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Translator: Silavin & Raikov
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Yang Kai had been dizzy with work during these days.
Since they had to attack the No-Return Pass, they naturally had to be prepared.
Warships needed to be repaired, and all sorts of Spirit Pills had to be refined. As the saying went, before the troops move, fodder and provisions must be prepared.
Yang Kai had exceptional attainments in Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and the Array Dao, so out of all the people present, he naturally became the busiest.
Preparations took two years to complete, and in these two years, Yang Kai had been so busy that he practically never stopped in one place for even a moment. Even though his cultivation was now in the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm, he still turned haggard from overwork.
Most of his energy was expended on repairing Warships. All the remaining ships of the Human Squads were on the verge of falling apart.
Their charge into the No-Return Pass was going to be extremely dangerous, so without the protection of Warships, the casualties among the remnant soldiers would be atrocious at best. So, during these two years, every Warship was carefully repaired so that it could provide the maximum amount of protection during the life-or-death battle to come.
Finally, all the preparations were in place.
The 5,000-strong Remnant Army had been reorganized into four extra-large Divisions, with the four Eighth-Order Masters becoming the Commanders of each Division.
In addition, they spent a lot of time planning for the various scenarios they would face once the attack began, trying to account for every contingency.
The Remnant Army gathered at their hiding spot, equipped and ready to depart. Even though it was quiet, the murderous aura clearly showed each person’s determination.
After leaving here, they would either break through the No-Return Pass and return to the 3,000 Worlds, or die trying.
Among the four Eighth-Order Masters, Ou Yang Lie was the most senior, so he should have been the one to come forward and give a speech to boost the Army’s morale, but as usual, he ended up thinking that it was too troublesome when it came time to do it and discarded the long speech he prepared. Grinning menacingly, he simply raised his fist and roared, “Alright boys and girls, let’s go and fuck those bastards up!”
Gong Lian could not help but facepalm, looking as if he had a headache.
The effect was somewhat unexpected, however, as the morale of the Remnant Army really soared and they all cheered in unison.
They had been extremely vexed after being forced to run and hide for so many years, watching their Fellow Brothers and Sisters die along the way. They would rather die fighting, trying to make their way home, than keep hiding like this, living like rats in the mud, never to see the light of day again.
The Army set out!
At the forefront was the Purifying Black Ink Battleship where Yang Kai personally assumed command. To his left was Huang Xiong, to his right Fei Yuan Long, and Ou Yang Lie brought up the rear.
Fei Yuan Long was the last of the Eighth-Order Masters, and also another old veteran Eighth-Order Master who was no less powerful than Ou Yang Lie.
If they had to compete, then among the four Eighth-Order Masters, the weakest one would actually be Huang Xiong; after all, he was forced to sacrifice part of his Small Universe. Even though he had received a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit from Yang Kai and managed to repair that damage, it would still take many years for him to restore his strength back to its peak.
The current Huang Xiong was stronger than a newly-advanced Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, but still far from reaching the strength of a true veteran.
The Remnant Army’s hiding place had changed several times over the past two years, and now they were a three-month journey by Warship from the No-Return Pass.
The first month was uneventful; however, they began to encounter Black Ink Clan squads one after another in the following month. No Territory Lords were overseeing these patrols, and each of them was quite small in number, so there was no need to mention what happened to them.
The further they advanced though, the more Black Ink Clansmen they encountered.
These Black Ink Clansmen were mostly patrolling around the No-Return Pass’ periphery or returning from the outside with freshly mined resources.
One or two teams going missing would not be enough to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan’s higher-ups, but as the numbers grew, the unusual situation was naturally detected by the Black Ink Clansmen at the No-Return Pass.
After some brief discussion, a few Territory Lords assembled their Armies and set out to investigate the situation.
With only 10 days to go before arriving at the No-Return Pass, the Human Remnant Army encountered their first Territory Lord. From the Purifying Black Ink Battleship that he oversaw, Yang Kai was able to detect the Territory Lord’s aura from afar; however, the other party was only able to detect them after approaching to within a few hundred thousand kilometres.
Yang Kai had arranged an Illusion Array on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, so why would he not equip the other Warships with them?
As long as the enemy didn’t get too close, and didn’t check too carefully, these arrays were enough to conceal the movements of the Remnant Army, making it difficult for the Black Ink Clan to spot them.
When he saw such a large force of Humans coming towards him, the Territory Lord was shocked and ordered his subordinates to block them. At the same time, he turned around, preparing to head back to the No-Return Pass to report this troubling development.
However, as soon as he turned around, he saw a young Human standing silently behind him, giving him an icy glare.
The Territory Lord paled as he had no idea how this Human managed to get behind him without him even noticing.
However, he recognized the other party at a glance. It was the same young Human male who had constantly provoked them outside the No-Return Pass a few years ago. He had crossed blades with this Human countless times and even forced him to cough up blood by joining hands with the other Territory Lords.
For two years, this Human had disappeared, so the Territory Lord never thought he would see him again on this day, leading such a large Human Army no less.
Having fought with Yang Kai before, he more or less understood his strength, so how could this Territory Lord be careless? He immediately charged at Yang Kai as his Black Ink Strength surged, condensing into a giant palm that covered the sky as he roared, “Scram!”
He was not in the mood to get tangled up with this fellow right now. An Army of Humans had appeared just a few days away from the No-Return Pass; this matter had to be reported as soon as possible.
The Territory Lord was stunned, however, to discover that his opponent remained completely indifferent to his attack. The annoying Human simply summoned his spear and unleashed a flurry of thrust at him. After exchanging blows for just two breaths, the Territory Lord was flabbergasted.
