Martial Peak

Chapter 5831: Explosion

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Zuo Qiu Yang Hua came from Profound Sword Paradise and entered the Black Ink Battlefield when he was a Sixth-Order Master. After spending over 10,000 years serving at Profound Sword Pass, he went from being a Sixth-Order Master to an Eighth-Order Master, and also exhibited a talent in strategy and command that surpassed his peers.

When the Profound Sword Pass was still in existence, he served as Eastern Army Commander. Later on, the Human Crusade to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction ended in defeat and the Army was forced to retreat. Profound Sword Pass had stayed back to delay the enemy, but the Black Ink Giant Spirit God attacked them viciously. In the end, Profound Sword Paradise’s Ninth-Order Old Ancestor died in that battle.

Zuo Qiu Yang Hua had been fortunate enough to escape with his life. With the help of others, he was able to stay alive and retreat to No-Return Pass. Later on, the No-Return Pass had been lost as well and war broke out in the Barren Territory as the Black Ink Clan invaded the 3,000 Worlds.

Thus, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua could be considered an extremely experienced Eighth-Order Master. Not many Eighth-Order Masters had a longer service record than him.

No one could object to him being in charge of the Red Flame Army’s Eastern Army and by default the Army Commander of the entire Red Flame Army.

Throughout all these years, he did not let the Human Race down. Under his leadership, the Red Flame Army had slaughtered countless enemies and gained a massive amount of Military Merits; however, now that two Pseudo-Royal Lords had their eyes on him, he knew he would not be getting lucky this time. The many millennia of fighting had made him intimately familiar with matters of life and death. Thus, now that his predestined time was upon him, he was neither fearful nor frantic. His heart was at peace, though he did have some regrets; after all, he had spent nearly all of his life engaged in the war against the Black Ink Clan, but he would not have the chance to witness the Human Race’s ultimate victory.

It was not to say that he did not see this day coming. As an Army Commander, he had already planned for a situation such as this beforehand. He knew that sooner or later, the Black Ink Clan would rely on the strength of their Pseudo-Royal Lords to execute the strategy they were currently using, so he prepared for it in advance.

Operation Jade was the counter he created for such a situation.

If a powerful enemy came to strike him down and he had no chance of victory, he was going to take them down with him!

The Pseudo-Royal Lords were picking up speed and closing the distance as a powerful aura locked onto Zuo Qiu Yang Hua. As he stood unmoving, he declared, “Brothers, Sister, it has been my honour to fight shoulder-to-shoulder with you today. After today, we will join hands and conquer the afterlife next!”

One of the Eighth-Order Masters chuckled, “That’s the way it should be!”

“It’s a shame we won’t be around to witness the end of this war,” another one remarked.

Another voice rang out, saying, “The time to kill has come!”

The Eighth-Order Masters who remained behind had known from the start that they were most likely headed for their doom, but none of them felt any fear. On the contrary, when faced with such enormous pressure, their thirst for battle intensified.

Zuo Qiu Yang Hua’s typically calm face broke out into a wide grin as he exclaimed, “In that case… charge!”

As he spoke, the Eighth-Order Masters channeled their World Force into the arrays, and in the very next breath, the massive Purifying Black Ink Battleship which had been quietly floating shook before shooting forward in a flash.

The two Pseudo-Royal Lords who were charging over had been completely calm at first, but they were startled when they saw what was happening.

Though they knew full well just how stubborn and full of resolve the Humans were, they were taken aback by such an aggressive response despite the obvious power differential.

Hu Yu, the larger of the two with a pair of wings growing out behind him, coldly snorted, “Overconfidence.”

He had seen similar situations many times. When confronted with a significant disparity in power, the Humans would usually react more aggressively, though that choice tended to be driven by unrealistic fantasies.

If he was still merely an Innate Territory Lord, he would have to dodge situations like these; however, ever since he became a Pseudo-Royal Lord, there were few Human Race Masters that required him to proceed with caution.

