Chapter 5441

At this moment, the strongest Warships Humans fielded were the Purifying Black Ink Battleships.

Whether it was in terms of capabilities, capacity, or raw power, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was not something any other class of Warship could compare to.

Even Dawning Light was inferior to the Purifying Black Ink Battleships.

Therefore, a Purifying Black Ink Battleship was the most obvious choice for Yang Kai and the others.

With Yang Kai’s current capabilities, though it would be difficult, he could refine a new Purifying Black Ink Battleship from scratch, but that would take far too much time and effort. Instead, the better option was to simply repair the derelict Battleship which was lying in the Great Pass.

With a plan worked out, the remnant soldiers of Azure Void Pass were in high spirits as, after more than 200 years of fleeing and hiding, they finally had a chance to go on the attack.

After a short month of continuous work and using up large amounts of resources, the broken Purifying Black Ink Battleship was finally good as new.

The soldiers then began salvaging the artifacts that weren’t entirely destroyed from Azure Void Pass before letting their fellow soldiers who were proficient in the Dao of Spirit Arrays and Dao of Artifact Refining install them onto the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

As for Yang Kai, he was responsible for repairing other Warships.

When Sun Mao and the others gathered up the bodies of their fallen comrades, they also found several damaged Warships. Though none of these Warships were functional, they each had parts that were still in working condition, so Yang Kai simply salvaged whatever was usable and combined pieces from 10 to 20 broken Warships into a new one.

Another half a year had passed before the less than 1,000 lineup of soldiers gathered in the Central Square. Despite their small number, they still exuded the air of an Army many times their size.

Meanwhile, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was quietly docked outside the square, displaying its ferocious new appearance. 

Since preparations had been completed, it was time to set off. Everyone was eager to head to the No-Return Pass and unwilling to waste a moment more.

Huang Xiong swept his gaze over everyone and boomed, “Today, we rejoin the war, and even if it is our fate to die, we will take many times as many enemies down with us!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

“Kill!”

When everyone thought back to when Azure Void Pass was overrun and defeated, the Old Ancestor’s death in battle, and all the corpses of their fellow soldiers, their eyes reddened with tears and the murderous intent coming from them soared!

Everyone then boarded the Battleship!

In just a few short moments, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship sailed out into the void and melted into the darkness before disappearing from sight.

While repairing this Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Yang Kai had arranged several other Grand Arrays, including an Illusion Array that could be used to conceal it. Although the Purifying Black Ink Battleship wasn’t small, this Array would allow them to move undetected as long as their luck wasn’t too poor. If the enemy wasn’t wary enough, they might not discover the Purifying Black Ink Battleship even if they were just 1,000 kilometres away.

This Purifying Black Ink Battleship that carried the last forces of Azure Void Pass looked very different from its original design. It was now far more ferocious in appearance.

After all, this Purifying Black Ink Battleship had gathered all the remaining war potential of the entire Azure Void Pass!

While repairing this Warship, Yang Kai and the others had installed every usable artifact they could find. 

Not only was the Purifying Black Ink Battleship equipped in such a luxurious manner, every Squad Class Warship in their possession was similarly armed.

Even though Azure Void Pass was destroyed, no matter how broken it appeared, there were still many treasures left behind; therefore, they used the remaining essence of the Great Pass and merged it into this Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

When they turned around to look back and saw Azure Void Pass gradually disappearing from view, everyone had mixed feelings.

Among them, some of them had been stationed at Azure Void Pass for thousands of years, while some had even been here for over 10,000 years. After setting foot onto the Black Ink Battlefield and being deployed to Azure Void Pass, they had abided by the oath of living and dying together with the Great Pass as they fought the Black Ink Clan.

But now, they had survived, yet Azure Void Pass was left broken and destroyed.

There was no telling whether there would be a chance to recover and restore the Great Pass in the future.

Since almost 1,000 soldiers were in their group, they could just about form two complete Divisions. Each Division was comprised of 500 soldiers separated into approximately 40 Squads and led by Yang Kai and Huang Xiong respectively.

Huang Xiong and the others had been on the run for 200 years, but they didn’t only spend their time hiding. At the very least, they had familiarised themselves with this region of the void.

Their situation was better than Yang Kai’s, who had been lost for a long time and didn’t even know where he was before finding Azure Void Pass. How could he know in which direction the No-Return Pass was when he didn’t even know where he was?

As they headed in the direction of the No-Return Pass, their journey was fairly uneventful. Along the way, they could vaguely see traces of battles and even pieces of broken Human Warships.

Back when the Old Ancestors decided to retreat to the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan Army had naturally chased after them. It could be said that the battlefield stretched from outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to the No-Return Pass. No one knew how many Human soldiers had fallen during that war or how many had successfully reached the No-Return Pass.

Whenever they discovered bodies of fallen Human soldiers, they would quietly gather them.

A couple years later, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was quietly sailing through the void when Yang Kai, who was monitoring the surroundings from the deck, suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look in a certain direction. The next moment, his figure disappeared.

Sun Mao, who was nearby, heard Yang Kai’s order, “Hide!”

After receiving his orders, Sun Mao quickly relayed the order, and the Purifying Black Ink Battleship hurriedly approached a nearby Universe Fragment to conceal itself.

On the other hand, Yang Kai moved rapidly and soon arrived millions of kilometres away. He looked over and saw a severely tattered Warship that looked as if it would be destroyed at any moment under the siege of the surrounding Black Ink Clansmen.

The Warship was clearly a Human Warship, and the Squad on the deck were running around anxiously. The arrays and artifacts were constantly activated, and though they killed and injured many of the Black Ink Clansmen, there were still more besieging them. There were at least 1,000 enemies here, and there seemed to be a Territory Lord hiding his aura amongst them.

Yang Kai’s expression brightened!

After more than 2 years of travel without meeting any other Human survivors, he had finally encountered a remnant Squad.

Though he didn’t know which Great Pass this Squad came from, the current situation didn’t allow him to think too much about it. Just as he was about to make a move to assist them, he suddenly paused.

He carefully surveyed the surroundings and discovered that despite the situation of the Warship being fairly dangerous, the Squad manning it were still trying their best to lure the surrounding Black Ink Clansmen in a specific direction.

In that direction was a small, tattered Universe Fragment, probably debris leftover after the Black Ink Clan mined all the resources out of it.

Immediately, Yang Kai seemed to have seen through this Squad’s plan and suppressed his murderous intent before quietly following them.

The Black Ink Clan’s attack was fierce and continuous, so even though the Squad’s Warship moved nimbly, it still couldn’t avoid all the incoming attacks. Once the Warship’s shields failed, the Human Squad would be facing the mad attacks from the Black Ink Clan head-on. By then, their situation would become dire.

However, the Squad seemed to be very lucky because even after they had retreated to the tattered Universe Fragment, the light barrier still hadn’t been broken through.

Meanwhile, the Black Ink Clan was now in position.

At that moment, lights from several arrays above the Universe Fragment suddenly lit up and turned into bolts of light that blasted towards the Black Ink Clan soldiers.

Those Arrays had powerful artifacts serving as Array Cores, or else they wouldn’t have been able to exert such terrifying might.

The light beams blasted towards the Black Ink Clan Army, clearing out a few areas and killing hundreds of Black Ink Clansmen.

Following that, an even brighter ray of light transformed into a huge net and directly enveloped the Territory Lord hidden amongst the Black Ink Clan Army.

Meanwhile, the Territory Lord obviously didn’t expect his whereabouts to be exposed so quickly and was shocked when he was directly targeted. The net that surrounded him was incredibly strong, so he couldn’t break free immediately.

A dozen or so Squads hiding inside the Universe Fragment suddenly appeared and began firing as they moved to surround and protect the tattered Warship approaching them.

After that, the Black Ink Clan suffered even more casualties. 

This was obviously a plan to lure the enemy into a trap. The Human Squad that was being attacked risked their Warship being blown up to lure this small Black Ink Clan Army to the spot where they had previously arranged a number of Killing Arrays that were just waiting to be activated. 

Though it was a simple trap, it worked perfectly.

No matter how vigilant the Black Ink Clan Army was against such a plot, it was impossible for them to not chase after the Humans once they fled. As long as the Black Ink Clan wanted to kill these Humans, they would fall into the trap.

When it came to the use of Spirit Arrays and artifacts, the Humans were vastly superior to the Black Ink Clan.

The ambushing Squads were made up of soldiers who had endured hundreds of battles, so not only did they manage to take the opportunity and trap the hidden Territory Lord with the help of certain Arrays and artifacts, they even neatly split into two teams, one of them corralling the flustered Black Ink Clan Army and killing them, while the other team focused on pinning down the Territory Lord.

They didn’t have an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with them, so they knew they had to kill the Territory Lord before he broke free, or else they would suffer heavy losses.

Following that, several Divine Abilities and artifacts were fired at the Territory Lord, causing him to mumble with a gloomy expression, “I thought we could lure a big fish out, but I didn’t expect to see only some small fry!”

Once those words were spoken, the Humans who were vigorously attacking the Black Ink Clan Army instantly felt their hearts sink. One of the Seventh-Order Squad Leaders who appeared to be the leader of this group wore a grim face as he shouted, “Retreat!”

With one shout, every Warship turned around, wanting to leave this place, disregarding their almost-won battle.

All of this was because of the fear they felt after listening to the simple message that came out of the Territory Lord’s mouth.

They had waged this battle to lure out the enemy, but it was not clear which side was the hunter, and which was the fish prey.

“Still not making a move yet?” The trapped Territory Lord bellowed.

Right after he said that, a figure emerged from the shadows. The figure seemed to have merged with the darkness so no one had noticed its existence right up to the moment it appeared and blocked the Warships’ escape route.

On the other side, another Territory Lord released an imposing aura and appeared like a ghost.

All the Humans felt their blood run cold.

There were about a dozen Squads gathered here, so if there was only one Territory Lord, they might be able to handle him. Two Territory Lords would cause them to be in danger, but now there were actually three Territory Lords present!

These three were different from the Territory Lords of old that attacked the Great Passes from the Royal Cities. The Black Ink Clan hadn’t had enough time to naturally cultivate more Territory Lords yet, which meant these three Territory Lords came from the Primordial Heavens Grand Source Restriction and were all Innate Territory Lords. Each one of them wasn’t much weaker than Che Kong.

Chapter 5442

Even with Yang Kai’s current ability, he had paid quite a high price to kill those three Innate Territory Lords back at Azure Void Pass, which clearly showed how strong Innate Territory Lords were.

Now, the Human Squads were facing three Innate Territory Lords without a single Eighth-Order Master backing them up. In such a situation, annihilation was all but certain!

The Seventh-Order Master that gave out the order to retreat earlier clearly knew this, so after understanding that there was no chance of survival, he immediately yelled, “Kill!”

There were only three breaths of the time difference between two totally opposite orders, but they were orders that perfectly suited the situation.

None of the Humans hesitated, and the dozen or so Warships that were about to flee all stopped momentarily before charging straight at the Black Ink Clan Army.

When facing certain death, killing one enemy would allow them to break even, while killing two would gain them a profit!

There were even two Squads that charged straight at the Territory Lord who was trapped by the arranged Array. They were going to give it their all to kill this Territory Lord because only that way would their deaths be truly valuable.

“Naïve!” The third Territory Lord who had appeared sneered disdainfully before putting power into his legs, but just as he was about to shoot forward, a sense of crisis suddenly overwhelmed him, making him feel like he had fallen into an ice pit.

The last time he had such a feeling was back at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. At that time, he had just emerged from the darkness and was fighting a bloody battle with a Human Division Commander.

While locked in battle, a nearby Old Ancestor randomly slashed at him…

That slash almost cost him his life, but fortunately for him, that Old Ancestor was dealing with a Royal Lord and had no time to finish him off; otherwise, he would certainly have died before he could blink.

More than 500 years had passed since then, but he was feeling the same feeling again.

Although this Territory Lord didn’t have much experience in battle, he was very sensitive to danger. Noticing something was wrong, he immediately gathered his Black Ink Strength to protect himself.

However, the next moment, he felt the space around him solidify, and his thoughts seemed to be affected by a strange kind of energy, which caused his reaction to be delayed.

Before he could come to his senses, a long spear brushed past his head, blowing nearly half of it off in one violent thrust.

If he hadn’t forcefully jerked his head to the side at the critical moment, that spear would have pierced right through his brain and blown his head apart!

Despite suffering such a serious injury, the Territory Lord wasn’t dead, and if he was lucky enough to escape, he would only have to return to a Black Ink Nest to recuperate for a few hundred years before being able to make a complete recovery.

Behind the Territory Lord, Yang Kai couldn’t help but click his tongue when he saw that his spear had missed, seemingly dissatisfied with his performance.

He had been hiding in the dark, yet his sudden sneak attack still wasn’t able to kill this Innate Territory Lord in one blow, which proved that the opponent was no weakling.

But that was all.

Under the intertwining of many Dao Strengths, and having surrendered the initiative to Yang Kai, this Territory Lord had lost all ability to fight back.

The Territory Lord that had just escaped death hadn’t even seen what his opponent looked like before a multitude of strands of interwoven Dao Strengths sliced through his body.

At that instant, Yang Kai flicked his spear and shot past him before charging straight at the second Territory Lord.

Behind him, the third Territory Lord exploded into numerous pieces of flesh!

The sudden change of events completely shocked everyone on the scene.

The Black Ink Clan were shocked, while the Humans were ecstatic!

