Martial Peak

Chapter 5533: The Next Generation Replaces the Previous

With the mass mobilisation of the Human Race Army in the Profound Nether Territory, the originally peaceful battlefield became chaotic again.

Not only were the Black Ink Clan caught off guard by this movement, but the Human soldiers were also surprised.

Both sides thought that after the previous battle, there would be a long break before the next round of fighting, but it had only been a dozen days or so, and the Humans were already planning something big.

More than 200,000 Human soldiers moved out and headed for the Black Ink Clan’s base camp.

Meanwhile, all the Humans from each auxiliary front were also deploying to put pressure on the enemy.

One day later, Warships carrying the Human Race Army formed up just 10 million kilometres from the Black Ink Clan’s main base. There was high and low drumming coming from each Warship, fueling the army’s momentum.

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

“War! War! War!”

The Human soldiers roared together, almost shaking the entire Profound Nether Territory.

Although the soldiers were surprised about this sudden mobilisation, now that they were here, they were determined to fight the Black Ink Clan to the death.

On the Black Ink Clan’s side, their Army was also standing by with the Territory Lords standing in the forefront, looking quite gloomy as they felt humiliated.

During the several dozen years of war in Profound Nether Territory, this was the first time the Humans had arrived at their doorstep…

They were usually the ones who initiated the battles, with the Humans always defending or at most, counterattacking, never venturing deep into their territory.

This was where the Black Ink Clan’s main base was located, so they couldn’t stand such provocation from the Humans. If they hadn’t been wary of the Eighth-Order Master who had suddenly appeared that day, the Territory Lords would have ordered their Army to attack already. 

When had the Black Ink Clan ever been wary of Humans?

However, even the strongest Territory Lords couldn’t help but tremble when thinking about that strange Eighth-Order Human Master.

That man used less than a half cup of tea’s time to kill three Innate Territory Lords. They had never witnessed such a thing before, but what shocked the Territory Lords even more, was that this wasn’t the first time this Eighth-Order Human had killed Territory Lords like this.

According to the intelligence they received from the No-Return Pass, that Human had caused a huge commotion at the No-Return Pass. He had attacked twice and killed three Territory Lords right under the Royal Lord’s nose. Moreover, he had destroyed seven High-Rank Black Ink Nests!

Even the powerful Innate Territory Lords were like children before this Human.

When that news arrived, the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory couldn’t believe their ears. 

Killing Territory Lords and destroying High-Rank Black Ink Nests was one thing, but to be able to do so in the presence of a Royal Lord was an entirely different matter. What’s more, even the Royal Lord himself couldn’t stop that Human.

The intel they received stated that this Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could control a massive Small Stone Race Army and used it to summon an extraordinarily massive explosion of Purifying Light. When that Human charged through the No-Return Pass, he unleashed that burst of Purifying Light to engulf the Royal Lord and a dozen Territory Lords, causing the latter to all fall to the Feudal Lord Realm. Those Territory Lords were still recuperating inside High-Rank Black Ink Nests now, but it was unknown if they could ever restore their full strength again.

This Human was a terrifying opponent.

No Territory Lord would dare to make a move without first determining where this Human was.

That was why the Territory Lords didn’t dare to act rashly despite the Human Race Army pressing in and openly provoking them. They were afraid that the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master might be hiding among the soldiers, seeking a chance to sneak attack them.

There were more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but that didn’t mean the Territory Lords would just let themselves be butchered by that Human. 

While the Territory Lords were searching for Yang Kai, Yang Kai had just sent out a message from inside the Main Conference Hall.

Meanwhile, among the Human Race Army was a Warship transformed from Bi Xi’s Soul Clone. Yu Ru Meng took out a communication bead, checked the message inside, and gnashed her teeth, “That smelly man is abandoning us again.”

All the Madams were shocked with Su Yan quickly asking, “Where’s he going?”

Yu Ru Meng shook her head, “I’m not sure. He only said he would be heading out and would be back soon. Also, he asked that we not worry and wait for his return!”

Although his Wives were angry about Yang Kai’s departure, they were stuck in an urgent situation where a major battle might break out at any moment; therefore, they could only force this issue from their minds and focus on the matter at hand.

Inside the Main Conference Hall, Yang Kai had finished sending his message and tried to link his mind with the Old Tree. Instantly, the Void shook and Yang Kai appeared beside the World Tree located in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.

Looking up at the giant canopy, Yang Kai was shocked because even though it had only been a few years, there was a significant change to the Old Tree.

When he came here last, many of the World Fruits on the Old Tree were withering, but at least they were still hanging on the branches.

This time, there were far fewer World Fruits than before, and even the Old Tree looked sicklier.

Yang Kai realised that the World Fruits on the Old Tree symbolised the known Universe Worlds, and if a Universe World’s Grand Dao collapsed, it would be reflected in its World Fruit, which would decay and eventually disappear.

Over the last few years, countless Universe Worlds had their Grand Daos destroyed and World Force stolen, so the situation reflected on the Old Tree was the loss of many World Fruits.

Just as Yang Kai was looking around, one of the decayed World Fruits fell and disintegrated.

“Old Tree!” Yang Kai called out softly.

The face of the Old Tree appeared on its trunk, revealing a dark-looking face. It seemed like the Old Tree had been affected by Black Ink Strength. In a strained voice, he asked, “Is there something you need?”

Yang Kai nodded, “Old Tree, please look into Acacia Territory and see if there are any intact Universe Worlds there.”

If there were, he could rely on the World Tree’s power and simply teleport to that existing Universe World, saving him much time and effort.

Of course, seeing the current state of the World Tree, Yang Kai knew that chances were slim.

