Martial Peak

Chapter 5447: Gather

Ou Yang Lie had also been there to witness Yang Kai being chased by the Royal Lord. He also wanted to help Yang Kai, but he was outnumbered two to one back then. Being targeted by two Innate Territory Lords by force, he was unable to extricate himself and could only watch as Yang Kai was chased.

It had been 500 years since that event, but rather than dying like everyone expected, Yang Kai had actually advanced from the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm to the Eighth-Order.

Ou Yang Lie could also sense from his perception that Yang Kai’s heritage as an Eighth-Order Master was both rich and sturdy, completely unlike someone who had just broken through. This filled him with many doubts. He had no idea how Yang Kai was able to shake the Royal Lord off, and what sort of opportunities he encountered.

Yang Kai originally had a stomach full of grievances. This was the final time he had planned to show up to guide the remnant Human soldiers. He never expected to see Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple halfway through, and for them to make such a mess of the situation. If his current strength had not grown far beyond what it was the last time they had met, they might all have fallen into a disastrous state now.

However, after hearing Ou Yang Lie’s words, Yang Kai really couldn’t find it in him to be annoyed at him.

Ou Yang Lie had used all of his strength to kill that Innate Territory Lord with one strike. In other words, that one blow had completely drained him, leaving him completely defenceless. Even a Feudal Lord could have killed him at that point.

It was a sneak attack to begin with, and Ou Yang Lie had brought out all his strength in a single Secret Technique. Only then was he able to cut down that Innate Territory Lord on the spot.

Otherwise, how could an Innate Territory Lord die so easily?

Even though what he did was rash, Ou Yang Lie had only done so because of the confidence he had in Yang Kai. He believed that Yang Kai could get him out of there; otherwise, he would not have put himself in harm’s way so easily even if he was a muscle-head.

Unfortunately, his actions burdened Yang Kai, who was forced to clean up after him and bring the Master and Disciple pair along to escape.

“Why is Senior Ou Yang here?” Yang Kai asked while tossing Ou Yang Lie a bottle of Spirit Pills. Huang Xiong and the others had run out of supplies after so many years of fierce battling, so Ou Yang Lie was likely in the same condition.

As expected, Ou Yang Lie’s eyes lit up at the sight of the healing pills. He took them, gulped them all down, then shut his eyes to adjust his breathing, but not before signalling to Gong Lian with his eyes, telling him to explain the situation to Yang Kai.

Naturally, Gong Lian obeyed, “We have been hunting around the outer periphery of the No-Return Pass all these years. Only, we normally stay a bit further away since we dare not venture too close. Some days ago, we received a report from one of our Squads about there being movements of Masters fighting at the No-Return Pass, but by the time they arrived, they were unable to find anything. After that, another few Squads vaguely felt movements over the following days, so Honoured Master led me over to see what was going on.”

It was quite coincidental since this was Ou Yang Lie and his Disciple’s first time coming over here to check on the situation, and the reason he had to bring Gong Lian was so that he could make use of Gong Lian’s unique ability.

Many years ago, when they were investigating the situation of the Black Ink Clan in Great Evolution Pass, Ou Yang Lie brought Gong Lian with him as he was able to spy on others without alerting as his perception was somehow untraceable. Naturally, it would not be different this time.

The two of them had only just hidden themselves for a short while before Yang Kai appeared, picking fights recklessly outside of the No-Return Pass.

Even more coincidentally, Yang Kai actually passed by where they were hiding while being chased by those Territory Lords.

How could Ou Yang Lie resist such a golden opportunity? Moreover, with the Territory Lords being so close, Ou Yang Lie wasn’t sure that they wouldn’t be discovered.

Since the possibility of being found was high, he naturally decided to seize the initiative. It was at the instant when Yang Kai passed by the Black Ink Cloud that the hiding Ou Yang Lie burst forth and cut down an Innate Territory Lord.

The actions of the Master and Disciple were as much a matter of necessity as they were a matter of coincidence and circumstance.

After hearing Gong Lian’s account, Yang Kai realized that he had mistakenly blamed Ou Yang Lie for acting recklessly, saying that this old fart should not be acting so brainlessly, lest he hurt the people around him and himself.

“Brother Gong, how is it that you’re still here and have not returned to the 3,000 Worlds? As far as I know, the vast majority of the Human Army managed to withdraw to the 3,000 Worlds other than a few remnants from the Great Passes that acted as a rear guard to delay the Black Ink Clan. Could it be that Great Evolution Pass was also…” Yang Kai’s heart jumped in worry.

Huang Xiong and the others were roaming around the Black Ink Battlefield because Azure Void Pass had fallen in battle. Stuck behind enemy lines, and with no way back, they instead chose to attempt to retrieve the bodies of the Old Ancestor and Azure Void Pass’ Core. 

If Great Evolution was also broken through, then that would mean that Old Ancestor Xiao Xiao had perished!

Yang Kai’s feelings grew heavy.

As if knowing his worries, Gong Lian hurried to explain, “It’s not as Brother Yang thinks. What remained of the Great Evolution Army after that war basically managed to return to the 3,000 Worlds, but as for us… Well, it’s an… interesting story.”

Saying so, he glanced at Ou Yang Lie, finding it difficult to speak.

Yang Kai could tell at a glance that it was Ou Yang Lie who messed something up.

As expected, Ou Yang Lie opened his eyes and said, “There’s nothing much to be said about it. When the Human Race Army lost the battle outside of the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, the Old Ancestors gave the order for us to retreat to the No-Return Pass to regroup with the Dragon and Phoenix Clans so we could make a stand against the Black Ink Clan. Many battles were fought and both sides incurred heavy casualties. This Old Master led the troops across the battlefield, but our ranks were unfortunately splintered by the Black Ink Clan Army and were unable to reach the No-Return Pass in time. We had no choice but to take in the other survivors and become drifters after that.”

