Martial Peak

Chapter 5565: Deciding a Strategy

Acacia Territory had millions of Black Ink Clansmen, as well as a large number of Territory Lords. Such a lineup was definitely not for setting up a trap for the Hunters. Wei Jun Yang and the others reckoned that the Black Ink Clan had predicted Yang Kai would travel to Acacia Territory, and that was why they had made such arrangements.

The entire Acacia Territory was like a Dragon’s den.

But by the time the Human Race received this news, it was already too late, Yang Kai should have already entered Acacia Territory. There was no way to even send a warning anymore.

Wei Jun Yang and the others were on tenterhooks, afraid that some misfortune would befall Yang Kai in Acacia Territory.

The Supreme Headquarters had no way of obtaining accurate news from Acacia Territory either. Some Hunters tried to enter Acacia Territory through the Territory Gates to investigate things, but they never returned. Obviously, the Black Ink Clan was using its Army to seal off the gate. Even the Hunters who had entered Acacia Territory to investigate things must have encountered some kind of accident.

Not only that, but the peace in Profound Nether Territory was also broken.

The reason why Profound Nether Territory had been able to remain peaceful was because the Territory Lords were afraid of Yang Kai’s unpredictable killing methods. They did not dare to make a rash move with him around, but now that they had received accurate reports that the Profound Nether Army Commander, Yang Kai, was trapped in Acacia Territory, why would they need to be afraid?

Wei Jun Yang, Ou Yang Lie, and the others were strong, but the Territory Lords could still deal with them; Yang Kai was the one who gave them a splitting headache.

The Black Ink Clan immediately mobilized their troops and began attacking the Human Race on all fronts. Both sides seemed to have returned to the old days where they fought constantly. 

So, when the news spread that Yang Kai had returned to the Star Boundary, Wei Jun Yang and the others found it very hard to believe. They thought of it as nothing but unfounded rumours.

Even if Yang Kai had mastered the Dao of Space and managed to escape from Acacia Territory, he couldn’t return to the Star Boundary, as he would first have to pass through at least one of the Great Territory battlefields.

While they were still investigating where the rumours had come from though, someone reported that the Army Commander had returned.

Wei Jun Yang, who happened to be fighting on the front lines, quickly rushed back to the main camp to check the validity of this report. Surprisingly, he was greeted by Yang Kai when he arrived.

Wei Jun Yang was dumbfounded.

Not only Wei Jun Yang was dumbstruck, but even Kong Cheng De, who was currently in charge of the overall situation in Profound Nether Territory, had a look of disbelief on his face. When Yang Kai appeared, Kong Chen De almost thought that he was hallucinating.

Strength-wise, Wei Jun Yang and Ou Yang Lie were undoubtedly the strongest among the Eighth-Order Masters in Profound Nether Territory, but both of them were more fond of fighting on the front lines than sitting in the rear. If they were asked to devise a strategy in the tent to win the war from a million kilometres away, they would be a little hard-pressed.

On the other hand, Kong Cheng De of Nine Stars Paradise was a far better strategist than the other Eighth-Order Masters present. He had been the brains behind all the major Human deployments in Profound Nether Territory all these years. He was the one who formulated the battle plans against the Black Ink Clan, assisted by the other Eighth-Order cultivators and a dozen or so Seventh-Order staff.

“Sir!” Wei Jun Yang stepped forward, staring blankly at Yang Kai, “Wasn’t Sir trapped in Acacia Territory? We received news that millions of Black Ink Clan soldiers and a dozen or so Territory Lords were deployed to Acacia Territory by the Black Ink Clan. How did Sir return?”

Yang Kai affirmed with a nod, “That’s indeed true, but I have my own means of escaping.”

He did not say that he could use the World Tree to instantly arrive in the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary or to any still living Universe World. It was best if fewer people knew about this ability because of the existence of Black Ink Disciples. If one day someone who knew about this ability was turned into a Black Ink Disciple, his secret would be exposed.

