In the short span of one month, hundreds of Universe Worlds of varying sizes appeared in the void where the Human Race Army had gathered thanks to the teleportation effects of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors.
At this moment, every single Artifact Refiner and Array Master in the Human Race Army was hard at work; even Yang Kai was toiling away alongside them. Following the consumption of substantial resources, numerous Spirit Arrays were constructed on the Universe Worlds.
Another two months later, their preparations were complete. The dwindling resources of the Human Race were completely exhausted after such a grand and large-scale project; however, the Ninth-Order Masters did not seem worried about the situation.
There were nearly three million Humans at or below the Third Order gathering resources throughout the Black Ink Battlefield and many Universe Temples equipped with Space Arrays connecting to various locations; therefore, it would not take long before large amounts of materials came flowing in from all directions. It could be said that they no longer had to worry about resources as soon as they entered the Black Ink Battlefield through the secret passage.
During the past three months, the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had repeatedly sent out scouts to investigate the situation. As they did not dare to dispatch any Masters for the task, the information that the weak Black Ink Clansmen could obtain was very limited. All the Black Ink Clan knew was that the Human Race Army had assembled at a spot some three days’ journey from the No-Return Pass, and that they could attack at any moment. They could not gain any further information regarding the situation.
On this day, all preparations were completed. The Human Race Army finally embarked on their quest to retake the No-Return Pass!
This crusade was the first of its kind in the thousands of years since the Black Ink Clan first invaded the 3,000 Worlds, the first time the Human Race had truly taken the initiative in the war. The roles of the hunter and the prey were reversed at this moment. It was also the first battle since the Human Race Army launched their offensive; hence, every single soldier in the Human Race Army displayed high morale and intense fighting spirit.
The bustling void became empty in a flash. Aside from the Squads who had to stay behind and guard the Universe Temples and the Human Race Masters with special duties, the rest of the Army had divided into two groups and advanced towards the No-Return Pass.
One day later, the movements of the Human Race Army were relayed to the No-Return Pass by their lookouts. Mo Na Ye finally felt his anxiety receding slightly at the knowledge.
The Human Race Army had come to attack, but there had been no movement from them for the past three months. The feeling of having a knife held against his neck was extremely uncomfortable. He did not know what sort of preparations and arrangements the enemy was making during this period, but he could be certain about one thing, he could not afford to underestimate them. Now that the blade had been swung, who was stronger and who was weaker would be determined in combat.
There was no doubt that the Human Race Army was the strongest it had ever been, but the Black Ink Clan was not inferior. Mo Na Ye also believed that the Black Ink Clan had a slight advantage as the defending party. Under these circumstances, the Human Race Army would most likely be sent back in defeat if they came attacking directly from the front. It was truly unfortunate that the Commander of the opposing party was Mi Jing Lun, who would never make such a stupid decision.
After receiving the report from the scouts on the frontlines, Mo Na Ye glanced at the information and frowned deeply. It was just as he had expected, the Human Race Army had made various deployments and arrangements in advance.
The reports indicated that the Human Race Army was not aiming for a frontal attack. On the contrary, they had divided their forces into two groups and taken a considerable detour by travelling in a wide arc. Judging by their formation, they seemed to be approaching the No-Return Pass from both the right and left sides in a pincer attack.
The deployment of the Human Race Army was both reasonable yet also unexpected; nevertheless, their actions confused Mo Na Ye. He knew that Mi Jing Lun was not naïve enough to believe the Humans could conquer the No-Return Pass with such a simple pincer attack, but he could not figure out the purpose behind their deployment either.
Unable to determine their aim, Mo Na Ye could only adopt countermeasures on the fly according to how the situation evolved. At his command, most of the Black Ink Clan Army in the No-Return Pass mobilised various defensive measures ahead of the Human Race Army’s advance.
The Humans sailed forward aggressively. It was always necessary to take the initiative in a war; after all, the only deciding factor between victory and defeat was the limit of casualties that could be sustained by the respective parties.
At this moment, Yang Kai was back at the base camp of the Human Army on one of the largest Universe Worlds in the vicinity of the Universe Temple. He was lying down in a deserted mountain valley with his arms behind his head and one leg crossed over his knee. Staring into the void blankly, he looked like he was enjoying a rare moment of peace amidst the chaotic situation.
He had been fighting the Black Ink Clan for countless years. During this period, he had always been cultivating hard or rushing somewhere to accomplish a mission. There had never been a time when he could relax, so he couldn’t help feeling a little strange at the abrupt change.
Nevertheless, the reason he did not join the assault was that he had his own mission to carry out. Dozens of Void Guard and hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters were also tasked with carrying out similar missions. At this moment, they were scattered around the numerous Universe Worlds that had been prepared beforehand.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai’s unfocused gaze sharpened without warning and a light flashed through his eyes at the same time.
“It’s about time!” He muttered to himself, climbing to his feet as he stretched lazily.
Peaceful and happy times were often short-lived in this age of chaos. After taking the time to forget about his troubles and enjoying a carefree rest for a day, Yang Kai felt refreshed and full of energy. It was time to take action.
With a shout, he circulated his strength and channelled his World Force into the Spirit Array beneath his feet. The intricate patterns of the Spirit Array immediately lit up and rapidly spread outward like an uncontrolled wildfire. Looking down from the void, it could be seen that the Spirit Array was extremely large. In fact, the Spirit Array practically covered 10% the entire Universe World’s surface. When the Spirit Array was activated, an enormous light barrier emerged to surround the Universe World.
Propelled by the power of the light barrier under Yang Kai’s control, the gigantic Universe World which had been peacefully hovering in the void slowly began to move as though it was being pushed by a large, invisible hand.
At first, this movement was slight; however, its momentum became greater and greater with the passage of time. After passing through the various Spirit Arrays that were constructed in the void beforehand, the speed of the Universe World’s increased sharply. Furthermore, the direction in which the enormous Universe World was advancing was none other than the direction where the No-Return Pass was located!
Behind this enormous Universe World, countless other Universe Worlds and Fragments of varying sizes were moving in the same direction. It was a magnificent sight to behold.
Yang Kai stood on top of the Universe World, looking bold and heroic. Throwing his head back with laughter, he sent a Divine Sense transmission in all directions, “Proud soldiers of the Human Race, let us charge into battle!”
Many Eighth-Order Masters and Void Guards responded gallantly from the backs of those Universe Worlds.
The strategy to attack the Black Ink Clan by making use of the impact caused by the collision of Universe Worlds was pioneered by the Great Evolution Army during the previous war.
While the Northern and Southern Great Evolution Armies blockaded the Great Evolution Pass under Mi Jing Lun’s command, Xiang Shan led the Eastern and Western Armies to assault the Royal City. At that time, Xiang Shan had repeatedly unleashed this tactic, draining the strength of the Black Ink Clan to a huge extent.
This strategy was generally very difficult to employ; after all, it was very strenuous to gather the Universe Worlds that were scattered throughout the void. Simply transporting appropriate Universe Worlds with manpower alone was not only extremely time-consuming but also incredibly labour-intensive, so the effort was considered impractical. However, the strategy became much more viable with Yang Kai’s Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. The Human Race Army gained the ability to gather Universe Worlds that were originally scattered throughout the void thanks to the support of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. Then, they prepared various Spirit Arrays to support and reinforce their ‘weapons’.
The Great Evolution Army had employed this tactic to cause not only tremendous damage to the Black Ink Clan, but to also threaten the Royal City in the Great Evolution Theatre. At the same time, the losses faced by the Great Evolution Army were reduced significantly.
The scouts dispatched by the No-Return Pass had naturally discovered traces of the Human Race Army gathering Universe Worlds. Needless to say, even Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t miss hundreds of Universe Worlds being brought over by the Humans. The gathering of so many Universe Worlds was by no means a small-scale action after all.
When Mo Na Ye received the information from his scouts, he was amazed that the Humans had such mysterious means. He did not think too much about this matter though as he simply assumed that the Human Race Masters were planning to mine resources from those Universe Worlds. How could he have known that they were planning to use these Universe Worlds to attack the No-Return Pass?
If there were any survivors from the Black Ink Clan Army of Great Evolution Theatre, they would have understood the Human Race Army’s intentions in a heartbeat. It was a pity that the entire Black Ink Clan Army from the Black Ink Battlefield back then had been exterminated by the Humans during the first crusade.
Furthermore, the Black Ink Disciples under the current Black Ink Clan’s control had not participated in the previous war on the Black Ink Battlefield. There had also been no need for the Human Race Army to employ this tactic over the past few thousands of years. The assault on the No-Return Pass was the first opportunity to make use of this strategy!
Mi Jing Lun did not expect this battle to determine victory and defeat. There were countless Masters in the No-Return Pass, not to mention two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. They were by no means easy prey to defeat.
Nevertheless, it was the first battle since the Human Race Army set off to conquer the No-Return Pass, so it was only natural to start things off on the right foot. Therefore, they had not hesitated to bring out the Universe World impact strategy that was used to besiege Great Evolution Royal City in the past. The Humans even exhausted their remaining resources transporting and modifying several hundred Universe Worlds for this initial battle.
The reason why the Human Race Army had to divide into two groups and sail in a wide arc was to leave a clear path for the Universe Worlds that were hurtling towards the No-Return Pass. Otherwise, these Universe Worlds would have collided with their troops that were blocking the way. It would be extremely embarrassing if they struck their own forces before they even managed to attack their enemy.
Besides, the Human Race Army would also distract the Black Ink Clan’s attention by marching ahead. All the forces of the Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass were currently focused on the Human Race Army advancing from the left and right sides. How could they ever have imagined that hundreds of Universe Worlds would come flying at them from their centre?
Many Black Ink Clansmen were gathered in the Grand Hall of the No-Return Pass, and the atmosphere was gloomy. The attack of the Human Race Army had long been expected; in fact, Mo Na Ye had already anticipated today’s situation all the way back when he recalled all the Pseudo-Royal Lords more than 20 years ago.
At the time, the Black Ink Clan could have chosen to retreat from the No-Return Pass, but where would they go after leaving this place? Were they supposed to aimlessly wander around the Black Ink Battlefield? Even if they did that, they would be found by the Human Race Army one day. Rather than fighting in the void of the Black Ink Battlefield, it was better to stay and defend the already fortified No-Return Pass.
Furthermore, the mission of the Black Ink Clan had always been to erode the 3,000 Worlds and destroy the Human Race so that Mo would rule the Universe. The Black Ink Clan was not born to fight for their survival, but for their Supreme One’s ultimate hegemony.
Report after report came from the front. Following the steady approach of the Human Race Army from both sides, the atmosphere in the Grand Hall became increasingly depressed.
It was not until the Human Army was only half a day’s journey away from the No-Return Pass that Mo Na Ye slowly got to his feet. Glancing around at the many Pseudo-Royal Lords gathered below him, he solemnly declared, “Everyone, assume your duties and take your positions. Since the Humans dare to come attacking, then we will slaughter them until not a single one of them is left alive!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lords accepted the order and hurriedly flew away.
Then, Mo Na Ye looked at Mo Yu again, “Sir, when the time comes, we will need you to restrain one of the Ninth-Order Masters; however, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Please adapt to the circumstances as you see fit.”
Mo Yu nodded, “I know, but I probably won’t even need to worry about anything. The Ninth-Order Masters will come to me themselves.”
Mo Na Ye agreed. There were more Ninth-Order Masters than Royal Lords at the moment, so they would surely attempt to restrain both himself and Mo Yu. There was really no need for Mo Yu to bother taking the initiative.
Mo Na Ye glanced at Di Ya Luo, “I will engage with Yang Kai in battle; meanwhile, look for an opportunity to make your move. Do not expose yourself unless you find a suitable opening!”
“I understand!” Di Ya Luo nodded heavily.
As the only Royal Lord born within the Black Ink Clan over the past 20 years, he was the trump card that Mo Na Ye had prepared against Yang Kai, so his existence could not be exposed. The moment he appeared, he had to strike a deadly blow against Yang Kai.
Among all the Ninth-Order Masters, Yang Kai posed the greatest threat to the Black Ink Clan. No matter the strength of the other Ninth-Order Masters, they could be contained by several Pseudo-Royal Lords working together.
Only Yang Kai, whose Dao Strength River was both profound and mysterious, was extremely difficult to handle. The Pseudo-Royal Lords alone were not enough to restrain him. It was only possible to stop him if a Royal Lord personally took action. Moreover, it would also depend on whether there was an opportunity to obstruct Yang Kai as the latter was proficient in the Dao of Space, which made him as slippery as an eel. Without the right opportunity, nobody could even hope to pin him down.
