The Black Ink Clan’s method of classification was different from that of the Human Race. The Human Race had distinct names for each cultivation Realm, and although the Black Ink Clan’s classification was also based on strength, the divisions below the Feudal Lords were quite rough and broad.
For instance, the Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen included all the Black Ink Clansmen who were equivalent to Open Heaven Realm Humans at or below the Third-Order. High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen corresponded to Humans from the Fourth Order to the Sixth-Order. Only when they became Feudal Lords would they be differentiated separately, which corresponded to the Human’s Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. Territory Lords were equivalent to the Eighth-Order, and Royal Lords to the Ninth Order.
As Black Ink Clansmen below the Low-Rank, they were all just lumped together as Black Ink Serfs! Generally speaking, such Black Ink Clansmen were just born recently from Black Ink Nests and had not had much time for growth. In every battle between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan, these Serfs were basically just sent out to die. They were the Black Ink Clan’s cannon fodder, and their deaths would consume the strength of the Human Race while spreading Black Ink Strength to create an advantageous environment for the main Black Ink Clan Army.
Li Wu Yi had no idea how strong the Black Ink Clan Army of 10 million that had rushed over from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction was; after all, he couldn’t get too close to investigate, but from the information he had gathered, the overall strength of this Black Ink Clan Army was probably the strongest that the Human Race had ever seen, because he could clearly feel terrifying auras coming from within this Army, even from such a huge distance.
This was undoubtedly the auras of the Pseudo-Royal Lords!
“Is there a Royal Lord?” Yang Kai asked via Divine Sense.
Li Wu Yi shook his head, “I’m not sure.”
Because the Pseudo-Royal Lords couldn’t control their own strength, they couldn’t restrain their auras. Royal Lords, on the other hand, could do precisely that. So, even if there were Royal Lords in the midst of this Army, Li Wu Yi wouldn’t be able to detect them.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Kai suggested, “You stay here, I’ll go take a look.”
Li Wu Yi immediately nodded, “Be careful.”
He was well aware of Yang Kai’s capabilities, so there was nothing to worry about. In addition, with the help of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, it could be said that no one was more suited for scouting than Yang Kai.
The next moment, Yang Kai activated Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, concealing his figure and aura as he flew towards the rapidly advancing Black Ink Army.
Even from afar, this surging Black Ink Army was extremely vast, and after approaching it, one could further feel its oppressiveness.
A moment later, Yang Kai arrived near the Black Ink Clan Army, closing to a distance of just 1 million kilometres away. This was quite close, but also had a decent safety margin.
Before confirming whether there was a Royal Lord present in this Black Ink Clan Army or not, this was already the limit. If Yang Kai moved any closer, even with the support of Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, he might arouse the Black Ink Clan’s suspicion.
The billowing Black Ink Tide rapidly flowed across Yang Kai’s field of vision, and upon closely investigating, Yang Kai was secretly shocked.
From a distance, Yang Kai only knew that there were many Pseudo-Royal Lords in this Army, but it was difficult to estimate exactly how many there were. However, Yang Kai could clearly feel them at such a close distance.
There were almost 300 Pseudo-Royal Lords!
An Army of 10 million with 300 Pseudo-Royal Lords, such a lineup was comparable to the entire Black Ink Clan in the 3,000 Worlds when it was at its peak!
Not only were there Pseudo-Royal Lords, but there were also quite a lot of Innate Territory Lords and even ordinary Territory Lords, as well as an astonishing number of Feudal Lords.
Yang Kai didn’t find a single Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman. Even the weakest soldiers here were High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen!
This discovery made his heart a little heavy.
The Black Ink Clan Army in front of them could only be described as an elite force, the most powerful Army the Human Race had ever encountered.
Even the Black Ink Clan Army currently defending the No-Return Pass was inferior to this Army.
[Are there any true Royal Lords?] Yang Kai continued to observe. The reason he had personally come here to investigate was to find out about this matter as it was of utmost importance to the future of the Human Race!
Although the auras radiating from the Pseudo-Royal Lords were almost the same as those of the real Royal Lords, if one observed carefully enough, they would still be able to distinguish the two.
The auras of the Pseudo-Royal Lords and the Royal Lords were almost the same in terms of the strength, but the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s auras fluctuated quite a lot, unlike true Royal Lords.
Someone like Yang Kai, who often dealt with Royal Lords and Pseudo-Royal Lords, could tell the difference at a glance.
Maintaining a distance of 1 million kilometres, Yang Kai kept pace with the huge Black Ink Clan Army while constantly observing.
It took about half a day for Yang Kai to finally conclude his observation.
He did not find any trace of a true Royal Lord.
Still not at ease, Yang Kai closed the distance between himself and the Black Ink Clan Army and deliberately released a trace of his aura, ensuring that even if a Royal Lord noticed it, he could immediately conceal himself again.
After a while, Yang Kai finally relaxed.
He could conclude that there were no Royal Lords in this Black Ink Clan Army, allowing him to breathe a long sigh of relief.
From the looks of it, the situation was not as bad as he had thought. The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had not completely collapsed.
If the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had been completely broken, the Black Ink Clan would not be sending Pseudo-Royal Lords, but true Royal Lords!
The fact that there wasn’t a single true Royal Lord amongst the Black Ink Clan Army of 10 million here was incontrovertible proof of this
Be that as it may, it was an undeniable fact that there must be something wrong with the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, something similar to when the Innate Territory Lords had escaped last time but on a much bigger scale…
Looking at the massive Black Ink Cloud passing by, Yang Kai suppressed the murderous intent in his heart and quietly withdrew.
Although he could launch an attack right now and catch this Black Ink Clan Army off guard, he was still just one man. Even if the nearby Li Wu Yi and the others of the Void Guard came to support him, they would not be able to do much damage to this force.
Furthermore, once Yang Kai made a move here, word would definitely spread to the No-Return Pass. At that time, the Human Race would lose the intelligence advantage of having discovered the Black Ink Clan reinforcements.
The Black Ink Clan reinforcements would take at least 10 years to reach the No-Return Pass, so there was no need to disturb them yet.
Returning to Li Wu Yi’s side, Yang Kai ordered, “Setting up the Space Array is temporarily postponed. The Void Guard’s new mission is to monitor the movements of these Black Ink Clan reinforcements.”
“Yes!” Li Wu Yi replied solemnly.
“Also, leave a few people here to continue monitoring this place.”
Li Wu Yi quickly understood Yang Kai’s worries, “Are you worried that there are other Black Ink Clan reinforcements on their way?”
Right now, the Human Race had only discovered one batch of Black Ink Clan reinforcements, but no one could guarantee that there wouldn’t be more. Leaving behind some people here to monitor was a necessity to not be caught off-guard.
Yang Kai agreed with a nod, “That’s right, other than that… I need you to go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and investigate the situation there.”
If possible, Yang Kai wanted to personally investigate the situation, but even though the Void Guard had already travelled about 75% of the way there, they were still quite far from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Even with Yang Kai’s top speed, a round trip would probably require several months.
The battle in the No-Return Pass was still ongoing. Mi Jing Lun could still cover his disappearance if it was limited to a few days, so he had some time to return yet, but a few months would be too long. It was hard to say if Mo Na Ye wouldn’t be able to guess some things if that much time elapsed with no sign of Yang Kai showing up.
If it was just a few days, even someone as smart and shrewd as Mo Na Ye might not be able to imagine that Yang Kai had run to this position and met the Black Ink Clan reinforcements.
After all, the existence of the Void Guard was a secret to the Black Ink Clan.
“Understood,” Li Wu Yi nodded.
“Be extremely careful on the way there,” Yang Kai exhorted.
Li Wu Yi lightly chuckled, “Although your current cultivation is higher than mine, I’ve lived longer than you. Don’t underestimate me.”
Yang Kai was speechless, “I don’t mean that.”
“I know,” Li Wu Yi casually smiled, “Then I’ll take my leave first.”
Saying so, he activated his own Instantaneous Movement Technique and disappeared.
After Li Wu Yi left, Yang Kai gave a few more instructions to the remaining Void Guard before returning to the nearest Universe Temple.
The Void Guard there promptly came to greet him, after which Yang Kai informed them of their new mission which they all accepted in unison.
After everything was settled, Yang Kai used the Space Array to teleport back to the No-Return Pass.
The battle was still raging at the No-Return Pass as Mo Na Ye was paying close attention to every subtle change in the battlefield as lingering doubts built up in his heart.
The Human Race had launched an attack on the No-Return Pass just four months after their previous assault, which had broken their established pattern greatly. He was unable to figure out what the Human Race was up to, but judging by the current situation, everything was proceeding normally.
The Human Race was attacking the No-Return Pass as usual, and the Black Ink Clan was defending as usual, just like the previous several battles. However, Mo Na Ye always had a nagging feeling that a layer of fog was clouding his vision, and behind this fog was a truth he couldn’t figure out. Nonetheless, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t dispel this fog.
The reason behind this was the lack of information. The Human Race had already sighted the Black Ink Clan reinforcements and the Void Guard were now closely monitoring them. The Black Ink Clan, on the other hand, believed that they had hidden themselves well. Even if Mo Na Ye was incredibly shrewd, it would have never occurred to him that the Human Race would actually have a special organization like the Void Guard that was setting up Space Arrays leading to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction since 10 years ago.
It would also not have occurred to him that the Human Race had launched the seventh attack only because Mi Jing Lun wanted to get Yang Kai’s attention to warn him of the Void Guard’s discovery. There was simply no other hidden meaning behind it.
Mo Na Ye’s thoughts were clouded by first impressions. From beginning to end, he believed that the Human Race was up to something, so the more he thought about it, the more he spiralled in worry rather than simply assuming the simplest answer was the correct one.
The only thing he got right was that it must have something to do with Yang Kai.
Because after this battle had begun, Yang Kai disappeared without a trace after killing his way out of the No-Return Pass. At first, many of the Pseudo-Royal Lords were still on guard against Yang Kai’s sneak attacks, but since then the latter never appeared even when many good opportunities had appeared.
The Black Ink Clan had no idea where he had gone!
Mo Na Ye had also been paying close attention to the situation at Pure Yang Pass. In the past, whenever there was a big battle, Yang Kai would run over to Mi Jing Lun’s side and communicate with him, but this time, even that did not happen…
Of course, if Yang Kai was intentionally hiding, Mo Na Ye would not be able to find his trace from such a distance.
But Yang Kai was still nowhere to be seen even after several days of fighting.
[What is he doing?] From Mo Na Ye’s point of view, the more he could not spot Yang Kai, the more suspicious things became.
At this time, Yang Kai had already returned to Pure Yang Pass after a series of Space Array teleportations.
Hiding near Mi Jing Lun, Yang Kai began to give him a summary of what he had discovered on this trip and his own conjectures.
Mi Jing Lun’s expression became extremely solemn after hearing Yang Kai’s account of the situation.
According to the information Yang Kai had gathered, once the elite Black Ink Clan reinforcements reached the battlefield and coordinated with the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass, the Human Race Army would not be able to resist. If the Black Ink Clan attacked the Human Race from two sides at that time, the Human Race would neither be able to advance or retreat.
Fortunately, the reinforcements were still far off and would take a decade or so to reach this place at their current pace.
What made Mi Jing Lun even happier was the absence of true Royal Lords in the Black Ink Clan reinforcements. In light of this, Yang Kai’s speculation that the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction hadn’t completely collapsed must be correct.
But that begged the question, how much longer could the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction remain standing…
Originally, the assault on the No-Return Pass was going quite well, but at this moment, Mi Jing Lun could feel a dark storm brewing on the horizon.
Rubbing his forehead, Mi Jing Lun asked, “Junior Brother, what are your thoughts?”
Yang Kai looked towards the frontline that kept being pushed by both sides before slowly speaking his thoughts, “We have to end this battle as soon as possible!”
Mi Jing Lun’s brow couldn’t help but furrow as he muttered, “But… many people will die.”
Yang Kai looked down, “The longer this battle drags on, the greater the hidden dangers of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction will become. Moreover, the number of deaths over these years… has already reached an astonishing number, hasn’t it?”
Mi Jing Lun remained silent. He was well aware of the current circumstances, and what the most sensible decision was; nonetheless, he still felt reluctant to give the order because he knew that once he did, many soldiers would have to pay for it with their lives.
As the saying goes, there is no place for kindness in leading an Army. Mi Jing Lun knew he was not a benevolent person. Over the years, there had been many instances where he had no choice but to issue cruel and merciless orders, but if not for those orders, the Human Race would not be able to create the greatest results with the least cost. Every soldier who had died on the battlefield had died a worthy death.
As the Supreme Commander of the Army who was ultimately responsible for issuing orders, Mi Jing Lun always felt guilty towards these dead soldiers, but he never felt guilt towards the Human Race as a whole.
But the current situation was different.
If he issued this order, millions of brave Human soldiers would surely die!
That was an enormous number! The weight of this was so heavy that even someone like Mi Jing Lun found it difficult to bear.
However, the Source of the Black Ink Clan disaster was not the No-Return Pass, but the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction!
Although the Human Race could maintain this kind of offence and take down the No-Return Pass in a decade or so with only minimal sacrifices, who could say that nothing would happen to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction within those 10 years?
If something irreversible happened at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction over the next decade, even if the Human Race managed to capture the No-Return Pass, it would prove meaningless. At that time, the losses would be even greater.
Mi Jing Lun clearly understood all of this, but… he could not get over the fact that all they needed was another 10 years.
The war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan had raged for millions of years. Compared to that, 10 years was a blink of an eye; however, at this critical juncture, 10 years became an unbearable delay.
Even Mi Jing Lun, who had always appeared as a cultured and scholarly gentleman in front of the world, couldn’t help but curse in his heart to alleviate his frustration.
Right now, the only silver lining for the Human Race Army was that the Black Ink Clan had been greatly weakened after having fought six battles over the past decade. Not to mention anything else, just the number of Pseudo-Royal Lords who had fallen in this decade had already crossed the 100 mark, while the number of Feudal Lords and Territory Lords who had perished was many times that number.
The main reason for this was because the Black Ink Clan had suffered massive casualties in the first two battles. In the later battles, the Black Ink Clan had always been on defence, so their losses weren’t as significant, but they still suffered some.
As such, if the Human Race really decided to launch an all-out attack, throwing all caution to the wind, it shouldn’t be a problem to take down the No-Return Pass.
“How do we deal with the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods?” Mi Jing Lun asked, suppressing his chaotic thoughts.
If they wanted to occupy the No-Return Pass, they would ultimately have to confront the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods; they could not avoid this hurdle. During these past 10 years, whether it was the Human Race or the Black Ink Clan, both sides had never fully committed their forces to the battle, always holding back their trump cards.
The Black Ink Clan needed to stall for time for their reinforcements to arrive. The Human Race, on the other hand, wanted to minimize their casualties as much as possible, but at the same time, they didn’t want to expand the scale of the battle to the point where the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods would be dragged in. With their mutual interest aligned, the strongest Masters acted with restraint.
Because of their geographical advantage, the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods would occasionally provide timely but limited assistance to the Black Ink Clan. Ah Da and Ah Er, on the other hand, simply watched from across the Territory Gate.
“I’ll cooperate with Ah Da and Ah Er. I can’t say that I can kill them, but it’s possible to pin them down,” Yang Kai replied.
Mi Jing Lun nodded his acknowledgement upon hearing this. If Yang Kai really managed to accomplish this feat, the Human Race’s casualties would be significantly reduced. After the Humans had routed the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass, they could easily take care of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
“Senior Brother… have you made your decision?” Yang Kai asked.
Mi Jing Lun stared at the battlefield for a long time before aguishly lamenting, “How did things develop to this point?”
Yang Kai remained silent.
A moment later, Mi Jing Lun stated in a grim and heavy voice, “Now that it has come to this, we can only go all out!”
Fortunately, he had not remained idle and unprepared these years. In a battle, a qualified commander could anticipate all scenarios and make preparations for every contingency.
Of course, Mi Jing Lun had never expected reinforcements to be on their way from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so he had devised what to do if the Human Race was forced to take down the No-Return Pass in a short time.
Having been forced to this step, all he needed to do was to put the appropriate strategy into action. Of course, just because Mi Jing Lun had planned for this, didn’t mean things would go as he anticipated.
No one had expected that the curtains to the final battle of the Human Race’s attack on the No-Return Pass would open this way!
Yang Kai stated, “Since that’s the case, I will go and try to eliminate as many Pseudo-Royal Lords as possible. Senior Brother, please give the order!”
Mi Jing Lun imperceptibly nodded his affirmation.
The next moment, Yang Kai’s aura vanished, whereupon Mi Jing Lun raised his hand slightly. The messenger standing behind him instantly stepped forward and respectfully greeted, “Supreme Commander Mi!”
Mi Jing Lun’s low voice rang out, “Relay my Orders to all Armies…”
The messenger’s expression became serious as perked up his ears, attentively listening; however, Mi Jing Lun remained silent for a long time before the messenger finally heard Mi Jing Lun’s firm and determined voice, “Prepare to storm the No-Return Pass!”
As one of Mi Jing Lun’s trusted aides who had been following him all this time, the messenger naturally understood what this order meant. His expression immediately became stern, and although he was filled with shock, he didn’t hesitate to relay this order to every Commander on the battlefield.
As a qualified messenger, he didn’t need to question the decisions of the Supreme Commander, he just needed to convey the orders he was given without error…
Having finished relaying Mi Jing Lun’s order, the Seventh-Order messenger raised his head and looked towards the battlefield. The next thing reflected in his eyes was the Human Race Warships nimbly shuttling back and forth on the battlefield, as well as a sky alight with the brilliance of various Secret Techniques and artifacts.
He cupped his fists and requested in an earnest voice, “Supreme Commander Mi, I want to participate in the battle!”
All this time, he had been responsible for relaying Mi Jing Lun’s orders. He witnessed with his eyes the Human Race’s soldiers desperately fighting on the battlefield because of the orders he had passed down. He had witnessed the death of so many; too many to keep count of, but was powerless to do anything about it.
He also knew that their deaths had nothing to do with him. He was just a messenger. He was only relaying Supreme Commander Mi’s orders. As for the ensuing casualties and consequences of the orders, it was totally unrelated to him.
Be that as it may, not everything in this world could be convinced with logic, such as… the Human heart.
On the eve of the worst battle to have been fought in history, the messenger decided to follow his heart and make his request to the Supreme Commander.
Mi Jing Lun didn’t even turn his head, and only spewed a single word, “Granted!”
The messenger bowed in gratitude.
Within the walls of the No-Return Pass, Mo Na Ye was observing the battlefield with a furrow on his brow. His powerful cultivation and vast Divine Sense allowed him to clearly perceive the situation of the entire battlefield with a single flash of thought. He had seldom left the No-Return Pass to join the fighting over the years, but it was thanks to his leadership that the Black Ink Clan Army had managed to repel the Human Race at the smallest cost on every occasion.
This battle was no different from the previous ones. The Human Race’s attacks were tepid, which clearly indicated that they wanted to gradually wear down the Black Ink Clan’s strength. So, although it had been several days since the battle began, the losses suffered by the Black Ink Clan were still within acceptable limits. As for the Human Race… ever since the third battle, the price paid by the Humans in each battle could only be considered insignificant.
This was because the Black Ink Clan had never thought of making any move on the Human Race. Under Mo Na Ye’s command, all the Black Ink Clan’s forces were focused on defence; as such, it was very difficult for them to deal much damage to the Humans.
There were only two unusual points about this battle. Firstly, the Humans had launched this battle far ahead of their usual schedule, breaking the pattern which had been maintained for the past 10 years.
And secondly, Yang Kai was nowhere to be seen.
After Yang Kai had killed his way out of the Barren Territory, there had been no sightings of him. This was a very strange and unprecedented event.
In the previous battles, Yang Kai would always run out to attack the Pseudo-Royal Lords, forcing Di Ya Luo and his team of 12 Pseudo-Royal Lords to rush to rescue, which was quite annoying.
But this time, Yang Kai had not made a move even after so many days.
Mo Na Ye couldn’t even figure out what Yang Kai was doing at this moment. This kind of unknown variable had caused Mo Na Ye’s heart to be filled with anxiety; after all, this was Yang Kai, who had always used extraordinary means to do unbelievable things.
Just as he was thinking so, a powerful aura suddenly erupted at a certain spot on the battlefield. This instantly caused Mo Na Ye’s heart to clench as he turned his head to look in that direction, only to see a massive river flowing across the void, sweeping towards the battlefield like a whip.
Sensing this powerful yet familiar aura, Mo Na Ye was first overjoyed, but was immediately taken aback.
What made him happy was that Yang Kai had finally appeared. He had been hiding in the shadows all this time and hadn’t done anything at all, so contrary to what might seem reasonable, his absence put a great deal of pressure on the Black Ink Clan. If he made a move, the Black Ink Clan could respond appropriately; so, when he noticed Yang Kai’s aura, Mo Na Ye was finally relieved.
What surprised him was that the target Yang Kai had chosen this time was actually Mo Yu, a veteran Royal Lord!
Yang Kai had made several moves throughout several battles, but each time he did so, his target had always been the Pseudo-Royal Lords. Due to his unpredictable means and the eerie Grand Dao River, the Pseudo-Royal Lords he targeted rarely escaped, unless Di Ya Luo managed to come to their rescue in time.
It could be said that half the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had fallen on the battlefield over the past 10 years had died directly or indirectly because of Yang Kai! He had almost single-handedly killed so many Pseudo-Royal Lords to the point they were unable to lift their heads.
Yet in all that time, Yang Kai had never taken the initiative to attack a true Royal Lord before, least of all Mo Yu as the most experienced Royal Lord in the Black Ink Clan.
The corners of Mo Na Ye’s brow immediately twitched as he felt that Yang Kai had gone crazy to make such a crazy move. He thus immediately shouted, “Di Ya Luo!”
There was no verbal response, but the moment Yang Kai appeared, Di Ya Luo led a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords towards him at astonishing speed.
Di Ya Luo had already become quite familiar with rushing to the rescue. In every battle, he would lead a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords to pin down Yang Kai, so there was no need for Mo Na Ye to give him any detailed instructions.
On the other side, Mo Yu was obviously taken aback by the sudden ambush. Just now, he had been fighting Luo Ting He alone. This was the third Ninth-Order Master he had fought in the past 10 years.
Unlike Xiang Shan’s relentless onslaught or Wei Jun Yang’s boldness, Yin-Yang Cave Heaven’s Luo Ting He’s attacking style was more calculated and meticulous. She would execute exquisite Secret Techniques in a seemingly endlessly chain, making her like a never-ending storm, leaving Mo Yu extremely frustrated. Even though his foundation was better than Luo Ting He’s, it was difficult for him to gain the upper hand. From the beginning of their fight until now, they were evenly matched.
A Royal Lord’s senses were extremely sharp, so even if Yang Kai had used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, it was difficult for the latter to completely hide his traces. Pseudo-Royal Lords might not be able to guard against Yang Kai’s sneak attack, but Mo Yu could.
In fact, Mo Yu already had a vague premonition before Yang Kai even launched his attack; therefore, he was only shocked for a moment when Yang Kai appeared and instantly reacted appropriately. He promptly collected the copious amount of Black Ink Strength around him and created a shield to defend himself. Right then, Luo Ting He’s attack struck the barrier, but it only caused his body to violently sway and was unable to cause any damage.
Yang Kai’s Space-Time River swept in just at that moment, gushing straight from above and engulfing him.
Mo Yu used the tried and tested strategy of fighting back with everything he had, bombarding Yang Kai’s Dao Strength River with everything he had in an attempt to force him back.
The raging waves crashed against Mo Yu’s barrage again and again, while the Dao Strengths fluctuated non-stop. At the same time, Luo Ting He unleashed her strength. The combined assault of two Ninth-Order Masters proved too much, however, and quickly caused Mo Yu to sink into the Space-Time River.
The undercurrents inside the river instantly started surging. Surprisingly, it was Mo Yu who was using his own strength to stir up trouble and bombard Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths.
The best way to deal with this situation was naturally for Yang Kai to enter the Space-Time River and use the environment to his advantage to engage in a fierce battle with Mo Yu. With his current strength, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to kill the trapped Mo Yu.
But he didn’t do this.
If he wanted to kill a Royal Lord, he would have already done so 10 years ago, but killing a Royal Lord would not have done any good to the overall situation.
The key Masters in the Black Ink Clan right now were still the Pseudo-Royal Lords!
“They’re here!” Yang Kai completely ignored the turmoil of his Dao Strengths and lightly shouted.
“Leave them to me!” Luo Ting He replied as she gently pointed her finger towards the void. The next moment, Yin-Yang Dao Strength rapidly filled the surroundings before an enormous Yin-Yang Fish manifested, enveloping Di Ya Luo and the dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords who were rushing over to help Mo Yu.
The Yin-Yang Fish slowly started rotating, like it had a life of its own. Immediately, an inexplicable pull appeared in the void, causing the group of Black Ink Clan powerhouses to lose their footing.
Di Ya Luo and the other Black Ink Clan powerhouses immediately launched numerous Secret Techniques together, trying to break free from this inexplicable force. But before they could escape, Yang Kai was already upon them. No one saw how he moved, but when he appeared behind a Pseudo-Royal Lord with his Azure Dragon Spear, the latter didn’t even notice.
Thrusting the spear with one hand, and executing a palm strike with the other, Yang Kai mercilessly attacked the Pseudo-Royal Lord. Immediately, an inexplicable burst of energy appeared in the void, as if something had been cut off.
This Pseudo-Royal Lord’s expression immediately changed, because the moment Yang Kai threw out his palm, his aura connection with the other two Pseudo-Royal Lords in his Battle Formation was severed.
With the aura connection severed, the Three Fortunes Formation instantly collapsed.
“Be careful!” When Di Ya Luo roared at him, the Pseudo-Royal Lord finally realized that a great disaster had befallen him. He promptly turned around and threw a punch, but all that filled his vision was a rapidly enlarging spear tip.
Regardless of his dire situation, he was still a Pseudo-Royal Lord. Facing such a crisis, he didn’t panic and instead changed his punch to a palm, smacking it towards the oncoming Azure Dragon Spear. At the same time, he tilted his head to avoid this fatal blow.
However… that was where things ended for him.
Caught inside the Yin-Yang Fish, his movements were significantly restricted, and to top it off, he was being targeted by Yang Kai; how could things possibly end well for him? The last thing this Pseudo-Royal Lord saw was the long spear he dodged transform into multiple spear shadows that rained down on him!
By the time the blood splashed out, the Pseudo-Royal Lord’s aura had vanished.
Then a second, then a third…
The other two Pseudo-Royal Lords who had formed the Battle Formation with the first followed in his footsteps almost immediately after.
Only then did the Secret Techniques from all directions rain down on the spot where Yang Kai was standing. Unfortunately, all that was left there was his afterimage, and by the time it faded away, Yang Kai had already arrived on the opposite side.
He had teleported to another three Pseudo-Royal Lords in Battle Formation and was about to launch a similar attack!
“In your dreams!” Di Ya Luo furiously roared again as he used all his strength to try and rescue the three Pseudo-Royal Lords; however, another figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path. A jade white palm flew out at him, carrying an Earth-Shattering power with it. Di Ya Luo’s expression became grave and without hesitation, he immediately met this palm with an attack of his own.
Luo Ting He’s foundation was lacking compared to a veteran Royal Lord like Mo Yu, but she was still stronger than Di Ya Luo who had only become a Royal Lord a few years ago. As such, it was relatively easier to fight him.
With her restraining Di Ya Luo, Yang Kai was able to act unhindered. Immediately, Space Principles surged as the surrounding space froze and a large number of Small Stone Race Soldiers appeared out of nowhere, surrounding this area.
In a flash, a look of horror appeared on the faces of all the Black Ink Clansmen, including Di Ya Luo.
The next instant, the Great Sun and Moon Marks on the back of Yang Kai’s hand glowed brightly before yellow and blue lights began flowing out of the Small Stone Race Soldiers, rapidly fusing into a dazzling Sun which exploded soon after!
When the dazzling white light faded a few breaths later, a few Pseudo-Royal Lords had disappeared from the battlefield, leaving clouds of blood mist in their place. As for the surviving Pseudo-Royal Lords, they had clearly become much weaker after suffering this blow.
Yang Kai promptly charged at them with his spear in hand. Immediately, an aura of death enveloped these Pseudo-Royal Lords.
On the other side, Luo Ting He looked surprised, staring at a fleeing figure with a frown. “He is quite fast!”
The moment Di Ya Luo saw Yang Kai summon the Small Stone Race Army, he decisively used his Secret Technique to escape. Luo Ting He didn’t even have time to stop him. However, executing this Secret Technique obviously cost Di Ya Luo a great deal of strength, so his figure looked quite miserable afterwards.
Luo Ting He no longer paid any attention to the fleeing Di Ya Luo, promptly turning around and joined forces with Yang Kai to kill the remaining Pseudo-Royal Lords who had been injured by the burst of Purifying Light.
How could the Pseudo-Royal Lords be their opponents under these circumstances? Their auras vanished one after another, though the counterattacks of these Pseudo-Royal Lords before their deaths could not be scoffed at. Knowing that they were doomed to die, each Pseudo-Royal Lord displayed suicidal determination in their final moments, causing both Yang Kai and Luo Ting He to suffer some injuries.
In particular, Yang Kai’s Daos Strengths were fluctuating in a wild manner, not because he was using his own Dao Strengths to kill his enemies, but because the Space-Time River was under attack.
After dealing with all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, Yang Kai shouted, “I’ll leave him to you!”
A moment after he shouted, a figure rushed out from the Space-Time River. It was none other than Mo Yu, who had been swallowed by the Space-Time River earlier. Although he had been trapped inside, Mo Yu had not suffered any physical injuries. His aura, on the other hand, was a little weaker than before, though this did not affect his combat strength much.
When Mo Yu saw the tragic sight before him, a cold and frigid look took over his face, but before he could do anything, Luo Ting He rushed him and the two resumed their original battle.
Yang Kai, on the other hand, didn’t even spare Mo Ya a glance. He raised his hand towards the Space-Time River, grabbing it like it was a whip, then used Instantaneous Movement, disappearing into the Void. He didn’t attack Mo Yu with Luo Ting He. Unless Yang Kai exposed his true strength, it wouldn’t be easy to kill a veteran Royal Lord; furthermore, it was more convenient to sneak attack the Pseudo-Royal Lords than to kill a tough nut like Mo Yu.
At the No-Return Pass, Mo Na Ye’s face turned ashen. He had never expected that his strategy against Yang Kai would be broken so easily.
Yang Kai sneak attacked Mo Yu, but clearly he never had any intention of fighting him. His true goal was the Pseudo-Royal Lords led by Di Ya Luo!
These were the stumbling blocks that had been pestering Yang Kai all this time, making it difficult for him to display his full strength.
With a simple move of besieging the enemy’s stronghold in order to attack their reinforcements, everyone in Di Ya Luo’s team, apart from Di Ya Luo himself who had managed to escape, had been slaughtered by Yang Kai and Luo Ting He!
[The situation has changed!] Mo Na Ye could keenly sense this.
Yang Kai had never done something like this before.
