Of over 100 Open Heaven Realm Masters who had come from his Small Universe, four of them could cultivate the Dao of Space, three could cultivate the Dao of Time, and as many as 20 could cultivate the Spear Dao.
Some people also displayed extraordinary talent in Alchemy and Artifact Refining, which was definitely related to Yang Kai’s attainments in the two Grand Daos. Although the Dao Essences of Alchemy and Artifact Refining were not as rich as his three main Grand Daos, they were still plentiful. If a cultivator who lived and grew up in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was naturally gifted in these Daos, it would be very easy for him or her to comprehend the mysteries contained within these Dao Essences.
Overall, the future cultivation path of the disciples of his Small Universe was somewhat related to the Grand Daos he himself dabbled in. Such a proportion was already quite impressive.
Yang Kai had no intention of accepting any more Disciples. To him, Zhao Ye Bai, Zhao Ya, and Xu Yi were more than enough.
Not to mention, the Dao of Space and Dao of Time were both extremely unorthodox Grand Daos. Ordinary cultivators would find them extremely difficult to even gain a basic understanding of them, let alone cultivate them. Even the Spear Dao was not the easiest to master.
However, many of the cultivators from Yang Kai’s Small Universe were inherently able to cultivate these two Grand Daos. This was one of the reasons why the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters valued these disciples.
During Blue Sky Pass’ crusade, Yang Kai’s Universe Arrays played a huge role, but Yang Kai was just one person. So, Blue Sky Pass’ success was difficult to replicate in other Theatres.
Be that as it may, if these talented disciples succeeded in cultivating the Grand Dao of Space, they would definitely be able to play a great role in the future.
Whether it was the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, basically no one in the entire Blue Sky Pass could teach them besides Yang Kai, but Yang Kai had no time to give these disciples personal guidance at all times. As such, he had engraved his insights on these two Grand Daos and many related Secret Techniques onto jade slips and offered them to the War Materials Hall over a century ago.
If anyone needed to cultivate these two Grand Daos in the future, they could acquire this knowledge by spending Military Merits in the War Materials Hall.
Although Blue Sky Pass had not faced any battle in a long time, it was still easy for cultivators to earn some Military Merits. They could obtain them by mining resources, going out on patrol, or assisting in Alchemy and Artifact Refining, so there was no need to worry about their future cultivation.
Of course, if Yang Kai had free time on his hands and was in a good mood, he would summon these disciples to teach them. In the past two centuries, Yang Kai had given two lectures, one on the Dao of Space and one on the Dao of Time, allowing these disciples to reap great benefits.
All in all, since Yang Kai had already arranged things for the disciples coming out of his Small Universe, he did not need to rack his brain and waste any more effort.
After returning to Blue Sky Pass through the Universe Array, Yang Kai immediately went to report to the Eastern Army Headquarters.
Ding Yao didn’t say anything to him and simply asked his adjutant to lead him to a storage room.
Although he already knew what to expect, Yang Kai still could not help but gasp in shock at the sight before him. There was nothing else in the secret room but piles and piles of Evil Purging Divine Spears.
By a rough count, there were at least a few dozen piles in here, and if there were a few hundred Evil Purging Divine Spears in each pile, that would mean there were at least 10 or 20 thousand in total.
Yang Kai felt his face twitch as he muttered, “So many.”
The adjutant smiled and stated, “Junior Brother, sorry to trouble you, but this matter can only be handled by you. No one else can do this.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I understand,” He then asked, “Is everything here?”
The adjutant replied, shaking his head, “Most of them are here, but some Passes still haven’t sent their batch yet. They should be coming soon.”
“En,” Yang Kai resigned to his fate.
The adjutant bid his leave, “Then, I’ll take my leave first.”
After he left, Yang Kai began examining these Evil Purging Divine Spears. Very soon, he discovered the number of Evil Purging Divine Spears in each pile differed, ranging from 200 to 300.
Furthermore, there was an empty Space Ring in front of each pile, marked with a specific Great Pass’ name. Seeing this, Yang Kai understood that each pile of Evil Purging Divine Spear corresponded to a different Pass.
After sealing the Purifying Light into the Evil Purging Divine Spears, he still had to store them back into the Space Ring and send them back through the Hyper Space Array.
Refining the Evil Purging Divine Spear apparently wasn’t easy. It had been five years since the Evil Purging Divine Spear was successfully tested on Hong Hu.
In five years, even after mobilizing every Artifact Refiner in an entire Great Pass, they had only managed to refine 200 to 300 Evil Purging Divine Spears. One could only imagine how long it would take to refine each of these artifacts.
Grandmaster Ma Fan had once mentioned casually that it would take at least a year for an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster to refine an Evil Purging Divine Spear; after all, this was a weapon that would be used to deal with Black Ink Clan Territory Lords, so its requirements for Artifact Refining were extremely harsh. The slightest mistake would cause the entire refining to fail.
In other words, an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster could only refine one artifact a year at most, and this was under the premise that everything went smoothly. If he failed once or twice, it would be normal for him to refine only one in a few years.
How many Artifact Refining Grandmasters could a Great Pass have? Blue Sky Pass had three, so it was reasonable to assume that most other Passes had a similar number. Under the presumption that there was no failure in refining, the number of Evil Purging Divine Spear a Pass could refine in 5 years was still only 10 to 15.
In fact, it might be even less than half of it; after all, the chances of failure were high when refining an unfamiliar artifact.
Ergo, Yang Kai was puzzled how each Pass was able to refine between 200 and 300 in just half a decade. Their quantity did not match his estimates and far exceeded his calculations.
But after he took a closer look, realization dawned upon Yang Kai.
These Evil Purging Divine Spears were divided into two categories. One matched the specs that had been successfully tested on Hong Hu. These were the Evil Purging Divine Spear that could reduce a Territory Lord’s strength by more than 20%, while the other had the specs that had been tested on the Feudal Lord a long time ago and could reduce such a Master’s strength by around 30% while having minimal effect on Territory Lords.
The latter was slightly longer than the former, and their refining technique was obviously cruder. According to Yang Kai’s estimations, the latter didn’t require an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster to refine, as long as one’s skills had reached the Artifact Refining Grandmaster level, they could make one.
By the looks of it, Blue Sky Pass had shared the methods of refining both Evil Purging Divine Spears with the other Passes, who subsequently refined both types.
Obviously, there was a deeper consideration for doing this.
Territory Lords were equivalent to Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were the cornerstones of their respective race. The Humans would need to use the Evil Purging Divine Spears refined by the Great Grandmasters in order to deal with Territory Lords, but it was quite difficult to refine such Evil Purging Divine Spears so the output was not high. Furthermore, it would be an overkill to use such a weapon against a Feudal Lord.
And so, the Evil Purging Divine Spear refined by the Artifact Refining Grandmasters would come in handy. These Evil Purging Divine Spears weren’t as powerful as the Territory Lord version, but their production rate was much higher, they were perfect for using it against Feudal Lords, who were much larger in number.
Yang Kai had no idea how the higher-ups of the Human Race categorized these Evil Purging Divine Spears, so for the time being, Yang Kai categorized the smaller number of Evil Purging Divine Spears refined by the Great Grandmasters as Heaven Grade, while the lower grade Evil Purging Divine Spears refined by the Grandmaster were Earth Grade.
Overall, the ratio of Earth to Heaven Grade Evil Purging Divine Spears was about 12:1.
What he needed to do now was infuse the Purifying Light into all these Evil Purging Divine Spears.
Looking at the piles before him, Yang Kai once again realized he had a long and toilsome task ahead of him!
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged before casually picking up an Evil Purging Divine Spear from the closest pile. After discerning its Grade, he enveloped it in Purifying Light. Just like before, the Purifying Light flowed into the Evil Purging Divine Spear like water under its influence and soon disappeared.
Because he had to take the Grade of the Evil Purging Divine Spears into consideration, when he infused the Purifying Light into the Heaven-Grade Evil Purging Divine Spear, Yang Kai chose higher quality Yellow and Blue Crystals. This way, the strength of the Purifying Light infused into it would be even greater, allowing the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to deal with the Territory Lords more easily.
As for the Earth-grade spears, the quality of the Yellow and Blue Crystals he chose was slightly worse. In any case, they would only be used to deal with the Feudal Lords, so even if they were slightly weaker, it wouldn’t matter either.
Although Yang Kai wasn’t slow, he was unable to stand the sheer number of Evil Purging Divine Spears. It took him a few days to finish the pile closest to him, after which he picked up the Space Ring that was originally placed before the Evil Purging Divine Spears and stowed them into it.
Soon after, Blue Sky Pass sent these items back to the Great Pass corresponding to the Space Ring.
Days went by, and just when he was finished with a few dozen piles of Evil Purging Divine Spears, a few dozen rings carrying more Evil Purging Divine Spears were delivered to him.
Yang Kai kept toiling away, but considering that each Evil Purging Divine Spear could take the life of a Feudal Lord or even a Territory Lord, all the effort was well worth it.
By the time he was finished with the Evil Purging Divine Spears sent by all the Passes, over half a year had already gone by.
Afterwards, Yang Kai exited the secret room and went to report to the Eastern Army Headquarters.
Ding Yao didn’t say anything and just nodded slightly.
“This Junior has finished arming the Evil Purging Divine Spears, I will be returning to the forward base now,” Yang Kai reported. The forward base might not have faced any enemies for a long time, but they still needed to patrol occasionally.
“You don’t need to return to the forward base. Remain at Blue Sky Pass for now.”
Yang Kai was slightly taken aback, “Is there a new mission?”
Ding Yao shot a glance at him, “Are you hoping for a new mission?”
Yang Kai clucked his tongue as he defended himself, “No, no, nothing like that. Peace is best.”
Ding Yao waved him off impatiently as Yang Kai quickly excused himself.
Walking out of the Army Headquarters, a slight furrow appeared on Yang Kai’s brow. Ding Yao’s sudden order to stay at Blue Sky Pass was a bit confusing, but since it was an order, he could only comply.
Yang Kai returned to his residence, deactivated the restrictions and walked into the small courtyard. Just as he was about to use this opportunity to go into a retreat, he felt something amiss.
He looked around and noticed life auras coming from the rooms on either side of the courtyard.
[Someone is here?]
Yang Kai was confused, but after carefully sensing it, he discovered that the auras belonged to Feng Ying and Bai Yi.
[Wait. Why are they back?]
Yang Kai had returned to Blue Sky Pass from the forward base for various matters over the years, but he had always returned alone while Dawn had always been guarding the front lines. He might be the Squad Leader, but Dawn was strong enough to carry out various missions without him.
Dawn had not returned with him this time either, so Yang Kai didn’t understand why Feng Ying and Bai Yi were here.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai walked to the left wing and gently touched the restriction. Soon, Feng Ying appeared in front of Yang Kai.
“Squad Leader, you’re back?” Feng Ying immediately commented.
Yang Kai nodded in response, “Why have you also returned?”
Feng Ying answered, “The Pass ordered us to return, so we have.”
“Ordered?” Yang Kai was a bit astounded. He originally thought that Feng Ying and Bai Yi had returned for some reason, but after knowing that it was an order from the Pass, there was nothing left to say.
Feng Ying, after hesitating for a moment, finally added, “Not just our Dawn Squad has been recalled, even Junior Brother Chai’s Squad was recalled, along with several other Squads.”
“Senior Brother Chai is also back?” The corner of Yang Kai’s brow twitched. The so-called Senior Brother Chai was none other than the Old Turtles Squad Leader Chai Fang.
Feng Ying pursed her lips as a smile bloomed on her face. “Junior Brother Chai came looking for you earlier.”
“Why is he looking for me?” Yang Kai cautiously asked.
Feng Ying replied, emphasizing each word, “‘Junior Brother Yang took great care of this Chai on the battlefield, so this Chai should naturally treat Junior Brother Yang well and express my gratitude.’ Well, these are Junior Brother Chai’s original words.”
This was obviously a threat! As the Old Turtles’ Warship was slow, it was easier for them to be robbed of Military Merits on the battlefield, and Dawn had done this the most. Chai Fang had naturally marked this loss down.
The Gadfly Squad’s moniker was not just for show.
But then again, it wasn’t that Dawn Squad enjoyed snatching others’ Military Merits; rather, when they saw other Squads entangled with the Black Ink Clan Squads on the battlefield, there was nothing wrong in eliminating the enemies. Who would even care about Military Merits in that kind of situation? After all, the priority was to kill Black Ink Clansmen.
But obviously, Chai Fang didn’t think so. When they were fighting on the front lines, it wasn’t the right time to quibble with Dawn over this, but now that they had been recalled, he naturally wanted to settle accounts.
Of course, he was not planning to fight it out with Yang Kai or Dawn. He also knew that Dawn was trying to help them many times. Nonetheless, as Special Operations Squads, there was always some competition between them. Since they could not beat Dawn in kills, he naturally had to find something else to regain his face.
Yang Kai immediately spat in disgust, “He can go to Hell!”
Feng Ying stated, pursing her lips, “You should tell Junior Brother Chai this yourself.”
“Forget it, let’s just ignore him. I’ll be going into retreat and cultivate. Senior Sister, you should also rest.”
Saying so, Yang Kai turned around and entered his room.
Be that as it may, Chai Fang was not going to let Yang Kai have his way. Who knew how he got the news, but the very day Yang Kai returned to his residence, Chai Fang rushed over.
Although the courtyard had privacy restrictions, they were unable to withstand Chai Fang’s all-out harassment. He also knew that Yang Kai and the others would not have entered life-or-death close-door cultivation at this moment, so he acted without scruples.
Alarms kept blaring as the restrictions activated. Whether it was Yang Kai, Feng Ying, or Bai Yi, none of them were able to peacefully cultivate.
Helpless, Yang Kai had no choice but to come out. He deactivated the restriction and looked at Chai Fang with a look of disgust, who was making a ruckus outside the courtyard, “Senior Brother Chai, why are you here instead of cultivating?”
Chai Fang maliciously grinned as he palmed his fist, “Didn’t Senior Sister Feng tell you? Why does Little Brother ask when you already know the answer?”
Yang Kai helplessly asked, rubbing his forehead, “Does Senior Brother want to fight?”
Chai Fang decisively replied, “No! Although we’re not from the same Sect, we’ve fought side by side on this battlefield for so many years, so how can we fight? This Chai doesn’t know how to control his strength. What if I injure you, Junior Brother?”
Of course, he was just being stubborn and unwilling to admit defeat!
The main reason Chai Fang was refusing was because he felt that he was definitely not Yang Kai’s opponent. Yang Kai could even kill a Territory Lord. Although there were circumstances, such as taking advantage of the situation, few Seventh-Order Masters in the entire Human Race had ever killed a Territory Lord.
Chai Fang had witnessed Yang Kai fight with his own eyes. A Feudal Lord was no different than a chicken before Yang Kai; his terrifying strength had long surpassed the Seventh Order. In terms of combat strength, Chai Fang admitted that he was far inferior to Yang Kai, so how could he fight him? He would simply be digging a pit for himself.
“Then, what does Senior Brother want?” Yang Kai asked.
Chai Fang meaningfully grinned as he swiped his Space Ring and took out a jug of wine, “This Chai did not lie when I said I wanted to express my gratitude. Look, I’ve brought everything.”
Yang Kai immediately understood. Since the Old Turtle Squad had lost to Dawn on the battlefield, he wanted to regain face in a drinking competition.
Looking at the wine jug in Chai Fang’s hand, Yang Kai immediately felt frustrated.
He had once engaged with Chai Fang in a drinking contest back at the forward base. In the end, Yang Kai lost and became completely inebriated. He was ridiculed by the other Squad Leaders as a result.
Men were very strange creatures. In the eyes of almost all men, one’s alcohol capacity was also a standard of their worth. If one’s alcohol capacity was as vast as the sea, they would naturally be able to drink to their heart’s content. If a man got drunk after just three glasses, he was simply not a man.
Yang Kai was now a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with a robust foundation and strong physique. Not to mention a single jug of wine, even a hundred or a thousand jugs wouldn’t be enough to make him drunk. If his World Force was taken into account, he could easily detoxify any amount of wine.
But since it was a drinking competition, they naturally would not be using any of their strength. There would be no point in competing if they really used their World Force.
During the drinking competition, everyone would seal their strength and compete with their innate capacity.
In this aspect, Chai Fang seemed to have a higher capacity than Yang Kai.
“Senior Brother, I still need to cultivate. How about this, I’ll just accept this wine as…”
Before Yang Kai could finish speaking, Chai Fang pushed him into the courtyard, “Enough with the nonsense, since this Chai has come today, I don’t plan on leaving.”
Yang Kai staggered back, helplessly watching Chai Fang take out a set of chairs and a table. He then took his seat and gestured to Yang Kai to take the seat across from him. He was staring at Yang Kai very fiercely, assuming the posture that either you die or I perish.
Yang Kai reckoned that he was most likely doomed today!
“Sit! Why isn’t Junior Brother sitting? If you don’t sit, I’ll think that you’re looking down on this Chai!” Chai Fang glared angrily.
Yang Kai forced a laugh, “Senior Brother, there’s no need to go this far.”
Helpless, he sat down opposite Chai Fang.
The moment he sat down, Chai Fang instantly pushed the jug of wine to Yang Kai. Afterwards, he took out another jug, opened the lid, and poured it down his throat.
The corner of Yang Kai’s brow twitched staring at this. Chai Fang had completely emptied the jug in less than a dozen breaths. He then wiped his mouth and stated, “Good! Junior Brother, please help yourself. This Chai will first drink a few jugs to moisten my throat.”
Saying so, a small mountain of wine jugs appeared beside him with a wave of his hand, and he started drinking them like they were water.
[Damn it!] Yang Kai’s heart was gripped with apprehension. If this continued, he would definitely lose. The only choice he was left with was to call for reinforcements!
Taking advantage of the other party’s drinking, Yang Kai secretly sent a message.
A short while later, Yang Kai finally finished his jug, but Chai Fang had already finished four or five. They were on completely different levels.
Fortunately, a figure rushed in from outside at that moment. Seeing the oncoming figure, Yang Kai called out enthusiastically before anyone could understand what was happening, “Fei Ping, you’re here? Come, let me introduce you. This is the Old Turtle’s Squad Leader, Chai Fang!”
Chai Fang shot him an annoyed look, “Why are you introducing me? Do you think that I don’t know everyone in your Squad?”
After so many years of competing with each other, how could he not know who was who?
Yang Kai defended with a smile, “Fei Ping has admired Brother Chai for a long time and has praised Brother Chai many times to me, saying that Brother Chai’s Squad always took the lead and fought bravely when in battle. Fei Ping, now that Squad Leader Chai is here, why don’t you offer him a few toasts.”
Hearing Yang Kai’s suggestion, Miao Fei Ping didn’t dare act disrespectfully and had no choice but to pick up a wine jug and respectfully offer, “Squad Leader Chai, this Junior offers you a toast.”
Chai Fang didn’t refuse and simply glanced at Yang Kai, “Treacherous bastard!”
*Gulp gulp gulp…* Miao Fei Ping quickly downed the entire jug of wine.
Just as he was finished drinking, someone else came in.
Yang Kai called out enthusiastically once again, “Senior Brother Qi, you are here? What a coincidence, Squad Leader Chai is here as a guest. He was worried about no one being able to accompany him, but Senior Brother Qi, your capacity is like the sea, come here and drink with Squad Leader Chai.”
Qi Tai Chu chuckled, “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
A moment later, Yang Kai shouted again, “Senior Brother Shen is here…”
One by one, the members of Dawn kept arriving. After seven or eight of them arrived, Chai Fang couldn’t stand it any longer. He slapped his hand on the table and angrily shouted, “Bullying me with numbers, are you?! You Gadflies are too much! As expected, if the foundation is crooked, the house will be too! Yang Kai, you have reinforcements, but do you think that this Old Master doesn’t?”
Saying so, he took out a communication artifact and sent a message with his Divine Sense.
Not long after, several figures flew over from all over Blue Sky Pass. Yang Kai didn’t back down either and quickly summoned the remaining Dawn members.
A moment later, some 90 people were gathered in the small courtyard, bustling with noise and excitement. Because of all the noise, Feng Ying and Bai Yi were unable to remain in seclusion.
Yang Kai and Chai Fang, who were sitting across from each other at the table just as before, were now completely surrounded by members of their respective Squads.
Chai Fang fiercely glared at Yang Kai and shouted, “Brothers, Sisters, Squad Leader Yang has taken care of us quite a lot on the battlefield! He has saved us so many times, but we never got a chance to repay him! Let’s show him proper gratitude today!”
Yang Kai bitterly smiled, “Squad Leader Chai, you’re really too polite, it would be impolite not to repay your gift in return. Since Squad Leader Chai is such a good drinker, let’s let him drink to his heart’s content today!”
At first, whether it was Yang Kai or Chai Fang, both of them were conscious and could drink themselves, but soon their vision became blurry and stars began to shine before their eyes.
Nonetheless, the other members of the Squads were not willing to let them go and opened their mouths and poured wine into them.
*Gulp gulp…*
*Gulp gulp…*
Feng Ying and Bai Yi stood together, watching from afar, the former sighing, “A pyrrhic victory indeed, sacrificing 800 soldiers just to slay 1,000 of the enemy!”
Bai Yi vigorously nodded like a chicken pecking rice.
At one point, Yang Kai’s body went limp and slid under the table.
The drunken Chai Fang on the opposite side broke into loud laughter, “This Old Master won!”
Saying so, he also collapsed onto the table.
Both Squad Leaders got knocked out together, but the members of both Squads had yet to enjoy themselves to their heart’s content. A few female members of the Old Turtles Squad even took out some cooking utensils and started preparing some snacks to go with the drinking. Seeing this, Feng Ying and Bai Yi also stepped forward to help.
The courtyard was bustling with noise and excitement.
Both Special Operations Squads were rivals on the battlefield, but they were also inseparable comrades-in-arms. It was the same during the drinking competition.
Everyone was drinking in either groups of three or five. At some point, everyone was drunk, their eyes were droopy and red. Even Feng Ying and the other women had a slight blush on their faces.
Even though they were all Open Heaven Realm Masters, because no one used their World Force to detoxify themselves, their alcohol tolerance was still limited. Of course, they could still hold their liquor because of their powerful physiques.
The empty wine jugs piled higher and higher as more and more fell to the ground, dead drunk.
After an unknown period of time, the entire courtyard had people lying here and there, knocked out; not a single person was left standing. As for Feng Ying and Bai Yi, they were unable to continue drinking long ago and had returned to their rooms to rest.
The bustling courtyard had become completely silent and peaceful.
Under the table, Yang Kai, who was knocked out, secretly opened his eyes. After confirming that the drinking competition was over, only then did he pop his head up, taking the support of the chair. But the next moment, he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from across the table.
When their eyes met, both Yang Kai and Chai Fang were awkward and embarrassed!
Yang Kai had secretly used his strength to detoxify himself, but he didn’t expect Chai Fang to do the same.
[Shameless bastard!] Both of them cursed in their hearts.
After calming himself down, Yang Kai sat back down with no change in his expression. He then took out a tea set and started carefully brewing.
Chai Fang remained silent and waited for the tea.
A moment later, the fragrance of tea filled the air as Yang Kai poured two cups and pushed one to Chai Fang.
Chai Fang picked up the cup and took a sip.
For a moment, alternate sounds of sipping filled the silent courtyard.
After finishing a pot of tea, Chai Fang suddenly opened his mouth and stated, “I’m afraid that something big is about to happen.”
Yang Kai slightly furrowed his brow, “Senior Brother noticed?”
Chai Fang nodded his affirmation, “It seems you did too.”
Yang Kai continued, “Generally, 80% of the Pass’ forces are concentrated at the forward base, and this status quo has been maintained for over 200 years. Although there hasn’t been any fighting for a long time, we still need to be on guard against the Black Ink Clan’s counterattack. In light of this, it’s a little unusual to suddenly recall two Special Operations Squads.”
Chai Fang added with a nod, “It would have been nothing if it was just our Squads; but recently, many Squads had been returning one after another. All of them must have received recall orders. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but all these Squads belonged to the different Divisions and Battalions. In other words, none of the returning Squads belonged to the same Battalion.”
“Do you have some hypothesis?” Yang Kai asked.
Chai Fang shook his head, denying, “I have no idea. I was hoping you had heard something.”
This was the main reason why he had come to Yang Kai. The drinking competition was just a bonus.
Yang Kai frowned, voicing his thoughts, “If the Pass is planning an attack, they should have gathered their forces at the forward base; but for some reason, they have been recalling us.”
“It seems little brother doesn’t know anything.”
Although Yang Kai suspected that whatever the Pass’ upper echelons were planning had something to do with the newly developed Evil Purging Divine Spear, he believed that doing so would be a reckless thing.
He might have infused Purifying Light into quite a lot of Evil Purging Divine Spears, but each Pass still had only 200 to 300 in total. These Evil Purging Divine Spears could be given to the elite soldiers, but it would not change the course of the war that much; after all, the Evil Purging Divine Spears were one-time-use consumables.
In his opinion, the Evil Purging Divine Spears would be best used only after amassing a considerable amount of them. They should either not use them, or use them only to force the Black Ink Clan into a corner.
Since this matter concerned the Evil Purging Divine Spear, Yang Kai couldn’t reveal too much to Chai Fang.
“The higher-ups have always been very secretive, so I’m afraid no one will know what they’re planning until the last moment,” Chai Fang couldn’t help but grumble.
It was the same when they had used Xiang Shan’s breakthrough to lure the Black Ink Clan Territory Lords out last time. The Special Operations Squads had no idea and tried to protect Xiang Shan at the cost of their lives, but in the end, the upper echelons of the Pass had been well prepared.
But it was only reasonable to not inform them, because only when they put their lives on the line would the Territory Lords believe that the Human Race had not planned some kind of trap. Had they known the plan beforehand, they might have revealed some clues.
“Senior Brother, don’t worry about it. If they’re really planning to do something, we will know soon enough,” Yang Kai comforted.
Chai Fang nodded slightly, “Junior Brother, if you receive any news, please inform me as soon as possible so that I can make preparations.”
“Good!”
“Then, this Chai will take his leave first.” Chai Fang stood up and shouted, “All of you, get up! Don’t keep lying like corpses! 50 of you lot were beaten by just 30 people, stop making fools of yourselves!”
As soon as his voice fell, the members of both Squads lying in the courtyard got up one by one. Everyone circulated their strength to dispel the effects of the alcohol. The members of the Old Turtle Squad looked very ashamed while the Dawn Squad, on the other hand, was beaming with smiles.
Under Chai Fang’s lead, the Old Turtles quickly left and Dawn’s members also left after them, leaving the courtyard in a mess with Yang Kai alone, who silently tidied up everything.
A few days later, Yang Kai, who was cultivating, was once again summoned to the Army Headquarters.
But the moment he stepped into the Army Headquarters, he heard a familiar angry shout coming from the main office, “Why can’t I go? Old Zhong Liang promised me!”
[Grandmaster Ma Fan?]
Yang Kai was slightly taken aback. He had no idea that Grandmaster Ma Fan had returned to Blue Sky Pass. Grandmaster Ma Fan had been staying in the forward base since he had arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield. Since he was here, Yang Kai felt that the situation inside Blue Sky Pass was even more complicated than he expected.
Moreover, Zhong Liang’s promise that Grandmaster Ma Fan had just spoken about was quite concerning.
When the Evil Purging Divine Spear experiment was over, Grandmaster Ma Fan reminded Zhong Liang to not forget his promise, and Zhong Liang assured him that he had not.
Yang Kai didn’t know what Zhong Liang had promised to Grandmaster Ma Fan, but by the looks of it, things had gone wrong. Ding Yao seemed to disagree, which had caused Ma Fan to burn with fury.
While these thoughts were running in his mind, he walked into the office. As he had guessed, he saw Grandmaster Ma Fan inside, but the old man was like an angry rooster, glaring at Ding Yao. Meanwhile, Shen Tu Mo tried to persuade him, “Grandmaster, please calm down. Brother Zhong had indeed promised you, so logically speaking, Brother Ding and I should accept Brother Zhong’s decision, but times have changed. The Evil Purging Divine Spear was invented by you, so you need to oversee the project if further modifications are required. The Evil Purging Divine Spear will determine the future of the Human Race and change the course of its future. Ergo, Grandmaster should remain at Blue Sky Pass for the big picture.”
“Bullshit!” Grandmaster Ma Fan spat in anger. Yang Kai could not help but shrink his neck at the sight of this.
Even an ordinary Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master wouldn’t act so presumptuously before these two Army Commanders; however, not only was Ma Fan an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but he was also an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster.
“This old man already has one foot in the grave, so why would I care about the big picture? That’s something you Army Commanders need to worry about, what does it have to do with me? The reason this old man has been holding on even after so many years is that I am unable to face my ancestors. Now that I have a chance to fulfil my lifelong wish, you guys are not letting this old man go? What kind of bullshit logic is that? Besides, although this old man was in charge of developing the Evil Purging Divine Spear, the refining process has already been spread to the other Passes. If any improvements are needed in the future, those old farts can figure it out, so why should I worry about it?”
Shen Tu Mo earnestly advised, “Grandmaster, the battlefield is dangerous, and this operation will be different from the past. No one can guarantee anything.”
Grandmaster Ma Fan shot him a long look, “What? Are you afraid this old man will be a burden? This old man doesn’t just know how to refine artifacts, I also know how to kill enemies. If it weren’t for your lack of Artifact Refiners, this old man wouldn’t have been sitting in the rear and would have charged into the Black Ink Clan’s base many times already. Furthermore, if this old man really did die on the battlefield, it would be a worthy death! When I meet my ancestors in the next life, this old man can proudly tell them that I died on the Black Ink Battlefield. My ancestors will definitely praise me!”
Shen Tu Mo was rendered speechless. Even he could not use force against someone like Grandmaster Ma Fan, and judging by the old man’s attitude, it was pointless to persuade him.
Grandmaster Ma Fan suddenly turned to Yang Kai, “You said that the Evil Purging Divine Spear is connected to the future of the entire Human Race, so you are afraid that something will happen to me and asked this old man not to go, but the true key to the Evil Purging Divine Spears is that brat! The Evil Purging Divine Spear would be nothing more than a piece of trash without his Purifying Light. You recalled him, so that means you planned to deploy him with the Army? What the Hell!? A Seventh-Order boy can go, but this old man can’t? I don’t give a damn! I’m going whether you like it or not, whether you allow me or not. Hell, this old man will go alone if I have to!”
Saying so, he turned around and left, not even giving Yang Kai so much as a glance.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but pucker his lips. He suddenly felt like he had run into an unexpected disaster. He couldn’t understand why these big shots had to drag him into their quarrel.
[I was right, the Pass is indeed planning something, and judging by Grandmaster Ma Fan’s words, it seemed like we are going somewhere. This explains why all those Squads have been recalled.]
That was alright too. Everything was peaceful at Blue Sky Pass, and the Black Ink Clan had been holed up in their nests for the last two centuries. Since Blue Sky Pass won’t be facing any battle any time soon, deploying forces elsewhere where they might be needed was a good idea.
The Great Passes had never been able to provide any real assistance to one another since ancient times, because they were too far apart and the amount of resources needed to transport so many people was too great. But since Blue Sky Pass had enough resources and leeway, they could ignore such a cost.
While these thoughts were running through his mind, there was no change in Yang Kai’s expression as he cupped his fist, “Sirs.”
Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo both nodded slightly.
Shen Tu Mo looked at him and asked, “You heard everything, right?”
Yang Kai nodded in response.
“What do you think?”
Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to voice his guess, “Is the Pass planning to send reinforcements to another Pass to defend against the Black Ink Clan?”
When Shen Tu Mo heard that, he answered, “Yes, and no…”
Yang Kai was confused.
Then, Shen Tu Mo fell silent as if he were thinking about how to explain this matter to Yang Kai; after all, it was not a simple matter to understand.
It took quite some time before Shen Tu Mo spoke again “It’s been about 300 years since you arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield, and although that’s not a long time, you’ve already gathered more experience than the average soldier could gather after battling the Black Ink Clan for thousands of years. Moreover, you’ve also been to places that even the Eighth-Order Masters had never gone. Have you ever wondered why the entire Black Ink Battlefield is so large and vast?”
Yang Kai answered in his mind, [Why would I wonder about that? Even if I did, would I be able to find the answer?]
However, now that Shen Tu Mo had brought it up, it naturally evoked Yang Kai’s curiosity. He was right. Why was the Black Ink Battlefield so vast? Among the 3,000 Worlds, any Great Territory could be described as vast beyond what the eye could see, none was even comparable in scope and scale to the Black Ink Battlefield.
The area of the Black Ink Battlefield had already gone way past the area of a Great Territory. It was like the Black Ink Battlefield was never-ending.
After sighing, Shen Tu Mo explained, “According to some ancient texts, in the era when the Universe was just created, the Black Ink Battlefield was also divided up into many Great Territories, each of them flourishing and filled with life. Each Great Territory was separated by Territory Barriers, but connected through Territory Gates, similar to the 3,000 Worlds. However, the rise of the Black Ink Clan changed everything. Born out of nowhere, the Black Ink Clan’s natural aggressiveness and unique reproductive methods made it easy for them to dominate the Great Territories.
Whenever the Black Ink Clan fully conquered a Great Territory, that Great Territory would start to corrode and the Territory Barriers around it would collapse, resulting in it merging with the adjacent Great Territories to become an even larger area. Then, like a snowball rolling downhill, the Great Territory would become larger and larger, which is why the Black Ink Battlefield is so vast.”
