Martial Peak

Chapter 5538: Not Any One Person’s War

Yang Kai’s figure disappeared, but the Black Ink Clan didn’t show any signs of attacking. Whether they were wary or powerless, such a situation was what the Humans wished for; after all, it wouldn’t do them any good to start a war now either.

Wei Jun Yang and the others soon gave the order, and the Human Race Army that was pressing in at the border slowly retreated in an orderly manner.

A while later, the noisy Profound Nether Territory became peaceful again, and the situation was back to when both armies were separated, each resting, recuperating, and preparing for the next battle.

In the Great Territory beside Profound Nether Territory, Yang Kai turned around and stared at the huge Territory Gate. The Black Ink Clan didn’t set up any defences on this side, so Dawning Light and the Bi Xi Battleship had made it through without any hindrance. 

Meanwhile, the others were also looking at the Territory Gate, still unable to believe what had happened.

Their request for easement had gone smoothly!

When Yang Kai was standing before the Black Ink Clan Army’s formation on the lone Warship, they had already prepared themselves to fight to the death.

They all thought that the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t agree to Yang Kai’s request. 

In the end, the result was surprising.

It was obvious that the Human Race Army pressuring the Black Ink Clan was only a part of the reason they granted passage while the main reason was the intimidation Yang Kai represented with his powerful abilities.

To the Black Ink Clan, a strong Master like Yang Kai leaving Profound Nether Territory was something they hoped for because, at the very least, they wouldn’t have to worry about him ambushing them for now.

“Squad Leader, why don’t you seal up the Territory Gate?” Feng Ying suddenly asked.

If they sealed up the Territory Gate to Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan would have no way of contacting the outside world and would also die while being trapped. Then, the Humans only needed to weaken the Black Ink Clan’s forces slowly and could one day wipe them out.

However, Yang Kai chuckled when he heard this suggestion and slowly shook his head, “No. If we did do such a thing, it would only force the Black Ink Clan to immediately start an all-out war. The Profound Nether Army… isn’t ready for such a battle.”

After listening to his reasoning, Feng Ying understood that she was being hasty.

What Yang Kai said was true. The Black Ink Clan had suffered a huge humiliation by granting them an easement, but since Yang Kai had already left, they couldn’t do anything about it. However, if they took the opportunity to seal this Territory Gate, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t just endure anymore. By then, no matter how wary they were, they would still insist on fighting it out with the Humans.

Yang Kai had left large amounts of Small Stone Race soldiers behind, and the Humans might not lose such a battle, but the best outcome would be both sides suffering crippling losses.

The Black Ink Clan could afford such heavy casualties, but the Humans couldn’t. 

Yang Kai had thought about sealing the Territory Gate too, but that idea only lingered in his mind for a moment before he gave up on the idea.

At that moment, he suddenly understood something and said, “This is not any one person’s war, it is the entire Human Race’s war!”

One powerful Master could not change the Humans’ current situation alone, not even a group of powerful Masters could do that, only when the Human Race could continuously produce more Masters would they be able to truly defeat the Black Ink Clan.

It was at that moment that Yang Kai understood the intentions of the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors.

The Old Ancestors were already extremely strong, but they still chose to sacrifice themselves on the Barren Territory battlefield to clear a path forward for the younger generation, opening up space for them to grow and mature.

It seemed like the Ninth-Order Old Ancestors had already foreseen everything back then.

The Black Ink Clan had invaded the 3,000 Worlds. Without the Black Ink Clan’s invasion, the 3,000 Worlds would still be flourishing, and many living beings in the numerous Universe Worlds wouldn’t have died.

However, the situation was what it was, and now, the Humans needed to find a way to fight back. 

Numerous thoughts surged inside Yang Kai’s head, and he suddenly realised many things that he had never thought about before. That was because he used to be a lone soldier, and though he had great strength, he didn’t need to manage anything and could do whatever he wanted as there would be others to worry about the bigger picture whenever problems arose. 

Now that he was the Profound Nether Army’s Army Commander and in charge of the war for an entire Great Territory, he had to think about things from a much broader perspective, allowing him to see things he had never realised before.

He originally thought that after this mission, he would have to find time to seal up a large number of Territory Gates and cut off the Black Ink Clan’s supply lines and communication channels. But now that he thought more deeply about it, that seemed like the worst possible plan.

If he went with this idea, though the Humans would have a chance to wipe out the Black Ink Clan on the dozen or so current battlefields, it wouldn’t bring them any closer to solving the root of the problem. In the end, there would still be an endless number of Black Ink Clansmen that needed to be killed.

To the Humans, the wars in the dozen or so battlefields were a constant source of danger, but also an essential training ground. Life-or-death situations were not only crises, but also opportunities. Flowers grown in a greenhouse would never be as strong as the wild grass that had gone through rain and storms. 

For now, the Human Race needed the Black Ink Clan to be their life-or-death enemy. Yang Kai himself got to where he was by going through continuous life-or-death battles with the Black Ink Clan, so he knew how these experiences could help one grow.

There was a vague idea forming in his mind, and perhaps after this mission, he could head to the Supreme Headquarters and discuss it further with Xiang Shan and the others.