They thought they were going to die for sure, but who knew that reinforcements would appear right when they had resolved themselves to fight to the death? Moreover, their reinforcements were far stronger than they could imagine and had even killed an Innate Territory Lord in just two moves!

Following that, the cries of the Golden Crow sounded, and a Great Sun rose as Yang Kai guided it with his spear towards the sturdy-looking Territory Lord.

The might of the attack was glorious and unstoppable!

The Territory Lord roared madly as Black Ink Strength surged from his figure. Then, he raised his hand and cast a powerful Secret Technique.

But the next moment, he felt an immense pain in his mind, as though something had pierced directly into his Soul and was shredding it to pieces. Under the intense pain, he howled in agony and even the Black Ink Strength he had gathered began to disperse.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai’s expression twisted into a ferocious one. He knew his strength best, and though it wouldn’t be a problem for him to kill this Territory Lord with conventional means, it would take him some time. However, the situation on the battlefield was ever-changing, and he wasn’t sure if any other Black Ink Clan Masters were hiding nearby, so he had to end things here quickly.

In this situation, the Soul Rending Thorns were his best option.

Having used this combination Soul-type artifact Technique many times, Yang Kai had grown somewhat accustomed to its activation. Moreover, he only needed to sacrifice a piece of his Soul to power the Soul Rending Thorn, and with the Soul Warming Lotus, that damage would heal on its own in time.

It was a different situation for the enemy. After being seriously injured by the Soul Rending Thorn, the Territory Lord instantly lost half his combat strength.

Right when the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Strength began to scatter, the spear with the Great Sun at its tip arrived and viciously blasted at his chest.

The might of Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun exploded and enveloped the Territory Lord before turning into an even brighter Great Sun, illuminating the void in all directions.

A moment later, the light faded and Yang Kai had disappeared, while the sturdy-looking Territory Lord had a giant see-through hole in his chest. His vitality dispersed quickly while his eyes were filled with pain and disbelief.

He seemed to be unable to believe that there was actually an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who could kill him so easily!

After his previous encounters with a few Human Masters, his impression was that they were not much. Besides the top Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the others’ strength was basically on par with his, while some were even weaker.

In addition, he had the confidence to face those top few Eighth-Order Masters. Even if he couldn’t beat them, he wouldn’t die at their hands.

But today, he met an Eighth-Order Human who almost instantly killed his companion before slaughtering him in the next breath. As for his last comrade, he would probably meet with a disastrous end soon…

Before his vitality dispersed, he struggled to turn around and look at his final companion, and just as he had expected, he saw the strange Human Master had already reached him and was thrusting his spear at his fellow Territory Lord’s head.

The light in his eyes faded before he could see the ending of his last companion.

The Azure Dragon Spear thrust out with unparalleled momentum as Yang Kai condensed his many Dao Strengths to their extreme. If given a few breaths of time, the Territory Lord trapped inside the Array net would be able to escape, but now he had no chance of doing that.

Looking at the approaching spear, he wanted to resist, but couldn’t.

After barely managing to put up a defence by condensing all his Black Ink Strength in front of his face, the Territory Lord’s head was pierced through and blown apart by the spear, leaving behind nothing but a headless corpse that spurted out black blood

The situation had completely turned around!

It had been less than 10 breaths since Yang Kai’s appearance, but all three Innate Territory Lords had fallen while the only damage Yang Kai suffered was the self-inflicted wound from using a single Soul Rending Thorn.

With the Soul Warming Lotus, such damage was completely ignorable.

This victory boosted the Humans’ morale to untold heights!

They originally thought they were going to die here today, but this sudden change gave them a huge pleasant surprise.

Though they didn’t know who the Eighth-Order Division Commander that came to their rescue was, they all swore they had never seen such a powerful Eighth-Order Master before.

However, the battle wasn’t over yet. The three Innate Territory Lords were dead, but many Black Ink Clansmen were still alive. After these remnants saw how their Territory Lords died such tragic deaths though, they didn’t dare to remain and began escaping in all directions.

Aboard the Warships, the dozen or so Squad Leaders were eager to kill, but their surroundings suddenly began to tremble, and in the next instant, an inexplicable power seemed to have flashed through the void.

Following that, a scene that shocked everyone appeared.

The entire region around them seemed to have transformed into a mirror!

To be more precise, it was a broken mirror with cracks running everywhere through it, extending out far enough to encompass every surviving Black Ink Clansman’s body, silently slicing them to pieces.

Those cracks seemed to have spirituality because they moved around the Warships. Even if there were Warships that were moving too fast to dodge around where these cracks appeared, the crack itself would suddenly disappear and cause no harm to them.

Within a few silent breaths of time, all the remaining Black Ink Clansmen were dead.

The Warships stopped moving, and the Humans aboard them had their jaws dropped in shock. But more than shock, they felt joy as they turned their gazes towards Yang Kai, their eyes filled with admiration.

“Space Principles!” One of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters muttered.

To be able to create cracks in the void was obviously the work of manipulating Space Principles, and judging from how Yang Kai had killed the enemy so easily, it was clear that he had reached an extremely high level of mastery in the Dao of Space. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be able to avoid his allies in such proximity while killing the enemy.

The Seventh-Order Masters had vaguely guessed Yang Kai’s identity by this point.

In the entire Black Ink Battlefield, only one person had cultivated the Dao of Space to this extent.

Everyone gathered over, and the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master that gave the commands cupped his fist and bowed, “Primordial Army’s Lin Qi, greets Senior Brother. Are you perhaps Senior Brother Yang Kai?”

When Lin Qi announced that he was from the Primordial Army, he wasn’t saying that he was from Primordial Cave Heaven, but rather a soldier from Primordial Pass, similar to how Yang Kai introduced himself as Great Evolution Army’s Yang Kai. He wasn’t from Great Evolution Paradise because Great Evolution Paradise was long gone.

They were able to guess Yang Kai’s identity because Yang Kai had made quite a name for himself on the Black Ink Battlefield. Besides the Old Ancestors overseeing every Great Pass, even the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters weren’t as well known as him.

The mere appearance of Purifying Light was enough for the ordinary soldiers to know Yang Kai’s name.

Sweeping his gaze across everyone, Yang Kai nodded lightly, “It is this Yang. This place is not safe. Come with me!”

After gathering everyone, Yang Kai led them to the place where the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was hiding.

No one spoke on the way, and they soon arrived at a large Universe Fragment before finding the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s hiding spot and meeting up with Huang Xiong.

Noticing the group of Humans following Yang Kai, Huang Xiong was so happy that his eyes lit up as he asked, “Division Commander Yang, I sensed movement from a battle just now. Did you encounter enemies?”

When Yang Kai left in a hurry, Huang Xiong was cultivating inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s cabin.

He had previously sacrificed part of his Small Universe, so he needed time to cultivate if he wanted to restore his original strength. Of course, this was easier than the first time since he was just re-tracing a path he had already walked before.

He could sense the movement from the battlefield from here and wanted to head over to help, but he didn’t dare to leave this ship easily because he was the only other Eighth-Order Master present. If he left as well, Sun Mao and the others would have no way to defend themselves if a truly powerful opponent appeared.

Meanwhile, Yang Kai endured the sharp pain in his Soul and explained to Huang Xiong what had just happened.

After understanding the current situation, Huang Xiong turned to Lin Qi and the others before asking bitterly, “How is Primordial Pass…?”

Lin Qi’s eyes turned red as he quickly reported, “Primordial Pass has been defeated. The Old Ancestor died in battle, and countless of our Fellow Brothers and Sisters fell or were injured in the battle.”

Chapter 5443

“Besides you all, is there anyone else?” Huang Xiong asked next. He had guessed that Primordial Pass might be gone when he saw Lin Qi and the others in such condition, because if that wasn’t the case, a dozen Squads couldn’t be moving about in the void randomly instead of protecting the Great Pass, but when he heard Lin Qi’s confirmation, he still felt forlorn.

None of them knew how many of the 106 Human Great Passes had been destroyed.

Lin Qi solemnly shook his head.

He didn’t know if there were any other survivors in the neighbouring regions, as the situation at Primordial Pass was similar to that of Azure Void Pass. Both were chased after by the Black Ink Clan while retreating to the No-Return Pass, and in the end, Primordial Pass had no other choice but to split off and act as a diversion, resulting in its tragic fall. 

Everyone knew that those who stayed behind would not have pleasant ends, but with the Black Ink Clan hot on their tails, sacrificing a few to save the many was the only viable option.

On the day Primordial Pass fell, the Old Ancestor and several Eighth-Order Division Commanders died in battle, while Lin Qi and some others were ordered to scatter and try to escape. Since that day, they had been running and hiding.

At first, there were quite a lot of them, a couple thousand in fact, but after enduring repeated attacks from the Black Ink Clan just a dozen or so Squads remained, less than 200 soldiers in total.

They might have been wiped out today if they hadn’t coincidentally met Yang Kai. With three Innate Territory Lords working together and being supported by nearly 1,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers, just 200 Humans wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Do you know anything about the situation at the No-Return Pass?” Yang Kai asked while having a sinking feeling in his heart.

Lin Qi’s expression darkened, “The No-Return Pass was breached.”

“What!?” Huang Xiong yelled in shock.

[The No-Return Pass fell as well? The Dragon and Phoenix Clans were standing guard there, blocking the only passageway from the Black Ink Battlefield to the 3,000 Worlds. If the No-Return Pass has been breached, what is the current situation in the 3,000 Worlds!?]

Huang Xiong couldn’t bear to think further!

Meanwhile, Yang Kai sighed as he had vaguely guessed this was the case.

To be honest, he had already assumed such a result when he saw Lin Qi and the others here. If the No-Return Pass was still standing, how could Lin Qi and the others be wandering the void aimlessly? Even if Primordial Pass had fallen, they could have retreated to the No-Return Pass to battle against the Black Ink Clan alongside the other Great Passes. The only reason they had to not do so, was that the No-Return Pass had already been occupied

With two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods working together, as well some 100 Royal Lords and a massive Black Ink Clan Army, even if the No-Return Pass had the Dragon and Phoenix Clans standing guard and all the surviving Humans from the Great Passes had joined them, the situation would still be bleak.

Along the way here, Huang Xiong still held out hope that the No-Return Pass could block the Black Ink Clan’s advance, but now that he heard that the No-Return Pass had also been defeated, he fell into a daze.

It wasn’t because he lacked mental fortitude, but when he thought about the Black Ink Clan invading the 3,000 Worlds, the scenes he imagined in his mind were simply too terrifying.

At that instant, Huang Xiong didn’t know where he and the other soldiers in their group should go. Though they didn’t fear death, they could not just die for no reason by idiotically charging an enemy they had no hope of defeating. If they did, it would simply be a pointless sacrifice.

Yang Kai, who had already assumed such an outcome, composed himself more quickly before looking at Lin Qi and asking, “Did you see for yourself that the No-Return Pass has been breached?”

Shaking his head, Lin Qi explained, “Although I didn’t see it for myself, we sometimes send scouts to observe the No-Return Pass from afar. Currently, that place is engulfed in Black Ink Strength, and many dead Universe Worlds and Universe Fragments have been brought over by the Black Ink Clan on which they have planted an enormous number of Black Ink Nests. There were originally some signs of battle occurring there, but that was many years ago and now, there is only silence. If the No-Return Pass was still standing, it could not possibly be so quiet.”

Yang Kai nodded lightly. If there were still Humans at the No-Return Pass, they would no doubt be engaging in constant battle with the Black Ink Clan. Since there weren’t any disturbances coming from there, it meant that the situation at the No-Return Pass had settled.

The Black Ink Clan had conquered the No-Return Pass!

This was the worst news they could have received.

Now that the Black Ink Clan had conquered the No-Return Pass, they would definitely invade the 3,000 Worlds as that had been their goal for millions of years. Every Great Territory in the 3,000 Worlds was flourishing and had rich World Force with abundant resources.

The Black Ink Clan only had to conquer those Great Territories to be able to have a near-unlimited supply of materials that they could use at will. Also, there were countless Human cultivators there that could be turned into Black Ink Disciples.

If that were to happen, the Black Ink Clan could eventually gain enough strength to return to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to free Mo!

After a brief pause, Yang Kai suggested, “The most important thing now is to investigate the situation at the No-Return Pass. Even though it has been occupied by the Black Ink Clan, we still need to know what kind of garrison is stationed there.”

Their original plan had centred around the idea that the No-Return Pass was still in the hands of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans. In that plan, Yang Kai would lead Huang Xiong and the others to find a chance to pass the Black Ink Clan Army before rejoining the Human Race Army.

But now that the No-Return Pass was occupied by enemy forces, they could only try to return to the 3,000 Worlds.

If they wanted to return to the 3,000 Worlds, the No-Return Pass was a place they couldn’t avoid; therefore, they had to first learn about the forces of the Black Ink Clan stationed at the No-Return Pass.

Without needing to say anything, everyone understood that if the No-Return Pass had more than three Royal Lords, it would be impossible for them to return to the 3,000 Worlds.

If there were only two, perhaps they could still find a way.

Since Yang Kai had retrieved the corpse of Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor, he could use it in this situation.

Although the Old Ancestor had passed, his corpse could still be used to fight with the Black Ink Clan in some limited capacity, which was also his dying wish.

“Other than that, there might be more remnant soldiers like Brother Lin, so we have to think of a way to gather them together.”

They would only get a single chance to pass through the No-Return Pass and return to the 3,000 Worlds, so any survivors that they left behind on the Black Ink Battlefield would undoubtedly die at the hands of the Black Ink Clan sooner or later.

