreading intelligence, the Royal Lords had naturally been communicating with each other. He had once communicated with the Royal Lord of the Yin-Yang Theatre and knew that the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass cultivated a strange Secret Art that allowed her to sometimes transform herself into a young woman or a child.
Noting the special and obvious transformation of his opponent, the Royal Lord was sure that the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass had arrived here at Wind and Cloud Pass.
That realisation shocked the Royal Lord!
Why would the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass come all the way here? Had the Humans given up on Yin-Yang Pass? This was the first time the Royal Lord faced such a situation. Every Old Ancestor was responsible for overseeing their own Great Pass and would not easily leave.
It didn’t matter if he couldn’t figure out the reason though, because the appearance of the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass was the biggest crisis he had faced in his entire lifetime.
If it were a one-on-one fight, this Royal Lord could easily hold his ground against an Old Ancestor, but if it were two against one, it would become an impossible fight to win, and if he was the slightest bit careless during the battle, he might even be killed.
That was why he knew he had to leave, and he was about to escape when he sensed the Old Ancestor aura from the former little girl.
But how could Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor let him escape just like that? With all kinds of mysterious Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques at his disposal, he tied down the Royal Lord and stopped the latter from quickly escaping the battlefield.
During that slight moment of hindrance, the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor was able to use the Yin-Yang Fish she condensed to envelop the Royal Lord. At that instant, the Yin and Yang Energy began to swirly, and the Universe seemed to invert. The Royal Lord felt as if an entire Universe World was suddenly pressing down on him, causing his knees to bend. Then, because of his slight moment of carelessness, he was hit by Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor hard, the terrifying explosion of power drawing a groan of pain from his lips.
When Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor arrived, it became two against one, and the Royal Lord was quickly overwhelmed.
The sudden appearance of another Human Old Ancestor terrified the Black Ink Clan Army, and all the Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield stared in horror at the direction the Old Ancestor’s aura appeared from, hoping that it was just their imagination.
But they knew it wasn’t their imagination when they saw their Royal Lord being besieged by two Human Old Ancestors.
[The Humans really have another Old Ancestor!]
Terrified, the Black Ink Clan stopped attacking, and the once chaotic battlefield temporarily fell silent.
The Territory Lords were particularly frightened and secretly rejoiced that the newly appearing Old Ancestor did not seek them out and instead directly went to battle the Royal Lord.
Though the Royal Lord had to face two enemies at once, he was temporarily safe and didn’t need to fear for his life, but if the new Old Ancestor came and attacked the Territory Lords, none of them would be able to withstand more than three strikes from her. By then, many Territory Lords would be seriously injured if not killed.
Because of the sudden appearance of a second Old Ancestor, the Black Ink Clan Army lost all momentum, and just as the Territory Lords were hesitating about whether to continue the battle or retreat, all the main gates of Wind and Cloud Pass opened!
Human Warships sailed out in all directions and charged straight into the battlefield, quickly reinforcing the Wind and Cloud Pass soldiers.
Great Evolution’s two Armies had a combined might of 30,000 soldiers, and all of them charged into battle at once. Some 8,000 Masters dashed out from each gate and instantly doubled the strength of the Human Army battling against the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clansmen’s eyes bulged as the flood of Warships appeared from all directions.
What terrified them even more was the aura of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that exploded into the air after the Warships arrived on the battlefield. The number of auras was so high that the Black Ink Clan soldiers felt despair.
50 Great Passes had sent troops to Wind and Cloud Pass, and although each one sent a different number of Eighth-Order Masters to escort these soldiers, the minimum number was 5 while some had sent as many as 10.
As such, when all the troops sent by the other Great Passes had gathered, the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had reached a shocking 300 plus!
Among those over 300 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, dozens of them had been appointed as Division Commanders of the newly formed Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies and would be leading them to take back Great Evolution Pass.
As for the other 200 plus Eighth-Order Masters, they didn’t leave Wind and Cloud Pass immediately as they were waiting for this very moment.
How terrifying would it be when more than 300 new Eighth-Order Masters swarmed into the battlefield all at once?
The Black Ink Clan hadn’t dared to think about such a scenario before, but now they were witnessing it with their own eyes.
Their confidence was immediately crushed like dry weeds! Suddenly, the odds were absolutely against them!
The Territory Lords finally understood why the new Old Ancestor hadn’t come to find trouble with them. There was simply no need for her to.
The Old Ancestor had her own opponent, which was the Royal Lord, and the two Old Ancestors could easily suppress their opponent and if they were lucky, might even be able to kill him. In comparison with a few Territory Lords, of course, it was more valuable to kill a Royal Lord.
As for the Territory Lords, the swarm of Eighth-Order Masters would deal with them.
How many Territory Lords were there in the Wind and Cloud Theatre? While there might be a few more than in other Theatres, the number was definitely not higher than 90. With reinforcements from the Great Evolution Theatre, that number might reach as high as 100 Territory Lords. With that amount of Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan had always had an advantage over the Eighth-Order Masters from Wind and Cloud Pass, but that balance was shattered today. What’s more, not all 100 Territory Lords were taking part in the siege as some of them naturally had to remain in the Black Ink Clan’s territory to stand guard and oversee the steady deployment of reinforcements.
The huge difference in strength between the two Armies made the Territory Lords immediately fall into a desperate struggle. When all of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass, three to four Eighth-Order Masters were able to target each Territory Lord.
It only took a few breaths for the first Territory Lord aura to be extinguished! That unlucky Territory Lord just happened to be close to the very front of the Black Ink Army and was swiftly surrounded by five Eighth-Order Masters. He was killed on the spot without even being given a chance to defend himself.
The first Territory Lord’s demise was like a catalyst, and soon, the auras of Territory Lords were being snuffed out all across the battlefield.
Not only had the Territory Lords fallen into a desperate situation though, the Armies that belonged to those Territory Lords were all caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events. The Humans were attacking so viciously, and their Army had dramatically increased in strength. This great change of fortunes made the Black Ink Clan’s originally advantageous situation fall into a complete rout. As the Warships sailed across the battlefield, swaths of Black Ink Clansmen were slaughtered.
All across the battlefield, large patches of void were wiped clean by powerful Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques or the offensive Arrays of the swarming Warships.
Since Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass, it only took them a cup of tea’s time to severely injure or kill countless Black Ink Clan soldiers and execute more than 10 Territory Lords. Though the rest of the Territory Lords weren’t dead, they were all in dire states and were at risk of perishing at any moment.
A long roar suddenly sounded throughout the void, and its sharp pitch seemed to echo right beside everyone’s ear.
That roar belonged to the Royal Lord. After he roared, rich Black Ink Strength erupted from his body and he turned into a black-coloured cloud before shooting away.
