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Translator: Silavin & VictorN
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
All the Theatres and the Great Passes set off from the Royal Cities without a clear goal, but today, they had a destination.
The Source Domain!
The Source Domain was the source of the Black Ink Clan, where the Mother Nest was, along with a gathering of many Royal Lords!
Not only were there Royal Lords, there must be many Territory Lords and soldiers as well.
Furthermore, there were not just Acquired Territory Lords like Ge Chen, many of the Territory Lords there were probably Innate Territory Lords.
The Great Evolution Army now had less than 30,000 soldiers, 45 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, and one Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Such an army was considerable in size and strength.
The other Great Passes likely had fewer forces than Great Evolution Pass, but there were 106 of them on this crusade. When all the Armies converge into one, by then, the Human Army would exceed 2 million.
This was a full 2 million Masters at or above the Fifth-Order! It was also the heritage accumulated over the ages by the Cave Heavens and Paradises.
Such a force was extremely powerful, but could it defeat the Black Ink Clan in the Source Domain?
Yang Kai was not sure, and neither were the Old Ancestors.
Even though the Human race was strong now, who could guarantee that they would win this battle?
What if they lost?
Also, what was the power that limited the Black Ink Clan in the Source Domain.
Who did that jade white hand that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and the others saw previously belong to? Would this unknown force aid them in battle?
The road ahead was full of uncertainty, but they had to forge ahead.
The Great Evolution Army continued to march forward. The reconnaissance Squads were always out front to check the situation. Inevitably, they encountered a lot of dangers and unintentionally triggered many restrictions which caused them to suffer some casualties.
Even Dawn, led by Yang Kai, nearly met its demise.
Fortunately, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had arrived in time to save them at the critical moment.
The deeper they went, the more dangerous the void became. Yang Kai wondered if Ge Chen could have returned to the Source Domain safely even if they had let him go.
He might if he was lucky; however, he was likely to encounter a lot of dangerous traps along the way.
Considering that even after countless years, the leftovers from the ancient war were still so dangerous, it was hard to imagine what kind of violent clashes had taken place in ancient days.
As time passed, years had gone by.
It had now been a full three years since the crusade to the Source Domain began. The road was fraught with dangers, but there was still no sign of the Source Domain. This made some wonder if they were going in the wrong direction.
However, with more than 100 Armies continuing to march forward, sweeping across such a vast swath of the void, there was bound to be one of them who was advancing directly at the Source Domain.
All the Great Passes kept in touch with each other regularly; however, many Great Passes would occasionally lose contact because of the chaotic energy in the void. Fortunately, communications were always restored after a while.
There were no enemies along the way, though the hidden Arrays and residual Divine Abilities still made the void treacherous.
One day, Yang Kai was exploring the hidden dangers ahead when he suddenly sensed something unusual.
When he focused his senses on it though, he found nothing.
A short while later, he flashed back to Dawning Light and greeted Feng Ying, “Stand guard for me.”
Feng Ying nodded her head and acknowledged Yang Kai’s words.
Yang Kai then formed a set of hand seals, causing his World Force to undulate as a mysterious Grand Array suddenly appeared under his feet.
The troops aboard Dawn were puzzled, not knowing why Yang Kai had activated the Universe Transference Law.
The Universe Transference Law allowed one to teleport across vast distances to a Universe Array. Ever since Yang Kai installed Universe Arrays in the Purifying Black Ink Battleships, many soldiers had begun using the Universe Transference Law to save their lives during the battle with the Black Ink Clan.
However, Yang Kai rarely used the Universe Transference Law because he was proficient in the Dao of Space, making him faster than any Territory Lord or Eighth-Order Master. The only ones he could not escape from on his own were the Royal Lords.
Although Dawn was scouting ahead of Great Evolution Pass, they were not far from each other. If Yang Kai wanted to return to Great Evolution Pass, he could just travel there on his own using Instantaneous Movement and did not need to activate the Universe Transference Law.
The members of Dawn were puzzled, but Yang Kai appeared truly shocked.
He was following a hunch just now, but did not expect to find anything.
He did not intend to return to Great Evolution Pass, but wanted to use the Universe Transference Law to investigate something else.
The Universe Arrays in all the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were personally arranged by Yang Kai; thus, his Imprint was left on every single Purifying Black Ink Battleship. As long as the distance allowed, he could travel to any Purifying Black Ink Battleship with the Universe Transference Law.
Others could only return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleships they had left their Imprints on.
At this moment, Yang Kai could sense the location of all the closest Purifying Black Ink Battleships with the Universe Transference Law, but apart from the four ships around Great Evolution Pass, he was able to faintly sense four more to his left, and another four to the right.
There were now 12 Purifying Black Ink Battleships within range of the Universe Transference Law.
Of course, there were many more, in extremely distant locations, which all felt so faint that even Yang Kai could not reach them.
However, he could clearly perceive the 12 ships closest to him were within the range he could teleport to.
This was a very abnormal situation.
The distance between each Great Pass was at least a year’s journey for the average Warship. When the Great Evolution East-West Army set off from Wind and Cloud Pass, it indeed took them a year to reach Great Evolution Pass.
A year’s travel by Warship was much too far for even someone skilled in the Dao of Space like Yang Kai to cross using the Universe Transference Law.
However, he could now!
What did this mean?
It meant that the distance between the Great Passes had shortened to the point where he could use the Universe Transference Law.
How could this have happened?
