Martial Peak

Chapter 5830: Operation Jade

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Amid the vast void, the massive armies of both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan were engaged in a bloody fight. Warships flew about as Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities were shot in all directions.

Between the unleashing of Evil Purging Divine Spears and the spread of the Black Ink Clouds across the void, countless lives were constantly lost in the chaos of the battlefield.

One warship could no longer hold up against the Black Ink Clan’s fervent attacks. The Defensive Array shattered, and breaths before the warship was annihilated, numerous silhouettes shot out into the enemy lines with the determination to go out fighting.

Wherever the Black Ink Clan gathered, the Human Race Masters made sure to target the area with the strength of their artifacts, and they managed to carve large swaths into the enemy lines.

Ever since the Red Flame Army started sieging E-5 Territory, brutal battles had broken out countless times.

The fighting was most intense on the main battlefield, but outside the main battlefield, many other areas had been turned into smaller battlefields too.

This was a feverish battle between the Masters from both sides.

The Eighth-Order Masters, the Divine Spirits, the Territory Lords and the Pseudo-Royal Lords were clashing across the many smaller battlefields as well. Now and then, Dragon Roars and Phoenix Cries echoed across the void, the strong, sonorous roars reaching the ears of both allies and enemies alike, shaking the hearts of all.

The death toll soared on every single battlefield.

The Red Flame Army did not have a Ninth-Order Master assuming command, so to face off against the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Eighth-Order Masters had to use Battle Formations. Most of the time, a single Pseudo-Royal Lord was able to keep five or six Eighth-Order Masters occupied.

Even the Divine Spirits formed groups of twos and threes to deal with the Pseudo-Royal Lords.

Fortunately, the Humans had benefited greatly from the Universe Furnace. Many new Eighth-Order Masters had emerged over the years already, and the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills that the Humans brought out from the Universe Furnace led to the birth of even more Eighth-Order Masters. Had that not been the case, the number of Eighth-Order Masters in the Red Flame Army would not have sufficed for them to keep the enemy at bay.

Many factors went into deciding the victory of a battle as significant as this. Although the fight had been going on for quite some time now, both parties were still at a stalemate.

On some of the battlefields, the Humans had the advantage, but on others, the Black Ink Clan were in a better position. Achieving victory would depend on which side was able to make the most of their advantage and widen the gap to eventually make it snowball into a decisive win.

But, for the time being, both the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan lacked the means to enable them to achieve such an effect.

For the past decade, the Red Flame Army had fought similarly intense battles with the enemy numerous times, but they were never able to gain a decisive edge, though they were never on the losing end of the fight either. All in all, the situation remained a stalemate between both sides.

However, as time passed and the number of battles increased, the situation began to look bad for the Humans.

This was because the Pseudo-Royal Lords that the Red Flame Army were up against were far too decisive and ruthless.

The Black Ink Clan’s large numbers of Pseudo-Royal Lords imposed a heavy burden on the Red Flame Army. None of the Eighth-Order Masters or the Divine Spirits could face off against the Pseudo-Royal Lords alone after all.

Yet, the Black Ink Clan had sent nearly 20 Pseudo-Royal Lords to E-5 Territory, which ended up occupying a sizable portion of the Red Flame Army’s top combat power.

To hold their ground, the Eighth-Order Masters fought valiantly with no regard for their lives as they confronted the Pseudo-Royal Lords. They figured that even if they could not kill the Pseudo-Royal Lords, they were still going to do their best to injure them. As long as the injuries kept mounting, they would have a chance to kill the Pseudo-Royal Lords.

Therefore, though the Pseudo-Royal Lords were injured time and time again, many of the Eighth-Order Masters had been sacrificed as well.

In the last 10 years, nearly 200 Eighth-Order Masters had died at the hands of these Pseudo-Royal Lords, but right up till their deaths, these Eighth-Order Masters had given their all to inflict wounds that would make it hard for their enemies to recover.

200 Eighth-Order Masters was not a number that could be overlooked. Back on the Black Ink Battlefield, no Great Pass would even have 100 Eighth-Order Masters in total.

The Humans were only able to withstand such heavy losses because their heritage had strengthened and more Eighth-Order Masters kept rising.

While the Humans used this method to fight against the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Black Ink Clan’s strategy to counter them was just as simple. They sent the Pseudo-Royal Lords who were too injured to fight back to No-Return Pass to recuperate and deployed unscathed ones to join the battle.

This meant that the Pseudo-Royal Lords the Red Flame Army was dealing with had changed throughout the last 10 years, though the total number on the field remained the same.

There was still a large group of Pseudo-Royal Lords hanging around at the No-Return Pass. That being said, Mo Na Ye did not send all of them out. Firstly, it was because there had to be Masters standing guard at No-Return Pass, and secondly, it was feeding into the strategy he had in mind.

This was the best way to consistently deplete the Human Race’s strength.

In this way, Mo Na Ye actually shared Mi Jing Lun’s stance. The current battle between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan was not for the sake of claiming Great Territories for themselves, but to weaken the enemy’s forces. The fact that both parties had the same idea led to the devastating battle at E-5 Territory.

Aboard a Purifying Black Ink Battleship in the Red Flame Eastern Army’s possession, the Eastern Army Commander Zuo Qiu Yang Hua was going through the reports he received from the battlefield and giving out orders as needed. His expression was grave, and the atmosphere inside the Warship was tense as well.

The Humans’ 12 Armies had all fought against the Black Ink Clan on the Great Territory Battlefields for thousands of years, so without enough Ninth-Order Masters available, Armies were still under the command of experienced Eighth-Order Masters like Zuo Qiu Yang Hua.

