Chapter 4996, Support Translator: Silavin & Raikov Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys There were constantly people flying down from the deck, all appearing to be in a miserable state. Many of them were covered in blood and their auras were weak, clearly arrows at the end of their flight. Without the shelter of the Warship, this group of people would never have made it back from the battlefield alive, so it was fair to say that the Warships had saved the lives of many, many Humans over the years. It was no wonder why the Black Ink Clan coveted and despised Warships so much. Without the Warships, it would have been impossible for the Humans to have been their opponents on the Black Ink Battlefield. The higher-order Open Heaven Realm Masters could put up a fair fight, but those Fifth and Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were simply unable to withstand the corruption of Black Ink Strength for any appreciable amount of time. This often impeded them when they were fighting against Black Ink Clansmen of the same Order, making them unable to display their full potential. However, these Warships were difficult to refine as not just any Artifact Refiner could make one. As such, Humans with special talents such as these Artifact Refiners, Array Masters, and Alchemists, were extremely well-guarded. Generally, these talents would never set foot on the battlefield directly, eliminating the possibility of them falling to the fate of being corrupted by Black Ink Strength and becoming Black Ink Disciples. As far back as history went, the Black Ink Clan had never been able to refine their own Warships due to their lack of aptitude in this area. “Please follow me,” the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master glanced at the scene before him before withdrawing his gaze and gesturing to Yang Kai and Feng Ying. The two nodded and followed him while the rest stayed to watch over Dawning Light. A short while later, inside a modest hall, Yang Kai and Feng Ying saw the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master overseeing this base, Cha Hu. This man was part of the Southern Army, and he was not very tall but displayed an awe-inspiring might. When Yang Kai and Feng Ying entered, someone was in the process of reporting to him. Cha Hu listened quietly and gave an order before waving his hand, excusing this man. Yang Kai cupped his fist, “Dawn Squad Yang Kai greets Division Commander Cha!” Cha Hu looked at him and smiled, “The Army Commanders let you out? I thought they would be more reluctant.” Yang Kai responded with a serious expression, “This Junior made a bet with Army Commander Zhong Liang and won, so this Junior was allowed to go out.” Cha Hu raised his brow, “Brother Zhong lost?” He did not ask what their bet was, but no matter what, it must have been difficult for Yang Kai to have gained a victory over Zhong Liang. He tapped his fingers on the table for a moment before speaking, “My thoughts on this matter differ from the Army Commanders. Since you have come to this forward base, then this King will treat you the same as anyone else under my command. You are expected to do the same as all the others stationed here, and if you do not obey orders, I will punish you without favour.” Yang Kai cupped his fist, “That is all this Junior would have wanted.” “Very good,” Cha Hu nodded lightly, a glint of approval appearing in his eyes, “In that case, you may stand by and await further orders. However, you most likely will not have much time to rest as there’s still a big fight ongoing in the resource harvesting area. You may be needed there to provide support soon.” “Yes!” Yang Kai responded. After a pause, he added, “Division Commander, is there a need for a Universe Array to be set up in this forward base?” With a Universe Array, it would be much easier for the cultivators here in the forward base to come to and fro. It may even be able to life saving during critical moments. If there was the need, Yang Kai could even store some Purifying Light here. Cha Hu shook his head, “No. The Southern Army’s Purifying Black Ink Battleship is stationed here. You should all go and leave your Imprints there later.” Yang Kai was surprised, but he and Feng Ying soon cupped their fists and withdrew. Yang Kai was a little worried about what would happen if the cultivators at the forward base were corrupted by Black Ink Strength; after all, the chances of encountering the Black Ink Clan here were high, and if the nearly destroyed Warship they saw earlier was any indication, the fighting was quite intense. It was only now that he found out that they had a Purifying Black Ink Battleship at this forward base. So, it seemed that the other three forward bases should also have Purifying Black Ink Battleships available. This did make sense. If Yang Kai could make such considerations, then the Army Commanders and the Division Commanders would naturally be able to as well. There was no helping it in the past when they did not possess Purifying Black Ink Battleships, but now that they had such a weapon in their arsenal, they would naturally be put to good use. Now that they had Purifying Black Ink Battleships available at each forward base, the losses on the Human side could be greatly diminished. Once they left the hall, a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master came forward to lead the way for them, telling them that they would bring Yang Kai and his Squad to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship to leave their Imprints. Yang Kai immediately summoned Dawn’s members, and they all headed out together. The Purifying Black Ink Battleship was located in a secluded area that was surrounded by all kinds of barriers and even heavily guarded by powerful Masters. Unless a large-scale Black Ink Clan Army were to attack, this place would remain safe. If in the event that they did encounter a battle and found themselves powerless to resist, then someone would naturally take the Purifying Black Ink Battleships back to Blue Sky Pass. Cha Hu was not only here to oversee and guarantee the safety of the forward base, but also to protect this vital war asset. Within moments, Dawn Squad’s members left their Imprints on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. With that, as long as they were within a certain range, they could return to it by activating the Universe Transference Law. However, although the Universe Transference Law was easy to perform, it did have some drawbacks. Firstly, depending on the distance between the caster and the Universe Array, there were different