Martial Peak
chapter-5267

“That’s right. Senior Brother Xiang’s plan was that they’d set off from the Royal City to Great Evolution Pass in a high-profile manner. This news must have been passed on from the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal City to those in Great Evolution Pass through the Black Ink Nests. If they want to survive, they have to leave Great Evolution Pass within half a month; otherwise, it will be too late.”

Although it would take the East-West Army a month to arrive at this place from the Royal City, the Black Ink Clan had to leave Great Evolution Pass half a month in advance if they wanted to be safe; otherwise, they might come across the East-West Army and the Old Ancestor on the way to their destination, which would be a death sentence.

“Then, do you think that the Royal Lord is… dead?” Ou Yang Lie turned to look at Mi Jing Lun. That was what he couldn’t figure out. Although he had a speculation, he couldn’t be certain.

“The Royal Lord is still alive,” Mi Jing Lun directly stated.

“Since the Black Ink Clan want to have peace talks with us, it means that they want to circumvent the North-South Army and head to the Royal City. If the Royal Lord had died, the Royal City would’ve been destroyed. In that case, what’s the point of them returning to the Royal City? They could just leave from the back of Great Evolution Pass and make a detour to the left to reach the Wind and Cloud Theatre. Or, they could go to the Azure Void Theatre on the right to join up with the Black Ink Clan there. Since they want to return to the Royal City, it means that the Royal Lord is still alive.”

Upon hearing that, Ou Yang Lie nodded, “Just as I thought. Haha, as the old saying goes, great minds think alike.”

He was just a rough man with nothing but brute force, but he still shamelessly claimed to have a great mind like that of Mi Jing Lun, as though he was an intelligent person. Mi Jing Lun went on to say with a smile, “There’s one more reason I am certain of my conclusion.”

“Oh? What is it?”

Mi Jing Lun pointed at Great Evolution Pass, “If the Royal Lord was killed, the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest would have been destroyed, taking that Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest in Great Evolution Pass with it. Since the Black Ink Nest in the Pass is still alive, it suggests that the Black Ink Nest in the Royal City is alright. So, the Royal Lord must still be alive.”

Ou Yang Lie repeatedly nodded, “Yes, yes. That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

In Great Evolution Pass, just as the Territory Lords were deliberating on whether the Humans were plotting something, a Feudal Lord came over in a hurry and reported, “There are some Humans approaching Great Evolution Pass. Their auras suggest that they are Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters!”

Hong Di and the other Territory Lords were shocked.

Hong Di asked, “How many are there?”

The Feudal Lord replied, “There are only two of them.”

“Are there any Human soldiers behind them?”

“The Human soldiers remain at their base. There are no signs of additional activity.”

Hong Di couldn’t believe what he had just heard. He promptly leapt onto the wall and looked out intently. There were indeed two rays of light rushing towards Great Evolution Pass.

They were indeed Eighth-Order Masters, for Hong Di could clearly sense the Eighth-Order auras exuding from them.

[Are there really only the two of them?] Although they had been enemies for many years, Hong Di couldn’t help but think that these two Eighth-Order Masters were quite bold.

If he was in their shoes, he wouldn’t have the guts to do such a thing.

When the group of Black Ink Clansmen returned and reported to them what had happened, they felt that the Humans must have some kind of scheme they wanted to pull off by agreeing to meet at a place just 1 million kilometres away from Great Evolution Pass for the peace talks. Now, it seemed that there wasn’t any kind of plot at all. The two Eighth-Order Masters were coming over on their own, which made the Black Ink Clan appear somewhat weak and petty.

Seeing that, the Territory Lords fell into a dilemma. If the Humans really wanted to pull a trick, they could have responded in kind; however, that was not the case. What were they supposed to do in this situation?

All the Territory Lords looked at Hong Di, hoping that he would make a decision.

After giving it a thought, Hong Di said grimly, “The Humans are indeed brave, but it’s not like we are all cowards. Does any one of you want to greet our guests with me?”

If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to leave Great Evolution Pass; nevertheless, he was the owner of this territory and the leader of the Black Ink Clan here. If he didn’t step forward to deal with this issue, who else would?

He swept a glance over these Territory Lords, but they all remained silent. Clearly, none of them wanted to go with him.

He secretly sighed, knowing that the Territory Lords here had been traumatized by the Eighth-Order Humans during the previous battle. In that fight, the Eighth-Order Masters willingly sacrificed their lives just to bring down the Territory Lords with them. At that time, he didn’t take part in the battle because he had to remain in charge of Great Evolution Pass; however, after the dust settled, Hong Di heard all about how tragic that battle was. If he were these Territory Lords, he would’ve felt terrified of these insane Eighth-Order Masters too.

Since no one was willing to go with him, he could only choose someone himself.

He glanced at a Territory Lord whose figure was quite Human-like and said, “You’ll come with me, Nu Yi.”

The Territory Lord was shocked as she had never expected that Hong Di would choose her; however, everyone was looking at her now, and what they were about to do would determine whether the Black Ink Clansmen in Great Evolution Pass could survive, so she could not back down. Therefore, she summoned her courage and nodded, “Yes.”

“Let’s go,” Hong Di waved his hand, flew over the wall, and dashed into the distance. Nu Yi followed him closely.

When he reached a spot that was a million kilometres away from Great Evolution Pass, Hong Di stopped in his tracks and waited patiently.

Nu Yi took a step forward and stood beside him.

The two Eighth-Order Masters were moving at a speed that was neither slow nor fast, so it would take them about an hour before they arrived. However, their majestic auras could clearly be felt, and one could faintly see the figures hidden within the rays of light.

