Chapter 5785: There Is Still Hope
From the defence line, Xiang Shan and several people came over to help. There was no doubt that Xiang Shan was intelligent as he shared the same sentiment as Yang Kai. They had to quickly resolve the internal problems that the Humans faced, so they had to assist Yang Xiao.
After all, they needed Yang Xiao’s Purifying Light to catch all the hidden Black Ink Disciples.
The war intensified at that moment. Xiang Shan was the Core of a Six Paths Formation, which was exceptionally powerful. After an exchange of moves, they finally joined Yang Xiao’s Four Symbols Formation. They then entered the defence line together while the Black Ink Clan were unable to stop them.
The next moment, Yang Xiao roared as the Great Sun and Moon Marks on the back of his hands became increasingly bright. Copious amounts of Yellow and Blue Crystals were consumed in an instant before an eruption of Purifying Light spread out with him as the centre.
Wherever the white light went, Black Ink Strength dissipated as the light covered all the Human Race Masters and continued to expand. The two Eighth-Order Black Ink Disciples, who had attacked Xiang Shan moments ago, had been subdued and were presently unable to move a muscle. As they were shrouded in the Purifying Light, they started trembling as if struck by lightning. They howled in pain while Black Ink Strength left their bodies.
On the periphery, the Black Ink Clansmen had managed to shrink the Human defence line while the latter’s Battle Formations were in turmoil. Some parts of the defence line were about to break, but when the Purifying Light surged forth like a tidal wave, the Black Ink Clansmen had no choice but to retreat.
This kind of large-scale Purifying Light was no different from poison to the Black Ink Clan. Although they wouldn’t be killed, nobody wanted to see their powers significantly weakened.
The Human Race Masters seized the chance to counterattack and stabilize the defence line.
By the time the pure white light dissipated, the Humans had managed to fortify their defence line and all the Battle Formations were operating smoothly again.
As the Purifying Light swept out, no Human Race Masters showed signs of corruption. Apparently, the Black Ink Clan had only planted three Black Ink Disciples among them.
This wasn’t too surprising as it was still quite hard for the Black Ink Clan to turn Seventh-Order and Eighth-Order Masters into Black Ink Disciples.
As the Humans no longer had to worry about being betrayed by their teammates, they naturally focused on dealing with the enemies.
The use of the Purifying Light helped the Humans regain their composure as Yang Xiao’s eyes brightened as he guffawed, “So useful!”
He decided that if the defence line was falling apart again, he would condense another burst of Purifying Light and rush up towards the weak point. Although he couldn’t kill enemies with it, he could at least ensure that the defence line remained intact.
However, this kind of move required a lot of Yellow and Blue Crystals because it had to cover a vast area. His Yellow and Blue Crystals were given to him by Yang Kai back then, and he had consumed quite a number of them over the years; as such, he didn’t have many left. If he used this move two more times, he would run out of crystals.
Once that happened, he would lose the ability to force the Black Ink Clan to retreat, which might result in the defence line collapsing.
Therefore, if the Humans wanted to gain victory, they had to pin their hopes on Ou Yang Lie and Yang Xue. If these two Ninth-Order Masters could kill their opponents quickly, they could help the other Humans out.
Nevertheless, their opponents were Royal Lords. They might be able to defeat their enemies, but it would be hard for them to kill the Royal Lords. How were they supposed to help out?
Ou Yang Lie had apparently realised that as well, so he had been exerting himself even more while ignoring his injury in the hope that he could kill Xiao You quickly. Nevertheless, Xiao You had eight Territory Lords assisting him. Although Ou Yang Lie was madly wielding his strength, he couldn’t achieve his goal in a short time.
To make things worse, he had to spend some energy protecting Tian Xiu Zhu and his group as Meng Que, a Pseudo-Royal Lord, seemed determined to kill them.
A while ago, Tian Xiu Zhu led his Five Elements Formation to leave the defence line and sent two Eighth-Order Masters to lend Yang Kai a helping hand, which infuriated Meng Que. The other Pseudo-Royal Lords were doing fine while something went wrong in his place, so it was only natural that he was embarrassed.
Although he was shocked by Lin Wu’s betrayal and realised that it was Mo Na Ye’s arrangement all along, he knew nothing about it before then. If Mo Na Ye had told him earlier, Meng Que would have held back to allow Lin Wu out more easily.
At the end of the day, it seemed Mo Na Ye still had no regard for him, so he didn’t let him have a hand in such an important plan.
At that time, if Meng Que had managed to stop the Five Elements Formation, Mo Na Ye would’ve probably given him a heads-up.
All the same, everything was within Mo Na Ye’s control. Regardless of what happened, he would make sure that Lin Wu could approach Yang Kai and deal a heavy blow.
Meng Que was resentful. Initially, both of them were Pseudo-Royal Lords, but Mo Na Ye acquired an opportunity in the Universe Furnace World and became a true Royal Lord while Meng Que suffered a setback and became seriously injured.
