One had to know that in a typical war against the Black Ink Clan that spanned 100 years, it was quite normal for none of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to die, and usually less than 1,000 Human soldiers below the Eighth-Order would perish.
That was because the Humans had the Great Passes behind them. They could return to Inner Sanctum anytime and recuperate to prevent a large number of casualties.
Usually, there were only 30,000 to 40,000 people stationed at any Great Pass. If too many people were killed in a single war, the Cave Heavens and Paradises from the 3,000 Worlds couldn’t possibly send enough reinforcements over to make up for the losses.
Even though the Cave Heavens and Paradises had deep heritages, it wasn’t easy for them to nurture Open Heaven Realm Masters that were above the Sixth Order.
If extensive casualties were the norm, as more people were killed over time, the Great Passes would inevitably be snatched by the Black Ink Clan.
With the help of the Great Passes and Warships, the Humans were able to effectively kill the enemy while protecting themselves during the battles against the Black Ink Clan; however, it was a different case when it came to retaking Great Evolution Pass.
They could still rely on Warships to engage the enemy, but they no longer had a Great Pass behind them, just like what happened in the previous battle. When the war broke out, the North-South Army had no other choice but to continue fighting the Black Ink Clan regardless of the situation; hence, it was understandable that there were a larger number of casualties.
After the war, 3,000 out of 30,000 soldiers were killed. In other words, they had lost 10% of their forces in a single battle, which was truly heartbreaking.
Furthermore, 4 Eighth-Order Division Commanders had lost their lives.
“A Martial Uncle told me that, in comparison, Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples pose a greater threat to the Division Commanders than the Territory Lords.” Ma Gao looked slightly dejected, “That’s not just because Black Ink Disciples are Humans, so they’re more familiar with our capabilities, but primarily because of their mindset. Regardless of how powerful they are, they are only loyal to the Black Ink Clan. If the Territory Lords are unable to defeat the Division Commanders, they will run away; however, the Black Ink Disciples are different. Following the Territory Lords’ orders, they’re willing to risk their lives to fight against the Division Commanders despite knowing that they might perish. None of the deceased Division Commanders were killed by Territory Lords. It’s all because of the Black Ink Disciples’ madness!”
Yang Kai felt his heart sinking.
Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were not as powerful as the true Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, if they were not concerned about their own survival, they would still be extremely dangerous foes.
That was the reason so many Black Ink Disciples lost their lives during the war this time. Following the Territory Lords’ orders, they were willing to sacrifice themselves so that the Territory Lords had a chance to flee.
It was imaginable that even though only 4 Eighth-Order Division Commanders were killed, there must be a lot of others who were seriously injured.
“Those Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples are all Humans, but they’ve sided with the Black Ink Clan and killed their own people. Outrageous!” Ma Gao angrily swung his arm, as though there was an invisible enemy standing in front of him.
Fortunately, they were well prepared when they were assembling an Army to retake Great Evolution Pass. Although there were only 30,000 soldiers in the North-South Army, they had some 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
It was thanks to this large number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that the North-South Army could gain an upper hand when fighting against the top Masters from the previous Black Ink Clan Army which only had between 40 and 50 Territory Lords and the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples combined.
There was no doubt that the Humans held an advantageous position in such a battle.
If not for the fact that the Black Ink Disciples had gone mad during the pursuit and were willing to sacrifice their lives to protect the Territory Lords, which caused the Division Commanders from the North-South Army to be wary, all of the Territory Lords would’ve been killed during the battle.
The North-South Army chased after the Black Ink Clan Army for four days, but just as the enemy seemed ready to break, the Black Ink Clan reinforcements from Great Evolution Pass arrived.
When the Black Ink Army had retreated from the initial battle, they must have sent some people to seek help from the garrison at Great Evolution Pass. Upon learning that the Humans had ambushed their clansmen, the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass were shocked.
Figuring that the Humans would be exhausted from a protracted battle, the Black Ink Clansmen from Great Evolution Pass decided to make a move.
About a day’s travel from Great Evolution Pass, the retreating Black Ink Army and their reinforcements met. The North-South Army dealt with this grouping for a while; however, knowing that they were unable to kill all these Black Ink Clansmen, they had no choice but to retreat to recuperate.
The North-South Army then established a base about two day’s march from Great Evolution Pass. They didn’t intend to cover themselves up as they blatantly hovered in the void in front of Great Evolution Pass, as if declaring they would attack anyone who dared to come out.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan had suffered immense losses this time. They had lost about 30 Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples in total, so they didn’t dare to provoke the Humans for the time being.
Both parties peacefully coexisted for now, but they all knew that it was just the calm before the storm. Perhaps an incident would take place at any moment and shatter the peace.
Regardless, this was the situation that those from the North-South Army wanted to see.
The previous battle was the most dangerous they had ever experienced, and many were either killed or injured, so they needed time to recover. Hence, they were glad to see the Black Ink Clan not make a move for now.
After the talk with Ma Gao, Yang Kai had a better understanding of the current situation.
Ma Gao had other matters to attend to, so he soon left the place.
After watching him leave, Yang Kai continued shuffling towards the conference hall.
When he arrived, he waited for the person on guard to inform the Army Commander about his arrival. Soon, he was told to see the Army Commander.
Upon entering the hall, he saw that Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie were having a discussion. They soon made a decision, then Ou Yang Lie left the place in a hurry.
It was only then that Mi Jing Lun had time to attend to Yang Kai. He lifted his gaze and asked, “Why don’t you rest for a bit longer? I doubt you’ve fully recovered.”
Yang Kai cupped his fist, “I’m fine. I just came here to bid you farewell. The Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord must have fought with each other, so perhaps the Old Ancestor will need my help.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “I agree. In that case, you’d better get going now.”
“Do you have a word that you want me to pass on to others?” Yang Kai asked.
After giving it some thought, Mi Jing Lun replied with a smile, “Please tell Brother Xiang and Junior Sister Liu that I won’t allow the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass to trouble the East-West Army, so they can act without constraints.”
“I’ll be sure to tell them,” Yang Kai nodded and cupped his fist again, “Farewell.”
“Be careful on your way,” Mi Jing Lun nodded.
Yang Kai didn’t have to bid anyone else farewell, so after leaving Mi Jing Lun’s office, he flew off towards the depths of the void.
Although he hadn’t fully recovered, it didn’t affect his mobility. As he manipulated Space Principles, his figure flickered. He would also try to activate the Universe Transference Law from time to time to sense the location of the East-West Army’s Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
He faced no obstacles along the way.
One day later, Yang Kai arrived at the outskirts of the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Usually, there would be a lot of Black Ink Clansmen in such a place; however, there wasn’t even one Black Ink Clansman in sight at this moment.
He even passed by a Feudal Lord’s Fief and realised that there were no living creatures around. It seemed that the Black Ink Clansmen had completely vanished.
This place was close enough for him to activate the Universe Transference Law and return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship in the East-West Army, so he came to a stop before doing so. A glowing Array appeared beneath his feet, and by the time the light faded, Yang Kai had disappeared.
He was extremely familiar with the Universe Array and the interior of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships, so when he arrived, he promptly headed to the Space Array on the side, and through it arrived on the deck of this Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
There would always be a person guarding the Space Array of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship in the North-South Army, and similarly, there was a person guarding this place. The moment this Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master saw Yang Kai, his eyes brightened, “Senior Brother Yang!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master quickly followed up, “The Army Commander has ordered that you are to immediately see him on your return.”
“I’ll head over now,” as Yang Kai spoke, he turned to look in a certain direction.
When he left the North-South Army one day ago, he told Mi Jing Lun that the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord should have exchanged moves; now, it seemed that they were still fighting. He could tell because he could still feel the horrifying energy fluctuations coming from the depths of the void even though he was far away from their source.
Those were clearly the repercussions of the fight between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord.
Many days had passed, but they were still locked in an intense battle.
Yang Kai was astounded. Before the North-South Army ambushed the Black Ink Clan Army, he had already felt the initial fallout of the beginning of their battle.
Seven or eight days had passed since then, but they were still fighting. It seemed that they were in a deadlock.
After giving it a thought though, Yang Kai realised that this wasn’t too surprising. Once powerful beings like the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord got into a fight, there wouldn’t be an outcome in a short time. If they wanted, they could fight for seven or eight years without halting, not to mention seven or eight days.
However, Yang Kai reckoned that even if the Royal Lord wanted to drag the fight out, the Old Ancestor wouldn’t cooperate.
She had asked Yang Kai to join this campaign, so it was apparent that she wanted to make use of his Small Universe to rapidly recover from her injuries. If he were in the Old Ancestor’s shoes, he would’ve found a chance to engage in an all-out clash with the Royal Lord with the goal of causing mutual damage. Hence, he supposed the battle would end in no time.
He then cast these thoughts away and headed straight to the conference hall.
This time, he didn’t even need to inform the Army Commander about his arrival as the moment a Senior Brother standing guard saw him coming over, he promptly led him inside. It seemed that the Army Commander had given orders in advance.
Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping, as well as some Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, were all inside the conference hall.
Upon Yang Kai’s arrival, Xiang Shan ended the discussion they were having and asked, “You’re finally back. How was the trip?”
Yang Kai saluted them, “Greetings, Sirs. Fortunately, I’ve managed to complete my task.”
Xiang Shan nodded, “How is it going in the North-South Army now?”
Yang Kai replied, “They fought an intense battle before I came back. The 30,000 soldiers of the North-South Army intercepted the Black Ink Clan Army that departed from Great Evolution Pass. They managed to kill more than 300,000 Black Ink Clansmen, including 6 Territory Lords and over 20 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.”
One of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders was elated upon hearing that, “That’s wonderful!”
On the other hand, Xiang Shan looked at the matter from a different perspective and asked with concern, “How about their own casualties?”
Yang Kai reported honestly, “4 Division Commanders and 3,000 soldiers below the Eighth Order died in battle.”
Liu Zhi Ping sighed, “That’s more or less the same as what we’d estimated.”
Xiang Shan rubbed his forehead, “En. No one could’ve expected there to be so many High-Rank Black Ink Disciples in the Great Evolution Theater. Every Territory Lord seems to have two or three Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples serving them.”
His words suggested that they were already aware of the existence of the excess of High-Rank Black Ink Disciples. It showed that the East-West Army had at least exchanged moves with the Black Ink Clan already.
This saved Yang Kai the trouble of explaining. He initially wanted to report to them about the Black Ink Disciples as a kind of warning, but since Xiang Shan and the others were already aware of the situation, he didn’t have to anymore.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai realised that it wasn’t surprising. The North-South Army only had to attack the Black Ink Clan coming out of Great Evolution Pass. On the other hand, the East-West Army had to charge through the enemy’s territory, so there was no way that the journey would be smooth sailing.
Those High-Rank Black Ink Disciples could be said to be the tumours left behind in Great Evolution Pass 30,000 years ago. Those tumours were the losses that the Humans had suffered and also the obstacles that the Humans would face in the future.
“Sir Mi Jing Lun gave me a message to pass along,” Yang Kai said.
Xiang Shan replied, “Go on.”
“He said for the East-West Army to act freely, and that he will ensure that the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass won’t pose a threat.”
Xiang Shan nodded, “Got it.” He then examined Yang Kai, “Are you injured?”
Yang Kai replied, “I’m fine.”
Xiang Shan went on to say, “Since you’re injured, you should go back to recuperate now. Good work.”
“It’s my duty,” Yang Kai cupped his fist and withdrew.
After he was gone, Liu Zhi Ping let out a sigh, “It seems that the North-South Army will have to suffer quite a bit to deal with the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass.”
Xiang Shan remarked, “It’s the same everywhere. The situation we’re facing is not optimistic either. There’s still a long road ahead if we want to destroy the Black Ink Clan and retake Great Evolution Pass.”
The other Eighth-Order Division Commanders nodded as they understood what he meant.
The Black Ink Clan was able to react remarkably quickly to any changes in the war as Black Ink Nests were unparalleled when it came to the transmission of information.
The plans that Xiang Shan had devised could be said to be immaculate. First of all, they let go of a Territory Lord in the Wind and Cloud Theater to alert their enemies. Then, they sent a Puppet Army to Great Evolution Pass to keep the Black Ink Clan focused on that front. Even the Royal Lord had personally headed to that place.
That way, the Black Ink Clan’s territory would be void of any powerful Masters. Without the Royal Lord in charge, the East-West Army could directly storm into their territory. If they could shatter the Royal City and destroy the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, it would be much easier to retake Great Evolution Pass.