While scrunching his eyebrows, Yang Kai asked, “In other words, the Black Ink Battlefield we’re standing in now is the product of merging countless Great Territories?”
“That’s right.” Shen Tu Mo nodded.
It was his first time hearing such a description. It was quite interesting.
Yang Kai continued, “Sir, why does the Territory Barrier collapse after the Black Ink Clan fully dominates a Great Territory? Also, how do we conclude whether the Black Ink Clan has fully conquered a Great Territory?”
Shaking his head, Shen Tu Mo replied, “I don’t know either. All the knowledge I have about this matter comes from reading those ancient historical records, but the contents in those documents aren’t complete anymore, and no one can determine if the contents written are real or fake. However, this theory is able to explain why the Black Ink Battlefield has such a vast area.”
“Then, where did the Black Ink Clan come from? A typical Black Ink Clansman is bred from a Black Ink Nest, and Black Ink Nests are divided into different Ranks. A Low-Rank Black Ink Nest is the sub-nest of a Mid-Rank one, so if we trace that logic, what is the primary nest, where were the Royal Lord Black Ink Nests originally spawned from?”
That question had confused Yang Kai for a long time, but he still hadn’t found an answer to it. Ever since he found out about the secret behind the Black Ink Nests, he began to wonder about their origin; therefore, he seized this opportunity to ask Shen Tu Mo, wanting to get an answer to his questions.
However, Shen Tu Mo shook his head, “I don’t know. Before you discovered the secrets behind the reproduction of Black Ink Nests, we Humans had no idea they were even linked.”
That answer naturally disappointed Yang Kai, but when he thought about it, he suddenly had a more pertinent question to ask, “Sir, why are you telling me these things?”
Just now, Yang Kai was asking about why so many Squads had been recalled from the forward base, so how did the topic suddenly change to this?
Shen Tu Mo answered, “I’m telling you these things because the higher-ups are planning a new operation, and it involves not only Blue Sky Pass but all the Great Passes.”
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up, “Is an all-out crusade about to begin?”
Ding Yao, who had been silent throughout the conversation, finally spoke up, “It has something to do with that, but before we begin the crusade, we must finish this first! Just shut up, listen, and don’t ask any questions.”
Obediently, Yang Kai stopped talking.
Shen Tu Mo continued, “Back in the ancient era, the Black Ink Clan were on a rampage, and the Great Territories were falling rapidly. In the face of this threat, some Human Great Experts banded together and created 108 Great Passes in the Black Ink Battlefield to fight back against the Black Ink Clan. This initiative has blessed the following generations to this day. Without these 108 Great Passes, the current 3,000 Worlds might have already become the Black Ink Clan’s territory, and you and I might never have existed. Although these 108 Passes seem to be fighting independent campaigns, in reality, we are all closely connected into one, creating a strong line of defence.”
While he was talking, he stretched out his hand and drew something in the air. Then, pure World Force gathered together to become a large tapestry of light.
Under his control, the light rays were divided into two distinctive areas, one white and one black. He then pointed at the white area, “This region corresponds to the 3,000 Worlds.”
After that, he pointed at the black area, “And this represents the Black Ink Battlefield.”
He then pointed at the middle area between the two, and a drop of golden light suddenly appeared, “This is the No-Return Pass, which has been guarded by the Dragon and the Phoenix Clans since ancient times. It is also the only connection point between the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield. All reinforcements from the Cave-Heavens and Paradises, as well as our resources from the 3,000 Worlds, must pass through the No-Return Pass. So, we can say that the No-Return Pass is the 3,000 World’s last line of defence!”
With a wave of his hand, Shen Tu Mo caused more than 100 golden lights to appear in the Black Ink Battlefield region and arrange themselves into a semicircle that shielded the No-Return pass.
This was the first time Yang Kai clearly saw the actual arrangement of all 108 great passes in the Black Ink Battlefield. He asked in shock, “Is this the real arrangement of all the great passes?”
Shen Tu Mo nodded and explained, “That’s right. Such an arrangement can ensure that every great pass has a Theatre to defend, and as long as we can defend our own Theatres, the Black Ink Clan will never be able to step foot in the 3,000 Worlds.”
Yang Kai was astonished, “The Ancient Great Experts’ abilities are truly awe-inspiring.”
At that moment, Ding Yao came forward with his hands behind his back, “We Humans have been relying on this defence line to hold back the Black Ink Clan for countless years. Although we’ve sacrificed more elite soldiers than we can count, we were able to ensure the freedom of the 3,000 Worlds. However, something happened 30,000 years ago, which completely changed our situation.”
While saying so, he stretched out his hand, and under Yang Kai’s gaze, one of the over 100 golden lights suddenly turned black.”
Yang Kai felt his heart sink and could vaguely guess what had happened 30,000 years ago.
As he expected, Ding Yao elaborated, “30,000 years ago, the Black Ink Clan managed to break through Great Evolution Pass, which was guarded by Great Evolution Paradise. The Old Ancestor of Great Evolution Pass led tens of thousands of soldiers to fight with the Black Ink Clan for several years, and the whole Army was almost wiped out while the Old Ancestor himself died in battle. Since then, Great Evolution Pass has been in the hands of the Black Ink Clan.”
Despite having guessed as much, Yang Kai still felt depressed when hearing Ding Yao mention this incident. Almost the entire Army of a Great Pass was wiped out, and even the Old Ancestor overseeing the Pass had died in battle. That battle must have been a huge blow to the Humans as it was not only the loss of a Great Pass, but also the annihilation of a Paradise!
That was the first and only time since ancient times that Humans lost a Great Pass.
That battle also caused the Great Evolution Paradise to wither away.
The Humans considered that matter a great shame, which is why Yang Kai had never heard about it directly despite joining the Black Ink Battlefield for over 300 years. Those who knew about this were mainly the Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who wouldn’t tell him such things. Cultivators under the Eighth Order had no idea about this incident. In fact, Yang Kai first heard about this news from Hei Yuan Territory Lord.
Yang Kai didn’t know what actually happened 30,000 years ago that caused Great Evolution Pass’ demise, but he knew that something was obviously not right about that battle because not only was the Army almost wiped out, but even the Ninth-Order Old Ancestor had been killed.
“An Old Ancestor’s strength is on par with that of a Royal Lord, or possibly even slightly superior, so how could the Black Ink Clan manage to easily defeat a Great Pass with an Old Ancestor assuming command? Also, why did the Great Evolution Pass fall so quickly?” Yang Kai asked in confusion.
Ding Yao explained, “Though an Old Ancestor can fight a Royal Lord to a standstill quite easily, what about when it’s two against one?”
Yang Kai was shocked, “Did the Black Ink Clan deploy two Royal Lords to that battle?”
Nodding, Ding Yao replied, “We only learned about this after the fact. It’s not easy for a Human to advance to the Ninth Order, but that is true for the Black Ink Clan’s Royal Lords too. Such a Master might not appear even once in several thousand years. Back then, there had only been one Royal Lord in the Great Evolution Theatre, and he had been fighting with the Great Evolution Pass’ Old Ancestor for countless years, so they knew each other very well. However, one of the Territory Lords advanced to become a Royal Lord, and the Black Ink Clan was able to keep that hidden from Great Evolution Pass’ Old Ancestor. Then, while the Old Ancestor was in the midst of fighting with the old Royal Lord, that newly advanced Royal Lord managed to launch a sneak attack and severely injure the Old Ancestor. How could the Old Ancestor win a battle in such a situation?”
Shen Tu Mo added, “Although the Great Evolution Pass’ Old Ancestor died in battle, he was able to bring down one of the Royal Lords with him. In a way, his death wasn’t in vain.”
In a battle, where it was two against one, and being severely injured, the Great Evolution Pass’ Old Ancestor still managed to kill one of the Royal Lords before he died. It was a feat worthy of being recorded in history.
“Though you’re only a Seventh-Order Master, you’ve joined many secret operations, so you must know that the Humans are preparing for a grand crusade.”
With a nod, Yang Kai replied, “I understand.”
Then, Ding Yao pointed at the black dot symbolising the Great Evolution Pass, “If we want to start a crusade, we must first take back Great Evolution Pass! Otherwise, our lines will have a critical weak point. This is the purpose of the recent personnel rearrangement made by the Inner Sanctum. Not only is it happening in Blue Sky Pass, but also at the other Great Passes.”
Yang Kai now understood the situation.
In the meantime, he also finally understood why Grandmaster Ma Fan was so excited back then. He was one of the few remnants of Great Evolution Paradise, and now that he found out that the Humans were planning to take back Great Evolution Pass, of course, he would want to have a part in the campaign. Great Evolution Pass was the place that his ancestors shed blood to protect and where they were buried. Standing from Grandmaster Ma Fan’s point of view, he had to go take a look no matter what and pry their lost Great Pass from the Black Ink Clan’s clutches as revenge for his ancestors.
However, Shen Tu Mo and Ding Yao were wary about that and didn’t want Grandmaster Ma Fan to join the operation, which would naturally lead to the latter flying into a rage. In such a situation, perhaps everyone would be against him joining this operation.
In fact, Yang Kai even suspected that Grandmaster Ma Fan was able to be enlisted into the Black Ink Battlefield 200 years ago because the Humans had been planning to take back Great Evolution Pass even then.
Of course, that was just his own speculation, and there was no way to confirm it.
The Humans wanted to take back the Great Evolution Pass. That was big news, and just thinking about it made Yang Kai feel excited.
As far as the main crusade went, the first step was to recover Great Evolution Pass. That was because the Great Pass had fallen into the hands of the Black Ink Clan, and if not recovered, once the Humans began their crusade, the Black Ink Clan might harass them from the rear. Therefore, the Humans had to tie up all loose ends that might affect their crusade before it could begin.
Yang Kai suddenly thought of a problem, “Sirs, according to your story on how Great Evolution Pass fell into the hands of the Black Ink Clan, there must still be a Royal Lord assuming command over there. If we want to defeat a Royal Lord, we must have an Old Ancestor with us. Could it be that the Old Ancestor from our side will be personally leading the Army to Great Evolution Pass?”
Although it had been quite a while since Blue Sky Theatre had seen open hostilities, the Old Ancestor still couldn’t leave the Great Pass at will. Once the Black Ink Clan discovered that the Old Ancestor had left, they might try something. By then, they wouldn’t be anyone restraining the Black Ink Clan’s Royal Lord, and although Blue Sky Pass could not be easily overtaken, such a battle would definitely cost them the forward base. Once that was gone, all their hard work for hundreds of years would be wiped away.
Blue Sky Pass wouldn’t do such a stupid thing.
Shen Tu Mo replied, “There will be an Old Ancestor leading the Army in this battle to recover our territory, but not the one from our Pass.”
Yang Kai frowned, “Who would it be?”
It wasn’t an easy decision to let the Old Ancestor leave a Theatre, regardless of which Great Pass they were overseeing.
“You also know this Old Ancestor.”
“Someone I know?” Yang Kai was stunned. When he thought about it, he knew only three Old Ancestors. One was Blue Sky Pass’ Old Ancestor, one was Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, and the other was Myriad Demons Pass’ Old Ancestor. He hadn’t met the other Old Ancestors yet.
But Shen Tu Mo just said that the battle to recover their territory had nothing to do with the Old Ancestor of Blue Sky Pass, so there were only the Old Ancestors of Yin-Yang Pass and Myriad Demons Pass.
“The one leading this campaign will be the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass.”
The image of the gluttonous little girl immediately appeared in Yang Kai’s mind, and his brow twitched slightly. He thought it might be the one from Myriad Demons Pass, but did not expect it to be the one from Yin-Yang Pass.
That person was not very reliable! Was it really feasible for her to lead the Army to recover Great Evolution Pass?
However, Yang Kai was more concerned about another thing, “If she leaves, who will assume command of Yin-Yang Pass?”
Just as Blue Sky Pass’ Old Ancestor couldn’t easily leave Blue Sky Pass, Yin-Yang Pass had the same situation. The presence of each Old Ancestor was a great deterrent to the Black Ink Clan.
Hearing his question, Ding Yao hesitated for a moment and said, “200 years ago, Yin-Yang Pass’ Southern Army Commander, Wu Qing exhibited signs of a breakthrough, so he returned to the 3,000 Worlds via the No-Return Pass. He then succeeded in breaking through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm at Red Clouds Cave Heaven!”
Not knowing whether he had felt it wrongly, Yang Kai felt that Ding Yao was full of envy when he said that; however, Yang Kai was still surprised by the news, “Senior Wu has advanced to the Ninth Order?”
Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo nodded together, and Shen Tu Mo urged, “This is a top-secret matter. Even in Yin-Yang Pass, only the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters know about it, so don’t make a big fuss about it.”
Yang Kai nodded instinctively, but his mind was still in a state of shock.
Wu Qing had broken through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
This was great news to the Humans because they now had another Old Ancestor. Now, Yin-Yang Pass had two Old Ancestors.
But then again, before he went to Yin-Yang Pass last time, he had heard about Wu Qing from the others. Wu Qing carried a Profound Fish, one of the Four Universe Pillars, so he did not fear the Black Ink Strength’s corruption. As he was already very strong, he would frequently dive into the Black Ink Clan’s territory alone and stir up trouble. The Black Ink Clan in Yin-Yang Theatre resented him very much, but they couldn’t do anything about it.
Wu Qing had been an Eighth-Order Master for many years and had been on the verge of a breakthrough for some time now; therefore, he was known as the one who was most likely to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in recent years. That wasn’t a secret among the Great Passes, but no one knew when or even if he could advance successfully.
No one knew if he would suddenly have a bought of enlightenment and break through, or perhaps he would stay in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm for another 10,000 years without any change. It was not just a matter of accumulation, but also about luck and opportunity.
It was not until more than 200 years ago that Wu Qing had an epiphany and immediately returned to Red Clouds Cave Heaven via the No-Return Pass.
Ordinary cultivators who came to the Black Ink Battlefield could never return to the 3,000 Worlds, but it was different with Wu Qing’s situation because he had the Profound Fish, so it was impossible for him to be corrupted by Black Ink Strength. Moreover, he was in a special state whereby he was about to make a breakthrough, so his return was permitted as it had strategic importance.
Another reason was that the process of advancing into the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm would cause a huge commotion, so if Wu Qing remained in Yin-Yang Pass during his advancement, the Royal Lord would definitely become aware of it. Once the Black Ink Clan noticed, they would become warier.
Therefore, the best choice was for Wu Qing to return to the 3,000 Worlds and quietly break through at Red Clouds Cave Heaven first.
It could be said that every Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master that was about to break through to Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm would be returned to the 3,000 Worlds to their Master Sect before they break through.
After Wu Qing had advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he stayed in Red Clouds Cave Heaven for more than 200 years to stabilise his Realm before secretly returning to Yin-Yang Pass.
Only after his return did the Humans prepare to implement the plan to recover Great Evolution Pass.
With Wu Qing, the newly advanced Ninth-Order Old Ancestor, assuming command of Yin-Yang Pass, the situation at Yin-Yang Theatre would not change much, and the veteran Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass would be free to lead the Army to take back Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai had met with Wu Qing during his previous trip to Yin-Yang Pass, but they hadn’t said much to each other, so he wasn’t very familiar with him. Regardless, Yang Kai was still happy that Wu Qing was able to advance into the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
However, he soon thought of another thing, “Since Senior Wu has advanced into the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm without the knowledge of the Royal Lord in the Yin-Yang Theatre, why doesn’t he team up with the Old Ancestor at Yin-Yang Pass to deal with the Royal Lord there?”
The Old Ancestor of Great Evolution Paradise was sneak attacked by a newly advanced Royal Lord more than 30,000 years ago under similar circumstances, resulting in his demise.
The Humans could simply return the favour.
While shaking his head, Ding Yao explained, “That’s too big of a risk, and there are too many uncontrollable factors. A Royal Lord is not like a Territory Lord or a Feudal Lord. When it comes to life-or-death situations, even if there is no chance of survival, a Royal Lord has a high chance of dragging someone down with them. It’s not easy for us Humans to gain an Old Ancestor, so we cannot afford to take that risk.”
Back then, the Old Ancestor of Great Evolution Pass was still able to kill a Royal Lord despite being sneak attacked and outnumbered. A Royal Lord’s strength was basically on par with that of a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so there was also a chance that they could do the same.
As long as there was such a chance, the Humans would not risk it.
Smiling, Shen Tu Mo elaborated, “Because an Old Ancestor and a Royal Lord aren’t that easy to kill, each Great Pass can barely maintain a balance. If the Black Ink Clan acted according to what you just proposed, who knows how many Great Passes we would have lost.”
“What do you mean by that?” Yang Kai frowned in confusion.
Shen Tu Mo continued to explain, “There are a number of Theatres with more than one Royal Lord. For example, the Great Battle Theatre. There are two Royal Lords there while we only have one Old Ancestor standing guard.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai was very surprised, “There are two Royal Lords in the Great Battle Theatre?”
“What’s so surprising about that?” Ding Yao glanced at him, “Some Human Great Passes have two Old Ancestors, but the total number of Royal Lords is most likely still higher.”
Yang Kai looked bewildered, “I always thought that every Great Pass only had one Old Ancestor and the corresponding Theatre only had one Royal Lord.”
Frowning, Shen Tu Mo asked, “Who told you that?”
While shaking his head, Yang Kai replied, “No one.” It was all his own assumption, but now it seemed that he was being naive.
Thinking about it, no one had ever told him explicitly that each Great Pass had only one Old Ancestor that corresponded to one Royal Lord.
Though there weren’t many Old Ancestors, how could they possibly be distributed perfectly evenly so that all Great Passes only had one? There had to be a few extras somewhere.
It was the same for the Royal Lord.
It just so happened that the three Great Passes he visited only had one Old Ancestor and one Royal Lord.
“On the Black Ink Clan’s side, both their Feudal Lords and Territory Lords outnumber our Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters, so it’s only normal for their Royal Lords to outnumber our Ninth-Masters too. However, the actual number is irrelevant to the overall situation. Although there are fewer Ninth-Orders Open Heaven Realm Masters in some Theatres, they are still able to maintain a balance with the Royal Lords and keep each other in check.”
Yang Kai nodded his head, indicating that he understood.
Using Great Battle Pass as an example, although there was only one Ninth-Order Old Ancestor facing two Royal Lords, along with the risks of attacking the Great Pass, as long as the Old Ancestor acted prudently, there wouldn’t be any danger.
“We’ve strayed a bit too far off-topic,” Shen Tu Mo waved his hand and said, “Let’s put all these to the side. What we have to do now is to recover Great Evolution Pass. Originally, you weren’t supposed to be involved in this matter because, as Grandmaster Ma Fan said, you are the key to the Evil Purging Divine Spear. The future of the Human Race is at stake, and we wouldn’t allow you to head to such a dangerous battlefield so easily. If you were to have any accidents, the whole crusade would be in jeopardy.”
Smiling playfully, Yang Kai added, “Though I don’t know the reason, Dawn will be participating in this battle to recover the Great Pass, right?”
[I’m sure no Human soldier would want to miss such an opportunity.]
Shen Tu Mo nodded, “Indeed! The Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass specifically requested you to join the Army, saying that your Small Universe can help her restore her strength and recover from her injuries. We naturally need to cooperate when such a request is made.”
Yang Kai suddenly understood the situation.
The last time he was in Yin-Yang Pass, he had used his Small Universe to help the Old Ancestor heal from her wounds. It seemed like after tasting the benefits he could offer, she had developed a liking for them.
This was only reasonable as she would turn into a child if she were seriously injured, and normal healing methods had little effect on her. She could only restore her injuries in a Bustling World.
Yang Kai’s Small Universe just happened to be a place where countless ordinary beings flourished and was perfectly suitable for her healing process. Also, the flow of time inside his Small Universe was different from the outside world, so it could be said that if they had Yang Kai with them, the chances of success in this campaign to recover their territory would increase greatly.
The recovery of Great Evolution Pass was related to their future crusade, and the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass had personally requested Yang Kai to follow them; therefore, considering the overall situation, Blue Sky Pass couldn’t refuse.
This was the reason Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo told Yang Kai so much; otherwise, how could a Seventh-Order Junior be qualified to know so many operational details? Since it was an order from the higher-ups, they were just carrying them out.
“All Great Passes will contribute to this mission to recover the Great Evolution Pass. Blue Sky Pass will probably deploy about 500 people, with Senior Brother Xiang leading the team. So, when you get there, you cannot act without Senior Brother Xiang’s order!” Ding Yao looked at Yang Kai with a serious face.
Yang Kai accepted the order, “Understood!” Then, he asked, “When will we be leaving?”
Ding Yao answered, “It won’t be a long wait, within a few months at most.”
Shen Tu Mo added, “I am telling you this today because I want you to be prepared; otherwise, you will be confused when you get there. On the other hand, Dawn doesn’t have enough members, so the Inner Sanctum has chosen a ten-person Squad to join Dawn. They will be heading over for the transition within these few days.”
“Yes, sir!”
“You can head back and make the necessary preparations,” Shen Tu Mo waved his hand.
Yang Kai cupped his fist and left.
After leaving the Army Headquarters, Yang Kai breathed in a light breath to calm his excitement. The Humans were going to recover Great Evolution Pass. After countless years of defending against the Black Ink Clan, Blue Sky Pass’ initial crusade could be said to be a small step forward for the Humans, while taking back Great Evolution Pass was like a big step forward.
Once Great Evolution Pass was retaken, the real crusade would not be too far away. By then, there would be a world-shaking battle to the death between the two races in this huge and vast Black Ink Battlefield, and no one could predict what the final result would be. On this vast battlefield, a single Human’s strength was too weak to matter, and Yang Kai was a mere Seventh-Order Master. Even an Old Ancestor could only affect the situation of their own designated Theatre, not the entire situation of the war.
The only thing Yang Kai could do now was prepare himself for the upcoming campaign.
After returning to his home, he entered retreat and began cultivating to improve his Small Universe’s heritage as much as possible.
A few days later, two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You, came for a visit. They were the Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader of a ten-man Squad and were both veterans who had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for at least 2,000 years, killing countless enemies and earning a lot of Merits.
Because they were about to embark on a campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass, Dawn naturally needed to be as strong as possible; however, since the establishment of Dawn, the Squad had never filled its ranks, so after some consideration, Ding Yao took the initiative to choose a ten-member Squad to fill in the vacancies and increase Dawn’s strength.
The team led by Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You were the lucky Squad.
The two were not repulsed by this order and were even a bit happy. This couldn’t be helped, as every ordinary Squad’s desire was to develop their Squad to become an elite Squad with grand accomplishments. Unfortunately, there were only five Special Operations Squads here in Blue Sky Pass, so if the others wanted to be promoted, they had to perform exceptionally well and play a decisive role in battle; otherwise, promotion was impossible.
The creation of Dawn was also because Yang Kai was too important for Blue Sky Pass, which was why the Army Commanders granted a special exception. Of course, the Military Merits Dawn earned after its establishment did live up to its title as a Special Operations Squad. They even outshined the other four elite Squads.
Although Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You’s Squad was quite strong and had earned a lot of Military Merits in its time, their capabilities were still far from being able to be promoted.
So, when they were suddenly ordered to join Dawn, they were a bit confused, but were still happy to report to Yang Kai.
In every war it participated in, Dawn would rank first in the War Materials Hall in terms of Military Merits. More importantly, Dawn still had vacancies.
Many cultivators wanted to join Dawn and fight as part of the Squad, but unfortunately, Yang Kai, the Squad Leader, never intended to recruit new members over the years.
Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You did not expect that a sudden transfer order from the higher-ups would allow them to fulfil this wish.
In the courtyard, Yang Kai gave the two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters a warm welcome. Although they had never met each other before, they were comrades who fought together on the Black Ink Battlefield, so there was no estrangement between them when talking about killing the Black Ink Clan and restoring peace. After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere became very lively.
During that time, the two Seventh-Order Masters had asked about the reason behind the transfer order given by the higher-ups, but Yang Kai dodged the question.
The matters Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo told him about had to be kept confidential for the time being. Although these secrets would soon be revealed during the battle to recover Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai still couldn’t say anything in this situation. At least, the announcement shouldn’t be coming from him.
After a while of chatting, both the host and guests were having a good time.
With the addition of Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You’s ten-person Squad, the number of Dawn team members instantly increased to forty-seven. Though it wasn’t completely full, it was not far off and there were as many as 8 Seventh-Order Masters in the Squad.
As time passed, some rumours gradually spread within Blue Sky Pass. No one knew where those rumours came from, but all the soldiers who were transferred back to the Inner Sanctum were soon vaguely aware of the news that the Humans were going to take back Great Evolution Pass.
Everyone was so excited that they could barely wait for that battle to start!
Several months later, it was finally time.
A message was sent to all the members of Dawn. Once they had all assembled, they were led by Yang Kai to Blue Sky Pass Main Square, where Squads of varying numbers had gathered from all directions of the Inner Sanctum.
By the time Yang Kai arrived with Dawn, hundreds of people had already assembled and more were on their way.
In less than a half cup of tea’s time, about 500 people had gathered at the square, which was the number Ding Yao had revealed to Yang Kai earlier.
Despite the large number of people, the square was silent. Under the calm exterior though was suppressed excitement.
Chai Fang, the Old Turtle’s Squad Leader, was standing not far from Yang Kai while squinting at him to attract his attention. Chai Feng said, “Brother Yang, judging from this situation, it seems like the rumours about recovering Great Evolution Pass might be true.”
When the news of recovering the Great Pass began spreading around the Inner Sanctum, Chai Fang also came to Yang Kai to discuss this matter with him, but Yang Kai didn’t dare to reveal anything and pretended not to know about it when talking to Chai Feng.
However, everyone knew that without the tacit approval from the higher-ups, the news wouldn’t have spread throughout the Inner Sanctum; therefore, Chai Feng had expected it to be more than 80% true back then, and now it seemed like he was right.
After realising that, Chai Fang felt very excited. Since the battle 200 years ago, the soldiers of Blue Sky Pass had been bored and idle. It was unbearable for them not to kill any enemies for 200 years, but now they could finally kill as many enemies as they could during this campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass.
“I think you’re right,” Yang Kai replied.
Then, Chai Fang added, “For more than 30,000 years, Great Evolution Pass has been occupied by the Black Ink Clan, resulting in a lot of pressure on the Great Passes to the left and right of the Great Evolution Theatre. If we can take back Great Evolution Pass, the pressure on those two Great Passes will be greatly reduced.”
Every Great Pass had a corresponding Theatre, so when Great Evolution Pass fell, all the Black Ink Clan in that Theatre would naturally be free of constraints and would have extra manpower to reinforce their fellow clansmen in the two neighbouring Theatres. Although the efficiency of their reinforcements wasn’t high due to the distance, they were still able to make the two Great Passes suffer a lot of hardships throughout the years.
In comparison to the other Great Passes, the two Great Passes adjacent to Great Evolution Pass also had more troops.
For example, there were about 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers in Blue Sky Pass, which was the same for most of the Human Great Passes. Even if there were Passes with over 40,000 soldiers, it still wouldn’t exceed that number by much.
But for those two Great Passes, they had more than 50,000 soldiers each. Otherwise, they would not be able to resist the Black Ink Clan’s attack because each of them needed to deal with an enemy with numbers equivalent to one and a half Theatres.
Chai Fang added, “Blue Sky Pass alone is sending out 500 troops. If every Great Pass dispatches a similar amount, wouldn’t we have gathered an army of 50,000 soldiers? Adding on the reinforcements sent from the two Great Passes themselves, *tsk* seems like the higher-ups are really determined to get back Great Evolution Pass.”
With a smile, Yang Kai elaborated, “Since we’ve decided to take it back, the higher-ups must have gone through a lot of consideration. Blue Sky Pass is a special case though, and deploying 500 people is not much of a burden for us, but the other Great Passes might not be able to send so many people.”
Because the war at Blue Sky Pass had entered a lull, it wouldn’t affect them too much if they sent out more soldiers; however, the other Great Passes didn’t have the same advantages as Blue Sky Pass, and although 500 people didn’t sound like much, it was equivalent to the strength of several Battalions.
While the two of them were communicating secretly, a sudden stream of light came from Eastern Army Headquarters and appeared before them in the blink of an eye.
The light dispersed and revealed the figures of 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters led by Xiang Shan and Ding Yao.
Yang Kai saw that among these Eighth-Order Masters was Grandmaster Ma Fan. It seemed like Ding Yao and Shen Tu Mo had finally given in to the old man’s stubbornness.
Then, in front of everyone’s eyes, Xiang Shan took a step forward with his hands behind his back, looked around, and opened his mouth to speak, “Recently, there have been some rumours circulating in the Inner Sanctum, and I think you all have heard them, so today, I am here to tell you all that the matter of taking back Great Evolution Pass is true.”
Even though everyone standing here had guessed this already and was almost certain about it, there was still an uproar when Xiang Shan formally announced it.
Ignoring the excitement of the soldiers, Xiang Shan continued, “Since the fall of Great Evolution Pass more than 30,000 years ago, it has been under the control of the Black Ink Clan, and the strong defence line built by the Ancient Masters has become vulnerable. The Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass even dared to venture forward and challenge the No-Return Pass. That is a humiliation to the entire Human Race!”
“For 30,000 years, we have been trying to recover Great Evolution Pass, but the situation here on the Black Ink Battlefield was horrendous and each Great Pass couldn’t afford to divide our forces, even if we wanted to. Now that 30,000 years have passed, after generations of hard work and effort, the chance has finally come. I can’t comment on the rights and wrongs of my ancestors, but as one of their descendants, I have only one goal.”
“To reclaim Great Evolution Pass!”
“Today, all 500 of you will join me on this endeavour, and whether we face life or death in the days to come, we will not embarrass the Human Race’s prestige. We will not forget the efforts of our forefathers and their original intentions. The enemy stands before us, so let us prepare for battle!”
“For victory!”
“Victory!” The crowd roared in excitement, and their shouts echoed across the sky.
With a slight nod, Xiang Shan suddenly waved his hand, and dozens of streams of light scattered to all parts of the crowd. The streams of light hovered in front of each Squad Leader level Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and in the streams of light was a Space Ring.
“Squad Leaders, please take care of your own supplies. There are Purifying Black Ink Pills and a spare warship inside each Space Ring. You will distribute those pills accordingly when the time comes.”
“Yes, sir!” The Squad Leaders all responded.
Xiang Shan nodded his head again and ordered, “Move out!”
Xiang Shan turned around and dashed towards the Central Hall, where the Hyper Space Array was located. Following behind him was Ding Yao and 9 other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, with the 500 Human soldiers further back.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai led Dawn at the front of the pack, followed by Chai Fang and the members of the Old Turtles.
Soon, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the 500 soldiers arrived at the Hyper Space Array. Fortunately, the Central Hall was spacious enough to hold hundreds of people without being crowded.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master greeted them and cupped his fist to Xiang Shan, “Everything is prepared.”
Xiang Shan nodded, “Many thanks.”
The Eighth-Order Master moved aside, and Xiang Shan led hundreds of soldiers straight to the front of the Space Array. The array’s light glowed brightly while the patterns flashed and the array hummed, obviously indicating that it was already opened and ready to use.
Xiang Shan turned around, looked at the 500 people behind him and ordered, “Get into groups of 50 and spread out!”
The crowd followed the order, and under the leadership of their Squad Leaders, three to four Squads formed groups of 50 each.
Only Dawn and the Old Turtles did not need to move because the total number of members in those two Special Operations Squads was about 50 people.
Xiang Shan turned his head, looked at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around him, and nodded lightly. The next moment, the group of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters moved to a group of soldiers.
The one who arrived before Dawn was Grandmaster Ma Fan. No one could tell if it was pre-arranged, but like the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Grandmaster Ma Fan activated the power of his Small Universe, opened its portal, and turned it into a channel before he shouted to Yang Kai and the others, “Get in!”
Yang Kai naturally understood what the Eighth-Order Masters had planned, which was to use these 10 Eight-Order Masters to send all 500 soldiers to another Great Pass.
Due to the large distance between the Great Passes, each transmission across the Hyper Space Array consumed a huge amount of materials. The higher the strength of the cultivator being transmitted, the more materials they would have to consume.
Since Blue Sky Pass was sending 500 soldiers, it could still afford to do this one by one because it was rich with materials, but it was an unnecessary waste.
It also consumed a lot of time.
Instead of that, it would be better to use the Eighth-Order Masters’ Small Universes to expedite the process.
In comparison to transmitting 500 people, transmitting 10 Eighth-Order Masters would definitely consume far fewer materials, and it would take less time as well.
As a matter of fact, whenever cultivators moved from one Great Pass to another, they would usually use this method, which was to let lower-order cultivators enter the Small Universe of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. That way, they could save as many materials as possible.
The Small Universe of an Eighth-Order Master was, if they were only to accommodate Fifth-Order Masters, capable of carrying upwards of 1,000 people. If they were trying to hold Sixth-Order Masters, around 100 people would be the limit. For Seventh-Order Masters, perhaps 10 would be the limit. Any more would add a significant burden to the Eighth-Order Master’s Small Universe and cause unnecessary trouble.
Therefore, after Xiang Shan and others had carefully discussed this matter, they thought that using 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to transport 500 people would be the best choice.
After Grandmaster Ma Fan’s shout, Yang Kai charged into the portal first, followed by his team members. Then, one after another, each figure disappeared.
Only after everyone had entered the Small Universe did Grandmaster Ma Fan close the portal.
