After returning from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai sealed the Territory Gate linking the Barren Territory and the No-Return Pass, the Territory Gate linking the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory, and the Territory Gate to the Shattered Heaven.
After sealing those three Territory Gates, the Black Ink Clan Army left in the 3,000 Worlds would be like turtles hiding in their shells.
Even though the Masters of the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had the ability to forcefully break these seals, Yang Kai was certain that with his knowledge of Mo Na Ye, he wouldn’t bother.
That was because the Black Ink Clan were lucky enough to be able to save most of their main forces. As for the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army left on the frontlines, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t do anything to save them.
Meanwhile, Mo Na Ye didn’t intend to, nor could he afford to care about the deaths of those left on the battlefield, so he naturally didn’t have to waste time and effort to break the seals on the Territory Gates.
At the same time, large battles had broken out on each frontline battlefield.
Like Mi Jing Lun had guessed, the six Ninth-Order Masters overseeing their battlefields had sensed the change on their enemy’s side; after all, the commotion from all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, Territory Lords, and Feudal Lords evacuating wasn’t small. It was impossible for such Masters to leave without a trace, especially when both Armies were at war.
When the Ninth-Order Masters noticed this change, they immediately led their respective Armies to launch a probing attack. Soon, they discovered that the enemy they had been fighting for many years suddenly lost a large deal of their more powerful combatants; all the Pseudo-Royal Lords were gone.
Although the Ninth-Order Masters had no idea what happened to the Black Ink Clan, they wouldn’t give up such a good opportunity; therefore, the six battlefields with Ninth-Order Masters in command launched all out assaults and slaughtered large portions of the Black Ink Clan Armies.
However, the other six Armies without Ninth-Order Masters, such as Shocking Thunder and Burning Moon, didn’t have such keen senses.
Furthermore, the Pseudo-Royal Lords had planned all kinds of misleading tricks before evacuating. They had ordered the Black Ink Clan Army to show aggressive behaviour from afar so that the Humans wouldn’t dare to act recklessly.
The only exception was the battlefield where the Azure Dawn Army was stationed. A war broke out quickly because the Red Flame Army, that had fully reclaimed E-5 Territory, came to help after a short period of recuperation.
The two Armies working together greatly increased the Human Race’s combat power. Since the Red Flame Army had just won a great battle, they weren’t afraid when facing the Black Ink Clan.
They originally thought it would be a fierce struggle between two evenly matched opponents, but when they began fighting, the Humans discovered that the Black Ink Clan’s resistance was hollow and weak. The superiors of both Armies quickly discovered that there weren’t many Masters from the Black Ink Clan fighting on the battlefield.
Zuo Qiu Yang Hua was also a quick thinker and soon realised the most important factor of this situation. This was the aftermath of the battle led by Yang Kai in E-5 Territory.
If this was the situation here, it should be the same on the other battlefields. So, he immediately sent messengers to those battlefields.
Before the news from the Supreme Headquarters arrived, Shocking Thunder, Burning Moon, and the other Armies had already received intelligence updates from Zuo Qiu Yang Hua.
All the Human Race Armies quickly began attacking. Since the Black Ink Clan couldn’t withstand this fierce assault, they were swiftly torn apart and routed. The war had barely begun, yet many Black Ink Clansmen were already escaping through the Territory Gates with Human soldiers in hot pursuit.
Several months later, a Black Ink Clan Army remnant, led by a Territory Lord, was frantically fleeing in the direction of the No-Return Pass.
This Army had tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen, which was no small number. There used to be even more of them, including two other Territory Lords, but the Humans had caught up to them at some point, killing many of them; hence, they were all that remained.
Before them was the Territory Gate leading to the Shattered Heaven. Once they passed through it, they would be able to pass through the Shattered Heaven to the Barren Territory before entering the No-Return Pass. That way, they could finally escape from the Humans’ chasing them.
Having escaped death several times already, this Black Ink Clan Army was feeling overwhelmed, and after months, they finally arrived at this place. The tired Black Ink Clansmen finally saw a ray of hope.
When they looked at the Territory Gate from afar, the leading Territory Lord suddenly became solemn as he vaguely felt like there seemed to be something wrong with it.
Usually, there should be a spiralling whirlpool where the Territory Gate was situated, but at this moment, that Territory Gate looked like the surface of a frozen lake.
Before he could figure out what had happened, he heard a carefree voice beside his ear. The voice wasn’t loud, but it sounded like a thunderclap to the Territory Lord.
“Another batch has arrived!”
“Who!?” The Territory Lord bellowed. The rest of the Black Ink Clan soldiers were also shocked.
Once the Territory Lord finished speaking, he finally saw the face of the person speaking. That person was openly sitting not far from the Territory Gate, and though he didn’t look conspicuous, he was by no means a person who could be easily ignored. At this moment, he had a bored look on his face while looking at the newly arrived guests.
The Territory Lord couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t see this person earlier, but when he did finally see the person’s face, he understood everything.
The difference in strength between them was too large. If this person was deliberately hiding just now, how could the Territory Lord possibly notice him?
[Yang Kai! The killing star!]
Instantly, the Territory Lord felt his blood run cold, and his head felt like it was about to explode.
“Run!” The Territory Lord only managed to scream one word before he felt pain all over his body, followed by his vitality draining away.
Beside the Territory Gate, Yang Kai opened his hand and waved it in the direction of the defeated Army. Space Principles surged around him, and the local space instantly became a killing ground filled by Void Cracks.
Tens of thousands of Black Ink Clansmen didn’t even get the chance to make a sound before they were wiped out. Only the Territory Lord was able to withstand a little while longer before he too followed the others.
Meanwhile, the Void Cracks that had sliced through the remnant Army didn’t disappear immediately but continued to expand. Then, like huge mouths, they completely devoured the broken limbs, and even the Black Ink Strength left over by the fallen.
When Yang Kai clenched his fist, the Void Cracks faded away and the space stilled, as if nothing had happened.
Even Yang Kai’s figure was gradually fading before completely disappearing.
After he sealed the three Territory Gates, he decided to stand guard here because he had expected today’s scene.
Since all the Pseudo-Royal Lords and a large group of Territory Lords and Feudal Lords from the frontlines had retreated to the No-Return Pass, the rest of the Black Ink Clan soldiers on the battlefields couldn’t defeat the Human Race. However, there were huge amounts of Black Ink Clansmen on every battlefield, and without him heading over to seal the Territory Gates, it would be difficult for the Humans to wipe out all the remnants like the Red Flame Army had. The 3,000 Worlds was a vast place with numerous Great Territories, so once the Black Ink Clan Army fled, the Humans would have a hard time exterminating all of them.
So, Yang Kai decided to stay here and wait for the Black Ink Clan Army to fall into his trap.
During these past months, Yang Kai had killed over a dozen groups of Black Ink Clansmen that escaped all the way here. There weren’t any specific number of Black Ink Clansmen in each remnant Army, as some had barely a few thousand, while some had over a million. Yang Kai cleverly used his Space Secret Techniques to kill the enemies without being noticed and without leaving any traces behind.
Half a day later, a stream of light with an imposing aura suddenly swept in from afar. It came in very quickly but suddenly stopped and froze before the Territory Gate.
The light then dispersed and revealed a heroic figure.
The man first glanced at the blocked Territory Gate in confusion, showing a look of surprise, then turned to look at Yang Kai’s hiding place, and nodded lightly, “Junior Brother Yang!”
Yang Kai appeared, stood up and saluted, “Senior Brother Wu!”
The person who came was Wu Qing.
This surprised Yang Kai, but after thinking about it, he realized that Wu Qing was obviously aware that the defeated Black Ink Clan soldiers would try to escape to the No-Return Pass, so he came straight here for the same reason Yang Kai was standing guard over this place. He too had the idea to intercept and kill those defeated remnants when they reached here.
As their eyes met, and a rare smile appeared on Wu Qing’s serious face, “It seems that Junior Brother has already dealt with things. I worried too much.”
He had not had much contact with Yang Kai. Even when he and Xiao Xiao were holding down the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, Yang Kai had only visited twice, so they were not too familiar with each other.
But that did not hinder his admiration for Yang Kai. During the years when he and Xiao Xiao were suppressing the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, he heard Xiao Xiao lament more than once that Yang Kai could not break through to the Ninth Order. Xiao Xiao also clearly said that if Yang Kai could be promoted to the Ninth Order, his future achievements would be greater than any Ninth Order in the history of the Human Race.
Wu Qing was initially doubtful about this, but after receiving the battle report from E-5 Territory and the various subsequent reactions from the Black Ink Clan, he finally understood why Xiao Xiao valued Yang Kai so much.
Such a Junior was indeed not comparable to ordinary Ninth-Order Masters. Even if he himself broke through to the Ninth Order thousands of years earlier than Yang Kai, Wu Qing thought that he would never be Yang Kai’s opponent.
While he was deep in thought, Yang Kai smiled and said, “I just returned from the No-Return Pass, so it was more a matter of convenience.”
“You went to the No-Return Pass?” Wu Qing was stunned. Although he received the battle report from E-5 Territory, it did not mention Yang Kai’s subsequent whereabouts.
“I went to have a nice chat with Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu.”
Wu Qing remained silent, knowing that Yang Kai visiting the No-Return Pass was about more than just chatting with the two Royal Lords. The current changes in the war in the 3,000 Worlds may not have only been affected by the decisive win in E-5 Territory, but also by Yang Kai’s follow-up actions. Something was done at the No-Return Pass that put even more pressure on the Black Ink Clan’s side.
Wu Qing didn’t ask too much and simply nodded, “Good, the Black Ink Clan Army is fleeing everywhere from the battlefield. Junior Brother is equipped with Space Secret Techniques, which is more suitable for dealing with this situation. Why don’t you let me take over here while you move about freely?”
“I was thinking the same,” Yang Kai responded happily. He was originally planning to wait for some other Human Squad or group to arrive so he could use them to contact the other Ninth-Order Masters, but now he didn’t need to follow such a circuitous place. Wu Qing ran over by himself, which saved a lot of trouble.
A veteran Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master sitting here would be more than enough to deal with any routed Black Ink Clan Army, so Yang Kai could leave this place to Wu Qing without worry.
What Wu Qing said was right; Yang Kai had Space Secret Techniques so he had a greater advantage when it came to hunting down the scattered Black Ink Clan soldiers. If the two swapped places, their abilities could be better utilized.
There was nothing more to explain, so after chatting with Wu Qing for a bit, Yang Kai departed.
All the frontlines had achieved a great victory. Everyone was in high spirits when the news of the Armies defeating the Black Ink Clan travelled back to the Human Race’s rear camps.
Since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race was forced to evacuate and many were forced to abandon their homelands for High Heaven Territory, giving up the place of their birth and the foundation laid by their ancestors.
To the Humans, that was a painful and humiliating incident.
But before they could recover from their pain and humiliation, they were met with a huge war to decide the survival of the Human Race. The Humans were trapped in the dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields and were constantly at war with the Black Ink Clan for thousands of years.
During all that time, all Humans endured great regret and humiliation while accumulating their strength.
A few hundred years ago, the Universe Furnace suddenly appeared, breaking the stalemate between the two Races and causing an all-out war to erupt. Relying on the gains they achieved in the Universe Furnace, the Humans were able to achieve a massive victory and subsequently reclaimed numerous lost lands.
However, when the Black Ink Clan Army began retaliating in full, the war reached a stalemate again. No one knew how long the war would last or if they could live to see who achieved the final victory.
No one had expected that victory would arrive so unexpectedly!
One after another, the Supreme Headquarters made announcements filled with good news. When the ones trapped and unable to battle saw the number of enemies killed and the progress of reclaiming their lost land, they felt like they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
In just a few short months, the 12 Human Race Armies had completely defeated the enemy, all but wiping out the Black Ink Clan in the 3,000 Worlds.
The Humans rejoiced!
After another half a year, there were no longer large-scale battles and the 12 Human Race Armies dispersed into Divisions that scoured the Great Territories, hunting down and killing any remnants of the Black Ink Clan.
Now, the Humans had finally fully reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, which had been in the Black Ink Clan’s hands for thousands of years.
Throughout all of this, there was one name that all Humans would remember in particular, one name that was key to the Human Race’s re-conquest of the 3,000 World.
Yang Kai! A Great Emperor of the Star Boundary, Sect Master of High Heaven Palace, and one of the new generation of Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
After using various channels to get the latest news, the Humans finally understood why the war ended so quickly.
It was because Yang Kai was a huge threat to the Pseudo-Royal Lords, and his amazing Space Secret Techniques deterred the Black Ink Clan, forcing them to recall all the Pseudo-Royal Lords to the No-Return Pass.
Without the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Black Ink Clan Armies were like tigers without teeth and could easily be defeated.
Therefore, during this period, one name was spoken of everywhere Humans lived…
At the same time, outside the Supreme Headquarters’ Universe Fragment, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun were standing side by side. The latter was puzzled because he didn’t know why Yang Kai was trying to be mysterious by dragging him out here.
After parting ways with Wu Qing, Yang Kai had a fruitful journey as he travelled about while killing any Black Ink Clansmen he found along the way. However, the Black Ink Clan soldiers were scattered throughout all the Great Territories, and with the current situation, it would be hard to find them all because they would be in hiding. Since Yang Kai couldn’t do much about it alone, he decided to hand this matter over to the 12 Armies. They had separated into individual Divisions and were now sweeping through the Great Territories, wiping out any remnants of the Black Ink Clan who were in hiding.
Yang Kai believed that the Black Ink Clansmen left in the 3,000 Worlds would be entirely annihilated in a matter of a few years. Only then would the 3,000 Worlds be considered fully reclaimed.
Of course, reclaiming the 3,000 Worlds only had a symbolic significance to the Humans because the current 3,000 Worlds was a barren land with nothing but destroyed Universe Worlds and broken Universe Fragments floating about the void.
Therefore, even if the Humans had fully reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, those who left their homelands still couldn’t return to them. It could be said that this was an extremely sad situation, but nothing could be done about it.
As such, Yang Kai didn’t waste any more time searching for remnants of the Black Ink Clan and instead returned to the Supreme Headquarters to find Mi Jing Lun.
He had gathered quite a lot of things and it was now time to share them.
“Junior Brother, what are we doing here?” Mi Jing Lun couldn’t help but ask.
Yang Kai said dismissively, “Calm down, Senior Brother. I have a surprise for you.”
While saying so, Yang Kai reached into his robes and took out a sphere he had shrunk using his Space-Time River before throwing it out.
Feeling confused, Mi Jing Lun looked upwards and saw the small Space-Time River was filled with dense Dao Strengths. Even as a Ninth-Order Master, he couldn’t help but feel astonished.
He sensed something special about the Space-Time River; also, he knew that although they were both Ninth-Order Masters, Yang Kai’s attainment in the various Grand Daos was much higher and more numerous than his own achievements.
The Space-Time River was spinning like a ball of loose thread, and it would expand a little with every turn. As time passed, it expanded to become something majestic-looking.
In just a short moment, a huge object appeared in Mi Jing Lun’s sight, thoroughly shocking him.
He had realised what it was when it had just begun taking form, but he wasn’t sure until he finally saw the full, majestic, nearly intact Great Pass!
Yang Kai raised his hand and summoned back his Space-Time River, returning the Dao Strengths back to his body. Then, he turned to look at Mi Jing Lun, “Senior Brother, how about using this as the future Supreme Headquarters?”
While gazing at Yang Kai with mixed emotions, Mi Jing Lun nodded, “Good idea!”
He grabbed Yang Kai’s arms and ushered, “Come. Take a look with me.”
Side by side, the two strode towards the majestically-standing Great Pass, and when they arrived at the entrance, they looked up at the worn characters engraved there and fell silent.
This Great Pass used to be a critical weapon in the war against the Black Ink Clan. For hundreds of thousands of years, legions of Humans had shed blood in and around this Great Pass. The Humans managed to keep the Black Ink Clan trapped in the Black Ink Battlefield in large part thanks to these Great Passes.
The void was silent, but when they arrived before the Great Pass, the two felt like they could still hear the sounds of the brutal wars fought here long ago. They were the sounds of Human soldiers fighting against the Black Ink Clan, along with sounds of the last moments of their lives.
This Great Pass used to stand majestically on the Black Ink Battlefield, like all other Great Passes. It had also previously accompanied the Human Race Army on its crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. However, the Humans were ultimately defeated and forced to abandon this Great Pass outside the No-Return Pass.
Having fallen into the hands of the enemy, the Black Ink Clan naturally wouldn’t cherish this weapon. Although the Great Pass was mostly intact, the Inner Sanctum was a wreck, and there were all kinds of traces left behind from the Black Ink Clan removing their Black Ink Nests.
Two figures walked around the Great Pass and soon arrived before a huge monument. Every Great Pass possessed a Monument of Heroes which recorded the names and origins of every soldier that died in battle there.
This monument was also the only trace their Ancestors left in this world because, during the battles, most of the soldiers who died would perish without corpses.
After cleaning away the thick layer of dust on the Monument of Heroes, Mi Jing Lun sighed, “Junior Brother, you’re too thoughtful.”
With this Great Pass, the Supreme Headquarters could move around more easily and didn’t have to simply remain in one area. Moreover, Mi Jing Lun had become a Ninth-Order Master, and with the help of this Great Pass, he would be able to make even larger contributions in future wars.
“It’s a pity that I couldn’t bring more of them back,” Yang Kai shook his head. As the Black Ink Clan also knew about the power of these Great Passes, letting Yang Kai bring one of them away was already their limit. It was impossible for Mo Na Ye to agree to Yang Kai bringing more of them back.
Of course, it was not like Yang Kai could bring another one with him anyway.
“Do we still have Pure Yang Pass’ Core?” Yang Kai asked.
Every Great Pass had a Core, as operating such a huge Great Pass wasn’t easy. When the Great Evolution Army reclaimed the Great Evolution Pass, they couldn’t find the Core and it almost delayed the Human Race’s crusade. In the end, Yang Kai entered the Void Crack and found the Core.
Since Great Evolution Pass had a Core, Pure Yang Pass would have one too. According to what Yang Kai knew, the Humans brought all the remaining Cores with them when they withdrew to the Barren Territory.
So, Pure Yang Pass’ Core was most likely with them, but Yang Kai didn’t know who was guarding it.
“We still have it. All the Cores from the Great Passes are with Senior Sister Xiao Xiao. I’ll go and ask her for it later,” Mi Jing Lun replied, but then he suddenly felt frustrated, “It will take a lot of resources to repair this thing.”
When the Humans abandoned the No-Return Pass, they not only brought away the Cores, but also all the artifacts and Spirit Arrays they could take. Those that they couldn’t bring away were destroyed lest the Black Ink Clan used them.
Therefore, this Great Pass was now just an empty shell. If they wanted to restore it to its full potential, they would have to renovate it almost from scratch, which would cost an unfathomable amount of resources. Right now, the Humans biggest concern was the general lack of materials and resources.
In simpler terms, they were dirt poor!
Yang Kai laughed and took out a number of Space Rings, saying, “I forgot to tell you, Pure Yang Pass isn’t the only thing I brought back from the Black Ink Clan. There’s also this.”
Mi Jing Lun’s eyes lit up when he saw the Space Rings, “How much is there?”
Yang Kai replied, “About 100 million sets of Fifth-Order materials.”
When Mi Jing Lun heard that, he was so shocked that his face visibly twitched, “How could the Black Ink Clan have agreed to this?”
If Yang Kai hadn’t had such a remarkable battle record, Mi Jing Lun would have thought he had made some sort of secret deal with the Black Ink Clan; otherwise, he wouldn’t have gotten such a frightening amount.
“It wasn’t up to them whether they agreed or not,” while Yang Kai spoke, he threw the Space Rings over to Mi Jing Lun.
With so many resources on hand, the Humans had one less thing to worry about. Moreover, the 12 Armies should have looted quite a lot on their recent conquest; after all, the Black Ink Clan needed a lot of resources too, so every Black Ink Clan Army would carry many valuable materials on them, all of which belonged to the Humans.
But Mi Jing Lun still couldn’t believe that Yang Kai could snatch so much from the Black Ink Clan. It was clearly something that benefited the enemy, yet the Black Ink Clan still agreed to it, which showed how wary they were of Yang Kai.
At the Star Boundary’s High Heaven Palace.
A ray of light swept in from a distance, stopping after reaching a Grand Hall, revealing a toned figure. When the figure’s aura surged, it was obvious that the visitor was an Eighth-Order Master with strong cultivation.
Despite reaching the Eighth Order, Zhao Lun still didn’t dare to act arrogantly after arriving here because this was High Heaven Palace, the Sect of the Dao Lord.
He had previously visited High Heaven Palace a few times because the Dao Lord had left behind several Sealed Words here. All disciples from the Void Dao Temple had trained in those Sealed Worlds and received rewarding results.
When Zhao Lun was still in the Emperor Realm, he already believed that the Dao Lord was very powerful, and the more his cultivation increased, the more he realized how unfathomable the Dao Lord was.
He came from the Void Dao Temple, had outstanding talent and aptitude, and was proficient in the Dao of Space, so he had made quite a lot of contributions on the battlefield. Also, he had previously led fellow soldiers into battle and even beheaded an enemy commander while facing millions of enemies.
He was also considered a well-known figure in the Profound Nether Army because, as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he was a powerhouse no matter which Army he was in. More importantly, he had directly ascended to the Seventh Order back then and was expected to become a Ninth Order Master in the future.
A month ago, he received a transfer order from the Supreme Headquarters, directing him to return to the Star Boundary’s High Heaven Palace immediately.
Despite not knowing what happened, since this was a direct order from the Supreme Headquarters, he wouldn’t dare to disobey. So, he dropped everything he was doing and immediately flew back.
Even so, he had a vague guess. Since this was an order from the Supreme Headquarters that involved High Heaven Palace, it must be related to the Dao Lord.
Since the battles at all frontlines were almost at their end and looking for the surviving Black Ink Clansmen was a tedious but not dangerous job, he didn’t mind being absent.
[I wonder why the Dao Lord summoned me. Maybe it’s something important…]
Zhao Lun felt excited inside and fixed up his clothes before entering the Grand Hall.
When he walked inside though, he immediately felt several pairs of eyes looking at him. He was surprised, but then burst out laughing as he realised that he wasn’t the only one who had received orders from the Supreme Headquarters.
“It’s Senior Brother Zhao Lun.”
“Senior Brother Zhao, over here!” Someone called him.
Looking in that direction, Zhao Lun saw a few familiar faces. He smiled and nodded before approaching them.
There were many people inside the Grand Hall, about 70 or 80 gathered into small groups while chatting with each other. Zhao Lun found some Fellow Brothers and Sisters he was familiar with and then noticed that all the people called here were disciples from the Void Dao Temple. Also, all of them were proficient in the Dao of Space.
Not only them, but there were also some from the Phoenix Clan; however, unlike the enthusiastic atmosphere among the Fellow Disciples from the Void Dao Temple, the Phoenix Clansmen were quietly sitting upright to the side and seemed a little unapproachable.
All high-level Humans had more or less had some interaction with the Phoenix Clan, and even if they didn’t, they would have experience with other Divine Spirits. They knew Divine Spirits were mostly arrogant, especially ones like the Phoenix Clan, so they weren’t bothered by this.
The Void Dao Temple disciples had large age gaps because the flow of time in Yang Kai’s Small Universe was different from the outside world. With Yang Kai being a Ninth-Order Master and his attainments in the Dao of Time reaching new heights, the difference in flow rate was already 10:1. In other words, ten years inside his Small Universe was equivalent to one year outside.
As Yang Kai had brought them out from the Dao Temple in batches, the gap between some Fellow Disciples was measured in tens of thousands of years. If it were in an ordinary Sect, such an age gap would only appear between members several dozen generations apart. However, the Void Dao Temple wasn’t just any ordinary Sect.
Moreover, age didn’t matter because being born from the same place gave them a natural bond with one another, so all the disciples from the Void Dao Temple would help each other regardless of whether they were familiar with each other.
Frankly speaking, if the disciples that Yang Kai trained in the Void Dao Temple were all gathered together, their heritage wouldn’t be much different from any Cave Heaven or Paradise. Those disciples with the right to leave the Void Dao Temple and break through to the Open Heaven Realm were all very talented. Even the weakest of them would directly break through to the Fifth Order, and there were a fair number who directly broke through to the Seventh Order. Many years had passed, and even the weakest among them would at least have reached the Sixth Order, while there were thousands of Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters scattered among all them.
The group of cultivators proficient in the Dao of Space gathered together and exchanged pleasantries for a while before casually sitting down and beginning to discuss their opinions and ideas about the Dao of Space. There were some times when another person’s words could help someone better understand something and gain more benefits. Also, different kinds of thinking combined together would definitely yield outstanding results.
The Dao of Space was renowned for being difficult to cultivate. Before Yang Kai, there were only a few Humans in the entire 3,000 Worlds that could be considered proficient in it. Other than that, only the Phoenix Clan were lucky enough to have the Dao of Space be their Bloodline Talent, so they naturally had a high mastery over it once they reached a certain level of strength.
But after Yang Kai, many disciples from the Void Dao Temple made use of this Grand Dao to its fullest potential.
Naturally, it wasn’t only the Masters of the Dao of Space that the Void Dao Temple produced, there were also quite a lot of cultivators who were now proficient in the Dao of Time. No matter if it were the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, the cultivators cultivating them were all rare geniuses.
As time passed, disciples from the Dao Temple were constantly gathering, and it was not long before their numbers exceeded the 100 mark.
Among them, the weaker ones were in the Sixth Order, while the rest were in the Seventh Order or Eighth Order, but they were all proficient in the Dao of Space. Even without counting a dozen or so Phoenix Clan members, this was already a very shocking lineup.
They waited a few more days, and when about 150 people had assembled in the Grand Hall, no more arrived.
Although there were only 150 Void Dao Temple disciples gathered here, it didn’t mean that all the disciples cultivating the Dao of Space were present; only those with high attainments in the Dao of Space had been gathered. The other disciples that only knew the basics of the Dao of Space weren’t summoned.
Those who were gathered here had reached the Fourth Level of Mastery in the Dao of Space, Traversing a Familiar Path.
They chatted with each other for several days before two figures arrived and instantly attracted everyone’s attention.
Both of them were in the Eighth-Order and had solid auras. One of them was wearing full white and had a handsome face with a warm smile that even strangers would have a good impression of.
The other was in black robes and had a steady, mature temperament.
All the Dao Temple disciples became excited when they saw the man in black. Then, they began calling out ‘Eldest Senior Brother Miao’ and greeting him.
The Void Dao Temple disciples also greeted the man in white clothing, calling him “Senior Brother Li.”
The one being called Eldest Senior Brother Miao was naturally Miao Fei Ping.
Besides the Dao Lords’ three Legacy Disciples, Miao Fei Ping was the first disciple Yang Kai brought out of the Void World and the first disciple to break through to the Open Heaven Realm. Also, he was the first Temple Master of the Void Dao Temple. Even now, his statue was placed right below Yang Kai’s inside the Void Dao Temple, and his position as the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother was recognised by all.
Therefore, all the Dao Temple disciples, whether they had seen Miao Fei Ping in person or not, immediately recognised him.
As for the man in all white, he was a Master under the Star Boundary’s Martial Beast Great Emperor, Li Wu Yi.
Previously, there were only two people truly proficient in the Dao of Space in the Star Boundary, Li Wu Yi and Yang Kai. When they first met, Li Wu Yi’s attainments in the Dao of Space far exceeded Yang Kai’s, and he had previously mentored Yang Kai a lot in regards to the Grand Dao. Yang Kai benefited a lot from that advice.
Their relationship could be said to be both mentors and friends.
But with Yang Kai’s constant growth, his attainments in the Dao of Space gradually surpassed his Senior’s. Now, no matter whether it was Yang Kai’s cultivation or his attainments in the Dao of Space, both had surpassed Li Wu Yi by a wide margin.
However, Li Wu Yi wasn’t an ordinary man. Back then, he was titled the first Master below the Great Emperors in the Star Boundary, which showed his talent and strength. If the Star Boundary’s bottle hadn’t been full, he would have long become a Great Emperor himself.
Over the years, his cultivation had soared, and though his attainments in the Dao of Space weren’t as high as Yang Kai’s, he had already reached the peak of the Seventh Level and would soon break through to the Eighth Level.
During the thousands of years of war against the Black Ink Clan, numerous Humans had made names for themselves, and Li Wu Yi was one of them. The reason such figures weren’t more famous was simply because they were all outshined by Yang Kai.
In terms of attainments in the Dao of Space, besides the members of the Phoenix Clan, Li Wu Yi was now the first under Yang Kai. That was something even Yang Kai’s Eldest Legacy Disciple, Zhao Ye Bai, could not compare to. Of course, comparing their ages, Zhao Ye Bai was much younger than Li Wu Yi, and attainments in any Grand Dao usually required many years of accumulation, so this only made sense.
Therefore, when Li Wu Yi entered, even the noble Phoenix Clansmen nodded their heads in greeting. Li Wu Yi had previously visited the Phoenix Nest to discuss the Dao of Space with the Phoenix Clan, and he had earned respect from several Phoenix Clan Masters with his strong attainments.
Moreover, Li Wu Yi was quite handsome and had a noble bearing, and the Phoenix Clan had an innate flaw, they judged people by their appearance. Those with good looks had a natural advantage when interacting with the Phoenix Clan, which was something Yang Kai couldn’t win against Li Wu Yi. If it had been Li Wu Yi who went to the No-Return Pass back then, the Phoenix Clan might have seen him as a welcomed guest.
Many disciples from the Void Dao Temple had previously gotten advice from Li Wu Yi; after all, Yang Kai was like a Hidden Dragon who showed his tail but never his face, so it was always difficult to find him.
Li Wu Yi, on the other hand, would frequently return to the Star Boundary to rest and recover, and each time he did, the disciples from the Void Dao Temple enjoyed coming over to listen to his teachings and have discussions with him about the Dao of Space.
In the eyes of the disciples of the Void Dao Temple, while the Dao Lord would always be supreme, Senior Brother Li was a much more reliable teacher.
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Wu Yi and Miao Fei Ping stood before everyone.
Looking around, Li Wu Yi smiled, “Everyone here is an elite from the various Armies; also, you’re all from the Void Dao Temple and are proficient in the Dao of Space. We have gathered all of you, and our friends from the Phoenix Clan, here because of the Dao Lord’s orders. I am just serving as his messenger today.”
Meanwhile, Miao Fei Ping stood at the side with an expressionless face while secretly complaining, [It’s me who is the real messenger… You’re all proficient in the Dao of Space, while I’ve never cultivated it in my life… I stick out like a chicken among cranes…]
The reason Miao Fei Ping stood there was that he was the so-called ‘Eldest Senior Brother’ of the Void Dao Temple; after all, not all of the Dao Temple disciples knew Li Wu Yi because those who became Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Black Ink Battlefield hadn’t interacted nearly as much with the latter. Moreover, the Dao Temple disciples here all had high cultivation and were very talented, so they might be arrogant and needed the Eldest Senior Brother to keep them under control!
With his help, Li Wu Yi could get these Dao Temple disciples to listen to them.
Li Wu Yi continued, “All of you here were called back from the various Armies, so you might already have a slight understanding of the situation. To sum it up, the Black Ink Clan was cowed by your Dao Lord’s powerful deterrence in E-5 Territory! They have recalled all their Pseudo-Royal Lords to the No-Return Pass, leaving the rest defenceless. Our Armies have broken the enemy Armies and slaughtered many of their soldiers, so it is only a matter of time before we reclaim the 3,000 Worlds.”
The group of Dao Temple disciples below all had proud expressions. Since they were from the Void Dao Temple, they were destined to be bound to Yang Kai’s success and failures. The more powerful Yang Kai was, the prouder they were as Dao Temple disciples. Although the Dao Lord was always like a hidden Dragon who showed his tail but never his face and always seemed unreachable, it didn’t stop these disciples from respecting him.
Li Wu Yi changed the topic, “But don’t celebrate just yet. The 3,000 Worlds originally belonged to us Humans, but when the Black Ink Clan invaded our home thousands of years ago, they defeated us and forced us to flee. Numerous Families were forced to abandon their ancestral legacy and inheritance, which they had accumulated for tens of thousands of years. It naturally felt like they had let their ancestors down. At this moment, the Humans have only reclaimed what they had once lost.”
“Moreover, since all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, and many of the Feudal Lords and Territory Lords retreated, the Black Ink Clan hasn’t suffered any substantial damage despite losing so many soldiers. That was because those Masters were the ones that were truly difficult to defeat. The rest were all cannon fodder. Additionally, according to what your Dao Lord has reported, it might not be long before the Black Ink Clan has new Royal Lords, so the victory in the 3,000 Worlds is not the end, but merely a new beginning!”
Li Wu Yi paused for a moment before continuing, “Even though we have reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, there are still harder challenges and more difficulties for us to face, the first of which will be the No-Return Pass. The Human Race used to guard that place as it was the only entrance to the 3,000 Worlds, but now it has fallen into the Black Ink Clan’s hands. If we don’t take back the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan will eventually return someday. Even if we managed to take back the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan’s reign of terror still will not end. The Source, Mo, is being suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. That being is the origin of the Black Ink Clan’s invasion. The blood feud between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan is absolutely irreconcilable; so, how could we let the enemy have it easy while we suffer? Only by killing Mo can we finally rest at ease.”