The Great Evolution Army was divided into two groups. One of them headed straight to the Black Ink Clan territory while the other ambushed the Black Ink Clansmen that left Great Evolution Pass. It was a well-thought-out plan.
If the transmission of information between the Black Ink Clan wasn’t so swift, the East-West Army could gradually weaken the Black Ink Clan’s power along the way while they headed to the Royal City. At the very least, they could weep clean a dozen Territory Lords’ territories, killing off those Territory Lords and their subordinates one by one.
Once that was done, the pressure that the East-West Army would face in the future would be greatly reduced.
However, not long after the East-West Army arrived at the Black Ink Clan’s domain and occupied a Territory Lord’s home territory, the news that the Humans had arrived spread across the entire Great Evolution Theater in an instant.
All the Territory Lords who stayed back led their Armies to the Royal City to protect that place. On the other hand, the Royal Lord promptly returned. He was an intelligent person, so he didn’t head straight to the Royal City. Instead, he intercepted the Old Ancestor and got into a fight with her, and their battle was still ongoing till this point.
The North-South Army had intercepted the first batch of Black Ink Clansmen from Great Evolution Pass, so the East-West Army fortunately didn’t have to worry about being attacked from the rear. Unfortunately, the Royal City must be heavily guarded now, so the East-West Army was sure to face a tough battle.
While it was difficult for the North-South Army, it would be even more strenuous for the East-West Army.
…..
The moment Yang Kai returned to Dawning Light, his Squad members approached him. Seeing that his face was pale, Feng Ying asked with concern, “Are you injured?”
Yang Kai nodded, “I had a fight with someone, but I’m fine. How are things here?”
Feng Ying replied, “We’re still heading towards our destination. Supposedly, we’re not far away from the Royal City now.”
They were not able to accelerate their pace with so many soldiers moving together; therefore, even though the North-South Army had already gone through a great battle, the East-West Army still hadn’t arrived at the Royal City.
When Yang Kai was coming back to Dawning Light, he already realised that the Army was still moving forward.
“Were there any fights here?” Yang Kai asked.
Feng Ying replied, “There were no proper battles to speak of. When we just arrived at the Black Ink Clan’s domain, we managed to take over a whole Territory Lord’s territory. It was a place with a Territory Lord, who had several Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, and several tens of thousands of soldiers. However, we effortlessly killed them all due to the huge gap between our forces.”
The Territory Lord’s territory that was destroyed belonged to Zhe Chong.
Upon receiving the Royal Lord’s order, he headed to Great Evolution Pass with his own army, and after he departed, another Territory Lord brought his own army to be stationed in Zhe Chong’s territory. That was because his territory was on the periphery, so the Royal Lord had ordered that all the Territory Lords had to head to the borders to get ready to lend assistance to Great Evolution Pass.
After all, there were about a million Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass right now, so the place couldn’t accommodate any more people.
To their surprise, the East-West Army never attacked Great Evolution Pass. Instead, they headed straight to the Black Ink Clan’s domain. The unlucky Territory Lord, who had only stayed in Zhe Chong’s territory for a few days, was killed by the East-West Army.
There was no doubt that luck wasn’t on his side.
“It was peaceful at first; however, in the past three days, the Black Ink Clan started harassing us from time to time. It seems that they’re trying to slow down our pace as we approach their Royal City.”
As soon as Feng Ying finished speaking, Yang Kai felt some fluctuations coming from a particular direction. It was apparent that some people were in a fight, but it wasn’t a large-scale battle.
The exchange of moves didn’t last for long. Barely a cup of tea’s time later, the noises died down. The fight didn’t even slow the Human Army down at all.
The Black Ink Clansmen were not fools.
There were 30,000 Human soldiers, 2,000 to 3,000 Warships, and 60 or so Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in this Army. In order to deal with such a horrifying force, they had to mobilise an equal number of Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples as well as several hundred thousand Black Ink Clan soldiers.
If there hadn’t been so many Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass, they could have come together and intercepted the East-West Army in order to stop them from approaching the Royal City.
Nevertheless, there were about a million Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass, with roughly an equal number of Black Ink Clansmen left in the Black Ink Clan’s domain.
If they sent several hundred thousand people to attack the Humans, the defence around the Royal City would be significantly weakened. No one would dare to expose the Royal City to such a huge risk.
It would be wonderful if they could defeat the Humans and stop them from advancing further; however, if they lost the battle, they would no longer be able to protect the Royal City.
It would also be unwise to divide themselves into smaller groups. Only by gathering all their forces together in the Royal City would they stand a chance to deal with the Humans; therefore, the Territory Lords responsible for protecting the Royal City told the Territory Lords who were on their way to hasten their pace and only send some small groups to harass the Humans in an attempt to slow them down.
Their strategy was indeed effective as, although there were a lot of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the East-West Army, they couldn’t be constantly on the lookout for harassment from all directions.
These small groups from the Black Ink Clan ranged from 2,000 to 10,000 in number and were like vipers that were hiding in the darkness as they waited for a chance and jumped out from all directions to bite the East-West Army.
The Humans were initially unsuspecting, so they suffered some losses. Nevertheless, the leaders soon adapted. Following Xiang Shan’s order, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders scattered around the Army to maintain a perimeter. Since then, the harassment from the Black Ink Clan became significantly less effective.
Every time the Black Ink Clan launched a sneak attack, they would suffer immense losses.
Presently, the East-West Army hadn’t been greatly affected, but they were not sure what would happen when they arrived at the Royal City. The leaders would have to make a decision then.
Feng Ying and the others were curious about what was going on with the North-South Army, so they asked Yang Kai about it.
Yang Kai didn’t inform the members of Dawn when he left a while back; nevertheless, as he remained missing for such a long time, Feng Ying and the others naturally grew curious.
After asking around, they found out that Yang Kai had left their Army and headed to Great Evolution Pass in order to contact the North-South Army.
Since he had returned, it suggested that he had completed his task.
Yang Kai told them that the North-South Army had clashed with the Black Ink Clan’s Army. Although they had killed a lot of their opponents, 4 Eighth-Order Divisions Commanders and 3,000 cultivators below the Eighth Order had lost their lives.
When they heard this solemn news, all of them fell silent.
The moment they joined the Great Evolution Army, they knew that it would be a dangerous journey. Despite that, none of them had experienced any real danger so far.
As Yang Kai brought up the number of losses, they realised that it was more dangerous than they had imagined.
4 Eighth-Order Division Commanders lost their lives, so how were weaker cultivators like them supposed to protect themselves? Perhaps they would lose their lives in the next battle.
With that said, all of them had been cultivating for countless years, and it wasn’t the first day they arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield. They were all prepared for their eventual demise.
As long as they didn’t lose their lives meaninglessly, they would have no regrets.
The demise of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters made them feel dejected, so they were no longer in the mood to keep chatting. They returned to their own places and cultivated in an attempt to strengthen themselves.
For the following days, Yang Kai detected harassment from the Black Ink Clan on several occasions, but just like what happened previously, the noises soon died down.
What was strange was that at a certain point, all the harassment stopped.
Yang Kai had a feeling that they were not far away from the Royal City now; otherwise, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have frequently harassed them and then stopped all of a sudden.
They were anxious because the Humans were getting close to the Royal City and frequently harassed them as a result. However, after discovering that harassment was no longer useful, they decided to stop wasting troops.
Just like Yang Kai had expected, one day later, the Army was given orders to stop.
Yang Kai was recuperating on the deck when he received the order. The messenger was passing on the order to everyone using Divine Sense and soon left to inform the soldiers at the back.
If the East-West Army was compared to a Dragon, Dawning Light was located in the Dragon Claw area.
Hence, they were able to clearly see what was ahead of them.
The moment Yang Kai received the order, he opened his eyes and gazed at the front.
From afar, he could see that darkness had covered a large area of the void, and there seemed to be something magnificent in the middle of the darkness.
The last time Yang Kai saw something similar, he was outside of the Royal City in the Yin-Yang Theatre; therefore, he immediately realised that the darkness was where the Royal City was located.
At this moment, the East-West Army was in a spot that would only take a person half a day to reach the Royal City.
The Army Commanders seemed to be acting rather boldly, as though they had no regard for the Black Ink Clan whatsoever. While the North-South Army was stationed two days away from Great Evolution Pass, the East-West Army was stationed just outside of the Royal City.
The distance between the Armies of the two Races was short, and the slightest anomaly might lead to a war.
Although they were in a place where it would take half a day to reach the Royal City, Yang Kai could see a lot of people moving around on the other side.
However, he was unable to clearly see it as the distance was still too great.
Therefore, he decided to activate the Demon Eye of Annihilation and observed intently.
Soon, he could clearly see what was going on over there. The Eye Secret Technique was useful in such situations as not only could it help the user see through all falsities and apply pressure to enemies, but it could also enhance the user’s eyesight.
Within the darkness was indeed where the Royal City was located, and the magnificent structure there was none other than the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, which looked like a giant flower that was yet to blossom.
As the Black Ink Nest pulsed, a lot of Black Ink Strength spurted out of it and spread across the entire Royal City.
There was no doubt that the Black Ink Clansmen living in this place had the best environment to cultivate in. It was the same for the Humans who had occupied the best Cave Heavens and Paradises that suited them.
However, at this moment, the atmosphere in the Royal City was pretty intense. Yang Kai did not only see that there were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen moving around in the Royal City, but there were also a large number of Black Ink Clan soldiers who were stationed outside of the Royal City.
These Black Ink Clan soldiers were brought to the Royal City by the Territory Lords who had rushed over to this place in recent days. Presently, they had set up defensive positions as they prepared to deal with the Human Race Army.
The sight prompted Yang Kai to let out a sigh.
Although the East-West Army had gotten off to a good start, they arrived at this place too late as the Black Ink Clan had ample time to get ready. If the East-West Army had arrived at the Royal City earlier, they could have easily destroyed the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest and retaken Great Evolution Pass.
Once the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all Black Ink Nests in the Great Evolution Theatre would wither. By then, all the Black Ink Clansmen here would be like a tree without roots or a river without a source. Without Black Ink Nests, no new Black Ink Clansmen could be born; at that point, the Great Evolution Army wouldn’t even have to directly clash with the enemy, they could just slowly weaken them and eventually occupy this entire Theatre.
But now, the Black Ink Clan had rallied together around the Royal City, so it wouldn’t be possible for the East-West Army to destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
Standing beside Yang Kai, Feng Ying asked, “Is that the Royal City?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes.”
“That’s some really thick Black Ink Strength,” Qi Tai Chu sighed.
Although they had been fighting against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield for a thousand to several thousand years, it was the first time they were so close to a Royal City. It wasn’t until this moment that they realised how grand it truly was.
The progress against the Black Ink Clan in the Blue Sky Theatre was pretty swift. It was the first Theatre where the Humans had their own forward base.
However, the forward base was still far away from the Royal City. The Black Ink Clan in Blue Sky Theatre were only forced to give up a half of their territory.
This was the first time Humans had gotten so close to a Royal City, putting them practically on the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep.
The thick Black Ink Strength exuding from the Royal City astounded the Humans. The Black Ink Clouds they had encountered in the past weren’t comparable to the ones they were seeing now.
They were also awestruck by the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. Those Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests they had destroyed in the past were not comparable to the one in this place. It was like the difference between a Grandfather and his Grandson.
While they were astonished, they were also excited.
It was the first time in history that Humans had managed to come to the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep. Although it had been a bumpy journey, it was a breakthrough for the Human Race.
This breakthrough also meant that the deadlock that had been ongoing for countless years on the Black Ink Battlefield had finally been shaken.
Since they were already in this place, battle would be inevitable. Nevertheless, none of them knew how or when the war would break out.
As the leaders had told them to stay in place for the time being, it seemed that they didn’t intend to immediately launch an attack on the Royal City.
This was understandable seeing how the East-West Army had to come all the way to this place while the Black Ink Clan were fortifying their Royal City’s defenses. If the Humans launched an attack now, they would be the ones suffering a setback.
How would the leaders achieve a breakthrough in such a situation?
Yang Kai fell into his thoughts as he pondered on what he would do if he were the Army Commander of the East-West Army.
After giving it a thought, he believed that they’d better get some rest first while it would be ideal if they could lure some Black Ink Clansmen out of the Royal City.
The situation the two Races were in seemed to have turned around. Usually, it would be the Black Ink Clan attacking the Great Passes while the Humans defended themselves; however, this time round, it was the Humans attacking the Black Ink Clan while the latter was forced to defend themselves.
