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Translator: Silavin & Tia
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
“50,000!?” One of the Eighth-Order Division Commanders immediately frowned in response.
That was not a small number. If every single puppet could exert the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master or above, then their might would indeed be very imposing if they were gathered together in one place. It was just that the resources required to refine so many puppets would also be equally staggering. Besides, they would surely need to prepare large amounts of energy sources inside the puppets in order to activate so many at once.
[Xiang Shan, you spendthrift…]
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not the only people who were secretly feeling distressed. Not much time had passed since things began looking up for the Human Race on the Black Ink Battlefield, but they were already starting to splurge on resources. It was one thing if these 50,000 puppets could play a decisive role in battle, but it would be a total waste if they could not bring out any real potential.
An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Division Commander asked, “If the puppets can exert the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above, what about their true strength?”
If these puppets could also exert the strength of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above, then the 50,000 puppets alone would be enough to teach the Black Ink Clan a harsh lesson.
Yang Kai replied honestly, “That’s the peculiarity of these puppets. Although the aura they can exert is not weak, they are not very useful in reality. Moreover, their flaws are very obvious since they were refined in a rush. While there is no risk of these flaws being noticed from a distance, the Black Ink Clan will be able to see the truth at a glance once they get close enough.”
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters fell silent. It would seem that they could not place their hopes on the puppets; they could only be dispatched as bait for the Eastern and Western Armies at most. But, what was the use of such bait for Xiang Shan to refine so many of these puppets without regard for the cost?
While the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were pondering these questions, Mi Jing Lun fanned himself with the feather fan in his hand. There was a pensive look on his face, and his eyes constantly flashed with an unusual light. Those were the signs that indicated he was thinking with all his might.
The East-West Army refined these puppets on the march, which meant it was an impromptu decision. Otherwise, these puppets would have been prepared in advance before Wind and Cloud Pass even formed such a large Army.
What could have led the East-West Army to make such a choice? It was impossible for such a change to occur for no reason in this world, especially when it was related to a matter as significant as the recovery of Great Evolution Pass. Xiang Shan knew better than to be so irresponsible.
What’s more, there was an Old Ancestor overseeing the East-West Army. If Xiang Shan failed to convince the Old Ancestor, then it would have been impossible to make changes to the original plans.
Mi Jing Lun suddenly raised his head to look at Yang Kai, “Did he order the refinement of the puppets before or after they encountered the reinforcements from the Black Ink Clan?”
“After,” Yang Kai replied, “Right after defeating the reinforcements from the Black Ink Clan, Army Commander Xiang Shan began to gather materials to refine the puppets. To this end, the Army even took several days to rest and recover before proceeding.”
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were speechless when they heard that, [The East-West Army even took several days to recover and reorganise?]
It had to be said that the North-South Army had departed from Azure Void Pass with all haste, for fear of missing the opportunity to strike while the element of surprise was on their side. In comparison, the East-West Army’s actions were simply unimaginable.
The Black Ink Clan reinforcements only consisted of 300,000 troops, so with an Old Ancestor and 60 Eighth-Order Masters, the East-West Army could have wiped out the enemy without much effort. Why would they need to rest and reorganise?
Mi Jing Lun suddenly nodded, “So that’s how it is.”
One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who was fairly close to Mi Jing Lun asked, “Brother Mi, what have you realised?”
Listening to Yang Kai talking about the East-West Army’s behaviour during the march had left these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters scratching their heads over the reason why Xiang Shan had made changes to the original plans; however, Mi Jing Lun now claimed that he understood everything.
Leaving aside these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, even Yang Kai who came from the East-West Army could not understand what Xiang Shan was planning, he only knew that the puppets must play a special role in the grand scheme of things.
Mi Jing Lun smiled slightly, “Brother Xiang is planning to lure the tiger out of the mountain.”
“What do you mean?” One of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters asked humbly.
