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Translator: Silavin & Raikov
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The current Black Ink Battlefield was created from the many Great Territories occupied by Mo in the Early Ancient Era, and was also carved out by the hands of Cang and the other Masters of that time.
The purpose was to prevent Black Ink Strength from encroaching onto other Great Territories.
The Black Ink Battlefield and the 3,000 Worlds were now connected by only a single Territory Gate, so as long as that gate was well guarded, the Human Race would be able to seal off Black Ink Strength in the Black Ink Battlefield.
However, this was not a foolproof solution. Mo was such a bizarre and powerful existence that the ancestors of the Human Race, after the era of Cang and the other Martial Ancestors, wondered on more than one occasion what would happen if the Territory Gate connecting the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield were to be broken through by the Black Ink Clan.
If they were unprepared, then the Black Ink Clan would be able to charge straight into the 3,000 Worlds and quickly build up their strength by ravaging one thriving Great Territory after another. When that time came, the mighty force of the Black Ink Clan would surely snowball in strength until the Human Race could no longer stop them!!
So, in order to deal with this possibility, their ancient ancestors completely cleared out the Great Territory that the Black Ink Battlefield was connected to.
Thus, the Great Territory was named the Barren Territory!
If the Black Ink Battlefield was the First Battlefield between the Human Race and the Black Ink Clan, then the Barren Territory would be the Second Battlefield as imagined by the Ancient Ancestors.
In other words, there was, in actual fact, more than one strategic point between the 3,000 Worlds and the Black Ink Battlefield. Besides the No-Return Pass, there was the Barren Territory.
The Barren Territory was where one ended up after passing through the Territory Gate.
There were originally several Territory Gates connecting to many other Great Territories from the Barren Territory, but as it could hypothetically become the Second Battlefield, then it was naturally better not to leave too many Territory Gates behind.
The Ancient Ancestors destroyed or sealed most of the Territory Gates while leaving only a single one intact, and the Great Territory that gate connected to was the Shattered Heaven!
Yang Kai only learned about this from Ou Yang Lie and the others when they were planning their attack on the No-Return Pass; after all, he didn’t enter the Black Ink Battlefield through the usual route. Yang Kai had followed a Void Corridor from Black Territory to the Blue Sky Theatre back then.
Any cultivator entering the Black Ink Battlefield would have to first transit through the Shattered Heaven and the Barren Territory before arriving at the No-Return Pass, so it was natural that one would learn of these secrets then.
Now that the No-Return Pass had been breached, the Humans had to defend the Barren Territory no matter the cost, so they naturally made many arrangements in this place to set up an ambush for the Black Ink Clan.
This Great Territory was very different from all others because every Great Territory had, more or less, their own Universe Worlds, which gave the void vitality and life.
However, there was nothing in the Barren Territory; it was as empty as its name implied.
That was because they had to prevent the Black Ink Clan from harvesting resources and creating even more clansmen, which led the Ancient Ancestors to destroy or remove all of the Universe Worlds in this Great Territory when they were setting up the Barren Territory.
The only things that existed here were fortifications that the Human Race had built up over countless years. There existed in this place a defence line even more extensive than that of any Great Pass on the Black Ink Battlefield.
That was why Ou Yang Lie guessed that while the No-Return Pass breach may have come as a result of the Black Ink Clan’s power, it was also possible that the Humans had given up the Pass voluntarily.
After all, after evacuating and withdrawing from outside of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, if the Humans fell back to the Barren Territory, they would be in a better position to engage the Black Ink Clan there with the arrangements they had made beforehand.
It was because of such speculation that Ou Yang Lie believed that it was unlikely that the Remnant Army would end up surrounded by the Black Ink Clan Army if they were to pass through the No-Return Pass.
Here in the Barren Territory, it was more likely they would find the Humans and Black Ink Clan engaged in a fierce war, and if that was the case, then the Remnant Army would have a hope of rejoining the Human Army.