Nevertheless, the Royal City was not as sturdy as the Great Passes occupied by the Human Race. Strictly speaking, the Great Passes were actually enormous Mobile Palace Artifacts that were built by their forefathers, and they had been continuously refined and enhanced over the generations. These safe havens had helped the Humans ward off the Black Ink Clan countless times.
On the other hand, the Royal City was different. No Humans had ever attacked a Royal City before, so the Black Ink Clan had never thought about building defences around it.
This was the biggest difference between the Royal City and the Great Passes. It was also something that the Humans could make use of.
Certainly, there were areas where the Humans were weaker than the Black Ink Clan. Although there were 30,000 people in the East-West Army, several thousand of them were actually craftsmen who specialized in the Daos of Artifact Refining, Alchemy, and Arrays. As these specialists were excluded from direct combat, there were only 26,000 to 27,000 people who could go to war, and they had to ensure that there wouldn’t be a lot of casualties. When the Black Ink Clansmen attacked the Great Passes, they wouldn’t worry about the loss of lives; in fact, the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords had no regard for the lives of the lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen.
The Humans could never use the same tactic.
While Yang Kai was pondering on this issue, he suddenly felt an anomaly happening in a particular direction. He turned his head and saw several rays of lights charging forward in that direction.
They were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
[Where are they going?] Yang Kai was puzzled, and the members of Dawn were equally perplexed.
Half a day later, they finally got their answer.
Once again, some Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters leaped into the void and worked together to place down some artifacts.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he watched them.
Ning Qi Zhi stroked his chin as he gazed at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were pretty busy now, and asked doubtfully, “If I’m not mistaken, they’re trying to set up a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. Am I right?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes, they’re Yin-Yang Mirrors.”
Yang Kai was the one who originally created this set of Artifacts, which was then enhanced by Grandmaster Ma Fan. The Humans from different Great Passes had learned how to make them and improved upon the initial design. This new version did not require someone with the knowledge of the Dao of Space to use. With the help of this artifact, one could literally flip parts of the Void, transferring massive objects across vast distances. The Void Yin-Yang Mirrors had allowed for a much more convenient mining of resources, increasing the available resources in the Great Passes severalfold.
It could be said this new version of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors had helped all the Great Passes amass a large amount of materials.
Now that they were setting up a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors in this place, their goal was obvious.
Upon realising the reason behind it, Qi Tai Chu commented, “They’re trying to build a forward base here. It seems that they’ve decided to enter a prolonged fight with the Black Ink Clan.”
It wasn’t certain whether the Black Ink Clan had deliberately done it, but the void around the Royal City was empty. There wasn’t even a single shattered universe fragment, let alone Universe Worlds.
With that said, it was understandable. The Black Ink Nests would consume a lot of resources in order to nurture new Black Ink Clansmen. The Universe Worlds around the Royal City must have been fully extracted and then disposed of.
Besides the Royal City, it was similar for all the territories owned by Territory Lords and Feudal Lords.
Therefore, the place where the East-West Army was located was completely empty without any cover at all. Regardless of what they did or what plans they came up with, the Black Ink Clan could clearly see everything. On the other hand, there was Black Ink Strength that concealed the entire Royal City, making Humans unable to peer through the darkness.
In order to even the playing field, they had to move a Universe World to this place. With a Universe World around, they could turn it into a base of operations. Although it wouldn’t be as useful as a Great Pass, it was better than nothing.
By doing so, they could exert more pressure on the Black Ink Clan as well.
With the Humans openly building a forward base right at their doorstep, would the Black Ink Clan make a move? Certainly, the Humans hoped that the Black Ink Clan would launch an attack. Xiang Shan and the others would like nothing more than to see the Black Ink Clan leave the Royal City. If the enemy did not launch an attack now, it would be harder to deal with the Humans when the latter finished building their forward base.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that had left this place half a day ago must have been searching for a suitable Universe World.
This simple move would put the Black Ink Clan soldiers in a tight spot.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but think that the leaders of the Army were indeed like aged ginger, spicier than the young stuff. With that said, if he were the one in charge, he would have made the same decision. It was the best option.
It wasn’t that hard to arrange a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. There were two sets of Mirrors, namely the Yin Mirrors and the Yang Mirrors. Currently, there were eight Mirrors set up in different places in the void. When the artifacts were activated, the place that was locked by Yin Mirror and Yang Mirror would flip like a mirror, initiating an exchange between two places.
Shortly after, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were done setting up the artifacts. Now, all they had to do was wait.
When the Division Commanders found an appropriate Universe World, they would activate the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors.
The Black Ink Clansmen were both furious and astounded when the Human soldiers marched towards them; however, when they saw that the Humans had stopped in a place that would take half a day to reach from the Royal City, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Certainly, what the Humans had been doing couldn’t be hidden from the Territory Lords; however, they had no idea what the Humans were up to.
Before they ascertained the Humans’ intentions, they wouldn’t dare to make a rash move, nor would they be willing to do so. All the Territory Lords hoped that the Royal Lord could defeat or even kill the Human Old Ancestor. Once the most powerful Master on the Humans’ side was removed from the picture, the Humans would automatically lose the fight.
Having said that, it wasn’t likely to happen, for it wasn’t easy to deal with an Old Ancestor.
Initially, they hoped that their fellow Clansmen from Great Evolution Pass would come so that they could pincer the Humans from both sides. However, the news they heard from Great Evolution Pass enraged them.
The cunning Humans had left behind an Army just outside of Great Evolution Pass. As they clashed, the Black Ink Clansmen coming out of Great Evolution Pass were either killed or seriously injured. Left with no choice, they were forced to confront the Human Race Army there.
The Territory Lords looked intently and saw some dots of light flickering in the void. The dots of light were already dazzling the moment they appeared.
As the dots of light resonated with each other, they seemed to seal a portion of the Void within them.
The next instant, layers of ripples started spreading from the Void that was locked by the lights.
The Territory Lords outside the Royal City couldn’t help but widen their eyes and watch attentively.
At this moment, they were wary of anything that the Humans were doing.
As they looked intently, more and more ripples spread from the Void. As it happened, a phantom image started appearing.
The gigantic phantom looked like a Universe World; however, the phantom was somewhere between real and illusory, so they were unable to clearly identify it for now.
Soon though, the Territory Lords could see it with clarity. It was indeed a Universe World’s shadow. Moreover, the shadow was solidifying by the breath, as though it was turning physical.
One of the Territory Lords even recognised this Universe World, which would take a person about a day to arrive at from the Royal City.
It was purely a coincidence. When this Territory Lord came to the Royal Lord to attend to some matters more than 10 years ago, he happened to take a rest on that Universe World. He had observed the Universe World’s terrain, so he could still remember it; therefore, even though it was just its shadow, he could instantly recognise it.
The discovery shocked the Territory Lords.
They initially thought that it was just a phantom image, but now it seemed that the Humans were using some kind of special technique to move a Universe World over.
[What are the Humans trying to achieve?]
While they were both shocked and doubtful, the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors started to flip the Void. The Universe World that would take a person a day to reach from the Royal City now appeared in the void as it hovered in silence. Nevertheless, this Universe World was desolate and void of any vitality.
All of the Universe Worlds on the Black Ink Battlefield looked just like this. Their World Forces had been sucked dry by the Black Ink Clan, and without World Force, those Universe Worlds would wither and die.
After the Universe World stabilised, a Purifying Black Ink Battleship flew towards the Universe World under the protection of several Battalion Class Warships.
Following that, a large number of cultivators that came in groups of different sizes stepped out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and Battalion Class Warships and began dispersing around the Universe World.
The Universe World that was moved to this place by the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters using the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors looked like a gigantic sphere. Although it was quite massive, it wasn’t hard for Open Heaven Realm Masters to move around it.
A Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could circumnavigate the Universe World in half a cup of tea’s time.
The cultivators that had left the warships were all Array Masters and Artifact Refiners, 2,000 in total. They soon scattered around the Universe World as they examined the terrain and looked for suitable spots.
Yang Kai and the others could clearly see what they were doing, so at this point, the leaders’ intention was obvious to them.
The Universe World that had been moved to this place would be turned into a forward base, just like the forward base in the Blue Sky Theatre.
They had been part of establishing the forward base in the Blue Sky Theatre and suppressing the Black Ink Clan over the years, and by now it was a robust fortress. Furthermore, the forward base was connected to Blue Sky Pass through a series of Universe Arrays. Regardless of what the Black Ink Clan did, they couldn’t remove the forward base anymore.
After all, the Territory Lords from the Blue Sky Theatre had suffered immense losses after the war back then and it wasn’t certain how long it would take them to recover.
Before they could nurture enough Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t pose a threat to the forward base in the Blue Sky Theatre.
Now, the Eighth-Order Masters who were the leaders of the East-West Army had spent some effort moving a Universe World to this place and were planning to turn it into a forward base, which would serve the same purpose as the forward base in the Blue Sky Theatre.
However, the East-West Army’s current location was far more provocative. It was expected that the Black Ink Clan would be furious once they figured out what was happening.
The forward base in the Blue Sky Theatre was still far away from the Royal City; however, the East-West Army was camped out right at the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep.
It was a real question whether the Black Ink Clansmen could tolerate it.
While the Artifact Refiners and the Array Masters were busy building the new forward base, the leaders of the Army told all the soldiers to be prepared for any potential attacks from the enemies.
The leaders were apparently wary of what the Black Ink Clan might do.
Regardless of whether the Black Ink Clan would launch an attack or not, the Humans would be in an advantageous position. If the enemy didn’t make a move, the Humans would be able to complete their forward base. However, if the enemy rashly attacked, the East-West Army wouldn’t be afraid to confront them out in the void. The Human Race had come all the way here to fight against the Black Ink Clan; thus, they needed to kill their opponents and complete military objectives to make their sacrifices worthwhile.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan had no idea how to deal with such a situation.
A commotion broke out among the Territory Lords the moment they realised the Humans’ intentions.
Presently, there were 30 or so Territory Lords that had gathered together outside the Royal City. The number was slightly higher than the number of Territory Lords in Great Evolution Pass.
Initially, there were close to 90 Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre, which was higher than average for any given Theatre.
That was because it had been peaceful in the Great Evolution Theatre for the past 30,000 years. The Black Ink Clan had ample time to cultivate in peace, so they naturally had more Territory Lords.
From time to time, these Territory Lords would bring their Armies to lend a hand to their fellow clansmen at Wind and Cloud Pass or Azure Void Pass. Although they would always be defeated, most Territory Lords could come back alive, at the very least. Mostly it would be the High and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen they had brought to the battlefield that lost their lives.
Therefore, there had always been some 90 or so Territory Lords in Great Evolution Theatre over the years. The number might vary from time to time, but there wouldn’t be a drastic change.
However, the Humans had deployed soldiers from Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass this time. They were so ferocious that the Black Ink Clansmen in the Azure Void Theatre and the Wind and Cloud Theatre were soon defeated. Even the reinforcements sent from Great Evolution Theatre had lost their lives.
In the battle against the Black Ink Clan outside of Wind and Cloud Pass, the East-West Army managed to kill close to 300,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers and 11 Territory Lords. Those were all Territory Lords from the Great Evolution Theatre.
The same thing happened outside Azure Void Pass. All of the reinforcements who had been fighting there from Great Evolution Theatre were defeated.
As a result, some 20 Territory Lords from Great Evolution Theatre had lost their lives. It could be said that they had suffered tremendous losses.
Hence, there were a total of only about 70 Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre right now, and they were divided into two groups. One of the groups was in Great Evolution Pass while the other was in the Royal City. The numbers were basically equally divided.
The Humans’ intentions were obvious, so the Territory Lords could naturally see it.
At that moment, more than 30 Territory Lords were locked in an argument, with two opposing points of view.
One of the groups thought that the Human soldiers must be exhausted from the long journey, so now was the time to attack. At the very least, they wouldn’t allow the Humans to provoke them by building a forward base just outside the Royal City. These aggressive Territory Lords were the majority.
This couldn’t be helped, as the Great Evolution Theatre had been completely ruled over by the Black Ink Clan for the past 30,000 years. Over the years, they had always regarded the entire Theatre as their territory. Certainly, they couldn’t put up with these Humans who came out of nowhere and made a scene in their home.
Compared to these aggressive Territory Lords, the other group was more conservative.