The team of Pseudo-Royal Lords led by Di Ya Luo had successfully managed to restrain Yang Kai in the previous battles, hindering him from displaying his full strength, but by the looks of it, Yang Kai had always had the ability to break free of Di Ya Luo and the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ restraint. It was just that he did not want to, that was all.
[What the Hell made him reveal his fangs today?]
“Sir!” Di Ya Luo, who had fled back to the No-Return Pass, arrived in front of Mo Na Ye, his face filled with shame. He didn’t dare to face Yang Kai alone, so he didn’t know what to do now.
Even now, Mo Na Ye had not associated the turn of events in the situation to the fact that Yang Kai’s strength had experienced a Heaven-shaking, Earth-shattering increase to another level.
That was because he knew just how difficult it was for a Human Race Master to cultivate. The stronger the cultivator, the more time they had to spend accumulating heritage to grow their power.
Since ancient times, there had never existed anyone like Yang Kai who was able to grow to such an extent in less than 1,000 years after advancing to the Ninth Order.
Ever since the Humans attacked the No-Return Pass, Yang Kai had been concealing his ability by feigning weakness. In each battle, he only ever revealed strength as should be expected from a newly advanced Ninth-Order Master like himself while trying to avoid head-to-head battles with any of the Royal Lords.
From Mo Na Ye’s perspective, Yang Kai may be stronger than when he just advanced back then in the Universe Furnace World, but such growth was still acceptable. Moreover, it was well known that Yang Kai’s abilities were greater than other cultivators in the same Realm to begin with, so it was difficult to understand Yang Kai’s bottom line without a proper fight with him.
Even if someone told Mo Na Ye about Yang Kai’s true strength now, he probably wouldn’t believe it. Such a thing was simply nonsensical.
The situation had changed subtly since Yang Kai showed up on the battlefield.
Though the attack of the Humans was still as tepid as before, the various Armies had already completed their secret deployments, getting all their forces into position.
Yang Kai soon reappeared, this time next to Xiang Shan.
Xiang Shan’s opponents were three Pseudo-Royal Lords who had formed a Battle Formation, which should make them strong enough to take on this newly promoted Ninth-Order Master.
In the first two battles, Xiang Shan fought two bloody battles with Mo Yu, which resulted in losses on both sides. Mo Yu had a unique method of healing, so he could recover quickly through the sacrifice of a Pseudo-Royal Lord, but Xiang Shan could not recover as easily. Even with the use of healing pills, it would still take him some time, so his injuries have not been restored completely even until now, causing him to fall into a disadvantage against the three Pseudo-Royal Lords from time to time as they fought.
This was especially noticeable during the days when Yang Kai had disappeared as Xiang Shan was almost one-sidedly suppressed by these three Pseudo-Royal Lords without having any ability to fight back.
But since Yang Kai’s emergence, the situation had turned around. These three Pseudo-Royal Lords now had to hold back 30% of their strength in preparation to deal with the event of a surprise attack launched by Yang Kai, which gave Xiang Shan some room to breathe.
When Yang Kai’s figure entered their circle of battle, Xiang Shan, who had received a heads-up prior, burst out with the power he had been accumulating and wielded a fierce blade towards the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
His murderous intent spread almost palpably, and even the space around the three Pseudo-Royal Lords seemed to freeze, horrifying them all.
They had constantly been on guard against Yang Kai, but they never thought that this killing star would target them on such a vast battlefield! Their luck was simply the worst!
When the killing star attacked, Xiang Shan suddenly burst out once more, instantly disrupting the rhythm of the three Black Ink Clan Masters. In merely a moment of their panic and loss, life or death had been decided!
The long spear was like a Dragon, whereas the blade light was biting cold. Yang Kai and Xiang Shan’s figures passed by each other like the blades of a pair of shears, instantly cutting through the aura of the three Pseudo-Royal Lords.
When the powerful auras extinguished, Xiang Shan spat out a mouthful of blood and looked much weaker than before, Yang Kai’s body also incurred a few wounds, obviously from the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ final struggle before death!
At around the same time on the other side of the battlefield, an amazing aura burst out, accompanied by the annihilation of several powerful auras.
It was not the fall of Black Ink Clan Masters, but Eighth-Order Humans!
Yang Kai’s head snapped over, only to see a turbulent Black Ink Cloud moving about. More than a dozen figures had gathered in a large black tide that slaughtered everything in its way. Even in their Battle Formations, the Eighth-Order Masters could hardly put up a fight.
The reason for that was that there were traces of Mo Na Ye and Di Ya Luo’s involvement in this tide, whereas the rest were all Pseudo-Royals.
Almost at the same time as when Yang Kai looked over, Mo Na Ye turned his head over as well. Their gazes suddenly met, and they could both see the coldness in each other’s eyes.
Yang Kai instantly understood Mo Na Ye’s intention and praised him inwardly, [What a cruel and determined heart this guy has!]
Moments ago, when Di Ya Luo fled back to the No-Return Pass and returned crestfallen to Mo Na Ye’s side, Mo Na Ye made a snap decision at that moment. An extremely radical one at that.
On his command, a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords, who were standing by to defend the Black Ink Nests, flew out in a group under Di Ya Luo’s lead, heading straight towards the battlefield.
Mo Na Ye gave up the idea of tracking Yang Kai since he knew that he would only end up being pulled around by the nose by him that way. This fellow was a Master in the Dao of Space who could appear and disappear like a ghost. Trying to pin down his tracks would only waste time. The only way to change their passive position to an active one was to give up on defending and attacking instead!
[If you want to kill our Pseudo-Royal Lords, then I’ll go and kill your Eighth-Order Masters! Let’s see who will give in first and go to stop the other!]
This was Mo Na Ye’s decision.
Nobody could stop Yang Kai if he wanted to sneak up on them and stir trouble; Mo Na Ye deeply recognized that he lacked that ability now. Di Ya Luo had already failed, so in that case, he would just ignore Yang Kai for now and eliminate opponents he could kill.
He would slaughter until the Humans ached and despaired, then even if they were to lose some Pseudo-Royal Lords in battle, their deaths would have been worth it. At the very least, it was better than losing them to Yang Kai’s sneak attacks while gaining nothing in return.
The result was remarkable. With two Royal Lords personally leading the charge and a team of a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords behind them, they could easily break up the battle which had reached a stalemate, and within just a few breaths, at least 20 Eighth-Order Masters on the Human Race’s side fell.
This was not enough to make up for the loss of three Pseudo-Royal Lords, but it was enough to make the Humans reel.
[What will you choose?]
Mo Na Ye looked at Yang Kai from a distance, waiting quietly to see his response, but his hands did not stay idle. He continued leading his men towards the next battlefield, moving with momentum like splitting bamboo wherever they went.
Very soon, Yang Kai’s answer was revealed to them. That was because Yang Kai’s figure suddenly disappeared from his vision, and Xiang Shan, who had been standing together with Yang Kai before, also came flying in their direction.
All of them were alerted at this change, and their powerful Divine Senses were swiftly extended in all directions to guard against a possible sneak attack that could come at any moment.
However, rather than Yang Kai, whom they had expected to come, they were met with another person instead.
“As the Supreme Commander of the Army, it’s not a prideful thing to attend a battle personally.” Following the emergence of that voice, a figure stopped in the middle of the void. With a light raise of his feather fan, a fierce wind suddenly rose up, turning into a sharp blade that could even cut through space.
Mi Jing Lun!
Almost at the same time that Mo Na Ye moved, Mi Jing Lun moved as well, but he had arrived late since Pure Yang Pass was outside of the battlefield.
Even after so many years of war, Mi Jing Lun had barely stepped onto the battlefield. Compared to his abilities as a Ninth-Order Master, he was needed more by the Human Race to coordinate the overall situation.
However, after seeing through Mo Na Ye’s intentions to exchange lives with lives, Mi Jing Lun had no choice but to join the fray. That was because every single Ninth-Order Master had their own opponents to deal with on the battlefield and could not easily extricate themselves, so he was the only one who could subdue these Masters for now.
However, in the face of Mi Jing Lun’s provocations and attack, Mo Na Ye chose to ignore them and simply deflected the attack with the other Masters from the Black Ink Clan without getting caught up with him at all, immediately flying towards the next battlefield after that.
Mi Jing Lun paled slightly. Mo Na Ye’s single-mindedness was something he had not anticipated. Just as it was difficult for the Black Ink Clan to restrain Yang Kai, Mi Jing Lun alone could not stop such a group of Masters either.
Fortunately, Xiang Shan had also rushed over to join him, so they could at least harass their opponents.
The slaughter continued. Everywhere these Masters went, large numbers of Eighth-Order Masters would fall. Most of these Masters were already in Battle Formations formed alongside people that they were familiar with and were in the midst of fighting other enemies. When a large number of powerful enemy reinforcements rushed over, the original balance was broken, resulting in a disaster.
While this endless killing was taking place, Mo Na Ye was keeping a close eye on Yang Kai’s movements. Xiang Shan had already rushed over, but Yang Kai was still nowhere to be seen. This caused his heart to sink. Despite culling so many Eighth-Order Masters, he found it difficult to feel happy about this situation; instead, he was starting to feel worse and worse.
Under normal circumstances, Yang Kai should have come out to stop them, but now he seemed happy to continue showing off his strength even if it meant continuing this exchange of lives, which was undoubtedly a worrying issue.
As expected, Yang Kai’s aura appeared on another side of the battlefield, followed by three Pseudo-Royal Lords’ auras extinguishing.
“Has it come to this?” Mo Na Ye’s heart ran cold. He was even beginning to wonder whether the Humans had sensed something. [But, if not, how could Yang Kai have made this choice? How could they have possibly noticed? This makes no sense at all!]
In the void, Yang Kai pursed his lips, his body constantly flickering, cutting through one battlefield after another. When his Space-Time River came out, one by one the Pseudo-Royal Lords fell, freeing up one Ninth-Order Master after another, without daring to delay for even a heartbeat. In such a situation, various Eighth-Order Masters would fall for every breath that passed.
The only way to stop Mo Na Ye was to free up more Ninth-Order Masters so that they could go forth and contain the group of enemy Masters led by Mo Na Ye.
Of course, Yang Kai could have taken on the task himself, but without revealing his true strength, using Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability to launch sneak attacks from the shadows was simply more efficient.
Yang Kai could clearly feel the fall of the Eighth-Order Masters. Each one of them was a rare talent of the Human Race, and each of them had gone through at least thousands of years of cultivation to reach such heights, but on this cruel battlefield, their fall would become nothing more than a cold statistic in the records of history.
[Has Mo Na Ye noticed something? Otherwise, why would he have joined the battlefield himself?]
Before the battle, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun had expected great losses on their side, but seeing it happen with their own eyes still left their hearts bleeding.
Yang Kai tried his best to suppress the urge to stop Mo Na Ye and turned all his resentment and pent-up displeasure into powerful attacks, unleashing them from the spear in his hand.
[Kill! I need to kill more! Kill them all!]
The originally uneventful battle suddenly heated up into a tragic scene following the sudden appearance of Yang Kai and the movements of Mo Na Ye, Di Ya Luo, and the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
At this point, even lower level officers on both sides had noticed that the situation had changed. The top Masters on both sides seemed to be competing on who could kill faster and who could kill more. All over the battlefield, the fall of Pseudo-Royal Lords and Eighth-Order Masters could be felt.
In terms of killing efficacy, the Black Ink Clan was undoubtedly better.
A Killing Squad led by 2 Royal Lords with a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords in tow was extremely powerful. The Battle Formations that the Eighth-Order Masters had were simply incapable of defending against such a lineup. As soon as their Battle Formations were broken, the Eighth-Order Masters would quickly be killed.
And, no matter how fast Yang Kai was, the most he could deal with was three Pseudo-Royal Lords at a time…
In a short cup of tea’s time, as many as 20 Pseudo-Royal Lords had been eliminated. Yang Kai’s body was covered in black blood from his killing spree, and the fierce murderous intent surrounding him made him seem like a God of Death returning from purgatory, leaving all the Pseudo-Royal Lords in the entire battlefield in fear.
However, the Humans had also paid an extremely heavy price on their side. As many as 100 Eighth-Order Masters had been reduced to nothing more than cold dead bodies.
It wasn’t until the Ninth-Order Masters had their hands freed one by one to join the encirclement against the Black Ink Clan’s group of Masters that the situation finally eased up.
Yang Kai wasn’t just cutting down Pseudo-Royal Lords aimlessly, he was specifically targeting the opponents of the Ninth-Order Masters. His Space Techniques brought him to each side of the battlefield, where he worked together with the Ninth-Order Masters to deal with their enemies.
Once the last Ninth-Order Master swept over, the top Masters on the Human Race’s side formed an encirclement around the mighty Black Ink Clan Killing Squad!
It was only now that Mi Jing Lun could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In the void, Mi Jing Lun, Xiang Shan, Ou Yang Lie, Wei Jun Yang, Xiao Xiao, Wu Qing, Shi Da Zhuang, and Tang Tao all stood. Eight Ninth-Order Masters were sealing the Black Ink Clan team from all directions.
It could be said that all Ninth-Order Masters, excluding Yang Kai, who was roaming around and picking off enemies, Luo Ting He, who was facing off against Mo Yu alone, as well as Yang Xue and Wu Kuang, who were all the way over at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, had all come together.
This was the heritage accumulated by the Human Race over thousands of years. It was not very strong and very much lacking when compared to them at their peak, but this was a sign of hope for the rise of the Human Race.
The fierce battle stopped at some point. The eight Ninth-Order Masters circulated their auras to suppress and seal this zone to ensure that regardless of where their opponents tried to escape from, they would be met with a fierce flurry of attacks. However, they were in no hurry to attack. The Humans may occupy the absolute upper hand on the surface, but the slightest mistake in a fight of this level could bring about dire consequences.
Both sides were constantly probing each other, looking for a breakthrough point.
“You’re not running away?” Mi Jing Lun gave Mo Na Ye a strange look.
Before the Ninth-Order Masters gathered in turn to surround them, this group had taken every opportunity to escape, but clearly, Mo Na Ye showed no such initiative and allowed the Humans to encircle them, which puzzled Mi Jing Lun.
“Run away? Where?” Mo Na Ye answered his question with another question as he looked askance at him. Even though he knew that he was on the weaker side right now, his attitude remained firm.
Mi Jing Lun did not answer.
Mo Na Ye went on, “There’s something that I can’t understand, so I will appreciate it if Supreme Commander Mi can explain it to me.”
On the battlefield, Yang Kai’s aura was constantly appearing and disappearing, and every time that happened, a number of Pseudo-Royal Lords would face unfortunate ends.
Mo Na Ye’s team was restrained, yet Yang Kai could freely go on a slaughter spree. From the Human’s perspective, stalling for some time seemed to be a good idea. That way, Yang Kai could better weaken the Black Ink Clan’s side; thus, Mi Jing Lun obliged, “So there exists something that puzzles you in this world?”
These words were not just meant to ridicule. As the Supreme Commanders of their respective sides, the fight between Mi Jing Lun and Mo Na Ye was not just something that played out over the past year or two. Both of them had a thorough understanding of each other. Putting aside where they stand and seeing him merely as an opponent, Mi Jing Lun thought highly of Mo Na Ye in that regard.
Mo Na Ye did not answer his question; instead, he asked what he had on his mind, “How did you find out?”
“Find what out?” Mi Jing Lun answered casually while putting on a confused look at the right moment.
Mo Na Ye kept a firm gaze on him, “Even though you are able to conceal it well, Supreme Commander Mi, Brother Ou Yang here is not as good at pretending, so why ask me that question when you already know the answer?”
Next to them, Ou Yang Lie bristled, “What did I do?”
[If you want to talk, just talk, why drag me into it?] Ou Yang Lie was displeased.
Mo Na Ye turned to look at him, “Your expression changed when I was asking my question earlier. That proves you know what I’m talking about.”
“Am I not allowed to be nervous during such a critical moment!?” Ou Yang Lie roared.
Mo Na Ye could not be bothered to answer, so he turned back to Mi Jing Lun, “Over the years, the Human Race’s attacks on the No-Return Pass have maintained the same frequency, but this time, your attack happened far before the expected time. Moreover, Brother Yang has ignored us so openly. He could have saved those Eighth-Order Masters, yet he continued culling our Pseudo-Royal Lords instead. Even though you can clearly achieve the same goal with minimal cost if you had spent a dozen years more, you chose the risky method instead. It’s… as if you’re all in a hurry to reclaim the No-Return Pass.”
Meanwhile, everything that was said was just flying over the heads of Di Ya Luo and the many Pseudo-Royal Lords. None of them had any idea what Mo Na Ye was talking about. All they knew was that things were likely to be disastrous this time. The Black Ink Clan had two Royal Lords and a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords in this group, but the Humans had eight Ninth-Order Masters. In terms of true strength, the Black Ink Clan was at a complete disadvantage.
They were curious to know the answer to Mi Jing Lun’s earlier question. Why didn’t they run away when they could’ve? As a result, they were now surrounded in this place. Each one of them was feeling uneasy about this situation, and it was inevitable that a sense of dissatisfaction arose against Mo Na Ye.
“Why is that?” Mo Na Ye spoke, but he did not mean it as a question. He answered, “There’s only one possibility, and it is that you Humans have found out about it. That’s why, you’re in a hurry to end the battle at the No-Return Pass, and you’d rather pay a heavy price now to make that happen! Am I right, Supreme Commander Mi?”
Mi Jing Lun shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Mo Na Ye sighed, “So be it. If Supreme Commander Mi does not wish to answer, then I will refrain from asking. This should be the deciding battle, right? I admit this came as quite a surprise, and our side is not prepared yet, but it seems you are not either. Heh, who would have thought that this battle would end up this way? But Supreme Commander Mi, even though my Black Ink Clan is in decline right now, claiming the No-Return Pass won’t be that easy. I hope that the losses incurred on your side are within your comfort zone at the end of this battle!”
Ou Yang Lie was impatient, “What are you blabbering on for? Your funeral is already here, Mo Na Ye!”
Mo Na Ye turned to him with an icy look in his eyes. The casual look from before was gone, and he spoke in a stern voice, “Are you really so sure that you’ve defeated me?”
Almost at the same time as those words were spoken, dozens of powerful auras that shook the void rose up within the No-Return Pass and swept out.
It was the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had remained in the No-Return Pass all this while, guarding the High-Rank Black Ink Nests.
These Pseudo-Royal Lords had been stationed in the No-Return Pass since the Humans began attacking it, but there was no helping it. It was mainly because they had to guard against the annoying Yang Kai.
This fiend was constantly appearing out of nowhere, always coming out of the Barren Territory every battle. Without these Pseudo-Royal Lords to protect the Black Ink Nests, Yang Kai would long have destroyed them all, and without them, the Black Ink Clan will have no way to replenish their forces or heal from their injuries.
And, during Yang Kai’s repeated fights with the Pseudo-Royal Lord team led by Di Ya Luo, it was they who fended against the fallout from their battle to keep the High-Rank Black Ink Nests safe.
These Pseudo-Royal Lords had never left the No-Return Pass since the Humans began their attack!
However, all of them had left at this moment without a single one remaining behind.
Without their protection, the No-Return Pass was practically defenceless at this moment!
Even though there were still two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods standing on either side of the No-Return Pass, if Yang Kai had wanted to, he could easily take advantage of this opportunity to charge in and destroy all the Black Ink Nests. If the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were to attack him at that point, it would only speed up the destruction of the Black Ink Nests.
Noticing the unusual movement from the No-Return Pass, the Ninth-Order Masters all looked astonished.
Mo Na Ye grinned at Mi Jing Lun, “Since it’s the final battle, I won’t be standing on ceremony!”
The Humans were willing to pay a huge price if it meant taking the No-Return Pass, so how could the Black Ink Clan hold back? If this battle was lost, would there still be any Black Ink Nests left? In such a situation, there was no longer any need to guard the No-Return Pass. In a fight with their lives on the line, the winner would be the King, and the loser would be the villain.
“Kill!” Mo Na Ye suddenly shouted as he led his team towards Wei Jun Yang, which caught the latter off guard. Even with the other Ninth-Order Masters responding promptly, he was still immediately forced back.
Like Xiang Shan, Wei Jun Yang was also wounded and was obviously seen as a breakthrough point by Mo Na Ye, which made him very angry.
But fortunately, the Ninth-Order Masters were all top Masters and soon stabilized the situation.
As Mi Jing Lun’s Divine Sense surged, three of the eight Ninth-Order Masters left to confront the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had come charging out of the No-Return Pass while the remaining five teamed up to fight Mo Na Ye and his team in an evenly matched situation.
However, how could three Ninth-Order Masters stop the charge of several dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords? The Pseudo-Royal Lords have formed their own Battle Formations, and a single Three Fortunes Formation was enough to hold back a single Ninth-Order Master.
In an instant, the advantage gained from Yang Kai killing off a large number of Pseudo-Royal Lords was levelled, and the damage which the Humans were able to stem began to snowball.
At that moment, a huge Great Pass entered the battlefield. Pure Yang Pass, which had always remained outside of the conflict zone, finally joined the fight!
The huge Great Pass slowly rotated, and the many large artifacts set up on it were constantly releasing rays of light that were as dazzling as a thunder Dragon, striking the enemy lines and clearing out large areas of the void with each attack.
The Black Ink Clan’s defence line, which was targeted by Pure Yang Pass, instantly fell into a shaky situation!
Pure Yang Pass was the only Great Pass of the Human Race left. It was currently the command centre of their Grand Army. Its symbolic and strategic significance was greater than its role as a weapon.
Other than the first battle for the No-Return Pass, where the majestic, impregnable Great Pass battled the Black Ink Clan Army, it had always stayed outside of the battlefield during the fights happening over the years.
It wasn’t until now that the Great Pass rushed over and the lights coming from its various artifacts were released, bombarding indiscriminately into the Black Ink Clan’s defence line. Its fierce and unceasing attack quickly tore a gap into the defence line and the Azure Sun Army nearby immediately took advantage of the situation to charge in.
The Masters from the Black Ink Clan quickly noticed the situation and immediately, more than a dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords rushed over. At the same time, over 100 figures flew out from Pure Yang Pass to meet them. These were the Eighth-Order Masters who were responsible for standing by on Pure Yang Pass and maintaining it all this while.
100 Eighth-Order Masters definitely would not be able to stop this number of Pseudo-Royal Lords alone, but they had Pure Yang Pass behind them to act as reliable support. Holding back and delaying their enemies was still something they could manage.
The exchange between both sides soon began and the light of both the Secret Techniques and artifacts blossomed incessantly.
On one side of the huge battlefield, the front the Burning Moon Army was in charge of, both sides were constantly exchanging blows. However, the Burning Moon Army were unable to break through the tight defence line of their opponent from beginning to end, so it did not matter how intense the fight became. Only by ripping a gap in that tight line of defence could the Humans gain some ground and charge in and slaughter more of their enemy.
In the fierce exchange, the Black Ink Clan managed to repel the attacking Humans time and time again, and both sides were suffering great casualties.
At a certain point, the Black Ink Clan on this front suddenly noticed that the Human Race’s attack had inexplicably become much weaker, and while they were confused, they saw the dense forces of the Human Race Army suddenly split up, moving to the left and right while a dozen Warships that were clearly different from the usual ones came forward. Moreover, there was a giant Warship following right behind them.
A Purifying Black Ink Battleship!
The Masters from the Black Ink Clan on this front instantly recognized the Warship as one of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships created by the Humans.
Their eyes showed puzzlement at this move as they had never seen a Purifying Black Ink Battleship on the frontlines of a battlefield in all the times they battled each other. After all, this Warship itself was not meant for charging into battles, it was a support craft used as a fallback point.
What was the purpose of the Humans bringing in this Purifying Black Ink Battleship?
The next moment, those from the Black Ink Clan seemed to have thought of something and a look of great horror emerged on their faces. Divine Sense surging, as someone roared, “Don’t let them get close! Sink them!”
A heavy barrage of attacks that covered the sky rained down on the Warships, and even though the defensive arrays of the dozen Warships in front of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship were activated to their limits, they were still destroyed in a very short time with the Warships being blasted to pieces as well, alongside the members of their Squads.
Even more attacks came towards the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. The defensive arrays glowed brightly, but it quickly dimmed down and was shattered.
In the next moment, the massive Purifying Black Ink Battleship was also completely destroyed.
However, there was no hint of joy in the face of those from the Black Ink Clan, especially from the one who was commanding the battle. Instead, he appeared greatly shocked and hurried to pull back almost as soon as the Purifying Black Ink Battleship exploded.
Like a great sun shining in all directions, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship exploded, its dazzling light illuminating the void like daylight.
The light gradually dissipated, and a large circular area in the battlefield, which was originally filled with Black Ink Strength, was now presented clearly in everyone’s vision. All of the Black Ink Strength there had been purified, and the Black Ink Clansmen struck by the light were all howling in pain. Some of the weaker ones had even died on the spot.
Even those who quickly retreated earlier still failed to escape being struck by the Purifying Light in the end, and now the rich Black Ink Strength their bodies was leaking out uncontrollably as if they had been tossed into a wok of hot oil. The pain was so intense that their expressions became distorted. Even more to their horror was the fact that their strength was dropping sharply as their Black Ink Strength leaked out.
When the Black Ink Clan Commander turned his head and looked back, he saw the Human Race’s Army charging in and his heart went cold. He knew that this defence line was as good as gone…
The same scene of a Great Sun exploding was playing out in every corner of the battlefield. The continuous bursts of light were the greatest nightmare of all Black Ink Clansmen.
This was the final battle to conquer the No-Return Pass. Even Mo Na Ye dared to go all in on this fight, so as the attackers, how could the Humans not rise to meet the occasion?
As soon as Mi Jing Lun gave the order to attack the No-Return Pass, a secret directive was sent out to every Army.
Use the Purifying Light sealed in the Purifying Black Ink Battleships to force open the Black Ink Clan’s defence line!
The Humans had many Purifying Black Ink Battleships in their arsenal, with each Division having at least one of its own. The total number of such Warships they had with Purifying Light sealed in them had already exceeded 1,000.
The Black Ink Clan’s defence was indeed solid. Even if the Humans could break through it with a forceful attack, they would still have to pay a heavy price. But with the Purifying Black Ink Battleships leading the way, the casualties incurred by the Humans could be greatly reduced.
The soldiers were gone if they died, but they could produce more Purifying Black Ink Battleships if they were destroyed. There was no way Mi Jing Lun couldn’t recognize such a simple thing.
This was a tactic that he had thought of long ago, but he would not use it simply before his hand was forced. Building 1,000 Purifying Black Ink Battleships was not exactly an easy task.
However, if they wanted to launch an attack on the No-Return Pass when they had not made full preparations, this was the only method they could employ.
Over 1,000 Purifying Black Ink Battleships exploded in less than a half cup of tea’s time, each one purifying a vast area. No matter how strong the Black Ink Clan’s defences were, they were helpless against this power that perfectly restrained them.
The once tight defence line was now filled with wide gaps, and the various Armies of the Humans, who had long been preparing for this moment, rushed forward at the opportune moment. They fortified their positions, increased their troops, expanded their advantage, and slaughtered their enemies!
In less than half an hour, the Black Ink Clan was in clear decline!
It was practically a miracle that they were able to achieve such immense results in such a vast battlefield, and within only a short time, but time was running out for the Humans now.
The explosion of such a large number of Purifying Black Ink Battleships meant that the Humans can no longer rely on the Purifying Light sealed within those battleships to disperse Black Ink Strength that invaded their bodies. Now, the soldiers could only rely on the Purifying Black Ink Pills they brought in advance to protect their Small Universes.
But the Purifying Black Ink Pills had limited medicinal efficacies, so this battle had to be fought and won quickly.
Many factors could affect the outcome in war, including the determination of the soldiers on both sides and the strength of their forces. However, the most significant determining factor was still the top Masters of both sides, the Giant Spirit Gods and Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods!
Even if the Humans could wipe out the Black Ink Clan Army entirely, it would be useless if they could not take down the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. A creation of Mo was a threat to the Humans that the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not compare with.
Yang Kai continued his endless slaughter on the battlefield, his figure swift and elusive. Everywhere he passed, the auras of Pseudo-Royal Lords vanished. Since the start of the battle, as many as 30 Pseudo-Royal Lords had already died at his hands.
This was the battle where he killed the most Pseudo-Royal Lords!
The high-intensity battle left his body covered in blood and his aura unstable. The final struggle made by the Pseudo-Royal Lords before their deaths was not something that could be ignored.
However, his efforts were able to reduce the casualties for his people by a great margin.
Mo Na Ye burned all bridges when he realized that this was going to be the final, decisive fight, commanding all the Pseudo-Royal Lords standing by at the No-Return Pass to come out as well, completely giving up on defending the No-Return Pass. Despite how many Eighth-Order Masters the Humans had, they were still somewhat powerless when faced with these groups of Pseudo-Royal Lords in Battle Formations. Many Eighth-Order Masters suffered miserable fates under their hands.
However, as Yang Kai continued to slaughter the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the situation finally took a turn for the better. At this moment, the Eighth-Order Masters also gradually stabilized their positions, got into their own Battle Formations, divided their opponents, and clashed with the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
And with Yang Kai continuing his hunt, the Humans could slowly gain an advantage when it came to top combat power.
However, Yang Kai was not satisfied because the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had not made a single move from beginning to end. They were still just guarding the No-Return Pass.
If the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods did not make a move, Yang Kai did not dare to reveal his true strength either. If they continued fighting like this, their casualties would continue to increase, and even if they captured the No-Return Pass in the end, it would be difficult to make the cost of the fallen Masters worth it.
Fortunately, after the total collapse of the Black Ink Clan’s defence line and further expansion of casualties, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods who had been standing by finally could not sit still any longer.
A deep sigh seemed to come from the void, causing every living being on the battlefield to tremble.
Immediately afterwards, the two enormous creatures guarding the left and right sides of the No-Return Pass moved. They each arrived at the forefront of the battlefield with just a single step, and with a casual wave of their hands, both Humans and Black Ink Clansmen were silently reduced to paste.
It was not that they didn’t want to avoid Black Ink Clan members, but their bodies were simply too large. Once they launched their attacks, the area it passed through was too wide to achieve precise control.
In an instant, both the Human Race and Black Ink Clan Armies scattered wherever the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods went.
At the same time, in the Barren Territory, Ah Da and Ah Er, who had been paying attention to the situation here, became excited.
Ah Da pointed to the Territory Gate, “Do we go now?”
Ah Er stood up and quickly nodded, “En!”
Before leaving, their little friend had told them that if those two big guys dared to move, they should rush in.
Previously, those two big guys had been remaining motionless, so Ah Da and Ah Er could only stare at them. Now, it was undoubtedly time for them to descend the mountain.
“Beat them up!” Ah Da’s face was full of killing intent. After his declaration, he took a deep breath and suddenly shrunk his towering and massive body, transforming into a small giant.
Next to him, Ah Er did the same.
Within 10 breaths of the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods taking action, the two Giant Spirit Gods stepped out of the Territory Gate connecting the Barren Territory and the Black Ink Battlefield.
