Chapter 5256, Honoured Master, You’re Quite Miserable Translator: Silavin & Jon Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys Since the Humans wanted to watch them return to Great Evolution Pass, there was nothing that the Black Ink Clan could do other than tacitly agree to it. So what if they don’t agree? It wasn’t like they were willing to fight with the Humans again either. In such an awkward atmosphere, these two surviving Armies slowly moved towards Great Evolution Pass. Under Zhe Chong’s leadership, it took the Black Ink Clansmen one month to arrive at this place, but it wasn’t so troublesome when they returned, they just had to go back in a straight line, so it only took them 10 days to arrive at their destination. With that said, it wasn’t smooth sailing on their way back. Over the past 100 years, the North-South Army had set up a massive amount of traps around Great Evolution Pass in all directions. Under Zhe Chong’s leadership, the Black Ink Clan soldiers kept changing directions, so they had only triggered some 25% of the traps. In other words, there were still at least 70% of the traps still left behind. By going back to Great Evolution Pass in a straight line, the Black Ink Clan soldiers were bound to trigger some of those traps. Every time they triggered these traps, some of them would lose their lives. Although the Territory Lords had been vigilant, it was impossible for them to avoid these things. Nevertheless, they were relieved that when they were caught by these traps, the Humans didn’t show any intention of attacking them, they only watched from behind in silence. It could be said that the journey back to Great Evolution Pass was paved with blood and tears for the Black Ink Clansmen. When the Black Ink Clan retreated, some of the Humans remained behind at the sight of the battle. Mi Jing Lun had told some of them to stay so that they could clean up the mess and look for any survivors. Gong Lian was one of the people who stayed. That was because Mi Jing Lun didn’t sense Ou Yang Lie dying in the battle. After he killed Zhe Chong, Ou Yang Lie’s aura indeed disappeared all of a sudden, but that wasn’t the same as him being killed. Therefore, Mi Jing Lun had a reason to believe that Ou Yang Lie was still alive. Perhaps he was just badly injured, so he didn’t even have the strength to return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. He had most likely played dead and was now hiding somewhere. Gong Lian was the best person to handle this matter because he was Ou Yang Lie’s Legacy Disciple. No one in the world was more familiar with Ou Yang Lie than he was. The area of shattered universe fragments was now filled with the debris of Warships, broken limbs, and hashed meat. The entire void was also full of Black Ink Clouds. Gong Lian agilely moved around the shattered rocks and debris. When he found Human soldiers who were still alive, he would pull them out and send them to a safe place. Eventually, there came a moment when he saw a headless corpse. It was the corpse of a Territory Lord. An aura that was familiar to Gong Lian had been left behind on the wounds. It was the trace of Ou Yang Lie’s Sword Qi. Since this Territory Lord was killed by Ou Yang Lie, he should have been the Commander of the Black Ink Clan Army. After staring at the corpse for a while, Gong Lian became at ease and let out a breath. He then said, “Please come out, Honoured Master. You’re no longer a child, so please stop hiding.” However, no reaction was felt coming from the corpse. Gong Lian frowned. Suddenly realising something, he hurriedly moved forward and activated his power before slashing across the corpse with his palm. Although the Territory Lord’s corpse was still sturdy, it couldn’t possibly bear Gong Lian’s attack. A big cut was formed on the corpse’s stomach, after which a battered figure fell out of it. Gong Lian promptly supported this figure, only to see that Ou Yang Lie’s face was as pale as a white sheet. His eyes were dyed black, and no part of his skin was intact. His aura was extremely weak, like a candle amidst the storm that might go out at any moment. Although Ou Yang Lie had managed to kill Zhe Chong by burning his Blood Essence during the battle, his opponent wasn’t a weakling. He was injured by Zhe Chong’s final desperation move; furthermore, he was struck by the backlash of burning his Blood Essence. Surrounded by Black Ink Clansmen, Ou Yang Lie didn’t even have a chance to return to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship; therefore, he promptly decided to activate a Secret Technique to conceal his figure and actually hid inside Zhe Chong’s corpse. That was how he managed to keep himself alive. It was also thanks to Zhe Chong’s huge figure that he could actually hide inside it. “Honoured Master, you’re quite miserable!” Gong Lian exclaimed. Glaring at this good-for-nothing Disciple, Ou Yang Lie snapped, “Brat, if you had come any later, I would’ve killed myself!” Gong Lian chuckled, “Since you still have the strength to curse at me, it shows that you’re just fine.” Ou Yang Lie’s eyes became a shade darker as he hurriedly said, “Bring me back to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship right now!” As soon as he finished speaking, he activated a Secret Technique and passed out, his head slumping to the side. With a solemn expression, Gong Lian released his Divine Sense and sent a message to his companions, who were looking for survivors nearby. Then, he lugged the unconscious Ou Yang Lie with him and flew towards the fleet of Warships. He could feel that his Honoured Master was in a perilous situation. Other than the fact that Ou Yang Lie had been struck by the backlash of burning his Blood Essence, he was also invaded by Black Ink Strength. He might turn into a Black Ink Disciple at any moment. Hence, he wasn’t joking when he said that he would kill himself. Ou Yang Lie would definitely commit suicide before he was completely corrupted by Black Ink Strength. Although the Humans now had a way to dispel Black Ink Strength, he knew that his Disciple would be the one looking for him, so he was worried that he might accidentally kill his Disciple after he lost his mind. Fortunately, Gong Lian came to his rescue in time. Gong Lian moved forward at the speed of lightning; after all, he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Although he was also injured during the battle, his foundation hadn’t been harmed. Barely one day later, the pair reached the fleet of Warships and Gong Liang brought his Honoured Master to the inner hall of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship. Mi Jing Lun breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the