Martial Peak
chapter-5215

However, the Humans soon realized that the Eighth-Order Master who died might not have been one of their Division Commanders, as there were many other Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples on the battlefield as well.

Perhaps the one who died was not one of the North-South Army’s Division Commanders, but one of their opponent’s Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples!

They could not confirm this for now as news and updates could not be transmitted easily in the chaos of the battlefield. In a situation such as this, no one would be going the extra length to ensure that such information was reported promptly.

The only thing the Humans could do was have faith in their Eighth-Order Masters and trust that they could gain the upper hand in the fight between the top Masters, which would influence the trend for the rest of the battle.

Not long after, they sensed the death of another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Master, followed by the last gleaming of a Territory Lord’s vitality.

Deaths among the top Masters meant that the battle was reaching its climax.

Yang Kai’s Divine Manifestation was still making its presence known as he zipped through the battlefield. He fought alone, but even so, he managed to segment out large swaths of the Black Ink Clan Army, which made it easier for the Humans to encircle and crush them.

All the while, countless Secret Techniques rained down on him like a torrential storm. At every given moment, he was straddling the lines between life and death. His senses were heightened like never before, but he could not afford to be distracted, not even for a single breath.

This carried on until it felt as if aeons had passed.

All of a sudden, something changed within the Black Ink Clan Army which had been ceaselessly fighting against the Humans.

Yang Kai, who was still rampaging across the battlefield, was perceptive enough to catch the change. It was a sign that the Black Ink Clan’s fighting spirit was beginning to crack.

Sure enough, it was not long before the Black Ink Clan Army began to move and gather towards a specific location.

They were retreating towards Great Evolution Pass.

The Territory Lords could not cope with the Humans’ strength and ferocity. Although they, too, had exhibited strength that surpassed the Humans’ expectations of them, from the start of the battle till now, they failed to gain the initiative in any way.

Throughout this relentless battle, the Black Ink Clan Army suffered heavy casualties and even lost numerous Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. Even though the Humans suffered losses as well, if the battle carried on in a similar fashion, the situation would only continue to worsen for the Black Ink Clan and they would run the risk of their Army’s total annihilation.

Therefore, the Territory Lords could not hold out any longer.

Given their current position, they could only retreat to Great Evolution Pass, which was several days’ worth of travel away. Once there, they could regroup with the Territory Lords who were standing guard at Great Evolution Pass, and rely on their combined strength to withstand the Humans’ dogged attacks.

Retreating to Great Evolution Pass was the Blank Ink Clan’s only choice right now. They were not in a position to act in accordance with the Royal Lord’s command.

How would they be able to carry out the Royal Lord’s orders if they were dead? Survival came first. There would still be other chances for them to serve the Royal Lord if they came out of this with their lives.

Inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Mi Jing Lun stood by the side of the ship and paid close attention to all the changes on the battlefield. When the Black Ink Clan Army started retreating, the Army Commander’s heart finally settled back into place.

If the Black Ink Clan stood their ground till the very end, then from the way the battle was going, the North-South Army would still win, but at a devastating cost. It was likely that they would be incapacitated as well, as an overwhelming majority of them would be sacrificed.

This was the first time the North-South Army went up against the Black Ink Clan, so what else could they achieve in the future if they suffered such alarming losses in this battle?

After all, their ultimate objective was to take back Great Evolution Pass.

Now that the Black Ink Clan showed signs of faltering, the tides turned in the North-South Army’s favour.

The North-South Army could now hunt down their enemy and gain an even more decisive victory while minimising casualties; thus, when it became clear that the Black Ink Clan was about to retreat, an order came down from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

All of the Humans who continued to clash with the Black Ink Clan immediately started executing the command as they imperceptibly began to provide opportunities for the Black Ink Clan to retreat.

Two hours later, most of the Black Ink Clan Army had regrouped and were withdrawing towards Great Evolution Pass under the leadership of their Territory Lords.

However, they were not fleeing outright as they kept fighting as they retreated.

The Black Ink Clan fought back just as fiercely when the Human Army pressed hard against them and waited until they managed to hold off the attack before they continued heading towards Great Evolution Pass.

Despite their massive numbers, they still managed to keep an orderly battle formation under the command of the Territory Lords.

Mi Jing Lun could feel a headache coming on as he found himself up against a worthy opponent this time!

He did not know which Territory Lord had command over the Black Ink Clan Army, but judging from the initial reaction to the clash between both factions, it was evident that this particular Territory Lord was a talented and insightful strategist.

Perhaps… the inordinately high number of defeats suffered on the battlefield had given the Black Ink Clan enough experience to strategize against the Humans. All of the Territory Lords who lived long enough would have gone through countless defeats at the hands of the Humans.

Thus, even though the Humans’ attempt to give chase had been effective, it did not accomplish as much as they hoped it would. Mi Jing Lun had planned to wipe out this entire Black Ink Army, but from the situation they were in now, this was unlikely to happen. All the Humans could do now was to try their best to weaken the enemy as much as possible.

The two Armies began to drift apart, while the Black Ink Clouds thickened over the battlefield and loomed over the void.

The Black Ink Clouds were full of broken limbs and scattered corpses from the deaths of both Humans and Black Ink Clansmen, along with the wreckage of Human Warships that had been destroyed.

