Martial Peak
chapter-5766

While Yang Kai and Thunder Shadow had sunken into the depths of the Infinite River and were reaping great benefits, the Universe Furnace World had already descended into a bloodbath.

With Yang Kai’s move of seizing the Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill as the trigger, both sides had gathered their soldiers and were now engaged in constant clashes with each other, forming rivers of blood with Masters falling frequently.

The battle was not as intense at first, but following Ou Yang Lie’s arrival, the situation became explosive.

This new Ninth-Order Master had been choking down his complaints all these years. Now that he had risen to the Ninth Order, he had to make sure to slaughter more to vent the pent-up knots in his heart; however, the Human Race were unable to gain much of an advantage even with Ou Yang Lie’s participation, and the main reason was the number imbalance. The Black Ink Clan greatly outnumbered them.

Inside this Universe Furnace World, the Black Ink Clan could still communicate with each other using their miniature Black Ink Nests, not only sending out their locations, but also calling for reinforcements from all directions.

But the Humans could not do that. Even though the Supreme Headquarters had made arrangements before their entry, supplying each Master with a special Communication Bead, its usage was limited in comparison to the Black Ink Nests. Naturally, not as many helpers could be called over through that method.

What’s more, the Humans had fewer forces than the Black Ink Clan to begin with. If Ou Yang Lie had not made it over in time, then the Humans would surely have suffered a terrible loss in this battle.

On top of all that, the Black Ink Clan had many Pseudo-Royal Lords on their side.

By the time the Royal Lord broke away from the Chaos Spirit King and joined the battlefield, the limited advantage that the Humans had was gone.

Both sides clashed with the Masters gathered, and the Ninth-Order Master and Royal Lord led the fight until finally, a kind of critical mass was reached and both sides pulled back.

On the Humans’ side, Ou Yang Lie looked over at the situation on the other side and couldn’t help but curse, [Didn’t they say that the Royal Lord was being pinned down by the Chaos Spirit King? How did he come over to support them so soon? That Chaos Spirit King is so useless! How could it let this guy break loose from him so early? As expected, its intelligence is lacking…]

He hadn’t had his fill of slaughter just yet, but it was no longer a good idea for conflict now; otherwise, even if they could gain an advantage here, their side would inevitably incur some losses.

[And where is that Brat hiding? If he was here, then the situation would surely improve!]

He heard that Yang Kai managed to seize another Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill, and that he’d snatched it from right under the Royal Lord and Chaos Spirit King’s noses…

Only Yang Kai could possibly achieve something akin to fetching chestnuts from a raging fire, but he must have gotten injured during the process and hidden away somewhere to recuperate.

[What about Big Head Xiang? Where did that guy go?] Ou Yang Lie had not heard anything about Xiang Shan since entering this place. In fact, nobody had even seen him since then.

[That guy can’t be dead somewhere, can he? If so, that would be laughable.]

Ou Yang Lie was reluctant to just back away here, but he also had a few scruples about starting a war with their enemies. For a moment, a bitter taste had sprouted on his tongue. He truly wasn’t suited to strategizing as he had always been a fierce general charging in at the forefront of a battlefield. He was most suitable to receive commands and go wherever he was needed to fight rather than give orders.

Seemingly catching onto Ou Yang Lie’s hesitation, the Royal Lord on the opposite end shouted, “Ou Yang Lie, you Humans did not eat any losses this time, but my Black Ink Clan is not gaining any favours either. Why don’t each of us take a step back and call things to a halt here? It won’t be too late to wait until we’re out of the Universe Furnace to settle this fight!”

“Bullshit! If I don’t kill all of you today, then my name won’t be Ou Yang Lie!” Ou Yang Lie barked back a furious response. Even though he did agree with his opponent’s suggestion, and he himself was happy to lead his men in retreating, he could not allow himself to lose in terms of momentum.

The Royal Lord’s expression dimmed and he coldly snorted, “You’ve got a big mouth! If you have the ability, then come forward and show it! I’d like to see how you’re going to kill all of us!”

“Just you wait, I’ll make my way over there immediately!” Ou Yang Lie roared loudly.

However, he did not feel so good after roaring out like that. His rash words had landed himself on the back of a tiger, and how could that be a good thing? He couldn’t just lead his men over to fight. He was not afraid of the Royal Lord, but they had more Masters gathered on the enemy side than what the Human Race could muster up. There were also several Pseudo-Royal Lords standing by. This wouldn’t be an easy fight.

The only advantage they had on their side was their Battle Formations.

The Black Ink Clan had Formations as well, but most of them could only reach the Four Symbols Formation, and it was generally unstable, but the same was not true for the Humans. At worst, they were able to form a solid Five Elements Formation, which would naturally make them stronger than the Black Ink Clan.

However, they couldn’t make up for the numerical disadvantage with that alone. If they really fought here, then it wasn’t just the Black Ink Clan that would suffer, but the Humans as well. Moreover, Ou Yang Lie guessed that there would still be more reinforcements coming over to support them.