This was not the first time Ma Fan had done something like this; still, this was something that most would avoid doing if possible. Under normal circumstances, even if a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master could store someone of a lower Order in their Small Universe, they wouldn’t as the dangers of doing so were too great. It would be extremely difficult to stop their Small Universe from being damaged from the inside if someone they took in had malicious intentions. The High-Rank Masters could use their World Force to suppress such behaviour, but their Small Universe would still inevitably be contaminated with another person’s World Force as long as the other party simply circulated their strength, which was very troublesome to deal with.
Therefore, the cultivators in Yang Kai’s Small Universe had to leave when they were about to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Another reason was that everyone had different paths of cultivation, and the disciples of the Void Dao Temple would have a low chance of success if they stayed in Yang Kai’s Small Universe when they wanted to break through.
However, the Black Ink Battlefield was a special case. It wasn’t uncommon to see High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters using their Small Universe to accommodate lower-order Masters. All Humans here were life-and-death comrades and fought side by side, so trust was not an issue.
After receiving the entire Dawn Squad, Grandmaster Ma Fan turned a little pale despite receiving less than 50 people.
On the other hand, Xiang Shan and others all seemed normal, especially Xiang Shan. He had taken in nearly 60 people yet still seemed like he was perfectly fine.
From that, it was obvious that though the two were in the same Realm, Ma Fan’s heritage was incomparable to those veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Blue Sky Pass. After all, the Dao of Artifact Refining consumed a lot of his time and energy, so his foundation was not nearly as rich.
After receiving all 500 people into their Small Universes, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters did not immediately teleport away through the array but instead stood in place and waited in silence.
That was because Blue Sky Pass wasn’t the only one sending people. As all the Great Passes were deploying some soldiers for the campaign, it was impossible for the receiving Space Array to support them all at once, so they had to wait for the signal from the other side.
It wasn’t a long wait. About half an hour later, the Hyper Space Array suddenly shone out a light that was extremely dazzling but was quickly withdrawn. It happened three times.
That was the signal they and that had been agreed on.
After the light around the array stabilised Xiang Shan took the lead, stepping onto the array, followed by the other Open Heaven Realm Masters.
“Activate the array!” The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who was monitoring the Central Hall ordered. Then, the many already prepared soldiers around the array each formed a set of seals and started the array.
A dazzling light shone out from the edge of the Grand Array and gradually diffused towards the centre. It soon enveloped Xiang Shan and the other 10 Eighth-Order Masters.
The array hummed, and the hall shook.
A dozen breaths later, the dazzling light disappeared, and the array became dark. Xiang Shan and others who had been standing there were gone along with it.
The crystals placed in the seven Array Nodes around the Grand Array also dimmed.
Those seven Array Nodes corresponded to the Seven Elements. These crystals were originally arranged here, created by a special technique that gathered Energy from different materials. Even a crystal the size of a fingernail consumed a set of materials that could help create a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
If the crystals used up in this one transfer were gathered together, they could fill up an entire washbasin. One could imagine how many materials this teleportation had consumed.
Meanwhile, inside Ma Fan’s Small Universe, Yang Kai and others sat down cross-legged, calmed their powers, and tried to remain motionless.
This was the self-awareness every Open Heaven Realm Master that had been invited into a Small Universe should have.
Perhaps because he had cultivated the Dao of Artifact Refining too, Yang Kai noticed that there were a lot of Artifact Refining Dao Essences in this Small Universe as soon as he entered.
They were inside Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe after all, and as an Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster, it was normal to have such a dense Dao Essence.
If Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe could rear living beings like Yang Kai’s Small Universe, there would certainly be a lot of Artifact Refining prodigies to emerge from here.
In fact, because of the special characteristic of the Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe, whenever a cultivator’s strength reached the Seventh Order, their Small Universe would turn from immaterial to material. By then, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a Legacy Disciple because they could raise a batch of living beings themselves, and following the subtle influence of their own Grand Dao Essence, there would eventually be a perfect candidate to inherit their legacy.
Under normal circumstances, however, High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters would not do such a thing because their Small Universe would easily become unstable when fighting fierce battles, and the living creatures inside would be killed or injured. There was a possibility that hundreds of years of hard work would be lost in a single clash.
According to Yang Kai’s knowledge of this place, only those High-Rank Open Heaven from Cave-Heavens and Paradises who were about to die would do such a thing.
They knew they didn’t have long to live, and there was no hope for them in the future; therefore, the only thing they could do before their lives came to an end was to contribute to the continuation of their Sect.
That was the reason why there was no shortage of Alchemists and Artifact Refiners in the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and why special Sects like Divine Cauldron Heaven and Divine Medicine Heaven could ensure the continuation of their inheritance from generation to generation.
Actually, Yang Kai could have taken the chance to cultivate in this environment and perhaps gain something.
But he did not care much about Dao of Artifact Refining, and the reason why he practised it was simply because it was related to a mission.
Now that his mission was long over, he hadn’t actively cultivated the Dao of Artifact Refining for a long time.
After waiting for almost an hour or so, the Small Universe suddenly buzzed, and a portal to the outside world opened.
The members of Dawn got up and exited the portal under Yang Kai’s lead, leaving Grandmaster Ma Fan’s Small Universe.
When the world suddenly changed, they found themselves in the middle of a huge open area.
Before the crowd could even stand firm, a vague buzzing noise entered their ears as they felt energy fluctuations coming at them from all directions.
These signs were all very familiar as all of them had encountered such scenes many times in their lives.
Shen Ao, who was standing beside Yang Kai, raised a brow and asked what everyone was thinking, “Is the Black Ink Clan attacking?”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
He didn’t know which Great Pass this was, but it must be one of the two adjacent to Great Evolution Pass; after all, in order to recover Great Evolution Pass, starting from the two adjacent Great Passes would be the shortest route.
However, they didn’t anticipate that they would bump into the Black Ink Clan attacking the Great Passes. Also, Yang Kai couldn’t figure out whether this attack was a coincidence or a situation planned out by the Humans.
He guessed that it was most likely the latter. The Black Ink Clan’s sieges would generally last for many years, but there would be an equally long period of rest in between, so if the Humans were willing to, they could easily avoid such incidents.
In this case, it seemed like the higher-ups had decided to inflict serious damage on the Black Ink Clan forces in the neighbouring Theatres before retaking Great Evolution Pass so that the enemy wouldn’t be able to send reinforcements.
That was also a very natural choice.
Turning his head to look at the 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from Blue Sky Pass, Yang Kai guessed that the Black Ink Clan in this Theatre were about to suffer a heavy toll.
Dawn’s members were whispering to each other, just like in the other Squads. They seemed to have noticed the special situation here.
However, they were all still confused about which Great Pass they were in.
The Universe Chart they brought over from Blue Sky Pass was useless because each Theatre had its own Universe Chart. Although the chart had details about some nearby Theatres, the Universe Chart showed nothing of Great Passes that were further away.
While the members of Dawn were talking amongst themselves, an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master suddenly came in from not far away and cupped his fist at Xiang Shan, “Senior Brother Xiang!”
Xiang Shan returned the greeting, “Junior Brother Hong.”
Though no one knew which Great Pass the man called Junior Brother Hong came from, he obviously was not a local. After he met up with Xiang Shan, they interacted via Divine Sense.
Yang Kai took the opportunity to look around and realised that many cultivators had gathered in different groups in the square.
The number of people in each group varied from about 200 to 300, but none of them had 500 like Blue Sky Pass.
Those groups of cultivators gathered together should have been the soldiers deployed by various Passes, and it seemed like Yang Kai’s guess was right. Because the situation in Blue Sky Pass was different, they could deploy 500 soldiers, while the other Great Passes couldn’t deploy as many.
In contrast to the 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers in each Great Pass, a few hundred people wouldn’t affect their strength too much.
But once all of them had gathered in this place, it would be a considerable amount of manpower.
Yang Kai estimated that there were almost 6,000 to 7,000 people gathered in this square, and this was before everyone had arrived. Once everyone had assembled, there would likely be several tens of thousands in total.
In every group of cultivators, there would also be Eighth-Order Masters, but their numbers varied as well; each group basically had more than five though.
It seemed like the other Great Passes had made the same choice as Blue Sky Pass, using the Small Universes from Eighth-Order Masters to send their soldiers here.
Yang Kai was secretly speechless. Besides the 6,000 to 7,000 soldiers gathered in this square, there were already about 100 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present.
The Black Ink Clan besieging this Great Pass at this moment were not only unlucky, they were about to feel miserable.
Just as Yang Kai was about to ask Grandmaster Ma Fan which Great Pass they were at, a voice suddenly sounded beside his ear, “Brat, over here!”
Following the direction of the voice, Yang Kai looked around and saw someone waving his hand from one of the groups.
It was Xu Ling Gong!
Yang Kai was stunned as he didn’t expect to see Xu Ling Gong there. Because Xu Ling Gong was a Seventh-Order Master, he must have come here to take part in the mission to recover Great Evolution Pass.
When Yang Kai saw Xu Ling Gong, he was happy because he was still his Elder after all, despite both of them having the same cultivation.
Following that, Yang Kai went up to Ding Yao and said, “Martial Uncle, there’s someone I know over there. I’ll head over and say hello.”
Ding Yao turned his head towards the areas where cultivators from Yin-Yang Pass were gathered and nodded lightly, “You’re free to roam around but do not leave the square.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai replied and turned back to relay a message to the members of Dawn before heading towards Xu Ling Gong.
When he arrived before Xu Ling Gong, Yang Kai bowed, “Martial Uncle Xu!”
He also bowed to Tang Qiu and the others, “Greetings, Seniors.”
On Yin-Yang Pass’ side, not only did Xu Ling Gong join this mission, but so did Tang Qiu and several other familiar faces. Among these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, there were some whom Yang Kai knew and some he didn’t.
Standing behind Xu Ling Gong were Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue, who also nodded at Yang Kai as a greeting.
Xu Ling Gong slapped his hand on Yang Kai’s shoulder and laughed heartily, “I never thought we would have the chance to fight side by side again. It’s good to have you with us because you tend to cause a lot of commotion, which I enjoy the most.”
Hearing that made Yang Kai laugh. Unsure if it was a compliment, he replied casually, “Martial Uncle Xu, you’re flattering me. I feel assured seeing you and the others have been doing fine.”
Xu Ling Gong nodded happily, “I’ll take it as you being filial.”
Yang Kai added, “It looks like quite a number of Yin-Yang Pass soldiers came this time. How is the situation back there?”
Just now, he had noticed that the number of soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass was similar to that of Blue Sky Pass, around 500 with 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Not only did the Eastern Army Commander, Tang Qiu, join this mission, but so did the Western Army Commander, Liu Zhi Ping.
Yang Kai had a deep impression of the Western Army Commander, which couldn’t be helped because the steamed stuffed buns she made were quite delicious. Back when he and the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass were hanging around at the Marketplace, he frequented Lin’s Steamed Bun Restaurant quite frequently.
Since two Army Commanders had come here in person, it obviously meant that everything was going well at Yin-Yang Pass; otherwise, these two wouldn’t have had the spare time.
One had to know that though Blue Sky Pass also had 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present, only Ding Yao, the Eastern Army Commander, joined this mission.
Hearing Yang Kai’s question, Tang Qiu said smilingly, “Thanks to you, we won a big victory against the Black Ink Clan more than 100 years ago and severely damaged their foundation. So, Yin-Yang Pass will have several hundred years of peace.”
Yang Kai understood what Tang Qin meant as soon as he heard it. The Universe Cave Heavens and Universe Paradises he opened outside Yin-Yang Pass must have made a great contribution to winning the most recent war.
Like at Blue Sky Pass, Yin-Yang Pass took the Black Ink Clan Army by surprise with the help of those Universe Cave Heavens and Paradises. After activating countless traps, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties. Almost the entire Black Ink Clan Army was killed in that war, while more than 20 Territory Lords had either died or were severely wounded.
Despite having experienced those traps once in the Blue Sky Theatre and being very cautious when attacking Yin-Yang Pass, unless the Black Ink Clan stopped besieging the Great Passes entirely, it would just be a matter of time before they fell into those traps. For the Black Ink Clan, there was no good solution to those death traps set by the Humans, and they would pay a high price when they encountered them whether they were prepared in advance or not.
“Originally, Yin-Yang Pass wanted to follow Blue Sky Pass’ example and organise a crusade, but unfortunately, we don’t have a solution to our logistics problem, nor do we have someone to arrange Universe Arrays as transit points, so we had to give up on that idea,” Tang Qiu said with some regret.
Yin-Yang Pass had considered asking Yang Kai to help them set up some Universe Arrays as transit points for their crusade; however, due to various reasons, the plan was eventually shelved.
Although they couldn’t organise a crusade, the situation in the Yin-Yang Theatre was quite stable right now, so they could deploy more people to support the mission to recover the Great Evolution Pass.
That was the reason why Yin-Yang Pass deployed 500 people and even two Army Commanders.
Among the two Army Commanders, Liu Zhi Ping would be joining the campaign to recover Great Evolution Pass while Tang Qiu would return to Yin-Yang Pass soon to oversee matters there. However, Yang Kai and the others weren’t informed about the decisions made by the higher-ups.
The only thing Yang Kai desperately wanted to know now was which Great Pass they were at.
When he asked this question, Tang Qiu said, “Didn’t Ding Yao tell you?”
Yang Kai replied, “I haven’t had time to ask yet.”
Tang Qiu explained, “This is Wind and Cloud Pass.”
Then it dawned on Yang Kai. Wind and Cloud Pass naturally corresponded to Wind and Cloud Paradise. Because of the Star Boundary’s World Tree and the Good Fortune Divine Furnace, Yang Kai had dealt with people from almost all of the Cave Heavens and Paradises and knew at least one or two people from each of them. In a way, he now had quite a wide network.
When mentioning Wind and Cloud Paradise, Yang Kai’s deepest impression of it was its auction houses. Thinking back, it was from Wind and Cloud Auction House that he got the pill recipe for the Heavenly Yuan Seal Stabilizing Pill.
If this place was Wind and Cloud Pass, the other Great Pass adjacent to Great Evolution Pass should be Azure Void Pass.
Azure Void Pass corresponded to Azure Void Cave Heaven, and these two Great Passes sandwiched Great Evolution Pass between them. Originally, they could have helped each other in battle, but after the fall of Great Evolution Pass, both Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass fell under even more pressure.
Since the Black Ink Clan of the Great Evolution Theatre had no opponent to fight, they could gather their forces and develop without worry. They could frequently gather hundreds of thousands of soldiers to pass through the vast void and aid their fellow Black Ink Clansmen in the Azure Void and Wind and Cloud Theatres.
On average, Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass faced more frequent assaults from the Black Ink Clan than other Great Passes. Usually, the Black Ink Clan would rest for 100 years between attacks on a Great Pass, but these two would see assaults every 70 to 80 years, and with far greater force than at other Great Passes.
Due to the immense pressure they faced, these two Great Passes had more than 50,000 troops each, or else they wouldn’t be able to resist the attacks.
Knowing that this place was Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai nodded lightly and asked, “Senior, what’s our situation? I noticed that there are only 20 to 30 groups of reinforcements here. When will the troops from other Great Passes arrive?”
Tang Qiu explained, “Not all of the troops that the 108 Great Passes are deploying for this mission will be gathered at Wind and Cloud Pass. Only half of them will assemble here, while the other half will gather at Azure Void Pass, which is also facing an attack from the Black Ink Clan at this very moment. With the strength from the other Great Passes and the strength from the local garrison, we will crush the besieging Black Ink Clan Armies first. Then, Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies will be formed on the Wind and Cloud Pass side, while the Northern and Southern Armies will be formed on the Azure Void Pass side.”
“I’m not sure about the situation at Azure Void Pass, but here, the Eastern Army Commander will be Xiang Shan from Blue Sky Pass, and the Western Army Commander will be Liu Zhi Ping from Yin-Yang Pass. At that time, the four Armies will set out from both Great Passes and advance together with the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass leading the Army to recover Great Evolution Pass.”
Now that Yang Kai had the gist of the situation, he glanced at the troops in the square and silently estimated in his mind, “According to your words, each Army will have about 10,000 soldiers, and all four armies will have a total of some 40,000 people, right?”
Tang Qiu shook his head, “It will be more than that. According to the original plan, the estimated manpower needed to recover the Great Evolution Pass should be around 60,000. In other words, each army will have at least 15,000 soldiers. The only way to take back Great Evolution Pass is to ensure we have 60,000 soldiers.”
A war to re-take territory was different from simply defending it. 30,000 to 40,000 troops in a Human Great Pass were sufficient to ensure that they wouldn’t be defeated, but the risks of attacking an entrenched position also played a part in that.
By the same token, the Black Ink Clan had been occupying Great Evolution Pass for more than 30,000 years. Even if they didn’t have the same means as Humans, 30,000 years of managing that place would be enough for them to set up traps and other defensive arrangements.
This time it was the Black Ink Clan’s turn to rely on the risk of attacking a Great Pass. If the Humans wanted to conquer the Great Evolution Pass, they had to ensure that they had a much superior force, so 60,000 was thought to be the minimum requirement.
In the case of Wind and Cloud Pass, if they gathered all the troops deployed by the other Great Passes, they might be able to assemble 15,000 soldiers, equivalent to an Army’s strength.
But considering that once Great Evolution Pass was successfully retaken, Wind and Cloud Pass wouldn’t be under as much pressure anymore, so they wouldn’t need 50,000 soldiers to hold the line anymore. Therefore, Wind and Cloud Pass would be deploying 15,000 troops to help fill in the vacancies for Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies.
It was the same for Azure Void Pass. They would assemble an Army gathered from all the troops sent by the other Great Passes and deploy an Army of their own, forming two Armies as well.
The Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Armies would meet at Great Evolution Pass, where Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor would take command and decide how to recover the Great Pass, which had been lost for more than 30,000 years.
Tang Qiu let out a light sigh as he spoke with mixed emotions, “We don’t know how many of us will survive this battle. Yang Boy, this campaign to recover our lost territory will be more dangerous than any battle you’ve faced before. You must remember not to act impulsively and put your safety first out of all things.”
“Yes, Sir!” Yang Kai nodded respectfully.
After Tang Qiu’s explanation, Yang Kai now had a deeper understanding of the situation and the obstacles he would be facing later. On the other hand, these weren’t exactly secrets, so he guessed the others might find out from all sorts of sources in short order.
Back at the square, the atmosphere was becoming increasingly lively as cultivators from different Great Passes arrived one after another, and early birds, like Yang Kai, were socialising with the others.
Many Fellow Brothers and Sisters came from the same Cave Heaven or Paradise, but were allocated to different Great Passes after arriving at the Black Ink Battlefield. Once they separated, it would be hundreds to thousands of years, or even longer, before they could meet again. They might even never see each other again until they meet in the afterlife.
The battle for Great Evolution Pass had called for all Great Passes to deploy troops and gather in Wind and Cloud and Azure Void Pass, which provided those cultivators from the same Sects a chance to reunite.
Though everyone came here from different Great Passes, they only had one goal, which was to recover Great Evolution Pass.
All the Open Heaven Realm Masters had thrown the thought of life and death out of their heads. Also, there wasn’t much sadness in the air. Instead, they all felt proud and delighted to be reunited with their friends.
Everyone couldn’t stop talking about how their own Great Pass defended themselves against the Black Ink Clan. Among all the cultivators present, the cultivators from Blue Sky Pass undoubtedly became the centre of attention. That couldn’t be helped as Blue Sky Pass was the only one that successfully launched and completed a crusade. Not only did they manage to secure a forward base in the Black Ink Clan’s territory, they also managed to snatch a large piece of territory from them. It had been over 200 years since then, yet the Black Ink Clan still didn’t dare to cross the new border.
At the temporary camp of the 500 soldiers from Yin-Yang Pass, Yang Kai chatted with Qing Kui and Su Ying Xue for a while longer before excusing himself and walking towards a quiet place where he stopped before a cultivator who was adjusting his breathing while sitting cross-legged on the ground.
That person looked up at Yang Kai and showed him an ugly expression.
With a slight chuckle, Yang Kai said, “Brother Blood Crow, we’ve crossed so much land to meet each other again. Can’t you be at least a little happy to see an old friend?”
That was right. Blood Crow was also included among the 500 people deployed by Yin-Yang Pass. Though Yang Kai noticed him long ago, he had to speak to Tang Qiu, so he didn’t have time to greet the former.
Meanwhile, Blood Crow looked as if he didn’t want anything to do with Yang Kai and snarled, “There’s bound to be trouble wherever you are, so you’d better stay away from me.”
Having been at the Black Ink Battlefield for quite a while, Blood Crow had accepted his fate, but he couldn’t help but think, [If this brat hadn’t got in the way, I wouldn’t have ended up in this situation. Maybe I would have still been cultivating peacefully inside Blood Monster Cave Heaven, gathering more strength and restoring my cultivation to when I was an Eighth-Order Divine Monarch.]
Yang Kai chuckled, “Brother Blood Crow, why are you still holding on to the past? Now that we’re both here on the Black Ink Battlefield, we’ll have to fight side by side, so we should watch out for each other.”
However, Blood Crow just snapped, “Never. When we get on the battlefield, remember to tell me in advance where you will be. That way, I can stay as far as I can.”
At that moment, Xu Ling Gong approached them, “Emneties should be solved rather than settled. Blood Crow, the way you acted before was too merciless, and Yang Kai only did what he had to to be safe. Why do you have to hold onto past grudges?”
Xu Ling Gong also heard about what happened back at the Blood Monster Cave Heaven, which was why he could understand what was going on after listening to Yang Kai and Blood Crow’s conversation.
“Come on, have you heard of the saying, ‘a smile dissolves hatred, while wine dissolves all resentment’? After you finish these bottles, you’ll let bygones be bygones!” While saying so, Xu Ling Gong took out two bottles of wine and tossed them to Yang Kai and Blood Crow respectfully.
Blood Crow accepted one, but still kept quiet.
Then, Xu Ling Gong slapped Blood Crow’s shoulder with so much force that his figure shrank a little. Following that, Xu Ling Gong ordered, “Drink! If you don’t, I’ll take it as you having no respect for me.”
Feeling his lips twitching, Blood Crow complained in secret that if he still had his Eight-Order cultivation, a mere Seventh-Order Junior wouldn’t have had the guts to act so arrogantly before him. But with his current situation, he could only suppress his anger and abide by Xu Ling Gong’s words.
After opening the bottle, he raised his head and gulped down the wine.
Yang Kai smiled and drank his wine as well.
In the meantime, Xu Ling Gong laughed heartily, “Very good. That’s how you should solve grudges.”
Wind and Cloud Pass only had one Hyper Space Array, but had to receive troops sent from more than 50 Great Passes, so it naturally took quite a long time. Moreover, running the Hyper Space Array continuously was troublesome, so that process was incredibly time-consuming.
Under that premise, the Hyper Space Array could only be used once daily. In other words, only one Great Pass could send their troops here each day.
The 500 people from Blue Sky Pass didn’t arrive too early, and they weren’t late either, as half of the 50 Great Passes were still waiting to send their troops over.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan was still restlessly attacking. There were times when they could feel the strong energy blasts that would pass through the multiple Spirit Array barriers and into the square.
It was tough for those cultivators gathered in the square as they knew large groups of Black Ink Clansmen were attacking outside, yet they couldn’t go out to kill the enemy. Those cultivators from the other Great Passes had to stay put before all the others arrived, and Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies had officially been formed.
This agony continued for 20 more days.
When the last troops from the other Great Passes arrived at Wind and Cloud Pass, there were already 15,000 cultivators gathered in the square, including over 200 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
It was an unprecedented lineup. Though the number of cultivators gathered here did not outnumber any of the Great Passes, the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters far outnumbered all of them.
All those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were here basically because they were tasked with sending soldiers from their Great Passes over and had to stay in Wind and Cloud Pass temporarily because the Hyper Space Array here couldn’t send them back for the moment.
At the same time, their presence was also to lay the groundwork for the upcoming battle.
Following the orders from the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from all Great Passes, those cultivators who were chatting with old friends immediately returned to their assigned spots, and the previously lively square immediately fell silent.
A short while later, a large group of cultivators entered the square from all directions. The incoming troop had about 15,000 cultivators and was on par with those already in the square.
After that, the square now had 30,000 soldiers!
Seeing the situation, Yang Kai knew that if the previous 15,000 soldiers gathered in the square were from the other Great Passes, the 15,000 who had just arrived were soldiers that belonged to Wind and Cloud Pass.
Their actions did seem more orderly. Though Yang Kai didn’t mean to offend anyone, that group of soldiers were from the same Great Pass and had a tacit understanding, but Yang Kai and the others came from different Great Passes, so both troops were incomparable in terms of coordination.
The scene of 30,000 soldiers gathering in one place was spectacular.
At that moment, another two figures dashed over from a distance and stopped right in the middle of the square. It was a man and a woman, and they were both Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
The man was Xiang Shan from Blue Sky Pass, while the woman was Liu Zhi Ping from Yin-Yang Pass.
Xiang Shan had a dignified air to him, while Liu Zhi Ping cut a heroic figure. Though there were many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters present, these two both had strong and oppressive temperaments that allowed them to attract everyone’s attention whenever they appeared.
Looking around the square, Xiang Shan announced, “Today, there are soldiers gathered here from more than 50 Great Passes with only one goal, to take back Great Evolution Pass. We also have many soldiers from Wind and Cloud Pass joining us, and so, with the recommendations from each Great Pass, and the approval from all Old Ancestors, we will now form Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies. All soldiers, hear my command!”
“I declare Xiang Shan the Army Commander of Great Evolution’s Eastern Army!”
“I declare Liu Zhi Ping the Army Commander of Great Evolution’s Western Army!”
“Yes, sir!” All the soldiers in the square responded in unison.
Then, Xiang Shan continued, “Yan Jia? Step forward and receive your orders!”
Somewhere in the square, an elderly Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Master stepped out from the crowd, flew forward, and stopped before Xiang Shan while cupping his fist, “Yan Jia. Ready to receive my order!”
Xiang Shan then solemnly placed a token representing Yan Jia’s identity on the latter’s hand while seriously ordering, “I assign you as Division Commander of Great Evolution’s Eastern Army’s First Division!”
While holding the Division Commander’s jade token, Yan Jia yelled, “Yes, sir!”
Then, he dashed back to his place.
Following that, Liu Zhi Ping’s crisp voice rang out, “Lu Feng!”
Someone leapt up from within the crowd and landed before Liu Zhi Ping before cupping his fist and bowing, “Lu Feng at your command!”
Looking at him, Liu Zhi Ping nodded lightly, “I declare you Division Commander of Great Evolution’s Western Army’s First Division. I charge you to lead your fellow soldiers and bravely destroy the enemy!”
With a low shout, Lu Feng replied, “I won’t disappoint you!”
Then, Xiang Shan yelled again, “Xu Yong Da!”
“Xu Yong Da is at your disposal!”
“I assign you as Division Commander of the Eastern Army’s Second Division!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Shu Yin, come forward and receive your orders!”
“I declare you as Division Commander for the Western Army’s Second Division!”
“I humbly accept!”
…..
As the orders were given out one by one, and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were assigned their positions, the basis of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies was formed in Wind and Cloud Pass’s central square.
On the Azure Void Pass’ side, the Northern and Southern Armies would similarly be organized.
No one here was a newcomer who was unfamiliar with the Black Ink Clan or the Black Ink Battlefield, so the process was carried out smoothly.
When Yang Kai had just arrived at Blue Sky Pass, Feng Ying explained all of this to him. Simply put, Squads were the most basic grouping of Human soldiers on the Black Ink Battlefield.
10 to 15 people was the norm for a Squad, with a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master as the Squad Leader. Of course, other specially formed elite Squads like Dawn also existed in the other Great Passes. However, each Great Pass had different numbers of Special Operations Squads.
Above a Squad was a Battalion, which consisted of around 100 people.
Above a Battalion was a Division, and above a Division was an Army, of which each Great Pass would have four.
Therefore, with over 30,000 people being separated into Eastern and Western Armies, each Army would have 15,000 people, and on average, each army would have 30 Divisions each.
As for the position of Division Commander, only Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were eligible for such a post. In other words, the Eastern and Western Armies would have a total of sixty Eighth-Order Division Commanders.
And that was only for the Eastern and Western Armies.
The Northern and Southern Armies would be formed on Azure Void Pass’ side, and they would be in the same situation here.
Under that premise, the Great Evolution Army would have over 100 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters!
Having 60,000 soldiers, over 100 Eighth-Order Masters, and being personally led by Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, this was the confidence and capital the Humans had to take back Great Evolution Pass.
Of course, just as Tang Qiu had said, this battle would be very dangerous, and no one could tell how many of these 60,000 soldiers would survive.
It only took about one hour to appoint the several dozen Division Commanders.
After the Division Commanders had been appointed, Xiang Shan announced, “All Divisions are to gather their own troops. In half a day, you will all follow me and fight our way out of Wind and Cloud Pass!”
“Yes, sir!”
After that, all the Division Commanders instantly busied themselves with their duties. Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping only announced Division Commander positions. Below the Division Commanders were Battalion Commanders, which they had to deal with on their own as the two Army Commanders wouldn’t interfere with this matter.
However, the higher-ups had already devised a plan to divide the 30,000 soldiers in the square and allocated which Battalion the troops from each Great Pass would belong to, so the Division Commanders only needed to gather the troops according to the provided lists.
While Yang Kai and the others were waiting for the troops to be organized, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters weren’t idle.
As allocating personnel also required careful selection, all the members for each Battalion and Division needed to be coordinated in advance.
The square was constantly filled with shouts from each Division Commander as they delegated positions to the soldiers. Meanwhile, troops from different Great Passes were also moving quickly around the square, finding which Battalion they belonged to.
Yang Kai and Chai Feng looked at each other, and the latter said, “Brother Yang, I don’t think we’ll be allocated to the same Battalion, but I think we should ask about how we will be operating during battle.”
Since the two Special Operations Squads had about 50 people each, equivalent to half a Battalion’s strength, they naturally wouldn’t get allocated into the same Battalion.
Moreover, back at Blue Sky Pass, the Special Operations Squads didn’t follow the same arrangements as the others and only reported to the Army Commanders.
Yang Kai nodded lightly, “Brother Chai is right. Let’s go.”
The two then walked towards Xiang Shan.
When they arrived before him, they paid their respects, and Yang Kai asked, “Sir, what are both mine and Brother Chai’s Squads going to be doing during battle?”
After glancing at them, Xiang Shan said only five words, “Act according to the situation!”
Yang Kai acknowledged Xiang Shan’s words and replied, “Understood!”
By ‘act according to the situation,’ Xiang Shan meant that there wouldn’t be any restrictions for their two Squads, and they wouldn’t have to follow the ordinary chain of command. This was good news for the two Squads because, without any hindrance, they could better utilise their strengths.
Of course, there were also downsides to this arrangement. Because they were not collaborating with the other Squads, they were unlikely to receive many reinforcements and had to rely on themselves during battle.
Dawn and the Old Turtle were mentally prepared for that because it was the same as when they were back at Blue Sky Pass. The Special Operations Squads were always free to do their own thing during battle, which had both risks and rewards.
After getting Xiang Shan’s reply, Yang Kai and Chai Feng felt reassured and returned to their spots.
While watching the two leave, Liu Zhi Ping frowned slightly, “Senior Brother Xiang, Yang Kai is an important factor in this war. Wouldn’t it be better if we arranged for him to be in the Central Army?”
The centre position inside the Army was the most important position within the Great Army and was also the safest place. If they could arrange for Yang Kai to be a member of the Central Army, it would be easier for them to protect him.
Before they came here, Ding Yao had made the same suggestion as Liu Zhi Ping.
Xiang Shan, however, replied, “While we’re moving as an Army, the centre is indeed much safer, but once we engage in battle, nowhere is safe because it’s chaos on the battlefield, and we have no one to rely on but ourselves. Since he came here, he must have come here to kill the enemy. That brat has been through all sorts of incredible situations already and survived, so it won’t be easy for him to find himself in grave danger.”
If it had been another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, maybe that person would have paid more attention to Yang Kai’s safety and might even arrange a safer position for him; however, Xiang Shan had always been straightforward and made a name for himself in the Blue Sky Theatre by killing many Black Ink Clan Masters with his own blade. For a person like him, how could he possibly give Yang Kai special attention? In his opinion, every soldier was the same, and soldiers who could kill the Black Ink Clan were good soldiers. No one should have special consideration.
Though Yang Kai’s safety was important to the bigger picture, Xiang Shan had previously done careful research on him and knew he was proficient in the Dao of Space, which was a very effective weapon to maintain one’s safety on the battlefield. If Yang Kai didn’t make any foolish decisions, he wouldn’t be in danger.
Seeing that Xiang Shan was so determined, Liu Zhi Ping didn’t say anything more.
Before half a day was up, the Eastern and Western Armies had been successfully formed, and each Division and Battalion was organized and ready, releasing murderous intent into the air.
Until this moment, the Black Ink Clan was still attacking, and they seemed to be pushing harder than before. The entire Wind and Cloud Pass seemed to be filled with the reverberating echoes of explosions from outside attacks. Though several shields and barriers were blocking the fallout, the rumbling could still penetrate the Inner Sanctum.
The Wind and Cloud Pass originally had 50,000 soldiers, and they relied on this great army, which exceeded the other Great Passes’ in number, to ward off the enemy. However, 15,000 out of the original 50,000 soldiers were chosen to join Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies.
In other words, the number of Wind and Cloud Pass soldiers was now around 35,000.
Though relying on the great strength of the Great Pass could help those 35,000 soldiers defend Wind and Cloud Pass for a time, they were still in a disadvantageous spot on the battlefield with their diminished numbers. The current range of movement for Wind and Cloud Pass’ soldiers had been reduced to within a 10,000-kilometre radius of the outer walls. Such a region was the most effective range for the defensive Artifacts and Arrays of the great Pass, any further away and the amount of support that could be given would drop off significantly.
