Yang Kai might have seen so many deaths that he was already accustomed to it, but his mood still became heavy.
There were not many Special Operations Squads. Each Great Pass only had a handful at most, and each of their Squad Leaders had a high chance of advancing to the Eighth Order.
Many of the current Eighth-Order Division Commanders once used to be Squad Leaders of such elite Squads.
Not to mention, the Snow Wolves Squad had 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in total, so it was not just Yao Kang Cheng who had good chances of advancing to the Eighth-Order.
Now that they had been completely wiped out, the Human Race had lost a couple Eighth-Order seedlings.
But this was still not what weighed most heavily on Yang Kai’s mind. The thing he was most concerned about was the condition of the Royal Lord, and whether or not the Royal Lord had personally killed the Snow Wolves Squad.
Unfortunately, no one knew what had happened back then, so the only way to learn what happened was to wait for the real war to begin.
Yang Kai put away the remains of the Warship before his aura surged. He was like a bright lamp in this dark and dreary void filled with the Black Ink Strength. The next moment, he left a dazzling trail of light in his wake as he shot off, searching for a target to vent his anger.
Yang Kai encountered the returning Black Ink Clan forces in the vast void from time to time, and all the Black Ink Clansmen he ran into were mercilessly killed.
Five days later, Yang Kai, who was hunting the Black Ink Clan, suddenly noticed powerful energy fluctuations coming from a certain direction. Someone was fighting!
He immediately flew towards the source to check up on the situation; whereupon he saw a Human Warship circling around a Low-Rank Black Ink Nest, attacking it until it was riddled with holes.
A Feudal Lord stood atop this Black Ink Nest, angrily roaring while casting a series of Secret Techniques, though he was unable to do anything to the Warship.
When the two races encountered each other in the void, the Humans, who possessed Warships, always had a huge advantage. Whereas the Feudal Lords, who were unwilling to abandon their Black Ink Nests, essentially became a target.
What’s more, at this point, it was basically impossible for the Feudal Lords to abandon their Black Ink Nests. A Feudal Lord could use his or her Black Ink Nest to empower themselves and fight back against the Human Squads, but if they abandoned it, they would lose all their chances of making it out alive.
The Human Squad was just an ordinary Squad with a dozen or so members, led by two Seventh-Order Masters.
By the time Yang Kai arrived, the Black Ink Nest was already on the verge of collapsing. A few High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen courageously shot straight towards the Warship under the orders of the Feudal Lord, but none of them was able to even get close before being blown to pieces by various attacks fired by the Warship’s arrays.
By the looks of it, this group of Black Ink Clansmen would not be able to hold on for much longer. The Black Ink Nest would be destroyed in at most an hour, and by then, only one or two Feudal Lords would remain alive.
Victory was set in stone for the Humans!
Yang Kai didn’t mind adding a flower to the bouquet before him and also attacked with his spear as his fierce aura locked onto the owner of Black Ink Nest from afar.
The Feudal Lord’s heart jumped into his throat and he immediately turned his gaze towards Yang Kai, but all he saw was a rapidly approaching spear tip.
The Feudal Lord was also a decisive person, so upon realizing that things were not looking good for him, he madly mobilized the power of his Black Ink Nest. His aura suddenly exploded as he sent a palm strike towards Yang Kai.
A shockwave spread outwards as Yang Kai and the Feudal Lord flew past each other, continuing on for several tens of thousands of kilometres before they stopped and stabilized themselves. The next moment, Yang Kai’s skin split apart as blood spurted from a fresh wound that had been inflicted on him.
The Feudal Lord’s desperate counterattack had ultimately managed to injure Yang Kai.
The number of Black Ink Nests Yang Kai had destroyed in the past few days since the war started was hard to count, and the number of Feudal Lords that had perished at his hands was even higher.
Furthermore, Yang Kai would always go all out every time he attacked, trying to eliminate the enemy in the shortest time possible so that he could quickly rush to the next location.
It was impossible to remain unscathed in such a high-intensity battle.
Currently, the number of wounds on Yang Kai’s body was almost the same as the number of Black Ink Clansmen he killed. If it wasn’t for his powerful Dragon Vein, these wounds alone would have rendered him immobile.
The strongest aspect of a powerful Dragon Vein was its tenacity and recovery ability. So, Yang Kai did not take these small wounds seriously.
On the other hand, at this moment, the huge Black Ink Nest behind Yang Kai had been split in half, and the Master of the Black Ink Nest, the Feudal Lord who had clashed with him, was missing half of his body.
The Feudal Lord was not dead yet, but he was quickly reduced to blood mist under the constant barrage of the Human Race Warship.
By the time Yang Kai returned to the battlefield, the fight was already over.
The Squad Leader must have seen Yang Kai before as he quickly stepped forward and greeted, “Brother Yang!”
He was secretly in awe. Yang Kai’s entire body was currently surrounded by a thick murderous intent, one so dense that it was almost tangible, which was proof of just how many Black Ink Clansmen he had killed over these last few days.
Yang Kai’s body was covered in blood and wounds, the glorious trophies of his battles along the way.
Yang Kai nodded slightly before curiously asking, “Where did you come from?”
He had not seen the two Seventh-Order members of this Squad among the 500 Seventh-Order Masters assigned to him previously. Although he didn’t know all 500 of them personally, he still had some impression of their faces.
The Seventh-Order Master, who had greeted him, replied, “A number of us were deployed from Great Evolution Pass under orders from the Army Commander to intercept the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen.”
Yang Kai immediately understood. Xiang Shan’s arrangement was thorough and reasonable.
500 Seventh-Order Humans had been sent to ambush the Black Ink Clan’s outer defence line, but once the Black Ink Clan received the news about the impending attack, the Feudal Lords on the periphery would definitely be recalled to the Royal City.
On the other hand, Great Evolution Pass was right ahead of the returning Feudal Lords. So, Great Evolution Pass had deployed a few Squads to intercept these returning Feudal Lords.
Yang Kai also realized that he must have killed his way around the entire perimeter of the Royal City, otherwise he wouldn’t have encountered someone from Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai did not waste any more time on small-talk. He raised his Azure Dragon Spear and cautioned, “Be careful, if you encounter a strong enemy, try to team up with the other Squads. There should be some of our people nearby.”
Yang Kai instantly teleported away after having cautioned the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
The Seventh-Order Master incessantly sighed, looking in the direction he disappeared, “Even though we are both in the Seventh-Order, I can never match him!”
All of them had witnessed Yang Kai’s might with their own eyes. The same enemy, against whom their Squad had been battling for a long time, was taken out by Yang Kai in just one attack.
There was a massive gap between them.
The others in the Squad consoled their Leader with a smile, “We don’t have that kind of power, so we can’t move alone, but there is no need to belittle ourselves. War is not fought by one man alone.”
The Seventh-Order Squad Leader nodded in agreement, “That’s right, this is a war, a life and death struggle between two races. We just have to do what we are capable of doing.”
Next, he pointed in a certain direction and shouted, “Let’s head in that direction!”
Everyone loudly responded as the Warship set sail.
Elsewhere, Yang Kai silently calculated the speed and route of the Black Ink Clan’s forces before he proceeded around the Royal City once more while slowly approaching it, moving in a large spiral path.
Everyone was drawing closer to the Royal City; the Human Race was like this, and so was the Black Ink Clan. At some point, they were bound to run into each other.
A great war could break out in the inner ring of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line at any moment.
The Humans had killed innumerable Black Ink Clansmen, while suffering almost negligible casualties.
The Black Ink Clan had spent a great deal of time and effort to construct a massive defence line. Originally, they thought that they could use it to block the Human Race’s advance, but now, this defence line was nothing more than a flower vase. It could even be considered a burden.
All the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests had been moved to the outermost ring in order to expand this defence line, which meant thousands of Black Ink Nests and at least twice as many Feudal Lords had been sent out. Individually, the forces of these Black Ink Nests weren’t worth considering, but taken as a whole, over 5,000 Feudal Lords and dozens of times more soldiers was a formidable force.
Such manpower was indispensable to the current Black Ink Clan.
If such a force were to be cut off and eliminated before the real battle even began, the Black Ink Clan’s overall strength would suffer greatly. Furthermore, the loss of so many Feudal Lords would result in a big gap in the command hierarchy between the highest and lowest levels of the Army.
After several days of continuous ambushes and raids, the Black Ink Clan had lost over 2,000 Feudal Lords and at least 10 times as many High and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
If these 2,000 Feudal Lords and tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen were gathered in one place, the Human Race Army would have to pay a huge price to eliminate all of them.
But so far, the Human Army had lost less than 30 soldiers.
The reason for this was because these Feudal Lords were scattered quite far away from each other. As long as the Human forces found an opportunity, they were quickly eliminated one by one.
The war had yet not started, but the Humans had already established a great advantage, so how could they not win?
While the Human Squads were triumphantly advancing, the Black Ink Clan was fleeing in a great panic, fleeing in the Royal City’s direction. In the end, only a very few managed to escape from the Human Race’s pursuit and interception.
Only the Black Ink Clansmen in the direction opposite of Great Evolution Pass’ arrival stood a chance of escaping back to the Royal City.
Of course, if they were down on their luck, they might run into Yang Kai, who was circling around the Royal City.
After 10 days, Yang Kai was flying across the void with his spear, blankly looking around.
It had been over a day since he had last seen any Black Ink Clansmen, and it was not as if they had all been killed.
The Black Ink Clansmen stationed at the outer defence line were a month’s journey from the Royal City if they were bringing their Black Ink Nests along with them. Great Evolution Pass was only discovered 15 days after it crossed the periphery of the defence line, so the Black Ink Clan should have started heading back to the Royal City after receiving that message.
Only 10 days had passed since Great Evolution Pass was discovered. In other words, the returning Black Ink Clansmen who were still alive should still be some 20 days away from the Royal City.
Some of them might have been faster, and some might have been slower, some would have been farther from the Royal City and some would have been closer, but all in all, there would not be that much gap between them.
But Yang Kai failed to find any. There was nothing but empty void around him.
About 30% of the Black Ink Clansmen in the outer defence line had been eliminated, so the remaining 70% must be scattered in various directions. It might seem that there were still quite a lot of them alive, but it wasn’t that easy to find them.
After a quick calculation, Yang Kai realized that Great Evolution Pass was now just a few days away from the Royal City.
The huge battle was imminent!
Yang Kai stared into the void for a while before putting away the Azure Dragon Spear and disappearing soon after.
The final battle would be fought at the Royal City in a few days. Considering this, the best course of action was to conserve his strength, so he returned to Great Evolution Pass!
Yang Kai reappeared aboard a Purifying Black Ink Battleship anchored in Great Evolution Pass.
Before he could regain his senses, a hubbub of noises entered his ear.
“Don’t block the way, keep moving, keep moving.”
“Eh, so soft… what is it?”
“Which little bastard is touching this Great Aunt? Surnamed Cao, was it you!? I knew it! You always had dirty intentions towards me! You always pretended to be dignified, but today you’ve finally revealed your true colours!”
“Junior Sister, what are you saying? I never had any dirty intentions towards you!”
“What do you mean? Are you saying this Great Aunt is ugly?”
“No, no, absolutely not…”
“What do you mean then? Explain yourself!”
…
“Senior Brother, you’re stepping on my foot.”
“This Old Master is injured, my guts are flowing out, which blind fool even knocked into this Old Master’s wound, Aiya… it hurts like Hell.”
…
“Keep moving, keep moving, don’t stop!”
…
Yang Kai was completely dumbfounded.
Looking around, he soon noticed that the Universe Array was completely overcrowded with people continuing to teleport back from the outside. It was so cramped that people were literally stepping on each others’ toes.
Although the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was not small, the location of the Universe Array was not too big. Normally, it could only accommodate a few dozen people, but now hundreds of people were attempting to return through it, causing it to become quite crowded.
No one had expected this either.
Yang Kai thought to himself, [I guess the higher-ups have sent out orders to return to the Great Pass to prepare for the upcoming battle; otherwise, something like this wouldn’t be happening.]
Be that as it may, it was not that big of a deal. It might be a bit chaotic, but the cultivators were all quickly returning from outside so this couldn’t be helped.
If all of them were to remain here, it would only become more crowded.
Yang Kai went along with the flow and soon arrived at the Space Array setup. He stepped into the Array with the others, and activated his strength. The next moment, he appeared on the deck of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
Just as before, no one stayed on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s deck.
After a short while, Yang Kai finally arrived at an open space and made a quick scan with his Divine Sense, but he failed to locate Dawning Light.
There was also a Universe Array on Dawning Light, so as long as it was within range of the Universe Transference Law, he could sense it.
But since he was unable to locate Dawning Light, the only possibility was that it had been taken into someone’s Small Universe.
[I guess Shen Ao and the others are back already.]
Yang Kai swiftly made his way to Dawn’s courtyard, and as he had expected, he could sense the aura of Dawn’s members from inside, but all of them seemed to be conditioning themselves, preparing for the upcoming battle.
Yang Kai didn’t disturb them and simply returned to his room where he sat down cross-legged and stuffed some pills into his mouth to recover his stamina and energy.
Tens of thousands of soldiers had gathered inside Great Evolution Pass, getting ready for the attack.
In the void, the massive Great Evolution Pass headed straight towards the Royal City without hiding itself.
Since their presence had already been exposed, there was no need to hide anymore.
This was also a way to let the Black Ink Clan know that the Human Race was determined to win this War. The mobilization of Great Evolution Pass represented that the tens of thousands of Human soldiers would not stop for anything. Anyone who dared to stand in their way was destined to die a tragic death.
…
At the same time, in the Royal City…
The Royal Lord was sitting inside his huge Royal Palace, his face pale and gloomy.
Obviously, his injuries were very serious and he had yet to recover.
Several hundred years ago, he had fought with the female Human Old Ancestor repeatedly over 100 years, during which time both sides suffered great losses. He suffered serious injuries in those successive battles, and the same was true for the Old Ancestor. In the end, both had taken a huge hit, and they were no longer able to display their peak in battle anymore.
But he had no idea that the Old Ancestor was just putting on an act. Each time they fought back then, she had fully recovered and was only feigning weakness to get him to lower his guard.
In the final battle of that war, the Old Ancestor suddenly brought out her peak combat strength and thrashed him to the point where he could barely escape. Had several Territory Lords not led a massive number of troops over from the Royal City to rescue him, the Old Ancestor would have killed him that day.
The Territory Lords and the Black Ink Clan Army who had come to rescue him all sacrificed their lives, but the Royal Lord managed to survive.
Even now, the Royal Lord could not understand how the Old Ancestor had managed to recover from her injuries so rapidly. Logically speaking, it was impossible for her to recover so quickly from injuries like those.
Unfortunately, the Old Ancestor did really recover.
In that battle, he fled back to the Royal City where he barely held on to his life by relying on the power of his Black Ink Nest to resist the Old Ancestor who doggedly chased after him.
Nevertheless, his Army had suffered crippling casualties.
It was also because of that battle that the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre lost all ability to compete with the Humans.
Fortunately, the Humans had also withdrawn soon after the battle ended to retake Great Evolution Pass and restore it.
While it might have been humiliating, the Royal Lord breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Human Race Army retreat that day.
At last, he could recuperate in peace.
But to his dismay, things did not pan out as he had expected. The Old Ancestor suddenly returned alone a few days after he entered the Black Ink Nest to recuperate. Shocked, he hurriedly leapt out of the Black Ink Nest, unable to care about anything else but the enemy at his doorstep.
This was just the beginning of his suffering though.
For the next 200 years, the Old Ancestor would return every now and then, either releasing her Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm aura from afar to threaten the Royal City, or she would just directly attack and raise chaos. Many Black Ink Clansmen died at her hands, but there was nothing the Royal Lord could do other than remain near the Royal City where he could take advantage of his Black Ink Nest to repel the Old Ancestor.
Two centuries… It had been a full two centuries, but the Royal Lord’s injuries had not improved at all. The Royal Lord’s eyes burned with rage just recalling her figure.
He had never encountered such a difficult opponent.
Left with no choice, he could only order the Feudal Lords to take their Black Ink Nests and construct a Black Ink Strength barrier around the Royal City.
The Human Race would return someday, the Royal Lord was certain of this, and so were the Territory Lords; thus, they had to take precautions.
The Black Ink Strength defence line could restrict the movements of the Human cultivators, whereas the Black Ink Clansmen would be like fish in water. If a war really broke out one day, this defence line might be able to tip the scales in their favour.
Because of this, the Black Ink Clan had expended an enormous amount of resources, consuming almost everything they had amassed over the previous 30,000 years.
But it was well worth it. The Black Ink Strength defence line covered a vast area around the Royal City, which would require even the strongest Masters several days to cross, providing a safe zone for the Black Ink Clan.
Any Human who dared to cross this defence line would definitely meet a terrible end.
When they received the news that the Human Race had attacked, the Territory Lords and even the Royal Lord weren’t too surprised, but to their shock and horror, another piece of news soon reached their ears.
The Black Ink Clansman who had discovered the movements of the Human Race reported that the Humans were not attacking in a fleet like in the past, but had instead brought the entire Great Evolution Pass with them.
Instinctively, none of the Black Ink Clan higher-ups were willing to believe it.
But when Hong Di Territory Lord personally went out to investigate and saw that massive weapon of war advancing towards the Royal City, no matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to believe it.
He had presided over Great Evolution Pass for 30,000 years, so he was incomparably familiar with it, knowing every nook and cranny like the back of his hand.
[Great Evolution Pass… is really coming.]
When they received this piece of news, all the Territory Lords were beside themselves with shock.
Great Evolution Pass could actually move!? How could such a massive object be moved? More importantly, the Black Ink Clan had occupied Great Evolution Pass for 30,000 years but never discovered that it could be controlled.
They knew that Great Evolution Pass was a giant Mobile Palace Artifact, but apart from that, they knew nothing else.
A massive Great Pass like that was attacking, with all its powerful offensive and defensive arrays. It was hard to say how effective the Black Ink Strength defence line that the Black Ink Clan had shed sweat and blood to set up would be against this unprecedented move by the Humans.
Now, even in an environment filled with Black Ink Strength, if the Human soldiers felt like they couldn’t hold on any longer, they could simply return to Great Evolution Pass to rest and recuperate.
All of the Territory Lords stared at Hong Di with a look of blame on their faces.
Hong Di felt indignant about this misplaced anger.
He might have been in charge of Great Evolution Pass for 30,000 years, but at the end of the day, it was still an artifact refined by the Human Race. How could it be that easily controlled without some kind of special technique?
That wasn’t the most important point though. The crucial issue was how Great Evolution Pass managed to sneak past the Black Ink Strength defence line without anyone noticing. There might be some areas in the defence line with weaker surveillance than others, but certainly no gaps big enough to miss the enormous Great Evolution Pass sailing by. They should have received news of the invasion a month ago when Great Evolution Pass intruded past the defence line.
But in reality, they only learned of it half a month after Great Evolution Pass had crossed the defence perimeter.
That’s the most unusual point!
In any case, there was no point in pursuing who was responsible for which failure right now. The Black Ink Clan had already lost an estimated 20% to 30% of the Lords and their subordinates stationed at the outer defence line, as well as at least 1,000 Black Ink Nests. They had suffered extremely heavy losses.
The entire Great Pass was invading, so clearly, the Humans were planning to wage a final battle with them. If they couldn’t stop the Humans this time, the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Theatre would be annihilated.
At present, all the Territory Lords were gathered at the Royal Palace. When they arrived, the air in the palace was already so heavy that the Territory Lords did not dare to speak, but soon after, the Royal Lord gave them even worse news than they had imagined.
This was not just happening in Great Evolution Theatre. From the information he had received, all the Human Race’s Great Passes were moving towards the Royal Cities in their corresponding Theatre.
This was not just a battle for dominance of a single Theatre, but a total war between the two Races!
This was truly unprecedented.
Such a large-scale deployment could not have been organized in just one or two years.
The Human Race had clearly been planning this for a very long time!
Now that they were mounting an all-out assault, it was perfectly clear that they were planning to have a decisive battle with the Black Ink Clan. After this war ended, only one race would survive.
The Territory Lords were all shocked. In their minds, the Humans had always been passive and focused entirely on defence. The Black Ink Clan could attack whenever and wherever they wanted, and they could retreat as they pleased. This status quo had not changed for countless millennia.
It was true that the Black Ink Clan would suffer massive casualties every time a war broke out, but the true Masters would almost all survive. The ones who died were the weak and insignificant soldiers. For the Black Ink Clan, even if these weak clansmen perished in droves, so long as they had the Black Ink Nests and ample resources, they could replenish their ranks without limit.
But it was different for the Humans who always had far fewer soldiers. Every single death for them was a significant loss.
As such, the Territory Lords had always believed that someday, they would be able to wipe out all the Humans and take down the Great Passes one by one before ultimately invading and conquering the 3,000 Worlds.
The Black Ink Clan had been coveting the flourishing 3,000 Worlds since forever, where they could enslave countless Black Ink Disciples and feast upon the innumerable complete Universe Worlds. It was the world that the Black Ink Clan most yearned for.
But now, the Human Race had actually launched an attack in every Theatre with the clear intent to wipe them from existence.
After a heavy and depressing silence, Hong Di couldn’t bear it any longer and stated, cupping his fist, “Sir Royal Lord, the Humans are approaching with unstoppable momentum. Great Evolution Pass is also exceptionally sturdy. If it hits the Royal City, the Royal City would definitely be destroyed.”
When the Great Evolution East-West Army invaded the Royal City last time, they had outfitted dozens of Universe Worlds with thousands of Spirit Arrays to use them as giant weapons, causing the Black Ink Clan to suffer greatly. The Black Ink Clan had to split their forces in every battle to defend against the Universe Worlds which were hurled at them, resulting in the deaths of many of their clansmen.
The situation was already bad when it was just Universe Worlds, but now, what was charging at them was actually the Great Pass itself!
Of course, Great Evolution Pass was inferior to the Universe Worlds in terms of pure size. Even the smallest Universe World was countless times bigger than Great Evolution Pass.
But size was not the standard by which to measure a threat.
When the Universe Worlds were used to attack, the Territory Lords could blast them to pieces through joint attacks without much difficulty, so they weren’t a big threat to the Royal City as long as proper precautions were taken.
In contrast, Great Evolution Pass was the sturdiest Human artifact known to exist. Furthermore, it was surrounded by countless barriers, so no one could guarantee that they would be able to destroy it.
If Great Evolution Pass crashed into the Royal City, it would be akin to smashing an egg with a rock. The Royal City would not be able to resist.
Not to mention, there were still tens of thousands of Human soldiers inside Great Evolution Pass. They were not some inanimate statues. They would surely defend and counterattack when the Black Ink Clan tried to attack Great Evolution Pass.
“Great Evolution Pass is only a few days away from the Royal City, if we don’t think of a way to defend ourselves before it arrives, I’m afraid all will be lost,” a Territory Lord muttered.
“How should we fight back?” One of the Territory Lords asked.
“The Pass is barreling right towards us, and the Royal City cannot stop it. In that case, we have only one choice, and that is to dodge it. If the Human Race wants to destroy the Royal City using Great Evolution Pass, we must do everything possible to stop them.”
In truth, the destruction of the Royal City was not that big of a deal for the Black Ink Clan. The place where the Royal Lord resided was the Royal City, so if the Royal City was destroyed, they could simply move to another location and rebuild.
However, the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was in the Royal City, and the Black Ink Nest didn’t have any real defensive capabilities. If the Royal City was destroyed, the Black Ink Nest would be destroyed along with it, and if that happened, the injured Royal Lord would not be able to borrow its power to resist the Old Ancestor.
In his current state, without his Black Ink Nest, the Royal Lord was not the Human Old Ancestor’s match. His defeat or worse, death, would greatly affect the morale of the Black Ink Clan Army.
In the face of the oncoming Great Evolution Pass, many Territory Lords felt that the best way to deal with it was to avoid it.
Hong Di indifferently replied, “How can we avoid it? Great Evolution Pass is a Mobile Palace Artifact. Even if we could move the Royal City, our speed would undoubtedly be slower than Great Evolution Pass. Even if we managed to dodge their attack once or twice, we will have to face them sooner or later.”
He had previously gone to investigate the situation of Great Evolution Pass and knew that the Royal City could not avoid it.
“Are we just going to sit here and wait for the Humans to attack then?” Angrily asked the Territory Lord who had spoken up earlier.
Hong Di shook his head, “Great Evolution Pass has travelled quite a long distance to reach here, so the Humans should only have enough strength to launch a single attack if we fight back. As long as we make a united effort and block that one strike, we can protect the Royal City. What follows will be a war between the two Races. Although the Humans are strong, we still hold the advantage in numbers. Whether it’s apex Masters or weaker soldiers, our Black Ink Clan has always had this advantage, so why should we fear them?”
This might have been the case, but all the Territory Lords knew that the Human Race’s combat strength couldn’t be judged purely based on numbers; otherwise, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t have been so badly beaten that they were now afraid to even leave the Royal City.
“We’ll have to pay a great price to stop the advancing Great Evolution Pass.”
After travelling such a huge distance, the massive Pass had gained an incredible amount of momentum. The Black Ink Clan would have to put their lives on the line if they wanted to halt it. Not to mention Feudal Lords, even the Territory Lords might fall if they were not careful.
“Even if we have to pay a great price, we must stop it,” Hong Di proclaimed as a stern and ruthless look took over his face.
Back then, he was forced to leave behind his Black Ink Nest and all of the Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, all so that surviving Black Ink Clansmen could safely leave Great Evolution Pass. This had left a huge stain on his reputation and many Territory Lords even looked down on him over the years, feeling that he had lost the face of the Black Ink Clan.
Not a moment went by without Hong Di not wanting to fight it out with the Humans again to prove his strength and that his choice that day had been forced.
Now that the Humans were invading, it was a crisis for the Black Ink Clan, but it was also an opportunity for Hong Di! As long as he could inflict heavy losses on the Humans in this battle, he could wash away his previous humiliation.
If he could kill an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, that would be even better.
Che Kong also agreed, nodding, “Avoiding the enemy is not the strategy to win a war. We have spent so much time and effort to set up such a massive defence line, but now we want to escape with the Royal City? Our Black Ink Clan cannot afford to lose face like this. Centuries ago, the Human Race used schemes and deception to severely injure the Royal Lord, causing our Black Ink Clan to suffer heavy casualties. Their victory in that battle has blinded the Humans and made them arrogant, making them look down on us as weak and unworthy of fear. But things are different now. Since they dare to act so presumptuously, let us make sure that they all perish here.”
Turning around, he cupped his fist towards the Royal Lord sitting on his throne and bowed, “Sir Royal Lord, your subordinate requests you lead all the Territory Lords to defend the Royal City to the death and stop Great Evolution Pass!”
The Royal Lord remained completely silent. Originally, he had two wings filled with the Black Ink Strength on his back, but now only one remained. The other one had been ripped off by Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao in the final battle 200 years ago and he had yet to recover it even now.
Since the Royal Lord had not spoken, the Territory Lords could only wait.
After a good long while, the Royal Lord finally nodded, “We will use the Royal City as the battlefield. We will kill the Old Ancestor and annihilate the Human Race Army!”
The Territory Lords’ spirits rose as they shouted in unison, “Kill the Old Ancestor, annihilate the Human Race’s Army!”
Their morale was instantly boosted.
Who knew where their confidence was coming from.
A moment later, Territory Lords filed out of the palace, preparing to resist the advancing Great Evolution Pass. In a flash, the Black Ink Clan Armies in the Royal City were mobilized, forming a defensive perimeter outside the Royal City.
All the Territory Lords knew that the future of both races depended on this battle. If the Humans won, there would no longer be a place for the Black Ink Clan to survive in Great Evolution Theatre, and vice versa, the Humans would perish!
No one dared to lower their guard as they prepared to place all their cards on the table.
For a moment, the Royal City was shrouded in a thick murderous intent.
Far away, Great Evolution Pass flew forward at maximum speed.
News kept coming from the frontline, allowing the Human Race’s higher-ups to keep track of the Black Ink Clan’s deployment.
Inside the Main Conference Hall, a slight furrow could be seen on the faces of Xiang Shan and the others. The Black Ink Clan’s actions were truly suspicious. All of them believed that when Great Evolution Pass charged at the Royal City, the Black Ink Clan would move the Royal City, avoiding a head-on clash, but by the looks of it, the Black Ink Clan wanted to put up a stubborn resistance.
But could they?
And even if they somehow managed to resist the initial strike, would the Black Ink Clan be able to deal with the upcoming battle? The Royal Lord was heavily injured, and even if he could use his Black Ink Nest to resist the Old Ancestor for a time, how long could he last?
Once the Royal Lord was defeated, the Black Ink Clan would not be able to resist.
Where was the Black Ink Clan’s confidence coming from?
Everyone was confused by the Black Ink Clan’s deployment, but there was no time to think too much about it. Great Evolution Pass’ attack was already in motion. If the Black Ink Clan tried to resist, then they would have to face them head-on.
…..
Three days later, Yang Kai left his room…
His injuries had completely healed after a few days of recovery, illustrating just how potent a Dragon Vein could be when it came to healing injuries.
Every member of Dawn was already gathered in the courtyard. When Yang Kai walked out of his room, he swept a glance over everyone. He did not give any speech or anything, he just slightly nodded and ordered in a heavy voice, “Let’s go!”
There was no need for any additional words. Everyone knew that this battle would be far more dangerous than any they had fought before. Most of these 50 members of Dawn might perish in this war, but no one had any intention of cowering.
The Human Race had waited for this day for countless millennia. Even if they had to sacrifice all their lives to obtain victory, so what?
One after another, Squads left their residences and headed towards the walls.
Yang Kai led Dawn to a certain section of the wall at the bow of Great Evolution Pass. Looking around, he found the place completely jam-packed. Whether it was above or below, there were people everywhere.
Every Array and artifact on the city walls was manned by someone, ready to activate them at a moment’s notice.
Even though there were so many people present, not a sound could be heard.
Everyone was eagerly waiting for the moment the clash with the Black Ink Clan would begin.
When Yang Kai looked towards the horizon, he could already see the outline of the Royal City. Nonetheless, they were still quite a distance away and the Black Ink Strength was extremely rich here, so he couldn’t see it clearly.
Suddenly, a figure flew to Yang Kai’s side. Yang Kai promptly turned around and greeted, cupping his fist, “Martial Uncle Xu!”
Xu Ling Gong lightly nodded in response before exhorting, “The battlefield is always changing, be careful out there.”
“I understand,” acknowledged Yang Kai.
“This battle is not going to be easy. The Black Ink Clan will have more Territory-Lord-level Masters available to fight than we have Eighth-Order Division Commanders to contain them. We need to tighten our defences, so 20 Eighth-Order Masters will remain inside Great Evolution Pass, which will further widen the gap in numbers. We might have the Evil Purging Divine Spears now, but no one can say for sure how effective they will be in combat. If you encounter a Territory Lord or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple on the battlefield, don’t try to fight them head-on, try to draw them to me.”
“Yes!”
Yang Kai silently calculated in his heart. Great Evolution Pass had a total of 74 Eight-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so if 20 remained in Great Evolution Pass to strengthen its defenses, that would leave only 50 or so who could fight.
Although he had no idea how many Territory Lords the Black Ink Clan had, they should have at least 70 to 80.
Not to mention, they still had many Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
The Humans were indeed at a disadvantage in terms of high-level combat power. As for how they planned to overturn this disadvantage, it would depend on how effective the Evil Purging Divine Spears turned out to be.
If they managed to eliminate a bunch of Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples with the Evil Purging Divine Spears at the outset of the battle, the pressure on the Human Race would be greatly reduced.
More importantly, if the Humans wanted to win, they did not just need to reduce the pressure they were facing, but gain a decisive advantage.
At the end of the day, the fact remained that the Human soldiers were fewer in number than the Black Ink Clansmen. Things would become chaotic during the battle, so even if Great Evolution Pass was within reach, one might not be able to reach it in a moment of crisis.
Things would turn much smoother if Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could obtain a victory at the outset of the battle.
As for Xu Ling Gong’s suggestion of luring any Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples to him, Yang Kai had no plan to heed it.
Xu Ling Gong had only just broken through to the Eighth-Order two centuries ago, so even though his cultivation had stabilized, his foundation was nowhere near as strong as the veteran Eighth-Order Masters. He might not fall into a disadvantage against a single Territory Lord, but if he was up against two, then he would most definitely be overpowered.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, might appear to be just a Seventh-Order Master, but he had obtained an enormous amount of benefits at the No-Return Pass and could now transform into an Ancient Dragon, so fighting a Territory Lord was not a problem for him.
The current Yang Kai could be said to be a Pseudo Eighth-Order Master!
Xu Ling Gong quickly left. Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had their own assignments. They would immediately engage the Territory Lords once the battle began, so it was impossible for them to move together with a Squad.
Not far away, Xiao Cai was standing next to Miao Fei Ping. She hesitated for a moment before finally urging, “Senior Brother Miao, you have to be careful. If you can’t defeat the enemy, remember to return to Dawning Light.”
Miao Fei Ping’s cultivation speed was extremely fast. As the Human Race had ample resources now and quite a few years had gone by since he left Yang Kai’s Small Universe, he had already advanced to the Seventh Order a few years ago.
This would be the first time he would be fighting against the Black Ink Clan after advancing to the Seventh Order.
Miao Fei Ping glanced at her and assured her with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. But you also need to be careful.”
Xiao Cai nodded, “I’ll be staying inside Dawning Light and only activating the Spirit Arrays, so it won’t be too dangerous.”
On the battlefield, the ones in the most danger were the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who would have to leave their Warships to engage the enemy. On the other hand, the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like Xiao Cai wouldn’t be in much danger as long as their Warship was not destroyed.
Of course, if the Warship was destroyed, the Fifth and Sixth-Order Masters would likely face total annihilation.
Since ancient times, there had been countless incidents where entire Squads were wiped out.
“We’re just half a day away!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted.
Yang Kai was able to see farther and more clearly than others thanks to his Demon Eye of Annihilation; as such, he was able to spy on the situation of the Royal City.
The Black Ink Clan had deployed their Army outside the Royal City and were prepared to meet them head-on!
There was more than just one line of defence outside the Royal City. In fact, there were a total of five lines of defence. Moreover, every single line of defence contained a large number of Black Ink Clansmen.
That was especially true for the outermost line of defence, where at least a million Black Ink Clansmen were stationed. They were densely packed and crowded together with so many of them assembled they seemed to fill the void. Hence, they gave off an imposing pressure when seen from afar.
