Martial Peak

Chapter 5568: The Die Was Cast

From the moment Yang Kai had hidden himself under the Warship and used it to approach the battlefield, to when Chen Yuan beheaded the Territory Lord in one attack and Yang Kai’s successive Soul Rending Thorns, only three breaths had elapsed, that’s all. 

This sudden turn of events caught both the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters off guard.

Nevertheless, the Eighth-Order Masters came to their senses the next moment and hurriedly summoned their own Evil Purging Divine Spears before hurling them at their opponents.

The two Territory Lords who had been injured by the Soul Rending Thorns were completely unprepared.

It was not because their responses were slow, but because they were on the verge of losing consciousness. The Soul Rending Thorn was too insidious, able to heavily injure both stealthily and soundlessly, causing not just extreme pain, but also dizziness and disorientation.

Only Yang Kai, who had experienced this kind of pain many times, was now a little accustomed to it. Any enemy hit by a Soul Rending Thorn would be in so much agony that they would temporarily be dazed.

Deafening explosions rang out one after another as small pure white Suns manifested in the void, their pure light roasting the Territory Lords alive. Immediately, the Territory Lords started howling as their auras plunged.

Having been presented with such a great opportunity, the Eighth-Order Masters went all out, using their strongest Divine Abilities or even their Divine Manifestations as they charged at their respective opponents.

Their fates were already set in stone.

Meanwhile, the unharmed Territory Lord, having barely regained his composure, promptly dodged the oncoming Evil Purging Divine Spear.

There were a total of five Territory Lords on this auxiliary front, out of which one was grievously injured from the start. Yang Kai had incapacitated three others using three Soul Rending Thorns, but he was unable to do anything about the last one.

This last Territory Lord was quite decisive, so when he witnessed one of his companions being killed and two others being ambushed, he immediately turned into a Black Ink Cloud and fled towards the horizon.

At that moment, Chen Yuan had just decapitated his opponent and was still relishing in the aftermath. When he saw the Territory Lord flee though, how could he let him go? He flicked his sword before giving chase.

“Help kill them, I’ll stop him!” Yang Kai suddenly shouted as he summoned his spear and stepped in front of the Black Ink Cloud, enduring the excruciating pain in his Soul as he unleashed a flurry of spear shadows.

Even though Chen Yuan was quite strong, it would be difficult for him to stop a Territory Lord who was determined to escape. He would most likely return empty-handed.

Since Yang Kai had decided to attack this front, how could he allow any of the Territory Lords here to escape from right under his nose? He wanted to eliminate all of them today!

A flurry of spears filled the void, distorting the local space and causing the Territory Lord to be unable to tell up from down for a moment. Helpless, he had no choice but to reveal himself and fight Yang Kai.

On the other side, Chen Yuan and the other three Eighth-Order Masters were currently facing three injured Territory Lords, two of whom had critical injuries to both their bodies and Souls.

The die was cast.

When the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters surrounded the three Territory Lords, the latter knew that they would not be able to escape today.

However, as the saying went, a beast is most dangerous when cornered. The desperate situation brought out the innate savagery and viciousness of the Territory Lords who let out loud war cries and all attacked in one direction together. So long as they could create an opening, they might still have a chance to escape.

But the next thing they saw left them in despair. Each of the four Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had summoned another Evil Purging Divine Spear and hurled them out without a moment of hesitation.

Previously, Chen Yuan and the others had not done so because they didn’t have many Evil Purging Divine Spears on hand. They were not willing to waste these valuable tools unless necessary. In addition, the Territory Lords had been on guard against them, so even if they used them earlier, they would not do much damage.

The current situation was different. They could not hold back against these trapped Territory Lords, as the enemy would surely struggle with reckless abandon. As for whether it would be wasteful or not…

Once they won the battle, would they still need to worry about the lack of Evil Purging Divine Spears with Yang Kai here?

If they were parsimonious with external tools, and that allowed the Territory Lords to break out of their encirclement and escape, or if they lost an Eighth-Order Master to a final life-or-death struggle, it would be a far greater loss that would be impossible to rectify.

The Eighth-Order Masters could easily evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions.

One after another, small Suns exploded again, bathing the void in pure white light. It did not matter whether or not the Evil Purging Divine Spear hit the Territory Lords directly as just the radiant Purifying Light would be enough to give them a hard time. The pure light would constantly melt away their strength, weakening and injuring them further.

The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters did not drop their guard though. Even if they had the absolute advantage, they didn’t try to force a quick end to the battle with the Territory Lords, instead choosing to seal off all escape routes before slowly chipping away at the enemy’s strength.

In less than the time it takes one to boil a cup of tea, another Territory Lord had fallen.

A moment later, another!

And then another!

After finishing the three Territory Lords, Chen Yuan immediately ordered, “Jing An, Zhou Heng, you go take care of the leftover trash. Dao Hong, come with me to assist the Army Commander!”

The sudden change in the highest-level battlefield had a massive impact on the Armies of the two races. Originally, the Humans could only passively defend against the continuous attacks of the Black Ink Clan Army. This kind of defense had lasted for several decades and the soldiers had already grown accustomed to it.

But today, when the first Territory Lord fell and the three heavily injured Territory Lords were surrounded by Chen Yuan and the others, the Black Ink Clan Army was thrown into confusion.

Every member of the Black Ink Clan Army knew that even if they held a great advantage over the Human Race in terms of numbers, once the Territory Lords were all defeated, they would be mercilessly slaughtered by the unencumbered Human Masters next.

