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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The drawback to the Humans was good news to the Black Ink Clan.
Now, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were unable to make a move as they had to sustain the strange Grand Array; however, the Black Ink Clan were not restrained at all.
In other words, the Eighth-Order Masters were in a situation where they couldn’t counterattack, and regardless of how powerful the Grand Array was, there had to be a limit. As long as the Black Ink Clan continuously attacked, there would come a moment when this shield was shattered.
Upon that realisation, the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples stopped hesitating as they chased after the Dragon and cast their Secret Techniques.
On the other hand, after the Humans activated the Intertwining Branches Formation, their defence had indeed been boosted greatly, but their destructive power had also been considerably weakened. For that reason, the Dragon could no longer rampage smoothly as it appeared somewhat sluggish now.
They were efficient earlier as the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could act freely to kill the enemy. Now that they were unable to use their Secret Techniques as they pleased, the Humans appeared less intimidating.
Besides that, as the powerful Black Ink Clansmen relentlessly attacked the Intertwining Branches Formation, the Spirit Array started showing signs of collapsing.
Xiang Shan promptly led the Human soldiers to retreat. The Black Ink Clansmen chased after them and continued to attack. It wasn’t until the Humans were 10 million kilometres away from the Royal City that the Black Ink Clan stopped.
Right then, the 16 Universe Worlds finally arrived. The 30% of the Black Ink Army on the right side easily intercepted them, ensuring that the Royal City was not damaged one bit.
The Black Ink Clan had suffered fewer losses this time than the previous battle, mainly because they were caught off guard by the Humans 20 years ago. Now that they had put their guard up, they ended up in a better situation.
Regardless, they had still lost several tens of thousands of troops, including many Feudal Lords.
The Humans had suffered some losses as well, but with the Intertwining Branches Formation’s protection, the damage was minimal.
A few days later, the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord returned to their own places and recuperated.
After this battle, the Human soldiers would launch an attack on the Royal City every 20 years or so. Basically, the Old Ancestor would make a move first and lure the Royal Lord away. Following that, the two Armies would engage in an intense battle.
Unlike the Black Ink Clan’s rigid defence, the Humans had many tricks up their sleeves.
The Intertwining Branches Formation underwent several improvements. In the past, it couldn’t be easily stopped once it was activated, but now they could stop or start this Grand Array as they pleased. When the Spirit Array was running, the Division Commanders could connect their Battalion-Class Warships and provide the best defence to the long Dragon. The moment the Spirit Array stopped running, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could slaughter their enemies.
As they effortlessly switched between defence and offence, the Black Ink Clan found themselves powerless to deal with them.
Also, the East-West Army wouldn’t just launch an attack on the Royal City from the left side.
In one of the battles, 20,000 soldiers from the East-West Army followed behind the more than 10 Universe Worlds and struck the Royal City from the right side.
The Black Ink Clan suffered immense losses during that clash.
That was because they had been focused on monitoring the Humans’ forward base and failed to detect any mobilisation of Warships at the time.
During that battle, while nothing major happened at the station, more than 10 Universe Worlds appeared out of nowhere and flew at the right side of the Royal City.
The Black Ink clan forces on the right side of the Royal City certainly had no regard for these Universe Worlds. They had to deal with such a situation every 20 years, so they already knew how to quickly destroy these Universe Worlds.
However, after they fully activated their powers and shattered these Universe Worlds, they were astounded to see the fleet of Human Warships appearing before them.
They were caught completely off guard, and in just a few exchanges, many had lost their lives.
On the other hand, 70% of the Black Ink Clansmen had been paying close attention to the Human encampment, but their wait was futile. It had been unusually silent at the enemy forward base, and it wasn’t until the fleet of Warships appeared behind the Universe Worlds that they realised the Humans were already within striking distance.
The Humans had hidden behind the Universe Worlds this time, which was why the Black Ink Clansmen were unaware of their presence.
It was easily the most devastating battle for the Black Ink Clan since they started confronting the Humans outside the Royal City.
Most of the Black Ink Clansmen on the right side of the Royal City were slaughtered, with as many as 8 Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples being killed as well.
The Territory Lord and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples did not hold their powers back when destroying the Universe Worlds; therefore, the moment the Humans surprised them, they were out of breath and couldn’t respond promptly.
As for the 70% of the Black Ink Clan Army on the left side, they quickly raced to the rescue, but they were unable to save their clansmen’s lives.
The Humans never stayed for long and would always run away as soon as they gained some advantage. Before the Black Ink Clansmen from the left side arrived, the Humans had retreated.
After the battle, Che Kong’s unresigned roar reverberated across the Royal City.
The two Armies had clashed five times over the past 100 years, with both sides suffering some losses.
Other than the Feudal Lords and Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, there would be Territory Lords, Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, and even Eighth-Order Division Commanders who lost their lives in every battle.
Although the Humans had the incredible protection of the Intertwining Branches Formation, the brutality of this war was beyond what any of them could have possibly imagined.
As the war that the East-West Army was embroiled in intensified, things were similarly heating up on the North-South Army’s side.
When the East-West Army originally set up their forward base outside the Royal City, there were already a million Black Ink Clan soldiers lying in wait.
After years of war, there were still a million Black Ink Clan soldiers. In fact, instead of a decrease, there had actually been an increase in their numbers.