Although the Black Ink Clan had two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, they could not be dispatched into battle casually as the true Giant Spirit Gods were eyeing the No-Return Pass eagerly. If the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods left their post in the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan would have no means to guarantee the safety of their rear. It could be said that the existence of the two Giant Spirit Gods was keeping the Black Ink Clan’s strongest combat force in check. Naturally, the same could be said in reverse. In this situation, neither side had an advantage over the other.
After making various arrangements, Mo Na Ye darted out of the Grand Hall and stared into the depths of the void. With his cultivation and eyesight, he could naturally see the imposing Human Race Army around him.
The huge and boundless fleet coming from both sides resembled a swarm of locusts that covered his entire field of vision. Just looking at the scene gave off an extremely strong sense of oppression. Not to mention, there was a conspicuous and majestic Great Pass on the left side of the Human Race Army that stood out like a sore thumb. The corner of his face twitched involuntarily at the sight of the Great Pass as it was none other than Pure Yang Pass that Yang Kai took from the No-Return Pass some 20 years ago.
Despite knowing that the Human Race Army would use Pure Yang Pass against the Black Ink Clan if they let Yang Kai take it, the Black Ink Clan was forced to make certain concessions due to the pressure from various threats caused by Yang Kai at the time. That was because the safety of the Pseudo-Royal Lords wandering outside could not be guaranteed if Yang Kai was allowed to act as he pleased.
The Great Pass had been repaired and modified by the Human Race. At this moment, the entire Great Pass seemed to radiate with a sense of grandeur. It was easy to see that the various artifacts mounted on the walls of the Great Pass were not mere decorations. Any Black Ink Clansman who dared to approach the Great Pass would instantly be greeted with a storm of attacks.
With Pure Yang Pass, the safety of Mi Jing Lun, who served as the Supreme Commander of the Human Race Army would be guaranteed. Mo Na Ye couldn’t help feeling a twinge of regret at the sight. He had been searching for an opportunity to eliminate Mi Jing Lun the entire time, but the latter had always remained in the Supreme Headquarters during the previous wars. Because Mi Jing Lun rarely entered the battlefield, the Black Ink Clan had been unable to touch a single hair on his head up until now. Besides, it had been obvious that Yang Kai was preparing the Great Pass for Mi Jing Lun when he came to the No-Return Pass and demanded Pure Yang Pass.
Mo Na sneered coldly to himself, [Yang Kai sure takes good care of Supreme Commander Mi.]
Then, various other thoughts came to mind unbidden, [I wonder if the Human Race Army will fall into chaos if Mi Jing Lun is killed before they launch their attack on the No-Return Pass. Haaa… Where is Yang Kai?]
He swept his gaze over the Human Race Army coming from both sides but did not spot his nemesis anywhere. The realization caused Mo Na Ye to become vigilant. Not only was Yang Kai proficient in the Dao of Space, but he also seemed to have mastered a mysterious Secret Technique that almost perfectly concealed himself. If he wanted to stay hidden and ambush the Pseudo-Royal Lords during the battle, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords would survive the encounter.
[Could he be hiding in the vicinity? That’s certainly a possibility…]
Just as Mo Na Ye was starting to feel suspicious, the Human Race Army that had been approaching the No-Return Pass slowly from both flanks suddenly accelerated. The news was instantly relayed to the entire No-Return Pass.
The battle was about to begin, and the atmosphere in the No-Return Pass was chilling! The entire Black Ink Clan had mentally prepared themselves to fight the Humans to the death; likewise, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were blazing with intense fighting spirit. They displayed their auras proudly, not bothering to conceal their presence in the slightest.
Four hours passed and the Humans were now closing in on the No-Return Pass. Be it the Human Race Army or the Black Ink Clan Army, the stronger soldiers now could already see the various deployments of the opposing party clearly.
At this moment, none of the Black Ink Clansmen, including the Royal Lords, noticed anything abnormal; however, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods standing guard on both sides of the No-Return Pass reacted as though they had discovered something.
One of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods grabbed a Universe Fragment from nearby and hurled it into the distance, just like how he had attacked Yang Kai several months ago. The rather large Universe Fragment shot through the void at a high speed, but under the astonished gaze of the Black Ink Clan, it did not hurtle towards the Human Race Army but instead soared off into the empty middle void. Then, the two Giant Spirit Gods began to hurl Universe Fragment after Universe Fragment into the void without pause.
A great surge of anxiety immediately washed over Mo Na Ye at the sight.
According to the original plans, the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were supposed to use this tactic against the Human Race Army once the war began. They were responsible for guarding the No-Return Pass, so they could not move around easily. Nevertheless, they could rely on throwing these Universe Fragments to create a great degree of disturbance to the Human Race Army. If they were lucky, they might even injure their enemies. Even the Eighth-Order Masters would not be able to withstand such an attack from these Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
However, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had unexpectedly begun to take action before the war started or the Black Ink Clan Army in the No-Return Pass engaged the enemy. The sudden turn of events was very different from the original plans.
As the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were both Soul Clones of the Supreme One, Mo Na Ye had no right to criticize them for anything. Be that as it may, he gradually began to notice the abnormality after observing their actions. He looked in the direction where the Universe Fragments were being thrown, and what entered his field of vision were countless shadows of indescribable size!
When he finally caught a clear glimpse of the shadows, his body began to shake involuntarily. At the same time, he felt as though his head was about to explode at the sight. Those shadows were actually enormous Universe Worlds!
He finally realised something about the piece of information that he had neglected before. The reason the Human Race Army had gathered so many Universe Worlds was not to mine for resources! They were using them as weapons to attack the No-Return Pass!
With the abilities of the Human Race, it was not surprising for them to achieve such a feat, it was just that Mo Na Ye never expected them to attack in such an outrageous manner. The Black Ink Clan had only thought of relying on the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods’ strength to attack the Human Race Army by throwing Universe Fragments at them, but the Humans found a way to do something similar! They had brought the Universe Worlds to the war! Moreover, there were hundreds of them! It was simply outrageous!
In Mo Na Ye’s field of vision, the Universe World that came first was particularly massive.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure finally appeared on the periphery of a large Universe World. He was flying through the void, leading hundreds of unstoppable Universe Worlds in a torrent behind him. Facing the first Universe Fragment that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God hurled at him, Yang Kai simply raised his hand slightly and clenched his fist lightly. In response, the Universe Fragment instantly exploded into dust.
“Pointless tricks!”
10 million kilometres away, Yang Kai looked in the direction of the No-Return Pass and grinned at Mo Na Ye. Immediately after that, he summoned the Space-Time River. The river was like a whip, dancing wildly in the void, smashing all the Universe Fragments hurtling towards him.
“Useless! All useless!” His voice resounded through the void, “Mo Na Ye, there is an old saying among the Human Race that goes, ‘It’s rude not to reciprocate a kind gesture’! The Black Ink Clan delivered Pure Yang Pass and a considerable amount of resources to me 20 years ago, so I brought you a generous gift today in return. Please accept my sincerity!”
Behind the Universe Fragments, hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters shouted in unison, “Please accept our sincerity!”
Their unrestrained and defiant expressions nearly gave Mo Na Ye a heart attack from rage; likewise, the expressions of the Black Ink Clansmen in the No-Return Pass turned increasingly solemn.
They would not have worried if they were simply attacked with hundreds of Universe Worlds. All from the Black Ink Clan Masters were currently assembled in the No-Return Pass, so with their combined strength, mere hundreds of Universe Worlds could easily be destroyed before they even got close.
However, the Human Race Army was currently surging towards their left and right flanks. If the Black Ink Clan diverted their strength to intercept these Universe Worlds, the Human Army would surely take advantage of their distraction. On the other hand, the impact on the No-Return Pass would be too much if they simply ignored the Universe Worlds. The Black Ink Clan Masters might not be too affected, but those with lower cultivation would definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Any possible casualties were merely their secondary concern however as their primary worry was that the impact of such an attack might threaten the safety of the Black Ink Nests; after all, Black Ink Nests were all extremely fragile.
At this moment, the intention of the Humans was extremely clear. The two groups pressing them from either side abruptly increased their speed so that they arrived at the same time as the Universe Worlds. They were planning to completely overwhelm the Black Ink Clan from all sides.
It was too late to reposition the troops at this point, so all Mo Na Ye could do was make some subtle adjustments here and there. He relayed order after order to the Black Ink Clan Army, and to their credit, the Black Ink Clan Army flawlessly executed his commands.
The short wait that followed felt like endless torture. As the hundreds of Universe Worlds drew nearer, their huge shadows seemed to block out the entire sky, causing every single Black Ink Clansman to feel a heavy and oppressive pressure. Many Black Ink Clan Masters also held their breaths and braced themselves against the coming impact.
An hour later, the hundreds of Universe Worlds that were launched from the depths of the void finally entered the attacking range of the Black Ink Clan. Mo Na Ye swiftly unleashed a Secret Technique. His actions were immediately followed by an overwhelming wave of attacks that burst out from the No-Return Pass and blasted towards the distance.
“Good!” Yang Kai pushed his Space-Time River in front of the lead Universe World, coiling it into a giant swirling shield that absorbed and blocked the various Secret Techniques blasting towards it, causing the water to churn violently.
Yang Kai could only endure this barrage for 10 breaths before he began to buckle under the pressure. His strength was impressive and his attainments in the Grand Daos were extremely profound; nevertheless, it was an extravagant hope to withstand the combined attacks of so many Masters from the Black Ink Clan. If he stubbornly insisted on this course of action, the very foundation of his Grand Daos would be affected once the Space-Time River was damaged.
After uttering such haughty words, Yang Kai decisively dodged to the side. Without his interference, the enormous Universe World was blasted apart by the rain of Secret Techniques that came flying over in the next moment. The Universe World shattered to pieces and scattered about
At the same time, the Human Army approaching the No-Return Pass unleashed a volley of attacks. The void immediately lit up in various colours of all intensities. Then, these lights streaked across space like shooting stars and rained down upon the No-Return Pass.
Countless Black Ink Clan miscellaneous troops were stationed along the outermost edges of the No-Return Pass, and their numbers were overwhelming in every sense of the word. This formation was the most commonly used tactic by the Black Ink Clan.
Throughout the years of constant conflict with the Human Race, the Black Ink Clan often relied upon the sacrifice of their cannon fodder to shave away at the strength of the Humans at the outset of battle; after all, they could spawn as many of these miscellaneous troops as they wanted as long as they had Black Ink Nests and resources. That was why the Black Ink Clan remained unaffected by the deaths of these troops, no matter how many of them died.
Besides, the existence of the cannon fodder could do more than just wear down the strength of the Human Race Army. Following the deaths of the countless lower soldiers, the Black Ink Strength in their bodies would permeate their surroundings and gather together to form dense Black Ink Clouds. It was equivalent to artificially creating a battlefield that was advantageous to the Black Ink Clan. Fighting under such circumstances was undoubtedly disadvantageous for the Human Race Army, but the Black Ink Clan took to such conditions like how fish took to the water.
In the past, the Humans used to be greatly hindered by this tactic and suffered heavy casualties as a result; fortunately, they had the Purifying Black Ink Pills and Purifying Light nowadays. The existence of the Purifying Black Ink Pills and Purifying Light drastically reduced the deterrent effect of these tactics on them, but they could not ignore the detrimental effects completely. There were bound to be some remaining effects from fighting the Black Ink Clan under these conditions for extended periods.
After the first volley of fire from the Human Race Army, countless Black Ink Clan troops were blasted into a cloud of blood mist and the entire periphery of the No-Return Pass facing the Black Ink Battlefield was gradually covered in Black Ink Strength.
When the Human Race Masters launched their offensive, the Black Ink Clan Masters in the No-Return Pass were busy intercepting the Universe Worlds that came hurtling down their centre. One after another, the Universe worlds were blown apart into Fragments of varying sizes that still hurtled towards the No-Return Pass. The scene was a huge mess.
Fortunately, the Human Race Army had prepared many Universe Worlds; moreover, they did not pack them too closely together. Despite suffering some losses, the damages did not affect the overall situation. Nevertheless, more than 50 of the Universe Worlds were destroyed in the blink of an eye. At this rate, the Universe Worlds would all be completely destroyed before they could even cause any damage to the No-Return Pass.
But how could the Humans simply allow the Black Ink Clan to do so?
The Black Ink Clan’s cannon fodder stationed around the outermost edges of the No-Return Pass suffered heavy casualties, and enormous gaps soon appeared in the defence line that they formed. Although a steady stream of these miscellaneous troops rushed forward fearlessly to replenish their lines and fill the gaps, the reinforcements could no longer keep up with the speed of the losses.