Thus, many Feudal Lords instantly led their subordinates to try to rescue the trapped Territory Lords, but unfortunately, these Black Ink Clan reinforcements did not even manage to get close to the battlefield. The rich Purifying Light blocked most of the Black Ink Clansmen’s advance, and even if some of the Feudal Lords still tried to rush in fearlessly, they were easily taken out by Chen Yuan and the others.

The Eighth-Order Masters might struggle against the Innate Territory Lords, but slaughtering Feudal Lords was a simple matter for them.

As a result, the pressure on the Human Race’s defensive line was greatly reduced. When Territory Lords fell one by one, the Black Ink Clan Army besieging the Human base knew that the tides of war had turned against them, so how could they dare to remain here? They immediately fled in a helter-skelter.

On the other hand, the morale of the Human Race Army soared as they charged out. Assisted by two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, Jiang An and Zhou Heng, countless Black Ink Clansmen’s corpses were left floating across the void as the Humans hunted down the routed enemies.

By now, Chen Yuan and Dai Hong had already converged with Yang Kai and the three of them were attacking the fleeing Territory Lord together.

To be honest, this Territory Lord was quite shrewd. When he saw that the situation wasn’t looking good, he immediately tried to escape, and he would have gotten away had Yang Kai not been here.

Trying to escape from a Master of the Dao of Space was nothing more than a futile dream.

In the entire Universe, if Yang Kai declared he was second when it came to escaping, no one would dare claim to be first. Throughout his life, he had been chased by countless powerful enemies and faced innumerable near-death situations, but he had managed to escape all of them by relying on his Space Secret Techniques.

The Territory Lord wanted to escape from right under Yang Kai’s nose, but his skill was lacking to achieve such a feat.

Quickly realizing he couldn’t escape, he could only fight with his life on the line. This Territory Lord was originally quite wary of Yang Kai; after all, when the latter appeared in Profound Nether Territory a few months ago, he had taken out three Territory Lords on his own in a single battle. Furthermore, it was reported that multiple Territory Lords had also died under his spear at the No-Return Pass.

But after fighting with Yang Kai for real, he discovered that although Yang Kai was strong, he was not strong enough to crush a Territory Lord head-on. At the very least, he could still handle him.

Suddenly, he remembered the information he had received from the No-Return Pass. The Royal Lord had speculated that the Human named Yang Kai had the means to severely wound his enemies’ Souls, because every time a Territory Lord died at his hand at the No-Return Pass, their deaths were preceded by a flash of Spiritual Energy. Ordinary Black Ink Clansmen were unable to sense this, but everything was clear to the Royal Lord.

It was through this method that this Human was able to kill Territory Lords so easily.

Since this means of attack was so strong though, it seemed to put a great burden on the Human. In other words, he wouldn’t be able to use it too many times in quick succession.

Remembering the Royal Lord’s speculation, the Territory Lord had been extremely wary of this method, but after fighting for a while, Yang Kai did not seem to have any intention of using it. How could the Territory Lord not realize that the Royal Lord’s guess was correct?

[This Human should not be able to use that strange method for the time being.]

Nonetheless, he was still having a hard time dealing with Yang Kai. He had fought many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but those that were as strong as the one before him were extremely rare. All of Yang Kai’s methods were extremely bizarre, and his spear skills were superb, making it all but impossible to guard against.

After a short exchange, both sides had suffered heavy losses. The Territory Lord was in a sorry state, but the same went for Yang Kai. Both their bodies were covered in blood.

Strictly speaking, the injury Yang Kai had received to his Soul from using the Soul Rending Thorns in Acacia Territory had not fully healed yet; after all, only a few months had passed since then. Even if he had spent some time resting in the Star Boundary, the Soul Warming Lotus was still unable to completely repair his Soul in such a short time.

After using three Soul Rending Thorn just now, Yang Kai felt like he had hit his limit and could lose consciousness at any moment.

Even so, he had to stop this Territory Lord from escaping.

Fortunately, Chen Yuan quickly rushed over with Dai Hong to assist Yang Kai, attacking the Territory Lords from all sides.

The situation had been decided!

Four of the five Territory Lords had been killed on this auxiliary front, and the last one remaining was besieged by three Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, so it was certain he would also die sooner or later.

Whether it was Chen Yuan or Dai Hong, both of them felt extremely satisfied.

They had been posted to this front for several decades now and had fought with the Black Ink Clan Army countless times, but every time they clashed, they would be forced to passively defend themselves. The few times they had taken the initiative to attack they were quickly repelled.

They had killed a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, but not a single Territory Lord had fallen in this decades-long war. This left these Eighth-Order Masters very discouraged. They had been painstakingly cultivating for thousands of years, but they felt powerless in the face of the current situation.

Today, however, four Territory Lords had died at their hands in less than an incense stick worth of time, and the fifth one would join his comrades on the journey to the Yellow Springs soon!

All of this was thanks to Army Commander Yang Kai.

Originally, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were apprehensive when they heard about Yang Kai being appointed as the Army Commander from the Supreme Headquarters. After all, Yang Kai was far inferior to the other Eighth-Order Masters both in terms of age and seniority. Yang Kai’s personal strength might be great, but strength alone was not enough to lead an entire Army, one must also have the skills to break the deadlock and show the Army a path towards victory.

Previously, when Yang Kai left with two Warships through the Black Ink Clan’s Territory Gate under the watchful eyes of many of the Territory Lords by himself, many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters admired him, but some felt he was being impetuous and reckless. If the Territory Lords were to suddenly attack him at that time, it would lead to terrible consequences. Taking such risks as the Army Commander was truly unwise.