Martial Peak
chapter-5165

“Those wastes! A few Human Squads actually managed to stop them, how useless,” Wu Jiang cursed angrily.

Hong Hu shook his head, “Those Squads seem to be the Humans’ Special Operations Squads. They’re much stronger than ordinary Squads.”

Wu Jiang coldly snorted, “So what if their Special Operations Squads!? There’s only so many of them. Even if they have to pay with their lives, our troops should be able to flatten them!”

Hong Hu sighed in response, “I’m afraid it won’t work. Even if we continue sending more and more people over, it won’t help, they’ll just be defeated one by one. They have a total of five Squads, and at any given time, two seem to be resting while the other three are defending. It’s impossible to break through their blockade without overwhelming strength.”

“What do you think we should do?”

Hong Hu pondered for a moment before suggesting, “Amass our power and crush them in one fell swoop!”

Wu Jiang impatiently asked, “There’s no need to go through so much trouble. If you and I fight, how can they be our opponents?”

“No!” Hong Hu quickly stopped him, “Have you forgotten what happened to Wu Ying and the others a few dozen years ago? Over 200,000 of our troops were ambushed by the Humans and defeated in one fell swoop, causing our Black Ink Clan to suffer a great loss in the next battle due to a lack of manpower. Before we are sure that the Humans have not set some elaborate trap here, it’s best if we don’t act rashly.”

Wu Jiang’s expression changed. He naturally remembered what happened to Wu Ying and the other Territory Lords back then. It might have happened a few decades ago, but to the Territory Lords who lived long lives, it was like it happened just yesterday. Although he was angry, he knew that Hong Hu’s worries weren’t unfounded. Xiang Shan was breaking through in this damned place and five elite Human Squads had just happened to be around to guard him. No matter how he looked at it, something was amiss.

Although they had yet to sense the auras of any Eighth-Order Masters, who could guarantee that those sinister and devious Humans were not lurking nearby?

The Human Race’s Spirit Arrays were extremely exquisite, and even a simple one could easily conceal one’s aura.

The reason why they had been waiting here was because, on one hand, they wanted to use their subordinates to attack and probe the situation, and on the other hand, they were also waiting for news from the front lines.

Once they confirmed that there was no trap here, they would definitely make a move.

Xiang Shan’s prestige was quite dreadful, but that was when he was in the Eighth Order. As for the current Xiang Shan, any random Territory Lord could easily deal with him. If they took down Xiang Shan, they would deal a heavy blow to the Human Race and also restore some of their lost prestige.

There was still no definite news from the front line, so it was likely that their companions were still assessing the situation. Wu Jiang and Hong Hu could not remain idle while waiting for the news, though, as they had their own matters to attend to.

After a brief discussion, the two Territory Lords gave orders to the attacking Black Ink Clansmen to retreat and urged the nearby Black Ink Clansmen to rush over to assist.

At the periphery of the asteroid where Xiang Shan was advancing, the Black Ink Clan suddenly retreated like a tide, leaving a mess in their wake.

Under Zhu Yu Ming’s leadership, the Wild Boar Squad relentlessly pursued them, like they were hell-bent on exterminating the entire Black Ink Clan. Fortunately, Chai Fang quickly stopped him, “Don’t chase after a cornered enemy. Our mission here is our priority.”

Zhu Yu Ming cursed a few times. Although he was still somewhat unwilling, he knew the gravity of the situation and quickly led his Squad back.

After a fierce battle, each Squad had consumed a great deal of energy, so they seized this rare idle time to recover.

“The Black Ink Clan has retreated,” Dongfang Wen Bing’s eyes lit up.

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze to observe before slowly shaking his head, “It’s just a temporary withdrawal.”

Although they couldn’t see clearly, it was obvious that the retreating Black Ink Clansmen hadn’t really left. Instead, they were gathering in the distance, seemingly waiting for something.

Things were not looking good. Apparently, his and Dongfang Wen Bing’s previous speculations had come true. There was indeed a Master behind these Black Ink Clansmen. If not, it would have been impossible to explain the current situation.

Dongfang Wen Bing also realized this and a solemn expression filled his face.

Yang Kai consoled, “The reinforcements from the forward base should be arriving soon, we just need to hold on for another three to five days.”

Dongfang Wen Bing added in a grim voice, “That may be the case, but judging from the Black Ink Clan’s movements, it’s obvious they’ve made some arrangements. I’m afraid the reinforcements from the forward base will be intercepted halfway.”

No one who cultivated to the Seventh Order could be a fool. Dongfang Wen Bing’s worries were not unfounded, and Yang Kai was also aware of this, but right now, they could only place their hopes on the reinforcements from the forward base or Xiang Shan’s quick promotion.

What the two of them didn’t know was that their worries had long since become reality. The two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters surnamed Zhang and Sun, who had set out from the forward base, had already been intercepted by two Territory Lords midway and were still fighting fiercely with them.

Time slowly went by as every single member of the five elite Human Squads felt like the passage of each day was as lengthy as a year. The calm and silent void was filled with lingering murderous intent, keeping all of them on edge.

Just outside the nearby Feudal Lord’s territory, the number of Black Ink Clansmen continued to increase, rising from 10,000 to 20,000, then reaching 50,000…

Wu Jiang and Hong Hu stared at these tens of thousands of unappealing goods with great dissatisfaction.

Although they had urgently summoned the nearby Black Ink Clan forces to this place, the number of troops they could muster was still extremely small. This couldn’t be helped though as most of the Black Ink Clan forces had been transferred to the front lines to confront the forward base over the past few decades.