Li Wu Yi’s words led the Dao Temple disciples to imagine all sorts of things. Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Senior Brother, did the Dao Lord gather us here because he wants to accumulate more strength and ambush the Black Ink Clan’s base?”
It wasn’t wrong for that person to think this way because everyone present, whether they were Dao Temple disciples or Phoenix Clan, were proficient in the Dao of Space. Except for Eldest Senior Brother Miao…
With so many people proficient in the Dao of Space gathered in one spot, they had a natural advantage when doing missions together, and the Black Ink Clan would definitely not see them coming.
While looking at that person, Li Wu Yi laughed and shook his head, “No, he didn’t…”
[This guy sure is imaginative. If we attacked the No-Return Pass with only these many people, it would be suicide.]
Li Wu Yi wore a serious expression while explaining, “Your Dao Lord said that after taking back the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race and Black Ink Clan would have a short period of peace. If we want to win the following battles though, we must act first and think of a way to take back the No-Return Pass before starting a crusade against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Only then do we stand a chance to prevail; however, without mentioning the journey to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, even heading to the No-Return Pass is already a long journey. If we move together as one Army, the journey to the No-Return Pass alone will take up a lot of time, and once the war begins, it will be impossible to end in a short period. Also, it will be a problem if we want to send reinforcements to the frontlines.”
After hearing this, the crowd nodded.
The 3,000 Worlds was expansive, and the Black Ink Battlefield was vast. Even with Seventh or Eighth-Order cultivation, the journey would still take a long while. Time was an essential factor during the war because the more time the Army wasted in transit, the more time the enemy had to prepare.
This was a problem that neither the Black Ink Clan nor Human Race could solve easily.
“That is why!” Li Wu Yi looked serious while speaking, “Your Dao Lord has suggested forming the Void Guard. First, we gather the elites proficient in the Dao of Space, all of you, and then we will use massive Space Arrays to pave a path from our home base to the battlefield in advance. That way, the Grand Army can save a lot of time travelling to the battlefield, and logistics and reinforcements can be moved to the frontlines at any time.”
When the crowd heard this, they finally understood why so many Dao Temple disciples and Phoenixes proficient in the Dao of Space were gathered here.
Indeed, if they succeeded in forming such a path with Space Arrays, the communication between the frontlines and the rear would become much more efficient. However, this was a mammoth task that would require a lot of resources.
On the other hand, even if they didn’t build such a pathway, they would still require a lot of resources every time they deployed their Armies, which the Humans couldn’t afford with their current heritage.
Since this idea came from the Dao Lord though, he must have a reason for forming the Void Guard. If they succeeded, the benefits must outweigh the losses. In the future, the Humans could use this corridor and secure a large advantage, whether it was the battle at the No-Return Pass or the following crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
None of the Open Heaven Realm Masters here were fools, so they understood that point and were secretly excited.
Zhao Lun cupped his fist and said, “Senior Brother, since we’re going to be the Void Guard, please give us our instructions on what we should do.”
The crowd nodded in agreement.
Li Wu Yi smiled and nodded, “The formation of the Void Guard has been submitted to and approved by the Supreme Headquarters, and your names have been recorded while you were en route. So, all of you are considered members of the Void Guard already.” Then, he turned to look at the Phoenixes, “That includes our friends from the Phoenix Clan as well.”
The Phoenixes, led by Huang Si Niang, all nodded.
Afterwards, Li Wu Yi became serious again and quickly said, “The Void Guard’s first mission is to look for structures to house the new Space Arrays. Fortunately, we already have such structures and won’t need to build them from scratch, all you need to do is look for them.”
“Senior Brother, you mean…” Zhao Lun had a vague guess, but he wasn’t sure.
Li Wu Yi explained, “The Universe Temples! Nearly every Great Territory has their own Universe Temple. When the Black Ink Clan occupied the 3,000 Worlds, a few of those Universe Temples were naturally destroyed, but most of them are still intact. So, your mission is to visit each Great Territory and move those scattered Universe Temples to the Star Boundary. We will repair those Universal Temples to use as the basis for the new Space Arrays.”
Once he finished, everyone understood.
A Universe Temple was indeed a good choice as a base. It was initially something left over from the Early Ancient Era and could allow one to cross a Great Territory rapidly. Cultivators had previously used the Universe Temples to move to the centre of Great Territories from their outer edge, halving travel time at least. But since the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, some of the Universe Temples were destroyed, and those that weren’t would have had their Arrays destroyed, rendering them unusable.
Letting the Void Guard search for those Universe Temples was the best choice because they were proficient in the Dao of Space, so they could move more quickly and thus save a great amount of time.
At that moment, Miao Fei Peng, who had been standing to the side without saying anything, came forward and took out a list of names before calling out the names, “Hua Tong.”
An Eighth-Order Master seated below responded by coming forward and cupping his fists, “Here!”
Miao Fei Ping took out a Universe Chart from his Small Universe and threw it at Hua Tong, “Follow the trail marked on the Universe Chart to the Great Territory and search for the Universe Temple there. Be quick!”
After receiving the Universe Chart, Hua Tong briefly checked and said, “Yes!”
Then, he swept away and soon disappeared into the distance.
Miao Fei Peng continued, “Zhao Lun!”
“Here!” Zhao Lun responded and came forward.
…
One after another, names were called out. The Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters moved alone while the Sixth-Order Masters acted in groups. Following the distribution of the Universe Charts prepared in advance, the disciples in the Grand Hall gradually left.
In the end, the dozens of Phoenixes also received their tasks and departed.
Soon, only Li Wu Yi and Miao Fei Ping were left in the Grand Hall.
Once the last Phoenixes left, Li Wu Yi said, “Junior Brother Miao, I’ll leave the rest to you. I’m leaving as well.”
He needed to search the Great Territories, too, quite a few of them.
Miao Fei Peng nodded, saying, “Senior Brother may rest assured.”
What followed was easy because he only needed to wait for his Junior Brothers and the Phoenix Clansmen to retrieve the Universe Temples. As for being a Void Guard, he was only included because he was the Dao Temple’s Eldest Senior Brother.
“By the way, do you know where the Dao Lord is currently?” Miao Fei Peng couldn’t help but ask.
He thought Yang Kai would be at High Heaven Palace, but after asking Head Manager Hua, he discovered that Yang Kai never returned.
Li Wu Yi frowned slightly before whispering, “I heard he and the other Ninth-Order Masters have gone to the Barren Territory, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
The whereabouts of the Ninth-Order Masters were still confidential, and Li Wu Yi only casually asked Mi Jing Lun about it when he received orders from the Supreme Headquarters to form the Void Guard.
After hearing that, Miao Fei Ping was shocked, “The Barren Territory, but that’s…”
Since it was a group of Ninth-Order Masters going there, their intentions were easy to guess. At that moment, Miao Fei Peng couldn’t help recalling many things and revealed a worried expression.
Chuckling, Li Wu Yi patted Miao Fei Ping’s shoulders, “You don’t have to worry about what the Ninth-Order Masters are doing. We just have to accomplish our own tasks. I’ll be off now.”
While saying so, he manipulated Space Principles and took one step forward. Then, his figure faded.
On the other hand, Miso Fei Ping stood in place and thought about something for a while before sighing.
As Li Wu Yi said, taking back the 3,000 Worlds didn’t mean the war had ended. This was only a new start, with the Humans having only taken back what they had lost to the Black Ink Clan. They still had a long way to go regarding ending the Black Ink Clan invasion!
At the Barren Territory, the battle was still ongoing.
This used to be a battlefield where four Giant Spirit Gods fought in pairs, and others found it hard to interfere with their violent battle; however at this moment, several figures were working together with Ah Da to surround and attack a Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Those figures were the Ninth-Order Masters led by Yang Kai.
There was Xiang Shan, Ou Yang Lie, Wei Jun Yang, Luo Ting He, Xiao Xiao, and even Wu Qing, who had been guarding the Shattered Heaven Territory Gate.
Since the war in the 3,000 Worlds had basically ended, the Human Race Armies were dispersed into Divisions to hunt down and eliminate the remnants of the Black Ink Clan; therefore, it was just a matter of time before they could reclaim their lost land.
Among the challenges the Humans now had to face, the first would be how they would retake the No-Return Pass.
If they wanted to recapture the No-Return Pass, the first issue they had to deal with was the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods in the Barren Territory. That was why Yang Kai immediately contacted the other Ninth-Order Masters after handing over Pure Yang Pass and the resources he took from the Black Ink Clan to Mi Jing Lun and came straight over to the Barren Territory to join the battle.
Every Giant Spirit God was exceedingly powerful. In terms of combat strength, each Giant Spirit God had power that exceeded Ninth-Order Masters and Royal Lords by a wide margin. Up until now, the Humans only had one successful attempt at killing a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which was back when the Black Ink Clan invaded the Barren Territory for the first time, and even that was only accomplished with assistance from Ah Er.
What’s more, back then, the Humans had many more top Masters. There were dozens of Ninth-Order Masters and the leaders of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, as well as many other powerful Divine Spirits.
Even with such a lineup, they had paid a huge price to kill that Black Ink Giant Spirit God, with several Ninth-Order Masters dying in the battle.
Although the Human Race had far more Eight-Order Masters now, there weren’t nearly as many Ninth-Order Masters; therefore, this battle wasn’t to kill the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Yang Kai only wanted to gauge how powerful a Black Ink Giant Spirit God was!
In the past, he wasn’t qualified to fight with such existences. Now that he was a Ninth-Order Master, he had the qualifications to do so. Being one of the current top combat forces, Yang Kai had to know the difference between his opponent’s strength and his own to plan for the future.
Dao Strength surged and the Space-Time River swirled as a figure flickered about. Even though they had Ah Da helping them distract the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, the several Ninth-Order Masters still weren’t at an advantage.
Their opponent’s attacks were extremely simple, but the raw strength behind them was more than enough to overcome any difference in skill or method. It could take on all the Ninth-Order Masters’ continuous attacks, but the Ninth-Order Masters couldn’t ignore a single one of its strikes.
Fortunately, every one of the Ninth-Order Masters present was a veteran of thousands of battles, which was why no one had been hurt yet.
All the new Ninth-Order Masters now experienced the pressure the Old Ancestors felt back then. Back then, Ah Da had not been around, so the Old Ancestors had to face such a being on their own. The Old Ancestors bravely fought that humongous thing, sacrificing themselves for the greater good.
Black Ink Strength surged again and Ou Yang Lie, who was closest to the front, was sent flying. His arms blocking the attack shook uncontrollably while a trace of fresh blood seeped out of the corner of his lips.
Even though he was sent flying, he managed to work with the other Ninth-Order Masters to contain the enemy.
Having noticed such a good opportunity, Yang Kai summoned the Great Sun and Moon Marks. A bright light was released, transforming into a Great Sun that enveloped the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The white light only appeared briefly before it was dispelled by dense Black ink Strength and vanishing without a trace.
This move did manage to injure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but it didn’t cause any substantial damage to it.
Without giving the enemy a chance to recover, Yang Kai stepped forward and arrived on top of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God. The next moment, he summoned the Azure Dragon Spear. While the Space-Time River swirled around the spear, Yang Kai’s figure also began spinning like a top.
A loud Dragon Roar sounded as Yang Kai merged with his spear, transforming into a bright beam of light and shooting down at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s forehead. Afterwards, black blood spurting out of the spot Yang Kai’s spear landed.
The Dao Strengths accumulated inside the Space-Time River increased the force of the spear attack to the extreme, creating a terrifying attack that would pierce a hole in the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s head if it didn’t react in time. Feeling the sharp pain, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared in anger before slapping its large palm on its head like it was swatting an annoying fly.
How could the group of Ninth-Order Masters let that happen, though? While the Dao Strengths gradually dispersed, several Secret Techniques were sent out, forming a kind of restraint that bound the Black ink Giant Spirit God’s raised arm. However, those restraints failed to work because its raised hand was still swinging at an unstoppable speed.
At that crucial moment, Ah Da suddenly made a move and lunged at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, grabbing its shoulder and locking it in place while letting the palm land on his own body like raindrops.
*Hong Hong Hong…*
The Universe shook and the Void split. Ah Da’s body trembled from the beating, and he couldn’t help but let go.
“Hou!” The Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared madly.
When the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God noticed this situation, it didn’t bother with its own enemy and quickly abandoned Ah Er before charging towards its companion.
Even though Ah Er wanted to stop it, he couldn’t react in time.
The next moment, the second Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods arrived on this part of the battlefield. The enormous creature came crashing over without any extra actions and sent Ah Da and his companions flying.
All the Ninth-Order Masters were sent tumbling under the violent attack, and each flew out in different directions. All of them felt helpless as they had no way of dealing with such a savage rescue method.
When they finally found their footing and looked over, they saw the two Black Ink Spirit Gods had taken the chance to escape towards the Territory Gate and even send Ah Da flying out on the way.
“Trying to escape?” Xiang Shan coldly snorted before chasing after them, followed by the rest of the Ninth-Order Masters.
Again, Yang Kai took one step forward and arrived before the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. When the second Black Ink Spirit God arrived earlier, he was sent flying out. Since his killing technique was interrupted halfway, his vitality was now messed up, and his complexion seemed pale.
When facing the two incoming humongous beings, Yang Kai didn’t hesitate to use his Dragon Transform to assume his 100,000-metre Dragon Form.
Even after transforming into his Dragon Form though, he was still incomparable in size to the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, which showed just how enormous these two were.
The Divine Dragon swept his tail and used his body to block the way, but the two opponents instantly broke through his blockade, sending the huge Dragon flying once more.
Once Yang Kai steadied himself, he saw that the two Black Ink Spirit Gods had arrived before the Territory Gate. One of them placed its hand on the Territory Gate and madly released its Black Ink Strength. Then, a slight crack appeared on the sealed Territory Gate.
As for the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God, it stood before its companion and took on all the Ninth-Order Master’s attacks. Meanwhile, Ah Da and Ah Er also attacked from both sides and began throwing punches and kicks at it, causing space to warp and tremble.
If ordinary Masters encountered such a violent storm of attacks, they would have been rendered a blood mist, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods weren’t ordinary by any definition. Even though it was in a disadvantageous state, it wasn’t life-threatening.
By the time Yang Kai arrived, the sealed Territory Gate already had a hole in it, and through it was a vague image of the No-Return Pass on the other side.
Right then, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods’ bodies quickly shrank. They ignored the attacks from all directions and entered the Territory Gate one after another.
On the other side, the No-Return Pass clearly felt the movement and Mo Na Ye and Mu Yu hurriedly led the many Black Ink Clan Masters over to help.
Ah Da and Ah Er’s bodies were also beginning to shrink, as they clearly wanted to chase after the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Though Giant Spirit Gods were mighty, they didn’t have high sentience, so they couldn’t stand the idea of letting their enemies run away, especially Ah Er, who had been fighting his opponent for thousands of years.
Flustered, Yang Kai dashed over and stopped them.
After some time persuading them, he managed to calm Ah Da and Ah Er down. He then turned around and looked through the swirling Territory Gate to stare at the many Black Ink Clansmen.
Mo Na Ye opened his mouth and briefly said something, and though Yang Kai couldn’t hear what he was saying, he knew without having to think about it that it was some sort of provocation.
Ignoring him, Yang Kai glanced at them momentarily before using Space Principles to re-seal the Territory Gate. Sealing the Territory Gate wasn’t much use, but it was better than not sealing it.
The battle ended just like that.
The ones participating in this fight were the strongest Masters from both sides, and the Humans had even sent out all the Ninth-Order Masters they could. Although they managed to force the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods back to the No-Return Pass, they didn’t achieve any substantial victory.
However, this experience was enough because Yang Kai never intended to do anything to the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods today. With the Human Race’s current strength, they couldn’t kill such a being, so forcing it to retreat was their only goal.
Now that all of the Black Ink Clan’s forces had gathered inside the No-Return Pass, the Humans would only have to deal with one target in the future, which made their goal even clearer.
But Ou Yang Lie felt discouraged and spoke up after a while, “How did the Old Ancestors manage to kill such a thing back then?”
Ou Yang Lie didn’t participate in the battle at the No-Return Pass either because he was separated from the Great Evolution Army back then while retreating. Many of the soldiers retreated to the No-Return Pass while Xiao Xiao covered for them back then, but some, like Ou Yang Lie, became remnants of the army, forced to hide on the Black Ink Battlefield. In the end, Yang Kai returned from deep within the Black Ink Battlefield, gathered them to attack the No-Return Pass, and killed their way into the Barren Territory.
It wasn’t strange that Ou Yang Lie would feel discouraged because after becoming a Ninth-Order Master, even if he wasn’t invincible, he was at least one of the strongest Humans alive. It wouldn’t be a problem for him to beat up a few Pseudo-Royal Lords, but after today’s battle with the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, he thought that being a Ninth-Order Master seemed like nothing.
Wu Qing said, “They were quite lucky back then. The Black Ink Clan had already decided to sacrifice that Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which is how they were able to take it down. What’s more, several Ninth-Order Masters died in that battle.”
“We still don’t have enough Ninth-Order Masters,” Xiang Shan frowned. At this point, the Humans only had eight Ninth-Order Masters that could be deployed, including Mi Jing Lun. Such a lineup of Ninth-Order Masters was nothing compared to the lineup from back then.
But it was already difficult for Humans to become Ninth-Order Masters, and it had taken over 100,000 years of accumulation to achieve the glorious lineup of over 100 Ninth-Order Old Ancestors on the Black Ink Battlefield. No one knew how long it would take for them to return to such glory.
The Human Race’s heritage had grown to become more powerful than before. Many talented Humans were born from the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World. Yang Kai’s Small Universe also helped. According to estimations, over 1,000 talented Humans advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm in the past few thousand years.
On average, one or two such talents would appear every ten years, and every one of them had a chance to become Ninth-Order Masters.
Before the appearance of the Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Humans would never have imagined having so many talented youths who could become Ninth-Order Masters. Any one of the Cave Heavens or Paradises would cherish such talents and use all their available resources to nurture them.
Now, 80% of those who directly advanced to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm had become Eighth-Order Masters, with the earliest batch of those talents having already reached the peak of the Eighth-Order.
It could be said that these rising stars represented the Human Race’s future. Once one of them became a Ninth-Order Master, the Humans would constantly have new Ninth-Order Masters appearing, with the promise of more in the near future. If that happened, it would only be a matter of time before the Humans surpassed their past glory, let alone restored it.
While the few current Ninth-Order Masters were reminiscing about the past, Yang Kai was coaxing Ah Da and Ah Er.
As they were previously about to chase after their enemy, they had shrunk their humongous bodies. Even though they still seemed as big as mountains, they were much smaller than they used to be.
Yang Kai had a kind expression as he looked at the two innocent Giant Spirit Gods, asking, “Do you understand? Don’t go anywhere and stay here. If the other side tries to open the gate, just beat them up and make them go back to where they came from.”
Ah Da and Ah Er looked at him dazedly and said nothing, causing the atmosphere to feel awkward.
Just as Yang Kai was about to repeat his words, Ah Da suddenly nodded and said, “Okay!”
Yang Kai felt relieved!
Ah Er added, “So annoying. Why do you keep repeating…”
[I’m afraid you won’t understand if I don’t!] Yang Kai rolled his eyes.
At that moment, Ah Da sat down and rubbed his belly, “I’m hungry.”
Ah Er nodded, “Hungry!”
Hearing that, Yang Kai felt his headache grow worse and gave Ah Da a sideways glance, not understanding what he was doing.
It was fine if Ah Er said he was hungry because he had been in the Barren Territory, fighting the Black Ink Giant Spirit God for thousands of years non-stop. After so many years of battle, he must have consumed a lot of energy, so it was reasonable for him to feel hungry.
But why the heck was Ah Da hungry? Ah Da had been asleep until Xiao Xiao woke him up a few years ago. He was the absolute epitome of laziness, sleeping until he was hungry and then finding something to eat then sleeping again.
While rubbing his forehead, Yang Kai told them, “Wait a moment while I find something for you to eat.”
The Giant Spirit God Clan fed on dead Universe Worlds, but there weren’t any suitable dead Universe Worlds in the 3,000 Worlds left. Many of the Great Territories here were already barren, and any Universe Worlds still present would have been corrupted with Black Ink Strength. To the Giant Spirit Gods, this was akin to spilling shit onto their food. How could they stand to eat something like that?
The only place where there might be dead Universe Worlds was the New Great Territory, which was now known as Myriad Monsters Territory.
There were quite a number of Universe Worlds there, and many of them hadn’t developed any vitality and had incomplete World Principles. Perhaps those Universe Worlds could help fill Ah Da and Ah Er’s stomachs.
After thinking about it, Yang Kai said, “Let me tell you this. The Black Ink Clan made a mess of the 3,000 Worlds and destroyed all the Universe Worlds, so it will be hard for you to find food in the future.”
Ah Da and Ah Er immediately became furious.
Yang Kai continued, “So, if you don’t want to feel hungry, you have to deal with the Black Ink Clan first! Once that’s done, I’ll bring you deep into the Black Ink Battlefield. In that place, there are countless Universe Worlds and you can eat however many you want to.”
The two Giant Spirit Gods were immediately motivated while Ah Da smacked his lips.
Meanwhile, Ah Er determinedly bellowed, “Kill Black Ink Clan!”
When Yang Kai heard that, he nodded delightedly, “Yes, kill Black Ink Clan. Smash every one of them!”
After exhorting them to guard this place and not let any Black Ink Clansmen come through the Territory Gate, Yang Ki finally finished his conversation with them, feeling only somewhat confident he got his point across.
On the other hand, the rest of the Ninth-Order Masters weren’t chatting; instead, they were quietly looking at him from the side.
When Yang Kai flew over, he saw strange expressions on their faces.
Xiao Xiao chuckled, “The way you were acting just now seemed like a bad guy trying to trick children with candied fruits.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai glared at her, “Do you think everyone is the same as you?”
Even now, he could still remember when he was at Yin-Yang Pass and bumped into the heavily injured Xiao Xiao. Back then, she looked just like a child, and her favourite foods were candied fruits and steamed stuffed buns.
Immediately after that, Xiao Xiao coldly snorted, “Are you looking for a beating? You used to always affectionately address me as ‘Old Ancestor.’ How can you speak to me this way now?”
While saying so, she approached Yang Kai and pinched his ear,
[Do you have some sort of misunderstanding about the word ‘affectionate’?]
After silently complaining, Yang Kai didn’t dodge and let her pinch his ear. He turned to Wu Qing and said seriously, “Senior Brother Wu, I still need to trouble you to guard this place. The remnants of the Black Ink Clan might still manage to make it here. Also, we have to guard against the No-Return Pass. I think it’s too risky leaving Ah Da and Ah Er here without anyone overseeing the situation.”
Of course, Wu Qing wouldn’t mind, so he simply nodded, “Then I’ll stay here.”
Yang Kai said, “Senior Brother, rest assured. It won’t be for long.”
Now that the matters at the Barren Territory were considered solved, the next phase would be the No-Return Pass!
In fact, according to the current situation, the Humans should take this opportunity to recuperate and accumulate more strength. Thousands of years had passed, and the Humans had significantly increased their heritage while more and more Masters had emerged. Now that the Black Ink Clan was chased out of the 3,000 Worlds and the Humans had reclaimed their lost lands, it was just a matter of months or years before there would be new Ninth-Order Masters appearing.
As for the Black Ink Clan, though there might be new Royal Lords, they couldn’t get more Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Therefore, the longer they dragged this out, the more advantageous it was for the Humans.
However, all such calculations were based on the idea that no hidden dangers emerged from the Primordial Heavens Grand Source Restriction.
Yang Kai had been constantly worried about that because no one knew when Mo would wake up. Many years ago, Yang Kai had placed a Universe World that wasn’t completely dead yet outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. That way, he could go there whenever he wanted by using the World Tree, and teleport to and from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
But now that the World Tree had fallen into a coma, Yang Kai couldn’t ask it for help, which meant he couldn’t head to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on the situation there so easily.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army there was helping Wu Kuang, but if Mo awoke, those forces alone wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Therefore, with such dangers looming over them, they had to take down the No-Return Pass as soon as possible. Only then could the Humans have the strength to confront the enemy inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Otherwise, the Humans wouldn’t dare to act recklessly with the No-Return Pass standing as the entrance to the 3,000 Worlds.
It could be said that the Ninth-Order Masters gathered here today came to help Ah Da and Ah Er chase away the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods so that they could better deal with the No-Return Pass in the future.
As for whether the Black Ink Clan would move away from the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai wasn’t worried about that.
The Black Ink Clan had gone through so much effort to take down the Great Passes, and placed all their foundations at the No-Return Pass, so they wouldn’t abandon it without a fight.
Moreover, they too could copy the Humans’ strategy and guard the No-Return Pass because leaving that place would only worsen their situation. They wouldn’t do that unless they were fools.
Yang Kai casually swatted Xiao Xiao’s hand away from his ear and ushered everyone, “Let’s go.”
After this battle, Yang Kai discovered the difference between his and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s strength. To sum it up, it was a big difference, but it wasn’t insurmountable. He had only just become a Ninth-Order Master a few hundred years ago, so technically speaking, he was only a newly promoted Ninth-Order Master.
He still had a huge room for improvement, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods couldn’t increase their strength.
Also, Yang Kai had estimated that if he were able to reach the peak of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he might be able to fight a Black Ink Giant Spirit God head-on.
Ordinary Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t reach such heights no matter how much they cultivated; however, Yang Kai had always been able to fight above his realm, so his ability was originally stronger than the cultivators in the same realm as him.
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm’s heritage needed an extremely long time to build up. Without mentioning anyone else, even Xiao Xiao, who had become a Ninth-Order Master a couple tens of thousands of years ago, still hadn’t reached the peak.
That was why the Pure Yang Old Ancestors and other veteran Ninth-Order Old Ancestors made Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing stay behind when they sacrificed themselves.
In the eyes of those Old Seniors who had lived for who knows how many years, Xiao Xiao was the new generation’s Ninth-Order Master. Wu Qing was even more so because, like Yang Kai now, he had broken through to the Ninth Order only hundreds of years prior back then.
A Ninth-Order Master’s heritage was difficult to accumulate, but Yang Kai had innate advantages. Firstly, the flow of time in his Small Universe was 10 times faster than the outside world. His Small Universe was housing a lot of living beings and Small Stone Race members, which would constantly increase his heritage. Even if he didn’t cultivate, his strength would still be continually increasing.
The uniqueness of his Small Universe contributed a lot to why Yang Kai could break through to the Seventh-Order, Eighth-Order, and even the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm so quickly.
In addition, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone. The World Tree clone could not only isolate and protect his Small Universe, but it could also purify his World Force, increasing his strength.
That was also why Yang Kai’s strength was so much greater than average, since his heritage was constantly being refined and solidified. The World Force inside his Small Universe was purer than ordinary Ninth-Order Masters’, which was why Yang Kai’s attacks were more powerful.
But that wasn’t enough, because if Yang Kai wanted to quickly reach the peak of the Ninth Order, he still needed to refine a massive amount of resources.
On the way back, Yang Kai didn’t waste any time and stuffed handful after handful of Open Heaven Pills into his mouth like he was eating ordinary beans. With his current cultivation, the moment the Open Heaven Pills entered his stomach, they were transformed into pure strength and added to his Small Universe; therefore, he didn’t stop consuming the Open Heaven Pills for even a breath.
Xiang Shan and the others were dumbfounded by his actions.
Unknown to the others, there was also a large number of resources being refined accordingly inside Yang Kai’s Small Universe to increase his heritage.
In High Heaven Territory, the Star Boundary, a huge river rapidly flowed in a canyon not far away from the High Heaven Palace. The river was linked at both ends, forming a circle.
10,000 Grand Daos merged inside that large river, creating endless wonders.
Although there wasn’t a large commotion, it still attracted many people.
The first to arrive was Iron Blood Great Emperor Zhan Wu Hen, followed by Martial Beast Great Emperor Mo Huang. Later, Serene Soul Great Emperor Yao Jun, Bustling World Great Emperor Duan Hong Chen, and Flower Shadow Great Emperor Hua Ling Long appeared.
Now that there weren’t many battles on the frontlines, and the Black Ink Clan Army had been routed, leaving only a few scattered soldiers in hiding, the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors had returned to the Star Boundary to recuperate.
All these Great Emperors were Masters recognised by the Star Boundary’s Will and so they naturally returned here and could sense any changes that took place in the Universe World.
Since they had sensed movement here, they all came to investigate.
They had just arrived when two other figures came together and greeted the several Great Emperors.
The two who came last were the new Great Emperors that appeared in recent years.
With the Star Boundary’s current World Bottle, it could now support 14 Great Emperors, which was four more than before, when its limit was only 10. This was undoubted because of the World Tree Clone’s continuous nourishment. The increase in Great Emperor positions and the death of two Great Emperors, Heavens Revelation and Ice Feather, had given some rising stars a chance to shine.
Among all 14 Great Emperors, some were still in the middle of battle while some were in retreat, but they gathered here immediately after sensing the disturbance.
These two new Great Emperors were given the titles Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder. Both were disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises, but beyond that identity, they were born and raised in the Star Boundary.
The two hadn’t been cultivating for a long time, so they were only Seventh-Order Masters; however, Zhan Wu Hen and the others didn’t look down on them because they directly broke through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm and could break through to the Ninth-Order in the future.
Moreover, being Star Boundary Great Emperors meant they would grow far faster than others. Though they had only been Seventh-Order Masters for a few hundred years, both were already almost at the peak of their current Order, so it wouldn’t be long before they broke through to the Eighth-Order.
Now that all the Star Boundary Great Emperors had gathered here, the two youngest ones stared at the river in shock, with Scarlet Clouds asking, “What is Sir Yang up to?”
Wind and Thunder Great Emperor had the same question. They both knew of Yang Kai, but had never met him in person because he was a true hidden Dragon who never showed his face. At this moment, the Great Emperors looked over and saw the river was filled with Dao Strengths. Every wave contained many mysteries of the Grand Daos, making everyone feel astonished and curious.
Duan Hong Chen replied seriously, “I don’t know!”
Hearing that, Secret Clouds was shocked, [Even the experienced Sirs don’t know what is happening, so it must be something big!]
Yao Jun grimly added, “Although we don’t know what he’s doing, it’s clearly something momentous.”
Zhan Wu Hen glanced at Yao Hun with an expression that said he was speaking nonsense.
“Let’s just continue watching,” Mo Huang crossed his arms while standing there, waiting quietly.
The crowd immediately fell silent.
Meanwhile, the commotion in the river grew larger, and the Dao Strengths became noticeably denser. Not only were there Dao Strengths that Yang Kai summoned out himself, but the crowd also saw him retrieve strings of things, which resembled streams, and add them to his Space-Time River.
At first, the crowd didn’t pay much attention to these small additions, but when they got a clear glimpse of the streams, they were even more shocked because those stream-like things were also the embodiment of a myriad of Grand Daos. More importantly, the Dao Strengths contained within were extremely pure.
During that instance, the crowd couldn’t help but feel curious. How could someone have control over so many different Grand Daos and cultivate every single one to such a high level of mastery?
One hour later, following the addition of many streams, the Space-Time River began to tremble. Just as everyone was worried that Yang Kai was about to run out of strength to continue, they heard him bellow, “Open!”
The next moment, the Void twisted and changed. The Space-Time River’s circular area suddenly collapsed, revealing a spinning vortex. Then, the Dao Strengths from the 10,000 Grand Daos in the Space-Time River swarmed into the vortex, causing the rushing river to gradually calm down and return to a peaceful state.
“A Territory Gate?” Zhan Wu Hen raised his brow.
He wasn’t wrong to suspect that because the vortex spinning before them truly looked like a Territory Gate at first glance.
While shaking his head, Duan Hong Chen argued, “It looks like one, but don’t forget about the three Sealed Worlds in High Heaven Palace.”
There were three Sealed Worlds in High Heaven Palace, all of them specifically made by Yang Kai. They were the Time Dao Sealed World, the Space Dao Sealed World, and the Spear Dao Sealed World. Each of them was filled with Yang Kai’s comprehension and attainments of those three Grand Daos.
Yang Kai had thought that among the increasing number of Void Dao Temple disciples being brought out to break through to the Open Heaven Realm, there were bound to be some that took after him and cultivated one of his three primary Grand Daos. So, he specifically created those three Sealed Worlds to allow those disciples to head inside and gain more experience.
That way, he didn’t need to train them personally because the disciples who cultivated these three Grand Daos would be able to benefit from those three Sealed Worlds.
Of course, not only were those Sealed Worlds open to Dao Temple disciples, but even cultivators other than High Heaven Palace disciples could enter them. All one needed to do was to report to Hua Qing Si and get her approval.
Many members of the Dragon Clan had previously entered the Time Dao Sealed World; likewise, members of the Phoenix Clan had entered the Space Dao Sealed World. As for the cultivators who entered the Spear Dao Sealed World, there were too many to count.
Duan Hong Chen didn’t doubt Yang Kai’s ability to open another Territory Gate, but this place was secluded, so there was no need to open a Territory Gate here. Instead, he felt like this thing was similar to those three Sealed Worlds in High Heavens Palace.
Having heard that, the crowd thought about it briefly and nodded.
