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Translator: Silavin & Ashish
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
This attack was extremely sudden and came without any warning. Hong Hu only noticed it when it was practically on top of him, causing him to jump in fright and hastily defend himself.
Even a Territory Lord like him was forced back by this blow.
Looking down, he noticed that Xiang Shan, who had been sitting cross-legged on the asteroid, happened to have opened his eyes at some point and was staring at him with a smile.
Hong Hu was terrified!
[This is a trap, this is definitely a trap!]
Although Hong Hu didn’t notice any traces of any Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, when he met Xiang Shan’s mocking gaze, he knew that his worries had come true!
The Human Race had once again set up a sinister trap here to lure him and Wu Jiang out. It was laughable that even with all his caution, he had failed to see through this.
Although he might not have an idea of what the Human Race’s goal was or where the trap was, Hong Hu was a decisive person. After realizing that things were not good, he immediately tried to escape.
But it was already too late.
Before Hong Hu could make any move, Xiang Shan was already flying towards him like a bolt of lightning. When Xiang Shan moved, it appeared as if he had summoned something, and while he was charging, his aura steadily rose. In just three breaths of time, his cultivation had risen from the Seventh Order to the Eighth.
As the two clashed in the void, their Black Ink Strength and World Force clashed to form a violent storm.
On the Old Turtle Squad’s broken Warship, Squad Leader Chai Fang and his Squad members were all dumbfounded. It never occurred to them that something like this would happen at this desperate moment and came as a pleasant surprise to them.
After giving it another thought though, Chai Fang came to realize that the reason Xiang Shan was able to advance to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm at just the right moment could not be a coincidence; rather, it had to be intentional.
In other words, Senior Xiang Shan had always been able to break through at any moment, but he had been holding his advancement back for some purpose.
Naturally, it was impossible for an ordinary Seventh-Order Master to break through to the Eighth-Order like this, but it was different for Xiang Shan. He was originally an Eighth-Order Master, and the reason his Order had dropped was only because he had cut off too much of his Small Universe in the past. He had the base of an Eighth-Order Master from the start, and after painstakingly cultivating for three millennia, he had already regained and strengthened his incomplete foundation. After three millennia, as far as he was concerned, it was just a matter of course to return to Eight-Order so long as the opportunity appeared.
Chai Fang even suspected that Xiang Shan had advanced to the Eighth Order already, but for some reason, had been acting like he was in the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm. As for what this reason was, he was temporarily unable to guess.
“Squad Leader, is that… a Purifying Black Ink Battleship?” A pale-faced Squad member suddenly asked.
The Old Turtle Squad’s defensive barrier had been destroyed by Hong Hu’s three hammer strikes, and the entire Squad had suffered varying degrees of injuries while even their Warship had been damaged. Nonetheless, when compared to having been killed by Hong Hu, this result was still acceptable.
After hearing this Squad member’s question, Chai Fang turned his gaze towards the asteroid and indeed, he saw a Warship there. This Warship was far more magnificent than an ordinary Squad Rank Warships or even a Battalion Rank Warship.
In the entire Blue Sky Pass, a Warship of this scale could only be a Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
[Why is a Purifying Black Ink Battleship here?]
He vaguely remembered that when Xiang Shan moved just now, he seemed to have summoned something and tossed it out. Apparently, what he had summoned was this Purifying Black Ink Battleship.
Although the Warship was large, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master could still easily store it in his or her Small Universe.
In a flash, Chai Fang understood the various arrangements of the higher-ups and was shocked at the revelation!
At a certain moment before Xiang Shan summoned the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, seven or eight Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, led by Ding Yao, had gathered together in Blue Sky Pass. Their hands were rapidly forming different seals one after another, but strangely, no matter what seals these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters made, nothing happened.
Furthermore, it had already been two days since they had begun doing this.
Even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master would find it quite tiring to repeat such a boring task for a long time.
Lu An couldn’t help but grumble, “Has Senior Brother Xiang not made his move yet?”
An Eighth-Order Master asked with a smile, “Brother Lu, are you getting frustrated from all the waiting?”
Lu An corrected, “I’m just worried that those brats won’t be able to hold on. I don’t know how many Territory Lords Senior Brother Xiang managed to lure out, but if the number is too large, it might lead to casualties.”
The Eighth-Order Master stated, “Senior Brother Xiang is a meticulous person. Since he hasn’t made a move yet, it means that the situation is still under control. We should keep waiting until Senior Brother Xiang has made his move, in any case…”
Before the Eighth-Order Master could finish his sentence, the light of the Universe Array appeared beneath his feet after he finished a set of hand seals.
Ding Yao raised his brow and shouted, “It’s time!”
Everyone held their breaths and focused as the speed at which they formed hand seals sharply increased. In an instant, the light Universe Arrays appeared beneath their respective feet.
After a few breaths, the light faded as the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters gathered here vanished.
The next moment, all the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters stepped out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship on an asteroid billion of kilometers away, with Ding Yao in the lead.
After looking around, Ding Yao immediately understood the situation and shouted, “Act according to the plan!”
As soon as he relayed the order, five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters flew towards Xiang Shan while the remaining three rushed towards Wu Jiang.
At this moment, Hong Hu’s face was filled with indignation. Ever since he had received the message from the Territory Lords on the front lines, asking him and Wu Jiang to come here to kill Xiang Shan, he had suspected that this was a scheme set up by the Humans.