The Human Army steadily approached from opposite sides; in addition, the continuous barrage of Secret Techniques and artifacts that blasted out of the huge fleet and shot in the direction of the No-Return Pass forced the Black Ink Clan to rely on the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods to intercept the attacks.
Looking down from outside the battlefield, the scene of the war was extremely magnificent. Both the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race had made extensive preparations for the battle. Numerous attacks containing violent and destructive power rose from their respective camps only to fall towards the opposing one. The battle was in full swing.
Many Masters from the Black Ink Clan were being increasingly restrained by the forces of the Human Race Army that were closing in, so they could only watch as the hundreds of Universe Worlds and Fragments approached the No-Return Pass. The sight left them feeling powerless and anxious.
At this moment, Mo Na Ye was inside the No-Return Pass. He was simultaneously summoning various Secret Techniques to intercept the attacks from the Human Race Army and monitoring the movement of his surroundings with his Divine Sense. Despite his calm demeanour on the surface, he was actually wracked with anxiety for one simple reason: Yang Kai was gone!
When the Universe Worlds came flying towards the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai had been standing atop the biggest one leading the way. Be that as it may, he had vanished without a trace after the Universe World was smashed to pieces by the combined forces of the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai’s sudden disappearance sent a chill down Mo Na Ye’s spine.
Unknown dangers were the most terrifying, especially when a Master like Yang Kai was involved. It would not be a good thing for the Black Ink Clan if Yang Kai concealed his figure and aura, then took advantage of the chaos to infiltrate the No-Return Pass.
After a quick look around, Mo Na Ye was relieved to see that many of the Pseudo-Royal Lords were still following his previous instructions and arrangements. The Pseudo-Royal Lords were in Three Fortunes Battle Formations, which allowed them to guard each other’s backs. In this way, they could protect themselves to a certain degree if Yang Kai suddenly appeared and launched a sneak attack on them.
As for the Territory Lords below the Pseudo-Royal Lords… There was no helping them. They could only blame their poor luck if they were targeted by Yang Kai. With Yang Kai’s current status and cultivation, while he might not even care enough to specifically target these Territory Lords, there was still a possibility that he would eliminate them in passing.
The ongoing battle remained unchanged. Although the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties, their losses mainly came from the ranks of their cannon fodder while the Masters were mostly unharmed.
On the other hand, the Human Race also suffered some degree of loss. Some of the Warships out front had been damaged, and a few were completely destroyed. Of course, there were casualties among the soldiers too.
Be that as it may, Mo Na Ye was not optimistic about the situation. Anybody with a discerning eye could see that Humans had carefully planned and prepared their attack today. The Black Ink Clan was bound to pay an expensive price in this battle.
The Human Race Army rapidly closed in on the No-Return Pass from both sides, and the hundreds of Universe Worlds flying forward approached the No-Return Pass at a high speed. These Universe Worlds were constantly being blown up as they closed in. It was fortunate that the Eighth-Order Masters controlling these Universe Worlds quickly noticed the danger and escaped beforehand. If not, they could not have defended themselves from the dense storm of attacks raining down on them.
Ultimately though, the Black Ink Clan found themselves lacking the necessary numbers to handle the situation. Even though the Black Ink Clan desperately tried to defend themselves, they simply lacked the manpower to face both the Human Race Army and the Universe World attack at the same time.
An hour into the confrontation, one of the Universe Worlds finally broke through layers of heavy blockades and slammed into the Black Ink Clan’s outermost line of defence. At the moment of collision, the Spirit Arrays arranged on the Universe World suddenly blazed with light and illuminated the entire sky like a great sun. The spectacle was immediately followed by the grand explosion of the Universe World, which detonated with a terrifying force. It could be seen that the power of the Spirit Arrays was impressive indeed.
It only took a moment for the Black Ink Clan soldiers in the vicinity to be wiped out completely. Even a few of the Territory Lords staggered backwards from the force of the explosion. Meanwhile, the auras of many Feudal Lords vanished from existence.
The expressions of many Black Ink Clansmen changed at that sight as they gained a new understanding of their predicament. These Universe Worlds hurtling towards the No-Return Pass did not just contain enormous momentum but were also covered in various dangerous Spirit Arrays. That was what made these Universe Worlds even more terrifying. Unfortunately, their realisation came too late. After one Universe World broke through the Black Ink Clan’s defence perimeter, a second and a third quickly followed…
Although the majority of the Universe Worlds were destroyed en-route, the Human Race Army was extremely well prepared. In fact, they even went so far as to exhaust all their remaining resources just to arrange the Spirit Arrays on so many Universe Worlds.
The places along the line of defence that were struck by the Universe Worlds were in complete disarray. There were countless casualties, and several spots now had wide gaps in them. Hence, the Black Ink Clan Masters nearby were rushing to restore the defence perimeter to hold the line.
Nevertheless, this was just the beginning!
At this point, the true power of the Human Race Army had yet to be displayed. The previous exchange had merely been a long-distance confrontation, and the attack relying upon the collision of the Universe Worlds was simply borrowed from external forces. The power of the Humans itself remained hidden from sight.
Mo Na Ye’s heart sank! Before the war began, he had already mentally prepared himself for the fact that the Black Ink Clan would suffer considerable losses; however, it would now seem that they were going to take far more casualties than he originally expected.
All of a sudden, he turned his head to look in a certain direction. Three Pseudo-Royal Lords were standing along the line of defence in that direction. They had formed the Three Fortunes Formation and were working together to attack one of the incoming Universe worlds.
This Universe World had almost made it to the defence line at this point. Just as the Universe World was about to collide with the outermost perimeter, it was abruptly stopped and exploded thanks to the joint attack of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. The huge impact unleashed a shockwave that caused ripples to spread out across the void in all directions, and the figures of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords involuntarily staggered from the resulting aftermath.
“Watch out!” Mo Na Ye’s furious roar suddenly rang out in the ears of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Their reaction was undeniably swift. Almost at the same time that Mo Na Ye shouted his warning, they drew upon their respective power and blasted their strongest attack in a certain direction.
In that direction, a figure suddenly emerged from the space that was originally empty. It was none other than Yang Kai, who had gone missing previously.
Nobody knew how Yang Kai had infiltrated the defences of the Black Ink Clan or when he had appeared at that position. After his three Selves united, he successfully mastered Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability which gave him an unmatched advantage in terms of concealment. Only a Royal Lord could perceive his movements and whereabouts within a limited range.
If the Pseudo-Royal Lords had investigated their surroundings wholeheartedly, they might have had a chance to notice his approach; unfortunately, it was impossible for the Pseudo-Royal Lords to see through the traces of Yang Kai’s movements under such chaotic conditions. The chaos had created the perfect conditions for Yang Kai to hide in.
Therefore, it was not until he made his move that the three Pseudo-Royal Lords noticed his presence. Mo Na Ye’s warning had sounded at roughly the same time. When the sound of the surging river entered the depth of their hearts, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords involuntarily gulped nervously as a wave of fear washed over them.
Yang Kai’s achievements in E-5 Territory had long since spread throughout the No-Return Pass. At this point, not a single Black Ink Clansman remained ignorant about that tragedy. A total of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords had died at Yang Kai’s hands, all thanks to the mysterious Dao Strength River he possessed.
As the saying went, ‘A lesson from the past was a guide for the future’. The deep-seated fear of Yang Kai experienced by these three Pseudo-Royal Lords could be said to come from the bottom of their hearts.
Accompanied by the sound of roaring water that resounded throughout the void, the Dao Strength River appeared and swept towards the three Pseudo-Royal Lords like a flood. It was natural to try to avoid such attacks as soon as possible under normal circumstances; after all, they would never recover if they were caught in the currents of the Dao Strength River.
Unexpectedly though, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords did not dodge the attack immediately; on the contrary, their fighting spirits seemed to awaken at this juncture of life or death. The aura that was closely connected between them became increasingly solid as a result as they swiftly blasted out a continuous barrage of attacks at the Dao Strength River sweeping towards them.
The Dao Strength River, which was relatively calm in the beginning, abruptly churned violently. As the bombardment from the Pseudo-Royal Lords intensified, the waves of the Dao Strength River swelled to greater heights.
Yang Kai, who was holding the Dao Strength River in his hand, involuntarily gave a muffled grunt. At the same time, the strength of his offensive weakened considerably as a result.
Seeing that, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords were overjoyed as they also secretly felt a sense of admiration and respect for Mo Na Ye. [Sir Mo Na Ye is a hero indeed! His instructions were indeed an effective method to counter Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River!]
The truth was that Mo Na Ye had taught the Pseudo-Royal Lords various methods and strategies to counter Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River after the battle in E-5 Territory. Not only did he confront Yang Kai inside the Universe Furnace, but he was also swept into the Space-Time River by Yang Kai once and broke free from its restraints thanks to various circumstances. That was why he had a certain degree of understanding regarding the Dao Strength River.
The battle at E-5 Territory had resulted in great losses for the Black Ink Clan. The deaths of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords had left Mo Yu and Mo Na Ye heartbroken. They no longer had the means to increase the number of Pseudo-Royal Lords anymore, so there would be one less Pseudo-Royal Lord with every death.
After that incident, Mo Na Ye had seriously considered various methods to overcome Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River. He knew that the mysterious river was condensed from Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths, but since it was a physical manifestation of Dao Strengths, it could theoretically be damaged. Combined with his experience from fighting Yang Kai inside the Universe Furnace, he eventually came to a conclusion.
Blindly dodging and retreating from an attack launched by Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River would only lead to a delayed death. Only by facing the attack head-on and striking at it with a mighty force could one defend themselves against him!
Naturally, this was only a hypothesis and the actual results of confronting Yang Kai with such methods could not be confirmed.
When Yang Kai abruptly appeared and launched a sneak attack on the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, Mo Na Ye had swiftly rushed over to assist. At the same time, he also widened his eyes and observed the situation intently to verify whether his theory was correct. As soon as he saw the three Pseudo-Royal Lords defending themselves against the Dao Strength River with their combined strength, his heavy mood lightened considerably! Sure enough, his suggestion was effective! Yang Kai was not invincible after all!
Having advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Yang Kai was very strong; nevertheless, the most threatening ability in his arsenal was currently his Dao Strength River. The main reason the Pseudo-Royal Lords in E-5 Territory had suffered such huge losses was that they had never encountered such a strange method before. With no means to defend themselves, they were caught off guard and suffered horribly.
As long as the Black Ink Clan had the means to suppress the Dao Strength River, then Yang Kai’s threat to the Black Ink Clan would be reduced greatly. Needless to say, achieving such a feat would not be easy. Having three Pseudo-Royal Lords working together to establish a Battle Formation was the minimum requirement.
“Oh?” In the centre of the battlefield, Yang Kai made an astonished exclamation as he observed three Pseudo-Royal Lords before him. Although he was surprised by this development, he had to admit that their response was certainly the correct method to resist him. The approach of taking the offensive and advancing relentlessly had certainly suppressed his attack.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mo Na Ye rushing towards him. The other Pseudo-Royal Lords were also coming over to provide support. At this rate, it would not take long before he was surrounded, but even though the situation was very dangerous, Yang Kai showed no signs of panic.
Wielding the Dao Strength River like a whip, he constantly brandished it at the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. On his other hand, he suddenly raised his hand above his head and Space Principles condensed into a brilliant ball of light above his palm!
Nobody knew what Yang Kai was planning to do, but looking at Yang Kai’s actions gave Mo Na Ye an ominous feeling and he immediately shouted, “Kill him!”
In the next instant, a series of powerful attacks blasted out from Mo Na Ye and the Pseudo-Royal Lords rushing over to help. These attacks landed unerringly in Yang Kai’s direction.
The space around Yang Kai suddenly became distorted, and under the impetus of the rampaging Space Principles, those attacks barged into the distorted space like uninvited guests. Then, an astonishing phenomenon occurred. The attacks that had originally been travelling at an extremely high speed suddenly became as slow as a crawling turtle after entering the distortion. They were still approaching Yang Kai, but at a speed that was hard to even see. At such a slow speed, even a three-year-old child standing there could easily avoid these attacks.
Fortunately, Mo Na Ye was very discerning. He could tell at a glance that the Secret Techniques thrown at Yang Kai had not become slower. On the contrary, it was the space that had become extremely distorted.
Near Distant Horizon!
