Martial Peak
chapter-5271

No one in the East-West Army was aware that the Old Ancestor wasn’t with them until just now.

However, she was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, after all. Although she was injured, Xiang Shan and the others would never be able to track her if she wanted to do something furtively.

Now, there was only one person who might be aware of the Old Ancestor’s whereabouts.

Soon, a Seventh-Order Master was summoned to this place.

Mi Jing Lun took a look and realised that the person was someone he knew. It was Yang Kai, who had previously come to the North-South Army to pass on information about the change in war strategy. Mi Jing Lun still vividly remembered this Seventh-Order Junior. In the first great battle against the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre, it was Yang Kai who led two Special Operations Squads from the North-South Army to crush the enemy Army on the battlefield.

The members of those two Squads had lost all combat capability after a few hours of fighting, but Yang Kai continued charging across the battlefield on his own using just his Divine Manifestation to break up the Black Ink Clan’s formation.

It could be said that this Seventh-Order Master had made a huge contribution in that battle and created a chance for the North-South Army to achieve a breakthrough.

At this moment, Yang Kai was puzzled. He was cultivating on Dawning Light when he was suddenly summoned by the Army Commanders, so he could only come over in a hurry. However, he had no idea why he was summoned to this place.

Seeing that all the leaders of the Army were around, he quickly saluted them one by one and asked, “What orders do you have for me?”

Xiang Shan looked at him, “Do you know where the Old Ancestor is?”

“Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao?” Yang Kai was surprised that they had summoned him to this place to ask about the Old Ancestor’s whereabouts. How was he supposed to know? He had been cultivating aboard Dawning Light since they set sail.

“Xiao Xiao?” These Eighth-Order Masters were shocked, for it was the first time they heard of this name.

The names of the Old Ancestors were basically a mystery. Even the Eighth-Order Masters might not be aware of them; after all, the Old Ancestors had lived for a very long time, so long that many of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were not even born yet when the Old Ancestors first stepped onto the Black Ink Battlefield.

Only those extremely old Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters might know the names of some of the Old Ancestors, but they wouldn’t easily bring such information up, must less tell anyone about it casually.

Therefore, rarely anyone knew the name of any Old Ancestor.

It was expected that they were surprised when they heard Yang Kai mention the Old Ancestor’s name, for it didn’t sound very imposing.

Yang Kai coughed and explained, “100 years ago, the Old Ancestor suddenly declared that from that day on, her name would be Xiao Xiao. It’s a sad story, so let’s not discuss it further. Anyways, isn’t the Old Ancestor with the Army?”

Xiang Shan refuted, “Why would we ask you about it if she was with the Army?”

“I have no idea either,” Yang Kai appeared innocent.

Xiang Shan frowned, “The Old Ancestor has repeatedly recuperated inside your Small Universe over the years, so you’re the closest to her. Do you really have no clue where she might have gone?”

The North-South Army had fought to keep the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass bottled up all this time. On the other hand, the East-West Army had suffered immense losses to devastate the enemy in the Royal City. Now that the two Armies finally came together, the Old Ancestor was nowhere to be found.

They would be the laughing stock if such news was spread.

Just as Yang Kai was about to shake his head again, he suddenly recalled something and muttered, “I think I know where the Old Ancestor is.”

Liu Zhi Ping asked anxiously, “Where is she?”

Yang Kai replied, “If I’m not mistaken, the Old Ancestor must have returned to the Royal City.”

“She’s gone back to the Royal City?” Liu Zhi Ping was startled.

Yang Kai explained, “This is what happened. When we left the forward base and set sail for Great Evolution Pass a while back, the Old Ancestor came to me to get a few sets of Space Beacons. Like these.”

As he spoke, he fished out a set of Space Beacons.

“Two Space Beacons make up a set. They’re something I learned how to create many years ago and can be considered a kind of space artifact. These two Space Beacons are linked using Space Principles, so you just have to put one of them in a certain place, then channel your strength into the other to activate the link and instantly move to the first one from across a distance. It’s similar to using a Space Array. Initially, they were only usable by those who could use Space Principles, but over the years I’ve managed to improve them to work with World Force. The primary advantage is that these are much more discreet and portable compared to a Space Array.”

As he spoke, Xiang Shan and the others were examining the Space Beacons.

Liu Zhi Ping frowned, “Why did the Old Ancestor ask you for these Space Beacons? Why are you sure that she’s gone to the Royal City?”

Yang Kai explained, “Over the years, the Old Ancestor has been fighting the Royal Lord every 20 years or so to ensure he can’t recuperate in peace. In the final battle, she intended to finish him once and for all, but she failed in her attempt for various reasons, though she did manage to severely injure him. Now that she has gained such an immense advantage, she certainly wouldn’t want to just let him recuperate. However, there’s a great distance between Great Evolution Pass and the Royal City, so even if she is powerful, it would take her several days to reach the Royal City, not to mention all the enemy territory she would have to cross. With the help of my Space Beacons, she can reach her destination far more quickly.”

The Eighth-Order Masters understood what he meant.

Now that the Royal Lord was wounded, denying him the chance to heal himself would give a huge advantage to the Humans. In order to sustain that advantage though, the Old Ancestor had to harass him from time to time. She certainly couldn’t kill the Royal Lord, but just by revealing her aura near the Royal City, she would easily frighten the latter.

To achieve that, these Space Beacons would be the perfect tool.

Liu Zhi Ping fell into her thoughts for a moment, then said, “You mean, since the beginning, the Old Ancestor never intended to let the Royal Lord recover?”

“I believe so.”

