Martial Peak
chapter-5261

During a chat with Yang Kai, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao mentioned that Xiang Shan had come up with a strategy for the Great Evolution Army shortly after they departed from Wind and Cloud Pass.

In short, they had to beat the Black Ink Clan to a half-dead state before occupying Great Evolution Pass. That way, they would have ample time to recuperate and restore the Great Evolution Pass. If they managed to reoccupy Great Evolution Pass but didn’t have time to make it operational again, what could they do to protect themselves if the Black Ink Clan decided to start a war with them all of a sudden?

After 100 years of effort, the fall of numerous Eighth-Order Division Commanders, and the deaths of many Seventh-Order, Sixth-Order, and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, they finally managed to achieve this first objective.

Now, the goal that Xiang Shan had set had been achieved, so their next step would be to retake the Great Evolution Pass.

That was the very reason that the Great Evolution Army was founded.

After returning to the forward base, the Humans started getting some rest; however, it wasn’t possible for the Black Ink Clan to do so, especially the Royal Lord. The moment he realised that the opponent he had dealt with for over 100 years had been deceiving him this entire time, there was no way he could quietly recuperate inside his Black Ink Nest with peace of mind.

That was because he couldn’t be certain about how well the Old Ancestor had recovered or whether she would launch another attack on the Royal City again in short order.

In order to prevent such an incident from happening, he had to remain awake on alert at all times.

In this situation, he couldn’t fall into a state of slumber to recover and could only rely on the Black Ink Nest’s power to slowly heal his wounds. However, this kind of recuperation was significantly less efficient than falling unconscious inside the Black Ink Nest would be.

If he could sleep inside his Black Ink Nest, he would fully recover within a couple hundred years; however, given his current situation, he still wouldn’t be fully healed after 1,000 years.

The Old Ancestor had indeed put him in a tight spot.

The East-West Army had returned to their forward base, but this time, they didn’t have much time to recuperate.

The leaders had given an order that they could only remain in the forward base for 10 days before they would set off to Great Evolution Pass and join up with the North-South Army who had been keeping the Black Ink Clan Army over there at bay. They had to get prepared for the final battle to retake Great Evolution Pass.

The soldiers had been waiting for this day for over 100 years.

The moment they joined the Great Evolution Army, everyone thought that they would clash with the Black Ink Clan at Great Evolution Pass when they arrived at the Great Evolution Theatre. They had the confidence that they would engage in a life-and-death struggle and eventually come out the winners; however, as soon as the East-West Army arrived, they directly headed to the Royal City and went on to clash with the Black Ink Clan there for nearly 150 years.

With that said, the outcome of the war proved that the Army Commanders had made the right decision.

Now, the East-West Army had beaten the Black Ink Clan in the Royal City to a pulp, so it would be far easier for them to retake Great Evolution Pass.

It would take them at least a month to arrive at Great Evolution Pass, which was why after such a vicious battle the soldiers were given ten days to get some rest and recover.

Otherwise, the higher-ups would have ordered the East-West Army to immediately set sail for Great Evolution Pass after retreating from the Royal City.

While the soldiers were recuperating, they were also reorganising themselves.

When they departed from Wind and Cloud Pass, there were 30,000 soldiers and 60 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. There were a lot of powerful Masters on their side; however, after 150 years of war, only 20,000 of them were still alive. 10,000 of them had been killed outside the Royal City, most of the time without leaving a corpse behind.

About 10 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had also lost their lives.

That was the result of the East-West Army focusing on defence in every battle. If they were set on attacking the enemy without defending themselves, there would have been far more casualties.

Although some Humans would be killed in each battle, the number of casualties on the Black Ink Clan’s side would always be dozens of times more than that of the Humans.

Every Squad had suffered some losses, with some of them having been wiped out entirely; therefore, it was necessary to do some reorganisation. Otherwise, they couldn’t ensure that every Squad could operate effectively.

They had experienced this kind of reorganisation twice in the past.

However, the previous two personnel shuffles had nothing to do with Dawn. Dawn was significantly more powerful than an ordinary Squad, and Yang Kai was especially outstanding, able to kill Feudal Lords in one move. Therefore, even in pitched battles, Dawn had always suffered very minimal losses.

In this regard, even the Old Turtle Squad, which always emphasised defence, was no match for Dawn. During the second reorganisation, the Old Turtles had been forced to recruit several new members.

In the past, none of the members of Dawn were killed, but this time was different.

The battle that had just ended was completely different from the ones in the past when it came to its level of danger and intensity. Although Yang Kai had killed many enemies, he couldn’t ensure everyone’s safety on the chaotic battlefield.

Ning Qi Zhi was badly injured, while Qi Tai Chu had lost his life.

Qi Tai Chu was the first member of Dawn to be killed in battle against the Black Ink Clan since the Special Operations Squad’s founding. He was also a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.

Qi Tai Chu was one of the original members of Dawn. Back then, Yang Kai was the one who brought him back from the Black Ink Clan’s territory. When Dawn was established, Yang Kai selected him to be one of the members. Over the years, they had experienced countless life-and-death moments together, so Qi Tai Chu had become an indispensable part of Dawn.