After the Giant Spirit Gods, shrunken to the size of small giants, stepped out of the Territory Gate, their body expanded rapidly back to their original size. Then, they charged and crashed thunderously into the No-Return Pass.
The massive remnant Great Passes shook and the aftershocks swept out in all directions. The Black Ink Nests, which the Black Ink Clan had been carefully tending to all these years, instantly shattered into dust.
If this scene had occurred a few days ago, it would have undoubtedly been a great heartache to the Black Ink Clan, but at this moment, none of them had the heart to care about such things anymore.
The Black Ink Clan had brought out all their strength and the entire No-Return Pass had become an empty shell. This battle was the one to decide the life or death of the Black Ink Clan in the No-Return Pass. If they won, they could continue to survive, but if they lost, everything would end for them, so who would still care about the Black Ink Nests?
The two Giant Spirit Gods raised their feet and started running through the No-Return Pass; however, it only took two or three steps before they reached the battlefield where they flew straight towards the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
The Black Ink Clan Army that tried to stop them suffered catastrophic losses, and the defence line that they were able to maintain through gruelling effort was smashed apart by Ah Da and Ah Er, creating two unimpeded passageways right to the heart of their lines. Countless casualties occurred in an instant.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, who were in the midst of mercilessly slaughtering the Humans, naturally noticed the situation. They immediately assumed defensive positions, but in the next moment, they were each hit squarely by Ah Da and Ah Er and tumbled over with them.
Ah Da tackled his opponent’s waist and swung his fist fiercely. His opponent was also unwilling to appear weak and smashed down with his elbow, fiercely hammering Ah Da’s back. He even grabbed Ah Da’s neck with his other arm and squeezed tight as if he were trying to twist Ah Da’s head off.
The battle between the two Giant Spirit Gods was extremely simple and crude, making it look almost like two children fighting, but every one of their strikes caused space to shake and become unstable. Terrifying shockwaves that were visible to the naked eye rippled out in all directions.
All living beings nearby, regardless of whether they were Human or Black Ink Clan, ran and cleared a space large enough for these behemoths to fight.
Even though Ah Er’s side was not as explosive, it was still extremely rough. He and his opponent exchanged punches, each first reaching the other’s body, causing both sides to stumble.
These two were old rivals who had fought for thousands of years in the Barren Territory, but neither had ever defeated the other. This battle was simply a continuation of their previous struggle.
If nothing out of the ordinary happened, it was unlikely that there would be a clear winner in the fights between the Giant Spirit Gods.
The Masters from either side could not interfere with a fight of this level. More than that, simply being caught in between these four would have dire consequences.
Only Yang Kai waited in the shadows as he watched on from the sidelines, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were finally moving, something which he had been eagerly anticipating. Ah Da and Ah Er also arrived promptly to restrain them, so there was no need to worry about them posing a threat to the Human Race Army. Now, all Yang Kai had to do was look for a suitable opportunity to strike.
However, when this opportunity would rear its head, or if it would even arise to begin with, was uncertain.
Even though Yang Kai had carefully instructed Ah Da and Ah Er beforehand, Giant Spirit Gods were simple-minded, so there was no guarantee they would do as they were asked.
Rather than getting between the Giant Spirit Gods’ fight, Yang Kai continued to roam the battlefield while keeping an eye on them. With Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, the Pseudo-Royal Lords could hardly even sense his presence before he launched an attack on them. By the time they did notice, danger was already upon their heads.
After reaching this point in the battle, Yang Kai was not content to just kill Pseudo-Royal Lords. If the opportunity presented itself, Territory Lords were not spared either. Several dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords had died at his hand, and there were likely more than 1,000 Territory Lords dead even as a conservative estimate, and that was because they were killed merely out of convenience. Yang Kai hadn’t deliberately targeted them.
Thanks to the gap in the defences created by Ah Da and Ah Er’s charge, the Wolf Fang Army and Twin Instrument Army had already breached the Black Ink Clan’s main forces. The two Human Armies cooperated smoothly as they constantly expanded the gap in the defence line. Although the Black Ink Clan tried their best to retreat and regroup, they were unable to do so.
Victory seemed to be within grasping range for the Human Race. In this chaotic and brutal battlefield, despite the constant reaping of lives, the soldiers did not stop throwing themselves in.
To Yang Kai’s surprise, the opportunity he was waiting for came quickly.
From the battlefield, a roar suddenly erupted. It was Ah Da’s shout mixed with a hint of excitement, “Little friend, come quick, I’ve got him!”
Almost at the same time he shouted these words, Yang Kai, who had been keeping an eye on their movements, had already arrived at Ah Da’s side.
At this moment, Ah Da had managed to pin his opponent in the void. Ah Da’s arms had constricted one of his opponent’s arms, stopping it from moving. His legs were also like ropes, wrapped around one of his opponent’s thighs. In this posture, two of the opponent’s limbs were completely immobilized and unable to break free.
However, this situation was extremely unfavourable for Ah Da because in order to tightly restrain his opponent, all four of his limbs were tied up, whereas his opponent still had one arm and one leg free for his use. When Yang Kai arrived, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was punching and kicking Ah Da viciously. The force of each attack sent shockwaves through Ah Da’s body, and rubble-like pieces were constantly smashed from his body, each piece the size of an ordinary city.
Since he had been keeping a close eye on the four Giant Spirit Gods, Yang Kai witnessed everything clearly.
After Ah Da rushed out of the Barren Territory, he directly grappled his opponent and went all out to restrain him. After some wrestling, they finally reached the current situation.
This was something he had repeatedly instructed Ah Da and Ah Er on before the battle. No matter what, they had to find a way to restrain the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods!
Yang Kai originally thought that Ah Er would do a better job at this since Ah Er had clearly shown more intelligence than Ah Da throughout the many years of Yang Kai knowing them. Therefore, when Yang Kai instructed them on this matter, he focused more on Ah Er and also placed his hopes on him.
But in fact, it was Ah Da who achieved it first.
This was something Yang Kai did not expect, but it still made some sense when he thought about it.
Due to his lower intelligence, his thoughts were simpler, so he just did everything within his power to do what he was told.
It was not the first time that a Giant Spirit God and Black Ink Giant Spirit God had wrestled like this before. Previously, when Ah Er was fighting his opponent in the Barren Territory, a similar scene had appeared. Yang Kai had seen them entangled like this many times when he passed by the Barren Territory.
In the end, this struggle had developed into a stalemate, so the Black Ink Giant Spirit God did not feel the need to act defensive against Ah Da’s actions. After being restrained, it instead rained attacks down on Ah Da as it pleased.
Unlike the Giant Spirit God, which lacked sentience, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was Mo’s Soul Clone with a clear cleverness to it. Ah Da’s actions were seen as foolish in its heart. Even though it was caught off guard for a moment, the one at a loss here was not itself.
That was why it had no fear.
That was until Yang Kai suddenly showed up!
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God who was punching and kicking Ah Da instantly realized something and stared fiercely at the ant-like figure in front of it.
“Well done!” Yang Kai shouted and instantly opened the portal of his Small Universe while surging his Space Principles to the fullest at the same time.
Countless residual images appeared at once as if countless Yang Kais had appeared in that instant.
In just a short three breaths, the residual images dissipated and Yang Kai returned to his original position; however, where the residual images were located, stone giants with powerful auras appeared.
They were the Small Stone Race, and from the powerful aura that was flowing out of them, each one was comparable to an Eighth-Order Master.
The Black Ink Giant God who was being firmly restrained by Ah Da finally paled at this sight. It had previously eaten a similar loss before when it was restrained by Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing in the Barren Territory.
So, when these Small Stone Races Masters appeared, it knew that something terrible was about to happen.
But what puzzled it was where Yang Kai had amassed so many powerful Small Stone Race Masters from.
Not only had Yang Kai taken in a massive Army of hundreds of millions of them from the Chaotic Dead Territory, a large number of them were even in the Eighth-Order.
Even though he gave some Eight-Order Small Stone Race Masters to the other Humans, their numbers were not many. He had kept most of them for himself.
In all these years of war, Yang Kai had never used these Eighth-Order ones, and that was because they were the trump card he was saving to use against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God; he could not easily reveal them.
Now, at this moment, that trump card was finally going to be played.
As many as 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters suddenly appeared on the battlefield, which shocked all those who were fighting here.
All eyes were instantly fixed on this side, and when they realized that the source of the surging aura was from this Small Stone Race Army, the Human Race Masters breathed a sigh of relief while those from the Black Ink Clan began panicking.
Especially Mo Na Ye, who instantly understood Yang Kai’s intentions. His pupils shrank in shock.
A sharp aura suddenly struck him and left a bone-deep injury on his body. Mi Jing Lun lightly waved the feather fan in his hand as Dao Strength surged, instantly engulfing his opponent in his attack, “You still have the heart to be distracted at such a critical moment? That’s not a good habit to have.”
Mo Na Ye gritted his teeth while defending against Mi Jing Lun’s attack, “Has he been hiding his trump card just for this very moment?”
“Who knows?” Mi Jing Lun gave a casual reply, but his attacks grew more and more aggressive.
Normally, Mo Na Ye wouldn’t suffer much against such attacks, but his mind was distracted at the moment, so his body became covered in wounds in just a short while.
Mo Na Ye thought at first that even if they lost this fight and subsequently the No-Return Pass, they would still be able to deal a heavy blow to the Humans; after all, the Supreme One’s Soul Clones were so powerful that no one could oppose them. Worst comes to worst, they would disappear into the depths of the void and meet up with the reinforcements that were rushing this way, then they would still be able to stop the Human Race Army.
However, when a large number of Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters appeared, Mo Na Ye was shaken. He had no idea whether or not the Supreme One’s Soul Clone would still be able to protect itself in the face of such a tactic.
Unfortunately, he could not afford to think more about the situation at this moment as he had already fallen completely into a disadvantage in his fight against Mi Jing Lun. It would be disastrous if he were to allow himself to get distracted any further, so he had no choice but to push down his worries and focus on the battle at hand.
On the other side, more than 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters pounced on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God on Yang Kai’s command. Though they had large, stalwart bodies, all of them were still as tiny as ants compared to the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
This scene was just like a colony of ants attacking an elephant. Each scrambled up onto every part of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s body and clung on tight with their hands and legs.
Yang Kai stretched out both hands and the Great Sun and Moon Marks glowed with an unprecedentedly dazzling light. As he clenched his fists, he roared, “Explode!”
Under the influence of the Great Sun and Moon Marks, all of them Small Stone Race Masters exploded into yellow and blue lights, which seemed to gush out from within their bodies, leaving behind an extraordinarily rich and pure Yin and Yang Element Power.
Each point of light was like a droplet of water collecting into a giant pool, turning into a halo that melted into and connected with each other to envelope a vast space.
In just three short breaths, the yellow and blue lights melted away, replaced by a pure white light.
The white light was not too dazzling at first, but after contracting for an instant, it spread out violently.
The entire battlefield was covered by the light in an instant. Both Armies on the battlefield, regardless of their cultivation realm, even the Royal Lords and Ninth-Order Masters, had their vision filled with white. Everything disappeared and nothing could be seen.
The noisy and horrific battlefield went eerily silent for a moment, as if time had stopped flowing.
The light that was of utmost purity exploded, penetrating the barriers of the void and shining far into the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield.
Even the detonation of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships was like a firefly next to the bright moon when compared to this scene.
Never once had an explosion of Purifying Light of this magnitude been seen since the Humans began using it to restrain Black Ink Strength.
Even Yang Kai had not predicted the terrifying power that was brought about by the sacrifice of 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters.
Around the origin of the explosion of Purifying Light, there had been a large number of Black Ink Clansmen holding the defence line, but after the eruption, the vast majority of those auras evaporated. Those who were lucky enough to survive still suffered a large drop in their strength.
The explosion of Purifying Light brought about by the sacrifice of 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters had completely collapsed an entire segment of the Black Ink Clan’s defences with just its after-effects.
Almost every Black Ink Clansman in and around the No-Return Pass was affected by the Purifying Light to some degree, compromising their strength to a certain extent.
After more than a dozen breaths, the dazzling light finally dissipated, and the eerie tranquillity was disturbed by the noise of death and slaughter. As countless numbers of Black Ink Clansmen howled in pain, Black Ink strength was constantly escaping uncontrollably from their bodies, as if they had accidentally fallen into a wok of hot oil…
Seeing this situation, the Human Race Army attacked with all their might. They would never miss such a good opportunity. The Purifying Light was a great danger to the Black Ink Clan, but it had no effect on the Humans. Originally, the Black Ink Clan Army were fighting hard to resist the Humans so it was difficult to break through their defences, but every front was given a good opportunity now to strike. In a matter of breaths, they easily broke through each defence line and routed the Black Ink Clan’s forces.
Yang Kai himself did not expect that his trump card against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would fundamentally alter the tide of war and save countless numbers of Human Race Soldiers.
At this moment, he did not pay attention to the battlefield of the Armies and instead turned his head towards a certain place in the void. Standing there was a huge creature, one of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
This Black Ink Giant Spirit God had originally come out from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, the same one who was restrained by the combined efforts of Xiao Xiao and Wu Qing for thousands of years. Yang Kai had dealt with it several times in the past.
It had never properly looked at Yang Kai since from its standpoint, Yang Kai was nothing more than an ant, no matter how powerful he was. Whether it was a strong ant or a weak ant, there was no difference to it.
But now, it finally had to face this ant that it had been ignoring, and it was because this ant actually had the power to wound it, even if it was through borrowing an external force.
Yang Kai’s gaze swept over the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s figure, especially the two stumps where its arm and leg had been torn off from. Thick, viscous black blood spurted out of the huge wounds like two black fountains. It was a spectacular sight to behold.
The arm that he lost was in Ah Da’s arms while the missing leg was wrapped between Ah Da’s two legs.
The moment when the Purifying Light erupted, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had decided to act like a lizard and sacrifice its tail to save its body!
Yang Kai’s brows knitted into a frown. From the wounds on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s arm and leg, it was evident that they were severed voluntarily. Unable to break free from Ah Da’s grip, it had no other choice but to regain its freedom through such a decisive method.
Yang Kai was glad that he made the Small Stone Race Masters cling to the Giant Spirit God’s body when he summoned them; otherwise, it might have actually been able to evade a direct hit from the Purifying Light.
Even though Yang Kai wasn’t able to fully unleash the Purifying Light’s might against his foe, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God still lost an arm and a leg. Moreover, Yang Kai could clearly sense that its aura had weakened significantly.
It managed to break free from Ah Da’s grip by sacrificing an arm and leg, but the Purifying Light still played a significant role, which could be seen from the Black Ink Strength leaking endlessly from its body.
This Black Ink Giant Spirit God was no longer the same Master that inspired fear and despair in people’s hearts from before.
Yang Kai raised his hand and summoned his Azure Dragon Spear. Dao Strengths shook and the Space-Time River manifested. The long river coiled around the spear, giving the Azure Dragon Spear an indescribable sense of spirituality.
“Ah Da, let’s go!” Yang Kai shouted. Lifting his spear, his aura rose steadily. After feigning weakness for so many years, he could finally unleash his full power without any restraint. Yang Kai was cheering in joy inwardly. It felt like he had finally broken free of the shackles that bound him and regained his freedom.
“Yeah!” Ah Da responded with a resounding voice.
Immediately, Ah Da grabbed the arm and leg that his opponent discarded and began using them as weapons, swinging and smashing them fiercely, creating violent shockwaves and displaying his imposing power!
Yang Kai turned his head with difficulty and saw Ah Da getting further and further away, causing his battle aura, which had risen to a peak, to nearly collapse.
“Where is it? I can’t see it!” Ah Da’s thunderous voice shook the void, his vision still completely white.
Though being enveloped by the Purifying Light at such a close range did not cause any real damage to Ah Da, it temporarily blinded him, so how could he still see where his opponent was?
Before Yang Kai could call out to him, he was already engulfed in a sense of great crisis. When Yang Kai turned around, he saw that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had already raised its remaining hand and swung it down in the direction where he was located.
The hand that covered the void appeared slow, but it was actually extremely fast. The moment when this giant hand was about to smash him, Yang Kai could even feel space solidifying around him.
The power of this attack was absolutely terrifying and Yang Kai could clearly see the void shattering wherever it passed.
With no way to escape, Yang Kai let out a roar and thrust his spear out. Around his spear, the Space-Time River shook and myriad Dao Strengths burst forth, breaking through the confines of space. Yang Kai became one with his spear, transforming into a stream of light and rushing straight towards the approaching hand.
Before he even truly collided with the palm, Yang Kai was met with an overwhelming force. Yang Kai felt like he had run into an invisible blockade that was as sturdy as any metal. His body shook violently as he blocked the thunderous attack, coughing up Golden Blood in the process.
In the next instant, the large hand that covered his whole vision suddenly closed, seemingly trying to squash him to death.
The palm closed into a fist, but a stream of light emerged from between the cracks of its fingers. It was Yang Kai who was able to escape in time before disaster struck.
World Force surged and Dao Strengths shook. Yang Kai turned into a thunderbolt, sweeping upwards along his opponent’s extended arm like a Thunder Dragon.
Yang Kai had not exerted his full power since cultivating with the help of the Star Boundary and Myriad Monster World. He had been hiding his true power all this while so as to keep Mo Na Ye from catching any clues about him. Thus, even he himself had no idea just what would happen if he were to use his full power.
Today, the world would bear witness!
Facing off against a Black Ink Giant Spirit God alone, Yang Kai no longer held any reservations.
From his Small Universe, a majestic power began pouring out endlessly. The rise in cultivation seemed to make it even easier for him to manipulate his Dao Strengths, and he had never felt such a powerful force before. This power even gave him the illusion that if Mo was standing in front of him, he would still be able to punch its body full of holes…
Yang Kai was fast, so fast that it was hard to say just how fast it was.
In an instant, Yang Kai had already reached the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s neck by flying up its arm. After a moment of hesitation between deciding on transforming into his Dragon Form or remaining in his current state, Yang Kai chose the latter. Thrusting out the spear in his hand, a towering spear shadow came down on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s neck.
An angry howl erupted and the pain in the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s eyes grew even more intense.
It was already in great agony from being wounded by the Purifying Light and sacrificing its arm and leg. To receive Yang Kai’s frenzied attack now made it even more unbearable.
When the spear shadow dispersed, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s neck was covered in countless wounds. Black blood was flowing out of each wound and its flesh was completely flayed. Dao Strengths even lingered in its wounds, making it a miserable sight to watch.
However, Yang Kai could not help but click his tongue. His attack was in no way weak. Any Royal Lord would likely have been killed on the spot if they were to receive such a blow, but for a behemoth like the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, it was simply not enough.
There were pros and cons to having a large body. First of all, there was the difficulty in moving around in a fight and the lack of dexterity, but a large size also allowed one to take much more damage without being critically wounded. Fatal attacks could often become just mere scratches from the size difference alone.
Yang Kai had a deep understanding of that fact as he had experienced it himself many times in the past through fighting using his Dragon Transformation Secret Art.
In terms of size, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God surpassed even his Divine Dragon Form, and thus the advantages that came with his massive size would also be amplified to the extreme.
The flayed wounds on its neck that were spouting black blood may look horrific, but in truth, it was nothing much for a Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Despite its strength being greatly weakened by the Purifying Light, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was still undoubtedly worthy of being the so-called Supreme One’s Soul Clone. The flesh at the wound writhed and rich Black Ink Strength poured out, then the injury was quickly stabilized. Only Yang Kai’s Dao Strengths were not that easy to disperse and remained stuck to its wound, constantly changing and evolving, continuing to cause damage.
Seeing this, Yang Kai made an instant decision to retrieve his spear and escape. Before the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could swing its palm over again, Yang Kai stuck to its shoulder and rushed in the opposite direction.
In the blink of an eye, Yang Kai reached the stump of its severed arm, which was still oozing thick black blood, but in just a short moment, the terrifying wound was greatly relieved. It would likely take no more than a couple dozen more breaths for the severed arm to scab over just like its neck, leaving only a closed wound behind without black blood oozing out anymore.
Its regenerative abilities were truly shocking.
Yang Kai raised his spear, and as World Force surged, his body moved with his weapon, turning into a spiral that drilled into the wound at his arm.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was instantly overtaken by an immense pain that caused it to hiss in shock and anger, “What are you doing?!”
Yang Kai did not answer. He had brought out his full strength and merged with his spear, turning into an unstoppable blade that broke through the thick blockade of Black Ink Strength, trying to penetrate into the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s body from its wound.
“Don’t even dream of it!” The Black Ink Giant Spirit God knew what was coming. No matter how strong it was, it still could not anticipate what would happen to it if it allowed Yang Kai to succeed. Its huge eyes were filled with fear and panic. It never thought that it would fall into such a situation in such a short amount of time since the fight began.
As soon as it finished speaking, it raised its hand and slapped it down at Yang Kai, as if swatting at a mosquito that was biting it. If that palm connected, then Yang Kai would die even if he were to transform into his Divine Dragon Form.
At the same time, it also exerted all of its power to form a viscous yet sturdy defence around the wound to stop Yang Kai’s invasion. As long as it could swat its opponent to death before he had a chance to invade its body, then the crisis would be easily resolved.
Yang Kai felt an unprecedented crisis fall upon him and as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s palm descended. He could keenly feel death enveloping his body and mind, causing him to feel suffocated. Not a single part of him, both inside and outside, was not trembling in fear. Even though he had encountered many life-or-death crises throughout his cultivation journey, he had never encountered one as strong as this one. Death was so certain that it almost gave him the illusion that he had already died.
The defence that was formed out of Black Ink Strength at the wound was extremely sturdy. Even though Yang Kai attacked with full force, he was not able to break through it instantly. Moreover, his opponent did not just lay out a single defence; instead, it was constantly repairing and strengthening it.
Naturally, the best option here would be to just give up and escape in order to ensure his safety then search for another opening to exploit; however, after such an experience, it would not be so easy to get another opportunity like this as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would definitely be on its guard.
In this life-or-death moment, Yang Kai’s lips curved into a fierce smirk, and his already terrifying aura climbed to even greater heights, causing the surrounding space to tremble in unrest.
“You court death!” The Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared furiously and swung its palm down even more fiercely. Everywhere its palm passed, space crumbled like a shattered mirror.
The huge palm suddenly stopped when it was only a dozen or so kilometres away from Yang Kai, as if it had encountered a huge resistance.
It was a severed arm extended across the void that suddenly blocked its fierce attack, an arm no different from its intact arm in terms of length and shape.
Ah Da had finally returned!
He had blocked the fatal blow for Yang Kai at this most critical moment.
Yang Kai had also seen Ah Da rushing over from the corner of his eye, which was what made him put his all into this decisive move.
Holding a severed arm in one hand and a severed leg in the other, Ah Da was furious, almost face to face with the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, and shouted fiercely, “What do you think you’re doing to my little friend!”
In this era of endless Black Ink Strength, as members of the Giant Spirit God Clan, it was difficult to even find food to eat. Their little friend was now his and Ah Er’s only source of food. If their little friend were killed, wouldn’t they have to starve in the future?
The simple-minded Ah Da had long realized that only his little friend could provide them with delicious food, so no matter what happened, he would not allow his little friend to be harmed in any way! Anyone who dared to hurt his little friend must die!
Faced with Ah Da’s fury, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could only respond with a pained howl.
Because the moment when its attack was blocked by Ah Da, a violent shockwave hit Yang Kai’s back like an invisible wall. In that instant, the bones in Yang Kai’s body could be heard cracking, but it was also that force that allowed him to break through the blockade of Black Ink Strength. Body and spear united as one as he plunged into the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s severed arm.
All light disappeared and boundless darkness engulfed him. Yang Kai felt like he had fallen into a pitch-black ocean, but he moved forward without hesitation, breaking through layers of physical barriers and diving straight into the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s body.
As his spear travelled through the body of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, it encountered significant resistance at first, but in a few breaths, the resistance suddenly weakened.
Ah Da who had launched a fierce flurry of attacks on the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, forcibly diverted its attention to protecting itself, which naturally meant that it could not fully focus on Yang Kai, who had invaded its body.
In the vast void, the battle between the two Giant Spirit Gods was extremely brutal, but Ah Da clearly had the upper hand. Wielding the severed limbs of his opponent as weapons, every blow caused the injured Black Ink Giant Spirit God to stagger and stumble in a pitiful state.
When the other Black Ink Giant Spirit God saw what was happening, it tried to come over and support its ally, but how could Ah Er allow him to do so? With everything he had, he kept it firmly tied down.
On a different battlefield, Mo Na Ye’s eyes trembled violently, his face filled with disbelief.
In fact, when Yang Kai unleashed his full strength, Mo Na Ye had already sensed that something was amiss and an unlikely scenario sprang in his heart.
His intelligence made him doubt this thought, but now it seemed that his unbelievable suspicions were confirmed.
“He has been hiding his strength all this time?” Mo Na Ye asked while defending against Mi Jing Lun’s furious attacks.
“What do you think?” Mi Jing Lun replied casually while searching for his opponent’s weakness. Naturally, he would not be kind enough to answer his enemy’s question.
However, this response only made Mo Na Ye more certain of his own judgment,
“Why?” He muttered in disbelief.
Yang Kai had been concealing a massive army of Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters. He must have possessed them for many years, yet hid them all so he could use them against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which was understandable since they could not be exposed easily as it would alert the Black Ink Clan, then it would be difficult for them to play their part as a hidden weapon.
But why would Yang Kai also conceal his true strength? Judging from the aura erupting from Yang Kai earlier, his true strength was absolutely terrifying. If he had such strength, then why had he been hiding it for so long? If he revealed his true strength during the previous 10-year war, how many Pseudo-Royal Lords would have suffered? Even he, a Royal Lord, might not have survived.
“Why do you think?” Mi Jing Lun gave an equally generic answer, his fan sweeping out fiercely, sending a violent wind blade that cut a deep wound into Mo Na Ye’s abdomen. He had finally found an opening. Perhaps it was because Yang Kai’s performance distracted Mo Na Ye, but the Royal Lord had truly lost his bearings at this moment.
Mo Na Ye reeled back as black blood spurted out, but Mi Jing Lun’s unending attacks followed him closely. Suddenly, Mo Na Ye gave a weary scoff, “I understand now!”
It was the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. Yang Kai concealed his strength and hid his Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Army all so he could use it against the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods. Because whether it be the two Giant Spirit Gods of the Human Race or the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods of the Black Ink Clan, they were the key to determining the outcome of the war. Only by finding a way to deal with the opponent’s strongest Masters could they truly bring this war to an end.
Mo Na Ye had seen through that fact even before this war even began, so how could Yang Kai not be aware of it?
Moreover, his attempt to conceal his ability by feigning weakness was indeed effective. The Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods had not paid any attention to Yang Kai, only considering the true Giant Spirit Gods as opponents. As old rivals who had fought each other for thousands of years, they knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but they never would have expected to suffer such a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands.
Defeat was now inevitable, and Mo Na Ye’s heart was filled with sadness. He could not figure out just how Yang Kai gained such power in such a short amount of time!
Only about 700 years had passed since he ascended to the Ninth-Order in the Universe Furnace World, a paltry number that hardly amounted to anything in the eyes of Ninth-Order Masters. 700 years was barely enough time for a new Ninth-Order Master to consolidate their cultivation and make a little bit of progress.
But the momentum that Yang Kai displayed at this moment was basically no different from the strongest Ninth-Order Masters that Mo Na Ye had witnessed all those years ago.
If he considered that the abilities that Yang Kai showed had always been far superior to his peers to begin with, perhaps even the most senior and experienced veteran Ninth-Order Masters from back then would be inferior to him in terms of combat effectiveness.
When the Human Race was at its peak, the Ninth-Order Masters struggled to deal with the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods even though there were 100 of them. There was only a single time where they managed to kill a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but that was only with Ah Er’s help and at great cost.
But now, with only Yang Kai and a single Giant Spirit God, the Humans were able to force a Soul Clone of the Supreme One into a desperate situation.
Fierce battles were taking place everywhere on the vast battlefield, but the most intense and shocking one was undoubtedly the fight between the Giant Spirit Gods and the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods.
Ah Er and his opponent were fully entangled, their powerful clashes causing space itself to shatter. Void Cracks appeared one after another and clung onto their large bodies like spider webs, and from those cracks, an extremely strong aura of chaos and nihility was spilling out.
Only two fates awaited ordinary creatures in such an environment. One was to fall in and become lost in the Void. If they were very lucky, they might find a way out, but if not, they would be forever trapped.
The second outcome was to simply be sliced to pieces and die.
Each Void Crack was a tear in space, so it naturally possessed immense power. Nothing good could come to those who came into contact with these torn and displaced cracks.
However, the two massive beings confronting each other in this dangerous environment at this very moment were not ordinary by any definition. The Void Cracks, which would normally be a death sentence, merely left slight scratches on their skin, barely able to cut them at all.
Looking from afar, these two Supreme Masters were surrounded by endless cracks, making it look as if they were fighting in another space-time.
On the other hand, Ah Da’s battle with the second Black Ink Giant Spirit God was a completely different situation.
Thanks to Yang Kai’s sudden attack and the sacrifice of 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters, this Black Ink Giant Spirit God had only battled Ah Da for a short time before losing an arm and a leg, which could be said to have greatly damaged its foundation. Now, with Yang Kai wreaking havoc inside its body, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had to divert some of his attention to defend against him, so it had completely fallen into a disadvantage in the face of Ah Da’s furious beating.
With each strike that landed, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God staggered and was sent flying back, whereas Ah Da only became stronger as the fight went on. Though the severed limbs of the opponent didn’t possess any kind of divine power, they were incredibly tough and displayed tremendous power in Ah Da’s hands.
In no more than a few dozen breaths, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was in a miserable state covered in black blood; the panic in its eyes gradually deepened.
At this moment, it was facing not only Ah Da’s flurry of attacks, but also what Yang Kai was doing inside its body, which was the true source of its fear. It could keenly feel that as Yang Kai moved within its enormous body, the auras of countless life forms were being left behind…
Even though it had no time to examine what was happening, it knew very clearly just what those living creatures were.
Realizing that its death was inevitable if it did not act, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared and forcibly blocked Ah Da’s ferocious attacks before suddenly, its body shook and it snarled, “The Universe shall be covered in Black Ink!”
As soon as those words were spoken, the Black Ink Strength lingering outside its body, which was like a dense fog, solidified for a moment before being drawn into its body by an invisible force.
The price it paid for this was being struck fiercely on the forehead by Ah Da’s attack, causing a part of its skull to cave in.
At that moment, Yang Kai, wielding the Azure Dragon Spear, was still drilling his way through the thick Black Ink Strength blockade as he shuttled around inside of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s body. The portal to his Small Universe had been opened, and as he swam about, a massive number of Small Stone Race Soldiers poured out of his Small Universe and took up positions inside of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Yang Kai had brought some 400 million Small Stone Race Soldiers from the Chaotic Dead Territory and handed quite a large percentage of them to the Ninth-Order Masters to distribute to the Human Army in order to enhance its forces; however, he still left some behind as reserves. Besides the numerous Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters that were sacrificed earlier, Yang Kai still had a large Army of at least 30 million below the Eighth-Order.