levels of pressure exerted on them as they travelled across the Void. The further the distance, the greater the pressure. If the distance exceeded the limit which one’s body could withstand, then even if they were transported back, there was the great possibility that they could be injured or even killed by being crushed by the force of the Void. Such events were not completely unheard of in the 3,000 Worlds. Broken or crushed bodies had been transported back to Universe Temples in the various Great Territories after having been shredded and pulverized by the terrifying pressure of the Void. Such corpses were transported over vast distances that greatly surpassed the limits which they could withstand. However, the Open Heaven Realm Masters on the Black Ink Battlefield were all in the Fifth Order at the very least, so they could withstand being teleported over 1 billion kilometres without much issue. The other major issue with using the Universe Transference Law was the time required to activate it, and the fact that one could not be disturbed while trying to perform it. This was also the biggest drawback of the Universe Transference Law. During a life-or-death battle, even a moment’s hesitation could be fatal, so who would have the time to perform the Universe Transference Law? Once activated, this Secret Technique would take at least three breaths of time to be fully executed, and the lower one’s cultivation was, the longer it would take to complete. For that reason, even if a cultivator were to encounter danger, it was often the case that they would not be able to cast Universe Transference Law to successfully escape. The only way for them to escape from danger was to try and buy some time for themselves. In contrast, Yang Kai’s Instantaneous Movement was a much more practical Secret Technique to use in combat, as there was no delay in activating it. However, Yang Kai was the only one who could use Instantaneous Movement, and the distance that he could move was incomparable to the Universe Transference Law, so there were advantages and disadvantages to both. The Sixth-Order Master who led Yang Kai and his Squad to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship so they could leave their Imprints then brought them to an open space in the forward base and pointed to it, saying, “This place will be your camp from now on. When you are not assigned any tasks, you may rest here. I still have other matters to attend to, so I will excuse myself.” Saying so, he turned and left. Looking at the empty patch of land, Yang Kai and the others all looked at each other somewhat blankly. However, Feng Ying was unperturbed and snapped, “What are you all staring at? Get to work!” The group of Open Heaven Realm Masters who had come here burning with excitement to slaughter their enemies thus had no choice but to set up a temporary camp first. Fortunately, none of their cultivations was low, so it only took less than half a day’s work for them to finish their work. During times of war, there was no point in getting hung up on quality of life. They just needed to have somewhere to live. They had just finished setting up their camp when the Sixth-Order Master who led them here came rushing over. Before he even arrived, he began shouting, “Squad Leader Yang!” Yang Kai was about to take a walk around the forward base to familiarize himself with the place when he heard the shout, so he turned around and called out, “What is it?” The man hastily handed a jade slip to Yang Kai and said solemnly, “The Division Commander has given orders for Dawn Squad to rush to this location to provide support. The two Squads there were ambushed by the Black Ink Clan and are now engaged in battle with them. Given the disparity in strength, I’m afraid they may not be able to fight them off!” Yang Kai frowned before turning his head and shouting, “Dawn, form up!” The scattered Squad members all immediately flew over. Yang Kai waved his hand and shouted, “Board the ship. We’re heading out to battle!” Everyone’s eyes lit up as they swiftly boarded Dawning Light. Yang Kai looked back at the messenger, “Does the Division Commander have any other instructions?” The messenger responded, “Division Commander’s instructions are for Dawn to do their best to provide aid to the two Squads and return safely. As for the rest, act according to the circumstances!” Yang Kai nodded in understanding, “We will definitely live up to the Division Commander’s trust!” Then, he turned around and boarded Dawning Light as well. In the next moment, the ship took off and turned into a stream of light, speeding off in a certain direction. On the deck, Yang Kai checked the contents of the jade slip before handing it over to the Squad member in charge of steering the ship. Not much information was recorded on the jade slip, only the general direction, destination, number of enemies, and their approximate strength, but that was enough. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞 Any resource harvesting area would have a large number of Universe Worlds in its vicinity, and the fourth forward base was naturally no exception. However, the World Force of these Universe Worlds had disappeared long ago. The Black Ink Clan fed on World Force to strengthen itself, so there was no vitality left in the Universe Worlds on the Black Ink Battlefield. All of these Worlds were surrounded by dense Death Qi. Though the Worlds were dead though, the resources still remained. The Worlds closest to the forward bases were little more than fields of debris. Most of them were just remnants and asteroids. It was clear that they were all pretty much exhausted from extensive mining and did not have anything good left. However, there were still plenty of resources to be found and mined in all directions around the forward bases. This was also the reason why the Humans were fighting with the Black Ink Clan for control of them. While the Humans could use these resources to cultivate and refine more Warships, the Black Ink Clan needed these resources in order to fill up their Black Ink Nests so they could breed new clansmen and enhance their war power. The Black Ink Clan that possessed Black Ink Disciples had an even greater need for these resources as the Black Ink Disciples under their command could refine them and increase their strength. Dawning Light was extremely fast, so within less than a day, they could already see dazzling light off in the distance, and they could feel violent energy fluctuations emanating from the bursting lights. These were clearly the lights of Secret Techniques from Human cultivators.