The Black Ink Clan Army was ecstatic about the Human’s sudden weakened force. After many years of battling each other, the Black Ink Clan had never gained such a large advantage. Though they weren’t sure why the Human Army’s strength had suddenly weakened, the Territory Lords responsible for organising this siege saw hope for victory.
It was as if the Black Ink Clan only had to fight a little harder, and they would be able to take down this Human Great Pass and make it into the second Great Evolution Pass.
The Black Ink Clan had yet to gain any further ground in this vast Black Ink Battlefield since the successful conquest of their first Human Great Pass 30,000 years ago because the Humans’ persistence and tenacity rendered them unable to do so.
If they could secure Wind and Cloud Pass, it would definitely be a big blow to the Human’s morale, and the Black Ink Clan soldiers at Wind and Cloud Theatre would become heroes.
Therefore, the Black Ink Clan had almost deployed all of their forces to the battlefield, wanting to successfully conquer Wind and Cloud Pass in one fell swoop and kill off every Human here!
A Royal Lord hid inside a large Black Ink Cloud, silently watching everything.
It had been 20 years since his Army began attacking Wind and Cloud Pass, and he had fought with the Old Ancestor keeping watch over the Great Pass three times. Every time they battled, it would cause a huge commotion, yet it would always end in a tie, with both of them suffering some minor injuries.
But those injuries wouldn’t affect the overall situation on the battlefield, nor would they have any effect on his strength.
He noticed the changes on the Humans’ side and knew it was a strange phenomenon. Though he had no idea what the Humans were up to and why they would intentionally weaken their own forces, he had an instinctive feeling that Wind and Cloud Pass was plotting something.
At first, he wanted to find a chance to sneak a look at the Inner Sanctum’s situation, but the Wind and Cloud Pass had all sorts of barriers protecting it, and despite his strength as a Royal Lord, he couldn’t see through them.
After hesitating for almost half a day, the Royal Lord decided that no matter what the Humans were scheming, it was a great chance for his Army to defeat their enemy. Moreover, he had gotten a message from the front lines, saying that 200,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers from Great Evolution Theatre would be coming to reinforce them soon.
Once this 200,000-strong army arrived, no matter what the Humans had in mind, his side would have an absolute advantage over them, so the Humans could forget their plans.
All he needed to do now was to create more pressure on the Humans and not let them have any time to rest. After the 200,000 reinforcements arrived, they could easily conquer this eye-sore of a Great Pass.
Just as he was thinking about that, a figure suddenly flew out from within Wind and Cloud Pass and charged straight at the Black Ink Cloud where he was hiding.
The Royal Lord was slightly shocked, but soon roared, “Old Dog, you court death!”
He never expected the Old Ancestor of Wind and Cloud Pass would take the initiative to attack him in this situation. Both races had been at war for countless years, and with the Wind and Could Pass’ special situation, it wasn’t easy for the Old Ancestor to actively launch an attack. Therefore, he had always been the one to initiate the battles with the Old Ancestor.
It was very rare that this Old Ancestor would come to him to pick a fight.
In all three times they had battled in recent years, the Royal Lord had always been the first to make a move, with the Human Old Ancestor having to accept his challenge for a battle. However, he never anticipated that the old man would actually attack him first.
Feeling like he was being disdained, the Royal Lord came forward in a rage. When the two figures clashed, chaos erupted all around them.
The vigorous battle had only just begun, but the Royal Lord suddenly sensed something and turned around to look somewhere not far away. What he saw was a child charging at him from the void.
That child looked so young that it was as if he could kill her with a snort. The Royal Lord was stunned, [Is this… a Human child?]
He had been battling the Humans for so many years, yet he had never seen what a Human child looked like. All the Humans in the Black Ink Battlefield were at least Fifth-Order Open Heaven Masters, so how could there be children here?
But at that moment, the seemingly harmless little girl gave the Royal Lord a huge sense of danger.
The Royal Lord didn’t know where that sense of danger came from, as the little girl didn’t seem to have a strong aura coming from her; however, just as he was in the midst of his confusion, he saw the little girl smiling mischievously before quickly forming a set of hand seals. Then, the shape of a Yin-Yang Fish appeared and enveloped a huge portion of the void around her.
At the same time, the little girl’s expression suddenly transformed as she rapidly grew into a lovely young woman.
That young woman was exuding the terrifying air of an Old Ancestor!
The Royal Lord was so frightened his face drained of all colour, [Another Old Ancestor? Why do the Humans have two Old Ancestors?]
For so many years, Wind and Cloud Pass only had one Old Ancestor, so it should have been impossible for a second to appear so suddenly.
Was she a newly advanced Old Ancestor? Or did another Great Pass send her over as reinforcements?
In just a short amount of time, the Royal Lord drew some conclusions. The young woman in front of him was not a recently advanced Old Ancestor. She was Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, who had been sent here as reinforcements.
Because the Black Ink Nests were so efficient in spreading intelligence, the Royal Lords had naturally been communicating with each other. He had once communicated with the Royal Lord of the Yin-Yang Theatre and knew that the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass cultivated a strange Secret Art that allowed her to sometimes transform herself into a young woman or a child.
Noting the special and obvious transformation of his opponent, the Royal Lord was sure that the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass had arrived here at Wind and Cloud Pass.
That realisation shocked the Royal Lord!
Why would the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass come all the way here? Had the Humans given up on Yin-Yang Pass? This was the first time the Royal Lord faced such a situation. Every Old Ancestor was responsible for overseeing their own Great Pass and would not easily leave.
It didn’t matter if he couldn’t figure out the reason though, because the appearance of the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass was the biggest crisis he had faced in his entire lifetime.
If it were a one-on-one fight, this Royal Lord could easily hold his ground against an Old Ancestor, but if it were two against one, it would become an impossible fight to win, and if he was the slightest bit careless during the battle, he might even be killed.
That was why he knew he had to leave, and he was about to escape when he sensed the Old Ancestor aura from the former little girl.
But how could Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor let him escape just like that? With all kinds of mysterious Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques at his disposal, he tied down the Royal Lord and stopped the latter from quickly escaping the battlefield.
During that slight moment of hindrance, the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor was able to use the Yin-Yang Fish she condensed to envelop the Royal Lord. At that instant, the Yin and Yang Energy began to swirly, and the Universe seemed to invert. The Royal Lord felt as if an entire Universe World was suddenly pressing down on him, causing his knees to bend. Then, because of his slight moment of carelessness, he was hit by Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor hard, the terrifying explosion of power drawing a groan of pain from his lips.
When Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor arrived, it became two against one, and the Royal Lord was quickly overwhelmed.
The sudden appearance of another Human Old Ancestor terrified the Black Ink Clan Army, and all the Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield stared in horror at the direction the Old Ancestor’s aura appeared from, hoping that it was just their imagination.
But they knew it wasn’t their imagination when they saw their Royal Lord being besieged by two Human Old Ancestors.
[The Humans really have another Old Ancestor!]
Terrified, the Black Ink Clan stopped attacking, and the once chaotic battlefield temporarily fell silent.
The Territory Lords were particularly frightened and secretly rejoiced that the newly appearing Old Ancestor did not seek them out and instead directly went to battle the Royal Lord.
Though the Royal Lord had to face two enemies at once, he was temporarily safe and didn’t need to fear for his life, but if the new Old Ancestor came and attacked the Territory Lords, none of them would be able to withstand more than three strikes from her. By then, many Territory Lords would be seriously injured if not killed.
Because of the sudden appearance of a second Old Ancestor, the Black Ink Clan Army lost all momentum, and just as the Territory Lords were hesitating about whether to continue the battle or retreat, all the main gates of Wind and Cloud Pass opened!
Human Warships sailed out in all directions and charged straight into the battlefield, quickly reinforcing the Wind and Cloud Pass soldiers.
Great Evolution’s two Armies had a combined might of 30,000 soldiers, and all of them charged into battle at once. Some 8,000 Masters dashed out from each gate and instantly doubled the strength of the Human Army battling against the Black Ink Clan.
The Black Ink Clansmen’s eyes bulged as the flood of Warships appeared from all directions.
What terrified them even more was the aura of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that exploded into the air after the Warships arrived on the battlefield. The number of auras was so high that the Black Ink Clan soldiers felt despair.
50 Great Passes had sent troops to Wind and Cloud Pass, and although each one sent a different number of Eighth-Order Masters to escort these soldiers, the minimum number was 5 while some had sent as many as 10.
As such, when all the troops sent by the other Great Passes had gathered, the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had reached a shocking 300 plus!
Among those over 300 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, dozens of them had been appointed as Division Commanders of the newly formed Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies and would be leading them to take back Great Evolution Pass.
As for the other 200 plus Eighth-Order Masters, they didn’t leave Wind and Cloud Pass immediately as they were waiting for this very moment.
How terrifying would it be when more than 300 new Eighth-Order Masters swarmed into the battlefield all at once?
The Black Ink Clan hadn’t dared to think about such a scenario before, but now they were witnessing it with their own eyes.
Their confidence was immediately crushed like dry weeds! Suddenly, the odds were absolutely against them!
The Territory Lords finally understood why the new Old Ancestor hadn’t come to find trouble with them. There was simply no need for her to.
The Old Ancestor had her own opponent, which was the Royal Lord, and the two Old Ancestors could easily suppress their opponent and if they were lucky, might even be able to kill him. In comparison with a few Territory Lords, of course, it was more valuable to kill a Royal Lord.
As for the Territory Lords, the swarm of Eighth-Order Masters would deal with them.
How many Territory Lords were there in the Wind and Cloud Theatre? While there might be a few more than in other Theatres, the number was definitely not higher than 90. With reinforcements from the Great Evolution Theatre, that number might reach as high as 100 Territory Lords. With that amount of Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan had always had an advantage over the Eighth-Order Masters from Wind and Cloud Pass, but that balance was shattered today. What’s more, not all 100 Territory Lords were taking part in the siege as some of them naturally had to remain in the Black Ink Clan’s territory to stand guard and oversee the steady deployment of reinforcements.
The huge difference in strength between the two Armies made the Territory Lords immediately fall into a desperate struggle. When all of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass, three to four Eighth-Order Masters were able to target each Territory Lord.
It only took a few breaths for the first Territory Lord aura to be extinguished! That unlucky Territory Lord just happened to be close to the very front of the Black Ink Army and was swiftly surrounded by five Eighth-Order Masters. He was killed on the spot without even being given a chance to defend himself.
The first Territory Lord’s demise was like a catalyst, and soon, the auras of Territory Lords were being snuffed out all across the battlefield.
Not only had the Territory Lords fallen into a desperate situation though, the Armies that belonged to those Territory Lords were all caught completely off guard by the sudden turn of events. The Humans were attacking so viciously, and their Army had dramatically increased in strength. This great change of fortunes made the Black Ink Clan’s originally advantageous situation fall into a complete rout. As the Warships sailed across the battlefield, swaths of Black Ink Clansmen were slaughtered.
All across the battlefield, large patches of void were wiped clean by powerful Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques or the offensive Arrays of the swarming Warships.
Since Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass, it only took them a cup of tea’s time to severely injure or kill countless Black Ink Clan soldiers and execute more than 10 Territory Lords. Though the rest of the Territory Lords weren’t dead, they were all in dire states and were at risk of perishing at any moment.
A long roar suddenly sounded throughout the void, and its sharp pitch seemed to echo right beside everyone’s ear.
That roar belonged to the Royal Lord. After he roared, rich Black Ink Strength erupted from his body and he turned into a black-coloured cloud before shooting away.
The Royal Lord had ordered a retreat and fled! He knew that if he stayed any longer, all the Territory Lords he brought to this battle would die. If they left now, they would surely suffer heavy casualties while being chased down, but at least some of them could survive. Moreover, the longer they delayed, the fewer of them would be able to escape. If things went particularly poorly, even the Royal Lord himself might not be able to leave with his life.
After so many years of battling each other, the Royal Lord knew the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor’s temperament and methods very well.
On the other hand, it was his first time battling the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor, so he knew practically nothing about her capabilities. Moreover, the single Divine Ability she had shown today had already made him feel wary of her. He could still remember the painful feeling when that Yin-Yang Fish pressed down on him, slowing all his movements while seemingly grinding apart his body.
Unlike the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor, Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor’s attack wasn’t quick and penetrating, but instead longer lasting and difficult to grasp.
Now that these two Old Ancestors had banded together, their seemingly opposite methods complimented each other and compensated for what the other lacked.
Seeing the Royal Lord’s obvious attempt to escape, both Old Ancestors naturally wouldn’t let him go so easily.
“Trying to escape? In your dreams!” Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor mocked as her figure was engulfed in a stream of light and she raced after him like a shadow. At the same time, the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor was right behind the Royal Lord and was continuously launched a barrage of attacks at the fleeing enemy’s back.
While the three figures entangled with each other, they rapidly flew off into the distance.
On the other hand, right after the Royal Lord’s roar, one by one, the Territory Lords began to utilise their Life-Saving Techniques to try and escape from the battlefield.
But every Territory Lord had several Eighth-Order Masters surrounding them, so how could they escape that easily?
In the end, only about 20 Territory Lords managed to escape by using Secret Techniques that damaged their own foundations in exchange for bursts of strength and speed. As for those who failed, they were like cornered beasts that fought back wildly, despite knowing that death was inevitable!
After the Royal Lord and a couple dozen Territory Lords escaped from the battlefield, the already flailing Black Ink Clan Army lost all will to resist. Along with the increasing number of fallen Territory Lords, it was certain that they would soon be wiped out, so the surviving Black Ink Clansmen no longer even tried to fight back and only did everything they could to escape.
It was foreseeable that after this battle, the Black Ink Clan in Wind and Cloud Theatre would be beaten half to death, and the Wind and Cloud Pass would gain a similar period of peace to Blue Sky Pass and Yin-Yang Pass.
In the void to the East of Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai had taken point with six other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in a spearhead formation. Dawning Light took up position in the middle of this formation, while Bai Yi stood at the bow of the Warship with her longbow. The Squad had been rampaging across the vast battlefield like wild horses since the moment they emerged from Wind and Cloud Pass.
Everywhere Dawn passed, they would wipe out every last Black Ink Clansmen they came across. Working together, they were all but unstoppable, and no matter how many Black Ink Clansmen stood in front of them, none could even slow their momentum.
Ren Bing Bai was assigned to the rear left side of the formation. Since he joined Dawn, this was his first time fighting alongside Yang Kai and the others.
He and Yu Zi You had previously discussed in private how important it was for them to perform well this time; after all, they were both Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it would look bad if they didn’t show their mettle.
The two were originally a Squad Leader and Vice Squad Leader of a 10-man Squad, so they were well-versed in how to cooperate with a Warship to kill their enemies.
But after they followed Dawn into battle, they realised that all of their past experiences couldn’t be used in this Special Operations Squad.
They found themselves unable to make a big contribution on this chaotic and enemy-filled battlefield.
The entire Dawn Squad’s soul was on the man in the lead.
Feudal Lords were like chickens or dogs before him, and with every strike of his spear, he would kill such an enemy. Even if he didn’t manage to kill a Feudal Lord in one move, the other Seventh-Order Masters in the Squad only had to attack once more to end the enemy’s life.
It had not been long since they charged out of the Wind and Cloud Pass, but Yang Kai had already slaughtered more than 10 Feudal Lords!
And that was just the amount he had killed. There were even more that were injured.
Meanwhile, on the bow of Dawning Light, Bai Yi, who hailed from Divine Feather Paradise and had transcendent archery skills, would kill a Feudal Lord every time she drew her bow.
Though she didn’t attack frequently, every arrow she fired struck its target and greatly decreased the pressure Dawn was facing.
All the Arrays on the Warship also released their power continuously, taking aim at the largest groups of Black Ink Clansmen, causing severe casualties whenever they attacked.
To Ren Bing Bai, Dawn was like a red-hot knife cutting into butter, reducing every enemy that blocked their path to mist.
How much of a terrifying tacit understanding and astonishing efficiency in killing enemies did Dawn have?
Was this the heritage of a Special Operations Squad?
They had killed more than a dozen Feudal Lords and thousands of weaker Black Ink Clansmen in the time it took to burn half an incense stick.
In the past, Ren Bing Bai would never have dreamed about having such accomplishments, but he had witnessed this with his own eyes today.
He had killed a Feudal Lord in this battle, which was already a good result in the past because, according to their equivalence in Realm, a Feudal Lord was on par with a Seventh-Order Master; thus, it was not that easy for a Seventh-Order Human to kill a Feudal Lord.
However, when compared to Yang Kai’s gains, his were paltry.
Even the Feudal Lord he had just killed had already been heavily injured by Yang Kai; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been that easy for him.
Ren Bing Bai felt like he was taking advantage of Yang Kai while following behind him, and such a feeling made him not know whether to laugh or cry.
Under his observation though, not only was he like that, but the other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters around the Warship were also in the same situation.
With Yang Kai, who was at the forefront, as the tip of the blade, the entire Squad became like a sharp knife, killing all the Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield.
Ren Bing Bai felt a surge of pride. This is what a Special Operations Squad should be like. If a Special Operations Squad had the same level of difficulty in killing the enemy as an ordinary Squad, what kind of a Special Operations Squad would that be? Now he was also a member of a Special Operations Squad, the one leading the charge.
The Special Operations Squad’s advantage in having their own freedom to act was magnified to its absolute limit at this moment.
An ordinary Squad would only have 10 to 15 members, and in such a vast battlefield, it was very difficult for a single Squad to do much in the face of an enemy several times more numerous than themselves. Moreover, it was very likely that they would find themselves under the enemy’s besiegement if they moved independently.
Therefore, an ordinary Squad had to coordinate with other Squads on such a battlefield. The Squads under the same Battalion would have tactics and strategies they were familiar with to ensure their safety while killing as many enemies as possible.
Because of the need to coordinate with other Squads, there was also a certain degree of restraint, and it was impossible for them to act as freely as Dawn, who could go wherever they wanted.
Most Squads took a slow and steady approach to clearing the battlefield, but when it came to Dawn, though they had exited from the East Gate, they had moved around so much that they had almost killed their way to the South Gate and were now heading in the direction of the West Gate.
Dawn’s strategy had always been very straightforward, which was to hit and run. This strategy focused on mobility and prevented Dawn from being targeted by a powerful Master because of their conspicuous performance.
Of course, now that all Territory Lords on the battlefield were surrounded by Eighth-Order Masters, none of them had the time to keep an eye on Dawn. The Territory Lords were fleeing and dying, and those who still remained on the battlefield were struggling to live.
Yang Kai’s overwhelming combat strength was Dawn’s biggest guarantee to ensure that they could still effectively kill their enemies while maintaining such high mobility.
Without interference from the Territory Lords, the strongest enemies that Dawn had to face were the Feudal Lords; however, Yang Kai could basically deal with Feudal Lords with one thrust of his spear, and if he didn’t manage to kill them with his initial attack, the other Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn would finish the job. Therefore, even if a Feudal Lord had managed to survive Yang Kai’s attack, they would soon be killed off by the others.
Years of crusade and hunting experience had led everyone in Dawn to develop a tacit understanding and the ability to work together seamlessly. Even if there was a Black Ink Clan Army blocking their way, they could use the artifacts and arrays on Dawning Light to easily tear through them.
As time passed, the Black Ink Clan Army on the battlefield was wiped out, and the pressure on all the Squads decreased.
During a certain moment, Yang Kai suddenly stopped, and following in his footsteps, Dawning Light and the other Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn all stopped together.
Ren Bing Bai was a little confused as to why Yang Kai had suddenly stopped, but after turning his head and looking around, he was surprised to find that the battle was already over.
90% of the Black Ink Clan Army that had been swarming outside Wind and Cloud Pass before had been killed while the rest were desperately trying to flee, leaving scattered pieces of flesh and broken limbs everywhere throughout the void.
[It’s over?] Ren Bing Bai was taken aback. The end came so quickly. It felt like only a few hours had passed.
Wind and Cloud Pass had been under siege by the Black Ink Clan Army for some 20 years yet could only maintain a defensive posture, but once the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies joined in, everything was over in the blink of an eye.
The Black Ink Clan Army that attacked Wind and Cloud Pass was quite massive, and under normal circumstances, even if they were defeated while battling the Humans, they wouldn’t have suffered such heavy casualties.
However, the Humans caught them unawares. Firstly, it was the sudden appearance of Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor, who cooperated with the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor to corner the Royal Lord. Then, it was followed by hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters appearing on the battlefield, catching the Territory Lords by surprise and beating them to the point where they couldn’t fight back. A short while later, following the demise of many Territory Lords, the Black Ink Clan’s morale hit rock bottom.
When the Royal Lord and Territory Lords fled, the Black Ink Clan Army was at a loss for what to do.
The Humans had a huge advantage with so many powerful Masters on their side, which was the fundamental reason why the battle ended so quickly.
In fact, when the Royal Lord and Territory Lords started to flee, the Black Ink Clan Army had already lost all will to fight.
However, the Human Army’s pursuit made it impossible for them to escape even if they wanted to, which eventually led to the annihilation of almost the entire Black Ink Clan Army.
There were no cheers or celebrations from the Humans as it was only to be expected that they won such an overwhelming victory given their luxurious lineup.
After the battle, the Human Army silently gathered together and regrouped.
Half an hour later, Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies assembled at the East Gate of Wind and Cloud Pass. The 30,000 soldiers had naturally fewer losses during the battle, but the casualties were minimal. The soldiers were somewhat spent and needed time to recuperate, however, and some of their Warships were also damaged in the fight. Still, those weren’t much of a problem as they had many Artifact Refiners, Alchemists, Array Masters, and other support personnel following the Army to Great Evolution Pass. While they were on the move, those Artifact Refiners had ample time to repair the damage those Warships had suffered.
Soon, all the Divisions and Battalions had finished gathering their troops.
The motivation of all the soldiers was boosted to the peak because of the great task that lay before them.
Without stopping, the 30,000-strong Army immediately turned towards Great Evolution Pass, and Xiang Shan gave the order, “Set sail!”
In a flash, Division by Division, one Warship after another sailed in the direction of Great Evolution Pass. With 30,000 men and nearly 2,000 Warships, they formed a mighty fleet!
Yang Kai had no idea what the higher-ups had planned, but with such a large-scale lineup, there would certainly need to be a distribution of forces and overall strategy, but that wasn’t something he needed to worry about because the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would make those decisions.
Since Dawn did not have any special tasks, they simply gathered together with the other Warships and moved together.
Back at Wind and Cloud Pass, after the Army set out, the tens of thousands of soldiers who remained saw them off solemnly until the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies disappeared from sight. Following that, they returned to the Inner Sanctum, and those Eighth-Order Masters who escorted soldiers from the other Great Passes to Wind and Cloud Pass began returning.
While the Army moved forward, the members from each Squad took turns to rest and recuperate, and the Artifact Refiners got to work, heading over to the Warships that had been damaged in the battle and repairing them carefully.
On the other hand, Dawn Squad suffered almost no damage and were simply recuperating on their own.
After only half a day’s travel though, a man suddenly appeared, landed on the deck, looked around, and bellowed, “Where is the Squad Leader for this Warship?”
Yang Kai, who was on the deck, turned his head and looked over to find that the visitor was a fellow Seventh-Order Master whom he did not recognise and did not know the origins of.
Immediately, Yang Kai cupped his fist and said, “I am the Squad Leader. Does Senior Brother have any orders to relay?”
The Seventh-Order Master replied, “By order of the two Army Commanders, the Squad members here are to report to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and leave their Imprints behind.” While saying so, he pointed his finger in a specific direction.
Yang Kai was surprised, “Did the Army Commanders bring a Purifying Black Ink Battleship with them?”
He then moved his fingers and partially activated the Universe Transference Law, which allowed him to sense a vague connection coming from that direction.
Since it was a Purifying Black Ink Battleship, it naturally had a Universe Array that Yang Kai had personally arranged to board it. No matter where the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was brought from, Yang Kai would be able to sense a connection to it.
As he thought about it though, the Purifying Black Ink Battleships did play a huge role in all the Great Passes. Besides the Purifying Light that was sealed inside having the ability to purify Black Ink Strength, the Universe Array aboard was useful for soldiers to use as a return point when they found themselves in danger.
If the Humans wanted to recover Great Evolution Pass, bringing along a Purifying Black Ink Battleship was a given.
However, Yang Kai was a little confused because he could sense not one but two Universe Arrays when he activated the Universe Transference Law.
In other words, this fleet had two Purifying Black Ink Battleships!
It seemed like Xiang Shan not only brought one out from Blue Sky Pass, but Liu Zhi Ping also brought one out from Yin-Yang Pass.
There was no need for him to head over and leave his Imprint because he was the one who set up those Universe Arrays, so all of them had his Imprint already. However, the other members of the Squad had to go, just in case they needed it later.
“I’ve relayed the message. I have to inform the other Squads. Farewell!”
After the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master said so, he leapt off the Warship and rushed towards another nearby Warship to inform the other Squads one by one.
Though this method was time-consuming, there was no other way because an Open Heaven Realm Army lineup differed from a mortal army. Mortal armies travelled together as one unit, but Open Heaven Realm Masters moved quickly, and in order to avoid collisions in the void, Warships needed a fair amount of space between each other. For example, the closest Warship to Dawning Light was hundreds of kilometres away.
The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had nearly 2,000 Warships and was thus spread out over a radius of several thousand kilometres, which for mortals was farther than the eye could see. However, for an Open Heaven Realm Master, it was just a matter of a few breaths to reinforce each other in battle.
Yang Kai turned to face the crowd and ordered, “You all heard it, right? Separate yourselves into two groups and take turns heading over.”
Having received their orders, the members of Dawn quickly grouped themselves into two teams. Following that, the first group of 20 or so, led by Feng Ying, flew away in the direction of the central Army.
In fact, it would have been easier for them to leave their Imprints on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship while they were still at Wind and Cloud Pass because all 30,000 soldiers were already gathered there. Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping would only have had to summon their respective Purifying Black Ink Battleships before letting the soldiers take turns leaving their Imprints.
However, when all soldiers from all Great Passes were gathered together, the priority was to organize Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies. Once both Armies were completely formed, they immediately charged out of Wind and Cloud Pass to engage the Black Ink Clan. There was simply no time for them to take care of such things.
After they successfully defeated the Black Ink Clan, the Great Evolution Army immediately set out. Xiang Shan deeply understood the principle of ‘in war, speed is everything,’ so he naturally wouldn’t delay the start of the campaign by having the soldiers leave their Imprints on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships while at Wind and Cloud Pass.
As a result, such things could only be done during their voyage.
Though it was more tedious, the benefit was that they wouldn’t be wasting any time, and if they had made suitable arrangements, it wouldn’t delay their speed either.
About half a day later, Feng Ying and the others returned, letting the other half of Dawn’s members head over to the two Purifying Black Ink Battleships.
Another half a day passed, and the second team of Dawn members also returned to the ship. Just like that, all members of Dawn had left their Imprints on the two Purifying Black Ink Battleships.
The days during their deployment to Great Evolution Pass were dull, so everyone decided to cultivate on their own.
Four days after the Army’s departure from Wind and Cloud Pass, Yang Kai, whose eyes were closed while adjusting his breathing on the ship’s deck, suddenly felt something and turned his head to look in a specific direction.
What he saw was a stream of light coming from behind the Army and heading right towards them. The speed at which the stream of light was moving had already surpassed the speed ordinary cultivators could comprehend, and even Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement couldn’t surpass such speed.
The stream of light should be heading in the direction of the central Army, but then, as if it had sensed Yang Kai’s gaze, it changed directions and landed on Dawning Light.
The stream of light dispersed and revealed a stunning figure.
Yang Kai was taken aback but quickly got up and saluted, “Greetings, Old Ancestor!”
There were other members in charge of operating various arrays on the deck, and at first, they were curious about the young woman who had suddenly appeared and why she came here, but when they heard how Yang Kai addressed her, all of them paled in shock and quickly rose to their feet to greet her.
[This uninvited guest is actually the Old Ancestor!]
Although they had heard about Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor being a woman, the others had never met her before. It was then that they realised that this Old Ancestor was different from how they had imagined her and that she was actually a beautiful young woman.
Now that they thought about it, they wondered if a woman’s cultivation was incomparable to a man’s or something along those lines because the higher the cultivation realm, the smaller the ratio of women to men became. It was especially true for the Old Ancestors. There were only around 20 women among all the Old Ancestors, with the rest being men.
In the presence of an Old Ancestor, even an unruly and untamed Squad like Dawn, who had achieved many Military Merits on various battlefields, became respectful and didn’t even dare breathe loudly.
The Old Ancestor swept her gaze across Yang Kai’s figure, and there seemed to be a flash of divine light in her eyes when she commented in surprise, “Looks like your cultivation has increased rapidly.”
With her level of vision, she could see that Yang Kai’s strength had significantly increased compared to 200 years ago. The speed at which his cultivation had increased was not typical for an ordinary Seventh-Order Master; however, she soon remembered the various mysteries of Yang Kai’s Small Universe and felt that his huge advancement was quite reasonable.
While thinking of that, she was looking forward to seeing how long Yang Kai would take to advance to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. In the Black Ink Battlefield, though Seventh-Order Masters could take charge of a Squad, they weren’t considered the backbone of any Army.
“Thanks to you, Old Ancestor, there haven’t been many huge events recently, so I have been in retreat all this while,” Yang Kai replied respectfully.
The Old Ancestor nodded lightly, “A fast increase in cultivation might not be a bad thing, but your foundation must remain stable.”
“Junior understands,” Yang Kai nodded with a serious expression.
Then, the Old Ancestor added, “The fact that your Small Universe can help me heal my injuries is also one of the considerations I had when requesting you for this campaign. During the process of retaking Great Evolution Pass, I will have to fight against the Royal Lord there a number of times, so I will be depending on you when the time comes.”
Nodding, Yang Kai responded, “That won’t be a problem. If the Old Ancestor needs my help, I will definitely do my best to assist.”
The Old Ancestor reached out and patted his shoulders before chuckling innocently, “Enough with the Old Ancestor nonsense. I’m just someone with a cultivation that is a little higher than yours.”
Yang Kai leaned forward from the slap and couldn’t help but stifle a grunt, knowing that he might have said the wrong thing. It looked like no matter how high a woman’s cultivation realm was, references to their age were still taboo.
So, he quickly changed the topic, “By the way, how long will it take for us to reach Great Evolution Pass?”
Withdrawing her hand, the Old Ancestor looked in the direction where the Army was heading and explained, “The distance between each Great Pass is quite large. Judging by the speed the Army is moving, it might take one or two years for us to reach Great Evolution Theatre.
Yang Kai was shocked, “That long?”
The Old Ancestor smiled, “Why do you think the Great Passes aren’t able to send large numbers of reinforcements to each other in times of need? The distance between each Pass is too great, and every Great Pass has its own enemies to face. If reinforcements are sent out, they won’t be able to call them back if the enemy suddenly appears, which will put them in a bad situation. Suppose the distance between each Great Pass was closer, the situation at Black Ink Battlefield wouldn’t be as anxious as it is now. Of course, another reason is that we can’t advance too quickly as we need to maintain formation and keep a wary lookout for ambushes”
While nodding to indicate his understanding, Yang Kai asked, “How’s the situation with the Royal Lord of the Wind and Cloud Theatre?”
The person before him and the Old Ancestor of Wind and Cloud Pass had jointly fought with a Royal Lord, and when the latter fled, the two Old Ancestors had given chase beyond the horizon.
In such a high-level battle, it would be perilous even for Eighth-Order Masters to interfere.
However, now that she had returned, it meant that the battle was over, and judging by her appearance, Yang Kai guessed that the Yin Yang Pass Old Ancestor hadn’t been injured.
Since the one before him wasn’t injured, the Royal Lord might be in quite a miserable situation.
As he had expected, the Old Ancestor said, “The Royal Lord has been badly injured and will need a few hundred years of recuperation before he can restore his strength, but Senior Brother Zhang and I found it inappropriate to push him too far, lest he decide to use drastic measures, so we let him go.”
The Senior Brother Zhang she was referring to should be the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass.
In a two-against-one, they had the upper hand, but if they wanted to kill the Royal Lord, they would need to pay a huge price, so no matter whether it was the person before him or the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass, they both quit after gaining an advantage.
After the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass, the Black Ink Clan Army suffered a great loss. About 70% of their Territory Lords were either dead or heavily injured, and their Royal Lord was seriously wounded, so the Black Ink Clan in that Theatre could be considered as completely crippled.
This was also the main reason why Wind and Cloud Pass could contribute 15,000 soldiers to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.
As for Azure Void Pass, their situation would probably a bit worse compared to Wind and Cloud Pass, but not by a large margin.
The number of troops there was on par with Wind and Cloud Pass, but they only had one Old Ancestor; therefore, they weren’t able to do as much damage to the Royal Lord as the two Old Ancestors at Wind and Cloud Pass had.
While watching their Squad Leader talking to an Old Ancestor, all the members of Dawn were shocked.
Although every Great Pass had an Old Ancestor assuming command, these figures were all like hidden Dragons who show their tails but never their faces, so ordinary people wouldn’t even have the chance to meet them. Even back at Blue Sky Pass, the members of Dawn had only seen the Old Ancestor from afar and never had any close contact with him.
But today, an Old Ancestor came to Dawning Light and was now chatting casually with Yang Kai.
It seemed like he was the only Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had such a privilege.