The reason they were able to achieve this was that they had a way to replace the dead Black Ink Clansmen.
However, the new soldiers were not comparable to the original Black Ink Clan Army.
The Black Ink Clansmen originally outside the Royal City were the Territory Lords’ elite subordinates, so they were all fairly powerful.
On the other hand, the new Black Ink Clansmen were the weaker ones who didn’t get to be selected back then.
Many elite Black Ink Clansmen would be killed in every battle. As time passed, there were still a million Black Ink Clan soldiers, but their collective power was no longer comparable to that in the beginning.
It could be proven by looking at the number of casualties on the Black Ink Clan’s side after every battle. As the Black Ink Clan clashed with the Humans, the number of casualties they suffered increased with every fight. It wasn’t that the Humans had become stronger; it was because the Black Ink Clan’s collective strength had become weaker.
The Humans’ collective power had weakened as well. That was because there would be people who lost their lives in every war.
However, they still managed to gain an increasingly bigger advantage.
How was Che Kong supposed to stay calm and collected in such a situation? The Royal Lord had told him to defend the Royal City. With a million Black Ink Clan soldiers under his command, he didn’t even need to launch an attack; all he had to do was protect the Royal City at all costs. If he couldn’t even achieve that simple task, how was he supposed to face the Royal Lord again?
Nonetheless, it was an undeniable fact that the collective power of the Black Ink Clan was on the decline. In order to change that, he had to get more elite Black Ink Clansmen to come to the Royal City.
Where was he supposed to get those elites from?
In the entire Great Evolution Theatre, other than the one million Black Ink Clansmen outside the Royal City, there were only those who were stationed in Great Evolution Pass.
Other than hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, there were also over 20 Territory Lords and about 50 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples at Great Evolution Pass. If those soldiers could come to the Royal City, the Humans would certainly be defeated.
It wasn’t until this moment that they realised how much of a mistake it had been to leave many Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass.
If not for the fact that there were too many Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass, the Royal City wouldn’t have fallen into such a state. However, it was the Royal Lord who told so many Black Ink Clansmen to stay in Great Evolution Pass, so the Territory Lords wouldn’t dare to complain about it now.
Through the Black Ink Nest network, Che Kong told the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass to immediately head to the Royal City.
Upon receiving the order, Hong Di hurriedly started taking action.
Although both of them were Territory Lords, Che Kong was the Army Commander of a million soldiers that the Royal Lord had personally appointed. When the Royal Lord was recuperating, Che Kong would lead the Black Ink Clan in his stead, so Hong Di wouldn’t dare to disobey his order.
After the order was passed down, the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass started getting prepared to leave. 500,000 soldiers would depart from Great Evolution Pass this time along with some 20 Territory Lords. Zhe Chong would be the leader of this expedition.
Only 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen would be left behind to protect Great Evolution Pass.
This time, the Black Ink Clan didn’t make a detour; instead, they headed straight towards the North-South Army’s base.
They knew that to assist their clansmen in the Royal City, they had to destroy these Humans before them. If they were ambushed by the Humans on their way to their destination, a battle would be inevitable, and they might even fall into the Humans’ trap.
This was exactly what Ou Yang Lie and Mi Jing Lun hoped would happen.
In fact, the moment Cha Pu brought the news from the East-West Army with him, Mi Jing Lun started making arrangements for this very scenario.
He knew that as the East-West Army kept on using the same tactic, the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal City wouldn’t be able to persevere forever.
Once the Royal City fell into a perilous situation, they would seek help from their allies in Great Evolution Pass. By then, regardless of whether they were willing to or not, the Black Ink Clan here would have to head to the Royal City.
The North-South Army had been getting prepared for almost a century for this moment.
Over the past 100 years, other than clashing with the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Pass, the North-South Army spent their time extracting resources from everywhere instead of resting and cultivating. They had set up clusters of Spirit Arrays in various locations, and it could be said that regardless of which way the Black Ink Clan chose to head to the Royal City, it wouldn’t be smooth sailing for them.
The universe fragment where the North-South Army was located had become especially sturdy. Although it didn’t look special from the outside, Mi Jing Lun had ordered a massive amount of Spirit Arrays to be installed, creating another fortified forward base.
It wouldn’t have mattered if the Black Ink Clan chose to stay in Great Evolution Pass, but if they dared to attack the Human fortress, they would be greeted with innumerable traps.
Compared to the war between the East-West Army and the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal City, it had been relatively peaceful between the North-South Army and the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass. Apart from the first battle where both parties had suffered immense losses, they had been acting restrained in all following confrontations.
However, this time was different.
In order to save the Royal City, they had to wage a life-and-death battle with the North-South Army regardless of whether they were willing to do so.
When the battle broke out, the Humans were fully prepared.
With the Territory Lords leading the way, 500,000 Black Ink Clansmen charged towards the universe fragment where the North-South Army was located. In that universe fragment, the soldiers of the North-South Army were ready for war.
Before the Black Ink Clansmen could even get close to the forward base, the Humans activated a myriad of Spirit Arrays and artifacts to attack the Black Ink Clansmen, immediately battering them from all sides.
The forward base where the North-South Army was located could be considered a mini Great Pass. Although it was not as sturdy as a real Great Pass, the entire place was filled with arrays and artifacts that could be used to attack the enemy from a great distance.
Thanks for the chapter
Yo