Moreover, the more allies they could gather, the better their chances of making it through were.

Lin Qi immediately nodded, “There must be quite a few. Over the years, we have come across some traces of large-scale battles and even felt the fluctuations from such fights. However, the void is too vast, so we don’t know where the others are hiding.”

At that moment, Huang Xiong finally came back to his senses and spoke up, “No matter where they are hiding, they must now be thinking about returning to the 3,000 Worlds, so there is a high possibility that they are monitoring the No-Return Pass, looking for an opportunity. As long as we can cause a commotion at the No-Return Pass, it wouldn’t be difficult to contact them.”

Yang Kai agreed, “Division Commander Huang’s idea has merit.”

Whether it was returning to the 3,000 Worlds or contacting the other remnant soldiers, the No-Return Pass was the key. With a rough plan set, everyone rested for a bit before heading towards the No-Return Pass.

During the time Lin Qi and the others had been hiding around the Black Ink Battlefield, they had suffered huge losses, and their resources were almost used up. The situation was so dire that their Warships were all on the brink of failing as they lacked the supplies to even repair them.

Now that they had met up with Yang Kai, they naturally needed to address this issue. Under Yang Kai’s direction, many Artifact Refiners and Array Masters worked together to repair those Warships. Then, they all received pills from Huang Xiong and began to recuperate.

Another month passed, and the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was passing by a shattered Universe World. With just a glance, Yang Kai could see the ruins of a vast city on that Universe World, all its structures and buildings destroyed beyond repair.

Although hundreds of years had passed, there were still signs of the intense battle which was fought here.

It was one of the Royal Cities, at the centre of which were the remains of a destroyed High-Rank Black Ink Nest.

Yang Kai retrieved his Universe Chart and compared it to their surroundings and determined that this was the Theatre where Nine Star Pass stood guard. 

This Royal City had already been destroyed before the Human Army departed on their second crusade. Now, there was no vitality left in the Royal City.

Since they had reached this place, it meant they weren’t much further from the No-Return Pass.

At first, they were hoping to encounter other groups of remnant soldiers like Lin Qi and the others, but along the way, not only hadn’t they met a single Human, they didn’t even encounter any Black Ink Clansmen. 

However, it made sense because now that the Black Ink Clan had successfully conquered the No-Return Pass, all their efforts would be focused on invading the 3,000 Worlds. How could they spare any significant manpower to deal with the remnant forces of the Human Armies on the Black Ink Battlefield?

Even if there were Black Ink Clansmen staying here, there wouldn’t be many of them.

After giving it a thought, Yang Kai vaguely felt that the Black Ink Clan might not have left too many troops at the No-Return Pass. The Human Army had retreated to the 3,000 Worlds, so it was meaningless for the Black Ink Clan to garrison a large force at the No-Return Pass. 

If that were true, their chances of passing through the No-Return Pass would go up significantly.

A few months later, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship arrived at the place where Nine Star Pass once stood. Of course, the Great Pass was no longer here, so all that was left was an empty void.

However, now that they had reached this place, they had to be even more cautious. Despite the fact that the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t leave too many soldiers at the No-Return Pass, that was only relative to the forces they sent to attack the 3,000 Worlds. It would not be surprising if there was still a sizable Army tasked with hunting down the remaining Human soldiers on the Black Ink Battlefield as well as guarding the No-Return Pass.

Just like they had anticipated, as they moved forward, they gradually encountered a few groups of Black Ink Clansmen ranging in size from just a few dozen, to several thousand. These groups seemed to be searching the void for something.

Yang Kai had arranged many arrays on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, which enabled it to move about unnoticed. As long as the Black Ink Clan didn’t pay much attention while searching, they wouldn’t be able to detect them.

The Black Ink Clan’s actions undoubtedly signalled that other Human soldiers were hiding around here. If not, there would be no need for the Black Ink Clan to be searching this region.

At this moment, the most troublesome issue was how to contact these other Human groups.

They continued for a few more months and were now getting close to the No-Return Pass.

A small asteroid drifted through the void, moving not too fast nor too slow as it gradually moved in the direction of the No-Return Pass.

Then, at some point, the asteroid stopped moving as if it were blocked by something.

The Purifying Black Ink Battleship was naturally nestled inside the asteroid, using it as an extra layer of cover to fool the enemy. As for how this asteroid could be steered, that was thanks to Yang Kai arranging some hidden Arrays on it which could be powered by the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

At this moment, Yang Kai was prepared to move out when Huang Xiong earnestly reminded him, “Be extra careful. There must be Royal Lords guarding the No-Return Pass.”

Yang Kai nodded, “You may rest assured, Division Commander Huang, I may have to trouble you to look after this place for some time. I’ll return as soon as I can.”

Finishing his words, he then dashed out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. After scanning his surroundings, Yang Kai shot straight towards the No-Return Pass. 

This place was about a month away from the No-Return Pass by Warship, so if they continued ahead, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship might not be able to remain undetected. In a situation where they didn’t know anything about their enemy, Yang Kai didn’t dare to let the Purifying Black Ink Battleship get too close to the No-Return Pass, lest they accidentally expose themselves.

Therefore, he and Huang Xiong had a quick discussion and decided that Yang Kai would head to the No-Return Pass alone. That way, he wouldn’t have anything holding him back and could fight or run according to the situation while probing for information.

Chapter 5444

This situation reminded Yang Kai of when he first arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield. 

Back then, he appeared right in the heart of the Black Ink Clan’s territory and had no choice but to pose as a Black Ink Disciple while following behind a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman.

He could vaguely remember the High-Rank Black Ink Clansman was called Nu Yan, a character who was too lazy to memorise his Human name, so he was just called E-5…

Besides him, there were also A-1, B-2, C-3, and D-4.

As he thought back on those days, Yang Kai felt like they were truly distant memories.

Adding on the time he had spent inside the various Temporal Rivers, those events happened some 5,000 years ago.

While he was disguising himself as a Black Ink Disciple beside Nu Yan, Yang Kai was unable to find a way to escape. Luckily for him, the Old Ancestor from Blue Sky Pass led an attack on the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Soon after the chaotic battle, Nu Yan was killed by Feng Ying, and Yang Kai gained his freedom.

Later on, he and Feng Ying gathered a large number of Black Ink Disciples, restored them to their senses, and killed their way out of the Black Ink Clan’s hinterlands as they headed towards Blue Sky Pass.

It was during those days that Yang Kai met Ning Qi Zhi, Qi Tai Chu, Shen Ao, and many others whom he went on to serve with.

Among those three, Qi Tai Chu and Ning Qi Zhi died in battle one after another, while Yang Kai wasn’t sure if Shen Ao was still alive.

Now, he needed to lead Huang Xiong, Lin Qi and the other remnant soldiers to make their way past the No-Return Pass, which largely resembled the situation back then.

The difference was that Blue Sky Pass was in the hands of their fellow Humans, while the No-Return Pass was now in the hands of the Black Ink Clan. Although his strength was many times stronger than back then, the level of danger this time around was even more exaggerated.

Being alone, Yang Kai was able to move rapidly and soon arrived outside the No-Return Pass.

This was the second time he had come here.

As he moved forward, his heart felt heavier because he couldn’t establish a connection with the Dragon Altar.

The Dragon Altar, or more specifically the Dragon Pool which was linked to the Dragon Altar, was the origin of the Dragon Clan, hidden in a mysterious place that others couldn’t find, much less access. Only when the Dragon Clan hosted the ceremony could the entrance to the Dragon Pool be opened for the Dragon Clan’s descendants to head inside and cultivate.

Since he couldn’t connect with the Dragon Pool, it meant that the Dragon Clan was no longer inside the No-Return Pass.

There were Black Ink Clouds all over the void, so Yang Kai used them to conceal his figure and aura as he closed in on his target.

It would be difficult for the Black Ink Clan troops coming to and fro outside to detect his existence.

Looking in the direction of the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai couldn’t see clearly because of the vast distance and numerous Black Ink Clouds impeding his vision; however, the situation was just as Lin Qi had said. The outside of the No-Return Pass was surrounded by Black Ink Strength, and there were numerous dead Universe Worlds moved here by the Black Ink Clan. Above those Universe Worlds were dozens to hundreds of Black Ink Nests, all densely packed in.

There were new Black Ink Clans constantly emerging from these Black Ink Nests and heading towards the No-Return Pass.

Outside the Black Ink Nests were many Black Ink Clansmen transporting resources to them.

The Black Ink Clan was spawning new soldiers in massive quantities, and Yang Kai had discovered many Universe Worlds along their way here that were completely mined out. Previously, there were still many unmined Universe Worlds floating in this stretch of the void, but they were now scarce because everywhere the Black Ink Clan Army passed, they would exploit every resource they came across.

After a moment of silence, Yang Kai raised his finger and gently wiped his left eye.

[Open!]

A golden cross appeared, and Yang Kai’s gaze passed through the dense Black Ink Strength and saw beyond them.

The next moment, he narrowed his eyes.

Right behind the blockade of the Black Ink Strength, he saw many Great Passes, at least 70 to 80 of them.

The Humans had 106 Great Passes, corresponding to the 106 Cave Heavens and Paradises other than the Dragon Altar and Phoenix Nest, which were special and unique.

During the crusade, all of these Great Passes gathered outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in the most powerful Human Army to have been assembled since the Late Ancient Era.

However, even this Army couldn’t defeat their enemy in the war outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. While retreating, a few Great Passes sacrificed themselves to divert the enemy’s attention, allowing the others to escape. Without exception, those Great Passes were destroyed far from here.

In the end, less than 80 Great Passes had reached the No-Return Pass.

Now though, every Great Pass was destroyed beyond recognition, while some were so broken that the only fragmented ruins remained.

Although Yang Kai hadn’t participated in that war, he could imagine what kind of earth-shattering battle the No-Return Pass had experienced just by looking at these broken Great Passes.

In such a battle, numerous Old Ancestors and Royal Lords had certainly died.

Now, those destroyed Great Passes were placed outside of the No-Return Pass and had become platforms where the Black Ink Clan placed their Black Ink Nests. Every one of the Great Passes had towering Black Ink Nests planted atop it.

Looking further inside, Yang Kai noticed that the No-Return Pass looked far different from before. There were traces of battle everywhere, and the Immortal Parasol Tree was gone.

It was impossible to tell whether the Immortal Parasol Tree was destroyed, or the Phoenix Clan had simply moved it; however, the latter was more likely as it was the very foundation of the Phoenix Clan. If the Immortal Parasol Tree was destroyed, the Phoenix Clan would be facing extinction, so no matter what, the Phoenix Clan would not allow such a thing to pass.

Behind the No-Return Pass was a massive Territory Gate which led to the 3,000 Worlds. When Yang Kai visited this place the last time, he didn’t pay much attention to this Territory Gate, but even a brief glance was enough to know there were numerous powerful restrictions placed around it, making it difficult to open.

But now, this Territory Gate looked like it had been torn open by an incredible force and transformed into what looked like a giant black hole in the void.

Moreover, Yang Kai could feel Space Principles pulsing from this black hole.

This was the portal through which the Black Ink Clan could invade the 3,000 Worlds!

Yang Kai felt his heart tighten, but he couldn’t see through the hole and investigate the situation at the 3,000 Worlds. They would need to kill their way past this place in order to do that. 

It had only been a bit more than 500 years since the war outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, where the Humans were defeated and forced to retreat to the No-Return Pass. Following that, another huge battle between the Humans and the Black Ink Clans must have occurred at the No-Return Pass before the Humans were defeated and retreated again.

Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been long since the Black Ink Clan began their attack on the 3,000 Worlds. Perhaps their attacks might have started about 200 years ago or even less.

In such a short time, the Black Ink Clan might not have advanced too much, so the Humans might still be able to fight back.

However, there was no use in thinking about such meaningless matters because the most important thing now was to lead Huang Xiong and the others to break through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade.

Also, Yang Kai wanted to gather all the remaining survivors from the Black Ink Battlefield!

After hesitating for a moment, Yang Kai’s eyes brightened. Originally, he was stealthily observing the No-Return Pass while carefully hiding from the Black Ink Clan, but now his gaze suddenly turned aggressive. 

The next moment, a strong Divine Sense suddenly came probing from the No-Return Pass.

It was a Royal Lord’s Divine Sense!

There were bound to be Royal Lords guarding the No-Return Pass, but no one knew exactly how many there were. Yang Kai’s goal right now was to figure that out, even exposing his position to do so.

Using his Eye Secret Technique to aggressively probe the situation at the No-Return Pass was also a type of provocation!

If it was any other Eighth-Order Master who dared to do such a reckless thing, they would simply be courting death; however, Yang Kai was not worried. Back when he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he had successfully escaped from the sheep-headed Royal Lord. Now that he had reached the Eighth Order, he had the capital to even fight a Royal Lord, so it wasn’t a big deal to him if a Royal Lord really came to find him.

Since he had attracted the Royal Lord’s attention, Yang Kai no longer bothered hiding himself and charged out of the Black Ink Cloud before heading in the direction of the No-Return Pass.

The Royal Lord seemed to have noticed this and the aura surged from his Divine Sense, clearly showing that he was enraged. If the distance between them hadn’t been so great, the Royal Lord would have used his Divine Sense to directly teach Yang Kai a lesson.

But across such a vast distance, while the Royal Lord could sense Yang Kai’s rough position, he couldn’t do anything about it.

Therefore, the Royal Lord directly withdrew his Divine Sense.