While they were chatting, the Old Ancestor suddenly raised her head and looked in the direction the Army was heading in before raising an eyebrow, “Someone dares to seek the gates of death? Interesting.”
After saying that, the Old Ancestor didn’t waste any time and shot right into the sky. Then, from afar, her voice sounded in Yang Kai’s ears, “Prepare for battle!”
Yang Kai was stunned at first, but quickly reacted and echoed, “Prepare for battle!”
With his command, everyone immediately assumed their post and Dawning Light turned into a stream of light as it flew forward.
Aboard the main Purifying Black Ink Battleship, where the central Army was located, Xiang Shan was listening to a scout reporting their findings at this moment.
When deploying such a large Army, the Commanders naturally arranged for scouts to survey the area ahead of the main force. They were heading straight for Great Evolution Pass, and it was unlikely that they would encounter any Black Ink Clan Army because of the vast distance between the two Passes, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
However, a moment ago, the scouts actually came to report that they spotted a Black Ink Clan Army.
According to their observation, the Black Ink Clan Army had about 300,000 members with about a dozen Territory Lords, and they were heading straight for Wind and Cloud Pass.
Also, after calculating the speed of both Armies, the scouts estimated that the two would meet in about an hour.
Just as the scout finished reporting, the Old Ancestor arrived at the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. Xiang Shan and the others stood up and greeted her.
After the Old Ancestor sat down, Xiang Shan reported, “The scouts have just reported that there is a Black Ink Clan Army of approximately 300,000 heading right for us.”
When the Old Ancestor heard that, she nodded, “I’ve sensed them too. They’re obviously reinforcements sent over from Great Evolution Pass.”
In the 30,000 years after the Black Ink Clan took over Great Evolution Pass, they would occasionally send reinforcements to help the Black Ink Clan Armies in the Wind and Cloud and Azure Void Theatres. Although it was a long distance to travel and the effectiveness of these reinforcements wasn’t very high, the Black Ink Clan had never stopped doing it.
It was also due to these reinforcements from the Great Evolution Theatre that Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass suffered more pressure than the other Great Passes.
About two years ago, this Black Ink Clan Army departed from the Great Evolution Theatre and travelled to aid the Black Ink Clan Army besieging Wind and Cloud Pass. The 300,000 Black Ink Clansmen were expected to arrive at the Wind and Cloud Theatre in a few days, at which point they would join the battle, adding tremendous pressure onto Wind and Cloud Pass.
Unfortunately for them, the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass had ended before they got there. Also, since it was hard to communicate with others in the void, this reinforcement Army had no way of knowing the drastic changes that occurred at Wind and Cloud Pass and was still moving forward according to their previous plan.
The two sides were heading in opposite directions, so they would inevitably encounter each other.
“Old Ancestor, please issue your command!” Xiang Shan asked for instructions from the Old Ancestor.
The Old Ancestor smiled and replied, “Marching and planning for battles aren’t my strong suits, so everything on this trip will be up to you and Liu Zhi Ping’s will. Just treat me as a soldier with a higher cultivation, and you don’t have to ask for my opinion if you have an idea.”
Most Old Ancestors acted as more of a deterrent than as a commander for their Armies in battle, and formulating strategies was generally the responsibility of Army Commanders and Division Commanders. Therefore, many of the Old Ancestors weren’t as proficient as those actively doing the job, so rashly intervening might not necessarily yield better results than when the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were allowed to take charge.
Without a doubt, the Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass had great self-awareness, and her choosing not to intervene made Xiang Shan feel less restrained and have a place to show his talent.
Since the Old Ancestor had spoken, Xiang Shan naturally carried out his duties.
The 300,000 troops of the Black Ink Clan Army might sound like a lot, but those numbers were not actually very high. It had to be said that the Black Ink Clan generally dispatched nearly a million troops whenever they attacked Blue Sky Pass. This number did not include the troops that would continually be dispatched to the battlefield as reinforcements. If those numbers were included, then their numbers would swell even more. Moreover, there were only a dozen or so Territory Lords among the ranks of the 300,000 troops of this Black Ink Clan Army.
In contrast, the Great Evolution Army had some 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders. The combat power of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders alone was enough to form a crushing advantage in terms of numbers. Not to mention, the Great Evolution Army also had a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor personally assuming command.
If a war broke out, this Black Ink Clan Army would crumble without much effort as long as they removed the Territory Lords quickly.
That was why it was not difficult for Xiang Shan to defeat this enemy even though they only had 30,000 against 300,000. All he needed to consider at the moment was how he could reduce the damage dealt to the Human Army. Furthermore, he had deeper considerations. It might be possible for him to use the reinforcement Army from the Great Evolution Theatre’s Black Ink Clan as a research subject to better plan out the recovery of Great Evolution Pass.
As the Army Commander of Great Evolution Pass’ Eastern Army, Xiang Shan could be considered the highest authority after the Old Ancestor; therefore, he could not be so short-sighted as to only plan for what he could see in front of him.
Following a brief discussion with Liu Zhi Ping, the two of them formulated a strategy. The Armies from the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were bound to encounter each other in the void, so battle was inevitable.
At present, the Black Ink Clan had yet to detect the Human Army and probably never imagined that Humans would march over from the direction of the Wind and Cloud Pass. For the past 30,000 years, the Black Ink Clan had sent reinforcements to their clansmen in the Wind and Cloud Theatre countless times, and the process had always been smooth sailing with no unexpected incidents. This kind of long-term experience gradually lowered their vigilance. As a result, they didn’t even bother to send any scouts to investigate the situation of the route ahead. That was why the initiative of the current situation was completely in the hands of the Great Evolution Army.
Xiang Shan initially wanted to seek a more suitable location to carry out an ambush, but there was no such place in the vicinity. The void was vast and silent, with many places completely devoid of anything that could be used to conceal themselves. Coupled with the lack of time and their unfamiliarity with the nearby terrain, they could only choose a small field of universe fragments as their ambush location in the end.
This location was not perfect, for as long as the Black Ink Clan was even the slightest bit vigilant, they would not step into such a location so easily. Unfortunately, that could not be helped. If their ambush was exposed, then they could only opt for a direct confrontation.
Once everything was ready, various orders were conveyed throughout the fleet. The speed of the Army increased sharply as they headed straight for the area filled with universe fragments.
When all the preparations were in place, Xiang Shan finally turned around to look at the Old Ancestor, “Old Ancestor, please do not kill them all. It’s better if we let one of the Territory Lords escape alive.”
The Old Ancestor was astonished by his words, “Won’t doing that alert the enemy of our presence?”
He replied, “That’s exactly what we want.”
She frowned slightly and asked, “Why? What’s the purpose of doing that?”
Xiang Shan answered succinctly, “Great Evolution Pass has been occupied by the Black Ink Clan for the past 30,000 years, but, if my speculations are correct, the Royal Lord probably does not live in Great Evolution Pass. After all, his Black Ink Nest is his foundation, so he most likely lives in the Royal City. As for Great Evolution Pass, there will only be a few Territory Lords overseeing the area at most. Old Ancestor, would you rather fight the Royal Lord in the vicinity of the Royal City or the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass?”
She smiled, “If I have to choose, I am naturally more inclined to fight in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass.”
If the battle took place near the Royal City, the Royal Lord would have the support of his Black Ink Nest. Even if she had the opportunity to injure the other party, he would be able to rely on the strength of his Black Ink Nest to recover from his injuries quickly and also boost his strength in moments of need. Not to mention, the Royal City was located in the depths of the Black Ink Clan’s territory. Fighting the Royal Lord there meant that the Black Ink Clan would be able to receive large numbers of reinforcements in short order.
On the other hand, it would be different if the battle took place near Great Evolution Pass. Without the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, his rate of recovery would be greatly reduced. That would be beneficial to her.
Xiang Shan broke into a grin, “That’s right. If the Black Ink Clan learns about the arrival of a Human Army that appears to be trying to recover Great Evolution Pass, then the Royal Lord would definitely come forward in order to prevent the invasion of the Human Race.”
“Luring the tiger from the mountain!” The Old Ancestor’s eyes lit up. She had to admit that Xiang Shan’s idea was interesting. This move would allow them to secure control over the initiative of the battle and create an advantage for themselves in the process.
After further consideration, she continued, “This plan might have its advantages, but if there are only a few Territory Lords at Great Evolution Pass, why don’t we secretly swoop in and secure Great Evolution Pass?”
This was not an interrogative question but a genuine inquiry of curiosity. She might have a higher cultivation compared to Xiang Shan, but from his various arrangements, it could be seen that his ability to conduct military strategy was superior to hers. With a simple deployment, he could pave the way for the future, which was something she could never hope to achieve.
When she detected the Black Ink Clan Army approaching them, her first instinct was to simply obliterate it entirely. She never even considered allowing a Territory Lord to escape.
It was only natural for her to inquire further since she thought of another possibility. Besides, she believed that it was impossible for Xiang Shan to overlook something so simple.
Sure enough, Xiang Shan nodded, “It is as you have said, Old Ancestor. If the Army marched forward in secret, we would definitely be able to capture Great Evolution Pass with ease. From when the Black Ink Clan took over Great Evolution Pass until now, we have never shown any signs of trying to take it back, so the Black Ink Clan has no reason to station many troops there. Even if the Black Ink Clan prepared many defensive mechanisms at Great Evolution Pass over the past 30,000 years, they will not be able to stop the might of our Army without sufficient troops. But… What happens after we retake Great Evolution Pass?”
The Old Ancestor followed his train of thought and soon came to a realisation.
Liu Zhi Ping, who was standing by the side, nodded and continued, “Even if our Army can take back Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan will not just stand by idly and watch. I’m sure they will gather a large Army and attack us in short order.”
“Indeed!” Xiang Shan nodded, “However, we will have just recaptured Great Evolution Pass and won’t have had time to make any arrangements. When the time comes to face the Black Ink Clan’s attack, how will we defend ourselves? If we don’t defend the Great Pass, then what was the point of attacking and retaking it in the first place? But, if we defend the Great Pass… Without restoring the various facilities of Great Evolution Pass, our Army will have no place to fall back to. We will be forced to engage in an all-out battle in the void against the Black Ink Clan, where their advantage in numbers and willingness to sacrifice lives will be greatest. The Black Ink Clan has never been afraid of suffering losses as thanks to the Black Ink Nests, they can produce a steady stream of troops as long as they have resources. In comparison, how long can Great Evolution Pass’s Army of 60,000 last? 10 years? 20? There will come a day when our Army simply cannot hold any longer.”
Liu Zhi Ping nodded lightly. As the former Army Commander of Yin-Yang Pass’ Western Army, though she had considerable talent in commanding military operations, she seemed like a novice when compared to Xiang Shan. His ability to see the long-term consequences and formulate strategies to obtain optimal outcomes was beyond her.
“For that reason, the primary goal of the Great Evolution Army is not to retake Great Evolution Pass, but to cripple the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre! That is the only way we can gain enough time to recover and restore the Great Pass to its original glory.”
In order to recover Great Evolution Pass, they deployed troops from all the Great Passes and formed Great Evolution’s Four Armies. Be that as it may, the primary objective of this campaign was not to recover Great Evolution Pass. Although these words sounded rather ridiculous, it was also the best method to achieve their goals.
Liu Zhi Ping cupped her fist solemnly, “Many thanks for your guidance!”
She had long heard of Xiang Shan despite belonging to a different Great Pass. As the former Blue Sky Pass Western Army’s Army Commander, Xiang Shan was famed for being the nightmare of the Territory Lords in the Blue Sky Theatre more than 3,000 years ago. During his active years, all Territory Lords trembled wherever he appeared.
Liu Zhi Ping had never had any in-depth contact with him before though, so she only learned today that Xiang Shan was not only fierce in terms of personal strength, but he also boasted an extraordinary ability in strategy and tactics. It was no wonder the Old Ancestors allowed him to serve as the Great Evolution Eastern Army’s Army Commander. Compared to him, she was greatly lacking in terms of ability.
While the executives were analysing the situation, the Eastern and Western Armies had already entered the designated universe fragment field.
This location was only a few days away from Wind and Cloud Pass, so it could be considered within the vicinity of Wind and Cloud Pass.
There used to be several Universe Worlds here, but they had been picked clean by Wind and Cloud Pass long ago. After extensive mining and many years of drifting, these Universe Worlds had broken down into numerous universe fragments, which left behind a region filled with universe fragments.
These universe fragments would provide cover for the Great Evolution Army to a certain extent.
The Warships flew towards different universe fragments and concealed themselves as best they could. Meanwhile, the members of each Squad swiftly prepared various Spirit Arrays to disguise their auras and hide their figures. They could not do a thorough job since time was short, but their efforts were better than nothing.
The reason this place was not considered a good spot for an ambush was that the number of universe fragments here was not very large. Moreover, they were far too scattered for the troops to form an effective encirclement.
If the terrain was better, the Warships could take action as soon as the Black Ink Clan Army entered the range of these universe fragments to form a watertight encirclement.
Unfortunately, based on the current ambush location of Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies, the encirclement they formed would be filled with gaps. Even if the Black Ink Clan entered the centre of the ambush, they would be able to escape through these openings when the situation turned unfavourable.
Be that as it may, Xiang Shan had already made arrangements for these possibilities. There were at least two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters monitoring each of the largest gaps, so even if there were escapees, they would need to pass these Division Commanders first.
At present, the only issue that the Great Evolution Army had to consider was whether the Black Ink Clan would pass through this area or not. If the Black Ink Clan had even the slightest sense of vigilance to send somebody to scout the route ahead, or simply took a detour around the universe fragments, the preparations of the Great Evolution Army would be all for naught.
Regardless, that was not something the Great Evolution Army could determine. They had done their best to make these preparations in the short time they had, the rest was up to the Heavens.
On top of a small universe fragment, Dawn and two other Squads squeezed together and secretly observed the situation in front.
Less than an incense stick later, Yang Kai frowned and whispered, “They’re coming!”
This universe fragment was located relatively far forward, so its field of view was quite wide. What entered Yang Kai’s eyes at that moment was a Black Ink Clan Army approaching slowly. Their numbers seemed vast and endless, resembling a long black dragon swimming through the void. A rough estimate indicated that there were at least several hundreds of thousands of them.
The location of the ambush was well chosen though, and judging by the marching route of the Black Ink Clan Army, they were bound to pass through this exact location shortly, and they showed no signs of changing direction whatsoever.
The Human Army fell silent and concealed themselves as best they could, not daring to expose themselves in the slightest.
The Black Ink Clan Army continued marching forward and soon flew past the hiding spot of Dawn and the others to head deep into the field of universe fragments.
From Yang Kai’s point of view, the Black Ink Clan Army resembled a huge black snake plunging headlong into a death trap. The black snake’s head soon entered the centre area, quickly followed by its body.
Everything was going smoothly.
Just as the tail was about to enter the universe fragment area, one of the Feudal Lords marching at the head of the Army suddenly raised his hand. Dense Black Ink Strength surged, and a universe fragment blocking his way forward was shattered to pieces.
He had struck out casually and without much thought, simply because the universe fragment was blocking his way; however, the result of this blow was startling indeed. When the universe fragment shattered into pieces, several Human Warships suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Moreover, there were many silhouettes standing on the Warships.
The Feudal Lord was instantly stunned by the sight!
Likewise, the Humans on the Warships were speechless. They had been hiding in ambush, using the universe fragment as a cover to conceal their figures and auras. How did they get exposed without any warning?
When the universe fragment shattered to pieces, the Humans thought that the Black Ink Clan had discovered their whereabouts. It was not until their gazes met those of the Black Ink Clansmen that they realized this was nothing more than a coincidence. The Feudal Lord who attacked earlier would not have seemed so startled otherwise.
Regardless of whether it was intentional or coincidental, these Squads had already been exposed. Just as the Squad Leaders were wondering how they should deal with the situation in front of them, a loud whistle resounded across the void.
It was the signal to attack!
The Squad Leaders no longer hesitated. With the order given, the power of countless artifacts and Spirit Arrays aboard the Warships was activated in an instant. A thick ray of light containing horrifying destructive power suddenly blasted into the middle of the Black Ink Clan Army. Before the stunned Feudal Lord could react to the situation, he was devoured by the light and suffered serious injuries. The many Low-Rank and High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen beside him also suffered heavy casualties.
It was not just these few Squads. When the signal to attack sounded, all the Humans hiding in ambush behind the universe fragments attacked all at once.
Thanks to the overwhelming power of the Secret Techniques and artifacts, the colourful brilliance instantly rendered the dead and silent void into a bright world, one filled with death and destruction.
The sudden attack shocked and frightened the Black Ink Clan. The 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army had been marching forward leisurely; after all, this was the standard route taken whenever they attacked Wind and Cloud Pass. The dozen Territory Lords overseeing the Army had taken this route countless times and had never encountered any unexpected occurrences before, but today, a huge Human Army was actually lying in ambush for them!
[How could there be a Human Army lying in ambush here?] The Territory Lords were in shock.
Ever since Great Evolution Pass was occupied by the Black Ink Clan, the Humans at Wind and Cloud Pass had been heavily suppressed. It was impossible for the Human Race Army to leave Wind and Cloud Pass and travel millions of kilometres away, let alone come to such a place and lay an ambush. After all, this place was more than just a few million kilometres away from Wind and Cloud Pass!
Where did this Army of Humans come from? If they came from Wind and Cloud Pass, then what about their clansmen at Wind and Cloud Pass? However, if these Humans weren’t from Wind and Cloud Pass, where did they come from?
The Black Ink Clan had almost unimaginable advantages in conveying various messages to each other thanks to the Black Ink Nests. Nevertheless, it was impossible to bring a Black Ink Nest along when the Army was on the march. Transmitting messages to each other was extremely inconvenient in the void, so how could the Black Ink Clan Army know that the Black Ink Clan at Wind and Cloud Pass had almost been wiped out completely? That was why they had still been on their way to provide reinforcements to the Wind and Cloud Pass’ Black Ink Clan as originally planned.
In that brief moment when the Territory Lords fell into a daze, almost 10% of the 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army was either killed or critically wounded!
The large number of Humans shocked the Territory Lords. Although there was no way to accurately calculate the numbers, the dense number of Warships in front of them indicated that there were at least tens of thousands of Humans hiding in ambush here. The sight left them furious. Since when did the Humans become so bold and reckless as to act in this manner?
The Black Ink Clan who came from Great Evolution Theatre carried an arrogance that normal Black Ink Clansmen did not have. That was because Great Evolution Pass was the only Great Pass that the Humans had ever lost. It was also the only Great Pass that the Black Ink Clan ever occupied. Just that point alone was enough for the Black Ink Clansmen who came from the Great Evolution Theatre to be proud of themselves.
Over 30,000 years of subtle influence from their environment had given these Black Ink Clansmen the impression that the Humans were mediocre. They also believed that the clansmen in the other Theatres were useless for being unable to take over a single Great Pass.
That was why they did not panic even though they faced a sudden ambush and suffered heavy losses. They believed that the Human Race would fall apart as long as they counterattacked; after all, the difference in numbers could not be denied.
On the other hand, the Human Race troops who jumped out from behind the various universe fragments were stunned to discover that the Black Ink Clansmen did not even flinch after being attacked but rushed forward bravely and fearlessly!
The Black Ink Clansmen faced the powerful assault of the Warships head-on and charged towards them! It was absolutely haphazard, and countless casualties piled up along the way.
Behind the Black Ink Clan Army was a large, ornate ship. This ship was not a Mobile Palace Artifact but a simple flight-type artifact.
Artifact Refining among the Black Ink Clan relied entirely upon Black Ink Disciples. There were very few Artifact Refiners among the Black Ink Disciples to begin with, and those with decent skill were even rarer.
For the Black Ink Clan, only the Territory Lords were qualified to possess a large ship artifact of their own. Tremendous amounts of energy and resources were required to refine such artifacts, so ordinary Feudal Lords were not qualified to possess them.
The person in charge of this large ship was a Territory Lord known as Zhe Chong. A Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 was not a small one; therefore, he had been tasked with bringing up the rear. He was responsible for monitoring the Army to prevent any eccentric Black Ink Clansmen from messing around during the march. Fortunately, things had been peaceful throughout the journey.
Zhe Chong immediately noticed as soon as the Humans attacked. With a shift of his figure, he flew out of the cabin and came to the deck to observe the situation. What entered his field of vision was the Warships emerging from among the universe fragments, and the multi-coloured flashes of lights blasting out from those Warships. The sight made his heart sink to the bottom of his chest.
Unlike most of the Black Ink Clansmen here, Zhe Chong was a veteran Territory Lord who had been alive before Great Evolution Pass had fallen to them. He had personally participated in the war 30,000 ago, so he knew how tenacious and difficult the Human Race could be.
Two Royal Lords had joined hands back then. One of them had attacked and severely injured the Old Ancestor at Great Evolution Pass, but in the end, the veteran Royal Lord was dragged down and lost his life along with the Human Old Ancestor.
Ever since then, Zhe Chong knew that he should never underestimate the Human Race; otherwise, he would be the one to suffer instead. That was why he immediately had an ominous feeling when he saw such a large Human Army hiding in ambush here.
[There’s such a large Army of Humans here. Have our clansmen at Wind and Cloud Pass been defeated?]
He watched as countless Black Ink Clansmen died on the spot due to the sudden ambush and even more Black Ink Clansmen counter-attacking after being attacked. Then, he saw the troops on both sides engaging in fierce battles among the universe fragments.
All of a sudden, he widened his eyes with a look of horror on his face. That couldn’t be helped as the auras of 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters burst out from the middle of the battlefield. Like bright lights shining in the dark, they were so blinding that he couldn’t ignore the sight even if he wanted to.
That was 60 Eighth-Order Humans! Any one of them would be able to fight him on equal footing. In fact, he would be no match for an Eighth-Order Master who was slightly stronger than average.
[It’s over! Our entire army of 300,000 will be obliterated right here!] The Humans definitely came here prepared; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to have such an overwhelming lineup.
The Human Race Army might have been small in numbers, with only several tens of thousands in total; however, 60 Eighth-Order Masters were an unstoppable force. Not only would the Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 be obliterated here, but even his fellow Territory Lords among the Army would suffer a tragic fate.
Just as he was hesitating over whether he should go over and help the others try to withdraw, an aura that was even more powerful than an Eighth-Order Master suddenly exploded out. Zhe Chong saw a stream of light flashing out from a certain corner of the battlefield and coming to a stop beside one of the Territory Lords. A breath later, the aura of that Territory Lord flared up before vanishing!
Then, the light dissipated to reveal a petite figure.
Zhe Chong immediately felt as though his soul had leapt out of his body!
[An Old Ancestor! There’s a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor here! Moreover, it’s a completely unfamiliar Old Ancestor! I’ve never seen her before! This isn’t the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass!]
He had been providing reinforcements to the battlefield at Wind and Cloud Pass over the past 30,000 years, so he knew that the Old Ancestor from Wind and Cloud Pass was a man; however, the Old Ancestor in front of him was clearly a woman.
With the appearance of the Old Ancestor, it only took a breath for a powerful Territory Lord to be killed. That Territory Lord’s strength was not inferior compared to Zhe Chong’s. In other words, if Zhe Chong was the one facing that Old Ancestor instead, he would not have survived any longer.
At that moment, what Zhe Chong needed to consider was not whether he should step forward to help the others, but how he was going to escape alive from under the nose of a Human Old Ancestor.
He was stationed at the rear of the Army to monitor the troops, which placed him in a relatively lucky position. Even though 90% of the Black Ink Clan Army had entered the range of the Human encirclement, he remained outside and was temporarily untouched by the chaos of the battlefield.
After confirming that the woman was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor, Zhe Chong quickly looked away and did not dare to take another glance. A Ninth-Order Master was generally extremely sensitive to the gaze of others, so he was afraid that he might be targeted if he stared for too long.
Activating a Secret Technique, Zhe Chong concealed his aura. He couldn’t even bother to care about his precious ship at this point. Instead, he leapt off the ship without a word and secretly rushed off in the direction of Great Evolution Pass. He did not dare to make large movements. In fact, he only hoped that one of his fellow Territory Lords could distract the Old Ancestor as much as possible so that he would have the opportunity to escape.
Zhe Chong was not the only Black Ink Clansman on the large ship. There were also many Feudal Lords and even more High and Low-Rank Clansmen.
Zhe Chong’s sudden escape surprised these Feudal Lords. Nevertheless, they quickly followed suit and activated their respective Secret Techniques to flee in all directions. Having sensed the overwhelming aura on the battlefield, they knew that staying behind would only lead to a disastrous ending for them; therefore, it was only natural for them to prioritise escape.
The actions of the Black Ink Clan Masters on the ship left the 20,000 or 30,000 Black Ink Clansmen outside the encirclement at a loss for what to do. They did not know whether they should rush forward and confront the enemy or flee like the higher-ups behind them. Be that as it may, it did not take long for the notion of escape to gain the upper hand. Their leaders had already fled, so what could they do even if they stayed behind? Hence, they quickly began running for their lives.
The figure of the Yin-Yang Pass Old Ancestor stood alone in the middle of the battlefield. Several ignorant and fearless Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen charged towards her; however, her sharp aura alone was enough to cause them to explode into mist before they could even approach her.
Her gaze swept lightly in the direction that Zhe Chong had escaped, and the corners of her mouth curled into a slight smile.
Xiang Shan had asked her to allow one of the Territory Lords to escape so that the Royal Lord would be informed of their presence. She had initially wondered how she could seamlessly succeed at something like that.
For a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like her, it was not easy for her to pull off such a trick as the gap in strength was too large. If her actions were too obvious, they would only arouse suspicion.
She never imagined that there would be a Territory Lord who did not step into the universe fragments at all. Moreover, he immediately decided to flee as soon as he detected her aura. It was undoubtedly an outcome that she was happy to see, so she simply pretended not to notice his presence.
Out of the dozen Territory Lords, she only needed to allow one to escape. The rest… would die without exception!
Xiang Shan had mentioned that the primary goal of Great Evolution Army was not to recover Great Evolution Pass but to beat the Great Evolution Theatre Black Ink Clan half to death. Only then would they gain the opportunity to build a stable foothold at Great Evolution Pass.
The deaths of 300,000 troops and nearly a dozen Territory Lords was probably not a small loss to the Black Ink Clan of the Great Evolution Theatre.
The more opportunities the Human Army had to weaken the forces of the Black Ink Clan, the lesser the pressure they would face when they arrived at the Great Evolution Theatre in the future.
After confirming that the Territory Lord had escaped into the distance, the Old Ancestor no longer held back and cast a Divine Ability. An enormous Yin-Yang Fish manifested behind her, its black and white colours enveloping the entire battlefield with herself as the centre.
The Human Race Army caught up in the Divine Ability was not affected in any way, but the Black Ink Clan felt like they were sinking into a quagmire. Their figures seemed to become stagnant and the strength of those below the Feudal Lords was reduced by some 30%. Even the Feudal Lords were considerably weakened; only the Territory Lords seemed unaffected.
That was not to say that the Old Ancestor’s Divine Ability was ineffective towards the Territory Lords, it was just that the range she cast it over was too large, so the effects of its suppression on the Territory Lords were minimal.
Even without the suppression from this Divine Ability though, the Territory Lords were caught in a terrible situation.
There were 3 to 5 Eighth-Order Masters surrounding each Territory Lord to begin with, so which one of them withstand the countless Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques that came raining down on them?
Only half of the Eighth-Order Masters were tasked with attacking the Territory Lords. The other 30 were moving back and forth across the battlefield, working together with the troops to reap the lives of the Black Ink Clan to their hearts’ content. Everywhere these Eighth-Order Masters went, their presence would give rise to a reign of terror. The Black Ink Clan were mowed down in droves, like harvesting wheat in a field.
The battle began hastily, and the ambush was rather imperfect, but nevertheless, with the help of the 30 Eighth-Order Masters, the Human Army of 30,000 obtained a crushing victory over the Black Ink Clan.
Even so, the reaction of the Black Ink Clan puzzled many people.
In the beginning, these Black Ink Clansmen had shown no fear towards the Humans regardless of their cultivation. Even the Low-Rank Clansmen had charged towards the Humans without any scruples. Forget the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, many Black Ink Clansmen even dared to attack the Old Ancestor.
The reason for this situation naturally stemmed from the fact that these Black Ink Clansmen came from the Great Evolution Theatre and most of them had never fought with the Human Race before.
Every time Great Evolution Theatre provided reinforcements to attack Wind and Cloud Army, only the Territory Lords who led the Army and some lucky Feudal Lords would return alive. The rest generally died on the battlefield. Consequently, many of the Black Ink Clansmen had never experienced a battle against the Humans before.
However, they were the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Theatre. Their ancestors were the only ones who successfully seized one of the Great Passes. Almost all the Black Ink Clansmen below the Feudal Lords believed that the Human Race was extremely weak. That was why the Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 had bravely fought back despite being ambushed and severely outmatched.
As time passed though, and the number of clansmen decreased, they finally realised that the information passed down from ancient times did not match up to reality.
The Humans were not as weak as the rumours claimed. It turned out that every one of them was extremely strong. Not to mention, they could borrow the power of large artifacts that came in varying shapes and sizes to fight. As long as the defences of these artifacts remained intact, the Black Ink Clan could barely cause any damage towards them.
After about half of the Army had died in battle, the Black Ink Clan finally understood their situation. The Humans seemed to be much fewer in number, but they were still a force they could not compete with.
Unfortunately, the realisation had come too late. Under the command of Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping, the entire universe fragment field had already turned into a perfect encirclement. Aside from the 30,000 or so Black Ink Clansmen who had originally been outside the ambush zone, the remaining Black Ink Clan Army no longer had the opportunity to flee even if they wanted to. What followed next was a one-sided massacre!
All the Territory Lords quickly fell in battle, leaving the surviving Black Ink Clansmen leaderless. They all fought independently, resulting in an extremely chaotic situation.
On the other hand, the Human Army had dozens of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and even an Old Ancestor assuming command. It was only natural that they would hold the absolute advantage.
In just one day, the Black Ink Clan Army was completely obliterated. All the universe fragments in the nearby void had been shattered to dust. Severed limbs and hashed meat were everywhere. Dense Black Ink Strength had condensed together to form an enormous Black Ink Cloud that filled a vast swath of the void. Looking out into the distance, the entire scene resembled a dark shadow.
The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies gathered outside the Black Ink Cloud; however, they did not rush to set off immediately and decided to stop to rest and recover instead.
Since Xiang Shan had decided to alert the enemy of their presence, it stood to reason that he would need to give the Black Ink Clan enough time to react, so there was no need to rush.
The Territory Lord who escaped needed a head-start. Although there was no knowing how he would report the situation back to the Royal Lord, the Royal Lord would surely realise that something was wrong as long as he was not a fool. For example, where did the Human Race Army come from and where were they going?
The battle situation at Wind and Cloud Pass would have been reported to the Great Evolution Theatre’s Royal Lord via the Black Ink Nest by now, so when the Territory Lord who escaped earlier reported the current situation to the Royal Lord, the latter would surely understand the intentions of the Great Evolution Army.
The reason for the Human’s decision to stop and reorganise was to give the Black Ink Clan some time to make the necessary arrangements.
The Great Evolution Army’s losses in this battle were minimal; after all, the difference in combat power between the two sides was immense. Once again, the Warships played a huge role in limiting the number of casualties to the hundreds.
An Army of 30,000 troops had defeated 300,000 enemies, yet they only suffered a few hundred casualties. The losses could be considered negligible.
Meanwhile, Zhe Chong fled at the speed of lightning. Never before had he ever felt death so close to him. He had practically believed that he was as good as dead when he saw the Old Ancestor appearing on the battlefield.
Fortunately, it seemed luck was on his side. The Old Ancestor did not seem to have noticed him in the first place. Following his escape, a few tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen outside the Human ambush had scattered everywhere, which provided him with a good cover to conceal his tracks.
Be that as it may, Zhe Chong remained extremely uneasy. He was terribly afraid that the Old Ancestor would pursue him. If that were the case, then he could only resign himself to his death. It was fortunate that there were no signs of pursuit coming from behind.
On any battlefield, fleeing was a huge crime. Zhe Chong was sure he would be punished upon his return, but he couldn’t care less about such things at this moment. He simply wanted to inform the Royal Lord about the current crisis as soon as possible.
The Human Race was acting very differently from the usual. He did not know what they were planning, but he was certain the Royal Lord would know.
After escaping for a month, Zhe Chong finally felt relieved and became certain that the Old Ancestor was not chasing after him; otherwise, he would have been caught by now. The other Black Ink Clansmen who escaped with him had been left behind, but he didn’t care about their survival. At this moment, he was simply trying to return to the Great Evolution Theatre as quickly as possible.
Back at the original battlefield, Great Evolution’s Eastern and Western Armies spent some time recovering. According to the orders passed down from the higher-ups, they would have three days of rest before they resumed marching.
Most of the troops did not understand the meaning behind these orders; after all, they had only departed from Wind and Cloud Pass a few days ago. Although they encountered a big battle, there was no reason to take a rest yet. If that was the case, then why did they rush off from Wind and Cloud Pass in the first place?
Regardless, they didn’t question the order. Many had exhausted their energy during the battle, so they indeed needed some time to recover. Hence, nobody had any objections despite not understanding these strange orders.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was doing some repair work on Dawning Light.
During the previous battle, Dawning Light had suffered some minor damage, and as a Grandmaster Artifact Refiner who also participated in the Black Ink Clan’s Warship project, it was not a problem for him to repair a few dents and cracks. Unfortunately, some of the damaged Spirit Arrays would require the help of the Array Masters travelling with the Army to fully repair.