“We’ll know for sure after we ask him,” while saying so, Hua Ling Long went over and stood beside Yang Kai. Then, she looked up at the vortex and asked, “Is this a Sealed World?”
Yang Kai grabbed his Space-Time River, seeming to be thinking about something. He only came back to his senses after hearing the question and nodded, “Yes. This is the Myriad Dao Sealed World!”
“Myriad Dao Sealed World?” Hua Ling Long raised her brow while secretly criticizing how arrogant Yang Kai was being, but then she thought that this was something Yang Kai created, so no matter how arrogant he was, it was his choice.
“What’s the use of this Sealed World?”
Yang Kai explained, “I collected some pure Dao Strengths from the Universe Furnace. Since I have no use for them at the moment, I placed them all inside this Sealed World. Anyone can go inside to refine and absorb those Dao Strengths if needed and increase their understanding of the Grand Daos they cultivate.”
Back inside the Universe Furnace, Yang Kai had collected a huge amount of Dao Strengths, all of which he got from deep within the Infinite River and kept inside his Small Universe. Creating the Myriad Dao Sealed World was something he had thought about doing a long time ago, but he had been caught up in other matters and had only had time to create it today.
“Increase our attainments in the Grand Daos we cultivate?” The crowd became excited after hearing that.
The comprehension of Grand Daos was very mysterious. It wasn’t something like World Force inside one’s Small Universe, where they need only refine Open Heaven Pills or materials to improve. One could only get stronger in one’s use of their Grand Dao by improving on their comprehension and mastery over it.
If one wasn’t sharp enough, it might cause their cultivation of a Grand Dao to become stagnant. This had been a difficult-to-solve problem since ancient times.
One of the solutions was to find an extremely pure Dao Strength to absorb and refine, but pure Dao Strengths were extremely difficult to come across. Even if there were some at some point in the 3,000 World, they would have been taken away after so many years.
Therefore, the Great Emperors were excited after hearing Yang Kai say that a lot of pure Dao Strengths were kept inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World, especially Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder. Being the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors helped their cultivation increase at breakneck speed, and they had accumulated quite a fair amount of heritage inside their Small Universes as a result; however, they fell short when it came to the comprehension of their respective Grand Daos.
In fact, there was a second way to improve their comprehension and mastery of their Grand Dao, which was the Ordinary Grade Innate Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace.
If there were still Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace, they would only have to take a few of them to have a better understanding of their Grand Daos, but after hundreds of years, the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills brought out from the Universe Furnace had long been consumed. How could there still be any more of them?
Those large amounts of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills were the reason for the Human Race’s sudden increase in military force, whereby a large group of Seventh-Order Masters advanced to become Eighth-Order Masters after the Universe Furnace closed. Otherwise, the frontlines wouldn’t have been able to push back the Black Ink Clan.
Back then, Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder felt remorse for being born too late, or else they might already be Eighth-Order Masters.
“You’re all welcome to enter if you’re interested,” Yang Kai offered casually.
“I was thinking of going in just when you said that!” Zhan Wu Hen spoke while stepping forward and dashing inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World. After that, everyone else followed and headed inside.
The few veteran Great Emperors had reached the peak of their cultivations, but the opportunity to increase their attainments in their Grand Daos was too good to pass up.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai didn’t bother with them and continued staring quietly at the Space-Time River while in a daze.
To create the Myriad Dao Sealed World, he pushed his Space-Time River to its limit; also, he temporarily fused the Dao Strengths of the 10,000 Grand Daos inside his Small Universe into the Space-Time River.
There was a moment when those Dao Strengths inside the Space-Time River became so dense that it almost exceeded his limit of control.
During that short moment, the 10,000 Dao Strengths inside the Space-Time River changed, seemingly having some sort of mysterious resonance.
Something inexplicably mysterious was being nurtured and born inside his Space-Time River at that moment!
However, after Yang Kai inserted a lot of Dao Strengths into the Myriad Dao Sealed World, that mysterious feeling disappeared, and the Space-Time River was restored to its original state.
That reminded Yang Kai of when he was in the Infinite River. Deep inside the river were countless gravel-like miniature Universe Worlds and also many small Celestial Phenomena.
Those gravel-like Universe Worlds and Celestial Phenomena didn’t just appear on their own, so they must naturally have been nurtured by the Infinite River. The Universe Furnace devoured Chaos and evolved its strength into the 10,000 Grand Daos inside itself. Then, it spat out the accumulated Dao Strengths and physical Worlds. This cycle repeated endlessly, refining Chaos before splitting Heaven and Earth apart.
As for Yang Kai’s Space-Time River, it was essentially a miniature Infinite River. This was something he comprehended after witnessing the mysteries surrounding the Infinite River, though it was without a doubt a simpler version.
The Infinite River passed through the entire Universe Furnace but was untouchable to many. Even one’s Divine Sense couldn’t sense the tributaries filling the space inside the furnace. It could be said that the Infinite River was the basis of why the Universe Furnace could split Heaven and Earth apart.
[Since the Infinite River forms Universe Worlds and Celestial Phenomena, why can’t my Space-Time River do so as well?]
While thinking about that, Yang Kai shook open the Space-Time River in his hand and dove inside, looking for any trace left behind by that strange reaction.
With Space-Time Dao as his foundation, Yang Kai gathered the Dao Strengths from the 10,000 Grand Daos and condensed them into the Space-Time River. He had previously dived inside many times, but it was usually to deal with the strong enemies he swept up into the river. That was because he had the absolute advantage inside the river and could make the most of his strengths there. Moreover, every undercurrent inside the river, as well as every wave, was made by the surging of his Dao Strengths.
However, the situation was different this time.
Perhaps it was because Yang Kai had just created the Myriad Dao Sealed World, but he discovered that his Space-Time River had changed profoundly.
In summary, Yang Kai suddenly had a strange and mysterious feeling when he dove into the river this time.
He felt like Time and Space were distorted.
When he looked up, he saw an astonishing view flash across his eyes.
He saw the magnificent No-Return Pass, a bloody battle between the Black Ink Clan and Human Race, and dead bodies from both sides densely littered around the battlefield.
Watching this scene, Yang Kai couldn’t help but frown as he didn’t understand why he was seeing this. He didn’t participate in the battle at the No-Return Pass back then, so theoretically, he wouldn’t have this scene in his memory. Moreover, how could a memory appear inside the Space-Time River?
However, he soon realised something was not right.
That was because he saw his figure appear in many of the scenes flashing by his eyes, and he was fighting someone he knew. It was Mo Na Ye, and it was Mo Na Ye after he became a Royal Lord.
Every scene that flashed past was like a Master had splashed the canvas with ink and drew every detail of the tragic battle with subtle brushwork and great skill.
Inside the silent scenes, Mo Na Ye’s dead body suddenly appeared, followed by Mo Yu’s…
After that was the scene of the Humans occupying the No-Return Pass once again, cheering happily…
Yang Kai suddenly realised this wasn’t a scene from his memory, but a battle that would happen in the future.
[This is the future! I am looking into the future!]
Yang Kai had already experienced this before when he came out from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon. At that time, his attainment in the Dao of Space and the Dao of Time soared, so he had a glimpse of the future when using the Sun and Moon Divine Wheel to kill the Sheep-Headed Royal Lord.
Future events proved what he saw was real. He had killed the Sheep-Headed Royal Lord that had been chasing him and held his head while standing proudly inside the void. That moment was the scene he saw.
The late Heaven’s Revelations Great Emperor Chu Tian Ji claimed he had the power to see the future and it was rumoured that he could also see the past.
With Yang Kai’s current cultivation, he believed that Chu Tian Ji most likely didn’t have such a mysterious ability. If he did, he would have been able to avoid the many dangers and wouldn’t have died in battle.
But he did have some sort of foresight ability, or else he wouldn’t have gotten the title of Heaven’s Revelations.
Now that Yang Kai recalled the time he was at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, he found that he had undergone a significant change, whether it was his cultivation or his attainments in the different Grand Daos. Since the Space-Time River was based on the Space-Time Grand Dao, the deeper he dove into the river, the greater the Dao Strength surge. Under the disruption of Space and Time, seeing some part of the future should be expected.
Recapturing the No-Return Pass wasn’t surprising to Yang Kai because, with the Human Race’s current strength, they would certainly be able to win if they launched a battle regardless of how they approached it; however, they would have to pay quite a high price if they acted recklessly.
That was why Yang Kai didn’t feel anything after seeing such a scene.
If the Human Race couldn’t even conquer the No-Return Pass, how could they think about going to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and ending Mo once and for all?
The final deciding battle between the Black Ink Clan and Humans should be at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Inside the Space-Time River, the Dao Strength of Space-Time was surging even stronger, while the scenes continuously flashed across Yang Kai’s eyes.
In the meantime, Yang Kai’s expression became more solemn.
That was because many of the scenes after that contained many things he didn’t wish to see.
The final battle began as expected outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. The Black Ink Clan appeared in huge black waves with Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods walking among them. There were also several destroyed Great Passes turned into ruins and countless Human corpses, many of which Yang Kai recognised.
There was even a scene where a 100,000-metre White Divine Dragon floated in the void, its body battered with all its Dragon Scales destroyed.
That White Divine Dragon was naturally Fu Guang!
In another scene, a World was filled with darkness, and inside the ruins was a big dusty sign with the characters ‘High Heaven Palace’ on it. In the corner of the scene was a majestic fallen branch from the World Tree clone, obviously long dead.
The last scene showed a Great Pass moving towards the depths of the void, seeming to be escaping from something. Inside the Great Pass were all the surviving Humans, and close behind that Great Pass was a black figure.
In the black figure’s hand was the… Azure Dragon Spear!
Yang Kai instantly felt his hairs stand on its ends.
Even though that black figure was fully enveloped in Black Ink Strength, with its appearance completely hidden, that spear was too familiar to Yang Kai.
[Is this our future?]
At that moment, Yang Kai suddenly felt exhausted and couldn’t help but exit the Space-Time River. Once he found his footing, the feeling like he was in an illusion disappeared.
It wasn’t until this moment that he discovered the Dao Strengths in him had been seriously depleted. This just showed that looking into the future wasn’t without cost or consequence.
Since Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths were heavily depleted, he almost lost the ability to maintain his Space-Time River. He quickly used his strength to keep the river steady before sitting cross-legged with a serious expression.
Back at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, he had foreseen a scene that did happen later. He had successfully killed the Royal Lord who had been chasing him for many years when he was still in the Eighth Order.
The vision today came too suddenly, and though Yang Kai could accept the first half of it, he couldn’t accept the latter part of what he saw.
He knew that there would be a bitter battle outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and the Human Race and Black Ink Clan would decide their life or death there, so it was that battle that would truly influence the Human Race’s survival.
On the other hand, he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility that the Human Race couldn’t defeat their enemy. If that day really came, he was prepared to lead the surviving Humans to flee to the end of the Universe where they could rebuild their strength; after all, the current 3,000 Worlds weren’t something they couldn’t sacrifice.
However, the scene he saw during the distorted Time and Space was surreal.
Without mentioning who would win the final battle, Yang Kai had a World Tree clone isolating and protecting his Small Universe, so how could he be corrupted by Black Ink Strength? But that wasn’t entirely impossible either because no one knew how strong Mo truly was, and no one knew if the World Tree clone was enough to keep his Small Universe safe if he was directly attacked by Mo.
[Could that really be my future? If it is, it’s unacceptable.]
Yang Kai felt solemn but not enough to feel devastated. In the end, this was just something he foresaw, and no one was sure if it would happen.
If this were something that would happen in the future, he would personally break this prophecy!
After composing himself, Yang Kai clicked his tongue.
His goal when diving into the Space-Time River was to trace that strange phenomenon, not see the future, but this was uncontrollable. He couldn’t have known that the Dao Strengths would surge after he dove into the Space-Time River, causing those scenes to appear.
Sitting upright in his spot, Yang Kai calmed down for a while before diving into the Space-Time River again.
This time, there weren’t any future scenes flashing before his eyes. He steadied himself and looked for any changes in the Space-Time River. Soon, his figure swayed as he arrived at a corner of the river.
He had sensed that the 10,000 Grand Daos had gathered here and were transforming into endless wonders.
Yang Kai’s experiences in the Infinite River helped him understand the truth behind the 10,000 Grand Daos. Chaos evolved into the 10,000 Grand Daos, while the 10,000 Grand Daos would return back to Chaos in the end. That was a mysterious cycle, and every time that cycle turned, miracles would happen.
Just like what he saw…
Reaching out, Yang Kai grabbed the obviously different river water in his hand and looked at it silently. A thoughtful look flashed in his eyes as he gradually lost himself in contemplation.
Meanwhile, the appearance of the Myriad Dao Sealed World didn’t attract much attention. Only the Star Boundary’s Great Emperors had sensed the commotion and came to investigate. Then, they entered the Myriad Dao Sealed World to investigate it after learning about its uses.
Several days later, Iron Blood Great Emperor Zhan Wu Hen was the first to emerge. Although his cultivation didn’t increase, his aura was clearly more condensed than before.
He had long reached the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and had achieved the limit of his Martial Dao in this lifetime, so he had no way of increasing his cultivation; however, his aura had become more solid because he had accomplished something while being inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Any place where a peak Eighth-Order like him could benefit was indeed extraordinary.
Zhan Wu Hen looked at the Myriad Dao Sealed World and couldn’t help but praise, “A treasure!”
With the Myriad Dao Sealed World, the Human Race’s strength might be able to increase yet again. This was undoubtedly beneficial to the war in the future.
Turning his head, Zhan Wu Hen didn’t see Yang Kai but did see the Space-Time River floating in midair. Since the Space-Time River was here, it meant Yang Kai was as well, so Zhan Wu Hen didn’t go anywhere and waited in place.
A few days later, all the Great Emperors came out one after another, and from the order of each Great Emperor’s return, one could see that the stronger the Great Emperor, the quicker they came out. That was because the stronger the Great Emperor, the smaller their chance of improving their strength, which meant the Myriad Dao Sealed World couldn’t help them too much.
After nearly 10 days, Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder came out one after another, both of them practically glowing with happiness.
Duan Hong Chen glanced at them and chuckled, “Congratulations.”
The others also congratulated the pair as well.
This couldn’t be helped because those two went in as Seventh-Order Masters but came out as Eighth-Order Masters!
Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder were newly recognised Great Emperors by the Star Boundary’s Will after the deaths of Heaven’s Revelations and Ice Feather. They were elite disciples who were carefully nurtured by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, and broken through directly to the Seventh Order.
Although it had only been about 1,000 years since their initial breakthrough, thanks to the Star Boundary, they were almost at the peak of the Seventh Order. Their cultivation speed was something the other Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t compare to.
A Seventh-Order Master was already considered a High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Master, yet to break through from the peak of the Seventh-Order to the Eighth-Order generally needed at least 200 to 300 years.
Just like Feng Ying from Dawn Squad. Her aptitude was also extraordinarily high, but she used a total of 300 years to advance from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order. Of course, the lack of resources at the Black Ink Battlefield was also one of the reasons for such slow progress.
But even with ample resources, someone as talented as Feng Ying still wouldn’t be able to break through so quickly. She would need at least a few thousand years of hard cultivation before using another 100 or so years to break through.
Things were different for the Star Boundary’s and the Myriad Monsters World’s Great Emperors because the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles had World Tree clones nurturing them. Therefore, they had extremely dense World Energy which could be freely absorbed by Great Emperors to greatly reduce the time they needed to accumulate their heritage.
The reason the two young Great Emperors hadn’t broken through to the Eighth Order previously was that they were lacking in their comprehension of their Grand Daos. The Myriad Dao Sealed World just happened to fill in what they lacked.
Once their Small Universes had accumulated enough heritage and their attainments in their Grand Daos rose to an appropriate level, they broke through from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order in a matter of days.
Since the two exited the Myriad Dao Sealed World, they felt very grateful to Yang Kai and wanted to thank him personally. It was a pity that Yang Kai seemed to have disappeared into his Space-Time River.
“How long has he been like this?” Duan Hong Chen looked at the Space-Time River and asked, clearly asking about Yang Kai’s condition.
Zhan Wu Hen shook his head, “He’s been like that since I came out.”
“That means it’s been quite a while,” Duan Hong Chen frowned, “Judging by the looks of things, he might be comprehending something inside. I think it’s best if we don’t disturb him.”
Although they didn’t know what Yang Kai was doing, he must have a valid reason to enter the Space-Time River like this, just like how a cultivator would go into retreat. That was not something one should interrupt.
“What should we do with the Myriad Dao Sealed World?” Hua Ling Long asked. After experiencing what benefits the Myriad Dao Sealed World could bring, anyone would know it was a treasure to the entire Human Race because it could help many cultivators increase their strength in a short time.
But this was something Yang Kai created, so it wasn’t appropriate for others to decide its use without his consent.
“Report it to the Supreme Headquarters,” Zhan Wu Hen groaned before saying, “Since he made the Myriad Dao Sealed World at this point in time, it must be because he wanted to benefit everyone; however, although there is an abundance of Dao Strength inside, it’s not inexhaustible. If we report it to the Supreme Headquarters and let Supreme Commander Mi make the decision, perhaps he can let a few promising seedlings use their Military Merits to exchange for a spot inside.”
Hearing this, the crowd nodded as this was a good plan of action. They could wait for Yang Kai to return and deal with this, but none of them knew how long that would be. As the Human Race was running tight on time, it would be better to let the Myriad Dao Sealed World benefit their people as quickly as possible.
“I’ll head to the Supreme Headquarters,” while Zhan Hu Hen said that, he shot into the sky and disappeared.
After he was gone, Duan Hong Chen said, “I’ll stand by here. The rest of you can go about your own matters.”
The others nodded and dispersed.
Several days later, news about the Myriad Dao Sealed World spread throughout the Humans and attracted the interest of many. A Sealed World with pure Grand Dao Strengths could be said to be something every cultivator wanted to experience.
But just as Zhan Wu Hen said, even though the 10,000 Grand Dao Strengths inside the Myriad Dao Sealed World were abundant now, it would be useless once everything inside was depleted.
Therefore, they had to choose wisely about who would get the opportunity to head inside. Only that way could they make the best use of the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Of course, such things were for the Supreme Headquarters to worry about. Mi Jing Lun had personally entered the Myriad Dao Sealed World to investigate because of the importance of the issue. In the end, he came out with a bitter smile and complained to Duan Hong Chen that Yang Kai had thrown him another difficult task, and it seemed like he was about to offend a lot of people.
Recently, the Supreme Headquarters had been gathering people to repair the Pure Yang Pass which Yang Kai brought back. This required a lot of resources, so they were lucky that Yang Kai managed to ‘persuade’ the Black Ink Clan to give them some, or else it would be difficult for them to repair Pure Yang Pass.
Moreover, the Human Race regained the 3,000 Worlds and won a great victory, so rewards needed to be distributed as well, which were also given in the form of resources.
In addition, the Void Guard also needed a lot of resources to set up the Space Arrays.
At this moment, Mi Jing Lun felt like a shrewd housewife, carefully needing to count and allocate every single resource on hand.
Soon, a constant stream of cultivators began entering and exiting the Myriad Dao Sealed World. Everyone went in filled with expectations and came out happy, obviously having gained a lot from the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
Also, every cultivator that came could see an astonishing Space-Time River flowing beside the Myriad Dao Sealed World. It was the embodiment of pure Dao Strength, after all, and there was only one person among all the Ninth-Order Masters who could achieve that.
Henceforth, everyone knew that Yang Kai was in retreat inside the huge river, and every cultivator that came would pay their respects and bow to the river.
Days passed by quickly and soon three years had passed since the birth of the Myriad Dao Sealed World.
During these three years, the 3,000 Worlds had basically calmed down. Under the Human Race Grand Army’s constant searching, the remnants of the Black Ink Clan had nowhere to hide and were all routed out.
It could be said that there was no place for the Black Ink Clan to survive in the 3,000 Worlds now.
All the Armies then returned home to enjoy the fruits of their labour and recuperate.
However, everyone knew that this peace was only temporary, and it wouldn’t be long before a battle even crueller than the one that happened a few thousand years ago would break out. It was because they realised this that they cherished this short moment of peace even more.
On the other hand, the Void Guard had gradually returned with numerous Universe Temples in tow.
When the Black Ink Clan took over the 3,000 Worlds, some of the Universe Temples were destroyed while some were preserved; in the end, the Void Guard managed to gather about 1,000 of them.
Li Wu Yi led the less than 200 Void Guards, and with the assistance of the many people sent over by the Supreme Headquarters, began to repair these Universe Temples, using them as a foundation to set up the necessary Space Arrays.
Although there weren’t many in the Void Guard, all of them were proficient in the Dao of Space, so using Space Principles was easy for them.
Many resources were invested into this project, obviously wanting substantial results as quickly as possible. After all, in this peaceful period, everyone knew it was just the calm before the storm and they needed to prepare for the coming war.
Just outside of the Myriad Dao Sealed World, there were groups of people exchanging their Military Merits for the right to enter and experience what was inside.
At one particular moment, everything, even the communication between Divine Senses, fell silent as all eyes turned in the direction of the Space-Time River.
That was because fluctuations had suddenly appeared from the Space-Time River, which had been calm for three years. It was followed by rolling and crashing waves, with a figure emerging.
After three years of comprehension, Yang Kai had gained a lot. He had managed to figure out some things and vaguely felt like he had pushed open a new door, but he wasn’t sure what lay ahead.
In the end, it was still because his attainments in the various Grand Daos were lacking.
Both his attainments in the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space had reached the Eighth Level, while his attainments in the other Grand Daos varied from the Seventh Level to the Fourth Level. Yang Kai had a feeling that if his attainments in all Grand Daos increased to another level, especially if his attainments in the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space could reach the Ninth Level, he might be able to understand things more clearly.
This bout of enlightenment had let him increase his attainments in all sorts of Grand Daos, especially the Grand Dao of Time and Grand Dao of Space, so he felt like he could break through to the Ninth Level at any moment.
It could be said that his three years of retreat were very fruitful.
“Greetings, Sir!” Below him, the group of cultivators bowed together. Most of them were in the Seventh-Order or the Eighth-Order, while a few were in the Sixth-Order. None were below the Sixth Order.
There were limited spots to enter the Myriad Dao Sealed World. To maximise the increase of the Human Race’s overall strength, the Supreme Headquarters had only allowed the more promising soldiers the opportunity to experience the Sealed World. As for those less promising ones and those with lower cultivation, they naturally wouldn’t have such a chance.
Even so, Mi Jing Lun still felt troubled by this matter because, just like he expressed a few years ago, the matter of who got the chance to enter the Myriad Dao Sealed World was the subject of many complaints. However, he had the final say in this matter, and with his identity as a Ninth-Order Master, he wasn’t afraid of offending anyone.
Yang Kai nodded lightly and raised his hand slightly, “No need for formalities!”
After putting away the Space-Time River, Yang Kai stepped over to Duan Hong Chen, who had been keeping watch, and nodded before beaming, “You’ve worked hard.”
Duan Hong Chen replied casually, “It was nothing. What’s more, I’ve seen a lot of good scenery while standing guard here.”
While saying so, his eyes flitted across a few beautiful women among the crowd.
Yang Kai was instantly at a loss for words.
“By the way, Supreme Commander Mi asked for you to find him after you came out. He has something to discuss with you,” Duan Hong Chen suddenly remembered Mi Jing Lun’s instructions.
“I’ll head over right away,” Yang Kai nodded.
“There’s also that brat Li Wu Yi. He keeps complaining about you not taking charge of things, so go and help him once you have time.”
“Got it!” After giving a simple reply, Yang Kai took a step forward and disappeared without a trace, shocking the many Eighth-Order Masters watching.
Although there weren’t many Ninth-Order Masters at this moment, there were still a few around, so all the Eighth-Order Masters had more or less interacted with them somewhat. However, there wasn’t a Ninth-Order Master who could disappear right before their eyes like Yang Kai.
Once Yang Kai left, Duan Hong Chen took a few more looks at the beautiful scenery before reluctantly leaving.
The reason he stayed here was to act as Yang Kai’s Protector. Now that Yang Kai had come out of his retreat, there was no reason for Duan Hong Chen to stay around here any longer.
Yang Kai arrived at the Supreme Headquarters as requested and dashed inside the side hall.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun sensed his presence and transmitted a message to him, telling Yang Kai to wait while he finished with a certain matter. Once he was done, he came out tiredly and sat beside Yang Kai before taping on the teacup beside him.
Yang Kai grinned meaningfully and poured Mi Jing Lun a cup. Then, Mi Jing Lun finished his tea in one gulp before revealing a relaxed expression.
After a long silence, Mi Jing Lun suddenly spoke up, “Although there’s no war, there are a lot of miscellaneous things to take care of. I don’t have a competent adjutant with me, so if you don’t have anything to do, how about you help out at the Supreme Headquarters?”
Sipping on his tea, Yang Kai looked outside the hall and asked, “Senior Brother Xiang is a better candidate than me.”
Mi Jing Lun pursed his lips, “He says he’s going to enter retreat.”
“What about Senior Brother Ou Yang?”
“He also wants to enter retreat.”
“Then…”
“All of them want to enter retreat!” While saying that, Mi Jing Lun felt angry, “We’re all Ninth-Order Masters! Do they think I don’t want to enter retreat too?!”
Yang Kai looked at him helplessly, “There has to be someone dealing with these matters, and Senior Brother Mi is the best candidate.” A short pause later, he continued, “Don’t feel too pressured. It’s indeed hard for the Human Race to get to this point, so no matter what happens in the future, we just have to go all out and hope for the best.”
He could understand Mi Jing Lun’s frustrations. Now that the Humans had taken back the 3,000 Worlds, the situation seemed bright for them, but that was only on the surface.
The following battle was critical to determining whether the Human Race would survive or perish. If they could take back the No-Return Pass, the Humans would be taking one big step towards victory, but if they couldn’t, all of their efforts would be for nought.
Moreover, they had to be quick when taking down the No-Return Pass because they couldn’t afford to fight a prolonged battle. Without mentioning other reasons, just their supply of resources wasn’t enough to sustain a protracted war.
Therefore, as the leading figure of the Supreme Headquarters responsible for integrating and managing all the Armies, Mi Jing Lun was shouldering an unfathomable amount of pressure. That pressure was so huge that Yang Kai couldn’t shoulder it, even as a Ninth-Order Master.
If another Ninth-Order Master were helping Mi Jing Lun, they could help carry some of the responsibilities; however, there were only so many Ninth-Order Masters at this moment, and none of them were suitable candidates.
There had to be someone dealing with these matters… Though it didn’t sound like much in conversation, Yang Kai knew how large of a burden was resting on Mi Jing Lun’s shoulders.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun knew this as well. The reason he mentioned this to Yang Kai was not that he intended for Yang Kai to help and stay in the Supreme Headquarters, he was simply venting. Yang Kai was currently the strongest Master they had besides the two Giant Spirit Gods, so no matter what, he shouldn’t be cooped up inside the Supreme Headquarters handling logistics; instead, the place he belonged was the battlefield.
“Never mind. Let’s talk about more serious matters,” Mi Jing Lun changed the topic, confirming he was only ranting just now, “I’ve discussed this with the others. It will take 10 years at minimum, and 20 years at most for us to get ready. Then we’ll be able to attack the No-Return Pass. Do you have any suggestions?”
10 to 20 years may seem like a long time, but to prepare for a battle involving the entire Race, it was actually a very short period of time; after all, they had to re-organize and coordinate all the individual Armies and prepare the supplies and weapons prior to beginning the battle. All of these processes were time-consuming because the war wasn’t only about sending all their troops out.
Yang Kai shook his head, “Since things have come to this point, I don’t have anything to suggest. If we want to win, we simply need to have enough strength to do it.”
Hearing that, Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly, “It seems like our thoughts are aligned. When the time comes, I need you to lead the way to enter the Black Ink Battlefield through Black Territory.”
“Of course,” Yang Kai nodded. If they wanted to take back the No-Return Pass, it wasn’t workable to attack from the Barren Territory; after all, the Territory Gate was a fixed size. If the Human Race attacked through it, it would give the Black Ink Clan a chance to gradually kill them. Therefore, the only option they had to attack the No-Return Pass was to first pass through that secret passage and gather their troops deep inside the Black Ink Battlefield before assaulting the Black Ink Clan’s base.
After a short pause, Yang Kai asked, “How about the Barren Territory?”
“I heard you left the two Giant Spirit Gods there to guard the Territory Gate. With them there, I’m sure the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t doom themselves by trying to pass through. Also, they don’t intend to do anything anyway.”
With Ah Da and Ah Er standing guard on the other side of the Territory Gate and keeping their eyes on the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods wouldn’t dare to act recklessly because that would only give Ah Da and Ah Er a chance to charge into the No-Return Pass and kill everyone.
“But the Giant Spirit Gods don’t have high intelligence, so we need someone there to communicate with them, telling them what they should and shouldn’t do and when they should and shouldn’t attack.”
Yang Kai pointed his thumb at himself, “Don’t tell me I’m the one to do it?”
Then, Mi Jing Lun looked at Yang Kai like he was a promising young man, “There is no one else who can do this besides you. No one else has interacted much with those two Giant Spirit Gods, so you’re the only one familiar with them. If they’ll listen to anyone, it will be you. Also, with your abilities, I’m sure the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be able to do anything about you if they saw you guarding the Barren Territory with the two Giant Spirit Gods.”
After thinking about it, Yang Kai sighed and nodded, “Good. If that’s your arrangement, I’ll follow it.”
Even if he was ordered to guard the Barren Territory, it wouldn’t stop him from causing a commotion when the time came. Once the battle began, he could charge through the Territory Gate and kill his way into the No-Return Pass, joining the Human Race Army on the other side.
From that perspective alone, there really was no other person more suitable than him to guard the Barren Territory. Though the other Ninth-Order Masters were strong as well, they couldn’t move about as effortlessly as Yang Kai could.
Meanwhile, Mi Jing Lun immediately saw through Yang Kai’s thoughts and offered, “How about we split into two routes and arrange for some soldiers to assemble in the Barren Territory? Perhaps we can attack from both sides at a crucial moment.”
“That’s not necessary. Attacking through the Territory Gate into the No-Return Pass is quite problematic. If we have too many people there, we won’t be able to grasp the opportunity during the war, and there’s no use if we have too few people. Ah Da, Ah Er, and me working together should suffice.”
Mi Jing Lun also thought that was reasonable and nodded, “Let’s keep it that way for now.”
Later, Yang Kai chatted with Mi Jing Lun for a bit before leaving.
Before he left, he quickly examined Pure Yang Pass’ situation. Pure Yang Pass was constantly being worked on, and after the past few years, they had successfully repaired the Great Pass’ superstructure. The destroyed Arrays and artifacts needed to be replaced for Pure Yang Pass to be able to return to its full glory, but that would still require a lot of time and resources.
One of the reasons the Human Race needed 10 to 20 years before attacking the No-Return Pass was that they needed to finish repairing Pure Yang Pass.
An hour later, Yang Kai arrived at the Star Boundary.
On top of a Spirit Peak in High Heaven Palace was a huge square, and on that square stood several majestic buildings. These buildings were worn to differing degrees, while some were even heavily damaged, seemingly having experienced the ravages of war.
People were heading in and out of those Grand Halls, so the atmosphere in the square was very lively.
These buildings were Universe Temples that the Void Guard retrieved from the many Great Territories. During the three years Yang Kai was in retreat and comprehending the mysteries of the Grand Dao, the Void Guard had gathered around 1,000 Universe Temples here. Now that the Supreme Headquarters had distributed their share of resources and assistants, the Void Guard took the lead to start arranging Space Arrays using these Universe Temples as a base.
The more than 100 Void Guards had been swamped while the Array Masters and Artifact Refiners sent over were also working day and night without rest.
Although they had made some small successes, their progress was quite slow, which worried Li Wu Yi.
At this moment, inside one of the Grand Halls, Li Wu Yi led several Void Guards in discussing how to best set up the Arrays with a few Array Masters.
It was a serious topic, so they concentrated hard on the matter. Just as they were carefully outlining and carving a pattern and were about to succeed, they heard a voice saying, “That’s not right.”
In this silent Grand Hall, even the gentlest voice was like an exploding bomb, shocking everyone.
Like that, the almost-formed Array shattered, its lines cracking while the energy inserted inside blew up. A bright light flashed inside the hall, leaving everyone with a dusty face.
Li Wu Yi turned around and looked at Yang Kai with bloodshot eyes before gnashing his teeth, “You brat! You finally appeared!”
They had agreed beforehand that they would form the Void Guard to gather Universe Temples to be used to house Space Arrays so that the Army could use them as rapid transit points in the coming war.
Even though it seemed like Li Wu Yi was the leader here, it was actually Yang Kai who was in command; otherwise, the Void Guard wouldn’t have the word ‘Void’ in the name because that was Yang Kai’s title in the Star Boundary.
However…
“Three years! Do you know how I’ve spent these three years!?” Li Wu Yi roared viciously as he questioned Yang Kai’s act of forgetting about the Void Guard after dumping everything on him.
“Something unexpected happened…” Yang Kai coughed lightly into his fist.
He didn’t expect creating the Myriad Dao Sealed World would suddenly enlighten him, and he would spend three years in retreat.
“Anyway, I’m here now,” Yang Kai tried to change the topic.
