Chapter 5255, Seeing Them Off
Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
Overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching feeling, Mi Jing Lun gently closed his eyes.
When his eyes reopened, the World Force around him surged. As he stomped his foot on the deck, he drove the gigantic Purifying Black Ink Battleship towards the battlefield.
There wasnt a need for him to stay outside of the battlefield and give orders. The North-South Army, from the weakest of soldiers to the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, were not afraid of death, so how was it possible that they would lose this battle?
He also had to leave his own mark in this war. As an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, he wasnt just an Army Commander who was good at strategizing, but also a fighter who could kill the enemy.
From the outset of the battle, the Black Ink Clan Army had descended into chaos. None of them could have expected that the Humans would be so resolute this time. A Territory Lord was killed by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master barely 10 breaths after hostilities broke out.
That was a Territory Lord, not an insignificant Low-Rank Black Ink Clansman.
How was it possible that he was killed so soon?
Although the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master also lost his life moments later, he still managed to kill thousands of Black Ink Clansmen before his death.
Powerful Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples subsequently lost their lives. The brutality and intensity of the battle this time was far beyond the Black Ink Clans imagination.
It was the same case for the Humans.
There had never been a battle where they had suffered such immense losses so quickly.
Even when the North-South Army arrived at the Great Evolution Theatre for the first time more than 100 years ago and stopped the Black Ink Clan reinforcements from leaving Great Evolution Pass, there were not so many casualties.
During that battle, only a small number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters lost their lives, and even then it happened gradually over several days.
This time was different. It had only been two hours since the start of the battle, but 7 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had fallen. If the war dragged on, there would surely be even more casualties.
Those 7 fallen Eighth-Order Masters brought 7 Territory Lords, 3 Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, and several tens of thousands of Black Ink Clan soldiers down with them.
Those who lost their lives on the battlefield were the Seniors and Elders of the soldiers still fighting. They had taken good care of them and taught them invaluable lessons in the past.
Now that they were gone, the young had to take up the responsibility.
The Human soldiers were so furious that their eyes had reddened. The death of the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters changed the situation on the battlefield. All Humans, regardless of their cultivation and status, went all out to destroy the enemy, not caring about their own safety at all.
20,000 Humans had to face some 400,000 Black Ink Clansmen. Despite the huge difference in numbers on both sides, the Humans were still able to get the upper hand over the Black Ink Clan Army. That was because the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had sacrificed themselves to intimidate the enemy, and all the Human soldiers were united as one.
More and more Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters lost their lives on the battlefield while many Warships were shattered and engulfed in flames.
Universe fragments exploded into dust as the battlefield descended into mayhem.
These several hundred thousand Black Ink Clan soldiers had entered this field of universe fragments in an orderly manner, but as the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters emerged and dealt a heavy blow to them, their formation immediately collapsed.
Suddenly, there came a moment when a huge commotion broke out.
That was because Zhe Chong was killed.
He was the de facto leader of the Black Ink Clan Army, so when he was around, the Territory Lords would obey his orders. Now that he was gone, none of the Territory Lords had the necessary authority to command the rest of the Black Ink Clan Army.
Every Territory Lord had their own thoughts. In such a situation, those Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were like starving wolves. Their powerful auras had locked onto the Territory Lords, and they were determined to kill them at all costs.
This was no laughing matter. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had proven their determination already.
Faced with these flares, the Territory Lords felt chills running down their spines. They could only tell their subordinates to surround them and protect them from the crazed Eighth-Order Masters.
With more Black Ink Clansmen becoming defensive, there were fewer people fighting back.
On the battlefield, the Human Warships charged around as Secret Techniques and artifacts were continuously shot off, each attack killing more enemies.
The number of Black Ink Clan soldiers was rapidly decreasing, and it was the same case for the Human Warships.
In this battle, both parties had paid an almost unbearable price.
The battle lasted for three days.
Finally, there came a moment when the noise on the battlefield died down. Both parties backed down and confronted each other with a distance of several hundred thousand kilometres between them.
Most of the universe fragments were gone, shattered by the fallout of the clash between the two Armies.
With the shattered universe fragments as the background and the Purifying Black Ink Battleship boldly situated at the front of the fleet, the surviving Humans formed up with their Warships. Smoke billowed from those Warships, and the arrays were heard crackling and exploding. Some of the Warships looked so dilapidated that it was as though they would break apart with just a touch.
Despite that, these Warships that had gathered together were intimidating to the enemies.
Several hundred thousand kilometres away, the Territory Lords and their subordinates had also come together.
There were still significantly more people on their side, but faced with the Humans intimidation, the Black Ink Clan soldiers were engulfed in wariness and fear.
After this battle, the Black Ink Clansmen became truly afraid. They finally had a taste of how mad and fearless the Humans could be.
Even the Eighth-Order Masters, whose lives were incredibly precious, were willing to drag the Territory Lords down at the cost of their own lives, so what wouldnt the Humans dare to do?
These Humans were simply insane!