In the heat of the battle, Ou Yang Lie probably couldn’t be bothered to care about something like a fleet formation either. He led his Army forward boldly, but that also allowed the Black Ink Clan to cut them off.

Yang Kai was relieved after finding out what happened.

The fall of the No-Return Pass was something that happened only about 200 years ago, and Ou Yang Lie was seemingly able to gather some helping hands in this period. Only, just like with Huang Xiong, they were all remnant soldiers. The numbers Ou Yang Lie managed to gather up were actually higher than Huang Xiong’s side. Over the years, he was able to assemble a considerable force, almost 3,000. There were even two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Masters in their group. Besides Ou Yang Lie, there was another called Fei Yuan Long, but he did not come with them this time.

They did not dare to provoke the Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass; after all, a Royal Lord was overseeing the situation, so the only thing they could do was roam around outside, but they were still relatively successful, killing a considerable number of Black Ink Clansmen.

Yang Kai picked many fights outside of the No-Return Pass over the past one and a half months, subtly guiding the remnant Human soldiers. If Gong Lian could have observed it a few more times, then he would surely be able to catch the hint with his wits. Then, he only had to follow the directions to find Huang Xiong and the others.

Only, his whereabouts were exposed the very first time he came to investigate with Ou Yang Lie, so where would he find the time to ponder Yang Kai’s actions?

“Brother Yang, have you also been drifting about these years?” Gong Lian asked out of curiosity.

Yang Kai sighed, “It’s a long story.”

After that, he gave them a brief account of what he told Huang Xiong, causing Gong Lian’s eyes to flash.

He had heard about the legendary Temporal Rivers before, but even his Honoured Master Ou Yang Lie has never come across one before, so how could he have? Honestly, Gong Lian thought it was just an old folktale, never actually expecting them to really exist.

Such a good thing caused Gong Lian to wonder if he would also have a chance to cultivate in those Temporal Rivers, and how fast it would allow him to increase his cultivation?

However, on second thought, the time spent inside of the Temporal Rivers was real, only passing by faster than in the outside world. That was the reason why it was called the cultivation shortcut for those in the Open Heaven Realm.

At the end of it all, even with a Temporal River, one’s effort was still required for results.

Thinking of all the work that would take, Gong Lian immediately lost interest…

On the other hand, Ou Yang Lie gave great importance to the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and asked many questions about it. Naturally, Yang Kai answered all his questions one by one. When he heard that Yang Kai had marked out a path back to the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon so he could still find it in the future, Ou Yang Lie did not reserve any compliments on his meticulousness.

After finding out that there were other remnant soldiers with Huang Xiong from Azure Void Pass, Ou Yang Lie could no longer sit still.

He was unwilling to live out the rest of his life running and hiding as he had for these past 200 years, but he had no other choice and his own circumstances made him feel very bitter. If he wasn’t so vexed at his situation, he might not have cut down that Territory Lord so decisively when the chance presented itself.

Now, there was a possibility of breaking through the No-Return Pass and returning to the 3,000 Worlds to rejoin the Human Army, how could Ou Yang Lie stand to delay?

But even though his injuries were not serious, that attack earlier drained all of his World Force, and he was barely able to recover some of it even after recuperating for a few days.

Even so, he immediately led Yang Kai towards the base where he and his group were hiding. After gathering everyone, they set out to converge with the remnant soldiers from Azure Void Pass.

In an instant, the strength of the remnant army surged. The army that originally had less than 1,000 troops swelled to more than 4,000. The only complaint would be the small number of Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters they had. Currently, they only had four, including Yang Kai, which for 4,000 soldiers really wasn’t much.

They were in no hurry to act though; after all, there were far too many variables if they were to launch an attack on the No-Return Pass. They could not act with confidence unless they did some proper planning beforehand.

Moreover, Yang Kai wanted to wait a while longer. Perhaps some other survivors caught on to his clues and would be coming to join them soon.

While the Remnant Army plotted their course, the Black Ink Clan of the No-Return Pass finally found some long-awaited peace and quiet.

That Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master finally stopped showing up.

Even though another Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master suddenly showed up the last time and even killed an Innate Territory Lord, causing the Black Ink Clan to lose all face, it was still better than being teased like monkeys on a daily basis.

Thus, the Territory Lords rejoiced.

However, another thought came to mind. What was there to be happy about? During the days when that Eighth-Order Master stirred up trouble outside of the No-Return Pass, the total number of Black Ink Clansmen who died at his hands was approaching the 100,000 mark. Just the fallen Feudal Lords alone numbered over 1,000.

Even though they would beat him till he spat blood every time and made him look utterly miserable, nobody had any idea how hurt he truly was.

The result was so frustrating that the Territory Lords all vowed to themselves that if they ever saw that Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master on the battlefield again, they would surely take good care of him.

The Black Ink Clan did not give up on their search either. Large numbers of search parties were sent out to try to locate that Eighth-Order Human, but they all came back empty-handed. Even if there were any who discovered him, they simply never returned to give a report.

At the hiding place of the Human Remnant Army, over the following month a continuous stream of Human soldiers gathered after understanding Yang Kai’s hints.

The Remnant Army now numbered around 5,000, but they still only had four Eighth-Order Masters among them.

A single Purifying Black Ink Battleship could not fit so many soldiers. At the very most, a Purifying Black Ink Battleship could only hold a maximum of 1,500 soldiers.

However, they were unable to find a second Purifying Black Ink Battleship as the war with the Black Ink Clan had been extremely intense, to the point that even Great Passes were destroyed. Most of the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were blasted to dust, so it was really a miracle to find a Purifying Black Ink Battleship that was only half-ruined in the ruins of Azure Void Pass.