The Black Ink Clan Army had suffered terrible losses during the war 200 years ago. Nevertheless, 200 years had passed since then. The Black Ink Clan had recovered some of their foundation during this period, so there were now more than a million among them who could fight.
In fact, the Black Ink Clansmen stationed at the outermost line of defence were not even included among these numbers. That was because they were miscellaneous Serfs who could not even compare to the Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Their role was just to sacrifice themselves to whittle down the strength of the Human Race Army.
Only the Black Ink Clan could so easily choose to abandon such a large number of clansmen because they could afford the losses. Besides, the Great Evolution Army was aggressively marching forward, so if the Royal City could not be defended, then these miscellaneous Serfs were bound to die anyway. They might as well be useful before they die.
The higher-ups among the Black Ink Clan had no mercy for these Serfs; after all, they were even willing to sacrifice their own lives to defend the Royal City, much less these weaklings.
Due to their inferior strength and low sentience, these Black Ink Serfs had absolute loyalty towards the powerful Black Ink Clansmen and were not afraid of death.
The distance between both parties grew closer and closer.
Four hours later, the Great Evolution Army was only a few million kilometres away from the Black Ink Clan’s first line of defence. The Human Race soldiers standing on the city walls could clearly see the enormous formation formed by the millions of Black Ink Clansmen. Thus, they couldn’t help feeling slightly intimidated.
Nevertheless, they approached closer and closer.
At a certain moment, a furious roar rang out from the depths of the Great Evolution Army, “Kill!”
In the direction of the Royal City, the Human Race soldiers who were raring for battle immediately activated and poured their World Force into the Spirit Arrays and artifacts under their command. The void trembled and hummed incessantly. In the next moment, countless blasts of light burst out from Great Evolution Pass and rained down on their enemies ahead.
At the same time that the Humans made their move, the millions of Black Ink Clan Serfs charged towards the Great Evolution Army without fear of death.
They were weak. The strongest among them were comparable to Dao Source Realm Humans, but most of them were even weaker than that. Even so, they charged forward fearlessly and ferociously despite facing the formidable offensive of the Human Race.
The bombardment from the various Spirit Arrays and artifacts rained down upon the miscellaneous soldiers of the Black Ink Clan, and it didn’t take much effort for a large number of them to evaporate into nothing.
Black Ink Strength grew more concentrated in the aftermath.
Be that as it may, the attacks from the Human Race Army continued to pour down like a fierce torrential rain. The speed of the entire Great Evolution Pass did not reduce in the slightest even though the streams of lights blasting out from its walls swept across the void and wantonly slaughtered the Black Ink Clan.
It was a one-sided massacre.
The Black Ink Serfs who weren’t even considered real soldiers couldn’t even come within 100,000 kilometres of Great Evolution Pass. They were all blown to bits halfway through their forward charge.
However, none of the Human cultivators cheered for joy. They knew that this was just the beginning and the real battle had yet to commence.
Every time Great Evolution Pass advanced another 100,000 kilometres, the number of Black Ink Serfs would reduce sharply by about 100,000 as well. The first line of defence had essentially been broken, but more Black Ink Serfs followed close behind, and judging from their demeanour, they seemed determined not to back down no matter what.
Their efforts eventually paid off. During the last 100,000 kilometres, the Black Ink Serfs finally breached the 100,000 kilometres defence perimeter of Great Evolution Pass and some of the Black Ink Clansmen were even able to launch Secret Techniques at the Great Evolution Army.
Fortunately, the Defensive Arrays of Great Evolution Pass were active and such weak attacks couldn’t even cause ripples to spread across the outer layer of the Pass, resulting in no damage at all.
The violent energy gradually subsided, and the continuous offensive became increasingly sporadic. Eventually, there was no further movement. The entire process took no longer than an hour. The Black Ink Clan’s first line of defence formed by over a million Serfs had been completely annihilated!
If the two armies were to face each other in the open, the Human cultivators would not have had such an easy victory even though their enemies were just sacrificial pieces. It was just that these miscellaneous soldiers were intent on dying from the beginning. They wanted to sacrifice themselves in exchange for whittling away at the momentum of Great Evolution Pass. That was why most of them were annihilated within an hour.
A large patch of Black Ink Strength that was dense to the point of becoming solid was in Great Evolution Pass’s wake.
Waiting ahead of them now was the Black Ink Clan’s second line of defence. There were only 300,000 Black Ink Clansmen stationed in this line of defence, but even so, the Human cultivators did not take their enemies lightly. That was because the second line of defence was mainly formed by Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen.
The Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen were equivalent to Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. If there were only one or two of them, or even several hundreds of them, Great Evolution Pass could simply plow through them without caring, but an Army of 300,000 was not something Great Evolution Pass could afford to underestimate. If these Black Ink Clansmen were to launch a coordinated attack, they would heavy damage to the defences of Great Evolution Pass.
As usual, the Spirit Arrays and the artifacts in Great Evolution Pass began to buzz as they closed to within 1 million kilometres and countless streams of light blasted forward.
Naturally, the Black Ink Clan was not willing to sit around and wait for their deaths. The 300,000 Low-Rank Clansmen did their best to dodge these attacks from Great Evolution Pass and close the distance between them.
A distance of 1 million kilometres was too far for these Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen to effectively attack as their Secret Techniques would not carry any real power across such a vast distance. Only by approaching could they become a threat to Great Evolution Pass.
Countless corpses were strewn across the void as every stream of light that shot out from Great Evolution Pass would reap many of the Black Ink Clansmen’s lives. Regardless of the Human’s efforts though, it was still difficult to stop the offensive of the Black Ink Clansmen.
The surviving Black Ink Clansmen flew forward, stepping over the corpses of their brethren and steadfastly forging a path forward at the cost of countless sacrifices.
After losing nearly 30% of their number, the surviving Black Ink Clansmen finally advanced to a suitable distance. With a ferocious roar, numerous Secret Techniques blasted out from among the Black Ink Clansmen and shot towards Great Evolution Pass.
A transparent light barrier suddenly emerged outside Great Evolution Pass. The incoming Secret Techniques slammed into the light barrier and caused noticeable ripples to spread across its surface like countless rocks being thrown into a lake.
As both sides rapidly approached each other, they attacked with increasing ferocity.
It was just that the Human cultivators had Great Evolution Pass as a shield while the Black Ink Clan were completely exposed. The Human cultivators could kill the Black Ink Clan, but the Black Ink Clan could not kill a single Human cultivator. At the very least, that was the case as long as the defences of Great Evolution Pass were not breached. It was obvious which side held the upper hand.
Clouds of black blood exploded in the void as most of the Black Ink Clansmen died tragically.
Yang Kai stood on the city wall with a solemn expression.
Although less than 2 hours had passed since the battle began, the Human Race had slaughtered more than a million Black Ink Clansmen. Nevertheless, that did not affect the foundation of the Black Ink Clan. The Black Ink Clansmen being killed right now were merely those who had been abandoned.
Seeing as the weaker Black Ink Clansmen were so fearless, it could be conceived that they had prepared themselves to fight the Human Race to the death. This was going to be a tough battle!
Be that as it may, Yang Kai did not make a move. Even though he could easily attack from this distance, his strength as an individual would not make much of a difference under these circumstances. There were many other Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on the battlefield after all. Besides, he had to ensure that his strength remained at its peak for when it was really needed.
The Humans quickly broke through the second line of defence.
Unlike how the first line of defence had been completely annihilated though, only slightly more than half of the Black Ink Clansmen in the second line of defence had been eliminated while quite a few had survived unscathed. Their strength was much greater than those Serfs after all, so it stood to reason that their rate of survival on this kind of fast-moving battlefield would be much higher.
These surviving Black Ink Clansmen did not scatter and retreat either and instead pursued Great Evolution Pass from behind. Surrounding Great Evolution Pass from all sides, they did their best to move about while attacking madly.
Naturally, Great Evolution Pass retaliated in all directions via the Spirit Arrays and artifacts that were deployed on its walls. For a time, there were traces of battle all around the advancing Great Evolution Pass.
The Black Ink Clan steadily continued to plummet in numbers; however, the third line of defence loomed before the Humans, and it was different from the second.
From a million kilometres away, the Black Ink Clansmen who formed the third line of defence began taking action. Numerous pitch-black attacks rained down on Great Evolution Pass, causing countless ripples to appear on the defensive light barrier.
The third line of defence was mainly formed by High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Their numbers were not high, only 100,000 or so; however, there were also many Feudal Lords among their ranks. This was part of the Black Ink Clan Army’s main forces!
Their approach was also completely different from the Black Ink Clan’s first two lines of defence. They did not show signs of rushing forward seeking death. Whilst they attacked Great Evolution Pass, they also did their best to avoid and dodge the attacks from Great Evolution Pass.
The Human cultivators could no longer slaughter their enemies indiscriminately like before.
That was not all. When Great Evolution Pass penetrated the third line of defence, the 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen, most of whom were still alive given the vast engagement distance, scattered to both sides. They retreated and maintained a relative distance from Great Evolution Pass while simultaneously launching attacks. Like a large net, they swept about, seemingly trying to engulf Great Evolution Pass within their midst.
Yang Kai could clearly sense that Great Evolution Pass’s speed had decreased. It was not too obvious, but he could also detect that the glow of the defensive light barrier was gradually growing dimmer.
The Great Pass’ shields might be extremely powerful, but no defence could withstand an unending barrage of attacks.
The Black Ink Clan survivors from the second line of defence merged with the third line of defence; thus, their overall strength increased sharply.
Meanwhile, Great Evolution Pass continued to forge a path forward. Everywhere the Great Pass went, the auras of countless Black Ink Clansmen vanished out of existence, their broken corpses left strewn across the battlefield.
It didn’t take long for Great Evolution Pass to arrive at the Black Ink Clan’s fourth line of defence. This particular line of defence was not very different from the third line of defence, but the proportion of Feudal Lords had increased significantly.
The approach of the fourth line of defence was identical to the third line of defence. They refused to confront Great Evolution Pass directly and instead kept their distance while maintaining a steady bombardment to shave away at the Human’s strength.
Then, they merged with the survivors of the Black Ink Clan from the second and third lines of defence to greatly increase the density of their attacks. Even so, they could not stop the advance of Great Evolution Pass.
The Royal City was getting closer and closer, and standing on the walls, the Human cultivators could now clearly see the majestic Royal City. They also saw the Black Ink Clan Army surrounding the Universe World where the Royal City was situated!
Needless to say, that was the Black Ink Clan’s final line of defence and the core of their Army. All the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples were stationed there. As long as Great Evolution Pass could penetrate this line of defence, the Great Pass could brutally ram the Royal City.
With how tough and sturdy Great Evolution Pass was, the Royal City would be destroyed if the two were to collide.
[Can we break through the final line of defence?] The Human cultivators did not know. They could only do their best to slaughter their enemies.
On the other side, the Territory Lords gathered outside the Royal City.
Che Kong stared into the distance, watching the movements on the battlefield. Then, he suddenly snorted in derision, “Looks like we’ve overestimated the Humans. They are not a threat to the Royal City.”
Judging by the current situation, the Great Pass would not be able to withstand their joint forces even if it could advance towards them. It was bound to be stopped outside the Royal City.
As long as the Great Pass could be intercepted and the Royal City could be protected, the rest would depend on the close-quarters melee between the two Armies. Under those circumstances, the Black Ink Clan which held an overwhelming advantage in numbers might yet prevail.
Upon hearing what Che Kong said, Hong Di frowned slightly and chided, “Don’t be careless. The Humans are very cunning. Since they dared to come here in such a manner, they will surely have other tricks hiding up their sleeves.”
One of the Territory Lords snorted derisively, “Hong Di, have you grown fearful of the Humans after suffering defeat at their hands? Why are you lauding the strength of the Humans and undermining your own prestige before the battle even begins?”
Hong Di shook his head lightly, “I am not lauding the strength of the Human Race. It’s just that… Based on past battles, the Black Ink Clan has always suffered greatly every time we underestimated them.”
The Territory Lords scowled at those words, but after giving it another thought, they could not deny the truth behind that statement. They had never thought highly of the Human Race in the past, but where had that gotten them? Not only had the Humans retaken Great Evolution Pass, but the Royal City had also been thrashed by the Humans 200 years ago. At this point, they were so embarrassed that they couldn’t even hold their heads up high. If the Human Race Army had not taken the initiative to withdraw back then, the Black Ink Clan would have had a hard time surviving at all.
For a time, they couldn’t help reconsidering their contempt towards the Human Race.
If it was something that the Black Ink Clan could notice, then it stood to reason that the Humans would notice too. They might even have a clearer understanding of the situation compared to the Black Ink Clan; after all, they were the ones controlling Great Evolution Pass. The Humans were bound to have a better understanding of the situation.
After breaking through the third line of defence, Great Evolution Pass charged towards the Black Ink Clan’s fourth line of defence. Nevertheless, Great Evolution Pass had inevitably lost its initial indomitable momentum after being intercepted by millions of Black Ink Clansmen.
[It’s like trying to wade through a quagmire!] That was what all the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass felt at that moment.
Shen Ao leaned towards Yang Kai and whispered, “Squad Leader, it will be bad if things continue at this rate. The speed of Great Evolution Pass is dropping, and the Territory Lords have yet to take action. If they make a move now, we will be stopped before we can even reach the Royal City.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly at those words, but looking around, he replied, “I’m sure the higher-ups have a plan. Let’s just wait and see first.”
The Army was deployed to all four walls of Great Evolution Pass. Whether it was the Spirit Arrays or the artifacts, the arrangements were similar no matter where one stood. Moreover, Human cultivators were standing at attention beside the Spirit Arrays and artifacts.
Seeing as Great Evolution Pass had charged forward in a straight line, the ones exchanging blows with the Black Ink Clan’s four lines of defences were mainly the soldiers facing the Royal City. In other words, the deployment on the other three walls had not played much of a role in this battle so far. The most they had done was to counter some of the Black Ink Clansmen attacking from the sides or the rear.
At present, Great Evolution Pass had only exerted around 25% of its full strength!
Great Evolution Pass had spent countless resources preparing for this moment for the past 200 years; hence, the deployment of soldiers to the other three walls could not be mere decorations. They were bound to play a role in this battle.
Just as Yang Kai was pondering in silence, the interception from the Black Ink Clan’s fourth line of defence became much fiercer. Great Evolution Pass trembled constantly, and the shield enveloping Great Evolution Pass shuddered visibly.
Either because they noticed the decline of Great Evolution Pass’ momentum or because they received orders from the Territory Lords at the rear, the attacks of the Black Ink Clan Army intercepting Great Evolution Pass became significantly more ferocious.
“Switch!” A sharp shout suddenly came from the depths of Great Evolution Pass. It was none other than Xiang Shan.
In the next moment, a rumble came from within Great Evolution Pass. Dense energy spread out in all directions, and the entire Great Pass trembled as though experiencing an earthquake. There seemed to be some sort of Grand Array being activated! Immediately following that, Great Evolution Pass that had been charging straight towards the Royal City slowly began to rotate under the impetus of an inexplicable force.
In the beginning, the speed of rotation was not very fast. Great Evolution Pass was extremely enormous after all. Even with the help of a Grand Array, it was not an easy task to move the entire Great Pass. Nevertheless, the speed increased significantly with the passage of time.
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up. He immediately understood what the higher-ups were planning.
Needless to say, they could not rely solely on one wall of Great Evolution Pass during their assault on the Royal City. Only by rotating Great Evolution Pass in this manner could the deployments on the other three walls be used to their full potential.
A short while later, the wall that was originally facing the Royal City had turned to face the left. Meanwhile, the soldiers who had been standing at the ready on the adjacent wall came face-to-face with the Black Ink Clan blocking them.
After holding back for so long, the long-prepared soldiers quickly pushed their strength. The lines of Spirit Arrays lit up on top of the walls, resonating with each other over the distance. Artifacts came to life and numerous beams of light blasted out towards the Black Ink Clan Army with unstoppable power! Half the void was illuminated in an instant!
The Black Ink Clan in front suffered heavy casualties as a result.
Outside the Royal City, the expressions of the Territory Lords changed slightly at the sight. Meanwhile, Hong Di sighed softly. Although he had guessed that the Human Race would have another trick up their sleeves, he never expected it to be something like this.
Just as how the Territory Lords had not expected Great Evolution Pass to travel over such a great distance, they also never expected Great Evolution Pass to slaughter enemies by rotating itself in flight. If it was a small Human Warship, they might not have been so surprised by this turn of events; however, it was extremely unexpected for something as large as Great Evolution Pass to be so nimble.
In this way, the Human cultivators in Great Evolution Pass would be able to maintain their peak strength at all times even though the number of attacks during each wave against the Black Ink Clan would not change by much. Nevertheless, their combat strength more than doubled in an instant thanks to this strategy.
Great Evolution Pass continued to rotate. After the soldiers on the wall facing the Royal City fired off three rounds of attacks, the wall they were stationed upon was rotated out of the firing arc. Then, the soldiers on the wall that was now facing the Royal City began attacking. In this way, they formed a continuous and endless barrage.
The fourth line of defence that was supposed to whittle away at the strength of Great Evolution Pass immediately fell into jeopardy and it was only a matter of time before Great Evolution Pass broke through their defences.
Be that as it may, the Territory Lords remained motionless. They were stationed at the final line of defence, so the Royal City was located directly behind them. As long as the situation became dire, they did not dare to act rashly lest the soldiers under their command become disordered. If that were to happen, the Humans would easily be able to break through the defences.
Inside the void, following the rotation of Great Evolution Pass, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on the walls continued to blaze brightly. Every wave of attacks was sent out with great enthusiasm and ferocity.
The Black Ink Clan defenders were losing their lives at a steady pace.
Out of the four lines of defence, the first line of defence was formed from a million Serfs that had been completely annihilated. The second line of defence mainly consisted of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen and supplemented by some of the stronger Serfs. They too been soundly defeated.
On the other hand, the third and fourth lines of defences mainly consisted of High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. The Feudal Lords were also stationed at these lines of defences, along with their respective private troops. These were the main strength of the Black Ink Clan Army. Unfortunately, they had suffered heavy casualties. At least half of the Black Ink Clan Army had been eradicated already, yet they could not stop the advance of Great Evolution Pass.
Despite such an overwhelming victory, the price the Humans paid was no more than the malfunction of several Spirit Arrays and artifacts that could not withstand the burden of such intense usage and the depletion of strength among the Human cultivators.
Naturally, there were Array Masters and Artifact Refiners beside the Spirit Arrays and artifacts ready to repair and replace them as soon as possible. Likewise, there were other cultivators on standby to replace the cultivators who had expended too much World Force. Therefore, Great Evolution Pass maintained the power of their ongoing assault at all times.
An hour later, the Black Ink Clan’s fourth line of defence collapsed.
Only the final line of defence remained, but that was also the most difficult one to breach because the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were stationed there, along with a million more Black Ink Clan soldiers!
Could Great Evolution Pass break through the final line of defence and destroy the Royal City? Nobody knew. All they knew was that they had to do their very best!
A million kilometres away, a powerful aura erupted just outside the Royal City. Immediately after that, a series of pitch-black attacks shot out from that direction. The Territory Lords had taken action! Knowing that they could not allow the Great Pass to approach any closer, they made the first move to intercept the enemy.
The Human Race seemed to have expected this attack, so when the Territory Lords took action, the rotating Great Evolution Pass abruptly vibrated. The shield protecting Great Evolution Pass had initially grown dimmer after having to withstand countless attacks over such a long time and was now so faint that it seemed about to shatter at any moment; but at that moment, the dim light barrier abruptly emitted a dazzling radiance and became unimaginably solid.
Yang Kai clearly felt the aura of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters coming from deep within Great Evolution Pass. Even the aura of the Old Ancestor was mixed in. The Eighth-Order Masters and the Old Ancestor had taken action!
At present, there were at least 30 Eighth-Order Division Commanders stationed at Great Evolution Core, controlling Great Evolution Pass. Together with the strength of the Old Ancestor, how powerful would the shields be?
The Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering attacks were somewhat weakened after crossing the 1 million kilometres gap, but the force behind them remained extremely terrifying as they accurately slammed into the light barrier around Great Evolution Pass.
The thick light barrier bent inward and fluctuated under the barrage but remained intact. There were no signs of damage, and the light didn’t even dim.
Seeing this scene from afar, the Territory Lords grew solemn. Nevertheless, the movements of their hands did not stop. Endless varieties of Secret Techniques blasted towards Great Evolution Pass in quick succession.
For a time, the space between the rotating Great Evolution Pass and the Black Ink Clan’s last line of defence churned violently as wild explosions occurred everywhere.
However, the Human soldiers did not cheer with joy. Seeing as the Old Ancestor was working together with the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, it would be odd if the protective barrier they created with the help of the Great Pass’ Spirit Arrays could not defend against such attacks.
It could even be said that the attacks of these Territory Lords would not break through the defences of Great Evolution Pass even if they exhausted all their strength in the attempt.
The true obstacle lay ahead.
As soon as Great Evolution Pass advanced to within 200,000 kilometres of the final defence line, the million-strong Black Ink Clan Army would be able to attack freely. Each of these soldiers’ individual strength was incomparable to the Territory Lords, but they held an overwhelming advantage in numbers. After all, how many Territory Lords were there compared to the troops in the Black Ink Clan Army? With enough grains of sand, one could even build a mountain.
Looking from a distance, the Black Ink Clan Army stationed at the final line of defence outside the Royal City were eager for battle. Not to mention, the Black Ink Strength being channelled by so many Black Ink Clansmen made the void distort in that direction.
Several hundred thousand kilometres passed by in the blink of an eye and soon Great Evolution Pass was only 200,000 kilometres away from the Black Ink Clan’s final line of defence!
As expected, the Black Ink Clan Army attacked all at once. Countless energy fluctuations converged into a tidal wave that spread out in all directions. At the same time, the Black Ink Strength attacks covered the entire void and rained down upon Great Evolution Pass.
Many of the Human soldiers subconsciously clenched their jaws nervously. If the defences of Great Evolution Pass could not defend against this round of attacks, then more than half of the Human soldiers stationed on the walls would be killed or injured in an instant. As for Great Evolution Pass, it was an extremely powerful Mobile Palace Artifact in the first place, so it would probably be fine.
In the split moment between life and death, nobody made any strange movements. Everyone had absolute trust in the abilities of the Old Ancestor and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
At the same time that the Black Ink Clan attacked from just 200,000 kilometres away, the defensive shield covering Great Evolution Pass seemed to undergo some kind of profound change. A gorgeous brilliance suddenly flowed across the surface of the light barrier and the interior of Great Evolution Pass was shrouded in a kaleidoscope of colours for a moment.
The first wave of attacks arrived, fiercely bombarding the light barrier like countless raindrops falling from the sky. The attacks caused numerous ripples to spread out across the surface of the shield, and as more attacks arrived, the ripples became more and more prominent.
All of a sudden, the rotation speed of Great Evolution Pass increased sharply. It was clear that this method was meant to relieve some of the pressure on that section of the shield.
At the same time, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on the wall of Great Evolution Pass that was facing the Royal City began to blast out attacks.
It was naturally impossible for the Humans to passively take a beating without retaliating in kind. While the defence of Great Evolution Pass was jointly supported by the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Old Ancestor, the soldiers on the walls would be responsible for killing the enemy.
The best defence was offence. If they could annihilate all the Black Ink Clansmen in front of them, then defence would no longer be required.
Across the gap, attacks from both sides intertwined with each other in the void as both sides fervently bombarded each other. Many of the Secret Techniques collided with each other mid-flight, erupting into brilliant explosions before vanishing into nothing.
Meanwhile, the ripples spreading across the shields covering Great Evolution Pass became more and more numerous. Be that as it may, the Human soldiers would not be in any danger as long as the light barrier remained intact.
On the contrary, the million-plus soldiers of the Black Ink Clan Army were densely packed together without any additional form of protection. The Human Race Army would be able to slaughter their enemies easily as long as any of their Secret Techniques landed among the Black Ink Clan Army. It was only a matter of how many they could kill with each attack.
The original one million kilometres between both parties shrank to just 100,000 in short order. Nevertheless, the momentum of Great Evolution Pass remained magnificent against the intense attacks coming from the Black Ink Clan Army.
Yang Kai suddenly looked up. The light barrier around Great Evolution Pass was fluctuating. It was sometimes dim and sometimes bright; thus, he knew that even the defence formed by the joint efforts of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders and the Old Ancestor would not last for very much longer.
The Black Ink Clan’s offensive was too fierce. More importantly, there were too many of them. If Great Evolution Pass intended to ram the Royal City, then there was no way to change the direction of their forward movement, making them an easy target.
*Kacha…*
A slight cracking sound suddenly rang out. Yang Kai immediately looked in the direction of the sound and saw that a fissure had formed at a certain spot of the light barrier after withstanding thousands of attacks from the Black Ink Clan. Fortunately, the crack was fleeting. It was evident that the Eighth-Order Masters and the Old Ancestor were still pouring their strength into the light barrier to repair the crack.
*Kacha…*
More cracks began to form in different locations, only to be repaired almost immediately, the cycle repeating over and over again.
As they got closer to the Black Ink Clan Army, the situation in Great Evolution Pass became more and more perilous and the seemingly solid defence seemed likely to shatter at any moment.
Xiang Shan’s furious roar suddenly cut through the universe, “Prepare to engage the enemy!”
After hearing the order, Yang Kai and the other Squad Leaders quickly summoned the Warships of their respective Squads. The Squad members swiftly boarded, and with a hum from the Spirit Arrays, a hole was opened in the light barrier!
The cracking sounds continued to ring out as more and more breaks appeared. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Old Ancestor were clearly having a hard time maintaining the shield and keeping up with the speed at which the cracks were forming.
At a certain moment, one corner of the light barrier covering Great Evolution Pass reached its limit and shattered. A hole suddenly appeared in the originally impenetrable light barrier.
Before the hole could be repaired, a torrent of Secret Techniques slipped inside through the hole in the light barrier and slammed into Great Evolution Pass. Loud explosions rang out incessantly. When the Black Ink Strength erupted everywhere, a large number of houses collapsed and the entire Great Evolution Pass shook violently from the impact.
Several Squads who happened to be stationed at the spot suddenly found themselves in the middle of the storm of attacks. It was fortunate that those Squads had already summoned their respective Warships, so their Squad members were able to take shelter. The Warships provided some protection against the aftermath of the attacks, but even then, some of the Warships swayed unsteadily under the powerful impact.
When the Squad members came back to their senses, the Warships had been badly damaged. They were fortunate that there were no casualties among them; however, this was just the beginning. Following the first break that appeared in the defences of Great Evolution Pass, a second immediately opened. Then, a third hole…
For a time, the entire Great Evolution Pass seemed to transform into a broken house with a leaking roof that was dripping water everywhere. Even though the Eighth-Order Masters and the Old Ancestor at Great Evolution Pass’ Core were doing their best to speed up the repairs, it was difficult for them to recover from the declining situation.
The Secret Techniques from the Black Ink Clan constantly blasted into the depths of Great Evolution Pass, causing the entire structure to be in dire straits for some time.
At this moment, Yang Kai was personally overseeing the Defensive Spirit Array of Dawning Light. Although he drew upon his great strength to activate the power of the Defensive Spirit Array, Dawning Light wobbled unsteadily as Great Evolution Pass shuddered from the various impacts.
All of a sudden, an aura vanished somewhere in Great Evolution Pass. Everybody’s expressions darkened. The first casualty had finally appeared among the Humans since their assault on the Royal City began.
This was an inevitable occurrence. The Humans had gone all out in their assault on the Royal City, so how could the Black Ink Clan hold back their strength? Both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had a blood feud between them that would only end with the destruction of one party.
Due to the sudden advance of Great Evolution Pass, the distance between the Pass and the Black Ink Clan’s fifth line of defence rapidly closed until they were practically face to face. Although the Black Ink Clan Army had suffered heavy casualties, their overwhelming advantage in numbers remained. The foundation of their Army remained undamaged despite the great casualties they suffered.
Seeing that Great Evolution Pass was approaching but they were powerless to stop its advance, the Territory Lords roared furiously. Under their command, the hundreds of thousands of remaining Black Ink Clan Army soldiers split into three groups. One group would be in charge of defending against the enemy while the two would try to flank and encircle Great Evolution Pass.
In the blink of an eye, Great Evolution Pass charged forward like a wolf entering the lion’s den and attacked with great ferocity.
The Black Ink Clan’s fifth line of defence was located just 1 million kilometres away from the Royal City. It could be said that the Royal City would have to face the full power of Great Evolution Pass alone if the latter successfully broke through the final line of defence; therefore, the Black Ink Clan neither could nor dared to avoid the attack.
Faced with the aggressive assault of the Humans, the Black Ink Clan knew that they could not stop the advance of their enemy by remaining solely on the defensive. Hence, they could only use this method to try to wear down the strength of the Humans to achieve their goals, and their methods proved effective.
Surrounded by enemies on three sides, the defences of Great Evolution Pass became more and more unstable. The Eighth-Order Division Commanders and the Old Ancestor had given up on maintaining the defence around some areas and were simply trying their best to maintain the remaining parts instead.
The entire Great Evolution Pass was constantly being bombarded by the Secret Techniques of the Black Ink Clan, and most of the houses in Great Evolution Pass had been levelled. However, two places were completely unaffected by the chaos. These two areas were the Monument of Heroes and the cemetery!
Even at such a critical juncture, the Eighth-Order Masters and the Old Ancestor continued to divert part of their strength to protect these two places from harm. They wanted their ancestors who died on the Black Ink Battlefield to witness the victory of the Human Race over the Black Ink Clan. They also wanted to show their ancestors that all the sacrifices and efforts in the past had been worthwhile and that the younger generations had continued to inherit their legacy!
*Kacha…*
The loudest cracking sound so far filled the air. The shield around Great Evolution Pass trembled unsteadily, as though it could crumble to pieces at any time.
Xiang Shan’s furious shout resounded at that moment, “Attack!”
The Territory Lords outside the Royal City roared in return, “Stop them!”
The decisive moment had arrived. Great Evolution Pass was now just 1 million kilometres away from the Royal City, and the Black Ink Clan Army stopped retreating.
At this point, they had no place left to retreat. The Royal City was right behind them, so if they could not stop the advance of Great Evolution Pass here, then the Royal City would fall into danger. Therefore, they had to stop Great Evolution Pass at all costs.
A large number of Black Ink Clansmen charged towards Great Evolution Pass fearlessly. Bearing the brunt of the attacks coming from the Spirit Arrays and artifacts, they exploded into mist in the void; however, their sacrifices paved the way for their comrades behind them.
The rotation speed of Great Evolution Pass had reached the limit, and the Pass practically completed a rotation every 30 breaths. Meanwhile, all the soldiers on the walls were madly drawing out the power of their Small Universes to stimulate the power of the Spirit Arrays and artifacts under their command to the maximum extent.
The Warships did not remain idle either. Now that the decisive moment had come, the Warships joined the battle and launched countless attacks towards the enemy.
The power of the Secret Techniques from both sides collided with each other in the void, and the aura of numerous Black Ink Clansmen would vanish from existence with every passing moment. On the other hand, the interior of Great Evolution Pass had been seriously damaged by the barrage of Secret Techniques from the Black Ink Clan. All the buildings had been razed to the ground, and many Human soldiers lost their lives in battle.
*Kacha…*
The light barrier of Great Evolution Pass finally shattered completely, and the muffled grunts of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters echoed through the air. It was obvious that they had suffered some backlash when the Grand Array collapsed.
Consequently, the entire Great Evolution Pass was exposed to the attacks of the Black Ink Clan Army. The violent energy fluctuations in front caused space to become extremely chaotic, and Great Evolution Pass that had lost its defences was like a tiger without claws.
Even so, it was enough.
In the next moment, Great Evolution Pass successfully charged past the Black Ink Clan’s final line of defence. Countless attacks were fired from Great Evolution Pass and spread out in all directions. The Black Ink Clan blocking the way forward were either killed or severely injured!
Some of the Territory Lords coughed up blood incessantly while some of the Feudal Lord exploded and died. At the same time, several Warships inside Great Evolution Pass erupted into balls of flame. The desperate attacks that took place during the brief moment of contact left both sides reeling from the impact.
Now that the Black Ink Clan’s defences had been breached, the Royal City lay just ahead. Thus, the Eighth-Order Masters and Old Ancestor channelled all their strength into accelerating Great Evolution Pass.
The Black Ink Clan Army pursued and blasted Secret Techniques at Great Evolution Pass without pause. Nevertheless, they could no longer effectively prevent the advance of the Pass.
Even so, nobody among the Human Race was happy. In the clash that occurred during their breakthrough moment, the general direction of the Pass seemed to have undergone some subtle changes even though they managed to breach the Black Ink Clan’s final line of defence.
Great Evolution Pass was originally supposed to collide with the Royal City directly, but all the impacts caused their path to deviate slightly. Although they would still collide with the Universe World where the Royal City was located, nobody could guarantee the effects of the collision.
What worried them even more was that the Universe World where the Royal City was located seemed to be moving. Although the speed was slow, there was no denying that it was moving.
The Royal Lord was currently overseeing the situation inside the Royal City, and it should not be difficult for him to relocate the Royal City with his abilities.
Unfortunately, both parties were too close to each other now. At this point, it was already too late for Great Evolution Pass to change direction.
The 1 million kilometres distance was crossed in what seemed like a fleeting moment.
Under the anticipation of the Humans and the horror of the Black Ink Clan, the enormous Great Evolution Pass brutally slammed into the Universe World where the Royal City was located.
The Universe World shattered, causing the entire Royal City to suffer a severe shock. On the other hand, Great Evolution Pass continued unabated and flew off into the depths of the void.
Looking back, they saw that the Universe World had broken into several pieces! What’s more, the majestic Royal Lord Black Ink Nest wobbled unsteadily, as though it might collapse at any moment.
The figure of the Royal Lord suddenly appeared above the Black Ink Nest. He stabilised the shaking of the Black Ink Nest with his large hand, then he glanced towards Great Evolution Pass that was travelling into the distance and coldly snorted.
Upon seeing that scene, Yang Kai and the others couldn’t help feeling a slight twinge of regret. Great Evolution Pass had travelled across such a vast distance and endured so much just to make that one collision possible. If they had successfully destroyed the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, then the rest of the battle would have been much easier.
Unfortunately, it was not so easy to destroy the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest. The Royal Lord had remained behind to protect the Royal City, so even if the Old Ancestor had tried to attack the Black Ink Nest just now, they might not have succeeded in their attempt. Not to mention, she could not act rashly since she had to guard against any unexpected movements from the Royal Lord.