Jiang Chi, who was charging along beside him, warned, “Don’t let your guard down!”

Despite saying so, they did not slow their pace. They had brought some Territory Lords along with them, but they had all stopped to block the Eighth-Order Masters who came to intercept them, so right now, it was just the two Pseudo-Royal Lords who were fearlessly rushing straight towards the Purifying Black Ink Battleship with nothing but their mighty power to back them up.

From a distance, the large artifacts that had been installed into the Purifying Black Ink Battleship began unleashing their power under the control of the remaining Eighth-Order Masters. However, these artifacts were only standard issue, so even though they were strengthened by Spirit Arrays and powered by Eighth-Order Masters, it was hard for these attacks to wound the two Pseudo-Royal Lords.

The two Pseudo-Royal Lords dodged or deflected the formidable attacks as they drew nearer to the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

Once the gap had shrunk to a critical point, Jiang Chi and Hu Yu both unleashed their powers at the same time. A wave of intense Black Ink Strength coursed through the void towards the Purifying Black Ink Battleship.

A dazzling light barrier lit up and shielded the Purifying Black Ink Battleship as Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others used the Defensive Array to block the attacks.

The neverending stream of Black Ink Strength kept colliding against the Defensive Array, making it ripple violently. The Defensive Array was under constant strain and its light quickly faded.

Before the Pseudo-Royal Lords entered close quarters, the powerful shield had already been breached.

This was not because the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s Defensive Array was weak by any means; however, there were not enough Masters on board the Purifying Black Ink Battleship right now. Only a pair of Eighth-Order Masters were maintaining the Array, so it was hard for it to display its full strength.

If there had been sufficient Masters to keep the Purifying Black Ink Battleship’s Defensive Array up, then even though it would not be able to withstand the relentless attacks from two Pseudo-Royal Lords for long, it would not have broken this quickly either.

Without the protection of the Defensive Array, the Purifying Black Ink Battleship was akin to a Human who had been stripped naked of all defences and stood unprotected in front of two menacing Pseudo-Royal Lords.

As the overwhelming attacks rained down on the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, its bow shattered and many artifacts were destroyed.

The remaining Eighth-Order Masters had no choice but to assume Battle Formations to defend themselves, but with only a handful of Eighth-Order Masters, it wasn’t enough to fend off two Pseudo-Royal Lords.

Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others were caught in a hopeless situation!

Jiang Chi and Hu Yu grinned as they lunged towards the Humans.

Just then, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua’s gaze hardened. He was squeezing an Array Jade in his hand as he channelled a huge amount of energy into it.

In the next instant, the tattered Purifying Black Ink Battleship broke apart and the Eighth-Order Masters could barely keep their Formation as a shockwave burst forth.

The taunting looks on the two approaching Pseudo-Royal Lords’ faces had disappeared, only to be replaced by alarm and terror.

Jiang Chi’s eyes grew large while Hu Yu’s expression rapidly shifted.

As the Purifying Black Ink Battleship exploded, a pure, dazzling white light burst into existence. It was as if a Great Sun had exploded and its light scattered across the enormous void.

“Purifying Light!” Jiang Chi snarled, not hesitating for even a moment as both he and Hu Yu swiftly retreated.

This was the exact moment Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others were waiting for, so they were not about to let the Pseudo-Royal Lords back away so easily. They were still in their Battle Formation and began casting Secret Techniques towards Jiang Chi.

These Secret Techniques were not particularly damaging, but they had one thing in common, which was the ability to restrain one’s opponent.

The Eighth-Order Masters did not think they would truly be able to pin down a powerful Pseudo-Royal Lord, their goal was only to delay him as long as possible.

Their efforts paid off; due to the effects of the Secret Techniques, Jiang Chi’s figure grew sluggish and the burst of Purifying Light was able to engulf him. At the very next moment, Jiang Chi’s furious, anguished cries escaped from the depths of the dazzling white light.