Through the Black Ink Nests, they had learned about the outcome of the war at Great Evolution Pass. After that war, 6 Territory Lords, over 20 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, and 300,000 soldiers had lost their lives. The number of casualties was terrifying.
In the Great Evolution Theatre, the Black Ink Clan had never suffered such immense losses over the past 30,000 years.
And all this was also when they were facing far fewer Human soldiers.
From what they had gathered, only 30,000 Humans had fought in that battle in total. Although they had a lot of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and their Warships certainly played a big role, the outcome showed that the Humans were truly powerful.
30,000 Humans could already kill so many Black Ink Clansmen outside of Great Evolution Pass, so the same number of Humans outside the Royal City wouldn’t be weak either.
If they got into a fight, the Humans would definitely suffer, but the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be in a better state; they might even come out worse than before. Whatever the outcome, it was inevitable for some of the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples to lose their lives if they fought.
Since the stronger Black Ink Clansmen all innately feared death, they were worried that they would be the ones getting killed.
The conservative Territory Lords knew that by not making a move now, it was like giving the Humans a chance to sharpen their blades, and once those blades were sharp enough, it would pose a huge threat to the Black Ink Clan.
With that said, they had their own considerations.
The battle between the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor hadn’t ended.
Everything would be fine if the Royal Lord won the battle; however, if the Royal Lord was defeated, and they didn’t manage to defeat the enemy at their doorstep, the Royal City would be destroyed.
Therefore, they wanted to play it safe for now so that they would remain a threat to the Humans.
Furthermore, it had been some time since the Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor first clashed, so they figured it would not be long before the battle came to an end. Perhaps the Royal Lord would return to the Royal City soon, and when that happened, he would decide whether they should launch an attack or hold their lines. Hence, they wouldn’t have to worry about anything else, nor would it be a waste of time by not making a move.
As they couldn’t see eye to eye, the Territory Lords continued to argue. None of them could convince the other side.
As a result, they were not able to launch an attack on the Humans and could only watch as the enemy made their arrangements on the newly moved Universe World.
Certainly, the aggressive Territory Lords were infuriated, thinking that they had missed an opportunity; however, without the cooperation from the conservative Territory Lords, they wouldn’t be able to launch an attack on the Humans.
On a barren mountain in the Universe World, Xiang Shan looked into the void with his hands behind his back. His gaze seemed able to ignore the restraint of distance and clearly see what the Black Ink Clansmen were doing in the Royal City.
“What a shame,” Xiang Shan said impassively.
Liu Zhi Ping, who was standing beside him, turned to look at him, “Senior Brother Xiang, do you think the Black Ink Clan won’t attack us?”
Xiang Shan replied, “A long time has passed already. They would have attacked us already if they wanted to. Since they don’t seem to have the intention of launching an attack, they won’t be coming anytime soon. It seems that none of the Territory Lords is authoritative enough to make a decision.”
Liu Zhi Ping replied with a smile, “The Royal Lord is the most powerful being among the Black Ink Clan. The Territory Lords working for the Royal Lord have their own territories and subordinates, so while they wouldn’t dare to disobey the Royal Lord, they are all on equal footing amongst themselves. It’s unlike the strict military structure we have.”
Xiang Shan nodded gently.
Liu Zhi Ping went on to say, “Regardless, we can seize the chance to get some rest and establish the forward base. Once we gain a foothold here and recover, we can come up with a way to lure the enemies out of the Royal City.”
“You have a point, Junior Sister. I share the same sentiment.”
All of a sudden, Liu Zhi Ping turned to look at him with a pair of bright eyes, “Do you already have a solution?”
Instead of replying to her question, Xiang Shan asked, “Why do you think so?”
Shaking her head, Liu Zhi Ping replied, “I just feel that you’re quite confident. It’s apparent that you’ve given it some consideration; otherwise, you wouldn’t have told some people to look for a suitable Universe World not long after we arrived at this place. Since you already expected the current situation, you certainly have a follow-up plan.”
Xiang Shan put on a smile, “I do have an idea that I want to discuss with you.”
Liu Zhi Ping felt somewhat dejected. In fact, she was an intelligent person; however, after leading the East-West Army alongside Xiang Shan all this time, she realised that she was nowhere as quick-witted as the latter.
When it came to military affairs, while she could see one step in front of her, Xiang Shan could already see three to four steps ahead.
Prior to working with Xiang Shan, who was from Blue Sky Pass, she had already heard a lot about him. It wasn’t until she started working with him that she realised the man was truly gifted when it came to military affairs. He was born with this gift, and no one else could imitate him.
There were a total of 2,000 Arrays Masters and Artifact Refiners who were working together, all of them above the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Before this, the soldiers from the East-West Army had no idea how efficient it would be when so many Array Masters and Artifact Refiners worked together, but now they could witness it.
Right after the Universe World was moved to this place, the Array Masters and the Artifact Refiners started collaborating. It took them two days to fully survey the Universe World’s terrain; after that, more than 10 leaders gathered together and came up with a plan.
Three days later, a Grand Array framework was established on this huge Universe World.
Although three days had passed, the Black Ink Clan still remained silent. It was basically confirmed that the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t launch an attack. If they had the intention of attacking the Humans, they wouldn’t have waited for three days, they would have taken action before the Humans could organize themselves.
The Array Masters and the Artifact Refiners, who were initially in a hurry, became at ease now.
Since the framework had been completed, they just had to fill it with different arrays. They also had to continuously modify the connection and coordination between the arrays.
This framework was the result of the planning of all the Array Masters in the East-West Army, and with the help of the Artifact Refiners, the Array Masters could quickly get any artifacts they needed. There was basically no wasted time.
Although a lot of resources had been consumed, no one would worry about that given the circumstances.
Resources and manpower were naturally of utmost importance in a war.
Back then, in order to attract the Black Ink Clan’s attention, Xiang Shan told the Artifact Refiners to craft several tens of thousands of puppets and send them to Great Evolution Pass. Now, he didn’t mind consuming some resources to build this forward base.
As long as they could occupy the Great Evolution Theatre, they would be able to extract as many materials as they pleased in this expansive void. By then, they wouldn’t have to worry about a lack of resources. They would be rewarded handsomely in the future for their hard work today.
Five days had passed in the blink of an eye.
Over 10,000 individual arrays had been arranged on this Universe World, and with their activation, this Universe World, which was initially just an ordinary rock, now exuded a dangerous aura.
They had made such an achievement in just a few days, so it was imaginable that if these Array Masters were given enough time, they would be able to turn this Universe World into a robust fortress.
All this time, the Black Ink Clan still didn’t take any action.
Xiang Shan and the others had already expected it, so they were not surprised.
Violent energy fluctuations could still be felt coming from the depths of the void. Although they were far away from that place, everyone could still detect the dangerous aura that came from this fallout.
Those were the repercussions of the clash between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord.
It had been half a month since their fight began, but the battle still hadn’t ended, and no one knew when it would end.
Finally, there came a moment when the continuous shockwaves abruptly stopped and no more energy fluctuations were felt coming from that place.
At that instant, both the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t help but look in the direction where the fluctuations were previously emanating from, their hearts all seemingly stuck in their throats.
The battle between the two top Masters had ended!
Who was the winner?
Was one of them killed?
The outcome of the battle would affect the fate of these soldiers of the two Races greatly.
As they stared intently, a dazzling light was seen approaching them at full speed from the depths of the void. The moment they spotted this ray of light, it was still far away, but in the blink of an eye, it had moved across millions of kilometres and by the time they blinked, it had become much closer.
While the Humans were excited, the Black Ink Clansmen were horrified.
This couldn’t be helped, as a light of such brightness could only belong to the Old Ancestor. The Royal Lord could never emit such brilliance.
Just like what they had expected, as the light approached, the aura of an Open Heaven Realm Master that could overturn the universe spread out imposingly. There was no doubt that it was the Old Ancestor.
The Black Ink Clansmen instantly went on full alert.
They had no idea what was going on with the Royal Lord, but the Human Old Ancestor had returned while the former was still nowhere in sight. It was apparent that he was in a terrible state.
If the Old Ancestor decided to make a move on them, they wouldn’t be able to counterattack without the Royal Lord around.
In an instant, all the Black Ink Clansmen inside and outside of the Royal City were panicking.
However, they were pleasantly surprised to see that the Old Ancestor didn’t have the intention of attacking them. Instead, she dashed towards the Humans’ side and soon disappeared into the Universe World.
The Territory Lords’ eyes brightened when they saw that.
There was no doubt that the Old Ancestor was badly injured; otherwise, she wouldn’t have ignored them.
In that case, the situation wasn’t as terrible as they thought. Since the Old Ancestor was no longer able to make a move against them, what about the Royal Lord?
While they were lost in their thoughts, from the direction where the Old Ancestor appeared from, a cloud of darkness stealthily approached.
Compared to the grandiose display the Old Ancestor made earlier, the Royal Lord’s appearance was somewhat furtive.
These clever Territory Lords instantly figured out that the Royal Lord must be terribly injured as well, just like the Human Old Ancestor; otherwise, he wouldn’t be acting so cautiously.
When the Royal Lord was close enough, the Territory Lords could feel that his aura was indeed unstable. It was obvious that he was heavily wounded.
They hurriedly went over to protect the Royal Lord.
At the same time, they reported to him what the Human soldiers had been doing and asked him to make a decision on what they should do.
While they were at it, the Territory Lords of different stances argued and accused one another, trying to shift the blame for whatever was to come.
The Royal Lord was already furious to begin with, and seeing his Territory Lords endlessly pestering him, his fury erupted like a volcano. As he released his pressure, the Territory Lords instantly shut their mouths.
As he swept a dispassionate glance over them, he couldn’t help but have the urge to kill them all to vent his rage.
He had suffered a huge setback because of the Old Ancestor.
Since he became a Royal Lord, he had only dealt with an Old Ancestor once; therefore, even though he was powerful, he was unable to fully utilise his strength when exchanging moves with a Human of the same calibre.
Moreover, this Old Ancestor was like a rabid dog when fighting him, not caring one bit about defending herself as long as she could bite off a piece of his flesh. As a result, he had been badly suppressed during the entire fight.
There were even several times when he almost lost his life and presently, one of the black wings on his back had turned limp.
That wing had nearly been torn off his back by the Old Ancestor.
A chill ran down his spine as he recalled that moment.
[That bitch is insane!]
Although he had only dealt with a Ninth-Order Master once prior to this battle, and it happened over 30,000 years ago, he knew that the fights between Royal Lords and Old Ancestors almost never resulted in death for either side. No one would really be aiming to kill the other party.
Given how strong they were, no one could intervene in their battles, and no one could guarantee that they would be the last one standing. Each strike might also be fatal; thus, they would act cautiously.
However, this female Old Ancestor was different. She seemed determined to kill him the moment they clashed.
Fortunately, he wasn’t unprepared.
He had speculated that the Humans intended to retake Great Evolution Pass, and upon learning that the Old Ancestor that was in charge came from Yin-Yang Pass, he contacted the Royal Lord from the Yin-Yang Theatre through his Black Ink Nest.
Although he had never exchanged moves with the Old Ancestor who was in charge of the invading Human Army, the Royal Lord from Yin-Yang Theatre was her arch nemesis.
After the conversation, he learned a lot of useful experiences from the Royal Lord from the Yin-Yang Theatre and had at least some understanding of the methods this Old Ancestor could use.
It was thanks to this information that he was able to deal with the Old Ancestor’s violent attacks and preserve his own life.
Despite that, he was still badly battered after the fight.
Having said that, that crazy woman wasn’t in a better state either. It could be said that they were mutually wounded after the battle. He had suffered a setback, but it was negligible in the long run as the other party was in a similar state.
He was already furious to begin with, so upon returning to the Royal City and being bombarded with his subordinate Territory Lords’ arguments, it was only natural he flew into a rage.
The Human soldiers were already at their doorstep, so the Territory Lords should have launched an attack before they established a foothold, but instead, they gave the Humans ample time to rest and even build a forward base.
[Wastes!]
Although he was infuriated, he knew what the Territory Lords were worried about; moreover, it was pointless to blame it on them at this point.
Since they had missed the best chance, it was unwise to launch an attack on the Humans now.
He endured the pain and asked, “Where are the reinforcements from Great Evolution Pass?”
Before he left Great Evolution Pass, he had ordered them to send troops to the Royal City and reckoned that they should have arrived by now.
The Territory Lords gloomily exchanged glances before one of them with a distinctive hunched back, making him look like an old turtle with a hard shell, reported, “Sir, the reinforcements were intercepted by the Humans on their way here. Many were injured or killed, so they had no choice but to withdraw back to Pass.”