As a result of their mutual restraint against the other, the Black Ink Nest was ultimately unharmed. Be that as it may, it was not as though the Humans had not gained anything from their attempt.
Numerous Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests were smashed to pieces when Great Evolution Pass collided with the Universe World. Following the collapse of the Universe World, many of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests that were originally secured around the asteroid fragment scattered and drifted away into the void.
There were as many as 80 Territory Lords in the Royal City, basically on par with the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Correspondingly, there were many Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests that had been secured around the vicinity of the Royal City.
The Territory Lords could borrow the power of their respective Black Ink Nests if they were in the vicinity. Now that several of the Black Ink Nests had been destroyed, it was equivalent to weakening the strength of those Territory Lords by extension. This result would be extremely beneficial for the upcoming battle.
The Black Ink Clan on the Universe World were in an uproar, and the Black Ink Clan Army soon gathered in the surroundings.
Meanwhile, the speed of Great Evolution Pass reduced drastically after colliding with the Universe World.
The Humans were here to annihilate the Black Ink Clan, so it was naturally impossible for them to leave after slamming into the Royal City once. On the contrary, the impending fight was the real battle that would determine the fate of both Races.
Great Evolution Pass kept going without stopping after colliding with the Universe World where the Royal City was located. At Great Evolution Pass’ Core, it took great effort for Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Eighth-Order Division Commanders to jointly decelerate the massive Great Evolution Pass, eventually stopping it about 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City’s original position.
It was just the right distance, neither too far nor too near. Not only would this distance provide a path of retreat for the Human soldiers, but they would also have enough space to attack the Royal City without worrying about the fallout affecting the rear.
Tens of thousands of soldiers stood at the ready inside Great Evolution Pass, prepared to move out at any moment.
Meanwhile, the surviving Black Ink Clan Army around the Royal City was also re-organizing. It crossed the Royal City and came to the opposite side as they quickly deployed their defences about 1 million kilometres out.
In the end, time was too short though. Before the Black Ink Clan could finish their preparations, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on the walls of Great Evolution Pass resumed firing towards them. The streams of lights still contained immense power, causing the enemy to scream in agony. Many of them also lost their lives with every blast.
The Warships set out from Great Evolution Pass at the same time, gathering together to form an enormous fleet, which then swiftly approached the Royal City under the leadership of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
As the army marched forward, a few dozen figures in Great Evolution Pass transformed into streams of light and sped towards the Royal City. These figures that emitted an impressive and overwhelming aura were none other than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who would participate in the battle.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao took the lead. Her figure flickered several times before she arrived above the Royal City. Slamming her slender jade hand downward, she gathered the World Force in the palm of her hand and a warcry burst from her lips, “Show yourself!”
Following her shout, the Royal Lord’s wretched figure emerged from within the Royal City. His complexion was pale and his aura was weak. Even the colour of the single pitch-black wing on his back seemed dull.
Despite being injured for so many years, he had not had a chance to recuperate from his wounds; thus, he bemoaned his poor luck and ill fate to have met such a crazy woman from the Human Race.
Now that his opponent had taken the initiative to come and knock on his door, he had no choice but to fight regardless of his reluctance. After all, there was nobody else among the Black Ink Clan here who could compete with the Old Ancestor except him. If he relied on the Territory Lords under his command, they would suffer massive casualties in a face-to-face meeting with the Old Ancestor without his protection.
It was not the first time the two top Masters had fought with each other. They had fought each other several times in the war 200 years ago, and even more times after that; therefore, they were familiar with each other’s habits and combat strength like the back of their hands.
The Humans had travelled from afar with the determination to annihilate the Black Ink Clan, so both top Masters didn’t bother probing at each other when they engaged in this battle. They immediately unleashed various lethal moves as soon as they clashed. The dense World Force and Black Ink Strength collided together, instantly causing the world around them to pale.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao clearly wanted to drag the battlefield elsewhere, lest they harm the Human Race Army; however, how could the Royal Lord willingly cooperate? If they fought near the Royal City, he could borrow the power of his Black Ink Nest to bolster his strength. In contrast, he could only rely on his own strength if he was dragged far from the Royal City. What’s more, he couldn’t fight Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao on equal terms in his current condition.
After some back and forth, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao finally managed to drag the battlefield about 2 million kilometres out, but she was powerless to go any further. After all, there was nothing she could do when the Royal Lord refused to move away from the Royal City.
Nevertheless, 2 million kilometres was enough. With this distance, the fallout of their battle would not be deadly to the Human Race Army, though it would still affect them greatly. Of course, if the Human Race Army was affected, the Black Ink Clan Army would not escape unharmed. Neither side would benefit from this situation.
Immediately after Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s departure, the 50 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who would be fighting in this war rushed towards the battlefield and charged straight at the Black Ink Clan Army.
If these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fought inside the ranks of the Black Ink Clan Army, the latter would surely suffer enormous damage. The Black Ink Clan was unwilling to see such an outcome of course, so over 60 Territory Lords and 20 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were dispatched as soon as they saw that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were approaching.
In terms of numbers, they far exceeded the Eighth-Order Human Masters! This couldn’t be helped though, as no matter which realm, the Black Ink Clan would always exceed the Human Race in terms of numbers.
Although the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords was nearly equal after the battle to reclaim Great Evolution Pass 200 years ago, the situation was different now that they had used Great Evolution Pass to launch an offensive. 20 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were needed to remain in Great Evolution Pass at all times to provide the necessary protection for it and also to maintain a place of refuge for the Human soldiers.
During the battle, the Human soldiers would always need some time to rest and recover. Retreating to Great Evolution Pass was their best option; therefore, these 20 Eighth-Order Division Commanders could not leave their posts easily. The only ones who could actively participate in the battle were the 50 or so remaining Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
In the blink of an eye, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters met the Territory Lords and Black Ink Disciples in the void. Following a brief moment of chaos, they split off into several groups and scattered in all directions. While they were scattering in all directions, these larger groups were further dispersed into smaller groups. The fight was intense thanks to the various Secret Techniques that were unleashed in every direction.
Many of the Eighth-Order Human Masters had to fight against two opponents. Fortunately, the Humans boasted deeper heritages, so even if they had to fight in a two-against-one battle, they were only slightly disadvantaged. Nevertheless, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had one-on-one battles with the Territory Lords had a much easier time. They held the upper hand in the battle and were steadily forcing their opponents to retreat.
Needless to say, there was no need to worry about Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao. Even though the Royal Lord was borrowing the strength of his Black Ink Nest, he could barely stop her violent onslaught. At this moment, he only had enough strength to parry her attacks but not enough to counterattack.
The fact that the battle between the strongest Masters of both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan was the first to break out was also something that the Human Race had deliberately planned. For the Human Race Army to attack, the Black Ink Clan Army had to be restrained; otherwise, the Humans could not stop the powerful offensive of the Territory Lords.
Chaos reigned and the entire universe shook from the impact of battle. Nevertheless, the Great Evolution Army marched forward with steady purpose. Relying on the support of Great Evolution Pass behind them, the enormous fleet closed to within 1 million kilometres of the enemy lines.
The Spirit Arrays and the artifacts on the Warships hummed and glowed brightly. Then, an overwhelming wave of attacks rained down upon the Black Ink Clan Army. Naturally, the Black Ink Clan soldiers would not sit around and wait for their deaths. They surged their Black Ink Strength and retaliated vigorously.
The Secret Techniques from both sides collided with each other and vanished from existence; however, many of the Black Ink Clan’s attacks were somewhat weak due to the distance. It was the complete opposite for the Humans. By relying on the Spirit Arrays and artifacts, their attacks had far greater range and lethality on average compared to the Black Ink Clan.
As a result, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties before the two armies even officially met. This situation infuriated the Commander of the Black Ink Clan Army. With an order from him, the Army of hundreds of thousands immediately charged towards the Human fleet.
The distance between both parties rapidly narrowed. At the same time, the power of their respective Secret Techniques and artifacts burst forth without stopping. The Black Ink Clan Army suffered serious casualties while the protective shields around the Warships flickered wildly.
Just as both armies were about to clash in battle, the Human Race Army split to both sides and circled around the flanks of the Black Ink Clan Army.
In terms of numbers, the Humans had always been at an absolute disadvantage. That was why, since ancient times, the Human Race Army had always focused on mobility and hit-and-run tactics whenever they waged war on a mass scale. They avoided a direct confrontation with the Black Ink Clan to maximize their advantages and minimize the enemy’s. Every single soldier in Great Evolution Pass had experienced hundreds of battles and participated in countless life-and-death struggles. They were quite familiar with the tactics to use against the Black Ink Clan.
When the Human Race Army split, the Black Ink Clan Army followed suit and gave chase. When the Human Race Army divided their forces again, so did the Black Ink Clan Army. It was not as though they did not know that the Humans were trying to divide their forces up into more manageable numbers, it was just that the situation forced them to mirror the enemy’s choices.
In just a cup of tea’s time, the Human’s huge fleet had been divided into countless small teams that wandered around the chaotic battlefield. Each small team basically consisted of two or three Squads supporting and providing reinforcements to each other. The Spirit Arrays and the artifacts on the Warships never stopped firing and every violent blast that was fired towards the enemy would reap some Black Ink Clansmen’s lives.
Dawn was not required to cooperate with other Squads. That was because Dawn was capable of fighting alone even in this situation. There was a total of 50 members of Dawn, including 8 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, giving them a powerful line-up. Even if they encountered a Territory Lord, they would stand a fighting chance against the enemy. Not to mention, they also had a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai, who was invincible among those in the same Realm.
At this moment, with Yang Kai leading the way, Dawn’s eight Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters took up positions around Dawning Light and were slaughtering their enemies. There was nobody who could defeat them. Dawn was like a sharp blade, indiscriminately slicing through the Black Ink Clan Army. All those who dared to stand before them were killed on the spot.
As usual, Yang Kai sliced his way through the battlefield. The Azure Dragon Spear was all-conquering, cutting through enemies like dry weeds and rotten wood. There was only one issue that was giving him a slight headache. The battle between Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Royal Lord could not be considered near, but it was not far either. The fallout from their clash heavily affected both the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army.
When he was inside Dawning Light, the impact had not been too obvious thanks to the protection given by its defensive arrays. Now that he was fighting outside Dawning Light though, he was struck by considerable shockwaves every time the two exchanged blows.
If the fallout had such an effect on him, what more need be said for the other Seventh-Order Masters? It was fortunate that the Black Ink Clan also suffered from the same detriments, so nobody gained any advantage from the situation.
The energy was extremely disordered across the chaotic battlefield. Although the Black Ink Clan died in droves, the Humans were also beginning to suffer casualties. Even with the mutual support from two or three Squads, there were bound to be times when accidents occurred.
There were simply too many Black Ink Clansmen. Moreover, the opponents were the core forces of the Black Ink Clan Army. As the elites among the Black Ink Clan, they were incomparable to the cannon fodder and miscellaneous soldiers who could be cut down without much effort.
What’s more, as the confrontation dragged on, the Black Ink Clansmen who were originally stationed at the lines of defences on the other side of the Royal City arrived to provide reinforcements. As a result, the number of Black Ink Clansmen on the battlefield seemed to increase no matter how many were killed.
In the middle of the fierce battle, Yang Kai abruptly turned to look in a certain direction. In the next moment, his figure shifted slightly and vanished from the spot. The members of Dawn were not surprised by his sudden disappearance. Shen Ao quickly took over Yang Kai’s leading position, his power in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm surging wildly. He took command of Dawning Light and continued forging a bloody path across the battlefield.
On the other side, Yang Kai’s figure suddenly appeared somewhere in the battlefield. As soon as his figure emerged, the Golden Crow’s cry sounded. A Great Sun leapt out, then the Azure Dragon Spear pierced towards a burly figure in front of him with the Great Sun at its tip.
Despite the sudden ambush, the figure did not seem surprised. He coldly snorted and ferociously slammed his fist out. The Great Sun was forcibly extinguished, and Yang Kai was thrown backwards. The vitality in his chest tumbled about turbulently.
Likewise, the Black Ink Clansman who counterattacked staggered two steps backwards before he could stabilise his figure, his expression filling with astonishment. He never expected a Seventh-Order Human to be capable of meeting his attack head-on. Not only was the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master unhurt, but the attack even managed to push him back.
This Black Ink Clansman was a Territory Lord, one who was not being restrained by an Eighth-Order Division Commander!
Now that both the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army were fighting each other, most of the higher-ups on both sides were being mutually restrained.
The battle between Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Royal Lord was not something others could interfere with. Meanwhile, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters occupied the attention of many of the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. However, the Territory Lords still outnumbered the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, which was why the Human Army had anticipated that some of them would remain among the Black Ink Clan Army even after the battle began.
Similar situations had cropped up in the past. Seeing as the Black Ink Clan had an advantage in numbers, it was only natural that they would figure out a way to use this advantage to the maximum.
During a confrontation between the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army, the presence of a Territory Lord was too much of a threat to the Human soldiers. Naturally, the Human Race Army had adopted corresponding measures against such situations.
Before Yang Kai arrived, the Territory Lord had been bombarding a Warship with indiscriminate attacks. Although the Warship had the protection of two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they could not stop the Territory Lord’s rampage and the Warship seemed on the verge of collapse. Not only was the body of the Warship damaged, but the defensive light barrier had also grown extremely dim.
If nobody had come to help, it would not have taken much longer for the Warship to collapse. Even the two Seventh-Order Masters might not escape alive if that were to happen. As for the Squad members below the Seventh Order, they were bound to die a miserable death. Therefore, Yang Kai’s arrival was very timely.
Having escaped their predicament, the two Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Warship nodded lightly at Yang Kai to express their thanks. Then, they immediately joined up with a nearby passing Squad and sped off into the distance.
The Territory Lord tried to prevent their escape, but Yang Kai charged forward to intercept him; hence, he was forced to give up on his original target and raised his palm to strike Yang Kai. At the same time, he was slightly surprised. Why did the Human Squad leave without regard for the survival of this Seventh-Order Master? How much confidence do they have in this man? Did they believe that he alone could kill a Territory Lord?
Although the Territory Lord was reluctant to admit the truth, this Human had indeed shown might that was unusual for a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. A Seventh-Order Master of this calibre was most likely an elite among elites. Killing this person here would be more worthwhile than killing a hundred ordinary Human cultivators.
Following that thought, murderous intent immediately appeared in the Territory Lord’s eyes. His attacks flew out like a torrent as the Black Ink Strength in his body surged violently.
Yang Kai was instantly at a disadvantage. In a battle between a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Feudal Lord, he was perfectly capable of overwhelming his opponent and killing the enemy without help from others. Unfortunately, Yang Kai’s strength was still lacking when his opponent was a Territory Lord. There was an evident gap in strength due to the difference in their cultivation. Nevertheless, it was not easy to kill Yang Kai even if he was weaker than his opponent.
While defending against the barrage of attacks, Yang Kai tried to lead his powerful opponent in a certain direction nearby. There were sounds of a battle between an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and a Territory Lord coming from that direction.
Seeming to notice what Yang Kai was planning, the Territory Lord sneered coldly and increased the ferocity of his attacks.
An unexpected violent energy fluctuation suddenly came from afar, slamming through the void. Both Yang Kai and the Territory Lord were shaken and affected by the energy fluctuation. That was clearly the fallout caused by the battle between Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Royal Lord.
From the moment those two began fighting, the shockwaves of their battle would occasionally propagate outward and sweep across both armies. The aftermath did not discriminate between friend or foe, so as long as one was standing on the battlefield, they would be negatively affected.
Comparatively, the Human Race Army was faring slightly better than the Black Ink Clan. That couldn’t be helped though as the Humans had the protection of their Warships, while the Black Ink Clan did not. Whenever the shockwaves struck, the defences of the Warship were enough to negate most of the impact. Aside from the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting outside the Warships, the soldiers inside were not greatly affected.
The same could not be said for the Black Ink Clan. It did not matter whether the other party was a Feudal Lord, a Territory Lord, a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, or a Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman, they would often be knocked off balance whenever the violent energy fluctuations struck. It might be nothing more than a momentary effect, but even a brief moment could prove fatal for them.
That was indeed the reality. Many Black Ink Clansmen would lose their lives every time the fallout of the great battle swept across the battlefield. Unfortunately for Yang Kai, it was now his turn to suffer the consequences.
When the shockwave hit, both Yang Kai and the Territory Lord stumbled in response; however, the Territory Lord’s cultivation was ultimately much higher so he recovered quicker and ferociously threw his palm towards Yang Kai’s head.
At the juncture of life and death, Yang Kai forcefully shifted his head to the side. The Territory Lord’s palm slammed straight into his shoulder, resulting in a violent explosion of Black Ink Strength. The explosion left his shoulder torn and bloody.
Yang Kai grunted in pain while, at the same time, he thrust the Azure Dragon Spear towards the Territory Lord’s heart. His actions forced the Territory Lord, who wanted to go for the kill, to make a quick retreat.
Without waiting for the Territory Lord to regain his balance, Yang Kai actually threw himself forward and unleashed a flurry of thrusts with the Azure Dragon Spear, creating a wall of spear shadows that engulfed his opponent.
The Territory Lord was extremely taken aback. It could be said that he had not held back in the slightest during his previous attack. Even if a Seventh-Order Human somehow survived after taking a direct hit from him, they should have lost all combat ability and become helpless. But contrary to his expectations, this Human cultivator was very different. Not only did he survive, he even became increasingly aggressive.
[Are Humans supposed to be… this sturdy?]
Unbeknownst to the Territory Lord, Yang Kai was now a 70,000-metre-long Ancient Dragon. In terms of physical resilience, even most of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not compare to him. The palm strike had indeed wounded Yang Kai, but it had not affected his combat capability.
After a round of fierce attacks, the Territory Lord was so dishevelled that he seemed slightly worse for wear, which made him angry out of shame. Just as he was about to deal a lethal blow, a sharp aura locked upon him and a terrifying sword light came slashing down on him immediately after that. Shocked, the Territory Lord hastily dodged aside.
“Go!” Xu Ling Gong rushed over, holding a blade in both hands. His aura was very imposing. When he unleashed an attack at the Territory Lord, he simultaneously shouted at Yang Kai.
“Martial Uncle Xu, will you be alright?” The corners of Yang Kai’s mouth twitched, and he looked at Xu Ling Gong in concern.
That couldn’t be helped. Xu Ling Gong already had a Territory Lord as his opponent, so dragging another Territory Lord into his battle clearly meant that he would have to face two opponents on his own.
It had not been long since he advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so while fighting a single Territory Lord would not be an issue, fighting two-against-one would be… dangerous!
Yang Kai had not meant to ask Xu Ling Gong for help. He had originally planned to lure the Territory Lord to a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to restrain the Territory Lord.
That veteran Eighth-Order Master only had one Territory Lord as his opponent, so with his profound heritage accumulated over the millennia, fighting in a two-against-one battle would temporarily not be difficult for him. Unfortunately, that was not necessarily the case when it came to Xu Ling Gong.
Nevertheless, Xu Ling Gong simply happened to be in the vicinity. He had probably noticed Yang Kai’s situation and dragged his opponent over to help Yang Kai on his own initiative.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s question, Xu Ling Gong widened his eyes and roared furiously, “Enough nonsense! Hurry up and get lost! I’m going to kill these two today!”
While speaking, his attacks became fiercer and fiercer. Even his complexion became flushed. More importantly, the two Territory Lords were pushed back by his ferocious assault.
Yang Kai glanced at the situation and knew that his words had aroused Xu Ling Gong’s competitive spirit. There was nothing else he could say, so he could only encourage Xu Ling Gong, “In that case, don’t overexert yourself.”
After saying that, he sped off into the distance. He did not stay behind to help Xu Ling Gong as even if he stayed behind and joined forces with him, he might not be able to kill either of these Territory Lords in a short time.
Yang Kai’s greatest advantage was that he was invincible among those in the same realm! Therefore, what he needed to do right now was kill as many enemies below the Territory Lord level as possible! The more he killed, the less pressure the Human Race Army would face!
Three breaths of time after Yang Kai left, Xu Ling Gong grunted in pain and his courageous and invincible aura vanished without a trace. In an instant, he was soundly beaten back by the two Territory Lords. His heritage was too lacking in the end, so fighting two-against-one was simply too difficult for the current him!
Although he was no match for his enemies, Xu Ling Gong would have no issue protecting himself for the time being; however, it was hard to say how he would fare if the battle dragged on.
The fierce battle continued as Yang Kai navigated through the battlefield, searching for the figures of the hidden Territory Lords. Including the one from before, he found a total of three. He attacked them and lured them towards the nearby Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and left them to be restrained by the Division Commanders.
There were bound to be more than three Territory Lords overseeing the Black Ink Clan Army, but Yang Kai only managed to find so many. As for the rest, they would surely be restrained by others as long as they made a move so he did not have to worry about them.
The Royal Lord and the Old Ancestor had their own battlefield. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and the Territory Lords also had their own battlefields. The same was true for the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army! Although their battles entangled with each other, they did not interfere with one another.
Yang Kai swept across the battlefield like lightning and everywhere he went, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties under his Azure Dragon Spear. After confirming that there were no other unoccupied Territory Lords, he returned to Dawning Light. It was time to take action! Everything he did just now was simply part of the preparations for this moment.
That was especially true now that the Territory Lords were borrowing the power of their respective Black Ink Nests in the Royal City to kill the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters faster.
As a result, the original stalemate was broken. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were now at a disadvantage, and the newly-advanced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like Xu Ling Gong were even more at risk. If the Human Race Army did not take action now, the Eighth-Order Masters might end up losing their lives on the battlefield.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a sharp whistle came from a certain corner of the battlefield. The seemingly never-ending whistle rang out loud and clear. Even the chaotic energy fluctuations could not prevent the whistle from being transmitted across the battlefield. It was clearly some kind of signal.
When the whistle sounded, the atmosphere among the Human Race Army underwent a subtle change. Everybody seemed to become more spirited as they summoned the secret weapon that had been hidden for many years!
Somewhere on the battlefield, Xu Ling Gong was completely dishevelled. There was no sign of his energetic boasting and bluster from before. Faced with the violent bombardment from two Territory Lords, he had no choice but to flee and dodge their attacks. Nevertheless, there were times when he failed to dodge, resulting in his entire body being drenched in blood.
When the whistle sounded, he cheered loudly, “It’s finally time!”
He had endured for so long. Despite facing the risk of death on multiple occasions, he had not brought out the secret weapon. He was worried that he might reveal their trump card in advance and cause the other Black Ink Clansmen to become vigilant. It was one thing if the secret weapon was not used; however, if the secret weapon were to be utilised, then he had to ensure that everyone could wield the secret weapon at the same time so that the maximum effect could be exerted.
At this moment, the agreed-upon signal had finally resounded across the battlefield.
Xu Ling Gong broke out into a ferocious grin. Ignoring the pincer attack coming from the two Territory Lords, he abruptly summoned two long spears into his hands.
A violent assault was followed by two grunts of pain. Meanwhile, Xu Ling Gong coughed up fresh blood. Although several of his bones had been broken, he threw his head back with wild laughter, “Die!”
World Force flared as the two Evil Purging Divine Spears shuddered slightly and transformed into two streams of light that pierced towards the two Territory Lords who were basically at arm’s length.
Xu Ling Gong did not hesitate to use his body as bait to draw the two Territory Lords in close, catching them off guard when they were immersed in the joy of winning. The two streams of lights struck them squarely in the chest, pushing them back quite a distance.
In the next moment, a brilliant light exploded out. The light was extremely dazzling, without the slightest impurities. Like two little Suns, they enveloped the two Territory Lords, causing their expressions to immediately change drastically. They didn’t even have time to think about killing Xu Ling Gong before they were filled with a sense of terror.
That couldn’t be helped as, all of a sudden, they could feel the invasion of some kind of foreign power into their bodies. Moreover, that power seemed to be the nemesis of their Black Ink Strength. Wherever the energy flowed inside their bodies, the Black Ink Strength that had accumulated there for thousands of years melted away. Even the Black Ink Strength that was everywhere in the void fizzled and evaporated without a trace when the light touched it.
On the battlefield, the area shrouded by the light became a large empty vacuum. All the Black Ink Strength in that area was completely purified in an instant. Moreover, the light did not just appear at the two spots around Xu Ling Gong, but at countless places across the battlefield. These lights illuminated the entire battlefield like the endless Stars in the sky!
The sudden turn of events caused the Black Ink Clansmen suffering from the effects to panic. In all the years that they fought the Humans, they had never seen such an occurrence or experienced such strange power before. It was a power that was opposite to their Black Ink Strength, one that could restrain and even eliminate it!
While the Black Ink Clan was in a state of panic and terror, the Humans did not remain idle. The power of the Evil Purging Divine Spears erupted, causing the energy within the Black Ink Clansmen to become disordered. At the same time, the Human Race Masters charged towards their enemies.
The original stalemate across the battlefield was instantly broken. One after another, the aura of the Feudal Lords began to vanish. Those who were eligible to utilise the Evil Purging Divine Spears on the battlefield were the Seventh and Eighth-Order Masters; thus, their opponents were mainly Feudal Lords and Territory Lords.
As soon as the loud whistle rang out, the Seventh-Order Masters unleashed their attacks upon the Feudal Lords. Purifying Light was indeed the nemesis of Black Ink Strength. When the balls of light that resembled Great Suns burst forth, the Black Ink Strength surrounding them was fully dispelled. Furthermore, the energy within the Black Ink Clansmen either dissipated or became disrupted.
The secret weapon that had been hidden for so many years finally blazed brightly at this moment and achieved brilliant results.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Xu Ling Gong disregarded the wounds on his body even though he was coughing up blood violently. After pulling out the two Evil Purging Divine Spears, he raised his blade and charged towards the nearest Territory Lord. The sword light on his blade gleamed with absolute murderous intent.
The nearest Territory Lord who had been affected by the Purifying Light sealed within the Evil Purging Divine Spear was completely distracted at the moment. Most of his strength had been diverted to mitigate the threat of the Purifying Light; hence, the most he could do was hastily punch at Xu Ling Gong when the sword light came slashing down on him.
The World Force of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and the Black Ink Strength of a Territory Lord collided and intertwined with each other on this small battlefield. During the brief confrontation, Xu Ling Gong’s chest caved inward and what came out of his mouth was no longer just blood but also bits and pieces of his organs.
After he passed by his enemy though, the body of the Territory Lord behind him split into two halves. Pitch-black blood sprayed everywhere like a fountain. At the moment of death, both halves of the Territory Lord’s face were filled with complete disbelief. He seemed surprised that he had died, killed in one move by a seemingly weak Eighth-Order Master.
Xu Ling Gong, who had just advanced into the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm 200 years ago, had slain a Territory Lord in his first two-against-one battle!
He burst into maniacal laughter, feeling as though he had never been happier in his life. There was no denying that he had killed many Black Ink Clansmen in the past, including several Feudal Lords; however, how could killing those Feudal Lords compare to the satisfaction of killing a Territory Lord?
He was under a lot of pressure! His youngest Disciple was married to Yang Kai. In the past, Xu Ling Gong could rely on his higher cultivation and take advantage of his status as an Elder to discipline this son-in-law of his. Unfortunately, that advantage disappeared when Yang Kai advanced to the Seventh Order.
Even Xu Ling Gong had to admit that he was lacking when compared to Yang Kai’s overwhelming strength against peers of the same realm. Not to mention, there were quite a few Territory Lords who had died at Yang Kai’s hands over the years.
On the contrary, he had not killed a single Territory Lord even though he was the Elder. How could he hold his head high in front of Yang Kai? How could he seek justice on behalf of his beloved Disciple if Yang Kai were to bully her?
Fortunately, things were different now. He had killed a Territory Lord! And this was just the beginning. He was going to kill even more Territory Lords in the future! His gaze shifted and landed on the other Territory Lord. Then, he rushed at the enemy with his blade flashing brilliantly.
The remaining Territory Lord had been stunned by the sudden death of his companion. At the same time, he was also distracted by his efforts to resist the Purifying Light that was eroding his body. When he saw Xu Ling Gong rushing at him like a vengeful ghost, a sense of fear flooded his heart. He did not dare to fight Xu Ling Gong any longer; thus, he quickly turned around and fled for his life.
“Where are you trying to run!?” Xu Ling Gong roared furiously. Raising his blade, he tried to pursue his enemy, but he only managed to take a few steps before he coughed up blood as though he was trying to purge all the organs from his body. At the same time, the imposing aura around him weakened rapidly.
When he brought out the Evil Purging Divine Spears, he had used his body as bait and forcefully withstood the pincer attack from both his opponents. Therefore, he was heavily injured. Killing one of the Territory Lords in one blow was his limit. He no longer had the strength to pursue the second.
If his opponent had stood his ground and fought, the Territory Lord would most likely have succeeded at killing Xu Ling Gong on the spot despite the effects of the Purifying Light.
It was just that the Territory Lord had been thoroughly frightened by the Purifying Light that invaded his body. Not to mention, he did not know whether this Eighth-Order Human was truly exhausted or simply feigning weakness. His priority was to escape alive, so he did not even dare to pause for a single moment.
In the end, Xu Ling Gong could only watch helplessly as the Territory Lord slipped into the midst of the Black Ink Clan Army and used the numerous Black Ink Clansmen to conceal his whereabouts.
“Waste!” He cursed furiously. [I’m already in such dire straits. How can you flee in fright instead of trying to kill me!? How can such a shameless Black Ink Clansman be a worthy opponent for the Humans who willingly lay down their lives to achieve victory in this battle!?]
It wasn’t just Xu Ling Gong who managed to kill a Territory Lord. Across the battlefield, more than a dozen Territory Lords lost their lives in that brief moment of confusion. Several Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples also lost their lives in that encounter.
The Black Ink Clan lost nearly 20 of their top Masters in a matter of breaths! How many combat forces comparable to an Eighth-Order Master in strength did the Black Ink Clan gather? It was not an exaggeration to say that 30% of the Black Ink Clan’s combat forces were eliminated just moments after the Evil Purging Divine Spear made its debut. Most of the remaining Territory Lords had also been heavily wounded by the Evil Purging Divine Spear. The rich Purifying Light had invaded their bodies, causing them unbearable pain.
In the direction of the ruined Royal City, the Black Ink Nests suddenly began to rumble loudly. The rumbling sounds were followed by extremely thick Black Ink Strength that gushed out from them.
After becoming affected by the corrosion of the Purifying Light, the Territory Lords no longer had regard for anything else. They drew upon the power of their respective Black Ink Nests in desperation and used their power to repel the Human Masters and resist the corrosion of the Purifying Light.
Although doing so allowed them to reduce some of their declining momentum, it was not enough to block the violent offensive of the Eighth-Order Masters. Many of the Territory Lords remained in jeopardy, seemingly at risk of losing their lives at any moment.
What horrified the Territory Lords even more was that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fighting them would summon more Evil Purging Divine Spears from time to time. Hence, they were so terrified that they could not concentrate on fighting their enemies.
The Black Ink Clan could not understand where the Humans obtained such deadly artifacts! Logically speaking, it should be very difficult to refine artifacts that were so lethal to Territory Lords. There should not be many of these artifacts; otherwise, the Humans would have brought them out a long time ago. Be that as it may, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not the only ones who could summon these artifacts. Even the Seventh-Order Humans had a seemingly large supply of these accursed spears.
The Great Suns that were formed from the pure white light could be seen everywhere on the battlefield. Almost every time one of the Great Suns manifested, another Territory Lord would fall. In the time it took to boil a cup of tea, the Black Ink Clan Army which originally held an obvious advantage suffered crippling casualties.
Unlike the Black Ink Clan’s terror-stricken panic, the Human Race Army’s momentum surged to newfound heights.
Everybody knew that the maximum effectiveness of the Evil Purging Divine Spear had been brought out at this moment. After keeping the secret for so many years, their trump card specially created to fight the Black Ink Clan had finally proven its worth in battle.
However, the Black Ink Clan’s vigilance and wariness were now raised to the limit. The next time the Evil Purging Divine Spears were utilised in battle would no longer have such an unprecedented effect. Moreover, the Evil Purging Divine Spears were not invincible even though Purifying Light was the nemesis of Black Ink Strength. The Purifying Light sealed within the Evil Purging Divine Spears was limited after all. Once the Black Ink Clansmen used their Black Ink Strength to eliminate the Purifying Light, the Purifying Light would lose its effect.
This was especially obvious when many of the Territory Lords could borrow the strength of their Black Ink Nests around the Royal City. As long as they were willing to consume enough Black Ink Strength, it would not take long for them to completely remove the Purifying Light that had invaded their body. At that time, they would no longer be troubled by the Purifying Light. Their strength would also recover quickly. That was why the Human Masters wanted to capitalize on their current advantage to the fullest. These few breaths of time were extremely important.
For that reason, Xu Ling Gong continued to slaughter nearby enemies with great enthusiasm despite being seriously injured. If he dragged things out for too long, the advantageous situation brought about by the initial appearance of the Evil Purging Divine Spears would be lost. This was something the Humans knew, and the Black Ink Clan would also learn the truth after a short period of panic.
Therefore, the surviving Black Ink Clan Masters were desperately running and hiding from the attacks of the Human Race Masters while borrowing the power of their Black Ink Nest to remove the poison in their body without regard for loss. The moment they recovered would be the moment the Black Ink Clan struck back.
The experts of both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan were vying for this slim window of opportunity; thus, their battle became even fiercer than before.
Yang Kai led the members of Dawn across the battlefield. They were practically invincible, ploughing through the enemy lines leaving naught but destruction in their wake. Everywhere they went, countless Black Ink Clansmen were either killed or critically injured.
In one corner of the battlefield, an Eighth-Order Division Commander was vigorously bombarding an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple with attacks. The might of his Secret Techniques and artifacts blasted continuously, causing the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple to retreat frantically. The situation was very dangerous, and the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple seemed to be at risk of being killed at any moment.
However, the Eighth-Order Division Commander did not seem to be happy about holding the upper hand in this battle. On the contrary, he was scowling deeply. That couldn’t be helped as the opponent’s behaviour was giving him a subtle sense that something was wrong.
When he first set foot on the battlefield, he had wanted to engage one of the Territory Lords as his opponent. If possible, it would be best if he could restrain two Territory Lords at the same time. He was a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master after all. Having immersed himself in this Realm for so many years, he had the qualifications for such a feat.
Unfortunately, the situation on the battlefield was very fickle and there were many times when things did not go as planned. As soon as he stepped onto the battlefield, this Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple had taken the initiative to attack him. There was no reason for him to hold back when his opponent had come looking for him themselves; thus, he immediately fought against him.