On the other hand, Yang Kai was vigorously moving forward and continuously increasing his aura, soon reaching a peak. Then, everywhere he passed, space shook, creating a massive disturbance that could be felt from extremely far away.

If he wanted to gather the other remnant soldiers, he would have to cause a commotion. Other than doing this, he didn’t have any means to contact the others.

Following the flaring of his aura, Yang Kai almost entirely turned into a bright shooting star that was openly charging towards the No-Return Pass.

From afar, a large Black Ink Cloud around the No-Return Pass churned as a troop of Black Ink Clansmen appeared with two Innate Territory Lords leading them. 

An Eighth-Order Human wasn’t an easy foe to deal with, which was why the Black Ink Clan decided to deploy two Territory Lords. In addition, there were thousands of Black Ink Clansmen, including quite a few Feudal Lords. Such a lineup was enough to deal with any known Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

Yang Kai’s actions angered the two Territory Lords, but also confused them.

They naturally knew that there were Humans still lurking on the Black Ink Battlefield, but after being hunted down by the Black Ink Clan for so many years, all of them acted stealthily, afraid of being discovered. None of the Black Ink Clansmen here had expected that there would be such a crazy Human.

The strange situation caused the two Territory Lords to act cautiously, carefully checking their surroundings in case other Humans were hiding nearby. These two continued to observe while instructing the thousands of Black Ink Clan soldiers under them to attack the enemy.

A moment later, sounds of battle echoed through the void. Sweeping out with his spear, Yang Kai killed a large number of Black Ink Clan soldiers. Even the Feudal Lords were slaughtered like helpless chickens by him.

The fight had only been going for a moment, but nearly 1,000 Black Ink Clansmen had been killed.

After making sure that there wasn’t an ambush nearby, the two Territory Lords couldn’t hold back their anger anymore and attacked Yang Kai from both sides. 

In an instant, Yang Kai was overwhelmed and was soon beaten to the point of spitting out blood. His aura had also dimmed greatly.

Seemingly not wanting to continue fighting, he found a chance to escape the Black Ink Clan’s siege and flew away from the battlefield.

The two Territory Lords naturally wouldn’t give up that easily, so they led their subordinates to chase after Yang Kai, but how could they have caught up with a Master of the Dao of Space? Less than an hour later, they had completely lost track of Yang Kai and had to return unhappily. 

After they reported everything to the Royal Lord, the latter frowned slightly.

The Black Ink Clan knew there were remnant Human soldiers around and had even killed off many of them throughout these few years, so they were certain that there weren’t many Eighth-Order Masters left.

The Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters were the backbone of the two Races Armies; after all, though Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Royal Lords were far stronger, there weren’t many of them. Thus, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords were the real mainstays of their respective forces.

That was why the Black Ink Clan would go all out to kill an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master whenever they appeared alone in order to weaken the Humans’ overall strength.

It was difficult for the Humans to produce new Eighth-Order Masters, so the more the Black Ink Clan killed, the weaker the Human Race would be. 

Therefore, besides the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that had retreated to the 3,000 Worlds with the main Human Army, there weren’t many Eighth-Order Masters scattered around the Black Ink Battlefield as most had already been killed.

Chapter 5445

Based on the information that the Black Ink Clan had, there were at most five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters remaining among the Human survivors, so the appearance of a never before seen Eighth-Order Master came as a bewildering situation to the Royal Lord.

However, he was in charge of overseeing the No-Return Pass and could not leave easily. Since his subordinate Territory Lords were unable to catch this Human, he had no choice but to set the matter aside.

After suffering such a loss, he believed that this Eighth-Order Human surely would not recklessly appear again.

But he was wrong…

The very next day, the same Eighth-Order Master came over again, charging in boldly towards the No-Return Pass with great momentum and an aura which seemed to indicate he hadn’t suffered any injuries at all.

From afar, this Human acted extremely provocative with his Divine Sense and also hunted down a good number of Black Ink Clan teams who were bringing back resources from the outside, robbing them of all their goods.

The Royal Lord was furious and reprimanded the two Territory Lords who were chasing him that day severely. According to their report, the Eighth-Order Human was severely injured after their beating and would not be able to show his face again in a short time.

Yet, just one day later, he showed up again.

If not for the trust he had in his subordinates, the Royal Lord would have seriously wondered if these two had been lying to him.

The two Territory Lords also could not keep their heads up after being chastised by the Royal Lord. At once, they vowed to bring their Armies to take the head of this Eighth-Order Master. So, once all their troops were gathered, together with three more Territory Lords, they left the No-Return Pass, splitting up so they could encircle him.

The Eighth-Order Human was seemingly unaware of their plans as he fought his way forward and engaged one of their groups for a time before the other suddenly swarmed him from the opposite side.

Flustered, the Human hurriedly fled.

Even as he fled, many Black Ink Clansmen were cut down, but the Eighth-Order Human also took numerous hits and coughed up blood incessantly. His condition could only be described as miserable.

However, the united efforts of five powerful Innate Territory Lords still lost him during the chase.

This Human looked half-dead, but he was still ridiculously quick. It was not known what sort of extraordinary Secret Technique he cultivated, but as soon as he noticed that something was wrong, a blood mist would explode from his body and he would then disappear without a trace.

The five Territory Lords returned to the No-Return Pass in disgrace, which naturally made the Royal Lord very unhappy. Still, the matter was already in the past, so what could they do now?

Everyone thought that the injuries of that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master were so severe that he must not be far from death. He surely had to find a place to recuperate and would not stir up any trouble again.

And yet… that was exactly what he did!

Just one day later, this Human showed up again, mighty as a dragon and fierce as a tiger, picking fights outside of the No-Return Pass and continuing to hunt down the Black Ink Clansmen bringing back recently mined resources.

All the Territory Lords were flabbergasted and even the Royal Lord himself had a vague feeling that something was not right.

After sustaining such heavy injuries, an Eighth-Order Master couldn’t recover back to peak condition in such a short amount of time. This could mean that his injuries were feigned, or… the Eighth-Order Human who came to pick a fight the other day was not the same person at all.

There was no way for his injuries to be faked though. No matter how strong an Eighth-Order Human was, they would not be able to emerge from an ambush of five Territory Lords unscathed.

That meant that there was a high possibility that it was a different person.

There were rumours of twins appearing on the Human side, or Human Masters who practiced some profound Illusion Techniques to disguise themselves as other people, but what was the point of doing that?

The Black Ink Clan couldn’t understand; however, the provocation of this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was hard to ignore, so each time, troops were deployed to surround him.

But each time, they returned empty-handed.

The Black Ink Clan started by mobilizing two Territory Lords, but that number continued to increase until a full 10 were sent out, even setting up a hidden ambush outside of the No-Return Pass. Despite taking such drastic measures, they were still unable to take down this annoying Human.

On one occasion, the Royal Lord was even prepared to set out himself, but as if the Eighth-Order Master could sense this, he quickly escaped, leaving the Black Ink Clan feeling frustrated as if they had thrown out a heavy punch only to hit the clouds.

In just one short month, the Eighth-Order Master with the same appearance made several dozen raids on the No-Return Pass, wiping out hundreds of Black Ink Clan mining teams. If they included the casualties incurred when they tried to encircle him, then as many as 50,000 Black Ink Clansmen had died at his hands in just one month, among which there was no lack of Feudal Lords.

The Territory Lords, on the other hand, were unscathed; however, the loss that they incurred from just one Human did no favours to their pride. All of them hated this Eighth-Order Human to the marrow of their bones, and anytime he dared to show his face, he was chased down by numerous Territory Lords and given a good beating!

The results of his plan thus far were just as expected. Yang Kai had no idea whether or not this would be effective, but the decisive factor to gain results was effort. There were surely some remnant Human soldiers observing the situation here, perhaps even hiding nearby, waiting for their chance to move.

However, with such a strong force in their way, it was simply impossible for these scattered Human soldiers to break through the blockade of the Black Ink Clan and return to the 3,000 Worlds.

With nobody to rally and lead them, they would die here sooner or later.

Yang Kai left some subtle hints each time he clashed with the Black Ink Clan, but he had no idea whether the Humans in hiding would pick up on them.

All he could do was hope they were smart enough.

Yang Kai could not be too obvious under the eyes of the Black Ink Clan. It would be truly foolish of him if he were to treat them as idiots.

So, from the start, he didn’t dare to reveal his true strength, only using the power of an ordinary Eighth-Order Master to deal with the Black Ink Clan’s encirclements before escaping at the last moment using Space Principles.

As for the Black Ink Clan’s suspicions that he had cultivated some sort of miraculous Escape Technique that made him burst into a cloud of blood mist, that was merely a show to cloud their eyes.

Yang Kai also didn’t dare to kill any of the Territory Lords because, if he were to expose such strength, the Royal Lord would not be able to sit still and would have to personally come out to eliminate him.

He worked hard to keep the situation manageable.

It was hard for Yang Kai to maintain this cycle as the injuries he sustained were not fake. It was true, after all, that he was being encircled by many Innate Territory Lords at once.

However, his restorative powers were so great that as long as his injuries were not critical, he would be able to recover rapidly, giving rise to the suspicion the Black Ink Clan had of him having a twin.

Outside of the No-Return Pass, two figures were lurking on a small shattered asteroid.

Both of them were only in the Seventh Order, but even though they both cultivated profound Secret Techniques that concealed their auras, they did not dare to approach the No-Return Pass too closely, lest they reveal themselves.

They had been hiding here for three days now after having recently changed their hiding spot several times in recent days. This was because the Black Ink Clan had now put up their guard and also increased the strictness of their patrols outside of the No-Return Pass due to the recent disturbance from their repeat uninvited guest.

The two Seventh-Order Humans had nearly been exposed on several occasions, but the absence of a Master among the patrolling Black Ink Clansmen allowed them to slip away each time.

At this moment, they were watching the Eighth-Order Division Commander being chased by the Black Ink Clan towards the depths of the void, soon disappearing from sight.

It was a scene that they had seen many times before as it was a performance that was put on almost every day.

After the No-Return Pass regained its peace, the two would quietly communicate with each other through their Divine Senses.

“Did you get a good look at which Division Commander that was?” The slightly older one of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters asked.

The younger one shook his head, “It was too far, I couldn’t see. What about Brother Zhou?”

The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master surnamed Zhou sighed, “Me neither.”

They were in a rather remote location, but with their mere Seventh-Order strength, they did not dare to spy on them too openly, so it was naturally difficult for them to get a complete picture of the situation.

What’s more, even if they could see the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s face, they might not be able to recognize him. There were many Division Commanders among the Great Passes, and they rarely interacted with any of them, so how could they recognize all of them?

After a moment’s silence, the Seventh-Order Master surnamed Zhou muttered, “There’s something strange about that Division Commander’s actions.”

The younger one nodded, “Indeed.”

His actions were so risky that the slightest mistake could mean death. Many times, they thought that this Division Commander was going to meet an unfortunate end; after all, the Territory Lords who chased him out from the No-Return Pass were quite numerous.

However, he would always escape and make an appearance the very next day.

His actions seemed meaningless and also quite dangerous, which was a fact that they found quite strange.

Even stranger than that, this Eighth-Order Division Commander always brandished his power recklessly, making it all but impossible to not notice him even from afar.

Even across such a great distance, these two would always sense this Eighth-Order Division Commander the moment he appeared.

If something seemed unusual, there must be some reason behind it. No Eighth-Order Division Commander was a fool, so there had to be a reason for his strange actions.

The Seventh-Order Master surnamed Zhou suddenly thought of something and said excitedly, “Brother Ge, is the Division Commander trying to tell us something?”

The Seventh-Order Master surnamed Ge also had the same suspicion for a time now and nodded, “Does Brother Zhou think so too?”

The one surnamed Zhou said, “If he’s trying to tell us something, the only logical conclusion is he is trying to gather us somewhere… He surely knows that there are other survivors like us monitoring the No-Return Pass, which is why he is taking the risk to show up here so that they could lead us to a gathering place.”

The one surnamed Ge was roused by his words, “Then, which direction does Brother Zhou think that Division Commander is trying to point towards?”

The one surnamed Zhou narrowed his eyes as he replied, “I don’t know if you noticed, but that Division Commander will most frequently escape in a certain direction each time he gets chased by the Territory Lords. Many times, he also moves in that same direction for unusually long periods of time.”

Certain things felt foggy if not mentioned, but once brought up, then it became simple and clear.

The two of them exchanged glances, then they turned their heads in unison to a certain direction. That was exactly the place where Yang Kai’s actions were pointing towards!

Both their spirits were lifted. After a brief exchange, they quietly snuck out of their hiding place and flew in that direction.

On a certain day half a month later, after escaping from the Territory Lords chasing him, Yang Kai landed on a certain asteroid, taking a break to recover.

A short while later, he took out a Space Beacon that served as a link between him and Huang Xiong.

He would basically take the Space Beacon out and communicate with Huang Xiong for a while whenever he was free to confirm the situation on the other side.

During these days, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship had been peaceful without any unusual occurrences.

Some Black Ink Clan teams were searching the area, but the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was so well hidden that these Black Ink Clan soldiers were unable to find anything.

However, just after taking the Space Beacon out today, he could feel Space Principles fluctuating. Clearly, Huang Xiong had been trying to get in contact with him.

Chapter 5446

Yang Kai raised his brow as the next moment, a jade slip appeared before him from the Void.

He reached out to grab it and immersed his Divine Sense into it, then he breathed a long sigh of relief.