Discovering something shocking, Nu Yi shuddered and exclaimed, “He’s not dead!”

“What?” Hong Di glanced at her in puzzlement.

She pointed at one of the rays of light, “The one with a more violent aura is a red-haired Human. Zhe Chong was killed by him. He should have died in that battle, but it seems he’s still alive.”

When Zhe Chong was killed, she was nearby, so she saw him being beheaded by the red-haired Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master with his sword. However, the Eighth-Order Master’s aura soon withered, so she thought that he had perished along with Zhe Chong.

It wasn’t until this moment that she realised the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master from back then was still alive.

The familiar aura made her recall the ruthless red-haired man who seemed to not care at all for his own life and she couldn’t help but shudder.

Upon hearing that, Hong Di paid more attention to the Human with the fiery aura. He could detect that even though the aura was imposing, it was somewhat unstable. It was obvious that the person was still injured.

It seemed that even though this Human had survived the battle 10 years ago, he was horribly injured; otherwise, he would’ve recovered by now.

[The Humans…]

After fighting with the Humans for so many years, Hong Di still couldn’t figure out what advantages that this Race had. They couldn’t cultivate as fast as the Black Ink Clan could, they were not as strong as the Black Ink Clan, they also couldn’t endlessly nurture new soldiers like the Black Ink Clan as long as there were Black Ink Nests and resources.

Nevertheless, even after all these years, the two Races were still deadlocked on the Black Ink Battlefield. The Black Ink Clan had never gained the upper hand over the Humans.

If he had to summarise it, Hong Di would say that the biggest strength the Humans had was their resilience.

Races that were not resilient enough were unable to resist the Black Ink Clan.

One hour later, the two rays of light arrived at a spot that was just 100 hundred kilometres away from Hong Di and Nu Yi before stopping.

It could be said to be a dangerous distance, as to a Territory Lord or Eighth-Order Master, such a distance was no different from being face to face with one another. One could touch the other party just by lifting his hand.

This made Hong Di and Nu Yi tense up.

The lights dissipated and revealed two figures. One of them was clad in scholarly clothes and had a feather fan in his hand. The other was a burly red-haired man.

Unlike how anxious Hong Di and Nu Yi were, these two Humans appeared calm and collected, and upon detecting their anxiety, the red-haired Eighth-Order Master openly sneered.

This made Hong Di secretly furious. They had Great Evolution Pass behind them, and should there be any anomaly, the powers of the arrays and artifacts would rain on these two Humans. Why should he be afraid of them?

On the other hand, these two Humans didn’t have support here. Should there be a conflict, they would surely suffer miserably.

At the thought of this, Hong Di relaxed and cupped his fist, just like how the Humans would usually greet each other, “Hong Di.”

Nu Yi also gave her name.

With a smile, Mi Jing Lun saluted them back, “Great Evolution Northern Army, Mi Jing Lun.”

“Great Evolution Southern Army, Ou Yang Lie.”

Hong Di became startled for a moment. Although the two Races had been in a confrontation for many years, it wasn’t until this moment that he discovered the Humans had named their Army after ‘Great Evolution’. It showed they were determined to retake Great Evolution Pass.

“Although I’ve never heard of your names before, I know that you two are outstanding strategists after dealing with you for so many years. We’ve suffered a lot of setbacks because of you.”

Mi Jing Lun replied with a smile, “Since we Humans are weak, we can only deal with you using strategies. We’re enemies on the battlefield, and both parties never hold back our powers when making a move.”

Ou Yang Lie secretly sent a voice transmission to Mi Jing Lun, “The Black Ink Clan knows how to flatter others as well?”

It wasn’t certain whether he was intentional, as it was a transmission could be heard within a certain range, so Hong Di and Nu Yi could clearly hear him as well. At that instant, they felt embarrassed.

Hong Di suppressed his anger and went on to say, “Although we’ve suffered immense losses, the same can be said for the Humans. Over the years, neither of the two Races has gained the upper hand. Now, we have Great Evolution Pass while you are lacking soldiers. I don’t think you have the power to conquer the Great Pass.”

Mi Jing Lun kept a smile on his face as he replied, “We’re still deliberating on whether we should attack the Great Pass. As for whether we’ll succeed, we’ll find out after we fight.”

Hong Di frowned, “Aren’t you worried that all of your soldiers will be wiped out if another battle breaks out?”

Swaying the feather fan, Mi Jing Lun replied with a smile, “All Humans, from the Fifth Order to the Seventh Order, do not fear death. It is the same for those of us in the Eighth Order. I’m sure that all of you became aware of our determination after the previous battle.”

Hong Di said grimly, “Although I did not personally experience that battle, I did hear about it after. The Human Race is indeed… determined.”

Mi Jing Lun kept the feather fan and said, “Let’s end the small talk here. You sent envoys to our side to ask for peace talks, so how do you want to discuss it? Are you here to talk about which side has the more fearless and heroic soldiers with this Mi?”

Hong Di refuted, “That’s certainly not what I want to talk about. Let us settle things here and now. We control Great Evolution Pass, while you Humans do not have enough manpower to conquer it. Fighting will only drain our strength and waste our time. Great Evolution Pass originally belonged to the Humans, and is irrelevant to the Black Ink Clan’s foundation. After a discussion with the other Territory Lords, we’ve decided to return Great Evolution Pass to the Humans. I’m not sure if you’re willing to accept it.”

Mi Jing Lun replied, “We’ve come all the way here to retrieve Great Evolution Pass. Since you’re willing to give it back to us, why would we not accept it?”