He originally believed that the other party was a mere Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple; moreover, the other party seemed to be the type to have broken through his limitations to advance into the Eighth-Order with the help of Black Ink Strength. Even if he had cultivated for many years, there was bound to be a gap in his heritage compared to true Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Defeating him or even killing him should not be difficult.
However, it was not until they began fighting each other that the Eighth-Order Division Commander noticed that something was wrong.
The strength of this Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple seemed lacking indeed. He was badly beaten and covered in wounds, but he would always avoid all lethal attacks without fail. Even the Evil Purging Divine Spear that was activated just now had been avoided completely!
It had to be said that the activation speed of the Evil Purging Divine Spear was very quick. In an ambush, there was practically no Territory Lord who could avoid this attack. So many Evil Purging Divine Spears had been activated just now, and the number of Territory Lords who managed to avoid the attack could be counted on one hand. Be that as it may, this Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple had somehow done just that.
Ever since they began fighting, there was only one word to describe the feeling that the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple gave this Eighth-Order Division Commander: Monster! He did not mean the type of Monster with Monster Qi. On the contrary, the Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple’s various behaviours and responses to the crises gave off a feeling of incongruency.
In fact, the scene seemed rather familiar. He couldn’t help recalling a certain battle he had fought when he was much younger. In that battle, it was obvious that his strength was much greater than his opponent’s. Be that as it may, he did not slay his enemy immediately. He took his time and toyed with his enemy instead. By pretending to be weak, he eventually lured his enemy into a fatal opening and killed him in one fell swoop.
At this moment, the other party gave him the same, but opposite feeling. It felt exactly like how he had hidden his strength and put on an act in the past.
[Is this guy hiding his true strength?] The Division Commander could barely believe it.
In a comparison of real strength, a true Eighth-Order Master was generally stronger than a Territory Lord. On the other hand, Black Ink Disciples who borrowed the power of Black Ink Strength to surpass their innate limitations were even weaker than Territory Lords. In other words, an actual Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master should be significantly stronger than an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
During a one-on-one battle, Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples would usually bring out everything they could as trying to hide their true strength would put them at risk of dying at any moment.
[I can’t believe this guy can afford to hide his true strength. Just how powerful is he? What are his intentions?]
The Eighth-Order Division Commander could not understand. Regardless of what intentions the other party might have though, his goal remained to slaughter the other party. Fighting an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple for so long and failing to harm the other party even after utilising the Evil Purging Divine Spear was extremely humiliating.
Nevertheless, this veteran Division Commander did not let his guard down. Focusing his attention, his offence suddenly became significantly more violent. To slay his enemy as soon as possible, he even chose to burn a part of his Blood Essence.
The intensity of the assault suddenly increased by a significant margin. The Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple was caught off guard. Thus, his condition gradually worsened.
“Ha…” A sudden sigh sounded in the ears of the Eighth-Order Division Commander. Following that fleeting sound, a sword light flashed towards him.
He immediately felt all the hairs on his body standing on end. A terrible sense of crisis enveloped him, making him feel as if he was about to die; therefore, he hastily retreated without the slightest hesitation as his field of vision was filled with the glare coming from the sword light before him.
Ninth-Order!
His opponent was actually in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
At that moment, the Division Commander finally understood the root of the strange feeling he had been having. His speculation was correct, his opponent had indeed hidden his true strength. However, he never imagined that the other party would be a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
The Human Race had been fighting the Black Ink Clan for countless years, and over the millennia, many Human cultivators had fallen into the hands of the Black Ink Clan and been transformed into Black Ink Disciples. Therefore, there would always be Black Ink Disciples in every Theatre.
However, most Black Ink Disciples did not survive for very long. The Black Ink Clansmen would always order the Black Ink Disciples under their command to fight desperately so that they could escape safely whenever their lives were in danger on the battlefield. As a result, 90% of these Black Ink Disciples would not have enough time to grow before they lost their lives on the battlefield.
Before the appearance of Purifying Light, the Human Race had also been merciless in their treatment towards Black Ink Disciples. They believed that death was the best extrication for the Black Ink Disciples.
Under normal circumstances, even a single Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple would rarely be found.
However, Great Evolution Theatre was special. During the war 30,000 years ago, many soldiers from Great Evolution Pass had been transformed into Black Ink Disciples. Furthermore, this Theatre did not experience war for a long time. That was why many Black Ink Disciples had enough time to grow and develop into Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
Be that as it may, a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had never emerged from any of the Theatres before!
It had to be said that a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was an existence equivalent to an Old Ancestor, which was the highest combat force among the Human Race.
Unexpectedly, a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had appeared here.
The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had used a Secret Technique to conceal his cultivation; moreover, he had pulled off this trick without anybody being aware of his actions.
Despite exchanging blows for so long, the Eighth-Order Division Commander had only felt that his opponent was somewhat strange. He subconsciously felt that his opponent might have concealed their strength, but he never imagined that his opponent would turn out to be a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
[It turns out that… a Black Ink Disciple can actually reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.] This particular thought suddenly crossed his mind at this moment.
It was well known that Black Ink Disciples could borrow the power of Black Ink Strength to break free of the innate shackles of their Order and achieve heights that would never be reachable for them under normal circumstances. Nevertheless, that would only happen under ideal circumstances.
The Human Race had discovered that the process of advancement among the Black Ink Disciples that disregarded their actual limitations came with very high risks. Almost every Black Ink Disciple who surpassed their limitations had various physical deformities. More importantly, every advancement they experienced was many times more dangerous than a normal advancement experienced by the Human Race. The probability of death was extremely high.
That was why the ideal circumstances would remain as nothing more than ideal circumstances. It should have been near impossible for a Black Ink Disciple to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm with the help of Black Ink Strength. For a Black Ink Disciple, that process was almost guaranteed death! Be that as it may, there were always exceptions. That was why there were so many miracles in this world.
A Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had suddenly appeared on the battlefield. That was simply shocking. Not to mention, he had hidden his true strength while fighting with an Eighth-Order Division Commander. The fact that he had not killed his opponent after so long clearly indicated that he was harbouring evil intentions.
[He is aiming for the Old Ancestor!] The Eighth-Order Division Commander instantly figured out the other party’s aim. Just as he was about to open his mouth to shout out a warning, he abruptly discovered that his strength was draining rapidly and he could not make a single sound.
At the same time, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s voice reverberated throughout the universe from a certain corner of the battlefield, “I thought it was a second Royal Lord. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a Black Ink Disciple. I wouldn’t have found you if you remained hidden, but now that you’ve taken the liberty to show yourself, you shouldn’t think of leaving again!”
After her words rang out, an enormous Yin-Yang Fish suddenly appeared and seemed to cover the entire void. The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, who had merged with a sword light that was slashing towards her, was caught off guard and crashed straight into the Yin-Yang Fish, his figure freezing in place for a moment.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao did not give him any time to recover. Her slender jade palm thrust down on him. Her might as a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was fully revealed as she extinguished the sword light and dragged him into her battle.
Meanwhile, the Royal Lord fervently drew upon his strength to attack. It was clear he intended to work together with the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple to kill Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.
At this moment, the vast battlefield came to an abrupt halt.
All the Human soldiers were shocked, as were most of the Black Ink Clansmen. Only the Territory Lords were unmoved by this sudden revelation. They took advantage of the situation to escape from the onslaught of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders and hurriedly directed their Black Ink Strength to eliminate the Purifying Light in their bodies.
There was a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple under the command of the Royal Lord. It was evident that they were aware of the fact, but such an important secret was known only to the Territory Lords. Those below the Territory Lords were completely oblivious to this fact. These measures were taken to prevent the secret from being revealed; otherwise, they would not have been able to catch the Humans by surprise.
Aboard Dawning Light, Yang Kai finally had the answers to his previous doubts amidst his shock.
The Snow Wolves Squad had gone missing within the inner ring of Black Ink Clan’s defence line. It was pretty much confirmed that they had been completely wiped out in one blow; however, the Squad Leader Yao Kang Cheng of the Snow Wolves Squad had sent him a message at the very last moment. The message only contained the words ‘Royal Lord’.
Yang Kai had always assumed that the Royal Lord had taken action, but when he reported the news back to Great Evolution Pass, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao insisted that the Royal Lord had yet to recover from his wounds. The Royal Lord couldn’t leave the Royal City, much less attack the Snow Wolves Squad from that position.
Likewise, Yao Kang Cheng’s last message couldn’t be fake. They must have encountered an opponent far beyond their capabilities or their message would not have been sent in such a hurry.
The Old Ancestor’s judgement had conflicted with the message from the Snow Wolves Squad; therefore, Yang Kai had always been unable to figure out if there were any faults in the information they provided.
The answer was now in front of them. The Snow Wolves Squad had not encountered a Royal Lord, but a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple!
A Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple and a Royal Lord were fairly similar in strength, so under such rushed circumstances, Yao Kang Cheng had probably mistakenly thought that their opponent was a Royal Lord and frantically sent a warning containing the words ‘Royal Lord’. After that, the entire Squad had either been eliminated or committed suicide to prevent the secret of Great Evolution Pass’ imminent attack from being exposed.
Their sacrifice had not been for nought though. Thanks to their brief message, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had been forewarned.
From her statement earlier, it could be inferred that she had been guarding against any possible enemies during her battle with the Royal Lord. It was just that she had expected an additional Royal Lord, not a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
If she had been unprepared, the sword light from earlier would most likely have injured her. Fortunately, she had been warned in advance and could safely resolve any issues that popped up even if the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had ambushed her out of nowhere.
The three top Masters immediately engaged in battle, and the fallout from their clash became even more ferocious.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had held the absolute advantage during the previous one-on-one battle with the Royal Lord only able to defend himself but not fight back. Now that there was an additional Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple in the fray, the situation became disadvantageous for her instead. Her advantage no longer existed now that she was fighting against two opponents!
There was one fortuitous thing. After a brief exchange of blows, she quickly determined that it had not been long since the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple succeeded in his advancement. Only 100 or 200 years at most. He could be considered a newly-advanced Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, so his heritage was quite weak. Combined with the fact that Black Ink Disciples were already weaker than true Human Masters in the same Order, she managed to protect herself even though she had to face two opponents in the equivalent realm as herself. If her opponents had been Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters like herself, she would not have lasted for long.
Judging from the timing, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had succeeded in his advancement after the Great Evolution Army withdrew from the Royal City; otherwise, it was impossible for him to stay out of the battle 200 years ago. He had most likely been in retreat to advance to the Ninth Order at the time.
After the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple stepped forward, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao calmed down considerably. It was far more difficult to defend against an arrow in the dark than a spear in the light. Therefore, it was always better to have her enemy in the open than hidden in the shadows.
On the contrary, the Royal Lord was so furious that he nearly went mad with rage.
The fact that the Black Ink Disciple under his command had advanced to the Ninth Order was extremely confidential. It was also the reason he dared to confront the Humans directly in this battle. He had wanted to catch the Old Ancestor by surprise with the help of his Black Ink Disciple. As long as they could severely injure her, the Black Ink Clan would be victorious in this battle.
Who could have known that the Old Ancestor would somehow know in advance? His plans had come to nothing as a result. With the situation being what it was now, it would not be easy for him to eliminate the Old Ancestor.
The battle between these three caused space to shatter with every impact.
On the other hand, Yang Kai’s figure flickered and crossed more than half of the battlefield in an instant. Before he even arrived, he balanced a Great Sun on the tip of his Azure Dragon Spear and smashed his way through the densely-packed Black Ink Clan Army.
The Black Ink Clan retreated hastily wherever the Great Sun appeared, and countless corpses were left behind in Yang Kai’s wake.
Yang Kai grabbed hold of a dishevelled figure and shouted, “Let’s go!”
He did not return to the Dawning Light; instead, he headed straight in the direction where Great Evolution Pass was located.
“Watch out!” The Eighth-Order Division Commander yelled breathlessly in warning. A Black Ink Clansman had come from the front to intercept them, evidently targeting the heavily injured Eighth-Order Division Commander.
This person was none other than the Eighth-Order Division Commander who was heavily injured by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple. Division Commander Cha Pu!
Although the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had only just broken through, the power of his attacks was not something Cha Pu could defend against with his strength alone. There was a huge difference in strength between an Eighth-Order Master and a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple after all.
That final sword slash had nearly chopped Cha Pu in half at the waist. At this moment, there was an enormous gash at his abdomen where one could clearly see wriggling organs. More importantly, there was dense Black Ink Strength and ghastly Sword Qi lingering around the wound.
The wound could be said to be extremely serious. Even a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Cha Pu could not bear such an injury and instantly lost his combat ability.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had lost his combat ability would naturally catch the attention of countless Black Ink Clansmen on this chaotic battlefield where enemies were everywhere.
In Cha Pu’s current condition, any random Feudal Lord would be able to kill him without much effort. If Yang Kai had been one step slower, Cha Pu would have lost his life to the enemy by now.
As soon as the aura of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple burst out, Yang Kai’s attention was focused on Cha Pu’s situation. That was why he immediately rushed over to provide support. Besides, he was the only person who could have achieved such a feat. Nobody else would have been able to arrive in time even if they wanted to offer assistance.
Thanks to a stroke of luck, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had focused his attacks on the Old Ancestor when his identity was revealed. He had wanted to catch Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao by surprise. For him, Cha Pu was merely collateral damage and thus did not target him deliberately.
If the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had attacked Cha Pu seriously, the Eighth-Order Division Commander would not still be breathing. A Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was still in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm after all. An attack from a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was not something an Eighth-Order Human could withstand.
“Move!” Yang Kai roared. At the same time, he used the Azure Dragon Spear to sweep away the various obstacles in his path and forged a bloody path forward as he made his way to Great Evolution Pass.
Unfortunately, the Black Ink Clan Army was unwilling to watch a heavily injured Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master escape and quickly gave chase. A large number of Black Ink Clansmen instantly gathered to pursue them aggressively from behind. Various Secret Techniques simultaneously rained down on them.
Both Yang Kai and Cha Pu staggered from the impacts.
It was unknown whether it was due to orders from a Territory Lord or just bad luck, but no matter where Yang Kai went, more and more Black Ink Clansmen would appear to block his path. The enemies pursuing him from behind did not lessen in numbers either, seemingly determined to ensure that Cha Pu did not escape alive.
Even with the help from various nearby Warships, the situation was getting worse.
Yang Kai did not dare to carelessly use Instantaneous Movement either. Under these circumstances, while he would be fine after using Instantaneous Movement, Cha Pu was too heavily wounded to withstand the pressure caused by traversing the Void. In the worst case, Cha Pu could end up dying at his hands instead of the enemy’s.
“Brother Yang!” A shout suddenly entered Yang Kai’s ears, “This way!”
Turning in the direction of the voice, Yang Kai saw a solidly built Warship carrying a huge tortoise shell on its back coming towards him. Several Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were standing outside the Warship, joining forces to slaughter the surrounding enemies. The person who shouted at him earlier was none other than Squad Leader Chai Fang.
Yang Kai hurriedly sped in that direction while the nearby Warships quickly restrained the numerous Black Ink Clansmen closing in from all directions.
After great effort, both parties finally met up with each other and Yang Kai arrived on the Old Turtle Squad’s Warship with some manoeuvring.
The energy fluctuations rampaged wildly outside. It was a massacre. Meanwhile, the inside of the Warship was also very hectic. The Old Turtle Squad’s members were fervently channelling the power of their Small Universes to either maintain the operation of Spirit Arrays or control artifacts to attack the enemy.
Yang Kai placed Cha Pu down and finally had the time to stuff some Spirit Pills into the latter’s mouth. Looking down at Cha Pu, his expression became solemn.
In such a short period, Cha Pu’s injuries seemed to have worsened considerably. It could be seen how terrifying the power of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was. Even an established Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Cha Pu could not withstand power from a single sword slash, even if he was not the intended target.
Yang Kai swiftly activated Purifying Light to envelope Cha Pu, trying to eliminate the Black Ink Strength that was invading the latter’s body.
The Black Ink Strength was a minor issue that the Purifying Light could dispel easily; however, the horrifying Sword Qi lingering around the wound was not something Yang Kai could handle. That could only be resolved by the Old Ancestor or Cha Pu himself.
“Be careful!” Cha Pu warned. Afterwards, he was too weak to say anything else.
Yang Kai nodded. Slipping out of the Warship, he rushed towards Chai Fang and the others. He brushed past them and shouted at Chai Fang, “Escort him back to Great Evolution Pass!”
Chai Fang did not hesitate to agree and immediately ordered his Squad members, “Withdraw!”
They hurriedly rushed back into the cabin, and under the control of the Old Turtle Squad members, the bulky Warship immediately turned around and retreated towards Great Evolution Pass under the indiscriminate bombardment from numerous Black Ink Clansmen.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure flickered about wildly as he unleashed a barrage with the Azure Dragon Spear to stop the Black Ink Clansmen who were chasing from behind. Wielding his Supreme Limitless Spear Art without restraint, Yang Kai swept through the enemy ranks like a hurricane. It only took an instant for the Black Ink Clansmen in front of him to vanish like snowflakes melting under the scorching Sun.
Yang Kai stood in the void by himself, fending off the advance of his enemies with his strength alone. However, he only lasted for 10 breaths of time before his body stiffened. Coughing up a mouthful of Golden Blood, he staggered backwards.
He excelled at wandering around and killing his enemies. Unfortunately, he needed to remain in place if he wanted to create an opportunity for the Old Turtle Squad to retreat. He couldn’t last for very long while trying to maintain a stationary position. Not to mention, the overwhelming attacks could not just be dismissed. Every time Yang Kai blocked an attack, he would consume a portion of his strength. There was no saying when the battle would finally end, so even if the heritage of his Small Universe was impressive and his strength far surpassed his peers in the same realm, he could not afford to squander his power without any inhibitions.
Taking a moment to glance behind him, Yang Kai saw that the Old Turtle Squad was still surrounded by the Black Ink Clan in all directions. A storm of attacks rained upon the Warship like a torrential downpour, causing the light barrier around the huge tortoise shell to flicker wildly. Be that as it may, the Old Turtle Squad’s momentum did not reduce in the slightest and soon they had approached to within 1 million kilometres of Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai couldn’t help feeling a sense of relief. The Old Turtle Squad might not have anything else that was special about them, but their entire Squad could be described with one word, ‘Tough’! And it wasn’t just their Warship that was tough. As far as he knew, Chai Fang and his Squad members had all cultivated extremely powerful defensive Secret Techniques. Even if they met a powerful enemy they could not defeat, they could defend themselves for some time.
This particular characteristic of the Old Turtle Squad certainly played a huge role at this moment.
If Dawn had been the one to escort Cha Pu instead, things might not have gone so smoothly. Dawn’s overall strength was not inferior to the Old Turtles’, but they would have a hard time persisting if they were surrounded and attacked by so many Black Ink Clansmen.
At 1 million kilometres, they had arrived within the range that Great Evolution Pass’s static defences could assist them.
Seeing the large number of Black Ink Clansmen chasing after the Old Turtle Squad, the Spirit Arrays on the walls of Great Evolution Pass began to hum and shine with light. What followed immediately after that was the power of the artifacts shooting across the sky like a hail of meteors.
The attacks brushed past the Old Turtle Squad’s Warship with incredible precision and slammed straight into the midst of the pursuers. Countless Black Ink Clansmen were sent flying by the blasts, and the auras of numerous Black Ink Clansmen vanished in large hordes. There were even Feudal Lords among the lives lost.
Upon seeing the ferocious assault coming from the Great Pass, the pursuing Black Ink Clansmen did not dare to move forward recklessly. Against such a heavy barrage, they would be blasted to smithereens before they managed to reach Great Evolution Pass.
Besides, there was nothing they could do even if they could reach Great Evolution Pass. 20 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were overseeing and protecting Great Evolution Pass. With so few numbers on their side, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t break through the defences of Great Evolution Pass.
A heavily injured Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who had lost his combat ability was not worth such a huge sacrifice from the Black Ink Clan.
At this moment, Yang Kai no longer paid attention to the movements of the pursuers. With a shift of his figure, he began wandering the battlefield again to hunt down his enemies and did not bother to rejoin the members of Dawn.
At present, the situation on the battlefield had become clear. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was fighting the Royal Lord and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple in a two-against-one battle. Meanwhile, the Territory Lords on the battlefield were being restrained by the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Therefore, there was practically nothing that could threaten Yang Kai’s safety on this battlefield. Moreover, he did not believe that the Black Ink Clan had any more hidden Territory Lords or Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
Now that the battle between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had reached this point, both sides had already brought out all the power that they could despite not much time having passed. After all, the Human Race had taken out the Evil Purging Divine Spears that had been kept secret for years. How could the Black Ink Clan afford to keep anything else hidden at this point?
The vast battlefield could almost be said to be a place where Yang Kai could rampage without restraint. As long as he did not take the initiative to court death, there was practically nothing that could threaten his life. For him, it was simply a matter of how many enemies he could kill.
Dawn was not weak, so even without him, they could run rampant across the battlefield without any issues. More importantly, Yang Kai was proficient in the Dao of Space so he would be able to maximise his advantage by fighting alone.
From time to time, flashes of pure light that resembled Great Suns would explode somewhere on the battlefield. Those were the Evil Purging Divine Spears that were constantly being activated.
For this battle, Great Evolution Pass had distributed all the Evil Purging Divine Spears that they had been stockpiling all these years. Almost every Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had received two or three Evil Purging Divine Spears. When faced with a powerful opponent, the Evil Purging Divine Spears would often break the stalemate and allow them to slaughter their enemies.
However, now that the existence of the Evil Purging Divine Spears had been revealed, their effects were not as impactful as their debut. The Black Ink Clan had become vigilant now, and no matter how fast the Human Race cultivators activated the Evil Purging Divine Spears, they would still need to take some time.
This was unlike at the beginning when the Human Masters had activated the Evil Purging Divine Spears at the same time, shocking both the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords. They Black Ink Clan had never seen such an artifact before, so how could they have known about them having such a great restraining effect on Black Ink Strength?
The situation might be favourable, but the battlefield was still tense.
There was nothing that needed to be said about the Old Ancestor’s situation. She was powerless to slaughter her enemies even if she could handle them in a two-against-one battle.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were also busy fighting the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples at the moment. The sudden emergence of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had shocked all the Eighth-Order Division Commanders.
The Territory Lords, who were originally being heavily suppressed, had taken advantage of that momentary shock to break free from the restraint of the Human Masters and desperately draw on the power of their Black Ink Nests to remove the Purifying Light that had invaded their bodies. Although many of them had been killed, even more of them had managed to escape death.
To pull off that explosive moment, many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had gotten severely wounded.
Take Xu Ling Gong for example. The newly-advanced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had fought in a two-against-one battle, and for the sake of killing his enemies, he had not hesitated to reveal an opening as bait. He had forcefully withstood a blow from each of his two opponents when the Evil Purging Divine Spears were activated.
It was true that he had indeed killed an enemy, but his strength had been seriously compromised due to his injuries. The assault of another Territory Lord had left him in a miserable state.
Similar situations like his could be seen everywhere on the battlefield. The higher-ups of the Human Race were showing signs of being suppressed even though their numbers were now almost equal to their enemies. The situation might be grim, but that was the price that they had to pay to slay their enemies.
Without their previous efforts, it would have been impossible for 20 Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples to be killed so swiftly.
It had to be said that most ordinary wars between the two races would last from several decades to over 100 years, but the number of Territory Lords who fell during that time would never exceed the fingers on one’s hand. Be that as it may, nearly 20 Territory-Lord-level Masters had lost their lives in just a few breaths. The Evil Purging Divine Spears were worthy of being the Human’s trump card.
The Eighth-Order Division Commanders might not be in shaky condition, but the Warships under the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ command were at peak condition.
Although the Great Evolution Army only had 30,000 troops against the Black Ink Clan Army of nearly 1 million, the rate at which the Humans were killing the Black Ink Clansmen was astonishing. In half a day of intense battle, hundreds of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen had been killed, their tattered corpses and remnant Black Ink Strength scattered across the entire battlefield.
The Human Race also suffered many casualties. In such a huge battle, it was inevitable for losses to occur on both sides.
Warships would explode from time to time, but fortunately, the Humans had many years to prepare for this clash. The Squad Leader of every Squad had a spare Warship in their possession. Every time a Warship blew up, they would immediately summon their spare Warship and continue their bloody battle with the Black Ink Clan.
In the past, the Human Race did not have such means because the refining of each Warship required extensive amounts of materials. The Human soldiers already lived a frugal life at that time, with even their cultivation resources being used sparingly, so where would they find the extra resources to refine spare Warships?
However, the lack of resources stopped being an issue that plagued the Human Race once the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors entered circulation throughout the Great Passes. Coupled with their efforts in plundering the Black Ink Clan’s territory, it stood to reason that the Humans would have more resources to go around than before.
That was also the reason why the overall strength of the Human soldiers had improved significantly over the recent 500 years. With a steady supply of resources, there was no need for them to be stingy in their cultivation.
Every Squad at Great Evolution Pass had their own spare Warship, except for Special Operations Squads like Dawn. Special Operations Squads did not have spare Warships because their primary Warships were specially refined and customised by the Artifact Refining Great Grandmasters themselves. Moreover, the customisation of the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on their Warships had cost them countless Military Merits.
In any case, if the situation was so dire that even the Warships of the elite Squads were destroyed, then the Human Race would not be far from defeat. At that point, it would no longer make much of a difference whether they had a spare Warship or not.
The cawing of the Golden Crow reverberated across the battlefield again as a Great Sun leaped out to illuminate the surrounding darkness. Even the Black Ink Strength could not block out this brilliant light. When the Great Sun exploded, countless Black Ink Clansmen were vaporized.
Yang Kai breathed heavily as he looked around with his spear raised. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters scattered across the battlefield were all locked in desperate battles while the Black Ink Clan Army had rallied and was now surrounding the Warships that were moving across the battlefield.
The situation was extremely dangerous.
Before the crusade began, everyone knew that this would be a tough battle and obtaining victory would not be an easy feat.
Tens of thousands of soldiers from Great Evolution Pass were desperately fighting a bloody battle for the very future of the Human Race. All their efforts were to protect the safety and peace of their future; hence, they did not hesitate to risk their lives for their cause.
It was just that the appearance of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was simply too unexpected. If not for the intervention of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, the situation might not have been so dire.
Although the Royal Lord could borrow the power of his Black Ink Nest to hold off the Old Ancestor, if the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had not joined forces with the Royal Lord, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would have had more than enough power to fully restrain the Royal Lord and several Territory Lords at the same time.
If the Old Ancestor had helped to restrain several Territory Lords, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders could have broken the current stalemate. Unfortunately, that plan was no longer feasible. The joint assault of the Royal Lord and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple left her powerless to do anything else.
Yang Kai gritted his teeth and glanced in the direction of the Royal City.
He was no match for a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, but a Territory Lord was feasible in his current state. Unfortunately, even if he fought at his hardest, he could at most occupy a single Territory Lord at best, which would be meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Rather than wasting his effort, he might as well utilise his strength to the fullest and hunt down more Feudal Lords.
However, if he could destroy the Black Ink Nests in the Royal City and prevent the Territory Lords from borrowing their power, then the current deadlock would also be broken.
Once the Black Ink Nests of the Territory Lords were destroyed, they would not be able to rely on any other external aids. The situation of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders should improve significantly as a result.
It could also be said that… if the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, then the Old Ancestor might even have the opportunity to slay the Royal Lord.
However, entering the Royal City to destroy the Black Ink Nests would not be an easy feat. Even though Yang Kai was standing on the chaotic battlefield, he could clearly sense the aura of several Territory Lords stationed at the Royal City.
The Black Ink Nests were critical to the Black Ink Clan, so how could they not assign a few Territory Lords to protect them?
According to the previous estimates of the higher-ups among the Human Race, before the war began the Black Ink Clan had 70 to 80 Territory Lords on their side, more or less equal to the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commanders. In addition, they also had some 20 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples under their command.
Be that as it may, there were not that many Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Black Ink Disciples on the battlefield. At least 20 Territory Lords must have remained in the Royal City to guard the Black Ink Nests.
That was an extremely powerful force. Judging from the current situation, guarding the Black Ink Nests had been a fail-safe plan. The reason why so many Territory Lords had stayed behind was to guard against the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters of Great Evolution Pass.
Just as how the Human Race had analyzed the strength of the Black Ink Clan, the Black Ink Clan had also made a judgement on the number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters the Humans had. If not all of the Human Race Masters had taken action, then how could the Black Ink Clan dare to go all out? In the end, both sides had left a large number of top Masters to protect their important locations in order to prevent the other party from causing trouble.
Although Yang Kai was tempted to cause a ruckus at the Royal City, he did not dare to act rashly with so many Territory Lords standing guard.
Just as he was mulling over these ideas, Xiang Shan’s voice suddenly entered his ears, “Target the Royal City’s Black Ink Nests!”
Yang Kai’s eyes immediately lit up at those words. Xiang Shan was asking him to destroy the Black Ink Nests in the Royal City!
[Looks like I was not the only one with this idea.]
It would seem that Xiang Shan had the same thought regarding the method to break this stalemate, or rather, with his abilities, Xiang Shan probably came up with this plan a long time ago but had been waiting for the right moment to carry it out. He probably issued the order to Yang Kai now because he had finally figured out the appropriate countermeasures.
The Eighth-Order Army Commander, who had fallen to the Seventh-Order before clawing his way back up after thousands of years, immediately displayed an unparalleled strategic talent as soon as he returned. It could be said that the Great Evolution East-West Army only managed to defeat the Black Ink Clan 200 years ago thanks to Xiang Shan’s leadership. He had established a huge advantage for the Human Race in the Great Evolution Theatre, and that advantage had continued to this day. That battle also laid the foundation for the Great Evolution Army’s current crusade.
For that reason, Yang Kai held great respect and admiration for Xiang Shan.
Although Yang Kai could not lead an army into battle, he excelled at carrying out individual assaults on his enemies. All the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were being watched closely at the moment, so none of them could extract themselves and head to the Royal City. That made a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master like Yang Kai the best choice for this task. Not to mention, he was different from ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Yang Kai was confident that he would succeed at the task as long as he could seize the opportunity. The Black Ink Nests had almost no defensive strength at all, so as long as he could find a way to get close, Yang Kai could easily destroy several of them without much effort.
Under Xiang Shan’s order, Yang Kai did not hesitate to head straight for the Royal City while not daring to make too much of a commotion, lest he catch the attention of the Black Ink Clan Army.
At the same time, at a distance 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City, Great Evolution Pass continued to rotate slowly under the urging of the 20 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters stationed there. Meanwhile, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on the walls of the city constantly shot towards the Royal City, forcing the Black Ink Clan to assign some of their troops to defend it.
Great Evolution Pass had travelled a great distance for this war, so naturally it could do more than simply launch a single ramming attack. Its role was not just to provide a powerful shield for the Human Race, its offensive and defensive abilities were absolutely lethal weapons on the battlefield. In fact, the very existence of Great Evolution Pass restrained a large part of the Black Ink Clan’s power.
Yang Kai flew around various battlefields, approaching the Royal City without a trace. He did not know what Xiang Shan was planning; however, the latter clearly had an arrangement in place since he had issued such a command.
All Yang Kai could do now was trust in Xiang Shan and act when the opportunity arose.
At that moment, a furious roar sliced through the entire battlefield, “Go! Kill all the Eighth-Order Humans!”
That was the voice of the Royal Lord.
It wasn’t just the Human Race that was trying to break the stalemate. The Black Ink Clan was also trying to achieve the same.
For the Human Race, destroying the Black Ink Nests in the Royal City was the key to breaking the stalemate. On the other hand, killing the Eighth-Order Division Commanders was the Black Ink Clan’s key to victory.
The Black Ink Clan might not have had such capital in the past, but they did now. They had a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple!
At the start of the battle, this Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had remained hidden, disguising himself as an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple during his battle with Cha Pu. He has been looking for an opportunity to attack the Old Ancestor. It was a pity that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had received a warning in advance, so she was fully prepared. The terrifying sword slash he unleashed at her had not gotten the desired effect. On the contrary, he exposed his whereabouts and was dragged into Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s battle, unable to extricate himself.
He was now working with the Royal Lord. Although they had managed to suppress Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, dragging out the battle in this manner was not going to accomplish anything. Compared to fighting with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, it would be more efficient if he hunted down the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters instead. With his Ninth-Order strength, none of the Eighth-Order Humans engaged in battle with the Territory Lords would be able to defend themselves against him.
When the Royal Lord let out that ferocious roar, he also struck out at Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao with all his strength so that the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple could escape. The reason for his shout was also to distract and disturb her focus.
Contrary to the Royal Lord’s expectations, she did not even attempt to stop the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple from leaving, instead increasing the intensity of her attacks on him.
The Royal Lord’s felt his heart clench slightly, vaguely sensing that something was wrong. Logically speaking, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao should have been desperate to prevent the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple from leaving; however, she had done the exact opposite…
Her seemingly illogical choice made the Royal Lord feel uneasy. Having suffered terrible losses due to her schemes in the past, anything that felt out of place made him wary. Nevertheless, the Royal Lord did not have the time to ponder on the matter as her attacks were so fierce that he had to concentrate on defending himself. How could he dare to be distracted at a time like this?
The Royal Lord wasn’t the only one who was taken aback. Even the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was stunned. Be that as it may, his opponent’s choice happened to be exactly what he wanted, so he quickly stopped thinking about the issue and spun around to attack the nearest Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
The Eighth-Order Division Commander was already drenched in blood. His current situation was similar to Xu Ling Gong’s. They were both fighting two-against-one battles, but as a veteran, his heritage was much stronger than Xu Ling Gong’s. That was why he was in better condition despite also fighting two opponents at once.
After activating the Evil Purging Divine Spear, this Division Commander had forcefully withstood the attacks from both enemy Territory Lords and took the opportunity to kill one of them. Unfortunately, he was now severely injured and stuck in a protracted battle with the other Territory Lord.
A sharp aura locked onto him without warning. Before the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple even arrived, a sword slash was unleashed from afar. The terrifying power behind the sword slash even tore space apart in its path.
The Sword Qi not only enveloped the Eighth-Order Division Commander, but also affected the Territory Lord who was fighting him.
The Territory Lord’s expression changed drastically, and he soundly cursed the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple in his heart. Nevertheless, his movements were quick. All the Black Ink Strength in his body surged, and he quickly retreated to avoid being affected by the Sword Qi.
