Martial Peak

Yu Zhen was ecstatic. If the Human Race achieved a sweeping victory in Profound Nether Territory, the good news was bound to improve the morale of the Armies on the other battlefields.

Wei Jung Yang shook his head and corrected with a bitter smile, “It was a costly victory.”

It could have been considered a sweeping victory if they had not lost two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, but they did, so the victory was no longer as sweet.

Yu Zhen paled when he heard this, “Did we lose an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master?”

Wei Jun Yang nodded morosely, “Two!”

Yu Zhen’s figure rocked ever so slightly.

Ever since the Human Race Army established the current frontline battlefields including Profound Nether Territory, they had only lost 10 Eighth-Order Masters in total.

Those 10 had been lost throughout the many decades of fighting.

However, two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had been sacrificed in just this one battle alone!

Regardless of how much the Human Race managed to achieve in return, it was still a costly victory.

It was not easy to become an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master. Those who did were the most talented cultivators among the Human Race, and yet it still took several millennia for one to reach such a height.

Far too many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters had died throughout the years of battle, so the surviving ones were now the Human Race’s pillars of strength.

Yet, two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters died in the battle in Profound Nether Territory.

Yu Zhen lowered his head and clenched his fists. His voice quavered as he said, “The two Sirs… need not have died. If we had only arrived sooner…”

Upon seeing that Yu Zhen blamed himself for this, Ou Yang Lie went forward and patted him on the shoulder, “Our two Brothers died honourably. You don’t need to let their deaths weigh too heavily on you. It wasn’t your fault.”

Although two Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were sacrificed in battle, they managed to gravely injure their opponents before they took their last breath. Dying on the battlefield was an honourable way for them to go.

Yu Zhen slowly shook his head before all of a sudden, he glared at the Divine Spirits with bloodshot eyes, “You were supposed to come here as reinforcements, but all of you kept causing undue delays. Your lack of urgency resulted in the death of two of the Profound Nether Army’s Eighth-Order Division Commanders. I will report this to the Supreme Headquarters and hope you can give a reasonable justification for your actions when the time comes.”

“What did you say?” Ou Yang Lie and the others were shocked to hear this.

Wei Jun Yang’s expression was grim, “Undue delays? What happened?”

When everyone heard Yu Zhen’s statement earlier, they thought he was merely blaming himself for the situation, but from the looks of it now, it seemed that something else must have happened.

All at once, the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters began staring at the Divine Spirits with sharp, piercing gazes.

An undue delay was not something to be taken lightly, and as the one who was tasked with overseeing these Divine Spirits, Yu Zhen’s words carried great weight.

If it was just as Yu Zhen had said and the Divine Spirits did hinder military operations, then it was a serious matter.

Wei Jun Yang and the others believed Yu Zhen’s words without any hesitation or doubt, and they had a good reason for this as the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary had done this in the past.

It happened during the first time they were sent to aid the Humans in battle. They took so long on the trip over that, by the time they arrived on the battlefield, the fighting was nearly over.

As no Human was keeping an eye on them at the time, there was no way of confirming whether or not the Divine Spirits had done this on purpose.

Due to that incident, there was now always a Human Race Master who accompanied the Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary whenever they were deployed as reinforcements.

Meanwhile, despite the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters’ gazes, the Divine Spirits were unperturbed. Some of them were on par with Eighth-Order Masters, so they were not afraid of Wei Jun Yang and the other Humans. Furthermore, the Human Race needed their strength. Even if the Human Race discovered anything in their investigations, they could not do anything about it.

The middle-aged man who was in the lead chuckled as he began releasing his Divine Spirit presence to its fullest. Wei Jun Yang and the others were fairly injured in the first place, and now, they became even paler.

He looked at Yu Zhen and retorted coolly, “Watch what you say, boy. Ever since we received the command, we have done our best to rush over as soon as possible. How did we cause any undue delays?”

The pressure from a Mature Divine Spirit was directed fully at Yu Zhen, and it made him feel as if he was being crushed under a mountain. He could barely keep himself upright, let alone speak.

Yu Zhen and the middle-aged man were an Order apart in terms of cultivation.

“What are you doing?” Wei Jun Yang fought back with an imposing presence of his own as he eyed that middle-aged man coldly, “Are you trying to start a revolt in front of the Army? See if I don’t cut your head off!”

The middle-aged man glanced at Wei Jun Yang before snorting, “As if you could!”

The two locked gazes as their imposing presence clashed, but it was clear that Wei Jun Yang was having a harder time as his complexion grew even paler.

The middle-aged man looked around before declaring, “You should be honoured that we Divine Spirits have come to help; however, not only did you not thank us, you even have the gall to spew such nonsense! Unbelievable! The losses you’ve suffered on the battlefield here have nothing to do with us, it’s all because of how useless you are! Even if we did arrive sooner, so what? If you’re useless, you’re useless. You should just die and move on to your next life instead of sticking around and embarrassing yourselves.”

Everyone immediately flew into an uproar.

Ou Yang Lie was on the verge of throwing fists, but he knew that he was in no shape to fight another battle right now, so he forced himself to hold back. Still, he roared in fury, “The Black Ink Clan has invaded the 3,000 Worlds. Both the Humans and the Divine Spirits have to fight together to survive! If we Humans are driven into extinction, do you think the Divine Spirits will be any better off?”

“Well, we’re here, aren’t we?” The middle-aged man smirked.