His death made Yang Kai feel heartbroken, and none of Dawn’s members were in the mood to celebrate their recent victory. Some of the female members were extremely sorrowful.

Qi Tai Chu was an experienced Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. He was a mild-tempered person who never hid any secrets when it came to his knowledge of cultivation with the Juniors. Whenever war broke out, he would always take good care of all the members.

It could be said that of all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters in Dawn, he was the most popular. One of the female Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had wanted to become his Dao Partner, but he pretended to know nothing because he was a Senior to her.

Although they knew that death was part and parcel of life, they still couldn’t help but feel downcast when someone close to them passed away.

Qi Tai Chu was the only member of Dawn who was killed. The Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were all fine. Dawning Light’s powerful defence and mobility ensured everyone’s safety in every war. If there came a day when Dawning Light was destroyed, all of them would likely lose their lives.

At this moment, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was standing in front of Yang Kai as he said, “Please have a look at this list, Brother Yang. Just tell me if you need any new members.”

The Commanders were the ones who made most of the arrangements; however, considering the fact that the soldiers might have friends they would like to fight alongside with, such a list was produced. The Squad Leaders were entitled to select new members first. If the Squad Leaders didn’t select anyone, the Division Commanders would make the decisions for them.

After taking the list, Yang Kai took a brief look at it and said, “Only one member of Dawn was killed this time. It doesn’t really affect our collective power, so we don’t really need any new members. Please take this list to the other Squads.”

The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master smiled and nodded, “The members of Dawn are lucky to have your protection.”

This Seventh-Order Master was the adjutant who visited every Squad Leader with the list whenever there was a reorganisation in the past, but it was the first time he came to see Yang Kai.

In other words, it was the first time there was a casualty in Dawn over the course of 150 years of war.

There was no doubt that the members of Dawn were all elites, but it also had something to do with the fact that Yang Kai was abnormally powerful. This man had earned his respect.

No other Squads in the East-West Army were like Dawn, and no one was clearer than him about this because he was always the one who delivered this list, so he was fully aware of the number of casualties in each Squad.

Yang Kai shook his head. Just when he was about to pass the list back to him, he halted for a moment and asked, “Can I select anyone from this list?”

The person nodded, “The Army Commanders have ordered that the people on the list can be selected by the elite Squads first. Squad Leaders like you can select anyone from the list. You can select several people as long as it doesn’t exceed the limit of your Squad.”

Then, he asked curiously, “Have you changed your mind, Brother Yang?”

Without saying anything, Yang Kai activated his Divine Sense and left some marks in the jade slip. Then, he passed it back to him and said, “I want these three people.”

After taking the jade slip, the man looked into it and nodded, “There are always fewer than 50 people in Dawn. Including these three people now, your Squad has exactly 50 people. Good, I’ll go to the next Squad now.”

Then, he cupped his fist and left.

After he was gone, Yang Kai turned to look at Feng Ying, “I’ll be right back.”

Feng Ying nodded.

Yang Kai then released his Divine Sense. A moment later, he dashed forward in a particular direction.

There was a severely damaged Warship on a barren piece of land. Sparks were seen flying in all directions as Artifact Refiners and Array Masters were busy repairing the Warship.

Every time the soldiers returned from the battlefield, Artifact Refiners and Array Masters would be swamped with work. That was because they were responsible for repairing the damaged Warships.

The state of this Warship showed how dangerous the previous battle was. Minced meat and blood were seen everywhere on the Warship. Most of it belonged to the Black Ink Clan, but some of it was from the Humans.

The Warship was in such a horrible state that it was practically irreparable. At this point, the Warship should have been salvaged for parts and materials as repairing it would be more costly than simply building a new one.

Three blood-soaked figures were standing near the Warship. They were just standing there in silence, which was in stark contrast to the Artifact Refiners and Array Masters, who were busy repairing the Warship.

The three of them were staring forward with hollow eyes and expressionless faces.

As a breeze whisked past, Yang Kai appeared beside them.

Yang Kai narrowed his eyes as he swept his gaze around. Although he knew that every battle with the Black Ink Clan was perilous, and some of the Squads would be completely wiped out, no one had energy to pay attention to such matters on the battlefield.

Now that they had returned from the battle, just by looking at this damaged Warship, Yang Kai could imagine the heroic figures who had fought and died together with it.

Although they had passed away, they had done the Humans proud.

The three people standing here were respectively Seventh-Order, Sixth-Order, and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

After a moment of silence, the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master suddenly said, “I’ve killed many disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises before.”

Yang Kai nodded gently, “I know.”

Back then, many disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises were indeed killed by Blood Crow. After that, he fled to the Shattered Heaven and managed to recruit a lot of subordinates. He had also made things difficult for the disciples from the Cave Heavens and Paradises on several occasions. During that period of time, he had killed many who were training in the Shattered Heaven.

It could be said that Blood Crow had many enmities with the Cave Heavens and Paradises.

“I didn’t willingly come to the Black Ink Battlefield. Compared to being imprisoned for life or simply being killed, I could only choose to come here. Although I have to deal with the Black Ink Clan, there was hope for me to survive. Therefore, when that old man from Bright King Cave Heaven asked me whether I wanted to live or die, I didn’t hesitate to decide that I would come to the Black Ink Battlefield.”