Martial Peak

Chapter 5387, A Grander Crusade

Translator: Silavin & VictorN

Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun

Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys

“No matter what realm the other party has reached, or whether they are friend or foe, at least, in terms of dealing with the Black Ink Clan, their stance is the same as ours,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao continued, “Furthermore, this other party should be under some kind of restriction; otherwise, it makes no sense why they have not contacted the Human Race after all these years. I even suspect… that they are some ancient force or a remnant of a force from a distant era.”

Before this, no one had thought that there was another force in the world that stood against the Black Ink Clan.

Before coming to Great Evolution Pass, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao guarded Yin-Yang Pass for tens of thousands of years, but even she had never heard anything about another force before. Neither had the other Old Ancestors.

If the other party had not taken the initiative to help them out this time, they would still be ignorant of their existence.

There was only one possibility now, that the power was a remnant from a very distant era. So long that even the Old Ancestors had never heard of it.

Mi Jing Lun nodded slightly and said, “Since the other party has a similar stance to ours, we can ally with them. The question is… where are they, and who made that move?”

Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes and said, “If I am not mistaken, their location should be where the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest is!”

All the Army Commanders’ pupils contracted, but after a moment of reflection, they understood why the Old Ancestor had made such a judgment.

The Black Ink Nest Space that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the other Old Ancestors entered this time should be the creation of the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest. Since the unknown Master was able to break open the space from the outside, it meant that they could not be too far away from the Mother Nest. They must have directly attacked the Mother Nest; otherwise, it was impossible to accomplish this.

In other words, if they found the Mother Nest, they should be able to find the person behind that mysterious attack.

But where was the Mother Nest? Although they might be able to find some clues in the High-Rank Black Ink Nest, who would dare to enter that place again considering what just happened?

The Black Ink Clan’s ambush must still be there, so going back would be suicidal.

Even so, the Humans had some suspicions as to where the Mother Nest was.

Since ancient times, those in the Great Passes had never conquered a Royal City, not to mention the void beyond the Royal Cities.

“The war is not yet over, and the crusade will continue. For now, let the soldiers in the Inner Sanctum recuperate some more. I have a feeling that… the next battle may be more dangerous!” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao finally commanded. Xiang Shan and the others listened gloomily.

As a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, she had an extremely keen perception for danger, even danger that had yet to manifest. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao would not have said such words for no reason.

Soon, Xiang Shan and the others left so that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao could continue to recuperate.

…

The Theatres everywhere were pacified and the Black Ink Clan was defeated; however, the Human soldiers only enjoyed a few days of peace and quiet before they entered a state of intense war preparation again.

Alchemists and Artifact Refiners at every Great Pass became busy.

Information was passed back and forth between the Great Passes.

The term ‘crusade’ was used by the top brass of the Human Race when attacks were launched against the Royal Cities in the Theatres. However, now the Human Race’s Army was preparing for an even grander crusade!

A crusade to the Black Ink Clan Mother Nest!

Yang Kai also could not help but feel a sense of urgency.

In the previous battles, he played an indispensable role on the battlefield. He was able to kill a powerful Territory Lord like Che Kong and even destroyed a lot of Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests. He was also the one who killed a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple with a punch.

However, all those achievements had many coincidental elements.

In the end, he was still just a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

When Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said that the future battle was going to be more dangerous than ever, how could he protect himself and the others around him unless he was at least in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm?

[But the Eighth-Order…]

Yang Kai estimated that even with his current rate of cultivation, he would require at least 1,000 years to reach the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. By the time he managed to get to the Eighth-Order the wars would be over.

Time was not on his side.

In fact, he took only a few hundred years to advance to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm, so even if he took another 1,000 years to break through once more, his rate of advancement was already extremely terrifying. Which Eighth-Order Division Commanders had not taken several thousand years to break through from the Seventh-Order to the Eighth-Order?

Just look at Feng Ying. She was one of the most talented cultivators of her generation, but she spent 3,500 years in the Seventh-Order before just recently achieving a breakthrough and advancing to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm.

And that was already considered faster than usual.

On average, it took Seventh-Order Masters 5,000 years to break through.

As for the advancement from the Eighth-Order to the Ninth-Order, that was a 10,000 year endeavour at best

The growth of a Human was simply too slow.

Yang Kai did not lack resources to cultivate with, so during Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s recuperation, he was constantly refining materials and spared no expense to expand the number of Small Stone Race in his own Small Universe.

Although there was no way for him to break through and enter the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm in a short period of time, he could still increase his strength.

Xiang Shan, would from time to time come over to pass on some messages to Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and to seek her opinion on certain matters. He did not keep anything from Yang Kai either; thus, Yang Kai was able to hear some confidential information.

Three months after the Old Ancestor’s return from the Black Ink Nest Space, the Great Evolution Army, which had been resting outside of the Royal City, began to buzz again. It started to move beyond the Royal City towards the depths of the void.

It was the same for all the major Theatres and the Great Passes.

Another crusade had begun!

