Martial Peak
chapter-4940

Meng Qi had been worried that he might become corrupted by the Black Ink Strength again. If that were to happen, the secret of the Void Corridor would definitely be exposed and the 3,000 Worlds would be invaded by the Black Ink Clan army. He had not dared to take any chances so long as even the slightest possibility existed; thus, he had chosen to sacrifice his life instead.

Although Yang Kai understood the reason behind those actions, he could not help feeling regretful whenever he came across similar situations and remembered Meng Qi.

Other than Yang Kai, nobody else in this world knew that a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from Exquisite Paradise had sacrificed his life in order to protect a secret related to the safety of the 3,000 Worlds.

As a matter of fact, countless Human Masters had risked their lives on the Black Ink Battlefield since ancient times. Who among them had not given blood and life to stop the invasion of the Black Ink Clan? Be that as it may, with the exception of the Elders and elite disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises, most of the people in the 3,000 Worlds were not even aware of the Black Ink Clan’s existence.

The Cave Heavens and Paradises had contributed greatly to the 3,000 Worlds.

“We’ve got movement,” A low voice sounded inside the Black Ink Cloud.

The others who were resting nearby quickly opened their eyes and focused their senses outside. Sure enough, they discovered movement. A large number of Black Ink Clansmen suddenly entered the range of their perception. Not only were there as many as 500 people in the approaching group, but several Black Ink Feudal Lords were leading it.

The High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters exchanged a glance with each other and noticed the eagerness in the other’s eyes.

During this period of time, everybody had carried out numerous acts of intercepting the enemy, so it could be said that they had long since gotten accustomed to such acts. In fact, this large group of Black Ink Clansmen looked like nothing more than a delectable piece of meat in their eyes. With their current line-up, they were perfectly capable of destroying this enemy. Most importantly, there were many Black Ink Disciples among this group of enemies. If they could successfully rescue these Black Ink Disciples, they would further increase their strength.

In the beginning, if they had encountered such a group of enemies, they could only choose to make a temporary retreat. There was no helping it as the difference in numbers was too great. In contrast, even though they currently only seemed to have five people on the surface, the truth was that they each contained many helpers in their respective Small Universes. It was only natural for them to eye these enemies with relish.

“Something is wrong,” Yang Kai suddenly scowled.

“What’s wrong?” The person who asked the question was an elderly-looking man. He was one of the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who introduced himself as Qi Tai Chu of Yuan Origin Paradise.

“Their direction is wrong!” Yang Kai shook his head.

Upon hearing those words, another Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master called Ning Qi Zhi of Red Sun Paradise agreed, “That’s right. Why is a Black Ink army coming from that direction?”

During this period, all the Black Ink Clansmen they intercepted had been heading towards the front lines of the battlefield from the Black Ink Clan’s territory. However, this group of enemies came from the opposite direction. From the looks of it, they seemed to have retreated from the front lines of the battlefield.

“Did they finish fighting on the front lines?” Shen Ao raised an eyebrow. If that was the case, then it was good news. They would only need to wait for the Black Ink Clan army to retreat, and then they could make the return trip. There was no need to continue hiding and sneaking around.

“It’s too quick.” Feng Ying slowly shook her head, “When has the Black Ink Clan’s attack not lasted at least a decade or two? There are times when they even attack for hundreds of years without stopping. How could they possibly retreat so quickly?”

“Then why did this group return?”

“Could they be escorting something?”

They whispered among themselves, each expressing their own opinions. Even so, none of them could provide a reasonable answer.

The enemy was approaching closer and closer, so if they did not make a move now, they would miss the opportunity to do so. Seeing this, Ning Qi Zhi asked, “Are we attacking or not?”

All of them turned to look at Feng Ying. Although she was a woman, she was also the strongest among them. Moreover, all of them were jointly rescued by her and Yang Kai, so it was only natural for her to take command.

Feng Ying turned towards Yang Kai with an inquiring glance.

Yang Kai pondered for a moment, “It’s probably okay to attack, but we should be extra careful. If you think that something is wrong, retreat immediately.”

She nodded in agreement, “In that case, let’s move!”

The moment the words left her mouth, she took the lead and rushed out of the Black Ink Cloud. Yang Kai and the others quickly followed suit.

As usual, when the five figures emerged from the Black Ink Cloud, the Black Ink Clan noticed them immediately and turned to look in their direction. The leading Black Ink Feudal Lords exchanged glances with each other, showing suspicious and puzzled expressions. One of them immediately raised his hand to stop the forward motion of the group they were leading; then, they quietly waited for the five figures to approach.

Although they did not seem to be on guard against the five approaching figures, it was not due to a lack of vigilance. The main reason was that no ordinary Human cultivator would conceal themselves inside a Black Ink Cloud. Those who dared to hide inside a Black Ink Cloud without fear of being corrupted by the Black Ink Strength were definitely already Black Ink Disciples. Besides, they had hundreds of people on their side while Yang Kai’s party only had five. The gap in their numbers was too great.

Those were the same reasons why Yang Kai and the others could repeatedly approach their enemies in such a bold fashion and succeed in their sneak attacks.

The distance between both parties grew closer and closer, so much so that they could clearly see the expressions on each other’s faces.

Feng Ying, who was in the lead, suddenly stretched out her hand and grabbed at something. A longsword appeared in her grip, and she immediately slid her finger across the blade of her sword.

Following a surge of World Force, a crisp humming sound reverberated throughout the void. Thousands of sword waves appeared behind her, twisting and converging to form a 1,000-metre-long Sword Dragon in an instant. At the same time, she concealed herself within the Dragon Head and vanished out of sight.

