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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Although he realized that Yang Kai was hiding something, Mo Na Ye couldn’t figure it out.
When Yang Kai returned to the Human Race’s main camp, all the Eighth-Order Masters happened to be waiting for him.
Yang Kai raised his head and nodded lightly to the crowd, “It’s settled. From now on, the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords will not be allowed to participate in further battles.”
Yang Kai had discussed the treaty with the Eighth-Order Masters before heading out. Some were against it, some were puzzled, but none of them endorsed it.
The Human Race had the upper hand in Profound Nether Territory. Everyone believed that they should be taking revenge, especially when Yang Kai could kill one or two Territory Lords in every battle.
The Territory Lords had suffered heavy losses over these past 30 years, but not a single Eighth-Order Master from the Human Race had fallen. If this continued, the Human Race’s advantage would grow bigger and bigger. The Eighth-Order Masters could already imagine flattening the Black Ink Clan Army in Profound Nether Territory after a few more centuries.
As such, no one had expected that Yang Kai would actually want to make a peace treaty with the Black Ink Clan in these circumstances, especially since this treaty was only limited to the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords, which was equivalent to the Human Race giving up their greatest advantage.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai eventually convinced them.
The Human Race must train its soldiers!
The Human Race happened to have many good seedlings who had advanced directly to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm thanks to the Star Boundary World Tree Clone’s feedback. These seedlings had high hopes of reaching the Eighth or Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in the future. So, if they could grow, it would greatly alleviate or even reverse the decline of the Human Race.
Many of the geniuses who had advanced to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm had entered the battlefield right away, but those who had broken through straight to the Seventh-Order were regarded as precious treasures by every Cave Heaven and Paradise. They were hidden away, where they were given a large amount of resources. They were painstakingly cultivating in seclusion, hoping to break through to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible and lead the Human Race out of this predicament.
Even Hua Qing Si of High Heaven Palace had hidden 200 such elites.
But was it possible to cultivate to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm in seclusion?
If it was really that easy to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm, the Human Race wouldn’t only have had 100 or so Old Ancestors at its peak.
Even if someone somehow managed to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm like this, they would be like a flower in a greenhouse that had never experienced true winds and rains. As such, their strength would be doubtful.
Yang Kai only managed to reach his current heights because he had forged his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The same was true for every Eighth-Order Master present today.
As such, the Human Race needed to temper their troops! They needed to send the geniuses who had broken through straight to the Sixth and Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the battlefields and let them taste real hardship while allowing them to understand the predicament of the Human Race.
However, the current Great Territory Battlefields were a little dangerous to train these geniuses.
The Territory Lords outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters. Sometimes the Eighth-Order Masters failed to contain all the Territory Lords, giving them a chance to kill unscrupulously. Because of this, even the most talented elites had a high chance of dying.
In fact, many geniuses have fallen over the years because of this.
Losing the geniuses who had advanced straight to the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm was one thing, but losing even just one who had advanced straight to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm would be quite heartbreaking. The purpose of training them was to make them stronger, not to let them die in vain.
On the Barren Territory Battlefield, the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors willingly sacrificed their lives to kill all the Royal Lords to create a safe space for their Juniors to grow. They even managed to severely injure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God to buy more time.
The Ninth-Order Old Ancestors played a huge part in the current status quo the Human Race had managed to maintain, barely holding their ground in a dozen or so Great Territory Battlefields.
Nonetheless, it was not enough.
Yang Kai’s wish to make a peace treaty with the Territory Lords was simply an extension of the wills of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors. The Old Ancestors had wiped out most of the Black Ink Clan Royal Lords whereas Yang Kai kept the Territory Lords in check in Profound Nether Territory, thereby creating a haven for the Human Race’s younger generation to grow.
This was the reason why the Profound Nether Army had constantly been on the offensive for the last three decades and why he had been indiscriminately killing the Territory Lords on the battlefield.
He was attacking the Territory Lords so that he could force them to accept this peace treaty!
This plan was already in motion when Yang Kai had returned from the Star Boundary, but he had never told anyone about it.
Now, since the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory would not be making any further moves, the Human Race could send their geniuses to this Battlefield, where they could wander between life and death, comprehend the mysteries of the Grand Dao, and stimulate their potential.
Of course, some geniuses would lose their lives in the process; after all, the Black Ink Clan still held the advantage over the Human Race currently, but such losses could be accepted for the future of the Human Race. In any case, a dead genius was not a genius.
The Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World were constantly being nurtured by two World Tree clones, so how could the Human Race lack geniuses in the future?
Of course, by doing this, the Profound Nether Army had tied themselves up and let the Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory gain an immediate advantage. From now on, they no longer had to worry about being ambushed by Yang Kai in battle.
Be that as it may, this war was not just Yang Kai’s war alone, it was a struggle the entire Human Race had to participate in as it concerned its very survival. No matter how strong Yang Kai was, he could not end it alone.
He had advanced straight to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm and then consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit, which allowed him to have a foundation of the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Owing to this, his current cultivation of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm was his limit.
It would be next to impossible for him to advance to the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm without the appropriate opportunity. The current him could kill a Territory Lord with the help of his Soul Rending Thorns, but if he was up against a Royal Lord, he would have no choice but to flee.
In the future, the Black Ink Clan would not be lacking Territory Lords and Royal Lords. After thousands of years, when the advantages created by the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors were completely gone, what would the Human Race do?