Feng Ying was helping by the side while the rest of the members of Dawn were either idling around with nothing to do or cultivating diligently.
While Yang Kai was busy working, a Divine Sense suddenly fluctuated throughout the entire area. A message was transmitted via the Divine Sense, “Squad Leaders of the Western Army Fourth Division are to assemble immediately!”
The Divine Sense covered a large area, which happened to include the area where Dawning Light was located; therefore, Yang Kai and the others heard the orders clearly. The person who sent out the Divine Sense Message was the Eighth-Order Division Commander of Fourth Division.
Just as that Divine Sense vanished, another Divine Sense came out. This time around, it was the Division Commander of the First Division who issued orders to assemble together. The members of these two Divisions happened to be located near Dawn, which was why the orders from both Division Commanders also reached their ears.
Yang Kai couldn’t help looking around. In the next moment, he saw numerous Seventh-Order Squad Leaders emerge from the Warships nearby and gather in the direction of their respective Division Commanders.
“What’s going on?” Yang Kai looked confused.
Feng Ying replied, “Why don’t you go and ask?”
After giving the suggestion some thought, Yang Kai stopped what he was doing and headed towards one of the gathering points.
Two Division Commanders had transmitted messages, that obviously indicated that some sort of special deployment order had come from the higher-ups. It was not just these two Division Commanders though. The other Division Commanders had most likely sent out their own messages via voice Divine Sense, it was just that they were located at different positions, so Yang Kai could only hear the transmissions of these two Division Commanders.
Dawn was a Special Operations Squad, so unlike ordinary Squads, they did not belong to any Division or Battalion. They were under the direct command of the Army Commanders. The same was true for the Old Turtles.
While a Special Operations Squad generally enjoyed many benefits and preferential treatment, it became apparent that they were a slightly isolated existence at times like these. Even if the higher-ups had deployment orders for them, they had no Division Commander to inform them.
Although the Army Commanders would have made the necessary arrangements for them, Yang Kai preferred to understand the situation in advance.
It didn’t take long for him to arrive on one of the Battalion Class Warships.
Warships could generally be classified into three types. The most basic Squad Class Warships were used by ordinary Squads. Next came the Battalion Class Warship that was much larger and more imposing. In addition, the Battalion Class Warships usually carried far more firepower.
Before Yang Kai came to the Black Ink Battlefield, the Battalion-Class Warships were basically the largest among the Human Race. There was no such thing as a Division Class Warship.
High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters mainly relied upon their own respective means to slaughter their enemies on the battlefield in cooperation with the Warships under their command; therefore, they would never have to hide themselves away inside a Warship during battle. That was especially true for the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. During the war, their main responsibility was to target and hold down the Territory Lords. Even if they had the cooperation of the Warships, the Warships would only be a burden to them.
A Battalion-Class Warship basically served as the headquarters of a Division. For example, every Division had its own Battalion-Class Warship during the march of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. The Eighth-Order Division Commanders would generally issue various orders from where they were stationed on the Battalion-Class Warships.
There were 60 Divisions in the Eastern and Western Armies, which meant that there were 60 Battalion-Class Warships. Each Battalion-Class Warship not only had an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commander overseeing its operations, but also other auxiliary personnel. Nevertheless, these personnel roughly numbered no more than half the numbers of a Battalion or 50 people.
Battalion-Class Warships were much larger and had greater destructive power compared to Squad Class Warships. The role that a Battalion-Class Warship could play on the battlefield was no less than Dawning Light under Dawn’s command.
It was not until Yang Kai came to the Black Ink Battlefield that the Human Race finally created the larger Purifying Black Ink Battleships for the sake of carrying Purifying Light.
From a defensive and offensive aspect, a Purifying Black Ink Battleship was not much stronger than a Battalion-Class Warship; however, the Purifying Light sealed within the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was the Human Race’s biggest reliance against Black Ink Strength. Not to mention, the Universe Array set up on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships also played a significant role. That was why the Purifying Black Ink Battleships generally had a more significant meaning compared to a Battalion-Class Warship.
Yang Kai came to the Warship where the Division Commander of the First Division was located. The Division Commander of the First Division was also one of those who sent out a Divine Sense transmission earlier.
Each Division consisted of roughly 500 troops, with five Battalions under its command. Each Battalion subsequently consisted of eight or nine Squads, so there were approximately 45 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Squad Leaders gathered here.
The Division Commander of the First Division was Xu Yong Da, who was personally appointed by Xiang Shan back at the Central Square of Wind and Cloud Pass. Yang Kai remembered him from back then.
Xu Yong Da stood on the deck with his hands behind his back. The Squad Leaders rushed over in droves and obediently stood in line before him.
When he saw Yang Kai in attendance, he simply glanced at him briefly and said nothing. It was evident that he knew Yang Kai came here to obtain information as the Squad Leader of a Special Operations Squad.
Not long afterwards, the adjutant next to him leaned over and reported in a low voice, “Sir, everyone is here.”
He nodded and finally opened his mouth to speak, “I called you over because I have orders from above.”
While Xu Yong Da was speaking, the adjutant reached up and swept his hand out before him. Materials of various Elements suddenly appeared in front of him. There were almost a dozen of these materials in varying shapes and sizes; moreover, these materials were of varying Orders. Everybody was confused by the sight before them.
Xu Yong Da stepped forward and pointed at the materials, “When you return to your respective Squads, you must collect the materials that are shown here. There are no requirements in terms of Order, so just collect as many as possible.”
There were times when the same materials might not have the same Order. Those with better formation conditions and enough time would have a higher Order. On the other hand, the reverse would result in materials with a lower Order instead.
One of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Squad Leaders asked curiously, “Sir, what is the purpose of collecting these materials?”
Xu Yong Da replied, “The higher-ups have their own considerations. Don’t ask so many questions and simply collect what you have been told to collect. The time limit is half a day. Each Squad Leader will be responsible for their respective Squad. Please gather all the materials presented in front of you and deliver them here promptly.”
“Yes!” The Squad Leaders received the orders and dispersed back to their Squads.
There was an unwritten rule on the Black Ink Battlefield that every cultivator would leave all their resources behind in their residence whenever they were dispatched from the Great Pass where they resided, especially during wartime. They normally did not carry many materials with them on the battlefield.
This practice was to prevent the loss of resources should they fall in battle or suffer from any unexpected accidents on the battlefield. By leaving all their materials in their residence, the property they left behind could be used by others if they lost their lives in battle.
The Humans on the Black Ink Battlefield used to live a difficult life where materials were desperately lacking. Although their situation had improved considerably, their deep-rooted habits formed over the years had not changed.
However, the situation among the troops of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies was different. They planned to retake Great Evolution Pass, so regardless of whether they survived the campaign, they would not be returning to their original Great Passes. They were part of the Great Evolution Army now.
For that reason, they had packed and brought all their belongings with them before the campaign began. That was not all though as the various Great Passes had also distributed large amounts of cultivation resources to the deployed troops, lest they lacked the necessary resources when they arrived at the Great Evolution Theatre. Therefore, all the troops in the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies could be said to be extremely wealthy.
It would not be difficult to complete the order from the higher-ups to collect the specified materials as there were 30,000 troops in the Armies, and the number would not be too small either. If nothing else, there were piles of materials stacked up like mountains in Yang Kai’s Small Universe, so there would no doubt be many of the requested materials there.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai could not understand why the higher-ups wanted to gather these items. Looking at the situation, it would seem as though it was a sudden idea; otherwise, they would have prepared these materials back in the Inner Sanctum and not while the Army was on the march. Since it was a sudden idea, then the higher-ups must have come up with some kind of special plan while on the march. It might even have something to do with the battle earlier.
Deep in thought, Yang Kai quickly returned to the Dawning Light. A Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master immediately came forward, “Junior Brother Yang!”
Yang Kai looked up and recognised that person as Li Xing, who also came from Blue Sky Pass. A total of 500 people had been dispatched from Blue Sky Pass, so even if he was not acquainted with all of them, Yang Kai would at least be familiar with their faces.
Yang Kai was not close to Li Xing, but they had met each other at Blue Sky Pass on several occasions. Furthermore, Li Xing currently served as Xiang Shan’s adjutant in the Great Evolution Army.
“Senior Brother Li!” Yang Kai cupped his fist in greeting and asked, “Do you need something, Senior Brother?”
Li Xing solemnly replied, “The Army Commander has summoned you. If you have nothing urgent going on, please come with me.”
Yang Kai nodded, “Please wait a moment, Senior Brother. I received orders from Division Commander Xu to gather some materials, so I would like to convey the orders to the others first.”
Li Xing had no objections.
Yang Kai immediately informed Feng Ying about the several dozen materials that Xu Yong Da had displayed earlier; then, he asked her to gather these materials from the Squad members and deliver them to the Division Commander.
Feng Ying diligently memorised the information and got to work.
After settling this matter, Yang Kai finally stretched out his hand in a polite gesture, “Please lead the way, Senior Brother.”
Li Xing nodded and took off.
The two of them navigated through the void and passed by numerous Warships before quickly arriving at the Purifying Black Ink Battleship stationed in the middle of the Army.
The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had two Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Xiang Shan and Liu Zhi Ping had each brought one from their respective Pass. It was just that Liu Zhi Ping had retrieved the Western Army’s Purifying Black Ink Battleship after everybody had left their Imprint on its Universe Array, so there was currently only one Purifying Black Ink Battleship with the Army at the moment. In this way, it was more convenient for the two Army Commanders to discuss various matters and receive intelligence since they were gathered in one spot.
When Yang Kai arrived at this place, he was startled to discover a bunch of people sitting down cross-legged on the ship’s deck. Moreover, it was not just the deck. There were also people floating nearby in the void.
Meanwhile, the person seated in the middle of this gathering was none other than Ma Fan. Xiang Shan, Liu Zhi Ping, and even the Old Ancestor were also present, but they stood not far away and watched quietly with no intention of intervening.
Yang Kai did not know what was happening, but Grandmaster Ma Fan seemed to be explaining the method of refining something at the moment. If Yang Kai was not mistaken, all the people gathered here were Artifact Refiners.
On this trip to recover Great Evolution Pass, there were more than 1,000 Artifact Refiners marching along with the Army. That was the only way to ensure that the Warships would be repaired in a timely manner when damaged. Besides, if the Great Evolution Army could successfully retake Great Evolution Pass, they would ultimately require the strength of these Artifact Refiners to restore the Great Pass to its former glory.
The Army not only had 1,000 Artifact Refiners, but also quite a few Alchemists and Array Masters as well.
Among the 1,000 Artifact Refiners, there was another Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster aside from Grandmaster Ma Fan, as well as some 50 Grandmasters. The rest were mostly Artifact Refining Great Masters.
The Artifact Refining elites of several Great Passes had been gathered together in this place. In order to successfully retake Great Evolution Pass, each Great Pass had not been stingy to contribute their own talents.
With 1,000 such people gathered in one place, it was impossible for the deck to accommodate them all even if the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was quite large. That was why Yang Kai was greeted with the sight of Grandmaster Ma Fan being surrounded by a huge crowd.
Following Li Xing to stand in front of Xiang Shan and the others, Yang Kai respectfully bowed in greeting.
Xiang Shan nodded and waved his hand, “Go over there and listen with the others.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai obeyed and headed towards Grandmaster Ma Fan. After squeezing his way through the crowd, he finally managed to occupy a spot and carefully listened to the lecture.
A short while later, Yang Kai grasped the contents of this talk to an extent. Grandmaster Ma Fan was explaining the refining method of a mechanical puppet.
A mechanical puppet could be considered a kind of puppet, but the mechanical puppet developed by Grandmaster Ma Fan was clearly more agile and realistic than ordinary puppets. Not to mention, he was explaining the refining method of a humanoid puppet.
The refining method was not complicated. Under normal circumstances, an Artifact Refining Grandmaster would be more than qualified to refine these puppets. It was just that the quality of the refined puppets would depend on the refiner’s personal attainments and the materials used. The refining method of these humanoid puppets was probably created by Grandmaster Ma Fan himself, and that was why he was the one to teach them the method.
Whatever the case, his explanation was extremely thorough. All the Artifact Refiners gathered here were talented beyond their peers, so it was easy for them to quickly master the refining method. Some people also asked some questions and received detailed answers from Ma Fan, which gave them a deeper understanding of the refining method for these puppets.
Less than half a day later, the lecture ended and Grandmaster Ma Fan looked around the surroundings, “Does anybody else have any questions? If you have a question, please feel free to ask and this Old Master will explain to the best of his ability.”
Nobody said anything. Clearly, they had no questions regarding the contents of the lecture.
Ma Fan nodded in satisfaction, “In that case, this Old Master has prepared a jade slip for each of you. The jade slip contains a detailed refining method for the mechanical puppet. After receiving the necessary materials, you will have to figure out the refining by yourselves. If there is anything you don’t understand, you may come and ask this Old Master at any time.”
After saying that, he raised his large hand and numerous streams of lights appeared and drifted towards each person in attendance. Every single stream of light contained a single jade slip.
Although a thorough explanation had been given, there were bound to be many problems once these people started refining the puppets even though they understood the contents of the lecture. That was why he went the extra length to prepare these jade slips. These jade slips not only contained the detailed refining method but also some of his insights. In this way, they could reduce most of the difficulties by comparing their results with the jade slip during the process of refining.
Taking the jade slip, Yang Kai immersed his mind into it. He discovered that the jade slip contained the refining method of the humanoid mechanical puppet Grandmaster Ma Fan had explained earlier, but it was much more detailed and comprehensive.
It was almost like a complete pill recipe. The problems that should be watched out for during the refining process, when to use what materials, what issues might arise, and the solutions to fix these issues, everything was recorded neatly inside the jade slip.
With this jade slip in hand, refining the puppet would not be difficult even if they didn’t have someone to guide them through the process, so what more was needed when Grandmaster Ma Fan was willing to explain everything in person?
While Ma Fan was explaining the refining method for the humanoid puppet, numerous Eighth-Order Masters rushed over from various directions and handed the Space Rings in their hands to Xiang Shan before leaving once more.
As a steady stream of Eighth-Order Division Commanders came and went, the number of Space Rings that Xiang Shan was carrying gradually increased.
Xiang Shan handed these Space Rings to Li Xing, along with some instructions. Nodding lightly, Li Xing walked directly to a group of Artifact Refiners and said, “Please come to me, one at a time, to receive the necessary materials for refining the mechanical puppets.”
The Artifact Refiners quickly gathered around him upon hearing those words and soon surrounded him tightly.
Yang Kai did not go immediately and instead walked towards Ma Fan and asked, “Grandmaster, the Division Commanders issued an order earlier to gather some materials. Are those the materials needed for refining the mechanical puppets?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan nodded, “That’s right.”
Yang Kai was puzzled, “What’s the point of refining so many of these things?”
Grandmaster Ma Fan answered patiently, “I’m not too sure about the exact details either. I simply received a request from Army Commander Xiang Shan to teach the refining method of these puppets. As for what he plans to do with them, that’s up to his own considerations. However, the refining method of these puppets is something I learned on a whim when I was younger. Although they seem quite realistic from a distance, they aren’t much use in reality. According to my guess, these puppets can only be used as a distraction at most.”
Yang Kai seemed pensive.
On the other side, Xiang Shan spoke up once most of the Artifact Refiners had received the supplies, “After receiving the materials, please refine them carefully. Do your best to refine as many puppets as possible.”
Everybody nodded in acknowledgement.
Yang Kai guessed that he had been summoned here because he was now decently proficient in Artifact Refining. Since he already knew the reason behind this matter, there was no need to continue staying here. The other Artifact Refiners had to wait to receive their supplies, but he did not; therefore, he turned around and rushed towards Dawning Light after informing Grandmaster Ma Fan about his intentions.
Upon returning to Dawning Light, Yang Kai began refining the humanoid puppets right on the deck. The members of Dawn watched his movements curiously at the beginning, but they lost interest and went back to their own affairs as time passed.
Three days later, the Army set off again and continued to sail towards the Great Evolution Theatre. The marching speed of the Army was neither fast nor slow.
Another few days later, Yang Kai’s refining process came to an end. It was not difficult to refine the humanoid puppets as the process was easy to master as long as one had the standards of a Great Master, and Yang Kai was already a Grandmaster.
After the various components were refined, one simply needed to assemble them together. In that way, a mechanical puppet could be completed in just seven or eight days.
A group of Dawn members gathered on the deck and observed the finished product curiously. They were rather familiar with puppets as each of them had more or less seen similar objects throughout the journey of their growth.
From the external appearance, the humanoid puppet that Yang Kai refined did not look particularly special. It could even be said to be rather ugly. Although it had a humanoid frame, anybody who was not blind could see that it was not a living thing at a glance.
Yang Kai made the final checks to ensure that nothing was missing from the puppet he refined before nodding.
Shen Ao rubbed his chin as he muttered, “Say, why do the higher-ups want to refine these puppets?”
Qi Tai Chu thoughtfully suggested, “Maybe they will be used to increase the combat power of our Great Evolution Army? Speaking of which, how much strength can this puppet exert upon activation?”
Feng Ying shook her head, “They are probably not meant to strengthen the combat power of the Army. The Dao of Puppetry is profound and mysterious, so even if you refine a puppet, you will need to master special Puppet Arts in order to bring out their full strength. There are a few cultivators in Blue Sky Pass who are proficient in the Dao of Puppetry, so they might be able to make some use of these puppets, but with such a large number being produced, it’s obvious that these puppets were not prepared for them. Besides, most of them didn’t even come along on this campaign.”
“If they are not meant to strengthen our combat power, then what are they for? Are they meant to be nothing more than ornaments?” Ning Qi Zhi laughed, “Don’t tell me the higher-ups are planning to use these puppets to scare the Black Ink Clan away?”
“I don’t know whether they can scare the Black Ink Clan away, but these puppets probably aren’t meant to just be ornaments,” Yang Kai, who was busy working, suddenly interjected.
Feng Ying inquired, “Squad Leader, do you know what they are for?”
He shook his head, “I don’t. The higher-ups did not state their intentions clearly, they simply asked us to refine as many of these puppets as we could. Be that as it may, the resources consumed during the refining process are not particularly valuable and can even be considered common items. The refining method is not too advanced either, so even if these puppets were given to those who cultivated the Dao of Puppetry, they would not be able to play a significant role in battle. Any random Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman would be able to destroy one of these puppets in a single blow.”
During the conversation, he finished doing the final checks and confirmed that there were no issues with the puppet. According to the instructions written in the jade slip given by Grandmaster Ma Fan, only the final activation step was left. If there were no problems with this final step, then the refinement of the puppet could be considered a success.
Activating the puppet was simple, one only needed to inject World Force into the puppet. Needless to say, after consuming the injected World Force, the puppet would stop moving. This was typically why the power source of a puppet would generally be something other than a cultivator’s own strength. There was no need for Yang Kai to worry about these details though as his job was simply to refine these puppets. The higher-ups would make their own arrangements when the time came.
Raising his hand, Yang Kai pressed his palm against the chest of the puppet, circulated his World Force, and poured it into the puppet. As the World Force entered the puppet, the patterns on the body of the puppet lit up. Immediately after that, the puppet seemed to come alive and radiated a vibrant aura.
He immediately sensed an inexplicable connection forming between him and the puppet in front of him. This connection came from the World Force he poured into the puppet earlier. In other words, he could now easily control the puppet.
Be that as it may, what shocked everybody was that the puppet exuded the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after being activated by Yang Kai!
Shen Ao was so shocked that he blurted out, “Are you serious!? Fifth-Order!?”
The puppet that Yang Kai spent seven or eight days to refine had the aura of a Fifth-Order Master! If it could exert the strength of a Fifth-Order Master as well, then that would be beyond astonishing! After all, the Human Race would only need to refine these puppets on a large scale and send them into battle to never have to worry about the casualties again!
Unexpectedly, Yang Kai seemed thoughtful, “The aura is realistic, but it’s just the aura.”
Thanks to the inexplicable connection between them, he had a deeper understanding of the puppet. The mechanical puppet developed by Grandmaster Ma Fan had a slightly different approach to the norm. Generally speaking, any puppet could exert a certain amount of strength when powered and controlled properly. Unfortunately, this puppet seemed to only imitate the aura of a Master and couldn’t actually utilize much strength at all. Its greatest use would be to frighten and mislead others.
With a simple thought, the puppet immediately began moving around on the deck. It could jump, run, and walk with ease. Judging by its posture, it was not very different from an actual person in terms of mobility, with its movements being agile and fluid.
Next, Yang Kai controlled the puppet to throw a punch.
As soon as the puppet punched out, the anticipation and excitement overflowing from the members of Dawn immediately turned into bitter disappointment. This couldn’t be helped though as in their eyes, the punch was so weak that it was practically powerless. None of them would even need to block this blow as they could simply stand there and take it without suffering any damage.
Sure enough, it was just as Yang Kai had mentioned earlier. The refining method for this puppet was not very advanced, and the materials used were not particularly valuable. It was not surprising that the puppet turned out so useless; hence, everybody couldn’t help feeling confused by the orders from the higher-ups. Why refine such useless puppets in such large quantities?
Having satisfied their curiosity, the members of Dawn lost interest in the useless puppets and returned to their own affairs.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai gave the puppet the order to move around freely before he began refining a second one. The refining process went much smoother than the first time, and the time he took was shortened by half a day. Everybody would go through a period of practice before they became skilled at anything after all. Yang Kai estimated that he would only need four to five days to refine another puppet to completion once he became proficient in this process.
After a series of checks, he confirmed that there were no problems with the second puppet. He then poured his World Force into it for the final activation. The puppet once again released the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, almost identical to the first puppet.
The first puppet had already been stored in his Space Ring. Since Yang Kai had not provided it with much World Force to begin with, and did not continue to provide it with more, the puppet completely stopped moving after an incense stick or so.
The Army continued to march forward slowly, and the days gradually slipped by.
During this period, Yang Kai concentrated on refining the humanoid puppets and his speed increased with practice. Half a year later, he only needed five days to finish refining one.
In addition, as he became more proficient in this process, the aura released by the mechanical puppets he created were no longer limited to the Fifth Order. Oftentimes, the puppets he refined would release the aura of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master when powered up. When his luck was particularly good, the puppets he refined would release an aura that was comparable to a Seventh-Order Master!
Unfortunately, that was his limit. Yang Kai had the feeling that if Grandmaster Ma Fan and the other Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster were the ones to refine these puppets, they might be able to exude the aura of an Eighth-Order Division Commander.
In any case, regardless of how powerful the aura the puppets exuded, their foundation remained the same. They were still weak and useless existences that would be destroyed by any random blow from a Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman.
Another half a year later, Yang Kai had refined almost 80 of these puppets. All of them had been stored inside a single Space Ring, ready to be delivered to the higher-ups at any time.
After sailing for over a year, the Great Evolution Army had finally arrived within the Great Evolution Theatre. They would be able to see Great Evolution Pass from a distance if they continued marching forward for another two or three months.
At this time, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies began to reduce the size of their formation. They used the power of various artifacts and Spirit Arrays to conceal the whereabouts of the 30,000 troops and in addition, many teams of scouts were dispatched to investigate the route ahead and prevent any possibilities that their presence might be revealed.
At the same time, the higher-ups suddenly issued another confusing order for collection. The last order for collection from the higher-ups had been to gather the various materials required for the refinement of the puppets. This time around, the order for collection was to gather spare clothing. They were neither limited to gender nor body shape or size. It was acceptable as long as the clothing could be worn.
Combined with the order to refine the puppets in large quantities, many people were starting to understand the intentions of the higher-ups. First, it was collecting the materials to refine large amounts of humanoid puppets, then it was collecting various kinds of clothing. Their intentions no longer required much explanation at this point.
Those puppets were going to be used as some kind of ruse. Every one of those puppets exuded the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above. It was conceivable that the Puppet Army would seem extremely imposing when gathered in one place. At the right time and the right place, they would easily be able to attract the full attention of the Black Ink Clan.
Meanwhile, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies would take advantage of this opportunity to take action.
Although there were speculations about the purpose of these puppets, it was unfortunate that Yang Kai and the others could not figure out the where and how these puppets were going to be used.
Truthfully speaking, these puppets would easily be seen through if they were observed closely. While they could move around as smoothly as a real person and exude the aura of an Open Heaven Realm Master, that would only fool others when they were far away. However, just the Open Heaven Realm aura exuded by these puppets alone would likely be enough for them to be mistaken for a real Army if they were dressed in proper clothes and seen from a distance.
The Army had already stepped foot into the Great Evolution Theatre, so there was a chance of encountering the Black Ink Clan at any moment. The 30,000 troops prepared themselves for battle and conserved their energy so that they were ready for the possibility of war.
The members responsible for controlling the various Spirit Arrays and artifacts on the Squad Class Warships were carefully inspecting their weapons to ensure that there were no issues before the battle began.
The Great Evolution Army progressed through the void as silently as a phantom, exuding a chilling aura.
Upon receiving a summons from Xiang Shan, Yang Kai came to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship in the middle of the Army once more. The Old Ancestor and the two Army Commanders were gathered together as though they were waiting for him to arrive.
After Yang Kai greeted them, Xiang Shan got straight to the point, “We have a mission for you!”
“Please give me your instructions, Sir!” Yang Kai cupped his fist.
Xiang Shan said, “If we march forward for another two months, we will reach Great Evolution Pass. I want you to circle around ahead and search for the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies on the other side of Great Evolution Pass.”
At the moment, the Great Evolution Army had been split into two parts. One part was the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies that had gathered at Wind and Cloud Pass, while the other part was the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that had gathered at Azure Void Pass.
There were two reasons for this deployment. The first reason was that Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass had always been besieged by larger than normal Black Ink Armies. If the Great Evolution Army assembled at both these two Great Passes, then they could easily break these sieges. The second reason was that half of the troops from the Great Evolution Army came from these two Great Passes.
Both Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass had each dispatched 15,000 troops each to cobble together the Great Evolution Army of 60,000 troops. Therefore, the Great Evolution Army was bound to depart from these two Great Passes and advance together regardless of the circumstances.
That was what Yang Kai understood. What he didn’t know was that the two Armies departing from different Great Passes had originally agreed to march towards Great Evolution Pass at full speed so that they could arrive as soon as possible and join forces to launch a coordinated attack.
However, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had encountered the Black Ink Clan reinforcement Army from Great Evolution Pass along their march. That had given Xiang Shan the idea for a better strategy, and he quickly made various arrangements during the march.
If there were changes to the original plan, then it was only natural to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies about the changes so that they were not completely blindsided by the actions of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.
The inconvenience of communication on the battlefield could lead to extremely large losses.
Since they wanted to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies about the changes, they had to choose a suitable candidate for the task. For Xiang Shan, the first person that came to mind was Yang Kai.
Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space, and as a result, his speed was something that even an Eighth-Order Master would not be able to match. Even if he ran into a Territory Lord on this journey, he would not be in danger as long as he was careful.
Not to mention, Xiang Shan did not know the current whereabouts of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies even though he had a prior agreement with their Army Commanders. If he sent somebody else, they might need to spend time searching slowly.
On the contrary, the situation would be different if he sent Yang Kai on this trip. That was because all the Universe Arrays on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships of each Great Pass had been installed by Yang Kai himself. He had a unique advantage when it came to searching for the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies.
After Xiang Shan explained his reasons to Yang Kai, the latter naturally did not refuse.
“I exchanged communication artifacts with the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies in the past. As long as we are within a certain distance of each other, we will be able to contact each other. But, there’s no need to go to such trouble to search for them. The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies brought their Purifying Black Ink Battleships along, so when the time comes, you will only need to use the Universe Transference Law to arrive directly at their side,” Xiang Shan explained.
Yang Kai nodded, “Junior understands.”
Liu Zhi Ping added, “Just in case, you should bring the communication artifact with you. Having an extra method of communication will give you an extra layer of guarantee!”
Since she had already said so, Xiang Shan did not object to her suggestion. She thus handed a Communication Bead to Yang Kai, which he carefully stored away.
“When you locate the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies, tell them that there have been changes to the original plan. The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies will be taking action to draw the Black Ink Clan’s attention as we charge straight into the Black Ink Clan’s territory. I’m certain that the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass will receive news about the attack when the fighting breaks out. It would be great if the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass did not take any action, but that is unlikely, so, the Northern and Southern Armies need to intercept the enemy once the Black Ink Clan leaves Great Evolution Pass.”
Yang Kai was extremely surprised by those words, [Is the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies planning to attack the Black Ink Clan’s territory?]
He had always assumed that the goal of this campaign was to retake Great Evolution Pass, so he never imagined that Xiang Shan’s plan would be so bold.
Upon further consideration though, this plan was clearly more beneficial. If the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies attacked the Black Ink Clan’s territory, the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass would not be able to remain still once they received the news. They would surely head out to provide reinforcements, and at that time, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies would make their move and catch the enemy by surprise. This approach was clearly much better than attacking Great Evolution Pass directly.
Yang Kai initially had some worries regarding this matter. The Black Ink Clan had taken over Great Evolution Pass some 30,000 years ago, so they were bound to have prepared various defensive measures. If the Humans had attacked the Great Pass head on, they would surely have suffered great losses.
On the contrary, the situation would be different if they lured the snake out of its hole in this manner. Without Great Evolution Pass for protection, the Black Ink Clan would lose a huge advantage in this battle.
If the Humans could obliterate all the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass, they would be able to retake Great Evolution Pass with ease. It could even be said that if they could beat the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre half to death, then the Great Evolution Army would gain ample time to establish a stable foothold in Great Evolution Pass after they retook it.
Following the various thoughts that ran through his mind, Yang Kai vaguely understood Xiang Shan’s plan and couldn’t help admiring the foresight of the Army Commander.
“Inform them that there’s no need to provide aid to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. They only need to keep the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass contained and kill as many enemies as possible to ensure we aren’t attacked from the rear.”
“Yes!” Yang Kai acknowledged the order.
“If you don’t have anything to prepare, then please set off immediately.”
It was true that Yang Kai had nothing to prepare, but the hundred or so puppets that he refined previously were still inside his Space Ring, so he immediately took it out and handed it to Xiang Shan. Then, he cupped his fist in farewell, “Junior will depart right now.”
“Be careful, and stay safe!” The Old Ancestor, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly urged.
Yang Kai nodded and flashed out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
There was no need to inform Dawn. Even without him as the Squad Leader, Feng Ying and the others would be perfectly fine; after all, they were all people who had spent hundreds, if not thousands of years on the Black Ink Battlefield.
Manipulating Space Principles, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and disappeared out of sight. When he looked back again, he could no longer see the Great Eastern and Western fleets. There were various artifacts and barriers to conceal their whereabouts, so it was impossible to discover them unless one was close enough.
Yang Kai did not linger. Making use of Instantaneous Movement over and over again, his figure flashed through the void without pause.
According to the information given by Xiang Shan, the marching speed of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies was probably faster than that of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.
Yang Kai guessed that the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were about to arrive in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass; however, they would never carry out any rash actions before receiving contact from the Eastern and Western Armies. Hiding in the shadows and observing the situation was definitely the safest method.
What he needed to do at this moment was circle around Great Evolution Pass, locate the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies, and deliver Xiang Shan’s message.
After Yang Kai departed, the conversation continued inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, with Liu Zhi Ping saying, “It’s almost time. We should act according to the plan.”
Xiang Shan nodded, “Collect all the puppets.”
The order was conveyed to the others and soon, all the Artifact Refiners delivered the puppets they refined during the past year to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. The puppets were personally inspected and counted by Ma Fan himself.
There were more than 1,000 Artifact Refiners, including two Great Grandmasters and 50 Grandmasters, so the results of the past year could be said to be extremely bountiful. As many as 70,000 puppets had been refined!
Yang Kai alone had refined more than 100 puppets with the other Grandmasters achieving similar results. The two Great Grandmasters had refined even more. Although the number of puppets refined by the Great Masters was slightly lower, refining 70,000 puppets in this timeframe was a terrifying feat nevertheless.
That was a number that was accumulated from piling up various materials, but the preparations did not end there. Every puppet also needed to be charged and activated, which was another huge expense.
It was fortunate that the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had brought enough supplies with them when they first set off on this journey to support such profligacy.
It took several days to install energy sources for the tens of thousands of puppets. Afterward, the puppets were divided into five portions and stored into five separate Space Rings. These five Space Rings were carried by five Eighth-Order Division Commanders, who jointly set off in the direction of Great Evolution Pass.
Following the departure of these five Eighth-Order Division Commanders, the huge fleet that had been marching straight towards Great Evolution Pass since they first set sail changed course.
It was also on this day that Zhe Chong Territory Lord, who had been fleeing for more than a year, finally arrived back at Great Evolution Pass.
The reason he was able to arrive at Great Evolution Pass two months earlier than the Great Evolution Army was that he had been acting alone, so it was only natural that his movements were less restricted. He had mustered all his strength to escape back then and subsequently continued to run for his life for the next whole month.
On the other hand, the Great Evolution Army had to maintain their formation, so it stood to reason that their speed could not compare to a lone Territory Lord. Be that as it may, it was the exact situation that Xiang Shan had been anticipating. It was crucial for Zhe Chong to return to Great Evolution Pass ahead of them so that the Black Ink Clan had enough time to make some arrangements.
Zhe Chong was a Territory Lord, but even his complexion was a little haggard at the moment. Travelling through the void for a year was no big deal for a Master in his Realm, so the reason he looked so disheveled was mainly due to the mental stress he had suffered. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his pursuers were right behind him.