In the next moment, this Territory Lord’s figure stiffened in shock. That was because many powerful auras suddenly emerged from the surroundings and encircled him from all directions.
[Eighth-Order Humans! Why are there so many Eighth-Order Humans here!?]
The thought had only just passed through his mind when countless fists slammed into his body from all sides. He was beaten to the point where he coughed up blood continuously. Even though he was severely wounded in an instant, his life was not in danger; however, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple’s Sword Qi fell upon him at that moment!
“No!” He howled, desperately using all his might to defend himself against the sword wave. Be that as it may, how could his severely injured body achieve such a feat? When the Sword Qi enveloped him, his enormous figure was instantly cut to pieces as the horrifying Sword Qi sliced off all his vitality.
The Territory Lord’s vitality dissipated quickly. He widened his eyes, as if he couldn’t believe that he was dying at the hands of the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple instead of the Human Race.
Just before his death, he saw several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters charging towards the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple through his blurry vision. Every one of them was incredibly powerful!
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had hidden themselves amid the chaotic army no longer had the intention to conceal themselves at this moment. They quickly drew upon their World Force and attacked the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
Nobody knew when these five Eighth-Order Masters had entered the fray. It wasn’t just the Black Ink Clan that had failed to notice their presence, even the Human cultivators had not noticed them.
It could even be said that these five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would not have had the chance to shine if things had gone according to plan. Their original task was to remain at Great Evolution Pass and control its Core. While providing the necessary protection for the Pass, they were also supposed to guard against any Territory Lords who dared to attack the Pass directly.
Unfortunately, the original plans could not keep up with the changes on the battlefield. It was only natural for the Humans to adapt the necessary countermeasures following the appearance of a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple among the Black Ink Clan’s forces.
These five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were the candidates chosen by the Army Commanders to deal with the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
Five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might not be enough to confront a Master like Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao; however, it had not been long since the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple broke through to his current realm, so five veteran Eighth-Order Masters working together should be just enough to restrain him.
There was a huge battle between the Human Race Army and the Black Ink Clan Army; hence, violent energy fluctuations filled the void. It was not strange for them to be able to sneak out of Great Evolution Pass without anybody noticing.
In the next moment, the five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters engaged the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple in battle. The Eighth-Order Master who had been targeted by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple’s Sword Qi earlier also joined in the battle without regard for his injuries even though he was coughing up blood. He drew upon his World Force madly as he attacked his imposing opponent.
While the six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were joining forces to restrain the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, the aura of several hidden Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters suddenly appeared in the vicinity of the Royal City. Every one of their auras shone brilliantly as they openly charged towards the Royal City without hiding. Every one of them gave off an imposing momentum and even on this chaotic battlefield, they were extremely eye-catching.
“Impudence!” Che Kong, who had remained behind in the Royal City to oversee the protection of the Black Ink Nests roared furiously. How could he not know what the Human Race was planning when he saw the Eighth-Order Masters charging towards the Royal City?
The Humans clearly intended to destroy the Black Ink Nests and weaken the combat power of the Territory Lords and the Royal Lord. The reason Che Kong remained behind was precisely to guard against such actions.
There was no need for him to issue any commands. Even without a word from Che Kong, several Territory Lords had already taken to the skies to intercept the incoming Eighth-Order Humans.
Numerous Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had been dispatched here, 10 in total. Counting the five who were dispatched to restrain the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple earlier, a total of 15 Masters had been deployed at this point.
20 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had initially remained to guard Great Evolution Pass. Now that 15 of them had been dispatched, only five remained behind.
No matter what happened, those five could not be sent out. If they were to leave, they would only be left with the meagre deployment on the walls and the current defensive force that remained in Great Evolution Pass. If the Black Ink Clan tried to attack Great Evolution Pass at that point, then the Humans would not be able to defend it with just those forces alone.
10 Territory Lords rose to meet the 10 incoming Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Although there were 20 Territory Lords who stayed behind to guard the Royal City, they did not dare to all move rashly under these circumstances. The consequences would be terrible if they fell for the Human Race’s trap to lure them away from their posts.
The Masters of both sides collided in the void and immediately split into ten different battlefields.
One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters laughed loudly, “One isn’t enough! Bring me another!”
Despite speaking such arrogant words, rather than fighting, he stubbornly endured the attacks of his Territory Lord opponent and forced his way towards the Royal City. Even if he was horribly beaten, he did not retreat in the slightest.
He wasn’t the only one! There were six of them who echoed his sentiments! The other four Division Commanders were somewhat weaker, so they did not boast arrogantly and simply concentrated on the opponent in front of them.
The Territory Lords fighting those six Division Commanders were infuriated by their words.
Although the Territory Lords were generally weaker than the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the gap between their strengths was not that big. In a one-on-one battle, an Eighth-Order Master would have no problem holding the advantage against a Territory Lord, but killing the latter would be quite difficult. In fact, if they were not careful, the Division Commanders would instead be injured by the Territory Lords.
That was also why those clansmen weaker than Territory Lords in the Black Ink Clan Army would often suffer countless casualties after a huge battle, but most of the Territory Lords would retreat with their lives. Their strength gave them enough power to protect themselves from deadly harm.
It was bad enough that the Eighth-Order Humans were aiming to destroy the Black Ink Nests, but on top of that, they not only ignored the retaliation of the Territory Lords but also openly taunted them. Their behaviour was simply outrageous.
In such a situation, it was only natural that the Territory Lords would not show mercy.
Out of the six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters with such thoughts, one of them was beaten so soundly that he could barely continue forward. Thus, he could only turn around to concentrate on his opponent and give up on the idea of trying to restrain another Territory Lord.
The other five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters continued charging towards the Royal City.
Che Kong was absolutely furious. The actions of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters clearly indicated that they were aiming to draw out and pin down the Territory Lords. It would seem that they were determined to destroy the Black Ink Nests.
If the protection around the Black Ink Nests weakened, then the risk of them being damaged or destroyed would increase significantly. Unfortunately, the Territory Lords did not have control of the situation.
Seeing the five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters getting closer and closer to the Black Ink Nests, five more Territory Lords beside Che Kong prepared themselves to move out at any given moment.
All of a sudden, the sound of laughter rang out, “Old Liu, you’re getting old. You shouldn’t act like us youngsters. Be careful not to get your old bones broken by the enemy!”
One of the older Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters seemed to be having trouble advancing. Although he wanted to slip past the defences of his opponent and attack the Royal City, he evidently could not handle taking on a second Territory Lord.
In such a short time, he had been struck numerous times by his Territory Lord opponent, and although his injuries were nothing serious, it would be risky if things were to continue at this rate. Not to mention, the situation would only worsen if anything were to happen to him.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master called Old Liu seemed to have realised that he had bitten off more than he could chew. After considering the situation at hand, he stopped pushing himself so hard and laughed self-deprecatingly, “You’re right. These old bones can’t take such a beating. It must be nice to be young and strong like you little ones! Good, I’ll leave it to you!”
Out of the ‘little ones’ he mentioned, who among them were not at least a few thousand years old? It was just that he was even older than them.
After saying that, Old Liu immediately retreated to focus on his opponent and instantly reversed his declining momentum as a result.
Six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had charged into the Royal City, but two were forced to drop out along the way; therefore, only four were left.
The remaining four were evidently the elite among the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Even though their opponents were attacking them ferociously, they easily continued to lead the battle towards the Royal City.
If the Black Ink Clan were to ignore these Eighth-Order Masters, then the Black Ink Nests would be in danger once the fallout of their battle swept across the Royal City. For that reason, no matter what, the Black Ink Clan could not sit around and do nothing.
There were many Black Ink Nests in the vicinity of the Royal City, so when Che Kong saw that Old Liu had voluntarily retreated, he couldn’t help feeling slightly relieved.
The Black Ink Clan had no trouble dealing with the four incoming Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Che Kong glanced to the left and right before four Territory Lords soared up and joined their companions to engage the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Likewise, the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not careless. Seeing that another four Territory Lords were joining the battle, they knew that they had reached their goal. Not only did they stop trying to approach the Royal City, but they also gradually moved the battle away from it.
In reality, they could no longer control the situation as it was a two-against-one battle. If the Territory Lords wanted to lure their battle out of the Royal City to prevent the fallout from damaging the Black Ink Nest, then they could only follow along.
On a battlefield not far away from the Royal City, Yang Kai suppressed his strength as he fought with the Black Ink Clan while keeping watch on the movements of the Royal City.
10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had taken action to lure 14 Territory Lords away from the Royal City. Although the results were not ideal, they had barely managed to achieve their goal.
It had to be said that these Territory Lords could borrow the power of their Black Ink Nests too, so if they were not so wary of the Evil Purging Divine Spears, they might not be in such miserable conditions. Under the premise that the Territory Lords could borrow the power of their Black Ink Nests, in a two-against-one battle, they could threaten the life of any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
There were now six Territory Lords remaining. Among them was the exceptionally powerful Che Kong.
What was Xiang Shan planning?
There were not many people left among the Human Race who could be dispatched. Were they planning to abandon the protection of Great Evolution Pass and send out the remaining five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters?
Just as Yang Kai was mulling over these matters, Che Kong was also pondering over the same question.
The Black Ink Clan had a record of the number and identity of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters after they fought each other so many times.
All but one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters active on the battlefield were known to the Black Ink Clan. The unfamiliar face had most likely advanced to become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in the recent 200 years; however, that particular Eighth-Order Master was out on the battlefield. Not to mention, he was heavily wounded, so there was no need to worry about him.
There were five other known Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had yet to reveal themselves. Che Kong shifted his gaze to look at Great Evolution Pass. The defences around Great Evolution Pass seemed sturdy, and the entire Great Pass was slowly rotating on the spot. That clearly indicated that there were still Eighth-Order Humans overseeing Great Evolution Pass and controlling the enormous artifact.
Were all five of the known Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Great Evolution Pass? Even if not all of them were there, at least three had to have remained behind; otherwise, the defences of Great Evolution Pass would not be so sturdy.
As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Che Kong calmed down.
It didn’t matter whether those five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had remained in Great Evolution Pass. Even if all five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had been dispatched, the Black Ink Clan had six Territory Lords remaining. After sending out five Territory Lords to restrain their enemies, he would be the only one left in the Royal City. Be that as it may, he alone was enough to ensure the safety of the Royal City.
[The Human Race has run out of tricks!]
Just as that thought crossed Che Kong’s mind, a sudden commotion came from a certain corner of the chaotic battlefield. Countless streams of lights shot out in all directions as three Warships emerged from that direction and charged towards the Royal City.
There was a large number of Black Ink Clansmen pursuing them from the rear; however, the pursuers were intercepted by other Warships. Flashes of light blazed across the sky as the soldiers on both sides fought ferociously.
The three Warships were clearly different from ordinary Warships. They were larger and sturdier. Moreover, the Spirit Arrays and artifacts on these Warships were much more powerful than usual. In particular, the Warship in the lead carried a huge shield that resembled a tortoise shell on its back. Countless attacks from the Black Ink Clan smashed into the shield and created bright sparks, but those attacks caused almost no damage at all.
The three Special Operations Squads had arrived!
Yang Kai’s eyes lit up at the sight. He had neither contacted these elite Squads nor asked them to come and provide support; therefore, their timely arrival clearly indicated that they were part of Xiang Shan’s plan.
If an ordinary Squad were to face a Territory Lord, they would have a hard time fighting back or even escaping; however, each Special Operations Squad could hold off a Territory Lord for some time.
It was obvious that Che Kong knew about these elite Squads among the Human Race.
A month ago, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had eliminated one of them that had infiltrated their defence line.
Therefore, Che Kong immediately understood the intentions of the Human Race when he saw the three distinctive Warships. They were planning to continue their efforts to tie down the Territory Lords.
There were no pursuers behind them, and there were no obstacles in front of them. With Old Turtles Squad leading the way, these three Special Operations Squads rushed towards the Royal City at maximum speed. Before the Warships even arrived, lights from the arrays and artifacts started flickering.
Chai Fang’s laugh reverberated across the universe, “All of you can go to Hell!”
The instant he finished speaking, over 50 attacks were shot out from the three Warships towards the Royal City.
The Royal City was located on a Universe World. Previously, Great Evolution Pass crashed into it and smashed it into several fragments. Although these fragments had hastily been drawn together again, the city no longer looked as magnificent as it used to.
The attacks from the Warships of these three Special Operations Squads rained on the Black Ink Nests in the Royal City.
Every attack was equivalent to an all-out strike of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. One or two such attacks might not bother the Territory Lords, but 50 all at once was intimidating enough.
With Che Kong leading the way, all six remaining Territory Lords made a move at the same time. As thick Black Ink Strength burst forth, they managed to intercept all the attacks.
However, the people on the Warships didn’t stop at one volley.
Although several dozen Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests and one High-Rank Black Ink Nest were located in the same city, due to their enormous size they were spread somewhat far apart from each other.
Therefore, these six Territory Lords had to protect a vast area.
The Humans took full advantage of this and dispersed their attacks over the widest range possible, forcing the Territory Lords to move around different parts of the Royal City to defend against them.
A while after the battle started, Che Kong turned furious and roared, “Impudent!”
Although these Territory Lords managed to work together and intercept all the attacks from the Warships to ensure that the Royal City remained unharmed, they couldn’t keep doing this forever.
Now, it seemed as though they were the puppets being pulled around by these Warships. The Humans could dictate which direction they had to go and any slight negligence might cause a Black Ink Nest or two to be destroyed.
There wasn’t even a single Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master on these Warships, but the Humans had the nerve to be so reckless. That was why Che Kong was infuriated.
Staring at the Warships, he squinted his eyes and ordered, “Kill them!”
All of these Territory Lords were equally vexed, so the instant Che Kong gave the order, three Territory Lords charged towards the Warships while withstanding the attacks.
Seeing that, Chai Fang, who was aboard the Old Turtles’ Warship, roared, “Scatter!”
Their main objective was to draw out and pin down the defending Territory Lords, not engaging in a life-and-death battle with them.
On any other battlefield, these Special Operations Squads might be able to put up a good fight against these Territory Lords; however, this place was too close to the Black Ink Nests which the Territory Lords could draw strength from, leaving these elite Squads at a serious disadvantage.
They could only try to persevere for as long as possible while withstanding the Territory Lords’ attacks.
Following Chai Fang’s order, the Warships dispersed in three different directions. Without any need for discussion, the three Territory Lords respectively selected a Warship and gave chase. As Black Ink Strength undulated, powerful Secret Techniques were cast at the Warships.
[Only three Territory Lords left!]
Yang Kai had been paying close attention to the Royal City. Seeing what was going on, he knew this was the best chance for him to make a move.
Unless the Black Ink Clansmen had gone mad, there would always be some Territory Lords left to protect the Royal City no matter how they were baited and taunted. In other words, Yang Kai had to break through their interception to destroy the Black Ink Nests.
It was just a matter of how many Black Ink Nests he could destroy.
There was no denying that he wasn’t a match for these three Territory Lords; however, the Special Operations Squads might not be able to persevere for long. Once that happened, all their efforts so far would go to waste.
There were still five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Great Evolution Pass, but they most likely couldn’t leave.
If they could make a move, they would’ve done so instead of letting these Special Operations Squads launch an assault on the Royal City.
Although it would be difficult to achieve his goal, things had come to the point where Yang Kai had no other choice but to act. He just hoped that Xiang Shan had other arrangements to follow up.
Upon making up his mind, Yang Kai stopped hiding strength as he swept his Azure Dragon Spear across his opponents. Half of the Black Ink Clansmen that had been dealing with him were instantly slaughtered.
Yang Kai didn’t bother to kill the rest and instead, he manipulated Space Principles to arrive at the Royal City in the blink of an eye. Presently, he was hovering somewhere near three gigantic Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
He didn’t head straight to the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, even though that would be the ideal target. If he could destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nest first, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would be able to kill the Royal Lord given their current conditions.
However, Che Kong was stubbornly protecting the High-Rank Black Ink Nest and had not moved away from it from the beginning of the battle. Therefore, Yang Kai might not be able to achieve his goal by targeting the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
On the other hand, there were quite a number of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests that were left unprotected. He planned to take advantage of the fact that the Territory Lords were spread too thin at this moment.
The instant Yang Kai appeared, Che Kong and the other two Territory Lords were stunned. None of them could have expected that a Human was able to enter the Royal City with such ease.
More importantly, they had not sensed this Human’s presence before his appearance.
The Territory Lord nearest to Yang Kai immediately pounced on him and barked, “Don’t you dare!”
Certainly, there was nothing in the world that Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to do.
The blood feud between the two Races was irresolvable. The Humans had been preparing for years, and they were determined to achieve their goal. Yang Kai definitely wouldn’t go easy on his opponents at this point.
The next moment, he swept out his Azure Dragon Spear as his World Force surged through it.
As he wielded the weapon, three Black Ink Nests were cut in half and collapsed to the ground.
The Territory Lord charging at Yang Kai widened his eyes in disbelief and before the Human could make another move, he pushed out his palm.
His Black Ink Strength formed into a colossal palm that engulfed Yang Kai.
On the other hand, somewhere on the battlefield, the moment the Black Ink Nests collapsed, a Territory Lord who had been dealing with an Eighth-Order Division Commander realised that his aura had plunged. With his heart pounding against his chest, he turned to look at the Royal City and saw his Black Ink Nest falling to the ground.
His heart sank.
With the Black Ink Nest’s help, he could deal with this Eighth-Order Master, and neither side could gain the decisive edge. If anything, he was in a slightly more advantageous position.
Now that his Black Ink Nest had been destroyed though, his strength plunged to his usual level.
This wouldn’t have mattered usually as it didn’t impact him profoundly. Nevertheless, he was in a life-and-death battle, and the sudden drop in power could cost him his life.
This Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was an experienced warrior, so he certainly wouldn’t let such a chance slip through his fingers. He instantly summoned and hurled an Evil Purging Divine Spear at his opponent.
As the Purifying Light exploded, the Territory Lord was sent into a panic.
Fortunately, he had been vigilant against this artifact, so the moment the other party summoned it, he rapidly retreated. Even so, the Purifying Light seemed to be burning his body, which caused a lot of his Black Ink Strength to dissipate.
Although the Evil Purging Divine Spear couldn’t cripple the Territory Lord, it affected his strength and mobility significantly. The relentless Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master summoned his Divine Manifestation at that moment and engulfed the Territory Lord in it, causing the latter to howl in pain as blood spurted from his wounds.
What’s more, on the vast battlefield, a similar scene was playing out in two other locations.
After the three Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests were destroyed, the strength of the corresponding Territory Lords was impacted. The Eighth-Order Masters that had been dealing with them seized the chance to suppress their opponents.
In the Royal City, Che Kong still steadfastly guarded the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, not daring to move away from it. As he watched Yang Kai being suppressed by a Territory Lord, he breathed a sigh of relief.
This Seventh-Order Human’s movements were too elusive; however, it was just the Humans’ wishful thinking that they could rely on this single person to destroy their Black Ink Nests. How was a weak Seventh-Order cultivator supposed to make a scene in front of three Territory Lords?
[Although he’s clever not to target the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, there’s nothing much more he can do…]
While Che Kong was still thinking so, he suddenly felt a powerful aura coming from the place where the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had disappeared along with an immense pressure.
The other two Territory Lords noticed this as well and turned their gazes in that direction with solemn expressions.
The next moment, a high-pitched Dragon Roar reverberated across the void.
From the thick cloud of darkness, a golden light burst forth. A gigantic Dragon Head rose up, its golden eyes blazing like two Great Suns, giving off an imposing aura.
“A Dragon!” Che Kong exclaimed.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, most of the Black Ink Clansmen in the various Theatres had never seen a member of the Dragon Clan before. However, it was a different case in the Great Evolution Theatre. Some time after they first occupied Great Evolution Pass, they had launched an attack on the No-Return Pass.
Therefore, the veteran Black Ink Clan Masters in the Great Evolution Theatre were familiar with the Dragon Clan. They had even exchanged moves with the Dragons and Phoenixes outside of the No-Return Pass.
Without any surprise, they were soundly routed and forced to flee for their lives.
There were not a lot of Dragons and Phoenixes in the No-Return Pass, but each one of them was incredibly powerful. The Black Ink Clansmen even felt that it was harder to deal with those creatures than the Humans.
Che Kong had engaged in an intense battle with an Ancient Dragon back then and was impressed by the other party’s power as well as the other side’s resistance to Black Ink Strength.
The Dragon Head that had risen out of the darkness was huge. Che Kong speculated that the Dragon was just as enormous as the Ancient Dragon he had fought in the past.
Moreover, the Dragon Pressure emanating from this being was far too intense to be that of a mere Grand Dragon.
There was no doubt that this individual was an Ancient Dragon.
Upon realising the other party’s true strength, Che Kong expression warped as he roared, “Stop him!”
The other two Territory Lords realised that they were in a critical situation as well. They initially thought that the attacker was just a Seventh-Order Human, so they were caught completely off guard when he transformed into an Ancient Dragon.
As the Dragon Pressure permeated the air, darkness scattered and a colossal figure came into the Territory Lords’ sight.
It was a magnificent creature even with its long body coiled up onto itself.
The two Territory Lords charged towards the Ancient Dragon as they cast their Secret Techniques.
Yang Kai lifted his head and roared to the Heavens. The Golden Dragon Scales on his Dragon Form gave off a dazzling radiance as a torrent of Dragon Breath was released from his giant maw to stop the Territory Lords from moving closer. At the same time, he swept his Dragon Tail out.
*Hong Long Long…*
With one great sweep, over 10 Black Ink Nests around Yang Kai’s enormous figure were smashed like straw amidst a storm, and that was just the beginning. Wielding the outrageously massive Azure Dragon Spear in his Dragon Claws, Yang Kai unleashed another sweep in front of himself, cutting down even more Black Ink Nests.
The Royal City was instantly thrown into turmoil as the already damaged Universe World it sat upon was at risk of collapsing at any moment.
The three Territory Lords widened their eyes in fury. Regardless, Che Kong still refused to move away from the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. He could only cast powerful Secret Techniques from afar. Upon impact, Yang Kai staggered as his Dragon Scales were smashed in and his Dragon Blood scattered.
Even though his enormous Dragon Form was menacing and intimidating, it had its shortcomings.
For one, dodging attacks was almost impossible.
The other two Territory Lords endured the Dragon Breath and appeared at both sides of Yang Kai. They roared as their figures expanded. Using their Black Ink Strength, they respectively transformed into 10,000-metre-tall figures and grabbed hold of Yang Kai’s Dragon Horns. By exerting all their strength, they somehow managed to force Yang Kai’s 70,000-metre-long Dragon Form back.
As the two Territory Lords were doing their best to repel Yang Kai, Yang Kai was repeatedly slashing at them with his Dragon Claws.
However, the two Territory Lords didn’t dare to release him and were determined to drag him out of the Royal City; after all, if they engaged in a battle here, many more Black Ink Nests would be destroyed regardless of the outcome. If they accidentally let this Human damage or even destroy the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, they would be condemned as the greatest sinners in the annals of the Black Ink Clan’s history.
The moment Yang Kai was hurled away, the two Territory Lords, who had transformed into 10,000-metres tall figures using their Black Ink Strength, shrunk significantly as countless wounds appeared on their bodies.
Nevertheless, they didn’t back down. Surging their Black Ink Strength to expand their bodies again, they pursued Yang Kai.
They couldn’t give this Dragon Clan member a chance to breathe; otherwise, even more Black Ink Nests would be destroyed.
In just one breath, this Dragon had managed to destroy nearly 20 Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests, but that wasn’t even the most significant loss. Without their Black Ink Nests to empower them, some 20 Territory Lords would see a drastic drop in strength which was enough to affect the outcome of the entire war.
The two Territory Lords were still reeling from the shock, but they were determined to kill Yang Kai at any cost.
Meanwhile, Che Kong still steadfastly guarded the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. While glaring at Yang Kai with resentment, he paid close attention to the surroundings.
Did the Humans have other hidden hands to play? He had no idea. A Dragon had never appeared in any Theatre before, but there was one who had joined the battle now. Given the unprecedented situation, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Humans still had other arrangements.
At this moment, Che Kong felt like he was on pins and needles.
He was the only Territory Lord left guarding the Royal City now while five known Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters still hadn’t shown themselves. It could be said that the Black Ink Clan was in a perilous situation.
The Royal Lord and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple noticed the anomaly in the Royal City and were now doing their best to shake off their opponents and return.
Nevertheless, the Old Ancestor and the six Eighth-Order Division Commanders were determined to hold these two back, so for the moment, the Royal Lord and Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple were unable to get rid of the Humans.
After waiting for a while, Che Kong realised there wasn’t any anomaly in Great Evolution Pass’ posture, allowing him to slightly set his mind at ease.
It seemed that those five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were unable to leave Great Evolution Pass; otherwise, they would have made a move a long time ago given the current state of the war.
On the other hand, even though Yang Kai’s power increased significantly after he transformed into his Ancient Dragon Form, he still found it difficult to deal with two Territory Lords.
Moreover, these Territory Lords had abandoned all thoughts of retreat and were determined to kill him as quickly as they could, so they went all out while also madly drawing energy from their Black Ink Nests, granting them a sharp boost in strength.
Being a 70,000-metre-long Ancient Dragon, Yang Kai could wield power on par with a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but he still found it difficult to fight two Territory Lords at once.
His Dragon Scales were constantly blasted off and his Dragon Blood gushed from his wounds. He was in so much pain that he roared continuously.
Despite looking battered, Yang Kai had not suffered any critical wounds yet. Dragon Clan members had thick skin and strong flesh, and Yang Kai was no exception.
As time passed though, he became increasingly anxious. If he couldn’t break through these Territory Lords’ blockade, he wouldn’t be able to raise chaos in the Royal City. If he couldn’t destroy those Black Ink Nests, he couldn’t cut off the sources of those Territory Lords’ powers. That would put the Humans in a disadvantageous position on the battlefield.
Furthermore, he could already sense that there was more than one Eighth-Order Division Commander who had lost their lives.
It was extremely dangerous on this battlefield, and with a number of Territory Lords already having fallen, there was no way the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could remain unharmed.
There was still no movement from Great Evolution Pass. Just like what Yang Kai had expected, the remaining five Eighth-Order Masters didn’t seem to show signs of making a move. It seemed that they were unable to leave the Pass.
In fact, the five Eighth-Order Masters who had stayed back in the Pass had been paying close attention to the battle. It wasn’t that they were not willing to lend a hand, but they were simply unable to do so.
Great Evolution Pass was an enormous Mobile Palace Artifact. Previously, it took the combined power of the Old Ancestor and 30 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters just to move this artifact to this place.
Only with so many powerful Masters could they provide the necessary World Force to effectively drive Great Evolution Pass.
Now, the Old Ancestor and most of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had join the battle, leaving just five Eighth-Order Masters to control the Core. It could be said that these five had become one with this core. Unless the Old Ancestor returned to take over, they were unable to leave. If they made a rash move now, not only would their lives be at risk, but the Core might also explode. If that happened, the entire Great Evolution Pass would collapse, and the thousands of soldiers who stayed behind to man the walls would die.
Given the circumstances, these five Eighth-Order Masters wouldn’t dare to be impetuous; therefore, they were unable to directly take part in the battle.
Locked in an intense fight, Yang Kai stowed away his Azure Dragon Spear. Although the gigantic Azure Dragon Spear was immensely destructive, he was a colossal Ancient Dragon now, so he felt clumsy using such a weapon. In fact, it was easier for him to just use his Dragon Claws instead.
These Territory Lords’ 10,000 metres figures were covered in wounds, and they would shrink from time to time; however, they could always draw more energy from their Black Ink Nests to ensure they remained at peak strength.
Yang Kai had made several attempts to break their siege and charge towards the Royal City, but these Territory Lords would always stop him. They were practically in a deadlock now.
In such a situation, Yang Kai wasn’t without a trump card. Nevertheless, even if he used it, he wasn’t certain if it would allow him to reach the Royal City; therefore, he had been hesitating.
The three Territory Lords who had been lured away by the Special Operations Squads now showed the intention of returning to the Royal City. Although they were powerful enough to suppress these elite Squads, it was hard for them to kill Chai Fang and the others in short order.
Realising the Territory Lords’ intentions, Chai Fang and the others certainly wouldn’t let them go. They were initially trying to draw the Territory Lords away, but at this moment, they took the initiative to provoke them and stop them from returning to the Royal City.
With that said, they were unable to hold them for long. If these Territory Lords were determined to leave, Chai Fang and the others wouldn’t be able to stop them as they were not powerful enough.
As such, Yang Kai decided that he couldn’t keep waiting. There was still some hope if he made a move now, but if this situation dragged on, everyone’s efforts would go to waste when the three Territory Lords returned to the Royal City.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai prepared to use his trump card.
Just then, a faint Dragon Roar was heard coming from Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai became startled and turned back to look at Great Evolution Pass, only to see a ray of light charging forward from that direction. The ray of light was able to move across a million kilometres in the blink of an eye.
Detecting the familiar aura, Yang Kai was elated. What he heard wasn’t a real Dragon Roar, but a Sword Roar.
A slender figure was seen shooting out of Great Evolution Pass with a sword in hand. As sword lights undulated, innumerable sword waves formed into a tremendous Sword Dragon.
The magnificent Sword Dragon shot across the void and swiftly arrived near Yang Kai the next instant. It was the Myriad Swords Dragon, which was Feng Ying’s Divine Manifestation.
When Yang Kai first encountered Feng Ying all those years ago, she had used this Divine Manifestation to slaughter a small army of enemies. It was a Divine Manifestation that she had cultivated for thousands of years and was more destructive than most High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters’ Divine Manifestations.
At that time, Feng Ying was just a Seventh-Order Master, but now, she had broken through to the Eighth-Oder. Apparently, she had just exited seclusion.
Yang Kai had no idea when she stopped cultivating in retreat or when she ascended to the Eighth Order, but she had come at the right time.
Back when they were stationed in Blue Sky Pass, Feng Ying was already incredibly strong.
This was only natural though as she was the closest to breaking through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the entire Blue Sky Pass at the time. Although there were a lot of Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in every Great Pass, rarely would any of them hold the title of strongest below the Eighth-Order.
Before Yang Kai’s arrival, Feng Ying was undoubtedly the most powerful Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master in Blue Sky Pass.
Of course, Xiang Shan wasn’t included in these rankings as he was initially an Eighth-Order Master who had his cultivation regress after being plotted against by the Black Ink Clan.
The Eighth-Order Division Commanders in Blue Sky Pass had high hopes for Feng Ying, but it wasn’t smooth sailing when it came to her ascension.
It had been 200 years since she started cultivating in seclusion. Before Great Evolution Pass set out, Yang Kai had checked in with her and realised that Feng Ying still hadn’t shown signs of breaking through.
She had cultivated hard for the past 200 years, and at this moment, she was like a butterfly that had broken free from its chrysalis. The Myriad Swords Dragon was like an impenetrable Grand Dragon. The splendid Sword Dragon widened its jaws and directly devoured a Territory Lord.
As Sword Qi permeated the void, the Sword Dragon swayed about wildly. Violent exchanges of moves could be felt coming from inside the Sword Dragon, but the Divine Manifestation remained intact and ensured that the Territory Lord couldn’t break free.
Yang Kai was thrilled upon seeing that.
Feng Ying was still as powerful as ever. Not long after she ascended to the Eighth Order, she was already able to restrain a Territory Lord who was drawing strength from his Black Ink Nest.
Yang Kai had no idea what the outcome of the battle would be, but the most pressing issue for him had been resolved.
Since one of the two Territory Lords blocking him had been restrained, there was only one left now.
Yang Kai widened his maw and let out a deafening roar before clawing at the Territory Lord before him. As his immense physical strength burst out, the Territory Lord’s 10,000-metre figure, which was formed from Black Ink Strength, was wounded.
The other party’s life or death didn’t concern Yang Kai as he directly returned to his Human Form. Then, he attempted to skirt past the Territory Lord and head to the Royal City.
The Territory Lord had a robust physique though, and although he was injured, he was still combat capable. Realising Yang Kai’s intention, he roared and threw his fist towards the Human.
Yang Kai, who was ready to manipulate Space Principles and leave, staggered slightly. The Void had been disturbed by the Territory Lord’s blow, so he was unable to use Instantaneous Movement for the time being.
A furious Yang Kai turned around as a Great Sun and Full Moon leapt from behind him. The Sun and the Moon glowed brilliantly as Time Principles and Space Principles undulated. The Sun and the Moon swirled around and formed into a kaleidoscope which then shot towards the Territory Lord.
An amazing power seemed to disturb both time and space in the surrounding region.
It was the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel!
The Sun and Moon Divine Wheel was a Secret Technique that Yang Kai had developed. However, compared with his relatively simple Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation, profound Space-Time Strength formed the basis of the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel, making it even more powerful.
When Yang Kai was still in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he used this Secret Technique to seriously wound a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. And in the Seventh Order, he had already used this attack to damage more than one Territory Lord.
It was an intimidating Secret Technique that could be used against Masters who were more powerful than Yang Kai because the Space-Time Strength which radiated from it could influence the enemies’ senses and perception.
In fact, Yang Kai hadn’t used this Secret Technique for some time. As his strength increased, there was rarely any opponent that could force him to bring out this trump card.
When he activated the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel this time though, he realised it was different from before. The main difference was that this Secret Technique had become even more powerful and the Space-Time Strength which pulsed from it seemed more complete somehow.
At that instant, a realisation dawned upon Yang Kai, [So… this is what the real Space-Time Strength is supposed to look like.]
The reason for such a change was largely due to his experience at the No-Return Pass. During his trip to the No-Return Pass, his Dragon Vein had improved tremendously. From a Grand Dragon, he grew to a 70,000 metres Ancient Dragon, which was a shocking increase.
With the refinement in his Bloodline came the improvement in his Bloodline Talent, and the Dragon Clan’s Bloodline Talent was the Dao of Time.
Before Yang Kai entered the Dragon Pool, he had refined a lot of Space Dao Essence in Su Yan’s Phoenix Nest, which enhanced his mastery over the Dao of Space. His comprehension of the Dao of Time and Dao of Space had grown significantly, which was why his Space-Time Strength, which evolved from the two Grand Daos, had become even more powerful.
He even had a feeling that if he could improve his mastery over the Dao of Time to be on par with his mastery of the Dao of Space, his Space-Time Strength would reach a whole new level. As for what the changes would be, he wasn’t sure. Regardless, this allowed him to see a path forward.
However, it wasn’t easy to bring his Dao of Time up to the same level as that of the Dao of Space.
