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Translator: Silavin & VictorN
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
At the beginning, there were some losses at the two Great Passes targeted by the Royal Lords; however, when the other Old Ancestors rushed over to provide support, the Royal Lords could no longer attack with impunity.
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor could only sense two battlefields, but there could be farther battlefields that even he was unable to detect as there were enough Royal Lords for them to split into more than two groups.
If 11 Royal Lords fell at these two battlefields, then what happened to the Royal Lords at the other battlefields?
Did they succumb as well?
Could they not escape?
Why did they not escape?
The Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor squinted slightly and pondered.
That was when Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao returned.
Now that the distance between the Great Passes had become much shorter than before, even for a Supreme Master like an Old Ancestor, the consumption of resources to use the Space Array had been greatly reduced.
Thus, Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor did not stay. Immediately after Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s return, he left in style, returning to Wind and Cloud Pass.
Inside the Main Conference Hall, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s aura was slightly weakened. Although she did not suffer serious injuries in the last confrontation, there was always a price to pay for killing several Royal Lords.
It was also fortunate that those Royal Lords were heavily injured to begin with and had greatly diminished strength; otherwise, a winner of this battle might not have been determined so quickly.
Xiang Shan reported gloomily, “A total of four Great Passes were attacked by the Royal Lords. Azure Nether Pass, Purple Jade Pass, Exquisite Pass, and Constellation Pass. A total of 21 Royal Lords were killed in the four battles.”
The Royal Lords’ attacks were launched almost simultaneously.
The two battlefields that the Wind and Cloud Pass Old Ancestor felt before were the ones at Azure Nether Pass and Constellation Pass. Exquisite Pass and Purple Jade Pass were a little further away, so the Old Ancestor was unable to monitor them.
These four Great Passes each encountered an attack by five or six Royal Lords. A total of 21 Royal Lords had fallen in a battle with none escaping in the end.
The results of this battle were more than just significant.
These were 21 Royal Lords! Not Territory Lords nor Feudal Lords.
Previously, the total number of Royal Lords in the entire Black Ink Battlefield numbered slightly more than 100 before the pacification of the major Theatres killed about half of them. Of those survivors, 21 were now dead, which meant that there were not many Royal Lords left alive from the Theatres
However, many were apprehensive about this victory and some were even a little frightened.
Most of the soldiers were unclear about the situation, only thinking that the Old Ancestors were indeed powerful, managing to kill 21 Royal Lords outside the four Great Passes. However, those Old Ancestors who participated in that battle felt differently.
[Those Royal Lords… None of them ever even considered retreating… They seemed to be on a suicide mission…]
When Exquisite Pass was attacked, its Old Ancestor was the first to go out to face the enemy. It was one versus five, so in less than 10 breaths of time, he was nearly killed by those five Royal Lords. Under normal circumstances, even though the Exquisite Pass Old Ancestor was facing five Royal Lords, he would not be at risk of falling that quickly. It was because of this that he went confidently to fight against them.
However, the five Royal Lords seemed completely prepared to sacrifice themselves if they could take their enemy down with them. It only took a moment of inattention for the Exquisite Pass Old Ancestor to nearly lose his life. It was only thanks to the timely arrival of the Old Ancestors from the other Passes that he managed to turn the tables around.
A Royal Lord even cast a sacrificial Secret Technique upon his death and almost succeeded in dragging an Old Ancestor down with him.
In that battle, 21 Royal Lords were ruthlessly killed, while many Old Ancestors were injured.
“I’m afraid the Source Domain… is not far away,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao quickly said, coming to the same conclusion as Wind and Cloud Pass’ Old Ancestor.
It was because the Source Domain was not far away that those Royal Lords fought so hard to stop the Humans Armies from advancing. They also knew that they could not stop every Pass, so they had divided into several groups and attacked at different locations. Their intention was clearly to inflict as much damage as possible.
However, they did not expect that the Humans were prepared or that their response would be so rapid; thus, their plans failed.
Xiang Shan frowned and said, “According to the information we collected before, there were 45 Royal Lords who had managed to escape the initial war. With 21 killed, there are still 24 remaining. There is no way to know where they are hiding or what they are planning to do.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded, “Those Royal Lords are a grave hidden danger. No matter what their plans are, we can only stop them when they choose to appear.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao also carried this strong sense of unease.
According to the number of Royal Lords who originally escaped, they could have allocated five Royal Lords to attack nine Great Passes at once; however, only 21 Royal Lords showed up to attack four Great Passes. The remaining 24 Royal Lords were nowhere to be seen while those who did appear all died.
Where were those missing Royal Lords? It would be good if they had emerged to fight like the other Royal Lords, but now that they were hiding, it became a huge problem for the Humans.
“No matter where those Royal Lords are hiding, Great Evolution Pass need not feel dispirited about it. Send out orders for the reconnaissance Squads to return.”
The reconnaissance Squads of the four Great Passes that were attacked earlier were all nearly wiped out, so Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was also afraid that if something like this happened again, the Squads Great Evolution Pass sent to scout the way would not be able to resist and be annihilated.