His efforts during this period were finally showing results. The remnant soldiers lurking outside of the No-Return Pass were fortunately perceptive enough. On this very day, the first of the remnant soldiers found Huang Xiong and safely converged at the meeting point.

Considering how much time had passed, it was clear that there were some smart ones among the Human survivors. They had likely noticed the hidden signs he was giving them after appearing only a few times outside of the No-Return Pass; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to find Huang Xiong and the others so quickly.

These remnant soldiers were few in number, only several dozen or so. Enough only to form a few Squads; however, this was a good start.

If there was one group of them, then there had to be a second, and a third…

However…

Yang Kai felt that he was running out of time.

He had been doing this every day for more than a month, so if he continued to do so, his true intentions would probably be exposed. The Black Ink Clan were not complete fools after all. If they were able to see through his goal and where he was pointing towards, then things would not end well.

However, there was a bright spot in all of this.

There was only a single Royal Lord standing guard at the No-Return Pass.

Yang Kai had been worried that there would be too many Royal Lords at the No-Return Pass; but now, it seemed like he had been overly concerned.

Whether it be the battle outside of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction or the battle outside of the No-Return Pass, both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan must have suffered heavy casualties.

Royal Lords and Ninth-Order Old Ancestors too, were certain to have fallen.

Yang Kai did not know the overall situation of the Human Race, but he could be sure that the strongest Masters had been whittled down in numbers, with the Black Ink Clan not being better off.

In other words, for both Races, whether it be Royal Lords or Ninth-Order Old Ancestors, their numbers won’t be high. There should be several dozen of each in the best-case scenario.

The Black Ink Clan had already breached the No-Return Pass and invaded the 3,000 Worlds, so the Humans were bound to put their lives on the line to stop them. With the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors there to suppress them, the Royal Lords would not be able to leave as they please.

Under such circumstances, how could there be several Royal Lords standing guard at the No-Return Pass?

The fact that they left a single Royal Lord here was probably only because they knew the importance of the No-Return Pass. This was the only known entrance to the 3,000 Worlds from the Black Ink Battlefield. As far as the Black Ink Clan were concerned, they couldn’t afford to lose this place now that they had taken it; after all, they had to pass through here sooner or later to return to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to help Mo break free from its prison.

This was good news for Yang Kai.

If there was only one Royal Lord, then he would not have too many constraints. Not to mention that he had previously collected the body of Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor, which he could use to face such an enemy; even without it, he still had the capital to compete with a Royal Lord for a time on his own.

In the days that followed, Yang Kai would charge the No-Return Pass and provoke the enemy every now and then, pointing the way subtly each time. Even though he had no idea how many of the Human Race soldiers left behind would understand the message, he had to keep trying.

The Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass grew more and more irritable. The repeated raids made them hate this Eighth Open Master greatly. Worse yet, every time they thought that they had cornered him, the Eighth-Open Human would suddenly use his strange Escape Technique and disappear without a trace, which would unfailingly result in them, the Territory Lords, being chastised by the Royal Lord who berated them for their incompetence.

The more they were scolded, the more their hatred for Yang Kai grew.

On a certain day, Yang Kai was again picking fights outside of the No-Return Pass, drawing a dozen Territory Lords over with their troops to attack him. He swept back and forth, weaving in and out of the Black Ink Clan Army but avoiding the Territory Lords, only picking on the soft persimmons, felling countless Black Ink Clansmen with his Azure Dragon Spear.

All of a sudden, he felt a shocking murderous intent explode from within a certain Black Ink Cloud.

Immediately afterwards, Yang Kai saw a familiar imposing figure emerge from it, his fiery red hair billowing behind him as he held up a huge sabre with both hands.

Peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm might burst out as that sabre slashed down at a nearby Territory Lord.

“Die!” At the same time, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master howled, the large blade in his hand burst into flames, causing space itself to warp from the intense heat.

The Territory Lord who was caught by the saber light was shocked. Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to be ambushed here.

However, it wasn’t that the Black Ink Clan hadn’t been careful, just that Yang Kai had been fighting alone for such a long time without any help, so how could they anticipate being ambushed here today?

They were not the only ones who did not expect this situation though, as even Yang Kai did not anticipate this happening.

The sudden slash was the crystallization of the lifelong cultivation of a Peak Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. What’s more, this attack had clearly been channelled and prepared for a long time, so when it struck, even a powerful Innate Territory Lord was cut in half. 

Black blood spilled out and evaporated in the blazing heat left from the sabre strike.

This blow had exceeded the Eighth Order in terms of pure force, but it clearly caused an overdraft of the Master who used it, so after cutting down that Territory Lord, he froze in place, unable to move.

After the other Territory Lords recovered from their shock, how could they hold back? They all attacked this unmoving target with their Secret Techniques.

Seeing that his situation was about to become dangerous, Yang Kai swiftly retreated and put one hand on this unexpected ally’s shoulder, pulling him behind him as numerous Dao Strengths condensed onto his spear before he thrust it out.

The violent energy shook the void and blood trickled out from the corner of Yang Kai’s mouth and his body got struck.

Behind him, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master shouted, “Yang Boy, I came to help you! Let’s kill these bastards! Kill one to break even, kill two to gain a profit!”

Yang Kai choked down the fresh blood in his mouth and said through ground teeth, “In that case, I really should thank you.”

Making use of the force of the Territory Lords’ combined blow, Yang Kai retreated quickly while suffering from a great deal of discomfort.

Fortunately, the sudden loss of one Territory Lord had frightened the other Territory Lords, so they did not dare to chase after them right away for fear that there might be other ambushers nearby, just waiting for an opening to strike.

While the enemy was distracted, Yang Kai hurriedly left.

Before he got far, another figure came out of hiding and shouted at Yang Kai from a distance, “Brother Yang, take me with you! I don’t want to be left behind here!”

Yang Kai turned back his head, feeling so aggrieved that he was about to cough up blood again; however, he had no choice but to dart over to that side and bring along the figure that suddenly appeared.

However, this delay allowed the Territory Lords to compose themselves and chase after them.

Yang Kai desperately pushed his World Force as he fled.

If he was alone, then he could easily shake off his pursuers under this situation, but now, he had to bring along an Eighth-Order Master who was practically a lamp running out of oil and could do nothing but cackle with a smug look on his face, as if killing a single Innate Territory Lord made him invincible, and another Seventh-Order Master, too. How could Yang Kai escape quickly under such circumstances?

The Territory Lords behind them were gaining on them, constantly blasting Secret Techniques out in their direction, causing Yang Kai to stagger.

He threw his hand back and pulled the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master onto his back.

The Eighth-Order Master was shocked and gasped, “Yang Boy! I’ll die like this!”

With him on Yang Kai’s back, the first one to get hit by the attacks coming from behind would be him.

Yang Kai naturally acted as if he didn’t hear him.

Behind them, as another round of the Territory Lords’ attacks were about to reach them, Space Principles undulated and the trio disappeared.

After several uses of Instantaneous Movement, Yang Kai finally escaped his pursuers, but he did not dare to stop. He continued moving forward and it wasn’t until half a day passed that he found a place to hide.

After putting the two deadweights down, Yang Kai fell to the floor and sighed.

It had been quite the thrilling trip…

The Eighth-Order Master also wanted to relax on the floor, but as soon as he touched the ground, he jumped up again. Touching his back, he found it covered in blood and hurting like hell.

He suspected that Yang Kai put him on his back on purpose so he could use him as a shield…

On the other hand, the Seventh-Order Master bowed to Yang Kai, “Many thanks, Brother Yang, for this life-saving grace.”

Yang Kai looked at him, then at the Eighth-Order Master, getting furious at once and scolding, “Brother Gong, your Master doesn’t have a brain, but are you also lacking one? Why did you jump out like that? Were you trying to save me or harm me?”

The Seventh-Order Masters was none other than Gong Lian, whom Yang Kai knew well as he was the Legacy Disciple of the Great Evolution Army’s Southern Army Commander, Ou Yang Lie.

Gong Lian was a man of great aptitude and intelligence, his only fault was his lazy nature.

When Yang Kai was in the Great Evolution Army, he had the chance to interact with Gong Lian on several occasions, but every time he saw him, this guy always had a sleepy look on his face. Even in the Main Conference Hall, during important meetings that would decide the fate of the war, Gong Liang could still sleep while leaning against a pillar.

This time was different, however, as Gong Liang was wide awake, seemingly still in shock from his life being put on the line.

After being reprimanded by Yang Kai, Gong Lian only smiled awkwardly, too embarrassed to say anything.

Next to him, Ou Yang Lie naturally wasn’t happy and glared at Yang Kai, “Smelly Brat, how can you talk like that? What do you mean this Old Master doesn’t have a brain? Look!”

He patted his own head, “Can’t you see this Old Master’s big head?”

Yang Kai looked at him and could not help but think of Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun.

The two Big Heads had heads filled with strategies, whereas Ou Yang Lie’s hand was probably filled with water…

Yang Kai sighed a long sigh. One should not compare people lest they anger themselves to death!

Ou Yang Lie was indignant for a while, but then he was suddenly smiling again, “Brat, when did you advance to the Eighth Order? Your cultivation speed is really a sight to behold.”

Then, he turned to Gong Lian, “Damn Disciple, why don’t you learn from him? Yang Kai didn’t even advance to the Seventh Order as early as you, but now he’s already in the Eighth Order. What about you?”

Gong Lian pursed his lips and kept silent, acting like he heard nothing.

Ou Yang Lie tossed the matter to the back of his mind after scolding him. He then turned back to Yang Kai, “If this Old Master hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, then it’s simply hard to believe what happened. Back then, this Old Master even worried about you when you were chased out of the battlefield by that Royal Lord. I wondered whether or not you’d be able to survive and there had been no news all this while. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was worried sick about you.”

Many people had seen Yang Kai being chased by the Royal Lord outside of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction; however, the Old Ancestors were completely powerless to help. A few Eighth-Order Masters tried to offer assistance, but Yang Kai and the sheep-headed Royal Lord were both too fast, so they were only able to chase them for a while before losing track of them, forcing them to return to the battlefield and continue their fight against the Black Ink Clan.

Everyone who saw that scene thought that Yang Kai’s fate was surely going to be bad; after all, he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master being chased by a Royal Lord. So what if he was proficient in the Dao of Space? The gap in strength was so great that it was simply impossible for Yang Kai to escape.

However, when Ou Yang Lie saw Yang Kai again today, not only was the latter alive and well, but he even advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Ou Yang Lie was stunned, to say the least.

Chapter 5447

Ou Yang Lie had also been there to witness Yang Kai being chased by the Royal Lord. He also wanted to help Yang Kai, but he was outnumbered two to one back then. Being targeted by two Innate Territory Lords by force, he was unable to extricate himself and could only watch as Yang Kai was chased.

It had been 500 years since that event, but rather than dying like everyone expected, Yang Kai had actually advanced from the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Eighth-Order.

Ou Yang Lie could also sense from his perception that Yang Kai’s heritage as an Eighth-Order Master was both rich and sturdy, completely unlike someone who had just broken through. This filled him with many doubts. He had no idea how Yang Kai was able to shake the Royal Lord off, and what sort of opportunities he encountered.

Yang Kai originally had a stomach full of grievances. This was the final time he had planned to show up to guide the remnant Human soldiers. He never expected to see Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple halfway through, and for them to make such a mess of the situation. If his current strength had not grown far beyond what it was the last time they had met, they might all have fallen into a disastrous state now.

However, after hearing Ou Yang Lie’s words, Yang Kai really couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed at him.

Ou Yang Lie had used all of his strength to kill that Innate Territory Lord with one strike. In other words, that one blow had completely drained him, leaving him completely defenceless. Even a Feudal Lord could have killed him at that point.

It was a sneak attack to begin with, and Ou Yang Lie had brought out all his strength in a single Secret Technique. Only then was he able to cut down that Innate Territory Lord on the spot.

Otherwise, how could an Innate Territory Lord die so easily?

Even though what he did was rash, Ou Yang Lie had only done so because of the confidence he had in Yang Kai. He believed that Yang Kai could get him out of there; otherwise, he would not have put himself in harm’s way so easily even if he was a muscle-head.

Unfortunately, his actions burdened Yang Kai, who was forced to clean up after him and bring the Master and Disciple pair along to escape.

“Why is Senior Ou Yang here?” Yang Kai asked while tossing Ou Yang Lie a bottle of Spirit Pills. Huang Xiong and the others had run out of supplies after so many years of fierce battling, so Ou Yang Lie was likely in the same condition.

As expected, Ou Yang Lie’s eyes lit up at the sight of the healing pills. He took them, gulped them all down, then shut his eyes to adjust his breathing, but not before signalling to Gong Lian with his eyes, telling him to explain the situation to Yang Kai.

Naturally, Gong Lian obeyed, “We have been hunting around the outer periphery of the No-Return Pass all these years. Only, we normally stay a bit further away since we dare not venture too close. Some days ago, we received a report from one of our Squads about there being movements of Masters fighting at the No-Return Pass, but by the time they arrived, they were unable to find anything. After that, another few Squads vaguely felt movements over the following days, so Honoured Master led me over to see what was going on.”

It was quite coincidental since this was Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple’s first time coming over here to check on the situation, and the reason he had to bring Gong Lian was so that he could make use of Gong Lian’s unique ability.

Many years ago, when they were investigating the situation of the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass, Ou Yang Lie brought Gong Lian with him as he was able to spy on others without alerting as his perception was somehow untraceable. Naturally, it would not be different this time.

