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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The distance between the Armies of the two Races was short, and the slightest anomaly might lead to a war.
Although they were in a place where it would take half a day to reach the Royal City, Yang Kai could see a lot of people moving around on the other side.
However, he was unable to clearly see it as the distance was still too great.
Therefore, he decided to activate the Demon Eye of Annihilation and observed intently.
Soon, he could clearly see what was going on over there. The Eye Secret Technique was useful in such situations as not only could it help the user see through all falsities and apply pressure to enemies, but it could also enhance the user’s eyesight.
Within the darkness was indeed where the Royal City was located, and the magnificent structure there was none other than the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest, which looked like a giant flower that was yet to blossom.
As the Black Ink Nest pulsed, a lot of Black Ink Strength spurted out of it and spread across the entire Royal City.
There was no doubt that the Black Ink Clansmen living in this place had the best environment to cultivate in. It was the same for the Humans who had occupied the best Cave Heavens and Paradises that suited them.
However, at this moment, the atmosphere in the Royal City was pretty intense. Yang Kai did not only see that there were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen moving around in the Royal City, but there were also a large number of Black Ink Clan soldiers who were stationed outside of the Royal City.
These Black Ink Clan soldiers were brought to the Royal City by the Territory Lords who had rushed over to this place in recent days. Presently, they had set up defensive positions as they prepared to deal with the Human Race Army.
The sight prompted Yang Kai to let out a sigh.
Although the East-West Army had gotten off to a good start, they arrived at this place too late as the Black Ink Clan had ample time to get ready. If the East-West Army had arrived at the Royal City earlier, they could have easily destroyed the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest and retaken Great Evolution Pass.
Once the Royal Lord’s Black Ink Nest was destroyed, all Black Ink Nests in the Great Evolution Theatre would wither. By then, all the Black Ink Clansmen here would be like a tree without roots or a river without a source. Without Black Ink Nests, no new Black Ink Clansmen could be born; at that point, the Great Evolution Army wouldn’t even have to directly clash with the enemy, they could just slowly weaken them and eventually occupy this entire Theatre.
But now, the Black Ink Clan had rallied together around the Royal City, so it wouldn’t be possible for the East-West Army to destroy the High-Rank Black Ink Nest.
Standing beside Yang Kai, Feng Ying asked, “Is that the Royal City?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes.”
“That’s some really thick Black Ink Strength,” Qi Tai Chu sighed.
Although they had been fighting against the Black Ink Clan on the Black Ink Battlefield for a thousand to several thousand years, it was the first time they were so close to a Royal City. It wasn’t until this moment that they realised how grand it truly was.
The progress against the Black Ink Clan in the Blue Sky Theatre was pretty swift. It was the first Theatre where the Humans had their own forward base.
However, the forward base was still far away from the Royal City. The Black Ink Clan in Blue Sky Theatre were only forced to give up a half of their territory.
This was the first time Humans had gotten so close to a Royal City, putting them practically on the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep.
The thick Black Ink Strength exuding from the Royal City astounded the Humans. The Black Ink Clouds they had encountered in the past weren’t comparable to the ones they were seeing now.
They were also awestruck by the High-Rank Black Ink Nest. Those Mid-Rank Black Ink Nests they had destroyed in the past were not comparable to the one in this place. It was like the difference between a Grandfather and his Grandson.
While they were astonished, they were also excited.
It was the first time in history that Humans had managed to come to the Black Ink Clan’s doorstep. Although it had been a bumpy journey, it was a breakthrough for the Human Race.
This breakthrough also meant that the deadlock that had been ongoing for countless years on the Black Ink Battlefield had finally been shaken.
Since they were already in this place, battle would be inevitable. Nevertheless, none of them knew how or when the war would break out.
As the leaders had told them to stay in place for the time being, it seemed that they didn’t intend to immediately launch an attack on the Royal City.
This was understandable seeing how the East-West Army had to come all the way to this place while the Black Ink Clan were fortifying their Royal City’s defenses. If the Humans launched an attack now, they would be the ones suffering a setback.
How would the leaders achieve a breakthrough in such a situation?
Yang Kai fell into his thoughts as he pondered on what he would do if he were the Army Commander of the East-West Army.
After giving it a thought, he believed that they’d better get some rest first while it would be ideal if they could lure some Black Ink Clansmen out of the Royal City.
The situation the two Races were in seemed to have turned around. Usually, it would be the Black Ink Clan attacking the Great Passes while the Humans defended themselves; however, this time round, it was the Humans attacking the Black Ink Clan while the latter was forced to defend themselves.
Nevertheless, the Royal City was not as sturdy as the Great Passes occupied by the Human Race. Strictly speaking, the Great Passes were actually enormous Mobile Palace Artifacts that were built by their forefathers, and they had been continuously refined and enhanced over the generations. These safe havens had helped the Humans ward off the Black Ink Clan countless times.
On the other hand, the Royal City was different. No Humans had ever attacked a Royal City before, so the Black Ink Clan had never thought about building defences around it.
This was the biggest difference between the Royal City and the Great Passes. It was also something that the Humans could make use of.
