Martial Peak

Chapter 5761: The One Who Strikes First Wins

Their auras linked together and they quickly formed a Five Elements Formation with the veteran Eighth-Order Master Tian Xiu Zhu as the Core, standing by in wait for a fight.

With this Formation, they would still have a chance even if they were to encounter a Pseudo-Royal Lord. But if it was a true Royal Lord, then they would surely be no match for them.

So, after getting into Formation, all of them were secretly praying that it was not a real Royal Lord that was coming over; otherwise, all of them were possibly going to be buried here today.

Xiong Ji reassured everyone, “No need to worry too much. We’ve only discovered one Royal Lord before, but there were a considerable number of Pseudo-Royal Lords who came in. It’s reasonable to say that it’s likely a Pseudo-Royal Lord who’s approaching. There’s no way we’ll be so unlucky as to encounter another Royal Lord, right?”

Liu Fei Fei couldn’t help but glance over at him, “That’s what I was assuming as well, but after hearing you say that… I feel a bad premonition.”

“Calm your minds and concentrate!” Tian Xiu Zhu shouted.

Liu Fei Fei and Xiong Ji shut their mouths at once.

While they were talking, a figure in the distance entered their vision. All they saw was a vast and imposing Black Ink Cloud that was quickly approaching them.

“Xiong Ji, you damn crow-mouth!” Zhan Tian He’s expression changed for the worse. Exactly as they feared, the one who was approaching was, in fact, a true Royal Lord.

Xiong Ji felt depressed. He had only made an offhand remark, yet how did he become a crow-mouth?

It was inevitable that all of them would feel anguished at this encounter. Even in the Five Elements Formation, it was very likely that their fates in the face of this Royal Lord were going to be unpleasant. However, there was no way they wouldn’t even resist when facing an enemy of this calibre.

They were all determined to bite off a chunk of that Royal Lord’s flesh even if they were to die here. They would fight with all their might!

“Prepare for battle!” Tian Xiu Zhu was a veteran Eighth-Order Master, and after experiencing so many life-and-death battles in his life, he was able to calm himself quickly and shouted for the rest of them to focus.

The Battle Formation was running, their auras were connected, and World Force was churning. Tian Xiu Zhu was about to lead his Junior Brothers and Junior Sister into a fight to the death with the Royal Lord, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to run after being taken aback for a moment.

That left Zhan Tian He and the rest puzzled, but since they were in a Battle Formation, the rest of them could only follow Tian Xiu Zhu under the pull of their auras.

Very soon though, they realized why their Senior Brother Tian had run. That was because it wasn’t simply a Royal Lord coming at them from afar, there was an even stronger aura following closely behind him, one that felt extremely strange. It was unlike a Ninth-Order Master or Royal Lord; instead, it was like…

“Could it be that Chaos Spirit King?” Liu Fei Fei came to a realization.

They were wondering how there could be so many Royal Lords popping out at once, but it was very clear that this was the same Royal Lord that they sensed with Yang Kai back then. The Black Ink Clan didn’t have two true Royal Lords, it was still just one.

Previously, the Royal Lord was fighting against the Chaos Spirit King where the Chaos Spirits were gathering earlier; and at this moment, the Chaos Spirit King was chasing down the Royal Lord, clearly trying to kill him.

However, what confused them was why the Chaos Spirit King would chase him all the way here? Didn’t it have to protect its clansmen? And what about the Chaos Entity that swallowed the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill?

Instantaneously, all of them understood something.

Most likely, Yang Kai had succeeded in seizing the pill and had escaped. The Chaos Spirit King must have mistaken Yang Kai to be on the Black Ink Clan’s side, so it turned its anger on the Royal Lord when it failed to find Yang Kai!

That would explain why there had been so many Black Ink Clansmen gathering in that direction recently. It was very obvious that they were trying to dig out Yang Kai’s location.

Understanding this, Zhan Tian He and the others all glanced at each other, feeling impressed.

As expected of Senior Brother Yang, he had truly succeeded in seizing the chestnut from the fire; and the fact that he got his hands on a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill also meant that a new Ninth-Order Master would soon exist among their ranks! Even more amazingly, he had managed to toss the pot of trouble into the hands of the Black Ink Clan as well.

But now, their situation wasn’t so good. They weren’t as fast as the Royal Lord and the Chaos Spirit King, so it would only be a matter of time before they caught up to them. They had no choice but to avoid them, yet the Royal Lord was chasing after them like maggots on rotting bones. It was very obvious that his intentions were to drag them into the fray so as to divert the Chaos Spirit King’s attention.

Something had to be done; otherwise, they would be forced into a passive position once the Royal Lord made his move.

“Everyone, do you trust this old man?” Tian Xiu Zhu suddenly called out to them.

Zhan Tian He and the others did not understand what he meant, but they could vaguely guess what he intended to do and quickly answered, “No need to stand on ceremony, Senior Brother Tian. If Senior Brother wishes to do something, please act freely!”

Tian Xiu Zhu let out a hearty laugh, “In that case, let us fight the Royal Lord together!”

With those words, he suddenly turned around again and charged towards the Royal Lord.

Behind them, the Royal Lord who was running away had long picked up on these Humans’ presence, and it was also true that he intended to hold off the Chaos Spirit King after him with the help of these Eighth-Order Masters. There was not much he had to do, he just had to stop these Humans for a moment, then there was no way the Chaos Spirit King would just sit back and let them go. When that happened, he could get the Humans to fight the Chaos Spirit King, and then he could take advantage of that opportunity to escape with his superior speed.

