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Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
The moment these huge Territory Lords in bone armour appeared, they spat Black Ink Strength that formed into bone shields in their hands so that they would have an even stronger defence against the Humans.
The Territory Lords’ auras suggested that they were Innate Territory Lords. These powerful beings were much stronger than the Acquired Territory Lords that the Humans had mostly encountered before. Basically, they were about as strong as Che Kong.
The attacks from the Great Passes became less lethal as they struck the bone shields.
As these Territory Lords roared, they dispersed and charged towards the Great Passes. The Black Ink Clansmen following behind them were like a rushing river.
The hum of the arrays on the Great Passes intensified. The walls shook, and the Great Passes started trembling.
More and more bone shields were shattered as the Territory Lords behind them staggered upon impact as sparks flew from their bone armours. They could only persevere for a short moment before they were killed.
Faced with continuous attacks from over 100 Great Passes, even Royal Lords wouldn’t be able to last for long, let alone these Territory Lords.
Without the protection of the Territory Lords in bone armour, the Black Ink Clansmen behind them were killed the moment they were exposed.
However, things were not looking good for the Humans as the powers of their arrays and artifacts were no longer sufficient. With the sacrifice of those Territory Lords in bone armour, the Black Ink Clan Army managed to close much of the gap between the opening in the Great Restriction and the Great Passes.
Countless Black Ink Clansmen were killed in the process, but that did not soothe the Human Race’s worries.
Mo had clearly been preparing for this day for over a million years, so the heritage it had built up was unimaginable. From the looks of it, even though the Humans currently held the advantage, no one knew what the outcome would be as the war dragged on.
After several more days of intense battle, it was impossible to count the number of corpses of weaker Black Ink Clansmen, while the Humans estimated they had killed over 1,000 Territory Lords.
This was an astounding number, especially when all these were Innate Territory Lords directly created by Mo. They were gifted with sturdy defence and extraordinary power, each of them equivalent to a top Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
There weren’t a lot of Human Eighth-Order Masters to begin with. On average, there were only 40 to 50 Eighth-Order Masters in every Great Pass. In other words, there were fewer than 5,000 Eighth-Order Masters in the entire Human Race Army.
Over 1,000 Territory Lords was equivalent to the number of Eighth-Order Masters in more than 20 Great Passes. They were undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, and if not for the fact that the Humans held an advantageous position, they would have had to pay a huge price to kill these enemies.
Territory Lords clad in bone armour and Black Ink Clan soldiers continuously gushed out of the opening and charged forward fearlessly. Their only purpose was to help Mo break free of the restriction, so their deaths were predestined the moment they were created.
The Humans were no longer able to clean up the Black Ink Strength, for the entire battlefield was now engulfed in chaotic energy fluctuations. If the Squads continued moving about on their own, either the Black Ink Clan would kill them or they would be hit by friendly fire. Even if that did not happen, it was simply too hard for them to do their job.
Mo was still recycling Black Ink Strength. That was clear due to the scale of the Black Ink Ocean around the opening not having expanded much.
Fortunately, even though it was able to easily create those weak cannon fodder, it couldn’t possibly replace those Territory Lords, Feudal Lords, or even the High-Rank and Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen that had been killed as it pleased. Therefore, every Territory Lord or Feudal Lord that the Humans killed was a loss for Mo.
The Royal Lords were still nowhere to be found though, most likely still hiding in the dark, making the Humans feel wary, as though a blade was hanging above their heads just waiting to fall.
One month after the war broke out, a Territory Lord in bone armour roared and condensed a spear in his hand using Black Ink Strength. The next moment, he hurled the weapon at a Great Pass in front of him.
The black spear easily cut across space and struck the Great Pass’ defensive barrier, causing ripples to spread across it.
Even though the Territory Lord was soon blasted to pieces, this attack served as a breakthrough for the Black Ink Clan’s advancement.
A Ninth-Order Old Ancestor ordered grimly, “It’s time.”
The defensive barriers around the Great Passes and the attacks from the arrays and artifacts were no longer able to stop the Black Ink Clan soldiers from marching forward. If the situation was allowed to continue like this, the Black Ink Clan soldiers would soon be able to attack the Great Passes.
It was time for the Human Army to make a move. Following the order, auras that seemed able to shake the entire void undulated from the Great Passes as countless dazzling lights were shot from the Warships.
Wherever the lights struck, those Territory Lords in bone armour were unable to endure and were swiftly dispatched, leaving behind black blood where they fell.
The Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques cast from over 100 Great Passes then resumed firing, forming trails of vacuum in the void. Along the way, the Black Ink Clansmen were either injured or killed.
For a moment, the originally clamorous battlefield fell into dead silence.
The Old Ancestors had made a move!
Seizing the chance, the well-prepared Humans drove their Warships out of the Great Passes. The vessels formed into rays of light as they coordinated with each other and sailed towards the battlefield.
As the Warships set off, the Eighth-Order Masters also charged towards the battlefield. They targeted the Territory Lords and cast their Secret Techniques in an attempt to tie down the enemy Masters.
Dawn from Great Evolution Pass also darted forward. In fact, they were the ones leading the charge.
The other Squads didn’t have a lot of members, and their Warships were not particularly robust, so on such a battlefield, they had to group up to be effective. However, as a Special Operations Squad, Dawn was used to charging around the battlefield on their own.
Yang Kai was at the front while Shen Ao and Blood Crow protected the Warship from both sides. Ren Bing Bai, Yu Zi You, and Miao Fei Ping were at the rear of the Warship. Meanwhile, Bai Yi stood at the bow, channelling her World Force into her longbow to the point where the weapon radiated a glow.