When Zhe Chong was only a few days away from Wind and Cloud Pass, he was ambushed by a Human Race Army. The 300,000 troops of the Black Ink Army had been completely annihilated, and all other Territory Lords other than him had lost their lives.
However, fleeing for the past year had taken a huge toll on him. He felt as though there was an overwhelming sense of crisis pressing down on him, giving him the illusion that he was constantly being chased. Be that as it may, there were no signs of pursuers no matter how many times he checked his surroundings.
Seeing the majestic Great Pass in front of him once more, Zhe Chong felt as though he had never found a more welcoming sight in his entire life. His tense nerves finally relaxed as soon as he stepped into Great Evolution Pass.
More than 30,000 years had passed since the Black Ink Clan conquered Great Evolution Pass. The troops that generally departed from here to provide reinforcements to the two adjacent Theatres had always been defeated after arriving at Wind and Cloud Pass or Azure Void Pass. There was never once when they were ambushed and completely annihilated by the Humans along the way.
During his escape, Zhe Chong had been wondering about something. He simply could not understand how the Humans at Wind and Cloud Pass could gather the manpower to prepare an ambush in that place.
Logically speaking, the Humans at Wind and Cloud Pass should have been overwhelmed by the siege of the Black Ink Clan Army by now.
After much thought, a possibility occurred to him, one that left him feeling very uneasy.
Great Evolution Pass was originally one of the Great Passes under the Human Race’s control. It had taken countless generations of blood, sweat, and tears from the elites of Great Evolution Paradise to build up the Great Pass little by little. More than 30,000 years ago, this place was not that different from the other Great Passes. Tens of thousands of Human troops had protected this place under the leadership of their Old Ancestor and prevented the Black Ink Clan from taking one step across the boundary.
However, the entire Great Evolution Pass was now shrouded in a layer of dense Black Ink Strength. There was also an enormous Black Ink Nest standing tall in the middle of Great Evolution Pass’ Central Square.
The Black Ink Nest resembled a pitch-black flower bud that was on the verge of blooming. Whenever it contracted and expanded slightly, large amounts of thick Black Ink Strength leaked out from within.
This particular Black Ink Nest was thousands of metres tall, and its base practically occupied the entire Central Square. Looking at it from a distance, it resembled a towering black mountain. It was clearly a Mid-Grade Black Ink Nest.
Black Ink Nests were the foundation of the Black Ink Clan. The presence of a Mid-Grade Black Ink Nest here indicated that this was now the home territory of a Territory Lord. In other words, there was a Territory Lord guarding this place at all times.
This situation was nothing out of the ordinary. Great Evolution Pass was the first and only Great Pass to be conquered by the Black Ink Clan in history, so it was impossible for the Black Ink Clan to neglect it. Even if only to boost morale, a Territory Lord was always standing guard here.
Furthermore, the Territory Lord stationed here was the strongest Territory Lord in the entire Theatre, Hong Di!
It was rumoured that this Territory Lord was only one step away from becoming a Royal Lord. Unfortunately, the rumour had been circulating for tens of thousands of years yet there were no signs of Hong Di advancing so far.
Although there were no signs of his breaking through, it was true that Hong Di Territory Lord was very diligent in his cultivation. Even though he was stationed at Great Evolution Pass, he basically stayed within the Black Ink Nest and borrowed its power to cultivate. All the Black Ink Clansmen under his command believed that he was trying to overcome the last step to become a Royal Lord.
Of course, Hong Di was not the only Territory Lord stationed at Great Evolution Pass after the Black Ink Clan first conquered it. There were also several others besides him. That was because they had been wary of the Human Race trying to retake Great Evolution Pass.
However, more than 30,000 years had passed since then. The Human Race seemed to have little regard for Great Evolution Pass and never showed signs of trying to retake it; therefore, the Black Ink Clan no longer took this matter too seriously. Except for the most powerful Hong Di, who was ordered to remain here, all the other Territory Lords returned to their respective territories.
Leaving the strongest Territory Lord at Great Evolution Pass was part of the precautions taken by the Black Ink Clan. They knew that the Humans would eventually attempt to retake the Great Pass, but they did not know when the counterattack would come.
In this way, Great Evolution Pass became Hong Di’s personal territory. Nevertheless, this place remained very lively since the reinforcement Armies for the Black Ink Clan in the Azure Void Theatre and the Great Evolution Theatre generally gathered and departed from this place.
Roughly three years ago, an Army of 300,000 troops had set off in the direction of Wind and Cloud Pass; hence, Hong Di was very surprised when Zhe Chong suddenly appeared at Great Evolution Pass.
He was not surprised by the fact that Zhe Chong had returned so quickly though, but by the fact that Zhe Chong had returned at all. As the person in charge of Great Evolution Pass, he could easily obtain various pieces of information with the help of Great Evolution Pass.
Likewise, Zhe Chong was also rather taken aback. That was because he basically never saw Hong Di even though he had been to Great Evolution Pass on many occasions. Hong Di had always been in a state of secluded cultivation after all. Many Territory Lords had maliciously speculated about him, wondering whether he had died inside his Black Ink Nest since they had not seen him in so many years.
The two Territory Lords met inside a Grand Hall. Compared to the travel-weary Zhe Chong, Hong Di was undoubtedly full of vigour.
There were no rules for courtesy like those among the Human Race, so after they each took a seat, Hong Di glanced at Zhe Chong and asked probingly, “Did you encounter anything worthy of attention during your deployment?”
He did not ask where the Army of 300,000 troops had gone or why Zhe Chong was the only one out of a dozen Territory Lords to appear here. Just by looking at Zhe Chong’s miserable appearance, Hong Di had a guess as to what happened. His question was simply to confirm his speculations.
Zhe Chong quickly nodded, “Among a field of universe fragments located only a few days away from Wind and Cloud Pass, we were ambushed by the Humans. They were led by a Ninth-Order Old Ancestor and had some 50 to 60 Eighth-Order Masters with them! Our Army was no match for them, and almost everyone was slaughtered on the spot. I was the only one to escape alive!”
Hong Di nodded lightly at those words and revealed an expression that seemed to indicate he had expected as much. The Black Ink Clan Army of 300,000 troops had almost zero chance of survival against such a line-up from the Human Race. Zhe Chong was very lucky to escape and return alive.
Zhe Chong was stunned, “You knew?”
Hong Di waved his hand in denial, “I didn’t know anything, but I did receive news from the Wind and Cloud Theatre approximately one year ago. It was said that an additional Old Ancestor had appeared at Wind and Cloud Pass, along with hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. In the end, even the Royal Lord was severely injured and forced to escape back to the Royal City. The Territory Lords suffered massive casualties, and the Army of several million under their command was all but wiped out. It will be difficult for them to recover without at least a thousand years of recuperation.”
Zhe Chong was shocked to hear the news. He had thought that he was very unlucky, but compared to the fate of his clansmen at Wind and Cloud Theatre, he could be considered quite fortunate.
The Black Ink Clan had originally been suppressing the Human Race in the Wind and Cloud Theatre, but an additional Old Ancestor and hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had suddenly appeared on the battlefield. How could the Black Ink Clan of the Wind and Cloud Theatre possibly withstand such a force?
[Have the Humans gone insane!? Why did they gather so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in one place? Did they abandon the other Great Passes!?]
“Was the Old Ancestor you encountered a woman from the Human Race?” Hong Di asked.
Zhe Chong nodded solemnly, “Indeed!”
Although it was only a brief glimpse at the time, Zhe Chong had definitely seen the appearance of the Human Old Ancestor.
Hong Di said, “In that case, it has been confirmed. The Old Ancestor you encountered is most likely the one who suddenly appeared at Wind and Cloud Pass. The Royal Lords have conferred with each other and confirmed that this woman was originally the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master protecting Yin-Yang Pass.”
Zhe Chong raged, “If she is the Old Ancestor of Yin-Yang Pass, then why did she suddenly appear at Wind and Cloud Pass!? Are they planning to ignore and disregard the Royal Lord at Yin-Yang Pass!?”
He was lucky to have escaped the notice of that Ninth-Order Master, which allowed him to survive by a narrow margin, but what if he had not been so lucky? He would have suffered the same fate as the other dozen Territory Lords and become nothing more than severed limbs and hashed meat floating about in the void by now.
Zhe Chong had no place to vent all the bitterness and panic he felt while fleeing for his life; furthermore, thinking about how a Territory Lord like him had never been in such a wretched position before and learning that the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was somebody from the distant Yin-Yang Pass, he forgot to be mindful of his speech in his annoyance.
“Watch your tongue!” Hong Di glared at Zhe Chong. The prestige of a Black Ink Clan Royal Lord was not something a mere Territory Lord could disparage.
Zhe Chong immediately shrunk his neck. In the end, he heaved a heavy sigh.
Taking pity on Zhe Chong, Hong Di explained the situation, “To tell you the truth, there’s a reason why that Ninth-Order woman from Yin-Yang Pass appeared at Wind and Cloud Pass. It’s because a new Ninth-Order Human has appeared at Yin-Yang Pass. That’s why she could leave with peace of mind.”
Zhe Chong was stunned, “The Human’s gained an additional Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?”
The Ninth-Order Masters and the Royal Lords were the strongest combatants among the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan. The addition or loss of even one of them was something that could shake the entire Black Ink Battlefield. That was why Zhe Chong lost his composure when he heard that there was an additional Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master at Yin-Yang Pass.
Hong Di nodded, “When news that the Ninth-Order Old Ancestor from Yin-Yang Pass appeared at Wind and Cloud Pass, the Royal Lord in the Yin-Yang Theatre probed the situation at Yin-Yang Pass and confirmed that there was a Ninth-Order Master there. It seems that one of the Army Commanders at Yin-Yang Pass broke through.”
Zhe Chong immediately gritted his teeth in fury, “The Human Race sure is cunning!”
When a Human advanced from the Eighth-Order to the Ninth-Order, the disturbance caused was extremely large. If they had chosen to advance in the Black Ink Battlefield, then the Black Ink Clan would have known about it a long time ago. Seeing as they suddenly gained a new Ninth-Order Old Ancestor out of nowhere, it could only be assumed that the newly-advanced Master had not chosen to advance on the Black Ink Battlefield.
The Humans had been planning this from the beginning! They secretly nurtured a new Ninth-Order Old Ancestor, which led to the complete defeat of the Black Ink Clan at Wind and Cloud Pass. Zhe Chong had simply gotten involved by extension.
“That can’t be right!” Hong Di suddenly seemed to realise something, and his expression changed slightly, “Zhe Chong, did you say that you were ambushed by the Human Race Army when you were a few days away from Wind and Cloud Pass?”
Zhe Chong nodded, “En.”
“In other words, you encountered each other on the road.”
“Naturally,” he secretly thought to himself, [Why is Hong Di asking such nonsensical questions?]
Hong Di’s expression changed drastically. He had not been surprised by what happened to Zhe Chong because he had already heard about the situation beforehand. The Black Ink Clan Army had suffered a crushing defeat at Wind and Cloud Pass, so he naturally assumed that the reinforcement Army led by Territory Lords like Zhe Chong had also been defeated on that battlefield.
Therefore, he had been slightly surprised to see that Zhe Chong had returned alive. Many Territory Lords had perished in that battle, so Zhe Chong was very lucky to have survived.
Be that as it may, it turned out that the reinforcement Army had not participated in the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass.
It was impossible for the Humans to know about the reinforcement Army dispatched from Great Evolution Pass and set up an ambush in the middle of their route. In other words, it was because Zhe Chong and the others were unlucky that they were ambushed in the first place. They had encountered the Human Race Army that had departed from Wind and Cloud Pass.
But why would an Old Ancestor lead a Human Army out of Wind and Cloud Pass?
“This is bad!” Hong Di abruptly jumped to his feet, “They are coming to attack Great Evolution Pass!”
Zhe Chong frowned, “Do you have evidence?”
The truth was that he had considered this possibility while on the run for his life, but there was no evidence to back up this speculation. Although he had encountered the Human Race Army outside of Wind and Cloud Pass, he could not say that they were planning to attack and retake Great Evolution Pass. That was a huge claim to make, so Zhe Chong had not dared to voice his opinion even though this idea had crossed his mind.
Zhe Chong had originally planned to use the Black Ink Nest at Great Evolution Pass to report his encounter to the Royal Lord; at the same time, he planned to mention his conjecture despite the lack of evidence.
Unfortunately, there were various pros and cons to be considered. If his conjecture was true, then the Black Ink Clan would have time to prepare themselves in advance; however, if he was wrong, then he would definitely be punished. There was also the fact that he had fled the battlefield during his encounter with the Human Race Army. He was bound to suffer horribly if he was simultaneously condemned and punished for both crimes.
Seeing that Hong Di had the same suspicions, Zhe Chong felt a sense of relief. It would save him the trouble of informing the Royal Lord himself.
Hong Di quickly said, “If you consider the timing, you probably encountered the ambush from the Human Race Army after the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass ended. It was also after the battle at Wind and Cloud Pass that the Royal Lord sent me a message, telling me not to enter retreat for the time being. I couldn’t understand why he issued such a strange order at the time, but it would seem that he already anticipated this turn of events!”
The Royal Lord had indeed anticipated this situation.
Hong Di was stationed at Great Evolution Pass, so the only information he could receive was the information circulating within the Great Evolution Theatre. It was also information that the Royal Lord could access, but unlike Hong Di, the Royal Lord had a High-Rank Black Ink Nest. The Royal Lord could communicate with the other Royal Lords with their High-Rank Black Ink Nests and obtain information from the other Theatres.
Hong Di was only aware that the Humans at Wind and Cloud Pass had significantly increased the number of their troops. They also seemed to have welcomed an additional Old Ancestor. However, he was not aware that the Humans at Azure Void Pass had seen a similar increase in troop strength. Although they did not have an Old Ancestor among them, they had mobilised hundreds of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. The Black Ink Clan at Azure Void Pass had suffered a crushing defeat as a result.
The Human Race at the two Great Passes neighbouring Great Evolution Pass had shown strange movements at the same time, that was a clear indication that they were plotting something. It was only natural for the Royal Lord to have some guesses. Hence, he immediately sent a message to Hong Di, telling the latter not to enter retreat for the next few years. That was also why Zhe Chong could meet with Hong Di at this moment.
“This is an urgent matter. I must report this information to the Royal Lord immediately.” After saying that, Hong Di rushed out. It was evident that he wanted to borrow the power of the Black Ink Nest to report the information he just received.
Seeing that, Zhe Chong naturally had no reason to stop Hong Di, so he stood up and said, “I’ll go with you.”
There was no telling what the Royal Lord might ask; therefore, it would be easier for him to answer the questions if he were present.
A short while later, Hong Di stood inside the Black Ink Nest and communicated with its consciousness to report all the information he received so far. He originally thought that it would take some time before he received a response, but contrary to his expectations, the Royal Lord responded immediately.
Another short while passed before Hong Di withdrew his consciousness with a solemn expression.
Zhe Chong asked, “What did the Royal Lord say?”
He had wanted to report his experience to the Royal Lord himself, but who could have imagined that the Royal Lord had no intention to question him whatsoever? Zhe Chong did not know what the Royal Lord had said to Hong Di.
Hong Di quickly said, “Our Clan suffered a crushing defeat at Azure Void Pass after the Humans dispatched a large number of reinforcements there. As a result, nearly half the Territory Lords were killed or gravely injured. Although the Royal Lord is safe, he won’t be able to take action within a short period of time.”
Zhe Chong was shocked, “Are you saying that something similar happened at Azure Void Pass too!?”
Hong Di nodded heavily, “So, the Royal Lord speculates that the Humans might be coming to retake Great Evolution Pass! Zhe Chong, the Royal Lord commands you to return to your territory as soon as possible and gather an Army in order to reinforce the defences at Great Evolution Pass!”
“Are they really coming?” Zhe Chong felt a little faint. For more than 30,000 years, the Humans had been ignoring the loss of Great Evolution Pass; even so, the Black Ink Clan had always known that the Humans would never abandon Great Evolution Pass entirely. They would come back to retake the Pass one day, but the Black Ink Clan never expected the wait to last 30,000 years, “I understand. I will return to my territory immediately.”
A short while later, Zhe Chong’s figure transformed into a small Black Ink Cloud that sped off into the void. He secretly rejoiced that he had returned quickly. According to his estimations, it would still take some time for the Human Race Army to arrive even if they were coming to attack Great Evolution Pass; therefore, he would have enough time to make preparations. In fact, all the Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre would have ample time to prepare themselves for the difficulties ahead.
At the same time, inside Great Evolution Pass, Hong Di issued various orders to his subordinates. Numerous Black Ink Clan squads scattered across the void in two separate directions, tasked with searching for possible movements of the Humans from Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass.
Unfortunately, this endeavour not only took time, but also required a touch of luck. If the Humans intended to retake Great Evolution Pass, they were bound to act with utmost secrecy. It would not be easy to discover their whereabouts.
Great Evolution Pass was not the only place to take action. All the Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre had received orders from the Royal Lord. They had been tasked with gathering the Armies under their command in the shortest time possible. As such, all the Black Ink Clansmen in the Great Evolution Theatre took action almost immediately. The ominous feeling that a storm was approaching enveloped the entire Theatre.
Hong Di initially thought that it would be difficult to receive news about the Human Race Army, but contrary to his expectations, it only took the Black Ink Clan search teams that he previously dispatched six days to return with intelligence to report. They had mysteriously lost contact with one of the Black Ink Clans squads that set off in the direction of Azure Void Pass.
The loss was not great, just a single Feudal Lord along with some High-Rank and Low-Rank Clansmen. Nevertheless, this anomaly quickly caught Hong Di’s attention.
It was impossible for a search party he sent out to disappear for no reason. For the past 30,000 years, the Black Ink Clan had never encountered any enemies in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass. The only possibility was that the Black Ink Clan squad had discovered the hiding place of the Human Race Army and were eliminated as a result. Therefore, he sent out more people to investigate the region where the first team had gone missing and simultaneously reported this information to the Royal Lord.
At a place located several days away from Great Evolution Pass in the direction of Azure Void Pass, a large fleet concealed the traces of their whereabouts and quietly remained hidden in the void with the help of various artifacts and arrays. The method of concealment they deployed was very clever and sophisticated, so as long as nobody came within 1,000 kilometres of the various artifacts and arrays, they would remain invisible.
However, there was nothing they could do if the Black Ink Clan came too close. Unlike with individual cultivators, it was not easy to conceal the whereabouts of such a large-scale fleet; after all, a lone cultivator could at least use some obscure Secret Techniques to conceal themselves, whereas a giant group of Warships could not be missed.
This fleet was none other than the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that had departed from Azure Void Pass.
Just as Xiang Shan had expected, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies had marched at a faster pace compared to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. They arrived in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass half a month ago. Needless to say, they would never act rashly before they made contact with the Eastern and Western Armies. That was why they stopped at a location approximately three days away from Great Evolution Pass to wait for news from Xiang Shan.
This location was neither too close nor too far from the Great Evolution Pass. Under the premise that they could effectively conceal their whereabouts, this distance would also allow them to easily communicate with the Eastern and Western Armies.
Unfortunately, the Northern and Southern Armies had extremely terrible luck. Their large fleet was carefully hiding in the void when a Black Ink Clan squad suddenly barged into their defense perimeter. The void was so vast that 1,000 kilometres was truly not far; therefore, the two Army Commanders of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies simply could not understand how the Black Ink Clan could randomly bump into them. They didn’t even know whether to consider those Black Ink Clansmen lucky or unlucky.
Needless to say, a mere squad of Black Ink Clansmen led by a lone Feudal Lord was nothing to the Northern and Southern Armies. They weren’t even capable of filling the gaps between the Army’s teeth.
After swiftly annihilating the Black Ink Clan squad, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies deliberately changed their location just to be safe, shifting the fleet’s hiding spot to a place several million kilometres away. Be that as it may, they just received another report from the patrols that another Black Ink Clan team had stumbled upon their location again.
The Southern Army’s Army Commander, Ou Yang Lie, the Northern Army’s Army Commander, Mi Jing Lun, and several other Eighth-Order Division Commanders gathered together aboard the main Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
It was clearly not a coincidence for them to be found by two Black Ink squads in succession. There were no such coincidences in the world.
“What do you think?” Ou Yang Lie was a red-haired old man. Just from his name alone, one could tell that he had a fiery personality. Moreover, there was a hint of impatience colouring his brow while he was speaking.
How could the others not know the reason for his impatience? The main reason was that the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were already in position, but there was still no news from the Eastern and Western Armies. There was no way to tell where the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies were currently located.
Ou Yang Lie could not wait to attack Great Evolution Pass, so he was naturally impatient at this delay.
An Eighth-Order Division Commander spoke up, “According to the scouts who were previously dispatched, there seems to have been an increase in the number of Black Ink Clansmen in the vicinity recently. Moreover, they seem to be searching for something.”
Ou Yang Lie coldly snorted, “What else can they be searching for? Clearly, they’re looking for us. It looks like the news that our Human Race Army is planning to retake Great Evolution Pass has been exposed.”
The Great Evolution Northern Army’s Army Commander, Mi Jing Lun, had a scholarly appearance. He had a feathered helmet on his head and a feather fan in his hand. Although he was not young, he had the appearance of a fair-skinned youth. Anybody who saw him for the first time would never associate him with the post of Army Commander.
He smiled lightly, “It’s within our expectations. The movements at Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass were not small after all. It’s only natural for the Black Ink Clan to guess our intentions.”
Ou Yang Lie raged, “I want to know where Xiang Shan led the Eastern and Western Armies. We’ve already been here for some time, so why are they nowhere to be seen!? Are they planning to give up on Great Evolution Pass!?”
Mi Jing Lun persuaded earnestly, “Please calm down, Brother Ou Yang. Judging by the number of days, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies should have arrived in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass by now. I’m sure somebody will come and contact us soon.”
He knew that Ou Yang Lie was upset that the Old Ancestor had appointed Xiang Shan as the Great Evolution Eastern Army’s Army Commander. Combined with the current situation, Ou Yang Lie couldn’t hide his contempt for Xiang Shan in his words.
“What we need to do right now is to wait. But, since the Black Ink Clan has taken precautions, it isn’t safe for our Northern and Southern Armies to remain here. This place is just three days away from Great Evolution Pass, which if the enemy is alerted is clearly too close. We should withdraw to a position further away.”
Ou Yang Lie said nothing, so a Division Commander inquired, “Senior Brother Mi, how far back do you think we should retreat?”
Mi Jing Lun pondered for a moment, “We should retreat another two day’s distance, so that we are five days away from Great Evolution Pass; otherwise, the Northern and Southern Armies may not be able to respond in time if the Royal Lord decides to take action.”
The other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders who were participating in the strategy meeting nodded in agreement. Then, Mi Jing Lun glanced at Ou Yang Lie.
Ou Yang Lie said, “We’ll do as you say. Although the Army can withdraw, we will still need to send somebody to approach Great Evolution Pass in order to better monitor the movements there.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded at those words, “Your words make sense, Brother Ou Yang. Do you have any candidates in mind?”
Ou Yang Lie stood up and said, “I’ll go myself.”
Mi Jing Lun heaved a sigh in his heart, knowing that he could not dissuade the other party. Ou Yang Lie had a rather irritable personality, and the more one tried to dissuade him, the more counterproductive it would be. In any case, it was not dangerous for him to go in person. He was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after all, so it would not be difficult for him to conceal his presence, unlike a large fleet that could not remain hidden no matter what they did.
Even if Ou Yang Lie went to scout in person, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies would still have Mi Jing Lun in command, so nothing would go wrong. It was just that Ou Yang Lie could not be allowed to go alone. There was no saying what trouble he might cause with his violent temper otherwise.
For that reason, Mi Jing Lun said, “You should bring your Disciple with you, Brother Ou Yang. That way, you can send him back to inform us if you discover anything.”
Ou Yang Lie immediately turned to look at Mi Jing Lun, “What’s wrong? Are you afraid I might cause trouble? Are you trying to get my Disciple to watch over me?”
Mi Jing Lun burst out laughing, “How could I possibly dare to do something like that?”
Although he said that, it was obvious he had that exact intention in mind.
Ou Yang Lie considered the suggestion for a moment and coldly snorted, “Fine. I’ll bring him with me.”
Honestly speaking, Mi Jing Lun was not the only one who was worried that he might cause a ruckus, Ou Yang Lie was worried that he might cause a ruckus too. Under normal circumstances, his strength as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would have prevented anything too troublesome from occurring even if he kicked up a storm; however, things were different this time. The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies had not gotten in touch with the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies, so they had yet to discuss their deployment strategy to retake Great Evolution Pass in detail. If he were to stir up trouble at this time, his actions would affect many other people as a whole. In the worst-case scenario, he might even disrupt the plans of the entire Army.
If he brought his Disciple along with him, then his Disciple would act as a constraint. Ou Yang Lie would first need to carefully weigh his actions before he caused any trouble.
“Brat, did you hear? Come take a walk with your Master.” He turned to look to the side.
There was a young man leaning against a nearby pillar, with his arms folded in front of his chest. The two Army Commanders and several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders in charge of deciding the movements of the Army were currently in deep discussion with each other. In contrast, this young man looked extremely bored and almost seemed as though he was about to fall asleep while listening to their discussion. He would yawn widely from time to time until his eyes were watery.
This young man was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so logically speaking, his cultivation should have allowed him to break free from the constraints of ordinary mortals. It should be impossible for him to feel sleepy or yawn. Be that as it may, he not only yawned, but also yawned without stopping. He looked so drowsy that he might fall asleep at any moment.
Everybody else in the hall was in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, and he was the only Seventh-Order Junior present.
Mi Jing Lun and the other Eighth-Order Masters were not surprised by this youth’s behaviour though. Rather, it could be said that they had long gotten accustomed to it.
Speaking of which, Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple were definitely a pair of weirdos. The Master had a fiery personality, and his general behaviour was rather impulsive even though he was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Therefore, it was rather surprising for him to take in such a lazy Disciple who seemed so laid back and apathetic to almost everything.
Their personalities could be said to be complete opposites of each other, but Ou Yang Lie had very high expectations of this Disciple of his and usually spoiled him rotten. It was for these reasons that he always brought his Disciple along with him whenever he felt that he might act recklessly and get into trouble. That was because he would constantly remind himself to act extremely carefully so as not to cause any trouble when his Disciple was by his side; after all, his Disciple might also get dragged into the mess if he caused a ruckus!
The young man stared blankly ahead and yawned as usual. Meanwhile, Ou Yang Lie did not receive a reply to his question.
Mi Jing Lun smiled bitterly, [The bad habit of Brother Ou Yang’s Disciple, who cultivates the Divine Wandering, is another problem in itself! Is it really okay for the two of them to act together?]
“Martial Nephew Gong, your Master is speaking to you,” one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders reminded helplessly.
“Disciple is awake!” Gong Lian hurriedly straightened up and lowered his head, “Honoured Master, what orders do you have for me?”
“Bullshit! What orders!?” Ou Yang Lie became impatient and walked out in large strides. When he walked by Gong Lian, he simply grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along, “Come with me!”
Afterward, he left the Purifying Black Ink Battleship in quick steps, Ou Yang Lie’s voice drifted over from a distance, “Brother Mi, please just act according to plan. If this Old Master obtains any information, I will send my Disciple back to inform you.”
Mi Jing Lun and the other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders exchanged a glance with each other and shook their heads helplessly.
After a while, the huge fleet retreated slowly as previously discussed. They moved back by another two days’ distance in order to prevent any unexpected incidents.
In the void, Ou Yang Lie used various Secret Techniques to conceal his and Gong Lian’s auras. Be that as it may, his speed was not slow in the slightest as he headed in the direction of Great Evolution Pass.
Meanwhile, Gong Lian neither resisted nor struggled. He simply allowed himself to be carried in that manner and did not look disgruntled at all. In fact, judging by his expression, he seemed accustomed to such behaviour. For him, it was great that he didn’t need to use his own strength to travel. What did it matter even if he was in an unsightly posture?
Fortunately, he did at least ask a single question, “Honoured Master, where are we going?”
“We are going to spy on the Black Ink Clan,” Ou Yang Lie replied.
Gong Lian grunted in response and said nothing else.
While Ou Yang Li and his Disciple were travelling through the void and quickly approaching Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai was also charging through the void from the opposite side.
Yang Kai’s journey required him to cross Great Evolution Pass and head towards its opposite side to search for the whereabouts of the Northern and Southern Armies and report Xiang Shan’s intentions to them.
There were two possible routes in order to cross Great Evolution Pass. One was to go around from the front, and the other was to go around the back.
According to the map of the entire Black Ink Battlefield that Ding Yao had shown him back at Blue Sky Pass previously, the boundary between the Black Ink Battlefield and the 3,000 Worlds was connected by a single path. This path was none other than the No-Return Pass guarded by the Dragon and Phoenix Clans!
With the No-Return Pass as the centre, the Human Race had established more than 100 Great Passes to form an outer defence perimeter. The distribution of these Great Passes in the Black Ink Battlefield resembled an inverted semi-circle that encompassed the No-Return Pass at its centre. In other words, the No-Return Pass was located behind all the Great Passes. If one were to set off from any of the Great Passes and travelled in the direction of the 3,000 Worlds, they would eventually arrive at the No-Return Pass.
More than 30,000 years ago, the area covered by the semi-circle was regarded as an absolutely safe area for the Human Race. That was because this area was located at the rear of every Great Pass. As long as the Great Passes stood strong, it was impossible for the Black Ink Clan to set foot in the area within the semi-circle.
After Great Evolution Pass was captured by the Black Ink Clan though, the Black Ink Clan finally had the opportunity to experience the noble bearing of the No-Return Pass. However, the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass no longer dared to target the No-Return Pass again after suffering heavy losses from multiple attempts. Even though they remained active around Great Evolution Pass, in the direction of the No-Return Pass, their numbers were few and they generally did not venture too far away from the Pass.
Needless to say, Yang Kai chose the easier option to get around Great Evolution Pass.
The area within the semi-circle was relatively safer as there was a much lower chance of encountering the Black Ink Clan there. If he went around the front of Great Evolution Pass instead, he might run into various troubles as a result.
At a sudden moment, Yang Kai abruptly came to a halt and turned his head to look in a certain direction. There seemed to be a mysterious force coming from that direction that called to him and made him burn with excitement. Even the Dragon Vein in his body seemed to boil, and his blood began to flow at a faster rate than usual.
Yang Kai immersed his mind into the feeling and perceived the situation. It didn’t take long for him to understand what was happening. The source of that mysterious force was the place where the Dragon Altar was located! Thanks to the Dragon Vein in his body, Yang Kai naturally formed a connection with the Dragon Altar.
More importantly, the No-Return Pass was also located in that direction! The No-Return Pass was guarded by the Dragon and Phoenix Clans. Could it be that the Dragon Altar was at the No-Return Pass?
Ever since he came to the Black Ink Battlefield, Yang Kai had always wanted to visit the Dragon Clan. After all, he had a Dragon Vein in him, and there were also many other Dragon Clan members in Void Land. If he could locate the Dragon Clan on this side, he would be able to cultivate his Dragon Vein better in the future. Unfortunately, his wish had yet to come true.
All the public knew was that the Dragon Altar was part of the 36 Cave Heavens, but they did not know where it was located. According to the rumours, the Dragon Altar was an ethereal place that was impossible for anybody to enter unless they were part of the Dragon Clan.
The Elders of the Cave Heavens and Paradises most likely knew the secret of the Dragon Altar and the No-Return Pass. Be that as it may, they would never publicise this knowledge.
Yang Kai once visited the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land in the Shattered Heaven, where he was able to experience the past and witnessed an ancient battle. In that ancient battle, the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress of the time had joined forces to seal and suppress the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. He also obtained the Dragon Clan’s Sacred Treasure known as the Crystal Palace in the Black Ink Sealing Land.
However, there were no Dragon Clan members or pure-blooded Phoenix Clan members in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land. The Divine Spirits in the Ancestral Land didn’t even know anything about the ancient battle that took place all those eons ago. It was possible that the Dragon and Phoenix Clans had left the Ancestral Land after that great battle to guard the No-Return Pass.
Yang Kai had failed to sense the existence of the Dragon Altar back at Blue Sky Pass because the distance between them had been too great. Now that he had deliberately taken a large detour around the rear of Great Evolution Pass though, he finally had the opportunity to perceive the Dragon Altar. It was just that his current position was very far from the No-Return Pass, so the resulting connection he felt was not that strong.
Glancing in the direction of the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai suppressed the excitement boiling in his Dragon Vein and continued on his journey. The Dragon Altar was a place he was bound to visit one day, but now was not the time! He had more important things to do right now.
His journey went smoothly without encountering any Black Ink Clansmen; hence, he boldly travelled by manipulating Space Principles without fear of being discovered.
On the other side of Great Evolution Pass, Ou Yang Lie carried his Disciple, Gong Lian, and snuck towards Great Evolution Pass. Along the way, he found a large number of Black Ink Clan squads searching in all directions. Of course, it was not difficult for him to avoid these Black Ink Clansmen with his powerful cultivation and skills.
Gong Lian continued to yawn throughout the journey with a drowsy look in his eyes. Anybody who saw him would think that he was about to fall asleep at any moment. In reality, he had always maintained such behaviour without changing. Even though he was being carried by his Honoured Master, he did not bother to resist at all.
A few days later, Ou Yang Lie finally arrived at the periphery of Great Evolution Pass. From where he stood in the void, he could clearly see the majestic Great Pass towering upward in the void. He couldn’t help sighing when he saw the Great Pass that was completely shrouded in Black Ink Strength.
