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MARTIAL PEAK 5200

"Fifty thousand?" The eyes of an Eighth Order Garrison Chiefs twitched.

This number wasn't small. If each of these puppets could release an aura above the Fifth Order Open Heaven, when gathered together, their momentum would truly be unstoppable.

However, after refining so many puppets, the amount of resources consumed would definitely not be small. Moreover, if they were to activate these puppets, they would definitely need to place a large amount of energy sources into them.

Xiang Shan, this wastrel…

Many Eighth Order masters felt their hearts ache. The Human Race on the Ink Battlefield had only been living a good life for a short time, but now they were beginning to squander it. If these fifty thousand puppets could display their full potential, it would be fine, but if they couldn't, it would simply be a waste.

An Eighth Order Garrison Chief asked, "Since that puppet can use the aura of a Fifth Order Open Heaven cultivator, what about its strength?"

If it could also display the strength of a Fifth Order Open Heaven cultivator, just these fifty thousand puppets would be enough to cause trouble for the Black Ink Clan.

Yang Kai replied honestly, "This is the peculiarity of these puppets. Although the aura they exude isn't weak, it's actually not very useful. Moreover, because the refining process was rushed, the flaws are quite obvious. If you're far away, it won't be in any danger of being discovered, but if you're close enough, the Black Ink Clan will be able to see through you."

The Eighth Order masters were silent. It seemed that these puppets could not be counted on. At most, the East and West armies would use it as bait.

However, what use could this kind of bait have for Xiang Shan to refine so many?

As the Eighth Order asked this question, Mi Jinglun gently waved the feather fan in his hand, a thoughtful look appearing on his face as a strange light flashed across his eyes.

This was a sign that he was thinking hard.

The East and West Army was collecting supplies and clothes on the road and hastily refining puppets. It was obviously a spur of the moment decision, otherwise, they would have made preparations at Wind and Cloud Pass even before forming an army.

What had caused the East and West Army to make such a choice? It was impossible for things to change for no reason in this world, especially when this matter concerned the recovery of the Great Evolution Pass, so Xiang Shan naturally knew the severity of the matter.

What's more, there was an Old Ancestor-level master overseeing them in person there. If Xiang Shan couldn't convince the Old Ancestor, their original plan wouldn't change.

Mi Jinglun suddenly looked up at Yang Kai and asked, "Did you refine the puppet after encountering the Black Ink Clan's reinforcements or before?"

"After," Yang Kai replied, "Almost after defeating the Black Ink Clan's reinforcements, Regiment Commander Xiang Shan began to gather materials and refine puppets. Because of this, the army spent several days restoring itself."

The group of Eighth Order masters was speechless.

How many days had the East and West Army been recuperating?

It had to be known that the North and South Army had set out from Azure Void Pass and rushed all the way here, fearing that they would miss an opportunity. In comparison, the actions of the East and West Army were somewhat inconceivable.

It was just an army of three hundred thousand Black Ink Clan cultivators, and with an Old Ancestor overseeing it, and sixty Eighth Order mastersm they could easily wipe them out, so what need was there to recuperate?

Mi Jinglun nodded slightly, "I understand."

An Eighth Order who had a good relationship with Mi Jinglun asked, "Brother Mi, what do you understand?"

After listening to Yang Kai explain some things about the East and West Army on the road, these Eighth Order masters found it difficult to understand why Xiang Shan had changed his original plan, but Mi Jinglun said he understood.

Not to mention these Eighth Order masters, even Yang Kai, who came from the East and West Army, didn't understand what Xiang Shan was trying to do. He only knew that these puppets had some kind of special purpose.

Mi Jinglun smiled lightly, "Brother Xiang is trying to lure the snake out of its hole."

"What do you mean?" An Eighth Order asked humbly.

Mi Jinglun didn't explain immediately, instead turning to Yang Kai and asking, "If I'm not mistaken, when you were wiping out the three hundred thousand Black Ink Clan troops, did the East and West Army intentionally release a Territory Lord?"

Yang Kai shook his head, "Disciple doesn't know."

When the great battle began, he and the Dawn Squad had fought with all their might, not paying much attention to it.

"Then, in that battle, how many Territory Lords did the East and West Army kill?"

Yang Kai replied, "Nine! Disciple sensed nine Territory Lords' death."

"That's right, after so many years, in every battle, a Territory Lord can command a Subordinate Army of around thirty thousand. In an army of three hundred thousand, there should be ten Territory Lords. Since only nine of them have fallen, one of them must have escaped."

Yang Kai frowned in confusion. The Old Ancestor had personally watched over that battle, so if the Territory Lord had escaped, it was impossible for the Old Ancestor to not have noticed. In other words, as Mi Jinglun had said, the Territory Lord who had escaped was intentionally released by the Old Ancestor.

Now that he thought about it, at that time, the East and West Army had set up a sudden ambush, and their movements had been inadvertently discovered by the leading Black Ink Clan. As a result, some of the Black Ink Clan's forces had been unable to enter the encirclement and escaped.

There seemed to be a Territory Lord's ship left behind. At that time, Yang Kai had thought that the Territory Lrod on that ship had fallen, but now it seemed that the possibility of them escaping was very high.

The auras of the nine Territory Lords who had fallen were real.

Mi Jinglun continued, "Azure Void Pass, Wind and Cloud Pass, with all of these unforeseen events occurring, our Human Race's forces have greatly increased, and there is even a second Old Ancestor appearing on the Wind and Cloud Pass battlefield. This news cannot be hidden, it will surely spread throughout the entire Ink Battlefield as quickly as possible."