Wei Jun Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

He was really afraid that Yang Kai would fall in Acacia Territory, so it was naturally great news that he managed to escape safely. Better yet, the Black Ink Clan in Acacia Territory were unaware of this fact, so they should still be searching for him.

If not, the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory would not have started another war so easily.

Considering all this, Wei Jun Yang suddenly felt some pity for the Black Ink Clan, who were going through so much trouble for someone who was no longer there. 

Very soon though, his eyes lit up, “Sir, you’re right on time. The Black Ink Clan doesn’t know anything about this, so you can take this opportunity to kill a few more Territory Lords and raise our Army’s prestige.”

The Black Ink Clan still believed that Yang Kai was trapped in Acacia Territory, so they had started a grand war in Profound Nether Territory. Since Yang Kai was already back though, he could conceal himself and secretly hunt a few Territory Lords.

Yang Kai nodded and agreed, “I had the same idea and was about to discuss it with Senior Brother Kong.”

As soon as he returned, Yang Kai discovered that another battle had broken out in Profound Nether Territory. He vaguely understood what the Black Ink Clan was thinking, so he did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he went to the frontline camp and looked for Kong Cheng De, who was in command of this place, to ask for his opinion.

Yang Kai wanted to ask where the resident strategist felt it would be best for him to act.

Last time, when Yang Kai had killed three Territory Lords, it had forced the Black Ink Clan into a complete retreat from the main front. This was a rare opportunity, and might be the last.

So long as he was in Profound Nether Territory, the Black Ink Clan would be on guard against him.

Soul Rending Thorns were not flawless. The experiences in Acacia Territory made Yang Kai realize that if the Territory Lords guarded their Souls diligently, the effect of the Soul Rending Thorn’s might would be greatly reduced. If two Territory Lords acted together and were on guard against him, it would be difficult for him to eliminate them in one blow.

If he was unable to kill the Territory Lords in a single surprise attack, his current strength made it almost pointless to simply fight it out with them instead.

In the tent, the entire Void Map of Profound Nether Territory was laid before Yang Kai and the others. This map was jointly created by Artifact Refiners and Array Masters in the Army and gave a detailed overview of the entire Profound Nether Territory. It was extremely intuitive to use and clear to understand.

There were three Territory Gates on the map. The Human Race and Black Ink Clan occupied one each, and the last one was ownerless. The two sides had been fighting for control of this final Territory Gate, but neither of them was able to occupy it for long so it had changed hands multiple times over the past few decades.

Yang Kai was appointed the Army Commander of the Profound Nether Army in a rather rushed manner, and immediately after, he had left for Acacia Territory to save the Humans trapped there. So, he was not too knowledgeable about Profound Nether Territory’s current situation.

It would not have mattered if he was just an ordinary Eighth-Order Master as all he would have to do was follow orders. But now, he was the Army Commander in charge of overseeing the entire Profound Nether Territory. It would be improper and a dereliction of duty for him to be ignorant of even the basic situation.

After listening to Kong Cheng De’s presentation, Yang Kai had a first grasp of the strength of the Profound Nether Army, the number of High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters available for deployment, and the distribution of the Eighth-Order Masters.

The Profound Nether Army might have anecdotally been called a million-strong force, but that could not be farther from the truth. Perhaps, they might have had that many soldiers in the past, but after several decades of constant war, the Army had suffered massive casualties. Now, the entire the Profound Nether Army only totalled some 650,000 soldiers.

As for the main battlefield, almost half of the Army was deployed there as it was the primary focus of the Black Ink Clan. So long as they could defeat the Humans on the main battlefield, they would have a chance to occupy the Territory Gate that was currently being controlled by the enemy, and then they could continue to mop up the rest in the Profound Nether Territory.

The main battlefield had the most soldiers and almost half of the Eighth-Order Masters were deployed there, guarding against the various Territory Lords.