This Space Secret Technique might not contain any defensive abilities on its own, but it had great defensive effects. The Void surrounding Yang Kai’s figure was infinitely stretched out thanks to the manipulation of Space Principles. Even though the Secret Techniques continued to travel at a terrifying speed, they seemed almost frozen on the spot under the effects of the infinitely stretched-out space.
At the same time, Yang Kai abruptly brought down his hand that was held above his head earlier!
Nothing seemed to occur, but be that as it may, the expressions of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords facing Yang Kai changed drastically in the wake of the seemingly useless blow. A turbulent wave of fear surged through their hearts at that moment because their intricately linked auras, which had seemed indestructible previously, suddenly fell apart as though sliced by a sharp blade when Yang Kai’s hand came swinging down. The Three Fortunes Formation had been broken!
The Space-Time River swept towards them in the next moment and unfortunately for them, they no longer had the means to defend themselves against the attack. Without the support of the Battle Formation, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were no match for Yang Kai with their strength alone.
One of the Pseudo-Royal Lords was dragged into the depths of the river and disappeared quickly with a small splash. On the other hand, the second Pseudo-Royal Lord reacted swiftly under the circumstances. As soon as he was caught in the currents of the river, he began to struggle desperately. Unfortunately for him, it was as though he was stuck in a quagmire and the more he struggled, the faster he sank into the raging waters.
The third Pseudo-Royal Lord turned out to be the smartest. As soon as the Three Fortunes Formation was destroyed, he immediately turned tail and fled. Even Yang Kai could not catch the fleeing Pseudo-Royal Lord in time despite his quick reflexes.
At this moment, the barrage of attacks from earlier finally overcame the limits of his Near Distant Horizon Secret Technique and slammed into Yang Kai’s body.
A dazzling Golden Dragon Phantom emerged from nowhere and coiled around Yang Kai’s body. When the powerful attacks exploded, the Phantom Dragon dissipated and Yang Kai’s body shook violently from the impact. A trickle of blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth as a result!
If it were any other Ninth-Order Master who bore the brunt of these attacks instead, they would inevitably suffer heavy injuries as a result; however, Yang Kai was a Divine Dragon. By relying on the physique of a Divine Dragon to protect him, he only suffered minor injuries from these attacks. That was an advantage that no other Ninth-Order Master enjoyed. The Dragon Clan stood at the top of the Divine Spirits after all, so it was only natural for them to possess incredible strength.
Mo Na Ye was close at hand and a howl burst from his lips, “Yang Kai!”
“Why are you calling my name?” Yang Kai sneered and took a step backwards. At the same time, his figure suddenly turned into an illusory phantom and Space Principles fluctuated wildly.
Mo Na Ye’s fist landed on the illusory phantom, causing it to shatter. Unfortunately, Yang Kai was nowhere to be found by then.
Yang Kai’s laughter came from the distance, “Who can stop me if I am determined to eliminate your Pseudo-Royal Lords?”
Mo Na Ye turned and looked in the direction of Yang Kai’s voice only to see Yang Kai standing at the head of the Dao Strength River. The waters in the Dao Strength River were turbulent, churning and roiling violently. At a glance, it almost seemed as though Yang Kai was standing on top of a Dragon. It was a magnificent and majestic sight to behold!
If there was no other external aggression threatening the Black Ink Clan, Mo Na Ye would not have allowed Yang Kai to be so arrogant; unfortunately, the Human Race Army was pressing their attack, and there were still many Universe Worlds threatening to impact the No-Return Pass. Even now, Mo Na Ye was powerless to rescue the two Pseudo-Royal Lords who were captured earlier.
Yang Kai glanced at Mo Na Ye coldly, and then he turned around and plunged into the river. In the next moment, the movements within the Space-Time River became more turbulent. It was evident that Masters were fighting inside.
Just 10 breaths later, Yang Kai’s figure appeared once more with a corpse in each hand. It was none other than the two Pseudo-Royal Lords whom he dragged into the river previously.
All the Black Ink Clansmen who witnessed the scene couldn’t help feeling a sense of sympathy for their comrades. The war had yet to begin in earnest, but the Black Ink Clan had already lost two Pseudo-Royal Lords. While there were indeed many Pseudo-Royal Lords, their numbers would not be enough to endure for long at this rate.
What happened next terrified the Black Ink Clan even more. Yang Kai held up the corpses of the two Pseudo-Royal Lords in a demonstrative manner, then he casually tossed them aside and withdrew the Space-Time River. In the next moment, his figure vanished out of sight once more.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were in mortal danger and the realisation caused a chill to run down their backs. Moreover, they all now felt that Yang Kai was watching them intently from the shadows, harbouring malicious intentions towards them…
Contrary to the reaction of the Black Ink Clan, the morale of the Human Race Army increased sharply after they witnessed Yang Kai infiltrating the enemy camp alone and reaping the lives of two Pseudo-Royal Lords. The attacks shooting out from the Human Race Army and towards the No-Return Pass became more vicious and concentrated as a result. Furthermore, the Human Race Masters all rolled up their sleeves and prepared to display their respective talents on the battlefield during the coming battle.
The barrage of Universe Worlds also continued. Even though most were destroyed en-route, the efforts of the Human Race Army to suppress the Black Ink Clan forced the latter to allocate more of their energy towards their own defences instead. In this situation, they were strong in will but weak in strength. They simply could not maintain their efforts to intercept the incoming Universe Worlds.
Besides, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords dared to exert their full strength after witnessing Yang Kai’s flashy demonstration. Every one of them held back slightly in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Mo Na Ye knew that they had fallen for Yang Kai’s tricks. Yang Kai had not infiltrated the enemy camp alone to demonstrate his bravery; rather, his main purpose was to distract the Masters from the Black Ink Clan. Despite knowing Yang Kai’s intentions, Mo Na Ye could not force the Pseudo-Royal Lords to ignore their own safety and go all out. There was no guarantee that Yang Kai would not attack once more if they let down their defences. What seemed real could be fake, and what was fake could become real. It could be said that Yang Kai’s attack had tied the hands of all the Masters of the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai was the only person among the entire Human Race who could achieve such a feat.
The defence line outside the No-Return Pass was created with the damaged Great Passes that were abandoned by the Human Race Army in the past as the foundation and a large number of artifacts had been constructed on these Great Passes, but the Black Ink Disciples were not very adept at Artifact Refining. After all, those who were proficient in Artifact Refining generally contributed to the war efforts from the safety of the rear. As they rarely stepped onto the battlefield, they avoided the fate of being captured by the Black Ink Clan and converted into Black Ink Disciples.
It was for that reason that the artifacts prepared in advance by the Black Ink Clan were far inferior to those possessed by the Humans in terms of both power and attack range. When the Human Race Army first started approaching the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan Masters in charge of operating the artifacts could only watch as the enemy marched forward. The defensive artifacts could be activated at any time, but their effects were extremely limited. It was not until the Human Race Army entered the attack range of these artifacts that countless lights began to blaze from the abandoned Great Passes that surrounded the external perimeter of the No-Return Pass.
Be that as it may, these attacks were nothing to the enormous Human fleet. Aside from causing some slight trouble to part of the Human Army, they did not play an essential role in the war. It did not take long for the Human Race Army to target and suppress them instead.
Many gaps had appeared along the middle of the defensive line due to the constant collision of the Universe Worlds. When the last few Universe Worlds finally arrived at the No-Return Pass and detonated, the gap in the defence line only became bigger.
At the same time, the Human Race Army deployed a massive number of troops straight towards the gaps without the slightest hesitation. It was clear that they were aiming to use these gaps in the Black Ink Clan’s lines to route the Black Ink Clan’s defence entirely. If they succeeded, then they could march right in and conquer the No-Return Pass without obstruction!
The No-Return Pass currently contained all of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests of the Black Ink Clan. If the Human Race Army invaded the No-Return Pass, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests would inevitably suffer extensive losses regardless of the outcome of the battle. There was no question that such losses would affect the production of more Black Ink Clansmen as well as the healing of their Masters. How could Mo Na Ye allow such a thing to happen? He immediately mobilized many Masters and led the Black Ink Army to intercept those invaders.
The opening of the first battle of the No-Return Pass was fought at long-range, and although the Humans gained a huge advantage, it did not fundamentally change the situation. To really retake the No-Return Pass, they still had to rely on their soldiers to engage in close-quarter combat with the Black Ink Clan.
The Blood Flame, Wolf Fang, Soaring Cloud, Burning Moon, Azure Dawn, and Jade Cicada Armies flooded over like a raging tidal wave, pouring through the gaps in the Black Ink Clan defence line!
The remaining six Armies continued their assault from the left and right flanks of the No-Return Pass, holding down the Black Ink Clan Masters and Army as best they could.
As the Human Army continued to tighten its encirclement, the battle between the two sides became more and more intense. There were constant sounds of death all across the battlefield from both the Black Ink Clan and the Humans.
Across the vast conflict zone, aside for the few Masters who stood at the pinnacle, the might of an individual became insignificant. However, the synergistic power of combined forces became more than simple numbers would imply. When this was applied on the battlefield a scenario of ‘death by a thousand cuts’ became a reality.
The Black Ink Clan tried their best to stem the attack, but the strain they were under from the outset of the battle caused their response to be weaker than the opponent’s. Their resistance only lasted less than half an hour before the six Human Race Armies broke through the defence perimeter and stormed through the gaps. The Human soldiers soon reached the broken Great Passes, which once belonged to the Human Race but had been abandoned for thousands of years.
Warships sailed through and struck the enemy with Secret Techniques and artifacts while dodging the enemy’s counterattacks with astonishing agility.
This was the first battle of the Human Race Grand Army at the No-Return Pass, so they needed to achieve a spectacular victory! Mi Jing Lun did not expect to retake the No-Return Pass in one fell swoop; after all, that was simply unrealistic. Nevertheless, momentum and morale were key factors in winning any war.
The ultimate goal of the battle was determined even before the Army was mobilized; inflict maximum damage on the enemy while minimizing their own casualties.
With such an objective, the Human Warships did not act as lone Squads, but rather moved as Battalions. Squad worked in units of eight or nine, protecting each other, advancing and retreating together, so that they could maximize the advantages of the Warships and attack the enemy while preserving themselves.
The Masters of the two sides had also taken action against each other. The Eighth-Order Masters, Territory Lords, and Pseudo-Royal Lords all opened up separate battlefields where they aimed to slaughter each other.
The Humans now had many more Eighth-Order Masters than the Black Ink Clan had Territory Lords.
Thousands of years ago, the situation was completely different.
At that time the Eighth-Order Masters struggled to resist the swarm of Territory Lords and fought every battle with all their might to kill the enemy, every time receiving various hard to recover from wounds.
Ou Yang Lie, for example, was afraid to take the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill given to him by Yang Kai because of the accumulation of such wounds in his body. He was concerned that he might fail in his breakthrough and waste a chance for a potential Ninth-Order Master.
In the end, he succeeded and reached the Ninth Order, becoming Army Commander of Profound Nether Army.
Back when the situation of the Humans was critical, the Profound Nether Battlefield was nearly captured by the Black Ink Clan because they lacked top Masters.
The main reason why they were able to hold out at the time was because the Eighth-Order Masters were bold enough to put their lives on the line when they went to war. Additionally, they had Battle Formations and Warships to assist them. However, all of this was not enough to counter the Black Ink Clan’s overwhelming numerical advantage.
It was not until Yang Kai stepped in and forced the Black Ink Clan to sign a truce that the situation of the Eighth-Order Masters became better; otherwise, many more veteran Eighth-Order Masters would have died.
Today, after thousands of years of accumulation, the heritage of the Human Race has become unprecedentedly strong. There were numerous rising stars who had become Eighth-Order Masters, and now, Eighth-Order Masters completely outnumbered the Territory Lords and were capable of completely suppressing them!
Moreover, the strength of an Acquired Territory Lords was generally inferior to that of an Eighth-Order Master, not to mention their lesser numbers.
However, the Black Ink Clan also had a great number of Pseudo-Royal Lords on their side.
Each Pseudo-Royal Lord had the ability to deal with a Five Elements or even Six Paths Formation formed by Eighth-Order Masters. Worse, in order to defend against Yang Kai, Pseudo-Royal Lords would group in threes to form their own Battle Formations, making them much more difficult to deal with.
Except for the Ninth-Order Masters who could deal with the Three Fortunes Formation formed by Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Eighth-Order Masters had to assume a Five Elements or even Six Paths Formation to deal with a single Pseudo-Royal Lord.
In other words, three Pseudo-Royal Lords in a Battle Formation would keep around 20 or even more Eighth-Order Masters occupied, which greatly compensated for the lack of Territory Lords.