Yang Kai had been cultivating the Dao of Space for centuries, and he was quite gifted in it; however, according to his own classification, he had only reached the Eighth Level, Transcending the Mundane.
His Dao of Time was initially stuck at the Sixth Level, Exceeding the Ordinary to Reach the Extraordinary. Nevertheless, his experience in the Dragon Pool helped him reach the Seventh Level, Standing Above All Others Within Sight.
In other words, his mastery over the Dao of Time was still one level below his Dao of Space. If he did not encounter some special opportunity, he would need to work harder to improve his Dragon Vein to strengthen his mastery over the Dao of Time.
All these thoughts only stayed in his mind for a short while. For now, was not the time to ponder on them. In such a situation, he had to enter the Royal City as quickly as possible and destroy the Black Ink Nests.
The Sun and Moon Divine Wheel charged towards the Territory Lord, causing the latter’s mind and body to become sluggish. When he finally came to his senses, it was already too late for him to dodge.
The Territory Lord roared as thick Black Ink Strength condensed around his body. His figure expanded significantly as his muscles swelled. Instead of backing down, he actually crashed into the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel.
Heaven and Earth seemed to collapse at that moment as countless cracks formed in the void. The Territory Lord’s aura plunged sharply, but he still survived.
Although the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel was extremely powerful, it wasn’t enough to kill a Territory Lord.
Surrounded by innumerable Void Cracks, the Territory Lord was enraged. With blood still dripping from his body, he changed towards Yang Kai.
Yang Kai, who was flying towards the Royal City, instantly noticed the other party’s imposing aura and Black Ink Strength closing in on him. It was apparent that the Territory Lord was preparing to use a deadly Secret Technique.
Without hesitation, Yang Kai took out a glowing feather from his Space Ring and tossed it at the opponent behind him. At the same time, he shouted, “Lend me a hand, Si Niang!”
The feather shot towards the Territory Lord, and on its way, it flashed and transformed into a beautiful and majestic bird. A furious Huang Si Niang ground her teeth as she snapped, “Smelly Brat!”
Life had been boring for her stuck at the No-Return Pass. Although a lot of Humans would pass through the No-Return Pass and head to the different Great Passes, the Phoenix Clan was aloof and therefore wouldn’t easily come into contact with them.
Furthermore, their ancestors had made a Bloodline Great Oath in the past that unless their Race was at risk of extinction, they could not leave the No-Return Pass.
Therefore, Huang Si Niang had stayed in the No-Return Pass since birth. Although the Great Pass was vast, it was still like a cage to her. She was fed up with her unchanging life and longed to go out and have a look at the beauty of the 3,000 Worlds. When Yang Kai arrived at the No-Return Pass back then, she saw a chance.
This Human had the aura of a Dragon, so she didn’t mind interacting with him. By using a bet as an excuse, she gave him one of her feathers. In reality, the feather contained a type of Soul Clone. Restricted by the Great Oath, Huang Si Niang was unable to leave the No-Return Pass, but that restriction didn’t apply to her Soul Clone.
Previously, when Yang Kai entered the Void to look for Great Evolution Pass’ Core, Huang Si Niang detected the unusual movements of space and took the initiative to reveal herself. It was with her help that Yang Kai managed to find Great Evolution Pass’ Core.
However, Huang Si Niang didn’t intend to appear this time, but Yang Kai forcibly summoned her in such a perilous situation.
Her real strength was equivalent to that of an Ancient Dragon; nevertheless, this was just a Soul Clone, so her power now was no different from that of a Grand Dragon. A Grand Dragon was roughly on par with a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. With that said, a Grand Dragon would be slightly stronger.
Still, her Soul Clone couldn’t possibly be a match for a Territory Lord. Faced with the Territory Lord, her Soul Clone would most likely end up in a horrible state or even be destroyed. Regardless, she didn’t have a choice.
The Territory Lord was hurtling towards her, but the instant he saw an enormous, dazzling bird in front of him, he exclaimed in shock, “A Phoenix?!”
Not only had a Dragon Clan member appeared, but there was also a Phoenix Clan member now! Had the Masters from the No-Return Pass made a move?
When that thought crossed his mind, this Territory Lord was naturally flustered, for the Dragons and the Phoenixes were extremely difficult to deal with. Many Territory Lords still remembered the debacle they experienced when they launched an attack on the No-Return Pass in the past.
They had a million-strong Black Ink Clan Army and several dozen Territory Lords, but in a single engagement, the Dragon and Phoenix Clans tore them apart and even slaughtered several Territory Lords.
Therefore, the Territory Lords in Great Evolution Theatre were extremely wary of the Dragons and Phoenixes. It didn’t matter that a single Dragon Clan member had appeared on the battlefield, but with a Phoenix Clan member also now revealing herself, it was expected that he started getting worried.
However, he soon realised that this Phoenix Clan member before him wasn’t very powerful. At the very least, she was much weaker than he was. Gritting his teeth, he thrust his palm towards Huang Si Niang.
Seeing this, a cold glint flashed across Huang Si Niang’s eyes. Her wings were so big that they seemed to cover the entire sky, and as she flapped them, flashes of light swirled around her body and warped the local space.
Then, her wings fluttered as her figure distorted. The next instant, the Territory Lord crashed into an invisible wall and a deep gash from which black blood gushed out appeared on his chest.
Horrified, the Territory Lord swiftly retreated. He realized he had been attacked by the opponent just now, but he didn’t even see her movements clearly.
In other words, she must have gotten close to him in the blink of an eye and slashed at him before she returned to her original position the next instant, making it seem as though she had not moved at all. There was no denying that she had used a Phoenix Clan Secret Technique powered by her Bloodline Talent in the Dao of Space.
The Black Ink Clan from the Great Evolution Theatre had dealt with the Dragons and Phoenixes before, so they knew about these Innate Secret Techniques. Many of them had suffered serious setbacks when they fought Phoenix Clan members in the past.
Yang Kai was concentrating on reaching the Royal City, so he didn’t see what had happened, but if he had, he would have been amazed by Huang Si Niang’s methods.
His mastery of the Dao of Space was greater than that of Huang Si Niang, but when it came to their utilisation of Space Principles, he was no match for her.
Although her move earlier appeared ordinary, it was the manifestation of extremely precise control of Space Principles, something Yang Kai wasn’t capable of. After all, this was the Phoenix Clan’s Bloodline Talent. Using Space Principles was as natural as breathing to her.
Following the attack, Huang Si Niang was momentarily surprised as well. The power of her Soul Clone was only equivalent to that of a peak Grand Dragon, so she knew she was not a match for a Territory Lord; therefore, she was surprised that her move had actually forced the other party back.
After some observation though, she finally realised the reason behind it. This Territory Lord was heavily injured, and a shocking Space-Time Strength was still swirling around his wounds, causing his strength to plunge.
It was obviously Yang Kai’s doing.
[At least that brat has some conscience left, not leaving his Great Aunt a completely healthy Territory Lord to deal with.]
Given this Territory Lord’s condition, Huang Si Niang figured she could stall him for some time even if she couldn’t defeat him.
Only a moment had passed since Yang Kai summoned Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone, who then blocked the pursuing Territory Lord, but with that brief opening, Yang Kai manipulated Space Principles and returned to the Royal City.
Seeing this, Che Kong directly threw an attack at him from a distance.
Yang Kai sneered and disappeared from the spot, causing Che Kong to miss his target.
When he reappeared, he was already hovering in front of a Black Ink Nest. Yang Kai wasn’t certain whose Black Ink Nest it was because there were many nests scattered around the ruins of the Royal City.
Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear again and struck the Black Ink Nest, cutting it in half. Without stopping, he charged towards the next Black Ink Nest.
Che Kong widened his eyes in fury and bellowed, “You court death!”
As he spoke, he surged his Black Ink Strength and cast a profound Secret Technique at Yang Kai.
Unfortunately for Che Kong, he couldn’t fully unleash his power for that would cause too much damage and potentially destroy more Black Ink Nests. On the other hand, Yang Kai had no such concerns as he agilely moved around the Black Ink Nests, using them as cover to dodge Che Kong’s attacks, fully taking advantage of the latter’s restraints.
Barely a moment later, five Black Ink Nests had been destroyed.
One party had no constraints while the other had to act cautiously. The Royal City was in a perilous situation.
In fact, Che Kong wasn’t the only one in the Royal City; there were still quite a number of Black Ink Clansmen around.
However, he was the only Territory Lord left. Even though there were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, none of them were capable of stopping Yang Kai. As he wielded his Azure Dragon Spear, he killed Black Ink Clansmen and destroyed Black Ink Nests all at the same time.
Seeing this, Che Kong was infuriated. Given his passive position, he was unable to protect those Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. He couldn’t pin his hopes on the other Territory Lords either. It had come to a point where all the Territory Lords were dealing with their own opponents, so they were unable to return to the Royal City to help.
Che Kong could still protect the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest and ensure it wouldn’t be impacted; however, if all the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests were destroyed, the war would still be lost.
Without the support from their Black Ink Nests, the Territory Lords would be no match for the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and their new weapon.
Now, Che Kong was the only one who could deal with Yang Kai. As he gritted his teeth, he leaped into the air and pounced at him.
Che Kong was one of the top three Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre, stronger than even many Eighth-Order Masters.
Although it was a risk leaving the High-Rank Black Ink Nest at this point, the only way for Che Kong to resolve the current crisis was by killing this Human quickly, so he decided to proactively make a move instead of waiting for death.
As a veteran Territory Lord, Che Kong had good judgement in the face of a crisis, and he had made the right choice.
It was also the outcome that Yang Kai wanted to see though. This Territory Lord had been guarding the High-Rank Black Ink Nest doggedly, a problem to which Yang Kai didn’t have a good solution. Now, the chance presented itself as Che Kong had pounced at him.
In truth, regardless of what choice that Che Kong had made, it wouldn’t affect Yang Kai one bit.
If this Territory Lord never stayed away from the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, Yang Kai could just go around the Royal City and destroy the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. As long as he could smash enough of them, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders would be able to gain a decisive advantage.
Although there was a huge gap between their strengths, Che Kong wouldn’t be able to stop Yang Kai if the latter transformed into an Ancient Dragon and raised chaos in the Royal City.
Now that Che Kong had decided to temporarily abandon the High-Rank Black Ink Nest and chase after his opponent though, Yang Kai felt that it was the best chance for him to deal a fatal blow to the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
There was an unbreakable bond between Black Ink Nests. Higher-rank Black Ink Nests were the source of the lower-rank Black Ink Nests.
For example, a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest could breed dozens to over 100 Low-Rank sub-nests. Even if all of these sub-nests were destroyed though, the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest wouldn’t be affected.
However, if the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all the Low-Rank Black Ink Nests would wither as well.
The sub-nests could not untether themselves from the higher-rank Black Ink Nest they were bred from and survive on their own. The Humans had repeatedly verified this fact.
Although Yang Kai had been kicking up a storm in the Royal City for quite a while, he had only managed to destroy half of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. In other words, there were still half of them that remained standing and it would take him some effort to destroy all of them.
However, if he could directly destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, all the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests would fall with it. Only by destroying the High-Rank Black Ink Nest could he deal a fatal blow to the Black Ink Clan once and for all.
Therefore, the moment he saw Che Kong charging towards him, Yang Kai took the initiative to approach him instead of backing down.
Seeing that, Che Kong was enraged. He extended his hands into the void and summoned out a spear. As he surged his Black Ink Strength, he pushed the weapon towards Yang Kai.
This artifact was apparently made for him by one of the Artifact Refiners who had become a Black Ink Disciple. Although it wasn’t a very high-grade artifact, Che Kong was the one using it after all. Even Xiang Shan wouldn’t be able to ignore an attack cast by a top Territory Lord like Che Kong.
However, an unfazed Yang Kai continued flying forward, as though he didn’t see the attack coming. While mid-flight, he roared and turned into a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon again.
He had no choice but to assume his Dragon Form. Despite being the strongest Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master among all the Humans, Yang Kai was still no match for his opponent. Only by turning into an Ancient Dragon could he deal with a Territory Lord.
He stared fixedly at Che Kong with eyes as bright as two Great Suns. The next instant, the authoritative-looking eyes reflected Che Kong’s figure and the reflection contorted all of a sudden.
Che Kong, who was shooting towards Yang Kai, felt a mysterious force flooding through him, causing him to become sluggish. Still, he was a powerful Territory Lord and with a surge of his power, he easily shook of the influence of Yang Kai’s Eye Secret Technique.
After the Eye Secret Technique was broken through, Golden Dragon Blood started streaming from Yang Kai’s eyes. Nevertheless, that brief moment of sluggishness was all Yang Kai needed.
Space trembled as Yang Kai roared. At this moment, he seemed to be enduring some unbearable pain as his Dragon Roar sounded heart-wrenching and could make anyone weep for him. At the same time as the Dragon Roar sounded, Yang Kai’s aura plunged tremendously.
However, instead of becoming excited, Che Kong was shocked for he had a bad premonition all of a sudden.
Before he could figure out the reason behind this ominous feeling, he felt a sharp pain in his head. It was as though an invisible force had penetrated his defence and torn into his Soul, disorienting him greatly.
At that instant, his mind turned blank as he couldn’t think straight. Still, he thrust out the spear in his hands instinctually.
A Dragon Roar sounded again, but this time it was because Yang Kai’s belly had been wounded by Che Kong’s spear, which resulted in his Dragon Blood gushing out. Despite having robust Dragon Scales all over his body, they couldn’t stop Che Kong attack.
Certainly, it also had something to do with the fact that Yang Kai’s mind was in a mess. Just now, he had sacrificed a large piece of his Soul to power his last Soul Rending Thorn.
Back then, after Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao taught him how to refine and use the Soul Rending Thorns, Yang Kai had looked for Grandmaster Ma Fan to create some for him.
Even with Grandmaster Ma Fan’s mastery in Artifact Refining, it still took him a year to 12 Soul Rending Thorns.
After that, Yang Kai entered the Black Ink Nest Space with his Soul and dealt with the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples lying in ambush there. All in all, he had used 11 Soul Rending Thorns to injure or kill that number of Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
It was only then that the Humans managed to completely take over the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest near Great Evolution Pass.
Yang Kai had kept the last Soul Rending Thorn on him since then, and he finally found a chance to use it now.
Soul Rending Thorns were extremely powerful artifacts that specifically targeted the Soul, and coupled with the special method to use them, Yang Kai managed to single-handedly destroy several formidable enemies inside the Black Ink Nest Space. The Masters who had been wounded by his Soul Rending Thorns all ended up in a horrible state.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had said that it was an artifact and Secret Technique that seemed to have been specially invented for Yang Kai.
Every time Yang Kai used this artifact, he had to sacrifice a part of his Soul to power it. Even the strongest cultivators, including the Old Ancestors, couldn’t repeatedly discard pieces of their Soul.
Perhaps they could do it one or two times, but if they did it frequently, even the Old Ancestors wouldn’t be capable of bearing the consequences. Once their Soul was too badly damaged, their consciousness would become muddled or even worse, collapse. By then, they would be no different from a living corpse.
However, Yang Kai was different. With the nourishment and protection of the Soul Warming Lotus, his Soul would always recover as long as it wasn’t instantly destroyed.
Despite that, he could only use the Soul Rending Thorn once in this situation.
This place was different from the Black Ink Nest Space where he could summon his Soul Warming Lotus and hide inside it after using several Soul Rending Thorns. The Soul Warming Lotus was the strongest shield when it came to Spiritual Energy, but this place was a chaotic battlefield and Yang Kai was surrounded by enemies, so what did it matter if his Soul survived while his body was destroyed?
Furthermore, the feeling of getting one’s Soul torn apart was simply unbearable. Even someone like Yang Kai would become paralysed on the battlefield if he had to go through this multiple times in short order.
As the user of the Soul Rending Thorn, Yang Kai was enduring immense pain; however, Che Kong, who had been struck by the Soul Rending Thorn, was suffering from excruciating pain. The moment his Soul was pierced, his facial features contorted and his eyes lost focus as he howled like a wild beast.
As these two figures, one small and the other large, clashed, they both became sluggish for a moment and roared in agony.
Yang Kai had quite a lot of experience dealing with this kind of pain though, so he managed to steady himself faster and viciously swiped Che Kong away with his claw.
The violent force of a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon burst forth, and even a Territory Lord as strong as Che Kong was unable to withstand it when he was not protecting himself. With numerous bones cracking, and his Black Ink Strength becoming a mess, his gigantic figure was sent flying away like an arrow as he sprayed out black blood while tumbling through the void.
Yang Kai ignored his own injuries and continued forward. Even though Che Kong’s spear was still stuck in his belly, and he couldn’t move around agilely being a 70,000-metre Dragon, he still manipulated Space Principles and appeared right in front of the High-Rank Black Ink Nest the moment he sent Che Kong flying.
This Black Ink Nest was much larger than any of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests Yang Kai had seen, and it had been in the Royal City for countless years. Over the years, it continuously produced Black Ink Strength and nurtured innumerable Black Ink Clansmen.
It was the very foundation of the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre.
Without delay, Yang Kai swept his Dragon Tail across the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, causing it to be smashed to the ground.
All the Black Ink Clansmen within the Black Ink Nest turned to mist following Yang Kai’s powerful attack. These Black Ink Clansmen were not powerful to begin with. The reason they even stayed inside the Black Ink Nest was to feed resources into the Black Ink Pool so that the Royal Lord would always have enough Black Ink Strength to draw from. How were they supposed to block Yang Kai’s attack?
It wasn’t until this moment that Che Kong stabilized himself. Enduring the sharp pain in his head, he lifted his gaze just in time to see the High-Rank Black Ink Nest collapsing to the ground.
He was dumbfounded. The High-Rank Black Ink Nest had been destroyed. He couldn’t believe his own eyes.
Only three breaths of time had passed from the time he struck out at Yang Kai to the destruction of the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. Despite the short amount of time, it was enough to undermine the very survival of the entire Black Ink Clan in this Theatre.
Che Kong’s heart sank. It was not an exaggeration to say this was the end of the world for them.
When Yang Kai was destroying the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests earlier, even though Che Kong was furious, he wasn’t in a state of despair. That was because the Royal Lord was still fighting against the Old Ancestor, and they also had the new Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple. They still had a chance to repel the Humans.
But now, the High-Rank Black Ink Nest had been destroyed. All their hopes were shattered following the destruction of this Black Ink Nest and Che Kong felt cold all over his body.
At this moment, he regretted his decision. He shouldn’t have moved away from the High-Rank Black Ink Nest no matter what.
Somewhere on the battlefield, the Royal Lord could be heard roaring in a heart-wrenching voice, “Che Kong!”
His Black Ink Nest had been destroyed. Although there were 20 Territory Lords who stayed back in the Royal City, they were unable to protect his Black Ink Nest.
[Wastes! Every last one of them!]
At that instant, the Royal Lord had the urge to leave the battlefield and kill Che Kong and the other Territory Lords who stayed back in the Royal City to vent his fury; however, he was unable to do so. The moment his Black Ink Nest was smashed to the ground, he was no longer able to draw energy from it.
Although he wasn’t in peak condition from the start, he could still fight against Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao with the help of his Black Ink Nest. Now that his Black Ink Nest was gone for good though, how was he supposed to deal with Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao?
Upon realising that her opponent’s aura had plunged, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao knew that it was a chance she couldn’t afford to miss. She exerted more force with her attacks and bellowed, “Suffer death, Mo Zhao!”
Mo Zhao was the name of this Royal Lord.
Those from the Great Evolution Army were not aware of this Royal Lord’s name, but having fought against this opponent for so many years, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao certainly knew his name. During their exchanges of moves in the past, they occasionally engaged in some small talk, and that was when they learned each other’s names.
It seemed that a lot of Royal Lords had the surname Mo. So far, around 70% of the Royal Lords’ names that the Humans were aware of shared the same surname.
On the other hand, the Territory Lords had all sorts of strange names. The Humans had always wondered if those Territory Lords would change their names once they became Royal Lords one day.
As Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao bellowed, she cast several Divine Abilities at Mo Zhao, causing his huge figure to stagger and bleed.
In just a few breaths, Mo Zhao’s aura plunged again, as though all his injuries accumulated over the years broke out at the same time. He no longer looked as majestic as a Royal Lord should be.
Initially, he could still fight back against Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao, but barely 10 breaths after the destruction of his Black Ink Nest, he fell into a complete disadvantage.
On the other hand, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was increasingly assertive. It seemed that she was determined to destroy her opponent.
No longer a match for the Human woman, Mo Zhao roared, “Save me!”
If no one could lend him a hand, he would most probably be killed by this Old Ancestor.
There was only one person he could seek help from, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple who was still dealing with the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
Presently, only this Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was able to interfere in the battle between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord.
The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple was indeed powerful. Although six Eighth-Order Masters had joined forces to fight him, they still couldn’t gain the upper hand, and instead, they had been suppressed by this Black Ink Disciple. Three of them were seriously injured as blood spurted out of their wounds.
Hearing Mo Zhao’s call for help, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple wielded his sword as his Sword Qi exploded and drove the six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters away before he turned and raced towards Mo Zhao.
Certainly, he had noticed that the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest had collapsed, so he knew that the Black Ink Clan had lost the battle and they couldn’t stay there any longer. Under such circumstances, the only chance to flee from here was for him to join forces with Mo Zhao.
But how could the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters simply stand by and watch?
These six Division Commanders were all experienced warriors, so there was no way they would let their opponent just go at this point. They soon charged forward again and unleashed Secret Techniques and even summoned their Divine Manifestations to pin down this Black Ink Disciple.
These Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were determined to make their opponent stay and didn’t even care if they were heavily wounded in the process.
Hence, two groups of the most powerful Masters entered into an even more intense struggle.
On the other hand, after Yang Kai accomplished his task in the Royal City, he shouted, “The Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest has been destroyed! Death to the Black Ink Clan!”
His loud voice reverberated across the void.
A hush fell on the clamorous battlefield as both the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen seemed to be digesting this shocking news.
The next instant, countless Humans chanted at the same time as their voices shook the Void.
“Death to the Black Ink Clan!”
“Death to the Black Ink Clan!”
“Death to the Black Ink Clan!”
…..
The Human soldiers felt their morale soar while the Black Ink Clan became anxious and confused.
The battlefield had been chaotic as the soldiers of the two Races clashed, so none of them paid any attention to the happenings in the Royal City. Therefore, both the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen were not aware that the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest had been destroyed until Yang Kai’s announcement.
Certainly, the Black Ink Clansmen wouldn’t believe Yang Kai, but within moments, the Royal Lord cried out for help. That was when all the Black Ink Clansmen fell into a state of fear and depression.
It seemed that the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest had really been destroyed. Otherwise, the Royal Lord wouldn’t have called for help all of a sudden.
At that instant, the morale of the Black Ink Clan plunged into the abyss.
It had been quite a while since the war started, and both Races had suffered immense losses. With that said, the Black Ink Clansmen were not unable to fight. If they remained united, the Humans might not be able to wipe them out. The Humans might win the battle, but the losses they suffered would also be unbearable.
However, at this moment, all the Black Ink Clan soldiers were flustered and many lost all will to fight. Forget the weaker Black Ink Clansmen, even the Territory Lords felt the urge to throw down their weapons and run for their lives.
Most of the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests had been destroyed even before the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest fell, so the Territory Lords could no longer draw energy from them. On the battlefield, more and more Territory Lords were killed in rapid succession. Although some of the Eighth-Order Masters had lost their lives as well, the Black Ink Clan suffered far more significant casualties.
It seemed that the Royal Lord was no longer able to persevere, and once he was killed, the Territory Lords would certainly die as well. Both Races had been fighting for millennia, and the blood feud between them was irresolvable. The Black Ink Clansmen didn’t think that the Humans would be magnanimous enough to spare them when the war ended.
At the thought of this, the surviving Territory Lords lost the determination to fight on. Nevertheless, it was because of this that they fell into an even more perilous situation.
The destruction of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest seemed to be a catalyst that propelled the Humans to an absolute advantage on the battlefield.
The Special Operations Squads, who had been suppressed by the three Territory Lords, finally had a chance to catch their breath.
The three elite Squads, led by the Old Turtles, respectively held up one Territory Lord each. They were initially on the losing side, and their Warships had all taken significant damage. They would have to retreat soon; otherwise, fatalities would soon begin to appear among them. Once their Warships were shattered, many, if not all of them would lose their lives.
However, at this moment, these three Territory Lords were no longer determined to kill and instead began focusing on fleeing.
Certainly, Chai Fang and the others wouldn’t grant their wish. They did everything they could to tie down their opponents, and as expected, the Territory Lords were enraged.
On the battlefield, the Humans fought on while the Black Ink Clansmen were routed and attempted to flee.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was having a hard time in the Royal City.
Right after he announced the destruction of the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, he felt that all his fury accumulated over the years had been vented. However, his thrill was short-lived as Che Kong soon charged at him with a dark expression.
This time, Che Kong no longer held back any of his strength. Being one of the top Territory Lords, his full power was quite intense. Although Yang Kai was now a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon, his Dragon Scales were still blasted off by his opponent. His bones cracked, and one of his eyes was almost blinded.
The power that Che Kong showcased at this moment was even greater than that of even Xiang Shan.
After just 30 breaths of time, Yang Kai knew that he was no match for the other party. If not for the fact that the Dao of Space was abstruse and elusive and his Dragon Form was incredibly sturdy, he would’ve been beaten to death by now.
There was no denying that he was in a perilous situation.
Yang Kai wasn’t born as a member of the Dragon Clan and had only grown into a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon because of an opportunity in the Dragon Pool; it wasn’t a result of his own hard work in terms of training and gradual growth; therefore, he didn’t have enough control over his Dragon Form’s power yet.
In other words, he wasn’t able to fully bring out the strength of his Ancient Dragon Form at this moment.
If he had grown into a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon through hard work over many millennia, he wouldn’t have looked so battered despite not being a match for Che Kong.
When his opponent’s fist struck his head, Yang Kai started seeing Stars, and he felt as if his skull had cracked. Infuriated, he snarled, “Che Kong, the Royal Lord will die soon, and then you’ll be next!”
Since he couldn’t defeat Che Kong, Yang Kai could only threaten him, hoping to intimidate the other party into escaping.
Although letting Che Kong off would be potentially problematic in the future, Yang Kai didn’t want to be entangled in this life-and-death battle any longer.
However, Che Kong was unfazed as he refuted coldly, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to kill you first.”
He was truly resentful of Yang Kai. He was responsible for protecting the Royal City, but Yang Kai still had the nerve to destroy so many Territory Lord Black Ink Nests in front of him. In the end, Yang Kai had even smashed the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest.
Now, Che Kong wasn’t sure if the other party was a Human or a Dragon Clan member.
When Yang Kai was a Human, it was apparent that he was just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but when he transformed into a Dragon, he was a 70,000-metre-long Ancient Dragon, which was odd.
Regardless of Yang Kai’s real identity, Che Kong could only vent his anger by killing him.
Che Kong had considered running away, but he didn’t think he could succeed. The other Territory Lords might be able to flee, but he didn’t have a chance to do so because he was one of the most powerful Territory Lords, so the Humans would undoubtedly prioritize killing him.
Che Kong’s stubbornness was giving Yang Kai a headache as it seemed the former was determined to drag him down to the Yellow Springs.
The Humans had gone through lots of hardship since the crusade started, and they finally saw hope of victory. Perhaps after this war, they would be able to destroy all the enemies on the Black Ink Battlefield once and for all and then return to the 3,000 Worlds.
Yang Kai’s friends and family members were still waiting for him, so he didn’t want to lose his life here.
It was vexing that he had used up all the Soul Rending Thorns. If he could cast a second Soul Rending Thorn at Che Kong at this time, he could significantly weaken him despite not being able to kill him.
[His Black Ink Nest might still be around. Otherwise, he couldn’t possibly remain so powerful. I have to find his Black Ink Nest and destroy it…] All of a sudden, Yang Kai felt his chest tightening. [Wait. What am I thinking? His Black Ink Nest is still around? How could that be?]
Supposedly, since the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest had been destroyed, all the Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests should have started withering as well. After all, those Territory Lord Black Ink Nests were bred from the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest, and they couldn’t survive on their own.
However, at this moment, there were still about a dozen Territory Lord Black Ink Nests standing in the Royal City.
[What’s going on?] A lot of ideas flashed across Yang Kai’s mind and he soon took a glance at the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest and formed a speculation.
The Royal Lord Black Ink Nest had been smashed to the ground by his tail sweep earlier, but it hadn’t been completely destroyed. In its current state, it had affected the Royal Lord’s ability to draw energy from it, which was proven by the fact that the Royal Lord now appeared weak and feeble while fighting against Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao; however, it wasn’t dead yet.
Since the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest hadn’t been fully destroyed, it certainly didn’t have a huge impact on the surviving Territory Lord Black Ink Nests.
Realising Yang Kai’s intentions, Che Kong exerted more force with his attacks, giving the opponent no chance to approach the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest again.
[I can’t drag this out any longer.]
Yang Kai looked around and saw that in different parts of the battlefield, the Eighth-Order Masters were locked in intense battles with the Territory Lords. There was no denying that the Humans had gained the upper hand; however, if Yang Kai lured Che Kong to those Eighth-Order Masters, their efforts so far might go down the drain.
In that case, there was only one place he could go.
Having made up his mind, he braced himself to endure one of Che Kong’s blows, which caused his Dragon Form to stagger before he charged towards Great Evolution Pass while calling out, “Help!”
Great Evolution Pass was hovering 5 million kilometres away from the Royal City.
While it was rotating slowly, the arrays and artifacts installed on the walls continuously shot at the Black Ink Clan soldiers. It had been a while since the war started, and the arrangements around Great Evolution Pass had killed a lot of enemies.
Certainly, the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass could see the golden 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon fleeing in their direction.
Hearing Yang Kai’s call for help, they activated the power of the arrays and artifacts and rained down attacks on the enemy behind him without hesitation.
At that instant, countless flashes of light cut across the void and reached for Che Kong.
However, Yang Kai’s figure was colossal and Che Kong was following behind him, so the attacks from Great Evolution Pass couldn’t directly strike him.
Upon that realization, Yang Kai quickly returned to his Human Form. While spraying out a mouthful of blood, he flew towards Great Evolution Pass.
As a result, Che Kong fell into a dangerous situation.
Although most of the attacks missed their target, dozens of them rained down on him in a constant barrage, so many of them still hit their mark.
Yang Kai crossed a million kilometres in the blink of an eye.
When Che Kong endured the storm of attacks and reached somewhere near Great Evolution Pass, Yang Kai was nowhere to be found.
While he was on the way earlier, he was faced with the powers of the arrays and artifacts from Great Evolution Pass, which disturbed the space around him and caused him to lose track of his enemy.
[Where is he?]
Soon, Che Kong detected Yang Kai’s aura. He was strong, so it was expected that his Divine Sense wasn’t weak either. Unless Yang Kai had already left this battlefield, Che Kong would definitely find him if he was determined to do so.
When Che Kong found Yang Kai though, his expression turned livid.
That was because after Yang Kai lured him to this place, he wheeled around and returned to the chaotic battlefield. At this moment, he didn’t intend to hide his whereabouts at all. He transformed into his 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon Form again and charged around the battlefield.
Now, essentially all of the Territory Lords were occupied with their own battles, so a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon like Yang Kai was like a tiger barging into a flock of sheep. No one was a match for him.
Every time Yang Kai let out his Dragon Breath and wielded his Dragon Claws, hundreds of Black Ink Clansmen exploded into blood mist. While he was at it, he kept looking in Great Evolution Pass’ direction. Despite being majestic, he appeared as though he was ready to flee at any moment.
Che Kong was enraged as the fury stuck in his chest was like a volcano that was about to erupt.
[That brat has gone too far!]
An incensed Che Kong directly turned around and charged towards the battlefield. The attacks from Great Evolution Pass rained down on him from behind, causing his Black Ink Strength to undulate and his figure to shake.
Seeing that his opponent was chasing after him again, Yang Kai was vexed.
Left with no choice, he returned to Human Form and darted in a particular direction on the battlefield. While on his way, he avoided passing through places where the Humans gathered and instead stuck closer to the Black Ink Clan forces
Che Kong had apparently gone insane, so Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to lure him to the Human soldiers lest they be implicated.
The opponent’s powerful aura locked onto him like an anchor, causing his brow to twitch. It was a sign that he was constantly in danger.
Given such a situation, Che Kong was still determined to kill Yang Kai, which went to show how angered he was.
Although Yang Kai was a Master of the Dao of Space, Che Kong was swift as he relentlessly pursued his target. Wherever they went, the Black Ink Clan soldiers, who had lost their morale, suffered miserably. They were either killed by Yang Kai or lost their lives after getting hit by the fallout of Che Kong’s attacks.
It had come to a point where Che Kong couldn’t be bothered with accidentally killing his own clansmen. To him, Yang Kai was the culprit who had destroyed all their Black Ink Nests, so even though the Black Ink Clan had lost the war, he was determined to end Yang Kai’s life.
As the chase dragged on, the gap between them shortened.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai turned around and dashed towards the Royal City.
He hadn’t forgotten that there were still a couple dozen Black Ink Nests that were still standing. Moreover, the reason Che Kong was still so powerful must have something to do with the fact that his Black Ink Nest was still around.
To get rid of his pursuer, Yang Kai had to destroy Che Kong’s Black Ink Nest first.
“Courting death!” Che Kong instantly figured out Yang Kai’s intention; however, he was unable to stop him on his own. Seeing that Yang Kai was getting closer to the Royal City, Che Kong roared, “Bo Gen, kill him!”
Somewhere in front of Yang Kai, a Territory Lord was tangled up in a fight against the Old Turtle Squad.
Since he started battling against this Special Operations Squad, Bo Gen had managed to injure Chai Fang and the others. While there were 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Old Turtle Squad, none of them was in good shape now.
Previously, Bo Gen had drawn energy from his Black Ink Nest, allowing him to use a power that exceeded his own limits.
However, when Yang Kai kicked up a storm in the Royal City, his Black Ink Nest was among those destroyed. Without the Black Ink Nest’s assistance, Bo Gen’s power returned to normal, which was why the Old Turtles were able to deal with him.
Nevertheless, they were all wounded. Even though they had given their all, the Old Turtles could only ensure that they wouldn’t lose.
They couldn’t kill this Territory Lord named Bo Gen.
Even if all the Seventh-Order Masters of the Old Turtle Squad were still at peak strength, they couldn’t kill a Territory Lord, not to mention that they were all injured now.