These Small Stone Race Soldiers were constantly charging out of his Small Universe and invading the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s body.
When the Black Ink Giant Spirit God finished speaking though, Yang Kai clearly felt the boundless darkness in this place become even darker.
It was a very strange feeling as there was supposedly no way a darkness where an ordinary person could not even see their fingers in front of them could get even darker, but that kind of feeling did arise in Yang Kai.
In the next instant, he realized that his Small Universe was shaking violently, and the open portal also closed involuntarily.
Shocked, Yang Kai quickly examined himself and was aghast to find the World Tree clone swaying violently while propping up the invisible boundary wall around his Small Universe. Outside of the boundary wall was Black Ink Strength of a purity he had never seen before, and it was trying to break into his Small Universe.
With the World Tree clone to isolate and protect his Small Universe, it remained flawless and undamaged for thousands of years, invulnerable to external forces. It had a similar effect to the Four Universe Pillars, but even stronger.
Since obtaining the World Tree clone, Yang Kai had never been worried that his Small Universe would be stained by Black Ink Strength. That was because Black Ink Strength could not break his Small Universe’s boundary wall nor corrupt his Small Universe with the World Tree clone shielding it.
Currently, the Black Ink Strength’s attack and the World Tree Clone’s protection were like a spear and a shield. If the protective shield was strong enough, it could ignore the attack of the sharp spear.
In the past, the protective shield of the World Tree clone could easily block the corruption of Black Ink Strength regardless of its source. Yang Kai had never felt affected by it before, and he could even recklessly enter environments full of Black Ink Strength. It was an act other Open Heaven Realm Masters were fearful of, yet he could do so without worrying about being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
But this time, Yang Kai clearly felt that the protective shield of the World Tree clone was under pressure!
This was undoubtedly an indication that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was using a powerful technique against him.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but think of the Royal Lord Secret Technique.
The Humans had never been able to figure out how the Royal Lords cast their Secret Technique. Yang Kai had also endured this Secret Technique head-on more than once, but with the World Tree Clone and the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection, it had never affected him.
The Humans had very limited information on the Royal Lord Secret Technique, but what they did know was that this technique could only be performed by a true Royal Lord, and that it can be activated silently. Those targeted by the Royal Lord Secret Technique could not resist unless they were in the Ninth Order. Even the most experienced veteran Eighth-Order Masters would be corrupted instantly by Black Ink Strength when this move was unleashed.
Back when the Human Race Army first clashed with the Black Ink Clan in the Barren Territory, it was through a use of the Royal Lord Secret Technique that three Eighth-Order Masters were corrupted, allowing them to infiltrate the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land in the depths of Shattered Heaven and awaken the Black Ink Giant Spirit God there. As a result, the Human Race was routed and had no choice but to give up the Barren Territory.
But despite how powerful the Royal Lord Secret Technique was, it was rarely used as once it was activated, the user’s foundation would be greatly damaged, causing a significant decline in strength. Therefore, Royal Lords generally did not use this technique unless they were in absolute control of the situation.
The first Royal Lord that Yang Kai killed was the one he fought just after advancing to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm. That Royal Lord had wanted to get rid of Yang Kai for good by using the Secret Technique. This was due to him being angry out of shame from being unable to catch him after chasing him for several dozen years. It severely damaged his foundation as a result, providing an opportunity that Yang Kai took advantage of.
If Royal Lords could use such a bizarre Secret Technique, how could the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, who were Soul Clones of Mo, not be capable of something similar?
Therefore, when Yang Kai sensed that something was amiss, he knew that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had to have used a technique similar to the Royal Lord Secret Technique, and that was why even the World Tree clone’s protective shield was feeling pressured.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but think back to Cang’s words. Despite knowing he had a World Tree clone to isolate and protect his Small Universe, Cang had specifically warned him to be wary of Mo. In other words, even with the World Tree clone, he could still fail to resist Mo’s Black Ink Strength.
Inside his Small Universe, the swaying of the World Tree clone became more and more violent. Yang Kai could clearly feel the pressure on his last line of defence, which finally made him realize that what Cang warned him about back then was not an exaggeration!
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was already pressuring the World Tree clone, so what if he were to face Mo itself? The World Tree clone really might not be able to protect him then.
Moreover, trouble never arrived alone. As his Small Universe was bearing enormous pressure, Yang Kai can clearly feel his Knowledge Sea being invaded as well.
Boundless Black Ink Strength gushed over, staining his originally colourful Knowledge Sea completely black.
The corruption of Black Ink Strength on cultivators had always been both a physical and spiritual affair.
Inside Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea, on the small seven-coloured island formed by the Soul Warming Lotus, two figures sat idly across each other, playing chess. One of them had a humanoid form while the other had a beast form.
These two figures were naturally Yang Kai’s two other Selves. Since his three Selves united, Yang Kai advanced into the Ninth Order, but Thunder Shadow’s and Fang Tian Ci’s consciousnesses were preserved and had been staying in the Soul Warming Lotus all these years. This was the best place for them to remain as without the Soul Warming Lotus’ nurturing, they might have perished with the loss of their physical bodies over time.
When the boundless Black Ink Strength surged in, Fang Tian Ci immediately noticed that something was amiss. When he looked over, there was a look of surprise in his eyes.
Thunder Shadow also stood up in a panic, knocking over the chessboard in the process and exclaiming, “Black Ink Strength? What is Big Brother doing? How could Black Ink Strength reach this place? Big Brother isn’t going to be corrupted, is he? Oh, no! What do we do?!”
He made a scene, looking extremely worried.
Fang Tian Ci, however, looked at him speechlessly. Reaching out, he restored the knocked-over chess pieces back to their original positions, “Don’t try to shift focus. You’re about to lose!”
Thunder Shadow turned its head to look at him, shouting, “Who has the heart to play chess with you at such a critical moment!? If Big Brother is stained by Black Ink, we’re done for! When that happens, Big Brother will definitely pull us out and eat us one by one.”
Fang Tian Ci’s brow couldn’t help but twitch, “Firstly, if the true body is corrupted by Black Ink Strength, we will also be corrupted by it! Secondly, this is the Soul Warming Lotus, a Supreme Treasure of the Universe that can shield and nurture the Soul better than any other item in existence. With the Soul Warming Lotus, even if Black Ink Strength were to invade the true body, Big Brother would still be able to hold on to a trace of clarity and will not be completely corrupted by Black Ink Strength!”
“Is that so?” Thunder Shadow sat down with a clueless expression on its face.
Fang Tian Ci couldn’t endure it any longer, “Drop the pretentious act! You’re not a sore loser, are you?”
Thunder Shadow scoffed, “Chess isn’t fun. Let’s play something else.”
“So, you finally admit that you’re not my opponent,” Fang Tian Ci looked at it scornfully with his nose in the air.
Thunder Shadow bellowed, “Who’s not your opponent?! Don’t think that I have to endure your provocations just because you’re the Second Brother! You better watch your mouth!”
“Then, let’s continue. It’s your turn!” Fang Tian Ci gestured to the board.
Thunder Shadow hesitated for a moment before gritting its teeth, “Just watch as I destroy you until you don’t even have a single piece of armour left!”
As Black Ink Strength surged in, the only pure land in Yang Kai’s Knowledge Sea was a chess game where one man and one leopard unceasingly exchanged moves…
Inside the body of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, an Army of millions of Small Stone Race Soldiers were scattered about. If they had been ordinary Small Stone Race members, they might not be able to withstand the corruption of the thick Black Ink Strength, but these Small Stone Race Masters had grown by consuming the extremely pure Yin or Yang Energy of the Burning Light and Serene Glimmer, so they had a natural resistance to it.
Moreover, they were extremely sensitive towards Black Ink Strength and viewed it as their absolute enemy. As soon as they were released, they began attacking the Black Ink Giant Spirit God from inside its body, causing it to experience what the pain of being devoured by countless ants was like.
No matter how indestructible the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was outside, its internal defences were naturally much weaker.
Yang Kai’s original plan was to summon all of the Small Stone Race Soldiers from his Small Universe, which amounted to around 30 million, but he had no choice but to stop because of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s Secret Technique.
The longer such an intense battle dragged on, the greater the variables became.
As soon as he sensed the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s unusual move, Yang Kai decisively activated the Great Sun and Moon Marks. The next moment, the tens of millions of Small Stone Race each shone brightly. Yellow and blue lights began to flow and blend in the extremely dark environment, turning it pure white, creating a mystical scene.
In the void, Ah Da once again swung down his opponent’s severed arm, smashing it fiercely towards the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and hitting it squarely in the neck until its head was slightly bent out of shape.
At the same time, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s face distorted in extreme pain, as if it was being subjected to unbearable torture. Then, a bright white light overflowed from its mouth and nose.
It howled in pain, and its roar echoed throughout the Universe, frightening all Black Ink Clansmen who heard it.
The bright white light was not only overflowing from its mouth and nose now, but also from the stumps of its severed limbs and even from the wounds all over its body, creating columns of light like ten thousand swords piercing through its flesh!
As the columns of light emerged, so did a figure covered in black blood, rushing out with his spear. It was none other than Yang Kai. He turned his head to look at the pitiful appearance of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and could clearly sense that its aura had weakened greatly.
This eruption of Purifying Light had an even more profound effect than the sacrifice of 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters from before!
It made sense; after all, the previous blast of Purifying Light only enveloped the Black Ink Giant Spirit God from the outside, making it a purely external attack; but now, the Purifying Light was created by the fusion of an Army of tens of millions exploding inside its body, meaning almost all of the impact was absorbed by it without any escaping. So, despite the fact that the quality was somewhat lacking, the quantity made up for it, and the damage to the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was even greater than before.
Ah Da charged forward once again. Even though his intelligence was lacking, he was still a member of the Giant Spirit God Clan whose battle instincts were incredibly strong. Seeing his enemy in such a miserable state, there was no way he would miss this perfect opportunity. In just a few steps, he reached the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and, wielding its severed arm and leg, unleashed a flurry of attacks that left a bloody spectacle wherever they struck.
Following the weakening of its aura and the damage to its foundation, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s defence also became weaker.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God roared and struggled to resist, but it was simply no match for Ah Da at this moment. Faced with this barrage of attacks, it could only defend while being forced back step by step.
A Dragon Roar sounded abruptly and a golden light burst forth as a 100,000 metres Divine Dragon appeared. The Dragon shot forward, taking advantage of when the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was already overwhelmed, and wrapped around its neck, looping itself around it. Then, the Divine Dragon lifted his large head and looked the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in the eye right in front of him.
Despite his large form, the Dragon still appeared small compared to the massive Black Ink Giant Spirit God. From a distance, it was like a small snake wrapped around a person’s neck.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God loathed Yang Kai deeply. Knowing that this situation was likely to be disastrous, it directly abandoned its defence against Ah Da and reached out its one remaining hand to grab the Divine Dragon.
Yang Kai had taken on his Dragon Form, which allowed him to control his Time Dao Strength much better than when he was in his Human Form; after all, the Dao of Time was the Innate Grand Dao of the Dragon Clan. As such, the hand that was trying to grasp him was instantly surrounded by a profound field which made it become extremely sluggish.
Opening his Dragon Maw, a Dragon Breath spewed forth and smashed into one of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s eyes. In the next instant, the giant eye burst apart.
Repeating the same thing on the other side, Yang Kai quickly destroyed the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s other eye as well.
With both eyes gone, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God let out another miserable cry before unleashing all its power, breaking through the Time Principle blockade, allowing its stalled hand to regain its freedom.
However, its attack was interrupted by a fierce blow from Ah Da before it could reach Yang Kai.
Yang Kai took advantage of this opportunity to unleash one Dragon Clan Secret Technique after another, bombarding the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s face at close range.
Every Secret Technique was as powerful as an all-out attack of a peak Ninth-Order Master, and in just a short amount of time, the face of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had been turned into a bloody mess.
Despite that, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God still refused to die, displaying a tenacious vitality that Yang Kai couldn’t help but marvel at.
Since the war between Humans and Black Ink Clan began, the Humans had only managed to kill a single Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which happened during the battle in the Barren Territory several thousand years ago. However, they also paid a huge price for that success with more than a dozen Ninth-Order Masters dying in battle. Furthermore, Ah Er was there to provide assistance and that Black Ink Giant Spirit God was already injured and had been prepared to be sacrificed.
It could be said that the reason why the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was killed in that battle was partly because the Black Ink Clan was willing to pay any price to breach the Barren Territory and invade the 3,000 Worlds. Nevertheless, the Humans had also paid a high price to slowly wear down their opponent and kill it.
As to what they were supposed to do in order to quickly kill a Black Ink Giant Spirit God now, the Humans still lacked experience and ideas.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God in front of them had almost no ability to resist as it was attacked by Yang Kai in his Divine Dragon Form and Ah Da, but its extraordinary vitality still basically made it immortal and indestructible.
Seeing this, Yang Kai had no choice but to act ruthlessly. When his Dragon Jaws opened, a golden round bead emerged; it was his Dragon Bead.
The moment the Dragon Bead appeared, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was able to sense that something was amiss despite losing both its eyes. It opened its mouth and roared, trying to wriggle its neck free from Yang Kai’s hold; however, the force applied to it rendered it completely immobile.
The Golden Dragon Bead shook faintly before turning into a golden light and blasting into the hole where the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s left eye used to be, then bursting out through the back of his head!
As the residual energy swept into the depths of the void, a golden beam of light spanning 100 million kilometres was created.
Such a fierce blow caused the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s neck and head to be flung back as it lost all strength in the hand it was waving around.
Thus, the aura of a powerful being, powerful enough to shake the Universe, crumbled and dissipated.
However, Yang Kai still could not be rest assured. A loud Dragon Roar echoed across the battlefield, and the Dragon coiled around the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s neck tightened its grip once again before soaring up into the void.
The immense pulling force ripped into the neck of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, directly separating its huge head from its body. At the wound, black blood erupted like a volcano, instantly dyeing a vast expanse of the void completely black.
Another endless flurry of attacks from Ah Da landed immediately after, smashing the Black Ink Giant Spirit God until its body broke into pieces.
It wasn’t until this moment that the aura belonging to the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was completely extinguished.
The Black Ink Giant Spirit God had fallen!
From the moment Ah Da restrained this Black Ink Giant Spirit God, to when Yang Kai ripped its head off, only a short dozen breaths had passed.
In such a short period of time, a powerful Black Ink Giant Spirit God was killed by the joint efforts of Yang Kai and Ah Da.
Regardless of how tenacious its vitality was, regardless of how profound Mo’s creations were, there was no way it could have any vitality left after its body was literally smashed into paste.
Thousands of years ago, this Black Ink Giant Spirit God emerged from the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land and laid the foundation for the Black Ink Clan’s victory in the war in the Barren Territory. Its strength had been looming over the hearts of all the Humans all that time, almost like a towering mountain pressing down on their heads. After all it was an indomitable and powerful existence.
Today, when its aura finally dissipated, and its body shattered into pieces, that shadow was at last dispelled.
The Human Race Army, which already had the momentum advantage against the Black Ink Clan, erupted into cheers at this moment and their attacks became even fiercer.
The Black Ink Clan Army, which was already at a disadvantage, deflated even further at this sight.
This was especially so for the Masters from the Black Ink Clan. No matter what, they couldn’t believe that a Soul Clone of the Supreme One would be killed in such a short time. When the aura of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God dissipated, their minds all fell into disarray.
The Human Race Masters fighting against them took advantage of this opportunity to expand their advantages even further, while those who were in disadvantageous positions quickly stabilized their situations.
It could be said that the death of one of the Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods was not just a loss of one of the Black Ink Clan’s top Masters, but it also had a clear and direct effect on the situation of the entire battlefield.
All the Black Ink Clansmen realised that all hope had just died and there was no way they would survive the battle for the No-Return Pass no matter what they did. All of them would be slaughtered ruthlessly here!
This was a matter concerning the life or death of both Races, a blood feud spanning so many years that no one could even say how long it was. It was impossible for them to show any mercy.
This decisive battle that had broken out hastily would eventually end in victory for the Human Race.
On the battlefield, Ah Da threw back his head and roared to the Heavens, his voice filled with joy and victory. After he was done, he looked around the battlefield with sharp eyes like an eagle or wolf filled with bloodlust.
Yang Kai saw this and shouted, “Go and help Ah Er!”
After receiving the message, Ah Da rushed over to the other side of the battlefield with the severed arm and leg still in hand. Ah Er was fighting on equal grounds with his opponent there, but when his enemy naturally saw its peer being killed and immediately tried to escape.
There was not much Ah Er could do against a Black Ink Giant Spirit God intent on escaping; nevertheless, he did his best to keep it pinned as long as possible. Fortunately, Ah Da arrived quickly, and with the united strength of two Giant Spirit Gods, they instantly trapped their opponent, making it all but impossible for it to flee.
To have killed a Black Ink Giant Spirit God while hardly sustaining any injuries was a feat that nobody could achieve, not just for the people of today, but even their Ancestors of the past eras.
It had to be known that when a single Black Ink Giant Spirit God invaded the Divine Spirit’s Ancestral Land in the Early Ancient Era, countless powerful Divine Spirits had inhabited those lands, but even then, the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress of the time still had to use the 16 Sacred Treasures of the strongest Clans and sacrifice themselves to lay a Grand Array just to suppress and seal it. It was only after hundreds of thousands, if not millions of years of erosion from the Ancestral Land’s Ancestral Strength that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s vitality was finally ground down.
Such a huge price was paid, yet they were only able to trap their foe, not directly kill them.
In comparison to that, today’s fight was an astonishing feat unequalled before in history.
Of course, it was mainly thanks to the two explosions of Purifying Light that greatly damaged the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s foundation. Even though the Ancestral Strength in the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land provided some suppressive power against Black Ink Strength, it was far less potent than Purifying Light.
Even though he did not sustain much damage, Yang Kai expended a lot of his strength, especially when he summoned his Dragon Bead at the end, so he was basically a dry oil lamp right now!
The Dragon Bead was the culmination of a Dragon’s cultivation. Just like a Monster Beast’s Monster Core, one would never summon it unless it was absolutely necessary, for once it was brought out, either one’s enemy died or the owner perished. It was a desperate final move.
Since he became a Grand Dragon and obtained his own Dragon Bead, Yang Kai had summoned this final weapon a few times in the past, and it was exhausting each time he did; this time was no different. It was hard for Yang Kai to even maintain his Dragon Form after using his Dragon Bead to attack, so he quickly transformed back into his Human Form. Not only was his face extremely pale, he looked completely deflated.
That was especially true for his Dragon Vein. Usually, he could circulate the might in his Dragon Vein without issue even in his Human Form; but now, the power in his Dragon Vein was almost still. Looking inside himself, Yang Kai could see that even his Dragon Bead was dim and grey, not bright and golden as before.
It seemed like he would need to recuperate for a long time before his Dragon Vein and Bead could be restored. Before then, it would be difficult to even use any techniques related to the Dragon Clan.
After directing Ah Da to help Ah Er, Yang Kai stuffed some recovery pills into his mouth and swallowed them before turning back and rushing over to the No-Return Pass.
The defence line of the Black Ink Clan had long been riddled with holes, and Humans had the advantage in most of the positions across the battlefield. As they were enveloped by the dazzling lights of both Secret Techniques and artifacts, the Black Ink Clansmen were being wiped out in great numbers every breath.
The Human Race’s victory here was set, all that was lacking to resolve this war now was time.
In an instant, Yang Kai had passed over the defence line where the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan Armies were fighting and went straight into the No-Return Pass. As Space Principles surged, his figure swiftly passed through each area of the No-Return Pass.
Everywhere he went, large numbers of Black Ink Nests were destroyed.
When Ah Da and Ah Er were first rushing over from the Barren Territory, they had already caused significant damage to the Black Ink Nests in the No-Return Pass, but due to how many Black Ink Nests there were to begin with, many still remained.
With Yang Kai to clean up the rest, all the surviving Black Ink Nests would soon be destroyed.
If the Pseudo-Royal Lords were still guarding this place, they might have been able to hinder him somewhat, but all of them had left of the inner region of the No-Return Pass to fight under Mo Na Ye’s order, so how could there be any Masters left to stop Yang Kai?
Within an incense stick of time, the No-Return Pass became a chaotic mess. All of the Black Ink Nests, whether they were High-Rank, Mid-Rank, or Low-Rank, were all destroyed without exception. Even the Black Ink Clansmen that had escaped back to the pass for shelter, suffered heavy casualties.
Without pause, Yang Kai disappeared in a flash.
Somewhere in the battlefield, Mo Na Ye and Mi Jing Lun’s fight was still going on with the situation being extremely disadvantageous for the former. It was reasonable to say that since Mo Na Ye had become a Royal Lord a few hundred years earlier than Mi Jing Lun had advanced to the Ninth Order, he should have a stronger heritage, yet in reality, he was completely suppressed by Mi Jing Lun.
Naturally, such a situation arose because of the various changes that happened on the battlefield, causing Mo Na Ye’s thoughts to be disrupted. This was especially so with Yang Kai’s sudden surge in strength and the death of a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, which had an immense impact on him. The shrewd and cunning Mi Jing Lun naturally seized this opportunity to expand his advantage bit by bit until they reached the current state of affairs.
Of course, with Mi Jing Lun’s current cultivation, killing Mo Na Ye would be difficult even with such an advantage as he had to be extremely cautious against a final counterattack. In a fight between Masters like them, the slightest carelessness could drastically change the outcome.
That was why Mi Jing Lun did not dare to be careless in the slightest and kept a steady hand from the beginning, never taking risks in a rush for success!
But at a certain point, his attacks grew more violent. At the same time, Mo Na Ye keenly caught onto an opening in his defence and, after a moment of hesitation, his originally retreating figure suddenly rushed forward, taking advantage of the gap in Mi Jing Lun’s Secret Techniques to throw a punch-out.
Mi Jing Lun’s face immediately showed an expression of panic, and he instinctively tried to block it, but it was too late.
As Mo Na Ye’s fist was about to hit Mi Jing Lun’s head though, Mo Na Ye’s body suddenly shook as if he had been hit by a binding technique, freezing in place.
His fist was less than a forearm’s length away from Mi Jing Lun, and the violent force from it caused the opponent’s clothes to flutter.
In the face of imminent death, the panic in Mi Jing Lun’s eyes disappeared and was instead replaced by an indifferent gaze.
“As expected!” Mo Na Ye laughed bitterly at Mi Jing Lun, but those words weren’t meant for him.
Behind Mo Na Ye, Yang Kai’s figure had appeared at some point, and the Azure Dragon Spear pierced through Mo Na Ye’s chest. Dao Strengths lingered on Yang Kai’s spear as Space Principles surged, solidifying the surrounding space. Even someone as strong as Mo Na Ye was unable to break free for a time.
The three Masters were arranged in a straight line in the void with Yang Kai at the back, Mo Na Ye in the centre, and Mi Jing Lun in the front. For a while, nobody spoke.
The silence went on for a time before Mi Jing Lun finally said, “You realized that I was baiting you.”
It was not a question, he was just stating a fact.
When Yang Kai rushed over from the No-Return Pass, he sent a message to Mi Jing Lun, which was why he suddenly revealed an opening. It was to lure Mo Na Ye into attacking him and creating a favourable opportunity for Yang Kai’s ambush.
Everything went smoothly and Yang Kai’s ambush was extremely successful.
“So what if I saw through it?” A bitter smile appeared at the corners of Mo Na Ye’s lips.
Mi Jing Lun’s eyes flickered, and he nodded lightly, “En, you had no choice but to take it.”
Even if he did see through the plan to lure the enemy out, Mo Na Ye could only make his move, hoping to severely injure or even kill Mi Jing Lun before being hit by Yang Kai. That way, it wouldn’t be a loss even if he died.
Of course, he could also choose to evade Yang Kai’s ambush, but all that would follow would be a joint attack from both Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun together, which would still be difficult for him to resist.
So, he didn’t have a choice at all from the start.
Yang Kai tilted his head, his gaze passing Mo Na Ye by to look at Mi Jing Lun as he commented, “Senior Brother, that was too dangerous.”
He had communicated with Mi Jing Lun to coordinate their actions, but he never expected the latter to use such a dangerous method. Even Yang Kai’s heart was racing with fear for a moment. If he had moved just a bit slower, Mi Jing Lun would have undoubtedly suffered serious injuries.
Mi Jing Lun responded indifferently, “Fortune favours the bold.”
Yang Kai sighed, not knowing what to say in reply. He had no doubt that Mi Jing Lun trusted him, but he had no idea that Yang Kai had already exhausted too much of his strength in the previous battle. Even though he recovered some of it while destroying the Black Ink Nests, the time was too short and he couldn’t recover much of his strength. For example, Yang Kai could only use the same set of Secret Techniques he just used twice more before all his energy ran out again.
If Mo Na Ye really managed to avoid his surprise attack, things would have become difficult.
“Brother Yang, I have a question to ask before I die!” Mo Na Ye spoke to Yang Kai behind him as he stood still, showing no intention to resist.
Yang Kai raised a brow, “You may ask, but I may not necessarily answer.”
Mo Na Ye laughed bitterly, “You Humans… How did you discover reinforcements were coming?”
Mo Na Ye had speculated the reason the Humans were so eager to take down the No-Return Pass, even at the cost of greater sacrifices, was because they must have discovered reinforcements were rushing over from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t figure out how they managed to learn about them.
It had to be known that the reinforcements were still more than 10 years away at best, a distance so great that it would have been difficult for the Black Ink Clan to even contact them without the help of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s Divine Ability and the Black Ink Nests.
Mo Na Ye had thought that the reinforcements would be the No-Return Pass’ Black Ink Clan’s ticket to survival, allowing them to pincer the Humans from the front and back, catching them off guard.
Who would have thought that it would become a death decree in the end?
“Reinforcements? What do you mean reinforcements?” Yang Kai asked in a surprised tone.
Mo Na Ye turned his head with difficulty so he could see his expression, but as he moved, the Azure Dragon Spear shook slightly, forcing him to keep still.
Yang Kai continued, “Where can your Black Ink Clan get reinforce… the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, is it? What happened over there!?” Mo Na Ye’s brow furrowed. Unable to see Yang Kai’s face, he could only stare at Mi Jing Lun, who had a look of sudden realization.
“The thing you mentioned earlier was about the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements?”
There was a moment of confusion for Mo Na Ye…
Before the war started, he tried to probe Mi Jing Lun for clues but failed to get any answers. He had been confident that the Humans must have known about their reinforcements, which was why they launched such a decisive attack, but now, judging from Mi Jing Lun and Yang Kai’s reactions, it seemed that they actually knew nothing about it.
[Do the Humans really have no idea?]
“Speak! Are Black Ink Clan reinforcements from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction on the way here now? How is that possible!?” Yang Kai’s shout sounded from behind while at the same time, the spear that penetrated his chest pulsed with Dao Strengths, causing Mo Na Ye to groan in pain.
Even in such a critical situation, he was still closely observing Mi Jing Lun’s expression, and he could see that those eyes were full of worry and anxiety.
“Ha… haha… hahahaha!” Mo Na Ye could not help but break out in fervent laughter.
“What are you laughing at!?” Yang Kai shouted and shook his spear, interrupting Mo Na Ye’s laughter.
The immense pain distorted Mo Na Ye’s features, but he gritted his teeth, “I laugh at you Humans for being so ignorant in the face of the Supreme One’s power. No matter how hard you struggle, it is all meaningless, all your efforts will ultimately be in vain!”
He spoke as if he were stating a fact, or laying a malicious curse, but it also seemed like a prediction of the future.
Yang Kai coldly snorted, “You have a big mouth for someone with little skill.”
Mo Na Ye frowned, “Brother Yang…”
Yang Kai shook the spear in his hand, interrupting his words as a strongly disgusted look emerged on his face, “Who is your Brother Yang? Do you even have the qualifications to call me your Brother?”
Mo Na Ye looked surprised and stammered, “I thought…”
Yang Kai interrupted him again, “We have been fighting each other for many years, and we each have our own victories. So, you think that as opponents, we should be sympathetic to each other?”
“Shouldn’t we?” Mo Na Ye tossed the question back.
The disgust on Yang Kai’s face deepened, “It’s you who knows nothing! I, Yang Kai, have been cultivating for thousands of years and encountered many powerful opponents. Indeed, there are some worth sympathizing with, because it was the pressure they gave me that enabled me to forge ahead step by step until this day, but that does not include you or any other Black Ink Clansmen! We are mortal enemies! Only by killing you can we Humans find peace!”
Mo Na Ye was silent for a moment before suddenly realising, “Only opponents are sympathetic to each other, not enemies.”
“It seems you understand now. So answer me, where did the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements come from? Did something happen at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction? You only have one chance to tell me the truth!” Yang Kai’s icy words were biting like the cold chills of winter.
Smirking, Mo Na Ye looked at Mi Jing Lun across from him, “Black Ink Eternal!”
A violent force suddenly erupted from Mo Na Ye’s chest. Yang Kai’s 10,000 Dao Strengths surged. This Royal Lord, who had been commanding the situation in the Black Ink Clan for thousands of years, was blasted into pieces with blood and severed limbs flying everywhere.
Mo Na Ye had fallen!
Yang Kai gave him only one chance to speak, but he had no intention of revealing any valuable information. Yang Kai naturally would not show mercy, and regardless of what answer Mo Na Ye gave, he still would not escape death today.
Yang Kai would never give him another chance to escape. 700 years ago, he failed to kill Mo Na Ye when the Universe Furnace appeared, which had been a source of regret for him. Later, when the Universe Furnace closed, he thought he would have another chance to kill Mo Na Ye, but unexpectedly, he was brought to the edge of the Universe by the Universe Furnace, allowing this guy to escape by some stroke of luck.
Mo Na Ye knew it well, and Yang Kai had also expected this.
All along, Mo Na Ye’s biggest threat to the Human Race was not his strength, but his superior intellect that far surpassed all his other clansmen. If he hadn’t been the Commander of the Black Ink Clan’s war effort, this battle at the No-Return Pass would not have been as hard-fought. Almost 30% of the Human Race’s casualties in the war could be attributed to Mo Na Ye alone.
Now, this Royal Lord had finally reached the end of his fate!
Mi Jing Lun reached out and grabbed a severed arm, the limb left behind by Mo Na Ye after his death. He pried open the large, tightly-clenched fist and took out an unhatched Black Ink Nest from his palm.
Glancing over at Yang Kai, he asked, “So this is the reason you tricked him?”
With the help of the Void Guard’s investigation, the Humans learned of the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements, which was why they launched this battle so decisively.
Mo Na Ye had suspected this, but he couldn’t be completely sure, that was why he wanted to get confirmation before his death.
Logically, it wouldn’t matter even if Mo Na Ye knew the answer since he was going to die regardless. There was nothing a dying man could do about it, but when he asked the question and Yang Kai acted like he didn’t know, Mi Jing Lun quickly played along, pretending to know nothing.
In the end, even when Mo Na Ye was killed, he couldn’t figure out whether the Humans knew about the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements in advance or not.
Yang Kai nodded, “It was just in case!”