As he was frustrated, he wasn’t willing to let Tian Xiu Zhu and his Five Elements Formation off. He was determined to kill these weakened Eighth-Order Masters to vent his rage.
The Humans seemed to be on the losing side as the war intensified.
The Black Ink Clan was much stronger when it came to the quantity of their Masters. The Humans had managed to hold on previously because they could see hope as Xiang Shan attempted to break through. They also had their Warships’ assistance.
Now, Xiang Shan’s breakthrough had failed, and after a long battle, the Warships were seriously damaged. Without the Warships’ protection, how were they supposed to fend off the Black Ink Clan’s bombardment?
It was only a matter of time before their lines broke and they were routed.
They also couldn’t pin their hope on the two Ninth-Order Masters as they were both occupied.
Everyone was frustrated, especially the two Eighth-Order Masters who had attacked Xiang Shan earlier. After the Black Ink Strength in their bodies was dispelled by the Purifying Light, they felt guilty and ashamed. As such, they struck with reckless abandon, hoping to kill more enemies even if they lost their lives in the process.
If they hadn’t made a move at the most critical moment, Xiang Shan would’ve become a Ninth-Order Master.
Their sneak attack didn’t only make the Human Race lose a Ninth-Order Master, but also put hundreds of Human Race Masters in peril.
Although no one blamed them, they couldn’t forgive themselves so easily.
They had heard their Seniors mention that after some Black Ink Disciples were saved, they would rather kill themselves out of guilt. They might have hurt other Humans or even killed their friends and relatives; however, those were only stories and not something they personally experienced.
It wasn’t until this moment that they realised how despairing it was. Sometimes, living was more painful than death.
As such, they were looking for a chance to die while taking out several powerful opponents. However, the Territory Lords were naturally vigilant, so these Eighth-Order Masters didn’t have a chance to do so.
They had almost gone mad because of their fury and self-blame.
“Calm down! There is still hope for all of us! Don’t go throwing your lives away just yet!” A voice was suddenly cut through the noise. The person must have realised their intentions, so he decided to persuade them.
Both of them were startled. Was there still hope for all of them? But they didn’t see it!
The person went on to say, “Don’t forget that my Adoptive Father isn’t dead yet. As long as he’s alive, there’s still hope! He’s best at creating miracles in the most despairing situations!”
It was only then did they realise who was speaking to them.
He was none other than Yang Xiao!
The Adoptive Father he talked about was Yang Kai.
Indeed, during their formative years, they had heard their Seniors talk about Yang Kai’s numerous achievements. They knew that he had done many incredible things and the Human Race managed to hang on despite having to deal with the mighty Black Ink Clan largely thanks to his efforts and victories.
He was so powerful that he could kill Territory Lords like they were chickens and dogs, and was even used to dealing with opponents that were more powerful than him. He had even escaped from the pursuit of Royal Lords.
It was also rumoured that he had killed a Royal Lord on his own.
Certainly, it was a strange rumour; after all, there was a huge gap in power between an Eighth-Order Master and a Royal Lord. No one would believe it without any verification.
He was undoubtedly a legend and all the younger generation cultivators hoped to be the next Yang Kai.
One of them was even touted as ‘Little Yang Kai’. Such a title was enough to make many new cultivators feel envious.
Apart from these inconceivable rumours, they had seen how Yang Kai managed to form an Eight Trigrams Formation to push back a true Royal Lord and even gain the upper hand, a shocking and amazing feat indeed.
An Eight Trigrams Formation of Eighth-Order Masters had only appeared once before that, and at that time, it only lasted for 20 breaths. However, the Eight Trigrams Formation led by Yang Kai this time lasted for over an hour. If not for the fact that Lin Wu was a hidden Black Ink Disciple, Yang Kai could’ve kept the Formation running for much longer.
However, was there really hope for all of them?
The Eight Trigrams Formation had shattered, and Yang Kai was heavily injured. He was unable to make it to the Ninth Order as the Eighth Order was the limit in his lifetime.
What else could he do in such a situation?
If Yang Xiao hadn’t mentioned Yang Kai, they would’ve forgotten about him. That was because regardless of what he did, he wouldn’t be able to turn things around now.
Instinctively, they turned to look at Yang Kai, after which they were astounded.
If they remembered correctly, Yang Kai was supposed to be badly wounded with a weekend aura; however, even though he wasn’t in peak condition at this moment, he wasn’t nearly as battered as they believed.
They were amazed by his restorative ability.
Presently, Yang Kai was hovering in the void with Fang Tian Ci and Thunder Shadow.
With the Space-Time River’s help, Yang Kai had mostly recovered; however, everyone seemed to have forgotten about him.
Only Lin Wu was looking at him warily at this moment.
Yang Kai was famous and powerful, after all. Although Lin Wu was resolute when launching a sneak attack earlier, he didn’t have the guts to fight Yang Kai head-on. Nevertheless, he couldn’t rashly have a hand in other battles. As such, he decided to stay there and keep an eye on Yang Kai.