The Royal Lord had ordered a retreat and fled! He knew that if he stayed any longer, all the Territory Lords he brought to this battle would die. If they left now, they would surely suffer heavy casualties while being chased down, but at least some of them could survive. Moreover, the longer they delayed, the fewer of them would be able to escape. If things went particularly poorly, even the Royal Lord himself might not be able to leave with his life.
After so many years of battling each other, the Royal Lord knew the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor’s temperament and methods very well.
On the other hand, it was his first time battling the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor, so he knew practically nothing about her capabilities. Moreover, the single Divine Ability she had shown today had already made him feel wary of her. He could still remember the painful feeling when that Yin-Yang Fish pressed down on him, slowing all his movements while seemingly grinding apart his body.
Unlike the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor, Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor’s attack wasn’t quick and penetrating, but instead longer lasting and difficult to grasp.
Now that these two Old Ancestors had banded together, their seemingly opposite methods complimented each other and compensated for what the other lacked.
Seeing the Royal Lord’s obvious attempt to escape, both Old Ancestors naturally wouldn’t let him go so easily.
“Trying to escape? In your dreams!” Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor mocked as her figure was engulfed in a stream of light and she raced after him like a shadow. At the same time, the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor was right behind the Royal Lord and was continuously launched a barrage of attacks at the fleeing enemy’s back.
While the three figures entangled with each other, they rapidly flew off into the distance.
On the other hand, right after the Royal Lord’s roar, one by one, the Territory Lords began to utilise their Life-Saving Techniques to try and escape from the battlefield.
But every Territory Lord had several Eighth-Order Masters surrounding them, so how could they escape that easily?
In the end, only about 20 Territory Lords managed to escape by using Secret Techniques that damaged their own foundations in exchange for bursts of strength and speed. As for those who failed, they were like cornered beasts that fought back wildly, despite knowing that death was inevitable!
After the Royal Lord and a couple dozen Territory Lords escaped from the battlefield, the already flailing Black Ink Clan Army lost all will to resist. Along with the increasing number of fallen Territory Lords, it was certain that they would soon be wiped out, so the surviving Black Ink Clansmen no longer even tried to fight back and only did everything they could to escape.
It was foreseeable that after this battle, the Black Ink Clan in Wind and Cloud Theatre would be beaten half to death, and the Wind and Cloud Pass would gain a similar period of peace to Blue Sky Pass and Yin-Yang Pass.
In the void to the East of Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai had taken point with six other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in a spearhead formation. Dawning Light took up position in the middle of this formation, while Bai Yi stood at the bow of the Warship with her longbow. The Squad had been rampaging across the vast battlefield like wild horses since the moment they emerged from Wind and Cloud Pass.
Everywhere Dawn passed, they would wipe out every last Black Ink Clansmen they came across. Working together, they were all but unstoppable, and no matter how many Black Ink Clansmen stood in front of them, none could even slow their momentum.
Ren Bing Bai was assigned to the rear left side of the formation. Since he joined Dawn, this was his first time fighting alongside Yang Kai and the others.
He and Yu Zi You had previously discussed in private how important it was for them to perform well this time; after all, they were both Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it would look bad if they didn’t show their mettle.
The two were originally a Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader of a 10-man Squad, so they were well-versed in how to cooperate with a Warship to kill their enemies.
But after they followed Dawn into battle, they realised that all of their past experiences couldn’t be used in this Special Operations Squad.
They found themselves unable to make a big contribution on this chaotic and enemy-filled battlefield.
The entire Dawn Squad’s soul was on the man in the lead.
Feudal Lords were like chickens or dogs before him, and with every strike of his spear, he would kill such an enemy. Even if he didn’t manage to kill a Feudal Lord in one move, the other Seventh-Order Masters in the Squad only had to attack once more to end the enemy’s life.
It had not been long since they charged out of the Wind and Cloud Pass, but Yang Kai had already slaughtered more than 10 Feudal Lords!
And that was just the amount he had killed. There were even more that were injured.
Meanwhile, on the bow of Dawning Light, Bai Yi, who hailed from Divine Feather Paradise and had transcendent archery skills, would kill a Feudal Lord every time she drew her bow.
Though she didn’t attack frequently, every arrow she fired struck its target and greatly decreased the pressure Dawn was facing.
All the Arrays on the Warship also released their power continuously, taking aim at the largest groups of Black Ink Clansmen, causing severe casualties whenever they attacked.
To Ren Bing Bai, Dawn was like a red-hot knife cutting into butter, reducing every enemy that blocked their path to mist.
How much of a terrifying tacit understanding and astonishing efficiency in killing enemies did Dawn have?
Was this the heritage of a Special Operations Squad?
They had killed more than a dozen Feudal Lords and thousands of weaker Black Ink Clansmen in the time it took to burn half an incense stick.
In the past, Ren Bing Bai would never have dreamed about having such accomplishments, but he had witnessed this with his own eyes today.
He had killed a Feudal Lord in this battle, which was already a good result in the past because, according to their equivalence in Realm, a Feudal Lord was on par with a Seventh-Order Master; thus, it was not that easy for a Seventh-Order Human to kill a Feudal Lord.
However, when compared to Yang Kai’s gains, his were paltry.
Even the Feudal Lord he had just killed had already been heavily injured by Yang Kai; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been that easy for him.
Ren Bing Bai felt like he was taking advantage of Yang Kai while following behind him, and such a feeling made him not know whether to laugh or cry.
Under his observation though, not only was he like that, but the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around the Warship were also in the same situation.
With Yang Kai, who was at the forefront, as the tip of the blade, the entire Squad became like a sharp knife, killing all the Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield.
Ren Bing Bai felt a surge of pride. This is what a Special Operations Squad should be like. If a Special Operations Squad had the same level of difficulty in killing the enemy as an ordinary Squad, what kind of a Special Operations Squad would that be? Now he was also a member of a Special Operations Squad, the one leading the charge.
The Special Operations Squad’s advantage in having their own freedom to act was magnified to its absolute limit at this moment.
An ordinary Squad would only have 10 to 15 members, and in such a vast battlefield, it was very difficult for a single Squad to do much in the face of an enemy several times more numerous than themselves. Moreover, it was very likely that they would find themselves under the enemy’s besiegement if they moved independently.
Therefore, an ordinary Squad had to coordinate with other Squads on such a battlefield. The Squads under the same Battalion would have tactics and strategies they were familiar with to ensure their safety while killing as many enemies as possible.
Because of the need to coordinate with other Squads, there was also a certain degree of restraint, and it was impossible for them to act as freely as Dawn, who could go wherever they wanted.
Most Squads took a slow and steady approach to clearing the battlefield, but when it came to Dawn, though they had exited from the East Gate, they had moved around so much that they had almost killed their way to the South Gate and were now heading in the direction of the West Gate.
Dawn’s strategy had always been very straightforward, which was to hit and run. This strategy focused on mobility and prevented Dawn from being targeted by a powerful Master because of their conspicuous performance.
