Martial Peak
chapter-4974

Feng Ying spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, her expression somewhat languid.

She could not maintain her Divine Manifestation anymore; furthermore, killing that last Feudal Lord had cost her and Yang Kai a lot.

The Great Sun’s afterglow was particularly noticeable, shooting forward like a small Sun and scattering a massive Black Ink Cloud in front of it.

Yang Kai and Feng Ying helped steady each other, but just as they were about to head for a nearby warship to recover, they felt a shiver run up their spines.

It was as if a pair of cold eyes suddenly opened and fixed on them from the depths of the Black Ink Cloud dissipated by Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Cast the Sun. At the same moment, a crushing Will seemed to awaken from a deep slumber.

That Will felt as deep as the abyss and carried with it a terrifying aura. Yang Kai’s hairs all rose up at once, and his heart clenched tight.

When he turned his head sharply to look at the source of the Will, Yang Kai saw a massive figure towering inside the rich Black Ink Cloud.

It was unknown how long this figure had been in this Black Ink Cloud as previously, its aura had not been revealed at all and no one had noticed it. Moreover, this location was basically at the rear of the Black Ink Clan Army’s, so Humans weren’t supposed to be anywhere near here. The repeated losses of the Black Ink Clan’s Western forces had led the battlefield to expand to this place though, exposing it to the ongoing conflict.

Coincidentally, Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation had blown away this particular Black Ink Cloud, revealing the figure hiding inside it.

The Will was like a sleeping Dragon, and once it awakened, the entire Universe trembled, causing the raucous battlefield to fall silent.

Yang Kai once felt a similar Will back in the Black Prison from a Black Ink Clan Royal Lord; however, that Royal Lord had been sealed and suppressed for countless years so her strength had been greatly diminished. At the very least, it was far less intense than the one he was currently facing.

What he felt right now was orders of magnitude more imposing than back in Black Territory.

“The Royal Lord!” Feng Ying cried out, her already pale face draining of all remaining colour.

A Black Ink Royal Lord was a Master on par with a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. On the Black Ink Battlefield, only an Old Ancestor was worthy to be the opponent of a Royal Lord. Previously, Blue Sky Pass’ Old Ancestor had led the Human Army to attack Black Ink Clan’s domain, destroying several of their Spirit Provinces and a number of Black Ink Nests.

This action enraged the Royal Lord responsible for this region, so he swiftly marshalled his forces to counter-attack, resulting in this current war.

As far as Yang Kai knew, Blue Sky Pass’ Old Ancestors had already fought with the local Royal Lord, but neither was able to gain an advantage over the other. Both suffered serious injuries, and ever since that battle, the Old Ancestor had remained in the Inner Sanctum to recover. Meanwhile, the Royal Lord was nowhere to be seen.

Zhong Liang also stated that the side whose leader recovered first would gain control over the current battle, heavily tipping the scales in their side’s favour.

The Human Race assumed that the Royal Lord had chosen a safe location far from the battlefield to rest and recover.

Nobody would have thought that the Royal Lord had deceived them and actually hidden in a Black Ink Cloud only a few hundred thousand kilometres away from Blue Sky Pass.

Of course, logically speaking, though the Royal Lord did not retreat very far, ordinarily he wouldn’t have been disturbed where he was. Even if he had hidden at the rear of the Blank Ink Clan Army, he could rest easy and recover as long as the Humans did not slaughter their way through the entire Western Black Ink Army.

All previous wars of this sort had lasted at least a few years, normally taking several dozen years to resolve. With that much time, the Royal Lord was confident he could completely recover from his current injuries.

However, the battle developed in a manner far outside his predictions. Zhong Liang had an overwhelming advantage on the Western Front, having borrowed troops from the other three Armies. The Western Black Ink Army was repeatedly defeated and forced to withdraw over and over again. Yang Kai and Feng Ying, who were battling on the front lines, had already fought their way right up to the Royal Lord’s hiding place.

Then, in one move, Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation just happened to explode near the Royal Lord and revealed his figure, interfering with his recovery.

This situation resulted from a series of accidents and coincidences, startling both the Humans and the Black Ink Clan.

When the Royal Lord awakened, his pressure instantly filled the battlefield, and the continual slaughtering came to an abrupt halt. Whether it was the Humans or the Black Ink Clansmen, they all fell into a stupor for a brief moment.

Ding Yao, Liang Yu Long, Zhong Liang, Shen Tu Mo, and all the other Eighth-Order Masters acutely felt the aura of the Royal Lord. Turning to look at the source of the aura, their expressions became grim.

The Royal Lord, whose location was a complete mystery to them, was actually on the Western battlefield? They had previously tried hard to locate him to gain a tactical advantage, but now he had just been revealed by accident.

They had also considered where the Royal Lord would hide to heal his wounds after being injured by the Old Ancestor, but the void was vast, so the Royal Lord simply needed to choose a secure place some distance away, and the Human Race would never be able to find him.

Who knew that all this time, he was so close.

The rich Black Ink Cloud had obscured his figure and aura, and the Black Ink Clan Army stationed nearby gave him the best protection. Not to mention the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, even the Old Ancestors wouldn’t have thought that the Royal Lord would do such a thing.

Zhong Liang instantly felt enlightened, as the questions he had been harbouring since learning about the withdrawal of the Black Ink Clan from the other three fronts were resolved.

