Martial Peak
chapter-5199

In the void, Yang Kai’s figure flickered constantly as he moved forward rapidly. The huge void was vast and silent with no suitable objects to be used as a reference for the Universe Chart; therefore, he did not know his exact location. It was truly fortunate that he could still use the Universe Array.

Under normal circumstances, those who left behind their Imprint at the Universe Array could use the Universe Transference Law to create a connection to it as long as both were located in the same world. In that way, they could directly teleport themselves back to the Universe Array. It was just that the difference in the teleporting distance would lead to a difference in the pressure that one faced when teleporting themselves. If the pressure was too great, they might end up in an awkward situation where their body is torn apart.

A few days ago, Yang Kai started to use the Universe Transference Law to determine the position of the Universe Array and correct his direction accordingly. Unfortunately, the distance between them was still too large. Even for him, it would be difficult to withstand the burden of teleporting over such a large distance; hence, he had been working on getting closer towards the Universe Array.

All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks and formed hand seals to activate the Universe Transference Law. A huge array bloomed beneath his feet a moment later, forming a vague connection with something a long way away. It was the place where the Universe Array was located. More importantly, the location of the Universe Array corresponded to none other than the location of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship belonging to the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies.

Yang Kai quietly perceived the situation. His current location was still quite far from the location of the Universe Array. An ordinary Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would not be able to teleport themselves over such a distance safely. Only an Eighth-Order Master could pull off such a feat.

Be that as it may, this was no longer an issue for Yang Kai as he was a Master of the Dao of Space, he thus relaxed his mind and allowed the intangible pulling force to wrap around him. Following a burst of bright light, his figure vanished out of sight.

The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were currently hiding in an area filled with universe fragments. This place was located a full 10-day journey away from Great Evolution Pass!

Ever since their location was first discovered by the Black Ink Clan, the large fleet had changed its hiding spot several times. Unfortunately, it would not take long before their new location was discovered again.

In order to learn the whereabouts of the Human Race Army, the Black Ink Clan had dispatched many search teams as though casting a wide net in the direction of Azure Void Pass.

As a result, the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies were forced to retreat again and again until they reached their current position. If they were discovered again, then they would be forced to withdraw even further; after all, they did not have the protection of an Old Ancestor and would be defenceless if the Royal Lord suddenly attacked them. Therefore, it was better for them to stay as far away from Great Evolution Pass as possible for safety’s sake.

On the deck of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Mi Jing Lun stood quietly at the bow of the ship with his feather fan in hand as he stared outward in the direction of Great Evolution Pass.

Nearly 10 days had passed since Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple headed towards Great Evolution Pass to spy on the situation. There had been no news from them since their departure, so Mi Jing Lun did not know anything about the situation over there.

What puzzled Mi Jing Lun in particular though was the movements of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. According to the original plan, the Eastern and Western Armies should have arrived in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass and made contact with the Northern and Southern Armies by now. However, there had been no news from the other side so far.

The communication device was in Ou Yang Lie’s possession, and he was currently located in the vicinity of Great Evolution Pass. If the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies wanted to contact him, then they would be able to do so directly.

Without the cooperation of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies, it would be difficult to achieve victory with the 30,000 troops of the Northern and Southern Armies alone.

It was a pity that there was nothing Mi Jing Lun could do at the moment. He could only do his best to conceal the whereabouts of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies and wait patiently.

At that moment, an unfamiliar aura suddenly appeared on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and was immediately followed by an uncertain inquiry, “Who are you?”

Mi Jing Lun abruptly turned to look in that direction.

That was where the Space Array was located. Moreover, this Spirit Array was linked to the secret room where the Universe Array was arranged on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

If one of the soldiers returned to the Black Ink Battleship with the help of the Universe Transference Law, they would immediately be teleported into the secret room with the Universe Array. It was just that the Purifying Light was sealed inside the secret room, so there was another Space Array inside the secret room that allowed them to be teleported back to the deck of the ship without wasting any Purifying Light.

For that reason, a special guard was tasked with monitoring the corresponding Space Array on the deck. The one who asked the question earlier was none other than the person guarding the Space Array.

[Somebody arrived on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship via the Universe Array!] Mi Jing Lun immediately snapped back to his senses and sent a transmission to the guard, “Quickly bring that person over.”

The guard responded affirmatively and brought a young man to Mi Jing Lun a short while later.

Needless to say, the person who arrived was Yang Kai. Looking at the person with a scholarly appearance in front of him, Yang Kai immediately recognised him and cupped his fist in greeting, “Junior greets Senior Mi!”

Mi Jing Lun was slightly surprised, “Do you know me? I don’t believe we’ve met, have we?”

Yang Kai replied, “No! But, this Junior is familiar with the names of the two Army Commanders of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies. Senior Ou Yang’s name sounds like it belongs to a hot-tempered person, so he would never dress like you. Since you are not Army Commander Ou Yang, then you must be the other Army Commander.”

Mi Jing Lun smiled, “So that’s how it is. You must be Yang Kai, right?”

This time around, it was Yang Kai’s turn to look surprised, “Do you know me, Sir?”

Mi Jing Lun explained, “Since you appeared on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, it’s obvious that you’ve left your Imprint on the Universe Array. Be that as it may, you are not a soldier from the Northern or Southern Armies. Throughout the various Great Passes, there is only one person who has left their Imprint on all the Purifying Black Ink Battleships; after all, you were the one who arranged them on the Purifying Black Ink Battleships.”

Yang Kai nodded lightly.

Mi Jing Lun’s expression turned solemn, and he directed the conversation to the main topic, “Did you come because you have a report for me?”

Yang Kai cupped his fist, “I came here under orders from Army Commander Xiang Shan to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that there has been a change to the original plan.”