What the Human Race lacked was peak Eighth-Order Masters who could kill Innate Territory Lords, and Ninth-Order Masters who would fight neck and neck with Royal Lords in the future!
All of this depended on the effort and growth of the young geniuses.
As such, Yang Kai had to make arrangements while he still had some deterrence against the Territory Lords.
Yang Kai’s reasoning had convinced the Eighth-Order Masters of Profound Nether Army. Many Eighth-Order Masters even felt ashamed after the discussions came to a close. They only saw the current success of the Profound Nether Army and failed to look further into the future. Every time war broke out, the Black Ink Clan was unable to lift their heads, and the Territory Lords would be in complete panic.
Only a few people could see that the current advantage of the Profound Nether Army was nothing more than a reflection of the moon in the water. The Human Race’s advantage would slowly fade away and eventually disappear with time.
When this matter was reported to the Supreme Headquarters, they promptly agreed to the arrangements of the Profound Nether Army. They even deliberately turned Profound Nether Territory into a testing site.
However, the Profound Nether Army had also made preparations to launch an all-out attack when Yang Kai went to negotiate the treaty. The moment the Territory Lords made a move on Yang Kai, the Profound Nether Army would definitely charge out to attack.
Fortunately, Yang Kai’s negotiation went extremely smoothly. The Territory Lords also did not take advantage of the fact that Yang Kai was alone to try to attack him.
Yang Kai’s calmness made the Territory Lords doubt whether they could kill him or not. Furthermore, the treaty was also quite tempting to the Territory Lords. Because of these points, Yang Kai was able to safely return.
After hearing from Yang Kai that the matter was settled, Ou Yang Lie shouted as a look of disbelief took over his face, “Don’t the Territory Lords have any balls?”
Wei Jun Yang smiled, “It’s not that they don’t have any balls, it’s more like they are too afraid of being killed.”
30 Territory Lords had lost their lives at Yang Kai’s hands over the past 30 years, so who wouldn’t be afraid?
Only because of Yang Kai was this possible; if it were anyone else, even if it was Xiang Shan, the Territory Lords would have swarmed him.
If one couldn’t exert this level of deterrence, they would only be courting death if they went into the enemies’ den alone.
“Then doesn’t it mean that we won’t have to do anything in Profound Nether Territory in the future?” Stated an Eighth-Order Master, frowning, [This is going to be boring!]
Ou Yang Lie rolled his eyes and stated, “We can go support the other Great Territory Battlefields.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” Yang Kai shook his head, “Although we have made a treaty, Profound Nether Territory still needs Eighth-Order Masters to act as deterrents. Firstly, it would be hard to ensure that the Black Ink Clan don’t go back on their word without sufficient Eighth-Order Masters present. The Black Ink Clan cannot be trusted. We may have agreed to a peace treaty, but if they found an opportunity to devastate our Army, they would definitely take it despite the risks. For that matter, I want to establish 10 forward outposts in Profound Nether Territory, which will require everyone here to oversee them.”
“Forward outposts?” An Eighth-Order Master asked curiously.
Yang Kai explained, “Since we’re going to be training our soldiers, a large-scale Army strategy will no longer be suitable. In the future, the confrontation between the Human Race and Black Ink Clan’s soldiers in Profound Nether Territory will probably only happen on a small scale. Profound Nether Territory is quite large, so we’ll be building forward outposts as places where our soldiers can rest and heal.”
The Eighth-Order Masters immediately understood after hearing this. Wei Jun Yang agreed with this plan, nodding, “You’re right, these outposts can also provide a certain degree of security to our soldiers.”
“That’s right. Training is one thing, but we still need to minimize our losses.”
10 outposts could roughly cover the entire Profound Nether Territory. Even if each forward outpost only needed three Eighth-Order Masters to oversee it, that would still be 30 Eighth-Order Masters.
Because of this, the Eighth-Order Masters of the Profound Nether Army could not easily withdraw, so Ou Yang Lie’s request to go support the other Great Territory Battlefields was simply a fantasy.
“Sir is quite thoughtful,” Wei Jun Yang nodded.
“If none of you have any objections, then let’s start immediately. You can discuss the location of the 10 forward outposts among yourselves, there’s no need to consult me.”
The Eighth-Order Masters glanced at each other, none of them having any objections.
They were already used to Yang Kai acting like an arm-flinging shopkeeper. Basically, the Profound Nether Army’s affairs had been managed by Wei Jun Yang, Kong Cheng De, and the others all these years. Yang Kai was only in charge of a general plan, not the details or implementation.
Soon, the Profound Nether Army began moving.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were divided and sent out in various directions in units of two or three Divisions each.
The Black Ink Clan instantly got the news and sent out scouts to investigate. When the scouts sent back their reports, Six Arms and the others were shocked to discover that the Human Race was establishing numerous outposts in another Profound Nether Territory, each one overseen by several Eighth-Order Masters.
Although Yang Kai had come to discuss a peace treaty with them, the Territory Lords did not completely believe him. No one could guarantee that this was not a scheme of the Human Race.
The treaty did not prevent them from sending out some of their forces to investigate though, so after a few days, an army of over 1,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers appeared near a Human outpost that was recently built, secretly scouting it.
However, their whereabouts were soon discovered and they were pursued by several Human Squads. Although they had suffered heavy casualties, they were not completely wiped out.
The Black Ink Clan kept testing the waters multiple times over the next few months. Although they were hunted down by the Humans every time, the Eighth-Order Masters never came forward. The Human Race was indeed keeping their side of the treaty!
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.