The two of them had only just hidden themselves for a short while before Yang Kai appeared, picking fights recklessly outside of the No-Return Pass.

Even more coincidentally, Yang Kai actually passed by where they were hiding while being chased by those Territory Lords.

How could Ou Yang Lie resist such a golden opportunity? Moreover, with the Territory Lords being so close, Ou Yang Lie wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t be discovered.

Since the possibility of being found was high, he naturally decided to seize the initiative. It was at the instant when Yang Kai passed by the Black Ink Cloud that the hiding Ou Yang Lie burst forth and cut down an Innate Territory Lord.

The actions of the Master and Disciple were as much a matter of necessity as they were a matter of coincidence and circumstance.

After hearing Gong Lian’s account, Yang Kai realized that he had mistakenly blamed Ou Yang Lie for acting recklessly, saying that this old fart should not be acting so brainlessly, lest he hurt the people around him and himself.

“Brother Gong, how is it that you’re still here and have not returned to the 3,000 Worlds? As far as I know, the vast majority of the Human Army managed to withdraw to the 3,000 Worlds other than a few remnants from the Great Passes that acted as a rear guard to delay the Black Ink Clan. Could it be that Great Evolution Pass was also…” Yang Kai’s heart jumped in worry.

Huang Xiong and the others were roaming around the Black Ink Battlefield because Azure Void Pass had fallen in battle. Stuck behind enemy lines, and with no way back, they instead chose to attempt to retrieve the bodies of the Old Ancestor and Azure Void Pass’ Core. 

If Great Evolution was also broken through, then that would mean that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had perished!

Yang Kai’s feelings grew heavy.

As if knowing his worries, Gong Lian hurried to explain, “It’s not as Brother Yang thinks. What remained of the Great Evolution Army after that war basically managed to return to the 3,000 Worlds, but as for us… Well, it’s an… interesting story.”

Saying so, he glanced at Ou Yang Lie, finding it difficult to speak.

Yang Kai could tell at a glance that it was Ou Yang Lie who messed something up.

As expected, Ou Yang Lie opened his eyes and said, “There’s nothing much to be said about it. When the Human Race Army lost the battle outside of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the Old Ancestors gave the order for us to retreat to the No-Return Pass to regroup with the Dragon and Phoenix Clans so we could make a stand against the Black Ink Clan. Many battles were fought and both sides incurred heavy casualties. This Old Master led the troops across the battlefield, but our ranks were unfortunately splintered by the Black Ink Clan Army and were unable to reach the No-Return Pass in time. We had no choice but to take in the other survivors and become drifters after that.”

In the heat of the battle, Ou Yang Lie probably couldn’t be bothered to care about something like a fleet formation either. He led his Army forward boldly, but that also allowed the Black Ink Clan to cut them off.

Yang Kai was relieved after finding out what happened.

The fall of the No-Return Pass was something that happened only about 200 years ago, and Ou Yang Lie was seemingly able to gather some helping hands in this period. Only, just like with Huang Xiong, they were all remnant soldiers. The numbers Ou Yang Lie managed to gather up were actually higher than Huang Xiong’s side. Over the years, he was able to assemble a considerable force, almost 3,000. There were even two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Masters in their group. Besides Ou Yang Lie, there was another called Fei Yuan Long, but he did not come with them this time.

They did not dare to provoke the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass; after all, a Royal Lord was overseeing the situation, so the only thing they could do was roam around outside, but they were still relatively successful, killing a considerable number of Black Ink Clansmen.

Yang Kai picked many fights outside of the No-Return Pass over the past one and a half months, subtly guiding the remnant Human soldiers. If Gong Lian could have observed it a few more times, then he would surely be able to catch the hint with his wits. Then, he only had to follow the directions to find Huang Xiong and the others.

Only, his whereabouts were exposed the very first time he came to investigate with Ou Yang Lie, so where would he find the time to ponder Yang Kai’s actions?

“Brother Yang, have you also been drifting about these years?” Gong Lian asked out of curiosity.

Yang Kai sighed, “It’s a long story.”

After that, he gave them a brief account of what he told Huang Xiong, causing Gong Lian’s eyes to flash.

He had heard about the legendary Temporal Rivers before, but even his Honoured Master Ou Yang Lie has never come across one before, so how could he have? Honestly, Gong Lian thought it was just an old folktale, never actually expecting them to really exist.

Such a good thing caused Gong Lian to wonder if he would also have a chance to cultivate in those Temporal Rivers, and how fast it would allow him to increase his cultivation?

However, on second thought, the time spent inside of the Temporal Rivers was real, only passing by faster than in the outside world. That was the reason why it was called the cultivation shortcut for those in the Open Heaven Realm.

At the end of it all, even with a Temporal River, one’s effort was still required for results.

Thinking of all the work that would take, Gong Lian immediately lost interest…

On the other hand, Ou Yang Lie gave great importance to the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and asked many questions about it. Naturally, Yang Kai answered all his questions one by one. When he heard that Yang Kai had marked out a path back to the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon so he could still find it in the future, Ou Yang Lie did not reserve any compliments on his meticulousness.

After finding out that there were other remnant soldiers with Huang Xiong from Azure Void Pass, Ou Yang Lie could no longer sit still.

He was unwilling to live out the rest of his life running and hiding as he had for these past 200 years, but he had no other choice and his own circumstances made him feel very bitter. If he wasn’t so vexed at his situation, he might not have cut down that Territory Lord so decisively when the chance presented itself.

Now, there was a possibility of breaking through the No-Return Pass and returning to the 3,000 Worlds to rejoin the Human Army, how could Ou Yang Lie stand to delay?

But even though his injuries were not serious, that attack earlier drained all of his World Force, and he was barely able to recover some of it even after recuperating for a few days.

Even so, he immediately led Yang Kai towards the base where he and his group were hiding. After gathering everyone, they set out to converge with the remnant soldiers from Azure Void Pass.

In an instant, the strength of the remnant army surged. The army that originally had less than 1,000 troops swelled to more than 4,000. The only complaint would be the small number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters they had. Currently, they only had four, including Yang Kai, which for 4,000 soldiers really wasn’t much.

They were in no hurry to act though; after all, there were far too many variables if they were to launch an attack on the No-Return Pass. They could not act with confidence unless they did some proper planning beforehand.

Moreover, Yang Kai wanted to wait a while longer. Perhaps some other survivors caught on to his clues and would be coming to join them soon.

While the Remnant Army plotted their course, the Black Ink Clan of the No-Return Pass finally found some long-awaited peace and quiet.

That Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master finally stopped showing up.

Even though another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master suddenly showed up the last time and even killed an Innate Territory Lord, causing the Black Ink Clan to lose all face, it was still better than being teased like monkeys on a daily basis.

Thus, the Territory Lords rejoiced.

However, another thought came to mind. What was there to be happy about? During the days when that Eighth-Order Master stirred up trouble outside of the No-Return Pass, the total number of Black Ink Clansmen who died at his hands was approaching the 100,000 mark. Just the fallen Feudal Lords alone numbered over 1,000.

Even though they would beat him till he spat blood every time and made him look utterly miserable, nobody had any idea how hurt he truly was.

The result was so frustrating that the Territory Lords all vowed to themselves that if they ever saw that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master on the battlefield again, they would surely take good care of him.

The Black Ink Clan did not give up on their search either. Large numbers of search parties were sent out to try to locate that Eighth-Order Human, but they all came back empty-handed. Even if there were any who discovered him, they simply never returned to give a report.

At the hiding place of the Human Remnant Army, over the following month a continuous stream of Human soldiers gathered after understanding Yang Kai’s hints.

The Remnant Army now numbered around 5,000, but they still only had four Eighth-Order Masters among them.

A single Purifying Black Ink Battleship could not fit so many soldiers. At the very most, a Purifying Black Ink Battleship could only hold a maximum of 1,500 soldiers.

However, they were unable to find a second Purifying Black Ink Battleship as the war with the Black Ink Clan had been extremely intense, to the point that even Great Passes were destroyed. Most of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were blasted to dust, so it was really a miracle to find a Purifying Black Ink Battleship that was only half-ruined in the ruins of Azure Void Pass.

Chapter 5448

Yang Kai had been dizzy with work during these days.

Since they had to attack the No-Return Pass, they naturally had to be prepared.

Warships needed to be repaired, and all sorts of Spirit Pills had to be refined. As the saying went, before the troops move, fodder and provisions must be prepared.

Yang Kai had exceptional attainments in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and the Array Dao, so out of all the people present, he naturally became the busiest.

Preparations took two years to complete, and in these two years, Yang Kai had been so busy that he practically never stopped in one place for even a moment. Even though his cultivation was now in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he still turned haggard from overwork.

Most of his energy was expended on repairing Warships. All the remaining ships of the Human Squads were on the verge of falling apart.

Their charge into the No-Return Pass was going to be extremely dangerous, so without the protection of Warships, the casualties among the remnant soldiers would be atrocious at best. So, during these two years, every Warship was carefully repaired so that it could provide the maximum amount of protection during the life-or-death battle to come.

Finally, all the preparations were in place.

The 5,000-strong Remnant Army had been reorganized into four extra-large Divisions, with the four Eighth-Order Masters becoming the Commanders of each Division.

In addition, they spent a lot of time planning for the various scenarios they would face once the attack began, trying to account for every contingency.

The Remnant Army gathered at their hiding spot, equipped and ready to depart. Even though it was quiet, the murderous aura clearly showed each person’s determination.

After leaving here, they would either break through the No-Return Pass and return to the 3,000 Worlds, or die trying.

Among the four Eighth-Order Masters, Ou Yang Lie was the most senior, so he should have been the one to come forward and give a speech to boost the Army’s morale, but as usual, he ended up thinking that it was too troublesome when it came time to do it and discarded the long speech he prepared. Grinning menacingly, he simply raised his fist and roared, “Alright boys and girls, let’s go and fuck those bastards up!”

Gong Lian could not help but facepalm, looking as if he had a headache.

The effect was somewhat unexpected, however, as the morale of the Remnant Army really soared and they all cheered in unison.

They had been extremely vexed after being forced to run and hide for so many years, watching their Fellow Brothers and Sisters die along the way. They would rather die fighting, trying to make their way home, than keep hiding like this, living like rats in the mud, never to see the light of day again.

The Army set out!

At the forefront was the Purifying Black Ink Battleship where Yang Kai personally assumed command. To his left was Huang Xiong, to his right Fei Yuan Long, and Ou Yang Lie brought up the rear.

Fei Yuan Long was the last of the Eighth-Order Masters, and also another old veteran Eighth-Order Master who was no less powerful than Ou Yang Lie.

If they had to compete, then among the four Eighth-Order Masters, the weakest one would actually be Huang Xiong; after all, he was forced to sacrifice part of his Small Universe. Even though he had received a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit from Yang Kai and managed to repair that damage, it would still take many years for him to restore his strength back to its peak.

The current Huang Xiong was stronger than a newly-advanced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but still far from reaching the strength of a true veteran.

The Remnant Army’s hiding place had changed several times over the past two years, and now they were a three-month journey by Warship from the No-Return Pass.

The first month was uneventful; however, they began to encounter Black Ink Clan squads one after another in the following month. No Territory Lords were overseeing these patrols, and each of them was quite small in number, so there was no need to mention what happened to them.

The further they advanced though, the more Black Ink Clansmen they encountered.

These Black Ink Clansmen were mostly patrolling around the No-Return Pass’ periphery or returning from the outside with freshly mined resources.

One or two teams going missing would not be enough to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan’s higher-ups, but as the numbers grew, the unusual situation was naturally detected by the Black Ink Clansmen at the No-Return Pass.

After some brief discussion, a few Territory Lords assembled their Armies and set out to investigate the situation.

With only 10 days to go before arriving at the No-Return Pass, the Human Remnant Army encountered their first Territory Lord. From the Purifying Black Ink Battleship that he oversaw, Yang Kai was able to detect the Territory Lord’s aura from afar; however, the other party was only able to detect them after approaching to within a few hundred thousand kilometres.

Yang Kai had arranged an Illusion Array on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, so why would he not equip the other Warships with them?

As long as the enemy didn’t get too close, and didn’t check too carefully, these arrays were enough to conceal the movements of the Remnant Army, making it difficult for the Black Ink Clan to spot them.

When he saw such a large force of Humans coming towards him, the Territory Lord was shocked and ordered his subordinates to block them. At the same time, he turned around, preparing to head back to the No-Return Pass to report this troubling development.

However, as soon as he turned around, he saw a young Human standing silently behind him, giving him an icy glare.

The Territory Lord paled as he had no idea how this Human managed to get behind him without him even noticing.

However, he recognized the other party at a glance. It was the same young Human male who had constantly provoked them outside the No-Return Pass a few years ago. He had crossed blades with this Human countless times and even forced him to cough up blood by joining hands with the other Territory Lords.

For two years, this Human had disappeared, so the Territory Lord never thought he would see him again on this day, leading such a large Human Army no less.

Having fought with Yang Kai before, he more or less understood his strength, so how could this Territory Lord be careless? He immediately charged at Yang Kai as his Black Ink Strength surged, condensing into a giant palm that covered the sky as he roared, “Scram!”

He was not in the mood to get tangled up with this fellow right now. An Army of Humans had appeared just a few days away from the No-Return Pass; this matter had to be reported as soon as possible.