The Royal Lord’s brow twitched when he heard that.
[It seems that nothing is going to go well for me.]
When he was still in Great Evolution Pass earlier, he heard from Hong Di that there were some Human soldiers who were hiding outside Great Evolution Pass. Nevertheless, they were unable to find out their whereabouts.
Now, it seemed that the Human soldiers had ruined their plans. With their presence outside Great Evolution Pass, it was impossible for the Black Ink Clansmen there to lend a hand.
In other words, the Royal City was in a state of isolation.
Fortunately, the Humans were divided as well. It wasn’t the worst-case scenario yet for the Black Ink Clan.
The Territory Lord, who looked like an old turtle, said cautiously, “Royal Lord, please make a decision on whether we should launch an attack or focus on defending the Royal City.”
The Territory Lords couldn’t reach an agreement despite all their fierce arguments. Since the Royal Lord had returned, he would be the one making the decision.
After giving it a thought, the Royal Lord said, “Defend the Royal City at all costs. As long as the Humans don’t attack us, all of you shouldn’t make a move.”
He then turned to look at the Territory Lord who looked like a turtle and declared, “Che Kong, you will be given command of this war. While I am recuperating, you will lead the other Territory Lords to defend the Royal City.”
The Territory Lord named Che Kong slightly bent his back, “Yes, Sir.”
The Royal Lord didn’t bother to warn the other Territory Lords that they would be punished for not obeying Che Kong. Without the Royal Lord’s order, these Territory Lords were all on an equal footing, which left them disunited. However, since the Royal Lord had given the order, they certainly had to obey.
Furthermore, Che Kong, who looked like an old turtle, was among the strongest Territory Lords when it came to his strength and aptitude.
He was a Territory Lord who took part in the assault on the Old Ancestor from Great Evolution Pass and survived 30,000 years ago.
He didn’t just take part in a war that was intended to occupy Great Evolution Pass, he had directly exchanged moves with the Old Ancestor from Great Evolution Pass.
Although he had only traded three moves with that Old Ancestor, the price he had to pay was 800 years of hibernation. The terrifying-looking cut on the tortoise shell on his back still hadn’t healed until now.
That was a wound caused by the Old Ancestor from Great Evolution Pass.
As a Territory Lord, he was a cut above the others in the same realm because he had survived a fight with a Human Old Ancestor; therefore, the other Territory Lords had no objection when the Royal Lord appointed Che Kong to be the Commander.
Che Kong was one of those conservative Territory Lords, and it was largely because of his prestige that the aggressive Territory Lords, who were in the majority, were unable to launch an attack on the Humans.
After the Royal Lord issued his orders, he returned to his Black Ink Nest in the Royal City to recover. Soon, a massive amount of resources were sent to the Black Ink Nest and thrown into the Black Ink Pool to produce Black Ink Strength.
The Royal Lord’s thinking was simple.
Since they had missed the best chance to launch an attack, it was useless to do so at this point. From the looks of it, the Humans didn’t have the intention of invading the Royal City immediately; hence, it would be peaceful for both sides for a period of time despite the inevitable confrontation.
He could seize this chance and recuperate.
Although he had suffered a setback during the battle, he could recover much quicker than the Old Ancestor as he had his Black Ink Nest to support him.
He had learned a piece of important information from the Royal Lord from the Yin-Yang Theatre. The Old Ancestor who had come to this place this time practised a strange cultivation technique that was also rather unique among the Humans. It was because of its uniqueness that it would be difficult for her to recover once she was wounded. She needed the help of something called Bustling World Essence to heal her injuries.
In Yin-Yang Pass, the Old Ancestor had a set-up to help her recuperate, but she didn’t have such convenience in the Great Evolution Theatre.
In other words, as time dragged on, he would recover much quicker than the Old Ancestor. When he fully recovered, it would be easy for him to kill her.
By then, he would make her pay the price for wounding him.
A high-spirited Royal Lord fell into a state of deep sleep as he was engulfed in ample Black Ink Strength.
…
On the deck of Dawning Light, Yang Kai looked in the forward base’s direction.
Certainly, he could clearly see that the Old Ancestor had returned. As he had come into close contact with the Old Ancestor before, he could sense that something was off despite her grandiose return.
[It seems that she is badly injured…]
Just like he had expected, the reason the Old Ancestor requested he join this campaign was that she wanted to make use of his Small Universe to recuperate. Therefore, once the Old Ancestor clashed with the Royal Lord, she would go all out despite knowing that she would be injured. As such, the battle between them wouldn’t last for a long time.
Since the Old Ancestor had returned, Yang Kai supposed that his help would be needed.
At the thought of this, he told Feng Ying to see him, then said, “When I’m not around, all of you have to stay safe should there be a battle.”
Feng Ying asked curiously, “Do you have a new task?”
Yang Kai replied, “Maybe…”
The moment he finished speaking, a ray of light shot up from the forward base and dashed towards them. Upon arrival, the person revealed himself and cupped his fist, “The Army Commander would like to see you, Senior Brother Yang.”
“Understood,” Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll be going now.”
He then followed the person and flew towards the Universe World.
However, they didn’t land on the side that was facing the Royal City. Instead, they circled around the Universe World and came to its other side. It was then the person started descending.
Soon, they arrived at the periphery of a mountain valley, where Yang Kai’s guide said, “Just keep going forward, Senior Brother. The Army Commander is waiting for you over there.”
Yang Kai thanked him and stepped forward.
A while later, he arrived at the entrance of the valley.
Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping were waiting for him.
Yang Kai saluted them and looked into the valley; however, at this moment, it was covered in clouds. The inside of the valley gave off a dangerous feeling. Apparently, it was shrouded in a Grand Array.
“How is the Old Ancestor now?” Yang Kai asked.
Xiang Shan replied, “Go in and see for yourself.”
As Xiang Shan spoke, he tossed something to Yang Kai, “This token can be used to control the Grand Array in this valley. Don’t lose it.”
“Yes,” Yang Kai replied, then activated his power to refine the token.
A moment later, he lifted the token and waved it at the Grand Array in the valley. A beam of light shot into the valley, and as the clouds weltered, a portal that led inside was revealed.
Yang Kai stepped into the portal, which slowly shut behind him.
From the outside, the valley seemed to be filled with clouds; however, the moment Yang Kai stepped inside, he realised that there were no clouds at all. It was just a normal valley.
Due to the fact that the entire Universe World was desolate, this valley was pretty barren as well.
As Yang Kai turned around, he could see Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping standing outside the valley; nevertheless, he reckoned that they couldn’t see him.
Yang Kai felt the Old Ancestor’s aura coming from the centre of the valley, but unlike how imposing it had been when she returned, it was now weak.
He traced the aura and soon saw a petite figure who had curled up on a pile of stones.
The Old Ancestor had turned into a young child, and she looked even younger than the first time Yang Kai met her.
When Yang Kai came across the Old Ancestor in the shopping district of Yin-Yang Pass for the first time, she looked like a kid who was seven or eight years old, but now, she looked like she was just three or four.
Yang Kai felt his face eyes twitching. It was a rare thing to find an Old Ancestor who looked like this.
The colour had drained from her delicate face, and her clothes were soaked in blood. There was also a jade bracelet on her wrist that was full of cracks.
Yang Kai had no idea what kind of artifact the jade bracelet was, but it was obviously not ordinary as it was worn by someone like the Old Ancestor. Presently, the artifact was full of cracks, and most of its spirituality had been lost. It went to show that the previous battle was truly perilous.
[The Old Ancestor must have over-exerted herself…]
Yang Kai secretly sighed. Without alerting her, he activated his power and released his World Force. The illusory phantom of his Small Universe spread across the valley with his figure as the centre.
If a person looked intently, they could see that the illusory phantom of the Small Universe was full of living creatures and complicated terrains. Countless people were seen moving around all over the place.
This was a miniature version of a World.
The entire Small Universe was soon spread across the mountain valley.
Considering the fact that the Old Ancestor was sound asleep, Yang Kai settled her down on a beautiful Spirit Peak after he was done manifesting his Small Universe.
The Spirit Peak wasn’t majestic by any means, but it had ample World Energy, making it a perfect place for quiet recuperation.
As a thought flashed through Yang Kai’s mind, a log house appeared where the Old Ancestor was asleep. It wasn’t anything special, but it was good enough to protect her from the wind and rain.
After he was done with all that, Yang Kai found a place on the Spirit Peak and meditated in silence.
He had no idea how long it would take the Old Ancestor to recover, but it definitely wouldn’t be a short time; therefore, he could seize the chance and cultivate.
Time slowly went by in the Small Universe, but the Old Ancestor didn’t seem to be waking up anytime soon. With that said, as the owner of this Small Universe, Yang Kai could feel that a mysterious force was streaming into the Old Ancestor’s petite figure from all directions.
It was the Bustling World Essence.
Initially, he was worried that by placing the Old Ancestor on such a barren peak, she might not be able to absorb much Bustling World Essence, but now it seemed that wherever she was in his Small Universe, it didn’t really matter.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai realised that it wasn’t so surprising. The so-called Bustling World Essence was produced from the daily lives of all living creatures; therefore, his entire Small Universe must be filled with it.
Despite the fact that they were in a remote place, there was still Bustling World Essence in the air.
Of course, the Bustling World Essence would be more ample if they were in a busy city.
Initially, Yang Kai thought that his days would remain dull and uneventful until the Old Ancestor regained consciousness; however, one month later, he opened his eyes and looked towards the bottom of the mountain.
There was a village at the bottom of this Spirit Peak where a dozen or so families had settled, making a living by hunting and felling trees. Hunters would go out to look for prey near the Spirit Peak, but Yang Kai would normally just ignore them.
He didn’t intend to interfere in the affairs of his Small Universe. Although he was the ruler of this World, any rash interference might bring about detrimental outcomes as the World had its own way of operating.
Most of the hunters would only do some hunting below the middle of the mountain, and there was a lot of prey around, so they didn’t have to worry about bringing food to the table.
However, there was one hunter who seemed to be unlucky this time as he hadn’t found anything to catch. Therefore, he decided to go further up the mountain.
Yang Kai observed the route the hunter took and realised that if he did nothing, the person would soon arrive at the log house where the Old Ancestor was recuperating.
When that happened, the hunter would definitely investigate.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t allow anyone to disturb the Old Ancestor, but just when he was ready to do something to conceal the log house, the unconscious Old Ancestor suddenly sent him a message.
The message was so vague and garbled that he couldn’t even figure out its meaning. Apparently, the Old Ancestor was not clear-headed when she sent the message and simply did so out of instinct.
With a frown, Yang Kai hesitated for a bit before deciding to take a wait-and-see approach.
Half a day later, the hunter, who hadn’t found any prey, was both exhausted and hungry. He scooped up some water from a spring with his hands to quench his thirst, but while he was drinking it, he became startled all of a sudden.
That was because he could see a simple-looking log house in front of him.
He didn’t remember there being a log house on the mountain. Although this place was far away from his usual hunting area, he had been here before, and he was certain he had never seen this log house in the past.
Out of curiosity, he shuffled towards the log house and shouted, “Is anyone inside?”
No one responded to him after he shouted several times. Left with no choice, he apologised and pushed the door open before stepping inside.
Yang Kai had built the log house in a hurry to put a roof over the Old Ancestor’s head, so there was nothing inside other than a bed, which the Old Ancestor’s petite figure was currently curled up on.
The instant the hunter entered the house, he saw the figure on the bed and was both doubtful and wary.
Although he was an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before, cultivation wasn’t a secret on the Void Continent and the hunter knew that the youngsters in the neighbouring village had always wanted to join a nearby Sect.
The hunter also had such a dream when he was younger. 1,000 kilometres away from the village, there was a Sect named Water Moon Pavilion that would recruit new disciples every few years.
When the hunter was younger, he travelled all the way to Water Moon Pavilion with that dream in mind and participated in the Disciple Recruitment in the hope that he could join the Sect and become a mighty expert who could fly through the sky one day. Unfortunately, his aptitude was poor, so the senior experts were not interested in taking him in as a disciple. He was swiftly eliminated from the Disciple Recruitment.
After his dream was crushed, the hunter wandered around the continent for several years and eventually, he returned to his hometown and built a family of his own.
Compared to the other hunters in the village, he was more experienced as he knew that other than cultivators, there were also some special beings in this world.
Spirits!
