Chapter 5272, The Old Ancestor’s Salute Translator: Silavin & Jon Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys The Old Ancestor returned half a day after the East-West Army and North-South Army rendezvoused, her aura simply appearing in one of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Apparently, she had made use of the Universe Array aboard to directly return from the Royal City. None of them asked whether she had achieved anything, for it was apparent to them that she was in a good mood. Given the situation in Great Evolution Pass though, the Old Ancestor’s good mood didn’t last for long, especially when Xiang Shan led her to the military drill ground where she had to face over 100 Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciples. Since the Black Ink Clan had left, these Black Ink Disciples had been seated with their legs crossed. They did not speak or feel angry, for they knew that they had been abandoned and there was nothing to be done about it. “We asked Yang Kai to give it a try by bringing a Seventh-Order Black Ink Disciple to somewhere else. Even though he had managed to dispel the Black Ink Strength from the Black Ink Disciple’s body using Purifying Light, the ultimate outcome wasn’t pleasant. The moment the Black Ink Strength dissipated, the Black Ink Disciple’s Small Universe ruptured and he perished as a result,” Xiang Shan said in a small voice beside the Old Ancestor, “These people cannot be saved. How should we deal with them, Old Ancestor?” The Old Ancestor glanced at these Black Ink Disciples and nodded gently, “I will handle this.” Saying so, she stepped forward. In front of everyone, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao stopped in her tracks and swept a glance over these Black Ink Disciples. Then, she cupped her fist and bowed to them. The reason she saluted them was to acknowledge the contributions they had made before they became Black Ink Disciples. Although they were now Black Ink Disciples, and perhaps they had even killed some Human soldiers in the fight against the North-South Army, it wasn’t their true intention. Their minds had been twisted by the Black Ink Strength. When they were still soldiers of Great Evolution Pass, they had done everything they could to defend it and ensure the safety of those in the 3,000 Worlds; therefore, even though they were Black Ink Disciples now, they deserved the Old Ancestor’s final respects. The next instant, an amazing force swept across the entire military drill ground. Affected by the force, these Black Ink Disciples, who were originally expressionless, started feeling some emotions stir in their hearts. The eyes of many Black Ink Disciples cleared up as they wore faint smiles. Some of the Black Ink Disciples let out a sigh and closed their eyes. There were also some Black Ink Disciples whose eyes filled up with tears. At that instant, they seemed to have found their Human hearts they had lost 30,000 years ago. The Old Ancestor remained in a bowing posture for a long time, and when she straightened her back, all the Black Ink Disciples on the military drill ground had lost their lives. However, they appeared to be at peace. In the last moments of their lives, they knew they were dying as Humans. That was the best blessing they could ask for. “Bury them,” the Old Ancestor ordered and turned around to leave. Xiang Shan respectfully saw her off. ….. They were in the midst of rebuilding Great Evolution Pass, so the soldiers were swamped with work. The Black Ink Clan had occupied Great Evolution Pass for 30,000 years, and they had many alterations and arrangements. It could be said that other than the framework, everything in Great Evolution Pass had been changed. For example, the residences were no longer suitable for Humans. The Black Ink Clan came in many different sizes and shapes, but most of them were still much bigger than Humans; therefore, the residences originally belonging to the Humans were not suitable for them. After they occupied Great Evolution Pass, they started constructing huge and weirdly shaped buildings. Since the Humans had retaken Great Evolution Pass, these buildings certainly wouldn’t be kept. There were also those Spirit Arrays and artifacts that were installed on the walls of the Great Pass. They would refurbish what they could, and replace what they couldn’t. There was a lot of work to do. Nevertheless, these weren’t urgent matters. The foundation of the Black Ink Clan in the Great Evolution Theatre had been severely damaged, so they wouldn’t come over to harass Great Evolution Pass in the near future. The Humans had ample time to make repairs. That was the reason Xiang Shan targeted the Royal City first instead of heading straight to Great Evolution Pass when devising the overall strategy. Now, his plan had proven to be effective. The Black Ink Clan were in a half-dead state, so the Humans could focus on rebuilding Great Evolution Pass and not worry about being disturbed. Many of the things in Great Evolution Pass had been destroyed or modified, with the only original building still standing being the Main Conference Hall. The Main Conference Hall was already enormous to begin with, so the Black Ink Clan didn’t bother changing it after occupying Great Evolution Pass. At this moment, Grandmaster Ma Fan wept while kneeling in front of the throne made from bones in the Grand Hall. The throne was made from the bones of the Human Masters the Black Ink Clan killed when they conquered Great Evolution Pass 30,000 years ago. Every bone in the throne belonged to an Open Heaven Realm Master who was in the Seventh Order at the very least. The throne was huge, which went to show just how many High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters had lost their lives in the war 30,000 years ago. At that time, Grandmaster Ma Fan had just joined the Sect, and Great Evolution Paradise was still considered powerful. He had guidance from his Senior Brothers and care from his Honoured Master, so it had been smooth sailing in his cultivation journey. One day though, a catastrophe befell his Sect. All the powerful Masters had to leave, down to the Fourth-Order and Fifth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. In the end, only the weakest disciples and juniors were left in Great Evolution Paradise. All the Open Heaven Realm Masters had gone off to battle. At that time, Grandmaster Ma Fan knew that his Sect was in dire straits, but he had no idea what had happened; however, after the Senior Brothers, Senior Sisters, and Elders all left the Sect, they never returned. It wasn’t until a long time later that Grandmaster Ma Fan learned the truth through various means. Great Evolution Pass had been conquered, so all the Masters from Great Evolution Paradise had to rush over to provide help. In the end, they were all killed. 