It was a sound plan, yet he never would have expected these Humans to have the guts to turn around and attack him. The Royal Lord couldn’t help but be taken aback by this unexpected reaction.

The very sight made him furious. Being chased by the Chaos Spirit King that lacked sapience was terrible in and of itself, but the other party’s fist was bigger, so there was no helping it. However, how did those Eighth-Order Masters dare to underestimate him like this?

“Courting death!” This newly-advanced Royal Lord coldly snorted and raised his hand. Black Ink Strength gathered in his palm before he clenched his fist and threw a punch in Tian Xiu Zhu’s direction.

Inside of the Five Elements Formation, the five Eighth-Order Masters were arranged into a V shape with Tian Xiu Zhu at the lead. Before the Royal Lord’s fist had even reached them, Tian Xiu Zhu had already spat out a mouthful of Blood Essence, which turned into a dense blood mist that wrapped around the five of them, and his already stunning aura rose to another level.

World Force surged fiercely, and all their bodies shone brightly.

The eventual clash caused space to shake for a moment, and several muffled grunts rang out.

The Royal Lord’s body was pushed back slightly, but the mighty Black Ink Cloud remained mostly intact. On the other hand, the streak of blood-red light was blasted back while its glow faded greatly. It wasn’t until they tumbled nearly a million kilometres before the five Eighth-Order Masters managed to steady themselves.

At this moment, the faces of the five Humans were pale, and blood was spilling from the corners of their mouths, especially Tian Xiu Zhu, who had taken the lead. His face had turned almost as white as a sheet of paper, and a part of his chest had caved in.

Even with the five of them assuming the Five Elements Formation, having to take a head-on blow from a Royal Lord still did not go down well for them.

However, Tian Xiu Zhu was laughing loudly, “You two have fun, we’ll be taking our leave!”

Barely maintaining the Battle Formation, he spat out another mouthful of Blood Essence and activated a Secret Technique; then, along with Zhan Tian He and the others, they turned into a streak of red light that quickly moved away.

The aftershocks of a fierce battle could be heard from behind them, as well as the Royal Lord’s unresigned roar of fury, “Humans, I’ll bury all of you and exterminate your entire Race!”

He had originally intended to stop the Eighth-Order Masters here for a while and drag them into the fight, but he never expected them to act against him first before he put his plan into motion.

They had done exactly what he was planning to do!

Under the momentum of the Five Elements Formation, the five Eighth-Order Masters combined their strengths to launch a single attack, but still did not gain much out of it; instead, they had all come out injured. As the Core of the Formation, Tian Xiu Zhu had even briefly trod upon the gates of death, but the result proved that it was undoubtedly the right choice to make.

As a result of the resistance they had put up, the Royal Lord was halted for a moment, even pushed back slightly, which was just enough for the Chaos Spirit King who was chasing after him to catch up.

While two top Masters were now engaged in a close-quarters melee, how could they have any strength left to care about Tian Xiu Zhu and his group?

This truly was snatching life from the gates of death. It was difficult for them to have done something like this without great courage, but fortunately, there was never a shortage of courage among the brave warriors of the Human Race, especially among old veteran Eighth-Order Masters like Tian Xiu Zhu.

Seeking a ray of hope in desperation had always been something that they were best at.

Tian Xiu Zhu and the others managed to escape from a crisis for the time being, but with the varying injuries that all of them suffered necessitated finding a place to hide and recuperate.

The Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King were not fighting again, shattering chaos and tearing apart the void. However, for top Masters such as them, even if there was a noticeable difference in true strength between them, it was not so easy for either side to take the life of the other.

The fight would most likely end in the Royal Lord escaping again in the end, with the Chaos Spirit King chasing after him incessantly…

Elsewhere, Yang Kai felt as if he were a lamp running out of oil.

After seizing the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, he managed to escape with Thunder Shadow. Even though he found an opportunity to recover during this period, the Black Ink Clan would soon discover his trail and he would be forced to flee again, so he did not manage to heal much.

He could sense that a wave of Black Ink Clansmen was constantly converging towards this area. It seemed like the loss of a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill had truly irked them.

He was in bad shape now, and so was Thunder Shadow, so he was simply powerless to deal with so many enemies.

Yang Kai had no choice but to constantly move around while finding breathing room to heal.

But if things went on like this, it wouldn’t be long before he had no way to escape and would have to fight to the death.

He had to find a safe place to recover from his injuries; however, though the Universe Furnace World was vast and the terrain complex, it was difficult to find a truly safe place, especially when the Black Ink Clan were currently trying to seek him out.

As he ran, Yang Kai considered his options, and the only place that he could hide seemed obvious.

If he hid inside of the Infinite River that was said to run through the entire Universe Furnace World, then no matter how many Masters from the Black Ink Clan came, they might still not be able to find him.

However, the Infinite River was formed of chaotic Shattered Dao Essence, so if he hid inside of it, being corrupted by the Shattered Dao Essence would still bring great risk to him.

For a while, Yang Kai was at a loss.

The main reason for that was because he currently had no idea how far away he was from the Infinite River.

But no matter what, it was still a way out for him.

While escaping, Yang Kai searched for the location of the Infinite River. During that time, he encountered some Black Ink Clansmen who were trying to seek him out, so he had no choice but to use his Space Secret Techniques, which drained a lot of his energy and exacerbated his injuries.