Of course, now that all Territory Lords on the battlefield were surrounded by Eighth-Order Masters, none of them had the time to keep an eye on Dawn. The Territory Lords were fleeing and dying, and those who still remained on the battlefield were struggling to live.
Yang Kai’s overwhelming combat strength was Dawn’s biggest guarantee to ensure that they could still effectively kill their enemies while maintaining such high mobility.
Without interference from the Territory Lords, the strongest enemies that Dawn had to face were the Feudal Lords; however, Yang Kai could basically deal with Feudal Lords with one thrust of his spear, and if he didn’t manage to kill them with his initial attack, the other Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn would finish the job. Therefore, even if a Feudal Lord had managed to survive Yang Kai’s attack, they would soon be killed off by the others.
Years of crusade and hunting experience had led everyone in Dawn to develop a tacit understanding and the ability to work together seamlessly. Even if there was a Black Ink Clan Army blocking their way, they could use the artifacts and arrays on Dawning Light to easily tear through them.
As time passed, the Black Ink Clan Army on the battlefield was wiped out, and the pressure on all the Squads decreased.
During a certain moment, Yang Kai suddenly stopped, and following in his footsteps, Dawning Light and the other Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn all stopped together.
Ren Bing Bai was a little confused as to why Yang Kai had suddenly stopped, but after turning his head and looking around, he was surprised to find that the battle was already over.
90% of the Black Ink Clan Army that had been swarming outside Wind and Cloud Pass before had been killed while the rest were desperately trying to flee, leaving scattered pieces of flesh and broken limbs everywhere throughout the void.
[It’s over?] Ren Bing Bai was taken aback. The end came so quickly. It felt like only a few hours had passed.
Wind and Cloud Pass had been under siege by the Black Ink Clan Army for some 20 years yet could only maintain a defensive posture, but once the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies joined in, everything was over in the blink of an eye.
The Black Ink Clan Army that attacked Wind and Cloud Pass was quite massive, and under normal circumstances, even if they were defeated while battling the Humans, they wouldn’t have suffered such heavy casualties.
However, the Humans caught them unawares. Firstly, it was the sudden appearance of Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, who cooperated with the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor to corner the Royal Lord. Then, it was followed by hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters appearing on the battlefield, catching the Territory Lords by surprise and beating them to the point where they couldn’t fight back. A short while later, following the demise of many Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan’s morale hit rock bottom.
When the Royal Lord and Territory Lords fled, the Black Ink Clan Army was at a loss for what to do.
The Humans had a huge advantage with so many powerful Masters on their side, which was the fundamental reason why the battle ended so quickly.
In fact, when the Royal Lord and Territory Lords started to flee, the Black Ink Clan Army had already lost all will to fight.
However, the Human Army’s pursuit made it impossible for them to escape even if they wanted to, which eventually led to the annihilation of almost the entire Black Ink Clan Army.
There were no cheers or celebrations from the Humans as it was only to be expected that they won such an overwhelming victory given their luxurious lineup.
After the battle, the Human Army silently gathered together and regrouped.
Half an hour later, Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies assembled at the East Gate of Wind and Cloud Pass. The 30,000 soldiers had naturally fewer losses during the battle, but the casualties were minimal. The soldiers were somewhat spent and needed time to recuperate, however, and some of their Warships were also damaged in the fight. Still, those weren’t much of a problem as they had many Artifact Refiners, Alchemists, Array Masters, and other support personnel following the Army to Great Evolution Pass. While they were on the move, those Artifact Refiners had ample time to repair the damage those Warships had suffered.
Soon, all the Divisions and Battalions had finished gathering their troops.
The motivation of all the soldiers was boosted to the peak because of the great task that lay before them.
Without stopping, the 30,000-strong Army immediately turned towards Great Evolution Pass, and Xiang Shan gave the order, “Set sail!”
In a flash, Division by Division, one Warship after another sailed in the direction of Great Evolution Pass. With 30,000 men and nearly 2,000 Warships, they formed a mighty fleet!
Yang Kai had no idea what the higher-ups had planned, but with such a large-scale lineup, there would certainly need to be a distribution of forces and overall strategy, but that wasn’t something he needed to worry about because the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would make those decisions.
Since Dawn did not have any special tasks, they simply gathered together with the other Warships and moved together.
Back at Wind and Cloud Pass, after the Army set out, the tens of thousands of soldiers who remained saw them off solemnly until the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies disappeared from sight. Following that, they returned to the Inner Sanctum, and those Eighth-Order Masters who escorted soldiers from the other Great Passes to Wind and Cloud Pass began returning.
While the Army moved forward, the members from each Squad took turns to rest and recuperate, and the Artifact Refiners got to work, heading over to the Warships that had been damaged in the battle and repairing them carefully.
On the other hand, Dawn Squad suffered almost no damage and were simply recuperating on their own.
After only half a day’s travel though, a man suddenly appeared, landed on the deck, looked around, and bellowed, “Where is the Squad Leader for this Warship?”
Yang Kai, who was on the deck, turned his head and looked over to find that the visitor was a fellow Seventh-Order Master whom he did not recognise and did not know the origins of.
Immediately, Yang Kai cupped his fist and said, “I am the Squad Leader. Does Senior Brother have any orders to relay?”
The Seventh-Order Master replied, “By order of the two Army Commanders, the Squad members here are to report to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and leave their Imprints behind.” While saying so, he pointed his finger in a specific direction.
Yang Kai was surprised, “Did the Army Commanders bring a Purifying Black Ink Battleship with them?”
He then moved his fingers and partially activated the Universe Transference Law, which allowed him to sense a vague connection coming from that direction.
Since it was a Purifying Black Ink Battleship, it naturally had a Universe Array that Yang Kai had personally arranged to board it. No matter where the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was brought from, Yang Kai would be able to sense a connection to it.
As he thought about it though, the Purifying Black Ink Battleships did play a huge role in all the Great Passes. Besides the Purifying Light that was sealed inside having the ability to purify Black Ink Strength, the Universe Array aboard was useful for soldiers to use as a return point when they found themselves in danger.
If the Humans wanted to recover Great Evolution Pass, bringing along a Purifying Black Ink Battleship was a given.
However, Yang Kai was a little confused because he could sense not one but two Universe Arrays when he activated the Universe Transference Law.
In other words, this fleet had two Purifying Black Ink Battleships!
It seemed like Xiang Shan not only brought one out from Blue Sky Pass, but Liu Zhi Ping also brought one out from Yin-Yang Pass.
There was no need for him to head over and leave his Imprint because he was the one who set up those Universe Arrays, so all of them had his Imprint already. However, the other members of the Squad had to go, just in case they needed it later.
“I’ve relayed the message. I have to inform the other Squads. Farewell!”
After the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master said so, he leapt off the Warship and rushed towards another nearby Warship to inform the other Squads one by one.