Apart from the main battlefield, there were four auxiliary fronts, one of which was the battlefront for determining the owner of the third Territory Gate. About 100,000 soldiers were deployed there, along with several Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

The entire Profound Nether Army had about 50 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.

That was not an insignificant number, and the other Great Territory battlefields all had a similar number of Eighth-Order Masters overseeing them.

Be that as it may, when Yang Kai heard this number, his heart became a little heavy. It could not be helped either, as compared to the hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation by the Cave Heavens and Paradises, 50 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters per battlefield was quite low!

The Cave Heavens and Paradises had existed for millennia, and even if Eighth-Order Masters were rare, after so many years of accumulation, each Cave Heaven and Paradise should have produced over 1,000 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters at least.

Unfortunately, the upper echelons of the Human Race had suffered massive casualties in the never-ending war against the Black Ink Clan. Not to mention those in the Eighth-Order, one or two of the original 100 plus Ninth-Order Masters remained today.

In comparison, the number of Territory Lords was much higher.

Almost all of the Human Race’s available forces were concentrated on a dozen or so battlefields, but what about the Black Ink Clan? They had many Territory Lords on the primary battlefields, as well as a fair number patrolling the various occupied Great Territories. There were also many Territory Lords stationed at the No-Return Pass.

The reason why the Human Race had been able to hold on for so long was mainly because they were willing to fight to the death!

If a Territory Lord was heavily injured, they would need to fall dormant in a Black Ink Nest to recover. The Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, on the other hand, did not need such a cumbersome healing process. As such, even if there were far more Territory Lords than Eighth-Order Masters, the Humans could barely hold on. Of course, this kind of status quo was extremely tenuous and the Human Race was at a disadvantage on most fronts.

The Human Race needed the younger generation to mature in order to produce more Masters, only then could they fill the gap between top combatants.

“The Territory Lord Commander of the Black Ink Clan in Profound Nether Territory is called Six Arms, yes?” Yang Kai suddenly asked. He still had some impression of Six Arms as last time, when he had borrowed the Territory Gate occupied by the Black Ink Can, it was Six Arms who had come forward to discuss it with him.

Wei Jun Yang nodded before quickly realizing Yang Kai’s intention, “Sir, do you want to set up prestige by taking out Six Arms?”

Yang Kai did not deny it, “If I can kill Six Arms, the Black Ink Clan should be docile for a while.”

Wei Jun Jang, however, rejected this suggestion, shaking his head, “Six Arms won’t be easy to kill. He is a very cautious foe. Once, I and Ou Yang Lie had tried to take him out, but we failed in the end. Furthermore, he rarely comes out to fight personally and usually acts as a rear guard only.”

Yang Kai furrowed his brow, “He’s actually so cautious?”

He could not understand why, but he had a feeling that most of the Territory Lords were very afraid of death. You Gong, the one he had run into in Acacia Territory, was also like this.

These Innate Territory Lords were directly created by Mo, so logically speaking, they should be the most zealous among the Black Ink Clan.

[Could it be that Mo also fears death greatly, and these Territory Lords were affected by it unconsciously?]

Yang Kai shook his head, collecting his thoughts.

“Furthermore, even if we kill Six Arms, it won’t have a fatal impact on the Black Ink Clan. There is not much difference in strength between Territory Lords, so even if Six Arms dies, the Black Ink Clan would soon elect another Commander,” Kong Cheng De added.

Yang Kai looked at him, “Then Senior Brother Kong, where do you think I should start?”

Kong Cheng De smiled and pointed towards a certain spot, “Here!”

Yang Kai raised his brow slightly, “Why here?” 

The location Kong Chen De pointed at was one of the auxiliary fronts, which surprised Yang Kai a little, as his original idea was to create some chaos on the main battlefield.

Kong Cheng De quickly explained, “Five Territory Lords are overseeing this front. With Sir’s lightning speed, you should be able to quickly kill one or two Territory Lords, and if you cooperate with the Eighth-Order Masters there, we may be able to kill all five of them.”