news. Many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had lost their lives during the battle. All the others who had requested to kill Territory Lords had perished, but at the very least, Ou Yang Lie, the Southern Army Commander, had returned alive. After dispelling the Black Ink Strength from Ou Yang Lie’s body and settling him down, Mi Jing Lun returned to the deck and watched the Black Ink Clan Army return to Great Evolution Pass. It took the Black Ink Clan 10 days to retreat to Great Evolution Pass and many of them had lost their lives along the way. The North-South Army also returned to where the universe fragment where their forward base was once located. The forward base, which had once been bustling with noise, was now a cloud of debris. Senior Brother Cheng was no longer around to give them valuable lessons, and many familiar faces were gone for good. As Mi Jing Lun recalled the previous battle, he could still remember the glorious moments before each of their deaths. All of their sacrifices had not been in vain. They had managed to ensure that the East-West Army wouldn’t be pincered by the enemy. The Black Ink Clan reinforcements were intercepted before they could arrive at their destination, and they had suffered immense losses. Many of the Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples had been slain. The Humans were united as one and doing their best to stop the Black Ink Clan Army, forcing them to return to Great Evolution Pass. The news was passed on to the Royal City through the Black Ink Nests. Che Kong was furious as he argued with Hong Di, who was in charge of Great Evolution Pass, through the Black Ink Nests despite being separated by a distance of billions of kilometres. He accused Hong Di of being useless and urged him once again to immediately come to the Royal City. However, there was nothing Hong Di could do. Although he wanted to save the Royal City as well, he was powerless to do so. After the previous battle, their collective might had been significantly weakened, and about half of the Black Ink Clan soldiers had lost their lives. Even many Territory Lords and Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples were killed. When there were still 500,000 soldiers on their side, they were already unable to break through the Humans’ blockade. Even if they went all out now, they wouldn’t be able to leave Great Evolution Pass. He certainly knew that the Royal City was in a perilous situation, but there was nothing he could do. Before, the Black Ink Clansmen might have been able to leave Great Evolution Pass, and as long as they were determined enough and not afraid of the losses, they might be able to break through the Humans’ blockade. Now that many of them had lost their lives though, they were trapped inside Great Evolution Pass. There was no way out for them other than defending Great Evolution Pass. However, could they really keep Great Evolution Pass? That was the question every Territory Lord had in their mind. There had only been 30,000 soldiers on the Humans’ side, but they had managed to toy with and repel nearly a million Black Ink Clansmen for over 100 years. While the Black Ink Clansmen were not aware of it, their strength was gradually weakened, and when they finally came to that realization, it was already too late. If they wanted to leave Great Evolution Pass, there would only be one chance: If the Humans suddenly lost their minds and decided to attack them. Given the Humans’ current power, if they decided to invade Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan could make use of the arrangements they had built up over the past 30,000 years to destroy them. Only by doing so would they be able to remove the obstacle in front of them and head straight to the Royal City. Unfortunately, the Humans didn’t seem to have the intention of attacking Great Evolution Pass. Apparently, they knew that it was unrealistic for them to launch an assault given their current power. Therefore, after returning, they set up a new forward base and began resting and recuperating. 10 years after the Black Ink Clansmen retreated to Great Evolution Pass for the second time, an intense battle broke out outside the Royal City. Both the East-West Army and the Black Ink Clan Army were familiar with such battles by now, because over the past 100 years, a battle of such a scale would take place every twenty years. Every time, the Old Ancestor and the Royal Lord would end up being mutually wounded. The Humans would retreat in a hurry after winning some advantages, then the Black Ink Clan soldiers would chase after them for a bit. It was an endless cycle that never seemed to change. The Black Ink Clan had become desensitized to this routine. They had already expected that the battle would happen, and they were well prepared. There were no longer a million Black Ink Clan soldiers around the Royal City, but there were still about 700,000 to 800,000 of them. Although the Black Ink Nest could continuously replenish the manpower for them, it wouldn’t be able to efficiently do so if there were too many losses. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 Furthermore, all the power of the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest was used to help with the Royal Lord’s recuperation. For that reason, the birth of new Black Ink Clansmen was delayed. Although there were a lot of Black Ink Clansmen, only half of them had any kind of usable strength. Some Black Ink Clansmen lost their lives in every battle, and as time passed, the collective might of the Black Ink Clan Army gradually weakened. This time, the battle broke out as usual. The Old Ancestor took the initiative to raise chaos among the Black Ink Clan soldiers; then, the Royal Lord raced out of the Black Ink Nest and the two of them clashed far away from the Royal City. The Human soldiers struck from the left side of the Royal City, and a large number of Universe Worlds flew in from the right. The Humans had been using the same tactic again and again over the years. The Black Ink Clan knew fully well how to deal with them by now, so both parties were now equally matched during the battle. Based on past experiences, they just had to fend off the Humans for half a day, and the latter would retreat. However, this time, many Territory Lords felt that something was off. The Humans seemed to be prioritizing defence this time. They were the attackers, so it was puzzling that they focused on defending themselves. Nevertheless, that was indeed the truth. After making contact, the Black Ink Clansmen realised that the Humans were indeed determined to defend themselves this time. In that case, they were less intimidating to the Black Ink Clan. But why?