“Smelly brat…” Li Wu Yi was so angry that he wanted to laugh.
Afterwards, Yang Kai held Li Wu Yi’s shoulder and whispered, “Don’t keep calling me brat. I’m a Ninth-Order Master now, as well as the Dao Lord of the Void Dao Temple. How do you expect the disciples to respect me if you call me that?”
Hearing that, Li Wu Yi couldn’t help but roll his eyes, but when he thought carefully about it, it did seem inappropriate because no matter whether he was Yang Kai’s Senior or not, Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, so he should get the respect he deserved.
Li Wu Yi’s actions just now were because he was pissed off. He originally had a nominal role in the Void Guard and didn’t need to worry about leading or organizing anything, but he suddenly became the one in charge after the Void Guard was formed.
Taking a step back, Li Wu Yi cupped his fist, “Greetings, Sir.”
He had a serious expression on his face as if nothing had happened just now.
The other disciples also cupped their fists and bowed, “Greetings, Dao Lord!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly.
“Sir, you said this is not right. Can Sir tell us what is the right way and perhaps show us an example?” Li Wu Yi acted like a student and respectfully asked.
While looking at him, Yang Kai felt his face twitch, but still replied, “Gather everyone over here and I’ll demonstrate.”
Several Dao Temple disciples were instantly excited. Though they were from the Void Dao Temple, they didn’t have many opportunities to interact with Yang Kai. Most of them only had the chance to see Yang Kai once when he brought them out of his Small Universe. Now that they heard that the Dao Lord was about to demonstrate a whole new type of Space Array, they naturally felt very excited. As such, they all swarmed out of the Grand Hall to gather their fellow Dao Temple disciples.
Soon, the busy Void Guard disciples inside the other Universe Temples, as well as Huang Si Niang and the couple dozen Phoenix Clan members, were all gathered in the Grand Hall.
Although the Grand Dao of Space was a Bloodline Talent of the Phoenix Clan, their current heritage wasn’t enough for any of their clansmen to obtain higher attainment than Yang Kai. Perhaps the former Phoenix Clan Leader who died in the Barren Territory War could match him, but until now, the Phoenix Clan still hadn’t seen the rise of a Ninth-Order Phoenix.
That was why the Phoenixes were also excited after hearing that Yang Kai would personally show them how to arrange the new Space Array.
As for the Void Dao Temple disciples, there was no doubt that they were excited as well. They were born in the Void World and inherited their Grand Dao from Yang Kai; hence, their respect and admiration for their Dao Lord was unparalleled.
Once everyone was gathered, Yang Kai spoke up, “You’ve worked hard these past few years. The formation of the Void Guard is crucial to the future dispatch and support of our Army; however, there are only a few who are proficient in the Dao of Space, so even though it will be difficult, I hope all of you can persevere through this.”
The disciples below answered, saying things like ‘it was nothing’, or ‘it was our duty’.
Yang Kai nodded and continued, “At first, I was planning on waiting until all the Universe Temples were gathered before demonstrating the new Space Arrays we would be arranging and their wonders, but something unexpected happened, so I was caught up for a while. Luckily, there is still ample time, so it’s not a major concern. There are no large errors in how you all are approaching the new Space Arrays, so there are only some slight changes to be made. You might not understand with just my explanation, so I will personally arrange a Space Array while you observe and emulate my process.”
The crowd agreed and became excited.
Watching a Ninth-Order Master setting up a Space Array up close, especially a Ninth-Order Master who was proficient in the Dao of Space, was equivalent to an opportunity to gain epiphany or enlightenment. It was a chance that was hard to come by.
Back when Yang Kai was on the Black Ink Battlefield, he needed to exchange a massive amount of Military Merits for a chance to listen to any Ninth-Order Old Ancestor share their insights in person; therefore, everyone present, even the Phoenixes, focused all their attention on what he did and said next.
Yang Kai flew up and swiped with his hand. Space Principles fell and completely removed the Space Array Li Wu Yi and the others created, making it as though it never existed.
After that, he took out the resources he had prepared in advance and used his technique to refine them. While doing so, he added the first pattern inside the Universe Temple.
“A Space Array is used as a means of transportation; with the help of the connection between Space Arrays, we can cross through the Void and instantly move from one Space Array to another. So, the first thing we need to consider is the stability of the Array. If an Array isn’t stable enough, it might cause an accident while one is in transit, exiling people to the Void. Those of us who cultivate the Dao of Space might be able to find our way out of such a situation, but ordinary soldiers won’t be able to do that.”
While Yang Kai was explaining, several delicate but complex patterns began forming inside the Grand Hall. As the Space Principles fluctuated, all the Void Guard disciples had thoughtful expressions on their faces.
“Once the Array is stable enough, the next thing to consider is the teleportation distance,” Yang Kai continued, “We can’t just look at the current situation, we have to think about the future as well. Few here participated in the original crusade, so you don’t have an idea about the distance we needed to travel. When all the Great Passes set out to the Primordial Heavens Source Restriction, it took them some 20 years to arrive…”
“…With such a large distance, once the war breaks out in full, it will be nearly impossible for the rear bases to send any reinforcements to the frontlines without the help of Space Arrays. Therefore, the true aim of forming the Void Guard is to pave two paths. One from High Heaven Territory to the No-Return Pass, and another one from the No-Return Pass to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. That way, the reinforcements sent from the back can reach the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction as soon as possible. Only through this method can we wage a successful war. If we Humans suffer a major loss of supplies or are cut off from reinforcements, we won’t be able to continue fighting.”
“…Therefore, all of the Space Arrays must at least fulfil one criterion, the distance they cover must be at least an entire Great Territory!”
Hearing this, everyone paled.
Using just two Space Arrays to cross an entire Great Territory was no simple feat. That was such a great distance that with their current methods and plans, it was simply impossible to achieve.
However, since Yang Kai came to personally demonstrate how to set up the new Space Arrays, it meant that he had found a way to solve this problem. Once they thought about that, the crowd calmed down slightly.
“A stable Array that can allow one to cross such a distance isn’t enough though, we also have to think about the number of people the Array can teleport in one transmission, and also the consumption to do so. Only after we solve all these problems can the Space Arrays be of use to us.”
Everyone in the Grand Hall remained silent while only Yang Kai spoke from time to time. Meanwhile, those delicate and complex patterns became denser and gradually filled the Grand Hall.
All the Void Guards were entranced by what was happening. When they felt the dense strength of Space Principles surging around Yang Kai, they felt even more admiration for him.
Previously, when they were arranging the Space Arrays, they did every step carefully and cautiously, afraid that one small mishap would ruin everything. On the other hand, Yang Kai acted both swiftly and effortlessly, making many wonder if they were even setting up the same Array.
Half a day later, Yang Kai stopped. Then, before everyone’s eyes, he inserted his strength inside the Array, activating it. The patterns began to shine, and the Void above the Array began to twist.
Such a scene undoubtedly showed that the Array had been successfully arranged and activated, but since there was no corresponding Array to link with, no teleportation actually occurred.
As the crowd silently watched Yang Kai set up this Array, they noticed that there weren’t any major differences from the Array they were arranging before, just some subtle changes here and there. However, those small modifications had a massive effect on the Array which allowed it to fulfil the conditions Yang Kai had mentioned before.
The Void Guard disciples gained a lot from observing this demonstration up close.
Once Yang Kai withdrew his strength, the Array gradually dimmed.
“Are there any questions?” Yang Kai asked.
Like a stone being thrown into a calm lake, numerous questions were thrown at Yang Kai all at once.
Gesturing for them to calm down, Yang Kai said, “One at a time.”
During the following days, Yang Kai answered the questions from the 100-plus Void Guards, explaining the wonders of the Dao of Space and the Space Array to them in turn.
In just a few days, at least half of those present saw their Mastery of the Dao of Space increase by a level.
After the last question was answered, Yang Kai finally rose to his feet, “Alright, I’ll leave the task of arranging the rest of the Space Arrays to all of you. Whether the Human Race’s second crusade goes smoothly depends on this matter, so please work together and don’t slack off. Li Wu Yi.”
Li Wu Yi immediately cupped his fist, “Here!”
“I leave you in charge of things here!”
“Yes!”
Yang Kai nodded and took a step forward before disappearing.
Meanwhile, Li Wu Yi lowered his head respectfully, only to suddenly realise something was not right, and when he looked over, Yang Kai had disappeared without a trace.
At first, he thought that since Yang Kai had returned and he wouldn’t have to worry about the Void Guard anymore, only needing to do his part in the project, but now, Yang Kai was acting like an arm-flinging shopkeeper, officially putting Li Wu Yi in charge!
Outside the Star Boundary, somewhere in the barren void of High Heaven Territory, several figures stood upright while looking tentatively into the distance with anticipation and excitement.
All those figures were either in the Seventh or Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, with many of them being at the very peak of the Eighth-Order. Though they were from different backgrounds, they were all basically from the Cave Heavens and Paradises or High Heaven Palace. Only a few of them were from other Sects or Families.
Two of them were the youngest Star Boundary Great Emperors, Scarlet Clouds and Wind and Thunder, standing with the High Heaven Palace disciples. Although they were technically disciples of the Cave Heavens and Paradises disciples, they were born and raised in the Star Boundary, so they felt a sense of belonging to the latter.
With over 100 such Masters gathered in one place, it was obvious that something big was about to happen. Moreover, if one knew who all of those gathered here were, they would discover an even more shocking fact.
All the cultivators present had directly broken through to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, which meant they all had a chance to become Ninth-Order Masters.
In other words, everyone standing here was a future hope of the Human Race, a future powerhouse!
There was only one reason why they were gathered here.
Someone was about to break through to the Ninth Order!
After the last battle in the Barren Territory and thousands of years of accumulating their strength, the Humans finally had a new generation of Masters ready to break through to become Ninth-Order Masters.
The Supreme Headquarters naturally wouldn’t ignore such a huge matter, so they immediately gathered these rising stars here so that they could observe the process; after all, this would benefit them, and they might comprehend something from it. Also, they would have a reference for when it was their turn to break through!
This was a sign of the beginning of a new era. Like Yang Kai had said back then, when the first Ninth-Order Master emerged from the younger generation, it would be the start of many more Ninth-Order Masters emerging. That was something the Black Ink Clan couldn’t compare to.
At that moment, while the void was fluctuating, Yang Kai appeared and everyone turned their attention to him.
Right then, everyone began calling out to him with “Sir”, “Dao Lord”, and “Palace Master.”
Many of the cultivators observing the situation were either from the Void Dao Temple or High Heaven Palace.
From the front of the crowd, Ou Yang Lie beckoned to Yang Kai, “Over here.”
A major event like the first of the younger generation breaking through to reach the Ninth Order was something the Supreme Headquarters would pay great attention to. If Mi Jing Lun hadn’t been swamped with work, he would have even personally come to stand guard.
It was a pity that he had many matters on his hands and couldn’t make it; therefore, he dragged Ou Yang Lie out of his retreat and made him oversee the situation here.
Moreover, Mi Jing Lun had also mentioned this matter to Yang Kai before he left the Supreme Headquarters and asked Yang Kai to come over if he was free; after all, the rising star breaking through to the Ninth Order today was from High Heaven Palace. Being High Heaven Palace’s Palace Master, Yang Kai should be here no matter what.
Yang Kai arrived beside Ou Yang Lie in the void and cupped his fist at the old man to the side, “Congratulations, Old Yu.”
Though Yu Chang Dao had already reached the peak of the Eighth Order a long time ago, he still couldn’t help but feel nervous while replying, “Congratulations to you too, Palace Master.”
His nervousness wasn’t without reason. The cultivator breaking through this time was his Legacy Disciple, the one he took under his wing and carefully trained, the one born with a Special Constitution made for cultivating his Grand Dao, Shi Da Zhuang!
Shi Da Zhuang was a man with a very modest name. If one only heard of his name but never saw him, one might mistake him for a villager living in some backwater countryside; however, from today onward, it would also be a name heralded through the ages as it belonged to the momentous first person to break through directly to the Seventh-Order after the World Tree clone began nurturing the Star Boundary.
One could say that Shi Da Zhuang was a symbol of the rise of a new generation.
When the Cave Heavens and Paradises received news of the effects of the World Tree clone’s nourishment, many came to the Star Boundary and built Dao Temples, dividing up the land and taking in disciples.
In the beginning, though all cultivators living in the Star Boundary received nourishment from the World Tree clone, there wasn’t anyone who could be described as Heaven-defying.
That was until Yu Chang Dao found Shi Da Zhuang.
The child who took his widowed mother’s maiden name had a modest given name, but had a truly rare physique. He was born with the Innate Dao Body which was perfectly suited to cultivating a certain core Secret Art from Free and Unfettered Paradise.
Since Yu Chang Dao came from Free and Unfettered Paradise, he naturally wanted to take Shi Da Zhuang as his Disciple. If he got Shi Da Zhuang to become his Disciple, he would be able to cultivate this Secret Art to its pinnacle and establish a lasting legacy. Moreover, Yu Chang Dao couldn’t become a Ninth-Order Master in his lifetime, but if he carefully taught Shi Da Zhuang, who had an exceptional attitude and was born with a perfect physique for cultivating, the latter might stand a chance to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Through this, Yu Chang Dao’s successor would be remembered throughout history.
Free and Unfettered Paradise was well-known and highly ranked among the 72 Paradises; therefore, they were one of the top Great Forces in the 3,000 Worlds. As for Yu Chang Dao, he was a Seventh-Order Inner Sect Elder at the time and had a high status. Anyone who came across such an opportunity was extremely lucky and would probably agree to it happily.
However, Shi Da Zhuang’s widowed mother, Liu Cai Xia, had different ideas. When faced with the idea of Yu Chang Dao taking Shi Da Zhuang in as his Legacy Disciple, she firmly disagreed.
Back then, it had not been long since Yang Kai worked with the other Great Emperors to defeat Great Demon God Mo Sheng and save the Star Boundary.
High Heaven Palace had an unparalleled reputation in the Star Boundary and was well known throughout the World.
All cultivators in the Star Boundary took joining High Heaven Palace as their goal in life, so they didn’t care about any Cave Heaven or Paradise.
Shi Da Zhuang’s father had died only months prior to Yu Chang Dao’s arrival, and before he passed away, his final wish was that if his child could cultivate, he would enter High Heaven Palace.
Liu Cai Xia was just an ordinary woman, simple-minded and ignorant, but such people could be more stubborn than any others.
She remembered her husband’s last words and insisted that Shi Da Zhuang enter High Heaven Palace.
Yu Chang Dao was shocked and confused for quite a while after he went to Liu Cai Xia’s doorstep and told her he wanted to take Shi Da Zhuang in as his Disciple.
After asking for the reason for her refusal, Yu Chang Dao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he felt how difficult this matter would be.
With his identity and abilities, he naturally could forcefully bring Shi Da Zhuang away, but by the same token, trampling the wishes of a mortal couple was far beneath his dignity.
With no other choice, Yu Chang Dao thought of Yang Kai and personally visited him to discuss this matter with him.
At first, he wanted Yang Kai to come forward and persuade Liu Cai Xia to agree to let Yu Chang Dao take her son as his Disciple; after all, this matter was greatly beneficial to Shi Da Zhuang.
After many twists and turns, Yu Chang Dao somehow became a High-Rank Guest Elder of High Heaven Palace and Shi Da Zhuang’s Master after he entered High Heaven Palace.
Yu Chang Dao knew Yang Kai had dug a pit for him in this matter, but no matter the process, he still gained his desired Legacy Disciple, so he jumped in all on his own.
Over the years, Yu Chang Dao poured everything he could into nurturing his Disciple. At the same time, Shi Da Zhuang proved worthy of his excellent physique as his cultivation increased rapidly. What was even rarer was that he inherited his mother’s modest and steady personality, not showing any of the arrogance and conceit that many gifted children had. This naturally made Yu Chang Dao even more satisfied.
Yu Chang Dao guided Shi Da Zhuang all the way through his cultivation, from directly reaching the Seventh Order until today, when he was finally about to become a Ninth-Order Master!
Yu Chang Dao immediately reported this matter to the Supreme Headquarters, and Mi Jing Lun treated the news very seriously. Not only had he dispatched Ou Yang Lie to stand guard for the event, he even told Yang Kai about this.
With two Ninth-Order Masters overseeing the situation here, it could be said that so long as Shi Da Zhuang had accumulated enough heritage, it wouldn’t be a problem for him to break through.
Looking in that direction, Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh, “Thousands of years have passed just like that…”
It was as though the matter of Shi Da Zhuang finding a Master had only happened yesterday. It happened before Yang Kai headed to the Black Ink Battlefield. Even though Yang Kai was now a Ninth-Order Master, he couldn’t help but exclaim how time seemed to fly by.
The higher his cultivation, the faster time seemed to pass for Yang Kai. Thinking back to the days he had just begun cultivating, he felt every day and year was filled with adventure and fulfilment, but now, even a simple retreat could take dozens of years without him knowing it.
Even though an Eighth-Order Master had a long lifespan, Yu Chang Dao had obviously become older after several thousand years.
As for Yang Kai, he still looked the same as he did on that day…
“This kid has a good foundation,” Ou Yang Lie was looking in Shi Da Zhuang’s direction with an approving expression.
When mentioning that, the usually calm Yu Chang Dao had a proud expression as he chuckled, “The biggest virtue my Disciple possesses is that he’s never been anxious about his cultivation, so his foundation is naturally more stable than the others.”
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was laughing on the side, “You need solid ground to build a grand tower. With a more stable foundation, he will be able to ascend higher than others. There’s a good chance that his breakthrough will be smooth sailing, so you have nothing to worry about, Old Yu,”
With a bitter laugh, Yu Chang Dao replied, “I know, but how could I not be worried at this moment? Wouldn’t you worry if it were your Disciple here?”
Yang Kai smiled faintly, “My three Disciples are all people who exceed the ordinary to reach the extraordinary. They will definitely become Ninth-Order Masters, so I have nothing to worry about.”
Hearing that, Yu Chang Dao glared at him, “Palace Master, if you say it like that, we have nothing to continue this conversation with.”
Rolling his eyes, Ou Yang Lie quickly changed the subject, “Now that you’ve mentioned your three Disciples, are they still with the Suppressing Black Ink Army?”
“En,” Yang Kai nodded, a trace of worry on his face. Because the Old Tree had fallen into a coma, he couldn’t head to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to check on the situation there.
“They’re probably not having it easy there either,” Ou Yang Lie sighed, “Counting the days, your Eldest Disciple and Second Disciple began cultivating at almost the same time as Shi Da Zhuang. Theoretically, they should have almost reached the point of breaking through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm too.”
“Who knows,” Yang Kai shook his head.
Yu Chang Dao was a little frustrated, “It’s not that this Old Master wants to lecture you, Palace Master, but you care too little about your Disciples.”
As he was a High Heaven Palace High-Rank Guest Elder, he had a good relationship with the others from the Sect. His and Shi Da Zhuang’s relationship resembled a Father and Son, whereby he would be with Shi Da Zhuang all day and carefully teach and train him. On the other hand, Yang Kai and his few Disciples were the exact opposite.
Yu Chang Dao had rarely seen Yang Kai interacting with his Disciples. To describe it in one saying, it would be, ‘the Master teaches the trade, but the Disciple’s skills are self-made.’
However, even though Yang Kai didn’t teach them much, his Disciples all had excellent achievements. Before they joined the Suppressing Black Ink Army, all three Disciples had reached the Eighth Order with hopes of becoming Ninth-Order Masters.
“I was busy…” Yang Kai spread his hands hopelessly, “I do want to be like Old Yu and teach them personally, but I can’t help it.”
Yu Chang Dao groaned and sighed, “It’s been hard on you. Without you, the Human Race might not have made it to this day.”
“It’s starting!” Ou Yang Lie suddenly spoke up.
Meanwhile, the Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters eavesdropping on the trio’s conversation also instantly became solemn and looked in the direction of the void.
When Yang Kai looked over, he saw Shi Da Zhuang sitting down cross-legged. His Small Universe’s illusory phantom had appeared behind him. Dao Strengths flowed as World Force pulsed rhythmically.
An Eighth-Order Master becoming a Ninth-Order Master was the greatest achievement when cultivating the Open Heaven Realm Method. The path to the peak was treacherous, and one would fall with one slip and suffer a tragic ending.
Since ancient times, there weren’t a lot of cultivators who could directly advance to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, but there weren’t few either. However, there were only around 100 Ninth-Order Old Ancestors from the Cave Heavens and Paradises on the Black Ink Battlefield.
Not everyone who had the qualifications to become a Ninth-Order Master would succeed because even the breakthrough process was very risky. If the cultivator failed at the last moment, the lightest consequence would be damaging their Small Universe, causing them to be unable to reach the Ninth Order, similar to Xiang Shan’s previous situation. The heavier consequence would be destroying the cultivator’s Small Universe and instantly perishing.
Many people had failed in this final step, so there hadn’t been many Ninth-Order Masters over the years.
The crowd could clearly see the illusory phantom behind Shi Da Zhuang increasing in size like a balloon being blown up. Meanwhile, the scene inside the Small Universe had become blurry because it was getting more bloated.
A while later, it was restored to its original condition.
After that, it happened again.
The movement made it seem like the Small Universe had its own life force and was slowly breathing.
Following every cycle, the Small Universe would slowly break through its limitations.
“It’s extremely dangerous for an Eighth-Order Master to become a Ninth-Order Master. The Cave Heavens and Paradises have naturally studied this matter for hundreds of thousands of years and come up with all kinds of methods to assist in this process. The current technique Shi Da Zhuang is using is the most common and ordinary Bridging Method. Although all of you come from different backgrounds, many of you have reached the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, so I believe your Masters and Elders have spoken about this to you. The Bridging Method might seem ordinary, but it is also the safest method; its only flaw is that it takes a long time. All of you will experience this day too, so I hope you can take away something from today,” Ou Yang Lie said aloud.
The Open Heaven Realm Masters observing nodded and agreed.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was instantly intrigued, “Do the Cave Heavens and Paradises have many Secret Techniques related to this breakthrough?”
Yu Chang Dao nodded and replied, “Of course. The heritage accumulated by the Cave Heavens and Paradises are something other Great Forces find hard to reach.”
Hearing that, Yang Kai agreed, “The accumulation gathered throughout several millions of years is no joke. I’ll inquire about it later.”
“There’s no need for that. Head Manager Hua has already asked the Cave Heavens and Paradises about such matters. Also, these things aren’t confidential anymore and can be exchanged for Military Merits.”
The immense external pressure had forced the Human Race to be united in good faith. In the past, all the Cave Heavens and Paradises had hoarded their Secret Techniques from the public. These Breakthrough Secret Techniques were naturally not taught to outsiders and difficult for ordinary people to access. The current reality was a huge contrast from back then. Not only were these highly revered and precious Secret Techniques available to the general public now, but they could also easily be obtained in exchange for a certain number of Military Merits.
In terms of heritage, High Heaven Palace was naturally inferior compared to the extensive accumulation of the established top Great Forces. It was fortunate that High Heaven Palace had Hua Qing Si. While Yang Kai was wandering the vast Universe all this time, she had taken care of High Heaven Palace in an orderly manner. Even the Secret Techniques and the Breakthrough Secret Techniques that needed to be exchanged with Military Merits had been collected from various sources in advance. In this way, High Heaven Palace disciples would not need to spend too much effort and resources to obtain these Secret Techniques when the need arose.
Shi Da Zhuang’s breakthrough was very different from Ou Yang Lie and Yang Kai’s breakthrough.
The limits of Ou Yang Lie and Yang Kai were the peak of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. In other words, they were limited by the innate shackles of the Open Heaven Method at the time. When their cultivation reached their respective limits, a World Barrier had formed around their Small Universe. Unfortunately, the boundary wall surrounding their Small Universe could not be broken with their strength alone. They had to borrow the help of an external force to break through the boundary wall.
Ou Yang Lie had made use of a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill while Yang Kai had relied upon the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art.
On the other hand, Shi Da Zhuang’s breakthrough was not as troublesome. He had advanced directly to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so he had the qualifications to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the first place. At present, he only needed to overcome his bottleneck to succeed.
It was just as Ou Yang Lie had said, the Breakthrough Secret Technique that Shi Da Zhuang had chosen was one of the simplest. Compared to other Breakthrough Secret Techniques, no additional requirements or cultivation resources were needed. In fact, it could be said that most Eighth-Order Masters aiming to advance to the Ninth-Order could choose this Secret Technique. Nevertheless, the disadvantage of this Secret Technique was obvious, it took a long time.
The longer one spent during the advancement process, the greater the number of unknown variables that would appear. That was why the Old Ancestors who previously advanced to the Ninth Order would rarely choose this method. They were more likely to choose a Breakthrough Secret Technique that required additional cultivation resources or Secret Techniques during their advancement to increase their success rate and decrease the time required. Only those like Shi Da Zhuang, who not only had a solid foundation and confidence in their strength, but would also not be afraid of such variables.
The illusory phantom of Shi Da Zhuang’s Small Universe continuously expanded and contracted. These movements closely resembled the breathing of a living creature, and every movement was stronger than the one from before.
His breakthrough process was quite slow.
With the continuous expansion and contraction of his Small Universe, his aura finally accumulated to a critical limit after half a month of effort. At a certain point, his Small Universe expanded but did not shrink back to its original size as before and simply continued instead. His Small Universe quickly expanded until the extreme.
Despite the great distance, the group of people standing far away could clearly sense the burgeoning World Force coming from that direction.
Yu Chang Dao’s expression instantly became tense. Likewise, the expressions of the Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters observing the advancement process became serious. Everyone could tell that the final moment had arrived. The success or failure of the accumulated progress throughout the past half month hinged upon this moment.
Similarly, both Yang Kai and Ou Yang Lie were focused on the situation in front of them. The main reason for their presence was to stand guard for Shi Da Zhuang. To put it simply, their role as so-called Protectors was to take action to save Shi Da Zhuang if he failed in his advancement. Such an act would be tough even for two Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so they could only do their best if necessary.
However, Yang Kai’s expression soon relaxed and he smiled lightly, “Congratulations, Old Yu.”
He had made the same statement when he came here half a month ago; nevertheless, the meaning was completely different when he repeated it now.
Upon hearing those words, Yu Chang Dao hurriedly looked over. His tensed expression finally relaxed when he saw Yang Kai nodding at him.
Almost at the same time, an astonishing amount of aura erupted from Shi Da Zhuang’s direction. It was followed by an intense wave of World Force that swept outward into the surroundings. In front of everybody’s eyes, his Small Universe, which should have already expanded to its limit, abruptly expanded even more!
The greatest characteristic displayed during the advancement of an Open Heaven Realm Master was the expansion of their Small Universe. It was only when the territory of their Small Universe expanded exponentially that their strength would experience earth-shaking changes. Both Ou Yang Lie and Yang Kai deeply understood this principle, but more importantly, Shi Da Zhuang had undoubtedly achieved the desired results at this moment.
Countless Open Heaven Realm Masters began to cheer at the sight.
Meanwhile, Yu Chang Dao reached up to stroke his beard. His heart was filled with a sense of relief, but he smiled brilliantly in the face of the congratulatory cheers from the people around him.
On this day, the first of the new generation of Ninth-Order Masters was born to the Human Race outside the Star Boundary. It was later recorded in history books that the birth of this Ninth-Order Master heralded the arrival of a new era!
Yang Kai did not stay for long. Although Shi Da Zhuang had successfully advanced to the Ninth Order, he would need time to consolidate his new strength; therefore, Yang Kai left Ou Yang Lie to watch over Shi Da Zhuang and returned to the Star Boundary.
Without alerting anyone, he came to a certain spot on the World Tree clone where a tree cave was located. The interior was spacious and resembled a secluded home. This tree cave secluded home was where he had hidden himself to recuperate from his wounds in the past.
To cultivate the Three Selves Source Reconstitution Art back then, Yang Kai had paid a huge price to create his Human Self and Monster Self. Each time he created one of his Selves, he would severely damage his foundation by splitting his Soul in half; hence, he had hidden himself here to recuperate from his wounds.
On this occasion, his return was not for recuperation but for cultivation.
Several hundred years had passed since he advanced to the Ninth Order and his heritage had clearly increased during this period, but strictly speaking, he was still just a newly advanced Ninth Order Master with a lot of room for growth.
If he cultivated steadily, he would probably need to spend thousands of years to improve his cultivation to the limits in his current Order. Unfortunately, the Human Race’s second crusade was fast approaching. There was not much time left for him to cultivate, so he had to improve his strength as soon as possible.
If it were anybody else, they might not have a good method to increase their cultivation quickly, but fortunately for Yang Kai, he was one of the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary, so he could borrow the power of the Star Boundary to increase his strength.
That was precisely the reason why the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary and even Thunder Shadow were able to increase their cultivation to their limits far faster than ordinary people. It was because they cultivated with support from the power of the Universe World.
That was especially true for the Star Boundary. The accumulation of feedback from the World Tree clone over several thousands of years had greatly enhanced the Star Boundary’s heritage. At present, not only was the Star Boundary’s World Energy indescribably rich, but the World’s Grand Dao and Principles were also extremely stable. It could be said that there had never been another Universe World like the Star Boundary throughout history, and this unprecedented phenomenon was all thanks to the uninterrupted feedback from the World Tree clone.
If somebody had the ability to absorb all the power in the Star Boundary, it would be enough for them to become a Ninth-Order Master out of thin air. Furthermore, that person would be an extremely mighty Ninth-Order Master.
Yang Kai planned to borrow the power of the Star Boundary to cultivate. To put it simply, he would be utilising the World Energy of the Star Boundary to enhance the heritage of his Small Universe directly.
He had done something similar before. At the time, he had borrowed the power of the Star Boundary to temporarily raise his cultivation from the Sixth Order to the Seventh Order in order to confront a powerful enemy. Although he later returned most of the power to the Star Boundary, a small portion had remained in his Small Universe. This small portion of power had saved him hundreds of years of secluded cultivation, and it was precisely because of this incident that he discovered the benefits of being a Great Emperor of such a Universe World.
Extracting the World Energy from the Star Boundary would naturally cause damage to the Star Boundary, but the Star Boundary’s heritage was unprecedentedly rich. As long as he was measured in his usage and avoided causing damage to the foundation of the Star Boundary, there would not be any problems. Furthermore, the power he absorbed would eventually be replenished again as long as the World Tree clone remained in the Star Boundary.
Yang Kai sat down cross-legged inside the tree cave and focused his mind. With a single thought, the entire Star Boundary came under his control.
“Please assist me,” he murmured softly and opened the portal to his Small Universe.
In the next moment, an invisible and intangible force slowly began to gather from various parts of the Star Boundary. The force subsequently flooded into his Small Universe only to be refined and absorbed by him.
Despite the drain on the Star Boundary’s World Energy, the change was minimal. Even if a Ninth-Order Master were standing here, they would have trouble detecting the changes unless they were paying very close attention. Nevertheless, the Great Emperors of the Star Boundary noticed the changes immediately. Having been recognised as Great Emperors by the World’s Will, they shared the fate of the Star Boundary. It was only natural for them to notice the slightest changes and abnormalities in the Star Boundary.
For a moment, the Great Emperors looked startled and immediately tracked the source of the phenomenon to investigate the situation. Once they learned the disturbance was caused by Yang Kai’s actions, they immediately felt relieved and did not bother to interrupt his cultivation.
This couldn’t be helped. Every one of them had done something similar in the past, including the two youngest Great Emperors. The two newly-advanced Great Emperors had advanced from the Seventh Order to the Eighth Order in several hundred years. That was not a cultivation speed that an ordinary person could hope to achieve. If they had not used the power of the Star Boundary to strengthen themselves, it would have been impossible for them to advance to the Eighth Order so quickly.
Conversely, Yang Kai had never done this in the past because he had always been travelling extensively throughout the years. That was why the Great Emperors immediately understood his intentions once they realized that the incident was caused by Yang Kai. It was evident that he wanted to increase his strength as quickly as possible so that he would have an easier time in the upcoming war.
Yang Kai was the strongest Ninth-Order Master alive; hence, it would be greatly beneficial for the Human Race if he could increase his strength at a rapid pace.
The Star Boundary’s World Energy flowed continuously into Yang Kai’s Small Universe like an invisible stream of water and vanished into thin air. At the same time, the heritage of the Void World in his Small Universe strengthened at an astonishing speed.
Using this method to enhance his cultivation with the power of the Star Boundary was orders of magnitude more efficient than refining cultivation materials or Open Heaven Pills.
The power of a Universe World itself contained various types of Grand Dao, so if someone like Zhan Wu Hen were to cultivate with this method, he would have to spare some time and energy to remove the Dao Strengths that he did not cultivate. Such measures were necessary to prevent his Small Universe from being polluted.
However, Yang Kai had no such need. He was currently proficient in 10,000 Grand Daos, so he basically dabbled in every kind of Dao Strength that existed. Therefore, he would not be troubled by the different kinds of Dao Strengths pouring into his Small Universe from the Star Boundary. On the contrary, these Dao Strengths would enhance his attainments in their corresponding Grand Daos instead. It could be said that he was completely accepting of all the power that flowed into him from the Star Boundary. Everything could become his capital to become stronger.
