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Translator: Silavin & June
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
In the E-5 Territory, a massive battle was in full swing.
More than a decade ago, the Red Flame Army had been on a winning streak, liberating numerous Great Territories one after another, until they advanced into the E-5 Territory where the Black Ink Clan had long made their preparations, resulting in the two great Armies engaging in a fierce struggle in the vast and boundless void.
Over the last 10 years, large-scale battles occurred regularly, with both sides suffering losses each time. Despite the Red Flame Army’s overwhelming momentum, they could no longer easily recapture this Territory as they had done with so many before.
After hundreds of years of retreating, the Black Ink Clan Army finally displayed an unimaginable fighting spirit and resilience. For the first time in hundreds of years, they began to push back against the Red Flame Army, holding them at bay. In addition, the continuous involvement of many Pseudo-Royal Lords put enormous pressure on the Red Flame Army’s Masters.
The Pseudo-Royal Lords were almost equivalent to Royal Lords and Ninth-Order Masters, beings no lone Eighth-Order Master was a match for. At the very least, they needed to form a Five Elements or even a Six Paths Formation to contend with a Pseudo-Royal Lord head-on.
And there were a total of almost 20 Pseudo-Royal Lords in the E-5 Territory!
This was a terrifying number as there would not be this many Pseudo-Royal Lords participating at the other fronts in the war unless there was a Ninth-Order Master present.
The Black Ink Clan’s intentions were clear, they intended to use these Pseudo-Royal Lords to deliver a crushing blow to the Red Flame Army to serve as a warning to all other Human Race Masters!
Though faced with such a strong opponent, the Red Flame Army demonstrated remarkable determination. In each battle, many Eighth-Order Masters gave their all, sacrificing their blood and even their lives in those battles against the Pseudo-Royal Lords. Countless were those who had burnt out and faded away.
They did all of this for only one purpose, to weaken the strength of these Pseudo-Royal Lords, even if they couldn’t kill them!
The Black Ink Clan took advantage of the large number of Innate Territory Lords who had escaped from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to create a large number of Pseudo-Royal Lords, which was an advantage that the Humans could not match for the time being.
However, the Black Ink Clan had a weakness that was difficult to resolve; once they were injured, it was hard to restore themselves.
The injuries were not severe at first, as the Pseudo-Royal Lords were strong, so it hardly affected them; however, once the injuries became serious, their strength would greatly decline which also meant they had to enter a Black Ink Nest to restore themselves.
With each sacrifice made by the many Eighth-Order Masters, the injuries of the Pseudo-Royal Lords accumulated, forcing them to leave the battlefield and return to the No-Return Pass to heal.
If it weren’t for the continuous dispatch of new Pseudo-Royal Lords from the No-Return Pass to assist in the battle in E-5 Territory, the war would not have been so fierce and the Red Flame Army might even have had a good chance of defeating the enemy.
However, all of this was at the cost of a large number of Eighth-Order Masters dying.
Furthermore, to balance the power gap between the various Armies, the Supreme Headquarters intentionally transferred Divine Spirits to the Armies without Ninth-Order Masters leading them. The Red Flame Army was no exception. Although they didn’t have many Divine Spirits, there were more than 30 with them; even the Ancient Dragon Elders of the Dragon Clan, the Phoenixes, and other Divine Spirits were here with them, lending their aid.
These Divine Spirits had lived for countless years and were undoubtedly stronger than the average Eighth-Order Master. Although there was still a power gap between them and the Pseudo-Royal Lords, their unique Innate Divine Abilities made up for this to a large extent. Often, just two or three Divine Spirits working together could compete with a Pseudo-Royal Lord.
It was precisely because of these factors that the Red Flame Army had been able to persist.
The situation was still very unfavourable, though, as the Black Ink Clan had targeted the Red Flame Army as their primary enemy. Naturally, they would not let the Red Flame Army off so easily. In recent years, the Black Ink Clan had continuously increased their military forces, putting tremendous pressure on all parts of the Red Flame Army.
Any astute person could see that the war in E-5 Territory would ultimately end with the defeat of the Red Flame Army.
The Human Race Masters wanted to kill Masters from the Black Ink Clan, but wasn’t it the same for the Black Ink Clan? There were still many Pseudo-Royal Lords waiting in the No-Return Pass, ready to enter the battlefield at any time. If Mo Na Ye were to throw caution to the wind and dispatch all the Pseudo-Royal Lords, the Red Flame Army would have no way to fight back.
The reason he didn’t do so was to slowly grind down the Humans’ strength like a blunt knife cutting meat. Although the Pseudo-Royal Lords had suffered serious injuries over the past decade, not a single one died, while countless Eighth-Order Masters had.
But even if the Humans knew this, what could they do? The Red Flame Army could not retreat, so all they could do was grit their teeth and persist. Seeking external assistance was also impossible as all the other Armies were dealing with their own opponents and no one had spare power to lend.
If it had been a few hundred years ago, when the Human Race was only defending the dozen or so original Great Territory Battlefields, they could have requested reinforcements from nearby Great Territories. Because at that time, the distance between the various battlefields was not too great, so they could quickly go help and then withdraw.
But now, with the Human Race’s battle lines stretched out so thin, while the various Armies were certainly coordinating their operations, it was difficult to form a situation where they could support each other.
