Martial Peak
chapter-5270

Due to the ambient Black Ink Strength, the air inside Great Evolution Pass was tainted with darkness. In this dark world, this bit of white light stood out and captured one’s attention.

Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie stopped in their tracks as they gazed at the huge jade monument.

It was the Monument of Heroes!

There was a Monument of Heroes in the military drill ground of every Human Great Pass. There were no words on the monument, but if one infused their Divine Sense into it, they could see countless names which had been engraved within.

Those were the names of the soldiers who had fallen in the war against the Black Ink Clan in the Theatre of their respective Great Pass.

The two Army Commanders immediately turned solemn.

To the side, Hong Di stared at the Monument of Heroes and said, “After we occupied Great Evolution Pass, we made many new arrangements and changes; however, I decided to keep this monument and have been controlling the Black Ink Nest’s power so that it won’t be affected by Black Ink Strength. Although our two Races are arch enemies that have fought for countless years, we still admire the fearlessness and bravery of the Humans. This monument serves as the reminder to us that the Humans are strong and unyielding. Unfortunately, after 30,000 years of peace, we seem to have lost the instinct and courage to fight against the Humans.”

He let out a sigh, which showed how helpless he felt after losing the war.

In front of the monument, Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie bent their backs with solemn expressions.

There were innumerable names recorded in the jade monument, names of the Seniors who were killed during the long war against the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre.

A moment later, they straightened their backs and turned to Hong Di before saluting him. Even Ou Yang Lie, who clearly held malicious intentions towards Hong Di, did not hesitate.

Hong Di was astounded and asked, “What are you doing?”

With a serious expression, Mi Jing Lun replied, “We have to thank you for keeping this Monument of Heroes.”

A surprised Hong Di said, “I just wanted to motivate the Black Ink Clan. I didn’t keep it for you Humans.”

Mi Jing Lun replied, “That’s good enough.”

Those soldiers had lost their lives and most did not leave anything behind when they fell. Perhaps there was no one alive who could remember their faces any longer, so it would be miserable if their names were forgotten forever.

With the Monument of Heroes intact, at least their names remained. At the very least, 30,000 years after they passed away, there were these two Humans who became aware of their existence and contributions in the Great Evolution Theatre.

After Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie were done going through the names in the Monument of Heroes, they lost the interest to keep strolling around; therefore, they bid Hong Di farewell. Certainly, Hong Di wouldn’t make them stay as he saw them off.

In front of Great Evolution Pass, Mi Jing Lun said, “Sir Hong Di, please organize your soldiers with peace of mind. When this Mi returns, I’ll order the Human soldiers to move further away and to the left of Great Evolution Pass so that you’ll be able to head to the Royal City without interference. I’ll also ensure that there won’t be any traps on the way to your destination.”

He was totally sincere when he spoke. Hong Di believed that Mi Jing Lun’s attitude must have something to do with the Monument of Heroes.

After watching these two Eighth-Oder Masters leave, Hong Di returned to Great Evolution Pass and started organizing the soldiers for the evacuation.

The Black Ink Clan’s scouts scanned the surroundings and confirmed that the Humans had indeed moved further away from the forward base and to its left. There were no more obstacles in the way to the Royal City.

The scouts did not immediately return and instead followed the Humans from a distance. Although Mi Jing Lun assured Hong Di that they wouldn’t do anything shady, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t readily believe them. With the scouts following behind the Humans, they could instantly discover if the Humans were up to something and quickly relay the news back to Great Evolution Pass.

However, the Humans did not do anything unusual as they withdrew from Great Evolution Pass.

After two days of reorganisation, the surviving Black Ink Clansmen left Great Evolution Pass in a hurry. They first rapidly moved in the Royal City’s direction for two days, then turned right to make a wide detour.

They wouldn’t dare to keep moving in a straight line, for they knew the East-West Army was approaching from the Royal City. If they didn’t make a detour, they would run into the East-West Army where the Human Old Ancestor was. The Black Ink Clan Army was unable to oppose such a force at this time, so they had to circumvent the Human soldiers.

Only by doing so could they ensure their safety.

According to the agreement with the Black Ink Clan, the North-South Army moved to a place that was 10 days’ travel from Great Evolution Pass; then, without stopping to rest, they headed straight back to Great Evolution Pass.

10 days later, they arrived.

A myriad of emotions came over these soldiers as they looked at this Great Pass their Seniors had lost 30,000 years ago.

At that time, Great Evolution Pass was conquered by the Black Ink Clan, and from the Old Ancestor to the common soldiers, all were killed except for those who were corrupted by Black Ink Strength.

This was a wound the Humans could never forget. Usually, no one would bring this up; therefore, those who were new to the Black Ink Battlefield like Yang Kai did not know that there was a Human Great Pass that had been conquered before. He actually learned about it from a Territory Lord.

On this day, the Humans finally retook Great Evolution Pass.

The North-South Army had paid a huge price for this victory, but it was all worth it in the end.

No one could guarantee that the Black Ink Clan hadn’t left behind any traps; therefore, the Humans didn’t immediately surge into the Great Pass. Instead, they sent scouts in to investigate.

Soon, they learned that there was nothing unusual in the Inner Sanctum. Not only was everything intact, but all the Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples had remained in the military drill ground.