Yang Kai was at a loss, so he hurriedly dispersed the Universe Transference Law and shot towards the Pass, yelling from afar, “Continue to explore the path ahead!”
Soon, Yang Kai arrived at the middle of Great Evolution Pass where Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao sat with her legs crossed. Opening her eyes, she looked up at him curiously and asked, “What happened?”
Over the past three years, Yang Kai had been out leading Dawn to scout the road ahead, never once returning to Great Evolution Pass until today. Yang Kai quickly explained, “We are getting closer to Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass. We’re now just three months away by Warship.”
The two Great Passes closest to Great Evolution Pass were Wind and Cloud Pass and Azure Void Pass. Yang Kai could sense the other eight Purifying Black Ink Battleships that belonged to these two Great Passes were now a three-month journey away, which was the extreme limit that he could traverse via the Universe Transference Law.
Ordinary Seventh-Order Masters could not travel such a large distance using the Universe Transference Law. Not to mention a 3-month journey, even a single month’s distance would undoubtedly be fatal for them as transferring that far was basically the limit of an Eighth-Order Master via the Universe Transference Law.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was stunned by what he said and asked, “How can you tell?”
Yang Kai explained what he had just experienced.
She pondered deeply for a moment before saying, “Come with me.”
Dashing off, the two of them quickly arrived at the Hyper Space Array.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Master, who was guarding this place, saw Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao and rushed to greet her.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao waved her hand and asked, “Is there anything unusual on this side of the Space Array?”
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master did not know what the Old Ancestor was referring to and replied honestly, “There is nothing unusual.”
“Nothing has changed from before?”
The Seventh-Order thought about it and replied, “If we talk about changes… I am not sure if it’s anything noteworthy, but recently, when we sent out some jade slips to the other Great Passes, the energy required seemed to have decreased, but the reduction was not obvious.”
It was because the reduction in consumption was not obvious that he did not report it; after all, the transmission of a jade slip did not consume much energy in the first place, much unlike the transfer of a cultivator, which required an enormous amount of resources.
When Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao heard his response, she immediately determined that what Yang Kai said was likely true. Other Great Passes may not have detected anything yet, but with Yang Kai’s unique circumstances, he was able to notice this anomaly. Great Evolution Pass was indeed getting closer to Azure Void Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass, much closer in fact.
The distance between the Great Passes was originally about a year’s journey; however, they were now just three months apart. This resulted in the reduced consumption for the transmission of jade slips through the Space Arrays.
“Activate the Array,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao ordered. Whether the distance was truly shortened, they would know once they tried it.
That Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master hastily told his many co-workers and they began to work.
“Head to Wind and Cloud Pass,” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao said to Yang Kai, who nodded and replied, “Understood.”
Soon after, the Grand Array was ready. Wind and Cloud Pass was set as the target destination, and Yang Kai stepped onto the Space Array. The array buzzed, and when the light dissipated, Yang Kai was gone.
After Yang Kai disappeared, several Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters immediately checked the consumption of energy and were all flabbergasted.
“How does it compare to before?” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao asked.
Yang Kai had been to Wind and Cloud Pass before through the Hyper Space Array. Since those assigned to watch and operate the Space Array had been here for years, they should know the usual consumption required.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master replied, “The consumption is much less than before, less than 30% of the last time!”
The ones on duty here were thoroughly shocked.
The consumption required to teleport through the Hyper Space Array increased according to distance; thus, teleportation was only done between neighbouring Great Passes. If the destination was too far, they would have to transit through several Great Passes to arrive there as that was the most economical method.
Now, the consumption of teleportation was less than 30% of the last time. Since Yang Kai’s strength had not changed significantly, and the Hyper Space Array had not been enhanced, the only factor that could be different was the distance between the destinations…
Was the distance between Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass getting shorter? This thought came to the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master’s mind.
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao narrowed her eyes slightly. It seemed that what Yang Kai said was true. Although she also did not doubt him, what happened before her eyes served as firm proof of his words.
Great Evolution Pass was only just three months away from Wind and Cloud Pass now!
Why was this?
All the Great Passes were advancing in tandem towards the depths of the Black Ink Battlefield, so logically speaking, the distance separating them should not change much. Now however, they were somehow approaching one another.
This was true for Great Evolution Pass and Wind and Cloud Pass, as well as Azure Void Pass, so what about the other Great Passes?
Were they all getting closer?
If that was true, then in time, more than 100 Great Passes would converge in one place!
What was the mysterious place that they were converging to?
Was it the Source Domain of the Black Ink Clan?
Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao’s expression changed a bit. The distances between the Great Passes were getting shorter, which was actually good news for the Human Race.
The Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master had considered that if any Great Passes found the Black Ink Clan Source Domain, the other Great Passes would have to rush over to support them; however, if they all gathered in one place, at the same time, it would save them a lot of trouble. When the Human Race gathered all their might, they were confident they could decimate even the Black Ink Clan’s Source Domain, no matter how powerful it was!
Meanwhile, Yang Kai appeared above Wind and Cloud Pass’ Space Array.
The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master there was an old acquaintance and was surprised to see Yang Kai, so he asked, “Brother Yang, why are you here? Is there some urgent information from the Great Evolution Army?”
These days, there was basically no direct interaction between the Great Passes; all information was passed in the form of jade slips.
For Yang Kai to suddenly appear in person, something important must have happened.
Hello!
Many thanks for the chapter, as always.