Martial Peak

Chapter 5580: Tempted

[The shamelessness!]

This was a new impression the Territory Lords had of Yang Kai.

Usually, the strong cared a great deal for face, even the Territory Lords did, let alone the Humans. So, with Yang Kai waxing so forlornly like this, the Territory Lords couldn’t help but feel like their horizons had been broadened.

Six Arms’ expression became unsightly as he asked, “The Human Race and Black Ink Clan have an irresolvable enmity, it’s impossible for us to coexist in this Universe, so why are you proposing an armistice?”

He had a feeling that Yang Kai was up to something, so although Six Arms felt that the two races couldn’t agree, he still wanted to ask.

Yang Kai stopped lamenting and replied as a smile appeared on his lips, “I just said it’s not a real ceasefire, only one limited to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters and Territory Lords.”

Six Arms thoughtfully murmured, “You mean…”

“It’s very simple. From now on, your Territory Lords won’t participate in the battle regardless of its scale, and the same goes for the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race.”

The moment he stated this, the Territory Lords broke into an uproar. Even the Territory Lords who were concealing their auras and hiding in the nearby Black Ink Clouds were shocked and accidentally exposed themselves.

“Really?” One of the Territory Lords excitedly asked.

Six Arms could not help but glare at that Territory Lord, who immediately shut up as shame filled his face.

Nonetheless, Six Arms did not blame him. To be honest, even he was tempted by Yang Kai’s proposal.

Be that as it may, he warned himself that this was definitely one of the Human Race’s schemes and he should not easily believe it. They had all experienced just how cunning and underhanded Humans were.

Six Arms stared deeply into Yang Kai’s eyes, as if he wanted to see into the depths of his soul, and suspiciously asked, “What does Your Excellency mean?”

Yang Kai replied, “I mean exactly what I said.”

Six Arms didn’t say anything more. He couldn’t understand what was going on, so he turned to Mo Na Ye to seek his opinion. Mo Na Ye too furrowed his brow, appearing to be deep in thought.

Yang Kai added, “There is no need to be suspicious. I have sincerely come here to negotiate an armistice with you, and I feel that it’s also a good proposition for the Black Ink Clan. The Black Ink Clan has lost almost 30 Territory Lords at my hands in Profound Nether Territory over these years, yes? If you agree to this ceasefire, I will withdraw from the frontlines too. Of course, the premise is that you and the other Territory Lords also uphold the conditions of the ceasefire.”

An ugly look immediately appeared on the face of the Territory Lords.

The death of 30 odd Territory Lords in Profound Nether Territory was a matter of great humiliation for them. By mentioning this, Yang Kai was simply rubbing salt into their wounds, which was truly infuriating.

Nonetheless, it was the truth, and they could not refute it.

Seeing the Territory Lords remain silent, Yang Kai’s smile slowly faded as his tone became dark and cold, “What’s wrong? I’ve shown you sincerity by coming alone to discuss this matter and giving you an enormous concession. Are you still not satisfied? Perhaps I need to kill a few more of you before you agree?”

Saying so, he took out his Azure Dragon Spear and arrogantly declared, “Good, since that’s the case, we all know what will happen next. Every two years henceforth, when war breaks out, I’ll kill one or two Territory Lords until all of you are gone. Let’s see how you dare to disagree then!”

The moment he summoned his Azure Dragon Spear, all the Territory Lords immediately became tense and their aura instantly broke out as they began circulating their Black Ink Strength. The calm and peaceful situation immediately became highly agitated.

Six Arms jumped back in fright, no longer having any thoughts of killing Yang Kai as he quickly raised his hand and stated, “Your Excellency, please don’t be rash!”

Yang Kai pointed his spear at him and asked him in a grim voice, without any trace of politeness, “Agree or disagree, it’s a one-word answer!”

Six Arms was completely infuriated. He was one of the top Innate Territory Lords, and also the Commander of the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory. Never had he been pointed at and shamed by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

If Yang Kai’s proposal had not been so tempting, he would have already given the order to attack.

He solemnly looked at Yang Kai and stated, “Your Excellency’s proposal is truly intriguing, but this ceasefire is really unimaginable, I find it hard to believe you would request it.”

“Why is that?”

Six Arms enquired, “According to Your Excellency’s proposal, the Human Race’s Eighth-Order Masters and our Territory Lords won’t be able to join the battle in the future, which on the surface appears extremely beneficial to my Black Ink Clan. So my question is, what does the Human Race get out of this?”

This was the sticking point he simply couldn’t figure out. The Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory was currently at an extreme disadvantage. They would lose one or two Territory Lords every time a war broke out every two years. Now, every time war was about to break out, the Territory Lords would become restless, terrified they would be targeted by Yang Kai.

However, if they could agree with the Human Race to not send their Eighth-Order Masters into battle after today, it would be wholly beneficial to the Black Ink Clan. Six Arms could not figure out why the Humans would make such a proposal, much less uphold it.

Why would the Humans do something which would not bring them any benefit? Six Arms wasn’t naïve enough to believe that Yang Kai was considering the Black Ink Clan’s interests. The two sides were sworn enemies, so it made no sense.

Yang Kai asked, frowning, “What does my Human Race’s gains from this have to do with you? Why ask so many questions?”

Six Arms solemnly stated, “If Your Excellency can’t give us a satisfactory answer, we can only think that this is some type of sinister plot and we will have to move to capture Your Excellency here today.”

“Do you think you can?” Yang Kai sneered as he swept his gaze around arrogantly.

Six Arms shouted, “Since you’re here to discuss an armistice, show us real proof of your sincerity. Do you really think we Territory Lords are afraid of you?”

