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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Dawning Light eventually stopped in their designated area. This place was already quite far from Blue Sky Pass and even a Seventh-Order Master like Yang Kai would take about 10 days to return if he flew alone.
This place was basically the limit of Blue Sky Pass’s Universe Array’s range. This distance was extremely suitable for scouting. If they discovered the Black Ink Clan army, they could instantly return to Blue Sky Pass, allowing the Humans time to make preparations. Even if they encountered any danger, they would still have a chance to use the Universe Transference Law to escape. It could be said that they could safely fight or retreat from this location.
Yang Kai landed Dawning Light on a universe fragment before ordering his Squad members who were proficient in Spirit Arrays to set up some Concealment and Defensive Arrays.
This way, even if the Black Ink Clan were to pass by, as long as they didn’t carefully investigate, they would likely miss them. This place was now the temporary headquarters of Dawn Squad.
This arrangement could be considered perfect. They could secretly hide here and monitor the movements of the surrounding forces.
In fact, this mission wasn’t too dangerous. All they needed to do was investigate the movements of the Black Ink Clan Army.
Be that as it may, Dawn was different from the other Squads. Not only was the arrangement of its members luxurious, but Dawning Light was also special.
Dawning Light also had the Universe Array personally arranged by Yang Kai, as well as some Purifying Light sealed within its hull. Strictly speaking, Dawning Light was equivalent to a smaller-scale Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
Dawning Light provided Dawn with a far greater degree of mobility and freedom. It exponentially increased their range of activity. Other Squads simply could not match this.
After completing some basic arrangements, Yang Kai handed down a series of orders, having the Seventh-Order Masters in the Squad lead two or three Sixth-Order members further in different directions. This way, if the Black Ink Clan army were to mobilize in this region, they would be able to discover them sooner.
No one had any objections, so the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters each chose two or three aids and dispersed.
Dawning Light’s side still needed someone to stand guard, someone powerful, so Bai Yi was left in charge. With someone as strong as Bai Yi assuming command, along with the other Dawn Squad members and Dawning Light itself, so long as they did not encounter a large number of powerful Black Ink Clansmen, dealing with them would not be a problem.
Yang Kai himself then led Miao Fei Ping and ventured in a certain direction.
As his main objective was scouting, Yang Kai didn’t choose to just rush ahead as fast as he could. If he did that, he would just be painting a target on his back. Only by flying at a moderate pace could he conceal his presence.
There were only two inconspicuous figures in this vast void, so if one didn’t carefully search for them, they wouldn’t be noticed.
“Are you nervous?” Yang Kai looked at Miao Fei Ping, who had a mix of anxiety and excitement on his face ever since they left Blue Sky Pass. It had been over 10 days since then, but he still wore the same expression.
“Ah?” It wasn’t clear what Miao Fei Ping was thinking, but when he suddenly heard Yang Kai’s question, he quickly replied, “No, I’m not nervous… but I’m curious about one thing. Some of the Senior Brothers told me that the Black Ink Clan is full of strange creatures. Disciple is very curious about what the Black Ink Clan looks like.”
Yang Kai chuckled, “Just as your Senior Brothers said, there are all kinds of strange creatures among the Black Ink Clan!”
Yang Kai had taken out Miao Fei Ping from his Small Universe to advance to the Open Heaven Realm, and it had only been a year or so since then. So, the latter’s understanding of the Black Ink Battlefield, the Great Passes, and even the Black Ink Clan was extremely limited. Although Miao Fei Ping had fought many people in Void World over the years, all his opponents were Human. Naturally, he was a little unsettled after being thrown into this kind of battlefield to fight against an alien Race, especially after listening to some information about the Black Ink Clan from his Senior Brothers in the Squad. He imagined that all of the Black Ink Clansmen had three heads and six arms and were extremely sinister and violent.
“Martial Uncle,” Miao Fei Ping humbly asked, “The Senior Brothers said that if those from the Black Ink Clan and those from the Human Race are in the same Order, the Black Ink Clansmen are generally somewhat weaker than us. And the lower the cultivation, the more obvious the gap is; is that really so?”
“En,” Yang Kai slightly nodded his agreement, “The reason why there is such a difference is because the way the two Races grow is different. Our growth is a result of many years of accumulation and hard cultivation, but the same is not true for the Black Ink Clan. They are born from the Black Ink Nests, and as long as they have enough resources and time, they can continue to grow endlessly. Although their growth does require a certain amount of time and experience, in general, it is much shorter than the time required for Humans to grow. Essentially, they rely on external forces to increase their strength.”
Miao Fei Ping suddenly came to realize, “Then their foundation should be unstable, right?”
Yang Kai pondered for a moment before replying, “You can think of it that way, but it’s not comprehensive. The gap between the two races’ Masters in the same Realm grows smaller with the increase in strength. For example, the gap between a Royal Lord and an Old Ancestor is basically non-existent, while the gap between an Eighth-Order Division Commander and a Territory Lord isn’t very large. Of course, if they were to fight one-on-one, any Eighth-Order Division Commander would have the advantage over any Territory Lord.”
Miao Fei Ping became very concerned, “Although that’s the case, the Black Ink Clan has Black Ink Nests, and from the moment they are born, their strength is comparable to the Open Heaven Realm Masters of the Human Race, so how will we be able to eliminate all of them?”
Yang Kai asked with a smile, “Who told you that the Black Ink Clan Members are as strong as Open Heaven Realm Masters since birth?”
“Isn’t that so?” Miao Fei Ping was greatly surprised.