For now though, the two Warships continued moving at full speed through the void. Dawning Light was a superior Warship. Back then, it had cost Yang Kai and Dawn an enormous amount of Military Merits to customize this Warship into one with outstanding offensive and defensive capabilities far beyond that of an ordinary Warship, but the Bi Xi Battleship was even better. Although it was just a Soul Clone, Bi Xi was a powerful Mature Divine Spirit, so in terms of speed, the Bi Xi Battleship was even faster than Dawning Light.

Moreover, the Bi Xi Battleship had an extremely strong defensive ability, which was why Yu Ru Meng and the others did not need to worry about protecting themselves. If it hadn’t been for the Bi Xi Battleships’ sturdy defences, Yu Ru Meng and the others might have been injured or even killed during all those large-scale battles despite being Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

Since they had the Bi Xi Battleship protecting them, their Squad of women was still fully intact.

Their journey to Acacia Territory would take them through six Great Territories. That was already the fastest route, but even with the speed of their Warships, it would take at least two months to arrive. 

This was the route they needed to take even when exiting through the Territory Gate that the Black Ink Clan controlled in Profound Nether Territory. Their journey would be significantly longer if they chose to go through another Territory Gate.

As there were cultivators trapped in Acacia Territory in a critical situation, Yang Kai didn’t want to waste any time, which was why he decided to ask for an easement from the Black Ink Clan. After all, what would the point of arriving late be?

When the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds, almost every living being in the various Universe Worlds died or was enslaved. Everywhere the Black Ink Clan went, they would destroy Universe Worlds, leaving these previously flourishing places in dead silence.

On the contrary, the Black Ink Clan left all the Universe Temples intact!

The Black Ink Clan could use the Universe Temples to save them a lot of time moving about; therefore, they intentionally left them standing and even posted guards to protect them.

When Yang Kai returned from the No-Return Pass, he used many of the Universe Temples as transit points and also killed every Black Ink Clansman who was guarding them.

Those Black Ink Clansmen left to guard the Universe Temples weren’t very strong, and since the Black Ink Clan didn’t have so many Territory Lords, most of the defences were led by Feudal Lords.

Yang Kai had killed more Feudal Lords than he could count by now.

On this journey to Acacia Territory, Yang Kai didn’t have to make a move to deal with the Black Ink Clansmen guarding those Universe Temples because they were easily dealt with by Dawn and the all-female Squad.

Later, they encountered a few Black Ink Clan teams sending resources to each of the frontlines. Those Black Ink Clansmen naturally wouldn’t have a good end, and the resources they carried were pocketed by the two groups.

This was also something the Hunters enjoyed doing.

Currently, in the entire 3,000 Worlds, besides the 20 or so Great Territories that weren’t fully taken over by the Black Ink Clan, the rest counted as the Black Ink Clan’s territory. 

The Black Ink Clan were now mining resources they found in all those Great Territories and sending them to the frontlines. The battle between the Humans and the Black Ink Clan was never-ending, so the demand for resources was enormous. 

As such, the Hunters would have many opportunities to snatch these resources. 

Although the Hunters could gain Military Merits from killing the enemy and use them to exchange for resources, that couldn’t compare to what they obtained by looting the Black Ink Clan.

Every Black Ink Clan supply team carried an enormous amount of resources on them; therefore, killing them and looting them was far more profitable than simply earning Military Merits on the battlefield.

For the past couple dozen years, the Hunters and Black Ink Clan teams that were tasked with delivering resources had been constantly waging a battle of wits against each other. 

This resulted in the Black Ink Clan sending out more powerful troops when transporting resources because they didn’t want the Hunters to snatch away the goods. 

There were even some Territory Lords patrolling around the various Great Territories, trying to find any traces of Hunters. 

In this way, although Hunters weren’t fighting alongside the Army, they did manage to lessen the burden of the frontline soldiers because they occupied quite a number of Territory Lords.

A part of the dozen or so Territory Lords that suddenly appeared in Profound Nether Territory were dispatched from these patrols.

It was said that back in the day, many Hunters travelled alone and would only have two to three good friends accompanying them. But as the Black Ink Clan began sending larger escorts for the supply teams, the Hunters gradually formed groups similar to Army Squads to respond. 

The Black Ink Clan hated Hunters more than any other Humans and wished to slaughter these vultures clean. It was unfortunate for them that the Hunters were all bold yet cautious, and since they were quite strong, the Black Ink Clan couldn’t kill them all off.

The trapped cultivators in Acacia Territory were a great opportunity, so the Black Ink Clan didn’t kill them immediately and instead released news of this matter, trying to lure a large number of Hunters over to wipe them out.

The Black Ink Clan weren’t afraid of the Hunters finding out their intentions because there were always some who didn’t know the immensity of Heaven and Earth and acted recklessly because they believed themselves strong enough to do so. 

Moreover, even if the Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory didn’t initially understand why Yang Kai had left, they would soon understand he was moving to save the Humans trapped in Acacia Territory. Otherwise, why would the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army leave instead of overseeing Profound Nether Territory?

As such, Acacia Territory would only become more dangerous and a large number of Territory Lords would surely be lying in wait.