It was clear where the Old Ancestor was now. She must have made use of the Space Beacons to head to the Royal City to taunt the Royal Lord. At the thought of this, Liu Zhi Ping couldn’t help offering a silent prayer for the latter. Black Ink Clansmen recuperated by falling asleep in Black Ink Nests, and once they were interrupted, they wouldn’t be able to recover efficiently.

It was imaginable that the Royal Lord wouldn’t be in the mood to recuperate if the Old Ancestor came to harass him whenever he fell asleep.

The reason the Old Ancestor was doing this was obvious; she was preparing for the future crusade.

However, Xiang Shan focused his attention on something else. After examining the Space Beacons for a bit, he asked, “Can these things help the Army to ambush the enemy?”

Since they could make use of Space Beacons to move around swiftly, there would be times when these things might bring unexpected results.

For example, when they were fighting against the Black Ink Clan, they could send a single Squad out as bait. However, when hostilities broke out, 100 people could appear out of nowhere and catch the Black Ink Clan off guard.

“Perhaps,” Yang Kai wouldn’t dare to say whether the idea was feasible or not.

Xiang Shan stopped asking, and then put away the set of Space Beacons. Clearly, he didn’t intend to return them to Yang Kai.

Since they had figured out the Old Ancestor’s whereabouts, they stopped feeling bothered. The Army continued moving towards Great Evolution Pass.

It had been roughly 150 years since the two Armies respectively departed from Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass, and they finally came together at Great Evolution Pass.

When they set out, there were a total of 60,000 soldiers and some 120 Eighth-Order Masters in the two Armies.

Presently, as the two Armies gathered together, there were only around 30,000 soldiers and 70 Eighth-Order Masters left.

The rest had died in battle.

…..

In the void, a group of Black Ink Clansmen were rushing towards the Royal City.

They were the ones that had departed from Great Evolution Pass. With Hong Di leading the way, there were several hundred thousand soldiers, and more than 20 Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. They could be considered a substantial force.

Presently, Hong Di was deluged with mixed feelings. First, he had lost his home territory; after all, that was a place he had managed for 30,000 years. Not only had he returned it to the Humans, he had also lost his Black Ink Nest.

Even though he could get a new territory and Black Ink Nest in the future, he was probably the only one who had been defeated, and then forced to surrender his territory in the history of the Black Ink Clan, which was why he felt humiliated.

Second, he had been gripped by a sense of apprehension while heading towards the Royal City.

He wasn’t worried that Mi Jing Lun would deceive him. Although he only interacted with Mi Jing Lun once, he knew that the latter wasn’t a fool. It would do the Humans no good to make things difficult for the Black Ink Clan at this juncture; therefore, Hong Di was not worried that the North-South Army would attack them.

What he was truly worried about was that he might come across the East-West Army and the Human Old Ancestor on the way to their destination.

As such, he led his Army on a wide detour two days after they departed from Great Evolution Pass. They wouldn’t dare to move in a straight line for fear of running into the Human Army on its way from the Royal City.

However, Hong Di was still feeling anxious. Following his order, the Black Ink Clan soldiers hastened their pace so that they could return to the Royal City as quickly as possible.

If not for Hong Di rushing them, they would not have arrived at this place just one month after departing from Great Evolution Pass, considering the fact that they had made a detour.

From afar, they could see the magnificent Royal City, and Hong Di felt his eyes welling up with tears. Although the Royal City now appeared dilapidated, it still gave him a sense of security.

He could even feel the Royal Lord’s aura exuding from the Royal City.

[We’re home! We no longer have to feel on edge all the time!]

Many of the Territory Lords shared the same sentiment. Only when they saw the Royal City could they set their minds at ease.

However, that sense of security was suddenly and abruptly shattered.

An extremely powerful aura that sent a shockwave across the Territory Lords appeared literally out of nowhere in the void.

Although many of them hadn’t faced one before, they could instantly deduce that this aura belonged to a Human Old Ancestor.

The smile on Hong Di’s face froze as he turned to look at the source of the aura.

An alluring figure had appeared just over 1 million kilometres away. It was none other than Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao.

Just as Yang Kai had suspected, by leaving behind some Space Beacons along the way, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao managed to return to the vicinity of the Royal City almost instantaneously.

She didn’t intend to kill the Royal Lord, or even get into a fight with him, she just wanted to make sure that he wouldn’t be able to recuperate in peace. By showing herself like this, she wanted to tell the Royal Lord that she would visit him from time to time, and that he best be prepared to welcome her at a moment’s notice.

Initially, she intended to head straight to the Royal City to make a bit of a scene, but the instant she appeared, she detected a large group of people just a million kilometres away.

As she turned her head, she made eye contact with Hong Di.

This came as a pleasant surprise to her.

She instantly realised that they were the Black Ink Clansmen who had come from Great Evolution Pass; therefore, she joyfully charged towards them.

It would be hard for her to make a move if all the Black Ink Clansmen hid in the Royal City, as with the help of the Black Ink Nest, the Royal Lord could still fend her off.

However, these Black Ink Clansmen were still quite some distance away from the Royal City, so they had nowhere to run, and no one to depend on as the Royal Lord certainly wouldn’t leave the Royal City to rescue them.

The Black Ink Clan Army descended into chaos in the next instant. The Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples joined forces to defend against the Old Ancestor, but even though they could keep themselves safe with some difficulty, they were unable to stop her from slaughtering the lower soldiers.

Therefore, after the Old Ancestor ran into the Black Ink Clansmen from Great Evolution Pass in the void, she managed to slaughter 100,000 of them, including a Territory Lord and 3 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples. The rest fled to the Royal City in a hurry.

When the Royal Lord realized what had happened, he was so furious that he coughed up blood.