Martial Peak
chapter-5208

There was no point in discussing mistakes made in the past. Yang Kai had directly advanced to the Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Although there was hope that he could become an Eighth-Order Master because he had consumed a Mid-Rank World Fruit, he was not going to be able to become a Ninth-Order Master.

That was unless he could find the Innate Open Heaven Pill which was produced in the Universe Furnace; however, there was no sign of the Universe Furnace and no one knew when it would next appear. Even if it did, Yang Kai might not have the chance to obtain one of its Innate Open Heaven Pills.

There were tons of people in all the Cave Heavens and Paradises who were stuck in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm and could not rise any further. Who among them was not in even more urgent need of those Open Heaven Pills than Yang Kai?

As the two were speaking, an alarming fluctuation came out from the faraway depths of the void.

Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie exchanged glances before instantly heading to the deck and stared in the direction where the fluctuation was coming from.

Yang Kai was also there staring into the distance; however, although everyone could sense the fluctuations, they could also tell that the source was incredibly far away.

“The Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord are exchanging blows,” Ou Yang Lie quickly said.

Mi Jing Lun nodded lightly.

An Eighth-Order Master and a Territory Lord would not have been able to create such powerful fluctuations when they clashed. Across the entire Theatre, only a battle between the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord could cause such a huge disturbance.

This was the first fight between Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord of Great Evolution Theatre. No one could predict the outcome.

That being said, based on the information they had received, they were certain that Yin-Yang Pass’ Old Ancestor would not be the one suffering. Even just by the number of years of cultivation alone, the Royal Lord could not compare with her.

The current Royal Lord was the one who rose to that position 30,000 years ago. The veteran Royal Lord who had been alive for much longer had died along with the Great Evolution Pass Old Ancestor.

Both were the strongest among their respective sides and had immense power. The two silhouettes continued clashing in the depths of the void, and just the fallout from their fight was enough to destroy the barren Universe Worlds around them. Everything within 100,000 kilometres of their clash was thrown into chaos and turmoil.

…..

At this very moment, the Royal Lord was suffering in silence.

When the Royal Lord found out that the Human Race Army had invaded his domain, he left Great Evolution Pass in a fluster. Along the way, he searched for signs of the Humans and he finally managed to intercept the Old Ancestor.

Everything would be fine in his Royal City as long as he stopped the Old Ancestor; however, before he even had the time to relax, the following turn of events caught him off guard.

Initially, he assumed that since it was his first time exchanging blows with this Human Old Ancestor, both parties would focus on feeling each other out since they were both the most formidable on their respective sides, and neither could afford to take any big risks.

The best option was to test the waters and get a sense of what their respective strengths were before breaking off the fight and leaving it for another day once they were more prepared.

That was what the Royal Lord thought, and he assumed the Human Old Ancestor had the same idea.

Except, the Old Ancestor thought very differently.

Although she was a woman, her actions bordered on madness. As soon as they started fighting, she threw all caution to the wind and attacked as if she was prepared to fight to the bitter end, even if it meant sacrificing her life in the process. Waves of ferocious Divine Abilities and merciless Secret Techniques followed, dumbfounding the Royal Lord!

It had to be said that although this Royal Lord had risen to his position 30,000 years ago, he had only ever fought an Old Ancestor once in that entire time.

It was just after he had become a Royal Lord and joined forces with the original Royal Lord of Great Evolution Theatre to kill the Old Ancestor here. Ever since then, the Black Ink Clan claimed Great Evolution Pass and no other battle occurred.

For the past 30,000 years, he stayed within his Theatre. Now and then, he would send his Territory Lords out to help in battles at Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass, but he himself had never left.

Thus, it could be said that he barely had any experience when it came to fighting with an Old Ancestor.

Moreover, this particular Old Ancestor was attacking ruthlessly and relentlessly. The Royal Lord had been suppressed from the moment the fight began, and the momentum was now decidedly against him.

Even the Old Ancestor was a little shocked by this too; however, she soon realized why this was the case, [This Royal Lord lacks combat experience!]

This was an unexpected surprise for her.

Back at Yin-Yang Pass, she would get into minor scuffles with the Royal Lord there every century or so, and a serious battle happened every millennium. It was no secret what each other’s Divine Abilities, Secret Techniques, battle strategies, and personalities were.

As the saying went, those who truly understood a person the best were not their friends, but their enemies.

In the Yin-Yang Theatre, as soon as the Old Ancestor made a move, the Royal Lord there could immediately tell what she was up to and formulate a counter on the spot. That was why the two clashed frequently over the years without ever deciding on a victor.

That was not the case here. The Old Ancestor had a wealth of experience fighting against a Royal Lord, and even though it was a different opponent, the experience still counted for something. This was not the same for the Royal Lord here. He had probably forgotten all about the fight 30,000 years ago, and such a long period of peace was enough for him to lose his will to better himself, which was why he found himself in such a state when he got into a fight with a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master all of a sudden.

The Old Ancestor’s line of thinking was rather simple. Since she brought Yang Kai here, she did not need to hold back out of caution. All she had to do was focus on attacking as hard as she could and wounding the Royal Lord as much as possible, even if she was injured in the process.