It was said that when some Spirits had cultivated long enough, they could assume Human forms. Ordinary people couldn’t tell the difference, but apparently there was a class of Evil Spirits known as Vixens. Rumour had it that Vixens loved turning into beautiful young ladies to seduce energetic young men.
Therefore, the moment the hunter saw that there was a strange-looking log house with a young girl inside, the first thought that flashed through his mind was that he might have run into a Spirit.
He felt a crawling sensation on his scalp as it was said that there were good and bad Spirits; however, he couldn’t differentiate the good Spirits from the bad ones.
Upon closer look though, he realised that the petite figure on the bed was quite pitiful-looking. Even if she was really a Spirit, she was a frail one.
Why would he be afraid of her when he was a fully grown man?
With that thought in mind, he stopped feeling anxious.
He initially wanted to leave the house in silence; after all, he wasn’t sure if the petite figure was a Spirit, but just when he was preparing to step out of the log house, he froze for a moment.
That was because he could hear that there was something off about the petite figure’s breathing.
As an experienced hunter, he understood the prey on the mountain fully well. When animals were wounded and dying, they would breathe just like the young girl, intermittently and weakly.
There was a tinge of hesitation on the hunter’s face.
A moment later, he grit his teeth and shuffled towards the bed.
[What if she’s an ordinary child and not a Spirit? If no one takes care of her, she’ll soon be eaten by the beasts.]
As he looked down, he realised that the child on the bed was only three or four years old. Although she was sound asleep, there was a hint of discomfort on her face, as though she was having a nightmare. Moreover, her face was unusually pale.
He placed his palm on her forehead and discovered that it was scorching.
[She’s sick!]
Without hesitation, the hunter picked up the little girl and dashed out of the house. He had to return to his home as soon as possible.
Regardless of where this little girl came from or why she was alone in the log house, she would soon lose her life if she was not treated.
The hunter’s thoughts were simple. He had to go down the mountain and look for a doctor. The idea of dealing with her parents if they ever looked for her never crossed his mind. When that happened, he would just give the child back to them and explain what had happened.
After the hunter left in a hurry, Yang Kai, who had been observing them in silence, revealed himself. As he watched the hunter leave, he stroked his chin and fell into his thoughts.
[The Old Ancestor was abducted… What should I do?]
He could have concealed the log house’s existence; that way, an ordinary mortal who had never cultivated before would never have discovered the Old Ancestor’s whereabouts. However, at the most critical moment, the Old Ancestor sent him a message.
He was unable to figure out the Old Ancestor’s intentions; the message was vague and garbled, so he was unable to ascertain what it meant. It also didn’t look like the Old Ancestor had intentionally done it; instead, it was like she acted out of instinct while still asleep.
Although the Old Ancestor’s message wasn’t clear, it was apparent she wanted to stop him from concealing the log house by sending it to him at that moment.
Therefore, Yang Kai decided to let nature take its course.
Then, the Old Ancestor was taken away. Since she didn’t send Yang Kai any further messages, it seemed that he had made the right choice.
With that said, he couldn’t just ignore her; hence, he concealed his figure and tailed the hunter.
It took the hunter half a day to go up the mountain, but it only took him two hours to go down. The exhausted and starving hunter tripped over and became covered in dust, but he protected the little girl well.
After returning to the small village, he kicked the door of his house open and shouted, “Dear, something has happened!”
Upon hearing his voice, a stout woman came out of the kitchen. An apron was wrapped around her waist, and there was a huge rolling pin in her hand. It seemed that she was preparing dinner.
As the sky was turning dark, most people would supposedly have their dinner soon.
The stout woman was in stark contrast with the lean hunter. As they stood side by side, the stout woman was two times larger than her Husband.
Villagers were usually straightforward people, so the moment she heard what her Husband said, she roared, “What’s wrong? Did that guy snatch your prey again? Don’t worry, I’ll beat him up for you!”
“No, no, no!” The hunter repeatedly shook his head, “I picked up this little thing.”
Saying so, he dashed into the house.
The moment he brushed past the stout woman, she caught a glimpse of what was in his arms. At that instant, she was rooted to the spot.
After her Husband entered the house, she exclaimed and followed him in a hurry.
A moment later, the Old Ancestor was lying on a simple-looking bed in silence. There were some animal pelts on her figure and beside the bed, the hunter and the stout woman stared fixedly at her with widened eyes. As the stout woman gazed at the petite and frail child on the bed, the ferocity on her face vanished.
“Where did you pick her up?” The stout woman poked her Husband with her elbow, accidentally exerting too much force with her arm and almost causing him to fall over.
“On the mountain!” The hunter briefly explained to her what had happened on this day.
The stout woman’s expression changed slightly, “Why would there be such a thing on the mountain? Could she be a Spirit?”
They had been a married couple for quite some time, so sometimes, before they fell asleep at night, the hunter would tell her stories, including ones about Spirits.
“I don’t think so.” The hunter lifted the pieces of animal skin, “Look, she doesn’t have a tail.”
He then brushed back the little girl’s hair, “There are no strange-looking ears either. I don’t think she’s a Spirit.”
The stout woman nodded in agreement. Since the little girl didn’t have a tail or some strange-looking horns or ears, she shouldn’t be a Spirit.
The hunter then said, “The clothes she’s wearing suggest that she’s from a wealthy family; moreover, she has been unconscious since I discovered her. I guess that she suffers from some kind of incurable disease, so her family members dumped her on the mountain.”
Tears started streaming out of the stout woman’s eyes, “She’s such a pitiful little thing… How could her parents have the heart to abandon this beautiful baby?”
“Dear, please get Doctor Cai to come over now and examine this child. It’s a life, after all. Since we’ve found her, we can’t possibly watch her die without doing anything.”
“You’re right,” the stout woman wiped her tears away as she put down the rolling pin and took off her apron. Then, she turned around and left the house.
There wasn’t a doctor in the village, but there was a doctor surnamed Cai in a village that was about 20 kilometres away. Although he wasn’t really an expert in medicine, he was already the best doctor in this area.
The sky had turned completely dark when the stout woman stepped out of the house, and since the two villages were so far apart, Doctor Cai certainly wasn’t willing to go over.
However, the stout woman never gave him a chance to resist. She picked up the thin doctor with one hand and dashed across the 20-kilometre gap to return home. It only took her an hour to go back and forth between the villages.
After the doctor was ‘invited’ into their house, the couple repeatedly apologised to him in order to appease him so that he could examine the little girl.
The couple anxiously watched them on the side.
After Doctor Cai was done feeling her pulse, the stout woman asked nervously, “What sickness does she have, Doctor Cai?”
Although Doctor Cai wasn’t an expert in medicine, he had gained some experience and had sharp eyesight after practising medicine for years, so he replied doubtfully, “She doesn’t seem to be sick.”
The stout woman rolled her eyes, “What are you talking about, Doctor? Look how pale her face is! How could you tell me she’s not sick?”
Doctor Cai waved his hand, “I’ve felt her pulse and checked her breathing, so I don’t think she’s sick. In fact, she’s not just healthy; she’s more vigorous than most kids. However, it’s apparent that there’s something wrong with her. This Old Master has no idea what’s going on.”
He sighed, “Perhaps I’m just not skilful enough. I’m sorry that I’m unable to treat her.”
Upon finishing his words, he got up and ready to leave.
The stout woman got in his way and put on a fawning smile, “Doctor Cai, you’re the only doctor around this area. If you don’t treat her, she’ll die!”
A helpless Doctor Cai replied, “How do I treat her when I don’t even know what’s wrong with her?”
The stout woman insisted, saying, “Regardless, just do whatever you can to help her. I’m sure the medicine you prescribe will be useful.”
The hunter nodded repeatedly on the side.
Doctor Cai shook his head, “Medicine is not food. How can I prescribe medicine for her when I don’t even know why she’s sick? If she consumes the wrong medicine, she’ll fall ill even though she’s healthy now.”
The stout woman begged him to treat the little girl, but Doctor Cai firmly turned her down.
With her patience running out, the stout woman picked up the rolling pin from the side and demanded, “Doctor Cai, I’ve never received any formal education, so I might be a little rude when I speak, and I’m sorry if I’ve offended you in any way. However, she’s still a child. Will you please be kind enough to lend her a hand?”
Doctor Cai felt his brow twitching as he looked at the rolling pin that was thicker than his thigh.
In the end, Doctor Cai left behind a prescription slip. Faced with the threat, he didn’t think he could reason with the stout woman, who was holding a rolling pin.
With that said, he wouldn’t dare to prescribe any strong medicine. The herbs on the slip could be easily found on the mountain and were simply meant to nurture one’s Blood Essence. There wouldn’t be a problem even if the young girl really consumed them.
The hunter personally sent Doctor Cai back to the village, then returned to his home in a hurry.
It was the middle of the night, but the stout woman was still seated by the bed as she looked lovingly at the little girl. The hunter felt moved at the sight.
It had been over 20 years since they got married, so he was fully aware of his Wife’s temperament. He had never seen her behaving so gently before.
He hadn’t had any food for the entire day, and he was exhausted from all the travelling; hence, he was both knackered and starving, so he said to his Wife, “Let’s have dinner. I’ll get some rest after the meal, and look for those herbs in the morning.”
The stout woman grunted in agreement and picked up the rolling pin before shuffling towards the kitchen.
At the break of dawn, the hunter left the house to do some hunting and looked for the herbs on the prescription.
He made a living by hunting on the mountain, so he was also familiar with the herbs in this area; as such, it wasn’t hard for him to carry out both tasks, though it did require some experience and luck.
The hunter returned before dusk. He was lucky this time as he had captured a roe deer and found some herbs. He passed everything to his Wife so that she could prepare dinner and feed the little girl.
It was a small village with only more than a dozen families living here; hence, everyone soon found out that the hunter had picked up a little girl from the mountain and would come over and take a look at her from time to time. Although the villagers had never received any formal education, they were all kind-hearted people; hence, no one would gossip about this child who came out of nowhere. They just felt sorry that she had to go through so much pain at such a young age.
The neighbours were kind enough to lend them a hand. Whenever the other hunters went up the mountain, they would always bring back some herbs and pass them to the stout woman.
The hunter also returned to the log house several times in an attempt to search for her family members, but his efforts were in vain.
Three months passed just like that. Although they fed her with herbal soup and broth every day, the child that the hunter had brought back remained unconscious.
With that said, the couple was relieved that the little girl now looked healthier than before. Her face was no longer horrifyingly pale as some colour had been restored to it.
That made them feel increasingly hopeful.
Four months had passed since the hunter picked up the girl, and one morning, the stout woman was preparing some broth as usual. She then brought it into the room to feed the little girl with it.
Meanwhile, the hunter was sharpening his arrowheads in the yard.
All of a sudden, the stout woman was heard exclaiming from the room, “Darling!”
Shocked, the hunter promptly put down the arrow and dashed into the room before asking anxiously, “What’s wrong?”
In a dazed state, the stout woman pointed at the bed.
The hunter looked in that direction and became astonished as well.
That was because the little girl, who had been lying on the bed for four months, had sat up at this moment. She stared at them with a pair of eyes that were filled with puzzlement.
“She’s regained consciousness!” The stout woman spoke in a shaking voice. With the bowl of broth in one hand, she grabbed her Husband’s arm with her other hand using all her strength as she was worried that she was dreaming.
The hunter felt dizzy as he was swayed by his Wife and called out, “Calm down, you’re frightening her!”
The stout woman came to her senses and put on a harmless-looking smile. With the bowl of broth in her hand, she took a seat by the bed and said gently, “You’re finally awake. When did you wake up? How are you feeling?”
The little girl seated on the bed didn’t seem to hear her, nor did she respond to her. She just stared fixedly at the bowl of broth in her hand.
Even after asking a few more questions, the stout woman still didn’t get any responses.
As she darted her gaze between the kid and the bowl of broth in her hand, she asked, “Are you hungry?”
Saying so, she leaned close to her as she wrapped one arm around the little girl’s neck and held out the bowl for her with the other hand.
In just 10 breaths of time, the little girl chugged down the entire bowl of broth.
The hunter was elated on the side, “Since she can eat, it means that she’s alright. Go get her another bowl of broth.”
When the little girl was done having the second bowl of broth, she licked her lips as though she was craving more. She looked pitifully at the stout woman.
Despite feeling sorry for her, the stout woman still shook her head, “You can’t drink so much broth since you just woke up. I’ll let you eat anything you want when you recover.”
She then put down the bowl and asked gently, “What’s your name? Where’s your home?”