After not seeing this Human for two years, his strength had somehow increased to a ridiculous degree. Mysterious powers spread out and intertwined, giving the Territory Lord the illusion that he was caught in a large net, and each fibre of that net contained Heaven-destroying, Earth-shattering power.
While Yang Kai fought with the Territory Lord, the Squad Warships on both sides of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship also unleashed a powerful barrage from their artifacts and arrays. In just one volley, they tore apart the Black Ink Clan Army, and with swift movements, the four Divisions closed in, ensuring not a single Black Ink Clansman was able to escape.
Ou Yang Lie originally planned to move to assist Yang Kai, but before he could even head over, he saw Yang Kai’s spear sweep across the Territory Lord’s waist from a distance. At once, the other party’s abdomen caved in as black blood splashed out violently.
Yang Kai thrust his spear out again, piercing through the Territory Lord’s chest. With a fierce explosion of power, the latter’s insides were thoroughly mangled.
Before his death, the Territory Lord gawked at Yang Kai incredulously, seemingly unable to understand how this Eighth-Grade Open Heaven Realm Master had become so overwhelming in just two years.
Yang Kai flicked his spear, causing the Territory Lord’s corpse to burst into a blood mist.
Immediately after, he returned to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and ordered, “Move out!”
The four Divisions of the Remnant Army reorganized themselves and continued forward; however, every soldier who saw the battle earlier had their spirits lifted.
A powerful Innate Territory Lord had been cut down just like that!
They had never seen such a decisive victory before.
Even Ou Yang Lie and the two other Eighth-Order Masters felt their hearts pounding.
Yang Kai seemed strong to an absurd degree!
Huang Xiong and the others were not too familiar with Yang Kai, but Ou Yang Lie had more contact with him and knew that Yang Kai was able to crush those in the same Realm when he was in the Seventh-Other. Back then, against Feudal Lords, Yang Kai was basically able to kill them with a single blow.
Ou Yang Lie had thought that even if Yang Kai found an opportunity to advance into the Eighth Order, he would not be able to retain such an overwhelming advantage like he had in the Seventh Order, but with the strength Yang Kai had just shown, he was on the path of crushing his peers again.
Two years ago, Ou Yang Lie had also killed an Innate Territory Lord with a single slash, but that had been in a sneak attack and had cost him all his World Force. After that, he was completely unable to fight, which was very different from Yang Kai’s case today.
It was no wonder why he had the guts to provoke several Territory Lords at once outside the No-Return Pass. It turned out that he was strong enough to ignore them.
Yang Kai had not even reached the peak of the Eighth Order yet, so Ou Yang Lie was suddenly looking forward to how he would be once he reached that height. Maybe… he might really be able to kill an Innate Territory Lord in a single blow without suffering any injuries!
Yang Kai was wounded this time when he killed that Territory Lord, likely because he wanted to end the fight quickly and was willing to suffer a bit in exchange for speed.
However, those injuries were all internal, so outsiders were not able to see them.
The Remnant Army were unable to approach the No-Return Pass unnoticed in the end, which was something that they had expected.
The Illusion Arrays on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship and the Warships were not powerful enough to allow them to go unnoticed under the determined search of the enemy.
Just three days out from the No-Return Pass, the Remnant Army was finally fully exposed.
The No-Return Pass was naturally stunned, unable to figure out how the Humans could still have an Army of this size on the Black Ink Battlefield.
They knew about Human survivors, but they were all scattered about and of no threat to them; however, when they saw such an Army approaching, they had no choice but to take them seriously.
Once the news was reported, the Royal Lord overseeing the No-Return Pass personally came out to investigate the situation, but when he had got a look at the lineup of the Human Army, he just snorted. They dared to come and pick a fight with just four Eighth-Open Heaven Realm Masters? It was no different from suicide in his opinion.
The forces guarding the No-Return Pass were not large, but they still had a Royal Lord and some 20 Innate Territory Lords. The Black Ink Clan garrison here also numbered at least a million, with many more constantly being spawned and sent to the 3,000 Worlds.
This was not something a mere Remnant Army of a few thousand Humans could challenge.
Seeing the Remnant Army led by a huge Warship, constantly approaching the No-Return Pass, the Royal Lord became furious and ordered his Territory Lords to assemble their Armies and meet them in battle.
Under the Royal Lord’s order, the Territory Lords did not dare to delay for a moment. At once, 10 Territory Lords mobilized along with a 300,000-strong Army, showing the importance they attached to this battle.
They themselves knew that the Black Ink Battlefield would be completely under their control after this battle. They would no longer have to worry about being harassed by these Human remnants. The supply convoys would also no longer be intercepted, and they could focus all their attention on invading the 3,000 Worlds.
10 Territory Lords stormed out of the No-Return Pass with great momentum, a massive Black Ink Clan Army at their back exuding unconquerable might.
Under their command, the 300,000-strong Black Ink Clan Army quickly formed a semi-circle that surrounded the Human Army.
It seemed from this arrogant gesture that they meant to take down the 5,000 Humans in one fell swoop.
Instead of being frightened by such a disparity in numbers though, the Humans all lifted their weapons and prepared to meet the enemy.
This was only natural; after all, they had already experienced far too many battles like this.
To fight as 1,000 against 10,000, which Human soldier had not experienced that before?
Only, the Humans were indeed meagre in strength, and the number of Eighth-Order Masters were less than usual for an Army this size with only four in total.
However, what did they have to fear about the trivial Black Ink Clan?
They would still fight to the death!
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.