Mi Jing Lun did not explain immediately. On the contrary, he glanced at Yang Kai and inquired, “If my guess is correct, did the East-West Army deliberately allow one of the Territory Lords to escape when they wiped out the 300,000 Black Ink Clan Army?”
Yang Kai shook his head, “This Junior does not know.”
When the war began, both he and Dawn had focused on killing their enemies. There was no time for them to pay attention to other things.
“Then, how many Territory Lords did the East-West Army kill in that battle?”
He replied, “11! This disciple detected the aura of 11 Territory Lords vanishing during the battle.”
“Exactly. In general, a Territory Lord will command between 20,000 and 30,000 troops in battle. For an Army of 300,000, there should have been 10 to 12 Territory Lords in total. Since only 11 Territory Lords lost their lives, then one of them must have escaped.”
Yang Kai frowned in confusion. There was an Old Ancestor overseeing that particular battle, so even if one of the Territory Lords had escaped, she would not have failed to notice him escaping. Putting it that way, it was just as Mi Jing Lun said. The Old Ancestor must have deliberately allowed that Territory Lord to escape.
Thinking back now, the East-West Army had set up an ambush in a hurry, and before the entire Black Ink Clan Army had entered the ambush zone, they had been exposed, so the battle began in haste. It was true that some of the Black Ink Clan had escaped the encirclement and survived as a result. In addition, a large ship under one of the Territory Lords seemed to have been left behind.
At the time, Yang Kai had assumed that the Territory Lord on that ship had been killed, but it would now seem that there was a high possibility that the enemy had escaped instead. Nevertheless, it was an undeniable fact that the auras of 11 Territory Lords had disappeared during the battle.
Mi Jing Lun continued, “Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass both underwent great changes, with a second Old Ancestor even appearing outside Wind and Cloud Pass. Such news would not remain a secret for long, and would surely spread throughout the entire Black Ink Battlefield very quickly. If the Royal Lord at Great Evolution Pass learned about this incident, he would undoubtedly become vigilant and wonder whether the Human Race was trying to recover Great Evolution Pass. However, such thoughts are nothing more than conjectures without evidence. There would be no way to prove his suspicions until the Humans actually launched an attack.”
“Be that as it may, the East-West Army deliberately allowed a Territory Lord to escape. If this Territory Lord returned to Great Evolution Pass and reported his experience to the higher-ups, then the Royal Lord will be at least 80% certain his conjectures are correct.”
“Our North-South Army has repeatedly been discovered by the Black Ink Clan because they are already aware of our presence. Therefore, it is not a secret to the Black Ink Clan that the Human Race is trying to recover Great Evolution Pass anymore.”
The Eighth-Order Masters listened quietly. Likewise, Yang Kai was also listening. He felt as though he had received the answers to the various questions in his heart thanks to Mi Jing Lun’s explanation.
“If my guess is correct, then the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass are not only searching for the location of the North-South Army but also trying to figure out where the East-West Army is. The area around Great Evolution Pass is most likely filled with scouts of the Black Ink Clan. Under these circumstances, the Black Ink Clan will surely deploy their troops ahead of time to garrison Great Evolution Pass in order to prevent any unexpected occurrences.”
Having said this, Mi Jing Lun’s eyes flashed brightly, “At this moment, the defences deployed around Great Evolution Pass will be practically impregnable. Not to mention, the Royal Lord will definitely come to Great Evolution Pass in person to confront our Ninth-Order Old Ancestor.”
“If that’s the case, doesn’t that mean we have lost the opportunity to fight back? How can Great Evolution Pass be retaken?” An Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master frowned.
Mi Jing Lun shook his head slowly, “The East-West Army is intentionally trying to alert the enemy to their presence. In that case, it stands to reason that they have no intention to storm Great Evolution Pass. That’s also the reason why they made changes to their original plans. These puppets are enough to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan for a long time. Using this opportunity, the East-West Army will be able to head straight into the Black Ink Clan’s territory.”