Similarly, it was difficult for Bo Gen to destroy them. The Old Turtle Squad’s defence was impenetrable, and all the members specifically cultivated defensive Secret Arts. As such, they all had thick skin and strong flesh.
Hearing Che Kong’s roar, Bo Gen used a powerful Secret Technique without hesitation. As his Black Ink Strength undulated, he cast this Secret Technique at the Old Turtle Squad. At the same time, he whirled around and pounced towards Yang Kai.
Seeing that, Chai Fang, who was leading his team members to deal with the Territory Lord, bellowed, “Stop him! Activate the sealing array!”
The moment he finished speaking, the Old Turtle Squad’s Warship started shining brightly. Something that looked like a tortoise shell expanded rapidly and occupied a large area in the void.
Bo Gen, who was trying to leave, was suddenly rooted to the spot. The moment of delay cost him the chance to extricate himself.
The gigantic tortoise shell soon folded and entrapped everyone inside.
After that, Bo Gen and the Old Turtle Squad’s Warship were nowhere to be found.
It was apparent that they had been trapped inside the tortoiseshell and now a fierce struggle where only one party would survive would ensue.
That was a dangerous move for the Old Turtles. If a Territory Lord decided to go all out, they might not be able to withstand his attacks.
Yang Kai skirted past the tortoise shell and roared, “Hang in there, Brother Chai! I’ll be back to help you kill the enemy soon!”
Chai Fang’s voice sounded from the shell, “There’s no need! I’ll kill this Territory Lord myself!”
Yang Kai fell silent. [Fine. Since you want to act tough, I’ll let you be. Let’s see if you ask for my help later.]
While he was distracted by this thought, someone warned him from afar, “Brother Yang, watch out!”
Instantly, Yang Kai was alarmed as he lifted his Azure Dragon Spear and thrust it to the side without hesitation.
Struck by an immense force, he was sent flying away while spraying out a mouthful of blood.
Another Territory Lord, who was previously dealing with the Profound Wind Squad, had arrived.
On the battlefield, every Territory Lord had their own opponents, who were mostly Eighth-Order Division Commanders. Those Territory Lords who were dealing with the Eighth-Order Masters could naturally not shake off their opponents.
Therefore, it was the three Territory Lords who were battling against the Special Operations Squads that were able to help out.
The Old Turtle Squad’s opponent had been trapped inside a giant tortoise shell, while the one facing Dawn wasn’t strong enough, so he was unable to shake off his opponents. Unfortunately, the Profound Wind Squad’s enemy escaped from Ma Gao’s suppression and launched a sneak attack on Yang Kai, causing the latter to suffer a setback.
Seeing that, a relentless Che Kong roared, “Well done!”
He also seized this chance to push out his palm at Yang Kai.
Yang Kai hadn’t stabilised himself when Che Kong’s attack arrived. Flustered, he raised his spear to defend himself, but his actions were futile. His arms shook and as his body cracked. Even his chest was indented, and the blood he sprayed out was mixed with pieces of his organs.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai borrowed the momentum of this blow to continue charging towards the Royal City, coughing up blood the whole time.
Meanwhile, Che Kong’s expression was extremely dark.
He and the other Territory Lord had successfully attacked, but they were still unable to kill Yang Kai. There was no denying that it was hard to deal with this brat.
If an average Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was struck with their attacks, they would be badly wounded if not killed outright.
However, even though Yang Kai was injured, his mobility wasn’t affected one bit.
Che Kong had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that Yang Kai was a member of the Dragon Clan.
A Dragon’s defence and physique far surpassed that of a Human’s; after all, every Dragon Clan member was covered with Dragon Scales. Although their Dragon Scales were not visible when they were in Human Form, their defence remained strong.
The Territory Lords’ attacks might have been offset by Yang Kai’s hidden Dragon Scales.
Many ideas flashed across Che Kong’s mind, but it didn’t slow him down.
The other Territory Lord intended to chase after Yang Kai as well, but the Profound Wind Squad pounced on him. Ma Gao was so furious that his face contorted. The illusory phantom of his Small Universe flashed across his back as he led his Squad members to cast a barrage at this Territory Lord.
They blamed themselves for failing in their duty to prevent Yang Kai from being ambushed, so they were naturally enraged.
The Old Turtle Squad and Dawn Squad had managed to pin down their opponents. Was the Profound Wind Squad any weaker?
At that instant, all the Profound Wind Squad members exerted themselves to attack this Territory Lord. They had mainly been trying to stall for time while defending themselves earlier, but they had given up on that now. They were determined to make sure this Territory Lord wouldn’t shake them off again even if they had to suffer casualties along the way.
On the other hand, Yang Kai arrived at the Royal City and bolted towards a Black Ink Nest. While on his way, he roared, “Che Kong, open your dog eyes wide and watch!”
He swept his Azure Dragon Spear across a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest, causing it to collapse to the ground.
Without stopping, he continued dashing forward. Soon enough, another Black Ink Nest collapsed. A moment later, another Black Ink Nest was destroyed. In the blink of an eye, three Black Ink Nests had been shattered.
When Yang Kai flew out the other side of the Royal City, he felt his face twitching wildly. Che Kong was just too lucky!
There were only a couple dozen Black Ink Nests left in the Royal City, and he had destroyed three of them. However, none of them belonged to Che Kong as his aura remained powerful.
The success rate was neither high nor low as he had cut three out of some 20 Black Ink Nests. Furthermore, he had demolished several Black Ink Nests a while ago, but Che Kong still hadn’t been affected one bit.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but acknowledge that Che Kong was a lucky person.
He didn’t intend to completely destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nest as it had already fallen to the ground and the Royal Lord was no longer able to draw energy from it, which was enough.
Since the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest had survived his attack, Yang Kai decided to let it be for now.
The Humans possessed a Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest, and after years of research, they found out a lot of the Black Ink Nest’s secrets. If they could obtain this half-dead High-Rank Black Ink Nest, they might be able to learn even more.
Things were looking up in the Great Evolution Theatre, causing Yang Kai to wonder how the Humans in the other Theatres were doing. Therefore, he reckoned that he should keep this High-Rank Black Ink Nest. Perhaps it would prove to be useful in the future.
Two figures subsequently left the Royal City and darted towards Great Evolution Pass again.
While running away, Yang Kai bellowed, “Shoot him!”
Soon, innumerable flashes of light shot out from Great Evolution Pass, as if history was repeating itself.
However, with his previous experience, Che Kong figured out that Yang Kai wanted to use the attacks from Great Evolution Pass as a screen to shake him off so he could make a fuss on the battlefield again.
Therefore, he quickly locked his aura onto Yang Kai, ensuring that the latter wouldn’t be able to flee.
The aura was like a needle as well as a lock. While Yang Kai felt a threat behind him, he was also unable to activate Instantaneous Movement.
The instant Space Principles undulated, Che Kong’s aura would flare up and destabilize the Void, ensuring that Yang Kai was unable to flee.
Over the years, even though Yang Kai had repeatedly made use of Space Principles to escape opponents, there were distressing moments when he was faced with much stronger enemies.
After all, Instantaneous Movement wasn’t invincible.
As long as the Void around Yang Kai was sufficiently turbulent, he wouldn’t be able to teleport away.
Two figures circled around Great Evolution Pass at a great speed. While spitting blood, Yang Kai grinned, “Let’s see how much longer you can persevere!”
This kind of action put Che Kong in a disadvantageous position.
There were all sorts of arrangements on the walls of Great Evolution Pass which could be used to rain down a constant stream of attacks on Che Kong while Yang Kai, who was at the front, was unaffected.
They repeatedly circled Great Evolution Pass.
During the third round, Che Kong started finding it unbearable. His gigantic figure trembled as he was struck by the attacks from Great Evolution Pass over and over again. Soon, he realised that he couldn’t just keep getting hit without counterattacking.
Infuriated, he threw out his fist at Great Evolution Pass.
Upon impact, the light barrier around the Pass shook, but it remained undamaged.
Seeing that, Yang Kai snorted. Now, five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were controlling the Core and sustaining the defences around the Great Pass. There was no way Che Kong could damage the Great Pass on his own.
Che Kong was distracted when he made a move earlier. Seizing the chance, Yang Kai activated his power and shook off the aura locked onto his figure. The next instant, he activated Space Principles and disappeared.
Detecting something, Che Kong turned around and saw Yang Kai hovering above an enormous Black Ink Nest in the Royal City.
A distance of five million kilometres was short for a powerful cultivator, especially one skilled in the Dao of Space. An unrestrained Yang Kai could cross such a distance in a flash.
However, he didn’t immediately destroy the Black Ink Nest beneath him; instead, he eyed Che Kong from a distance and sneered.
Che Kong barked, “Don’t you dare!”
Yang Kai scoffed, “Your expression tells me that this is indeed your Black Ink Nest.”
He had gained some useful information after being tangled up with Che Kong for such a long time. At the very least, he had faintly detected the direction where his opponent drew more Black Ink Strength from.
By tracing this trail, he soon found Che Kong’s Black Ink Nest.
Che Kong was lucky earlier as he wasn’t affected one bit after Yang Kai destroyed three out of more than 20 or so remaining Black Ink Nests. Now that his Black Ink Nest had been found though, it seemed that he had run out of luck.
While roaring, Che Kong charged towards the Royal City in an attempt to stop Yang Kai.
Nevertheless, it was too late. For a Master of the Dao of Space like Yang Kai, he could move across hundreds of thousands of kilometres in the blink of an eye, so regardless of how fast Che Kong was, it would take him at least a few breaths to reach his enemy. He was unable to stop Yang Kai.
Yang Kai raised his hand as World Force swirled around his palm. The next moment, he pushed his palm out.
Under the influence of an immense force, the Black Ink Nest trembled before being ground to paste. All the Black Ink Strength within the Black Ink Nest formed into a gigantic Black Ink Cloud, shadowing a large area of the Royal City.
With the previous experience where the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest wasn’t completely shattered, Yang Kai realized that his move at that time wasn’t ruthless enough; therefore, he made sure to completely vaporize this Black Ink Nest, leaving no trace of it behind.
The moment the Black Ink Nest was destroyed, Che Kong’s imposing aura plunged and his figure became sluggish.
The destruction of the Black Ink Nest did not only make him lose the source where he could draw energy from, but it also caused some backlash to him.
Usually, this kind of impact was negligible and it wouldn’t harm him one bit.
However, at this moment, there was a pair of eyes that sensitively caught this momentary weakness.
Right after Yang Kai destroyed the Black Ink Nest and Che Kong’s aura plunged, a figure shot out of Great Evolution Pass and launched an attack. He had been waiting for quite a while.
A ferocious aura locked onto Che Kong and the attack from behind was like an ominous wind from Hell, causing him to nearly jump out of his skin.
It was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!
At this critical moment, an Eighth-Order Master launched a sneak attack on him.
[Is it one of the Eighth-Order Masters who was staying in Great Evolution Pass?] Che Kong was unable to figure it out. He chased after Yang Kai to Great Evolution Pass twice, and during the second time, he circled around the Pass three times. However, those Eighth-Order Masters didn’t seem to have the intention of making a move even then.
Che Kong had a feeling that they were unable to make a move for some reason. That was why he had the guts to stick so close to Great Evolution Pass. It never crossed his mind that an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would assault him at this moment.
His fury over the destruction of his Black Ink Nest was replaced by extreme fear. At this critical moment, he had to save himself instead of chasing after Yang Kai.
He hurriedly turned around and surged his Black Ink Strength before casting a Secret Technique.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s World Force and the Territory Lord’s Black Ink Strength clashed as their figures trembled. The figure from Great Evolution Pass left just as quick as he came. The moment he came into contact with Che Kong, he was sent flying away and spraying out a mouthful of blood. On the other hand, even though Che Kong was forced backwards, he wasn’t as battered as his opponent.
There was no denying that Che Kong had gained the upper hand during this exchange. Despite the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s majestic attack, he seemed as frail as a piece of paper.
Finally, Che Kong identified the Eighth-Order Master who launched an attack on him.
He was none other than Cha Pu!
The weaker Black Ink Clansmen knew little about the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but a Territory Lord like Che Kong was well aware of the enemies’ information.
Therefore, he could instantly recognise this Eighth-Order Master. [I see! I’m surprised that it’s him.]
Cha Pu was previously injured when the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple revealed himself. If not for the fact that the Black Ink Disciple’s target was the Old Ancestor, Cha Pu would’ve been killed by the surprise attack.
Despite that, Cha Pu was still badly wounded in that clash. After that, Yang Kai came over in a hurry and saved him before bringing him back to Great Evolution Pass.
In fact, as a veteran Eighth-Order Master, Cha Pu was fairly strong. However, he had lost the ability to fight after being wounded by the Black Ink Disciple. Therefore, he could only recuperate in Great Evolution Pass.
Che Kong had almost forgotten about him.
Who could have thought that a wounded Eighth-Order Master would launch a sneak attack on him at that instant?
That was the reason Cha Pu was easily driven off after being struck, for the Black Ink Disciple had severely wounded him. There was no way he could suppress such a serious injury in such a short time. Although he had made a rash move, the fact that he wasn’t killed by Che Kong’s all-out counter-attack showed the depths of his heritage. Wounded for a second time, Cha Pu was unable to make a second move.
Presently, he was sent flying away towards Great Evolution Pass with a livid expression.
Without hesitation, Che Kong chased after the man.
Although Yang Kai was despicable, Che Kong had realised it was difficult to deal with him after their brief clash. Yang Kai wasn’t powerful in his Human Form, but he could make use of Space Principles and the Great Pass to deal with his opponent. Now that Che Kong’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, he might not be able to kill him.
On the other hand, Cha Pu was different, for Che Kong had the confidence to kill him.
Ending an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s life was tempting to Che Kong. Since the Black Ink Nests were now all dying, he had to take any chance he could get to weaken the Humans’ collective power.
However, before Che Kong could make a move, a figure appeared in front of him suddenly and almost stood face-to-face with him.
Che Kong widened his eyes in disbelief and roared, “You dare provoke me still?!”
Yang Kai should consider himself lucky that Che Kong didn’t find fault with him. Nevertheless, after he destroyed the Black Ink Nest, he didn’t immediately run away. Instead, he had the nerve to get in Che Kong’s way.
[Does he think I’m a pushover!?]
Che Kong was infuriated. He was one of the most powerful Territory Lords in the Great Evolution Theatre. Even some of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were no match for him. Even though he was no longer able to draw energy from his Black Ink Nest, there was no way a Seventh-Order Human was a match for him.
While roaring, he extended his hand and grasped Yang Kai.
Just as he was ready to exert more force with his hand and squeeze Yang Kai to death, the latter also extended his hands and turned them into Dragon Claws before gripping Che Kong’s shoulders. With a hideous expression, he roared, “Die! Die! Die!”
Every time he cursed at Che Kong, his Divine Sense flared as pure Spiritual Energy burst forth like a tsunami.
Che Kong became rooted to the spot as his facial features warp in agony. He was going through so much pain that he couldn’t stop howling.
Yang Kai wasn’t feeling any better. All his bones cracked as Che Kong tightened his grip; however, he was still laughing like a madman.
Their faces were in such close proximity that they almost came into contact with each other, and both of them appeared deranged. Seeing that, the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass felt a crawling sensation on their scalps.
Despite the distance between them, they could clearly feel the violent fluctuations of Spiritual Energy bursting out of Yang Kai.
At this moment, he was engaging in a Soul battle with Che Kong.
This was a fight without any technique, simply a brutal clash that might lead to mutual destruction. It was dangerous for two Divine Senses to clash as even if one party was stronger, their Soul would inevitably be weakened and damaged by the other party.
If there was serious damage to one’s Soul, that person would become a living corpse.
[He’s putting his life in danger! It’s too brutal!]
All the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass widened their eyes in disbelief. They were shocked by Yang Kai’s savage move that was akin to mutual suicide, fearful of what might happen to him.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was not worried about his safety at all. The higher-ups also knew that he had the Soul Warming Lotus, and with it, there was no need to worry about this kind of damage to his Soul.
However, it was a different story for Che Kong.
He was previously struck by a Soul Rending Thorn, so his Soul had already suffered a serious injury. Now that he was faced with Yang Kai’s all-out Spiritual Energy attack, he started seeing Stars and feeling dizzy.
Back when Yang Kai was in Royal Lord Black Ink Nest Space, he had used 11 Soul Rending Thorns and killed and crippled a lot of Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples.
Although some of them ultimately survived, they were badly wounded and might not have recovered to this day. This went to show how powerful the Soul Rending Thorns were.
With that said, everyone in the Black Ink Nest Space was a Soul Avatar, which magnified the effectiveness of Soul Rending Thorns.
Although a Soul Rending Thorn was still extremely powerful in the outside world, it wasn’t as fatal as in a Black Ink Nest Space where one lacked a physical body to help protect themselves.
Despite that, Che Kong couldn’t have possibly remained unharmed after getting struck by a Soul Rending Thorn.
However, after Yang Kai cast the Soul Rending Thorn earlier, Che Kong was only momentarily affected and soon regained his composure.
Yang Kai didn’t think the other party was powerful enough to ignore the Soul Rending Thorn’s impact; after all, he had sacrificed quite a bit of his Soul to power that Soul Rending Thorn. Since it was also damaging to him, there was no way it wasn’t harmful to a Territory Lord.
Even though the Soul Rending Thorn wasn’t as effective in the outside world as it was inside the Black Ink Nest Space, it couldn’t be completely ineffective.
The only explanation was that Che Kong had used a Secret Technique to suppress the damage to his Soul.
The Black Ink Clan had suffered a huge setback because of the Soul Rending Thorns a while back, so they must have been vigilant against these strange artifacts now.
Since it was just a suppressed injury, it was easy for Yang Kai to target this weakness.
In the battle against Che Kong earlier, Yang Kai didn’t target his Soul at all. He hadn’t forgotten about it, but instead wanted to numb the other party’s sense of wariness.
When they were circling around Great Evolution Pass earlier, Cha Pu had sent a Divine Sense transmission and said that he could help, but Yang Kai had told him to wait.
Cha Pu was badly wounded, so even if he made a move at that point, it wouldn’t have been impactful.
Only after Yang Kai destroyed Che Kong’s Black Ink Nest would there be an opening for Cha Pu to make a move.
A sneak attack from a heavily wounded Eighth-Order Master might not be enough to kill Che Kong, but what about a series of attacks on his Soul?
At this moment, Yang Kai could clearly feel that Che Kong’s Soul was being shredded.
The Soul of a top Territory Lord was just as powerful as any Eighth-Order Master.
Although Yang Kai’s Soul was essentially on par with an Eighth-Order Master’s, his current actions would only lead to mutually assured death under normal circumstances. No one could gain the upper hand in such a fight.
Nevertheless, it was different now. After their Divine Senses clashed several times, Che Kong was clearly in a disadvantageous position. He kept roaring in pain while his gigantic body trembled.
He could no longer even exert enough force with his hand to hold Yang Kai in place. It was apparent that the damage to his Soul that he had been suppressing finally broke out and the Soul Rending Thorn was madly digging in.
Yang Kai didn’t bother to shake off the other party’s grasp as he just continued to pummel Che Kong with his Spiritual Energy. The invisible force exploded in Che Kong’s head, causing his seven orifices to bleed.
“Just die already!” Yang Kai roared and exerted more force with his Dragon Claws before pulling Che Kong’s arms off, causing blood to spurt out from the fresh wounds.
Che Kong howled and staggered backwards. While his vision had turned blurred, he saw Yang Kai charging towards him and was consumed with fear.
He didn’t panic when the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest was destroyed, but now that his life was at risk, he could no longer keep his cool.
The instant he felt the murderous intent flooding through him, his mind became a mess and he couldn’t summon his strength at all. He turned around and attempted to flee.
The void around Che Kong became viscous all of a sudden as Yang Kai raised his hands and two marks appeared. The powers of Blue and Yellow Crystals were drawn from his Small Universe as they gathered together between his palms and turned into the purest white light.
All the surrounding darkness was driven off.
Before the war began, all of the Seventh-Order Masters had received a certain amount of Evil Purging Divine Spears, including those from Dawn.
However, Yang Kai received none of those.
Evil Purging Divine Spears damaged and killed Black Ink Clansmen with Purifying Light, but Yang Kai was the one who sealed all the Purifying Light inside the Evil Purging Divine Spears, which was why he didn’t need any for himself.
If he wanted to deal with the Black Ink Clan, he could just directly activate Purifying Light.
When he arrived at Blue Sky Pass after escaping from the Black Ink Clan’s territory back then, he had used Purifying Light on a wounded Territory Lord. After that, he had not openly shown the white light in front of any Black Ink Clansmen again for the past several hundred years.
It wasn’t that he did not want to, but that he had been warned not to.
A long time ago, Zhong Liang had told him not to activate Purifying Light in public. At that time, Zhong Liang explained that this power was the best weapon against the Black Ink Clan; however, Yang Kai was still too weak. If this power was revealed too soon, he would surely be targeted by the Black Ink Clan.
Zhong Liang even wanted him to stay in Blue Sky Pass and never enter the battlefield, but Yang Kai soon snuck out of the Great Pass to join the fight.
Now, it seemed that those at the top were already getting prepared for the crusade back then.
Purifying Light was a secret weapon that could catch the Black Ink Clan off guard during the crusade.
Now that the Evil Purging Divine Spears proved to be a great success, Yang Kai no longer needed to hide his ability to use Purifying Light.
The bright light soon engulfed Che Kong. If he were still at the peak of his power, he could have dodged it easily; however, his Soul had been damaged and he couldn’t think straight, so it was too late when he realized he was in danger.
The pure white light cast the darkness away and covered a large area in the void, including Che Kong.
The thick Black Ink Strength seemed to have come across its arch nemesis, and as it clashed with the pure light, it was rapidly vaporized.
On the other hand, Che Kong seemed to be going through the most horrible torture imaginable as he screamed in agony, his facial features contorting uncontrollably.
In the blink of an eye, this powerful Territory Lord looked like a dilapidated house as a large amount of Purifying Light entered his body through his pores and seven orifices and eroded the source of his power.
Che Kong had never expected that he would one day be invaded by a corrosive power just like the Humans had suffered for so long.
This was no different from the Black Ink Strength’s effects on Humans.
While Che Kong’s energy was in a mess, Yang Kai reached him and fiercely thrust his spear through his opponent’s head.
Yang Kai had channelled all his strength into the weapon and, with a clever use of Space Principles, the spear ignored any form of distance and directly penetrated Che Kong’s head.
Yang Kai’s World Force exploded, and before Che Kong could even think about defending himself, his head exploded.
Swinging his spear down, Yang Kai cut the other party’s body in half, finally causing the Territory Lord’s aura to dissipate and vanish. He had managed to kill a Territory Lord.
Moreover, Che Kong wasn’t just any Territory Lord, he was one of the most powerful Territory Lords. The Territory Lord that Yang Kai and Bai Yi had joined forces to kill all those years back wasn’t even comparable.
Blood mist spread out as thick Black Ink Strength exploded and turned into a sea of darkness. The undulations were more violent than when Yang Kai destroyed those Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests.
However, the sea of darkness was soon wiped away by the Purifying Light.
The bright light contracted soon after and left Yang Kai standing in the void all on his own with the spear in hand. His entire figure was soaked in blood and his murderous intent still hadn’t subsided.
All the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass stared intently at him.
They had watched the life-and-death battle from start to finish, and although Yang Kai had made use of Great Evolution Pass’ power and Cha Pu had made a move to shock the enemy, Yang Kai still pulled off a stunning feat by killing a powerful Territory Lord despite being just a Seventh-Order Master.
There was never such a brave and fearless Black Ink Clansman. Only the Humans could succeed at defeating enemies stronger than themselves in one-on-one battles.
All the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass broke into a fit of cheers and even more attacks soon sent out to the rest of the battlefield.
“Che Kong is dead…”
Initially, Yang Kai wanted to loudly announce Che Kong’s death to boost the Humans’ morale, but right after Che Kong’s demise, an even more powerful aura swelled up like a final blaze of glory.
Following that, the Royal Lord roared, “You think you’ve won just by killing this King? The Human Race will forever be our slaves! That day will surely come! Black Ink Eternal!”
On the battlefield, both the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen turned to look at the source of the voice.
In fact, they couldn’t see anything because the battlefield was too chaotic, especially in the region where Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and Mo Zhao had fought. The moment these eyes turned to look at the battle, all they could see was an endless region of darkness explode all of a sudden.
At the same time, the Royal Lord’s aura vanished.
Mo Zhao was dead!
It wasn’t the first time the Humans managed to kill a Royal Lord in history, but Mo Zhao’s death had a profound impact on the Great Evolution Theatre. It meant the end of an era, and the arrival of another.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shot out from the cloud of darkness, and despite her petite figure, she appeared incredibly imposing against the weltering darkness.
There were blood stains on her clothes, and her face was slightly pale.
Although she had successfully killed the Royal Lord, she was also wounded. When the Royal Lord was still able to draw energy from his Black Ink Nest in the beginning, they could be considered equally matched.
The reason she could kill Mo Zhao so quickly was that his Black Ink Nest had been smashed.
Mo Zhao was badly wounded to begin with, and without his Black Ink Nest’s support, his strength instantly plummeted.
Even in such a condition though, he couldn’t be considered a weakling. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao couldn’t kill him without suffering wounds in the process.
However, she didn’t have time to recuperate at this moment. After killing Mo Zhao, she headed straight towards the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
She had not forgotten that there was still a powerful foe on the battlefield. Only by killing him could the Humans seize victory in this war. If such an enemy managed to flee, there wouldn’t be any peaceful days for the Great Evolution Army.
The Black Ink Disciple was initially bogged down by six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, after a prolonged fight, only five of them remained as one had been killed.
The fallen Eighth-Order Division Commander had already been seriously injured to begin with, so when the Royal Lord was in a perilous situation earlier, the Black Ink Disciple flared up in an attempt to save Mo Zhao. It was that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who sacrificed his life to stop him from leaving the fight.
Although the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple managed to kill the Eighth-Order Division Commander, the latter’s sacrifice bought enough time for the other five to re-engage.
After such a long time, the Black Ink Disciple and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were all exhausted and wounded. With five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters joining forces, it wasn’t easy for the Black Ink Disciple to break through their siege.
That was why the deadlock persisted.
Nevertheless, the instant Mo Zhao passed away, this Black Ink Disciple knew he was doomed.
He had just broken through recently, so he was certainly not Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s match. Although the Old Ancestor was wounded and exhausted, he wasn’t in any better shape.
Therefore, the moment Mo Zhao fell, this Black Ink Disciple grit his teeth as a red light radiated from him and his Blood Essence surged.
He started burning his own Blood Essence and the ferocity with which he wielded his sword increased sharply.
All five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were taken aback; however, one of them charged forward instead of backing down. A red light also shone from his body as it seemed that he was determined to make the enemy remain even at the cost of his life.
The Black Ink Disciple wasn’t the only one who could burn his Blood Essence. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could also do that.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao knew that they couldn’t let this Black Ink Disciple flee, and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were also aware of that.
However, there was a huge price to pay to stop a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple who was determined to flee.
Although five of them had joined forces, four of them retreated at this moment while the remaining one dashed forward.
Those who backed down sported sorrowful expressions.
As the sword light subsided, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master lost his life.
“Bastard!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao roared. The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple killed an Eighth-Order Master right in front of her, so she had a good reason to be enraged.
From a distance, she pushed out her palm and struck the Black Ink Disciple’s back, causing him to cough up blood.
At the same time, the surviving four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters surged their World Force and charged towards the enemy.
As the Secret Techniques landed, the Black Ink Disciple was tossed about like a rag before exploding into pieces.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were startled for a moment, but before they could celebrate their victory, the pieces of flesh all turned into sword waves and penetrated their defence before gathering together in a place that was several hundred thousand kilometres away.
In the blink of an eye, the sword waves condensed into the Black Ink Disciple’s figure; however, his aura was much weaker than before, and his face was pale.
“Gathering Ten Thousand Sword Body!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sported a solemn expression as she directly identified the Black Ink Disciple’s Secret Technique.
Great Evolution Paradise was destroyed 30,000 years ago, but just like any of the 72 Paradises, they had their unique Secret Techniques.
Gathering Ten Thousand Sword Body was one such technique. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might not be aware of it, but Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was someone who had lived long enough to witness what had happened back then. Certainly, she knew of this Secret Technique.
Even in the Cave Heavens and Paradises, not everyone was allowed to cultivate this kind of Secret Techniques. Only the brightest talents with exceptional aptitudes were able to comprehend and master them.
Since this Black Ink Disciple was able to master Gathering Ten Thousand Sword Body, it showed that he had an outstanding aptitude. If not, he wouldn’t have ascended to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm after being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
Gathering Ten Thousand Sword Body was an extremely powerful Secret Technique and it was rumoured that when a person had fully mastered it, they could transform themselves into 10,000 Swords Waves and slash out at the world around them.
The reason the Black Ink Disciple had used this Secret Technique, however, wasn’t to kill, but to escape.
Mo Zhao was killed, so Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was able to deal with him now. If he did not escape, he would certainly perish as well.
After his figure took shape, the Black Ink Disciple turned into a sword light and madly broke through the battlefield with his indestructible Sword Qi. Wherever the sword light went, the powerless Human soldiers directly exploded into blood mists. Even Warships were cut in half by the sword light.
Although Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao gave chase, she was unable to catch up quickly.
As time passed, the Black Ink Disciple’s lead would surely shrink and the Old Ancestor would be able to pin him down, but for the moment, he was unstoppable.
“Dodge him!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao ordered.
However, the Humans in the way might not be able to run away.
The next instant, the colour drained from Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s face as she roared, “I’ll let you off if you spare his life! But if you dare to kill him, I’ll hunt you down and rip you to pieces slowly no matter how long it takes!”
Right after the Old Ancestor shouted, Yang Kai, who was still ecstatic over having just killed Che Kong, felt his skin tightening and a crawling sensation on his scalp.
At this moment, he was planning to lend the Old Turtles a hand.
With the help of their custom Warship’s power, the Old Turtle Squad had trapped a Territory Lord. It wasn’t clear what was going on inside the barrier, but Yang Kai was still worried.
If the Territory Lord was pushed into a corner, the Old Turtles might not survive.
Nevertheless, before he could move, Yang Kai felt a ferocious aura locking onto him. The owner of the aura was so powerful that even Che Kong paled in comparison.
It was the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple!
Yang Kai had never expected that the Black Ink Disciple would charge towards him after breaking the siege, and judging from the Black Ink Disciple’s actions, it was apparent that this was an intentional move.
The battlefield was vast, and there were still a lot of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who were tangled up in battles against the Territory Lords. If this Black Ink Disciple wanted to kill some Eighth-Order Masters at this point, he could easily do so.
Nonetheless, he didn’t target any of the Eighth-Order Masters and instead set his sights on the Seventh-Order Human named Yang Kai.
Certainly, Yang Kai wouldn’t believe that the other party wasn’t doing this intentionally.
Had the Purifying Light caught his attention? The Black Ink Disciple must have realised that Yang Kai was the source of the Purifying Light.
Therefore, even though he was currently running for his life, he was still determined to end Yang Kai’s life.
The moment the Black Ink Disciple heard Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao shouting at him from afar, he hesitated for a moment, but soon he became determined and flew at Yang Kai with even greater speed.
The Old Ancestor’s action suggested that his judgement was right; this Seventh-Order brat must be important to the Human Race.
This kind of chance was hard to come by, so he had to contribute by killing Yang Kai.
Seeing this, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was infuriated and hastened her pace. However, the Black Ink Disciple had turned into a sword light so he temporarily had the advantage in speed. The Old Ancestor was unable to catch up in time, so she shouted at Yang Kai, “Run!”
In the closest battle against a Territory Lord to Yang Kai, an Eighth-Order Master had gained the upper hand after a prolonged struggle. The Territory Lord kept coughing up blood and was almost powerless to counterattack.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had the confidence to kill this Territory Lord within an incense stick.
However, at this moment, he directly gave up the Military Merits he would soon acquire and darted towards Yang Kai without feeling concerned that he was facing away from the Territory Lord.
Fortunately, the Territory Lord just wanted to run for his life after escaping from death’s door and didn’t have the intention to launch an attack.
On this chaotic battlefield, a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple’s murderous intent was raging while an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master tried to come to the rescue.
Yang Kai slowly put away his Azure Dragon Spear. When he was targeted by the Black Ink Disciple’s aura earlier, he was flustered at first, but at this moment, he had regained his composure.
He didn’t intend to run away.
Since he had been locked onto by the Black Ink Disciple’s aura, there was no way he could use Instantaneous Movement as the moment he manipulated Space Principles, the other party could disturb the Void and force him to remain.
It was unrealistic to rely on the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master to save him either. Even though he was nearest to Yang Kai and he had immediately come to the rescue, he wasn’t as fast as the Black Ink Disciple. The Black Ink Disciple would most likely kill Yang Kai before the Eighth-Order Division Commander arrived.
In such a critical situation, Yang Kai could only save himself.
The average Seventh-Order Master would be doomed if he was targeted by such an enemy; however, Yang Kai believed that he could survive. After all, he possessed a powerful Dragon Vein, so his body was much sturdier than the average Seventh-Order Human.
The other party might not achieve his goal if he underestimated Yang Kai.
Seeing that Yang Kai didn’t move away, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao widened her eyes. With that said, she knew that Yang Kai probably wasn’t able to escape, so she could only quicken her speed. For that reason, she even started burning her Blood Essence so that she could intercept the Black Ink Disciple before he made a move.
The Black Ink Disciple had clearly detected the Old Ancestor’s aura surge from behind, but he remained unfazed. The bright sword light left a trail in the void as he crossed a million kilometres in the blink of an eye. His speed wasn’t any slower than Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement.
Although Yang Kai didn’t seem to move a muscle at all, he activated his Dragon Vein the instant he felt the sword light prickling his skin.
His Dragon Vein undulated in his body like a surging ocean as thick Dragon Scales appeared and covered his entire figure, including his face.
He was ready to use his Ancient Dragon Form to fend off the attack.
By doing so, his defence would be much stronger than in his Human Form. The other party wasn’t at their peak, so he might not be able to kill Yang Kai with one slash.
As long as Yang Kai could survive the initial hit, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao could intercept the Black Ink Disciple and kill him.
Just as Yang Kai was preparing to transform into an Ancient Dragon, his eyes flashed all of a sudden. He gave up on his original plan and slowly pushed out his fist.
The attack was slow and seemingly light. Even a three-year-old kid could dodge such a blow with ease, but the instant he extended his fist, Space Principles undulated violently together with his World Force.