In this battle, the Black Ink Clan suffered heavy casualties, but the Humans also suffered significant losses.

A few battered Warships hovered outside the Black Ink Cloud with Squad members gathered within, pale-faced and sporting serious injuries.

These Squads were the ones who suffered the most casualties during the battle.

Usually, a Squad consisted of 10 to 15 members, but these Squads had less than half of that.

Their Warships suffered serious damage during the battle; therefore, they were surrounded by danger at every corner without protection.

Although they survived, they were gravely injured in battle and could no longer join the fight.

When Mi Jing Lun gave the order for the Human Army to pursue the Black Ink Clan, he also ordered those who could no longer fight to stay behind and tend to themselves first before regrouping with the rest of the Army once they regained their strength.

Numerous Squads had no choice but to do so. The Human Army had to soldier on as they went after the Black Ink Clan and thus could not linger for long. If the Humans who had been injured managed to join one of the other Squads’ Warships, they could follow the rest of the Army, but if they missed that chance, their only option was to stay back and recuperate.

Once they regained some of their strength, they could use the Universe Transference Law and return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, which would not hinder the Army in any way.

Yang Kai was one of the ones who received the order to stay back.

Even as Mi Jing Lun stood aboard the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, he witnessed Yang Kai’s incredible feats on the battlefield. It would not be an exaggeration to say that Yang Kai’s presence contributed greatly to the Black Ink Clan Army’s drop in morale and decision to retreat back to Great Evolution Pass.

In the battle between both Armies’ top Masters, the Humans’ Eighth-Order Division Commanders gained the upper hand and eventually pressured the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples into retreating.

However, in the open battlefield, Yang Kai had led two Special Operations Squads in countless forays across the entire area. In doing so, they managed to slice through the Black Ink Clan Army and minimised the casualties suffered by the Humans. Furthermore, with each pass of the Great Sun, the Humans struck a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan’s morale.

As both their strongest fighters and their regular foot soldiers’ spirits dipped, the Black Ink Clan Army’s performance in battle dropped proportionally. Naturally, they had to retreat.

The light of the Great Sun that rose time and time again across the battlefield was probably the most blinding light that Mi Jing Lun had ever seen in his life.

Others might not know how many times Yang Kai had used his Divine Manifestation, but Mi Jing Lun knew the number very well.

19 times!

That was not an ordinary Divine Ability or Secret Technique, it was a Divine Manifestation which all High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters considered a trump card and expended a huge amount of energy with each use.

A Seventh-Order Master had used his Divine Manifestation 19 times to vanquish the dangers that loomed over the Human Race Army. In the past, Mi Jing Lun would not have believed this to be possible as Humans simply did not have endless energy. How could a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master possess such a remarkable heritage?

However, he had seen it happen with his own eyes today.

While he did not know what Yang Kai used to restore the strength he had expended throughout the battle, using his Divine Manifestation 19 times would still place an extreme burden on Yang Kai’s Small Universe.

Thus, Mi Jing Lun gave the order for Yang Kai to stay back.

He wanted Yang Kai to take this opportunity to recover, as well as look out for the other Humans who could not follow the rest of the Army for various reasons.

Yang Kai naturally obeyed the order.

As it was, he did need to take some time to restore himself. Even though he ate a Low-Rank World Fruit to replenish the World Force he had expended, repeated use of Golden Crow Casts the Sun had once again depleted his Small Universe.

If the Black Ink Clan Army had not begun its retreat, he might have had to consume another World Fruit to replenish his strength once more.

Even though it was quick and harmless enough to consume a World Fruit to restore his World Force, such miraculous treasures were meant to be saved for emergency situations. It was far better to take some time to recover his strength in the normal way.

In addition to that, Yang Kai was covered in injuries from the battle and was mentally drained as well.

Now that the Human Army was chasing after the Black Ink Clan Army, victory had been decided. What remained to be seen was how many Black Ink Clansmen the Humans managed to eliminate in the chase. Yang Kai’s participation would not make much of a difference in this situation.

Therefore, he agreed without protest when Mi Jing Lun’s order came down.

At this very moment, he was sitting cross-legged near the half-wrecked Warships and was silently adjusting his breathing.

The survivors gathered in these Warships did likewise. They did not have looks of grief and sorrow, but instead exhibited strength and determination.

From the moment these soldiers joined the Great Evolution North-South Army, they knew that this was going to be a highly dangerous mission. They would not be able to rely on a Great Pass the way they did in the past. In the Great Evolution Theatre, far from their homes, the only things they could rely on were themselves and their comrades-in-arms.

They knew very well that there would be countless casualties in the fight to reclaim Great Evolution Pass. If they were not the ones who died, then it would be their fellow soldiers beside them. Everyone was mentally prepared to die in this campaign.

Therefore, even though some of their fellow Squad members had died, no one spent time grieving over this. Dying in battle on the Black Ink Battlefield was a worthy sacrifice. The living did not have to mourn in regret, they only needed to kill even more of the Black Ink Clansmen and take back Great Evolution Pass. This was the best way for them to honour and pay their respects to their fellow soldiers who died in battle.

Even these Squads had fared a lot better than some. Although their Warships were heavily damaged and half of their ranks were either gravely wounded or died in battle, many other Squads had been wiped out entirely.

War was always brutal.