However, due to their fear of Yang Kai, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords in their respective Formations dared to use all their strength. All of them reserved some of their strength and diverted part of their attention to guard against Yang Kai’s sneak attack.
Therefore, from how it looked, the Eighth-Order Masters in Battle Formations had the upper hand over the Pseudo-Royal Lords also in Battle Formations.
This situation was quite bizarre.
As soon as the Human Race Army bypassed the Great Passes’ defensive line, they immediately set about annihilating everything they could reach. Soldiers of both sides scattered on the vast battlefield and fought so violently that the void trembled under their collective impact.
Blooms of Evil Purging Divine Spears appeared everywhere, resulting in the Black Ink Clan suffering terrible losses.
The Human stockpile of Evil Purging Divine Spears was fully distributed for this battle as there was no need to worry about supplies anymore.
The Human Race was going all out for this battle!
Not long after the six Human Race Armies attacking overwhelmed the Black Ink Clan defence line, the six remaining Armies on the left and right flanks also broke through the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, circumventing the broken Great Passes and meeting the Black Ink Clan in close quarters.
The whole area outside the No-Return Pass was now embroiled in the flames of war.
“Mo Yu!” A roar suddenly sounded from somewhere in the void, and with that roar, a magnificent figure crashed through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade with unstoppable power.
As Mo Yu said to Mo Na Ye before the battle, once the fighting started, the Ninth-Order Masters would definitely come to him. According to the information that the Humans had, he and Mo Na Ye were the only two Royal Lords; thus, suppressing them would greatly benefit the Humans in battle.
Mo Yu’s prophecy came true when he was approached by none other than Xiang Shan.
Mo Yu was prepared for such a situation, and now that Xiang Shan had called him out, he would not avoid the fight.
After Xiang Shan’s roar, Mo Yu rushed out from the No-Return Pass, his Black Ink Strength surging as it transformed into a huge Black Ink Cloud that covered the sky and enveloped the approaching enemy.
A fierce struggle began within the Black Ink Cloud before swiftly moving outside the No-Return Pass.
A battle between a Ninth-Order Master and a Royal Lord was so intense that if they did not move away from the main battlefield, there would be severe collateral damage to both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan.
“Mo Na Ye!” Another roar came from the Human Race Army. Seeing that Xiang Shan had successfully lured Mo Yu away, Ou Yang Lie was ready to take on the other Royal Lord. According to their original plan, as long as he pinned down Mo Na Ye, then the two Royal Lords would be too busy to coordinate the Black Ink Clan, including the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods; thus, even if they were not able to kill the two Royal Lords, the entire Black Ink Clan Army would become leaderless.
However, as soon as Ou Yang Lie moved, a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords in a Three Fortunes Formation blocked his way. There were more Eighth-Order Masters in the Profound Nether Army to help, but the Black Ink Clan also had Territory Lords and the other Pseudo-Royal Lords who were moving towards them.
With Ou Yang Lie at the centre, Human and Black Ink Clan Masters engaged in a ruthless melee.
Ou Yang Lie was so angry that he shouted as he fought with the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, “Mo Na Ye, if you have the guts, come out and fight with me alone!”
However, no matter how much Ou Yang Lie shouted, Mo Na Ye remained unperturbed and ignored him as he remained inside the No-Return Pass to oversee the situation.
With a huge potential threat like Yang Kai lurking in the shadows, Mo Na Ye would not care about Ou Yang Lie. From his standpoint, the biggest threat from the Humans was Yang Kai!
While the Human Race Army attacked from three sides, Yang Kai was repeatedly using both Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability and his own Space-Time River. Needless to say, he made gains almost every time he struck.
All Pseudo-Royal Lords throughout the battlefield were his prey.
Even though the Pseudo-Royal Lords were in Battle Formations and were vigilant of their surroundings, they were still caught off guard when Yang Kai suddenly appeared and struck them.
If they were lucky, they could block Yang Kai’s attacks and save themselves; however, if they were unlucky, as many as three Pseudo-Royal Lords would be caught in his Space-Time River, and the Black Ink Clan knew exactly what would happen once they fell into the raging waters.
Yang Kai weaved through the battlefield, swiftly moving from one success to the next. Each time he found an opening, he dove in to kill the cornered Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Within a short time, more than a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed by these successive ambushes!
It could be said that Yang Kai alone had done more than all the other Ninth-Order Masters combined.
This was a huge loss for the Black Ink Clan, and Mo Na Ye was getting desperate, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been trying to keep track of Yang Kai’s whereabouts, but with such a huge battlefield and Yang Kai’s quick and unpredictable movements, it was impossible to do so.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Mo Na Ye knew that things would reach a critical breaking point if he did not do something.
He gritted his teeth and looked up at the lofty Great Pass in the void.
Pure Yang Pass, which Yang Kai took away from the No-Return Pass some 20 years ago had now become the location of the Human Race’s Supreme Headquarters. It was where their Supreme Commander, Mi Jing Lun, remained and directed the fights on the entire battlefield.
After the 12 Armies of the Human Race were fully engaged, Pure Yang Pass became very conspicuous as it remained outside of the battlefield.
The battlefield was vast and chaotic. In such a situation, it was impossible even for the Ninth-Order Masters to know what was happening everywhere at all times.
Once there was no central coordination and control, the Human’s 12 Armies were bound to fail even if they broke through all the Black Ink Clan’s defences. The Ninth-Order Master leading each of their Armies also had to fight, and did not have much spare energy to observe the general situation.
This situation only exacerbated when the Armies broke through the initial defences of the Black Ink Clan as they were then thrown into a chaotic melee and no longer had a structured formation which was easy to coordinate. Once communications broke down, the situation of each Army became more dangerous.
If the Humans needed help at a particular battlefield, forces needed to be re-distributed to maximize benefits without causing detriments.
If the Humans could exploit the weakness of the Black Ink Clan defense, then they could reap twice the results with half the effort.
To achieve all this, the 12 Armies needed a pair of eyes that could overlook the entire battlefield. It had to be a calm and intelligent mind who could transmit battlefield orders rapidly.
The Supreme Headquarters played this role.
The soldiers at the Great Pass could see the whole battlefield clearly and quickly reported the situation from all positions while Mi Jing Lun and his staff were responsible for analyzing the intelligence and formulating plans in the shortest possible time.
In this way, the 12 Armies would be able to coordinate perfectly as a single unit to pose a deadly threat to the Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass.
This time, the Humans came prepared for the battle. Even the intelligent Mo Na Ye did not expect that the Human Race would use tactics such as throwing Universe Worlds filled with Arrays to punch through the Black Ink Clan’s defensive perimeter, causing the Black Ink Clansmen in the No-Return Pass to suffer a considerable loss. Together with Yang Kai’s unpredictable ambushes and ruthless kills, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were all at their wits’ end.
If Yang Kai continued to cut down the Pseudo-Royal Lords, when their number fell below a certain limit, the Black Ink Clan may not be able to stop the Humans even if they went all out.
Therefore, from Black Ink Clan’s standpoint, they had to find a way to break the Human’s current momentum.
Mo Na Ye had a direct interest in Pure Yang Pass, or more directly, in Mi Jing Lun.
Mo Na Ye had never underestimated the importance of Mi Jing Lun and the Supreme Headquarters and had wanted to find a chance to slaughter them all for many years; but unfortunately, Mi Jing Lun had not ever appeared on the frontline battlefields, so he could not do anything about him.
It was a good opportunity, now that the Humans were attacking the No-Return Pass; however, Pure Yang Pass was going to pose some problems. Although this Great Pass had not yet displayed its power, it was clearly repaired and refurbished over the past 20 or so years. Mo Na Ye could not estimate how much of its original power Pure Yang Pass could display at the moment, but he did not doubt that if it was brought into the battle, it would cause a huge breakthrough for the Human Race, and the Black Ink Clan would have to pay a huge price to stop it.
Even before the fighting started, Mo Na Ye had thought about attacking Pure Yang Pass, and since things had come to this point, it was time for him to act boldly.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind as Mo Na Ye’s Divine Sense surged, sending commands in all directions. The next moment, the Black Ink Clan Army on the battlefield suddenly turned from defence to offence, and many of them rushed towards the Human Warships.
The Warships were caught off guard by this sudden onslaught and many were blown to pieces across the battlefield. The Human soldiers inside now did not have the protection of their Warships and were quickly swamped by the boundless Black Ink Clan soldiers. Only a few managed to escape by virtue of their strong cultivation.
The scene looked like a group of sharks tearing at their bleeding prey.
The nearby Human soldiers quickly moved to provide assistance, but this barely stabilized the situation.
At that moment, Mo Na Ye, who had been watching from the No-Return Pass, lunged forward. Along with him, 12 other figures rushed out from the No-Return Pass.
Judging from the unmistakable auras, those were 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords!
There were numerous Black Ink Clan’s Pseudo-Royal Lords. Not all of them were deployed to the battlefield in the previous wars. It was estimated that only 70% of them fought on the battlefield while the remaining 30% were recuperating in the No-Return Pass. They did this to preserve their strength and to guard the No-Return Pass; after all, Yang Kai could turn up at any moment to harass them so Mo Na Ye did not dare to relax his vigilance. If Yang Kai rushed into the No-Return Pass and stirred up chaos, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests would be decimated.
So even though 12 more Pseudo-Royal Lords were coming out of the No-Return Pass, there were still a good number of Pseudo-Royal Lords engaged in the main battle.
Mo Na Ye attacked together with the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords along with a large Army of a million Black Ink Clansmen, including many Feudal Lords and Territory Lords.
This conspicuous Army rushed towards the disrupted Human lines, and even though the Human Army at that location tried their best to intercept them, they were unable to contain the enemy thrust.
The Human defensive line was torn apart by the Black Ink Clan attack in a short while.
A million bloodthirsty and ruthless Black Ink Clan Soldiers flowed through the gap like a torrent. Led by Mo Na Ye and the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords, they charged straight towards the direction of Pure Yang Pass, their objective obvious to all.
The Humans on the nearby battlefield saw this, and although they wanted to intercept, they were unable to.
In the next moment, Mo Na Ye, who was leading the Army, suddenly stopped, while the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords and the million-strong Army continued their rampage, as if they were not aware of this and still charged in the direction of Pure Yang Pass.
Mo Na Ye turned his head and shouted in the direction of the No-Return Pass, “Yang Kai!”
He thought that if he showed any intention of attacking Pure Yang Pass, Yang Kai would definitely show up and stop him; however, Mo Na Ye never thought that the cunning Yang Kai would instead head straight for the No-Return Pass!
Before the Pseudo-Royal Lords at the No-Return Pass could react, he quickly destroyed two High Rank Black Ink Nests!
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were not to be blamed for this as they had no way to conceal their auras; thus, they all stuck out like cranes among chickens in Yang Kai’s senses. All he needed to do was to choose the places where the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ defences were the weakest, and then he could do whatever he wanted.
It was only then that several Pseudo-Royal Lords nearby reacted and rushed to stop Yang Kai, starting a huge fight with him.
This battle rocked the No-Return Pass and the fallout was devastating, decimating several more High Rank Black Ink Nests.
Mo Na Ye quickly turned around and headed for the No-Return Pass, with his heart aching over the losses.
Like the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the High-Rank Black Ink Nest could not be replaced. Without these High-Rank Black Ink Nests, how could the Black Ink Clans create more Soldiers? If the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were all destroyed, the Black Ink Clan of the No-Return Pass would become a river without a source. Their defeat would be inevitable once that happened.
By the time Mo Na Ye rushed back to the No-Return Pass and entered the battlefield, six High-Rank Black Ink Nests had already been destroyed.
Upon seeing this, Mo Na Ye bellowed, “Leave one Formation behind, the others guard the Black Ink Nests!”
Upon hearing his order, the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were ordered to stay with Mo Na Ye joined him in battling Yang Kai while the rest of the Pseudo-Royal Lords formed Three Fortunes Formations to guard their surrounding areas.
Yang Kai did not continue his attacks on the No-Return Pass; instead, he took a step back, dashed past the group of Pseudo-Royal Lords as he glared at Mo Na Ye.
The three Pseudo-Royal Lords did not dare to chase after him, but approached Mo Na Ye and stood beside him.
At this moment, Mo Na Ye looked at Yang Kai with his eyes blazing and gritted his teeth, “Bastard!”
Yang Kai smiled smugly and taunted, “Why do you look so bitter? You deployed your troops against Pure Yang Pass, and you expect me not to do anything? Wasn’t your intention to draw me out? You should be happy that you achieved your goal!”