[We’re only a little late. It’s not a big deal. It’s not as if they lost Profound Nether Territory anyway. Just a bunch of ants whining incessantly.] He would have attacked them by now if it had not been for a few things he had to be wary of.

Yu Zhen spoke up from behind Wei Jun Yang, “Either way, I will report this to the Supreme Headquarters. They will decide what’s right and wrong!”

One of the Divine Spirits snorted, “Your Supreme Headquarters has no control over us. It’s up to us whether or not we’re willing to help the Human Race fend off their enemies.”

In other words, no one could do anything to them if they did not wish to fight.

The Humans were vexed to no end and the veins along Ou Yang Lie’s forehead were throbbing.

100 plus Divine Spirits came out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary, and quite a number of them were now as strong as Eighth-Order Masters. What’s more, within a few years, these Divine Spirits would only continue to grow stronger as even more of them regained their true strength.

With the way things were going for the Humans right now, no one wanted to offend a powerful group of allies. Even if this news reached the Supreme Headquarters, there was a high chance that nothing would come of it.

Many of the Divine Spirits were snickering, while the middle-aged man in the lead stared at the Humans haughtily.

He dared to behave this belligerently because he was certain that the Humans would not do anything to them, but suddenly, a cold voice sounded, “Even if those at the Supreme Headquarters can’t do anything, what about me?”

The Divine Spirits all froze when they heard this voice and their expressions changed as they swiftly turned towards the direction where the voice came from. They saw a familiar figure approaching.

The middle-aged man frowned, [Why is this little bastard here?]

He did not detect Yang Kai’s aura when he first arrived; however, upon closer inspection, he realised why that was.

Yang Kai was heavily injured and his aura was quite feeble. It was no surprise he had overlooked him when he was in such a state.

As Yang Kai came closer, the Divine Spirits’ expressions kept changing. It had been some 20 years since Yang Kai sent them out of the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary and delivered them to the Star Boundary, but during that time, they heard nothing from Yang Kai and no one knew where he went.ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ Noᴠelꜰɪre.nᴇt

There were only two individuals that these Divine Spirits feared, Fu Guang of the Dragon Clan, and Yang Kai.

The former was strong, so strong they could not afford to offend him. As for the latter… Well, they had sworn a Bloodline Oath with him that they had to abide by.

A group of Women were gathered beside Yang Kai, with Yu Ru Meng and the others looking on in concern. They knew how serious their Husband’s injuries were. He should be focusing on his recovery right now, so why was he running over here and involving himself in this mess?

That being said, it was not as if they could talk Yang Kai out of it, so they came along to protect him.

Soon, Yang Kai stood in front of the Divine Spirits as he eyed the middle-aged man frigidly.

The latter forced himself to smile as he cupped his fist and greeted, “Sir!”

The Divine Spirits quickly followed suit, regardless of whether or not they were doing so willingly.

After all, their Bloodline Oath was in place. They could leave the Great Ancient Ruins Boundary because they pledged their service and loyalty to Yang Kai for 3,000 years. After that, Yang Kai would grant them their freedom.

Since they had to serve Yang Kai, it meant that there was a clear hierarchy. The Divine Spirits were under Yang Kai’s command.

At the time, Yang Kai wanted them to acknowledge him as their Master, but the Divine Spirits were too proud. Even though he was of the Dragon Clan, the Divine Spirits were unwilling to bow their heads. They were only willing to pledge their loyalty and be of service to him for a fixed duration.

Yang Kai did not mind this as to him, there was no difference whether they merely pledged their loyalty or considered him their Master, as long as they helped the Human Race fight the Black Ink Clan.

At the time, Yang Kai assumed that these Divine Spirits from the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary would be a huge help to the Humans as a lot could be done with 100 Mature Divine Spirits.

He never thought it would lead to such aggravating matters instead.

As a result, he was beginning to regret bringing them out.

He witnessed this today, but what about all the things that happened without him knowing?

Yang Kai stared at the middle-aged man. He did not say anything, but he recognised that this was the Human Form of the Divine Spirit Tao Wu.

Tao Wu could be considered an Ominous Beast like Tao Tie and Qiong Qi. The ancestors of these Ominous Beasts had done things to harm the 3,000 Worlds in the past, so that was why the Old Tree caught them and kept them locked up inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary.

Most of the ancestors of the Divine Spirits inside the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary were those who had committed great evils. They were lawless and bloodthirsty, and although the crimes of the ancestors had nothing to do with the current generation, the Divine Spirits that Yang Kai had brought out had more or less inherited the callousness and brutality of their predecessors.

These Divine Spirits were completely different from those that came from the Ancestral Land and the No-Return Pass.

Yang Kai turned around and looked at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm Master who came with the Divine Spirits before nodding at him, “Greetings, Brother Yu!”

“You are…?” Yu Zhen queried doubtfully.

“Great Evolution’s… The Star Boundary’s Yang Kai!”

The Great Evolution Army had been dissolved and was now part of the Profound Nether Army, so he could not introduce himself by his previous title anymore.

“So it is Sir Yang!” Yu Zhen exclaimed in realization.

He had long since heard about the immensely talented Human from the Star Boundary who took less than 1,000 years to go from Fifth-Order to Eighth-Order. He initially thought it was just an exaggerated story, but upon seeing Yang Kai now, he realized that it was true after all.

[He’s really an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master now, though his injuries seem quite serious.]

Yu Zhen knew that Yang Kai had to be a lot younger than him, but he addressed Yang Kai respectfully anyway due to the latter’s higher cultivation.