As the days passed and turned into years, the power of the Star Boundary constantly flowed into the Void World without pause. Nevertheless, Yang Kai ensured that his actions created minimal effects by scrupulously following the principle of making gradual and orderly progress. That was why ordinary cultivators could barely sense any changes to the Star Boundary. Only the Open Heaven Realm Masters with high enough cultivation gradually began to notice that the Star Boundary was different from before.
10 years passed in the blink of an eye. On this day, Yang Kai opened his eyes inside the tree cave located in the World Tree clone. Closing the portal to his Small Universe, he severed his connection with the Star Boundary and breathed out deeply.
Although he had only cultivated in retreat for 10 short years, his overall strength had undergone Earth-shaking changes. When he looked inside himself, he discovered that the heritage of his Small Universe had more than doubled in depth compared to 10 years ago. That was not all. Even the various Dao Strengths in his Small Universe had gotten more potent during this period.
If the Ninth Order was divided into early, middle, and late stages, then Yang Kai had undoubtedly belonged in the early stage 10 years ago. In contrast, he was now well into the middle stage. The past 10 years of cultivation had been almost as effective as cultivating for 2,000 years with normal methods. It was the benefit of using the power of a Universe World to cultivate, as well as the exclusive right of a Great Emperor.
Furthermore, this outcome was the product of Yang Kai’s intentional restraint. If he had disregarded the consequences and opened his Small Universe wide to devour the World Energy to his heart’s content, he would have completely devoured the power of the Star Boundary in just a few short years.
Just like how his heritage had improved by leaps and bounds, the Star Boundary’s heritage had suffered a corresponding amount of damage as a result. Fortunately, the Star Boundary’s heritage was rich enough that there was not much impact on it even though a substantial amount of World Energy had been lost. At the very least, the cultivation and advancement of the cultivators in the Star Boundary would not be disrupted by this incident. Besides, the lost heritage would eventually be replenished by the World Tree clone’s continuous feedback.
Yang Kai had carefully planned everything in advance before he borrowed the power of the Star Boundary to boost his cultivation; after all, he could not disregard the future of all the living creatures in the Star Boundary just for his own selfish interests; otherwise, he would have done so a long time ago.
Even though this was the fastest growth in his cultivation he had ever experienced since he advanced to the Open Heaven Realm, Yang Kai could not shake the feeling that he had not grown enough.
Back in the Barren Territory, he and several other Ninth-Order Masters had worked together with Ah Da and Ah Er to fight the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods; hence, he was very familiar with the strength of the Giant Spirit Gods. According to Yang Kai’s estimations, he would need to reach the peak of the Ninth Order just to fight a Black Ink Giant Spirit God on even ground. Even then, it was nothing more than a possibility. Seeing as he was only in the mid-stage of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, it was obvious that he did not fulfil the basic requirements at the moment.
“Big Brother, go to the Myriad Monsters World,” seeming to sense his intentions, Thunder Shadow’s voice appeared in his mind, “Have you forgotten? I am a Great Emperor of the Myriad Monsters World.”
Yang Kai chuckled at those words, “I did not forget.”
Yang Kai had been planning to take a trip to the Myriad Monsters World, but he had not been certain whether such a trip would be useful; after all, it would be more accurate to say that Thunder Shadow was dead. All that remained was Thunder Shadow’s consciousness. There was no saying whether Yang Kai would be recognized by the Myriad Monsters World’s Will. Nevertheless, it was something he had to try to find out.
With that in mind, Yang Kai left the tree cave and transformed into a stream of light, soaring into the sky. It did not take long for him to arrive in Myriad Monsters Territory by travelling through the Territory Gate; then, he flew straight in the direction of the Myriad Monsters World.
Many years had passed since Yang Kai first planted the World Tree clone in the Myriad Monsters World. Compared to back then, the barbaric Universe World where only ancient beasts existed now contained many traces of activity from the Human Race. In fact, the entire Myriad Monsters World could be said to be ruled by both the Human Race and Monster Race.
The Myriad Monsters World had consecutively given birth to many other Great Emperors since the birth of its first, Thunder Shadow. Most of them were from the Monster Race, but there were also a few from the Human Race. That was only natural since the Grand Dao in the Myriad Monsters World was more inclined towards the Grand Dao of the Monster Race.
Under the feedback from the World Tree clone, the Myriad Monsters World’s heritage was no longer comparable to the past. While it was not equal to the Star Boundary, it was certainly extremely abundant.
As soon as Yang Kai arrived in the Myriad Monsters World, he allowed Thunder Shadow to take over his physical body. They found an isolated place with nobody around, and then Thunder Shadow sat down cross-legged and opened both his mind and Small Universe to connect with the Myriad Monsters World. In the next moment, the same phenomenon that occurred in the Star Boundary repeated itself. The World Energy of the Myriad Monsters World poured into Yang Kai’s Small Universe without pause and became part of the Void World’s heritage
Upon seeing this situation, Yang Kai knew that Thunder Shadow’s status as a Great Emperor was still recognized by the Myriad Monsters World’s Will; otherwise, the connection would not have been formed so easily.
His actions immediately attracted the attention of the Great Emperors in the Myriad Monsters World, and when they learned that Yang Kai was behind the phenomenon, they couldn’t help feeling a little surprised. As far as they knew, only the Great Emperors of the Myriad Monsters World had the qualifications to perform such actions. Yang Kai was not a Great Emperor of the Myriad Monsters World, so how was he able to achieve such a feat?
In any case, the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm was not something any of them had ever achieved before. Combined with the fact that Yang Kai was often performing extraordinary stunts, they did not bother to question the situation even though they were puzzled.
…
Five years later, a general order was issued by the Supreme Headquarters and relayed throughout the lands where the Human Race inhabited.
When the news spread to the public, everybody knew… the war was about to resume. Be that as it may, this war was different from the previous wars. In this war, the Human Race was taking the initiative to attack the No-Return Pass and launch an offensive against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. If everything went smoothly, they might even succeed at eliminating the Black Ink Clan once and for all.
The Human Race Army that had been resting for the past 20 years assembled once more and set off for Black Territory. At every location where the Human Race inhabited, every single person came forward to send off the soldiers who were bravely heading to war. They did not seem overly worried or anxious. On the contrary, they were filled with determination and faith that they would not give up until they broke through the enemy’s defences. When the belief rooted itself in their very being, they firmly believed that the Human Race Army would be invincible and indomitable!
For a time, all the places that the Human Race’s various outposts and bases became deserted as all those with the ability to participate in the war had set off to join the fight.
In just three months, the 12 Armies had gathered in Black Territory. The entire Black Territory instantly became overcrowded. As Warship after Warship continuously arrived, they eventually formed an enormous fleet.
At this moment, Mi Jing Lun stood with his hands behind his back on a Universe Fragment where the Supreme Headquarters was located, outside of Pure Yang Pass. He stared fixedly at the Territory Gate in the direction of High Heaven Territory. He knew that many of the soldiers who embarked on this mission might never return home. There was a high possibility that many of them would lose their lives on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, it was a decision that had to be made. It was also a painful tragedy that the Human Race was bound to face one day. They could never coexist with the Black Ink Clan, and this war would either see their ultimate rise or eternal fall. They would either destroy their enemy or perish in the attempt!
A stream of light suddenly came from afar. When the light came closer, Ou Yang Lie’s figure was revealed and Mi Jing Lun inquired, “How is it?”
Ou Yang Lie shook his head, “He is still cultivating in retreat at the moment, but he should be done soon. The World Energy of the Myriad Monsters World has almost been drawn to the limit before it will severely affect the Universe World. That brat will never drain the lake just to catch the fish, after all.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded and suddenly seemed fascinated, “I wonder how much his strength has grown by now.”
Ou Yang Lie had a nonchalant attitude towards the question, “In any case, he is bound to be much stronger than you or I.” Then, he couldn’t help clicking his tongue in mock annoyance, “If I had known earlier, I would have found a Universe World and become the Great Emperor there.”
Mi Jing Lu burst out laughing, “It’s useless even if you become a Great Emperor. The feedback from the World Tree clone is the only reason the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World have such rich heritage. The Great Emperors of ordinary Universe Worlds would not be able to emulate him.”
“That’s true.” Ou Yang Lie nodded, “As the saying goes, ‘Heroes are born during troubled times’. While it is different for the Myriad Monsters World, I’m sure that brat never expected the Star Boundary to become one of the last hopes of the Human Race when he first planted the World Tree clone there.”
If not for the Star Boundary, it would have been impossible for the Human Race to possess such powerful heritage in the present circumstances. Be that as it may, Yang Kai had only planted the World Tree clone in the Star Boundary to save his dying homeland at the time.
Needless to say, his Small Universe and the Myriad Monsters World also played a huge role in the grand scheme of things. It was precisely because of these three Open Heaven Realm Cradles that countless talented individuals were perpetually being produced among the Human Race.
“How is the situation with the Void Guard?” Ou Yang Lie asked.
“The Space Arrays connecting the Star Boundary to the No-Return Pass are already being installed, so it should be completed soon,” Mi Jing Lun replied.
At the moment, their rear was practically deserted. All the cultivators with the slightest ability to participate in the war had been recruited into the Human Race Army; therefore, only a small number of the old and weak had been left behind.
The reason the old and weak had remained behind was not to protect the rear though. To put it bluntly, the Human Race would go extinct if they failed to obtain victory in this war, so there was no point in leaving behind the old and infirm when they could not protect anything either. On the contrary, the main reason they stayed behind was to guide the cultivation of the younger generations. Doing so would ensure that the Human Race had a steady stream of fresh blood being produced in the future, which was extremely crucial for them to gain the capital required to support the frontlines during the war.
Originally, it would have taken even an Eighth-Order or Ninth-Order Master quite some time to travel from the Star Boundary to Black Territory; however, the presence of the Teleportation Road laid by the Void Guard would greatly shorten the travel time required. Besides, this was simply the early stages of their preparations. Once the Human Race Army conquered the No-Return Pass, they would further proceed with the Space Arrays that would eventually connect directly to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
After exchanging some pleasantries, Ou Yang Lie said, “Since everything is going smoothly, I will head to Black Territory first.”
“Go ahead. Relay the order for the troops to wait at ease,” Mi Jing Lun instructed.
Ou Yang Lie nodded and left in a flash.
A few days later, Mi Jing Lun’s wait finally ended. He suddenly raised his head to look in a certain direction. There seemed to be a figure rapidly approaching him from that direction. A short while later, a figure stepped out from the ripples in the Void. It was none other than Yang Kai, who was late.
“Long time no see,” Yang Kai nodded lightly at Mi Jing Lun.
Mi Jing Lun studied Yang Kai for a moment. Although he could not determine the depth of Yang Kai’s strength, the aura that was inadvertently emanating gave him a heavy sense of oppression.
It had to be said that Mi Jing Lun was also in the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. The fact that Yang Kai gave him a sense of oppression meant that the latter’s strength had grown tremendously during this period. After all, he did not experience this feeling from Yang Kai 20 years ago. He couldn’t help feeling taken aback, “What do you estimate your current strength is like?”
Yang Kai did not know how to answer Mi Jing Lun’s abrupt question. According to his personal breakdown of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he had entered the late middle stage of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm after devouring and refining the heritage of the Myriad Monsters World.
After pondering in silence for a moment, he answered the question, “The me right now can defeat three of me from 20 years ago!”
The explanation was so novel and unique that the corners of Mi Jing Lun’s mouth twitched in response; however, he soon became shocked.
The Yang Kai from 20 years ago had already been very strong, but the current Yang Kai could defeat three of himself from that past… In just 20 years, his strength had improved significantly. It was difficult to imagine just how much he had grown after devouring and refining the power of two Open Heaven Realm Cradles.
Nevertheless, this was a good thing for the Human Race. There were not many Ninth-Order Masters at the moment, so the greater Yang Kai’s strength, the greater the suppression he could exert against the Black Ink Clan.
“Has everything been prepared?” Yang Kai glanced at the Universe Fragment where the Supreme Headquarters was located.
This place had always been bustling with people whenever he came here. Not only was the crowd generally packed shoulder to shoulder, but there would also be numerous cultivators constantly flying around performing various tasks. In comparison, the entire Universe Fragment was vacant and silent at this moment. There was not a single person to be seen anywhere. In fact, the vast Pure Yang Pass contained only Mi Jing Lun. It was obvious that Mi Jing Lun had been waiting for him alone.
The Human Race had drained their entire heritage in order to prepare for the upcoming war. Just looking at the Myriad Dao Sealed World built by Yang Kai more than 20 years ago could provide a clear example. The Myriad Dao Sealed World no longer existed in anything but name. While the Sealed World remained in existence, there was no Dao Strength left inside. Even if a cultivator were to enter the Sealed World for training, they would no longer obtain any benefits.
Such a huge Sealed World had been hollowed out by the Human Race Army in just 20 years, and a large number of Eighth-Order Masters had been produced as a result. Many veteran Eighth-Order Masters also benefited from the Sealed World as their attainments in their Grand Daos had improved significantly, which in turn boosted their strength.
After so many years of preparation, the Human Race had exhausted all their possible options. At this moment, they could be said to stand at the pinnacle of the Human Race!
“Everything is ready!” Mi Jing Lun replied.
Yang Kai grinned, “In that case, let’s begin.”
When the words left his mouth, he summoned the Space-Time River. The meandering river wound itself around the majestic Pure Yang Pass and encircled it like a Dragon. As Yang Kai continuously urged the Dao Strengths, the Void containing the Pure Yang Pass was stripped away and then gradually compressed.
The main reason why Mi Jing Lun had waited for Yang Kai at this spot was that he had no means to bring Pure Yang Pass away with him. Apart from Yang Kai, the Human Race had no other means to transport or move the huge Great Pass. Even Yang Kai had to rely on his Space-Time River and a certain Secret Technique to refine the Void containing the Pure Yang Pass into an existence that resembled a World Bead.
Needless to say, Yang Kai could probably take the entire Pure Yang Pass into his Small Universe with the current heritage. It was just that Pure Yang Pass was so gigantic that taking in Pure Yang Pass would place an enormous burden on him, which would inconvenience his future plans. Therefore, Yang Kai decided to follow the original plan and summoned the Space-Time River instead.
The Dao Strengths kept vibrating strongly. Meanwhile, the Space-Time River wrapped around Pure Yang Pass shrank at a speed that was visible to the naked eye. After an hour, Pure Yang Pass finally transformed into a fist-sized World Bead.
Yang Kai put the World Bead away and called out to Mi Jing Lun, “Let’s go.”
Mi Jing Lun took one last look at the Universe Fragment where the Supreme Headquarters had been located; then, he quickly retracted his gaze and left with Yang Kai.
After several transfers through various Territory Gates, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun arrived at Black Territory a few days later. The huge void was densely packed with an overwhelming number of Warships everywhere Yang Kai looked. Most of these Warships were standard Squad-Class Warships, but there were also quite a few Purifying Black Ink Battleships in the mix. The Purifying Black Ink Battleships which were surrounded by Squad-Class Warships looked very conspicuous among the fleet.
Even Yang Kai, who had experienced countless large-scale battles, could not help feeling amazed at his first glance at the scene in Black Territory.
Back when the Human Army launched their first crusade against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the size of the fleet had not been small either. Nonetheless, that was merely the gathering of forces from 100 or so Great Passes.
Comparatively, the current force contained all the existing heritage of the Human Race. The Human Race Army from back then could not compare with the current Human Army in terms of the number of Open Heaven Realm Masters or the size of the fleet.
The only lacking aspect was the number of Ninth-Order Masters. In that regard, the current Human Race Army could not compare to the Human Army from back then. There used to be more than 100 Ninth-Order Masters in the past, but there were no more than 10 of them now.
“Huh? There’s an additional Ninth-Order Master!” Yang Kai glanced in a certain direction in surprise. As soon as he stepped foot in the Black Territory, he instantly detected an unfamiliar aura belonging to a Ninth-Order Master. It was not Shi Da Zhuang who advanced to the Ninth Order 20 years ago, but somebody he did not recognise.
“Tang Tao of Golden Antelope Paradise. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of her before,” Mi Jing Lun explained casually, “She advanced to the Ninth Order five years ago.”
[Five years ago…] Yang Kai did a quick calculation. That was around the time he entered the Myriad Monsters World and borrowed its power to boost his cultivation.
“A woman?” He sounded even more stunned.
Listening to Yang Kai’s tone, Mi Jing Lun wondered in astonishment, “Are you prejudiced against women?”
“No, I’m just surprised.”
“That would be for the best,” He smiled, “Junior Sister Tang is slightly prejudiced against men. I hope you won’t take her words to heart if she says something unpleasant to you when you meet each other, Junior Brother.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Of course, I won’t take offence from a Junior.”
Mi Jing Lun sighed in amazement, “The new era is here. If the Human Race had just another 1,000 years… No, even 200 years would be enough. At that time, we would be able to conquer the No-Return Pass with ease. It’s such a pity that the time we have is so short.”
Shi Da Zhuang’s advancement symbolised the arrival of a new era. He represented the emergence of the rising stars who had received feedback from the first World Tree clone. They were the hope and future of the Human Race and the light illuminating the coming dawn.
As part of the Open Heaven Realm Masters from the previous generation, Mi Jing Lun and the others were sincerely pleased by the situation. Born as part of the Human Race in this chaotic era, they did not fear death or pain. On the contrary, what they feared most were the lack of successors and the inability of their descendants to take over the burdens of their Ancestors.
In just two decades, the Human Race welcomed the birth of two new Ninth-Order Masters; moreover, it was believed that more and more Ninth-Order Masters would rise soon.
Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun walked forward without hiding their auras. As they passed the Warships, countless soldiers stationed aboard them turned to stare at them with expressions of great admiration in their eyes.
It did not take long for them to arrive in the middle of Black Territory where the secret passage was located. Many higher-ups from the Cave Heavens and Paradises knew about this place; after all, it was at this spot that Yang Kai had travelled to the Black Ink Battlefield alone.
Thousands of years ago, the Black Ink Clan had enthusiastically searched for the entrance to this secret passage, but their efforts had proven futile; after all, Yang Kai would make sure to seal the entrance completely whenever he entered or exited the secret passage. Only those with great proficiency in the Dao of Space could find traces of his handiwork if they investigated this place carefully.
Many Ninth-Order Masters were waiting here on the deck of a Purifying Black Ink Battleship. Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun flew over, landed in front of the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and cupped their fists in greeting, “Many thanks for your patience, everyone.”
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters quickly bowed in return with Ou Yang Lie explaining, “We didn’t wait very long. Big Head Mi considered your cultivation time when he issued the assembly order, so our timing is just right.”
Yang Kai nodded lightly and swept his gaze across the gathered Ninth-Order Masters. In the end, he fixed his gaze on an unfamiliar-looking woman and smiled warmly, “You must be Junior Sister Tang.”
Tang Tao immediately took two steps forward and her face flushed as she bowed in greeting, “Tang Tao greets Senior Brother Yang.”
He reached out his hand and gestured for her to skip the formalities, then he showered her with praises, “Great talents are born in every generation indeed. The fact that both you and Junior Brother Shi managed to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm at such a critical moment proves that the fate of the Human Race is not in decline. The future of the Human Race will depend on you now.”
After Yang Kai finished speaking, he involuntarily froze for a moment, [What an elderly-sounding speech… I’ve truly gotten old…]
Strictly speaking, Yang Kai was indeed an old man in terms of both age and seniority. He was probably looking at Tang Tao and Shi Da Zhuang in the same way that the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had looked at him back then. It would seem that the torch of the Human Race was being passed down from generation to generation in an everlasting cycle.
Tang Tao hurriedly waved her hands in embarrassment, “You are praising me too much, Senior Brother. It has not been long since Senior Brother Shi and I advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Please take care of us in the future, Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters.”
After saying that, she turned her eyes to Shi Da Zhuang, who was standing next to her, and secretly kicked him in the shin.
Shi Da Zhuang came to his senses and nodded repeatedly, “Uh… En, Junior Sister Tang is right.”
Tang Tao added, “Senior Brother, both Senior Brother Shi and I are from the Star Boundary too. In fact, I came from the Southern Territory.”
“Oh?” Yang Kai raised a brow at those words, “The Southern Territory is said to have produced countless talented individuals throughout history. I guess it’s true. Don’t forget to take good care of yourself when the war breaks out. Only by staying alive can you slaughter more Black Ink Clansmen in the future and witness our final victory.”
“Yes!” Tang Tao nodded so hard that she resembled a chicken pecking rice.
Afterwards, Yang Kai turned around without wasting more time and his expression grew stern, “This matter cannot be delayed. Let’s begin.”
When the words left his mouth, he stepped forward and stood in the void. He then shouted, “Where are the Void Guard?”
In the next moment, the Void Guard under the leadership of Li Wu Yi responded from one of the nearby Purifying Black Ink Battleships. There were only 140 of them as not all of them were gathered here. Some of them had been dispatched to prepare the Space Arrays connecting to the No-Return Pass.
“Greetings, Sir Yang!” They cupped their fists in greeting.
“Void Guard, heed my command! We now open a passage to the Black Ink Battlefield!”
“Yes!”
After the order was relayed, the Void Guard disciples sped off in a certain direction under Yang Kai’s leadership and soon came to stand at a certain spot. Then, Space Principles flared as they began to unseal the previously sealed passage.
Most of the people on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were watching Yang Kai; however, Ou Yang Lie was looking at Tang Tao with an amused expression.
Sensing his gaze, Tang Tao glanced at him with a faint blush on her face, “What are you looking at, Senior Brother Ou Yang?”
He shook his head, “Junior Sister Tang, you can’t treat Yang Kai differently just because that brat is handsome. You should show proper respect and treat everybody equally.”
She snorted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Senior Brother.”
Then, she turned away and continued to watch Yang Kai. Nevertheless, the tips of her ears were pink with embarrassment.
Ou Yang Lie sighed and shook his head. Glancing at Mi Jing Lun, he exchanged a wry smile with the other party. It should be said that he understood the situation perfectly and knew that Tang Tao’s feelings were not of love for Yang Kai. In any case, he was a Ninth-Order Master, so how could he be bothered by the romantic relationships between the younger generation, especially at such a critical moment when the survival of the Human Race was at stake?
The truth was that the rising stars simply had an inherent sense of awe and admiration for Yang Kai, regardless of their cultivation or aptitude. This situation was related to the history of the Human Race, including the tragic events that transpired in the past and Yang Kai’s contribution during that difficult time. More than that, it was related to the ones who taught and raised these rising stars.
During the darkest days of the Human Race, there was a person who showed up to turn the tide when the situation seemed helpless. With his strength alone, he had obtained some breathing space for the Human Race and even saved the Human Race from the brink of extinction. It was also because of him that the Human Race gained the capital to resist the Black Ink Clan.
That was why even Tang Tao, who was prejudiced against men and constantly criticized an old man like Ou Yang Lie with sharp words, couldn’t help showing the attitude of an awestruck fangirl when she encountered Yang Kai in person. It could be said that the rising stars who were born in the darkest age of the Human Race could never escape the name ‘Yang Kai’ during their growth process, and that was especially true for those with great aptitude.
Everybody watched intently as the Space Principles fluctuated vigorously. It did not take long for the entrance of the passage that Yang Kai sealed in the past to appear before them in the form of a perpetually rotating vortex. Furthermore, there was an aura of nihility radiating from the entrance.
Yang Kai slipped inside, and the Void Guard followed closely behind him, their figures vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
The entrance to this passage was located in Black Territory. On the other hand, the exit was located somewhere in the void of the Blue Sky Theatre, within the Black Ink Clan’s former territory.
Yang Kai had used this secret passage to travel between Black Territory and the Black Ink Battlefield on multiple occasions, so he was very familiar with the process.
It would take no effort for Yang Kai to bring a small number of cultivators through this Void Corridor as they would succeed as long as they persistently forged forward and overcame the few obstacles in their way. However, a massive number of people would soon be passing through this passage. There were 12 Armies, and each one had at least two to three million soldiers in their ranks. In other words, the 12 Human Race Armies consisted of nearly 30 million soldiers.
The original passage could not meet the requirements of the Human Race Army. If they wanted to transport the Army to the Blue Sky Theatre in short order, they had to figure out a method to expand and fortify the corridor.
Even Yang Kai, who had advanced to the Ninth Order, could not achieve such a feat with his strength alone. Fortunately, he was not the only person who was proficient in the Dao of Space. With 140 Void Guards assisting, this task was no longer impossible to pull off.
Deep inside the passage, everyone immediately noticed the presence of the ubiquitous Void Turbulence around them. Strictly speaking, this corridor was just a long Void Crack. If those who entered this place were not proficient in the Dao of Space, they would quickly lose their way and never find their way out again, be it to the exit or the entrance. Even those who were proficient in the Dao of Space had to be very careful in such places.
Yang Kai took the lead to clear and mark the path ahead, his Space Principles oscillating constantly. Meanwhile, the Void Guard formed a long line behind him and drew upon their respective Space Principles in a similar fashion. It was thanks to these actions that the passage was expanded at a steady pace and the Void Turbulence was smoothed into an orderly tunnel.
During this period, Yang Kai also arranged Dao Arrays along both sides of the passage to further increase its stability. The fortified passage continued to extend forward under their wholehearted cooperation.
Whenever they progressed forward by a certain distance, a Void Guard would remain behind under Yang Kai’s orders to monitor the situation and deal with any unexpected emergencies that might occur. Seeing as it was Yang Kai’s first time undertaking such a task, he did not dare to guarantee that the passage would remain stable at all times. It was better to prepare some safety measures just in case.
They steadily progressed forward with only 100 Void Guards remaining by the time they arrived at the exit. 40 Void Guards had been left behind to monitor various locations in the passage.
At the exit, Yang Kai stood motionless and glanced behind him. When he saw that Li Wu Yi and the others were following closely behind him, he raised his hand and pressed against the space before him. Space Principles fluctuated, and ripples suddenly appeared in the void that had been sealed for many years. As the ripples spread out, a portal soon emerged. Yang Kai slipped out of the passage, and the Void Guard rushed out from behind him under Li Wu Yi’s lead.
“Stay here and expand the passage as quickly as possible. Don’t forget to send a message to inform Supreme Commander Mi that the preparations have been completed. I will go and check out the surrounding situation,” Yang Kai instructed.
Li Wu Yi accepted the order. After choosing one person to report back to Mi Jing Lun, he assigned a group of people to stand guard around the exit. As for the rest, they began to expand and stabilize the passage further.
Back in Black Territory, Mi Jing Lun soon received news of their progress. Following his command, the Squads quickly kept their respective Warships in their Small Universes before flying into the passage under the leadership of their higher-ups.
On the other side, Yang Kai’s figure flickered as he travelled through the void, his Divine Sense spreading out to investigate his surroundings. Now that he was in the Ninth Order, his Divine Sense was extremely powerful so it did not matter whether the movement was as slight as the wind blowing through the grass, nothing in the vicinity could be concealed from his perception.
A group of Black Ink Clansmen with a dozen or so members was wandering around the void. They did not seem to have any fixed goals in mind. On the contrary, they seemed to be searching for something in all directions. Every corner of the void and every piece of rock and debris was carefully investigated without exception.
When they reached a certain part of the void, something unexpected occurred. Space suddenly shattered apart like a piece of broken glass. Caught in the shattered Void, they didn’t even have time to react before they were turned into hashed meat and severed limbs.
In the next instant, Yang Kai’s figure appeared not far away with a deep scowl on his face.
Several dozen years ago, Yang Kai had spent some time chatting with Mo Na Ye at the No-Return Pass. Although they probed each other for information, neither party had gotten any valuable clues from their exchange. Yang Kai had failed to learn whether Mo, in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, had awoken, and Mo Na Ye had failed to discover the location of the secret passage that led from the 3,000 Worlds to the Black Ink Battlefield.
Although Mo Na Ye did not know much about the secret passage, that did not prevent him from taking action to search for it. This was actually the fifth Black Ink Clan team that Yang Kai eliminated so far. All of them had been Low-Rank and High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. Strangely enough, not a single Feudal Lord had been seen. Furthermore, the number in each team was small, ranging from a handful to a dozen at most.
It could be conceived that Mo Na Ye had dispatched many Black Ink Clansmen to search in a grid-like manner over the years, all in hopes of finding the location of the secret passage. Despite knowing that this method might not show any results, Mo Na Ye still ordered it in the hopes of preventing an ambush from the Human Race. At the very least, the Black Ink Clan would quickly receive feedback that five Black Ink Clan search teams that Yang Kai eliminated had gone missing. Based on such reports, Mo Na Ye would be able to determine the general location of the Human Race Army and make some preparations in advance. It could even be said that these Black Ink Clansmen were dispatched to be killed by the Human Race, which also explained their weak strength and low numbers.
Mo Na Ye had no doubt that the Human Race Army would enter the Black Ink Battlefield via the secret passage and launch an offensive against the No-Return Pass; after all, that was the only viable option. That was why he assigned a large number of scouts throughout the Black Ink Battlefield. The places where the scouts disappeared would indicate the direction that the Human Race Army would be attacking from.
Although Yang Kai was aware of this fact, he had no choice but to act. The scale of the Human Race Army was so large that it was not feasible to hide it. Once they gathered together to take action, the Black Ink Clansmen scattered everywhere would surely notice their movements anyway; hence, he might as well remove all the scouts in the area beforehand.
After searching a wide perimeter and eliminating at least 30 Black Ink Clan teams, Yang Kai finally returned.
From a distance, he saw that a large part of the Army had gathered around the exit of the secret passage; moreover, numerous Warships were being summoned one after the other. The Squads who arrived first were clearly making preparations for the arrival of their companions.
Mi Jing Lun and most of the other Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had also arrived, leaving only a few to bring up the rear.
The Ninth-Order Masters convened together, and Yang Kai reported his discoveries.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “Mo Na Ye is certainly not an easy opponent to face, but his actions are within our expectations. Besides, we never expected to succeed in launching a sneak attack on the No-Return Pass. Since our movements have been discovered, we might as well start the fight with a spectacular bang.”
Yang Kai observed, “The scouts in this vicinity have all been removed, so there should be some delay before the Black Ink Clan receives news of our arrival; even so, the delay will not be long. I estimate that we have a month at most, possibly even less.”
No matter how slow the reaction of the Black Ink Clan was, they were bound to notice that something was wrong when so many of their scouting parties failed to contact them after a month.
“That’s enough,” Mi Jing Lun said, “The Army will only take half a month to assemble here from Black Territory.” Looking back at the exit of the passage, he sighed heavily, “It’s just a pity about the passage. The location of the secret passage will be completely exposed.”
Through Yang Kai and the Void Guard’s joint efforts to expand and fortify the passage, the corridor had been transformed into an existence that resembled a Territory Gate, though it still had some noticeable differences.
A real Territory Gate connected two Great Territories together, allowing a cultivator to arrive at the opposite side by passing through it. The key feature of such Territory Gates was the journey would only take a brief moment; on the other hand, travelling through the entirety of this passage not only required a noticeable amount of time, but also came with all kinds of potential risks. Naturally, the risks were not too high thanks to the Void Guard stationed at various positions along the passage, but they undoubtedly existed.
Such a passage could no longer be hidden completely at this stage. Even if Yang Kai used various means to seal the entrances to the passage again, it was no longer possible to completely conceal it. There was a high chance for the Black Ink Clan to locate this opening if they worked hard enough.
“If we lose this battle, the Human Race will be doomed to extinction. It doesn’t matter whether the passage is exposed or not,” Xiang Shan said lightly from the side.
Yang Kai nodded, “Let’s proceed as planned.” Then, he turned to look at Li Wu Yi, “Take a group of Void Guards and set off immediately towards the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Don’t forget to set up the Space Arrays along the way.”
Although the Human Race Army was currently targeting the No-Return Pass, it was just as Yang Kai had said. They should not limit their focus to the situation at hand; they also have to look towards the future.
Looking at the bigger picture, the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was the biggest affliction tormenting the Human Race. Not to mention, the journey to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was very, very long. It was necessary to make various preparations in advance. They would not have enough time if they waited until the war at the No-Return Pass was one to get started.
With this arrangement, the best outcome was that the Human Race would spend a dozen years conquering the No-Return Pass. This period would provide the Void Guard with enough time to finish preparing the Space Arrays connecting to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. At that time, the Human Race Army would only need to undergo some slight reorganization before quickly travelling to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction via the Space Arrays.
These actions were part of the plans that the Supreme Headquarters made in advance. During the journey from the Supreme Headquarters to Black Territory, Mi Jing Lun had explained the plans to Yang Kai in detail. In regards to manpower, the Supreme Headquarters had also taken the necessary measures beforehand.
When Li Wu Yi heard Yang Kai’s statement, he immediately accepted the order, “Yes!”
Yang Kai glanced at Li Wu Yi and warned, “The road ahead is dangerous. May fortune be with you!”
Li Wu Yi nodded heavily and immediately gave a wave of his hand, “Designated Squads, with me!”
Out of the 100 or so Void Guards left, 80 instantly departed with Li Wu Yi. That was not all, a fleet of Warships also headed swiftly into the depths of the void. These Squads were tasked with protecting the Universe Temples; after all, the distance between this place and the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was too vast. Li Wu Yi and the others would have to prepare more than one Space Array along the way, and every Space Array they established would need to be guarded. Relying on the Void Guard’s manpower alone would not be enough to carry out the task.
Every Void Guard was proficient in the Dao of Space, so they travelled extremely quickly.