30,000 years had passed, and Great Evolution Paradise gradually became insignificant and was replaced by a rising Sect. However, Grandmaster Ma Fan had always yearned to come to the battlefield where his Seniors had fought and retake Great Evolution Pass one day. That day had finally come. None of the other soldiers in Great Evolution Pass now could understand how he truly felt at this moment. It was because of the war 30,000 years ago that the Humans realised the downside of having one Sect guard each Great Pass. Before that, every Cave Heaven or Paradise had been responsible for protecting its own Great Pass. After they lost Great Evolution Pass, the Humans employed a different strategy to deal with the Black Ink Clan. Masters from all the Cave Heavens and Paradises would be gathered together in each Great Pass. By doing so, they could complement each other’s abilities and better position themselves to deal with the enemy. Since then, none of the Great Passes had been lost again. ….. Just like everyone else, Yang Kai was swamped with work and was currently tinkering with something in a certain Grand Hall. While he was working, Liu Zhi Ping stepped inside. Seeing her, Yang Kai saluted, “Senior Liu.” Liu Zhi Ping nodded gently and asked, “How is it going here?” Yang Kai replied, “It’s better than what I’d expected. The Black Ink Clan seemed to have had the intention of making use of the Space Array here to ambush the other Human Great Passes; so, after conquering Great Evolution Pass, they didn’t damage it. Instead, they actually tried to repair it. However, due to their lack of expertise, they did a sloppy job.” There was a similar Grand Hall in every Great Pass, and it was also the most important place in a Great Pass. This was because there was a Hyper Space Array in this Grand Hall that could be used to connect to other Great Passes. It was with the help of these Space Arrays that the Great Passes could communicate with each other; otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for the Great Passes to exchange information, for it would take an ordinary soldier years to travel from one Great Pass to the adjacent one in the expansive Black Ink Battlefield. The Space Array in Great Evolution Pass was damaged, but it was apparent that it was the Humans who did it, not the Black Ink Clan. In other words, 30,000 years ago, the moment the soldiers in this place realised that Great Evolution Pass was lost, they promptly destroyed the Space Array so that the Black Ink Clan wouldn’t be able to use it to cause trouble. However, the person who made a move only damaged the Space Array instead of destroying it. Apparently, he had envisioned that the Humans would retake Great Evolution Pass one day in the future, and they would have to repair the Space Array. If he directly destroyed it, the Humans might not be able to rebuild it in the future. After occupying Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan tried to repair the Space Array, but it wasn’t like just anyone could repair this thing. Their 30,000 years of effort didn’t yield any meaningful results and instead turned this place into a mess. In the entire Great Evolution Army, Yang Kai was the only one who was an expert in the Dao of Space. Since he was able to arrange Space Arrays, there was no reason that he couldn’t repair this one. Therefore, after the Army entered the Great Pass, Yang Kai received the order and hurriedly came to this place. He even suspected that, besides helping her with her recuperation, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had also requested he join the Great Evolution Army to repair or even rebuild the Hyper Space Array. Hearing Yang Kai’s words, Liu Zhi Ping breathed a sigh of relief. If the Space Array was completely destroyed, it would be quite troublesome to them. If they couldn’t transmit information and establish contact with the other Great Passes, they wouldn’t be able to collaborate with the others when the crusade began in the future. Since it could be repaired, there wouldn’t be a problem. “However, I’ll need some helpers and materials,” Yang Kai said. Liu Zhi Ping nodded, “Repairing the Space Array is among our top priorities right now. Whatever you need, just requisition it.” Yang Kai nodded as it wasn’t necessary for him to be overly formal with her at this point. He fished out an empty jade slip and infused his Divine Sense into it. A moment later, he passed it to her and said, “I’ve listed all the materials I need. They should be in the Army’s reserve. As for the helpers, just get me some Array Masters.” Liu Zhi Ping took the jade slip and looked into it before nodding, “I’ll send you the people and materials within half a day.” Sure enough, just half a day later, several Array Masters came over in a hurry. The materials Yang Kai needed were also sent to this place. These Array Masters were all respectable figures, and although their cultivations varied, all of them had lived very long lives and had great accomplishments to their names. They were not a match for Yang Kai when it came to combat, but even 100 Yang Kais wouldn’t be comparable to them when it came to arranging Spirit Arrays. Nevertheless, these Array Masters had little to no knowledge about Space Arrays. This couldn’t be helped, as this was a matter of innate talent. A Master of the Dao of Space had a huge natural advantage when it came to arranging Space Arrays, so although these Array Masters had studied the Space Arrays of different Great Passes, they had only scratched the surface. Therefore, the moment they heard that Yang Kai needed some people to help repair the Space Array, these Array Masters became fervent and quickly applied for the job. They almost got into a fight because of it. Eventually, these several Array Masters at the scene snatched the job by suppressing the others with their status and reputation. The Junior Array Masters were disgruntled, but there was nothing they could do about it. Although they were revered Array Masters, they didn’t put on airs when it came to acquiring new knowledge. Yang Kai directly instructed them on what to do and assigned jobs to them. This Hyper Space Array was complicated as it could connect to Great Passes that were billions of kilometres away. As such, Yang Kai would personally repair the key components, while the less significant parts were left to these Array Masters. Silavin: So glad Old Troublesome finally accomplished his Dream to retake this Pass. Now, the only thing that is left is to revitalise his Sect.