Mi Jing Lun raised his hand to interrupt, “Please wait a moment!”

His Divine Sense surged for a moment before he beckoned towards Yang Kai, “Come with me.”

A short while later, Yang Kai followed Mi Jing Lun into the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and soon arrived at a conference hall.

It didn’t take long for the Eighth-Order Division Commanders who received the news to arrive in quick succession. Many of them were surprised to see an unfamiliar face and wondered why this Seventh-Order Junior was here. Most just assumed that Yang Kai was part of the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies; after all, the Great Evolution Army was composed of people who came from various Great Passes. It was impossible for the Division Commanders to recognise every single soldier in the Army.

However, there were actually a few Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters who had met Yang Kai before and recognized him.

Back when Blue Sky Pass first spread the refining method of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, every Great Pass had constructed four Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Afterwards, the Great Passes dispatched an Eighth-Order Master to bring the Purifying Black Ink Battleships to Blue Sky Pass so that Yang Kai could install Universe Arrays and seal Purifying Light within them.

Needless to say, the Eighth-Order Masters who met Yang Kai before were the ones who went to Blue Sky Pass back then.

Upon seeing Yang Kai standing here, these Eighth-Order Masters were slightly surprised but soon became delighted. That was because they remembered that the troops from Blue Sky Pass had been dispatched to the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. In other words, Yang Kai’s arrival indicated that he brought news from the Eastern and Western Armies.

The Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies had been waiting for this day for a long time; hence, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were filled with anticipation when the news secretly spread out among themselves.

It didn’t take long before all the Eighth-Order Division Commanders arrived. Mi Jing Lun then got straight to the point, “Yang Kai came from the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies. He has a report for us, so please give him your attention.”

Yang Kai cupped his fist and bowed in greeting, “Yang Kai greets Seniors. I have come under orders from Army Commander Xiang Shan to inform the Great Evolution Northern and Southern Armies that there have been changes to the original battle plans!”

He did not know what the original plans discussed by the higher-ups of the Great Evolution Army were, but it must have been something along the lines of gathering the strength of the four Armies to attack Great Evolution Pass. However, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies seemed to have new ideas after their encounter with the Black Ink Clan’s reinforcement during their journey.

“What’s going on?’

“Why have there been changes?”

“If there have been changes to the original plans, then what are we supposed to do now?”

…

The Eighth-Order Masters went into an uproar. It was not that their hearts were not strong enough, but rather that such important military matters concerned both the recovery of Great Evolution Pass and the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers. Therefore, the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies’ unilateral announcement about changes to the original plans had caught them by surprise.

Mi Jing Lun raised his hand to suppress the noise and only then did the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters calm down. Turning to look at Yang Kai, Mi Jing Lun inquired, “Did the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies encounter an unexpected incident?”

Yang Kai replied succinctly, “There were no unexpected incidents, but we did encounter a Black Ink Clan reinforcement Army heading towards Wind and Cloud Pass a few days after our departure. Although the enemy had 300,000 troops, it was an easy victory for our side under the leadership of the Old Ancestor.”

Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly.

A force of 300,000 troops might sound like a lot, but they were simply the reinforcements dispatched by Great Evolution Pass to Wind and Cloud Pass. It was obvious that they did not have many Territory Lords among them, so it was not difficult to defeat them with the strength of the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies.

“What did Senior Brother Xiang say?” He probed further.

Yang Kai continued, “The Army Commander said that the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies would figure out a way to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass and use this opportunity to charge straight into the Black Ink Clan’s territory. When the news reaches Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass will surely make a move. If they dispatch their Army back to reinforce their territory, he hopes that the Northern and Southern Armies will intercept them so that the Eastern and Western Armies do not get attacked from the rear.”

As soon as those words left his mouth, the Eighth-Order Masters who had fallen silent earlier showed signs of causing a commotion again. Although the orders that Yang Kai delivered were exact and accurate, there were many puzzling points too.

Mi Jing Lun frowned, “The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies planning to draw the attention of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass? How will they achieve that?”

Yang Kai pondered for a moment before responding, “During the march, the Army Commander summoned all the Artifact Refiners who came along with the Eastern and Western Armies and gathered large amounts of materials to refine an extremely unique type of puppet. These puppets are humanoid in shape and although they did not have great combat abilities, they can exude the aura of a Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master and above once they were activated. It should be enough to confuse them for real people from a distance after dressing them up a bit with the spare clothing that was later collected.”

“Puppets?” Mi Jing Lun was slightly taken aback.

Collecting materials for refining and spare clothing while on the march indicated that the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies came up with the plan on the fly. It was not something that was premeditated; otherwise, they would not have left the Northern and Southern Armies in the dark.

Besides, Xiang Shan should have known that the Army was supposed to proceed forward with great caution. Rashly changing the original plans could only mean that he had a better plan in place.

Although Yang Kai was only explaining what the Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies had done during their march and did not provide any speculations of his own, just hearing the words ‘puppets’ and ‘clothes’ was enough to make most people come to the same conclusion. The Great Evolution Eastern and Western Armies clearly wanted to use these refined puppets to draw the eyes of the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass.

“How many of these puppets did you refine?” Mi Jing Lun’s question hit the nail on the head again.

A small number of puppets would not achieve any effect. They would only attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan if they refined an astounding number of them.

“I refined more than 140 puppets myself, and there were 1,000 or so Artifact Refiners who came along with the Eastern and Western Armies. Considering that each person’s attainments in the Dao of Artifact Refining is different and the number of puppets that they could refine is also different, this Junior conservatively estimates that around 50,000 puppets were refined. The number might be even higher than that.”