Mo Na Ye looked at him with a deep frown and his anger slowly eased as he said with a frown, “You saw through my intentions.”
However, he was not faking his anger. Since the beginning of the war, more than a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed by Yang Kai and now half a dozen High Rank Black Ink Nests had been smashed. Even if Mo Na Ye had a steady temperament, it was impossible for him not to be furious.
However, his anger was not as intense as expected.
Yang Kai raised his hand, pointed to his eyes, and asked as he glared, “Do you know what these are?”
Mo Na Ye’s mind raced and asked in return doubtfully, “What?”
“Eyes!” Yang Kai replied, “I’m not blind!”
Mo Na Ye was flabbergasted.
Although the battle was in full swing outside the No-Return Pass, two top Masters were simply staring at each other inside the No-Return Pass. They just stared and talked to each other without fighting; however, the tension was very tense and treacherous.
Moments later, Mo Na Ye quickly asked, “Has Mi Jing Lun broken through to the Ninth Order?”
“What makes you think so?” Yang Kai asked with a puzzled expression. The Black Ink Clan should not know about Mi Jing Lun becoming a Ninth-Order Master. Even if they found out about the two newly promoted Ninth-Order Masters, it should have been impossible for Mo Na Ye to know Mi Jing Lun had also broken through.
Mo Na Ye replied with a shrug, “It’s obvious. Originally, I had already guessed that Mi Jing Lun might have become a Ninth-Order Master. After the battle in the Universe Furnace, the Universe Furnace World became a hunting ground for the Humans. The Humans might have obtained another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, and the most logical person to take it would be Mi Jing Lun, but that was all only a guess. When I saw how you reacted just now though, I became 80% certain!”
“So that’s how it is!” Yang Kai appeared to be enlightened, “The attack on Pure Yang Pass was not only to lure me out, but also to verify your suspicions.” After a pause, Yang Kai continued, “Your main purpose must be the latter.”
At this point, there was no point in denying it, as the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords led a million-strong Black Ink Clan Army towards the Pure Yang Pass, which was outside the battlefield. There was no longer a way to hide the fact that Mi Jing Lun had advanced to become a Ninth-Order Master.
If Mi Jing Lun was still only an Eighth-Order Master, Yang Kai would have to go to their rescue instead of boldly attacking the No-Return Pass.
Since Yang Kai appeared in the No-Return Pass, it meant that he was at ease about Mi Jing Lun’s safety, and in such a large-scale battlefield, only a Ninth-Order Master was able to guarantee their own safety.
Mo Na Ye shook his head and said, “No, the main reason was still to lure you out and pin you down. Yang Kai, you must not underestimate yourself. Everyone from the Royal Lords down to the ordinary Black Ink Clansmen fears you deeply.”
Yang Kai grinned and replied, “Should I feel honoured?”
“Do as you please, I’m just speaking the truth!” Mo Na Ye stared at Yang Kai, as did the three Pseudo-Royal Lords standing beside him. None of them let their guard down even when Mo Na Ye was having a conversation with Yang Kai and any abnormal movement would result in a violent exchange between them.
This was also the reason why Yang Kai was willing to stand here and chat with Mo Na Ye; otherwise, he would have already used Instantaneous Movement to disappear to somewhere else on the battlefield to kill more enemies. However, Mo Na Ye had locked onto him using his aura; thus, even if he tried to use Instantaneous Movement, it would have been disrupted.
After a moment of silence, Yang Kai suddenly said, “Since you have guessed that Senior Brother Mi had become a Ninth-Order Master, aren’t you worried about the safety of those Pseudo-Royal Lords?”
As they spoke, the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords and the million-strong Black Ink Clan Army had already closed in on Pure Yang Pass. The two sides would clash violently at any moment.
If Mi Jing Lun was still an Eighth-Order Master, then the Black Ink Clan would have had a great chance to capture the Great Pass and kill Mi Jing Lun.; however, now that Mo Na Ye knew that Mi Jing Lun was already in the Ninth Order, it made no sense for him to continue the attack.
It was foolish for them to charge towards danger with no possibility of gains; Mo Na Ye couldn’t make such a choice.
However, that was exactly what he did.
Mo Na Ye replied nonchalantly, “Why should I worry?”
Yang Kai frowned when he heard that. If he did not worry about the safety of his attacking Army, then did that mean that the Humans needed to worry?
At that moment, he saw the Black Ink Clan Army from the No-Return Pass making a very different move. Just as they closed to the defensive perimeter of Pure Yang Pass, this Army, led by 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords, suddenly turned around and charged back towards the battlefield.
In that direction, Human and Black Ink Clan soldiers were in an evenly matched fight with neither side able to send reinforcements within a short period of time. A large Army would be able to change the situation of that local battlefield and allow the Black Ink Clan to gain the upper hand if they rushed over at this moment.
Yang Kai’s expression changed instantly and said, “So this is your plan?”
Mo Na Ye ordered the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords to lead a million-strong Black Ink Clan Army to attack Pure Yang Pass, hold Yang Kai back, and verify Mi Jing Lun’s advancement to the Ninth Order, but his ultimate objective was to wheel around and attack the Humans from behind to create an advantage for the Black Ink Clan!
[Mo Na Ye!] Yang Kai raged!
Mo Na Ye just said that his main purpose was to hold Yang Kai back, which made him lower his guard; however, even that was a deception.
Yang Kai was particularly annoyed with Mo Na Ye at this moment, who could somehow turn an unfavourable situation around with clever tactics and deliver a blow to his enemies they never expected.
Yang Kai nearly died when he intercepted the Innate Territory Lords who had escaped from Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction thanks to a similar scheme. If it was not for the Universe Furnace’s sudden appearance at the critical moment, Yang Kai might not have survived.
In Pure Yang Pass, Mi Jing Lun looked from the top of the walls at the Black Ink Clan Army, which was getting farther and farther away from Pure Yang Pass. He then looked over in the direction of the No-Return Pass and sighed lightly, “Seems’ I’ve been exposed!”
Before the battle began, he had thought of using himself as bait to lure the Black Ink Clan to attack.
His advancement to the Ninth Order was only now known to the higher-ups of the Human Race while the Black Ink Clan was totally unaware; therefore, after the battle started, the 12 Armies all pressed forward, leaving Pure Yang Pass vulnerable outside the battlefield.
This was to send a message to the Black Ink Clan and Mo Na Ye.
“The Supreme Headquarters is on Pure Yang Pass, and Mi Jing Lun is also on Pure Yang Pass.” As long as the Black Ink Clan could take down Pure Yang Pass, then the Humans would become blind and deaf. When that happened, regardless of how strong the Humans were, even if they could re-capture the Supreme Headquarters, they would eventually be defeated.
This deception was initially successful. Mo Na Ye had an Army charge towards Pure Yang Pass, but just when they were about to engage each other, the Pseudo-Royal Lords leading the way turned around and flew back to the battlefield. Their target had always been the Human Race Army.
If Black Ink Clan defeated the Humans at their targeted spot, then the Black Ink Clan Army would be able to gain a foothold and use that part of the battlefield to expand their advantage.
“No need to hide anymore, let’s fight!” Mi Jing Lun said softly.
The next moment, numerous figures suddenly shot out from Pure Yang Pass and chased after the Black Ink Clan Army with the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords leading them.
The two leading figures, with powerful auras, were the two newly promoted Ninth-Order Masters of the Human Race. Right behind them were nearly 200 Eighth-Order Masters!
Mi Jing Lun had used Pure Yang Pass and himself as bait, so naturally, he had made all the necessary arrangements!
The garrison of Pure Yang Pass might have seemed obvious at a glance, but under the cover of many Concealment Arrays, the two newly advanced Ninth-Order Masters and a large group of Eighth-Order Masters were quietly lying in wait. If the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords and the million-strong Black Ink Clan troops dared to set foot on Pure Yang Pass, they would end up with heavy casualties.
For this reason, Mi Jing Lun even hid Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao from the public even when the battles began.
However, now that they had been exposed, there was no longer any point in hiding them anymore. They were now Ninth-Order Masters; thus, it was time for them to play a role in the battlefield.
The two Ninth-Order Masters led some 200 Eighth-Order Masters towards the Black Ink Clan Army, and although their numbers were far less than the enemy, their strength was comparable. The two Ninth-Order Masters took point and charged into the enemy Army, slicing through it like a hot knife through butter. Black blood splattered with body parts flying everywhere, leaving a trail of dead and dying Black Ink Clansmen.
It was only when the leading 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords managed to intervene and blunt the Human Race Masters’ assault, halting the wanton slaughter of their subordinates.
“So, you had two more Ninth-Order Masters!” Mo Na Ye remarked calmly as he watched Yang Kai closely, able to sense the violent fallout from the clash even from where he stood.
The sudden appearance of the two Ninth-Order Masters’ auras naturally did not escape his notice.
Mo Na Ye was actually not surprised by this.
Since Black Ink Clan had a new Royal Lord, then the Humans could also have new Ninth-Order Masters. If he counted Mi Jing Lun, the Humans had three more Ninth Orders in just the last 20 years.
It was unknown whether the two new appearances relied on their own accumulation of cultivation to break through, or did so with the help of Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills. If it was the latter, then it did not matter as the number of Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills were limited and would eventually run out; however, if it was the former, then the situation was untenable.
The Human Race had produced several new Ninth-Order Masters while the Black Ink Clan only gained one new Royal Lord, it was obvious which side had the advantage and time would only exacerbate the situation.
“The Black Ink Clan is doomed!” Yang Kai taunted.
Mo Na Ye scoffed and replied, “Brother Yang underestimates my Black Ink Clan.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai frowned and continued, “Is it possible that a new Royal Lord appeared in the Black Ink Clan? Which one is it? Why doesn’t he introduce himself?”
Mo Na Ye maintained a straight face, “If that is the case, you will find out eventually.”
The answer was so flat and plain it was difficult for Yang Kai to determine if there was a new Royal Lord in the Black Ink Clan or not. He had carefully checked all parts of the No-Return Pass previously but did not find anything.
He had an ominous feeling when he came to the No-Return Pass but could not be sure based on that feeling alone. There were so many Masters from the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass right now, so if he was not careful, he could find himself in a critical situation regardless of the truth.
“So…” Mo Na Ye lowered his eyes, and his tone suddenly lowered, “That’s the end of the small talk!”
Yang Kai raised his brow and asked, “Is it time to fight? No more stalling? I see that your Pseudo-Royal Lords seem to be secretly setting up something. If it’s not properly set up, we can chat a while longer.”
His completely nonchalant attitude made Mo Na Ye’s flaming rage burst out as he roared, “Yang Kai, you arrogant bastard! Do you really think that the No-Return Pass is a place where you can come and go as you wish!?”
Yang Kai looked at him seriously for a long time and then said, “This is the territory of the Human Race, so of course I can come and go as I please!”
“Prove it!”
As soon as Mo Na Ye finished his sentence, the No-Return Pass hummed in all directions as if there was an invisible power swept through it. In the next instant, this huge stretch underwent a subtle change…
This change was extremely inconspicuous, and it was difficult for ordinary people to notice, but Yang Kai only had to scan around to know what happened. He frowned slightly and remarked, “You improved the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array?”
The Black Ink Clan always wanted to use the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array to deal with Yang Kai; however, the Spirit Array was a bit troublesome to set up and could not be done so quickly. On several occasions, the Black Ink Clan would be in the middle of setting up the Array when Yang Kai suddenly dashed away or interfered.
They could only hope for Yang Kai to stay somewhere long enough for them to finish setting up the Array. For example, the first time the Black Ink Clan used the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array was in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. They managed to block the entire Divine Spirit Ancestral Land with it, and a Pseudo-Royal Lord personally led numerous Innate Territory Lords to attack and kill Yang Kai.
It would have been disastrous for Yang Kai had he not taken advantage of Ancestral Land’s favourable conditions and if the Pseudo-Royal Lord had been more measured.
Without the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array, there was no way to limit Yang Kai’s Space Secret Techniques, and without limiting his Space Secret Techniques, they had no chance to kill him.
While Yang Kai was chatting with Mo Na Ye, some Pseudo-Royal Lords were sneaking around in the background, which Yang Kai naturally noticed.
Now, the Black Ink Clan had turned the entire No-Return Pass into a huge trap.
Compared to the previous Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array, the current Array was undoubtedly better hidden and covered a wider area. Without Yang Kai noticing, the Array had already been activated.
“Damn!” Yang Kai cursed in contempt.