The little girl appeared perplexed.
After asking several questions, the stout woman still didn’t get any replies.
She turned to look at her Husband and asked worriedly, “Darling, do you think she might be a mute?”
The hunter replied, “Perhaps she’s just too young to understand what you’re saying. Regardless, she’s awake now. It seems that Doctor Cai’s prescription is useful.”
“We’ll have to thank him, then.”
The hunter nodded, “That’s for sure. Since the herbs are useful, I’ll get more from the mountain now.”
He then went up the mountain while the stout woman told the little girl to stay in the house while she put together a gift. Although the gift wasn’t valuable, it could show her sincerity. She then headed to Doctor Cai’s house, which was 20 kilometres away.
After the couple was gone, the little girl remained seated on the bed in silence. She looked up at the ceiling with her eyes, but no one knew what was on her mind.
Yang Kai abruptly appeared beside the bed and looked down at her.
A moment later, the little girl on the bed realised that something was off and she turned her head and met Yang Kai’s eyes.
Instead of being shocked though, she was just curious about why there was a stranger standing beside her bed.
“What are you doing, Old Ancestor?” Yang Kai asked curiously.
He had been secretly observing the Old Ancestor for the past four months, and during this period, he found something that he couldn’t understand.
After the great battle with the Royal Lord, the Old Ancestor became severely wounded and fell into a coma for four months; however, as Yang Kai observed the Old Ancestor, he realised that there was something amiss with her condition.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t spell out what was wrong.
Faced with his question, the Old Ancestor remained silent. She grew increasingly curious about this stranger as she gazed at him with a pair of clear-looking eyes.
After staring at each other for a moment, Yang Kai sighed, “Please stop making trouble, Old Ancestor.”
The Old Ancestor remained silent. She didn’t even seem to have the intention of parting her lips.
This prompted Yang Kai to frown.
The Old Ancestor didn’t seem to be messing with him; instead, she looked both curious and puzzled, as though she really couldn’t recognise him.
Yang Kai felt his heart clench up tight. Could the Old Ancestor be more severely wounded than he thought and had lost her memory?
However, he soon dismissed the speculation. As a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, she was one of the most powerful cultivators alive. Regardless of how badly injured she was, she couldn’t possibly lose her memory over some simply physical trauma.
Therefore, he reckoned that the Old Ancestor was either pulling his leg or had used some kind of special technique to seal her memory.
Usually, regardless of how horribly injured the Old Ancestor was, her memory wouldn’t be affected after she turned into a kid; only her temperament would change as she would become somewhat childish.
Nevertheless, if she had sealed off her memory, it was only natural that she couldn’t recognise him.
After giving it a thought, Yang Kai reckoned that he couldn’t make a judgement now. Since it would still take the Old Ancestor a long time to recuperate, he could just keep observing her.
Faced with such an Old Ancestor, Yang Kai wasn’t even sure how to communicate with her and could only briefly examine her injuries.
Even with his Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivation, Yang Kai was unable to detect any injuries on the Old Ancestor’s figure. Upon examination, he realised that the Old Ancestor was completely fine; it was just that she was weaker than the other kids of the same age.
As the stout woman was about to return, Yang Kai could only bid her farewell for now, “I’ll have a talk with you again sometime in the future. Get some rest for now.”
Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai disappeared from the spot.
When the stout woman returned from Doctor Cai’s house and stepped into her home, she saw the little girl wandering around, as though the latter was looking for something. Flabbergasted, she hurriedly picked up the little girl and put her down on the bed before telling her again that she shouldn’t move around as she pleased when no one else was at home.
…..
When Yang Kai retracted his gaze from the Old Ancestor, what was happening in the outside world caught his attention.
Seated on the rooftop of the hunter’s house, he looked up into the void, past the World Barrier of his Small Universe.
Some rays of light seemed to be rapidly approaching from the depths of the void.
There were only three rays of light, but they were travelling in a straight line as they moved forward at great speed.
The sight made Yang Kai feel doubtful, as these rays of light didn’t seem like they belonged to the Open Heaven Realm Masters. Instead, they looked like lights that radiated from Spirit Arrays.
But what kind of Spirit Arrays could move so quickly?
Curious, he activated the Demon Eye of Annihilation and observed more closely.
What came into his sight astounded Yang Kai.
The three dots of light that rushed forward in a line were indeed lights that radiated from Spirit Arrays; Spirit Arrays that had been set up on three round Universe Worlds.
These Universe Worlds must have been carefully selected as they were neither small nor big. They were respectively one-tenth of the size of the Universe World used as a forward base by the East-West Army.
Various arrays had been arranged on these Universe Worlds, and with those arrays in operation, these Universe Worlds flew over rapidly from the depths of the Void and were still accelerating.
Yang Kai had no idea where they were coming from, but it was apparent that they had crossed a long distance.
They were already moving at the speed of lightning when they came into Yang Kai’s sight. Moreover, each Universe World exuded a dangerous aura. It was obvious that the arrays on the Universe Worlds did not just propel them forward, but they also served other important purposes.
After examining the Universe Worlds for a time, Yang Kai figured out what those arrays were for.
His face twitched upon that realisation. Needless to say, it was another plan that Xiang Shan had come up with to deal with the Black Ink Clan; however, this plan was rather devious and he wondered if the Black Ink Clansmen could bear it.
Additionally, Yang Kai also discovered something that piqued his interest, which was the differences between the sizes of these Universe Worlds.
The Royal City was located on a Universe World, and the forward base set up by the Humans was also built on a Universe World. However, the latter was moved to this place by the Humans using a special technique.
Comparing the two, the Universe World the forward base sat on was much larger than the one the Royal City was located at, about three times larger in fact.
Initially, Yang Kai didn’t understand why the Army Commanders had selected such an enormous Universe World when it was only meant to be a temporary forward base. It seemed like a huge waste of resources at the time.
After all, the larger the Universe World was, the more resources would be needed to set up Spirit Arrays to fortify it. They should’ve selected a suitable and less resource-consuming Universe World. There were only 30,000 Human soldiers, so a much smaller Universe World could easily accommodate them.
Although Yang Kai was doubtful at that time, he didn’t ponder on it as it was just a thought that flashed through his mind.
However, the moment he saw the rays of light approaching from the depths of the void, he realised the reason behind it.
The forward base where the Humans were located was enormous and just half a day’s flight from the Royal City. This forward base was not just a nail at the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep, but it also served as a screen, an obstacle that could obstruct the Black Ink Clan’s sight.
Presently, Yang Kai was at the back of the forward base, so he could clearly see the rays of light coming from the void; however, on the other side, the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal City would be unable to see what was going on.
This gave the Humans more room to manoeuvre.
It seemed that by the time the Army Commanders had chosen to set up a forward base, they had come up with a series of follow-up plans; otherwise, they wouldn’t have moved such a massive Universe World to this place.
The Black Ink Clan soldiers were in a rigid formation in front of the Royal City.
Since Che Kong was told to take command, it had only taken him a month to reorganize the entire Army.
Presently, there were a million Black Ink Clan soldiers surrounding the Royal City tightly. Regardless of how the Humans launched an attack, they could immediately deal with the enemies.
Che Kong had no idea how he should take the initiative to attack the Humans, but it wouldn’t be hard for him to defend the Royal City with this setup. Defence had always been his forte.
As the Commander of a million Black Ink Clansmen, Che Kong was located in the middle of the Army so that he could easily react to any potential threats from the Humans.
After a month of silence, Che Kong all of a sudden felt his chest tightening as an ominous feeling washed over him.
This caused him to feel alerted as he lifted his gaze to look at the Humans’ side. There were a lot of Warships moving around the forward base, but he had no idea what the Humans were up to.
However, it didn’t seem like the Humans had the intention of attacking the Royal City at that moment.
This made Che Kong feel doubtful. Since the Humans didn’t intend to attack, why did he feel a sense of unease all of a sudden?
Could it be a false alarm?
He sincerely hoped that it was just his nerves. Before the Royal Lord started recuperating in the Black Ink Nest, he appointed Che Kong to be the Commander of the Black Ink Clan soldiers and entrusted him to protect the Royal City. Certainly, Che Kong could not disappoint the Royal Lord.
While he was lost in his thoughts, a dazzling light suddenly radiated from the back of the Human’s encampment.
The unease Che Kong felt intensified at that moment.
The next instant, the light flashed into his sight. It was so dazzling that he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
Initially, he couldn’t make out what the light was, but as the distance shortened, he quickly realised its true nature.
Che Kong, who had been seated at the time, leapt to his feet with widened eyes. The next moment, his roar reverberated across the entire void, “Enemy attack!”
Over the past month that he had been leading the Black Ink Army, Che Kong had repeatedly pondered on what kind of strategy the Humans would use to assault the Royal City. He had also put himself in the shoes of the leaders from the Humans’ side and inferred how the war would unfold.
He came to the conclusion that, regardless of what devious plans the Humans had come up with, they wouldn’t achieve their goal as long as he steadfastly protected the Royal City.
There was no doubt that he was pleased with the expected outcome.
However, it wasn’t until the Humans finally revealed their move that Che Kong realized he had underestimated how cunning his enemy truly was.
It never crossed his mind that the Humans would attack them using a Universe World.
The Universe World was full of arrays, which were obviously arranged by the Humans. After shooting past the forward base, the Universe World came straight at the Royal City.
Che Kong had no idea where this Universe World came from, but it had obviously moved across a long distance in the void as it was moving at incredible speed.
By the time Che Kong alerted the other Black Ink Clansmen, the ray of light was only a million kilometres away from the Royal City.
If they did nothing, the Universe World would smash into the Royal City in 10 breaths of time.
The consequences would be dreadful.
The location of the Royal City was also a Universe World, and although it was gigantic, it didn’t have any powerful defences. It wasn’t comparable to Great Evolution Pass in this respect.
Great Evolution Pass was an enormous Mobile Palace Artifact, so even without any active arrays, it was still significantly sturdier than a mere Universe World. Moreover, be it the Humans or the Black Ink Clan who controlled Great Evolution Pass, there were various arrays in Inner Sanctum that could enhance its defences.
The approaching Universe World that was full of Spirit Arrays appeared to only be a third the size of the Universe World the Royal City was situated upon, but if it really crashed into the Royal City, everything would be smashed to pieces.
By then, not only would the Royal Lord be disrupted from his recuperation, but the High-Rank Black Ink Nest would also be destroyed upon impact.
If that happened, the Royal Lord would never let Che Kong off.
If they had detected the Universe World that was coming at the Royal City earlier, they could have easily warded it off given the forces available to them.
However, Che Kong was caught off guard as the despicable Humans obstructed their line of sight using their forward base.
By the time he discovered the strange attack, Che Kong was only left with 10 breaths of time to react.
He had no time to mobilise his soldiers, so he personally charged towards the Universe World.
At the same time, over 30 Territory Lords took action along with him.
All of the Territory Lords knew that they had to do their best to fend off this Universe World attack, for the slightest impact on the Royal City would surely disturb the Royal Lord’s recuperation.
Black Ink Clansmen recuperated by falling into a state of deep sleep. It was the same for the Royal Lord as it was for everyone else. Once they were disturbed though, their recuperation would be disturbed, resulting in backlash that could undo their recovery progress or possibly even make their condition worse.
The Royal Lord was the most powerful Master they had to rely on, so they naturally wouldn’t allow anything to disturb him.
All the Territory Lords shot into the sky. The sight was magnificent as their auras were menacing.
Meanwhile, countless Feudal Lords followed closely behind them.
On a barren mountain in the forward base, Xiang Shan, Liu Zhi Ping, and other Eighth-Order Division Commanders looked on intently and saw that the Black Ink Clansmen from the Royal City were charging forward like the moths to a flame.
Before they even arrived, they had started sending out violent attacks at the Universe World that was coming at the Royal City.
One Eighth-Order Division Commander asked, “Do you think they can ward it off?”
Honestly speaking, it wouldn’t require an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to make a move to destroy a Universe World. A Sixth-Order or even a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, given enough time, could destroy a Universe World; after all, an Open Heaven Realm Master had broken free from the restraints of the Inner Universe. The power they could draw from their Small Universe was World Force; hence, it wasn’t difficult for them to shatter a Universe World.
Naturally, the Black Ink Clansmen of similar strength could achieve the same results.
However, the Black Ink Clan was not dealing with an ordinary Universe World at this moment. It was a Universe World protected by various arrays that the Array Masters had spent a month and massive amounts of resources to arrange.
