Chapter 5440, The Road Ahead
Translator: Silavin & Qing
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
After a long while, Huang Xiong finally spoke up, “The two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods attacked us from both front and back, destroying a few Great Passes in the opening moments of the battle. The Old Ancestors had no choice but to order us to retreat from the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction to preserve our strength. The Black Ink Clan naturally didn’t just let us go, so their Army pursued us under the lead of the Royal Lords…”
During the bloody battle in the void, the two races both suffered serious casualties.
Meanwhile, the two raging Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods were constantly causing havoc.
In such a situation, even the Old Ancestors weren’t able to reverse the declining trend.
While they were retreating, the two Black Ink Giant Spirit Gods destroyed several more Great Passes, and though most of the Humans inside those Great Passes managed to escape in time, there were still a significant number of casualties.
The situation had taken a turn for the worst, and even if the Human Army and the others from all the Great Passes managed to reorganize themselves, they were still facing annihilation.
Therefore, the Old Ancestors had a rapid discussion and decided that the remaining Great Passes would split up into several groups and retreat separately.
The group to which Azure Void Pass belonged to was particularly unlucky as they were targeted by the Black Ink Giant Spirit God that came from the Late Ancient Era Battlefield. Besides that Black Ink Giant Spirit God, there were nearly 20 Royal Lords and large numbers of Territory Lords and Feudal Lords within the pursuing Black Ink Clan Army.
If the Humans didn’t think of a way to escape from the Black Ink Giant Spirit God, it would be impossible for them to escape using this route.
At the critical moment, Azure Void Pass’ Old Ancestor split off from the main group in order to lure the Black Ink Giant Spirit God away. Naturally, the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t give up on chasing the Humans so easily, so the Black Ink Clan Army surrounded the Humans from different sides under the lead of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God and Royal Lords.
That struggle lasted for nearly 300 years. It was only 200 years ago that Azure Void Pass’ casualties reached a breaking point where too many Eighth-Order Masters had fallen, making it impossible for them to flee anymore. As such, they made a last stand against the Black Ink Clan.
The result was clear and required no other explanation.
Azure Void Pass was destroyed, and the Old Ancestor couldn’t resist the joint assault of several Royal Lords and ultimately died in battle.
The huge holes on the walls around the Great Pass were made by the huge bone club of the Black Ink Giant Spirit God.
From that moment, Azure Void Pass, which had been guarding the Black Ink Battlefield for millions of years, met with total defeat, ending its magnificent history.
More than 20,000 soldiers had guarded this place, yet less than 1,000 remained after the nearly 300-year battle. Azure Void Pass could be said to be almost entirely wiped out!
Among the less than 1,000 remnant soldiers, many had been stained by Black Ink Strength and were constantly at risk of falling. Moreover, because their supplies had been completely used up, most of those corrupted soldiers had to sacrifice themselves just so that they wouldn’t become Black Ink Disciples and bring more trouble to their fellow survivors. This situation was just like Meng Qi’s, the Seventh-Order Master Yang Kai met when he first arrived at the Black Ink Battlefield.
Meng Qi was the first Open Heaven Realm Master Yang Kai had met that had the courage to give his life for the Human Race!
Back then, Yang Kai felt greatly touched by this selfless sacrifice.
In the 3,000 Worlds, Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivators were true Masters who were only found in the Cave Heavens and Paradises, making them all but invincible and untouchable.
However, on the Black Ink Battlefield, such a Master willingly ended his life without any hesitation in order to protect the secret of the Void Corridor leading to Black Territory.
It could be said that the Human Race was able to endure until today because there were millions of Humans like Meng Qi who sacrificed their blood, sweat, and even lives to protect the 3,000 Worlds.
Such bravery should be respected by all.
The remnant soldiers of Azure Void Pass didn’t leave this place but instead found a dead Universe and silently hid inside. For one, they knew they might not be able to survive if they left, and two, Azure Void Pass was taken from their hands, so they still wished to take it back, even if their chances were slim at best.
Their wait lasted nearly 200 years and finally ended when Yang Kai arrived yesterday.
While they were waiting for an opportunity to re-take what they had lost, they also looked for a way to solve their troubles of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength and tried to salvage a derelict Purifying Black Ink Battleship; however, after the disappearance of the Eighth-Order Master named Hai Xing who led that effort, the rest didn’t dare to act rashly.
If Yang Kai had arrived just half a year later, the remnant soldiers of Azure Void Pass would have launched a last-ditch attack under Huang Xiong’s lead.
Even if they couldn’t get Azure Void Pass back, they would rather die with the Great Pass than linger on in disgrace!
While they spoke, Huang Xiong’s body suddenly expelled a dense cloud of Black Ink Strength. It was a sign of the Purifying Black Ink Pill taking effect.
Purifying Black Ink Pills were effective as long as a cultivator had not been entirely turned into a Black Ink Disciple. The less Black Ink Strength in them, the better their situation would be, and the more effective the pill was. Therefore, Purifying Black Ink Pills were usually taken prophylactically.
A short while later, Huang Xiong had dispelled all the Black Ink Strength in his body and let out a long sigh of relief.
It had been difficult for him to keep suppressing the corruption of the Black Ink Strength, but now, that problem was completely solved.
Yang Kai looked at Huang Xiong and asked, “Division Commander Huang, did you previously sacrifice part of your Small Universe?”
Yang Kai hadn’t paid attention to it at first, but he now noticed that Huang Xiong’s aura was quite unstable. It felt like his Order would regress at any moment. That was a clear sign that the latter’s Small Universe was damaged.
On the Black Ink Battlefield, such a situation only occurred when one was forced to sacrifice a large portion of their Small Universe.
Huang Xiong nodded, “This is already the second time I was invaded by Black Ink Strength. I was able to sacrifice part of my Small Universe to save myself the first time, but this time… I did not have the option to do so again.”
His aura was already fluctuating unstably, so if he sacrificed part of his Small Universe again, he would definitely regress into the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm.
Under other circumstances, Huang Xiong would not have hesitated to sacrifice part of his Small Universe to purge the Black Ink Strength’s corruption from himself, but he was the last Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master among the remnant soldiers of Azure Void Pass, so his strength was indispensable for their survival. Without a powerful Master to lead them, this rag-tag band of soldiers’ fate would be sealed.
Huang Xiong wasn’t the only one who was concerned about such a possibility because everyone among the 1,000 or so remnants that were stained with Black Ink Strength had similar thoughts. None of them was unwilling to sacrifice their Small Universe, they simply felt it was better to retain as much strength as possible to launch one final attack on the Black Ink Clan!
Meanwhile, Yang Kai knew of Huang Xiong’s worries without needing him to explain anything.
With a slight nod, Yang Kai retrieved a Profound Yin Spirit Fruit and gave it to Huang Xiong, “Division Commander Huang, refine this.”
Just as Huang Xiong was about to refuse when he saw Yang Kai take out several dozen more Profound Yin Spirit Fruits and called out to Sun Mao, “Senior Brother Sun, please distribute these fruits to those with damaged Small Universes.”
Sun Mao agreed and happily came forward to accept the fruits.
Noticing the situation, Huang Xiong didn’t refuse anymore and readily took one for himself. Despite not having any more troubles with Black Ink Strength, the amount of strength he could exert now was at best on par with a newly promoted Eighth-Order Master. If he could repair his Small Universe, his strength would increase significantly.
After all, he was originally a veteran Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master.
Having suffered hundreds of years of hardships and torment, these soldiers finally attained a moment of peace and could finally dispel Black Ink Strength plaguing them and restore their Small Universes.