Certainly, there were areas where the Humans were weaker than the Black Ink Clan. Although there were 30,000 people in the East-West Army, several thousand of them were actually craftsmen who specialized in the Daos of Artifact Refining, Alchemy, and Arrays. As these specialists were excluded from direct combat, there were only 26,000 to 27,000 people who could go to war, and they had to ensure that there wouldn’t be a lot of casualties. When the Black Ink Clansmen attacked the Great Passes, they wouldn’t worry about the loss of lives; in fact, the Territory Lords and Feudal Lords had no regard for the lives of the lower-rank Black Ink Clansmen.
The Humans could never use the same tactic.
While Yang Kai was pondering on this issue, he suddenly felt an anomaly happening in a particular direction. He turned his head and saw several rays of lights charging forward in that direction.
They were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
[Where are they going?] Yang Kai was puzzled, and the members of Dawn were equally perplexed.
Half a day later, they finally got their answer.
Once again, some Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters leaped into the void and worked together to place down some artifacts.
Yang Kai’s brow twitched as he watched them.
Ning Qi Zhi stroked his chin as he gazed at the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were pretty busy now, and asked doubtfully, “If I’m not mistaken, they’re trying to set up a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. Am I right?”
Yang Kai nodded, “Yes, they’re Yin-Yang Mirrors.”
Yang Kai was the one who originally created this set of Artifacts, which was then enhanced by Grandmaster Ma Fan. The Humans from different Great Passes had learned how to make them and improved upon the initial design. This new version did not require someone with the knowledge of the Dao of Space to use. With the help of this artifact, one could literally flip parts of the Void, transferring massive objects across vast distances. The Void Yin-Yang Mirrors had allowed for a much more convenient mining of resources, increasing the available resources in the Great Passes severalfold.
It could be said this new version of the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors had helped all the Great Passes amass a large amount of materials.
Now that they were setting up a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors in this place, their goal was obvious.
Upon realising the reason behind it, Qi Tai Chu commented, “They’re trying to build a forward base here. It seems that they’ve decided to enter a prolonged fight with the Black Ink Clan.”
It wasn’t certain whether the Black Ink Clan had deliberately done it, but the void around the Royal City was empty. There wasn’t even a single shattered universe fragment, let alone Universe Worlds.
With that said, it was understandable. The Black Ink Nests would consume a lot of resources in order to nurture new Black Ink Clansmen. The Universe Worlds around the Royal City must have been fully extracted and then disposed of.
Besides the Royal City, it was similar for all the territories owned by Territory Lords and Feudal Lords.
Therefore, the place where the East-West Army was located was completely empty without any cover at all. Regardless of what they did or what plans they came up with, the Black Ink Clan could clearly see everything. On the other hand, there was Black Ink Strength that concealed the entire Royal City, making Humans unable to peer through the darkness.
In order to even the playing field, they had to move a Universe World to this place. With a Universe World around, they could turn it into a base of operations. Although it wouldn’t be as useful as a Great Pass, it was better than nothing.
By doing so, they could exert more pressure on the Black Ink Clan as well.
With the Humans openly building a forward base right at their doorstep, would the Black Ink Clan make a move? Certainly, the Humans hoped that the Black Ink Clan would launch an attack. Xiang Shan and the others would like nothing more than to see the Black Ink Clan leave the Royal City. If the enemy did not launch an attack now, it would be harder to deal with the Humans when the latter finished building their forward base.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters that had left this place half a day ago must have been searching for a suitable Universe World.
This simple move would put the Black Ink Clan soldiers in a tight spot.
Yang Kai couldn’t help but think that the leaders of the Army were indeed like aged ginger, spicier than the young stuff. With that said, if he were the one in charge, he would have made the same decision. It was the best option.
It wasn’t that hard to arrange a set of Void Yin-Yang Mirrors. There were two sets of Mirrors, namely the Yin Mirrors and the Yang Mirrors. Currently, there were eight Mirrors set up in different places in the void. When the artifacts were activated, the place that was locked by Yin Mirror and Yang Mirror would flip like a mirror, initiating an exchange between two places.
Shortly after, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were done setting up the artifacts. Now, all they had to do was wait.
When the Division Commanders found an appropriate Universe World, they would activate the Void Yin-Yang Mirrors.
The Black Ink Clansmen were both furious and astounded when the Human soldiers marched towards them; however, when they saw that the Humans had stopped in a place that would take half a day to reach from the Royal City, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Certainly, what the Humans had been doing couldn’t be hidden from the Territory Lords; however, they had no idea what the Humans were up to.
Before they ascertained the Humans’ intentions, they wouldn’t dare to make a rash move, nor would they be willing to do so. All the Territory Lords hoped that the Royal Lord could defeat or even kill the Human Old Ancestor. Once the most powerful Master on the Humans’ side was removed from the picture, the Humans would automatically lose the fight.
Having said that, it wasn’t likely to happen, for it wasn’t easy to deal with an Old Ancestor.
Initially, they hoped that their fellow Clansmen from Great Evolution Pass would come so that they could pincer the Humans from both sides. However, the news they heard from Great Evolution Pass enraged them.
The cunning Humans had left behind an Army just outside of Great Evolution Pass. As they clashed, the Black Ink Clansmen coming out of Great Evolution Pass were either killed or seriously injured. Left with no choice, they were forced to confront the Human Race Army there.
The Territory Lords looked intently and saw some dots of light flickering in the void. The dots of light were already dazzling the moment they appeared.
As the dots of light resonated with each other, they seemed to seal a portion of the Void within them.
The next instant, layers of ripples started spreading from the Void that was locked by the lights.
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.