“Now that the troops of the Black Ink Clan have gathered at Great Evolution Pass, the defences of the Black Ink Clan’s territory should be relatively thin, and without the presence of a Royal Lord acting as a restraint, the Old Ancestor will be able to act without restraint. If a battle breaks out and news reaches Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan will not be able to remain calm once they realise that they have been tricked and will surely deploy their troops stationed at Great Evolution Pass to reinforce their lines. At that time, the North-South Army will be able to deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan if they can find the right opportunity. Fighting in the void will reduce many of the risks that come with attacking the Great Pass.” Seeming to realise something all of a sudden, Mi Jing Lun’s eyes brightened. He struck his fan closed against his palm and exclaimed, “Amazing! Brother Xiang is a genius, how absolutely admirable! I can’t believe he saw that far into the future!”
“Brother Mi, your explanation is so obscure that we look like fools in comparison,” one of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters couldn’t resist complaining.
Many people chuckled in response.
Even Mi Jing Lun smiled slightly, “To put it in another way, if we followed the original plans, the North-South Army and the East-West Army were supposed to launch a quick, decisive strike. We should have joined forces nearly a month and a half ago, then subsequently launched an attack on Great Evolution Pass. Our current Great Evolution Army is mighty, and the Royal Lord was not in Great Evolution Pass back then. The only troops stationed there would have been a few Territory Lords and their respective Armies, so it would not have been difficult to recover Great Evolution Pass.”
Everybody nodded in understanding. Recovering the Great Evolution Pass with a swift and sudden strike was the original plan formulated by the higher-ups. There was no nuance to the plan, only an emphasis on speed. In other words, they had planned to conquer Great Evolution Pass before the Black Ink Clan had time to react.
“After recovering Great Evolution Pass, we would surely need to rely on its strength to defend against the Black Ink Clan Army’s inevitable counterattack. Although the Great Evolution Army is mighty and consists of more troops than any other Great Pass, we would not have much time to prepare ourselves once we took Great Evolution Pass. Hence, we would not be able to exert most of Great Evolution Pass’ power when the Black Ink Clan Army arrived and could only meet them head-on. The Black Ink Clan Army would have endless reinforcements coming to their aid, while we would be few in number and our reinforcements would come from afar, if they came at all. Without any foundation to rely on, we would surely suffer great casualties. In the worst-case scenario, Great Evolution Pass would be retaken by the Black Ink Clan; however, there would be nothing we could do to stop them.”
“But, things will be different if we act according to Brother Xiang’s plans,” Mi Jing Lun explained excitedly, “The East-West Army will charge into the Black Ink Clan territory and reduce the Black Ink Clan’s strength as much as possible. Simultaneously, the North-South Army will be able to restrain the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass. It’s not a big deal if they do not come out, but if they do, we will find a way to ambush them and weaken their strength. If things continue in this manner, then the Black Ink Clan will eventually be overwhelmed and run out of troops. At that time, we will have enough time to build up our strength after conquering Great Evolution Pass. When we regain a firm foothold in Great Evolution Pass, why would we need to fear the trivial Black Ink Clan!”
The realisation dawned upon them after listening to his explanation. They had originally felt unhappy with the East-West Army for making unauthorised changes to the original plan. Nevertheless, looking at the current situation, the new plan was indeed much better than the original one.
To put it simply, Xiang Shan’s plan was to ignore Great Evolution Pass for now. Be that as it may, their end goal was still to recover Great Evolution Pass. In the long term, this plan had a higher chance of success, which was why Mi Jing Lun fully endorsed it.
Since they had a better plan than before, it stood to reason that the North-South Army would cooperate.
After some consideration, Mi Jing Lun suddenly asked, “Yang Kai, how long did it take for you to travel here from the East-West Army?”
“About 20 days or so,” Yang Kai replied.
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