Hu Yu was more fortunate as Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others did not target him, but even so, he still suffered during the explosion of Purifying Light too. Although he had only been surrounded by the light for a brief moment, he was still in agony as he felt as if his body was on fire.

Once he stumbled out of the area that was covered in Purifying Light, he turned back with a look of lingering fear.

The Black Ink Clan naturally knew about the large amounts of Purifying Light that were sealed inside the Purifying Black Ink Battleships. Over the years, many Humans had fallen into the hands of the Black Ink Clan and were turned into Black Ink Disciples; thus, the Black Ink Clan had a fairly good understanding of their enemy.

The Humans also had artifacts known as Evil Purging Divine Spears that contained Purifying Light and were used to defeat powerful Black Ink Clansmen.

However, the Humans had never used the Purifying Light inside a Purifying Black Ink Battleship to directly attack the Black Ink Clan before; therefore, the latter had no idea that the Humans could utilize such a strategy.

It cost a great deal to create a Purifying Black Ink Battleship, and out on the battlefields, they were generally command ships where the leaders of the Human Race Armies gathered to strategize. Throughout all the battles, as long as the Humans were not completely routed, the Purifying Black Ink Battleships were never destroyed.

But, today, Hu Yu witnessed something new.

When the huge amount of Purifying Light exploded out of the Purifying Black Ink Battleship, even a Pseudo-Royal Lord like him had great difficulty in confronting it head-on.

[How is Jiang Chi … He can’t be dead, right?]

Amid such thoughts, the dazzling light gradually faded away, and Jiang Chi’s silhouette reappeared. When Hu Yu spotted him, his heart dropped.

Jiang Chi was in a terrible state right now as Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the other Eighth-Order Masters were attacking him with such ferocity that black blood was constantly splashing. Hu Yu could sense that Jiang Chi’s aura was greatly weakened.

[He’s severely injured!] With wounds as grave as this, Jiang Chi would have to return to a Black Ink Nest to recuperate for at least 100 years.

Hu Yu could not help but feel relieved for his good fortune. [Thank goodness they didn’t target me.] He knew that if they did, he would not have fared any better than Jiang Chi.

At this moment, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others were going all out. Two Pseudo-Royal Lords had come to attack them and one of them was now severely injured by Purifying Light. It was the perfect opportunity for the Humans to double down on the offensive. If they could not kill off this injured Pseudo-Royal Lord quickly enough, they would be out of their depth once the other returned to render aid.

With this in mind, Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others did not hold back at all. Paying no mind to defence, they went all out to unleash their most devastating Secret Techniques and Divine Abilities, even though it meant that they would be injured in the process too.

Jiang Chi was battered by the relentless attacks and suddenly found himself in an extremely dangerous situation.

Fortunately for him, Hu Yu soon came to his rescue and shouldered the brunt of the attacks.

The two Pseudo-Royal Lords came over to kill Zuo Qiu Yang Hua, and even though they had carelessly suffered in the process, Hu Yu was not about to abandon Jiang Chi and flee on his own.

The Purifying Black Ink Battleship had exploded, so the Humans no longer had any means of defending themselves against them.

With Hu Yu joining the fight, the pressure that Zuo Qiu Yang Hua and the others faced increased manifold and all of the Eighth-Order Masters knew that their battle had been lost. They did not manage to kill Jiang Chi in time, so they no longer stood a fighting chance.

However, this only made them even more determined to fight to the bitter end. Initially, even with their combined strength, they would have only been able to hold their own against a single Pseudo-Royal Lord. Right now, Jiang Chi was not in peak condition, and while Hu Yu was relatively unscathed, the fight was still intense between both parties. 

That being said, both sides knew what the outcome would be; the Humans were destined to die. This was just their final desperate show of resistance, with them being too injured to even use those mutually destructive Secret Techniques again.

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