Martial Peak
chapter-5745

Two auras were clashing incessantly in the void, their fierce battle unceasing. Yang Kai was dripping blood with every step, his condition relatively miserable. Ultimately, he was not the opponent of a Pseudo-Royal Lord in a head-on fight, especially with this one called Meng Que who was a veteran Pseudo-Royal Lord. Meng Que was not one of those who had just become a Pseudo-Royal Lord and had yet to familiarize themselves with their own strength.

The strength that he was able to exert in battle was almost the same as Mo Na Ye.

Every collision resulted in Yang Kai being suppressed, forced to back away again and again, his body drifting like a lone wooden boat on a stormy ocean, in danger of capsizing at any moment.

Both Time Principles and Space Principles were pushed to the extreme, and Dao Strengths wrapped around his spear as it danced freely. Yang Kai anticipated the enemy’s moves through Time Principles while moving his body with Space Principles, but he was still just barely able to hold on.

The illusory phantom of a Golden Dragon coiled around Yang Kai’s body as fine Dragon Scales could be seen appearing on the surface of his skin. Against such a powerful enemy that he had no hopes of contending with, the Dragon Scales could offset a lot of the damage. The Dragon coiling around his body was not used to counter Meng Que’s attacks, but rather to circulate the power of Yang Kai’s Dragon Vein in order to defend himself and heal his injuries.

Even Yang Kai’s Towering Evergreen Divine Manifestation, which had been unused for years, was brought out. The giant tree dropped its branches, enveloping Yang Kai’s figure as strong vitality pulsed around it.

This Divine Manifestation combined the two effects of defence and healing, but the protection it could offer to Yang Kai was limited under the bombardment of a Pseudo-Royal Lord.

Fortunately, the Divine Manifestation powered by the Immortal Tree’s Essence was really effective in healing wounds, no less so than his Dragon Vein.

Meng Qie soon realized that even though he had no idea what sort of Secret Technique Yang Kai was using, the injuries he was inflicting on this Human were recovering at a rate visible to the naked eye.

This caused Meng Que to frown. He was surprised by Yang Kai’s tricky resilience and despite their crushing difference in their strength, he was still unable to deal with him within a short amount of time. This made Meng Que attack with even greater ferocity.

He also had to divert some of his attention to probe for the leopard’s whereabouts. According to the information he received from the various Great Territory Battlefields, this leopard was very strong and had some hidden Innate Divine Abilities from its origins as one of Monster Race, making it almost invisible under the premise it did not attack. If it suddenly launched an ambush, its power was not to be underestimated.

This was also Yang Kai’s intention. He had Thunder Shadow hide himself from the start just to distract Meng Que.

Even though Thunder Shadow was strong, he was yet to go far beyond the realm of surpassing ordinary Eighth-Order Masters like Yang Kai, and against such a Pseudo-Royal Lord, even if he did attack, it would not have too much of an effect while coming with great risks. Rather than take such a gamble, it was better to just hide itself instead.

Only a hidden card could keep an enemy on their toes.

Meng Que took it for granted that Thunder Shadow was hiding on the sidelines in order to put in a sneak attack; but in fact, Thunder Shadow had silently gone far away when Yang Kai resolutely engaged Meng Que in battle.

Meng Que’s threats made it so that Yang Kai had no choice but to fight him head on. It seemed to put him in a passive position, but Yang Kai had already anticipated this possibility and had a plan ready to deal with it.

There were always two sides to every situation. Even though the fight going on on the other side was the capital Meng Que had to issue threats, why could it not be used to Yang Kai’s benefit as well?

On his own, Yang Kai was no match for Meng Que, but with the help of the other Eighth-Order Masters, Meng Que would become no issue.

To achieve this, he had to first help the Eighth-Order Masters out of their situation.

So, Thunder Shadow had gone over to the other side.

Concealing his aura with his Innate Divine Ability, Thunder Shadow moved urgently, but silently towards the other battlefield.

From a distance, Thunder Shadow could feel the stirring of World Force clashing with the surging Black Ink Strength.

As he moved closer, Thunder Shadow saw four Eighth-Order Masters linked together in a Four Symbols Formation as they fought against a Pseudo-Royal Lord.

The tide was turning against the Humans’ side.

Against a Pseudo-Royal Lord, the Eighth-Order Masters would have to form a Five Elements Formation to compete evenly. The Four Symbols Formation was still lacking.

When Thunder Shadow arrived, the four Eighth-Order Masters were working in perfect tandem with each other and the Battle Formation was functioning flawlessly, but they were still at a disadvantage against their enemy.

Remnants of Black Ink Clansmen’s corpses were still littered around the battlefield. They were apparently from nearby Black Ink Clan soldiers, who had sensed the commotion and had come to support the Pseudo-Royal Lord, only to be killed for their efforts.

Even though the situation was somewhat unfavourable, the four Eighth-Orders were not in danger of dying for the moment. They were not just soft persimmons to be pinched at will. All of them had been through countless life or death struggles, so they knew what needed to be done in situations like these.

The four of them fought with great vigor as they put their lives on the line. Their attacks were sharp and ruthless against the Pseudo-Royal Lord, which left their opponent somewhat constrained.

If he could be determined enough to put his own life at risk, the Pseudo-Royal Lord might be able to finish off these four Eighth-Order Masters at a heavy cost. At the very least, he was sure to sustain serious wounds.