[Forget it. If we can’t fight, then the only other option is to back away. As for pride…] Ou Yang Lie wasn’t the type of person to care about such things.

Just as he was about to say a few more words, Ou Yang Lie’s expression suddenly changed and he turned to look in a certain direction.

At the same time, the Royal Lord also picked up on something and looked over in that direction as well.

There seemed to be some unusual movements emerging from that side.

At a distance that seemed to be merely several millions of kilometres away from where they were confronting each other, on a small chaos asteroid, a figure had been hiding since who knew when.

This figure had a brave and heroic aura, with a majestic appearance. It was Xiang Shan, whom Ou Yang Lie was thinking about before!

At this moment, Xiang Shan’s brow was deeply furrowed and his mouth was filled with a bitter taste as he wanted nothing more than to just scream out loud, “Ou Yang Lie, you old fart, you’re going to cost me my life today!”

Since entering this Universe Furnace World, he had been acting alone, but it was not because he was unwilling to join hands with the other Masters, but instead because he never encountered anyone.

He had also been searching for Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pills all this while.

He had tried to break through his own bottleneck with the help of Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills, but they proved to be of no use. The drawbacks left behind from dropping in Order made it so that only a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill would be able to compensate for them.

His luck was not good, but it was not too bad either.

After searching for a long time, to a point where he was about to grow desperate, Xiang Shan finally lucked out. There, on this small asteroid, he found an unclaimed Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill!

Suppressing his excitement, he had been hesitating for a long time on whether or not he should refine this Spirit Pill here and break through to the Ninth Order immediately, or wait. As long as he could make a breakthrough, then he would be free to roam the Universe Furnace World unobstructed.

Unexpectedly, he had sensed movements of a fight in the distance as soon as he took the pill into his Small Universe, which worried him greatly.

It was too late to move now though, so he immediately took out the many Array Plates that he brought with him, laying out a concealment Array to hide his figure and aura.

He thought that the fight would not last long, and that he just had to wait for it to finish before he could make a breakthrough in peace.

How could he have anticipated that not only did the fight show no signs of ending, but instead intensified greatly. For some strange reason, it seemed like the Masters from both slides were constantly gathering in this very location.

It was only after a long time that the battle finally calmed.

Just now, he heard the shouting of Ou Yang Lie and the Royal Lord… Only then did he realize that it was Ou Yang Lie who presided over the battle on the Human Race’s side.

He was relieved to hear the Royal Lord’s suggestion of stopping for both parties. Xiang Shan nearly celebrated as that would allow him to break through in peace after the Black Ink Clan left.

But then, when he heard Ou Yang Lie shouting about killing all from the Black Ink Clan, he wanted nothing more than to rush out and cover Ou Yang Lie’s mouth…

They had known each other for so long, so how could he not understand Ou Yang Lie’s character? That bastard was going more and more overboard as he shouted, and kept on trying to act strong. The Black Ink Clan wanted to leave, so he should have just let them leave! What reason did he have to force them to stay when he knew he couldn’t win?

But that was not the end of it. The most important point here was that he had already taken the Spirit Pill into his Small Universe, and had been suppressing it all this while, not daring to refine the pill for fear of touching his bottleneck and revealing his location.

However, there was a limit to how long he could suppress it, and it was at that point that it could no longer be suppressed. The medicinal efficacies of the pill were spreading, and the barrier of his Small Universe was beginning to melt and expand. The commotion that would arise from one breaking through to the Ninth Order was not something that could be hidden even while being enveloped in the Spirit Array.

Ou Yang Lie and the Royal Lord had noticed him practically at the same time…

Both sides were shocked. It was a realization that a Master had obtained a Supreme Grade Open Heaven Pill and was currently in the middle of making a breakthrough!

But were they from the Black Ink Clan or the Human Race?

Even though the Array was unable to cover up all traces of his breakthrough, it still blurred the perception of outsiders. For a while, neither Ou Yang Lie nor the Royal Lord was able to ascertain whether it was one of their own people making a breakthrough or not.

But soon, everything became clear.

World Force surged on that side, and the stirring resulting from the breakthrough was growing increasingly intense, so much so that it was becoming impossible to ignore.

Now, the Masters on both sides were able to sense it as well.

Ou Yang Lie’s eyes lit up, “It’s one of our people who is making a breakthrough, and this aura…” He realized now who it was who was making the breakthrough.

[This is clearly Big Head Xiang’s aura!]

Just now, he was wondering whether he had ended up dead somewhere, but he never thought that this guy would be quietly hiding nearby to make a breakthrough. It really was a great surprise.

Compared to Ou Yang Lie’s pleasant surprise, the Royal Lord’s face was gloomy as he roared, “A Human is breaking through to the Ninth Order! Kill him!”

He had originally planned to retreat with his soldiers, but how could he leave now? The Human Race already had one Ninth-Order Master, so if they were to raise another, that would be no laughing matter. The only thing he could do right now was try to find a way to kill him before he succeeded in breaking through.

Even if he did not kill him, then he had to make sure to ruin his opportunity. They must never allow the Humans to raise another Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master!