The Black Ink Clan had taken over the Acacia Territory for many years and would definitely not let off any of the Universe Worlds because, to them, they were the most delicious delicacies.

Furthermore, Yang Kai had already refined and collected every Universe World that could be saved. Nonetheless, he came here intending to just give it a try.

Unfortunately, as he had expected, the Old Tree said, “At this moment, besides the Great Territory Battlefields that are being occupied by Humans and the Great Territories behind them, there are no more living Universe Worlds in the other Great Territories.”

Since Yang Kai had expected that answer, he nodded, “I’m sorry to trouble you, Old Tree.”

Calming himself, Yang Kai linked his mind with a Universe World in Profound Nether Territory and took a step forward, immediately finding himself standing above that Universe World.

There were still a few Universe Worlds in Profound Nether Territory that had survived; however, if this was the situation in Profound Nether Territory, it meant the other Great Territories would be in the same situation. After all, there were still Humans stationed there. Therefore, the Black Ink Clan would have to defeat the Human Race Army before consuming the entire Great Territory.

Sighing, Yang Kai moved back to the Main Conference Hall where he found a distinct-looking Warship.

Dawning Light!

At this moment, a group of people standing on Dawning Light’s deck had their heads turned to face the Main Conference Hall. They were the members of Dawn Squad.

Dawn was part of the Great Evolution Army, so when it was dissolved, Dawn naturally joined the Profound Nether Army. 

However, Dawn had been assigned to one of the auxiliary fronts rather than the main battlefield. Yang Kai had been so busy these days that he didn’t have time to visit his old friends.

Now, Dawn Squad came!

They had received transfer orders and came here to receive their next assignment, but their higher-ups didn’t tell them who they would be getting orders from.

While they were looking around, a figure suddenly appeared on the deck. Everyone turned to look at the figure and the few in front were overjoyed and called out, “Squad Leader!”

Yang Kai looked at them and saw Feng Ying in the lead. Then, he saw Shen Ao and Bai Yi, as well as Blood Crow and Miao Fei Ping, followed by over a dozen unfamiliar faces…

Not recognizing many of the faces here, Yang Kai fell into a slight trance.

Aboard this very Warship, he had previously fought side by side with Ning Qi Zhi, Qi Tai Chu, and many others. Later, Ren Bing Bai and Yu Zi You joined Dawn, followed by Blood Crow, Zhang Yang…

But now, many of those people were gone. Many Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had fallen, and even more in the Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order had died.

There were only a dozen or so familiar faces among the entire Dawn Squad.

The Human Race had fought three huge wars, so even a Special Operations Squad composed of the strongest elites below the Eighth Order like Dawn had been reduced to this state. From this alone, it was easy to imagine just how heavy the Human Race’s losses had been over the past 600 or so years.

Dawn could even be considered quite lucky because it still existed, though many newcomers had replaced the old members.

Back in the day, there were four Special Operations Squads in the Great Evolution Army. Yang Kai’s Dawn Squad, Chai Fang’s Old Turtles Squad, Yao Kang Cheng’s Snow Wolves Squad, and Ma Gao’s Profound Wind Squad.

But now, only Dawn remained.

Yao Kang Cheng’s Snow Wolves Squad was wiped out by a Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple back when the Great Evolution Army attacked the Royal City.

Ma Gao’s Profound Wind Squad was destroyed during the battle at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.

Chai Fang’s Old Turtle Squad was left with only a few surviving members after the battle in the Barren Territory. Their Warship was also destroyed, so they had no choice but to disband.

Yang Kai sighed. For countless years, generations of Humans fell and were replaced by the following generation. No one knew how many elites had died in this never-ending war, and though it seemed like the Human Race’s situation had only gotten worse, Yang Kai was confident that the 3,000 Worlds would rise from the ashes and would one day wipe out the Black Ink Clan!

All their efforts today were to ensure they could survive and thrive in the future!

“Senior Sister Feng,” Yang Kai nodded lightly at Feng Ying.

Feng Ying had advanced to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm before him, so according to standard procedure, she should no longer be a member of Dawn. However, Wei Jun Yang and the others still called her over, obviously intending for her to assist Yang Kai.

After all, there were many things an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could do that even an elite Squad could not.

“I heard Junior Brother has broken through to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and came to Profound Nether Territory. I wanted to congratulate you sooner, but the Black Ink Clan on the western front have been quite active lately, so I couldn’t leave. I hope Junior Brother won’t blame me for not coming sooner.”

Yang Kai smiled, “Senior Sister is too kind.”

Then, he nodded at Shen Ao, Bai Yi, and the other familiar faces before looking at Blood Crow and frowning slightly.

It seemed like the Grand Evolution Immortal Blood Light Scripture was indeed incomparable to the Heaven Devouring Battle Law. Yang Kai hadn’t noticed this before, but now that he took a look at Blood Crow, he saw that though the latter had improved a lot, his aura was unstable, which meant that Blood Crow had faced quite a huge drawback while refining Black Ink Clansmen for his cultivation.

“Stop refining Black Ink Clansmen or you might die,” Yang Kai exhorted.

Blood Crow snorted, “You haven’t died, so how could this King die?”

While he sounded stand-offish, Blood Crow was secretly thinking to himself, [This Brat’s luck is truly astonishing. Back at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the others said he was doomed because a Royal Lord was chasing him. Just how did he escape such a strong opponent when he was only in the Seventh Order back then?]

Some 600 years had passed since then, but not only had Yang Kai returned safely, but he did so as an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

As for the Royal Lord who was hunting him back then, no one knew what happened to him.

Blood Crow silently snorted, [They say good people don’t live long, while a scourge lasts 1,000 years. Could that be the truth?]