Now that the Remnant Army had broken through the No-Return Pass and arrived at the Barren Territory, the first thing Yang Kai did was check for movement in all directions.
What he saw allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
The worst had not yet happened!
However, this situation was not ideal either.
As they expected, both the Human Race and Black Ink Clan were engaged in a brutal battle in the Barren Territory. There were fights taking place practically everywhere in the vast expanse of the void, with Human Warships flying everywhere, either chasing Black Ink Clansmen or being chased by them.
There were also violent aftershocks from great clashes radiating out from each direction.
One particular set of shockwaves had even surpassed the level of a battle between the Old Ancestors and Royal Lords.
Yang Kai turned his head over instinctually and was taken aback by what he saw.
There, in the far distance, two enormous figures were clashing with each other. Their movements looked clumsy with each of them exchanging punches and kicks in a juvenile manner, like two small children randomly flailing at each other, but each of these attacks carried Heaven-destroying, Earth-shattering might. Even a fully intact Universe World would not be able to withstand a single blow from such a clash.
It was the fight between two Giant Spirit Gods!
One of them was the one that Yang Kai saw at the Late Ancient Era battlefield. Currently, his body was enveloped in Black Ink Strength, covering his figure in a dark colour.
The other Giant Spirit God was different, however. He had a tuft of black hair atop his head which looked rather comical.
Ah Er!
It was the same Ah Er that carried Yang Kai into the Chaotic Dead Territory!
Yang Kai had a deep impression of the tuft of black hair on his head. Ah Da’s head was completely bald with nothing on it, but Ah Er had a very conspicuous characteristic that allowed Yang Kai to recognize him at a glance.
Ah Er was here, fighting against the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
Giant Spirit Gods were an ancient and extremely rare Race, while the Black Ink Giant Spirit God was a creation of Mo, designed based on the Giant Spirit Gods and not truly one of their kind.
These two were, in fact, very different beings; however, even if it was not a real Giant Spirit God, the Black Ink Giant Spirit God’s power was not lacking in comparison to Ah Er. It was not known how long these two behemoths had been fighting for, but they kept on exchanging blows without rest, leaving each other bruised and battered.
Neither the Humans nor the Black Ink Clan dared to even approach their battlefield.
[Since Ah Er is here… What about Ah Da?]
Yang Kai looked around, but there was no sign of Ah Da, so he could not ascertain whether he was here or not.
However, he did see the remains of another Black Ink Giant Spirit God. This Black Ink Giant Spirit God had come out from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, but with the hidden hand left behind by Mu, Cang had forcibly closed the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, cutting off its body before it could fully emerge, so it was easily identifiable.
At this moment, it was not known how the Black Ink Giant Spirit God had been cut apart, but only half of its body, which was originally already lacking parts, remained.
Yang Kai calmed down. The strongest forces on the Black Ink Clan’s side were undoubtedly the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods, and the No-Return Pass’ collapse definitely had something to do with them.
Now that one of them had been cut down, and the other was being dealt with by Ah Er, the pressure on the Human Race was greatly reduced.
Apart from the battlefield of the two Giant Spirit Gods, Yang Kai also saw Dragons and Phoenixes soaring through the void. There were also other Divine Spirits of all shapes and sizes in their true forms, fighting bloody battles in every direction.
Yang Kai did not have time to keep observing the situation though as there were already gazes locked onto him from all directions.
The sudden emergence of the Remnant Army from the No-Return Pass naturally attracted attention, especially from the Black Ink Clansmen nearby who rushed over in droves. They were surprised, but they had no time to think about what had happened at the No-Return Pass.
There was one source of headache for the Remnant Army however, and that was the presence of a Royal Lord.
The Royal Lord overseeing the No-Return Pass had the fallen Azure Void Pass Old Ancestor to stop him, but nobody was here to block this one.