Xiang Shan was about to issue the orders when a long, sharp whistle suddenly came from outside Great Evolution Pass.
Xiang Shan was stunned and turned his head towards the source of the sound.
This was obviously a signal from a Squad doing reconnaissance.
When he turned around again, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had already disappeared, rushing out the moment she heard the sound.
Xiang Shan frowned and hastily tried to catch up with her.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao swiftly appeared aboard Dawning Light but found no trace of the enemy, so she couldn’t help frowning and asking, “What’s going on?”
Yang Kai replied, “Old Ancestor, there is something wrong with the road ahead.”
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes slightly and investigated the situation for a moment before her expression changed.
There was indeed something wrong with the road ahead. All this time, the deeper they traveled into the void, the more dangers they encountered. There were Arrays and Divine Abilities left from the ancient era everywhere, along with various Celestial Phenomenon.
However, up ahead, all the dangers seemed to suddenly reduce significantly.
The reduction was very obvious, with there being practically no sense of crisis from anywhere. In fact, even Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters no longer felt threatened.
Before this, even the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters could not take the dangers in the void lightly.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned, looked into the situation, and found that it was indeed as Yang Kai said.
“When did you first notice?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked. Such an obvious change was really a bit unusual as there might be some different hidden dangers ahead if they went down this path.
Yang Kai replied, “Just now.”
Nothing seemed off when the Old Ancestors and Royal Lords were fighting; however, Yang Kai suddenly noticed a change in the void soon after that battle ended.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned as she was not sure why there was such a change.
She had planned to recall the Squads back to Great Evolution Pass to avoid them being attacked by the hidden Royal Lords; however, now she could not recall them anymore. So, instead of going back to Great Evolution Pass, she remained on Dawning Light to personally monitor the frontline situation. If a Royal Lord did attack, she would be able to immediately protect the scouting Squads from this position.
With a flash of her Divine Sense, she sent a message to Xiang Shan back in Great Evolution Pass instructing him to ask the other Great Passes how their situations were.
Soon, it was reported that almost all the Great Passes had encountered such changes and the dangers of the road ahead had been significantly reduced…
…..
At the same moment.
Deep in the void at an unknown place.
There was a violent surge of Black Ink Strength. The energy rampage involved 24 figures, each possessing a strong aura.
These 24 figures were the surviving Royal Lords who had previously escaped from the Theatres.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was worried that these unseen Royal Lords were hiding in the shadows, preparing to ambush the Great Passes; however, the truth was they had long returned to this unknown land.
The other 21 who did not come back here were mainly trying to delay the advance of the Human Race.
The original 21 Royal Lords’ strength was strong as even if they were wounded, they were still Royal Lords. They split into four teams and as long as they were fast enough, they had a good chance of destroying a few Great Passes.
They did not need to inflict widespread damage; even if they destroyed one or two Great Passes, the Humans would have their momentum blunted and be forced to delay their follow-up actions while focusing on defense.
However, the Humans were prepared for this possibility, so the Black Ink Clan’s plan failed.
The 21 Royal Lords were all killed, while the Human Race’s crusade was not affected in any way.
Of course, these 24 Royal Lords had no way to perceive the fall of their companions nor any time to worry about them as they had their own mission.
At this moment, these Royal Lords had gathered together in a certain place and were each using their own means and Black Ink Strength to bombard a certain place in the void.
When 24 Royal Lord made a move together, they could unleash a fearsome power that was enough to shake the Heavens and Earth.
At the place where their raging attacks struck, a skinny figure that was basically just dried up flesh and bones sat. This figure had no Aura and to any outside observer was as good as dead. Only his eyes remained bright and full of life.
He was Cang!
His location was not hidden in any way, so anyone who could reach this place would be able to find him as long as they were determined enough.
The 24 Royal Lords were currently attacking him.
However, the fierce attacks, which was enough to tear apart space itself, failed to even injure Cang in the slightest. All the attacks were stopped by an inexplicable energy field just one step away from Cang.
This energy field seemed to be a kind of restriction that resisted all outside interference and simply distributed all impacts out across an enormous area.
Although the Royal Lords had been attacking for a long time, they showed no signs of giving up, but there was also no hint of progress being made.
Meanwhile, surrounding Cang, there was now rich Black Ink Strength that filled the void.
Though the Royal Lords were attacking, Cang did not consider it to be a crisis. It was as if he was certain that these Royal Lords could not do anything to him. Not only did he not try to stop them, he even tried to chat with them.
“Did you guys come back from out there? Look what a mess you are in! Were you beaten up before you came running here?”
“Hmm… Seems to be the case. All of you are quite injured. Must have been a significant defeat. En, en… the current generation have finally made their mark. Looks like this Old Master has not wasted his effort in sitting here for so many years.”
“Can you tell me about the situation outside? I’ve been here for so many years and I don’t know anything about the outside world. What’s more, there’s no one to talk to here. Hey, don’t be like your Great Aunt. She was like a boring bottle gourd or a woman. Even when beaten, she never made a sound.”
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.