Though this method was time-consuming, there was no other way because an Open Heaven Realm Army lineup differed from a mortal army. Mortal armies travelled together as one unit, but Open Heaven Realm Masters moved quickly, and in order to avoid collisions in the void, Warships needed a fair amount of space between each other. For example, the closest Warship to Dawning Light was hundreds of kilometres away.
The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had nearly 2,000 Warships and was thus spread out over a radius of several thousand kilometres, which for mortals was farther than the eye could see. However, for an Open Heaven Realm Master, it was just a matter of a few breaths to reinforce each other in battle.
Yang Kai turned to face the crowd and ordered, “You all heard it, right? Separate yourselves into two groups and take turns heading over.”
Having received their orders, the members of Dawn quickly grouped themselves into two teams. Following that, the first group of 20 or so, led by Feng Ying, flew away in the direction of the central Army.
In fact, it would have been easier for them to leave their Imprints on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship while they were still at Wind and Cloud Pass because all 30,000 soldiers were already gathered there. Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping would only have had to summon their respective Purifying Black Ink Battleships before letting the soldiers take turns leaving their Imprints.
However, when all soldiers from all Great Passes were gathered together, the priority was to organize Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies. Once both Armies were completely formed, they immediately charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass to engage the Black Ink Clan. There was simply no time for them to take care of such things.
After they successfully defeated the Black Ink Clan, the Great Evolution Army immediately set out. Xiang Shan deeply understood the principle of ‘in war, speed is everything,’ so he naturally wouldn’t delay the start of the campaign by having the soldiers leave their Imprints on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships while at Wind and Cloud Pass.
As a result, such things could only be done during their voyage.
Though it was more tedious, the benefit was that they wouldn’t be wasting any time, and if they had made suitable arrangements, it wouldn’t delay their speed either.
About half a day later, Feng Ying and the others returned, letting the other half of Dawn’s members head over to the two Purifying Black Ink Battleships.
Another half a day passed, and the second team of Dawn members also returned to the ship. Just like that, all members of Dawn had left their Imprints on the two Purifying Black Ink Battleships.
The days during their deployment to Great Evolution Pass were dull, so everyone decided to cultivate on their own.
Four days after the Army’s departure from Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai, whose eyes were closed while adjusting his breathing on the ship’s deck, suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in a specific direction.
What he saw was a stream of light coming from behind the Army and heading right towards them. The speed at which the stream of light was moving had already surpassed the speed ordinary cultivators could comprehend, and even Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement couldn’t surpass such speed.
The stream of light should be heading in the direction of the central Army, but then, as if it had sensed Yang Kai’s gaze, it changed directions and landed on Dawning Light.
The stream of light dispersed and revealed a stunning figure.
Yang Kai was taken aback but quickly got up and saluted, “Greetings, Old Ancestor!”
There were other members in charge of operating various arrays on the deck, and at first, they were curious about the young woman who had suddenly appeared and why she came here, but when they heard how Yang Kai addressed her, all of them paled in shock and quickly rose to their feet to greet her.
[This uninvited guest is actually the Old Ancestor!]
Although they had heard about Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor being a woman, the others had never met her before. It was then that they realised that this Old Ancestor was different from how they had imagined her and that she was actually a beautiful young woman.
Now that they thought about it, they wondered if a woman’s cultivation was incomparable to a man’s or something along those lines because the higher the cultivation realm, the smaller the ratio of women to men became. It was especially true for the Old Ancestors. There were only around 20 women among all the Old Ancestors, with the rest being men.
In the presence of an Old Ancestor, even an unruly and untamed Squad like Dawn, who had achieved many Military Merits on various battlefields, became respectful and didn’t even dare breathe loudly.
The Old Ancestor swept her gaze across Yang Kai’s figure, and there seemed to be a flash of divine light in her eyes when she commented in surprise, “Looks like your cultivation has increased rapidly.”
With her level of vision, she could see that Yang Kai’s strength had significantly increased compared to 200 years ago. The speed at which his cultivation had increased was not typical for an ordinary Seventh-Order Master; however, she soon remembered the various mysteries of Yang Kai’s Small Universe and felt that his huge advancement was quite reasonable.
While thinking of that, she was looking forward to seeing how long Yang Kai would take to advance to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. In the Black Ink Battlefield, though Seventh-Order Masters could take charge of a Squad, they weren’t considered the backbone of any Army.
“Thanks to you, Old Ancestor, there haven’t been many huge events recently, so I have been in retreat all this while,” Yang Kai replied respectfully.
The Old Ancestor nodded lightly, “A fast increase in cultivation might not be a bad thing, but your foundation must remain stable.”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded with a serious expression.
Then, the Old Ancestor added, “The fact that your Small Universe can help me heal my injuries is also one of the considerations I had when requesting you for this campaign. During the process of retaking Great Evolution Pass, I will have to fight against the Royal Lord there a number of times, so I will be depending on you when the time comes.”
Nodding, Yang Kai responded, “That won’t be a problem. If the Old Ancestor needs my help, I will definitely do my best to assist.”
The Old Ancestor reached out and patted his shoulders before chuckling innocently, “Enough with the Old Ancestor nonsense. I’m just someone with a cultivation that is a little higher than yours.”
Yang Kai leaned forward from the slap and couldn’t help but stifle a grunt, knowing that he might have said the wrong thing. It looked like no matter how high a woman’s cultivation realm was, references to their age were still taboo.
So, he quickly changed the topic, “By the way, how long will it take for us to reach Great Evolution Pass?”
Withdrawing her hand, the Old Ancestor looked in the direction where the Army was heading and explained, “The distance between each Great Pass is quite large. Judging by the speed the Army is moving, it might take one or two years for us to reach Great Evolution Theatre.
Yang Kai was shocked, “That long?”
The Old Ancestor smiled, “Why do you think the Great Passes aren’t able to send large numbers of reinforcements to each other in times of need? The distance between each Pass is too great, and every Great Pass has its own enemies to face. If reinforcements are sent out, they won’t be able to call them back if the enemy suddenly appears, which will put them in a bad situation. Suppose the distance between each Great Pass was closer, the situation at Black Ink Battlefield wouldn’t be as anxious as it is now. Of course, another reason is that we can’t advance too quickly as we need to maintain formation and keep a wary lookout for ambushes”
While nodding to indicate his understanding, Yang Kai asked, “How’s the situation with the Royal Lord of the Wind and Cloud Theatre?”
The person before him and the Old Ancestor of Wind and Cloud Pass had jointly fought with a Royal Lord, and when the latter fled, the two Old Ancestors had given chase beyond the horizon.
In such a high-level battle, it would be perilous even for Eighth-Order Masters to interfere.
However, now that she had returned, it meant that the battle was over, and judging by her appearance, Yang Kai guessed that the Yin Yang Pass Old Ancestor hadn’t been injured.