Even though the fleet of Warships set off at the same time as Li Wu Yi and the others, they did not travel together. They simply needed to arrive at each Space Arrays that were established along the route, then divide their forces to establish protective details for those Space Arrays. Hence, there was no need for them to push themselves to travel together with Li Wu Yi and the Void Guard.
In Mi Jing Lun’s plans, each Universe Temple would have at least one Eighth-Order Master standing guard. It was fortunate that the heritage of the Human Race had improved drastically over the years, so there were many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters to spare nowadays. If it had been several thousand years ago, the Human Race would not have had the capital to throw their manpower around in such a luxurious manner.
“I’ll be leaving first,” Yang Kai informed Mi Jing Lun. After picking out two Void Guards, the three of them immediately travelled in the direction of the No-Return Pass.
According to the original plan, Yang Kai was also supposed to prepare some Space Arrays, it was just that he was responsible for preparing the Space Arrays that connected the exit of the passage to the No-Return Pass instead.
The exit of the secret passage was located in the Blue Sky Theatre, within the territory occupied by the Black Ink Clan back then. Although the distance between this place and the No-Return Pass was not as great as the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, it could not be considered short either. With the Human Race Army’s current enormous line-up, they would need to spend at least two years to arrive at the No-Return Pass without the help of the Space Array, which was an unacceptable delay.
Now that the Black Ink Clan’s scouts in the vicinity had been removed, it would not take long for the enemy to learn about the Human Race’s attack. Speed was crucial under these circumstances. Naturally, it was better for the Human Race Army to attack as soon as possible.
After Yang Kai departed, the remaining Void Guards began to prepare the first Space Array that would be located here. Setting up the Space Array was not a difficult task because all the Space Arrays had been prepared beforehand and transported in the Universe Temples that had been collected previously. Hence, the Void Guard simply had to search for a suitable location, place the Universe Temple in position, and make some slight adjustments to the Space Array inside.
One of the Void Guards in the Eighth Order opened the portal of his Small Universe. Following his actions, the portal expanded incessantly. It did not take long before a Universe Temple emerged. Under Mi Jing Lun’s guidance, he placed the Universe Temple at a certain spot in the void.
Several Void Guards immediately flew into the Universe Temple to check and calibrate the Space Array. A short while later, they reported that everything was ready and the Space Array was in perfect working condition. Thereupon, the Human Race Army finally succeeded in placing their first Space Array on the Black Ink Battlefield.
With this Space Array acting as a connection point, the Space Arrays laid by Yang Kai in the direction of the No-Return Pass and the Space Arrays laid by Li Wu Yi in the direction of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction could easily form a connection with the Space Array in this place. As such, they would have a direct transportation route from the No-Return Pass to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction once they completed their tasks.
There would be many transfer points along the way, but that was preferable compared to the long journey that the Human Race Army would have had to make instead. In this way, they could aim straight at the heart of their enemy as soon as they conquered the No-Return Pass and launch a crusade towards the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction at the fastest speed.
Afterwards, a steady stream of soldiers poured out from the exit of the secret passage. Aside from the group of elites who arrived earlier, all those who came later were soldiers with lower cultivation.
The current Human Race was extremely powerful, and their heritage was unprecedentedly rich. Be that as it may, the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters and Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters occupied the largest proportion of their strength. In particular, the Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters held the highest numbers. The amount of Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was the highest, exceeding the total number of Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm and below.
This situation was vastly different from the situation during peaceful times.
Before the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, those in the Third Order and below had accounted for the majority of the Human Race. In fact, Yang Kai had encountered many First-Order and Second-Order Masters when he first arrived in the 3,000 Worlds.
On the contrary, hardly any First-Order or Second-Order Masters were born among the Human Race nowadays. Even the weakest Open Heaven Realm Masters advanced directly to the Third Order. As for those who came from the two Open Heaven Realm Cradles, the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World, the Fourth Order was the minimum.
There were two reasons for this situation. In addition to the feedback from the World Tree clone, the process to obtain resources was also much simpler than before.
In the past, most of the ‘low-born’ cultivators had neither the ability nor the capital to obtain the resources needed to advance to the Open Heaven Realm; however, they could now redeem these resources from the Human Race Army as long as they had enough Military Merits to perform an exchange. Strictly speaking, it did not become easier for cultivators to obtain resources, it was simply a more direct method of resource acquisition that had not been available to those who were born from humble backgrounds before.
Back when the Great Passes were in conflict with the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield, the minimum requirement to enter the Black Ink Battlefield was the Sixth Order; after all, those below the Sixth Order were completely helpless against the corruption of Black Ink Strength.
Unlike back then, the Human Race now had the means to resist Black Ink Strength. Not only did they have Purifying Light, which could dispel Black Ink Strength in a cultivator’s Small Universe, but they also had the Purifying Black Ink Pills, which could prevent the corruption of Black Ink Strength. Thus, the requirements had been reduced by a slight margin. Nevertheless, no matter how much they lowered their requirements, the Fourth Order remained the most basic requirement.
Only those in the Fourth Order and above qualified to contribute their strength on the battlefield. Those in the Fourth Order and below would not have much value on the battlefield. In other words, those in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm and below did not meet the basic requirements to enter the battlefield; after all, the Human Race did not have the habit of using those with weaker cultivation as cannon fodder.
Even so, Mi Jing Lun did not hesitate to bring along all those who were in the Third Order and below for this crusade. The mission of those in the Third Order and below was not to fight on the battlefield but to mine resources!
The Human Race had been lacking cultivation resources for a long time now. If Yang Kai had not brought back a large amount of materials from the Black Ink Clan a couple dozen years ago, the repair of Pure Yang Pass would not have been possible.
At the moment though, the Human Race was practically bankrupt. The demand for various resources would only increase exponentially once the war at the No-Return Pass broke out. Not to mention that resources were required each time they transported the army via the Space Arrays.
Seeing as the entire Human Race Army would need to be transported to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in the near future, there was no doubt that the consumption of resources would soar to a shocking level. That was why they had to make preparations in advance. Even if they expected to receive an enormous amount of resources once they conquered the No-Return Pass, that would only come after they succeeded in their crusade.
The 3,000 Worlds was an empty shell right now. There was no place left where resources could be sourced from, but the Black Ink Battlefield was different. The vast Black Ink Battlefield had always been a treasure trove of various cultivation resources due to how expansive it was. Over the years, both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had been mining resources in the Black Ink Battlefield, and although the Black Ink Battlefield was bound to grow barren one day, it was currently enough to meet the needs of the Human Race.
Therefore, the cultivators in the Third Order and below were dispatched here after the elites of the Human Race Army arrived and settled in. These cultivators did not waste any time; as soon as they arrived, they immediately split into small groups and scattered in all directions to search for locations with resources.
The dozen or so Void Guards who remained behind also split up in various directions. Their current task was to construct more Universe Temples equipped with Space Arrays at various locations throughout the Black Ink Battlefield. This way, the cultivation resources gathered by the others could easily be sent back to the main Army.
The scene might have seemed frantic and chaotic, but things were actually moving forward in an orderly manner.
Two days later, nearly 3 million Third-Order Masters had arrived from Black Territory. That number accounted for almost 10% of the Human Race Army. They swiftly scattered in all directions across the Black Ink Battlefield. At this rate, it would not take long before they brought huge and continuous benefits back with them.
It was not until this moment that Mi Jing Lun’s anxiety finally reduced slightly. Over the years, he had been in charge of the Supreme Headquarters. He was responsible for coordinating and dispatching the Human Race Army, so the supply of resources had also been a huge headache for him. Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do to solve this problem until the Human Race Army set off for the Black Ink Battlefield.
At this point, the Black Ink Battlefield was no longer the Black Ink Clan’s backyard! It belonged to the Human Race!
The Human Race Army was attacking, and the Black Ink Clan could do nothing to stop them except defend the No-Return Pass. The situation at this moment was very similar to the Black Ink Clan’s previous assault on the No-Return Pass, it was just that the offence and defence had been reversed.
At this moment, a figure flew out of the Universe Temple that had just been set up. He came straight to Mi Jing Lun and cupped his fist in greeting, “Supreme Commander Mi, we have established a connection with the first Space Array leading to the No-Return Pass.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly, “Understood.”
Although he seemed calm and collected on the surface, he was secretly amazed by the news.
Yang Kai was very fast indeed. No news came from Li Wu Yi, who had departed earlier; on the other hand, Yang Kai had already finished placing his first Space Array. Thinking about it again though, it was not a surprise. Yang Kai had higher attainments in the Dao of Space compared to Li Wu Yi in the first place, so it was only natural for him to be much faster.
Turning to look at Xiang Shan and the others, Mi Jing Lun issued the order, “Start making arrangements for the teleportation of the Army.”
Xiang Shan and the others nodded, then left to make the necessary arrangements.
Every teleportation that was performed required resources. More importantly, the number of resources consumed was closely related to the number of people being transported; therefore, in order to reduce consumption, the Human Race Army needed the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters to accommodate some of their subordinates in their respective Small Universes in an effort to reduce the number of people being transmitted.
These measures would affect the strength of the High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters to a certain extent, but they would not be affected to the extent that they would be completely helpless in the face of danger as long as they were careful about the number of people they took into their Small Universe. Naturally, it was not a great concern currently since the chance of them being in danger was very minimal.
There were many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters nowadays, so almost every Squad had at least two or three Seventh-Order Masters. Some Squads might even have as many as four Seventh-Order Masters. This was a situation that would never be seen on the Black Ink Battlefield back then.
If each Squad was considered a unit, then the Seventh-Order Masters were perfectly capable of accommodating all the members of their respective Squads inside their Small Universe. Some of the Seventh-Order Masters could even be accommodated by the Eighth-Order Masters. Under this arrangement, the consumption of resources would be greatly reduced. At the same time, the efficiency of transmission would also be significantly improved.
At this moment, the first portion of the Human Race Army to arrive was preparing to teleport to the location of the first Universe Temple that had been set up. Nevertheless, more troops were streaming in from Black Territory. With both sides rushing forward simultaneously, the Human Race Army was practically unstoppable as they travelled towards the No-Return Pass in quick leaping motions via the Universe Temples established along the way.
A new Space Array would be added to the network every two days or so, meaning soldiers would have to embark on their next teleportation after only a short respite following their arrival at the previous Universe Temple.
Needless to say, they had to leave some manpower behind to guard and defend the Universe Temples lest they be damaged or destroyed by any unexpected incidents. This was true for both the Space Arrays that Yang Kai and Li Wu Yi prepared.
According to the plan, each Universe Temple would be protected by a Void Guard once the Space Array was activated. It was expected that such high-intensity and frequent teleportation would have some impact on the Space Arrays. If any accidents were to happen, these Void Guards could immediately step in to maintain and repair the Space Arrays. Excluding Yang Kai, there were almost 150 Void Guards, which was just enough for such a task.
During this period, they finally received news from Li Wu Yi. The first Space Array had not only been established, but also successfully connected with the Space Array located in front of the entrance to the secret passage.
Half a month later, the entire Human Race Army that had previously gathered in Black Territory arrived without a single member missing, with Wei Jun Yang, who was in charge of bringing up the rear, arriving last.
At this moment, Yang Kai and the two Void Guards who were preparing the Space Arrays in the direction of the No-Return Pass were already halfway through their journey. They also left behind three Universe Temples that they deployed along the way. Judging by their speed, the first part of the Human Race Army would reach the periphery of the No-Return Pass in another half a month.
It was not until this moment that the No-Return Pass realised that something was wrong, but the delay could not be blamed on the Black Ink Clan’s ignorance. The truth was that Mo Na Ye was already very cautious. After his previous exchange with Yang Kai to probe each other for information several years ago, he confirmed the existence of a secret passage leading between the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield. Thanks to that piece of information, he immediately realised that the Human Race would eventually attack the No-Return Pass through that secret passage.
After all, that was the only method for the Humans to fully maximise their strengths in the assault. It was far too disadvantageous for them to attack from the Territory Gate because the Black Ink Clan could cause significant casualties to them just by establishing a tight line of defence around the location. Nobody would ever choose to use such a foolish method if there was a better option.
Unfortunately, Mo Na Ye had been unable to confirm the exact location of the secret passage’s exit. That was why he quickly dispatched a large number of Black Ink Clan scouts into the Black Ink Battlefield following Yang Kai’s departure from the No-Return Pass.
His plan had been to search for the secret passage while simultaneously guarding against any possible movements from the Human Race. Naturally, his main purpose was the latter. As for finding the exit of the secret passage, he did not expect much and simply did his best to achieve results. For this purpose, the Black Ink Clan even deliberately produced nearly 10,000 Low-Rank Black Ink Nests for the Black Ink Clan search parties to bring along when they ventured deep into the Black Ink Battlefield.
Yang Kai had eliminated several dozen Black Ink Clan squads around the vicinity of the secret passage; moreover, his movements were so swift that the Black Ink Clansmen had no time to react whatsoever.
Although Yang Kai managed to prevent the enemy from learning about their presence in the immediate term, the Black Ink Clansmen overseeing the nearby Low-Rank Black Ink Nests soon noticed that something was wrong when they failed to make contact with their search teams for the past half a month; therefore, they followed the instructions they received from Mo Na Ye before they were dispatched here and sent word to the No-Return Pass via the Black Ink Nest Space.
Upon receiving the message, Mo Na Ye immediately realised the problem. It was impossible for the Black Ink Clan scouts searching the Black Ink Battlefield to disappear for no apparent reason; after all, there were currently no dangers on the Black Ink Battlefield. It was understandable if something had happened to one or two teams, as accidents or unexpected delays did still occur, but the fact that dozens of scout teams had gone missing at the same time was self-explanatory.
Under the premise that the Human Race Army would launch an assault from the Black Ink Battlefield, Mo Na Ye would not hold any unrealistic illusions towards the information he received and immediately concluded that the Humans were coming! Furthermore, their general direction and distance could now be determined from the location of the lost Black Ink Clan scouts!
With the No-Return Pass as the starting point and the location of the lost scouts as the endpoint, Mo Na Ye plotted a route and hastily ordered the Black Ink Clan scouts along the route to investigate their surroundings carefully and report any sign of abnormalities immediately.
The arrival of the Human Race Army came far earlier than he expected, which was extremely bad for him. Mo Na Ye’s only consolation was that their starting point was extremely distant. Even if the Human Race Army moved at full speed, he estimated they would not be able to reach the No-Return Pass for at least a year or two, which would give the Black Ink Clan some time and space to prepare countermeasures.
After he pondered for some time, he hurried to Mo Yu and reported the situation; then, he discussed some countermeasures. At the same time, he ordered the Pseudo-Royal Lords under his command to continue tempting the two Giant Spirit Gods in the Barren Territory.
When the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods escaped into the No-Return Pass back then, Yang Kai had decisively sealed the Territory Gate shut. Be that as it may, the Black Ink Clan had long since reopened the Territory Gate. Moreover, the Black Ink Clan had never stopped trying to target Ah Da and Ah Er over the past few years.
Mo Na Ye knew that these two Giant Spirit Gods were the strongest forces of the Human Race Army. If they could eliminate the two Giant Spirit Gods before the Humans arrived, then the enemy would be no match for the Black Ink Clan, regardless of how many Ninth-Order Masters were born during this period.
Among the Black Ink Clan nowadays, the number of Royal Lords could no longer compare to the Ninth-Order Masters, and the number of Territory Lords could no longer compare to the number of Eighth-Order Masters. Nevertheless, there were many Pseudo-Royal Lords, so if the Humans lost their two Giant Spirit Gods, who were the pillars of their Army, how could they prevent the onslaught of the numerous Pseudo-Royal Lords and the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods?
According to the information that Mo Na Ye received from the Black Ink Disciples, the Giant Spirit Gods were of a Race that did not boast high sentience despite their overwhelming strength. If they could utilize this aspect properly, they might just be able to eliminate those two behemoths without too much trouble.
Nonetheless, they had to lure the two Giant Spirit Gods into the No-Return Pass if they wanted a chance to eradicate them. The No-Return Pass was the headquarters of the Black Ink Clan, with countless Masters gathered here in addition to the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. As long as the two Giant Spirit Gods dared to step foot into the No-Return Pass, they would never leave this place alive again.
Provocation was one method; however, no matter how the Black Ink Clan tried to taunt them, Ah Da and Ah Er never forgot Yang Kai’s instructions to protect the Territory Gate before he departed. Their orders were to smash any Black Ink Clansman who tried to pass through the Territory Gate, nothing more, nothing less.
Several Pseudo-Royal Lords were injured as a result. After that, no Pseudo-Royal Lord dared to enter the Barren Territory at will again. A single slap from the Giant Spirit Gods contained a Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering might. Not even a Pseudo-Royal Lord could survive a direct hit.
The Black Ink Clan did not stop at provocation though, they also employed another method, temptation.
The Black Ink Disciples who originated from the Human Race had given Mo Na Ye another valuable piece of information; the Giant Spirit Gods fed on dead Universe Worlds.
The 3,000 Worlds was now barren and infertile, so the two Giant Spirit Gods had probably been starving for many years now. For that reason, Mo Na Ye ordered his men to drag over several dead Universes Worlds from the far depths of the Black Ink Battlefield to tempt Ah Da and Ah Er through the Territory Gate. This plan nearly succeeded.
As soon as the bald Giant Spirit God saw the dead Universes Worlds through the Territory Gate, his drool flowed down his chest like a waterfall. In fact, he nearly charged right into the No-Return Pass at first sight. If not for the Giant Spirit God with a tuft of hair on his head who desperately held his clansman back and ruined the plan, the Black Ink Clan could have obliterated one of them on the spot!
Back when Mo Na Ye first witnessed the scene, he was so furious that he nearly choked on his rage.
Now that the Pseudo-Royal Lords received another order from Mo Na Ye recently, they immediately looked very distressed. Their confrontation with the Giant Spirit Gods over the past 10 years or so had shown them that the two beings were not easy opponents despite their slow-witted appearances. When the overwhelming power of each Giant Spirit God surpassed essentially all other living creatures in the Universe, their low sentience no longer mattered. Their strength alone was not something that could be ignored.
Fortunately, one of the Pseudo-Royal Lords quickly came up with a good idea. He smashed one of the dead Universes Worlds nearby to pieces and threw a small Universe Fragment into the Barren Territory.
The two Giant Spirit Gods happily shared the Universe Fragment between themselves, then they turned to look at the Pseudo-Royal Lord eagerly through the Territory Gate. He quickly threw a larger Universe Fragment to them, and they immediately shared the food again. Then, he threw another larger piece…
After repeating the cycle several times, he picked up an enormous Universe Fragment and pretended to throw it into the Barren Territory; however, the Territory Gate was too small for the enormous Universe Fragment to pass through.
He then set down the Universe Fragment and beckoned towards the two Giant Spirit Gods through the Territory Gate, as though inviting them over to eat.
Ah Da was tempted, then… Ah Er smacked his bald head hard several times. The blows made him clutch at his head in pain with an extremely aggrieved expression. His appearance was very pitiful, as though he did not know what he had done wrong.
“Stay here and smash them! Don’t go there!” Ah Er reminded in a rumbling voice. Even though he was standing in the vast void, his voice still echoed like explosions of thunder.
Ah Da nodded repeatedly, finally recalling the warnings of the little one. Raising his head once more, he glared at the Pseudo-Royal Lord fiercely and shouted, “Give it, or I will smash you to death!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord was stunned for a moment. In the next moment, he raised his hand and shattered the enormous Universe Fragment into dust while shouting at Ah Da through the Territory Gate, “Come and smash me if you dare!”
Ah Da immediately lost his temper. Starving as he was, how could he tolerate the sight of a perfectly good piece of food being ruined right in front of him? No matter how good-natured he was, he had reached his breaking point. He stood up and took a step forward.
Just as Ah Da was about to charge through the Territory Gate, Ah Er threw himself at Ah Da and pinned the latter down.
On that day, the entire Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass heard the roars that came from the other side of the Territory Gate. They could hear the bald Giant Spirit God screaming the words “Smash you to death!” over and over again… It was a terrifying sound!
Inside the High-Rank Black Ink Nest that belonged to Mo Yu, Mo Na Ye was reporting the situation to him, but another Black Ink Clansman was sitting next to them. Given his right to sit together with Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu on equal footing, the identity of this Black Ink Clansman went without saying. He was a Royal Lord!
The Human Race had produced a new generation of Ninth-Order Masters; likewise, the Black Ink Clan had also seen the rise of the next generation of Royal Lords. It had to be said that all Acquired Territory Lords had the qualifications to become Royal Lords; thus, the only question that remained was whether they had the necessary aptitude.
There was the issue where it was significantly more difficult for a Territory Lord to become a Royal Lord than an Eighth-Order Master to advance into the Ninth-Order. The root cause was the method that the Black Ink Clan employed to increase their strength was very different from the Humans.
Unlike the Human Race, which relied on personal effort and accumulation to enhance their strength, the Black Ink Clan relied upon their Black Ink Nests to cultivate. As the power of a Black Ink Clansman grew, the process for them to enhance their strength became harder in turn. It was precisely because of this factor that despite having so many powerful Territory Lords, most were unable to become Royal Lords.
Nevertheless, the difficulty of the process did not matter in the end. The accumulation over thousands of years was enough for some of those Territory Lords to overcome the bottleneck in their cultivation. Yang Kai had already noticed that particular issue when he came to the No-Return Pass more than 20 years ago. At that moment, he was certain that new Royal Lords were going to be born into the Black Ink Clan in the near future.
A few years after that, the Black Ink Clan had indeed produced a third Royal Lord. It was none other than the individual sitting here with Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu. Although sitting here meant that he could join the discussion between Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu, the newly advanced Royal Lord simply sat there and listened quietly.
In terms of qualifications and strength, he was much inferior compared to Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu. The Black Ink Clan was different from the Human Race. There was no place for him to express his opinions here. He was only summoned so that he could listen to their discussion.
“Is there a need to intercept the Human Race Army?” Mo Yu scowled deeply, “There are many Ninth-Order Masters with them now, won’t it be disadvantageous for us if we send out our troops to confront them?”
Upon learning that the Human Race Army was coming to attack them, Mo Na Ye immediately came up with a plan that Mo Yu frowned upon. His plan was to prepare an ambush along the route and intercept the Human Race Army during their advance. On the other hand, Mo Yu preferred to fortify the defences of the No-Return Pass and fight the Human Race Army from within the No-Return Pass.
The fate of the entire Black Ink Clan rested upon this matter, so it was only natural for the higher-ups to have various conflicting opinions. Mo Na Ye was not surprised by Mo Yu’s stance in this matter; in fact, he had already anticipated Mo Yu’s opinion before he even came here.
Hence, Mo Na Ye brought out the speech he had prepared in advance, “Sir, the Human Race Army is taking an extremely aggressive approach. I’m sure they are fighting with everything they have; moreover, based on my understanding of the Human Race, the No-Return Pass is not their true goal. If they manage to conquer the No-Return Pass, they will definitely dispatch their Army towards the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.”
“The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction!?” Mo Yu’s expression darkened at those words.
The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was the origin of the Black Ink Clan. It was understandable for the Human Race to attack the No-Return Pass, especially since the No-Return Pass originally belonged to them. The Black Ink Clan had simply occupied this land for the past several thousands of years; however, the fact that the Humans planned to use the No-Return Pass as their stepping stone to launch an offensive against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction enraged Mo Yu.
“The Humans are too arrogant! We currently have many Pseudo-Royal Lords among our ranks, so we are perfectly capable of defending and holding the No-Return Pass. Not to mention, we also have the support of the two of the Supreme One’s Soul Clones. It will not be easy for the Human Race Army to conquer the No-Return Pass.”
Mo Na Ye cautioned Mo Yu, “There is no need to be concerned about the ordinary members of the Human Race, but I hope you do not forget about Yang Kai, Sir. It’s true that we currently have many Pseudo-Royal Lords among our ranks, but the situation on the battlefield can change in the blink of an eye. If Yang Kai was given the chance, there is no guarantee that the Pseudo-Royal Lords would be able to survive a sneak attack from him.”
Upon hearing that name, Mo Yu’s expression darkened even more as he couldn’t help recalling the battle from several thousand years ago.
When the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds back then, they had forced the Humans back into a mere dozen or so Great Territories. With such a glorious achievement, it seemed as though they could exterminate the Human Race with just a little more effort. That was the era when the Innate Territory Lords had been locked in conflict with the Eighth-Order Masters!
At the critical juncture though, Yang Kai had abruptly appeared out of nowhere. Wielding a strange Secret Technique that harmed both himself and the enemy at the same time, he caused panic among the Innate Territory Lords scattered across the various battlefields. In the end, he even managed to force the Black Ink Clan to concede and sign a series of truces on the condition that he would no longer attack them. These agreements had given the Human Race some breathing room.
Now, that person, who overturned the entire situation between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan by himself, had advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm. There was no denying that the Black Ink Clan currently boasted a large number of Pseudo-Royal Lords, but based on Yang Kai’s previous battle records, it was clear those Pseudo-Royal Lords had no means to protect themselves from him whatsoever.
His interference alone had caused the Black Ink Clan to lose eight Pseudo-Royal Lords in E-5 Territory.
The current situation could be said to be even worse than the one in the past. A few thousand years ago, Yang Kai had relied upon his strange Secret Technique that harmed both himself and the enemy to carry out his attacks. As a result, he had always needed to recuperate for some time after each strike. Now, however, he no longer had such scruples.
“The goal of the Human Race Army has never been the No-Return Pass. Now that they have dispatched their troops, they must be confident they will obtain the ultimate victory. If we wish to gain the upper hand under these circumstances, then we must change our approach from being passive to aggressive. We must strike a crushing blow while the Human Race Army is on the march; otherwise, they will only become harder to defeat once they establish themselves outside the No-Return Pass.”
Mo Yu fell into deep thought at those words.
Mo Na Ye relentlessly pressured Mo Yu, “Sir, this is our only chance! The opportunity will not come again!”
After a long time, Mo Yu finally raised his head to look at Mo Na Ye, “How should we deal with Yang Kai?”
Mo Na Ye replied, “Alone, I am definitely not his opponent, but I am capable of restraining him with the help of several Pseudo-Royal Lords.” Then, he turned to look at the Royal Lord who had remained quiet all this time, “Di Ya Luo can hide in the shadows and find an opportunity to ambush him. If all goes well, we might even be able to injure him heavily!”
Di Ya Luo nodded lightly, “If given the chance, I will do my best.”
Mo Na Ye added, “The Human Race is unaware of your existence, which makes you our trump card against Yang Kai. Do not expose your existence unless you have absolute confidence in achieving success.”
“I understand.”
Mo Yu questioned once more, “What about the Supreme One’s Soul Clones? Do we need to mobilize them?”
Mo Na Ye shook his head, “We must not mobilise them. The two Giant Spirit Gods are watching us hungrily from the Barren Territory. What’s more, we don’t know if the Human Race has any other plans in place. If the Supreme One’s Soul Clones leave the No-Return Pass, we will lose the ability to restrain the two Giant Spirit Gods. The consequences will be dire if those two beings charge into the No-Return Pass at that time.”
Mo Yu frowned deeply in thought. Although he felt that Mo Na Ye’s words made sense, he could not bring himself to make a decision.
Seeing that, Mo Na Ye earnestly continued to persuade Mo Yu, “Sir, in the worst-case scenario, we will be besieged by the Human Race Army at the No-Return Pass. They will chip away at our strength, just like how we attacked the No-Return Pass in the past. In such a situation, our defeat will be inevitable. On the contrary, we might have a chance at victory if we take the initiative to strike first.”
After he finished speaking, he watched Mo Yu calmly. Mo Na Ye had said everything he needed to say, so it was now up to Mo Yu to make the decision. There was nothing else he could do if Mo Yu refused to dispatch their troops to intercept the Human Race Army. He might have made their situation sound extremely serious, but the truth was things were not that bad. Even if the Human Race Army laid siege on the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan was not completely helpless to fight back. They had made various preparations in the No-Return Pass over the years, all for the arrival of this day. It was just that… Comparatively, Mo Na Ye preferred to take the initiative and launch an offensive for once.
After a long time, Mo Yu nodded lightly, “I hope you are right.”
Mo Na Ye was overjoyed, but just as he was about to leave to make arrangements, a Territory Lord rushed into the room from the outside with a panicked expression.
Mo Yu scowled at the Territory Lord and questioned in great displeasure, “What is it!?”
The Territory Lord hurriedly submitted a jade slip, “Sirs, the scouts on the frontlines have discovered something of critical importance.”
Mo Yu raised a hand and grabbed the jade slip. Sending his Divine Sense inside, he studied the contents before his expression abruptly changed.
Mo Na Ye’s heart thundered uneasily at the sight as he instantly realised that something had gone terribly wrong. Although he did not know what was written in the jade slip, he could tell from Mo Yu’s expression that it was something detrimental to the Black Ink Clan.
In the next moment, Mo Yu silently handed the jade slip over.
Mo Na Ye took the jade slip and checked the contents. His expression quickly changed upon reading the contents and he exclaimed in alarm, “How can that be!?”
The information indicated that they had lost contact with countless Black Ink Clan scouts along the route that he previously plotted from the No-Return Pass to the secret passage. More importantly, the location of these scouts was situated along the midpoint of the route. In other words, there were Human Race Masters who not only travelled the distance that would have normally taken a year in less than 10 days, but also eliminated some of their spies who were stationed to monitor their progress.
Mo Na Ye immediately thought of Yang Kai; after all, Yang Kai was the only Human at the moment who had enough proficiency in the Dao of Space to travel at such mind-boggling speed. Looking back at the contents once more though, he felt his heart sinking after reading the second part. According to the information recorded, some of the Black Ink Clan scouts had seen a magnificent Grand Hall in the void from a distance. Furthermore, the periphery of the Grand Hall was heavily guarded by the Human Race Army!
[A Universe Temple!]
The Black Ink Clan was no stranger to these Early Ancient Era creations, having learned about the functions of the Universe Temples from the Black Ink Disciples. The Universe Temples were mainly used by the Humans in their travels thanks to the ability to shorten the time and distance required during their journey. Almost every Great Territory in the 3,000 Worlds had a Universe Temple, it was just that the Black Ink Clan had destroyed many of them during the initial invasion. Nevertheless, it was evident that some had survived the war.
Mo Na Ye never expected that an object which should have remained in the 3,000 Worlds would appear on the Black Ink Battlefield. Recalling the function of the Universe Temples, however, he immediately realised what was happening.
Mo Yu had obviously come to the same conclusion. Looking at Mo Na Ye, he dryly made an observation, “Looks like we do not need to attack them anymore. Prepare our defences.”
In just half a month, a Universe Temple had appeared at the midpoint of the route that Mo Na Ye had previously plotted. Wouldn’t that mean that a Universe Temple would appear outside the No-Return Pass in another half a month? Under these circumstances, there was not enough time for the Black Ink Clan to even organize an attack on the Human Race Army. By the time they finished their preparations, the Humans would already be at their doorstep.
At this point, there was nothing else that Mo Na Ye could do about the situation. All his plans and schemes were useless in this situation. If he wanted to defend the No-Return Pass, then he could only confront the Humans; thus, he composed his expression and said, “I understand.”
Mo Yu added, “We also need to come up with another solution for the two Giant Spirit Gods.”
“Agreed!”
There was some time until the Human Race Army arrived. If they could deal with the two Giant Spirit Gods before the attack, then they would be invincible.
Over the next few days, the Black Ink Clan significantly increased the intensity of their attempts to entice and provoke the two Giant Spirit Gods. They even tried to send the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods into the Barren Territory. Be that as it may, the enraged Ah Da did not give them any chance to take a single step forward. He stood firmly in front of the Territory Gate, smashing anybody who dared to step forward through the portal. Even the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were beaten so badly that they were forced to retreat.
A steady flow of information was consistently being relayed to the No-Return Pass, and the various reports indicated that the Human Race Army had erected seven or eight Universe Temples along their anticipated route. Some of the Black Ink Clan scouts even witnessed the Human Race Army appearing and disappearing from the Universe Temples from a distance. The current situation clearly explained the deployment of the Human Race Army. With the help of the Universe Temples, they were rapidly approaching the No-Return Pass.
Some 10 days later, a figure appeared just half a day away from the No-Return Pass. It was none other than Yang Kai, who had arrived ahead of the others.
Gazing at the magnificent base in the distance, he raised his brow at the sight. The layout of the No-Return Pass had changed significantly compared to his previous visit. When he came here 20 years ago, the ruins of numerous destroyed Great Passes had been scattered around the No-Return Pass and countless Black Ink Nests had been distributed all over them without any regularity.
At this moment however, it was clear to see that the ruins of the Great Passes had been organised. The Black Ink Clan had arranged the destroyed Great Passes left behind by the Human Race in a sphere outside the No-Return Pass to form a solid defensive barrier. Furthermore, the Black Ink Clan Army was gathered on the Great Passes. The impressive High-Rank Black Ink Nests had also been moved closer to the centre of the No-Return Pass so that they could be strictly protected. It could be seen that the Black Ink Clan had made various preparations in advance to deal with the Human’s impending attack.
Yang Kai even saw traces of large-scale artifacts on some of the destroyed Great Passes. The Black Ink Clan were unable to perform Artifact Refining themselves, but they had many Black Ink Disciples under their command. These artifacts must be the handiwork of those Black Ink Disciples.