The reason that the remaining Territory Lords survived wasnt that they were stronger than the Territory Lords who were killed, it was just that they were luckier as they hadnt been targeted by those crazed Eighth-Order Humans.
None of the Territory Lords, who were targeted by the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters for death, had survived.
After the unimaginably intense battle, the survivors from both sides confronted each other from a distance. In such a tense atmosphere, they greedily enjoyed the rare peacefulness.
The Territory Lords secretly communicated with each other using their Divine Senses.
The Humans had no idea what they were talking about, but it was apparent that they were discussing whether they should fight or retreat.
To the Black Ink Clansmen, there was no doubt that rescuing the Royal City was important. If the Royal City was destroyed, none of these Black Ink Clansmen would survive for long.
This was the reason 500,000 of them departed from Great Evolution Pass upon learning about what had happened in the Royal City.
It could be said that only the minimum number of people were left behind to protect the Great Evolution Pass. Most of them had set off to rescue the Royal City, which went to show how determined they were.
However, they were intercepted halfway and had suffered tremendous losses.
If they still insisted on heading towards the Royal City, another battle would be inevitable. The Humans had made it clear that they would go to any lengths to stop them from moving forward.
Considering the level of madness that the Humans had exhibited, if another battle broke out, these remaining Black Ink Clansmen wouldnt be able to break through their blockade. Even though most of the Humans would lose their lives, none of the Black Ink Clansmen would survive.
So, should they keep moving forward?
That was the question that had been troubling the Territory Lords.
There was no doubt that the Royal City was important, but if they lost their lives here, everything else would no longer matter.
Therefore, after a brief exchange of words, the Territory Lords came to a consensus.
They had decided to return to Great Evolution Pass.
It was the second time they decided to retreat to Great Evolution Pass.
The previous time was some 100 years ago. At that time, the Royal City wasnt in a perilous situation, and the Humans were not so resolute yet. It was the same case for the Black Ink Clan.
This time was different.
All the Territory Lords knew that if they retreated this time, they would forever lose the courage to leave Great Evolution Pass again. They would live or die with Great Evolution Pass.
This was a difficult decision to make; however, things had come to such a point where they no longer had a choice.
Although the Black Ink Clansmen had decided to retreat, they did not scatter about. Instead, with the coordination from the Territory Lords, they withdrew in an orderly manner.
They were worried that the Humans would pursue them while they were retreating as they had experienced such a thing before; therefore, they had to keep their formation intact so that they would be able to deal with the possible attacks from the Humans.
On the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, Mi Jing Lun was slightly pale. The blood on his clothes had dried up and many parts of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship were damaged.
During the intense battle earlier, no one could ensure that they would be safe or that their Warships would remain intact. The only difference was how severe their injuries would be and how damaged their Warships would become.
The feather fan in Mi Jing Luns hand had turned dim.
He had been waiting for the Black Ink Clansmen to make a decision.
When he saw that the Territory Lords finally led the remnants of the Black Ink Clan Army in the opposite direction, he let out a sigh of relief.
Honestly, if the Black Ink Clan soldiers insisted on moving forward, the Humans would have no choice but to engage them again. It wouldnt be hard for them to stop the surviving Black Ink Clan soldiers, but the question was, how many from the North-South Army would still be alive after the dust settled?
These courageous soldiers knew that they might lose their lives at any moment on the battlefield, and it was the same for the Eighth-Order Masters. All of them had proven this in the battle earlier.
As an Army Commander, Mi Jing Lun hoped that he would lead more people to see the day when Great Evolution Pass was retaken while they were still alive instead of letting their names become mere memories on the Monument of Heroes.
That would be meaningless.
He pointed his feather fan forward and said gently, Lets see them off.
Despite his small voice, his order carried across all the Warships. All the soldiers could clearly hear him.
As the Purifying Black Ink Battleship slowly moved forward, the dilapidated Warships followed closely behind it.
The Territory Lords were astounded.
When they realised that the Human Warships were moving as well, they thought that the Humans were not willing to let them go.
This made the Territory Lords furious. They had already disobeyed the order to rescue the Royal City and decided to return to Great Evolution Pass; however, the Humans were still not willing to let them go? Were they so determined to kill them here?
At that instant, the Black Ink Clan soldiers broke into a commotion while the Territory Lords hurriedly suppressed them and ordered them to stay vigilant.
Soon though, they realised that the Humans didnt intend to fight. Instead, the Humans were just following them with a distance of several hundred thousand kilometres between both parties.
The distance made the Territory Lords feel uneasy; after all, it wasnt really a safe distance. The Humans could make use of the Warships to launch an attack on them at any moment.
Nevertheless, there was nothing they could do. It wasnt like they could tell the Humans to back further away, that would just make them appear weak.
With that said, by doing this, the Humans had sent a message to them. They would watch them return to Great Evolution Pass, so they shouldnt even think about making a detour and heading to the Royal City.
Upon that realisation, the Territory Lords were torn between tears and laughter. They wondered who the Army Commander of the Human Soldiers was. That person was just too cautious.