Cow Punch!
If the other party was a Royal Lord, Yang Kai might not have had any way to fight back; however, since this person was a Black Ink Disciple, he didn’t mind giving him an unpleasant surprise.
Since he developed his Cow Punch Secret Technique, it had helped Yang Kai against many opponents in higher realms, allowing him to defeat enemies who were much stronger than he was. When he was still a Sixth-Order Master back then, he was able to deal with Blood Crow in the Shattered Heaven. Outside of Great Evolution Pass a while back, he was even able to defeat an Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciple. It was all thanks to his Cow Punch Secret Technique.
Although Cow Punch was incredibly effective, it had a serious constraint. It would take Yang Kai a long time to trace the other party’s aura back to its source, and the length of time was uncertain, depending on the integrity of the enemy’s Small Universe. If their Small Universe was sturdy and well-guarded, Yang Kai would probably die before he had a chance to use this Secret Technique.
With that said, he hadn’t come across an opponent with a Small Universe who could make him unable to use Cow Punch so far.
Regardless of how robust an Open Heaven Realm Master’s Small Universe was, they had to draw out World Force in order to attack, defend, or even move. For that reason, Yang Kai would always have a chance to trace the opponent’s power back to its source.
When the Black Ink Disciple made a move just now, Yang Kai instantly realised he was able to trace the opponent’s World Force back to his Small Universe with ease.
This came as a shock to him and was the reason he gave up on his original plan and decided to use Cow Punch instead.
He wasn’t sure if this Secret Technique was effective on a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, but he wasn’t willing to just wait for death or bet everything on not dying to the other party’s attack.
It wouldn’t have mattered if there wasn’t a chance, but since the chance had presented itself, he had to fight back even if he might lose his life. Since time immemorial, countless Humans on the Black Ink Battlefield had sacrificed their lives to prevent the 3,000 Worlds from being destroyed.
That was also the reason Yang Kai didn’t immediately turn into an Ancient Dragon. Although his defence would be stronger being an Ancient Dragon, it would be harder for him to use his Cow Punch.
Only in his familiar Human Form could he fully unleash this Secret Technique’s power.
The next instant, Yang Kai’s entire figure shook as all his Dragon Scales fell apart and half of his body turned numb. Following that, he felt a sharp pain in his Knowledge Sea. At the same time, his Small Universe was cut across by an immense force.
A huge crack instantly appeared above the sky in his Small Universe.
At that instant, Yang Kai’s body, Soul, and Small Universe were struck at the same time.
There was no denying that the Black Ink Disciple’s attack was horrifying.
Yang Kai really felt like he was dying. His mind was a mess, his vision had turned dark, and he couldn’t even support his own weight.
He was no longer able to perceive the outside world or even his Small Universe’s condition.
This was a terrible feeling he had gone through before.
He couldn’t help but recall the moment when his body was destroyed by Great Demon God Mo Sheng back in the Star Boundary.
That was the exact feeling that he was going through at that moment.
Yang Kai was ‘killed’ in the final battle against the Great Demon God Mo Sheng. It was thanks to the Immortal Tree that he was able to rebuild his body and return from the dead.
If he was killed this time though, there wouldn’t be another Immortal Tree for him to refine. He would be gone for good.
Right after he sent out his Cow Punch Secret Technique, the sword light that had slashed across him started shaking violently, as though it had been struck by an immense force. Following that, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple separated from the sword light and collapsed.
At this moment, he sported a horrified expression. His World Force and his Black Ink Strength had become incredibly unstable.
Even the sarcomas on his body started swelling and exploded, causing the black pus to scatter everywhere.
His robust restorative power quickly healed the sarcomas, but they soon exploded again, creating a kind of gruesome cycle.
The Black Ink Disciple seemed to be going through excruciating pain.
A dark illusory phantom of his Small Universe appeared behind the Black Ink Disciple. As someone in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, there was no denying that his Small Universe was vast and magnificent. His ample World Force suggested that he indeed had the heritage of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm; however, his Small Universe seemed to be in chaos right now.
The entire Small Universe seemed to be enduring a violent storm and on the verge of collapse, with the balance of the Seven Elements in a complete mess.
Seeing that, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who was rushing over to save Yang Kai, became startled.
The Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen around them were perplexed as well.
Soon, the cycle of the Five Elements in the Black Ink Disciple’s Small Universe broke with Yin and Yang descending into chaos.
“No!” The sarcomas on the Black Ink Disciple’s body continued to explode and his expression twisted in disbelief and despair. He couldn’t believe that instead of being killed by the Old Ancestor, or even an Eighth-Order powerhouse, his life was ended by a mere Seventh-Order brat’s punch.
If he knew this would be the outcome, he wouldn’t have sent himself to Hell. If he had run away the moment Mo Zhao passed away, he would have stood a chance to escape.
He blamed himself for being too greedy as he wanted to kill Yang Kai before he left.
While he roared in agony, the illusory phantom behind him could no longer remain stable. The entire Small Universe looked like a weathered shack with holes in the walls and roof out of which his abundant World Force and rich Black Ink Strength leaked.
As his strength dissipated and his aura plunged rapidly. In the blink of an eye, his aura dropped to the Eighth Order. Following that, he plunged to the Seventh Order, and then he was dead.
This person had made use of Black Ink Strength to break through his own innate limits and ascend to the Ninth Order; therefore, his Small Universe couldn’t actually bear Ninth-Order might. Once punctured, his Small Universe could not maintain integrity which caused his aura to drop to the Seventh Order before the extreme stress finally caused a complete collapse.
The Black Ink Disciple’s face withered all of a sudden, and his originally black hair turned grey. As a violent force swept across him, all his hair fell off.
His body dried up, and all his vitality faded. He was originally a powerful Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, but he had turned into a desiccated corpse in a short moment.
His dead body was not even able to bear Seventh-Order World Force and under the eyes of the Humans and the Black Ink Clansmen alike, he exploded into dust.
The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple could not be more dead.
A tremendous force swept across the place as Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao swiftly arrived in front of the dazed Yang Kai. She waved her hand and fended off all the repercussions for him.
The Eighth-Order Division Commander, who was ready to assist, was still dumbstruck, unable to believe his eyes. [What did I just see? Did Yang Kai casually throw out his fist and kill a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple?]
Although the person was a Black Ink Disciple, he was still a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, not a First-Order or Second-Order one.
Even if the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had been the target of such a Master instead, he wouldn’t have been able to counterattack. How did Yang Kai, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, achieve this?
Was it because the Black Ink Disciple was on his last legs? It didn’t seem like that was the case as his imposing attack earlier suggested that he still had the strength to fight.
Although the Black Ink Disciple was clearly badly wounded, no one could underestimate his power, so how did Yang Kai manage to kill him?
Unable to figure out the reason behind it, this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master fell into a daze.
On the other hand, after giving it some thought, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao soon realised what had happened. In fact, she too was astonished to see Yang Kai killing a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with just a light punch. Nevertheless, she soon understood the whole chain of events.
Previously, the Black Ink Disciple made a move to kill some Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters following Mo Zhao’s order. Unfortunately, the Humans already had some arrangements. Five Eighth-Order Masters appeared from their hiding place and joined forces with an injured Eighth-Order Division Commander to engage in a life-and-death battle with the Black Ink Disciple.
During the intense battle, the Black Ink Disciple managed to kill an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and after Mo Zhao’s death, he killed another one while attempting to flee.
In other words, two Eighth-Order Masters had lost their lives because of him.
Despite just breaking through to the Ninth Order, this Black Ink Disciple was able to fight with six Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters on his own and even killed two of them in a short time, which went to show how powerful he was.
With that said, he had to pay a huge price for these results and was badly wounded during the fight.
The second Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who passed away had even burned his Blood Essence to stop him from fleeing. Even though the Black Ink Disciple killed him on the spot, he was still held down for a moment, which gave Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao a chance to hit him with her palm strike from a distance, causing him to spit blood.
That palm strike wasn’t just an ordinary attack though; it was a Secret Technique that targeted an enemy’s Small Universe.
All the Cave Heavens and Paradises had at least one such Secret Technique that had varying degrees of effect. The fundamental source of an Open Heaven Realm Master’s power was their Small Universe, so these sorts of Secret Techniques were extremely powerful. If one’s Small Universe wasn’t sturdy enough, it would most likely be shaken if hit by such a technique, not to mention it was Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao who had acted this time.
This kind of Secret Technique was useless on Mo Zhao as the Black Ink Clan physiology was different from that of Humans. They didn’t have Small Universes, so the Secret Technique was harmless to them.
However, when dealing with a Black Ink Disciple, this type of Secret Technique was especially lethal.
The Old Ancestor’s attack had caused the Black Ink Disciple’s Small Universe to descend into chaos and brought it to the brink of collapse.
While running away, the Black Ink Disciple made a move to attack Yang Kai with his sword light, but it never crossed his mind that Yang Kai would seize the chance and use his Cow Punch.
It could be said that without the Old Ancestor’s attack which broke holes in the Black Ink Disciple’s Small Universe, Yang Kai couldn’t have immediately found an opening to strike at.
It was thanks to the Old Ancestor’s attack from afar that the Black Ink Disciple’s Small Universe was exposed.
Yang Kai had developed Cow Punch based on his mastery over the Dao of Space and it was the very pinnacle of Secret Techniques that targeted an enemy’s Small Universe, superior to any technique the Cave Heavens and Paradises possessed.
His all-out attack was just enough to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Of course, it also had something to do with the fact that the other party was a Black Ink Disciple.
If the other party had been a true Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, with a firm and robust Small Universe, Yang Kai wouldn’t be able to kill him even if he managed to land his Cow Punch.
It could be said that many reasons and coincidences came together to allow a Seventh-Order Master like Yang Kai to kill a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
However, at this moment, Yang Kai didn’t even know what he had done. His mind was still a mess, and the Sword Qi was still eating away at his body and Soul.
It was only a while later that the Sword Qi was dispersed from his Soul, allowing Yang Kai to regain his senses, though his head was in so much pain that he felt like he was dying.
At the most critical moment, the Soul Warming Lotus had once again saved him from certain death.
All of a sudden, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was heard announcing, “Yang Kai has killed the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple! The Black Ink Clan is destined to die!”
It wasn’t that the Old Ancestor wanted to give him credit by proclaiming his contribution at this point, she just wanted to shatter what remained of the Black Ink Clan’s morale.
Mo Zhao and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple were dead, so the Black Ink Clan was leaderless and unable to resist the Humans any longer.
After Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao made the announcement, she tossed Yang Kai at the Eighth-Order Division Commander and ordered, “Send him back to the Pass.”
The next instant, she charged towards the Old Turtles.
The Old Turtle Squad had sealed off a large area of void through their Warship’s unique Arrays, but given the Old Ancestor’s eyesight, she could clearly see the situation within.
At this moment, 10 Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters from the Old Turtles were locked in an intense battle with a Territory Lord with support from the rest of their Squad, but all of them were injured. Of course, the Territory Lord wasn’t in good shape either.
It had come to a point where there was no turning back for both parties, unless the Old Turtles were willing to open up the barrier.
Since they had no idea what was going on in the outside world, they wouldn’t dare to open up the barrier. There were bound to be some people who would lose their lives soon.
The moment Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao arrived, she extended her hands and tore the barrier apart. As her World Force surged, she condensed a giant hand from it and grasped the Territory Lord before clenching her fist.
All of the wounded Territory Lord’s bones were crushed in an instant, leaving him more than half-dead.
Having done enough, the Old Ancestor tossed the barely breathing Territory Lord to the Old Turtles before flying towards her next target.
Now that both the Royal Lord and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple were dead, there was no one capable of matching her on the battlefield. It was the best time for her to deal the death blow to the remaining Black Ink Clansmen.
Chai Fang and his Squad members were going all out and were prepared to sacrifice themselves to kill the Territory Lord when their opponent was suddenly crippled by the Old Ancestor. After a moment of astonishment, they broke into a state of ecstasy, “The Old Ancestor is peerless! The Old Ancestor is the most powerful!”
All the Old Turtle Squad members started cheering as their morale soared.
Since the Old Ancestor had arrived to lend them a hand, it was apparent that the Royal Lord was dead. Previously, they had been tangled up in a battle with the Territory Lord within the barrier, so they were unaware of what was going on in the outside world.
While they were shouting, Chai Fang pushed out his fist and smashed the Territory Lord to pieces. The opponent’s vitality soon dissipated. He was really dead now.
Chai Fang guffawed, for he had also killed a Territory Lord now.
He had been envious of Yang Kai who had killed Territory Lords before; however, being less powerful, he was unable to replicate this feat. Therefore, he was ecstatic about having his wish granted now.
Although it was largely thanks to the Old Ancestor’s help, he was the one who dealt the final blow.
All the Old Turtles were elated as well.
On the other hand, Yang Kai was still in a dazed state. First of all, he had become sluggish after he was badly wounded. Secondly, he was astounded by the Old Ancestor’s words earlier.
He silently digested it and turned to look at the Eighth-Order Master, who had been supporting his weight and bringing him to Great Evolution Pass, “Old Liu, what did the Old Ancestor say just now?”
He suspected that he had misheard it. Was he really the one who killed the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple?
There were only several dozen Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Great Evolution Pass, so Yang Kai could recognise all of them. Therefore, he was grateful that this Eighth-Order Master had immediately tried to come to his rescue earlier, even though the latter didn’t manage to arrive in time.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master surnamed Liu smiled, “Don’t you know what you did?”
Yang Kai thought that he certainly knew that, but he had no idea what happened after he pushed out his fist. He thought he was dead, so it surprised him that he had survived; moreover, he was astounded by the Old Ancestor’s words.
Both nervous and expectant, he asked, “Old Liu, did I really kill the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple?”
Old Liu chuckled, “It’s a lot of Military Merits. Why would the Old Ancestor joke about it? Yes, you killed the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with a punch!”
Yang Kai gulped, [I’ve killed someone in the Ninth Order with a punch!?]
Even though the Ninth-Order Master was a Black Ink Disciple and severely wounded, he was still an extremely powerful being.
Yang Kai still couldn’t believe that he had ended the life of someone in the Ninth Order.
Since his arrival at the Black Ink Battlefield, he had killed quite a number of Territory Lords; however, he didn’t even have the qualifications to stand before Masters like the Royal Lords or a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple. But now, he had managed to kill an enemy in the Ninth Order.
Yang Kai grinned as he wanted to guffaw, but his action irritated his wounds, especially the one on his abdomen which was caused by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple. Golden Blood spurt from various places all over his body.
Old Liu took a look at the sword wound and said, “Recuperate with peace of mind when you go back to Great Evolution Pass. It might be difficult to treat your wound.”
After all, it was an attack from someone in the Ninth Order. At this moment, there was a big cut that ran from Yang Kai’s shoulder to his abdomen. His flesh had rolled up, which revealed the golden bones in his body.
Horrifying Sword Qi still lingered around the cut and eroded his flesh.
Despite having incredible restorative abilities as a 70,000-metre Ancient Dragon, this wound wouldn’t just heal by itself like most others.
Beyond just the visible wound, there were a lot of hidden injuries as well. In fact, Old Liu was surprised that Yang Kai had survived the attack at all.
As they spoke, they arrived at Great Evolution Pass. The barrier opened up, and Old Liu set him down on the wall as the soldiers in the Pass watched them with admiration and respect. Old Liu said with a smile, “Get some rest and watch us kill all those bastards.”
Young people like Yang Kai had done a lot, so the older generation couldn’t fall behind on the battlefield.
After finishing his words, Old Liu returned to the fight.
Yang Kai didn’t protest. In fact, he had lost all combat strength now and would only be a burden if he insisted on returning to the battlefield.
It was a shame that he was unable to fight until the end of the war, but the joy of killing a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple soothed his dejectedness.
Noticing the admiring stares around him, Yang Kai wore a faint smile while warning himself to be low-profile instead of showing off. It was pure luck he was able to kill the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, not a result of his own hard work and effort. Nevertheless, he could hardly contain his excitement.
Soon, Yang Kai managed to figure out how the Black Ink Disciple died. The Black Ink Disciple really could only blame himself for being unlucky. He had made the wrong decision by targeting Yang Kai instead of just fleeing. In fact, he would have dealt significant damage had he just set his eyes on the Eighth-Order Masters instead.
Then, Yang Kai turned to look at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master beside him and smiled modestly. After a nod, he called out, “Senior Cha.”
The person seated beside him was none other than Cha Pu.
When the Division Commander saw Yang Kai’s expression, the corners of his brow twitched as he muttered, “Just laugh to your heart’s content if you want.”
While Yang Kai was still drowned in the joy of killing a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, this Division Commander was understandably frustrated.
This couldn’t be helped, as he had hardly participated in this final battle.
As a veteran Eighth-Order Master, he should have been charging around the battlefield and slaughtering the enemy instead of nursing his wounds inside Great Evolution Pass.
However, there was nothing he could do. Just like Yang Kai, he had lost the strength to fight.
Previously, when the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters simultaneously used the Evil Purging Divine Spears, he had done the same. However, he didn’t manage to achieve anything because his opponent was the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple.
At that time, Cha Pu thought that the other party was unusually powerful as the latter was able to dodge the Evil Purging Divine Spear, but he didn’t read too much into it. It wasn’t until the other party revealed his Ninth-Order aura that Cha Pu realised why he felt a sense of incongruity.
Fortunately, the Black Ink Disciple’s target was the Old Ancestor, so the moment he flared up, his attack was aimed at the Old Ancestor. Despite that, Cha Pu was still wounded and almost lost his life.
It was thanks to Yang Kai who arrived just in time and saved him from the calamity before sending him back to Great Evolution Pass that he was still alive.
After that, to launch a sneak attack on Che Kong, Cha Pu forcefully suppressed his injuries and made a move. Unfortunately, this exasperated his wounds and he was forced to withdraw. After the enemy was killed by Yang Kai, Cha Pu could only drag himself back to Great Evolution Pass and recuperate.
In other words, he hadn’t killed a single Territory Lord in the entire battle.
He was one of the most powerful and experienced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had made tremendous contributions in the previous wars; however, things just didn’t go well for him this time.
It wouldn’t have mattered if there was no comparison, but after Yang Kai made such huge contributions, it was expected that Cha Pu was frustrated. He would rather have been killed on the battlefield than been forced to sit idly here and watch.
“Senior Cha…”
“Don’t!”
Yang Kai was rendered speechless.
It seemed that Cha Pu was in a terrible mood. Yang Kai initially wanted to ask him about his injury, but he could only keep his mouth shut now.
Yang Kai then turned his head and saw that the Black Ink Clansmen were thoroughly routed now. All the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords were running for their lives and wherever the Old Ancestor went, she slaughtered all the enemies around her. Even the Territory Lords were dying at a steady rate.
There was no doubt that the Humans had won the war.
The Old Ancestor was basically peerless as there were no more powerful enemies on the battlefield. None of the Territory Lords could survive once she set her eyes on them and within just a few breaths, she had managed to kill five of them.
The Human Race was victorious!
Now, they just had to mop up the rest. There were still about 300,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers, including a number of Territory Lords and Feudal Lords. Hence, it wouldn’t be easy to wipe them all out and it was likely that some of them would manage to flee.
It was difficult for the Humans to chase after them. After such a prolonged fight, while many Black Ink Clansmen had lost their lives, the Humans had suffered immense losses as well. Those who survived were all soaked in blood and thoroughly exhausted.
Now, the Humans could only seize the chance to kill as many enemies as possible.
Yang Kai saw Dawn, the Profound Wind Squad, several powerful Army Commanders, and a lot of other familiar faces.
However, Huang Si Niang was nowhere to be found. The Territory Lord who had dealt with her was missing as well. It wasn’t certain if he had been killed or had run away.
[Was her Soul Clone destroyed?]
Yang Kai couldn’t help but feel apologetic. In order to shake off the Territory Lord a while ago, he summoned Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone using her feather. However, the Soul Clone’s power was only equivalent to a peak Seventh-Order Master. She had done a great job holding that Territory Lord back, but it was expected that her Soul Clone would not have survived.
Yang Kai wondered if the destruction of the Soul Clone would have any impact on Huang Si Niang’s true body. It seemed he would have to head to the No-Return Pass and apologise to her when the dust settled.
After letting out a breath, he set himself at ease. It had taken the Humans a lot of effort to come to this point.
Countless millennia had passed with the Humans enduring hardship all this time, devising plans and seeking an opportunity to act. Today, they finally managed to completely uproot the Black Ink Clan from an entire Theatre.
After this great war, everything should come to an end on the Black Ink Battlefield. The soldiers from the Great Passes could return to the 3,000 Worlds. None of them had returned to their homes for far too long. Perhaps many of them had even forgotten about what the 3,000 Worlds looked like.
After pulling himself together, Yang Kai started examining himself. There was a big cut that ran from his shoulder to his abdomen. Sword Qi was seen swirling around the horrifying wound.
His Soul had been damaged as well. To kill Che Kong, Yang Kai clashed with the other party using his Divine Sense and injured himself. After that, the Black Ink Disciple’s slash exacerbated the injury in his Soul.
His Small Universe was affected as well. Upon examination, Yang Kai realised there was a terrifying crack above the sky in his Small Universe.
Yang Kai was horrified at the sight.
One had to know that there was a World Tree clone, which was more powerful than the Four Universe Pillars, in his Small Universe. With the World Tree clone’s protection, his Small Universe had always remained impenetrable with even attacks from Territory Lords not being able to shake it.
If not for the fact that he felt assured with the World Tree clone in possession, he wouldn’t have dared to raise so many living creatures in his Small Universe.
Nevertheless, one attack from the Black Ink Disciple left a gash running across the entire length of his Small Universe, manifesting itself as a huge crack in the sky. It went to show how devastating that slash was.
Yang Kai reckoned that if not for the World Tree clone’s presence, his Small Universe would have been cleaved in two.
The enemy’s slash injured Yang Kai’s body, Soul, and Small Universe all at once.
The average cultivator would have died after suffering such an attack. Even an Eighth-Order Master would have been doomed.
However, this kind of injury didn’t really matter to Yang Kai.
There was no denying that his body was horribly wounded, but as long as he could get rid of the Sword Qi gnashing at his flesh, his Dragon Vein would eventually restore the rest of the damage.
As for his Soul, Yang Kai didn’t even bother thinking about it, for the Soul Warming Lotus was already beginning to ease his pain and mend the damage.
As for the huge crack in the Small Universe, it was already closing slowly.
The World Tree clone was extremely powerful. The reason Yang Kai’s Small Universe was broken was that he wasn’t strong enough; there was no problem with the clone.
With the clone’s presence, it was just a matter of time before the crack healed.
It could be said that these injuries, which would be fatal to any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, didn’t matter to Yang Kai.
After he was done with the examination, he realised that he just had to get rid of the Sword Qi and the damage would heal on its own.
Then, he gave it a try and became dejected, for he realised that he was unable to get rid of the powerful Sword Qi on his own.
Now, he couldn’t even restore his body. Left with no choice, he could only wait for the Old Ancestor’s return so he could ask for her help.
At the thought of this, Yang Kai stopped trying and just sat on the wall and watched the unfolding battle.
Noticing his movement, Cha Pu turned around and saw Yang Kai looking all battered. His flesh had rolled up, and his Golden Blood continued to leak out of his wound. However, he still stared fixedly at the battlefield as though he was just bored.
Cha Pu felt speechless as he wondered why this Brat was still in the mood to watch the fight instead of recuperating.
A dilapidated Warship moved across the battlefield and entered Great Evolution Pass. A figure jumped out of the Warship and directly landed on the wall. Then, he brusquely sat down beside Yang Kai and panted.
He looked just as battered as Yang Kai.
However, he flashed a smile at Yang Kai and teased, “You look terrible, Brother Yang. Are you alright?”
Despite his caring tone, Yang Kai could see the smugness behind his gaze.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai soon realised why the other party behaved in such a way, so he replied with a smile, “I’m fine. The injury doesn’t matter. You look badly wounded as well, so you’d better focus on recuperating now, Brother Chai.”
The person was none other than Chai Fang, Squad Leader of the Old Turtles.
The Warship that had returned from the battlefield belonged to the Old Turtle Squad.
The Old Turtles’ Warship was extremely robust, and all the members had specially cultivated defensive Secret Techniques. Usually, they had enough stamina to last for the entire war.
However, in order to hold down a Territory Lord previously, they activated a powerful barrier on the Warship and entrapped the enemy. In that area of sealed void, they engaged in a life-and-death battle with the Territory Lord.
By the time that battle ended, the Old Turtles had suffered immense damage. Their Warship was almost destroyed, so they had no choice but to leave the battlefield.
In fact, many Human soldiers had retreated from the battlefield as they were no longer able to fight. If they insisted on staying on the battlefield, they wouldn’t be useful at all and instead would be a burden.
Even though Chai Fang was severely wounded, he was energetic. Hearing Yang Kai’s words, he waved his hand, “I’m fine. This kind of injury doesn’t matter.”
Perhaps his movement had irritated his wounds though, so blood started leaking out of his wounds again. As a result, his face turned pale and his aura weakened.
Yang Kai and Cha Pu glanced at him, speechless.
Chai Fang coughed and hurriedly activated his power to seal the wounds. Pretending to be nonchalant, he remarked, “The Territory Lord was indeed powerful. It’s hard to heal these wounds, so I guess it’ll take me a long time to recuperate.”
While Yang Kai remained silent, Cha Pu didn’t bother to respond to him.
Chai Fang went on to say, “There were originally around 80 Territory Lords in Great Evolution Theatre, but after this war, only a small number of them will be able to escape alive. I hope the Old Ancestor and the others can kill them all. If any one of them survives, it will be troublesome for us in the future.”
Yang Kai grunted, “You have a point.”
Chai Fang added, “However, the Eighth-Order Division Commanders have to be careful when chasing after them. Even though the Territory Lords are less powerful than our Eighth-Order Masters, they’re not easy to deal with. This Chai’s Squad suffered tremendous losses this time.” He sighed.
Cha Pu was annoyed at the fact that Chai Fang kept mentioning the Territory Lords, so he glared at him and snapped, “What do you want to say?”
Chai Fang was rendered speechless. The reason he came all the way here despite being injured was that he wanted to hear some compliments; however, Yang Kai and Cha Pu were like two logs and they didn’t even bother with him.
Therefore, he decided to stop beating around the bush. He winked at Yang Kai and asked, “Did you see me killing a Territory Lord earlier, Brother Yang?”
Cha Pu was growing increasingly frustrated at the fact that Chai Fang was so blatantly fishing for compliments.
He knew that there was a reason why this brat came all the way here to have a chat with them instead of recuperating. [So, he’s trying to show off here!]
Of course, it couldn’t really be considered bragging. As a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he had indeed pulled off a magnificent feat by killing a Territory Lord. Although it was the Old Ancestor who had crippled the Territory Lord at the end, Chai Fang was the one who delivered the killing blow.
Usually, Cha Pu would’ve praised him and given him some words of encouragement. Nevertheless, he was in a terrible mood, so he couldn’t bear to see anyone bragging in front of him and directly said, “Yang Kai also killed a Territory Lord. A guy named Che Kong.”
An unfazed Chai Fang batted his eyes, “Isn’t it normal that he managed to kill a Territory Lord? It’s not like it’s the first time he did so.”
All the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass knew that Yang Kai was an anomaly whose power couldn’t be gauged by his Order.
Chai Fang didn’t intend to compare himself with Yang Kai. The fact that Yang Kai had killed a Territory Lord wouldn’t water down his joy of pulling off the same feat.
Cha Pu let out a grumble. He wasn’t willing to shatter the other party’s confidence, but he was upset at how smug Chai Fang looked, so in a muffled voice, he said, “He also killed the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with one punch.”
Hearing that, Chai Fang widened his eyes in disbelief and dazedly stared at Cha Pu as though he was trying to find out if the other party was pulling his leg.
Chai Fang wasn’t aware of this fact. When the Royal Lord and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple were killed, he and the rest of the Old Turtles were still battling against the Territory Lord in a sealed space, so he had no idea about what was going on in the outside world.
It wasn’t until the Old Ancestor made a move and injured the Territory Lord that Chai Fang seized the chance to kill the enemy. Only then did the sealed space fully open up.
Cha Pu ignored him as he didn’t bother to explain anything. Regardless of whether Chai Fang believed him or not, there were a lot of eyewitnesses to prove his claim.
It was then that Chai Fang turned to look at Yang Kai and gulped, “Brother Yang, did you… did you really kill the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple?”
The Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple’s aura could no longer be felt on the battlefield, so Chai Fang thought that the Old Ancestor had killed him. If Cha Pu wasn’t lying though, the truth of the matter was far more shocking.
Yang Kai smiled modestly, “I was just lucky. The Old Ancestor had already brought him up to the gates of death, all I did was push him in.”
Since Yang Kai had acknowledged it, there was no denying it was indeed the truth. He wouldn’t have taken the credit if he hadn’t made such a contribution.
Chai Fang fell into a dazed state. Was it possible that Yang Kai had killed a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with a punch?
Even though Yang Kai was indeed an outlier and the Black Ink Disciple had been wounded by the Old Ancestor, the enemy was still a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Chai Fang placed his hand on his forehead as he felt dizzy all of a sudden.
Beside him, Cha Pu snorted. Chai Fang shouldn’t have bragged about his achievement in front of Yang Kai, it was the epitome of showing off meagre skill before a Master.
With that said, he understood Chai Fang’s feelings. It wasn’t news anymore that Yang Kai had killed quite a number of Territory Lords despite being a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, so it was pointless for him to brag about such achievements. It seemed that Chai Fang just wanted to get Yang Kai to acknowledge his win this time.
However, this usually tremendous contribution paled when compared to the fact that Yang Kai had managed to punch a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple to death.
All of a sudden, Chai Fang turned to look at Cha Pu and asked caringly, “You’re badly wounded as well, Senior Cha. How many Territory Lords did you kill?”
He didn’t intend to irritate Cha Pu, it was simply meant to be a random question.
However, the moment these words were spoken, Cha Pu’s eyes went bloodshot as he landed a kick on the braggart and yelled, “Scram!”
An unsuspecting Chai Fang was sent flying away. While in mid-air, he groaned in pain as blood spurted from his wounds.
Yang Kai almost failed to stifle his laughter.
Cha Pu glowered at him before straightening up and turning around.
[Damn it! I can’t stay in this place anymore! These little brats are just too full of themselves! Both of them had killed Territory Lords and Yang Boy even executed a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple! As an Eighth-Order Master, I haven’t made any contributions so far! I can’t let this stand!]
The next moment, he roared and charged towards the battlefield despite being injured while Yang Kai watched him leave in shock.
…
While it was peaceful in Great Evolution Pass, the chaos on the battlefield didn’t last long.
After Mo Zhao and the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple were killed, all the Black Ink Clansmen knew that the war was lost. The Humans would soon occupy the entire Great Evolution Theatre.
The surviving Territory Lords and Feudal Lords all attempted to run for their lives.
Nevertheless, the Eighth-Order Masters and the surviving Squads would never let them go. The battlefield, which was already vast to begin with, rapidly expanded.
Within just one hour, the void around the Royal City and Great Evolution Pass was cleared out. Only debris from Warships and the corpses of the Humans and Black Ink Clansmen floated about, an illustration of how brutal the war had been.
It would take the Human Masters some time to hunt down the remaining Black Ink Clansmen, so the matter couldn’t be resolved quickly.
Yang Kai had been recuperating on the wall for the past two days, and while the injuries to his Soul and Small Universe were on the mend, his flesh wounds had exacerbated instead of getting better because of the Black Ink Disciple’s Sword Qi.
This didn’t really bother him as he had a Dragon Vein, so although he wasn’t in peak condition, there were no powerful Black Ink Clansmen left, so he wasn’t required to fight.
Gradually, more and more Squads returned. Despite being soaked in blood, they all appeared energetic. It was apparent that they had made a lot of contributions.
When Yang Kai regained some strength two days later, he flew out towards the original battlefield and wandered around the wreckage and corpses. Soon, he found a dim-looking feather which belonged to Huang Si Niang.
As he examined the feather, he let out a sigh.
Just like what he had expected, Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone had been destroyed as this feather had lost all spirituality. The feather now looked tattered and had almost broken in half.
The power of Huang Si Niang’s Soul Clone was equivalent to a peak Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Although she could exert more power than others in the same relative Realm as a Divine Spirit, this was just a Soul Clone after all. Holding back a Territory Lord was already the best she could achieve.
Yang Kai had no idea what happened to the Territory Lord who dealt with her Soul Clone as, at that time, he was focused on fighting with Che Kong, so he couldn’t pay attention to other things.
After Che Kong was killed, Mo Zhao was subsequently felled. Following that, Yang Kai was attacked by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, so he didn’t have time to find out what happened to the Soul Clone.
Now, the Black Ink Clan had lost the war and the Eighth-Order Masters and the Old Ancestors had left to hunt down the surviving enemies. Even if those Territory Lords had survived for now, their fate was essentially sealed.
Yang Kai stored the feather and decided that he would pass it back to Huang Si Niang when he visited the No-Return Pass in the future.
He wondered if she would reprimand him. The Soul Clone hadn’t stayed with him for long before he summoned it to fight an enemy it couldn’t hope to defeat. It indeed wasn’t righteous of him to do so.
As he recalled Huang Si Niang’s temperament, he knew that he would inevitably be given a harsh lecture.
As some returned to Great Evolution Pass, others departed.
The ones leaving had initially remained in Great Evolution Pass to make use of the emplacements on the walls. Now that the Black Ink Clan had fled from the local battlefield, they no longer had to remain here. Therefore, many drove their Warships out to hunt down the enemies, leaving only several hundred people behind to guard the Great Pass.
Great Evolution Pass still needed to be guarded, so it wasn’t like all of them could just leave. After all, many people were still recuperating in the Inner Sanctum.
Many people also silently moved around the battlefield and collected the corpses of their fallen Brothers and Sisters.
Many of the Human soldiers who died in the war didn’t even leave behind a corpse, so it could be said that other than their names on the Monument of Heroes, there was nothing left to remember them by.
It was because of these Humans who were willing to sacrifice their lives that the survivors were finally able to occupy the entire Great Evolution Theatre.
The Humans had won this war, and the victory belonged to all the soldiers who had made contributions on the Black Ink Battlefield.
Yang Kai composed himself before sweeping a glance over this vast battlefield and letting out a sigh.
He hoped that there would be no more war on the Black Ink Battlefield after this, and the 3,000 Worlds would finally be able to enjoy eternal peace.