Since the one before him wasn’t injured, the Royal Lord might be in quite a miserable situation.
As he had expected, the Old Ancestor said, “The Royal Lord has been badly injured and will need a few hundred years of recuperation before he can restore his strength, but Senior Brother Zhang and I found it inappropriate to push him too far, lest he decide to use drastic measures, so we let him go.”
The Senior Brother Zhang she was referring to should be the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass.
In a two-against-one, they had the upper hand, but if they wanted to kill the Royal Lord, they would need to pay a huge price, so no matter whether it was the person before him or the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass, they both quit after gaining an advantage.
After the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass, the Black Ink Clan Army suffered a great loss. About 70% of their Territory Lords were either dead or heavily injured, and their Royal Lord was seriously wounded, so the Black Ink Clan in that Theatre could be considered as completely crippled.
This was also the main reason why Wind and Cloud Pass could contribute 15,000 soldiers to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.
As for Azure Void Pass, their situation would probably a bit worse compared to Wind and Cloud Pass, but not by a large margin.
The number of troops there was on par with Wind and Cloud Pass, but they only had one Old Ancestor; therefore, they weren’t able to do as much damage to the Royal Lord as the two Old Ancestors at Wind and Cloud Pass had.
While watching their Squad Leader talking to an Old Ancestor, all the members of Dawn were shocked.
Although every Great Pass had an Old Ancestor assuming command, these figures were all like hidden Dragons who show their tails but never their faces, so ordinary people wouldn’t even have the chance to meet them. Even back at Blue Sky Pass, the members of Dawn had only seen the Old Ancestor from afar and never had any close contact with him.
But today, an Old Ancestor came to Dawning Light and was now chatting casually with Yang Kai.
It seemed like he was the only Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had such a privilege.
While they were chatting, the Old Ancestor suddenly raised her head and looked in the direction the Army was heading in before raising an eyebrow, “Someone dares to seek the gates of death? Interesting.”
After saying that, the Old Ancestor didn’t waste any time and shot right into the sky. Then, from afar, her voice sounded in Yang Kai’s ears, “Prepare for battle!”
Yang Kai was stunned at first, but quickly reacted and echoed, “Prepare for battle!”
With his command, everyone immediately assumed their post and Dawning Light turned into a stream of light as it flew forward.
Aboard the main Purifying Black Ink Battleship, where the central Army was located, Xiang Shan was listening to a scout reporting their findings at this moment.
When deploying such a large Army, the Commanders naturally arranged for scouts to survey the area ahead of the main force. They were heading straight for Great Evolution Pass, and it was unlikely that they would encounter any Black Ink Clan Army because of the vast distance between the two Passes, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
However, a moment ago, the scouts actually came to report that they spotted a Black Ink Clan Army.
According to their observation, the Black Ink Clan Army had about 300,000 members with about a dozen Territory Lords, and they were heading straight for Wind and Cloud Pass.
Also, after calculating the speed of both Armies, the scouts estimated that the two would meet in about an hour.
Just as the scout finished reporting, the Old Ancestor arrived at the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. Xiang Shan and the others stood up and greeted her.
After the Old Ancestor sat down, Xiang Shan reported, “The scouts have just reported that there is a Black Ink Clan Army of approximately 300,000 heading right for us.”
When the Old Ancestor heard that, she nodded, “I’ve sensed them too. They’re obviously reinforcements sent over from Great Evolution Pass.”
In the 30,000 years after the Black Ink Clan took over Great Evolution Pass, they would occasionally send reinforcements to help the Black Ink Clan Armies in the Wind and Cloud and Azure Void Theatres. Although it was a long distance to travel and the effectiveness of these reinforcements wasn’t very high, the Black Ink Clan had never stopped doing it.
It was also due to these reinforcements from the Great Evolution Theatre that Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass suffered more pressure than the other Great Passes.
About two years ago, this Black Ink Clan Army departed from the Great Evolution Theatre and travelled to aid the Black Ink Clan Army besieging Wind and Cloud Pass. The 300,000 Black Ink Clansmen were expected to arrive at the Wind and Cloud Theatre in a few days, at which point they would join the battle, adding tremendous pressure onto Wind and Cloud Pass.
Unfortunately for them, the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass had ended before they got there. Also, since it was hard to communicate with others in the void, this reinforcement Army had no way of knowing the drastic changes that occurred at Wind and Cloud Pass and was still moving forward according to their previous plan.
The two sides were heading in opposite directions, so they would inevitably encounter each other.
“Old Ancestor, please issue your command!” Xiang Shan asked for instructions from the Old Ancestor.
The Old Ancestor smiled and replied, “Marching and planning for battles aren’t my strong suits, so everything on this trip will be up to you and Liu Zhi Ping’s will. Just treat me as a soldier with a higher cultivation, and you don’t have to ask for my opinion if you have an idea.”
Most Old Ancestors acted as more of a deterrent than as a commander for their Armies in battle, and formulating strategies was generally the responsibility of Army Commanders and Division Commanders. Therefore, many of the Old Ancestors weren’t as proficient as those actively doing the job, so rashly intervening might not necessarily yield better results than when the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were allowed to take charge.
Without a doubt, the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass had great self-awareness, and her choosing not to intervene made Xiang Shan feel less restrained and have a place to show his talent.
Since the Old Ancestor had spoken, Xiang Shan naturally carried out his duties.
The 300,000 troops of the Black Ink Clan Army might sound like a lot, but those numbers were not actually very high. It had to be said that the Black Ink Clan generally dispatched nearly a million troops whenever they attacked Blue Sky Pass. This number did not include the troops that would continually be dispatched to the battlefield as reinforcements. If those numbers were included, then their numbers would swell even more. Moreover, there were only a dozen or so Territory Lords among the ranks of the 300,000 troops of this Black Ink Clan Army.
In contrast, the Great Evolution Army had some 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders. The combat power of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders alone was enough to form a crushing advantage in terms of numbers. Not to mention, the Great Evolution Army also had a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor personally assuming command.
If a war broke out, this Black Ink Clan Army would crumble without much effort as long as they removed the Territory Lords quickly.
That was why it was not difficult for Xiang Shan to defeat this enemy even though they only had 30,000 against 300,000. All he needed to consider at the moment was how he could reduce the damage dealt to the Human Army. Furthermore, he had deeper considerations. It might be possible for him to use the reinforcement Army from the Great Evolution Theatre’s Black Ink Clan as a research subject to better plan out the recovery of Great Evolution Pass.
As the Army Commander of Great Evolution Pass’ Eastern Army, Xiang Shan could be considered the highest authority after the Old Ancestor; therefore, he could not be so short-sighted as to only plan for what he could see in front of him.
Following a brief discussion with Liu Zhi Ping, the two of them formulated a strategy. The Armies from the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were bound to encounter each other in the void, so battle was inevitable.