The Territory Lord was stunned,  however, to discover that his opponent remained completely indifferent to his attack. The annoying Human simply summoned his spear and unleashed a flurry of thrust at him. After exchanging blows for just two breaths, the Territory Lord was flabbergasted.

After not seeing this Human for two years, his strength had somehow increased to a ridiculous degree. Mysterious powers spread out and intertwined, giving the Territory Lord the illusion that he was caught in a large net, and each fibre of that net contained Heaven-destroying, Earth-shattering power.

While Yang Kai fought with the Territory Lord, the Squad Warships on both sides of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship also unleashed a powerful barrage from their artifacts and arrays. In just one volley, they tore apart the Black Ink Clan Army, and with swift movements, the four Divisions closed in, ensuring not a single Black Ink Clansman was able to escape.

Ou Yang Lie originally planned to move to assist Yang Kai, but before he could even head over, he saw Yang Kai’s spear sweep across the Territory Lord’s waist from a distance. At once, the other party’s abdomen caved in as black blood splashed out violently.

Yang Kai thrust his spear out again, piercing through the Territory Lord’s chest. With a fierce explosion of power, the latter’s insides were thoroughly mangled.

Before his death, the Territory Lord gawked at Yang Kai incredulously, seemingly unable to understand how this Eighth-Grade Open Heaven Realm Master had become so overwhelming in just two years.

Yang Kai flicked his spear, causing the Territory Lord’s corpse to burst into a blood mist.

Immediately after, he returned to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and ordered, “Move out!”

The four Divisions of the Remnant Army reorganized themselves and continued forward; however, every soldier who saw the battle earlier had their spirits lifted.

A powerful Innate Territory Lord had been cut down just like that!

They had never seen such a decisive victory before.

Even Ou Yang Lie and the two other Eighth-Order Masters felt their hearts pounding.

Yang Kai seemed strong to an absurd degree!

Huang Xiong and the others were not too familiar with Yang Kai, but Ou Yang Lie had more contact with him and knew that Yang Kai was able to crush those in the same Realm when he was in the Seventh-Other. Back then, against Feudal Lords, Yang Kai was basically able to kill them with a single blow.

Ou Yang Lie had thought that even if Yang Kai found an opportunity to advance into the Eighth Order, he would not be able to retain such an overwhelming advantage like he had in the Seventh Order, but with the strength Yang Kai had just shown, he was on the path of crushing his peers again.

Two years ago, Ou Yang Lie had also killed an Innate Territory Lord with a single slash, but that had been in a sneak attack and had cost him all his World Force. After that, he was completely unable to fight, which was very different from Yang Kai’s case today.

It was no wonder why he had the guts to provoke several Territory Lords at once outside the No-Return Pass. It turned out that he was strong enough to ignore them.

Yang Kai had not even reached the peak of the Eighth Order yet, so Ou Yang Lie was suddenly looking forward to how he would be once he reached that height. Maybe… he might really be able to kill an Innate Territory Lord in a single blow without suffering any injuries!

Yang Kai was wounded this time when he killed that Territory Lord, likely because he wanted to end the fight quickly and was willing to suffer a bit in exchange for speed.

However, those injuries were all internal, so outsiders were not able to see them.

The Remnant Army were unable to approach the No-Return Pass unnoticed in the end, which was something that they had expected.

The Illusion Arrays on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and the Warships were not powerful enough to allow them to go unnoticed under the determined search of the enemy.

Just three days out from the No-Return Pass, the Remnant Army was finally fully exposed.

The No-Return Pass was naturally stunned, unable to figure out how the Humans could still have an Army of this size on the Black Ink Battlefield.

They knew about Human survivors, but they were all scattered about and of no threat to them; however, when they saw such an Army approaching, they had no choice but to take them seriously.

Once the news was reported, the Royal Lord overseeing the No-Return Pass personally came out to investigate the situation, but when he had got a look at the lineup of the Human Army, he just snorted. They dared to come and pick a fight with just four Eighth-Open Heaven Realm Masters? It was no different from suicide in his opinion.

The forces guarding the No-Return Pass were not large, but they still had a Royal Lord and some 20 Innate Territory Lords. The Black Ink Clan garrison here also numbered at least a million, with many more constantly being spawned and sent to the 3,000 Worlds.

This was not something a mere Remnant Army of a few thousand Humans could challenge.

Seeing the Remnant Army led by a huge Warship, constantly approaching the No-Return Pass, the Royal Lord became furious and ordered his Territory Lords to assemble their Armies and meet them in battle.

Under the Royal Lord’s order, the Territory Lords did not dare to delay for a moment. At once, 10 Territory Lords mobilized along with a 300,000-strong Army, showing the importance they attached to this battle.

They themselves knew that the Black Ink Battlefield would be completely under their control after this battle. They would no longer have to worry about being harassed by these Human remnants. The supply convoys would also no longer be intercepted, and they could focus all their attention on invading the 3,000 Worlds.

10 Territory Lords stormed out of the No-Return Pass with great momentum, a massive Black Ink Clan Army at their back exuding unconquerable might.

Under their command, the 300,000-strong Black Ink Clan Army quickly formed a semi-circle that surrounded the Human Army.

It seemed from this arrogant gesture that they meant to take down the 5,000 Humans in one fell swoop.

Instead of being frightened by such a disparity in numbers though, the Humans all lifted their weapons and prepared to meet the enemy.

This was only natural; after all, they had already experienced far too many battles like this.

To fight as 1,000 against 10,000, which Human soldier had not experienced that before?

Only, the Humans were indeed meagre in strength, and the number of Eighth-Order Masters were less than usual for an Army this size with only four in total.

However, what did they have to fear about the trivial Black Ink Clan?

They would still fight to the death!

Chapter 5449

The two Armies rapidly approached each other, exuding turbulent killing intent.

At a distance of 1 million kilometres, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship acting as the vanguard began its attack. The many arrays arranged around the Purifying Black Ink Battleship hummed and the artifacts at their core lit up, turning into streams of colourful light that cut through the void, illuminating the outside of the No-Return Pass into a glorious light display.

Each burst of light carried terrifying killing power with it and soon exploded amidst the Black Ink Clan Army, clearing out large regions of space.

The Remnant Army’s only Purifying Black Ink Battleship was brought out from Azure Void Pass, and it could be said to contain the remaining essence gathered from the entire Great Pass, so its might was several times stronger than an ordinary Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

The 1,000 or so Human soldiers stationed aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship were essentially all there to power the excessive number of Arrays installed on its hull.

Before the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was breached, they did not need to head out to fight the enemy hand to hand, they only needed to activate the various Arrays and rely on the might of the artifacts.

Not once had a Purifying Black Ink Battleship appeared with such a luxurious loadout before.

The first round of attacks came as a shock to the Black Ink Clan and the 10 Territory Lords instantly realised that this Purifying Black Ink Battleship was different from the others.

They had also seen the Humans’ Purifying Black Ink Battleships before, but what they saw in the past could hardly compare to the might of the Warship before them now.

So, after a brief discussion, five of the Territory Lords charged straight at the Purifying Black Ink Battleship under the cover of their subordinates.

Regardless of where this Remnant Army came from, they seemed to be heavily reliant on this Purifying Black Ink Battleship, so as long as they could finish it off, the Human’s strength would be greatly reduced, leaving the enemy at their mercy.

With the combined strength of five Innate Territory Lords against only one Eighth-Order Master standing guard aboard the battleship, it was practically impossible for them to fail.

Soon, with the sacrifice of their subordinate Black Ink Clansmen, the five Territory Lords were able to close to a distance of 100,000 kilometres from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. From this distance, the Innate Territory Lords could fully exert their strength against this Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

However, before they could make their moves, a stream of light suddenly emerged from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master overseeing the battleship actually charged out to meet them.

The Territory Lords all had sharp vision and excellent memory, so they could naturally tell at a glance that this was that Eighth-Order Human Master who had constantly picked a fight with them outside of the No-Return Pass two years ago.

Similar to the Territory Lord who was cut down by Yang Kai previously, these five greatly underestimated Yang Kai’s strength, thinking that he was only uniquely gifted at escaping and not really that strong.

So, none of the five Territory Lords put this man’s charge to heart. Instead, they each gathered their strength, intending to blast apart this arrogant Human together with the Purifying Black Ink Battleship!

However, the Eighth-Order Human’s figure suddenly blurred and disappeared from their sight.

The next moment, three Territory Lords howled in pain as if they had been subjected to some unbearable torture, their faces twisting in agony.

In an instant, three powerful Innate Territory Lords were rendered helpless.

The remaining two had no idea what happened to their companions, but they were too shocked to even react. They had sensed a surge of Spiritual Energy just now, but they had no idea what took place.

Before they could check on the condition of their companions though, the soldiers on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship who had received Yang Kai’s instructions ahead of time activated all of the Offensive Arrays and fired in the three disabled Territory Lords’ direction.

If these three had been at their peak, then such an attack would not have been much of a threat to them; however, with their Souls being torn into at this moment, they were in a heavily dazed state and unable to react promptly.

The Purifying Black Ink Battleship had hundreds of arrays installed, and all of them shot at once in three directions, completely enveloping the enemy Masters. Each Territory Lord was exposed to two to three hundred attacks, each of which was at least equivalent to the full-powered blow of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, with a dozen or so of them even being comparable to the strength of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

It was as if the entire void had been torn apart in an instant!

The violent tidal wave of energy not only forced the Black Ink Clan Army back, but even the Purifying Black Ink Battleships’ shields flickered furiously as they were hit by the shockwaves from the close-range explosions.

Amid this chaos, three powerful auras were extinguished.

The three targeted Innate Territory Lords died just like that!

As the dust settled, Yang Kai reappeared and swept his spear out at the two remaining Territory Lords.

The veins on his forehead were throbbing and both his eyes had gone bloodshot. The indescribable feeling of pain coursing through his body made him feel as if his Soul was being torn apart, but he still grit his teeth and endured, channelling his pain into a furious onslaught of attacks.

10 Territory Lords led a 300,000-strong Black Ink Army, while the Humans only had four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters commanding 5,000 soldiers. The odds were not in the Humans’ favour, to say the least.

So, no matter what, the gap in strength had to be reduced.

At such moments, the Soul Rending Thorn was the best card Yang Kai could play.

From his experience killing the sheep-headed Royal Lord, Yang Kai knew the limits of his Soul. If he were to use the Soul Rending Thorn four times at once, his consciousness would blur to the point where he was no longer able to think rationally just like last time.

He was lucky back then and continued fighting on pure instinct despite blacking out, even managing to kill the sheep-headed Royal Lord in the end, but Yang Kai could not even remember how he accomplished that. He only knew that he had brought out his Dragon Bead since he noticed it was damaged when he inspected his wounds after the battle.

Only by attacking with his Dragon Bead was Yang Kai able to kill a Royal Lord as it was his most powerful trump card.

However, he wouldn’t always be so lucky. So, Yang Kai only used three Soul Rending Thorns this time, targeting three Territory Lords.

This was complemented by a powerful attack from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, which felled the three Territory Lords in one swoop as he expected.

After such an opening move, Yang Kai could just barely manage the remaining two.

The two surviving Territory Lords were both in a state of shock after the instant deaths of their three companions, so they put almost all their strength into defending themselves lest they follow in the footsteps of their companions, which gave Yang Kai an easier time dealing with them.

The fight started so furiously that it vastly exceeded the expectations of the Black Ink Clan.

They had originally planned for the five Territory Lords to surround and attack the Purifying Black Ink Battleship while the remaining five would deal with the other three Eighth-Order Masters, which should have been enough to keep the Humans pinned down. However, the five who were supposed to deal with the Purifying Black Ink Battleship had instantly failed.

The fall of three Territory Lords not only left the remaining two at the enemy’s mercy, it also completely astonished the other five.

Ou Yang Lei and the others were stunned at Yang Kai’s methods, but they also knew that they could not waste the momentum that Yang Kai built up for them and immediately led their troops towards the Black Ink Clan while they themselves engaged the other five Territory Lords.

One by one, lights shot out from the Squad Class Warships.

5,000 against 300,000, yet the Black Ink Clan Army was clearly on the back foot, constantly retreating towards the No-Return Pass.

The dissipation of auras could constantly be felt. The Black Ink Clan’s casualties were innumerable, but Warships were beginning to explode on the Human side, leading to the collapse of Small Universes.

However, no one mourned at this moment. Every Human soldier knew that this would be a steep uphill battle. If they did not break through the blockade of the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass, then they would end up wandering the Black Ink Battlefield until the day they died, never again having the opportunity to return to the 3,000 Worlds to rejoin the main Human Army.

At the central vanguard, Yang Kai fought two Innate Territory Lords alone. Borrowing the momentum from the first attack that left the two Territory Lords hesitant, he was able to gain an absolute advantage.

Right now, even though the heritage of his Small Universe was not much stronger than when he just walked out from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, Yang Kai’s overall combat strength had increased significantly.

For him, his encounters with the Territory Lords had allowed him to hone his skills and develop a far better control over his own power, especially his many Dao Strengths. He was also constantly gaining new insight into these various Grand Daos whenever he used them in battle.

The Soul Warming Lotus constantly emanated a feeling of coolness that soothed his damaged Soul, slowly stabilizing his state of mind.

Seizing this opportunity, Yang Kai opened up some distance from his enemies and executed a Secret Technique.

In a flash, a Golden Crow cried out and a Great Sun rose.

In the next moment, a cold Full Moon manifested as well.

The Sun and Moon orbited around Yang Kai, exuding the mysteries of Time and Space.