As soon as she attacked, she unleashed her Divine Manifestation. It was obvious that she planned to end this battle as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, the Black Ink Clan clearly never expected this kind of thing to happen. They initially thought that these people were five Black Ink Disciples separated from their Masters; therefore, they had planned to wait for the other party to approach and enjoy some easy benefits. Who could have expected the other party to unleash a killing move instead? The sudden turn of events left the Black Ink Clansmen reeling in confusion.

The expression of the leading Feudal Lord changed drastically and he shouted ferociously, “Enemy attack!”

For a time, the 500-man team was engulfed in chaos.

At the same time, the 1,000-metre-long Sword Dragon lunged towards the Black Ink Clan army while shaking its head and flicking its tail. Nobody could halt its rampage. The sword waves that formed the body of the Sword Dragon vibrated with a humming sound, turning into unstoppable weapons. All the Black Ink Clansmen who came into contact with the sword waves were either heavily injured or killed on the spot. In that way, the enormous Sword Dragon swept open an empty path through the Black Ink Clan army.

When Feng Ying made her move, Yang Kai and the others immediately opened the portals to their Small Universe. Numerous figures that had been prepared for a long time emerged from within.

In the blink of an eye, the seemingly lonesome five-man party expanded into a small army of over 200 people that charged towards the Black Ink Clan with a ferocious roar.

The Black Ink Clan was stunned by the attack. Targeted by Shen Ao and the others, the Feudal Lords were unable to issue effective orders. Consequently, the battlefield was soon split apart. The Black Ink Clan were separated into small groups that stuck together on the defensive.

Yang Kai ignored the Feudal Lords as his figure moved through the crowd as nimbly as a fish in water. Whenever he came across an opportunity to attack, he would not miss it.

The Azure Dragon Spear in his hand swept out left and right. Everywhere he passed, Black Ink Clansmen erupted into blood mist in his wake. With his current strength, as long as he did not encounter a Feudal Lord, nobody beneath them could defend against his spear.

Be that as it may, his main task was not to slaughter the Black Ink Clansmen but to rescue the Black Ink Disciples. Purifying Light flickered here and there, following Yang Kai’s figure as he roamed the battlefield. The Black Ink Strength was dispelled from the bodies of the Black Ink Disciples, and they regained their clarity one after another.

Although there were hundreds of people on both sides, the battle was an extremely one-sided slaughter. Not to mention, it was the Human Race with fewer numbers who held the upper hand. It was very strange indeed; however, this result came from catching the Black Ink Clan by surprise.

The Black Ink Clan never expected the five Human cultivators who approached them to carry malicious intent; in addition, Feng Ying’s Divine Manifestation had caused great casualties and instilled panic among the Black Ink Clan army right at the outset of the battle.

If both sides could reconstruct their formation and fight on fair terms, the Black Ink Clan would not suffer so badly even if they were, ultimately, outmatched.

Many Black Ink Clansmen tried to escape when they saw that the situation was not in their favour. Be that as it may, how could the Human cultivators allow these Black Ink Clansmen to survive? The Human cultivators immediately gave pursuit and quickly slaughtered the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen.

The intense battle took less than an hour from the beginning to the end. All the Black Ink Clansmen were eliminated, and the Black Ink Disciples were rescued. The Human cultivators also suffered some casualties, but their losses were within the acceptable range.

“Martial Uncles and Martial Aunts, this Junior Brother has important information to report!” While they were counting their losses on the battlefield, somebody walked over to Feng Ying and the others with a young man in tow.

Yang Kai turned to look at the young man and recognised him as one of the Black Ink Disciples he rescued earlier.

Feng Ying looked at the young man and asked, “What information?”

The young man solemnly cupped his fist, “Martial Aunt, this is a trap. We cannot stay here for long.”

She frowned slightly, “What do you mean? Explain clearly.”

He thus explained, “I don’t know much, but the Black Ink Clan seems to have noticed something strange. They believe that a small team of Human cultivators are causing havoc in the rear, so they dispatched some people to launch a search. They intend to locate and eliminate the hidden team. We were merely one of the search teams. There are another seven or eight teams in the vicinity. As soon as they discover something, they will immediately communicate with each other to provide support. Although you moved very quickly just now, Martial Aunt, the reinforcements from the Black Ink Clan are probably on the way. Moreover, I overheard several Black Ink Clansmen mention that this operation is being overseen by a Territory Lord.”

The expression of Feng Ying and the others immediately became grim. All the doubts and illogical occurrences from before were clarified at this moment.

Shen Ao pounded his fist against his palm and gritted his teeth, “I was wondering why this group was retreating from the front lines. It turns out that they have noticed our movements.”

Ning Qi Zi frowned, “Although we’ve always wiped out the enemy without fail, the Black Ink Clan has suffered quite a heavy loss recently. It was only a matter of time before we were discovered, but I never imagined that they would respond so quickly.”

The Black Ink Clansmen who should have headed to the front lines had repeatedly failed to arrive on the battlefield. One or two people might have gone unnoticed, but it was impossible for thousands to simply be overlooked.

This war began because the Human Masters had raided the Black Ink Clan’s domain and destroyed a number of the Black Ink Clan’s territories along the way; therefore, it was not strange for the Black Ink Clan to suspect that a small team of Human Masters were causing havoc in the rear.

This particular Black Ink Clan team had been ordered to perform a search of this region. Under normal circumstances, they would have been on guard when they encountered these five people, but Feng Ying and the others had emerged from within the Black Ink Cloud, which caused the Black Ink Clansmen to mistakenly assume that they were Black Ink Disciples. For that reason, the Black Ink Clansmen lowered their guard and allowed Feng Ying’s party to launch a sneak attack.

Everybody began moving swiftly. Although they slaughtered all the Black Ink Clansmen, the information would have leaked out by now. The other Black Ink Clan search teams in the vicinity would surely be on their way to provide support.