Chapter 5377, More Than 20 Royal Lords Translator: Silavin & Jon Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys Yang Kai initially thought that those Soul Avatars came from some other Theatres. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had told him that not every Theatre only had one Old Ancestor and one Royal Lord. In some Theatres, there was more than one Old Ancestor and Royal Lord. If there were two or three Royal Lords in a given Theatre, then it was reasonable that there were more than 20 extra Soul Avatars here. However, the moment he realised how formidable those Soul Avatars were, he knew something was amiss. Despite being restrained, those silent Soul Avatars were extremely powerful. Even Yang Kai was no match for them. Although he was a Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, his Soul was equivalent to that of an Eighth-Order Master’s. Other than the Old Ancestors, only the Royal Lords were more powerful than he was when it came to their Souls. These more than 20 Soul Avatars belonged to Royal Lords! Yang Kai was shocked, [Why are there so many Royal Lords here?] This was quite unusual. One had to know that the Humans had launched attacks on all the Royal Cities with their Great Passes, so the Royal Lords definitely had to take command of the war. Perhaps they also had to fight with the Old Ancestors, so why would they even have time to let their Soul Avatars sit idly here? It might be understandable if there were just one to two of them, but there were over 20 Royal Lords here now. With the intense battle against the Humans raging, even a single Territory Lord was indispensable on the battlefield, let alone a Royal Lord. There was no way they would just sit back and do nothing in their Black Ink Nests. On the other hand, those over 100 flustered Soul Avatars were not powerful. All of them were just Feudal Lords, which was considered normal. [What’s going on?] Yang Kai was unable to figure it out. Regardless, he didn’t have time to ponder on it as he must have alerted those Royal Lords, causing a Divine Sense to probe him. Faced with immense pressure, Yang Kai’s Soul Avatar trembled and almost dissipated. He still hadn’t recovered from the injury caused by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple, so he was unable to bear such a forceful impact. Fortunately, he pulled his Soul together at the most critical moment. There was a new message in his Divine Sense, “Which Theatre are you from?” It was apparently a question from the other party. Without hesitation, Yang Kai replied, “I’m from Great Evolution Theatre, Sir.” “What is the situation in Great Evolution Theatre?” Yang Kai lied to him by saying, “The situation is dire. Sir Royal Lord is locked in a life-and-death battle with the Human Old Ancestor, but he’s in a disadvantageous position. We need assistance right away.” As soon as Yang Kai finished speaking, the other party was startled for a moment before asking doubtfully, “Isn’t Mo Zhao supposed to be dead?” [Damn it!] Yang Kai felt his chest tightening. Only then did he realise the information in Great Evolution Theatre must have already spread through this space. After giving it some thought, he realised it wasn’t so surprising. So many Divine Senses from different Theatres had gathered together in this space and were constantly communicating with one another. One of them had to have been from Great Evolution Theatre. It was pretty violent and showy when Mo Zhao was killed, so the Black Ink Clansmen in the Royal Lord Black Ink Nest at that time must be able to detect it. “A Territory Lord? No! You’re a Human!” The Divine Sense suddenly realised Yang Kai’s identity. The next instant, a tremendous force surged in this space. In fact, Yang Kai was ready to leave the moment the other party’s suspicion was aroused because of what he had said. Since the other party realised he was a Human, he definitely couldn’t stay in this space any longer. Yang Kai successfully left the space the moment the power of the other party’s Divine Sense burst forth, so he was only lightly impacted. Even so, he still felt an excruciating pain in his head when he regained his senses. It seemed that his Soul had been damaged. His Soul still hadn’t recovered from the injury caused by the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple when he was attacked by another Royal Lord. If not for the Soul Warming Lotus’ protection, he would have lost his life by now. Ignoring his pain, Yang Kai left and shot into the sky in a hurry. As Space Principles undulated, he arrived at Great Evolution Pass in the blink of an eye and headed straight to the Space Array. At this moment, it was actually quite busy around the Space Array. Usually, there would only be a few Open Heaven Realm Masters in charge of this place, but there were more than ten of them now. The light of the Space Array kept flickering, and every time it happened, a jade slip would appear out of thin air, containing reports from another Great Pass. When Yang Kai arrived, he realised that these Open Heaven Realm Masters appeared thrilled. This couldn’t be helped, as the information they received indicated that the Humans had gained the upper hand in every Theatre. In some of the Theatres, the Royal Cities would be conquered soon. When a Seventh-Order Master saw Yang Kai rushing over with a worried expression, he quickly greeted him and asked, “What’s wrong, Junior Brother Yang?” Enduring the excruciating pain, Yang Kai clenched his teeth and replied, “Quickly inform the other Great Passes that apart from the Royal Lords we already know of, there are still over 20 Royal Lords hiding somewhere in the dark. Please tell the Old Ancestors to be on guard!” Hearing that, the Seventh-Order Master was flabbergasted, “Where did you get the information? Is it accurate?” Yang Kai explained, “Just now, I entered the High-Rank Black Ink Nest Space and saw over 20 Soul Avatars that belonged to the Royal Lords there. The reason they haven’t participated in the war must be that they’re waiting for a chance to deal a fatal blow to the Old Ancestors.” On the battlefield, the threat of hidden Royal Lords was lethal. The reason Great Evolution Pass was lost 30,000 years ago was that Mo Zhao appeared all of a sudden after hiding in the dark all along. When the Old Ancestor from Great Evolution Pass was engaged in battle with the veteran Royal Lord, Mo Zhao suddenly appeared and joined forces with the Royal Lord to kill the Old Ancestor. Previously, the Ninth-Order Black Ink Disciple had wanted to do the same by concealing himself; however, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao became vigilant after receiving a warning from the Snow Wolves Squad before their demise, which was why the Black Ink Disciple failed to achieve his goal. It could be said that the message sent from the Snow Wolves Squad in their last moments had been critical