Yang Kai pursed his lips in annoyance, obviously not wanting to explain himself, but in the end, he still answered, “Fine, I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. The reason I want to discuss an armistice with you is because I want to let my Human Race’s soldiers rest. Although the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race have not suffered any casualties over the past few decades, we have lost far too many below the Eighth-Order, and most of them died because they were caught up in the fights between the Eighth-Order Masters and the Territory Lords. You might not care about the deaths of your weaker Clansmen, but it is very different for my Human Race. Every Human who dies was a loyal patriot of my Human Race. It would not have been an issue had they lost their lives while fighting the Black Ink Clan, even when Masters on our level clash, it is more often those around us who suffer the consequences, dying pointless deaths. As the Territory Lords outnumber the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the Eighth-Order Masters must go all out and have no ability to care about anything else around them. Even if other Human soldiers get swept up in their battlefields, they can do nothing about it, which is not just heart-breaking, but a costly loss. However, if there is a treaty which prevents the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords from joining the battle, then such situations won’t happen again. It is for this reason I am here today to negotiate a ceasefire with you. Are you satisfied with this answer?”

The group of Territory Lords glanced at each other, somewhat believing Yang Kai’s words.

The important thing was that Yang Kai was telling the truth. Low-rank soldiers of both races were caught up in the clash between the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords every time they fought, and many of them died as a result.

The Territory Lords did not care about the deaths of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, but the deaths of so many Human soldiers obviously troubled the Eighth-Order Masters. Be that as it may, they could not hold back in the current environment.

On top of that, the Territory Lords outnumbered the Eighth-Order Masters, so the Territory Lords would often be able to slaughter their way into the midst of the Human Race Army. At that time, even the Eighth-Order Masters, who were already short-handed, would be forced to rush to block them. This put the Human Race into an even more passive situation.

Six Arms tightly furrowed his brow and glanced at Mo Na Ye, who looked back and lightly nodded.

Although Yang Kai’s answer was still a little suspicious, it was indeed a valid reason.

Six Arms asked, “Can you represent the entire Human Race?”

Yang Kai scoffed, “You wish! Of course, I can’t represent the entire Human Race, but I am the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army, so I can represent all Human forces in Profound Nether Territory!”

Six Arms probed, “In other words, the scope of this treaty is limited to the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Masters in Profound Nether Territory?”

“That’s right.”

“The Human Race is quite devious, how can we trust you?”

“I can swear, but would you believe me?” Yang Kai looked at Six Arms with a serious expression, “Trust is built based on mutual understanding between two sides. No matter what I say, you won’t believe me anyway, but the fact that I came alone is enough to show my sincerity. You will know whether I’m telling the truth or not after seeing how the Human Race acts in the future. From today on, the Eighth-Order Masters of my Human Race will not take the initiative to take part in the war in Profound Nether Territory. I hope that you Territory Lords can also abide by the agreement. Of course, you can also not abide by it, but I will kill anyone who dares to do so. Don’t think that you’ll be safe if you go into hiding. Even if you scurry back to the No-Return Pass, I can still go there, kill you, then escape!”

The Territory Lords’ expressions immediately became ugly as this was a naked threat.

“I’ve said what I came to say, farewell!” Yang Kai put away the Azure Dragon Spear, turned around, and left, without caring whether the Territory Lords agreed or not.

The group of Territory Lords stared at Six Arms, seeking an answer from him. Six Arms, on the other hand, appeared to be struggling as to what to do.

Only when Yang Kai had truly left did the Territory Lords break the encirclement, while Six Arms heaved a long sigh of relief as a sense of exhaustion hit him. Just now, he was almost unable to hold himself back from giving the order to attack Yang Kai. If he gave the order, this so-called peace treaty would have naturally been broken, and the Profound Nether Army would have undoubtedly retaliated.

The reason why he didn’t give the order was because he wasn’t confident he could take Yang Kai down here as the latter was just too calm.

Six Arms was not the only Territory Lord who let out a sigh of relief. It had to be said that many Territory Lords were tempted to accept Yang Kai’s so-called peace treaty. If they could reach an agreement with the Human Race that the Eighth-Order Masters and Territory Lords would not partake in the battle here any longer, then they would have nothing to worry about in the future.

Over the past few decades, every time the Human Race Army attacked, it would cause the Territory Lords extreme anxiety. No one knew which Territory Lord would become Yang Kai’s target. Only when Yang Kai really made his move could they finally put their pounding hearts to rest.

When Six Arms saw the expressions on the Territory Lords’ faces, he became a little depressed. These Territory Lords of Profound Nether Territory had been thoroughly traumatized by Yang Kai and likely would never recover. He then turned to Mo Na Ye and asked, “What do you think?”

Mo Na Ye confirmed, frowning, “Does Sir Six Arms mean the peace treaty or…”

“Naturally, the peace treaty.”

“It’s a good deal!” Mo Na Ye replied, “Although I doubt we understand all its implications and I don’t think the Human Race will be so kind, if they abide by the agreement, it will be a good thing for us Territory Lords.”

Six Arms nodded slightly in agreement, “I think so too, I’m just afraid that the Humans have some hidden agenda that we’re still unaware of.”

Mo Na Ye added with a smile, “The Territory Lords are the most important targets in Profound Nether Territory, and since Yang Kai is willing to give up the opportunity to kill us to negotiate, it’s not surprising that he has some ulterior motive. It also feels that the reason he gave is lacking.”

“For the consideration of the Human Race soldiers, huh?” Six Arms understood.

Mo Na Ye agreed with a nod, “En, although many of the Human Race’s soldiers have died at the hands of the Territory Lords over the years, giving up on killing Territory Lords for the sake of those weaker Human soldiers is very foolish. Perhaps… there is some greater motivation we haven’t guessed yet.”