All 12 Armies had massive numbers, so it was hard for an Eighth-Order Master to take control over the entire situation alone. Thus, the Armies mimicked the system of the Great Passes of the past, splitting into Eastern, Southern, Western, and Northern Armies which formed a single Grand Army when combined. Naturally, each Army had a Master leading them.

Doing so made things a little more complicated as the four Army Commanders would have disagreements along the way, but there was no other choice. Without a Ninth-Order Master to take the lead, the Humans had to rely on the veteran Eighth-Order Masters’ battle experience and perceptiveness to make appropriate arrangements.

Thankfully, they had spent several millennia getting into the right mindset, and the four Army Commanders of the Red Flame Army had formed an impossibly close relationship. They were able to work as one to command the entire Army smoothly.

Their rapport and mutual understanding after so many years of working together enabled the Red Flame Army to display their maximum strength at all times and fend off the Black Ink Clan’s attacks time and time again. The Black Ink Clan failed to gain any upper hand in their fights so far.

Out on the battlefield, things could change at any moment. Amid the intense fighting, everyone was focused on their immediate vicinity and it was difficult for them to pay attention to the situation happening elsewhere. Thus, it was easy to get into the situation of having great success on one battlefield while losing miserably on another. Masters could break through the enemy lines and slaughter their troops or suddenly be under siege and in need of rescue with little to no warning.

The Red Flame Army’s Masters were only able to maintain an equilibrium across all the fights because the Commanders kept moving them around as necessary.

Inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua had only just given out an order when the observer who was keeping an eye on the situation out on the battlefields called out in alarm, “Sir, a group of Black Ink Clan members have broken through the lines and are charging straight at us. They’re coming over now with two Pseudo-Royal Lords in the lead…” He checked the Monitoring Array and was able to quickly confirm their identities. 

His voice trembled as he exclaimed, “It’s Jiang Chi and Hu Yu!”

Zuo Qiu Yang Hua’s eyes flashed as he scoffed, “Here I was wondering why they’d gone into hiding. So, this is what they were up to!”

After clashing all these years, the Red Flame Army knew full well who the Pseudo-Royal Lords they were facing were. Although the Pseudo-Royal Lords were rotated in and out a lot more than the Territory Lords, there were a few Pseudo-Royal Lords that the Red Flame Army considered their biggest threats.

Jiang Chi and Hu Yu were two such Pseudo-Royal Lords. Though they were not necessarily stronger than other Pseudo-Royal Lords, they were more cunning and harder to anticipate.

The Eastern Army had fought against these two Pseudo-Royal Lords many times. The Eighth-Order Masters had formed Battle Formations to try and injure the two of them, but they never succeeded and a few Eighth-Order Masters had been sacrificed along the way.

Ever since the start of the current battle, the Eastern Army had paid close attention to the Pseudo-Royal Lords’ movements, but they never found any trace of these two; thus, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua, who was in command here, was not surprised that they showed up now.

The fact that they were charging over so openly made it clear what the two Pseudo-Royal Lords’ goal was. They wanted to defeat the enemy by slaughtering the leader first. As long as they killed Zuo Qiu Yang Hua, the Eastern Army would be left without a Commander. Even though someone else could take over the task of giving out orders to the Eastern Army, that would take time to organize, and would leave an opening to strike at.

Thus, the Black Ink Clan would have the chance to overwhelm the Eastern Army.

The Black Ink Clan’s determination was seen from the fact that they were sending two Pseudo-Royal Lords to accomplish this goal; furthermore, they also brought a large group of Territory Lords with them.

As the Black Ink Clan assault team surged forward, the Eighth-Order Masters moved to intercept them, but the two Pseudo-Royal Lords did not even bother to look at the Humans. Instead, the Territory Lords broke off to keep these Eighth-Order Masters occupied.

Black Ink Strength kept spreading out wherever they went, and with the strength of the many Black Ink Clan members, they were able to clear a bloody path through the Human Army and charge towards the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

“We can’t hold them back, Sir!” The Master who was reporting on the situation cried out in alarm. With the way things were going, their enemies would soon be able to fly right up to them, and when that happened, everyone inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship would meet a disastrous fate.

Zuo Qiu Yang Hua eyed the two figures in the distance with a cold gaze. Despite not being their equal in terms of combat strength, he showed no sign of wavering as he commanded, “Execute Operation Jade!”

His voice was steely and left no room for objections.

Everyone was shocked and some wanted to advise against it, but they could not bring themselves to do so. They had been under Zuo Qiu Yang Hua’s leadership for many years now as they fought against the Black Ink Clan all this time. They had killed countless enemies and received immeasurable glory. They had a deep reverence for Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and knew what kind of person the Eastern Army Commander was.

Thus, once he gave the command, all of the Masters inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship jumped into action.

Human silhouettes whizzed about as the other Warships began breaking off from the massive Purifying Black Ink Battleship and flying off into the distance. Meanwhile, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and a few other Eighth-Order Masters stayed behind. Not only did they not leave, but they even began flaring their auras.

It was obvious what they were doing.

[I’m right here!]

When the two Pseudo-Royal Lords who were charging over saw the Warships leaving the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and flying off with many Human Race Masters onboard, they thought that Zuo Qiu Yang Hua had fled; however, when they sensed his aura, they no longer had that worry.

In fact, they chuckled to themselves, [Is he trying to let his subordinates escape because he knows he’s doomed to die?] 

They did not mind. Their goal was to kill Zuo Qiu Yang Hua. Once they killed the Army Commander here, they were confident that the Black Ink Clan would be able to slaughter the entire Red Flame Eastern Army before swallowing up the rest of the three Armies. By doing so, they could deal a catastrophic blow to the Humans.

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