In the Universe Furnace World however, a Pseudo-Royal Lord who was badly wounded but unable to rest and heal would not be able to survive another encounter with a Human Race Master.

This Pseudo-Royal Lord had narrowly escaped death during the Source Fusion, so there was no way he would put himself in such danger so easily.

It was with this in mind that the four Eighth-Orders took such a strong stance. In terms of healing, it was much more troublesome for the Black Ink Clan than the Human Race. In a situation where both sides traded injuries, it was the Human Race that ultimately came out on top even if they suffered fatalities.

Sure enough, the Pseudo-Royal Lord seemed disgruntled by the fight after a while. Seeing that he could not easily finish off these Eighth-Order Masters, he was prepared to retreat.

The Eighth-Order Masters, too, were aware of this. With the Battle Formation joined, they were of one mind and tacitly slowed down their attacks.

No one was willing to meaninglessly sacrifice themselves if the possibility of survival was present. If the Pseudo-Royal Lord wanted to leave, they were happy to let him.

In the next instant, a Black Ink Cloud spread out, enveloping the surrounding space. The Pseudo-Royal Lord feigned an attack before pulling back and jumping out of the four Eighth-Order Battle Formation’s range in an instant.

With a frown on his brow, he was just about to speak a few lines before making his exit, but something suddenly appeared behind him. The Pseudo-Royal Lord’s face looked horrified as he turned around in a hurry, raising his hand to throw out a palm.

But his palm struck at nothing. The only thing that came into view at the corner of his vision was a black leopard that had appeared behind him at some point in time, as well as a flash of pure white light that covered his vision

Purifying Light… Evil Purging Divine Spear!

From the information provided by the Black Ink Disciples, the Black Ink Clan was naturally aware of the Evil Purging Divine Spears, and after fighting with the Humans for so many years, this was a common weapon used on the various battlefields that had given them a big headache.

So, the moment he saw the dazzling white light, the Pseudo-Royal Lord knew that the black leopard, which had snuck over silently, had unleashed an Evil Purging Divine Spear at him.

From its might, it seemed to be the kind of Evil Purging Divine Spear that was used against Territory Lords!

His mind turned sharply and he hurriedly circulated his Black Ink Strength to guard his body. Under the envelopment of the white light, the dense Black Ink Strength was purified and disappeared. Bathed in the pure white light, even a Pseudo-Royal Lord as strong as him felt uncomfortable, and a burning sensation spread over the surface of his skin.

It was fortunate that he had detected the sneak attack in time and did not take the full brunt of it undefended; otherwise, he would have gotten seriously injured, especially if such a powerful weapon were to pierce him and explode inside his body.

All of a sudden, a powerful Battle Formation circled him again. Four auras locked him firmly in place, instantly intensifying the anger welling up in the Pseudo-Royal Lord. Then, the four Eighth-Order Masters launched a barrage of attacks.

Despite his anger, he did not dare to continue this fight. With this silent black leopard joining the Humans, the upper hand he had was lost. Continuing to fight would only be bringing shame upon himself.

Moreover, he was not sure whether or not there were more Human Race Masters lurking nearby.

So, he made a quick decision and his body split into a dozen Black Ink Clouds that shot out in all directions.

By the time the four Eighth-Order Masters reacted, they were only able to block half of the Black Ink Clouds, but none of them hid the Pseudo-Royal Lord. With that delay, how could they still catch the escaped Pseudo-Royal Lord? They could only stop there and sigh at their misfortune.

Among the four Eighth-Order Masters in formation, the one acting as the Core was a brave and heroic man with red hair like fire while the three others surrounded him.

If Yang Kai had been here, he would have instantly recognised Ou Yang Lie.

Ou Yang Lie had originally been deployed to the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield to guard the resource mining teams, but he was sent back to the Supreme Headquarters by Yang Kai when the Territory Lords were found escaping the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to report the situation.

That was how he gained access to the Universe Furnace; otherwise, Ou Yang Lie would surely still be leading the tens of thousands of Humans, moving around in secret while mining for materials.

Of the four Eighth-Order Masters here, Ou Yang Lie was the only veteran while the other three were rising stars who had just advanced recently over the last few thousand years.

It was for that reason that he served as the Core of the Four Symbols Formation.

The old commander naturally had his own role to play.

The three younger Eighth-Order Masters were still eager to give chase, but Ou Yang Lie shook his head, “A hard-pressed enemy should not be pursued too far.”

Even if they did go after him, they would not be able to do much to him in their current state.

All four were wounded in the fight with the Pseudo-Royal Lord, and if the Pseudo-Royal Lord had not decided to retreat for his own safety, they would likely not have come out of this in one piece.

Pseudo-Royal Lords were truly powerful! Despite being in a Battle Formation, the four of them were still suppressed and beaten. Only Yang Kai had ever fought a Master of this calibre alone in all these years, and before the Universe Furnace came into existence, no one else had ever even encountered a Pseudo-Royal Lord before.

The more this was, the more Ou Yang Lie realised how difficult it must have been for Yang Kai.

The Black Ink Clan had cultivated Pseudo-Royal Lords long ago, and if it were not for Yang Kai’s efforts in keeping them in check at the No-Return Pass, there would have been many more casualties on the Human Race’s side.

The Human Race was nothing more than a name, but the weight it carried was extraordinary. It was an inheritance passed down from ancient times, but now, a significant portion of the burdens were resting on one person’s shoulders. How terrible must that pressure be!