At present, the Black Ink Clan had yet to detect the Human Army and probably never imagined that Humans would march over from the direction of the Wind and Cloud Pass. For the past 30,000 years, the Black Ink Clan had sent reinforcements to their clansmen in the Wind and Cloud Theatre countless times, and the process had always been smooth sailing with no unexpected incidents. This kind of long-term experience gradually lowered their vigilance. As a result, they didn’t even bother to send any scouts to investigate the situation of the route ahead. That was why the initiative of the current situation was completely in the hands of the Great Evolution Army.
Xiang Shan initially wanted to seek a more suitable location to carry out an ambush, but there was no such place in the vicinity. The void was vast and silent, with many places completely devoid of anything that could be used to conceal themselves. Coupled with the lack of time and their unfamiliarity with the nearby terrain, they could only choose a small field of universe fragments as their ambush location in the end.
This location was not perfect, for as long as the Black Ink Clan was even the slightest bit vigilant, they would not step into such a location so easily. Unfortunately, that could not be helped. If their ambush was exposed, then they could only opt for a direct confrontation.
Once everything was ready, various orders were conveyed throughout the fleet. The speed of the Army increased sharply as they headed straight for the area filled with universe fragments.
When all the preparations were in place, Xiang Shan finally turned around to look at the Old Ancestor, “Old Ancestor, please do not kill them all. It’s better if we let one of the Territory Lords escape alive.”
The Old Ancestor was astonished by his words, “Won’t doing that alert the enemy of our presence?”
He replied, “That’s exactly what we want.”
She frowned slightly and asked, “Why? What’s the purpose of doing that?”
Xiang Shan answered succinctly, “Great Evolution Pass has been occupied by the Black Ink Clan for the past 30,000 years, but, if my speculations are correct, the Royal Lord probably does not live in Great Evolution Pass. After all, his Black Ink Nest is his foundation, so he most likely lives in the Royal City. As for Great Evolution Pass, there will only be a few Territory Lords overseeing the area at most. Old Ancestor, would you rather fight the Royal Lord in the vicinity of the Royal City or the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass?”
She smiled, “If I have to choose, I am naturally more inclined to fight in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass.”
If the battle took place near the Royal City, the Royal Lord would have the support of his Black Ink Nest. Even if she had the opportunity to injure the other party, he would be able to rely on the strength of his Black Ink Nest to recover from his injuries quickly and also boost his strength in moments of need. Not to mention, the Royal City was located in the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Fighting the Royal Lord there meant that the Black Ink Clan would be able to receive large numbers of reinforcements in short order.
On the other hand, it would be different if the battle took place near Great Evolution Pass. Without the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, his rate of recovery would be greatly reduced. That would be beneficial to her.
Xiang Shan broke into a grin, “That’s right. If the Black Ink Clan learns about the arrival of a Human Army that appears to be trying to recover Great Evolution Pass, then the Royal Lord would definitely come forward in order to prevent the invasion of the Human Race.”
“Luring the tiger from the mountain!” The Old Ancestor’s eyes lit up. She had to admit that Xiang Shan’s idea was interesting. This move would allow them to secure control over the initiative of the battle and create an advantage for themselves in the process.
After further consideration, she continued, “This plan might have its advantages, but if there are only a few Territory Lords at Great Evolution Pass, why don’t we secretly swoop in and secure Great Evolution Pass?”
This was not an interrogative question but a genuine inquiry of curiosity. She might have a higher cultivation compared to Xiang Shan, but from his various arrangements, it could be seen that his ability to conduct military strategy was superior to hers. With a simple deployment, he could pave the way for the future, which was something she could never hope to achieve.
When she detected the Black Ink Clan Army approaching them, her first instinct was to simply obliterate it entirely. She never even considered allowing a Territory Lord to escape.
It was only natural for her to inquire further since she thought of another possibility. Besides, she believed that it was impossible for Xiang Shan to overlook something so simple.
Sure enough, Xiang Shan nodded, “It is as you have said, Old Ancestor. If the Army marched forward in secret, we would definitely be able to capture Great Evolution Pass with ease. From when the Black Ink Clan took over Great Evolution Pass until now, we have never shown any signs of trying to take it back, so the Black Ink Clan has no reason to station many troops there. Even if the Black Ink Clan prepared many defensive mechanisms at Great Evolution Pass over the past 30,000 years, they will not be able to stop the might of our Army without sufficient troops. But… What happens after we retake Great Evolution Pass?”
The Old Ancestor followed his train of thought and soon came to a realisation.
Liu Zhi Ping, who was standing by the side, nodded and continued, “Even if our Army can take back Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan will not just stand by idly and watch. I’m sure they will gather a large Army and attack us in short order.”
“Indeed!” Xiang Shan nodded, “However, we will have just recaptured Great Evolution Pass and won’t have had time to make any arrangements. When the time comes to face the Black Ink Clan’s attack, how will we defend ourselves? If we don’t defend the Great Pass, then what was the point of attacking and retaking it in the first place? But, if we defend the Great Pass… Without restoring the various facilities of Great Evolution Pass, our Army will have no place to fall back to. We will be forced to engage in an all-out battle in the void against the Black Ink Clan, where their advantage in numbers and willingness to sacrifice lives will be greatest. The Black Ink Clan has never been afraid of suffering losses as thanks to the Black Ink Nests, they can produce a steady stream of troops as long as they have resources. In comparison, how long can Great Evolution Pass’s Army of 60,000 last? 10 years? 20? There will come a day when our Army simply cannot hold any longer.”
Liu Zhi Ping nodded lightly. As the former Army Commander of Yin-Yang Pass’ Western Army, though she had considerable talent in commanding military operations, she seemed like a novice when compared to Xiang Shan. His ability to see the long-term consequences and formulate strategies to obtain optimal outcomes was beyond her.
“For that reason, the primary goal of the Great Evolution Army is not to retake Great Evolution Pass, but to cripple the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre! That is the only way we can gain enough time to recover and restore the Great Pass to its original glory.”
In order to recover Great Evolution Pass, they deployed troops from all the Great Passes and formed Great Evolution’s Four Armies. Be that as it may, the primary objective of this campaign was not to recover Great Evolution Pass. Although these words sounded rather ridiculous, it was also the best method to achieve their goals.
Liu Zhi Ping cupped her fist solemnly, “Many thanks for your guidance!”
She had long heard of Xiang Shan despite belonging to a different Great Pass. As the former Blue Sky Pass Western Army’s Army Commander, Xiang Shan was famed for being the nightmare of the Territory Lords in the Blue Sky Theatre more than 3,000 years ago. During his active years, all Territory Lords trembled wherever he appeared.