It did not matter if she got wounded because she could borrow Yang Kai’s Small Universe to rapidly heal and restore herself. Although the Royal Lord could also use his Black Ink Nest to recover from his injuries, the rate at which he would heal would never be as quick as her.

She would be gaining on him with every single round of recovery. Perhaps that would not be immediately noticeable, but given enough time and battles, the Royal Lord would at some point not be able to handle it anymore.

When the time came, she might even have the chance to kill this Royal Lord!

Therefore, she fought him now without holding back at all, as if she wanted to perish together with him.

Her opponent’s obvious decline in combat effectiveness over time only strengthened her resolve to commit to her initial plan.

Meanwhile, the East-West Army paid no mind to the clash between the two powerhouses. As the Old Ancestor headed out to take the Royal Lord head-on, the East-West Army changed course and continued forward.

Even though the East-West Army’s 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters would undoubtedly be of great help to the Old Ancestor if they joined the fight, no one could guarantee that they would all come out alive if they got involved.

The East-West Army had an even more important task on hand, and that was to wipe out the Black Ink Clan Army and take back Great Evolution Pass. That was their ultimate goal.

Passing through Black Ink Clan territory, they saw that only the weakest Black Ink Clansmen remained in the outskirts, which they could not be bothered to deal with. They made a beeline in the direction of the Royal City instead.

Right now, they still did not know where the Royal City was exactly or how far away it was, but as long as they continued in this direction, they were bound to reach the Royal City at some point. Upon arrival, they would lay siege to the city!

The further the East-West Army went, the more dangerous it was for them as the likelihood of receiving help from the North-South Army decreased with the increasing distance between the two Armies; however, as long as the North-South Army managed to stop the Black Ink Clan coming from Great Evolution Pass, the East-West Army would not need to worry about being attacked from behind.

Since arriving at this Theatre, the 30,000-man-strong East-West Army had only engaged in a single significant battle. They had been marching in haste all this while after that, but even so, the Army’s fighting spirit had not diminished at all. On the contrary, it was even stronger than before.

It was safe to predict that when the Army reached the Royal City, they were sure to strike fear into the hearts of the Black Ink Clan.

…

The North-South Army led by Ou Yang Lie and Mi Jing Lun soon reached a new location after a day of hastened travelling.

Mi Jing Lun was the one who deduced that they would encounter the Black Ink Clan Army at this spot; however, looking out into the void around them, all was quiet and there was no sign of the Black Ink Clan Army.

Even then, Mi Jing Lun was not particularly disappointed even though there were no signs of the enemy since they had to take into account the difference in the two Armies’ travelling speed as well as the possibility of changes in the opposing Armies’ routes.

Several scouts were sent out for reconnaissance in the surrounding area.

Soon, they received word that there was a sighting of the Black Ink Clan Army coming from Great Evolution Pass. They were passing through a location that was less than an hour away from the North-South Army’s current position.

Mi Jing Lun exhaled slowly before commanding the Army to attack.

Under the circumstances, an ambush was impossible as there was no time for them to find suitable spots to set up and hide.

The North-South Army’s only choice now was to charge straight into battle with the Black Ink Clan and take them head-on.

Fortunately, they knew about the Black Ink Clan’s movements while the other party knew nothing about them, so they had the advantage.

The mighty fleet sailed through the void, and one hour later, the Black Ink Clan Army came into sight.

By now, the Black Ink Clan had naturally discovered the Humans as well.

One of the Feudal Lords immediately rushed to Zhe Chong and reported frantically, “Sir Territory Lord, we’ve spotted Human Warships!”

Zhe Chong had been uneasy the past few days, like something bad was about to happen, and that was the reason why he chose to take a longer route when leading the Army out of Great Evolution Pass. He was doing everything he could to avoid the Human Army that had not revealed itself just yet.

All had been calm and peaceful for several days, and his only worry had been the Human Race Army that had been attacking the Black Ink Clan territory.

He did not know when or even if his Army and the Human Army would meet, but if they did, the Black Ink Clan might not be able to stand against them; after all, he had personally witnessed just how mighty that Human Army was. Furthermore, there was still the Human Old Ancestor with them.

Thus, he could not stop himself from jumping in fright when his subordinate reported the news to him.

[We’re running into a Human Race Army in a place like this. Is it the one led by the Old Ancestor?]

“Where are they? How far away from here?” Zhe Chong asked in alarm.

The Feudal Lord pointed with his finger, “They’re in that direction. We’ll probably run into them in less than an hour.”

Zhe Chong looked out in that direction, and sure enough, he spotted a massive fleet approaching.

It was a sea of Human Warships, at least 2,000 to 3,000 of them, just like the one he saw over a year ago.

Based on the direction the Human Army was heading, it could be seen that it was not charging into the Black Ink Clan’s territory. The Humans were positioning themselves in advance so that they could meet the Black Ink Clan Army make contact an hour later and block their way forward.

[Why are we running into them here?]

Zhe Chong could not figure it out and he was not about to dwell on it now. His fear of the Old Ancestor made him lose his composure as he bellowed in terror, “Enemy attack!”

The other dozen or so Territory Lords gasped in fright when they heard him.

They turned to check for themselves, and sure enough, they saw the Human fleet in the distance. All at once, the Territory Lords started to panic.