What kind of character was Xiang Shan? If he really wanted to advance to the Eighth Order, how could he not have anyone guarding him? Why would he choose this damned place to advance?
After multiple probes, and a sacrifice of close to 100,000 Black Ink Clansmen, as well as a careful investigation of the surrounding region, when they found nothing suspicious, nor any ambush, Hong Hu’s fear of Xiang Shan breaking through forced him to take action.
But just as he was about to deal with Xiang Shan, something unexpected happened.
Xiang Shan actually returned to the Eighth Order in an extremely short time, making it impossible for Hong Hu to easily kill him.
This sudden turn of events made Hong Hu realize that this was definitely a trap! The only thing he failed to understand was what Xiang Shan could do to him even if he had returned to the Eighth Order.
Had it been three millennia ago, when Xiang Shan was at his peak, Hong Hu would definitely not have been his opponent. If he had been down on his luck, he might have even been killed by Xiang Shan.
However, things were different now. Xiang Shan had just returned to the Eighth Order, and after exchanging a few blows with him, Hong Hu discovered that the former’s current strength was only on par with his, perhaps even slightly inferior.
In his current state, he couldn’t kill Xiang Shan, nor could Xiang Shan kill him, so what was the purpose of this trap?
Just as he was feeling puzzled, powerful auras suddenly emerged from the nearby asteroid out of nowhere.
Naturally, they were the auras of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters! Eight of them!
The moment he noticed these auras, Hong Hu noticed five figures rushing in his direction from the asteroid from the corner of his eye.
Hong Hu was filled with grief and unwillingness. No matter how he racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out where these Eighth-Order Masters popped out from and why he failed to notice them until now.
He couldn’t figure it out, but he knew that if he didn’t escape now, he would never be able to. Xiang Shan alone might not be able to do anything to him, but if five more Eighth-Order Humans were added to the mix, it would be another matter. He was no match for those kinds of odds.
But how could Xiang Shan allow him to escape? Immediately, all kinds of Divine Abilities and Secret Techniques were shot out, but they were not intended to injure the enemy, but rather just to obstruct Hong Hu’s escape. This was why Xiang Shan had specially summoned a net-like artifact. This artifact instantly fell over Hong Hu’s head and transformed into an invisible binding force, preventing him from escaping.
Although Hong Hu had quickly destroyed this artifact, the five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had already arrived.
“Ding Yao!” Hong Hu was shocked at the sight of the person leading the team.
Naturally, he was well aware of the Army Commander of Blue Sky Pass’ Eastern Army. Not just Ding Yao, all Army Commanders were the strongest of the Eighth-Order Humans. Every Territory Lord knew them well.
[But… shouldn’t Ding Yao be guarding Blue Sky Pass? What’s he doing here? Also, the other Eighth-Order Masters here have never appeared at the forward base before. They should all be guarding Blue Sky Pass!]
While he was reeling from shock, the five Eighth-Order Masters stood in a pentagonal position around him under Ding Yao’s lead. Each of them stood tens of thousands of metres apart, but their auras were closely linked together, forming a Battle Formation.
Five Elements Formation!
Different from the Five Elements Formation formed by the five Seventh-Order Masters of Dawn, this one was powered by five Eighth-Order Masters.
The World Force of the connected Eighth-Order Masters instantly filled the entire void, turning it into a quagmire that could swallow all things.
Trapped in this Battle Formation, Hong Hu’s strength was instantly suppressed by 30%. He felt as if every inch of his body had grown heavier, as if a mountain was pressing down on him.
He wanted to escape, but no matter how he moved, Ding Yao and the others followed him like shadows, maintaining a distance of a few tens of thousands of meters between them and trapping him between them.
Hong Hu’s face was filled with despair!
By the time the Five Elements Formation was complete, Xiang Shan had already withdrawn as there was no need for him here.
He didn’t remain idle though and headed straight towards Wu Jiang.
Just a moment ago, the three Eighth-Order Masters led by Lu An had arrived at Wu Jiang and the four Special Operations Squads’ location.
In fact, when the auras of these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters appeared, not only did Hong Hu and Wu Jiang sense them, but their appearance was also noticed by the Seventh-Order Masters of the four Squads.
Similar to Hong Hu, Wu Jiang immediately realized that things were not looking good for them and he tried to shake off these Squads to escape. He was no match for so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. As for whether Hong Hu could escape or not, he couldn’t care less about it at this point.
However, the four Special Operations Squads knew that their reinforcements had arrived, so how could they let the enemy escape so easily?
A single Squad couldn’t stop Wu Jiang, and even if all four of them joined forces, it would still be difficult, but at least they were able to delay him.
“Brats, move aside!” A shout came before three Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters with Lu An in the lead arrived and took over the fight with Wu Jiang.
The four Special Operations Squads all felt relieved and quickly retreated.
With three against one, Wu Jiang instantly fell into a disadvantageous position, but this was not the end of his misery as Xiang Shan also arrived shortly after.
Wu Jiang furiously roared and struggled for his life, causing Black Ink Clouds to billow around him, but against four enemies of equal strength, his defeat was only a matter of time.
The human race is truly unmatched in the field of scheming and trickery
Finally