A profound power fluctuated forth as the Sun and Moon spun in a kaleidoscope of light. The vast void was filled with Space-Time Strength, making it seem as if time was standing still when viewed from the outside while Space froze in place.

A large swath of the void seemed to be cut off from the rest of the Universe by some strange force.

Yang Kai widened his eyes and stared carefully.

The last time he used his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel, he saw something unusual. At that time, his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel seemed to shatter the Space-Time continuum, allowing him to see fragments of the future.

In one of those flashes, Yang Kai saw himself holding the severed head of the sheep-headed Royal Lord as countless Black Ink Clansmen surrounded him, seemingly in worship, but were in fact encircling him to kill him.

But this time… he was unable to see anything.

Still, the might of the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel did not decrease in the slightest. In fact, it had even become slightly stronger than before.

This Secret Technique could be considered one of Yang Kai’s strongest methods right now and was far less risky than the self-harming attack of his Dragon Bead. Even the sheep-headed Royal Lord at that time had suffered when struck by this Secret Technique, so nothing need be said about two flustered Innate Territory Lords.

It was just a flash before the frozen void seemed to return to life, but in that instant, the huge region of space that flowed with Yang Kai’s Space-Time Strength seemed to have passed through millions of years.

As Space and Time re-aligned, all the Black Ink Clansmen within that region of the void, whether it be the Territory Lords or the regular Black Ink Clan soldiers, all of them disintegrated into a cloud of Black Ink Strength, disappearing without a trace.

The five Innate Territory Lords who initially targeted the Purifying Black Ink Battleship had all died!

A single Sun and Moon Divine Wheel massacred 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen in an instant!

The morale of the Humans soared while the Black Ink Clan was horrified.

There was not one of them whose eyes were not filled with terror. 10 Territory Lords came out to meet the Humans in battle, yet mere moments into the fight, half of them had already been killed. 

Was that really an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?

When did Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters become so powerful?

They weren’t the only ones who were terrified, even the Territory Lords who remained inside of the No-Return Pass shivered in fright as they witnessed this.

The Royal Lord overseeing the No-Return Pass was in a state of disbelief.

There were four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the enemy Army, but while three could be disregarded since they fell within the limits of what an ordinary Eighth-Order Human should be capable of, the one who commanded the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was so powerful that it was hard to wrap one’s mind around.

The Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities this Human unleashed were so astonishing they didn’t even seem possible.

After debating for a moment, the Royal Lord came to a decision.

He could not allow such a Human to live; otherwise, if he were left to grow and one day reach the Ninth Order, would he not then be able to cut down Royal Lords like he was chopping fruits or vegetables?

Currently, the Black Ink Clan did not have many Royal Lords left among their ranks; otherwise, he would not be the only one overseeing the No-Return Pass.

Chapter 5450

With his mind made up, the Royal Lord made his move, turning into a cloud of Black Ink Strength that rapidly approached the battlefield.

Yang Kai had been weakened at this moment. Releasing three Soul Rending Thorns had severely damaged his Soul, and then using his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel had drained a significant amount of his World Force.

If Yang Kai did not have a World Tree Clone to stabilize his Small Universe, it would have already been heavily shaken.

Even then, half of his Small Universe’s heritage had been drained already, leaving him with a feeling of weakness. He quickly took out some Spirit Pills and gulped them down.

Yang Kai used to have Low-Rank World Fruits that would almost instantly recover a large portion of his World Force, but unfortunately, he had used all of them up while being chased by the sheep-headed Royal Lord.

As much as 30% of the 300,000-strong Black Ink Clan Army had been wiped out by him with his Sun and Moon Divine Wheel, and the road ahead had been essentially cleared. Of course, there were still Black Ink Clansmen on their flanks, continuing to do battle against the Warships led by Huang Xiong and Fei Yuan Long.

With the path ahead cleared, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was able to divert their attention and provide support to the left and right flanks. Arrays continued to hum as blast after blast was fired from them, coordinating with other two Divisions to eradicate their enemies.

It was at that moment that Yang Kai felt his body seize up as a powerful aura locked onto him.

This sensation was actually quite familiar to him. Back then, the sheep-head Royal Lorded had locked him in place using his aura in much the same way when he was chasing him, forcing him to use Purifying Light to isolate himself before he could activate Instantaneous Movement.

Yang Kai immediately looked up and sure enough, in the No-Return Pass’s direction was a giant Black Ink Cloud rapidly approaching his location. There seemed to be two eyes inside of the Black Ink Cloud that were sharp as swords determined to pierce through him.

The Royal Lord!

In the opening moments of the battle, five Innate Territory Lords had fallen. The Royal Lord who oversaw the No-Return Pass realized the threat that Yang Kai posed and could no longer sit still.

He had to kill this Eighth-Open Human personally to weed out future troubles here.

From afar, the Royal Lord began exerting his power as if to demonstrate his strength and also to shake the morale of the Humans.

The void shook as even the protective barrier of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship lit up, as if there were an invisible weight pressing on it.

Such pressure was formless, but it was real and tangible. A top Master’s pressure was strong enough to cull the weak all on its own.

The Royal Lord naturally made the wrong decision when he tried to intimidate the Humans with his pressure though.

The Purifying Black Ink Battleship at the centre of the Army did not slow down and instead continued sailing towards the No-Return Pass. To its left and right, Warships exploded as Humans fell in large numbers.

The horrific death toll left Huang Xiong and Fei Yuan Long red-eyed in grief, but they were unable to do anything about it. They could only block off the attacks of the Territory Lords in order to minimise the casualties on their side.

With the efforts of the many soldiers who sacrificed their lives, the left and right flanks finally broke through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade and rushed forward.

Nobody dared to linger in this place.

They all knew that in this assault on the No-Return Pass, they could not afford to stop for even a moment. They had to break through the Black Ink Clan’s defences in one go if they wanted to have any hope of returning to the 3,000 Worlds. The slightest hesitation would doom the Remnant Army to a slow death.

The rear where Ou Yang Lie was in charge was originally the calmest and least pressured, but now, he was the one facing the heaviest burden. The Black Ink Clan Army which was there to block them had now become their pursuers. If the rear Division couldn’t hold them back, then the formation of the Remnant Army would surely be broken.

At this point, Ou Yang Lie was becoming desperate as he hurled sword waves through the void.

A roar suddenly sounded from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

“Assume formation!”

At that order, the left and right flanks, along with the Warships behind their lead, quickly moved closer to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

Aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, a Grand Array was activated under the combined efforts of 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. In an instant, an Array diagram spread out in the void with the Purifying Black Ink Battleship at the centre, its patterns illuminating all directions.

At that moment, the rest of the Warships also activated complimentary Spirit Arrays all at once. Like swallows returning to their nest, they were merged together into the Array diagram.

In just a short dozen breaths of time, the auras of all the surviving Human Warships became interconnected with the Purifying Black Ink Battleship serving as their Core, as if they had truly become one.

Four Symbols Formation!

This was originally a Formation used by Human cultivators to link their strengths together to deal with powerful enemies. It was neither special nor profound, but under the aid of this Battle Formation, four Human cultivators were able to exert far greater power than any of them could individually in order to battle stronger Black Ink Clansmen.

However, the Four Symbols Formation had been modified by Yang Kai who integrated it into a Grand Array, allowing the four Divisions to link themselves together.

In the past, Yang Kai would never have been able to do such a thing; however, he had received a huge harvest in the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, so with his attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays, it was not a problem for him to create something like this.

There was only one problem. The Four Symbols Formation which had been so heavily modified was not stable and could not be sustained for long. That was the reason why the Remnant Army didn’t simply use it from the start.

However, they were now at a critical point that would decide their victory or death, so how could Yang Kai continue to hesitate?

With the Purifying Black Ink Battleship serving as the core, all the Warships were closely linked together under the Formation, greatly improving both their lethality and defence.

As soon as the Formation was completed, the huge Black Ink Cloud arrived in front of them. The Black Ink Cloud swiftly retracted to reveal a towering figure who raised his hand and slammed his palm down towards the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

Even though it looked like a casual blow, it still sent chills down the Humans’ backs.

This was an attack from a Royal Lord.

However, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s momentum did not decrease. Yang Kai stood on the deck, looking ahead at the Royal Lord blocking their path before bowing towards the void, shouting, “Old Ancestor, please!”

At those words, a cross-legged figure suddenly appeared. As Yang Kai had just retrieved it from Azure Void Pass, Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor’s corpse was still unmoving, his aura completely absent, as though he was in a deep slumber.

However, stimulated by the Royal Lord’s aura, Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor who had already departed for the Yellow Springs, suddenly opened his eyes. In an instant, the void thundered.

The Royal Lord in front of them was taken aback. He never imagined he would be ambushed by an Old Ancestor here, so before he could withdraw his palm, the Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor lifted his finger and shattered the approaching palm strike.

The Royal Lord let out a roar of rage. As he withdrew his hand, quickly discovering a bloody hole at the centre of his palm where black blood spilled out.

Yang Kai was shocked at what he saw.

Even though he had collected the body of the Old Ancestor just as the Old Ox had told him to back in Azure Void Pass, and summoned it in a time of need to deal with a powerful enemy, Yang Kai was not sure how much power a dead Old Ancestor could actually exert.

But now it seemed that even in death, the power of an Old Ancestor was still unfathomable.

Catching the enemy off guard was a big reason behind the Old Ancestor’s ability to harm the Royal Lord in a single attack, but it was also a reflection of the Old Ancestor’s profound strength.

The Remnant Army was still rapidly approaching the No-Return Pass, and the sudden appearance of an Old Ancestor made the Royal Lord very wary, forcing him to withdraw.

The Old Ancestor turned his head and looked around as if to judge the situation. After quickly familiarizing himself with the battlefield, he sighed, “Even the No-Return Pass has been lost?”

Yang Kai lowered his head, looking ashamed.

Many had given their lives to stop the Black Ink Clan, including numerous Old Ancestors, but the final bulwark of the Human Race, the No-Return Pass, had still been lost. Even though Yang Kai did not participate in the war at the No-Return Pass, all Humans shared honour and disgrace in this war.

“Where is my ox?” The Old Ancestor then turned to look at Yang Kai, asking in a surprisingly cheerful tone.

Yang Kai hurriedly brought out the Ox Monster with its broken horns. The Ox Monster also had its eyes tightly shut without any aura emanating from its body.

The Old Ancestor stroked the head of the ox as if it were his own child and spoke warmly, “Wake up, little one. Come run with me one final time!”

The Ox Monster’s eyes suddenly opened, and its powerful aura quickly revived. It shook its head at the Old Ancestor in displeasure, “We’re already dead and you’re still worrying about this? Are you not tired, old man?”

The Old Ancestor chuckled, “It can’t be helped. I’m an Old Ancestor after all. I inevitably carry heavier burdens on me.”

Saying so, he got onto the back of the ox and looked down at Yang Kai next to him, nodding lightly. Saying nothing more, he slapped the ox’s rump and pointed forward, shouting, “Kill!”

It was a childish gesture that would normally make one want to laugh; however, not a single one of the 1,500 soldiers aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship found this scene the slightest bit amusing.

Yang Kai’s eyes filled with tears as he bowed deeply, “Farewell, Old Ancestor!”

“Farewell, Old Ancestor!”

The soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the world.

In the distant past, a young child rode on the back of a Black Bovine, riding freely through the mountains, fantasizing about fighting and killing enemies that did not exist, dreaming of establishing himself as someone great after growing up, getting married, and having children.

At that time, an old man with an immortal temperament suddenly descended from the Heavens and looked upon the child with a smile, “Call me Honoured Master and I shall pass on a supreme technique to you!”

The boy asked, “Can I become rich if I call you Honoured Master?”

The old man said, “You can.”

The boy then asked, “Can I get women if I call you Honoured Master?”

The old man nodded again, “You can.”

And so, the boy got down and bowed with respect, calling him Honoured Master. The old man laughed and took the boy and the ox away.

That year was so long ago that it was impossible to trace back…

“Kill!”

Aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Yang Kai’s face twisted as he roared. The arrays thrummed as they fired with even greater intensity than before.

A violent wave of power stirred in the surrounding void as the Old Ancestor engaged the Royal Lord in battle.

This sudden change of events was a surprise to all of the Black Ink Clansmen. Nobody had expected an Old Ancestor to suddenly appear at this time. When they saw the Remnant Army getting closer and closer to the No-Return Pass, the Territory Lords staying behind to defend the No-Return Pass could no longer stand by. 

Several Territory Lords stayed behind to defend the pass while the remaining ones rushed out with their Armies.

In an instant, the Remnant Army fell into an absolute disadvantage, both in terms of numbers and strength.

The only thing the Remnant Army could rely on now was the might of their Warships.

However, with the Territory Lords here to obstruct and harass them, it was difficult for the Remnant Army to advance. If they could not break through this siege, they would be trapped here and eventually annihilated.

There were Warships constantly being stripped from the Formation by powerful attacks. Those Warships without exception exploded, resulting in all the soldiers aboard dying.

Seeing that they were reaching a critical situation, Yang Kai ground his teeth and soared out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. His fierce aura all but materialised as he enveloped all of the Territory Lords in it.

A Soul Rending Thorn was silently released, striking one of the Territory Lords. In the moment of disorientation that followed, Yang Kai blasted the Territory Lord with his Golden Crow Casts the Sun, vaporizing him.

“Who dares block my way!?” Yang Kai’s face grimaced fiercely, and when he raised his spear and pointed it at them, the Territory Lords who appeared to stop them were all struck with terror.