Martial Peak
chapter-5263

This red-haired Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master was the Army Commander of the Southern Army, Ou Yang Lie. It was said that he was a hot-tempered person. 10 years ago, he killed a Territory Lord in the battle against the Black Ink Clan; however, he was also badly injured and almost died during the fight.

It seemed that he still hadn’t recovered even though 10 years had passed.

This was understandable, as the more powerful one became, the harder it was to recover when they were injured, so it could be imagined how long an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would take to recover from a near-death experience.

One had to know that it always took the Old Ancestor at least decades to recuperate. On the other hand, since the day that the Royal Lord was first injured by the Old Ancestor, he had never fully recovered, and that was over 100 years ago.

Besides these two Army Commanders, there were other Eighth-Order Division Commanders from the North-South Army in the meeting hall.

Li Xing saluted all of them one by one.

Presently, Ou Yang Lie was seated on a chair. Before Li Xing could say anything, he asked, “What’s going on over there? Has the East-West Army launched the final attack on the Royal City?”

Over the years, the East-West Army and North-South Army would contact each other from time to time; however, due to the great distance, it would take a person an average of two months to travel back and forth between the two Armies, so their exchanges of information were not frequent. Only when one side had made a major decision would a messenger be sent to inform the other party about it.

Li Xing’s arrival suggested that he had something important to report. Perhaps it had something to do with the final battle against the Royal City, which was why Ou Yang Lie asked that question.

Li Xing bent his back and replied, “Martial Uncle Ou Yang, when I departed, the battle had yet to begin, but they were in the midst of final preparations. If I’m not mistaken, the East-West Army should be engaged in an intense battle with the Black Ink Clan as we speak. It’s even possible that the war has already ended.”

With a smile, Mi Jing Lun asked, “In your opinion, will the East-West Army achieve its objective this time?”

Li Xing nodded, “Yes.”

Mi Jing Lun arched his brow, “Since you’re so confident, it seems the situation over there is quite favourable. I suppose they’ve already won the fight. Well, with Senior Brother Xiang in charge, there’s no way the Black Ink Clan are a match for him.”

Ou Yang Lie pursed his lips, “Since the East-West Army has won, why did Xiang Shan tell you to come over?”

Since the beginning, Ou Yang Lie had always had some complaints against Xiang Shan. This couldn’t be helped, as the East-West Army was responsible for invading the Royal City, thus allowing them to earn a massive amount of Military Merits. On the other hand, the North-South Army had to stop the Black Ink Clansmen from leaving Great Evolution Pass. It certainly wasn’t as fun as attacking the Royal City like the East-West Army had done.

Li Xing replied, “Sir Xiang told me to come over to inform you that you have to be careful of what the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Pass might do soon.”

After giving it a thought, Mi Jing Lun nodded, “We indeed have to act prudently. If the Black Ink Clan at the Royal City are really defeated, those from Great Evolution Pass will surely become nervous when they learn about it. Now, they’re only left with two options, they either defend Great Evolution Pass to the last man, or run for their lives.”

At this point, he had figured out Xiang Shan’s intention, “So, I suppose Senior Brother Xiang wants us to just watch and do nothing if the Black Ink Clan tries to flee from Great Evolution Pass.”

Li Xing was slightly surprised at the speed of Mi Jing Lun’s inference, but soon nodded and replied, “That was indeed Sir Xiang’s intention.”

Ou Yang Lie asked, “Do you think the Black Ink Clan will abandon the Pass?”

Mi Jing Lun replied with a smile, “Do you think they would rather sit and wait for death? If I’m not mistaken, after the war, the East-West Army will take a short rest at their base before setting off in a high-profile manner so that the Black Ink Clan from the Royal City notice it and promptly send word to Great Evolution Pass.”

Then, he turned to look at Li Xing and asked, “Is this Brother Xiang’s arrangement?”