Furthermore, two enormous Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods stood guard on either side of the No-Return Pass, like two Guardian Gods. They towered over the majestic base with a chilling atmosphere around them.
As soon as Yang Kai emerged, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods immediately detected his presence, raising their heads and turning to look in his direction. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God on the left even raised his hand and grabbed hold of a Universe Fragment nearby.
In the next moment, he viciously threw the Universe Fragment in Yang Kai’s direction with a roar. Thanks to his immense strength, the Universe Fragment, which contained Heaven-destroying and Earth-shattering power, broke through the barriers of space as it rapidly hurtled towards Yang Kai.
Although Yang Kai was half a day’s journey away from the No-Return Pass, that only referred to the time required to arrive at the No-Return Pass through normal means for a Human Race Squad Class Warship.
Be that as it may, such a distance was well within the attack range of Yang Kai and the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
At any rate, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God did not expect his attack to harm Yang Kai in any way. Yang Kai was in the Ninth Order, so how could a trivial Universe Fragment injure him?
In response to the menacing attack, Yang Kai simply raised his hand slightly. The Universe Fragment that was hurtling towards him at an astonishing speed instantly came to an abrupt halt and quietly hovered in front of him. Then, he clenched his raised hand into a fist. The huge Universe Fragment subsequently exploded into dust.
The loud and flashy confrontation instantly alerted the entire Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass to the enemy’s presence. One after another, countless figures quickly rushed out of the No-Return Pass and stared in Yang Kai’s direction. Those figures radiated with powerful auras that shook the void. They were none other than the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords had obtained tremendous power with the help of the Source Fusion Technique, but in exchange, they could never utilize their full strength. The price of their power was also their lack of ability to control it. For that reason, every one of them was extremely conspicuous. They generally resembled bright lights in the dark of the night when they stepped onto the battlefield, which made it impossible for them to carry out any kind of ambush.
Yang Kai also saw Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu. The two Royal Lords were standing in the middle of the No-Return Pass, surrounded by many Pseudo-Royal Lords. When their gazes collided, Yang Kai grinned at them. On the other hand, the expressions of Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu darkened at the sight.
Now that Yang Kai was here, how far behind could the Human Race Army be? The Black Ink Clan had known that the Humans were coming to attack the No-Return Pass and consequently made the necessary preparations in anticipation of the enemy’s imminent arrival. Nevertheless, the speed of the Human Race Army’s advance was simply too swift.
After staring at each other across the distance for some time, Yang Kai raised a hand and made a slashing motion across his throat at Mo Na Ye and Mo Yu before he casually departed. It did not take long before his figure vanished from sight.
Inside the No-Return Pass, Mo Na Ye scowled fiercely. There was no denying that Yang Kai’s actions were incredibly childish, but he could not guess the reason for him acting this way.
[Did he come here just to demonstrate his might? But, what was the point? Could he have other intentions?] Mo Na Ye instantly fell into deep thought, but he could not be blamed for being so cautious. Having been in conflict with Yang Kai for so many years, he knew that the latter had always taken advantage of the situation on every occasion. That was why, in his opinion, Yang Kai’s every move was worthy of vigilance.
At the same time, a Universe Temple had appeared in the void approximately three days’ journey from the No-Return Pass and a steady stream of Human Soldiers was emerging from it.
The first to arrive was the Azure Sun Army. When their members had all been assembled, they quickly formed a solid line of defence around the Universe Temple. That was not all as the Void Guard who arrived here the earliest were also searching for Universe Fragments of various sizes in the vicinity to serve as temporary camps.
Mi Jing Lun was standing near the Universe Temple when Yang Kai hurried over and reported his discovery at the No-Return Pass.
Upon hearing Yang Kai’s report, Mi Jing Lun nodded, “I expected as much. The Black Ink Clan has always ignored the Great Passes because we had no means to threaten the safety of the No-Return Pass, but now, they are the ones under attack instead. Knowing that an attack by our Army is imminent, I am sure they made various arrangements in preparation. The Great Passes that we left behind back then are perfect as barricades and barriers.”
After he finished speaking, he turned to look at Yang Kai and asked, “Did Mo Na Ye discover you?”
Yang Kai replied, “I wasn’t hiding.”
Mi Jing Lun chuckled, “In that case, they won’t dare to act rashly. Mo Na Ye is both shrewd and suspicious, so your sudden appearance outside the No-Return Pass will definitely make him worry about various possibilities. I was worried that we might be attacked, but it looks like there’s no need for such concerns anymore.”
If the Black Ink Clan struck before the Human Army could finish assembling, the latter would definitely be troubled. The situation at this moment was the perfect example. Just the Azure Sun Army alone would not be able to hold back so many Black Ink Clansmen.
Naturally, such an endeavour would also have been a huge risk to the Black Ink Clan. The defences at the No-Return Pass would weaken considerably if such a large number of Black Ink Clan Masters were to leave, which would have allowed the Humans to exploit.
The possibility was not likely to occur now though, so Mi Jing Lun was only being vigilant towards every scenario. At this moment, he was practically certain that the Black Ink Clan would not dare to act rashly again after Yang Kai’s actions.
This incident had given the Human Race Army the opportunity to fully assemble their troops. An endless stream of soldiers poured out of the Universe Temple, but they all marched in an orderly manner without the slightest display of chaos.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai took out the sphere that had been compressed by his Space-Time River. After finding a wide and open place, he raised his hand and threw the sphere. The Space-Time River lingered around the void, then the sphere expanded violently and quickly transformed into a majestic Great Pass. It was the Pure Yang Pass.
Pure Yang Pass was not only the last remaining Great Pass in the possession of the Human Race, but would also be an important weapon in conquering the No-Return Pass. What’s more, many of the soldiers learned for the first time that they had managed to regain one of the Great Passes from the hands of the Black Ink Clan; thus, they couldn’t help cheering at the sight.
The Ninth-Order Masters who arrived earlier flew over and came to stand beside Yang Kai. Staring at the modified Great Pass, they couldn’t help feeling emotional. It was as though they were recalling the tragic battle at the No-Return Pass.
A large number of troops soon swarmed into Pure Yang Pass. Following the arrangement that had been determined in advance, they swiftly took their positions. It did not take long before the many Spirit Arrays began lighting up consecutively.
At the same time, numerous Array Masters prepared some Spirit Arrays and unique artifacts in the nearby void. There was no need to mention the specific purpose of the Spirit Arrays for the time being. On the other hand, the artifacts were actually a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, something that Yang Kai researched and refined in the past.
The artifact was a large-scale one meant for teleporting massive objects, so it had no power for offence or defence. Each set of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors was composed of 16 Array Boards, which were divided into two sides, Yin and Yang. Once activated, the artifact could swap the spaces within the range of the Yin and Yang Mirrors like flipping the front and back of a mirror. The effect was both profound and mysterious.
Yang Kai had mainly researched the artifact for the purpose of mining resources in Black Territory. At the time, he had used the Loyalty List to bring Luan Bai Feng under his command; Black Territory had also fallen into his hands as a result. Black Territory was abundant with resources, but mining them was extremely dangerous. Nobody could delve deep into Black Territory due to a massive Early Ancient Era Super Array.
Therefore, Yang Kai’s initial idea was that the ore slaves could mine the resources safely if he could figure out a method to transport the Ore Stars located inside the Array to a safer location. That was how the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors came into existence.
The artifact was first created by Yang Kai, but was later modified by the Artifact Refining Great Grandmaster Ma Fan. The performance of the artifact became much better as a consequence.
Yang Kai had not only brought this artifact to the Black Ink Battlefield, but also spread it throughout the various Great Passes, allowing them the chance to study and replicate it. Thanks to the effects of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, Yang Kai managed to solve the shortage of supplies among the major Great Passes in one fell swoop.
Before the existence of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, the major Great Passes were forced to dispatch their soldiers deep into the void to gather supplies. These soldiers not only had to search for and mine materials, they also had to keep a constant lookout against ambushes and raids from the Black Ink Clan. Things were different ever since they acquired the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. They could now transport dead Universe Worlds and Fragments that contained abundant resources to the vicinity of the Great Passes and mine them without worry. In this way, the efficiency of collecting resources naturally increased significantly.
It was not an exaggeration to say that the lives of the soldiers at the major Great Passes improved considerably after Yang Kai came to the Black Ink Battlefield.
At this moment, the Human Race Army was preparing many Void Yin-Yang Mirrors in their surroundings. Needless to say, they were preparing to transport many Universe Worlds and Fragments here. It was just that the purpose of these Universe Worlds was not for sourcing resources. The three million Human Race Masters in the Third-Order Open Heaven Realm and below were responsible for collecting resources, so there was no need for the main Army to worry about supplies. As for the Universe Worlds that they transported here from deep within the void, there were other uses for them.
For this purpose, the remaining Void Guard, except those who had to stay behind to monitor the Universe Temples along the way, had immediately sprung into action after Li Wu Yi left for the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction with 80 Void Guard. Each of them had carried either the Yin Mirrors or the Yang Mirrors of a Void Yin-Yang Mirrors set and searched various areas of the void.
As time passed, the various Armies gathered in this place. Aside from the Central Army under Mi Jing Lun’s direct command who occupied Pure Yang Pass, the other Armies claimed a Universe World or large Universe Fragment in the vicinity as their base camp. Each of these camps was soon overflowing with people as they worked to establish temporary outposts.
The Human Race currently retained 12 Armies, just like before. Mi Jing Lun had not made many adjustments to the organization; after all, each Army had experienced thousands of years of fighting together. The heart of the Army was united by the blood of their companions and their enemies at this point, and it might instead be detrimental to make any rash changes. Therefore, the 12 Armies remained even though there were not enough Ninth-Order Masters to oversee them all.
Luo Ting He was in command of the Azure Sun Army, Xiang Shan was in charge of the Blood Flame Army, Ou Yang Lie commanded the Profound Nether Army, Wei Jun Yang led the Wolf Fang Army, Xiao Xiao was in command of the Soaring Cloud Army, Wu Qing commanded the Purple Feather Army, the newly-advanced Shi Da Zhuang was in command of the Shocking Thunder Army while Tang Tao led the Red Flame Army.
As for the Burning Moon Army, Twin Instrument Army, Azure Dawn Army, and Jade Cicada Army, these four remained unchanged. These four Armies might not be under the leadership of a Ninth-Order Master, but they had the largest numbers of Divine Spirits. In terms of overall strength, they were not inferior to the rest of the Armies. Besides, these four Armies contained many new generation Eighth-Order Masters who could advance to the Ninth Order at any time. Once they experienced a breakthrough, these Armies would also have the protection of a Ninth-Order Master.
A few days later, large ripples spread out endlessly from an area somewhere in the void that was warded off by a set of Void Yang Mirrors. The vibration from these ripples was so strong that the Space anchored by the Yang Mirrors became extremely unstable, making it difficult to distinguish between what was real and what was illusory.
With the spreading of the ripples, the fluctuations of Space Principles became increasingly obvious. As time passed, under the watch of countless eyes, something seemed to appear in the space that was originally empty. Once all the commotion had settled, the object turned out to be an enormous Universe World that had appeared out of nowhere!
Several soldiers quickly stepped forward to retrieve the Yin Mirrors before moving to set them up in a new free space. Many Array Masters and Artifact Refiners then rushed towards the Universe World and gathered on the side of it that was facing away from the No-Return Pass. Following a cursory survey of the geography, they immediately sprang into action and prepared a large-scale Spirit Array on the back of the Universe World!
After the first Universe World was transported here via the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors, more and more began appearing. Meanwhile, almost all the Array Masters and Artifact Refiners from the 12 Armies were dispatched, working diligently without rest.
In the short span of one month, hundreds of Universe Worlds of varying sizes appeared in the void where the Human Race Army had gathered thanks to the teleportation effects of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors.
At this moment, every single Artifact Refiner and Array Master in the Human Race Army was hard at work; even Yang Kai was toiling away alongside them. Following the consumption of substantial resources, numerous Spirit Arrays were constructed on the Universe Worlds.
Another two months later, their preparations were complete. The dwindling resources of the Human Race were completely exhausted after such a grand and large-scale project; however, the Ninth-Order Masters did not seem worried about the situation.
There were nearly three million Humans at or below the Third Order gathering resources throughout the Black Ink Battlefield and many Universe Temples equipped with Space Arrays connecting to various locations; therefore, it would not take long before large amounts of materials came flowing in from all directions. It could be said that they no longer had to worry about resources as soon as they entered the Black Ink Battlefield through the secret passage.
During the past three months, the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had repeatedly sent out scouts to investigate the situation. As they did not dare to dispatch any Masters for the task, the information that the weak Black Ink Clansmen could obtain was very limited. All the Black Ink Clan knew was that the Human Race Army had assembled at a spot some three days’ journey from the No-Return Pass, and that they could attack at any moment. They could not gain any further information regarding the situation.
On this day, all preparations were completed. The Human Race Army finally embarked on their quest to retake the No-Return Pass!
This crusade was the first of its kind in the thousands of years since the Black Ink Clan first invaded the 3,000 Worlds, the first time the Human Race had truly taken the initiative in the war. The roles of the hunter and the prey were reversed at this moment. It was also the first battle since the Human Race Army launched their offensive; hence, every single soldier in the Human Race Army displayed high morale and intense fighting spirit.
The bustling void became empty in a flash. Aside from the Squads who had to stay behind and guard the Universe Temples and the Human Race Masters with special duties, the rest of the Army had divided into two groups and advanced towards the No-Return Pass.
One day later, the movements of the Human Race Army were relayed to the No-Return Pass by their lookouts. Mo Na Ye finally felt his anxiety receding slightly at the knowledge.
The Human Race Army had come to attack, but there had been no movement from them for the past three months. The feeling of having a knife held against his neck was extremely uncomfortable. He did not know what sort of preparations and arrangements the enemy was making during this period, but he could be certain about one thing, he could not afford to underestimate them. Now that the blade had been swung, who was stronger and who was weaker would be determined in combat.
There was no doubt that the Human Race Army was the strongest it had ever been, but the Black Ink Clan was not inferior. Mo Na Ye also believed that the Black Ink Clan had a slight advantage as the defending party. Under these circumstances, the Human Race Army would most likely be sent back in defeat if they came attacking directly from the front. It was truly unfortunate that the Commander of the opposing party was Mi Jing Lun, who would never make such a stupid decision.
After receiving the report from the scouts on the frontlines, Mo Na Ye glanced at the information and frowned deeply. It was just as he had expected, the Human Race Army had made various deployments and arrangements in advance.
The reports indicated that the Human Race Army was not aiming for a frontal attack. On the contrary, they had divided their forces into two groups and taken a considerable detour by travelling in a wide arc. Judging by their formation, they seemed to be approaching the No-Return Pass from both the right and left sides in a pincer attack.
The deployment of the Human Race Army was both reasonable yet also unexpected; nevertheless, their actions confused Mo Na Ye. He knew that Mi Jing Lun was not naïve enough to believe the Humans could conquer the No-Return Pass with such a simple pincer attack, but he could not figure out the purpose behind their deployment either.
Unable to determine their aim, Mo Na Ye could only adopt countermeasures on the fly according to how the situation evolved. At his command, most of the Black Ink Clan Army in the No-Return Pass mobilised various defensive measures ahead of the Human Race Army’s advance.
The Humans sailed forward aggressively. It was always necessary to take the initiative in a war; after all, the only deciding factor between victory and defeat was the limit of casualties that could be sustained by the respective parties.
At this moment, Yang Kai was back at the base camp of the Human Army on one of the largest Universe Worlds in the vicinity of the Universe Temple. He was lying down in a deserted mountain valley with his arms behind his head and one leg crossed over his knee. Staring into the void blankly, he looked like he was enjoying a rare moment of peace amidst the chaotic situation.
He had been fighting the Black Ink Clan for countless years. During this period, he had always been cultivating hard or rushing somewhere to accomplish a mission. There had never been a time when he could relax, so he couldn’t help feeling a little strange at the abrupt change.
Nevertheless, the reason he did not join the assault was that he had his own mission to carry out. Dozens of Void Guard and hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters were also tasked with carrying out similar missions. At this moment, they were scattered around the numerous Universe Worlds that had been prepared beforehand.
All of a sudden, Yang Kai’s unfocused gaze sharpened without warning and a light flashed through his eyes at the same time.
“It’s about time!” He muttered to himself, climbing to his feet as he stretched lazily.
Peaceful and happy times were often short-lived in this age of chaos. After taking the time to forget about his troubles and enjoying a carefree rest for a day, Yang Kai felt refreshed and full of energy. It was time to take action.
With a shout, he circulated his strength and channelled his World Force into the Spirit Array beneath his feet. The intricate patterns of the Spirit Array immediately lit up and rapidly spread outward like an uncontrolled wildfire. Looking down from the void, it could be seen that the Spirit Array was extremely large. In fact, the Spirit Array practically covered 10% the entire Universe World’s surface. When the Spirit Array was activated, an enormous light barrier emerged to surround the Universe World.
Propelled by the power of the light barrier under Yang Kai’s control, the gigantic Universe World which had been peacefully hovering in the void slowly began to move as though it was being pushed by a large, invisible hand.
At first, this movement was slight; however, its momentum became greater and greater with the passage of time. After passing through the various Spirit Arrays that were constructed in the void beforehand, the speed of the Universe World’s increased sharply. Furthermore, the direction in which the enormous Universe World was advancing was none other than the direction where the No-Return Pass was located!
Behind this enormous Universe World, countless other Universe Worlds and Fragments of varying sizes were moving in the same direction. It was a magnificent sight to behold.
Yang Kai stood on top of the Universe World, looking bold and heroic. Throwing his head back with laughter, he sent a Divine Sense transmission in all directions, “Proud soldiers of the Human Race, let us charge into battle!”
Many Eighth-Order Masters and Void Guards responded gallantly from the backs of those Universe Worlds.
The strategy to attack the Black Ink Clan by making use of the impact caused by the collision of Universe Worlds was pioneered by the Great Evolution Army during the previous war.
While the Northern and Southern Great Evolution Armies blockaded the Great Evolution Pass under Mi Jing Lun’s command, Xiang Shan led the Eastern and Western Armies to assault the Royal City. At that time, Xiang Shan had repeatedly unleashed this tactic, draining the strength of the Black Ink Clan to a huge extent.
This strategy was generally very difficult to employ; after all, it was very strenuous to gather the Universe Worlds that were scattered throughout the void. Simply transporting appropriate Universe Worlds with manpower alone was not only extremely time-consuming but also incredibly labour-intensive, so the effort was considered impractical. However, the strategy became much more viable with Yang Kai’s Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. The Human Race Army gained the ability to gather Universe Worlds that were originally scattered throughout the void thanks to the support of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. Then, they prepared various Spirit Arrays to support and reinforce their ‘weapons’.
The Great Evolution Army had employed this tactic to cause not only tremendous damage to the Black Ink Clan, but to also threaten the Royal City in the Great Evolution Theatre. At the same time, the losses faced by the Great Evolution Army were reduced significantly.
The scouts dispatched by the No-Return Pass had naturally discovered traces of the Human Race Army gathering Universe Worlds. Needless to say, even Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t miss hundreds of Universe Worlds being brought over by the Humans. The gathering of so many Universe Worlds was by no means a small-scale action after all.
When Mo Na Ye received the information from his scouts, he was amazed that the Humans had such mysterious means. He did not think too much about this matter though as he simply assumed that the Human Race Masters were planning to mine resources from those Universe Worlds. How could he have known that they were planning to use these Universe Worlds to attack the No-Return Pass?
If there were any survivors from the Black Ink Clan Army of Great Evolution Theatre, they would have understood the Human Race Army’s intentions in a heartbeat. It was a pity that the entire Black Ink Clan Army from the Black Ink Battlefield back then had been exterminated by the Humans during the first crusade.
Furthermore, the Black Ink Disciples under the current Black Ink Clan’s control had not participated in the previous war on the Black Ink Battlefield. There had also been no need for the Human Race Army to employ this tactic over the past few thousands of years. The assault on the No-Return Pass was the first opportunity to make use of this strategy!
Mi Jing Lun did not expect this battle to determine victory and defeat. There were countless Masters in the No-Return Pass, not to mention two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. They were by no means easy prey to defeat.
Nevertheless, it was the first battle since the Human Race Army set off to conquer the No-Return Pass, so it was only natural to start things off on the right foot. Therefore, they had not hesitated to bring out the Universe World impact strategy that was used to besiege Great Evolution Royal City in the past. The Humans even exhausted their remaining resources transporting and modifying several hundred Universe Worlds for this initial battle.
The reason why the Human Race Army had to divide into two groups and sail in a wide arc was to leave a clear path for the Universe Worlds that were hurtling towards the No-Return Pass. Otherwise, these Universe Worlds would have collided with their troops that were blocking the way. It would be extremely embarrassing if they struck their own forces before they even managed to attack their enemy.
Besides, the Human Race Army would also distract the Black Ink Clan’s attention by marching ahead. All the forces of the Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass were currently focused on the Human Race Army advancing from the left and right sides. How could they ever have imagined that hundreds of Universe Worlds would come flying at them from their centre?
Many Black Ink Clansmen were gathered in the Grand Hall of the No-Return Pass, and the atmosphere was gloomy. The attack of the Human Race Army had long been expected; in fact, Mo Na Ye had already anticipated today’s situation all the way back when he recalled all the Pseudo-Royal Lords more than 20 years ago.
At the time, the Black Ink Clan could have chosen to retreat from the No-Return Pass, but where would they go after leaving this place? Were they supposed to aimlessly wander around the Black Ink Battlefield? Even if they did that, they would be found by the Human Race Army one day. Rather than fighting in the void of the Black Ink Battlefield, it was better to stay and defend the already fortified No-Return Pass.
Furthermore, the mission of the Black Ink Clan had always been to erode the 3,000 Worlds and destroy the Human Race so that Mo would rule the Universe. The Black Ink Clan was not born to fight for their survival, but for their Supreme One’s ultimate hegemony.
Report after report came from the front. Following the steady approach of the Human Race Army from both sides, the atmosphere in the Grand Hall became increasingly depressed.
It was not until the Human Army was only half a day’s journey away from the No-Return Pass that Mo Na Ye slowly got to his feet. Glancing around at the many Pseudo-Royal Lords gathered below him, he solemnly declared, “Everyone, assume your duties and take your positions. Since the Humans dare to come attacking, then we will slaughter them until not a single one of them is left alive!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lords accepted the order and hurriedly flew away.
Then, Mo Na Ye looked at Mo Yu again, “Sir, when the time comes, we will need you to restrain one of the Ninth-Order Masters; however, the situation on the battlefield changes rapidly. Please adapt to the circumstances as you see fit.”
Mo Yu nodded, “I know, but I probably won’t even need to worry about anything. The Ninth-Order Masters will come to me themselves.”
Mo Na Ye agreed. There were more Ninth-Order Masters than Royal Lords at the moment, so they would surely attempt to restrain both himself and Mo Yu. There was really no need for Mo Yu to bother taking the initiative.
Mo Na Ye glanced at Di Ya Luo, “I will engage with Yang Kai in battle; meanwhile, look for an opportunity to make your move. Do not expose yourself unless you find a suitable opening!”
“I understand!” Di Ya Luo nodded heavily.
As the only Royal Lord born within the Black Ink Clan over the past 20 years, he was the trump card that Mo Na Ye had prepared against Yang Kai, so his existence could not be exposed. The moment he appeared, he had to strike a deadly blow against Yang Kai.
Among all the Ninth-Order Masters, Yang Kai posed the greatest threat to the Black Ink Clan. No matter the strength of the other Ninth-Order Masters, they could be contained by several Pseudo-Royal Lords working together.
Only Yang Kai, whose Dao Strength River was both profound and mysterious, was extremely difficult to handle. The Pseudo-Royal Lords alone were not enough to restrain him. It was only possible to stop him if a Royal Lord personally took action. Moreover, it would also depend on whether there was an opportunity to obstruct Yang Kai as the latter was proficient in the Dao of Space, which made him as slippery as an eel. Without the right opportunity, nobody could even hope to pin him down.
Although the Black Ink Clan had two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, they could not be dispatched into battle casually as the true Giant Spirit Gods were eyeing the No-Return Pass eagerly. If the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods left their post in the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan would have no means to guarantee the safety of their rear. It could be said that the existence of the two Giant Spirit Gods was keeping the Black Ink Clan’s strongest combat force in check. Naturally, the same could be said in reverse. In this situation, neither side had an advantage over the other.
After making various arrangements, Mo Na Ye darted out of the Grand Hall and stared into the depths of the void. With his cultivation and eyesight, he could naturally see the imposing Human Race Army around him.
The huge and boundless fleet coming from both sides resembled a swarm of locusts that covered his entire field of vision. Just looking at the scene gave off an extremely strong sense of oppression. Not to mention, there was a conspicuous and majestic Great Pass on the left side of the Human Race Army that stood out like a sore thumb. The corner of his face twitched involuntarily at the sight of the Great Pass as it was none other than Pure Yang Pass that Yang Kai took from the No-Return Pass some 20 years ago.
Despite knowing that the Human Race Army would use Pure Yang Pass against the Black Ink Clan if they let Yang Kai take it, the Black Ink Clan was forced to make certain concessions due to the pressure from various threats caused by Yang Kai at the time. That was because the safety of the Pseudo-Royal Lords wandering outside could not be guaranteed if Yang Kai was allowed to act as he pleased.
The Great Pass had been repaired and modified by the Human Race. At this moment, the entire Great Pass seemed to radiate with a sense of grandeur. It was easy to see that the various artifacts mounted on the walls of the Great Pass were not mere decorations. Any Black Ink Clansman who dared to approach the Great Pass would instantly be greeted with a storm of attacks.
With Pure Yang Pass, the safety of Mi Jing Lun, who served as the Supreme Commander of the Human Race Army would be guaranteed. Mo Na Ye couldn’t help feeling a twinge of regret at the sight. He had been searching for an opportunity to eliminate Mi Jing Lun the entire time, but the latter had always remained in the Supreme Headquarters during the previous wars. Because Mi Jing Lun rarely entered the battlefield, the Black Ink Clan had been unable to touch a single hair on his head up until now. Besides, it had been obvious that Yang Kai was preparing the Great Pass for Mi Jing Lun when he came to the No-Return Pass and demanded Pure Yang Pass.
Mo Na sneered coldly to himself, [Yang Kai sure takes good care of Supreme Commander Mi.]
Then, various other thoughts came to mind unbidden, [I wonder if the Human Race Army will fall into chaos if Mi Jing Lun is killed before they launch their attack on the No-Return Pass. Haaa… Where is Yang Kai?]
He swept his gaze over the Human Race Army coming from both sides but did not spot his nemesis anywhere. The realization caused Mo Na Ye to become vigilant. Not only was Yang Kai proficient in the Dao of Space, but he also seemed to have mastered a mysterious Secret Technique that almost perfectly concealed himself. If he wanted to stay hidden and ambush the Pseudo-Royal Lords during the battle, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords would survive the encounter.
[Could he be hiding in the vicinity? That’s certainly a possibility…]
Just as Mo Na Ye was starting to feel suspicious, the Human Race Army that had been approaching the No-Return Pass slowly from both flanks suddenly accelerated. The news was instantly relayed to the entire No-Return Pass.
The battle was about to begin, and the atmosphere in the No-Return Pass was chilling! The entire Black Ink Clan had mentally prepared themselves to fight the Humans to the death; likewise, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were blazing with intense fighting spirit. They displayed their auras proudly, not bothering to conceal their presence in the slightest.
Four hours passed and the Humans were now closing in on the No-Return Pass. Be it the Human Race Army or the Black Ink Clan Army, the stronger soldiers now could already see the various deployments of the opposing party clearly.
At this moment, none of the Black Ink Clansmen, including the Royal Lords, noticed anything abnormal; however, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods standing guard on both sides of the No-Return Pass reacted as though they had discovered something.
One of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods grabbed a Universe Fragment from nearby and hurled it into the distance, just like how he had attacked Yang Kai several months ago. The rather large Universe Fragment shot through the void at a high speed, but under the astonished gaze of the Black Ink Clan, it did not hurtle towards the Human Race Army but instead soared off into the empty middle void. Then, the two Giant Spirit Gods began to hurl Universe Fragment after Universe Fragment into the void without pause.
A great surge of anxiety immediately washed over Mo Na Ye at the sight.
According to the original plans, the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were supposed to use this tactic against the Human Race Army once the war began. They were responsible for guarding the No-Return Pass, so they could not move around easily. Nevertheless, they could rely on throwing these Universe Fragments to create a great degree of disturbance to the Human Race Army. If they were lucky, they might even injure their enemies. Even the Eighth-Order Masters would not be able to withstand such an attack from these Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
However, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had unexpectedly begun to take action before the war started or the Black Ink Clan Army in the No-Return Pass engaged the enemy. The sudden turn of events was very different from the original plans.
As the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were both Soul Clones of the Supreme One, Mo Na Ye had no right to criticize them for anything. Be that as it may, he gradually began to notice the abnormality after observing their actions. He looked in the direction where the Universe Fragments were being thrown, and what entered his field of vision were countless shadows of indescribable size!
When he finally caught a clear glimpse of the shadows, his body began to shake involuntarily. At the same time, he felt as though his head was about to explode at the sight. Those shadows were actually enormous Universe Worlds!
He finally realised something about the piece of information that he had neglected before. The reason the Human Race Army had gathered so many Universe Worlds was not to mine for resources! They were using them as weapons to attack the No-Return Pass!
With the abilities of the Human Race, it was not surprising for them to achieve such a feat, it was just that Mo Na Ye never expected them to attack in such an outrageous manner. The Black Ink Clan had only thought of relying on the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods’ strength to attack the Human Race Army by throwing Universe Fragments at them, but the Humans found a way to do something similar! They had brought the Universe Worlds to the war! Moreover, there were hundreds of them! It was simply outrageous!
In Mo Na Ye’s field of vision, the Universe World that came first was particularly massive.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s figure finally appeared on the periphery of a large Universe World. He was flying through the void, leading hundreds of unstoppable Universe Worlds in a torrent behind him. Facing the first Universe Fragment that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God hurled at him, Yang Kai simply raised his hand slightly and clenched his fist lightly. In response, the Universe Fragment instantly exploded into dust.
“Pointless tricks!”
10 million kilometres away, Yang Kai looked in the direction of the No-Return Pass and grinned at Mo Na Ye. Immediately after that, he summoned the Space-Time River. The river was like a whip, dancing wildly in the void, smashing all the Universe Fragments hurtling towards him.
“Useless! All useless!” His voice resounded through the void, “Mo Na Ye, there is an old saying among the Human Race that goes, ‘It’s rude not to reciprocate a kind gesture’! The Black Ink Clan delivered Pure Yang Pass and a considerable amount of resources to me 20 years ago, so I brought you a generous gift today in return. Please accept my sincerity!”
Behind the Universe Fragments, hundreds of Eighth-Order Masters shouted in unison, “Please accept our sincerity!”
Their unrestrained and defiant expressions nearly gave Mo Na Ye a heart attack from rage; likewise, the expressions of the Black Ink Clansmen in the No-Return Pass turned increasingly solemn.
They would not have worried if they were simply attacked with hundreds of Universe Worlds. All from the Black Ink Clan Masters were currently assembled in the No-Return Pass, so with their combined strength, mere hundreds of Universe Worlds could easily be destroyed before they even got close.
However, the Human Race Army was currently surging towards their left and right flanks. If the Black Ink Clan diverted their strength to intercept these Universe Worlds, the Human Army would surely take advantage of their distraction. On the other hand, the impact on the No-Return Pass would be too much if they simply ignored the Universe Worlds. The Black Ink Clan Masters might not be too affected, but those with lower cultivation would definitely suffer heavy casualties.
Any possible casualties were merely their secondary concern however as their primary worry was that the impact of such an attack might threaten the safety of the Black Ink Nests; after all, Black Ink Nests were all extremely fragile.
At this moment, the intention of the Humans was extremely clear. The two groups pressing them from either side abruptly increased their speed so that they arrived at the same time as the Universe Worlds. They were planning to completely overwhelm the Black Ink Clan from all sides.
It was too late to reposition the troops at this point, so all Mo Na Ye could do was make some subtle adjustments here and there. He relayed order after order to the Black Ink Clan Army, and to their credit, the Black Ink Clan Army flawlessly executed his commands.
The short wait that followed felt like endless torture. As the hundreds of Universe Worlds drew nearer, their huge shadows seemed to block out the entire sky, causing every single Black Ink Clansman to feel a heavy and oppressive pressure. Many Black Ink Clan Masters also held their breaths and braced themselves against the coming impact.
An hour later, the hundreds of Universe Worlds that were launched from the depths of the void finally entered the attacking range of the Black Ink Clan. Mo Na Ye swiftly unleashed a Secret Technique. His actions were immediately followed by an overwhelming wave of attacks that burst out from the No-Return Pass and blasted towards the distance.
“Good!” Yang Kai pushed his Space-Time River in front of the lead Universe World, coiling it into a giant swirling shield that absorbed and blocked the various Secret Techniques blasting towards it, causing the water to churn violently.