He now knew why the Black Ink Clan Armies, which clearly had the upper hand on the other three fronts, abruptly withdrew and began rushing to the West.

This was clearly for protection!

The Humans and most of the Black Ink Clan had no idea where the Royal Lord was hiding, but the top Territory Lords would definitely be aware of this information.

The Black Ink Army on the Western Front was being pushed back as the Humans were pressing their advantage, forcing them to retreat again and again. Once the Human Army invaded the area where the Royal Lord was healing, the Royal Lord would undoubtedly be exposed.

This could not be allowed, so as a last resort, even though they had the upper hand on the other three fronts, they had to retreat to provide assistance.

As a result, they surrendered their advantage and switched from offence to defence. Ding Yao and others also reacted quickly, leading their Armies to pursue and kill, inflicting huge casualties to the Black Ink Clan Armies.

Zhong Liang couldn’t help but laugh wildly as he comprehended everything. There were numerous twists in this battle that threw them off guard, but overall, the current scenario was extremely favourable to the Human Race.

This was all thanks to him borrowing troops from the other three Armies to force back the Black Ink Clan on the Western front. Originally, the plan was to quickly defeat them and rescue Yang Kai from the battlefield; however, at this moment, this one action had actually altered the entire course of the current war.

In the next moment, Zhong Liang’s heart sank and his face turned black when he remembered Yang Kai.

Zhong Liang was so distracted by the sudden and unexpected changes that were happening on the battlefield that he temporarily forgot that Yang Kai was still fighting on the front lines. The little bastard was undoubtedly at the very tip of the Western Army’s spear, which meant he was quite far forward. If he was killed by the Royal Lord, this battle would still be counted as a massive loss even if they managed to slaughter ever last Black Ink Clansman present.

Zhong Liang had no idea that the Royal Lord had been revealed by Yang Kai’s accidental action. There was no telling whether he would laugh or cry in exasperation if he found out.

“I’ll leave this place to you,” Zhong Liang said to the Human Masters around him before turning around and dashing towards the Western front, hoping in his heart that Yang Kai did not encounter an accident.

The Old Ancestor would deal with the Royal Lord now that he had appeared, so Yang Kai would not be in any danger as long as he could protect himself until the Old Ancestor arrived.

At the same moment as Zhong Liang set off, the door to a certain palace in the depths of Blue Sky Pass opened and a figure shot out, transforming into a stream of light as he soared towards the battlefield.

The Old Ancestor had taken action!

Yang Kai and Feng Ying had been immobilized at the leading edge of the Western front. Before the glare of the Royal Lord, they didn’t even have the ability to move a finger.

The difference in strength was too enormous, and both Yang Kai and Feng Ying were already arrows at the end of their flight. The two had intended to retreat to a nearby warship to rest and recover after having expended all their strength just now, but who could have predicted that this disaster would suddenly befall them?

The ice-cold eyes of the Royal Lord fixed on Yang Kai, the culprit who had revealed his whereabouts, and murderous intent gradually began to rise from their depths.

Of course, Yang Kai had no idea about the Royal Lord hiding here. All he did was cooperate with Feng Ying to kill a random Feudal Lord.

Blasting off the Black Ink Cloud and exposing the Royal Lord with the remnants of his Golden Crow Casts the Sun Divine Manifestation was a complete accident.

But this matter could not be explained away, nor would it be useful to even try to explain. The Royal Lord was now staring in their direction as if he was looking at a corpse, obviously aware that Yang Kai was the culprit behind his current awkward situation.

As long as the Royal Lord’s gaze was on them, Yang Kai and Feng Ying were incapable of moving as the pressure and nearly tangible murderous intent locked them in place.

*Pu…*

Suddenly, a muffled sound came from the Royal Lord who had been glaring coldly at Yang Kai. Opening his lips, a black mist of blood was spat out by the Royal Lord; his figure staggered and his aura fluctuated chaotically.

Seeing this, Yang Kai and Feng Ying were both shocked and surprised.

The Royal Lord had clearly suffered some kind of backlash from his injuries. It was apparent that his last battle with the Old Ancestor had left him in a bad state, one that would require several years of cultivation to recover from.

What caused his current weakened condition was undoubtedly Yang Kai’s Golden Crow Casts the Sun which wiped away the Black Ink Cloud he was hiding in. This Divine Manifestation naturally did not cause any direct harm to the Royal Lord, but it seemed to have disturbed him at a critical moment in his recovery.

Usually, a Royal Lord wouldn’t have been affected at all by an attack from a Sixth-Order Human, even one as strong as Yang Kai; however, being interrupted at the critical juncture in his healing had caused a backlash that further aggravated his wounds. It was equivalent to the Royal Lord striking his old injuries himself.

Yang Kai and Feng Ying figured all this out in an instant, and without any hesitation, they turned around and escaped while the Royal Lord was busy trying to stabilize himself.

They couldn’t deal with an enemy like this, especially when the two of them didn’t have much strength left. If they didn’t run, they would undoubtedly die.

To escape faster, Yang Kai even employed Space Principles, trying to carry Feng Ying away with him using Instantaneous Movement.

In the blink of an eye, the pair was able to flee several thousand kilometres.

However, how could the Royal Lord allow the ant who disturbed him to flee after the shame he had experienced?

The Royal Lord’s Will flared with murderous intent, and the surrounding space instantly solidified, disturbing Yang Kai’s Space Principles and freezing him in place once more.

Chills shot up their spines as the aura of death descended upon them.