Though admitting it wouldn’t make much of a difference, nobody could know what kind of changes it would bring to the situation if they did; therefore, Yang Kai always upheld a principle of not telling the enemy anything if at all possible.
However, judging from the fact that Mo Na Ye was still holding onto the miniature Black Ink Nest before he died, what happened here must have spread to the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements. The reinforcements must have found out that their presence had been exposed and that a Black Ink Giant Spirit God had died in battle.
Yang Kai was somewhat helpless about this. After he and Ah Da had teamed up to kill the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, he immediately rushed into the No-Return Pass and destroyed all the Black Ink Nests to prevent the news from leaking, but the fact of the matter was, he couldn’t completely prevent it.
Black Ink Nests were just too convenient in terms of transmitting information.
The only fortunate thing now was that the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements did not know about the existence of the Void Guard or the Space Arrays, nor would they have any idea what was going to happen next on the battlefield.
The reinforcements travelling through the void had two options now. One was to speed up their march and rush to the No-Return Pass, hoping that the battle would not be over before their arrival. Then, they could assist their fellow clansmen on this side and maybe turn the tide.
The second option was naturally to hold their position, get into formation and lay in ambush. They could then slowly start to build up their strength and prepare for the Human Race Army to approach. Under the assumption that the Humans knew nothing, it would only be natural for them to lay some sort of gigantic trap.
But no matter which option they chose, they could not stop the fate of the Black Ink Clan’s destruction at the No-Return Pass!
With the fall of a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, the outcome of the battle at the No-Return Pass has already been determined.
Clenching his fist, Mi Jing Lun crushed the Black Ink Nest before gently waving his feather fan, “Junior Brother, you should rest for now. I’m afraid we may need your help to deal with the remaining Black Ink Giant Spirit God as well. As for the rest, you don’t have to worry about them. You’ve already done enough.”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment and nodded lightly, “En!”
After slaying the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and Mo Na Ye one after another, Yang Kai had exhausted too much energy and needed time to properly recover. Even though the outcome of the battle had already been determined, it was necessary to deal with the remaining Black Ink Giant Spirit God to end things completely. That thing was not easy to deal with. If the first Black Ink Giant Spirit God had not been too careless, it would not have fallen in such a short time.
After Mi Jing Lun left, Yang Kai focused on his recovery. Without setting up any defences, he sat cross-legged in the void without any fear of being attacked by the Black Ink Clan…
When Mo Na Ye, a Royal Lord, was killed, the already fragmented Black Ink Clan defence line worsened even further.
Especially for those Masters from the Black Ink Clan who were fighting against Human Race Masters. Witnessing the fall of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had already shaken their minds. Now, with Mo Na Ye’s death, the hearts of every Territory Lord, and even the Pseudo-Royal Lords were filled with great fear and loss.
Before the start of this war, everything had been under control, but once the fighting broke out, everything began to develop in a direction that the Black Ink Clan did not hope to see, pushing them step by step towards the abyss.
The fall of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and Mo Na Ye has also caused a series of unpredictable chain reactions. On every battlefield, the auras of Black Ink Clan Masters constantly disappeared.
And, with the fall of so many Black Ink Clansmen, more Humans were now free and were able to head over and support the tougher battlefields, quickly outnumbering and overpowering their enemies.
The advantages of the Humans on the battlefield quickly accumulated like a snowball.
Seeing that the situation was going from bad to worse, many from the Black Ink Clan couldn’t help but think of escaping, but how could they possibly run away under these circumstances?
Half a day later, as Di Ya Luo’s aura swelled up before dissipating, the Black Ink Clan collapsed completely. An aura of despair enveloped every last Black Ink Clansman, and in such a hopeless situation, many were forced into adopting the determination to make one last stand before their deaths. However, as things had fallen to this point, even if they had this determination, it was impossible to reverse the situation.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Mo Yu fought alone against Luo Ting He, Wei Jun Yang, and Xiang Shan. Even though he was individually stronger than any one of these three, he was still struggling to take them all on at once.
Originally, Luo Ting He was his only opponent, but as the battle progressed, Wei Jun Yang and Xiang Shan gradually dealt with their own opponents and came to support her.
Not only that, but Mo Yu clearly felt that other Ninth-Order Masters had also directed a wisp of Divine Sense over to keep an eye on their battle.
Under this situation, even if Mo Yu could defeat the three Ninth-Order Masters, he was likely to be surrounded by even more Ninth-Order Masters soon after.
What was more, he didn’t have such ability!
Knowing that death was inevitable, Mo Yu let go of all his restraints and fought with the mindset that if even one was killed, it would make his death worth it. Thus, he ignored his own injuries and bombarding Xiang Shan with attacks, giving him a hard time.
Fortunately, neither Luo Ting He nor Wei Jun Yang were inexperienced weaklings. Together, the three of them prevented Mo Yu from trying to take Xiang Shan down with him.
This fierce battle lasted for almost half a day, and in the end, Xiang Shan endured a hit from his opponent but managed to counterattack and decapitate Mo Yu. Endless Sword Qi then tore Mo Yu’s corpse into pieces.
With that, all three of the Royal Lords had perished.
From a couple hundred at their peak, now only a few dozen Pseudo-Royal Lords remained, all of them struggling to survive and at risk of dying at any moment.
As for the massive Black Ink Clan Army whose troops used to number in the hundreds of millions, most of them had been cut down, and their corpses could be seen littering the vast battlefield. Even at the heart of the No-Return Pass, Humans were shuttling back and forth, killing off the remaining Black Ink Clan Soldiers.
Xiang Shan was seriously injured, so he withdrew to heal while Luo Ting He and Wei Jun Yang rushed to other battlefields without stopping. With the Royal Lords all wiped out, how could the remaining Pseudo-Royal Lords withstand the slaughter of the Human Race’s top Masters?
One by one, the auras of the Pseudo-Royal Lords began to disappear…
When the last one had his body burst apart with black blood splattering everywhere, the fiery-haired Ou Yang Lie took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
A peaceful silence washed over the vast battlefield. The chaotic war had long since stopped and the soldiers were looking around at each other, smiling.
In the next moment, thunderous cheers erupted, the sound shaking the vast void itself.
The Humans had won!
I actually kinda like him as a character. Not sure about you guys. He was like a roach. But, not horrendously written. Wish to we got to know him more than just fights and schemes.
Around 4,000 years ago, the Black Ink Clan Army swept through and captured the No-Return Pass, then the fight moved to the Barren Territory, which they used as a springboard to invade the 3,000 Worlds.
This was the prelude to the fall.
Since then, the original inhabitants of the 3,000 Worlds, the Human Race, had been trapped in a corner. Enveloped in despair and darkness, the only Human Race’s dogged determination allowed them to survive and develop over the past several thousand years. Countless had fallen in the unceasing battles until today when they finally reclaimed the No-Return Pass.
In this battle, practically all the Black Ink Clansmen in the No-Return Pass were ruthlessly killed!
This battle also signified that the Human Race had regained the ability to fight back against the Black Ink Clan.
It was a battle worthy of being recorded in history to be admired by all future generations!
The humiliation and oppression of many years had been fermenting in the hearts of every member of the Human Race, so when the final Black Ink Clansman fell, the warriors could no longer suppress the joy in their hearts, tearing the void apart with the sounds of their cheers.
However, the fight was not completely over yet.
One last Black Ink Giant Spirit God was still stubbornly resisting.
But anyone could see that it was on its last legs.
With Ah Da and Ah Er of the Giant Spirit God Clan to restrain it, this Black Ink Giant Spirit God couldn’t escape. After this, the Humans need only cooperate with the Giant Spirit Gods to take down the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The Human Race Army, despite having just achieved a great victory, did not delay for long. They did not even have time to tally their losses before their soldiers marched on with their weary bodies under orders from the Supreme Headquarters.
The 12 Armies of the Human Race were like 12 unstoppable torrents, blockading the void in all directions around the battlefield of the two Giant Spirit Gods and the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
The remaining Warships of each Army were woven into one large fleet, and the power of the various arrays and artifacts on them began silently accumulating power. Their target was the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Under this situation, even a being as strong as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God would not be able to help itself from feeling depressed as if it had come to the end of its life.
It knew that nothing it could do would help it survive today.
In fact, it had already felt the urge to run away immediately after Yang Kai and Ah Da killed the first Black Ink Giant Spirit God together. However, Ah Er kept on getting in its way and it couldn’t get away in time. In the short window Ah Er bought, Ah Da rushed over to provide support, sealing its fate.
Currently, the Human Race Army has formed a siege with tens of millions of soldiers. This was the entire military strength that they could mobilize at present. If this was still not enough to deal with a single, cornered Black Ink Giant Spirit God, then what was the point of even talking about a grander crusade?
On Pure Yang Pass, Mi Jing Lun and the other Ninth-Order Masters were waiting silently. Ripples suddenly emerged in the Void, and Yang Kai’s figure appeared.
Everyone turned over and nodded lightly at him, and not one person was looking at him without eyes filled with admiration.
When it came to both age and experience, Yang Kai may not be able to compare with many of his peers here. Other than Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao who had only recently broken through to the Ninth Order, all the others had lived thousands, if not tens of thousands of years longer than he had.
However, in terms of ability, he undoubtedly stood as the strongest among them all!
If Mi Jing Lun was to be called the wisest strategist of the Human Race Army, then Yang Kai was undoubtedly its sharpest blade. Yang Kai’s merits accounted for at least 70% of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s death, while the remaining 30% was made up by Ah Da.
“Are we ready?” Yang Kai asked.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “We were just waiting for you.”
Yang Kai gazed deeply at the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, “Then, let’s begin.”
Mi Jing Lun immediately made a gesture, and when the messenger behind him, covered in blood, saw the sign, he immediately conveyed the order in all directions.
At the same time, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged and he transmitted a few words over.
On the battlefield sealed by the Human Race Army, three giant beings were fighting unceasingly, world shattering shockwaves spreading out with each of their clashes. Ah Da and Ah Er held the advantage fighting two against one, leaving the Black Ink Giant Spirit God into a sorry state, covered in wounds all over its body. One of its legs even looked twisted, most likely from a broken bone.
The Giant Spirit Gods and Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods hardly differed in strength, so in a one-on-one fight, it was basically impossible for either side to gain an advantage over the other. This was evident from all the clashes these Supreme Masters had fought in the past. Ah Er and his opponent had literally fought non-stop for thousands of years in the Barren Territory, but let alone deciding a victor, even who had the upper hand was never determined.
However, in such an even conflict, if another Master of the same level was to join in, it would form an absolute advantage for the side with greater numbers.
Even so, wanting to kill their opponent wouldn’t be easy. Even Ah Da and Ah Er had to be cautious when facing the final struggle of such a powerful opponent.
Fortunately, they had reinforcements from the Human Race to help them.
Ah Da was slightly taken aback for a moment when Yang Kai’s voice was transmitted over, but Ah Er reacted immediately and shouted at his Brother, “Go!”
Saying so, he kicked the Black Ink Giant Spirit God in the chest.
That kick sent the Black Ink Giant Spirit God tumbling, and Ah Er used the momentum of the kick to back away. Even though Ah Da was a bit slower to react, he had two good things going for him.
Firstly, he listened to his Brother.
Secondly, he listened to Yang Kai.
At this moment, he naturally followed suit and quickly retreated while the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was staggering.
After the two Giant Spirit Gods had created enough distance between them, the void suddenly trembled and countless powerful auras rose up.
In the next instant, tens of millions of streams of light swept over from all directions, covering the massive body of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God like a storm, their multi-coloured lights interweaving to form a blinding tapestry.
At this moment, the power of the Arrays and artifacts on the Warships was activated, and the Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities of the Masters were also being fully unleashed. They continuously bombard the Black Ink Giant Spirit God without end.
At the centre where their attacks were focused, the angry roar of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God rang out.
For a powerful being like a Black Ink Giant Spirit God, ordinary attacks had little to no effect on it. Even the Divine Abilities of the Ninth-Order Masters wouldn’t deal much damage to it.
However, when the number of these attacks reached a certain threshold and all struck at the same time, the accumulated power was something that no living being could ignore.
With numbers, even ants could kill an elephant, let alone the elite soldiers of the Human Race who have survived countless life-and-death battles.
The burst of light lasted for a long time, and before it even faded, a second volley arrived.
The roars of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God stopped abruptly, and at the same time, everyone felt a strong aura suddenly flare up in the centre of the interwoven lights before it faded away.
On Pure Yang Pass, all the Ninth-Order Masters had looks of astonishment on their faces. Even Yang Kai was surprised.
After being taken aback for a moment, Mi Jing Lun raised his hand.
With the signal given, the attacks of the Human Race Army quickly subsided.
Even though the attacks stopped, the dazzling lights persisted for several dozen breaths before gradually dissipating.
All eyes were locked on the space in front of them, and what they saw was not the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s figure, but only large and dense Black Ink Clouds and remnants of a broken corpse.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but raise his brow.
[This second one died just like that? Just two rounds of concentrated attacks from the Army were enough to kill it?]
After a moment of silence, Mi Jing Lun said, “It seems we overestimated its strength.”
The plan was originally to weaken the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s power first before slowly grinding it down; after all, the 12 Armies had already tightly sealed the entire region of the void while the two Giant Spirit Gods and the Ninth-Order Masters were also standing by. There was no escaping for the Black Ink Giant Spirit God here.
Death was the only fate awaiting it!
Who would have thought that before all their follow-up arrangements could come into play, the second Black Ink Giant Spirit God would be smashed to pieces? It made it seem as if they had made a big fuss over nothing.
The pale-faced Xiang Shan commented from the side, “There’s nothing wrong with being careful.”
It was not that the Human Race had overestimated the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s strength, just that such a good opportunity to set up and concentrate their attacks on it had never existed before.
This was an attack powered by every Master below the Ninth Order in the entire Human Race; the fact that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God could withstand the first volley without dying alone was enough to show its astonishing strength.
The battlefield fell into an eerie silence once again…
This sudden change left everyone feeling incredulous.
Until Mi Jing Lun’s voice rang through the entire battlefield
“Today, we have won a great victory for the Human Race!”
After a few breaths of silence, cheers that were even louder than before spread out like waves.
Slaughtering the Black Ink Clan and taking back the No-Return Pass essentially secured their victory, but there was still the last Black Ink Giant Spirit God to be dealt with, so the battle hadn’t ended at that point.
It wasn’t until this moment when the second Black Ink Giant Spirit God was defeated that victory truly belonged to the Human Race.
From this moment on, the Humans had fully regained control of the No-Return Pass and once again secured the 3,000 Worlds. No longer would they have to worry about the Black Ink Clan invading.
Feelings of joy and exhilaration were transmitted among all the soldiers. Many of the survivors wept, not because they were happy to survive, but because they had to mourn those who died in battle and could not see the glory of the Human Race’s victory.
The soldiers expressed their emotions freely…
“Hm?” Yang Kai suddenly turned in a certain direction with joy in his eyes.
In that direction, among the soldiers cheering in excitement, one person’s aura was fluctuating violently. As his aura shook, his momentum soared rapidly.
That person clearly realized what was about to happen and looked up towards Pure Yang Pass.
Beside him, all the soldiers noticed the situation, and many showed envy in their eyes.
Ou Yang Lie laughed heartily, “That’s Zheng Wu You of my Profound Nether Army. I’ll go and give him some pointers.”
Saying so, he flew over to that side with a big smile on his face without any care for his tired and battered body.
This couldn’t be helped. The person named Zheng Wu You was showing signs of breaking through his peak Eighth-Order bottleneck, which meant that he was about to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm!
It was exciting news for everyone.
Since about 30 years ago, when Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao successively broke through into the Ninth Order, there had been no new Ninth-Order Masters among their people.
But, everyone knew that Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao’s breakthroughs were just the beginning. After them, more Ninth-Order Masters were sure to be born, and it was bound to be an endless process because the World Tree clone’s feedback in the Open Heaven Realm Cradles was just about to demonstrate its greatest effect.
There had been a continuous stream of promising seedlings that had advanced directly to the Seventh Order over the past few thousand years; thus, it was only a matter of time before these seedlings reached their final destination, the Ninth Order!
As the first rising star to advance to the Ninth Order, Shi Da Zhuang’s advancement could be seen as a sign that the Humans had finally passed through the difficult times of stagnation where new Masters were lacking to replace the old. Now, more Ninth-Order Masters would undoubtedly be born in the future.
However, after Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao broke through into the Ninth Order, no new breakthroughs existed.
Until this moment, when the second Black Ink Giant Spirit God fell and the Humans recaptured the No-Return Pass, becoming the final victors of this war, Zheng Wu You, an Eighth-Order Master, finally showed signs of a breakthrough!
“They can finally vent the feelings of oppression that have long been brewing within them. As their moods surged for the better, and their aura stirred, coupled with sufficient accumulation of heritage, breaking through their bottlenecks is a matter of course as the conditions are ripe,” Mi Jing Lun spoke softly as he looked in that direction.
Yang Kai was thoughtful, “If that’s the case, more than one person may break through this time!”
In terms of time, many rising stars were qualified to break through to the Ninth Order and had already reached their current limits in the Eighth Order. However, breaking through was not that easy. Oftentimes, it depended on opportunities, which could be an epiphany or a sudden event, or maybe even a journey that comes by chance…
Among these opportunities, any one of them would trigger one’s heart to be moved and then stir up their aura into a state of making a breakthrough.
It was thanks to the great victory they gained in this battle that Zheng Wu You could touch upon this opportunity.
If he could do it, then the other good seedlings with sufficient heritage accumulated could do it as well.
That was what Yang Kai thought.
As if to confirm his guess, similar aura fluctuations came from another direction just as soon as he finished speaking.
A second Eighth-Order Master who sensed an opportunity for a breakthrough appeared!
Luo Ting He looked over in that direction and said happily, “It’s from the Red Flame Army. Please excuse me!”
Breaking through from the Eighth Order to the Ninth Order was a hurdle that once crossed, would give one the qualification to stand at the peak of their Martial Dao and overlook all others. However, crossing that hurdle wasn’t easy. At this time, the guidance of Elders was very important; therefore, when Zheng Wu You’s aura surged, Ou Yang Lie rushed over in a hurry.
As the Profound Nether Army’s Commander, this was his responsibility.
Meanwhile, the Red Flame Army never had a Ninth-Order Master among their members, so Luo Ting He took the initiative to take on this responsibility.
But that was not the end yet. During the next incense stick of time, various movements continued to appear among the 12 Armies, all of them indicating that Eighth-Order Masters were about to break through.
This final battle with the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass was like a miraculous medicine for them, bringing opportunities for breakthroughs to those rising stars with the victory that they had won.
Yang Kai and nine other Ninth-Order Masters shuttled back and forth, each of them taking responsibility for several Eighth-Order Masters, imparting their experiences of breaking through and pointing out the things they had to pay attention to.
All of their charges naturally took note of what they said. This moment could be said to be the most important moment in their lives, and nobody dared to be careless.
Even though all of them had expended a lot of energy in the previous battle, it was fortunate that all of them had made sufficient preparations for this moment, so as long as they recovered slightly, they could give their all in breaking through.
After a while, on Pure Yang Pass, the Ninth-Order Masters gathered once again, looking towards various directions in the void with solemn expressions. In every direction was an Eighth-Order Master who was about to make a breakthrough at their own designated position to ensure they wouldn’t disturb others or be disturbed themselves.
Everything was ready, so whether they could successfully advance to Ninth Order or not was up to them now.
Breaking through to the Ninth Order was no easy task and many of their Ancestors had stopped at this juncture throughout history. The fact that there were only over 100 Ninth-Order Masters at the peak of the Human Race was proof of that. In these past 100,000 years or so, there couldn’t have only been that many Humans who had the qualifications to break through.
However, not everyone qualified to advance to the Ninth Order could break through successfully.
But compared to their Ancestors, these rising stars had advantages that their predecessors never had, such as the feedback from the World Tree clones, the profound powers of which greatly improved their aptitude and strengthened their Small Universes. Thus, the risks of breaking through also became smaller for them.
In recent years, there had been no instance of an Eighth-Order Master failing to break through to the Ninth Order. Without mentioning Xiang Shan and Ou Yang Lie, who had broken through with the help of Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills, Wei Jun Yang and Luo Ting He had both broken through by themselves while Shi Da Zhuang and Tang Tao’s breakthroughs also happened smoothly.
“23!” Mi Jing Lun’s face was glowing despite his exhaustion, and his eyes were filled with excitement, “The Heavens have truly blessed the Human Race!”
Originally, recapturing the No-Return Pass, slaughtering the Black Ink Clan, and killing two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods was already the best consolation for all the soldiers who died in battle over the past few thousand years, but no one could have expected that as many as 23 Eighth-Order Masters would sense an opportunity to break through to the Ninth-Order at the end of this battle.
This would in turn raise the overall strength of the Human Race significantly, which would be of great help to them in the upcoming crusade.
Overall, the Human Race was not weak by any definition, but the number of Ninth-Order Masters they had was relatively small. However, now it seemed that this disadvantage could also be compensated for.
Four of the 12 Armies of the Human Race had always been without a Ninth-Order Masters to lead them, so even though they had more Divine Spirits to make up for this, the absence of a Ninth-Order Master had always been a disadvantage for them.
Now, once these Eighth-Order Masters broke through to the Ninth-Order, each Army would have at least three Ninth-Order Masters assuming command.
The strength of each Army would then usher in a burst of explosive growth.
Mi Jing Lun was even considering whether to split the 12 Armies up; after all, the number of soldiers in each Army was indeed quite large and a little bloated. If they were split, then they could better utilize the strength of the soldiers.
Of course, that was just an idea that sprang up. It would require the Ninth-Order Masters to discuss and decide if they wanted to put such a plan into action before changes could be made.
During the war, Mi Jing Lun was able to command the entire Army with a single word, but he would not act alone on important matters that might affect the future of the Human Race when they were not actively in combat.
“I hope everything goes smoothly,” Ou Yang Lie, who was standing nearby, muttered. For so many Ninth-Order Masters to break through at once was something that had never happened even in the Late Ancient Era, when the Humans first grasped the essence of the Open Heaven Realm Method. There would inevitably be failures today, and the only possible outcome of failure here was death; therefore, while everyone is celebrating, Ou Yang Lie was somewhat worried
Every one of these 23 people was an elite among elites, so it would be heartbreaking to lose any of them.
While the 23 Masters were accumulating strength and attempting a breakthrough, the rest of the Army was either resting, cleaning up the battlefield, or counting the spoils of war.
Over the years of fighting, the Humans had basically used up every resource they gathered, spending every material as soon as it was collected. Yang Kai’s huge demand for his cultivation was especially astonishing, almost equalling the amount invested in an entire Army.
So, even with 3 million cultivators scattered throughout the Black Ink Battlefield, mining resources, they did not have much surplus on hand.
It was fortunate that they captured the No-Return Pass where the Black Ink Clan must have some reserves. For thousands of years, the Black Ink Clan had occupied most of the 3,000 Worlds and the entire Black Ink Battlefield where they had been constantly mining resources and breeding more clansmen. Despite the immense expenditures, they should still have a large amount of resources in reserve.
Soon, news was coming in from each direction.
Mi Jing Lun investigated the extent of the damages first. Even though he had a rough idea about it already, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw the results.
The Army’s losses were much lower than he expected!
Originally, when Yang Kai returned from the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield and they decided to launch the final battle, they had mentally prepared themselves to face severe damage to the Human Race Army’s foundation.
This was unavoidable though. The Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements were on their way, and if the Humans did not capture the No-Return Pass quickly, they would have to face the fate of being caught in a pincer attack, which could very well destroy their entire Army.
But when the fight was actually done and over with, the extent of the damage was still within an acceptable range, and their losses were not as severe as had been expected.
The greatest reason for that was because the battle had not dragged on too long!
The critical moment was the fall of the first Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Together, Yang Kai and Ah Da were able to kill him in just a few dozen breaths, which greatly shook the morale of the Black Ink Clan.
Following that, Mo Na Ye’s fall dropped the morale of the Black Ink Clan even further while also greatly disrupting their ability to coordinate and organize themselves.
As they acted decisively and were able to settle the fight quickly, the losses to the Human Race Army were naturally kept to a minimum.
Of course, the Purifying Light that erupted from the sacrifice of the 2,000 Eighth-Order Small Stone Race Masters was also indispensable. At that time, the Purifying Light not only severely damaged the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, but almost instantly wiped out a large swath of Black Ink Clansmen while all the Black Ink Clansmen over the entire battlefield were affected by it somewhat, lowering their strength to a certain extent.
All these unexpected events laid the foundations for their grand victory.
After looking through the battle report, Mi Jing Lun handed it over to Yang Kai, who couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief as he swept his Divine Sense over it.
The losses were not small, but weren’t too large either. They still had the strength necessary to continue their crusade! If the casualties of this battle had exceeded 30%, they may have lost that ability.
It should be noted that there were still the Black Ink Clan reinforcements waiting for them, which was another difficult hurdle they had to jump through.
All they had to do now was wait for the 23 Eighth-Order Masters to break through and stabilize their cultivation. After the Armies were reorganized, they could finally embark on the final crusade!
Yang Kai looked out into the depths of the void with deep worry creasing his brows.
Even now, he had no idea what had happened at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction nor what the situation was with the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
His Family and Disciples were all over there, and it would be a lie to say that he wasn’t worried about them. If he could, he would have rushed to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction as soon as he found out about the movements of the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements.
But he couldn’t go earlier or even now.
As the strongest Ninth-Order Master, the battle at the No-Return Pass would not have ended so easily if he wasn’t here.
Between Family and the survival of the entire Human Race, a choice had to be made.
The only thing Yang Kai could be sure of now was that even if something did happen at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, it was still in progress; otherwise, it would be impossible for there to not be a single true Royal Lord in the reinforcements.
Though it was partly wishful thinking, this conclusion was the only comfort Yang Kai had in his heart.
As time passed, the auras of the 23 people in the void continued to fluctuate, and each of them had an illusory phantom of their own Small Universe appear behind them. As their auras continued to fluctuate and their momentums rose continuously, their bottlenecks were gradually broken, and the boundary walls of their Small Universes that had reached their limit began expanding again!
In the midst of the gruelling wait, an aura belonging uniquely to Masters in the Ninth Order rippled out, and as their Small Universe burst out in expansion, everyone knew that the first successful Ninth-Order Master had appeared.
It was not Zheng Wu You, but instead another rising star from the Burning Moon Army.
Everyone who was watching the situation closely couldn’t help but reveal joyful expressions.
The birth of the first Ninth-Order Master seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Within the coming half day, a second and a third success appeared. After the day was over, the number had grown to as many as seven.
By the next day, there were 11.
By the third day, 14.
The fourth day, 17!
The success rates of the rising stars who have received feedback from the World Tree clones and possessed unparalleled talent were incredibly high. Until now, none of them had shown too many problems with advancing.
However, there were still six who were struggling to break through, which Yang Kai and the others couldn’t help but worry about.
Breaking through as a result of sudden enlightenment had to be done in one fell swoop. The longer it dragged on, the worse the situation would become.
Four days have already passed. Those who were able to break through successfully had already broken through. The remaining six would likely experience some setbacks, which made the others worry and also feel helpless at the same time.
Nobody could help another person break through, everything depended on their own hard work and accumulations. If their accumulation was enough and their luck was not bad, then they would naturally be able to succeed, just like the 17 before them, but fate was a tricky thing that nobody could perfectly predict…
Yang Kai suddenly turned his gaze towards a certain direction. There, a person was pushing their aura hard. The illusory phantom of their Small Universe was constantly expanding and contracting behind them as if it were a living being that was breathing. If everything went smoothly, then once the illusory phantom of the Small Universe expanded to its limit, it would break through and expand greatly.
However, Yang Kai clearly sensed that this cultivator was somewhat lacking in strength, and he couldn’t help but sigh, knowing that it would be difficult for them to succeed with their current heritage.
This was inevitable. Throughout history, the path from the Eighth Order to the Ninth Order had always been full of obstacles. If there existed those who succeeded, then it was only natural for some to fail as well.
At a certain moment, when the illusory phantom of the Small Universe expanded again, there was an obvious sound of something breaking.
This caused the expressions of all the Ninth-Order Masters who were paying attention to this person to change, and the cultivator who was trying to break through also had a panicked look on his face. He then opened his eyes with a bitter expression.
The cracking sounds grew more and more intense, and the illusory phantom of his Small Universe was becoming difficult to maintain. His Small Universe seemed to be on the brink of rupturing. The person turned their head to Yang Kai, and after a moment of anxiety, his expression calmed down. He smiled, ready to accept his final fate.
The next moment, his vision suddenly blurred, and Yang Kai, who had been observing from a distance, appeared in front of him and raised his hand to touch the top of his head.
A river flowed and waves roared. The Space-Time River enveloped everything, and Space-Time Strength suppressed and sealed the local space. Everything seemed to turn still, including the rupturing of the Small Universe.
The man looked up at Yang Kai in surprise and asked, “Dao Lord?”
Yang Kai lowered his head to look at him and smiled, “Are you in such a hurry to die?”
The man felt a little ashamed and lowered his head, unable to meet Yang Kai’s gaze directly, “I did my best, but I still failed to live up to Dao Lord’s expectations.”
Yang Kai was silent for a moment before he spoke in a commanding voice, “Look at me, Wang Chang!”
The man raised his head abruptly, feeling extremely surprised, “Dao Lord remembers me?”
Even though he was born in the Void Dao Temple, he never interacted much with Yang Kai after being brought out of the Void Dao Temple and meeting him for the first time. He was proficient in neither the Dao of Time nor the Dao of Space, but cultivated the Spear Dao instead. He was also not qualified to be selected to be a Void Guard, and over the years, he had never received any more attention or care from Yang Kai.
He thought that someone as great as the Dao Lord, the one who shouldered the fate of his people, would only be concerned about the survival of the Human Race. Even though he came from the Void Dao Temple, the only connection they had was in name. The Dao Lord had also never given special treatment to any of the disciples who came from the Void Dao Temple.
He never thought that he would be called out by the Dao Lord by name today.
“I remember every one of you,” Yang Kai began, “The survival of the 3,000 Worlds was not really your concern to begin with, yet I brought you out of the Void Dao Temple and threw you into this cruel and bloody battlefield to sacrifice yourselves for the survival of a group of Humans you have never met before. If anyone should feel guilty, it should be me.”
Wang Chang was anxious to respond, “It is the honour of us disciples to serve you, Dao Lord.”
“Even so,” Yang Kai nodded gently, “You are all excellent, and have never let me down.”
Wang Chang’s expression turned grim, “This disciple cannot break through to the Ninth Order, and my Small Universe is about to rupture…”
“So what if you reach the Ninth Order? So what if you’re in the Eighth Order? You slaughtered many of our enemies from the Black Ink Clan. It is the same when you were in the Eighth-Order. You still killed our enemies and pushed them back. You also protected your allies behind you. Your Eldest Senior Brother Miao’s aptitude is limited. Unless he can obtain a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, he will never be able to reach the Ninth Order, but isn’t he still living a fulfilling life? You didn’t fail to break through because you have not worked hard enough. Destiny simply didn’t favour you today, that is all,” Yang Kai reassured him.