Currently, the Black Ink Clan forces remaining behind were extremely few in number. Furthermore, 80 to 90% of the Black Ink Clansmen they had gathered here were nothing more than cannon fodder. Many of them weren’t even Low-Rank Clansmen yet.

It was quite an awkward situation. It wasn’t that the two Territory Lords were incompetent, but rather that even a clever housewife couldn’t cook without rice. There weren’t any powerful forces nearby for them to deploy, so their hands were tied.

If the quality wasn’t good enough, then they could only make up for it with quantity. They didn’t hold out any hope that these Black Ink Clansmen would be able to accomplish anything, but they could still be used for attacking and probing.

Two days later, they barely managed to gather 80,000 troops, which seemed to be the upper limit. They couldn’t mobilize any more. Under the orders of the two Territory Lords, the 80,000-strong Army marched towards the asteroid.

From a distance, the Human Squads promptly discovered the approaching threat. The number of enemies was like a tidal wave, making their scalps tingle.

The Wild Boar Squad Leader, Zhu Yu Ming, let out a long roar, whereupon all the Human soldiers who were still recovering started moving.

Three Warships lined up in a straight line, their Spirit Arrays humming slightly. Immediately, various lights began to flicker and fluctuate on the hulls of the Warships.

Yang Kai and Dongfang Wen Bing remained motionless. Their two Squads were responsible for guarding Xiang Shan in this rotation, so they would not make any move unless the situation reached a critical point.

As the enemy Army drew closer and closer, the sight of 80,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers attacking them made the Humans feel like they were facing a tidal wave, giving them great psychological pressure.

At that moment, Zhu Yu Ming’s roar reverberated through the void, “Kill!”

With a loud bang, the three Warships shook violently as dazzling beams of light shot out from various weapon ports, bombarding the Black Ink Clan Army.

The Black Ink Clan Army was thrown into disarray as countless Black Ink Clansmen were reduced to dust by the beams of light. A few beams even cut right through the approaching Black Ink Clan Army.

Thousands of Black Ink Clansmen had fallen from just the opening salvo of attack.

Everyone was stunned at the sight of this, but they quickly understood. Although there were many Black Ink Clansmen attacking, they were not invincible. Most of them were weak cannon fodder; otherwise, so many of them would not have died just like that.

The soldiers in charge of controlling the Warship’s artifacts didn’t need to be told what to do. They once again channelled their World Force into their artifacts and launched another barrage of attacks, further increasing the casualties suffered by the Black Ink Clan.

After three rounds of bombardment, the Black Ink Clan Army was already upon them. Immediately, the Seventh-Order Masters leapt off their Warships, holding their own artifacts and circulating their World Force as they lined up and started attacking the oncoming enemies. The next instant, black blood and pieces of flesh flew here and there as the Black Ink Clansmen’s auras began to wane.

The vicinity of the three Warships was densely packed with Black Ink Clan forces. It was almost impossible to spot the figures of the three Warships and the Seventh-Order Masters protecting them; only the energy fluctuations constantly spreading into the void gave the assurance that they were still alive.

The entire picture looked like black ants swarming towards three candies fallen on the ground, wrapping them up entirely.

A large number of Black Ink Clansmen suddenly bypassed the three entangled Warships and rushed towards the asteroid.

Dawn and the Water Snakes had already made their preparations. The Warships immediately opened fire, unleashing all of their might as the Seventh-Order Masters circulated their World Force madly to unleash their strongest Divine Abilities towards the places where the most Black Ink Clansmen were gathered.

Yang Kai had pushed his Space Principles to the limit. All the Black Ink Clansmen who tried to approach the asteroid immediately felt as if they had fallen into a swamp. Their movements became sluggish, giving the two Squads a chance to kill them at a distance.

All thanks to his Space Principles, just two Squads were somehow able to stop the enemy’s thrust.

Most of the Black Ink Clansmen were nothing more than Serfs, so their strength wasn’t even worth mentioning. Any of the Humans present here could easily kill a large number of them, but there were simply too many of them. Xiang Shan could not be disturbed while he was breaking through, so if any Black Ink Clansman broke through the defensive line, no matter how weak they were, it could cause a huge disaster.

For the time being, the battle was still under control, but it was hard to say how long the Human Squads could keep things that way.

No one would be able to endure such a high-intensity battle forever.

One hour, two hours…

Half a day later, the five Squads had all consumed a great deal of energy, which was reflected most obviously in their greatly decreased rate of killing. Although Yang Kai was still able to hold on and use his Space Principles to delay the attacks of the Black Ink Clansmen, Dawn and the Water Snakes were unable to keep up.

There were more Black Ink Clansmen on the periphery of the asteroid, so it wouldn’t be long before even Yang Kai was unable to stop them all.

[It’s time!]

Thinking so, Yang Kai shouted, “Senior Brother Chai!”

Somewhere in the void in front of them, Chai Fang’s voice rang out from a Warship surrounded by countless Black Ink Clans, “Hahahaha, it’s really pleasant to hear. What’s wrong, Brother Yang, are you unable to hold on?”

Dongfang Wen Bing smiled and scolded, “Old Chai, hurry up! Don’t waste time!”

“Coming, coming!” Chai Fang replied. As soon as his voice fell, a seemingly solid halo suddenly erupted. This halo didn’t cause much damage, but it had an extremely strong repelling force. In an instant, countless Black Ink Clansmen surrounding the Old Turtle’s Warship were all pushed away.