"If the Black Ink Clan's Royal Lord in the Great Evolution War Zone were to learn of this news, he would definitely become vigilant and suspect whether or not the Human Race would come to take back the Great Evolution Pass. However, this is only a guess, there is no way to verify it, unless the Human Race arrives at the foot of the city."

"However, the East and West armies intentionally let one of their Territory Lords go. Once this Territory Lord return to the Great Evolution Pass and report what happened to them, the Black Ink Clan Royal Lord's guess will have 70-80% chances of being true."

"My Great Evolution North and South Army's hiding place has been discovered by the Black Ink Clan several times, presumably because the Great Evolution Pass' Black Ink Clan was aware of this. As such, the matter of the Human Race recovering Great Evolution Pass is no secret to the Black Ink Clan."

The Eighth Order masters all listened quietly while Yang Kai also listened. From Mi Jinglun, Yang Kai was able to obtain the answers to all his doubts.

"If my guess is correct, the Black Ink Clan over at Great Evolution Pass is not only investigating the location of the North and South Army, but also trying to find out the location of the East and West Army. The area around Great Evolution Pass should be filled with Black Ink Clan scouts. Under these circumstances, the Black Ink Clan must deploy their forces in advance to prevent any unexpected accidents."

Speaking up to this point, Mi Jinglun's eyes flashed as he continued, "The current Great Evolution Pass may have already been set up to resist the enemy, so the Black Ink Clan's Royal Lord will definitely come to Great Evolution Pass personally to deal with my Human Race's Ninth Order."

"If that's the case, won't we lose this opportunity? How can we recover Great Evolution Pass?" An Eighth Order master frowned.

Mi Jinglun slowly shook his head, "Since the East and West armies want to alert the enemy, they naturally won't attack Great Evolution Pass, so they decided to change their original plan. Those puppets are enough to attract the attention of the Black Ink Clan for a long time, so taking advantage of this opportunity, the East and West armies can directly rush towards the Black Ink Clan's hinterland. Now that the Black Ink Clan has gathered a large force in the Great Evolution Pass, the hinterland must be quite empty. Without the Royal Lord holding down the fort, my Human Race's Old Ancestor can act without restraint. Moreover, if the battle on that side breaks out, once news of it spreads to Great Evolution Pass, the Black Ink Clan will definitely not be able to sit still and send out their forces from the Great Evolution Pass. At that time, as long as my North and South Army can find an opportunity, we will definitely be able to deal a heavy blow to the Black Ink Clan, allowing us to fight in the void and save all kinds of risks."

Suddenly thinking of something, his eyes lit up and he waved his hand, "Brilliant, Brother Xiang's talent is truly admirable. It turns out he has already seen so much."

"Brother Mi, your words are so unclear, it makes us all look like fools," An Eighth Order cultivator couldn't help complaining.

Many people chuckled.

Mi Jinglun also smiled slightly and said, "Let's put it this way. According to our original plan, the North and South Army and the East and West Army should have joined forces almost a month ago and attacked Great Evolution Pass. With Great Evolution Army's current strength and the absence of a Royal Lord, Great Evolution would have at most a few Territory Lords and subordinate forces, so it wouldn't be difficult to subdue them."

Everyone nodded.

Using a lightning strike to subdue Great Evolution Pass, this was the original plan of the higher ups. It didn't require much skill, just speed, and before the Black Ink Clan could react, they would capture Great Evolution Pass.

"After we recover Great Evolution Pass, we must use the power of Great Evolution Pass to resist the invasion of the Black Ink Clan's army. However, although the Great Evolution Army is strong and has more soldiers than any other mountain pass, after we take down Great Evolution Pass, our Human Race won't have much time to prepare inside the pass. When the Black Ink Clan's army comes to attack, the army won't be able to borrow much of Great Evolution's power, so we can only fight outside the pass. The Black Ink Clan's army has an endless supply of reinforcements, but our Human Race has come from far away and has no foundation to speak of. At that time, many people will die, and the worst case scenario is that Great Evolution Pass will once again be taken away by the Black Ink Clan while we are powerless to do anything."

Hearing this, many Eighth Order masters wore solemn expressions.

"But if we act according to Brother Xiang's plan, things will be different," Mi Jinglun said excitedly, "The East and West Army will rush into the hinterland of the Black Ink Clan and try to wipe out as many of their forces as possible. My North and South Army will hold back the Black Ink Clan from Great Evolution Pass. If they don't come out, it'll be fine, but if they dare to come out, we can find a way to bite off their flesh and blood and weaken their strength. If this continues, the Black Ink Clan will one day be overwhelmed. At that time, if the Black Ink Clan doesn't have enough forces, we'll be able to seize Great Evolution Pass and have enough time to recuperate and deploy our forces. After we gain a firm foothold in Great Evolution Pass, how can we fear a mere Black Ink Clan!"

With this explanation, everyone suddenly understood.

Originally, they had been somewhat dissatisfied with the East and West Army changing their original plan, but now it seemed that it was much better than the original plan.

To put it simply, Xiang Shan's plan was to ignore Great Evolution Pass for now, but no matter what, in the end, his goal was to take back Great Evolution Pass. The long term plans he had made were indeed extraordinary, and this was also why Mi Jinglun said his plan was excellent.

With a better plan in place, the North and South Army would naturally cooperate.

After pondering for a while, Mi Jinglun suddenly asked, "Yang Kai, how much time did you spend on the journey from the East and West Army's side?"

"About twenty days," Yang Kai replied.

TO BE CONTINUED