Mo Na Ye’s plan finally came to fruition, and the constant retreat of the Black Ink Clan proved that it was not all for nought.
In the void, a standard Warship charged forward, surrounded by countless Low-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, who were nothing more than cannon fodder. Although there were occasional High-Rank Black Ink Clansmen, they posed no significant threat.
However, in the vast void, this Warship was always at risk of being destroyed, as the number of Black Ink Clan Soldiers was simply too great to defeat. To make matters worse, there were also several Feudal Lords hiding and striking from the shadows when they saw openings.
Trapped here were 11 soldiers from the Red Flame Army Fourth Division, led by Squad Leader Wang Qian and Vice Squad Leader Zhao Li. Only one other member was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, while the rest were only of the Fifth-Order or Sixth-Order.
Although the Human Race now had the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World as Open Heaven Realm Cradles, not everyone possessed remarkable aptitude; most had an average talent. Only those highly talented ones received a lot of attention.
Furthermore, even geniuses required time to grow and ascend step by step from lower Orders to higher ones; therefore, the majority of the large Armies of the Human Race were still made up of Fifth-Order and Sixth-Order Masters.
However, the average cultivation among the Human Race Masters had increased by at least one or two Orders compared to several thousand years ago.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, having only one Seventh-Order Master per Squad as its Squad Leader was normal. While there was not a shortage of Seventh-Order Masters, there were not too many of them either. Only those who had reached the Seventh Order were eligible for the role of Squad Leader.
But this particular Squad was unique as it had not one or two, but three Seventh-Order Masters, highlighting the general growth of power. In the Red Flame Army, such Squad compositions were considered standard, and it could be said that it was rare for a Squad to have just one Seventh-Order Master in this Army.
Currently, some elite Squads even had Squad Leaders who were Eighth-Order Masters!
The number of Eighth-Order Masters among the Human Race was now quite significant. This was not only due to the accumulation over the years but also because of a surge in Eighth-Order Masters thanks to the Ordinary Grade Open Heaven Pills harvested from the Universe Furnace.
The overall increase in average cultivation also greatly enhanced the strength of various Human Race Armies.
Even so, Wang Qian’s Squad was currently in a tricky situation. During a previous large-scale clash with the Black Ink Clan Army, they got separated from their Division. This was not uncommon during clashes between the two Armies as soldiers could easily get lost in the vast and boundless battlefield.
Normally in such situations, the aim was to return quickly to one’s Division and reunite with one’s comrades; otherwise, being left stranded could make one an easy target for the enemy.
Wang Qian also wanted to lead his Squad back to their Division, but they had the misfortune of encountering a group of the Black Ink Clansmen along the way, forcing them to fight and flee.
With the Black Ink Clan’s overwhelming numbers, the situation for the Squad became even more precarious. The three Seventh-Order Open Heaven Masters took up positions on different sides of the Warship and continually unleashed the power of their Secret Techniques and artifacts, blasting away at the Black Ink Clan soldiers.
Suddenly, a cry rang out from the Sixth-Order Master responsible, “Squad Leader, the Defensive Array is about to collapse! We can’t hold on much longer!”
Another team member shouted, “The Tiger Roar Cannon is overheating! We can only use it three more times at most!”
The Tiger Roar Cannon was the primary Offensive Artifact of their Warship, and every standard Squad Class Warship was equipped with one. When combined with pre-arranged arrays, three Sixth-Order Masters could infuse their power into the artifact to unleash an attack equivalent to a Seventh-Order Master’s full power strike.
However, artifacts and arrays were ultimately lifeless objects, and using them too frequently in a short period could easily exceed their limits.
The Warship’s primary armament was about to overload, and the defensive shields were on the verge of collapse. For the entire Squad, this was adding insult to injury, as the former would greatly reduce the Squad’s might, and the latter would directly decide the safety of the Squad members.
Squad Leader Wang Qian shouted angrily while fighting the enemy, “Zhong Wu Yu!”
“Don’t shout, I’m already working on it!” Came the response quickly from the Warship. He was the last third Seventh-Order Master of the Squad. In a hurry, he ran to the Tiger Roar Cannon and inspected the artifact. He then quickly took out some supplies and activated his power to repair it.
Zhong Wu Yu was not only a Seventh-Order Master, but also an Artifact Refiner. He was no Grandmaster, or even a Great Master, but generally, small damage to the Warship did not need to be sent to the logistics department for repair as he could patch it himself.
On the other side, Vice Squad Leader Zhao Li had a face painted with fresh blood, looking quite dishevelled. He had just charged out into the enemy’s lines and killed a lot of them, easing the pressure on the Squad. But he had also been injured and was now cursing out loud, “That damn Mi Jing Lun! Are we, the Red Flame Army, their forgotten stepchildren? Why don’t we have Ninth-Order Masters leading us like the Soaring Cloud Army or Purple Feather Army?”
As the saying went, ‘Unequal distribution of resources is worse than scarcity.’ Currently, there were six Ninth-Order Masters among the Human Race, but there were a total of 12 frontline Armies.
In the beginning, Luo Ting He was in charge of Azure Sun Territory and managed the Azure Sun Army. Similarly, Wei Jun Yang managed the Wolf Fang Army, so it was understandable that these two Armies could have Ninth-Order Masters leading them. At most, it made people a little envious, but no one would say anything about it.
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Many thanks for the chapter, as always.