Admiration was written all over Li Xing’s face as he replied, “That is indeed his arrangement. Before I departed, Sir Xiang told me to pass on his word that the Army would rest for 10 days after the victory. After that, they will set off for the pass. He wants the North-South Army to pay close attention to what the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Pass do. If there is an anomaly, it suggests that the East-West Army has won the battle, while it’s the opposite if the Black Ink Clan do nothing.”

Before he came to this place, Li Xing thought that Mi Jing Lun was overrated. Now, it seemed that this Northern Army Commander was indeed talented in military strategy. At the very least, he was an intelligent person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have figured out Xiang Shan’s intentions so swiftly.

Ou Yang Lie frowned, “Do we just let the Black Ink Clan go if they flee from Great Evolution Pass?”

Mi Jing Lun explained, “We’re unable to stop them even if we wanted to. There’s a lack of manpower in the North-South Army now, so if the Black Ink Clan are determined to escape from the Pass, it won’t matter if we don’t stop them. However, if we do try to get in their way, it will certainly be a tough fight. When that happens, even more of our soldiers will lose their lives.”

Nobody wanted to experience the battle that took place 10 years ago again. During the battle, half of the North-South Army’s soldiers were killed while a number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters willingly sacrificed their lives just to stop the Black Ink Clan Army from reaching the Royal City. Even the Army Commander of the Southern Army, Ou Yang Lie, had almost lost his life.

An Eighth-Order Division Commander furrowed his brows, “There are a lot of Black Ink Clansmen in the Pass right now, at least 20 to 30 Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples as well as 250,000 Black Ink Clan soldiers. If we just let them return to the Royal City and join forces with the Black Ink Clan Army there, it will be a huge problem in the future.”

Mi Jing Lun said with a smile, “We have to be patient in order to achieve our goal. Think about it this way. If the Black Ink Clansmen flee from Great Evolution Pass, it’s no different from giving the place back to us for free. Isn’t it wonderful that we’re able to retake Great Evolution Pass without having to fight again? As for the future… Once the crusade begins, why would we have to fear the forces at the Royal City?”

The reason they had to retake Great Evolution Pass was to prepare for the crusade which would take place in the future. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were aware of it, and they also knew that the Humans had a trump card to use against the Black Ink Clan. In fact, they had already developed this weapon, but they were still not able to mass-produce it. Moreover, they couldn’t reveal it at this point, so they never used it when trying to retake Great Evolution Pass.

However, once the crusade began, this weapon would surely be of great use. By then, destroying the Royal City would be a simple matter.

When Li Xing looked at the confident Mi Jing Lun, he felt as if the latter was another Xiang Shan. He thought that resourceful senior experts like them could always see things that others were not able to see. In this regard, Mi Jing Lun and Xiang Shan were very similar.

“Let’s just wait and see. If I’m not mistaken, the Black Ink Clan will send over an envoy within 10 days.”

The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were astounded upon hearing that as they had no idea why Mi Jing Lun had made such a judgement. Li Xing was equally puzzled.

The blood feud between the two Races had been ongoing for countless years, and every time they clashed, both sides were determined to annihilate each other. There had never been a reason to send envoys to another side before.

However, since Mi Jing Lun had said so, he must have a reason to come to this conclusion.

After passing on Xiang Shan’s words, Li Xing was supposedly free to return to the East-West Army at any time.

Nevertheless, he decided to stay out of curiosity. He wanted to find out if Mi Jing Lun, who was so highly regarded by Xiang Shan, had accurately predicted the future. It would be an eye-opener if the Black Ink Clan really sent an envoy to this place.

…..

In the East-West Army’s forward base, the reorganisation was completed within 10 days. The more complete Squads were reinforced by the ones who had lost more members.

Presently, Yang Kai was standing on the deck of Dawning Light and looking out towards the void.

The Army was ready to set off.

Just then, three people with different auras rushed over from a distance. They were respectively Seventh-Order, Sixth-Order, and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

The three of them came to a stop in the void, and the person at the front eyed Yang Kai for a moment before cupping his fist, “Western Army, Second Division, Wind Battalion, Third Squad, Blood Crow!”