to the war. If not for their warning, those from Great Evolution Pass wouldn’t have been on guard for a second Royal Lord, and things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly for them. Just one hidden Royal Lord had caused the loss of Great Evolution Pass 30,000 years ago. Now, there were over 20 such Royal Lords. If the Black Ink Clan managed to achieve their goal, many Old Ancestors would lose their lives. Once some of the Old Ancestors were dead, the Human soldiers would be in danger. Therefore, the expressions of these Open Heaven Realm Masters, who were still elated a moment ago, changed drastically when they heard what Yang Kai had said. The Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, who spoke to Yang Kai just now, yelled, “Quickly spread this information around!” Jade slips were soon engraved with such information and sent to the other Great Passes as the light of the Space Array repeatedly flickered. It wasn’t until one hour later that all 105 jade slips were sent out. Everyone in the Grand Hall held their breath. They were no longer as joyful as before and the atmosphere had instead turned solemn. They stared fixedly at the Space Array as they were worried that they would receive some bad news. However, Yang Kai furrowed his brows at this moment. His head was in pain as his Soul had been struck twice and even his ability to think critically had been affected. When he saw those 20-plus Royal Lords in the Black Ink Nest Space earlier, the first thing that came to his mind was that the Black Ink Clan had plotted an ambush, so he hurriedly returned to Great Evolution Pass and informed everyone about it. Nevertheless, after the ache in his head calmed down and he was able to think more clearly, he realised that something was off. The truth might be different from his speculation. Before he could figure out what was wrong though, a powerful aura approached from a distance and hovered above Great Evolution Pass in the blink of an eye. The aura’s owner didn’t try to conceal herself, so the soldiers in Great Evolution Pass easily detected her presence. Yang Kai dashed out of the hall and looked up, only to see Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao hovering in the void with her hair flapping in the non-existent wind. Even though her clothes were stained with blood, she still looked high-spirited. Noticing his stare, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao looked down and nodded at Yang Kai, declaring gently, “We have won.” [We won the war!] Behind her brief words were the fierce resistance over the years, the sacrifices of countless lives, and the hard work of the Humans over countless generations. The Humans had won the war! They had no idea what was going on in the other Theatres, but at the very least, the Humans in the Great Evolution Theatre were the winners. The soldiers were all ecstatic upon learning the news. The Humans who gradually returned from the battlefield also roared euphorically, as though they were trying to vent the vexation accumulated over all the years. The entire Great Evolution Pass seemed to shake as the soldiers cheered in ecstasy. Just then, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao disappeared from her spot. A moment later, Great Evolution Pass, which had been rotating slowly, finally stopped. Inside the Great Pass’ core, the last five Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were exhausted beyond words. Their faces were pale, and their auras were unstable. Just like what Yang Kai had expected, these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were the bare minimum required to keep the core operating. Unless the Old Ancestor took over the core from them, they were unable to leave. Now that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had returned and given them a hand, they could finally stop letting the core absorb their energy. The cheers in the Inner Sanctum never stopped. The next instant, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao appeared in front of Yang Kai and asked, “What happened?” She immediately noticed there was something off about Yang Kai’s expression when she returned earlier, and it wasn’t because of his injury, so something must have happened. Yang Kai told her about his discovery in the Black Ink Nest Space and that he had returned in a hurry to ask the ones manning the Hyper Space Array to spread the news to the other Great Passes. Hearing this, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao frowned, “Do you think those Royal Lords are trying to ambush the other Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters?” Yang Kai shook his head, “That was what I thought before, but it now seems to me that if they wanted to ambush the Ninth-Order Masters, they should have hidden themselves on the battlefield instead of staying in their Black Ink Nests.” That was what he found odd about his discovery. It was pointless for those Royal Lords to stay in their Black Ink Nests. If they wanted to deal with the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, the best choice would have been to hide themselves on the battlefield and then strike when they saw an opening. Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao nodded in agreement, “You have a point. 20 Royal Lords is a force to be reckoned with. They would be powerful enough to destroy the Human Army in any Theatre with ease, but if they’re not trying to ambush the Ninth-Order Masters, what are they doing in their Black Ink Nests?” “That’s something I’m unable to figure out.” Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao couldn’t make sense of the situation either. Yang Kai’s discovery in the Black Ink Nest Space was indeed strange. A moment later, Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao raised her hand and shot a thread of World Force into the void. Soon, that flash exploded and shone brightly. Yang Kai took a look and speculated that she was trying to gather all the soldiers together. It had been two or three days since the Human soldiers started hunting down the fleeing Black Ink Clansmen. They had killed all the Black Ink Clansmen that they could kill, so it was pointless to continue chasing after those they were unable to catch. After Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao was done with this, she said, “Let’s wait. Since we’re not intelligent enough, we’ll just wait for Big Head Xiang and Big Head Mi to come back and see what they think of this matter.” In the Great Evolution Army, Xiang Shan and Mi Jing Lun had the sharpest strategic minds. In such a situation, the best solution would be to wait for their return. Soon, the Old Ancestor shouted another order, “Prepare the Space Array to send out Eighth-Order Masters to different Theatres so that they can assist as needed.” “Yes!” All the Open Heaven Realm Masters in the Grand Hall replied at the same time.