Mo Na Ye coldly snorted, “Don’t you Humans have a saying, ‘if you often walk next to the river, how can your shoes not get wet?’ You went on three rampages in the No-Return Pass already. Do you really think that I won’t learn from those failures and prepare for today?”
“That’s why you always stayed in the No-Return Pass, so that you could trap me here when I came again. It’s unbelievable that the Black Ink Clan has a talent capable of this.”
This kind of improvement to the Array could only be done by one who had a high attainment in the Dao of Spirit Arrays. The Black Ink Clan had numerous Black Ink Disciples, but they did not have many who were skilled in the Dao of Spirit Arrays and Dao of Artifact Refining; thus, they were still vastly inferior compared to the Humans.
However, it had been so many years that if those Array Masters worked hard enough, they could achieve some gains.
“It’s too late now,” Mo Na Ye raised his hand and pointed at Yang Kai, “Today, you will be buried here!”
Yang Kai glanced around and said grimly, “Aren’t you afraid that the High-Rank Black Ink Nests in the No-Return Pass will be destroyed if we fight here?”
This was where the Black Ink Clan’s foundation was located. Although there were still a large number of Masters, the presence of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests here was also a constraint for the Black Ink Clan.
“That’s why I only let three Pseudo-Royal Lords come to assist me,” Mo Na Ye replied indifferently.
Yang Kai looked surprised for a moment before he nodded, “So that’s how it is.”
There were many Pseudo-Royal Lords at the No-Return Pass, but only three were participating directly in the battle together with Mo Na Ye while the others remained at their posts. They were responsible for guarding the High-Rank Black Ink Nests in their respective areas. None of them could stand up to Yang Kai, but they were more than capable of blocking some shockwaves from hitting the Nests. With them stationed here, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests would most likely not be affected.
“Of course, if necessary…” Mo Na Ye said with determination, “There can be more Pseudo-Royal Lords to deal with you. Simply said, I am prepared to do whatever it takes to kill you today!”
From these words alone, one could see Mo Na Ye’s determination to eradicate Yang Kai.
There was nothing left to say as everything was in place on the Black Ink Clan’s side. As such, Yang Kai simply decided to follow the flow.
He slightly raised his hand, summoned the Azure Dragon Spear, and clenched its shaft. As his Dao Strengths stirred, the Space-Time River began to coil around the long spear.
His fighting spirit began to boil and his killing intent surged. Yang Kai held the spear, pointed it forward, and proclaimed, “Then, let’s see how many of your Masters I kill before I fall!”
“Begin!”
Mo Na Ye and the three Pseudo-Royal Lords lunged forward simultaneously and attacked Yang Kai from opposite sides.
Yang Kai immediately thrust the Azure Dragon Spear forward, sending out a spear shadow filled with Dao Strengths so powerful that it terrified the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The spear sliced a Pseudo-Royal Lord’s body, drew some black blood, and continued its momentum towards Mo Na Ye’s face.
Mo Na Ye roared and his Black Ink Strength surged, turning into a protective layer covering his body. However, that barrier was directly pierced by the long spear. At the critical moment, Mo Na Ye raised his arm and managed to deflect the spear away from his body.
The tip of the spear still scratched Mo Na Ye’s face and Yang Kai swiftly made a sweep with it, sending the former flying with a powerful strike.
Yang Kai was about to give chase when he felt a powerful force coming at him from behind. It was the three Pseudo-Royal Lords who attacked together, forcing him to draw back his spear to defend himself.
Mo Na Ye quickly regained his balance but still appeared bewildered.
The last time he faced Yang Kai head-on was in the Universe Furnace World when Yang Kai had just advanced to the Ninth Order and he had just become a Royal Lord.
He was almost killed by Yang Kai back then, but Meng Que sacrificed himself for the greater good and helped him to escape.
It had been hundreds of years since that encounter.
Now, fighting Yang Kai once again, Mo Na Ye suddenly found that this bastard seemed to be a lot stronger than back then…
Of course, Yang Kai would certainly become stronger after hundreds of years, but likewise, Mo Na Ye was also much stronger than back then. Both of them still had serious injuries back when they first fought, so neither was able to display their peak strength.
However, Yang Kai had now become much stronger than Mo Na Ye had expected.
He knew how Humans cultivated and understood well that a Ninth-Order Master required many years of accumulation to improve themselves; thus, he could not figure out how Yang Kai managed to grow so much in just a few hundred years.
Mo Na Ye thought that one group of three Pseudo-Royal Lords together with himself would be enough to deal with Yang Kai, but now it seemed that was not sufficient.
Unfortunately, he was not prepared to let more Pseudo-Royal Lords come forward to fight against Yang Kai as just adding more bodies may not help the situation!
The three Pseudo-Royal Lords who were already in a Battle Formation could only withstand Yang Kai’s assault for 10 breaths before they started to crumble under his relentless attacks.
They had previously fought with other Ninth-Order Masters and basically concluded that if they used a Three Fortunes Formation, they would be able to contend with the enemy. Even if they were ultimately outmatched, they did not have to fear dying. However, this killing star seemed to be far more powerful than other Ninth-Order Masters.
Fortunately, Mo Na Ye quickly came over to assist them.
Even then, it was just barely enough to contend with Yang Kai!
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were tasked with protecting the No-Return Pass saw this and became concerned and gloomy.
It was impossible to realize how powerful Yang Kai was until one actually fought him.
Three Pseudo-Royal Lords in a Formation could compete with a Ninth-Order Master, that was the standard rule, but now, even with Mo Na Ye, who was a true Royal Lord, their power was barely enough to hold Yang Kai back. Yang Kai was even beginning to gain the upper hand over them which was a terrifying sight to behold.
The battle was fierce and ruthless. Several figures darted around as they fought throughout the No-Return Pass. Every single attack on Yang Kai was well coordinated and powerful, which showed how well prepared the Black Ink Clan was for this confrontation. The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were guarding the High-Rank Black Ink Nests were also able to block all the fallout, leaving the Black Ink Nests untouched.
As the battle dragged on, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords who were fighting became wounded and drained, causing their strength to drop.
At that moment, three other Pseudo-Royal Lords flew out from the perimeter, formed a Battle Formation, and joined the fight. Once that happened, the three exhausted and wounded Pseudo-Royal Lords made a feint and withdrew.
“Hmm?” Yang Kai remarked in slight surprise, “So this is your plan?”
Three fresh Pseudo-Royal Lords replaced the three who were exhausted. This tag-team tactic was easy for the Black Ink Clan to execute and sustain as they had enough Pseudo-Royal Lords to rotate into the fight.
As long as the three Pseudo-Royal Lord replacements joined the battle smoothly, Yang Kai would constantly be under pressure.
“Since you’re using this tactic, why don’t you summon more Pseudo-Royal Lords and fight together?” Yang Kai asked as he thrust his spear at Mo Na Ye.
Mo Na Ye dodged, coldly snorted, and counterattacked, “There’s no need for that. The Array has been activated, and the No-Return Pass has been isolated.”
“You want to take me down with minimal effort? That’s a good plan,” Yang Kai raised his brow as he continued his rush towards Mo Na Ye, “Although I have to admit that this tactic is effective, you might have forgotten that there is a major flaw to it.”
Mo Na Ye asked indifferently, “What?”
Yang Kai replied, “The most crucial factor of this plan is you; after all, there is no one to replace you!”
“So what?”
“So…” Yang Kai’s aura suddenly changed and became exceedingly violent, “All I have to do is kill you!”
The Space-Time River, which had wrapped around the Azure Dragon Spear suddenly turned into another spear which had the Dao Strengths attached and shot out towards the three Pseudo-Royal Lords to block all their attacks. Simultaneously, Yang Kai thrust out his Azure Dragon Spear and charged at Mo Na Ye.
Mo Na Ye’s expression changed as he realized that Yang Kai had not exerted his full strength, causing him to stare at his opponent in total disbelief.
[How could he have grown so much in just a few hundred years!?]
However, Mo Na Ye could not afford to think about it at this moment. Yang Kai had obviously grown significantly, but he too had not idled in the last few hundred years and had also grown stronger. Though not as much as Yang Kai, his cultivation was completely consolidated now, he was able to fight back and not just be on the receiving end of Yang Kai’s killing blows.
Black Ink Strength rumbled as a giant Black Ink Cloud billowed, enveloping a huge portion of the void. The Black Ink Cloud resonated with Mo Na Ye’s roar, “How long can you last like that?”
He could see that Yang Kai had used some kind of Secret Technique to boost his strength, but such Secret Techniques always had limitations.
Yang Kai immediately snarled, “Not for long, but it’s enough to kill you!”
“Come!”
The two taunted each other like petulant children within the Black Ink Cloud, confusing the Pseudo-Royal Lords at the No-Return Pass.
Yang Kai was fighting alone while the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army were engaged in a chaotic melee on the perimeter of the No-Return Pass. While the Humans were woefully outnumbered, they seemed to have the upper hand.
Moreover, Black Ink Clan’s tactical situation was different from that of the Humans.
The Humans had Pure Yang Pass outside the battlefield coordinating their movements. Precise orders were issued from Pure Yang Pass to all parts of the battlefield, so the soldiers only needed to follow these directives and the entire Human Race Army became like a tightly-knit entity. They advanced and retreated together, providing assistance to each other whenever needed.
On the other hand, Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu were both fully engaged in the fighting. Mo Na Ye had anticipated this situation before the war started and had informed several of his subordinates to take over commanding the Black Ink Clan Grand Army; however, they did not have enough experience, and their tactical and strategic thinking were lacking. They did not stand a chance against the battle-hardened veteran Mi Jing Lun.
If the Black Ink Clan did not have the geographic advantage as the defensive side, and could not immediately receive reinforcements, they would have lost the battle already.
However, the Humans also had their concerns. Despite the fact that they had the advantage in essentially all aspects of this battle, the Black Ink Clan still had the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods which were eyeing them dangerously.
These two beings were wary of Ah Da and Ah Er, who were still in the Barren Territory, and dared not move from the No-Return Pass just yet; however, they could still launch attacks remotely.
Even the simplest attack from a Black Ink Giant Spirit God was so powerful that it could not be underestimated and many Humans had already been slaughtered by them; thus, it was unrealistic for the Humans to think that they could retake the No-Return Pass in a single battle. Just as the Black Ink Clan had a clear understanding of the situation between the two sides, so did the Humans.
The deciding factor of the war between the two Races was the four Giant Spirit Gods. Whoever could solve the other’s Giant Spirit Gods first would seize an irreversible advantage.
However, how could either Army even attempt to solve the Giant Spirit Gods of the other side?
The biggest gain so far for the Human Race was the Black Ink Clan Army feigning an attack on Pure Yang Pass, exposing their backs to the Human’s reserve force.
Outside Pure Yang Pass, the 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords had led a million-strong Black Ink Clan Army towards the rear command post of the Human Race Army before suddenly turning around and heading to a weak spot in the Human’s offensive.
Seeing this, Mi Jing Lun ordered the two newly promoted Ninth-Order Masters to lead 200 Eighth-Order Masters to pursue them.
The Black Ink Clan Army, which wanted to coordinate with their clansmen in the No-Return Pass, was suddenly set upon by these Human Masters. The 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords naturally saw this situation, but instead of confronting the enemy in the open, they ordered their Army to escape back to the safety of the No-Return Pass. Unfortunately, this resulted in half of their subordinates being slaughtered.
Mi Jing Lun looked at the situation on the battlefield from Pure Yang Pass and sighed. After this fight with the Black Ink Clan, he realized that the enemy had more strength than he had expected.
Unlike the Black Ink Clan who did not care about their casualties, every Human Soldier was a rare warrior. Taking the No-Return Pass was just the beginning. The Humans still had to go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. If too many were killed or critically wounded in retaking the No-Return Pass, how could they embark on the next part of the plan?
So, when Mi Jing Lun dispatched the Army for this battle, he had emphasized the principle of preserving their war potential rather than maximizing the damage to the Black Ink Clan. He endeavoured not to have severe losses in the Army, especially among the high-ranking Open Heaven Realm Masters.
At this point in the battle, the Humans certainly had the absolute upper hand; however, without resolving the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, there was no way to retake the No-Return Pass. If they continued the fight unabated, there would definitely be more casualties.
In such an intensely violent battlefield, every soldier would consume a lot of strength. Additionally, the medicinal efficacies of the Purifying Black Ink Pills, which were taken in advance, were time-limited. With so many dead Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield, creating massive amounts of Black Ink Clouds, the protective effects of the Purifying Black Ink Pills were being constantly eroded.