Turning the conversation around, Yang Kai raised his voice, “I only ask you one thing. Even if you cannot reach the Ninth Order in this lifetime, can you still hold on to your original convictions and sacrifice yourself for the Human Race? Will you fight and slay our enemies to eradicate this evil?”
Wang Chang answered meekly, “Naturally, I am willing, but Dao Lord… my Small Universe is about to rupture, can I still survive?”
The Small Universe was the foundation of every Open Heaven Realm Master. If the Small Universe ruptures, the cultivator would perish.
Yang Kai grinned, “Are you dead now?”
“Not yet.” Wang Chang shook his head. Even he himself thought his answer was ridiculous after saying it.
“If you are willing to live, then you can live. If you are not willing, no one can save you!”
Wang Chang seemed to understand something and his dark eyes lit up again, “Dao Lord, please save me!”
Yang Kai nodded lightly. Looking up at the Small Universe behind Wang Chang, he contemplated for a moment before extending a finger. At the same time, the Space-Time River that suppressed and sealed this space began to surge wildly.
In the far-off void, Mi Jing Lun and others were watching the situation attentively. Everyone was heartbroken. After 17 out of the 23 cultivators eligible to break through to the Ninth Order successfully advanced, a failure still appeared in the end.
At such a critical moment, failure was equivalent to death!
However, just as everyone was silently waiting for fate to carry out its judgement, the Space-Time River suddenly appeared, surrounded by the fluctuation of the Space Principles.
It wasn’t until this moment that everyone realised that Yang Kai had rushed over.
No one knew why Yang Kai had gone over at this time, but before anyone could see what was happening, the Space-Time River suddenly disappeared. Following that, Yang Kai returned to his original position.
It was as if he had never left.
Only his face was slightly paler than before.
“Junior Brother, you…” Mi Jing Lun was shocked.
“Huh? What just happened?!” Ou Yang Lie suddenly exclaimed, scaring Mi Jing Lun so much that he choked on his words.
Following his gaze, all the Ninth-Order Masters were shocked by what they saw. The rupturing of Wang Chang’s Small Universe had mysteriously been reversed, leaving the illusory phantom behind him completely intact. The only differences were there was no longer any sign of a breakthrough going on and Wang Chang’s aura had become weaker, as if his foundation had been damaged.
Many thoughts flashed through Mi Jing Lun’s mind as he turned to Yang Kai in astonishment, “Junior Brother, what did you do?”
Regardless of what Yang Kai did, they could tell from the results in front of them that Wang Chang, who was doomed to die, had been saved while his breakthrough had failed.
Compared to dying and fading away, this was undoubtedly a good result. At the very least, Wang Chang had survived and could still contribute to the war.
Yang Kai said, “I crippled hundreds of years of his foundation.”
“Is that also possible?” Ou Yang Lie couldn’t stop his eyes from widening in surprise. This was an incredible event that was simply unheard of, but bizarre things seemed to happen around Yang Kai often.
Xiang Shan furrowed his brow, “Even if you have crippled hundreds of years of his foundation, how did you save his life when his Small Universe was about to rupture?”
“Many things can be done in a frozen space-time. I just gave it a try and it somehow worked,” Yang Kai gave a casual explanation.
Everyone finally understood.
Just now, they only saw Yang Kai rushing to Wang Chang’s side for an instant before returning. In reality, the time Yang Kai spent in that frozen space-time was not just a moment. He must have made a lot of preparations and used many means to suppress Wang Chang’s breakthrough to save his life.
What he did was nothing short of a miracle.
But manipulating Space-Time on any level was not an easy task. Whether it be the Dao of Space or the Dao of Time, both were extremely profound and esoteric. Yang Kai was perhaps the only person capable of such means in this universe.
“What are the drawbacks?” Mi Jing Lun asked excitedly. He was originally worried that they would have to see their people fading away among those who were breaking through to a higher realm, but seeing that Yang Kai had such a technique, he could save their lives. These warriors have served the Human Race for thousands of years, so even if they had to die, it should be on the battlefield. It was the honour they deserved. They should not be dying on the path of breaking through!
The only thing to worry about now was whether there were any drawbacks to this method of saving people.
“He will never be able to break through this bottleneck again in his lifetime. If he’s lucky, he may return to the peak of the Eighth Order, but if he’s unlucky, he will only be able to maintain his current cultivation,” Yang Kai explained.
Crippling several hundred years of Wang Chang’s cultivation had brought him down directly from the peak of the Eighth Order, and this kind of destruction caused by external forces had undoubtedly damaged Wang Chang’s foundation.
That was also the reason why Yang Kai had spoken so much with Wang Chang earlier. For a favoured son of Heaven who had the potential to stand at the pinnacle of Martial Dao, lingering on and barely surviving might not be considered a blessing. The greatest pain and torment for a cultivator was to have one’s Martial Dao being cut off.
If Wang Chang was unable to accept such a fate, he would still perish. Only by letting go of his obsession could Yang Kai’s rescue become meaningful.
The cost was undoubtedly high, but for those who wished to remain among the living, it was nothing.
After Wang Chang, two more people failed to advance, and Yang Kai stepped in to save their lives one after another.
Fortunately, while the other three encountered some obstacles in their breakthrough, they all safely advanced in the end.
At this point, a total of 20 out of the initial 23 had successfully broken through to the Ninth Order, which meant that the Human Race had seen the birth of 20 new Ninth-Order Masters in one go. Including Yang Kai and the others, there were now 30 Ninth-Order Masters among their ranks!
This number was still not comparable to the Human Race at their peak, but it was a good start.
The Grand Army was now resting as almost everyone had injuries to recover from.
Conquering the No-Return Pass was only the beginning. In their original plans, the next step would be a crusade against the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
The Human Race had suffered a crushing defeat outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction before, resulting in countless deaths and the eventual invasion of the 3,000 Worlds. Nobody wanted to experience that failure again.
Even after that defeat, the Humans had the strength to fight on.
But now, the Human Race had gathered all their strength. If they were to lose this time, they were likely to be doomed to extinction.
However, even the best-laid plans could never keep up with reality.
The appearance of the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements disrupted the original strategy.
Before they could embark on their crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, an elite Black Ink Clan Army of 10 million had to be disposed of. Without breaking through this obstacle, there was no point in thinking about a crusade to the Grand Restriction.
The only good news was that the reinforcements had emerged from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and a lifetime of isolation left them with very limited knowledge of the current situation of the Human Race. They did not know about the existence of the Void Guard, nor were they aware that their movements were being monitored by the Humans, something which could be exploited.
Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun held several discussions and finally came up with a feasible plan.
While the Grand Army was recuperating, some confidential items were rapidly being developed, consuming a massive amount of resources.
Half a year after the Humans conquered the No-Return Pass, Pure Yang Pass, inside the Main Conference Hall, the Ninth-Order Masters were gathered.
In front of the 20 Ninth-Order Masters who had only just broken through after the last war, people like Yang Kai were already considered veterans. Everyone couldn’t help but lament how the newcomers were replacing the old members, and the back waves of the river were pushing the front waves on.
A total of 30 people were gathered here. It had been thousands of years since the Humans had seen such a luxurious lineup.
After half a year, the new Ninth-Order Masters had just barely stabilised their cultivation. Though they have yet to fully consolidate their newfound strength, there was simply no time to let them slowly adjust their conditions. After the last battle, they had taken a full half year to recover, which was a luxury for the current Human Race.
Mi Jing Lun raised his hand, and jade slips flew out to everyone one by one. As they examined these slips, Mi Jing Lun spoke, “After that major battle half a year ago, the Void Guard scouting ahead reported that the reinforcements from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction have stopped and are now waiting to ambush us when we set out. They are currently located around the junction of the Black Ink Battlefield and the Late Ancient Era battlefield, though much closer to the latter.”
Listening to his briefing, the Ninth-Order Masters checked the jade slips and found this basic information was listed inside.
Mi Jing Lun continued, “From the intelligence we have now, the Black Ink Clan reinforcements have found out about the war here at the No-Return Pass as well as the outcome of the battle. That’s why they are lying in wait for our Army to fall into their trap ourselves.”
“This is good news! Since they have no idea that their actions have already been exposed, we can use their plan against them. Since they have chosen to ambush us, we can take advantage of their inaction to surround them and wipe them out in one fell swoop! If we are to go against the Black Ink Clan at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, these reinforcements must be eliminated first.”
“While you were all recovering from your injuries, Junior Brother Yang and I have formulated a plan. Please look it over. If there are any issues, please speak up as soon as possible so that we can discuss and solve them together.”
The group silently looked through the jade slips. The newly advanced Ninth-Order Masters remained silent, not because they felt that they lacked the qualifications to express their opinions, but because they felt that the plan was indeed feasible and there was nothing that had to be changed. They knew that while they were recovering and stabilizing their cultivation in retreat, Yang Kai and Mi Jing Lun were still working hard.
Xiang Shan on the other hand asked, “Other than the fact that they have no true Royal Lords among their ranks, the number of Masters they have is not inferior to the No-Return Pass when it was at its peak. Can we confirm there are no true Royal Lords among them?”
Mi Jing Lun looked at Yang Kai, “Junior Brother Yang personally went to investigate and can confirm this. Of course, we will survey the area again to ensure that our intelligence is correct before we begin our operation.”
Xiang Shan nodded lightly, “Then there’s no problem.”
Even though the forces of this reinforcement Army were not much different in terms of strength from the forces the Black Ink Clan had during their peak at the No-Return Pass, the situation they were facing now was quite different.
At the very least, these reinforcements did not have any true Royal Lords or Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods among them. Meanwhile, the Humans had not only gained 20 more Ninth-Order Masters, but they also had the support of Ah Da and Ah Er.
The advantages brought by the two Giant Spirit Gods alone were immeasurable. Furthermore, there was a big difference between trying to siege a fortified position and conducting a field battle.
Even if they had to face an Army of millions of elites, the Humans were confident that they could defeat the Black Ink Clan with minimal losses as long as careful preparations were made.
“Since there are no issues, let’s proceed according to plan! We have been preparing for this battle for the past six months, so all Armies should be ready to depart in three days!”
All the Ninth-Order Masters stood up to answer before dispersing.
After capturing the No-Return Pass half a year ago, the new Ninth-Order Masters were divided among the various Armies. Ultimately, it was decided to keep the configuration of the 12 Armies, so each Army now had two or three Ninth-Order Masters assuming command, avoiding the awkward situation of anyone lacking a Ninth-Order Master.
Once everyone left, Mi Jing Lun turned to Yang Kai and asked, “Junior Brother, how are your injuries?”
Yang Kai replied, “Nothing to be concerned about, but I won’t be able to use my Dragon Vein powers for a short period.” The drawbacks of using his Dragon Bead could not be restored quickly. It would have to take at least a decade of uninterrupted rest for him to properly recover, something the Humans could not afford right now.
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “We still need Junior Brother to work hard in the coming battles.”
“I know, it is my duty,” Yang Kai nodded and stood up, “If Senior Brother has no other orders, I will go and cultivate now.”
Mi Jing Lun laughed, “Go ahead.”
As soon as Yang Kai left the Main Hall, a face appeared in the void that blocked out the sky, revealing an ingratiating smile.
Yang Kai was speechless and threw a World Bead to Ah Da as he told him, “Eat less and don’t fall asleep. We’re going into battle soon!”
While chewing loudly on the World Bead, Ah Da answered him casually.
Not long after, the Space-Time River appeared outside of the No-Return Pass. Plunging inside, Yang Kai began refining resources and cultivating.
Time waited for no one, and Yang Kai was now using every moment he could to improve his heritage, trying to reach the peak of the Ninth Order as soon as possible.
After teaming up with Ah Da to slay a Black Ink Giant Spirit God last time, Yang Kai realised that he was still too weak. The Black Ink Giant Spirit God was only one of Mo’s creations, a mere Soul Clone. If he had to face Mo someday, what would he do?
Open Heaven Realm Masters were undoubtedly no match for Mo. According to Cang, Mo had already reached the legendary Creation Realm.
However, with Yang Kai’s increasing progress and enlightenment in his Grand Daos, in recent years, he faintly felt that something was off about the belief that Mo was in the Creation Realm.
Of course, he had no idea what exactly the Creation Realm was, but he knew that he needed to cultivate hard to bring his own cultivation to its peak before he could gain the qualifications to explore the mysteries of the next Realm.
He was still lacking in many ways.
Every moment of free time was extremely precious for Yang Kai in the current situation.
Three days passed in a flash.
Outside Pure Yang Pass, the Grand Army were fully armed and ready to go. The mood was solemn, and killing intent filled the air.
After preparing for half a year, the soldiers had still not lost their momentum or fighting spirit. All of them knew that taking the No-Return Pass was only the beginning, and winning a single battle did not mean the end of the war. Only when the Human Race conquered the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and vanquished Mo could they truly call themselves victorious.
In this situation, letting their guard down in any way would mean death.
12 Universe Fragments had already been prepared and lay across the outside of the No-Return Pass. These Universe Fragments were recently moved back from the depths of the void by the Humans, and each one corresponded to an Army.
At a certain moment, following the commands of the Army Commanders, the soldiers gathered on these Universe Fragments.
“Junior Brother, it’s up to you now.” Inside the No-Return Pass, Mi Jing Lun turned his head and said to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai nodded and took a step forward, arriving at the closest Universe Fragment. Summoning his Space-Time River, Yang Kai quickly turned it into a torrent which wrapped around the Universe Fragment in front of him.
Looking from afar, the surging river was just like a giant snake, coiling and enveloping the Universe Fragment.
Dao Strengths surged, and with the shaking of the Space-Time River, a section of the void was stripped away and compressed while the Universe Fragment within shrank rapidly.
In less than an hour, Yang Kai retrieved the river and reached out, grabbing a newly formed World Bead. After a quick investigation, he tossed it to Xiang Shan, who was standing next to him.
Even Xiang Shan, who was used to seeing the strong winds and waves, caught it in a panic as he cradled the World Bead in his palms.
There was no helping this as the entire Blood Flame Army was currently inside this World Bead. Heavens know what damage it would cause to the Army if the bead was to shatter.
At this moment, Xiang Shan could only sigh and marvel at the profundity of Space Secret Techniques!
He had never imagined that Yang Kai could do such a thing, refining an entire Universe Fragment where an Army of millions of Human Masters were located into a single bead…
“If you had such a technique, why didn’t you use it during the previous crusade?” Xiang Shan couldn’t help but ask.
When the Humans set out from Black Territory, they had to trek through a long and arduous journey. At that time, they used the method of taking Low and Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters into the Small Universes of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters to reduce the cost and risk of transmission. Even though it was still considered convenient, it was far inferior to the current method Yang Kai was displaying.
In response to Xiang Shan’s question, Yang Kai explained, “This technique requires a suitable vessel, so it wasn’t possible for me to do so at the time.”
A Universe Fragment or Universe World that had been refined into a World Bead was one such suitable vessel. The Black Ink Clan had destroyed essentially all suitable bodies in the 3,000 Worlds during their many millennia of occupation, so they were unsuitable for him to use in such a situation.
He did have a few World Beads from the Myriad Monsters Territory, but those were meant as rations for Ah Da and Ah Er.
Xiang Shan nodded in understanding as he carefully put away the World Bead that contained the entire Blood Flame Army.
Yang Kai was already refining the second one and soon turned the various Universe Fragments, each with one of the 12 Armies on it, into World Beads and gave them to the appropriate Ninth-Order Masters for safekeeping.
Finally, Pure Yang Pass was the only object remaining outside the No-Return Pass. The Supreme Headquarters staff gathered in the central square with the two Giant Spirit Gods who shrank themselves down.
Once Yang Kai used his Space-Time River to envelope and refine Pure Yang Pass into a type of World Bead, all that was left of the Grand Army was a group of Ninth-Order Masters.
Mi Jing Lun turned around and gazed in the direction of the No-Return Pass as he called out, “Those of you who remain in the No-Return Pass must do your best to safeguard the entrance to the 3,000 Worlds. If the Army returns one day, it will be in glorious triumph. If… however…” He paused, “If you receive unfavourable news from the frontlines, seal the Territory Gate, return to the 3,000 Worlds, and make the necessary preparations.”
Though the majority of the Army was setting out, there were still some who remained at the No-Return Pass to stand guard; after all, this was the primary Territory Gate that led to the 3,000 Worlds! They could not leave it undefended.
Nevertheless, the ones who stayed back were the ones who had been severely injured during the previous battle. Every single one of them sported grave injuries, from severed limbs to damaged Small Universes. There were only a few tens of thousands of them.
When Mi Jing Lun gave the order for them to remain at the No-Return Pass, their protests made it all the way to the Supreme Headquarters. Despite their injuries, they were still fueled by their desire to slaughter the enemy, and even though they were not as strong as they once were, they were willing to fight to the bitter end.
Mi Jing Lun had to spend a lot of time persuading them with both reason and emotion until they finally agreed to watch over the Territory Gate.
It was always wise to plan for all possibilities. Although they were able to kill off seemingly all of the Black Ink Clan Army when they besieged the No-Return Pass, there were bound to be some who managed to slip past them due to the vastness of the battlefield. While these remnants of the Black Ink Clan Army might not be all that powerful, they could still wreak havoc on the Humans who remained behind in the 3,000 Worlds if they were given free reign.
Furthermore, the ones who stayed behind were not all powerful Masters.
It was for this very reason that Yang Kai left behind a Sealing Secret Technique. If the Humans fell in the coming battle, the ones who remained at the No-Return Pass were to retreat and use the Sealing Secret Technique he left to permanently close the Territory Gate! Once that was done, the 3,000 Worlds would no longer be connected to the Black Ink Battlefield.
Only a very large number of Pseudo-Royal Lords or Royal Lords would be able to break the Sealing Secret Technique Yang Kai left behind.
If that many powerful Masters from the Black Ink Clan did return to the No-Return Pass, it meant that the Human Army had lost, which would also mean the end of the Human Race.
Once Mi Jing Lun finished giving his instructions, those who were to remain behind cupped their fists and chorused, “Yes, Sir!”
The Ninth-Order Masters took one last look at the No-Return Pass. Their eyes flitted over the Territory Gate that led back to the 3,000 Worlds before they hardened their hearts and abandoned all wistfulness as they headed deeper into the void.
No one knew how many of them would make it back alive.
Behind them, a loud voice bellowed out from the No-Return Pass, “May your valiant efforts be rewarded and your return victorious!”
The other voices rang out in unison, “May your valiant efforts be rewarded and your return victorious!”
…
With the help of the Universe Temples and Space Arrays that the Void Guard had set up beforehand, the 30 Ninth-Order Masters took only a few days to traverse across the vast void and arrive at the boundary between the Black Ink Battlefield and the Late Ancient Era battlefield.
They had made their calculations beforehand and gathered at the last of the Universe Temples where they convened with the Void Guard who were standing guard here. They wanted to hear the reports regarding the situation further ahead.
Soon, the Void Guard finished reporting everything they knew.
After taking it all in, Yang Kai said, “That means the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements plan on ambushing us on the Late Ancient Era battlefield.”
The Void Guard who spoke nodded and added, “That seems to be their plan. During the final battle at the No-Return Pass half a year ago, the reinforcement Army that had been rushing over suddenly stopped. We didn’t know what happened at the time, but later on, we figured that they must’ve received word from the No-Return Pass.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “Before Mo Na Ye died, he was still busy sending out dispatches. He must’ve been the one who arranged this.”
After Yang Kai killed Mo Na Ye with his spear, Mi Jing Lun retrieved a small Black Ink Nest from Mo Na Ye’s hand. It was clear that the latter had been using the power of the Black Ink Nest to send messages to the reinforcements.
“It’s all clear now. The Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements realised that their existence had been exposed and that the No-Return Pass had been seized, so in compliance with Mo Na Ye’s arrangements, they found a suitable battlefield to lay in wait to attack us, but they would not have expected us to arrive this quickly.”
Considering the pace of a regular Army, it would take the Humans about a decade to cross such a distance, even if they left as soon as they emerged victorious at the No-Return Pass.
By then, no matter how strong the Human Race Grand Army was, they would still be exhausted from travelling and caught off-guard by the Black Ink Clan’s well-prepared ambush.
However, the Human Race only spent half a year recuperating after taking back the No-Return Pass before reaching this place a couple of days later.
It had indeed been a wise decision to form the Void Guard as they managed to help the Humans avoid a catastrophic situation.
This was their chance to make use of the intel they had while their opponents remained in the dark.
After mulling it over in silence, Yang Kai raised his head and said, “Senior Brother, all of you can rest here for now. I’ll go on ahead and scout the situation.”
Mi Jing Lun nodded, “We will have to trouble you with that, Junior Brother.”
A Void Guard swiftly stepped forward with a Space Beacon which Yang Kai took and channelled his power into.
Once the Space Beacon flashed, Yang Kai disappeared.
The next instant, he appeared somewhere in the void. There was a figure beside him. It was Li Wu Yi, who was in charge of tracking the movements of the Black Ink Clan reinforcements.
This was the same way Yang Kai dropped in on Li Wu Yi the last time.
Li Wu Yi let out a small exhale of relief when he spotted Yang Kai. He did feel rather pressured by his task of keeping an eye on things alone, but thanks to Yang Kai’s presence, he now felt as if some weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
“Did we retake the No-Return Pass?” Li Wu Yi asked.
Even though Li Wu Yi received the news about the results of the battle at the No-Return Pass, he could not resist checking anyway.
“Indeed!” Yang Kai nodded.
“That’s good to hear,” Li Wu Yi smiled at the confirmation; but soon, his expression turned grim as he asked quietly, “The casualties?”
“Not as bad as it could’ve been. It is still bearable for us.”
Li Wu Yi nodded without asking any further. All he would get was a cold, emotionless number, but every single number represented the sacrifice of a person. The price of war was far too heavy.
“How are things over there?” Yang Kai looked out in front of him, but to his puzzlement, he did not see any sign of the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements.
“I knew you were coming so I retreated a little to avoid letting them sense anything. You can’t see them from here.” Li Wu Yi explained. “They stopped moving half a year ago; since then, they’ve been preparing themselves and building defensive structures.”
“Defensive structures?” Yang Kai raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Li Wu Yi nodded, “They dragged over many of the lifeless Universe Worlds and Fragments to act as barriers. It seems to me that they intend to build up a base.”
“It sounds as if they plan on having a full-on confrontation with us instead of ambushing us,” Yang Kai thoughtfully mused.
“That’s very much within their means!” Li Wu Yi’s expression was grim. There were several hundred Pseudo-Royal Lords and over 10 million High-Rank or higher Black Ink Clansmen. Even though they don’t have any true Royal Lords or Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods with them, they are still a force to be reckoned with.
“It’s undoubtedly Mo Na Ye’s doing,” Yang Kai remarked in realisation, “Their goal was never to stop our crusade, they simply hope to weaken us. As long as we’ve been weakened enough, continuing with the crusade will become meaningless. Thus, instead of trying to set up an ambush, they are better off fighting an all-out battle. They probably want us to discover their tracks.”
Li Wu Yi gave it some thought before nodding in agreement, “That seems to be the case.”
“How vigilant are they?” Yang Kai checked.
“Only somewhat, I’d say,” Li Wu Yi replied, “They don’t seem to expect us to arrive anytime soon, so they haven’t sent out scouts or set up any strict patrols. Furthermore, the scouts they have deployed are only monitoring a small area. Still, it’s enough to stop me from getting too close.”
Six months ago, Li Wu Yi had been able to observe the Black Ink Clan Army from up close, but ever since they began setting up their base, he had to stay further back to avoid detection.
“I’ll go and take a look,” Yang Kai said. After confirming the direction, he shot off into the void.
Though he did not discover any true Royal Lords the last time he checked, there was no harm in being cautious. It was best to do a thorough check once more as inaccurate information could very well lead to unnecessary casualties in battle.
After travelling for a while, Yang Kai caught sight of the Black Ink Clan Army.
He used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability to mask his figure and aura as he continued making his approach.
It was just as Li Wu Yi had said. The Black Ink Clan Army was building a base here. They dragged many Universe Worlds and Fragments from all over the void to create barriers and barricades in an otherwise empty territory.
This area was still a part of the Late Ancient Era battlefield. During the Late Ancient Era, the Humans and the Black Ink Clan fought fiercely on this vast expanse. Countless Great Experts died in battle, leaving behind numerous traps in the form of barriers, seals, and restrictions. There were even Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques that had yet to be used up.
These were all things that the Black Ink Clan could use to their advantage.
Yang Kai scrutinised the surroundings as he made his way closer to the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army.
Soon, he arrived at the nearest spot he could reach and began studying the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army closely. Once he was certain that they did not have any true Royal Lords amongst them, his worries eased. Though they were a sizable force, and powerful as well, their lack of military intelligence when compared to what the Humans knew made them little more than turtles hiding in their shells.
Around half a day later, Yang Kai returned to the Universe Temple and the Ninth-Order Masters gathered around him to get an update.
Once Yang Kai filled them in on everything he witnessed, Mi Jing Lun nodded, “It’s fairly similar to what we expected.”
“In that case, should we proceed according to plan?” Xiang Shan asked.
Mi Jing Lun turned to Yang Kai, “What do you think, Junior Brother?”
“It won’t be a problem,” Yang Kai answered.
Mi Jing Lun’s expression was serious as he declared, “Let’s stick to the plan then.”
Soon, everyone left the Universe Temple, save for two Void Guards who remained behind to stand guard there.
After a day’s worth of travelling, they arrived in a part of the void that was neither too far nor too near the base of the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements. Yang Kai held his hand out to Xiang Shan who brought out the World Bead he had been keeping with him the whole time.
Space Principles surged as Yang Kai’s hands moved swiftly. He gently patted the World Bead before tossing it into the void.
Once the tiny World Bead left Yang Kai’s grasp, it started expanding at great speed. It looked as if a stone had been tossed into a calm lake, causing ripples to spread out in all directions.
In just a few moments, the World Bead had been restored to its original form, and on the lifeless Universe Fragment, the Blood Flame Army was busy preparing themselves.
“Senior Brother Xiang, I’ll leave things here to you and Junior Brother Sun,” Yang Kai said.
Xiang Shan nodded in response, as did Sun Ke, one of the new Ninth-Order Masters.
“You all will remain here as well and cooperate with me later when we strike,” Yang Kai spoke to a few members of the Void Guard accompanying them.
“Yes, Sir!” They quickly replied.
“Let’s go to the next spot,” Yang Kai called out as he led the rest of the Ninth-Order Masters and Void Guard onwards.
Yang Kai kept releasing World Beads at specific spots and leaving each of the Human Race Armies there.
This carried on for a couple of days until everything was in place.
They were done with all their preparations!
The last Army to be released was the Profound Nether Army, which presently had three Ninth-Order Masters among their ranks. One was Ou Yang Lie, a more seasoned Ninth-Order Master, while the other two were newly promoted with a lot of room for growth.
The atmosphere was tense as the Army stood ready for battle.
Ou Yang Lie was in the lead, his eyes closed.
Approximately a quarter hour later, the time that had been agreed upon earlier arrived. Ou Yang Lie whipped his eyes open, raised his hand, and shot off. The Profound Nether Army that had been waiting eagerly for this moment heard him roar, “Charge!”
This scene played out in 12 different areas of the void as the 12 Armies marched on the enemy from 12 different directions at the same time, heading straight towards the Black Ink Clan reinforcements’ base.
No sound was made, but their steely resolve and murderous intent permeated the void, causing space itself to shudder in their presence.
Meanwhile, Yang Kai was hovering above the base with his eyes closed as he quietly counted down…
The base was made up of over 100 Universe Fragments and Worlds that had been gathered together. The Black Ink Clan had gone through painstaking efforts to drag all of these over from the neighbouring areas of the void to use as a defence line.
Some of the Pseudo-Royal Lords were gathered in a corner of the base, communicating via Divine Sense, their expressions grim as they were worried about the future.
This could not be helped. Six months ago, they suddenly received word from the No-Return Pass that the Humans had launched a frenzied, all-out attack. Not only did they lose one of the Supreme One’s Soul Clones in the battle, but the entire Black Ink Clan Army there had been routed and was at risk of being annihilated.
They had no way of knowing the outcome of the battle as they stopped receiving updates from the No-Return Pass after the Royal Lord named Mo Na Ye transmitted some final information to them.
Nevertheless, they could hazard a guess that the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass must have met their doom and all the Black Ink Nests were destroyed. If that was not the case, it was impossible for them to not get any further news.
Initially, they stormed out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to help the Black Ink Clan Army at the No-Return Pass, but now that the Humans had captured it, was there any point in heading over as reinforcements?
In the end, they chose to follow Mo Na Ye’s directions. They remained in place to await the arrival of the Human Race Army with the intent to block their path.
The Human Race Army was so powerful that they could even slaughter a Soul Clone of the Supreme One; thus, the reinforcements knew they would surely lose any war they fought against them, but they had no choice.
Fortunately, they were quite a distance away from the No-Return Pass and thus had sufficient time to prepare for the confrontation.
Just as the Pseudo-Royal Lords were in the middle of their discussion though, a Feudal Lord flew over and stood by the side as he greeted them.
“What is it?” A Pseudo-Royal Lord that looked like a giant spider turned to him and asked. It was an extremely peculiar sight as the spider-like Pseudo-Royal Lord had a Human face.
However, the Black Ink Clan came in all manner of strange and peculiar forms, so he was not unique by any means.
“I have something to report, Sirs,” the Feudal Lord respectfully said.
“Go on.” It was a Pseudo-Royal Lord who looked like a small giant with four arms who spoke this time.
The Feudal Lord swiftly reported his findings. It did not count as anything serious. A few of the teams who had been sent out to collect resources should have returned as early as two weeks ago, but had failed to show up, and now even the scouts sent out to check on them could not be contacted anymore.
After hearing the reports, the spider-like Pseudo-Royal Lord frowned and snapped, “You don’t need to interrupt us with such inconsequential matters. Just send out a few more scouts to investigate.”
They were on the Late Ancient Era battlefield where there were a myriad of powerful traps in the form of barriers, seals, and restrictions left in the void. Many of their mining teams and scouts had already gone missing as well prior to this news, so the Pseudo-Royal Lords did not pay much attention to these things.
Therefore, they ignored the Feudal Lord’s concerns.
The Feudal Lord had more to say, but in the end, he feared the Pseudo-Royal Lords too much to continue, so he respectfully took his leave.
He could only do as the Pseudo-Royal Lord had commanded, so once he got back, he sent out a few more scouts and instructed them to investigate the places where the previous teams had gone missing, though he still felt uneasy.
Even though there had been instances where their scouts or teams in charge of collecting resources went missing in the past, it happened far less frequently than it did recently.
At the same time, Yang Kai, who was hidden above the base, slowly opened his eyes.
[It’s time!]
Yang Kai looked down at the base and the Universe Fragments filled with the resting Black Ink Clan Army; then, he opened his palm.
The Space-Time River was circling atop his palm like a snake biting its tail, and in the middle of it was a piece of the Void that had been cut out.
A tiny Great Pass was sealed up inside that piece of the Void, and two figures sat cross-legged inside of it. They looked quite adorable in their miniature state.