Yang Kai could only endure this barrage for 10 breaths before he began to buckle under the pressure. His strength was impressive and his attainments in the Grand Daos were extremely profound; nevertheless, it was an extravagant hope to withstand the combined attacks of so many Masters from the Black Ink Clan. If he stubbornly insisted on this course of action, the very foundation of his Grand Daos would be affected once the Space-Time River was damaged.
After uttering such haughty words, Yang Kai decisively dodged to the side. Without his interference, the enormous Universe World was blasted apart by the rain of Secret Techniques that came flying over in the next moment. The Universe World shattered to pieces and scattered about
At the same time, the Human Army approaching the No-Return Pass unleashed a volley of attacks. The void immediately lit up in various colours of all intensities. Then, these lights streaked across space like shooting stars and rained down upon the No-Return Pass.
Countless Black Ink Clan miscellaneous troops were stationed along the outermost edges of the No-Return Pass, and their numbers were overwhelming in every sense of the word. This formation was the most commonly used tactic by the Black Ink Clan.
Throughout the years of constant conflict with the Human Race, the Black Ink Clan often relied upon the sacrifice of their cannon fodder to shave away at the strength of the Humans at the outset of battle; after all, they could spawn as many of these miscellaneous troops as they wanted as long as they had Black Ink Nests and resources. That was why the Black Ink Clan remained unaffected by the deaths of these troops, no matter how many of them died.
Besides, the existence of the cannon fodder could do more than just wear down the strength of the Human Race Army. Following the deaths of the countless lower soldiers, the Black Ink Strength in their bodies would permeate their surroundings and gather together to form dense Black Ink Clouds. It was equivalent to artificially creating a battlefield that was advantageous to the Black Ink Clan. Fighting under such circumstances was undoubtedly disadvantageous for the Human Race Army, but the Black Ink Clan took to such conditions like how fish took to the water.
In the past, the Humans used to be greatly hindered by this tactic and suffered heavy casualties as a result; fortunately, they had the Purifying Black Ink Pills and Purifying Light nowadays. The existence of the Purifying Black Ink Pills and Purifying Light drastically reduced the deterrent effect of these tactics on them, but they could not ignore the detrimental effects completely. There were bound to be some remaining effects from fighting the Black Ink Clan under these conditions for extended periods.
After the first volley of fire from the Human Race Army, countless Black Ink Clan troops were blasted into a cloud of blood mist and the entire periphery of the No-Return Pass facing the Black Ink Battlefield was gradually covered in Black Ink Strength.
When the Human Race Masters launched their offensive, the Black Ink Clan Masters in the No-Return Pass were busy intercepting the Universe Worlds that came hurtling down their centre. One after another, the Universe worlds were blown apart into Fragments of varying sizes that still hurtled towards the No-Return Pass. The scene was a huge mess.
Fortunately, the Human Race Army had prepared many Universe Worlds; moreover, they did not pack them too closely together. Despite suffering some losses, the damages did not affect the overall situation. Nevertheless, more than 50 of the Universe Worlds were destroyed in the blink of an eye. At this rate, the Universe Worlds would all be completely destroyed before they could even cause any damage to the No-Return Pass.
But how could the Humans simply allow the Black Ink Clan to do so?
The Black Ink Clan’s cannon fodder stationed around the outermost edges of the No-Return Pass suffered heavy casualties, and enormous gaps soon appeared in the defence line that they formed. Although a steady stream of these miscellaneous troops rushed forward fearlessly to replenish their lines and fill the gaps, the reinforcements could no longer keep up with the speed of the losses.
The Human Army steadily approached from opposite sides; in addition, the continuous barrage of Secret Techniques and artifacts that blasted out of the huge fleet and shot in the direction of the No-Return Pass forced the Black Ink Clan to rely on the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods to intercept the attacks.
Looking down from outside the battlefield, the scene of the war was extremely magnificent. Both the Black Ink Clan and the Human Race had made extensive preparations for the battle. Numerous attacks containing violent and destructive power rose from their respective camps only to fall towards the opposing one. The battle was in full swing.
Many Masters from the Black Ink Clan were being increasingly restrained by the forces of the Human Race Army that were closing in, so they could only watch as the hundreds of Universe Worlds and Fragments approached the No-Return Pass. The sight left them feeling powerless and anxious.
At this moment, Mo Na Ye was inside the No-Return Pass. He was simultaneously summoning various Secret Techniques to intercept the attacks from the Human Race Army and monitoring the movement of his surroundings with his Divine Sense. Despite his calm demeanour on the surface, he was actually wracked with anxiety for one simple reason: Yang Kai was gone!
When the Universe Worlds came flying towards the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai had been standing atop the biggest one leading the way. Be that as it may, he had vanished without a trace after the Universe World was smashed to pieces by the combined forces of the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai’s sudden disappearance sent a chill down Mo Na Ye’s spine.
Unknown dangers were the most terrifying, especially when a Master like Yang Kai was involved. It would not be a good thing for the Black Ink Clan if Yang Kai concealed his figure and aura, then took advantage of the chaos to infiltrate the No-Return Pass.
After a quick look around, Mo Na Ye was relieved to see that many of the Pseudo-Royal Lords were still following his previous instructions and arrangements. The Pseudo-Royal Lords were in Three Fortunes Battle Formations, which allowed them to guard each other’s backs. In this way, they could protect themselves to a certain degree if Yang Kai suddenly appeared and launched a sneak attack on them.
As for the Territory Lords below the Pseudo-Royal Lords… There was no helping them. They could only blame their poor luck if they were targeted by Yang Kai. With Yang Kai’s current status and cultivation, while he might not even care enough to specifically target these Territory Lords, there was still a possibility that he would eliminate them in passing.
The ongoing battle remained unchanged. Although the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties, their losses mainly came from the ranks of their cannon fodder while the Masters were mostly unharmed.
On the other hand, the Human Race also suffered some degree of loss. Some of the Warships out front had been damaged, and a few were completely destroyed. Of course, there were casualties among the soldiers too.
Be that as it may, Mo Na Ye was not optimistic about the situation. Anybody with a discerning eye could see that Humans had carefully planned and prepared their attack today. The Black Ink Clan was bound to pay an expensive price in this battle.
The Human Race Army rapidly closed in on the No-Return Pass from both sides, and the hundreds of Universe Worlds flying forward approached the No-Return Pass at a high speed. These Universe Worlds were constantly being blown up as they closed in. It was fortunate that the Eighth-Order Masters controlling these Universe Worlds quickly noticed the danger and escaped beforehand. If not, they could not have defended themselves from the dense storm of attacks raining down on them.
Ultimately though, the Black Ink Clan found themselves lacking the necessary numbers to handle the situation. Even though the Black Ink Clan desperately tried to defend themselves, they simply lacked the manpower to face both the Human Race Army and the Universe World attack at the same time.
An hour into the confrontation, one of the Universe Worlds finally broke through layers of heavy blockades and slammed into the Black Ink Clan’s outermost line of defence. At the moment of collision, the Spirit Arrays arranged on the Universe World suddenly blazed with light and illuminated the entire sky like a great sun. The spectacle was immediately followed by the grand explosion of the Universe World, which detonated with a terrifying force. It could be seen that the power of the Spirit Arrays was impressive indeed.
It only took a moment for the Black Ink Clan soldiers in the vicinity to be wiped out completely. Even a few of the Territory Lords staggered backwards from the force of the explosion. Meanwhile, the auras of many Feudal Lords vanished from existence.
The expressions of many Black Ink Clansmen changed at that sight as they gained a new understanding of their predicament. These Universe Worlds hurtling towards the No-Return Pass did not just contain enormous momentum but were also covered in various dangerous Spirit Arrays. That was what made these Universe Worlds even more terrifying. Unfortunately, their realisation came too late. After one Universe World broke through the Black Ink Clan’s defence perimeter, a second and a third quickly followed…
Although the majority of the Universe Worlds were destroyed en-route, the Human Race Army was extremely well prepared. In fact, they even went so far as to exhaust all their remaining resources just to arrange the Spirit Arrays on so many Universe Worlds.
The places along the line of defence that were struck by the Universe Worlds were in complete disarray. There were countless casualties, and several spots now had wide gaps in them. Hence, the Black Ink Clan Masters nearby were rushing to restore the defence perimeter to hold the line.
Nevertheless, this was just the beginning!
At this point, the true power of the Human Race Army had yet to be displayed. The previous exchange had merely been a long-distance confrontation, and the attack relying upon the collision of the Universe Worlds was simply borrowed from external forces. The power of the Humans itself remained hidden from sight.
Mo Na Ye’s heart sank! Before the war began, he had already mentally prepared himself for the fact that the Black Ink Clan would suffer considerable losses; however, it would now seem that they were going to take far more casualties than he originally expected.
All of a sudden, he turned his head to look in a certain direction. Three Pseudo-Royal Lords were standing along the line of defence in that direction. They had formed the Three Fortunes Formation and were working together to attack one of the incoming Universe worlds.
This Universe World had almost made it to the defence line at this point. Just as the Universe World was about to collide with the outermost perimeter, it was abruptly stopped and exploded thanks to the joint attack of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. The huge impact unleashed a shockwave that caused ripples to spread out across the void in all directions, and the figures of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords involuntarily staggered from the resulting aftermath.
“Watch out!” Mo Na Ye’s furious roar suddenly rang out in the ears of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Their reaction was undeniably swift. Almost at the same time that Mo Na Ye shouted his warning, they drew upon their respective power and blasted their strongest attack in a certain direction.
In that direction, a figure suddenly emerged from the space that was originally empty. It was none other than Yang Kai, who had gone missing previously.
Nobody knew how Yang Kai had infiltrated the defences of the Black Ink Clan or when he had appeared at that position. After his three Selves united, he successfully mastered Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability which gave him an unmatched advantage in terms of concealment. Only a Royal Lord could perceive his movements and whereabouts within a limited range.
If the Pseudo-Royal Lords had investigated their surroundings wholeheartedly, they might have had a chance to notice his approach; unfortunately, it was impossible for the Pseudo-Royal Lords to see through the traces of Yang Kai’s movements under such chaotic conditions. The chaos had created the perfect conditions for Yang Kai to hide in.
Therefore, it was not until he made his move that the three Pseudo-Royal Lords noticed his presence. Mo Na Ye’s warning had sounded at roughly the same time. When the sound of the surging river entered the depth of their hearts, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords involuntarily gulped nervously as a wave of fear washed over them.
Yang Kai’s achievements in E-5 Territory had long since spread throughout the No-Return Pass. At this point, not a single Black Ink Clansman remained ignorant about that tragedy. A total of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords had died at Yang Kai’s hands, all thanks to the mysterious Dao Strength River he possessed.
As the saying went, ‘A lesson from the past was a guide for the future’. The deep-seated fear of Yang Kai experienced by these three Pseudo-Royal Lords could be said to come from the bottom of their hearts.
Accompanied by the sound of roaring water that resounded throughout the void, the Dao Strength River appeared and swept towards the three Pseudo-Royal Lords like a flood. It was natural to try to avoid such attacks as soon as possible under normal circumstances; after all, they would never recover if they were caught in the currents of the Dao Strength River.
Unexpectedly though, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords did not dodge the attack immediately; on the contrary, their fighting spirits seemed to awaken at this juncture of life or death. The aura that was closely connected between them became increasingly solid as a result as they swiftly blasted out a continuous barrage of attacks at the Dao Strength River sweeping towards them.
The Dao Strength River, which was relatively calm in the beginning, abruptly churned violently. As the bombardment from the Pseudo-Royal Lords intensified, the waves of the Dao Strength River swelled to greater heights.
Yang Kai, who was holding the Dao Strength River in his hand, involuntarily gave a muffled grunt. At the same time, the strength of his offensive weakened considerably as a result.
Seeing that, the three Pseudo-Royal Lords were overjoyed as they also secretly felt a sense of admiration and respect for Mo Na Ye. [Sir Mo Na Ye is a hero indeed! His instructions were indeed an effective method to counter Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River!]
The truth was that Mo Na Ye had taught the Pseudo-Royal Lords various methods and strategies to counter Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River after the battle in E-5 Territory. Not only did he confront Yang Kai inside the Universe Furnace, but he was also swept into the Space-Time River by Yang Kai once and broke free from its restraints thanks to various circumstances. That was why he had a certain degree of understanding regarding the Dao Strength River.
The battle at E-5 Territory had resulted in great losses for the Black Ink Clan. The deaths of eight Pseudo-Royal Lords had left Mo Yu and Mo Na Ye heartbroken. They no longer had the means to increase the number of Pseudo-Royal Lords anymore, so there would be one less Pseudo-Royal Lord with every death.
After that incident, Mo Na Ye had seriously considered various methods to overcome Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River. He knew that the mysterious river was condensed from Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths, but since it was a physical manifestation of Dao Strengths, it could theoretically be damaged. Combined with his experience from fighting Yang Kai inside the Universe Furnace, he eventually came to a conclusion.
Blindly dodging and retreating from an attack launched by Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River would only lead to a delayed death. Only by facing the attack head-on and striking at it with a mighty force could one defend themselves against him!
Naturally, this was only a hypothesis and the actual results of confronting Yang Kai with such methods could not be confirmed.
When Yang Kai abruptly appeared and launched a sneak attack on the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, Mo Na Ye had swiftly rushed over to assist. At the same time, he also widened his eyes and observed the situation intently to verify whether his theory was correct. As soon as he saw the three Pseudo-Royal Lords defending themselves against the Dao Strength River with their combined strength, his heavy mood lightened considerably! Sure enough, his suggestion was effective! Yang Kai was not invincible after all!
Having advanced to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, Yang Kai was very strong; nevertheless, the most threatening ability in his arsenal was currently his Dao Strength River. The main reason the Pseudo-Royal Lords in E-5 Territory had suffered such huge losses was that they had never encountered such a strange method before. With no means to defend themselves, they were caught off guard and suffered horribly.
As long as the Black Ink Clan had the means to suppress the Dao Strength River, then Yang Kai’s threat to the Black Ink Clan would be reduced greatly. Needless to say, achieving such a feat would not be easy. Having three Pseudo-Royal Lords working together to establish a Battle Formation was the minimum requirement.
“Oh?” In the centre of the battlefield, Yang Kai made an astonished exclamation as he observed three Pseudo-Royal Lords before him. Although he was surprised by this development, he had to admit that their response was certainly the correct method to resist him. The approach of taking the offensive and advancing relentlessly had certainly suppressed his attack.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mo Na Ye rushing towards him. The other Pseudo-Royal Lords were also coming over to provide support. At this rate, it would not take long before he was surrounded, but even though the situation was very dangerous, Yang Kai showed no signs of panic.
Wielding the Dao Strength River like a whip, he constantly brandished it at the three Pseudo-Royal Lords. On his other hand, he suddenly raised his hand above his head and Space Principles condensed into a brilliant ball of light above his palm!
Nobody knew what Yang Kai was planning to do, but looking at Yang Kai’s actions gave Mo Na Ye an ominous feeling and he immediately shouted, “Kill him!”
In the next instant, a series of powerful attacks blasted out from Mo Na Ye and the Pseudo-Royal Lords rushing over to help. These attacks landed unerringly in Yang Kai’s direction.
The space around Yang Kai suddenly became distorted, and under the impetus of the rampaging Space Principles, those attacks barged into the distorted space like uninvited guests. Then, an astonishing phenomenon occurred. The attacks that had originally been travelling at an extremely high speed suddenly became as slow as a crawling turtle after entering the distortion. They were still approaching Yang Kai, but at a speed that was hard to even see. At such a slow speed, even a three-year-old child standing there could easily avoid these attacks.
Fortunately, Mo Na Ye was very discerning. He could tell at a glance that the Secret Techniques thrown at Yang Kai had not become slower. On the contrary, it was the space that had become extremely distorted.
Near Distant Horizon!
This Space Secret Technique might not contain any defensive abilities on its own, but it had great defensive effects. The Void surrounding Yang Kai’s figure was infinitely stretched out thanks to the manipulation of Space Principles. Even though the Secret Techniques continued to travel at a terrifying speed, they seemed almost frozen on the spot under the effects of the infinitely stretched-out space.
At the same time, Yang Kai abruptly brought down his hand that was held above his head earlier!
Nothing seemed to occur, but be that as it may, the expressions of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords facing Yang Kai changed drastically in the wake of the seemingly useless blow. A turbulent wave of fear surged through their hearts at that moment because their intricately linked auras, which had seemed indestructible previously, suddenly fell apart as though sliced by a sharp blade when Yang Kai’s hand came swinging down. The Three Fortunes Formation had been broken!
The Space-Time River swept towards them in the next moment and unfortunately for them, they no longer had the means to defend themselves against the attack. Without the support of the Battle Formation, the Pseudo-Royal Lords were no match for Yang Kai with their strength alone.
One of the Pseudo-Royal Lords was dragged into the depths of the river and disappeared quickly with a small splash. On the other hand, the second Pseudo-Royal Lord reacted swiftly under the circumstances. As soon as he was caught in the currents of the river, he began to struggle desperately. Unfortunately for him, it was as though he was stuck in a quagmire and the more he struggled, the faster he sank into the raging waters.
The third Pseudo-Royal Lord turned out to be the smartest. As soon as the Three Fortunes Formation was destroyed, he immediately turned tail and fled. Even Yang Kai could not catch the fleeing Pseudo-Royal Lord in time despite his quick reflexes.
At this moment, the barrage of attacks from earlier finally overcame the limits of his Near Distant Horizon Secret Technique and slammed into Yang Kai’s body.
A dazzling Golden Dragon Phantom emerged from nowhere and coiled around Yang Kai’s body. When the powerful attacks exploded, the Phantom Dragon dissipated and Yang Kai’s body shook violently from the impact. A trickle of blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth as a result!
If it were any other Ninth-Order Master who bore the brunt of these attacks instead, they would inevitably suffer heavy injuries as a result; however, Yang Kai was a Divine Dragon. By relying on the physique of a Divine Dragon to protect him, he only suffered minor injuries from these attacks. That was an advantage that no other Ninth-Order Master enjoyed. The Dragon Clan stood at the top of the Divine Spirits after all, so it was only natural for them to possess incredible strength.
Mo Na Ye was close at hand and a howl burst from his lips, “Yang Kai!”
“Why are you calling my name?” Yang Kai sneered and took a step backwards. At the same time, his figure suddenly turned into an illusory phantom and Space Principles fluctuated wildly.
Mo Na Ye’s fist landed on the illusory phantom, causing it to shatter. Unfortunately, Yang Kai was nowhere to be found by then.
Yang Kai’s laughter came from the distance, “Who can stop me if I am determined to eliminate your Pseudo-Royal Lords?”
Mo Na Ye turned and looked in the direction of Yang Kai’s voice only to see Yang Kai standing at the head of the Dao Strength River. The waters in the Dao Strength River were turbulent, churning and roiling violently. At a glance, it almost seemed as though Yang Kai was standing on top of a Dragon. It was a magnificent and majestic sight to behold!
If there was no other external aggression threatening the Black Ink Clan, Mo Na Ye would not have allowed Yang Kai to be so arrogant; unfortunately, the Human Race Army was pressing their attack, and there were still many Universe Worlds threatening to impact the No-Return Pass. Even now, Mo Na Ye was powerless to rescue the two Pseudo-Royal Lords who were captured earlier.
Yang Kai glanced at Mo Na Ye coldly, and then he turned around and plunged into the river. In the next moment, the movements within the Space-Time River became more turbulent. It was evident that Masters were fighting inside.
Just 10 breaths later, Yang Kai’s figure appeared once more with a corpse in each hand. It was none other than the two Pseudo-Royal Lords whom he dragged into the river previously.
All the Black Ink Clansmen who witnessed the scene couldn’t help feeling a sense of sympathy for their comrades. The war had yet to begin in earnest, but the Black Ink Clan had already lost two Pseudo-Royal Lords. While there were indeed many Pseudo-Royal Lords, their numbers would not be enough to endure for long at this rate.
What happened next terrified the Black Ink Clan even more. Yang Kai held up the corpses of the two Pseudo-Royal Lords in a demonstrative manner, then he casually tossed them aside and withdrew the Space-Time River. In the next moment, his figure vanished out of sight once more.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were in mortal danger and the realisation caused a chill to run down their backs. Moreover, they all now felt that Yang Kai was watching them intently from the shadows, harbouring malicious intentions towards them…
Contrary to the reaction of the Black Ink Clan, the morale of the Human Race Army increased sharply after they witnessed Yang Kai infiltrating the enemy camp alone and reaping the lives of two Pseudo-Royal Lords. The attacks shooting out from the Human Race Army and towards the No-Return Pass became more vicious and concentrated as a result. Furthermore, the Human Race Masters all rolled up their sleeves and prepared to display their respective talents on the battlefield during the coming battle.
The barrage of Universe Worlds also continued. Even though most were destroyed en-route, the efforts of the Human Race Army to suppress the Black Ink Clan forced the latter to allocate more of their energy towards their own defences instead. In this situation, they were strong in will but weak in strength. They simply could not maintain their efforts to intercept the incoming Universe Worlds.
Besides, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords dared to exert their full strength after witnessing Yang Kai’s flashy demonstration. Every one of them held back slightly in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Mo Na Ye knew that they had fallen for Yang Kai’s tricks. Yang Kai had not infiltrated the enemy camp alone to demonstrate his bravery; rather, his main purpose was to distract the Masters from the Black Ink Clan. Despite knowing Yang Kai’s intentions, Mo Na Ye could not force the Pseudo-Royal Lords to ignore their own safety and go all out. There was no guarantee that Yang Kai would not attack once more if they let down their defences. What seemed real could be fake, and what was fake could become real. It could be said that Yang Kai’s attack had tied the hands of all the Masters of the Black Ink Clan.
Yang Kai was the only person among the entire Human Race who could achieve such a feat.
The defence line outside the No-Return Pass was created with the damaged Great Passes that were abandoned by the Human Race Army in the past as the foundation and a large number of artifacts had been constructed on these Great Passes, but the Black Ink Disciples were not very adept at Artifact Refining. After all, those who were proficient in Artifact Refining generally contributed to the war efforts from the safety of the rear. As they rarely stepped onto the battlefield, they avoided the fate of being captured by the Black Ink Clan and converted into Black Ink Disciples.
It was for that reason that the artifacts prepared in advance by the Black Ink Clan were far inferior to those possessed by the Humans in terms of both power and attack range. When the Human Race Army first started approaching the No-Return Pass, the Black Ink Clan Masters in charge of operating the artifacts could only watch as the enemy marched forward. The defensive artifacts could be activated at any time, but their effects were extremely limited. It was not until the Human Race Army entered the attack range of these artifacts that countless lights began to blaze from the abandoned Great Passes that surrounded the external perimeter of the No-Return Pass.
Be that as it may, these attacks were nothing to the enormous Human fleet. Aside from causing some slight trouble to part of the Human Army, they did not play an essential role in the war. It did not take long for the Human Race Army to target and suppress them instead.
Many gaps had appeared along the middle of the defensive line due to the constant collision of the Universe Worlds. When the last few Universe Worlds finally arrived at the No-Return Pass and detonated, the gap in the defence line only became bigger.
At the same time, the Human Race Army deployed a massive number of troops straight towards the gaps without the slightest hesitation. It was clear that they were aiming to use these gaps in the Black Ink Clan’s lines to route the Black Ink Clan’s defence entirely. If they succeeded, then they could march right in and conquer the No-Return Pass without obstruction!
The No-Return Pass currently contained all of the High-Rank Black Ink Nests of the Black Ink Clan. If the Human Race Army invaded the No-Return Pass, the High-Rank Black Ink Nests would inevitably suffer extensive losses regardless of the outcome of the battle. There was no question that such losses would affect the production of more Black Ink Clansmen as well as the healing of their Masters. How could Mo Na Ye allow such a thing to happen? He immediately mobilized many Masters and led the Black Ink Army to intercept those invaders.
The opening of the first battle of the No-Return Pass was fought at long-range, and although the Humans gained a huge advantage, it did not fundamentally change the situation. To really retake the No-Return Pass, they still had to rely on their soldiers to engage in close-quarter combat with the Black Ink Clan.
The Blood Flame, Wolf Fang, Soaring Cloud, Burning Moon, Azure Dawn, and Jade Cicada Armies flooded over like a raging tidal wave, pouring through the gaps in the Black Ink Clan defence line!
The remaining six Armies continued their assault from the left and right flanks of the No-Return Pass, holding down the Black Ink Clan Masters and Army as best they could.
As the Human Army continued to tighten its encirclement, the battle between the two sides became more and more intense. There were constant sounds of death all across the battlefield from both the Black Ink Clan and the Humans.
Across the vast conflict zone, aside for the few Masters who stood at the pinnacle, the might of an individual became insignificant. However, the synergistic power of combined forces became more than simple numbers would imply. When this was applied on the battlefield a scenario of ‘death by a thousand cuts’ became a reality.
The Black Ink Clan tried their best to stem the attack, but the strain they were under from the outset of the battle caused their response to be weaker than the opponent’s. Their resistance only lasted less than half an hour before the six Human Race Armies broke through the defence perimeter and stormed through the gaps. The Human soldiers soon reached the broken Great Passes, which once belonged to the Human Race but had been abandoned for thousands of years.
Warships sailed through and struck the enemy with Secret Techniques and artifacts while dodging the enemy’s counterattacks with astonishing agility.
This was the first battle of the Human Race Grand Army at the No-Return Pass, so they needed to achieve a spectacular victory! Mi Jing Lun did not expect to retake the No-Return Pass in one fell swoop; after all, that was simply unrealistic. Nevertheless, momentum and morale were key factors in winning any war.
The ultimate goal of the battle was determined even before the Army was mobilized; inflict maximum damage on the enemy while minimizing their own casualties.
With such an objective, the Human Warships did not act as lone Squads, but rather moved as Battalions. Squad worked in units of eight or nine, protecting each other, advancing and retreating together, so that they could maximize the advantages of the Warships and attack the enemy while preserving themselves.
The Masters of the two sides had also taken action against each other. The Eighth-Order Masters, Territory Lords, and Pseudo-Royal Lords all opened up separate battlefields where they aimed to slaughter each other.
The Humans now had many more Eighth-Order Masters than the Black Ink Clan had Territory Lords.
Thousands of years ago, the situation was completely different.
At that time the Eighth-Order Masters struggled to resist the swarm of Territory Lords and fought every battle with all their might to kill the enemy, every time receiving various hard to recover from wounds.
Ou Yang Lie, for example, was afraid to take the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill given to him by Yang Kai because of the accumulation of such wounds in his body. He was concerned that he might fail in his breakthrough and waste a chance for a potential Ninth-Order Master.
In the end, he succeeded and reached the Ninth Order, becoming Army Commander of Profound Nether Army.
Back when the situation of the Humans was critical, the Profound Nether Battlefield was nearly captured by the Black Ink Clan because they lacked top Masters.
The main reason why they were able to hold out at the time was because the Eighth-Order Masters were bold enough to put their lives on the line when they went to war. Additionally, they had Battle Formations and Warships to assist them. However, all of this was not enough to counter the Black Ink Clan’s overwhelming numerical advantage.
It was not until Yang Kai stepped in and forced the Black Ink Clan to sign a truce that the situation of the Eighth-Order Masters became better; otherwise, many more veteran Eighth-Order Masters would have died.
Today, after thousands of years of accumulation, the heritage of the Human Race has become unprecedentedly strong. There were numerous rising stars who had become Eighth-Order Masters, and now, Eighth-Order Masters completely outnumbered the Territory Lords and were capable of completely suppressing them!
Moreover, the strength of an Acquired Territory Lords was generally inferior to that of an Eighth-Order Master, not to mention their lesser numbers.
However, the Black Ink Clan also had a great number of Pseudo-Royal Lords on their side.
Each Pseudo-Royal Lord had the ability to deal with a Five Elements or even Six Paths Formation formed by Eighth-Order Masters. Worse, in order to defend against Yang Kai, Pseudo-Royal Lords would group in threes to form their own Battle Formations, making them much more difficult to deal with.
Except for the Ninth-Order Masters who could deal with the Three Fortunes Formation formed by Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Eighth-Order Masters had to assume a Five Elements or even Six Paths Formation to deal with a single Pseudo-Royal Lord.
In other words, three Pseudo-Royal Lords in a Battle Formation would keep around 20 or even more Eighth-Order Masters occupied, which greatly compensated for the lack of Territory Lords.
However, due to their fear of Yang Kai, none of the Pseudo-Royal Lords in their respective Formations dared to use all their strength. All of them reserved some of their strength and diverted part of their attention to guard against Yang Kai’s sneak attack.
Therefore, from how it looked, the Eighth-Order Masters in Battle Formations had the upper hand over the Pseudo-Royal Lords also in Battle Formations.
This situation was quite bizarre.
As soon as the Human Race Army bypassed the Great Passes’ defensive line, they immediately set about annihilating everything they could reach. Soldiers of both sides scattered on the vast battlefield and fought so violently that the void trembled under their collective impact.
Blooms of Evil Purging Divine Spears appeared everywhere, resulting in the Black Ink Clan suffering terrible losses.
The Human stockpile of Evil Purging Divine Spears was fully distributed for this battle as there was no need to worry about supplies anymore.
The Human Race was going all out for this battle!
Not long after the six Human Race Armies attacking overwhelmed the Black Ink Clan defence line, the six remaining Armies on the left and right flanks also broke through the Black Ink Clan’s defence line, circumventing the broken Great Passes and meeting the Black Ink Clan in close quarters.
The whole area outside the No-Return Pass was now embroiled in the flames of war.
“Mo Yu!” A roar suddenly sounded from somewhere in the void, and with that roar, a magnificent figure crashed through the Black Ink Clan’s blockade with unstoppable power.
As Mo Yu said to Mo Na Ye before the battle, once the fighting started, the Ninth-Order Masters would definitely come to him. According to the information that the Humans had, he and Mo Na Ye were the only two Royal Lords; thus, suppressing them would greatly benefit the Humans in battle.
Mo Yu’s prophecy came true when he was approached by none other than Xiang Shan.
Mo Yu was prepared for such a situation, and now that Xiang Shan had called him out, he would not avoid the fight.
After Xiang Shan’s roar, Mo Yu rushed out from the No-Return Pass, his Black Ink Strength surging as it transformed into a huge Black Ink Cloud that covered the sky and enveloped the approaching enemy.
A fierce struggle began within the Black Ink Cloud before swiftly moving outside the No-Return Pass.
A battle between a Ninth-Order Master and a Royal Lord was so intense that if they did not move away from the main battlefield, there would be severe collateral damage to both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan.
“Mo Na Ye!” Another roar came from the Human Race Army. Seeing that Xiang Shan had successfully lured Mo Yu away, Ou Yang Lie was ready to take on the other Royal Lord. According to their original plan, as long as he pinned down Mo Na Ye, then the two Royal Lords would be too busy to coordinate the Black Ink Clan, including the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods; thus, even if they were not able to kill the two Royal Lords, the entire Black Ink Clan Army would become leaderless.
However, as soon as Ou Yang Lie moved, a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords in a Three Fortunes Formation blocked his way. There were more Eighth-Order Masters in the Profound Nether Army to help, but the Black Ink Clan also had Territory Lords and the other Pseudo-Royal Lords who were moving towards them.
With Ou Yang Lie at the centre, Human and Black Ink Clan Masters engaged in a ruthless melee.
Ou Yang Lie was so angry that he shouted as he fought with the three Pseudo-Royal Lords, “Mo Na Ye, if you have the guts, come out and fight with me alone!”
However, no matter how much Ou Yang Lie shouted, Mo Na Ye remained unperturbed and ignored him as he remained inside the No-Return Pass to oversee the situation.
With a huge potential threat like Yang Kai lurking in the shadows, Mo Na Ye would not care about Ou Yang Lie. From his standpoint, the biggest threat from the Humans was Yang Kai!
While the Human Race Army attacked from three sides, Yang Kai was repeatedly using both Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability and his own Space-Time River. Needless to say, he made gains almost every time he struck.
All Pseudo-Royal Lords throughout the battlefield were his prey.
Even though the Pseudo-Royal Lords were in Battle Formations and were vigilant of their surroundings, they were still caught off guard when Yang Kai suddenly appeared and struck them.
If they were lucky, they could block Yang Kai’s attacks and save themselves; however, if they were unlucky, as many as three Pseudo-Royal Lords would be caught in his Space-Time River, and the Black Ink Clan knew exactly what would happen once they fell into the raging waters.
Yang Kai weaved through the battlefield, swiftly moving from one success to the next. Each time he found an opening, he dove in to kill the cornered Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Within a short time, more than a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed by these successive ambushes!
It could be said that Yang Kai alone had done more than all the other Ninth-Order Masters combined.
This was a huge loss for the Black Ink Clan, and Mo Na Ye was getting desperate, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been trying to keep track of Yang Kai’s whereabouts, but with such a huge battlefield and Yang Kai’s quick and unpredictable movements, it was impossible to do so.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, Mo Na Ye knew that things would reach a critical breaking point if he did not do something.
He gritted his teeth and looked up at the lofty Great Pass in the void.
Pure Yang Pass, which Yang Kai took away from the No-Return Pass some 20 years ago had now become the location of the Human Race’s Supreme Headquarters. It was where their Supreme Commander, Mi Jing Lun, remained and directed the fights on the entire battlefield.
After the 12 Armies of the Human Race were fully engaged, Pure Yang Pass became very conspicuous as it remained outside of the battlefield.