Liu Zhi Ping had never had any in-depth contact with him before though, so she only learned today that Xiang Shan was not only fierce in terms of personal strength, but he also boasted an extraordinary ability in strategy and tactics. It was no wonder the Old Ancestors allowed him to serve as the Great Evolution Eastern Army’s Army Commander. Compared to him, she was greatly lacking in terms of ability.
While the executives were analysing the situation, the Eastern and Western Armies had already entered the designated universe fragment field.
This location was only a few days away from Wind and Cloud Pass, so it could be considered within the vicinity of Wind and Cloud Pass.
There used to be several Universe Worlds here, but they had been picked clean by Wind and Cloud Pass long ago. After extensive mining and many years of drifting, these Universe Worlds had broken down into numerous universe fragments, which left behind a region filled with universe fragments.
These universe fragments would provide cover for the Great Evolution Army to a certain extent.
The Warships flew towards different universe fragments and concealed themselves as best they could. Meanwhile, the members of each Squad swiftly prepared various Spirit Arrays to disguise their auras and hide their figures. They could not do a thorough job since time was short, but their efforts were better than nothing.
The reason this place was not considered a good spot for an ambush was that the number of universe fragments here was not very large. Moreover, they were far too scattered for the troops to form an effective encirclement.
If the terrain was better, the Warships could take action as soon as the Black Ink Clan Army entered the range of these universe fragments to form a watertight encirclement.
Unfortunately, based on the current ambush location of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies, the encirclement they formed would be filled with gaps. Even if the Black Ink Clan entered the centre of the ambush, they would be able to escape through these openings when the situation turned unfavourable.
Be that as it may, Xiang Shan had already made arrangements for these possibilities. There were at least two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters monitoring each of the largest gaps, so even if there were escapees, they would need to pass these Division Commanders first.
At present, the only issue that the Great Evolution Army had to consider was whether the Black Ink Clan would pass through this area or not. If the Black Ink Clan had even the slightest sense of vigilance to send somebody to scout the route ahead, or simply took a detour around the universe fragments, the preparations of the Great Evolution Army would be all for naught.
Regardless, that was not something the Great Evolution Army could determine. They had done their best to make these preparations in the short time they had, the rest was up to the Heavens.
On top of a small universe fragment, Dawn and two other Squads squeezed together and secretly observed the situation in front.
Less than an incense stick later, Yang Kai frowned and whispered, “They’re coming!”
This universe fragment was located relatively far forward, so its field of view was quite wide. What entered Yang Kai’s eyes at that moment was a Black Ink Clan Army approaching slowly. Their numbers seemed vast and endless, resembling a long black dragon swimming through the void. A rough estimate indicated that there were at least several hundreds of thousands of them.
The location of the ambush was well chosen though, and judging by the marching route of the Black Ink Clan Army, they were bound to pass through this exact location shortly, and they showed no signs of changing direction whatsoever.
The Human Army fell silent and concealed themselves as best they could, not daring to expose themselves in the slightest.
The Black Ink Clan Army continued marching forward and soon flew past the hiding spot of Dawn and the others to head deep into the field of universe fragments.
From Yang Kai’s point of view, the Black Ink Clan Army resembled a huge black snake plunging headlong into a death trap. The black snake’s head soon entered the centre area, quickly followed by its body.
Everything was going smoothly.
Just as the tail was about to enter the universe fragment area, one of the Feudal Lords marching at the head of the Army suddenly raised his hand. Dense Black Ink Strength surged, and a universe fragment blocking his way forward was shattered to pieces.
He had struck out casually and without much thought, simply because the universe fragment was blocking his way; however, the result of this blow was startling indeed. When the universe fragment shattered into pieces, several Human Warships suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Moreover, there were many silhouettes standing on the Warships.
The Feudal Lord was instantly stunned by the sight!
Likewise, the Humans on the Warships were speechless. They had been hiding in ambush, using the universe fragment as a cover to conceal their figures and auras. How did they get exposed without any warning?
When the universe fragment shattered to pieces, the Humans thought that the Black Ink Clan had discovered their whereabouts. It was not until their gazes met those of the Black Ink Clansmen that they realized this was nothing more than a coincidence. The Feudal Lord who attacked earlier would not have seemed so startled otherwise.
Regardless of whether it was intentional or coincidental, these Squads had already been exposed. Just as the Squad Leaders were wondering how they should deal with the situation in front of them, a loud whistle resounded across the void.
It was the signal to attack!
The Squad Leaders no longer hesitated. With the order given, the power of countless artifacts and Spirit Arrays aboard the Warships was activated in an instant. A thick ray of light containing horrifying destructive power suddenly blasted into the middle of the Black Ink Clan Army. Before the stunned Feudal Lord could react to the situation, he was devoured by the light and suffered serious injuries. The many Low-Rank and High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen beside him also suffered heavy casualties.
It was not just these few Squads. When the signal to attack sounded, all the Humans hiding in ambush behind the universe fragments attacked all at once.
Thanks to the overwhelming power of the Secret Techniques and artifacts, the colourful brilliance instantly rendered the dead and silent void into a bright world, one filled with death and destruction.
The sudden attack shocked and frightened the Black Ink Clan. The 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army had been marching forward leisurely; after all, this was the standard route taken whenever they attacked Wind and Cloud Pass. The dozen Territory Lords overseeing the Army had taken this route countless times and had never encountered any unexpected occurrences before, but today, a huge Human Army was actually lying in ambush for them!
[How could there be a Human Army lying in ambush here?] The Territory Lords were in shock.
Ever since Great Evolution Pass was occupied by the Black Ink Clan, the Humans at Wind and Cloud Pass had been heavily suppressed. It was impossible for the Human Race Army to leave Wind and Cloud Pass and travel millions of kilometres away, let alone come to such a place and lay an ambush. After all, this place was more than just a few million kilometres away from Wind and Cloud Pass!
Where did this Army of Humans come from? If they came from Wind and Cloud Pass, then what about their clansmen at Wind and Cloud Pass? However, if these Humans weren’t from Wind and Cloud Pass, where did they come from?
The Black Ink Clan had almost unimaginable advantages in conveying various messages to each other thanks to the Black Ink Nests. Nevertheless, it was impossible to bring a Black Ink Nest along when the Army was on the march. Transmitting messages to each other was extremely inconvenient in the void, so how could the Black Ink Clan Army know that the Black Ink Clan at Wind and Cloud Pass had almost been wiped out completely? That was why they had still been on their way to provide reinforcements to the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Black Ink Clan as originally planned.
In that brief moment when the Territory Lords fell into a daze, almost 10% of the 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army was either killed or critically wounded!
The large number of Humans shocked the Territory Lords. Although there was no way to accurately calculate the numbers, the dense number of Warships in front of them indicated that there were at least tens of thousands of Humans hiding in ambush here. The sight left them furious. Since when did the Humans become so bold and reckless as to act in this manner?