They had experienced countless life-and-death battles together in the past, so on such a battlefield, there wasn’t a need for Yang Kai to give any orders. All of them knew what they were supposed to do. These close-knit members were ready for war.
As Yang Kai summoned his Azure Dragon Spear, he took a deep breath and ordered loudly, “Kill!”
A Dragon Roar sounded as the Azure Dragon Spear transformed into countless spear shadows which engulfed the Black Ink Clansmen in front and blasted them to bits. As for the Black Ink Clansmen who managed to escape, they were slaughtered by Shen Ao and Blood Crow.
Aboard Dawning Light, the arrays and artifacts started buzzing as flashes of light shot in all directions. They didn’t even need to aim as they were surrounded by enemies. Bai Yi’s arrows split into countless streaks of light which struck the swarming Black Ink Clansmen, splattering them into blood mist.
Meanwhile, Ren Bing Bai, Yu Zi You, and Miao Fei Ping brought up the rear, making sure the Black Ink Clansmen couldn’t get anywhere near the back of the Warship.
As Dawning Light soared out of Great Evolution Pass, it turned into something akin to a blade and cut across the Black Ink Clan Army. Wherever it went, the enemy was consigned to the Yellow Springs.
After the Human soldiers appeared on the field, the Black Ink Clan soldiers changed their tactics. They stopped charging towards the Great Passes and instead focused on besieging the Human Warships.
Mo knew that if it wanted to get out of its cage, it had to destroy the Humans who were here on a crusade against it. As long as all the Humans were killed, the Great Passes would be rendered useless.
After just one hour, the vast battlefield had become a clamorous melee, but even though everything seemed to be chaotic, there were still tactics and strategies being employed.
Although the Human Warships didn’t maintain a formation to kill the enemies, they were constantly on the lookout for each other so that they could ensure their safety.
More and more Black Ink Clan soldiers were killed.
Over the past month, the Humans had made use of the arrangements on the Great Passes to stop the Black Ink Clan soldiers from marching forward and had killed many enemies this way. Regardless, stationary arrays and artifacts were inflexible.
Now that over a million Human soldiers had moved forward to engage the enemy on the battlefield, there was no doubt they were more efficient at killing than the fixed emplacements.
On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan didn’t have any experience with coming together in formations. Although they had enormous numbers, they appeared crowded and disorganized, which made it easier for the Human Warships to butcher them.
After the initial charge, the Humans essentially fell into a bloodlust. The battlefield was covered with broken limbs and hashed meat, making it look extremely horrifying.
Finally, a long howl sounded from the rear. It was a signal for the Human Army to retreat.
The Humans, who were still slaughtering the enemies, promptly and in an organized fashion fell back with their Warships. At the same time, another group of Warships in peak condition set out from the Great Passes.
This was going to be a long fight, so there was no way the higher-ups would let all the soldiers join the battle at the same time. Even though they would be able to destroy more Black Ink Clansmen in a shorter time by doing so, they would be powerless to counterattack if all their strength was used up.
Only half of the Human Army had left the Great Passes in the first round while another million stayed back.
Now, it was time for them to go to war.
The high-spirited million soldiers dashed out of the Great Passes to replace their fellow Brothers and Sisters on the battlefield. They brushed past each other as the Black Ink Clansmen were intercepted and killed.
The battered Warships soon returned to the Great Passes where Array Masters and Artifact Refiners, who had been waiting for quite a while, hurriedly made repairs.
Somewhere on the battlefield, Yang Kai turned around and ordered, “All of you, retreat!”
Shen Ao guffawed, “There’s no need for that. We still can fight!”
They were an elite Squad, after all. Even though this battlefield was stressful for the average Squad, the members of Dawn could still persevere. Just like Shen Ao had said, it hadn’t come to a point where they needed to go back and recuperate.
However, Yang Kai shook his head, “All of you should withdraw. We don’t know how long this war will last, so maintaining your peak states is more important.”
Shen Ao decided to stop insisting as he nodded, “Be careful, Squad Leader.”
Since Yang Kai had told them to retreat, Shen Ao knew that he was going to stay on the battlefield.
The heritage of Yang Kai’s Small Universe was far more ample than average, and he had the World Tree clone to further refine his power. Moreover, the living beings in his Small Universe would continuously provide World Force for him. There was no denying that Yang Kai had a much greater stamina than the ordinary Seventh-Order Master, allowing him to remain energetic when others in the Seventh-Order would feel exhausted.
Soon, Shen Ao and Yang Kai exchanged places as the former led Dawn to return to Great Evolution Pass.
Seeing that, some of the Black Ink Clansmen pursued Dawning Light while some of them pounced on Yang Kai.
Earlier, this bigger-than-normal Human Squad had rendered them powerless to counterattack, but now that Yang Kai was on his own, the Black Ink Clansmen naturally wouldn’t let him off.
Despite being surrounded by the enemy, Yang Kai wasn’t afraid at all. Instead, he put on an eerie grin as he prepared for a massacre!
Also, from Pursuit of the Truth/Beseech the Devil, the progenitor of all the trees was called Cang. Wonder of there’s any correlation with this guy saying he has done connection with the World Tree.
Also, wasn’t that crazy dude from the Star Court that wanted to kill YK and take his Small World Bead called Cang Mo? Cang + Mo. Pretty sure it’s a coincidence but still nice
My hypothesis is that Shi is either Wu Kuang or his soul inspired Wu Kuang on the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Perhaps the soul searched for someone with the destiny of acquiring the Flawless Purifying Lotus or even searched for the person that already had it.
That way, it could devour the Black Ink (Mo) and still purify it or something like that
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.