Yang Kai shook his head in response, “Of course not.” He had more say in this matter than anyone else; after all, no one had spent as much time among the upper echelons of the Black Ink Clan or had a deeper understanding of the Black Ink Nests than him.
“The Black Ink Clansmen we encounter on the battlefield are at least Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. They are equivalent to our Low-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters and are basically used as cannon fodder by the Black Ink Clan. Every time the Black Ink Clan Army goes out, Low-Rank Clansmen make up the majority of their forces on the battlefield. Any Human Master can easily wipe out a large number of Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen with a single move. But after the deaths of these Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, the Black Ink Strength in their body will disperse and condense into Black Ink Clouds, which create an advantageous battlefield for the Black Ink Clan. In contrast, Humans are quite cautious of Black Ink Strength and Black Ink Clouds. Even so, we have no choice but to kill these Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen. When the two Races fight, they will take the vanguard and charge at us, so if we don’t kill them, they will charge into our formations. So, their cannon fodder tactic is extremely effective.”
Miao Fei Ping lightly nodded and listened attentively.
“The High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen are stronger than the Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, equivalent to our Mid-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters. They can be considered as the backbone of the Black Ink Clan’s Army. Although they might not be a majority, like the Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, their numbers are definitely not small. They pose the biggest threat to the Human Race.”
Miao Fei Ping asked in surprise, “Aren’t the greatest threats to the Human Race the Feudal Lords and Territory Lords?”
Yang Kai nodded with his assumption before explaining, “Feudal Lords and Territory Lords are indeed powerful, but how many Territory Lords do you think there can be on a single battlefield? They are often the deciding factor in battle, so they do not act recklessly. As for Feudal Lords, there are many of them, at least more than Seventh-Order Humans, but Feudal Lords cherish their lives dearly. It’s not easy for them to become Feudal Lords, so none of them want to die. They may be brave and fierce in battle, but only if the wind is blowing in their favour. Once things turn south, they run faster than anyone else.”
“So, that’s the case!” Miao Fei Ping was absorbed in his thoughts.
“These are the ones that you can see on the battlefield, but the Black Ink Clan actually has many lower-ranking clansmen who are known as Black Ink Serfs.”
“Black Ink Serfs?”
“Those who have just been born in the Black Ink Nest and cannot even be classified as Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen are called Black Ink Serfs. They are equivalent to the Human cultivators before they reach the Open Heaven Realm. These Black Ink Serfs aren’t of much use even on the battlefield, so they are never brought to war by the Black Ink Clan. Basically all of them stay in the various territories of the Black Ink Clan and absorb ambient Black Ink Strength to strengthen themselves.”
No Human could surpass Yang Kai in terms of the understanding of the Black Ink Clan; after all, no one had been able to disguise themselves as a Black Ink Disciple and live in the Black Ink Clan’s territory for so many years. Even other Black Ink Disciples who were saved later rarely knew much about the Black Ink Clan as during their time, they were treated as servants and slaves, never trying to gather intelligence for the Human Race.
“It seems that the growth of the Black Ink Clan is not easy,” Miao Fei Ping sighed.
“Why do you say so?”
Miao Fei Ping explained, “Martial Uncle, you see, the Black Ink Clan must first be born from the Black Ink Nests becoming the weakest Black Ink Serfs. And when they somehow grow into a Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman, they are dragged to the battlefield to serve as cannon fodder. Perhaps they survive long enough to grow into a High-Rank Black Ink Clan after experiencing a few life-and-death situations, but even if they grow into a High-Rank Black Ink Clansman, if they are down on their luck, they might lose their lives on the battlefield at any moment. If they are lucky enough to survive many wars, they will finally have a chance to become a Feudal Lord.”
Yang Kai nodded his acknowledgement, “That’s right, but does that mean that our growth as Humans is easy? Which Open Heaven Realm Master hasn’t walked a thorny path and painstakingly cultivated before they could reach their current Realm? Forget about others, you yourself have gone through much trouble to reach here, haven’t you?”
Miao Fei Ping respectfully replied, “Martial Uncle is right.” He then asked again, “Martial Uncle, where are we going?”
Yang Kai stated, “Don’t ask, just follow me.”
“En,” Miao Fei Ping obediently responded.
With Dawning Light as a transit point, the Dawn Squad’s range of activity was much larger than the other Squads’. It could be said to be twice as large or even more. Naturally, this made them even more suitable for scouting missions as they could venture deeper and obtain more information.
Of course, Yang Kai also had another plan. Since Miao Fei Ping had just arrived here, he knew nothing about the Black Ink Clan. So, Yang Kai wanted to find him a few suitable opponents to practice with so that he wouldn’t become flustered on the battlefield. Although Miao Fei Ping would not be directly engaging the Black Ink Clan owing to his Sixth-Order cultivation, mostly remaining inside Dawning Light to power Spirit Arrays to kill the enemy, it did not hurt having a few exchanges with the Black Ink Clan and understand their characteristics a little.
On top of that, Miao Fei Ping had just advanced to the Open Heaven Realm not long ago, so he needed to fight to properly consolidate his cultivation.
It had been 100 years since the last war between the two Races in the Blue Sky Theatre, and the Black Ink Clan had been showing signs of deploying troops recently. In light of this, it wouldn’t be difficult to find a few Black Ink Clansmen to practice on.
The reason they hadn’t met one before was because the scattered Black Ink Clansmen didn’t dare to casually approach the Great Pass. But now, they were basically in the territory of the Black Ink Clan, so it was natural to run into them.
As expected, Yang Kai found a suitable target less than a day later.
His powerful Divine Sense allowed him to detect the approach of the nearby Black Ink Clansmen. There were several hundred of them, and their leader was a Feudal Lord.
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