This place used to be part of the territory that belonged to the Human Race, but it was now dominated by the Black Ink Clan, which made him feel indignant. As a result, he was tempted to rush over and attack the Black Ink Clan in order to reclaim the Pass and wash away the shame of losing it.
Nevertheless, it was just a thought. No matter how rash his personality, Ou Yang Lie knew that nothing good would happen if he attacked the Great Pass alone. They would only stand a chance to reclaim Great Evolution Pass if the entire Army took action.
While this position was considered quite close, he had yet to reach the limits of his ability. Ou Yang Lie was about to head closer when Gong Lian, who had been carried all this time, abruptly reacted. Gong Lian widened his eyes in surprise, the usual lethargic expression on his face vanishing in an instant. More importantly, he involuntarily shuddered in fear.
Ou Yang Lie had been carrying Gong Lian all this while, so he immediately noticed the sudden change in his Disciple. Just as he was about to inquire about the situation, he heard Gong Lian sending a Divine Sense transmission to him, “Honoured Master, I suddenly feel a little scared.”
He frowned, “Are you certain?”
Gong Lian nodded solemnly.
Ou Yang Lie’s expression immediately turned serious.
There was no denying that his Disciple had extremely outstanding aptitude as Gong Lian had advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Even among the Cave Heavens and Paradises, he was a rare talent with the hope of reaching the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm one day. Why else would Ou Yang Lie value him so much?
What’s more, Gong Lian’s cultivation speed was astoundingly fast. It had been less than 1,000 years since he advanced to the Open Heaven Realm, but he had already reached the peak of the Seventh-Order and was only one step away from the Eighth-Order.
Although his cultivation was one step lower than Ou Yang Lie’s, he had a unique ability, and that was that his perception of danger was much more acute than ordinary people. His perception was not so much a skill as an innate talent; therefore, it was impossible for others to imitate. Gong Lian might not know what triggered it, but he could always predict approaching danger in advance. The greater the crisis he faced, the stronger the perception he experienced.
Similar incidents had occurred in the past and Gong Lian had relied on his innate talent to avoid many dangers along his cultivation path; however, there had never been an incident where his perception of danger had caused him to panic.
Being aware of his Disciple’s innate talent, Ou Yang Lie immediately knew that something was very wrong when Gong Lian trembled in fear and claimed that he was scared. Between the both of them, one of them was in the peak of the Seventh-Order and the other was in the Eighth-Order. Even if they encountered the Black Ink Clan Army, they would be able to escape alive as long as they were not completely surrounded by the enemy.
For that reason, the source of danger that Gong Lian sensed was most likely the Royal Lord! Only the Royal Lord, who was comparable to a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor in terms of strength, could frighten him so badly.
Ou Yang Lie did not sense the aura of the Royal Lord, but he did not hold any doubts towards his Disciple’s ability; hence, he immediately sought a hiding spot. It just so happened that there were some asteroids of varying sizes nearby, so he quickly sped towards one and hastily set up a Spirit Array to conceal their auras.
Similarly, Gong Lian stopped being lazy and lent a hand in the preparations.
Thanks to the joint efforts of both Master and Disciple, they completed a Spirit Array in less than half cup of tea’s time. Ou Yang Lie swiftly activated the Spirit Array after they slipped inside without delay.
Almost at the same time, a majestic Will swept past their hiding place and spread out into the distance at a rapid rate. It was immediately followed by a gigantic cloud of darkness that came from the depths of the void and rushed past them, no more than 10,000 kilometres away from their hiding spot.
Ou Yang Lie lowered his eyes and did not look in that direction; then, he stealthily sent a transmission, “What do you see?”
In stark contrast to Ou Yang Lie’s cautious actions, Gong Lian’s current behaviour could only be said to be extremely bold and reckless. Gong Lian squinted his eyes slightly, his gaze slowly becoming slack again as he watched the gigantic figure rushing into Great Evolution Pass.
From beginning to end, the gigantic figure did not show any reaction whatsoever despite being watched so fixedly. This could be said to be another of Gong Lian’s unique abilities. If anybody else were watching that figure, it would have been difficult for them to escape notice even if they were in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm; however, Gong Lian was different as he could practically reduce his presence to the point where he seemingly didn’t exist.
“It’s the Royal Lord!” Gong Lian replied via transmission.
Both Master and Disciple would not have avoided the Royal Lord’s perception if Gong Lian had not warned Ou Yang Lie in time; in fact, they would likely have been exposed immediately. There was no doubt that they would be killed on the spot if they were seen.
“Tsk…” Even though he had already formed a guess in his heart, Ou Yang Lie couldn’t help clicking his tongue in frustration when he heard Gong Lian’s reply and he scolded irritably, “Xiang Shan’s blunder has caused us to miss a great opportunity to win this battle!”
The Royal Lord had come from deep within the Black Ink Clan’s territory; in other words, there was no Royal Lord guarding Great Evolution Pass previously. If the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies under Xiang Shane’s command had arrived just a little sooner and joined forces with the Northern and Southern Armies, they would have been able to retake Great Evolution Pass easily with the additional support of a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Old Ancestor.
Now that the Royal Lord had arrived to guard Great Evolution Pass personally, it would not be easy to retake Great Evolution Pass anymore. Moreover, the Black Ink Clan Army would not be far behind since the Royal Lord had already arrived at Great Evolution Pass.
Sure enough, Black Ink Clan troops were not far from Great Evolution Pass.
Just half a day after the Royal Lord’s arrived at Great Evolution Pass, a Black Ink Clan Army of 20,000 to 30,000 rushed over under the leadership of a Territory Lord. It didn’t take long for many other Territory Lords to arrive in quick succession with their respective troops.
Over the course of three days, Ou Yang Lie watched as dozens of Black Ink Clan Territory Lords arrived with their private armies. At this point, there were as many as 300,000 to 400,000 enemies gathered.
Ou Yang Lie’s expression became solemn as the more prepared the Black Ink Clan was, the harder it would be for the Human Race Army to retake Great Evolution Pass. However, there was still no news about the whereabouts of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies led by Xiang Shan.
Several days passed, and during that time, more and more Black Ink Clansmen had gathered in Great Evolution Pass. The busy figures of random Black Ink Clansmen could be seen flitting around Great Evolution Pass at all times. They were setting up various deployments inside the walls in preparation to confront the Human Race Army.
Ten days later, Ou Yang Lie and Gong Lian counted almost 800,000 to 900,000 Black Ink Clansmen at Great Evolution Pass. In addition, there were dozens of Territory Lords and even a Royal Lord assuming command. It could be said that the Black Ink Clan’s deployment at Great Evolution Pass practically left it impenetrable to attack.
“Honoured Master, the situation is not looking good for us!” Even Gong Lian, who often spent his time cultivating the Divine Wandering, could see that the current situation was not good for the Human Race.
Ou Yang Lie remained silent with a sullen expression. The communication device he carried with him to contact the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies could be used as long as both parties were within a certain distance of each other; however, there had been no contact even up until now.
[Just what is going on with the Eastern and Western Armies!? Why haven’t they contacted me? Could it be that something has happened to them? But, they have the protection of an Old Ancestor, what can possibly happen to them?] Ou Yang Lie simply could not understand the situation.
At Great Evolution Pass, many Territory Lords had gathered together inside the spacious Grand Hall. There was a throne at the highest position, a hideously shaped one made entirely from bones. Even after countless years, the bones continued to exude monstrous ferocity.
After conquering Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan had collected the corpses of countless Human Masters and used their bones to create this throne. Only the corpses of those in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and above were qualified to be used in its construction.
The throne was immeasurably huge, so it was conceivable just how many bones from the Human Masters had been used to build it at the time. At the same time, it was also a glimpse into how many Human Masters had perished in that battle at Great Evolution Pass.
This was the Black Ink Clan’s spoils of war! Despite being placed here all this time, even Hong Di, who was in charge of overseeing Great Evolution Pass, did not have the qualifications to sit on this throne. It was an exclusive throne specifically for the use of the Royal Lord.
At this moment, the Royal Lord was sitting on this throne. Judging from his appearance alone, he was not very different from the Humans. It was just that his body was several times larger, and he had a pair of jet-black wings on his back.
He propped his face up on one hand and narrowed his eyes slightly, listening to the reports from the Territory Lords.
It was mainly Hong Di’s report. Great Evolution Pass was his home territory after all, so he had previously dispatched many Black Ink Clansmen to investigate the surroundings, so he was now reporting the information he obtained in quick succession.
“Several of our squads have gone missing in the direction of Azure Void Pass. Although I’ve sent more people to investigate their disappearance, the investigation did not reveal any clues. We are fairly certain that those Clansmen encountered Humans and were eliminated. The Human Race Army is most likely hiding somewhere there, but I don’t know their exact location. On the other hand, nothing strange has been detected from the direction of Wind and Cloud Pass. All the scouts we dispatched have returned alive. There have been no losses and they did not discover any traces of an Army there. At the moment, over 30 Territory Lords have arrived at Great Evolution Pass with a force of more than 900,000 troops. The defences of Great Evolution Pass deployed over so many years would surely be enough to stop the invasion of the Human Race Army. It’s no big deal if they don’t come, but if they do, they will not leave this place alive.”
The rest of the Territory Lords cheered loudly in response. Most of them had participated in the battle to conquer Great Evolution Pass more than 30,000 years ago.
Back when the Humans still had control over Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan had suffered greatly every time they attacked the Great Pass as it acted as a huge defensive fortress. As a result, the Humans often won many battles despite their fewer numbers.
The time had finally come for the Humans to have a taste of the helpless feeling that the Black Ink Clan experienced whenever they attacked the Great Passes; thus, the Territory Lords could not wait to see that scene before their very eyes.
Needless to say, 30 Territory Lords and an Army of more than 900,000 troops were not everything that the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre could muster; in fact, that number was merely half of the troops that the Black Ink Clan could immediately mobilise.
It was not that the Black Ink Clan could not muster more troops, it was just that Great Evolution Pass could not accommodate more people despite its enormous size. An Army of 900,000 troops was more or less the limit. If they added any more troops to the mix, those troops would only become a burden instead of a boon.
That was why the Royal Lord had only ordered 30 Territory Lords and the respective Armies to assemble. As for the other Territory Lords, they were on standby and ready to support Great Evolution Pass at any time.
In reality, there should have been close to 100 Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre; however, they had been tasked with providing reinforcements to Wind and Cloud Pass and the Azure Void Pass in recent years. Almost 10 Territory Lords had died in battle on each side, leading to the loss of nearly 20 Territory Lords.
Consequently, there were only some 70 Territory Lord’s left in the Great Evolution Theatre.
This was not a large number; after all, there were reportedly 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders in the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies alone, with more than 100 Eighth-Order Masters in the entire the Great Evolution Army.
Comparing the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords, the Human Race had an absolute advantage. This decision had taken into account the dangers and risks of assaulting the Great Pass. It was impossible to reclaim Great Evolution Pass without an absolute advantage over their enemies.
After Hong Di finished his report, the Royal Lord did not respond for a long time and the Territory Lords did not dare to pester him for a response.
A long while passed before the Royal Lord commanded, “Continue investigating. Try to find a way to learn the exact location of the Human Race Army.”
What he could ascertain at this moment was that the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master came from the direction of Wind and Cloud Pass; in other words, the Human Race Army coming from Azure Void Pass did not have the protection of a Ninth-Order Master.
If he could learn the location of the Human Race Army from Azure Void Pass, then he could take the initiative to attack them. In that way, it would be much easier for him to deal with the Human Race Army from Wind and Cloud Pass.
The Human Race’s decision to split the Army during their march towards Great Evolution Pass would result in their complete defeat. The Black Ink Clan Royal Lord was full of confidence towards this upcoming battle; after all, the situation today was not the same as 30,000 years ago.
“Yes!” Hong Di responded and relayed the orders to his subordinates. It didn’t take long before even more Black Ink Clan squads came out from Great Evolution Pass and split into two directions to investigate and obtain information on the movements of the Human Race Army.
In the void, Yang Kai’s figure flickered constantly as he moved forward rapidly. The huge void was vast and silent with no suitable objects to be used as a reference for the Universe Chart; therefore, he did not know his exact location. It was truly fortunate that he could still use the Universe Array.
Under normal circumstances, those who left behind their Imprint at the Universe Array could use the Universe Transference Law to create a connection to it as long as both were located in the same world. In that way, they could directly teleport themselves back to the Universe Array. It was just that the difference in the teleporting distance would lead to a difference in the pressure that one faced when teleporting themselves. If the pressure was too great, they might end up in an awkward situation where their body is torn apart.
A few days ago, Yang Kai started to use the Universe Transference Law to determine the position of the Universe Array and correct his direction accordingly. Unfortunately, the distance between them was still too large. Even for him, it would be difficult to withstand the burden of teleporting over such a large distance; hence, he had been working on getting closer towards the Universe Array.
All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks and formed hand seals to activate the Universe Transference Law. A huge array bloomed beneath his feet a moment later, forming a vague connection with something a long way away. It was the place where the Universe Array was located. More importantly, the location of the Universe Array corresponded to none other than the location of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship belonging to the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies.
Yang Kai quietly perceived the situation. His current location was still quite far from the location of the Universe Array. An ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would not be able to teleport themselves over such a distance safely. Only an Eighth-Order Master could pull off such a feat.
Be that as it may, this was no longer an issue for Yang Kai as he was a Master of the Dao of Space, he thus relaxed his mind and allowed the intangible pulling force to wrap around him. Following a burst of bright light, his figure vanished out of sight.
The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were currently hiding in an area filled with universe fragments. This place was located a full 10-day journey away from Great Evolution Pass!
Ever since their location was first discovered by the Black Ink Clan, the large fleet had changed its hiding spot several times. Unfortunately, it would not take long before their new location was discovered again.
In order to learn the whereabouts of the Human Race Army, the Black Ink Clan had dispatched many search teams as though casting a wide net in the direction of Azure Void Pass.
As a result, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were forced to retreat again and again until they reached their current position. If they were discovered again, then they would be forced to withdraw even further; after all, they did not have the protection of an Old Ancestor and would be defenceless if the Royal Lord suddenly attacked them. Therefore, it was better for them to stay as far away from Great Evolution Pass as possible for safety’s sake.
On the deck of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Mi Jing Lun stood quietly at the bow of the ship with his feather fan in hand as he stared outward in the direction of Great Evolution Pass.
Nearly 10 days had passed since Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple headed towards Great Evolution Pass to spy on the situation. There had been no news from them since their departure, so Mi Jing Lun did not know anything about the situation over there.
What puzzled Mi Jing Lun in particular though was the movements of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. According to the original plan, the Eastern and Western Armies should have arrived in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass and made contact with the Northern and Southern Armies by now. However, there had been no news from the other side so far.
The communication device was in Ou Yang Lie’s possession, and he was currently located in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass. If the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies wanted to contact him, then they would be able to do so directly.
Without the cooperation of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies, it would be difficult to achieve victory with the 30,000 troops of the Northern and Southern Armies alone.
It was a pity that there was nothing Mi Jing Lun could do at the moment. He could only do his best to conceal the whereabouts of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies and wait patiently.
At that moment, an unfamiliar aura suddenly appeared on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and was immediately followed by an uncertain inquiry, “Who are you?”
Mi Jing Lun abruptly turned to look in that direction.
That was where the Space Array was located. Moreover, this Spirit Array was linked to the secret room where the Universe Array was arranged on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
If one of the soldiers returned to the Black Ink Battleship with the help of the Universe Transference Law, they would immediately be teleported into the secret room with the Universe Array. It was just that the Purifying Light was sealed inside the secret room, so there was another Space Array inside the secret room that allowed them to be teleported back to the deck of the ship without wasting any Purifying Light.
For that reason, a special guard was tasked with monitoring the corresponding Space Array on the deck. The one who asked the question earlier was none other than the person guarding the Space Array.
[Somebody arrived on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship via the Universe Array!] Mi Jing Lun immediately snapped back to his senses and sent a transmission to the guard, “Quickly bring that person over.”
The guard responded affirmatively and brought a young man to Mi Jing Lun a short while later.
Needless to say, the person who arrived was Yang Kai. Looking at the person with a scholarly appearance in front of him, Yang Kai immediately recognised him and cupped his fist in greeting, “Junior greets Senior Mi!”
Mi Jing Lun was slightly surprised, “Do you know me? I don’t believe we’ve met, have we?”
Yang Kai replied, “No! But, this Junior is familiar with the names of the two Army Commanders of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies. Senior Ou Yang’s name sounds like it belongs to a hot-tempered person, so he would never dress like you. Since you are not Army Commander Ou Yang, then you must be the other Army Commander.”
Mi Jing Lun smiled, “So that’s how it is. You must be Yang Kai, right?”
This time around, it was Yang Kai’s turn to look surprised, “Do you know me, Sir?”
Mi Jing Lun explained, “Since you appeared on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, it’s obvious that you’ve left your Imprint on the Universe Array. Be that as it may, you are not a soldier from the Northern or Southern Armies. Throughout the various Great Passes, there is only one person who has left their Imprint on all the Purifying Black Ink Battleships; after all, you were the one who arranged them on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
Mi Jing Lun’s expression turned solemn, and he directed the conversation to the main topic, “Did you come because you have a report for me?”
Yang Kai cupped his fist, “I came here under orders from Army Commander Xiang Shan to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that there has been a change to the original plan.”
Mi Jing Lun raised his hand to interrupt, “Please wait a moment!”
His Divine Sense surged for a moment before he beckoned towards Yang Kai, “Come with me.”
A short while later, Yang Kai followed Mi Jing Lun into the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and soon arrived at a conference hall.
It didn’t take long for the Eighth-Order Division Commanders who received the news to arrive in quick succession. Many of them were surprised to see an unfamiliar face and wondered why this Seventh-Order Junior was here. Most just assumed that Yang Kai was part of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies; after all, the Great Evolution Army was composed of people who came from various Great Passes. It was impossible for the Division Commanders to recognise every single soldier in the Army.
However, there were actually a few Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had met Yang Kai before and recognized him.
Back when Blue Sky Pass first spread the refining method of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, every Great Pass had constructed four Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Afterwards, the Great Passes dispatched an Eighth-Order Master to bring the Purifying Black Ink Battleships to Blue Sky Pass so that Yang Kai could install Universe Arrays and seal Purifying Light within them.
Needless to say, the Eighth-Order Masters who met Yang Kai before were the ones who went to Blue Sky Pass back then.
Upon seeing Yang Kai standing here, these Eighth-Order Masters were slightly surprised but soon became delighted. That was because they remembered that the troops from Blue Sky Pass had been dispatched to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. In other words, Yang Kai’s arrival indicated that he brought news from the Eastern and Western Armies.
The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies had been waiting for this day for a long time; hence, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were filled with anticipation when the news secretly spread out among themselves.
It didn’t take long before all the Eighth-Order Division Commanders arrived. Mi Jing Lun then got straight to the point, “Yang Kai came from the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. He has a report for us, so please give him your attention.”
Yang Kai cupped his fist and bowed in greeting, “Yang Kai greets Seniors. I have come under orders from Army Commander Xiang Shan to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that there have been changes to the original battle plans!”
He did not know what the original plans discussed by the higher-ups of the Great Evolution Army were, but it must have been something along the lines of gathering the strength of the four Armies to attack Great Evolution Pass. However, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies seemed to have new ideas after their encounter with the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement during their journey.
“What’s going on?’
“Why have there been changes?”
“If there have been changes to the original plans, then what are we supposed to do now?”
…
The Eighth-Order Masters went into an uproar. It was not that their hearts were not strong enough, but rather that such important military matters concerned both the recovery of Great Evolution Pass and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. Therefore, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies’ unilateral announcement about changes to the original plans had caught them by surprise.
Mi Jing Lun raised his hand to suppress the noise and only then did the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters calm down. Turning to look at Yang Kai, Mi Jing Lun inquired, “Did the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies encounter an unexpected incident?”
Yang Kai replied succinctly, “There were no unexpected incidents, but we did encounter a Black Ink Clan reinforcement Army heading towards Wind and Cloud Pass a few days after our departure. Although the enemy had 300,000 troops, it was an easy victory for our side under the leadership of the Old Ancestor.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly.
A force of 300,000 troops might sound like a lot, but they were simply the reinforcements dispatched by Great Evolution Pass to Wind and Cloud Pass. It was obvious that they did not have many Territory Lords among them, so it was not difficult to defeat them with the strength of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.
“What did Senior Brother Xiang say?” He probed further.
Yang Kai continued, “The Army Commander said that the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies would figure out a way to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass and use this opportunity to charge straight into the Black Ink Clan’s territory. When the news reaches Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass will surely make a move. If they dispatch their Army back to reinforce their territory, he hopes that the Northern and Southern Armies will intercept them so that the Eastern and Western Armies do not get attacked from the rear.”
As soon as those words left his mouth, the Eighth-Order Masters who had fallen silent earlier showed signs of causing a commotion again. Although the orders that Yang Kai delivered were exact and accurate, there were many puzzling points too.
Mi Jing Lun frowned, “The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies planning to draw the attention of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass? How will they achieve that?”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before responding, “During the march, the Army Commander summoned all the Artifact Refiners who came along with the Eastern and Western Armies and gathered large amounts of materials to refine an extremely unique type of puppet. These puppets are humanoid in shape and although they did not have great combat abilities, they can exude the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above once they were activated. It should be enough to confuse them for real people from a distance after dressing them up a bit with the spare clothing that was later collected.”
“Puppets?” Mi Jing Lun was slightly taken aback.
Collecting materials for refining and spare clothing while on the march indicated that the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies came up with the plan on the fly. It was not something that was premeditated; otherwise, they would not have left the Northern and Southern Armies in the dark.
Besides, Xiang Shan should have known that the Army was supposed to proceed forward with great caution. Rashly changing the original plans could only mean that he had a better plan in place.
Although Yang Kai was only explaining what the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had done during their march and did not provide any speculations of his own, just hearing the words ‘puppets’ and ‘clothes’ was enough to make most people come to the same conclusion. The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies clearly wanted to use these refined puppets to draw the eyes of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass.
“How many of these puppets did you refine?” Mi Jing Lun’s question hit the nail on the head again.
A small number of puppets would not achieve any effect. They would only attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan if they refined an astounding number of them.
“I refined more than 140 puppets myself, and there were 1,000 or so Artifact Refiners who came along with the Eastern and Western Armies. Considering that each person’s attainments in the Dao of Artifact Refining is different and the number of puppets that they could refine is also different, this Junior conservatively estimates that around 50,000 puppets were refined. The number might be even higher than that.”
“50,000!?” One of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders immediately frowned in response.
That was not a small number. If every single puppet could exert the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master or above, then their might would indeed be very imposing if they were gathered together in one place. It was just that the resources required to refine so many puppets would also be equally staggering. Besides, they would surely need to prepare large amounts of energy sources inside the puppets in order to activate so many at once.
[Xiang Shan, you spendthrift…]
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not the only people who were secretly feeling distressed. Not much time had passed since things began looking up for the Human Race on the Black Ink Battlefield, but they were already starting to splurge on resources. It was one thing if these 50,000 puppets could play a decisive role in battle, but it would be a total waste if they could not bring out any real potential.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commander asked, “If the puppets can exert the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above, what about their true strength?”
If these puppets could also exert the strength of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above, then the 50,000 puppets alone would be enough to teach the Black Ink Clan a harsh lesson.
Yang Kai replied honestly, “That’s the peculiarity of these puppets. Although the aura they can exert is not weak, they are not very useful in reality. Moreover, their flaws are very obvious since they were refined in a rush. While there is no risk of these flaws being noticed from a distance, the Black Ink Clan will be able to see the truth at a glance once they get close enough.”
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fell silent. It would seem that they could not place their hopes on the puppets; they could only be dispatched as bait for the Eastern and Western Armies at most. But, what was the use of such bait for Xiang Shan to refine so many of these puppets without regard for the cost?
While the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were pondering these questions, Mi Jing Lun fanned himself with the feather fan in his hand. There was a pensive look on his face, and his eyes constantly flashed with an unusual light. Those were the signs that indicated he was thinking with all his might.
The East-West Army refined these puppets on the march, which meant it was an impromptu decision. Otherwise, these puppets would have been prepared in advance before Wind and Cloud Pass even formed such a large Army.
What could have led the East-West Army to make such a choice? It was impossible for such a change to occur for no reason in this world, especially when it was related to a matter as significant as the recovery of Great Evolution Pass. Xiang Shan knew better than to be so irresponsible.
What’s more, there was an Old Ancestor overseeing the East-West Army. If Xiang Shan failed to convince the Old Ancestor, then it would have been impossible to make changes to the original plans.
Mi Jing Lun suddenly raised his head to look at Yang Kai, “Did he order the refinement of the puppets before or after they encountered the reinforcements from the Black Ink Clan?”
“After,” Yang Kai replied, “Right after defeating the reinforcements from the Black Ink Clan, Army Commander Xiang Shan began to gather materials to refine the puppets. To this end, the Army even took several days to rest and recover before proceeding.”
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were speechless when they heard that, [The East-West Army even took several days to recover and reorganise?]
It had to be said that the North-South Army had departed from Azure Void Pass with all haste, for fear of missing the opportunity to strike while the element of surprise was on their side. In comparison, the East-West Army’s actions were simply unimaginable.
The Black Ink Clan reinforcements only consisted of 300,000 troops, so with an Old Ancestor and 60 Eighth-Order Masters, the East-West Army could have wiped out the enemy without much effort. Why would they need to rest and reorganise?
Mi Jing Lun suddenly nodded, “So that’s how it is.”
One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who was fairly close to Mi Jing Lun asked, “Brother Mi, what have you realised?”
Listening to Yang Kai talking about the East-West Army’s behaviour during the march had left these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters scratching their heads over the reason why Xiang Shan had made changes to the original plans; however, Mi Jing Lun now claimed that he understood everything.
Leaving aside these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, even Yang Kai who came from the East-West Army could not understand what Xiang Shan was planning, he only knew that the puppets must play a special role in the grand scheme of things.
Mi Jing Lun smiled slightly, “Brother Xiang is planning to lure the tiger out of the mountain.”
“What do you mean?” One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters asked humbly.
Mi Jing Lun did not explain immediately. On the contrary, he glanced at Yang Kai and inquired, “If my guess is correct, did the East-West Army deliberately allow one of the Territory Lords to escape when they wiped out the 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “This Junior does not know.”
When the war began, both he and Dawn had focused on killing their enemies. There was no time for them to pay attention to other things.
“Then, how many Territory Lords did the East-West Army kill in that battle?”
He replied, “11! This disciple detected the aura of 11 Territory Lords vanishing during the battle.”
“Exactly. In general, a Territory Lord will command between 20,000 and 30,000 troops in battle. For an Army of 300,000, there should have been 10 to 12 Territory Lords in total. Since only 11 Territory Lords lost their lives, then one of them must have escaped.”
Yang Kai frowned in confusion. There was an Old Ancestor overseeing that particular battle, so even if one of the Territory Lords had escaped, she would not have failed to notice him escaping. Putting it that way, it was just as Mi Jing Lun said. The Old Ancestor must have deliberately allowed that Territory Lord to escape.
Thinking back now, the East-West Army had set up an ambush in a hurry, and before the entire Black Ink Clan Army had entered the ambush zone, they had been exposed, so the battle began in haste. It was true that some of the Black Ink Clan had escaped the encirclement and survived as a result. In addition, a large ship under one of the Territory Lords seemed to have been left behind.
At the time, Yang Kai had assumed that the Territory Lord on that ship had been killed, but it would now seem that there was a high possibility that the enemy had escaped instead. Nevertheless, it was an undeniable fact that the auras of 11 Territory Lords had disappeared during the battle.
Mi Jing Lun continued, “Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass both underwent great changes, with a second Old Ancestor even appearing outside Wind and Cloud Pass. Such news would not remain a secret for long, and would surely spread throughout the entire Black Ink Battlefield very quickly. If the Royal Lord at Great Evolution Pass learned about this incident, he would undoubtedly become vigilant and wonder whether the Human Race was trying to recover Great Evolution Pass. However, such thoughts are nothing more than conjectures without evidence. There would be no way to prove his suspicions until the Humans actually launched an attack.”
“Be that as it may, the East-West Army deliberately allowed a Territory Lord to escape. If this Territory Lord returned to Great Evolution Pass and reported his experience to the higher-ups, then the Royal Lord will be at least 80% certain his conjectures are correct.”
“Our North-South Army has repeatedly been discovered by the Black Ink Clan because they are already aware of our presence. Therefore, it is not a secret to the Black Ink Clan that the Human Race is trying to recover Great Evolution Pass anymore.”
The Eighth-Order Masters listened quietly. Likewise, Yang Kai was also listening. He felt as though he had received the answers to the various questions in his heart thanks to Mi Jing Lun’s explanation.
“If my guess is correct, then the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass are not only searching for the location of the North-South Army but also trying to figure out where the East-West Army is. The area around Great Evolution Pass is most likely filled with scouts of the Black Ink Clan. Under these circumstances, the Black Ink Clan will surely deploy their troops ahead of time to garrison Great Evolution Pass in order to prevent any unexpected occurrences.”
Having said this, Mi Jing Lun’s eyes flashed brightly, “At this moment, the defences deployed around Great Evolution Pass will be practically impregnable. Not to mention, the Royal Lord will definitely come to Great Evolution Pass in person to confront our Ninth-Order Old Ancestor.”
“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean we have lost the opportunity to fight back? How can Great Evolution Pass be retaken?” An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master frowned.
Mi Jing Lun shook his head slowly, “The East-West Army is intentionally trying to alert the enemy to their presence. In that case, it stands to reason that they have no intention to storm Great Evolution Pass. That’s also the reason why they made changes to their original plans. These puppets are enough to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan for a long time. Using this opportunity, the East-West Army will be able to head straight into the Black Ink Clan’s territory.”
“Now that the troops of the Black Ink Clan have gathered at Great Evolution Pass, the defences of the Black Ink Clan’s territory should be relatively thin, and without the presence of a Royal Lord acting as a restraint, the Old Ancestor will be able to act without restraint. If a battle breaks out and news reaches Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan will not be able to remain calm once they realise that they have been tricked and will surely deploy their troops stationed at Great Evolution Pass to reinforce their lines. At that time, the North-South Army will be able to deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan if they can find the right opportunity. Fighting in the void will reduce many of the risks that come with attacking the Great Pass.” Seeming to realise something all of a sudden, Mi Jing Lun’s eyes brightened. He struck his fan closed against his palm and exclaimed, “Amazing! Brother Xiang is a genius, how absolutely admirable! I can’t believe he saw that far into the future!”
“Brother Mi, your explanation is so obscure that we look like fools in comparison,” one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t resist complaining.
Many people chuckled in response.
Even Mi Jing Lun smiled slightly, “To put it in another way, if we followed the original plans, the North-South Army and the East-West Army were supposed to launch a quick, decisive strike. We should have joined forces nearly a month and a half ago, then subsequently launched an attack on Great Evolution Pass. Our current Great Evolution Army is mighty, and the Royal Lord was not in Great Evolution Pass back then. The only troops stationed there would have been a few Territory Lords and their respective Armies, so it would not have been difficult to recover Great Evolution Pass.”
Everybody nodded in understanding. Recovering the Great Evolution Pass with a swift and sudden strike was the original plan formulated by the higher-ups. There was no nuance to the plan, only an emphasis on speed. In other words, they had planned to conquer Great Evolution Pass before the Black Ink Clan had time to react.
“After recovering Great Evolution Pass, we would surely need to rely on its strength to defend against the Black Ink Clan Army’s inevitable counterattack. Although the Great Evolution Army is mighty and consists of more troops than any other Great Pass, we would not have much time to prepare ourselves once we took Great Evolution Pass. Hence, we would not be able to exert most of Great Evolution Pass’ power when the Black Ink Clan Army arrived and could only meet them head-on. The Black Ink Clan Army would have endless reinforcements coming to their aid, while we would be few in number and our reinforcements would come from afar, if they came at all. Without any foundation to rely on, we would surely suffer great casualties. In the worst-case scenario, Great Evolution Pass would be retaken by the Black Ink Clan; however, there would be nothing we could do to stop them.”
“But, things will be different if we act according to Brother Xiang’s plans,” Mi Jing Lun explained excitedly, “The East-West Army will charge into the Black Ink Clan territory and reduce the Black Ink Clan’s strength as much as possible. Simultaneously, the North-South Army will be able to restrain the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass. It’s not a big deal if they do not come out, but if they do, we will find a way to ambush them and weaken their strength. If things continue in this manner, then the Black Ink Clan will eventually be overwhelmed and run out of troops. At that time, we will have enough time to build up our strength after conquering Great Evolution Pass. When we regain a firm foothold in Great Evolution Pass, why would we need to fear the trivial Black Ink Clan!”
The realisation dawned upon them after listening to his explanation. They had originally felt unhappy with the East-West Army for making unauthorised changes to the original plan. Nevertheless, looking at the current situation, the new plan was indeed much better than the original one.
To put it simply, Xiang Shan’s plan was to ignore Great Evolution Pass for now. Be that as it may, their end goal was still to recover Great Evolution Pass. In the long term, this plan had a higher chance of success, which was why Mi Jing Lun fully endorsed it.
Since they had a better plan than before, it stood to reason that the North-South Army would cooperate.
After some consideration, Mi Jing Lun suddenly asked, “Yang Kai, how long did it take for you to travel here from the East-West Army?”
“About 20 days or so,” Yang Kai replied.