As Yang Kai looked at them, the two figures noticed his gaze and looked up at him before rising to their feet.
Yang Kai nodded lightly at them before flicking his hand, causing the Space-Time River to fly out.
In a similar fashion to what had happened when Yang Kai released the World Beads, the Space-Time River began rapidly expanding the moment it left Yang Kai’s grip.
The sudden commotion instantly drew the attention of all from the Black Ink Clansmen.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords, Territory Lords, and Feudal Lords, all sensed that something was happening and quickly looked up.
The sight they saw shocked them to no end.
A large river appeared out of nowhere and rapidly expanded until a massive Great Pass appeared before their eyes. A Pseudo-Royal Lord saw the characters etched into the Great Pass and had to rub his eyes before taking another look to ensure he was not hallucinating.
[Pure Yang Pass!]
They had never seen Pure Yang Pass before, but the intelligence Mo Na Ye sent them before he died mentioned the existence of such a Great Pass.
It was the only Great Pass the Humans had right now and had greatly contributed to their invasion of the No-Return Pass.
[Why would Pure Yang Pass be here? And, why does that strange river that cuts across the void look so familiar?]
After giving it some thought, [Isn’t that great river the exclusive Divine Ability of Yang Kai, the killing star from the Human Race!?]
They were gobsmacked by the sudden turn of events and had not figured out what was happening, but there were always going to be smarter ones in their midst. As such, a voice soon roared so loudly that it echoed in the void.
“The Humans have come! We’re under attack!”
That was enough to shock all from the Black Ink Clan into action.
Although they did not know how the Humans managed to arrive so soon, now was not the time for them to dwell on this conundrum; however, before they could do anything, the massive Pure Yang Pass came crashing down on the Universe Fragments in the centre of their base.
Technically, Pure Yang Pass was many times smaller than even a single Universe Fragment, but when the two met, it was the Universe Fragments that exploded into pieces.
It looked as if someone used a hammer on a watermelon.
The sudden, forceful attack turned the first Universe Fragment into shattered pieces, and the Black Ink Clansmen atop it were thrown into chaos. The unlucky ones were killed upon impact, but most of them were stumbling around and coughing up blood as they had been heavily injured in the collision.
Only those who were at least a Feudal Lord could survive the fallout of such a collision.
At least 100,000 High-Rank Black Ink Clan soldiers died from just this attack alone, and it was only the beginning.
Without the Humans to wield the strength of Pure Yang Pass to its maximum, it was simply an inanimate object that could not do much; however, just as Pure Yang Pass smashed that Universe Fragment to pieces, two figures shot up and swiftly expanded. They instantly turned into giant silhouettes that flanked the Great Pass on either side.
The immense pressure that emanated from the enormous figures made the Black Ink Clan feel as if their souls were shaking and chills ran down their spines.
“Giant Spirit Gods!”
Terror-stricken screams rang out from all directions.
None of them expected to see a Giant Spirit God suddenly appear amidst their ranks, let alone two!
Pure Yang Pass, which was supposed to be back at the No-Return Pass, had shown up here, and two Giant Spirit Gods came with it. The Pseudo-Royal Lords could not fathom how the Humans managed to cross such a vast distance in such a short amount of time, or how they managed to ensure that the Black Ink Clan was completely blindsided by this sudden, fearsome attack.
Secret Techniques shot out at the two Giant Spirit Gods from all directions as the Black Ink Clan reacted instinctively while in panic.
Thus, Ah Da and Ah Er had only just resumed their original forms, but they were already under fierce attack.
Ah Da roared as fury coloured his simple, honest face.
[Ah Da didn’t do anything. Ah Da just showed up here, but everyone is attacking Ah Da! Ah Da knew the Black Ink Clan was bad!]
His roar seemed to form an invisible wall that blocked all the Secret Techniques from the Black Ink Clan, and in the very next moment, he stepped towards them.
Though his massive size made his movement seem rather clumsy, one step was all it took for him to reach the nearest Universe Fragment where he threw out his fist.
Ah Da was much bigger than Pure Yang Pass, almost the same size as the Universe Fragment in front of him, so when his fist struck, the Black Ink Clansmen who were hit directly instantly vaporized, regardless of how powerful they were. There had even been a Pseudo-Royal Lord present, yet he did not manage to escape this fate.
Pseudo-Royal Lords were undeniably strong, but they were still ants compared to a Giant Spirit God’s fist!
Countless others died as well.
Ah Da’s blow created a huge crater initially, and as the force of his punch reverberated out, the entire Universe Fragment soon exploded into dust.
The Black Ink Clansmen cried out as they tried to escape, but they were still affected by the shockwave of Ah Da’s punch and were now either heavily injured or at least dazed, making their struggles almost futile.
An Eighth-Order Master could destroy a Universe Fragment with a single punch, but there was still an enormous difference in destructive force when compared to a Giant Spirit God.
This was the strength of a Giant Spirit God! Right now, apart from Mo, whose power remained enigmatic to all, the Giant Spirit God Clan were the most powerful beings fighting in this war.
Although they were not proficient in the use of Secret Techniques or Divine Abilities, and seemed to be of lower sentience in some ways, they had immense strength.
While Ah Da was busy destroying that Universe Fragment, Ah Er did not stand around idle either. He charged at the defensive barrier the Black Ink Clan had worked so hard to create, and with each kick or punch he landed, lands were destroyed and countless Black Ink Clan soldiers died.
In just a few breaths of time, the void was littered with broken Universe Fragments and Black Ink Strength that had leaked out of the dead Black Ink Clan soldiers.
It was only then that the Pseudo-Royal Lords managed to recover themselves and take action, ordering their Armies to try and stop the two Giant Spirit Gods.
Soon, their attacks started taking effect. Although Giant Spirit Gods were terrifyingly powerful, there were only two of them and their enormous size made them easy targets. The Black Ink Clan reinforcements numbered over 10 million, and as long as they properly coordinated, their combined strength could not be underestimated.
The attacks poured in from all directions. Ah Da and Ah Er’s silhouettes began to look a little unsteady and they could not move as freely either, but that only served to infuriate them even more.
When the Human Race Army attacked the No-Return Pass, they were able to kill the second Black Ink Giant Spirit God by gathering all their strength together. The Black Ink Clan would probably be able to accomplish the same feat if they could group up and arrange themselves the way the Humans had.
Though it had to be said that the Black Ink Giant Spirit God the Humans killed had already been through an intense battle with Ah Da and Ah Er, and thus was already seriously injured. Furthermore, its movement had been restricted as well and it could not dodge the combined assault from the Human Race Army. Even a Black Ink Giant Spirit God could not withstand that level of bombardment.
Ah Da and Ah Er’s situation was a lot better than that Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s. Though the Black Ink Clan kept attacking from all directions, the two Giant Spirit Gods would not be in any mortal danger if the Black Ink Clan failed to unleash a combined assault that was strong enough to overpower them in one blow.
However, considering the heritage of the Black Ink Clan reinforcements, it was within their means to force Ah Da and Ah Er to retreat if they were willing to make some sacrifices.
That would only be possible if nothing unexpected happened, however, and alas, it soon did.
All of a sudden, those on the battlefield detected the fall of a Pseudo-Royal Lord!
An intense fight had broken out on the battlefield and the death of a Pseudo-Royal Lord was not something surprising. The unluckiest of them all had died from the Giant Spirit God’s first strike.
However, what caught the Black Ink Clan’s attention was the fact that the Pseudo-Royal Lord who just died did so a great distance away from the Giant Spirit Gods at a place that did not seem to be under attack.
Furthermore, even if the fallout from the Giant Spirit Gods’ blows had managed to travel that far, how was it possible for a Pseudo-Royal Lord to not be able to block that level of attack?
Before the Black Ink Clan managed to figure out what had just happened, the aura of yet another Pseudo-Royal Lord vanished.
A third and a fourth soon followed…
At last, the Pseudo-Royal Lords realized the situation they had on their hands.
Apart from the two Giant Spirit Gods, there was also a third Master they did not know about who was lurking on the battlefield and assassinating the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were alarmed.
“It’s Yang Kai! He’s here!” One of the smarter Pseudo-Royal Lords roared.
A strange river had cut through the void when Pure Yang Pass and the two Giant Spirit Gods abruptly appeared, and several of the Pseudo-Royal Lords recognised what it was. According to the information Mo Na Ye provided before his death, the river was made out of Dao Strengths and belonged to Yang Kai, the killing star.
He was the most powerful Ninth-Order Master and the one that Mo Na Ye warned them to guard against, for he was an even bigger threat to the Black Ink Clan than the Giant Spirit Gods!
When the Pseudo-Royal Lords in the reinforcement army heard this report, they found it hard to believe that a lone Human, no matter how strong, would pose an even bigger threat to the Black Ink Clan than the Giant Spirit Gods.
Nevertheless, Mo Na Ye was a true Royal Lord and they had to pay serious attention to the last warning he gave them just before he died.
It was only now that the Pseudo-Royal Lords realised Mo Na Ye could have been right.
Though the Giant Spirit Gods were powerful, they were extremely overt in the way they did things. It was much easier to guard against a spear in the light than an arrow in the dark.
As soon as that Pseudo-Royal Lord’s roar rang out, it was followed by an agonising shriek.
The Black Ink Clan were drawn by his cries and quickly looked over, only to find a silhouette fading away behind the Pseudo-Royal Lord who was now sporting a large hole in his chest. Dao Strengths surged from his wound and ate away at his vitality.
“Don’t let him escape!” A Pseudo-Royal Lord yelled as he unleashed his aura and smashed it towards that part of the void.
Many Pseudo-Royal Lords jumped into action and followed suit.
Space rippled and a silhouette which was about to completely fade away reappeared once more. It was a Human who had a long spear in his hand. He looked perfectly at ease despite being surrounded by his enemies.
“You’ve got pretty quick reflexes,” the Human coolly remarked, but the Pseudo-Royal Lords did not hear any semblance of a complimentary tone in his voice.
“Quick! Keep him occupied!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord who shouted earlier was smarter than the others and knew that this was a rare opportunity for them. If they allowed Yang Kai to hide once more, even more of their Masters would meet their doom. Their best option now was to pin him down and stop him from finding a chance to sneak up on any other Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords nearest to Yang Kai swiftly lunged at him from their respective directions, trying to gang up on him.
They attacked as speedily as they could in an impressive display of cooperation for the frantic state they were in.
If it had been any other Ninth-Order Master, they would have been caught in a difficult battle.
However, Yang Kai’s expression remained indifferent as he made a grabbing motion and Dao Strengths rippled in the air as the sound of water echoed.
He summoned his Space-Time River, and it snaked around him like a whip.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were charging at him were taken by surprise and ended up plunging into the river, just like children who drowned by a sudden surge of water. They struggled on the surface of the river for a few moments before sinking in and disappearing.
The river grew fierce as Dao Strengths surged. A few figures could vaguely be seen inside the river, clearly fighting for their lives.
Soon, the commotion died down.
Yang Kai flicked his wrist and a few figures flew out of the river.
When the Black Ink Clan saw this, their hearts sank and their expressions hardened.
The figures that fell out were the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had been swept up just now, but they were all now covered in mortal wounds and their auras had vanished.
All it took was a few moments and all those Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed!
It was an unbelievable display of power!
The Pseudo-Royal Lords who were still charging towards Yang Kai immediately halted, thanking the Supreme One for being further away as they had not been dragged into the strange river. Otherwise, they would have numbered among the dead Pseudo-Royal Lords as well.
All of the Pseudo-Royal Lords began to hesitate.
Although all the information from Mo Na Ye about Yang Kai had warned them not to underestimate him, none of them had imagined he would be this terrifying.
“Good, good!” The Pseudo-Royal Lords were terrified and uncertain, but Yang Kai felt spirited.
He had been hiding his true strength all these years, which meant he could not unleash his full power whenever he joined the attacks on the No-Return Pass, and he hated every moment of it.
Even though he no longer tried to conceal his ability during the last battle, he had been facing off against a Black Ink Giant Spirit God and he did not manage to have a true face-off with it, so he did not get to experience the rush of displaying his full strength.
He killed Mo Na Ye by concealing himself with the help of Thunder Shadow’s Divine Ability, and ever since then, he had been patiently waiting…
Until today…
The death of these Pseudo-Royal Lords enabled him to see just how much stronger he had become.
In the past, whenever he used the Space-Time River, Yang Kai was able to capture multiple Pseudo-Royal Lords at once but he could not kill them off so easily. He had to enter the river personally to finish off his prey.
But he no longer had to do so. He now had complete control over the life and death of Pseudo-Royal Lords who entered the Space-Time River!
This was the change that happened when one’s heritage grew stronger. It was an intoxicating feeling.
“Kill him!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord who gave the command was retreating as he roared.
An endless stream of Secret Techniques shot out at Yang Kai, but they all hit nothing as his figure simply faded away.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords pushed their Divine Senses wildly, but they could not detect any trace of Yang Kai. The chaotic battlefield was filled with all kinds of fluctuating forces and energies, so the Pseudo-Royal Lords completely lost track of predator among them.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai soon reappeared behind the Pseudo-Royal Lord who had given the command, his long spear casually piercing through the latter’s head.
When the two Giant Spirits Gods appeared, an intense battle broke out at the Black Ink Clan base.
Though initially flustered and caught off-guard, the Black Ink Clan reinforcement Army slowly regained composure and began working together to suppress the Giant Spirit Gods.
It was immensely difficult, but at least they did not become victims of an outright massacre.
The Giant Spirit Gods were beginning to show signs of injury as well. Large boulder-like objects fell from their bodies as the Black Ink Clan Army kept up a continuous bombardment of attacks.
The fact that the reinforcement Army was able to come up with a response in such a short amount of time made it clear they were indeed elites of the Black Ink Clan.
Alas, the two Giant Spirit Gods were not what the Black Ink Clan felt most challenged by. No matter how powerful the Giant Spirits Gods were, they were out in the open and they could deal with them accordingly.
The biggest threat, however, was the Human killing star, who was hiding in the dark and could strike out with extreme lethality at any given moment!
Yang Kai, the killing star, was able to move around essentially undetectable. Even the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not track him down, and each time he appeared, at least one Pseudo-Royal Lord would die!
It was their first time clashing against an opponent like Yang Kai, but despite only a short time passing, he was already akin to a looming shadow of death that hung over all their heads!
He did not attack anyone other than the Pseudo-Royal Lords, but in just a short span, 20 such Masters had died, with the surviving ones helpless to deal with him.
Had it been possible, the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ best option would have been to hide among the rest of the Army, but due to the drawbacks of the Source Fusion Technique, they couldn’t restrain their auras. They were like bright lights in a dark tunnel, their presence glaringly obvious to anyone despite being in a sea of over 10 million other Black Ink Clansmen.
They could neither defeat Yang Kai nor find him. It felt as if they had no way of overcoming this crisis.
“I want to know what the situation is at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. I will spare the life of the one who tells me what I wish to know!”
All of a sudden, the Human’s voice rang out on the battlefield for all the Black Ink Clan Army to hear.
One of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had an abrupt change of expression as his eyes glinted and he threw his fist towards a certain part of the void, “He’s here!”
He punched with all his strength and the void shattered like a mirror, but there was nothing there.
Then, the Pseudo-Royal Lord heard Yang Kai’s voice sounding tauntingly next to his ear.
“Wrong answer!”
There was a flash of light as the local space solidified. The Pseudo-Royal Lord was still in the same pose, his clenched fist extended out, but his head had been separated from his body and black blood was now gushing out of his neck, dyeing the void black.
“Does anyone else wish to speak?” Yang Kai’s voice rang out again. Two Pseudo-Royal Lords confidently unleashed attacks towards the spot where the voice came from, but as soon as they did so, Yang Kai appeared behind them and thrust his spear through their backs.
Before the rest of the Pseudo-Royal Lords could rush over, Yang Kai’s silhouette disappeared once more.
“Maybe my previous question was a little too broad, so I’ll be more specific. Has Mo woken up yet? What’s the situation like with the Human Race Army based outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction?”
A hot-tempered Pseudo-Royal Lord immediately hollered, “You want to know what happened to the Army over there? They’re all dead, and you’re next!”
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Kai appeared in front of him.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord had been secretly searching for Yang Kai’s location all along, but he did not expect the Human to be arrogant enough to show up in this manner, so he was caught off-guard.
By the time he was able to react, Yang Kai’s hand had flashed out and tightly gripped his forehead.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord was entirely shocked by what happened next. All at once, he felt as if his entire body was mysteriously suppressed and sealed by a strange force. Despite merely being held by the forehead, he could not fight back at all and Yang Kai ended up whisking him off just like that.
All the Masters from the Black Ink Clan nearby gasped in shock and fury as they sent forth a torrent of Secret Techniques aimed at Yang Kai.
Nevertheless, their attacks hit nothing as Yang Kai’s silhouette flickered across the battlefield without ever truly solidifying in one spot.
Yang Kai flitted around to avoid the Black Ink Clan’s attacks, all the while holding onto the Pseudo-Royal Lord by the latter’s forehead. He eyed the Pseudo-Royal Lord and stated matter-of-factly, “The Humans have a saying, ‘If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all’. You’ll have to pay the price for not watching your tongue!”
Alas, the Pseudo-Royal Lord was a rebellious fellow, so despite being subjugated, he had no intention of compromising. He sneered and screeched, “What price would you make me pay, huh? It’s just death! So what if you kill me? You’ll never be able to stand against the Supreme One! Black Ink is Eternal!”
“Who said I’m going to kill you?” Yang Kai eyed him coolly.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord abruptly felt a thick malice engulf him, one so intense that even though he was fully prepared to die, he could not help shuddering in response.
“You just came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so I’m assuming you’ve never experienced Purifying Light before. Well, I’m in a generous mood today, so I’ll help you broaden your horizons!” Having said that, the two marks on Yang Kai’s hand became visible, and in the very next moment, yellow and blue light flowed out and wrapped around the Pseudo-Royal Lord.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord immediately had a look of horror on his face.
It was true that the reinforcement Army had only just recently left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and had never encountered Purifying Light before, but they had heard of it and how it could be used to counter Black Ink Strength.
Black Ink Strength was able to corrupt anything and everything it touched, but the Heavens were fair in all things, so no matter how strong a particular energy was, there was always something that countered it.
Primordial Light and Darkness were both born at the dawn of the Universe. Neither could exist without the other, but both also perfectly suppressed one another!
The yellow and blue lights swirled together and quickly condensed into a pure white light.
A sizzling sound was heard and all at once, the Pseudo-Royal Lord felt as if he had been tossed into a boiling pot of oil as Black Ink Strength gushed out of his body and evaporated as it came into contact with the Purifying Light.
Throughout this process, the Pseudo-Royal Lord underwent such overwhelming pain that he could not stop screaming in agony.
His tormented cries echoed across the battlefield and struck fear into the hearts of all the Black Ink Clansmen.
The attacks on Yang Kai did not cease as the Black Ink Clan continued their attempts to track him down, unleashing all their most powerful attacks wherever they suspected he might be.
However, it made no difference. While Yang Kai could not hide himself while torturing the Pseudo-Royal Lord, his masterful use of Space Principles allowed him to freely weave around the Black Ink Clan’s attacks.
In fact, thanks to Yang Kai’s sneak manoeuvring, a sizable number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan ended up getting caught in friendly fire instead.
As for the Pseudo-Royal Lord that Yang Kai captured, he had nearly screamed himself hoarse as his aura continuously weakened.
In the end, he could not take it anymore and growled hoarsely, “Kill me! Kill me!”
He finally realised that there were fates worse than death.
Yang Kai carefully adjusted the strength of Purifying Light and brought the Pseudo-Royal Lord before him, “Killing you is no problem at all,” he quietly said, “Just tell me what’s happening at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and you won’t have to suffer this torment any longer.”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord’s lips quivered as he howled through his pain, “The Human Race Army has been wiped out and the Supreme One has woken up!”
Yang Kai’s gaze turned cold.
“Kill me! I told you what you wanted to know,” the Pseudo-Royal Lord roared hoarsely.
“But, what you told me differs from what I know.”
“I’m telling you the truth! It’s all true!”
Yang Kai did not answer. Regardless of whether or not the Suppressing Black Ink Army was still alive, there was no doubt that Mo had not awakened yet. If Mo was fully awake, the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction would have been shattered and the reinforcements sent out would have been many times larger and had true Royal Lords leading them.
[Even at a time like this, this Pseudo-Royal Lord still wants to try and trick me, huh? Either he doesn’t know what’s happening over there, or he doesn’t wish to tell me.]
Yang Kai sighed. He knew there was no hope of him extracting any useful information about the situation over there out of the Black Ink Clan now.
The reinforcements had chosen to remain in this place to put up a fight against the Human Race Army after hearing about the situation at the No-Return Pass. Thus, it was most likely that they were already prepared to die, so it was unrealistic to think he could dig out any information from them.
That Pseudo-Royal Lord was still bathing in Purifying Light and his aura had now dropped precipitously. Even the aura of a High-Rank Black Ink Clan was stronger than his now, so Yang Kai tossed him at the group of Pseudo-Royal Lords who were swarming over as a barrage of attacks shot out at him.
As the attacks exploded, the Pseudo-Royal Lord turned into dust.
Once Yang Kai’s hand was free, he immediately turned around and summoned the Space-Time River which came crashing down on those who were chasing after him.
The long river was like a beast that devoured everything in its path as it swallowed up a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords. Dao Strengths then surged and wiped out their vitality.
Meanwhile, a group of Pseudo-Royal Lords were standing on a certain Universe Fragment. They did not join the hunt against Yang Kai and instead gathered in the distance to observe the situation.
After seeing the way a single Human and two Giant Spirit Gods sent their entire Army into upheaval, the Pseudo-Royal Lord in command let out a long sigh before saying, “We can’t lose all our forces here. Our mission is to cripple the Human Race Army. There’s no point trying to put up a fight against these three.”
Based on the current strength of the Black Ink Clan Army, it was impossible for them to kill the two Giant Spirit Gods. Certainly they could injure these two Giant Spirit Gods, but once the latter felt threatened, they would simply run away and the Black Ink Clan had absolutely no way to stop them.
The same applied to Yang Kai, the killing star.
Since the Black Ink Clan had no way of stopping their three opponents from escaping, and no way of killing them, this was an entirely futile fight that would only result in casualties on their side.
The other Pseudo-Royal Lords nodded in agreement.
“Give the order for some to stay behind and keep these three occupied, as for the others… evacuate at once!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord quickly came to a decision.
“Where should we go?” A Pseudo-Royal Lord asked.
The one who first spoke stayed silent for a moment before looking in the direction of the No-Return Pass, “We’ll go out and meet the Human Race Army ourselves!”
At first, the rest were confused, but they soon came to a realization.
This was probably their only option now. They had to clash with the Human Race Army as soon as possible; that way, even if they all died, they would still manage to fulfil their mission!
The order to withdraw went out at once, and despite the chaos of the situation, the Black Ink Clan Army was able to maintain some semblance of order as they prepared to retreat.
According to their estimates, they had to leave at least 30% of their forces behind to keep the two Giant Spirit Gods and the killing star occupied. That was the only way they could carve out enough room for the rest of the Army to leave safely and carry out their mission.
This decision pained the majority of them, but they had no choice.
The Pseudo-Royal Lord who served as the Commander was standing atop a Universe Fragment and surveying the bloody battlefield with an icy glare. Though he knew he would never get to seek vengeance himself, he still wanted to sear the killing star’s image into the recesses of his mind.
“Sir!” Suddenly, a Feudal Lord flew over and landed in front of the Pseudo-Royal Lords to frantically report, “Sirs, we have found signs of a Human Race Army!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were startled.
“Which direction?” The commanding Pseudo-Royal Lord quickly asked.
“That direction,” The Feudal Lord pointed it out.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords all turned to look, and sure enough, they spotted hazy figures far off in the depths of the void.
It was a great distance away, so they could not see clearly, but it was undoubtedly a Human Race Army, a very large one.
“Excellent!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord cheered thunderously. He did not seem panicked by the sudden report; instead, he looked pleased.
Regardless of how the Human Race Army managed to arrive in such a short amount of time when it should have taken them over a decade to reach this place, it was precisely what the Black Ink Clan hoped to see.
When they left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, their initial mission was to aid the Black Ink Clan Army at the No-Return Pass by attacking the Humans from the rear. They wanted to sneak up on the enemy, catch the Humans off-guard, and slaughter them all.
However, when the No-Return Pass was lost, their mission changed. All they needed to do now was to fight the Humans who were heading for Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and to stop at nothing whilst doing so. Neither the outcome nor their survival mattered.
The sudden appearance of Yang Kai and the two Giant Spirit Gods threw their initial plans into disarray, and they were forced to split their troops in two. They had to leave some behind to keep the three menaces occupied while the others headed for the No-Return Pass to confront the Human Race Army as soon as possible.
No one expected the Human Race Army would be here already!
The enemy was delivering themselves up, so after being startled for a moment, the Black Ink Clansmen were filled up with a thirst for battle.
The Humans used the strength of their killing star and the two Giant Spirit Gods to disrupt their position and deployments before sending in their Army to launch a surprise attack. It looked as if the Humans had planned all this from the start. It was perilous to face such an enemy on their terms.
Still, what was there for them to fear?
The Black Ink Clan existed solely to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Supreme One.
“Sir!” Yet another voice called out from the distance, and a second Feudal Lord joined them as he quickly reported, “Sirs, we have sighted a Human Race Army!”
The Pseudo-Royal Lord Commander nodded, “I know.”
The Feudal Lord who just came was completely taken aback. He rushed over as soon as he received the news, so how did the Pseudo-Royal Lords find out about it beforehand?
Nevertheless, he dared not make any comments. He stood aside and glanced at the first Feudal Lord, but when their gazes met, they seemed to realize something.
“Sir!” Once again, a Feudal Lord rushed over from a different direction.
At last, the Pseudo-Royal Lords also realised that the situation was not as simple as they thought it was.
The Human Race Army was not coming from just one direction.
Armies were rushing towards their base from all directions!
They were completely surrounded.
It was hard to imagine how the Humans managed to achieve this. The Black Ink Clan Army numbered over 10 million elites so it should have been impossible to box them in without someone noticing something earlier on.
Finally, some of the Pseudo-Royal Lords recalled the reports they had dismissed the past few days, ones about scouts and resource-gathering teams failing to return on time.
From the looks of it now, the missing Black Ink Clansmen must have been discovered by the Humans and eliminated.
They never thought that the Humans could arrive here so soon, so they had been preparing for a battle to break out a decade later, that was why they were not more vigilant and failed to realize the Humans were closing in on them.
“Those deplorable Humans!” The Pseudo-Royal Lord Commander exploded in rage. Even though he wanted to take on the Human Race Armies as soon as possible, he did not welcome being plotted against this way. After thinking in silence for a moment though, he shouted, “Pass down the order, we launch a full-scale attack in that direction!”
He pointed in the direction of the No-Return Pass, which was also the direction the first Feudal Lord pointed out in his report.
Although the Black Ink Clan was being besieged from all directions, the one silver lining of the situation was that the Human Race’s strength was scattered as they had split themselves up into over 10 different forces. Even though this allowed them to surround the Black Ink Clan, it also meant that the Black Ink Clan could target these smaller Armies individually!
As long as they moved quickly enough, they had enough heritage to wipe out a few of the Human Race’s Armies. That would be enough to deal a crushing blow to the Humans and force them to cut their crusade short!
The Black Ink Clan were already making preparations to withdraw, so after receiving the latest order from the commanding Pseudo-Royal Lord, they instantly split into two. 30% stayed behind to keep Yang Kai and the Giant Spirit Orders occupied while the rest charged at the Human Race Army that was approaching from the direction of the No-Return Pass.
The Human Race Army coming from that direction was the Purple Feather Army.
Wu Qing was originally the only Ninth-Order Master in the Purple Feather Army, but ever since the battle at the No-Return Pass, the Humans had 20 new Ninth-Order Masters, two of whom were added to the Purple Feather Army. They were a man and a woman, an actual Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair. Even if one searched the entirety of the Human Race’s history, it was exceedingly rare to find a precedent of two such people growing so powerful together.
It was hard enough to become a Ninth-Order Master as few ever had the possibility of doing so. If it had not been for the benefits gained from the World Tree clone, it would usually take several thousand, if not tens of thousands of years for someone with the aptitude to become a Ninth-Order Master to appear in a Great Force. Thus, the years and generations that separated the Ninth-Order Masters made it near impossible for two to have a Senior Brother and Junior Sister relationship. That all changed with the appearance of the Star Boundary.
After several millennia of fighting together, this pair could basically read each other’s thoughts. Even when they were still Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters, they had already carved out a name for themselves on the battlefield as numerous Feudal and Territory Lords had died at their hands. They had even caught Mo Na Ye’s attention as he had set up traps that were targeted specifically at them.
The many years of war between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan gave birth to a plethora of both celebratory and sorrowful stories, but it also led to the birth of many remarkable people, and these two were ranked among them.
Right now, they were standing atop a Purifying Black Ink Battleship together with Wu Qing, their Senior, as all three were observing the battlefield.
When Wu Qing saw that the Black Ink Clan Army had chosen to charge in their direction, his eyes flashed with displeasure.
Whether it was on purpose or not, the Purple Feather Army had been singled out by the enemy as the weak point that they could easily run over.
“Prepare for battle!” Wu Qing loudly commanded.
The Purple Feather Army that had been travelling at great speed instantly repositioned themselves.
They did not take up a defensive formation, but rather an offensive one!
Despite facing off against their opponents whose numbers were several times greater than their own, the Purple Feather Army showed no fear. Every single one of them was able to stay composed as they waited for the moment to strike.
After going through numerous battles, both large and small, throughout the past few millennia, they had built up their spirits through their continued victories and could move as one body.
The Black Ink Clan Army was not about to face the weak Army they believed it to be, but a giant beast who could swallow everything in its path.
Murderous intent flared as the distance between the two Armies rapidly shrank!
All at once, multi-coloured flashes of light shot out from the Purple Feather Army and rained down on the approaching Black Ink Clan.
At the same time, streaks of black Secret Techniques shot out from the Black Ink Clan Army towards the Purple Feather Army.
The fight had officially begun.
Scores of auras from the Black Ink Clan were extinguished by the bursts of light, and even the Pseudo-Royal Lords could not let their guard down. They were completely focused on dodging the Secret Techniques. In a situation like this, even a minor slip-up could spell their doom.
As for the Purple Feather Army, though they suffered some losses as well, it was nothing compared to what the Black Ink Clan suffered.
It was not surprising as the Human Race had the protection of Warships and Spirit Arrays, while the Black Ink Clan did not.
In a head-on battle between two Armies where Secret Techniques and artifacts were exchanged at long range, the side with stronger defences had far more of an advantage.
It was akin to a mortal battle where both Armies had archers but only one had shields. Naturally, the one with shields suffered far fewer casualties.
In this case, the Humans were the ones with the shields!
Evidently, the Black Ink Clan picked up on this as well. They had to withstand the constant decrease in their numbers as they tried to hasten their attacks. Since they lost out in terms of defence, they were forced to expend some of their energy to defend themselves in order to counter the Humans’ advantage.