According to the Old Ancestors, it was vital for them to eliminate the remaining enemy! Previously, the Human Race in the other Theatres had decimated the Black Ink Clan such that they could no longer form a coherent army. Regardless of the situation at the Mother Nest though, they could not give those fleeing Black Ink Clansmen any opportunity to re-group and reorganize.

There were dozens of Royal Lords who had escaped, and several times more Territory Lords and Feudal Lords who, though wounded, still breathed.

There were no concerns about the morale of the Humans. After the news of the Mother Nest was intentionally spread, all the soldiers knew that the war was far from over.

Until the Black Ink Clan was destroyed, the Human Race would never relent!

Scouts were sent out to perform reconnaissance on the route ahead so the Army Commanders could adjust their strategy.

In fact, the Human Race had always been curious about the void beyond the Royal Cities as it was a land that Humans had never set foot in.

However, before the Theatres were pacified, the Human Race had no ability to explore that void as the Royal Cities in front of this void were an impassable biggest obstacle.

Now, the Human Race was finally going to explore this mysterious place.

There was nothing unusual in the first month.

However, after another month, some of the scouts who had gone on ahead found the corpses of Black Ink Clansmen in the void, which was very unusual.

When the Squad tried to investigate, they were attacked by an unexplained force. There would have been casualties if not for their Warship’s protection.

When the encounter was reported to the Great Evolution Army. Xiang Shan took it very seriously and went to check the situation personally. He came back soon after.

In Yang Kai’s Small Universe, in the same small courtyard, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned and remarked, “A residual Divine Ability?”

Xiang Shan nodded and said, “Yes, one that is still very powerful. Though I don’t know how many years have passed since it was formed, those dead Black Ink Clansmen must have been the ones who escaped from the Royal City and ventured into that area. They ended up triggering the residual Divine Ability, and died as a result.”

“How strong is it?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.

“The one I touched was almost equivalent to the full powered strike of a Seventh-Order Master.”

“That is indeed strong…” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao appeared grave and asked, “Are there many such Divine Abilities left?”

Xiang Shan replied with a grave expression, “There was no way to investigate. I sensed some Divine Abilities as they were obvious and could be detected at a glance, but there were others that were extremely well hidden. Some are completely unnoticeable unless they are triggered. I suspect that there are not only residual Divine Abilities, but many other Arrays as well!

Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned as she muttered, “Residual Divine Abilities and Arrays…”

There were two kinds of Spirit Arrays in this world, innate and man-made. If the road ahead had residual Divine Abilities, then it was impossible that these Arrays were naturally formed. They had to be man made.

“Old Ancestor, I suspect that in ancient times, there was a force that fought against the Black Ink Clan in this stretch of void. There must have been countless Great Experts involved who set up and arranged those residual Divine Abilities and Natural Arrays.”

Yang Kai suddenly interjected, “A Divine Ability Sea!”

“Hm?” Xiang Shan looked at him in confusion.

Yang Kai said, “Once, when I was in Shattered Heaven, I was chased by an Eighth-Order Master and had to escape to the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land in the Shattered Ruins. That Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was surrounded by a massive Divine Ability Sea, which concealed innumerable Divine Abilities and Spirit Arrays. It was almost certain death for any trespassers, even Eighth-Order Masters.”

“At that time, I did not know why the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was surrounded by such a dangerous layer of traps and arrays, so I ventured in unaware. I originally thought that those Divine Abilities were left by the Divine Spirit themselves, but later I learned that it must have been arranged by some Great Experts in ancient times who were trying to seal in a Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Of course, those arrangements became unnecessary as the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was eventually eroded by the Ancestral Land’s Ancestral Strength and his vitality was completely worn down before he could get that far.”

“From ancient times to the present, even after countless years, the Divine Ability Sea set up by those Great Experts of the past is still extremely powerful. While it must have weakened after so much time, its effectiveness is still quite shocking. In fact, if the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was able to get out of the trap, it would still be greatly hindered by that Divine Ability Sea.”

“The situation in the void ahead is somewhat similar to the Divine Ability Sea outside of Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, only that it’s not as obvious.”

Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded and said, “Now that you mention it, I do have some memory of that. Rumour has it that there is indeed a vast field of Divine Abilities outside the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land, though I have not seen it before.”

She had been on the Black Ink Battlefield for so long that if Yang Kai did not mention about this Divine Ability Sea, she would not have thought about it.

“So, it seems that the source of the Divine Abilities and Arrays up ahead and the Divine Ability Sea outside of the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land should be from the same era. Let’s call them the Ancients. They may have had a great battle against the Black Ink Clan here, so there are many residual Divine Abilities, as well as many restrictions and Arrays…” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said and then her eyes lit up, “If the Divine Ability Sea outside of the Divine Spirit Ancestral Land was to protect against the sealed Black Ink Giant Spirit God. Then who is this Divine Ability Sea set up to guard against?”

Yang Kai and Xiang Shan looked at each other, and almost without thinking, immediately said, “The Mother Nest!”

Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “That’s the only possibility. The Mother Nest must be located at an even deeper location, and many methods were used to guard against it.”