“Wen Cheng Jing!”

“Zhang Yang!”

“Reporting for duty!”

Yang Kai nodded and ordered solemnly, “Get onboard!”

The next instant, Blood Crow led the Sixth-Order Wen Cheng Jing and Fifth-Order Zhang Yang to land on the deck.

The Purifying Black Ink Battleship slowly rose into the sky as a loud voice reverberated in all directions, “Set sail!”

“Set sail!” Yang Kai waved his hand and ordered. The arrays on Dawning Light activated, and the fleet of Warships charged towards the void.

On one of the Warships, Grandmaster Ma Fan looked in Great Evolution Pass’ direction and started weeping.

He had been waiting outside the Royal City for 150 years. Now that he could finally head to the place where his Ancestors and Seniors fought the enemy, he was overwhelmed by a sense of sorrow and agitation.

The Human Army’s movements horrified the Black Ink Clan soldiers outside the Royal City.

One had to know that the two Armies had clashed barely 10 days ago, and during that battle, the Royal Lord had been beaten half-dead and many of the Black Ink Clan soldiers were either killed or injured. At the end of that battle, the Human Old Ancestor even put on a display of killing three Territory Lords right in front of the Royal Lord, with the latter not daring to stop her.

Were the Humans preparing to raise a storm again after just 10 days?

The Territory Lords were deluged with a sense of unease, and the lower Black Ink Clansmen broke into a commotion.

However, what surprised them was that the Humans did not head towards the Royal City; instead, they seemed to be heading in a different direction.

All of them could clearly feel the Old Ancestor’s powerful aura coming from the fleet of Warships.

A myriad of expressions came over Che Kong as he looked in the direction the Humans were heading. As he thought of a possibility and realised that something was off, he promptly looked for the Royal Lord.

Presently, the Royal Lord’s face was pale, and his aura was extremely weak. Moreover, he was in a terrible mood.

This couldn’t be helped. Even though the Humans had retreated 10 days ago, the Old Ancestor had faintly locked onto him with her Will from a distance, forcing him to remain vigilant this whole time.

In such a situation, he wasn’t in the mood to recuperate, nor did he dare to do so.

However, on this day, he realised that the Old Ancestor’s aura was moving further away from him. As he released his Divine Sense, he soon understood the situation.

Che Kong arrived at his place at this point.

Before he could speak, the Royal Lord ordered, “Inform the Army at Great Evolution Pass to leave and return to the Royal City.”

Upon hearing that, Che Kong was astonished, “Are we abandoning Great Evolution Pass?”

The Royal Lord shook his head, “Since the Old Ancestor is personally heading to Great Evolution Pass, there’s no way they can hold it.”

Che Kong had already speculated that the Human Army was marching towards Great Evolution Pass. Now, it indeed seemed to be the case. He thus bowed his head, “I’ll send them a message now. However, there are some Human soldiers outside Great Evolution Pass. I’m worried that they might not have a chance to come back.”

The Royal Lord shook his head again, “The Humans will not intercept them again. Just inform them about it.”

Although Che Kong had no idea why the Royal Lord had made such a judgement, he could only oblige.

Just when he was about to leave the place, the Royal Lord suddenly said, “Tell those from Great Evolution Pass to make a detour. They must not run into the Old Ancestor on their way back.”

“Yes,” Che Kong replied and left.

After he was gone, the Royal Lord closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly.

He was extremely vexed.

Despite having a huge advantage in terms of the number of soldiers and holding the geographical advantage, they were eventually defeated by the Humans, who now had the last laugh. On the other hand, a Royal Lord like him could only hide in the Royal City, not daring to show his face.

The root cause of the problem was that he had underestimated his opponent, thinking that the Old Ancestor, just like him, was still injured every time they clashed in the past. It never crossed his mind that the cunning Old Ancestor had fully recovered each time.

This was the kind of humiliation he could never wash away for the rest of his life.