Once the medicinal efficacies of the Purifying Black Ink Pills failed, it would be difficult to fight in an environment filled with Black Ink Strength.
Mi Jing Lun could not help but turn his head and look at the depths of the No-Return Pass, where he vaguely saw several figures in the midst of a fierce battle. Upon seeing this, he frowned slightly and muttered, “Concealing one’s ability by feigning weakness?”
Unlike Mo Na Ye, Mi Jing Lun was aware of Yang Kai’s actual strength as he had discussed this with the latter recently.
After 20 years of cultivating with the power of the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, Yang Kai’s strength was vastly superior to what it used to be.
With Yang Kai’s current strength, he should not have any problems killing Mo Na Ye, even if three Pseudo-Royal Lords were assisting the latter.
However, the battle seemed to be an even struggle. Clearly, Yang Kai did not use his full strength as he was intending to conceal the extent of his abilities. Mi Jing Lun naturally was not worried about Yang Kai’s safety. Before the battle started, Yang Kai approached Mi Jing Lun and chatted with him privately, planning for various scenarios, including the current situation he was in.
Mi Jing Lun naturally knew why Yang Kai decided to feign weakness, even to the extent of letting Mo Na Ye live!
Revealing his true strength to Mo Na Ye was not advantageous at this moment. It was far more important for the Humans to deal with the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Yang Kai decided to conceal his ability and only strike at the critical moment against the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods!
After a few more moments of watching, Mi Jing Lun withdrew his gaze and said to himself, “We’ve met our objective.”
The officers around him immediately focused and waited for the order to be given.
The next moment, Mi Jing Lun declared, “Pass down the order, all Armies are to retreat and regroup at Pure Yang Pass!”
“Yes Sir!” The messages were immediately sent to all the Armies.
At the same time, Pure Yang Pass, which had been outside the battlefield, also moved and pressed forward in the direction of the No-Return Pass as all its artifacts came to life.
Mi Jing Lun then flew up and rushed towards the battlefield.
As a Ninth-Order Master, he should have already taken to the battlefield to kill the enemy; however, he had to remain behind to direct the Armies’ movements.
Now that the battle was coming to an end, there was not much more for him to do. The Human Army only needed to withdraw from the battlefield in an orderly manner according to the original plan, so Mi Jing Lun could finally put down the heavy burden of command and go to the battlefield to act as a lone Ninth-Order Master.
At the same time as Pure Yang Pass began moving, on the battlefield inside the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai muttered, “It’s about time.”
Pure Yang Pass heading to the battlefield was a signal for the retreat of the Human Race Army, and Yang Kai knew it well.
Although he had been fighting alone, he was still taking advantage of the momentum of the Human Army. At that moment, Yang Kai’s extremely fierce attacks suddenly slowed down and he held a stoic expression.
Across from him, Mo Na Ye was drenched in cold sweat as he felt like he just escaped from the gates of death.
He did not expect Yang Kai’s explosive assault to last so long and had almost not survived the onslaught. His body was covered with wounds now, and even though they were not life-threatening, it made him look quite dishevelled.
There had also already been several rounds of Pseudo-Royal Lords who rotated in and out of the battlefield.
He was secretly relieved that Yang Kai stopped his attacks at this point; otherwise, once he was killed, the Pseudo-Royal Lords would have to face Yang Kai on their own. Once that happened, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests would suffer heavy losses, which would make the entire war situation untenable.
“Mo Na Ye!” Yang Kai said after he ‘adjusted his breathing’, “Let me show you something!”
Mo Na Ye kept his cool and remained silent, while he continued his attacks with the three Pseudo-Royal Lords in a pincer move.
“Your Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array…” As Yang Kai spoke, the Space-Time River once again coiled around the Azure Dragon Spear. He then thrust his spear into the Void, causing an eruption of Space Principles that shattered the local space!
“It’s useless against me now!” Yang Kai declared.
With the spear’s thrust and the diffusion of Space Principles, there was a sound of something shattering, and immediately afterwards, the space around the No-Return Pass began to crack in a spider-web pattern.
The Black Ink Clan had tried to use the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array several times to deal with Yang Kai, so naturally he was prepared for this. Even before he entered the No-Return Pass alone, Yang Kai considered the possibility of this Grand Array being set up to trap him.
However, Yang Kai was not worried about such trifles now.
He would have been wary of a Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array 700 hundred years ago as, at that time, if the local Space he was in was really isolated, he would be in a lot of trouble. Unless he killed all the Black Ink Clansmen inside and broke open the Array, it would be impossible for him to use Instantaneous Movement to escape.
But he was not the same as back then!
In the Universe Furnace, he had broken through to the Ninth-Order Master and his strength had dramatically increased after his retreat over the past 20 years.
In addition, Yang Kai refined and devoured various Dao Strengths in the Infinite River in the Universe Furnace World. It was also there that he realized his own Space-Time River was actually the condensed manifestation of all his Dao Strengths. With the power of the Space-Time River, Yang Kai could easily break through the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array arranged by the Black Ink Clan, ruining their plans.
Another point was that this Array was only made by some Black Ink Disciples with mediocre attainments in the Dao of Spirit Arrays at best; thus, the Array they produced was not too effective.
If it had been the Great Grandmaster of the Human Race that devised and set up an array to use against Yang Kai, it would have been more troublesome, but the Four Gates Eight Palaces Great Pagoda Array was still easy to break free from.
From the start of the battle today, Yang Kai could have broken the Array at any moment he chose to. What he said about ‘let’s see how many of your Masters can I kill before I fall’ before the fighting started was simply meant to mislead Mo Na Ye.
Mo Na Ye was absolutely shocked the moment the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array was shattered. He did not know much about Spirit Arrays, so he did not expect this one, which he had such high hopes for, to not affect Yang Kai at all.
As such, he and the three Pseudo-Royal Lords who had teamed up with him launched a desperate attack.
This seemed to be a worsening situation, and it was obviously unwise to continue after knowing that it was impossible to contain Yang Kai; however, considering that Yang Kai was also feigning weakness, there was no reason why Mo Na Ye would choose not to take advantage of him when he seemed to be suffering backlash from some kind of sacrificial Secret Technique.
Murderous thoughts flashed through his mind, but Yang Kai suppressed his urge to kill Mo Na Ye here and now; instead, he just summoned a bit of strength to block Mo Na Ye’s blow, making it appear as if the two of them were now evenly matched.
The three Pseudo-Royal Lords in their Formation also attacked from the side, but Yang Kai simply thrust his spear out to force them back.
A single thrust was enough to block these three; after all, Yang Kai was stronger than the other Ninth-Order Masters and Royal Lords by a large margin. Even though he was busy fending off Mo Na Ye, the power of this spear could not be underestimated by the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
However, as Yang Kai swung his spear, the leader of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords actually raised his hand to block the blow…
The moment contact was made, the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s aura changed subtly!
Yang Kai could not help but be stunned for a moment and quickly cursed in his heart. Even though he had been careful enough, he did not expect to fall for Mo Na Ye’s tricks in the end.
He had to admit that Mo Na Ye was a cunning and highly intelligent foe.
The main reason for this admiration was that Yang Kai had realized that the Pseudo-Royal Lord, who was leading the charge towards him, was not a Pseudo-Royal Lord. He was a true Royal Lord!
This caught him off guard; however, Yang Kai was ready for such surprises.
When he came to the No-Return Pass more than 20 years ago, Yang Kai realized that new Royal Lords would soon be born in the Black Ink Clan, and over the past 20 or so years, the Humans managed to gain two new Ninth-Order Masters, so how could the Black Ink Clan lag behind? It was not certain a new Royal Lord had risen, but there was still a good chance at least one had appeared.
When Mo Na Ye answered Yang Kai’s probing question previously, it was difficult for him to conclude anything; however, he still held the mindset that he would rather believe that there was at least one more. With such a mindset, Yang Kai was constantly on guard against any unknown Royal Lord who might be lurking and waiting for an opportunity to strike.
He subconsciously felt that if a new Royal Lord appeared in the Black Ink Clan, he would be hiding somewhere, looking for an opening to attack him.
However, Mo Na Ye chose to hide the new Royal Lord in plain sight, among a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords!
There were not many differences in terms of the auras of a Royal Lord and a Pseudo-Royal Lord, what set the two apart was that a Pseudo-Royal Lord could not control their strength completely. As a result, a Pseudo-Royal Lord could only exert about 70 to 80 percent of their full strength, despite possessing the foundation of an actual Royal Lord.
It was like two identical wells of water, but the lengths of rope used to draw up water were different. Since one rope was shorter, it could not access the well’s entire water supply. This was the difference between a Pseudo-Royal Lord and a true Royal Lord.
This meant that as long as a true Royal Lord simply released his own aura wildly, it was basically impossible to differentiate him from a Pseudo-Royal Lord. Even if he was in a fight, as long as he intentionally held back part of his strength, he would not reveal any flaws.
So, it was only when he started to attack that Yang Kai realized that among these three ‘Pseudo-Royal Lords’, there was a true Royal Lord!
This was what Yang Kai did not expect. He had been distracted, monitoring the movement all around him, lest a Royal Lord suddenly popped out of nowhere; however, he never anticipated that a true Royal Lord was actually lurking right next to him this whole time.
This arrangement was extremely clever and was definitely Mo Na Ye’s idea.
According to Mo Na Ye’s instructions, three Pseudo-Royal Lords would join him in suppressing Yang Kai, and so far, several batches of Pseudo-Royal Lords had rotated in and out of this battle. After establishing a kind of routine, even if Yang Kai was that astute, he would gradually become blind to such a possibility.
Of course, Yang Kai was doing something similar in trying to conceal his abilities by feigning weakness. Consciously having to hold back was actually an additional burden on him which left him somewhat distracted.
There was no point in blaming himself at this point though. The two Royal Lords were close at hand with one of them in the midst of a violent attack. In Yang Kai’s current ‘weakened’ state, it was impossible to dodge the incoming blow.
Many thoughts flashed through his mind as Yang Kai as he weighed between continuing with the deception or revealing his true strength, counterattacking, and taking Mo Na Ye and the new Royal Lord by surprise. In the end, though, he restrained his murderous intent.
The next moment, the new Royal Lord’s fist found its way through Yang Kai’s guard and struck his chest.
This punch was so powerful that it almost caved Yang Kai’s chest in, and a mouthful of fresh golden blood spurted out, turning into a thick mist of blood.
Yang Kai swung his fist back to repel his new foe before sweeping at him with his spear, forcing the new Royal Lord to dodge out of the way.
Mo Na Ye was surprised that the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array was broken by Yang Kai, but his original plan still worked out, which made up for the embarrassment.
While Yang Kai was fighting with Di Ya Luo, he raised his hand and Black Ink Strength broke through the void, aiming at the back of the former’s head.
If this blow landed, it would be disastrous for Yang Kai!
Mo Na Ye appeared exuberant and eagerly awaited what was to come.
However, at this critical moment, Yang Kai unexpectedly swung his Azure Dragon Spear behind his head and blocked the fierce blow precisely.
Mo Na Ye immediately realized what was happening and yelled, “Don’t let him get away!”
As he shouted, he used his aura to shake the Void, and the nearby Black Ink Masters did the same.
However, when Mo Na Ye and Di Ya Luo pounced towards Yang Kai again, the latter’s figure faded away.
Without the Heaven Sealing Earth Locking Array, there was no way to limit Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement. Even Mo Na Ye’s aura could only interfere slightly with it.
As a result of the interference, Yang Kai showed up not far away and failed to completely escape from the No-Return Pass.
At this moment, he was in a terrible state with his chest sunken considerably and his body covered in blood. His aura was so diminished that it seemed like he might die at any moment.
However, Mo Na Ye knew Yang Kai very well. To a Divine Dragon, recovering from even such serious injuries was not an issue; the only way to ensure Yang Kai was dead, was to kill him on the spot.
Moreover, as soon as he saw Yang Kai’s current location which was close to the Territory Gate, he realized what his nemesis was planning.
At this moment, Yang Kai had only two options to flee. One was to break through the Black Ink Clan’s defence line and escape towards the Human Race Army. As long as the Humans sent some Masters to assist him, he could ensure his own safety.
He was able to sneak into the No-Return Pass silently with the help of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, but now that so many Masters from the Black Ink Clan were locked onto him, he could not escape using the same tactic. As such, it was difficult for him to sneak his way out of the No-Return Pass.
If he tried to fight his way out now though, Mo Na Ye would surely notice something was off and re-assess his strength.
Thus, he had only one option left, which was to escape via the Territory Gate which led to the Barren Territory!