It seemed that the Black Ink Clan had kept their promise. In fact, they wouldn’t dare to go back on their word. The North-South and East-West Armies, one behind and one in front of them, posed a deadly threat. The Black Ink Clan could only hope that the Humans wouldn’t go back on their word, so how could they dare to pull any tricks?

The Human soldiers then entered Great Evolution Pass.

The first thing they had to do was deal with the Black Ink Nest.

This thing was constantly breathing out Black Ink Strength that permeated the entire Great Evolution Pass, which made the place look quite eerie. Unless they removed the Black Ink Nest, Great Evolution Pass would never be restored to its original glory, and the Human soldiers could never live here safely.

Certainly, they wouldn’t destroy the Black Ink Nest; otherwise, Mi Jing Lun wouldn’t have told the Black Ink Clan to leave it intact.

Although the Black Ink Nest belonged to the Black Ink Clan, it was a great tool for transmitting information. If the Humans could make use of it, it would be immensely useful for the future crusade.

Therefore, this Mid-Rank Black Ink Nest was a treasure to the Humans.

Fortunately, Great Evolution Pass was actually an enormous Mobile Palace Artifact, so although the Black Ink Nest had been around for several tens of thousands of years, it couldn’t really take root in Great Evolution Pass. If it was like other Black Ink Nests that infiltrated and merged with the Universe World it was planted on, they would have no choice but to destroy it.

Mi Jing Lun and the others expended a lot of energy removing the Black Ink Nest from Great Evolution Pass and settling it down on the universe fragment where the forward base was previously located.

As for what they would do with it, they had to meet up with the East-West Army and discuss it with the Old Ancestor.

For now, a few Squads were left to monitor the Black Ink Nest.

There were quite a number of Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples who were left behind by the Territory Lords, adding up to about 100 in total. There were initially many more Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples, but every time they clashed with the Humans over the years, many of them would lose their lives. 100 years later, these people were the only ones left.

None of them had left Great Evolution Pass with the Black Ink Clan. Previously, Mi Jing Lun strolled around Great Evolution Pass with Hong Di leading the way. Just like what he had said, he counted the total number of Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples. Now, all of them were accounted for in this place.

It seemed that Hong Di was worried these Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples would cause trouble for the Humans, so he sealed their cultivations before he left.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have obediently stayed in the military drill ground. They would have run away before the Humans entered the Great Pass.

It was equally difficult to handle these Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples. Mi Jing Lun told some people to watch over them while the Old Ancestor would have to make a decision about their fate when she arrived.

In short, the Human soldiers were swamped with work.

Even though the Black Ink Nest had been taken away by the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the entire Great Evolution Pass was still filled with Black Ink Strength. The soldiers first had to do their best to remove the Black Ink Strength from the Inner Sanctum.

Fortunately, they were experienced when it came to such matters. In the past, whenever they were done battling against the Black Ink Clan and had to clean up the battlefield, disposing of Black Ink Strength and Black Ink Clouds was a normal part of their work.

Black Ink Clouds provided the best environment for the Black Ink Clan to fight in, but they were only a hazardous obstacle to the Humans. If they never removed them, every Great Pass would be surrounded by thick Black Ink Clouds by now.

For this reason, the Humans had specifically developed an artifact that looked like a fishing net that had no use other than to collect Black Ink Strength like schools of fish. The Black Ink Strength would then be discarded somewhere in the depths of the void.

After 10 days of hard work, the North-South army managed to get rid of almost all of the Black Ink Strength in Great Evolution Pass.

Right then, a scout came over and reported that the East-West Army would be arriving at Great Evolution Pass within a day.

It had been about a month since the East-West Army departed from the Royal City, so it was to be expected that they would arrive around now.

Mi Jing Lun and Ou Yang Lie led the other Eighth-Order Division Commanders to personally greet the East-West Army.

Ou Yang Lie felt a little disgruntled about all of this. It was as though the East-West Army had spent many years fighting against the enemy while the North-South Army had been standing idly by in their homes. In fact, it had been tough for the North-South Army over the years.

However, considering the fact that the Old Ancestor was also coming, Ou Yang Lie had no choice but to tag along.

From afar, they could see the East-West Army’s Warships sailing over, but after a brief count of these Warships, Mi Jing Lun and the others let out a sigh.

The number of Warships suggested that the East-West Army had suffered immense losses over the years.

When the Warships were close enough, they all turned to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and made their salutations, “Greetings, Old Ancestor!”

However, no one responded to them.

Several figures leaped off the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. They were Xiang Shan, Liu Zhi Ping, and the other leaders of the East-West Army.

They saluted each other. Many of them had never met one another before, even though they were aware of who the other party was. Since they finally met up this time, they promptly engaged in a small talk.

After they were done with the small talk, Mi Jing Lun asked curiously, “Where is the Old Ancestor?”

An embarrassed Xiang Shan scratched his cheek and replied, “I have no idea.”

Mi Jing Lun was astounded, “You don’t know?”

[How could that be? The Old Ancestor was supposed to be with the East-West Army. How is it possible that they have no idea where she is?]

“Please give me a moment, Brother Mi. I’ve told someone to come over. Perhaps he knows where the Old Ancestor is,” Xiang Shan said.

On the side, Liu Zhi Ping put on a helpless smile, “In fact, we don’t even know when the Old Ancestor disappeared. We thought that she had tagged along with the Army, but it wasn’t until just now that we realised she wasn’t with us.”

This was truly embarrassing.