Martial Peak

Chapter 5918: Turtle Hiding In Its Shell

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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.

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