Therefore, it was no longer an ordinary Universe World; it was the greatest siege weapon to destroy a city with.
“We’ll see,” Xiang Shan replied impassively.
He was just giving it a try to ascertain how effective this tactic was to achieve their objective; therefore, the East-West Army had not prepared to launch an attack at this moment. As such, the Division Commanders could just watch what was going on and have a casual chat among themselves.
They could see that the Black Ink Clan had fully utilised all their powers, as all sorts of dark, ominous techniques smashed against the Universe World, which caused it to flicker and start breaking apart.
There was no doubting the destructive force of several dozen Territory Lords making a move together.
Therefore, even though the Universe World was equipped with all sorts of defensive arrays, it couldn’t possibly withstand the violent attacks from so many Territory Lords.
Before the Feudal Lords could even make a move, the Universe World had turned dim. The next instant, it exploded into countless fragments that scattered around.
The Territory Lords couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief while at the same time, they were infuriated.
It seemed they had been frightened over nothing as it was just a Universe World, after all. Even though it was equipped with various arrays, it couldn’t possibly pose a threat to them.
However, all the Territory Lords had come forward to fend it off. If the Humans launched an attack on the Royal City at that moment, they wouldn’t be able to protect the city.
While such thoughts were crossing their minds though, another ray of light appeared behind the shattered Universe World.
“There’s more!” Che Kong roared.
This time, the Territory Lords did not become flustered. With the earlier experience, they knew how to deal with this situation now.
Furthermore, with more Feudal Lords joining them, it became easier to destroy the approaching Universe World.
Several breaths of time later, the second Universe World became shattered and broke into countless pieces.
The next instant, the third Universe World was seen coming at them.
The Territory Lords secretly cursed at the leaders of the Human Race. The series of despicable moves was quite annoying.
With dozens of Territory Lords and innumerable Feudal Lords working together, they cast an attack together and destroyed the third Universe World when it was still millions of kilometres away from the Royal City.
However, the Territory Lords didn’t lower their guard down. They stared fixedly at the depths of the void, as they were worried that there would be a fourth Universe World.
Soon, they were relieved that there wasn’t a fourth Universe World. It seemed that the Humans had only gotten three Universe Worlds prepared.
Upon making sure that all the Universe Worlds had been intercepted, and that the Royal City was not impacted at all, Che Kong led the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords back.
Instead of feeling elated though, Che Kong only felt increasingly worried.
Although they had successfully fended off the three Universe Worlds that the Humans had launched at them this time, what if there were four, five, or even more Universe Worlds?
There would come a time when they were unable to stop the Universe Worlds, and when that happened, a large number of the Black Ink Clansmen would lose their lives, and the Royal Lord’s recovery would be interrupted.
It was apparent that the Humans were just testing the waters this time, and the next attack would be the real show. Che Kong believed that after the test this time, the Human leaders would continue to use such a tactic.
[Damn it!] Che Kong thought. Faced with such a despicable tactic, the Black Ink Clan had no other choice but to directly deal with it.
They couldn’t even imitate it as they didn’t have so many skilful Array Masters on their side.
Since Yang Kai had cultivated the Dao of Time and learnt a few things from his Third Disciple, time flowed four times faster in his Small Universe than the outside; therefore, even though the Old Ancestor had been recuperating in his Small Universe for four months, only one month had passed in the outside world.
In just one month, the East-West Army was able to carry out such a plan. Yang Kai couldn’t help but admire Xiang Shan and the others’ far-sightedness.
After the three Universe Worlds circled around the forward base, Yang Kai was unable to see what happened next as his sight was obstructed. With that said, even though he was in a desolate valley on the opposite side of a Universe World, he could still feel the violent energy fluctuations coming from the Royal City.
He reckoned that the expressions on the Territory Lords’ faces would be interesting when they saw the Universe Worlds, which were equipped with various arrays, coming at the Royal City; however, he didn’t think it would be difficult for the Black Ink Clan to fend off these Universe Worlds. After all, there were some 30-plus Territory Lords, not to mention that they had many Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples with them.
It was unlikely that the Universe Worlds could harm them.
That was indeed the case. The energy fluctuations coming from the Royal City only lasted for about 10 breaths of time before they vanished.
Again, days went by peacefully.
From the looks of it, the Human soldiers didn’t seem to have the intention of invading the Royal City at all. Meanwhile, inside the Small Universe, the Old Ancestor was still recuperating in the hunter’s home.
The couple treated her very well. Although they were not related by blood, they took care of her as though they were her biological parents. Half of the food brought back by the hunter from the mountain found its way into the Old Ancestor’s stomach.
Certainly, the couple was surprised at the fact that the little girl they picked up from the mountain had such a big appetite despite being so petite; moreover, she seemed to truly love eating.
The only thing that concerned the couple was that the little girl hadn’t grown much in size despite her big appetite.
She looked like she was three to four years old when they picked her up back then. Four years had passed, but she hadn’t changed one bit.
This was unusual, for kids normally grew very quickly at such a young age. Four years was long enough for a toddler to become a child that could freely run around; however, that wasn’t the case for Xiao Xiao.
Yes, after raising the little girl they picked up from the mountain for four years, the couple had given her a name. She was named Xiao Xiao because she would smile brightly whenever there was delicious food for her.
Considering the fact that Xiao Xiao was abandoned by her family back then because she was critically ill, the couple believed that her illness was the reason she hadn’t grown much. In the past, Doctor Cai had left behind a prescription slip. Using the herbs on the list, the couple spent the next four months pulling Xiao Xiao back from death’s door. Although her life was saved, she must have been left with a hidden ailment that resulted in her sluggish growth.
With that said, they were gratified that Xiao Xiao wasn’t mute, unlike what they initially thought. Furthermore, she was an intelligent child who was good at speaking and singing.
Additionally, she also seemed to be gifted when it came to hunting.
She was only four years old when they picked her up, and she was eight years old now.
What could an eight-year-old child do? The hunter had no idea what other eight-year-old kids were like, but Xiao Xiao could already follow him to the mountain and hunt every day.
He had even crafted a small bow for her. Over the past six months, Xiao Xiao was able to bring back a lot of prey. There was even once when the hunter killed an 800-kilogram wild boar with her help.
The wild boar was large enough for all the villagers to enjoy for half a month.
All the villagers treated Xiao Xiao well. Knowing that she loved food, the villagers would frequently send her delicious dishes so that she could satisfy her craving.
One day, the stout woman was busy doing household chores in the afternoon when she heard some noises outside the house. After opening the door, she saw that her Husband and Xiao Xiao had returned.
That surprised her because it was only in the middle of the afternoon. Usually, her Husband wouldn’t come home so soon.
What bothered her was that there was a hint of worry on her Husband’s face.
Although she wasn’t a typical sensitive woman as she was rather straightforward, she was good at observing her Husband’s expressions. After all, they had been married for many years.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
The hunter shook his head and remained silent. Gazing at Xiao Xiao, he said, “Go out and play.”
After a grunt, Xiao Xiao put down her bow and quiver, “I’ll look for Sir, then.”
Then, she turned around and left the house in a hurry.
Worried, the stout woman shouted from behind, “Take it slow! Don’t trip!”
Despite knowing that the little girl could easily move around on the mountain along with the hunter, the stout woman was still worried that she would trip over if she ran too fast.
As for the ‘Sir’ Xiao Xiao had mentioned, he was a scholar who happened to arrive at this place four years ago. The scholar seemed to have fallen in love with the environment here, so he decided to settle down. Several years had passed since then. Perhaps he had decided to stay here forever.
Though the scholar didn’t have other skills, he was a well-read person. They happened to need a teacher in the village, so the scholar decided to help the children learn how to read and write upon the hunters’ request. In return, they would give him some food, so he didn’t have to worry about survival.
Xiao Xiao loved spending time with the scholar. According to her, the young man would always give her treats every time she paid him a visit. The couple had never heard of some of the food she had mentioned.
The couple pondered on this issue many times. The scholar received his food from the villagers, so where did he even get some treats to share with the children?
However, to Xiao Xiao, anything edible was delicious.
After Xiao Xiao was out of sight, the stout woman turned around and saw that her Husband was seated by the table. He took a few sips of the tea and sighed.
Annoyed by her Husband’s behaviour, the stout woman landed a slap on his back, almost causing him to spit blood, “Just spill it! Stop sighing and keeping silent!”
The hunter let out another sigh before saying, “I came across a woman on the mountain today.”
While glaring at him, the stout woman sneered, “Was she beautiful?”
After becoming startled for a moment, the hunter put on a helpless smile, “What are you talking about? Why don’t you ask me where I saw her?”
The stout woman snorted, “Where did you run into her?”
In a grim voice, the hunter replied, “In that house.”
The stout woman fell into a dazed state for a moment, then her expression changed, “What do you mean?”
Gazing at her, the hunter went on to say, “You’re also aware that I picked up Xiao Xiao from the log house on the mountain back then. Over the years, I’d go take a look at the house whenever I go hunting in that area. I’ve never seen anyone there, but today, there was a woman in the log house. Judging from the clothes she was wearing, she should be from a well-to-do family. She also had some servants with her.”
“So what?” The stout woman appeared wary.
The hunter continued, saying, “I asked them what they were doing there, and one of the servants told me that the woman lost something around there a few years ago, so they were looking for it now.”
The stout woman’s expression changed drastically, “Have they found it?”
The hunter shook his head, “I never asked her what she had lost.”
“Did she see Xiao Xiao?”
The hunter replied, “No. Xiao Xiao and I separated to run down a roe deer. She wasn’t by my side at that time.”
The stout woman was evidently relieved.
The hunter sighed, “Dear, I think the woman’s appearance somewhat resembles Xiao Xiao…”
“Shut up!” The stout woman roared. The hunter was so shocked that he hunched his back. He wouldn’t dare to offend his Wife when she was enraged.
Relentless, the stout woman walked up to the door and placed her hands on her hips before shouting at the clearing outside the house, “You have lost her, so what’s the point of you looking for her now? You were not heartbroken when you lost her back then, so how could you look for her when she’s healthy now? Do you think she’ll go back to you? What a heartless woman!” She spat in contempt.
There seemed to be an invisible enemy outside the house as the stout woman resentfully cursed at it. She didn’t have any other skills, but she excelled at cursing at the people she hated.
It wasn’t until a long time later that her fury slightly subsided. She turned around and stared at the hunter, “Go up the mountain and kill that woman with your bow tomorrow!”
The hunter’s forehead was covered with cold sweat, “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“What’s wrong with that? I’ll take all the responsibility!” The stout woman appeared determined as she walked towards the table and picked up the teapot. She directly chugged it down to quench her thirst.
After she was done drinking it, she landed the teapot on the table with a loud thud. Then, she sat on the chair with a listless expression. She was no longer as feisty as earlier when she cursed at the invisible enemy.
A moment later, she covered her eyes with her hands.
The hunter stole a glance and asked, “Why are you crying all of a sudden?”
The stout woman was trying to suppress her sorrow when she heard her Husband’s words. Unable to take it anymore, she started bawling her eyes out, “Darling, don’t you think that Xiao Xiao is a gift to us from the Heavens? No one can take her away from us, right?”
It had been over 20 years since the couple got married. They were pretty hard-working when they were younger, but for some reason, she couldn’t bear a child.
When the hunter brought Xiao Xiao back from the mountain four years ago, the stout woman thought that the Heavens had finally had mercy on her by sending this child to her.
Initially, she still hoped that her Husband could find Xiao Xiao’s relatives so that she could return to her family; however, four years had passed, and the couple already regarded Xiao Xiao to be their Daughter. They were not willing to part ways with her now.
At the thought of the possibility of Xiao Xiao leaving her, the stout woman was heartbroken.
The hunter placated her by saying, “Well, I simply chanced upon a wealthy woman who lost something several years ago. She’s just looking for it now. She might not necessarily be Xiao Xiao’s relative.”
The stout woman’s vision had turned blurred from all the crying. While sobbing, she said, “You said that the woman resembles Xiao Xiao, and she’s looking for something she lost. Who else could she be if she’s not Xiao Xiao’s Mother?”
At that, the hunter fell silent.
In fact, such a thought sprang into his mind the moment he saw the woman. That was because Xiao Xiao indeed took after her.
While the stout woman continued bawling, the hunter remained silent.
A moment later, he said, “The child has her own parents. The woman is from a wealthy family. If Xiao Xiao goes back to her, she’ll have a bright future. It’s much better than staying with us here. In the future, she’ll be able to marry a good man.”