After a few rounds of Secret Techniques were exchanged, the fearsome armies finally clashed in the void.
By numbers alone, the Humans were certainly at a disadvantage, but they were still able to halt the Black Ink Clan Army’s charge by force.
The Purple Feather Army seemed to turn into a massive boulder which could not be moved.
No one knew how they did it, but they did.
“Black Ink Clan bastards, suffer death!” Wu Qing’s bellow rang out. He was still standing atop the Purifying Black Ink Battleship when he first started speaking, but by the time he finished, he had already charged into the Black Ink Clan Army. His weapon flashed as he cut down a Pseudo-Royal Lord before the latter could even register what was happening.
Black blood splattered everywhere as a powerful aura flared up before disappearing.
Countless Masters from the Black Ink Clan shuddered in fear.
Though the Pseudo-Royal Lords were resolute in their determination to sacrifice everything for the Supreme One, they still felt chills down their spine when they saw how terrifying Wu Qing was.
At last, they realised that the Human Race did not only have Yang Kai as their solitary killing star. The Ninth-Order Master in front of them now was also immensely powerful!
Wu Qing was a veteran Ninth-Order Master, and out of all the current Ninth-Order Masters, Xiao Xiao was the only one who had more experience than him.
However, Xiao Xiao was proficient in the Yin-Yang Grand Dao and specialised in crowd control rather than single-combat. The same could not be said for Wu Qing.
Thus, among all the Ninth-Order Masters, Wu Qing was second only to Yang Kai in terms of individual combat strength.
Wu Qing made a show of strength by channelling everything he had into the attack. A Pseudo-Royal Lord who was caught off-guard would never have been able to defend himself against it.
[Off to a good start!]
However, in the very next breath, Wu Qing was surrounded by numerous Masters from the Black Ink Clan. After being momentarily stunned, they swiftly rushed over to gang up on him. Wu Qing showed no fear as he slashed out around him. As Dao Strength rippled through the void, his formidable power burst out and turned his enemies into rivers of blood.
The other Human Race Masters followed in Wu Qing’s footsteps as they rushed into the enemy lines, including the two new Ninth-Order Masters.
Their figures lunged forth as two flashes of light as they headed straight for the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
The Junior Sister’s expression was grim as her hands swiftly moved to unleash a mysterious strength that filled the void, causing the Pseudo-Royal Lords to instantly feel as though their Souls were becoming unstable. They saw stars circling their heads as if they had been hit by an invisible hammer.
The Senior Brother seized this chance to close in with his sword. Sword light shrouded his body as he cut through the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Black blood splattered as one of the Pseudo-Royal Lords was relieved of his head, while the others were heavily injured. This was all accomplished with a single strike.
By the time the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were lucky enough to survive could finally react, the Senior Brother’s sword light was slashing down on them.
Agonising screams echoed across the battlefield.
Of this Senior Brother and Junior Sister pair, one excelled in the Soul Dao while the other excelled in the Sword Dao. Furthermore, they were able to act as one as they fought on the battlefield, which meant they could kill their enemies even more efficiently than Wu Qing, the veteran Ninth-Order Master.
Meanwhile, the Eighth-Order Masters quickly got into their Battle Formations and challenged the remaining Pseudo-Royal Lords, causing intense fights to break out in all directions.
The battle was joined in an instant as the two Armies fought with dogged fervour.
In this battle, the Human Race were both advantaged and disadvantaged at the same time.
One of the things working in their favour was that these Pseudo-Royal Lords had a critical difference from the Pseudo-Royal Lords from the No-Return Pass. While they were all similarly powerful, they differed when it came to experience.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords from the No-Return Pass had fought against the Human Race for hundreds of years at least, and with the help of the information they gleaned from Black Ink Disciples, they were able to mimic the Humans and even learn to form Battle Formations.
Although they could only form a simple Three Fortunes Formation, it would still require 20 to 30 Eighth-Order Masters in Five Elements or Six Paths Formations to contain them.
That was the reason why the Humans had such a hard time during the battles at the No-Return Pass. Even a simple Three Fortunes Formation had given the Pseudo-Royal Lords a huge boost in combat efficiency and allowed them to occupy many more Human Masters.
However, that was not the case for the Pseudo-Royal Lords who just came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
They did not know how to form Battle Formations and their combat experience was quite lacking, so even though they worked together in certain situations, each of them basically acted independently, oftentimes getting in each other’s way rather than providing support to one another.
As soon as the clashing started, the Eighth-Order Masters keenly picked up on this and were thrilled.
If the Eighth-Order Masters formed a Five Elements Formation, they were just barely able to put up a fight against a Pseudo-Royal Lord. A Six Paths Formation would mean that they would stand on equal footing, while a Seven Stars Formation made them even more powerful than their opponent.
As of now, the Humans had quite several Eighth-Order Masters. This was thanks to their steady accumulation all these years, as well as the Ordinary Grade Innate Open Heaven Pills from the Universe Furnace. Each Army had at least 2,000 Eighth-Order Masters, some even had 3,000.
With so many Eighth-Order Masters, it was easy enough to form Battle Formations and contain the Pseudo-Royal Lords.
Nevertheless, when it came to sheer numbers, the Purple Feather Army paled in comparison to the Black Ink Clan Army as the latter had nearly ten times as many Masters.
Therefore, even though the Purple Feather Army was able to put up a fight for now, they could not keep it up for long.
Fortunately, they did not need to. The other Human Armies were closing in from all directions, so all they had to do was hold out for a little longer, and their reinforcements would be able to surround the Black Ink Clan completely. When the time came, the Black Ink Clan would be trapped.
The difference in numbers meant that the Purple Feather Army suffered increasing injuries and casualties, but in comparison to them, the Black Ink Clan suffered the same in far greater numbers.
The three Ninth-Order Masters weaved through the enemy as they killed Pseudo-Royal Lords again and again. Wu Qing was covered in wounds and the Senior Brother and Junior Sister duo had also turned pale from overexertion.
The wreckage of the broken Warships floated everywhere as blood and torn limbs scattered all over.
Nevertheless, the Purple Feather Army did not retreat. They maintained their lines and held fast to keep the enemy rooted in place.
The other Human Armies were rushing over to provide aid from all directions with the Ninth-Order Masters in the lead and would soon arrive.
The Black Ink Clan Army was slowly weakening. Initially, the Pseudo-Royal Lords figured that their numerical advantage would be enough for them to triumph over the Purple Feather Army, with a high chance of them being able to wipe this Human Army out entirely.
As long as they did so, they would be able to create a gap in the encirclement and gain a better position to battle against the other Human Race Armies.
Alas, they did not expect the Purple Feather Army to be able to keep the battlefield fixed in this area despite being outnumbered nearly 10 times.
[Are Humans really so resilient?]
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were somewhat dazed, [No wonder the ones who first left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction couldn’t exterminate the Humans and were soundly defeated after years of battle.]
As the stalemate continued, the Black Ink Clan Army soon began to despair.
The other Human Race Armies had arrived, swarming over from all directions and surrounding the Black Ink Clan Army.
An even more intense battle broke out then as both parties numbered over 10 million now as they fought viciously.
The Black Ink Clan Army was already weakened by the previous battle but the Humans remained spirited, so the outcome was clear.
Furthermore, the Humans had 29 Ninth-Order Masters while the Black Ink Clan did not even have a single true Royal Lord. Their Pseudo-Royal Lords did not know how to form Battle Formations either.
Thus, the clash soon became a one-sided massacre for the Black Ink Clan.
Meanwhile, back at the Black Ink Clan’s base where the fight first broke out, Ah Da and Ah Er were stomping about, slaughtering the Black Ink Clan Army in droves.
Though a large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan remained here to keep them occupied, they were only 30% of the whole reinforcement Army and it was hard for them to put up a fight against two Giant Spirit Gods.
Moreover, Yang Kai was still weaving about undetected among them as he snuck up on their Masters and assassinated them.
Soon, Yang Kai killed off the last of the Pseudo-Royal Lords who had stayed behind, and without them, the Black Ink Clan’s attacks became little more than tickles and scratches to Ah Da and Ah Er.
Since the battle had been decided, Yang Kai returned to Pure Yang Pass.
The Great Pass had been floating along on the battlefield without anyone paying any attention to it after Yang Kai first let it out and sent it crashing into a Universe Fragment.
Until now.
Instantly, somewhere on the Pure Yang Pass, Yang Kai’s Divine Sense surged like gushing water, and soon, he took in the situation across the void.
[It’s the perfect time.]
A torrent of World Force was unleashed and a huge Array lit up on the spot where Yang Kai stood. A mysterious energy burst forth in all directions.
12 Universe Fragments were scattered across the void outside the battlefield.
These 12 Universe Fragments were the ones that Yang Kai brought from the No-Return Pass after turning them into World Beads. He restored them to their original size once they arrived in this area.
The 12 Universe Fragments were not simply tools to transport the Armies, they were also a crucial part of the plan to surround the enemy.
The Human Race Army had planned all of this before they left the No-Return Pass.
Just as Yang Kai activated the Grand Array on Pure Yang Pass, the Void Guard that remained on the 12 Universe Fragments did the same to the arrays that had been set up there too.
All at once, the 12 Universe Fragments lit up brightly as they connected with Pure Yang Pass.
It was incredibly difficult to harness the strength of such a huge Array. Just creating it had cost an enormous amount of resources, while powering it was also not cheap, but it was all worth it for the sake of eliminating the enemy once and for all.
The connection between the Universe Fragments and Pure Yang Pass kept growing stronger, and once Yang Kai felt it reach a certain critical limit, he surged his Space Principles.
The Void Guard picked up on this signal and instantly followed suit.
All at once, there was a visible ripple that started from Pure Yang Pass and rapidly spread out over several millions of kilometres, sweeping past the two clashing Armies as it filled every corner of the void.
This ripple was not deadly in any way, nor did it disrupt the two Armies either; however, after it spread out, something seemed to change on the battlefield.
The 12 Universe Fragments scattered across the void had been linked together with Pure Yang Pass to seal the entire battlefield. A massive section of the void had become a cage, and as long as the Array held strong, nothing could escape.
This was a massive battle involving millions of soldiers on each side. No matter who had the upper hand, it was still going to be hard to completely annihilate the other side. There were bound to be those who managed to escape.
To prevent that from happening, the Humans came up with a plan beforehand.
If some of the Black Ink Clansmen did manage to flee, they would surely be a threat to the ones left behind at the No-Return Pass as only a few tens of thousands of Masters had stayed back. What’s more, those Masters were all heavily wounded and not as powerful as they once were.
The Humans were determined to slaughter every single Black Ink Clansman here in one battle!
Thus, Yang Kai was personally standing guard at the Array Core, and as long as he did not die, there was no way of lifting the sealing Array.
Furthermore, even as he stood guard in the middle of Pure Yang Pass, he was still able to take part in the battle.
Thanks to the power of the Array, Yang Kai could monitor the entire situation out on the battlefield. It was a mysterious feeling for him as it felt as though he was observing the battle from a different dimension.
Since he could see what was happening, it meant that he could partake in the battle as well.
Thus, out on the battlefield, there were frequent attacks that seemed to come from out of nowhere. These attacks would smash the Masters from the Black Ink Clan into pieces and many of the Humans who had been caught in a perilous situation were saved, to the confusion of everyone.
There was no suspense in this battle. The Human Race spent over a decade retaking the No-Return Pass, but the outcome of this fight against the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army had been determined right from the start.
The portion of the Black Ink Clan Army that stayed back to keep the two Giant Spirit Gods occupied was the first to crumble. After all of the Pseudo-Royal Lords had been killed, there was no point in continuing a hopeless fight.
Many of the surviving Masters wanted to flee.
Alas, the surrounding space had been sealed up and they could not escape. They were doomed to meet their end here.
On the main battlefield, the 12 Armies successfully surrounded the Black Ink Clan and were now slowly but steadily eliminating them.
It was ironic that the Black Ink Clan Army’s plan was being carried out by the Humans instead.
Once the equilibrium between the two sides was broken, death was the only fate awaiting the Black Ink Clan.
One by one, the Pseudo-Royal Lords died, and once they were all gone, the Territory Lords were next. Then, the Feudal Lords…
The battle lasted for a dozen days before it finally came to a close.
Now that it was over, the Humans began focusing on their recuperation as they counted the casualties.
The Purple Feather Army had suffered catastrophic losses!
This was the biggest loss for the Human Race in this battle.
Most of the casualties occurred when the Purple Feather Army was holding down the Black Ink Clan Army before the other Armies arrived.
A heavy price had to be paid for an Army to hold out against an enemy 10 times its size.
Nevertheless, it was a worthwhile price to pay.
Due to the various setups and arrangements made prior to the battle, the Humans were able to kill every single one of the reinforcement Army that came out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. They had completely wiped out the threat that this reinforcement Army could have posed.
Once the battle ended, Yang Kai released the Grand Array that suppressed and sealed the local space, and at the same time, the 12 Universe Fragments that had been turned into Array Nodes shattered into dust as well. It was the backlash from the strength of the Spirit Array, and even Yang Kai could not stop that from happening.
The Ninth-Order Masters gathered back at Pure Yang Pass. Many of them were injured, especially the three from Purple Feather Army.
Mi Jing Lun, who was seated at the helm, had a worried expression, “You wish to go on ahead first, Junior Brother?”
Yang Kai had just announced to the group that he intended to leave first and head for the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
He nodded and said, “Something must’ve happened at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so I want to go and take a look. Furthermore, we don’t know what’s happening with the Suppressing Black Ink Army either.”
The Humans had too little intel on their hands. The only thing Yang Kai could be sure of was that the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction had not been broken yet as true Royal Lords would have appeared as well if it did.
However, he was worried about the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s predicament. They were a team of elite Masters who were in charge of dealing with the Black Ink Clan who escaped from the Grand Restriction to ease the pressure on Wu Kuang.
The Army of over 10 million that had escaped was too much for the Suppressing Black Ink Army alone to have stopped, so it was inevitable that some terrible fate had befallen them.
Mi Jing Lun and the others knew that many of Yang Kai’s family and Disciples were part of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, so they understood what he was feeling right now.
As it was, Yang Kai had already shown a great deal of righteousness when he chose to remain here and fight with the rest of the Human Race Army despite knowing that the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement Army had escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Mi Jing Lun thus spoke up, “Since their reinforcement Army escaped from the Grand Restriction, things would not be peaceful there. I’m sure there would be enemy forces outside the Grand Restriction as well. How can you go up against them alone, Junior Brother? Why don’t you wait a few days and head out with the rest of the Army? It won’t be long… Just 10 days will do!”
Yang Kai shook his head, “Everyone has just been through an arduous battle, and though it was not the most intense we’ve experienced, everyone is exhausted. 10 days won’t be enough to recover; they’ll need to rest and recuperate for longer than that. Also, if I head over alone, I can hide my tracks and act according to the situation.”
Seeing as how Mi Jing Lun wanted to continue talking him out of it, Yang Kai added, “I’ll take some of the Void Guard with me and finish setting up the Space Arrays along the way. We’re only a few years distance away from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, so once the Space Arrays have finished being arranged, everyone should more or less have recovered as well and it would be just in time for them to proceed. This is the best arrangement, Senior Brother.”
Mi Jing Lun had more to say, but in the end, he nodded in agreement, “You’re right, but it will be hard on you, Junior Brother.”
“I’m just doing what I must!” Yang Kai got to his feet, “I’ll go and make the preparations.”
In reality, there was not much he needed to prepare. He simply got Li Wu Yi to select a group of Void Guards who would be leaving with him before sealing up Pure Yang Pass and the two Giant Spirit Gods.
Both Pure Yang Pass and the Giant Spirit Gods were massive and could not be sent through the Space Arrays in their original forms. Yang Kai had to seal them inside a World Bead to accomplish that.
The 12 Universe Fragments he used earlier had turned to dust, but thankfully, there was no lack of Universe Fragments in the void. As such, Yang Kai randomly moved one over and placed Pure Yang Pass as well as the two Giant Spirit Gods on it.
Then, with the use of Space Principles, he refined it into a World Bead and passed it to Mi Jing Lun for safekeeping.
Once everything was settled, Yang Kai took 20 Void Guard into his Small Universe before stepping out into the void.
He kept moving onward without stopping at all…
The emotions that Yang Kai had been suppressing for the past six months finally welled up again. He desperately wanted to hurry on over to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction as soon as possible and see what was happening for himself.
Several days later, he stopped and opened the portal to his Small Universe, bringing two Void Guards out.
“I’ll leave things here to you,” Yang Kai said before carrying on with his journey.
The two Void Guard sent him off with a bow, and once he was gone, they began setting up the Space Array.
A few days later, Yang Kai let out two more Void Guards.
This scene repeated itself all along the way as the Void Guard arranged the Space Arrays that would lead to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
In just over a month, Yang Kai traversed across the Late Ancient Era battlefield and arrived at the Spiritless Land.
It was an empty void with no trace of life. Even the strength of the Void which could literally be found anywhere in the Universe was incredibly weak here.
Yang Kai was extremely close to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction now; all he had to do was travel a little further and he would arrive at the Grand Restriction, which had been in existence for millions of years.
His Small Universe opened up and Li Wu Yi and another Void Guard stepped out. They were the last two.
“Set up the Space Array here but don’t travel any further ahead. Remember to stay hidden and not let the Black Ink Clan discover you,” Yang Kai instructed.
Li Wu Yi and the other Void Guard nodded.
“I’m heading off,” Yang Kai said before disappearing into the distance.
Pushing his Space Principles to their maximum potential, Yang Kai arrived outside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in just three days, and the sight he saw made his expression grim.
It was just as Mi Jing Lun had predicted. A large number of Masters from the Black Ink Clan were gathered outside the opening in the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, with many Pseudo-Royal Lords among them.
There seemed to be even more of them here than there had been with the reinforcement Army that had just been wiped out.
Right now, they were ceaselessly attacking the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction from the outside.
There was no telling how long they had been doing this.
The endless waves of attacks caused ripples in the Grand Restriction, and though it was not in any danger of breaking yet, it would clearly not hold out for long.
What’s more, there was no sign of the Suppressing Black Ink Army!
Yang Kai’s heart sank.
As he moved forward, he kept searching for signs of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, but he had yet to discover anything.
It was an extremely worrying situation.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was made up of thousands of the most elite Masters of the Human Race. Not only did it include Yang Xue, a new Ninth-Order Master, but also Fu Guang who was a Divine Dragon. Furthermore, they had the help of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, so even if they could not defeat the Black Ink Clan, they should have been able to escape.
However, Yang Kai saw no trace of them as he made his way over, and when he arrived, he did not see any sign of them either.
He did not find any Human bodies or the wreckage of the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress in the void. It was as if the Suppressing Black Ink Army and the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress had simply up and vanished.
Yang Kai did not know what happened to the Suppressing Black Ink Army, and the only source of information available to him was Wu Kuang, who was standing guard at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
[I hope he’s still alive!]
Yang Kai silently prayed as he used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability before approaching the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
He avoided the Black Ink Clan Army and arrived at a different part outside the Grand Restriction before using his Divine Sense.
Time seemed to stretch on as he nervously waited, but at last, the familiar voice rang out in his mind.
“You finally came!” Wu Kuang sounded weak and exhausted, “Didn’t you say you’d come over now and then to check up on things? It’s been so long since your last visit that I thought you’d died.”
“Something unexpected happened and I couldn’t use my special method to reach this place,” Yang Kai helplessly explained.
The Old Tree had fallen into a coma after bringing Yang Kai back to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary from an extraordinary distance away, so Yang Kai could not use the power of the Old Tree to shuttle through the Void.
Otherwise, he would not have waited until this day to come over.
“What happened? Where’s the Suppressing Black Ink Army?” Yang Kai frantically asked.
“It’s a bit complicated…” Wu Kuang did not know how to explain, “Take a look for yourself.”
He then transmitted a bunch of information over and after looking through everything, Yang Kai’s expression grew strange too.
[No wonder Wu Kuang said it’s complicated. It’s not at all what I expected.]
The only thing he was glad about was that the Suppressing Black Ink Army was safe, for now…
This was unexpected good news. Yang Kai figured that at best, the Suppressing Black Ink Army had been defeated by the Black Ink Clan and had to flee, but the worst-case scenario was that they had all been killed, and that was not an outcome he could accept.
However, based on what Wu Kuang shared with him now, the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s situation was far better than he had initially thought.
Furthermore, the information Yang Kai just received was something that neither he nor any of the other Humans would have thought of.
“I only discovered these things when the Black Ink Strength exploded this time. I didn’t detect any of them before. Mu was indeed the strongest of the 10 from the Late Ancient Era,” Wu Kuang declared with a tone of admiration.
The fact that someone like Wu Kuang expressed such thoughts proved just how remarkable Mu’s plans and methods had been.
Yang Kai was just as stunned by the information he received from Wu Kuang.
Cang and the other nine Martial Ancestors from the Late Ancient Era chose to set up the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction in this place because it was where the Primordial Light and Darkness were born. It could be considered the place where Mo came from.
All the Humans knew that Mo was suppressed and sealed inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction; however, no one knew what it was like inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Even Cang and the others knew very little.
Out of the 10 Martial Ancestors from the Late Ancient Era, Mu was the only one who personally entered the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to see what it was like inside.
Nevertheless, when she returned, she chose to sacrifice herself by merging with the Grand Restriction to strengthen it. She did not speak of what she saw or encountered inside.
The Human Race Masters came up with their own theories about what was inside the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, and Yang Kai had done the same as well.
All along, he assumed that the Grand Restriction was simply Mo’s cage. It suppressed and sealed Mo, as well as its creations; after all, Mo was an existence that embodied chaos and evil, the source of all misfortunes that befell all of existence. Even if Mo had no wish to be so, its existence was sadly the antithesis of other living beings.
However, from the looks of it now, the situation was a lot more complex than Yang Kai had thought.
Despite everything else Yang Kai had gone through before, he could not help but be dazed by this new information.
“Still, there’s no point in getting to know these things now,” Wu Kuang’s feeble voice rang out in Yang Kai’s head once more, “The Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction has been in place for too long. For the past six months, the Black Ink Clan has consistently attacked it, so I’m afraid it won’t hold out much longer.”
After a pause, he said, “Yang Kai, if you wish to save the Suppressing Black Ink Army, I can send you in. You can find a chance to bring them out again, though if I’m being honest, I don’t think there’s much hope of that. If you don’t… then leave now. Once the Grand Restriction breaks open, Mo will fully awaken and there will no longer be a place free from it anymore.”
“It hasn’t come to that yet,” Yang Kai quietly replied, “Plus, it’s just as you said, if Mo does wake up, it will be impossible to find an uncorrupted place, so where would I run to?”
As he spoke, he recalled his previous plan.
If the Humans could not defeat the Black Ink Clan, their only option was to gather their strength and flee deep into the void to find a new home.
The Universe Furnace was constantly splitting Heaven and Earth apart, so there had to be more than one liveable environment in the vast Universe.
No matter how strong Black Ink Strength was, it would not be able to cover the entirety of existence.
However, if it did come to that, not only would it mean that only a few could escape, but even those who did would have to wander aimlessly for the rest of their lives. This was not what Yang Kai wanted to see.
“Don’t despair. The Human Race Army will be arriving soon enough, and when the time comes, they’ll be able to get rid of the Black Ink Clan forces outside the Grand Restriction,” Yang Kai consoled.
Wu Kuang was startled, “The Humans are on their second crusade already?”
Yang Kai nodded, “More than 20 years ago, we reclaimed the 3,000 Worlds, and half a year ago, we took back the No-Return Pass. A month ago, we dealt with the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcements that emerged from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Our Army is currently reorganising itself and will be here soon.”
Wu Kuang was a little dazed, “Has the Human Race’s heritage grown that strong?”
When he saw Yang Kai appear here alone, he assumed that it was only Yang Kai who would be coming, so he did not expect to resolve the crisis he had on his hands right now.
After all, the Black Ink Clan Army attacking him numbered over 10 million. Though they did not have a single Royal Lord among them, Yang Kai could not take them on all by himself.
“Our heritage is stronger now than it has ever been!” Yang Kai seriously declared. Even though they only had around 30 Ninth-Order Masters now, in the future, they would have at least 10 times what they had at their peak, if not 100 times.
“What fortuitous news,” Wu Kuang remarked with a joyful voice. There was more he wanted to say, but all of a sudden, he exclaimed, “Damn it! The Suppressing Black Ink Army is in trouble. Let me deal with it first.”
As soon as Wu Kuang finished speaking, Yang Kai could no longer sense the former’s aura as he had gone to deal with the situation the Suppressing Black Ink Army was in.
Yang Kai stood in place with his aura and figure hidden as he watched the Black Ink Clan Army. They were standing at the gap and persistently attacking the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Yang Kai had a hard time stopping himself from jumping into action.
He was all alone, so even if he attacked the Black Ink Clan Army, he could not deal with so many of them and he would also end up putting the Black Ink Clan on high alert because he exposed his presence.
All that could be done now was to have Wu Kuang hold out a little while longer. The Human Race Army would soon be here, and once they were, they would be able to deal with this Army.
After giving it some thought, Yang Kai took out a jade slip and engraved all of the information he had into it. Then, he took out a Space Beacon and used it to deliver the jade slip over to Li Wu Yi.
Thus, by having Li Wu Yi pass the message along, the others would soon receive the reports about the situation over here, and Mi Jing Lun would be able to make appropriate arrangements.
Around a quarter hour later, Yang Kai felt Wu Kuang’s aura again and he quickly asked, “How are things?”
“They’re safe for now, but it won’t stay that way for long,” Wu Kuang replied, “It’s all thanks to the fact that a large number of the Black Ink Clansmen left the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and the rest are focused on the opening right now; otherwise, the Suppressing Black Ink Army would surely be facing an even bigger crisis.”
Yang Kai nodded, “I’ll have to leave the Suppressing Black Ink Army in your care then.”
“When can the Human Race Army arrive?” Wu Kuang asked.
“They would’ve set off by now, so it should take less than a month for them to arrive.”
“That’s good to hear!” Wu Kuang exhaled at last.
Before Yang Kai came over, Wu Kuang had to fight a dire battle all on his own here. Not only did he have to protect the entire Suppressing Black Ink Army, but he also had to focus on maintaining the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. He was beginning to despair at the situation.
At last, Yang Kai had come and the Human Race Army would be here in a month as well. They would be able to deal with the Black Ink Clan Army outside the Grand Restriction and he would have a much easier time once they did.
“What do you plan on doing now?” Wu Kuang asked.
After thinking in silence for a moment, Yang Kai replied, “Send me to the Suppressing Black Ink Army. It’s been so many years, so they must’ve used up all of their resources by now.”
Although Yang Kai did leave a lot of resources with the Suppressing Black Ink Army when he first sent them to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, it had been thousands of years since then and they had no way of replenishing their supplies. They had to have used it all up by now after all these years of clashing with the Black Ink Clan!
“Good,” Wu Kuang said, “Follow my lead.”
Yang Kai nodded and followed the signals that Wu Kuang gave which led him deeper into the void.
Soon, once he arrived at a different location outside the Grand Restriction, Wu Kuang’s voice rang out again, “This is where the Grand Restriction is at its weakest. The Innate Territory Lords escaped from here back then.”
Yang Kai recalled this point clearly.
Before the Universe Furnace emerged, a large number of Innate Territory Lords had snuck out of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Yang Kai inadvertently found out about this and rushed over to kill them off. Rivers of blood marked his path, and in the end, he came over and informed Wu Kuang about this, which was how the latter managed to repair the breach.
Since this breach could be repaired, it could also be opened up again.
“You’ll only have one breath of time to enter the Grand Restriction. Don’t miss it,” Wu Kuang instructed.
Despite being in control of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, he did not want to let any breach stay open for too long. It was safest to do so for only a breath as something unforeseen could happen if it were open any longer.
“Got it,” Yang Kai answered.
The very next instant, he saw a crack in the Grand Restriction. Black Ink Strength poured out of the crack that was filled with an evil and chaotic aura.
The crack opened up for just a brief moment before it sealed back up again.
Yang Kai, who was initially outside the Grand Restriction, was nowhere to be seen now.
Neverending Black Ink Strength surrounded Yang Kai as everything was plunged into utter darkness.
Yang Kai stood amidst it all with his aura and figure hidden as he looked around.
He could not see anything with his eyes, so he had to rely on his Divine Sense to scout his surroundings.
All cultivators, including Ninth-Order Masters, would lose their sight and sense of hearing in a place like this, and if they used their Divine Sense, they were opening themselves to the possibility of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength.
Thankfully, Yang Kai had the Soul Warming Lotus to protect him, so he did not have to worry about anything when using his Divine Sense.
He instantly detected a mysterious energy protecting him, one that was like a thin layer of mist that enveloped him completely.
Although it was his first time coming into contact with this energy, he was able to instantly deduce what it was.
This was the power of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
Wu Kuang was in control over the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction and his cultivation had steadily grown over the years. Even though he was not as strong as Cang who used to stand guard here yet, he was not that much weaker.
Thus, he could use the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to protect Yang Kai and ensure that the latter would not be detected by the Black Ink Clan inside the Grand Restriction.
Otherwise, even if Yang Kai used Thunder Shadow’s Innate Divine Ability, he would still run the risk of exposing himself as he was inside an environment filled with Black Ink Strength.
If something that was in the middle of a sea of Black Ink Strength moved, the movement would cause ripples in it the same way it would in water.
Based on what Wu Kuang told Yang Kai, the former had relied on the power of the Grand Restriction to keep the Suppressing Black Ink Army safe all this while!
If it had not been for that, the Suppressing Black Ink Army would not have survived till this day after being swallowed up into the Grand Restriction. They would have been ripped into pieces the moment they ended up inside.
Wu Kuang’s voice rang out in Yang Kai’s mind, “Don’t move. The Black Ink Clan is approaching!”
At the same time, Yang Kai sensed a group of powerful auras coming over. He quickly withdrew his Divine Sense and stayed hidden in silence.
Moments later, the group of powerful auras arrived. It was a group of Innate Territory Lords led by a Royal Lord.
They came over after sensing that something unusual occurred earlier.
The Royal Lord immediately went over to the spot where Yang Kai snuck into the Grand Restriction and studied it with his Divine Sense before looking around. A Territory Lord also came over to inspect the spot, and soon, he reported, “Sir, there are signs that the breach had weakened earlier.”
“Oh?” The Royal Lord’s expression was stern as he made a more thorough check. Once he confirmed that it was true, his expression turned to one of glee, “This breach once opened up nearly 1,000 years ago. Since it has weakened, it won’t be long before it opens up again.” After a pause, he sneered, “That scoundrel must be stretched thin right now!”
He immediately barked out an order, “Get the word out. We must find that Human Army as soon as possible and occupy that bastard’s attention!”
“Yes, Sir!” The Innate Territory Lords responded at once.
Then, the Royal Lord selected two Innate Territory Lords, “You two will stay here and keep an eye on the breach. If anything strange happens, report back to me right away!”
“Yes, Sir!”