When he saw the Royal Lord approaching, Yang Kai made a quick decision to lead the Remnant Army off in a different direction. However, their attack on the No-Return Pass had not been easy, resulting in many Warships, arrays, and artifacts being heavily damaged. So, with their speed greatly reduced, how were they supposed to outrun a Royal Lord?
From a distance, the Royal Lord used his Black Ink Strength to create a Black Ink Cloud that enveloped the Remnant Army. He did not kill them yet, though. He wanted to capture a few of them alive to ask about the situation at the No-Return Pass; however, even though he was only making a casual blow, with the state of the current Remnant Army, many would surely be injured or killed.
Almost half of the 5,000-strong Remnant Army were lost during the attack on the No-Return Pass, so they now number slightly less than 3,000. If they were to fight a Royal Lord here, they would surely lose several hundreds more.
At the critical moment, a young man in white robes suddenly appeared above the Remnant Army. Nobody knew how he arrived there as it was almost like he had been standing there the whole time.
Faced with the approaching Black Ink Cloud, the young man’s body flickered before he suddenly transformed into a 100,000-metre-long Dragon.
Intense Dragon Pressure filled the void!
The Dragon had a flawless snow-white body, which made for a bright and dazzling sight on this chaotic battlefield.
Yang Kai raised his brows as he recognized who this Dragon was.
[Fu Guang!]
It was the Ancient Dragon that he saw at the bottom of the Dragon Pool.
Before Yang Kai entered the Dragon Pool, Fu Guang had been in retreat inside the Dragon Pool for 5,000 years in order to break through to become a Divine Dragon.
The strength division of the Dragon Clan was simple. Once one reached 10,000 metres, they were a Grand Dragon, 50,000 metres, an Ancient Dragon, and 100,000 metres, a Divine Dragon.
And, the most powerful among Divine Dragons was the Dragon Emperor.
Not all Divine Dragons were Dragon Emperors, but every Dragon Emperor was an extremely powerful Divine Dragon of their generation.
In the Dragon Pool, Yang Kai helped Fu Guang with his Great Sun and Moon Marks, which resulted in immense gains for both of them. Now, it seems like the latter had successfully advanced to become a Divine Dragon!
Yang Kai never thought that Fu Guang would suddenly come to their rescue at such a crucial moment.
In fact, Fu Guang had been hiding on the battlefield, waiting for an opportunity to kill one or two Royal Lords. After becoming a Divine Dragon, Fu Guang had become significantly stronger than an ordinary Royal Lord, so if he was able to catch one by surprise, he might actually succeed in killing them.
Only, the sudden appearance of the Remnant Army disrupted Fu Guang’s plans, so he had no choice but to reveal himself.
After assuming his Dragon Form, Fu Guang charged straight towards the Royal Lord, which shocked the latter. He had suffered a loss at Fu Guang’s claws before and knew just how powerful this White Divine Dragon was. Simply put, in a one-on-one fight, he was not Fu Guang’s opponent. So, how would he still be in any mood to pick a fight with the Remnant Army? He immediately turned around and fled.
Fu Guang naturally gave chase, and using a number of Dragon Clan Secret Techniques, he was able to beat the Royal Lord into a miserable mess.
The fight lasted only a few moments before another Royal Lord charged over and joined hands with his companion to resist Fu Guang. Still, the White Divine Dragon was undaunted. Opening his mouth, a river suddenly burst forth. Caught off guard, the two Royal Lords were swept into this river, their bodies instantly freezing.
Fu Guang also dove in and fought the two Royal Lords inside the river, gaining the upper hand even against two enemies.
One could tell from this display alone that the power of a Divine Dragon was far greater than an ordinary Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
An ordinary Old Ancestor would not be able to gain the advantage against two Royal Lords.
If it were a one-on-one fight, then Fu Guang might have the opportunity to cut down a Royal Lord, but that was basically impossible if he had to deal with two of them. He knew that, in this fight, he would only be able to deal damage to the enemy, so his attacks grew less calculated and more ruthless. Even if he could not kill a Royal Lord, he intended to beat these two half to death.
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.