The Black Ink Clan who came from Great Evolution Theatre carried an arrogance that normal Black Ink Clansmen did not have. That was because Great Evolution Pass was the only Great Pass that the Humans had ever lost. It was also the only Great Pass that the Black Ink Clan ever occupied. Just that point alone was enough for the Black Ink Clansmen who came from the Great Evolution Theatre to be proud of themselves.
Over 30,000 years of subtle influence from their environment had given these Black Ink Clansmen the impression that the Humans were mediocre. They also believed that the clansmen in the other Theatres were useless for being unable to take over a single Great Pass.
That was why they did not panic even though they faced a sudden ambush and suffered heavy losses. They believed that the Human Race would fall apart as long as they counterattacked; after all, the difference in numbers could not be denied.
On the other hand, the Human Race troops who jumped out from behind the various universe fragments were stunned to discover that the Black Ink Clansmen did not even flinch after being attacked but rushed forward bravely and fearlessly!
The Black Ink Clansmen faced the powerful assault of the Warships head-on and charged towards them! It was absolutely haphazard, and countless casualties piled up along the way.
Behind the Black Ink Clan Army was a large, ornate ship. This ship was not a Mobile Palace Artifact but a simple flight-type artifact.
Artifact Refining among the Black Ink Clan relied entirely upon Black Ink Disciples. There were very few Artifact Refiners among the Black Ink Disciples to begin with, and those with decent skill were even rarer.
For the Black Ink Clan, only the Territory Lords were qualified to possess a large ship artifact of their own. Tremendous amounts of energy and resources were required to refine such artifacts, so ordinary Feudal Lords were not qualified to possess them.
The person in charge of this large ship was a Territory Lord known as Zhe Chong. A Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 was not a small one; therefore, he had been tasked with bringing up the rear. He was responsible for monitoring the Army to prevent any eccentric Black Ink Clansmen from messing around during the march. Fortunately, things had been peaceful throughout the journey.
Zhe Chong immediately noticed as soon as the Humans attacked. With a shift of his figure, he flew out of the cabin and came to the deck to observe the situation. What entered his field of vision was the Warships emerging from among the universe fragments, and the multi-coloured flashes of lights blasting out from those Warships. The sight made his heart sink to the bottom of his chest.
Unlike most of the Black Ink Clansmen here, Zhe Chong was a veteran Territory Lord who had been alive before Great Evolution Pass had fallen to them. He had personally participated in the war 30,000 ago, so he knew how tenacious and difficult the Human Race could be.
Two Royal Lords had joined hands back then. One of them had attacked and severely injured the Old Ancestor at Great Evolution Pass, but in the end, the veteran Royal Lord was dragged down and lost his life along with the Human Old Ancestor.
Ever since then, Zhe Chong knew that he should never underestimate the Human Race; otherwise, he would be the one to suffer instead. That was why he immediately had an ominous feeling when he saw such a large Human Army hiding in ambush here.
[There’s such a large Army of Humans here. Have our clansmen at Wind and Cloud Pass been defeated?]
He watched as countless Black Ink Clansmen died on the spot due to the sudden ambush and even more Black Ink Clansmen counter-attacking after being attacked. Then, he saw the troops on both sides engaging in fierce battles among the universe fragments.
All of a sudden, he widened his eyes with a look of horror on his face. That couldn’t be helped as the auras of 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters burst out from the middle of the battlefield. Like bright lights shining in the dark, they were so blinding that he couldn’t ignore the sight even if he wanted to.
That was 60 Eighth-Order Humans! Any one of them would be able to fight him on equal footing. In fact, he would be no match for an Eighth-Order Master who was slightly stronger than average.
[It’s over! Our entire army of 300,000 will be obliterated right here!] The Humans definitely came here prepared; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to have such an overwhelming lineup.
The Human Race Army might have been small in numbers, with only several tens of thousands in total; however, 60 Eighth-Order Masters were an unstoppable force. Not only would the Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 be obliterated here, but even his fellow Territory Lords among the Army would suffer a tragic fate.
Just as he was hesitating over whether he should go over and help the others try to withdraw, an aura that was even more powerful than an Eighth-Order Master suddenly exploded out. Zhe Chong saw a stream of light flashing out from a certain corner of the battlefield and coming to a stop beside one of the Territory Lords. A breath later, the aura of that Territory Lord flared up before vanishing!
Then, the light dissipated to reveal a petite figure.
Zhe Chong immediately felt as though his soul had leapt out of his body!
[An Old Ancestor! There’s a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor here! Moreover, it’s a completely unfamiliar Old Ancestor! I’ve never seen her before! This isn’t the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass!]
He had been providing reinforcements to the battlefield at Wind and Cloud Pass over the past 30,000 years, so he knew that the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass was a man; however, the Old Ancestor in front of him was clearly a woman.
With the appearance of the Old Ancestor, it only took a breath for a powerful Territory Lord to be killed. That Territory Lord’s strength was not inferior compared to Zhe Chong’s. In other words, if Zhe Chong was the one facing that Old Ancestor instead, he would not have survived any longer.
At that moment, what Zhe Chong needed to consider was not whether he should step forward to help the others, but how he was going to escape alive from under the nose of a Human Old Ancestor.
He was stationed at the rear of the Army to monitor the troops, which placed him in a relatively lucky position. Even though 90% of the Black Ink Clan Army had entered the range of the Human encirclement, he remained outside and was temporarily untouched by the chaos of the battlefield.
After confirming that the woman was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor, Zhe Chong quickly looked away and did not dare to take another glance. A Ninth-Order Master was generally extremely sensitive to the gaze of others, so he was afraid that he might be targeted if he stared for too long.
Activating a Secret Technique, Zhe Chong concealed his aura. He couldn’t even bother to care about his precious ship at this point. Instead, he leapt off the ship without a word and secretly rushed off in the direction of Great Evolution Pass. He did not dare to make large movements. In fact, he only hoped that one of his fellow Territory Lords could distract the Old Ancestor as much as possible so that he would have the opportunity to escape.
Zhe Chong was not the only Black Ink Clansman on the large ship. There were also many Feudal Lords and even more High and Low-Rank Clansmen.
Zhe Chong’s sudden escape surprised these Feudal Lords. Nevertheless, they quickly followed suit and activated their respective Secret Techniques to flee in all directions. Having sensed the overwhelming aura on the battlefield, they knew that staying behind would only lead to a disastrous ending for them; therefore, it was only natural for them to prioritise escape.
The actions of the Black Ink Clan Masters on the ship left the 20,000 or 30,000 Black Ink Clansmen outside the encirclement at a loss for what to do. They did not know whether they should rush forward and confront the enemy or flee like the higher-ups behind them. Be that as it may, it did not take long for the notion of escape to gain the upper hand. Their leaders had already fled, so what could they do even if they stayed behind? Hence, they quickly began running for their lives.