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MARTIAL PEAK 5386

Moreover, they could also sense that the World Force in the Small Universe was extremely pure, not something an ordinary Seventh Order cultivator could possess.

This was probably the effect of the World Tree Subtree, which had the ability to refine World Force.

This was also the reason why Yang Kai's Small Universe's physique was different from other Seventh Order cultivators, allowing him to suppress his peers in terms of combat strength.

The purer the World Force, the more powerful it would be.

Although they were somewhat envious, no one was jealous.

The World Tree Subtree was a good thing, but only with Yang Kai could it display its greatest effect.

Even if the other Eighth Order Cultivators could obtain it, they would only be able to increase their strength a little, unlike Yang Kai, whose Small Universe World's time flow was different from the outside world and could amplify the effects of the Subtree to the limit.

Eighth and Ninth Order were the pillars of the Human Race, but Seventh Order masters like Yang Kai were the future hope of the Human Race.

So that day at Blue Sky Pass, when Yang Kai obtained the World Tree Subtree, Ding Yao and the others didn't take it, instead allowing him to keep it.

The Old Ancestor's face was still pale. Even though she had been recuperating here and had been nourished by the Soul Warming Lotus, it was not easy for her Soul to recover.

However, compared to when she had just returned from the Ink Nest Space, her situation was much better.

At this moment, Smiles Old Ancestor was telling Xiang Shan and the others about what had happened in the Ink Nest Space that day, causing the expressions of the four Regiment Commanders to become solemn.

Although they had received a lot of information from other mountain passes, it was nowhere near as detailed as what Smiles Old Ancestor had described.

22 Ninth Order Human Race masters had entered the Ink Nest together to gather intelligence, but as soon as they entered, they were ambushed by fifty of the Black Ink Clan's Royal Lords.

In that earth-shattering battle, whether it was the Ninth Order Human Race or the Black Ink Clan's Royal Lord, neither of them had held back in the slightest. In the end, four of the Royal Lords had died while two of the Ninth Order had self-destructed!

In just a few dozen breaths of time, six Supreme Cultivators of the two races had died in total.

"The Human Race deliberately left behind 22 Royal Lord Ink Nests. The Black Ink Clan must have guessed the Human Race's intention to enter the Ink Nest's space, so they set up an ambush there in advance," Smiles Old Ancestor gasped.

Xiang Shan frowned and said, "According to the previous battle report, the Royal Lord of Yin Yang Pass fled, did the Old Ancestor sense his aura in the Ink Nest Space?"

Over a hundred human war zones had been pacified, but not all of the Royal Lord had been killed. Half of them had been killed while the other half had escaped.

Now, no one knew where they were hiding.

The Royal Lord of Yin Yang Pass had not died.

Yin Yang Pass was the place where Smiles Old Ancestor presided and fought with the Royal Lord for tens of thousands of years.

However, after the Yin Yang Pass' Southern Army Regiment Commander Wu Qing had broken through to the Ninth Order, Smiles Old Ancestor had come to the Great Evolution. As for Yin Yang Pass, Wu Qing was now in charge.

After all, he was a newly-advanced Ninth Order, and among the Ninth Order cultivators, his strength wasn't too strong. Against the old Royal Lord, he didn't have the ability to kill him, so in the battle of the Yin Yang War Zone, the Royal Lord was no match for Wu Qing and several other Eighth Order cultivators who had joined forces and fled into the void.

The reason Xiang Shan asked this question was because he suspected that the Royal Lords who had been lying in ambush in the Ink Nest Space were the ones who had escaped from the various war zones.

Smiles Old Ancestor shook her head, "I didn't sense his aura."

Xiang Shan's expression became solemn, "That's a serious problem… I've also sent a message to the Old Ancestors who participated in the previous battle, asking them if they felt any familiar auras from the Royal Lord."

In other words, none of the previous fifty Royal Lord were familiar with any of the Old Ancestors.

Smiles Old Ancestor said, "Those Royal Lords are all unfamiliar faces! Although they have a lot of strength, their usage of it is quite obscure and they don't have much experience fighting with others."

Although the battle had only lasted for a few dozen breaths of time, Smiles Old Ancestor was naturally able to detect some clues.

At that time, she had been busy fighting and fleeing for her life, so she didn't have time to pay attention to these things. Now that she thought about it, she was filled with doubts.

She knew what Xiang Shan meant.

Fifty Royal Lords who had never appeared before, together with the ones who had fled from the various war zones, there were a hundred of them!

What kind of terrifying power was this?

What was even more incredible was that an expert at the level of a Royal Lord didn't have much experience fighting with others! It was as if their strength had been painstakingly cultivated and had never been tempered by battle.

But the truth was that if it weren't for the fact that these Royal Lord lacked combat experience, the Human Race wouldn't have been able to stabilize their position so quickly.

Putting everything else aside, if they had focused their forces on one or two Ninth Order masters at the beginning, it would have been enough to kill them in a short time.

However, they didn't do so. Instead, they all circulated their Souls to attack.

This kind of fighting method was too stupid.

"Moreover, I suspect… the hidden forces of the Black Ink Clan are not limited to what we see," Smiles Old Ancestor frowned slightly.

Liu Zhiping whispered, "There is more?"

A hundred Royal Lords was already quite troublesome to deal with. If there were more, how could the problem of the Black Ink Clan be resolved?

"The Black Ink Clan also has a plan. The Ink Nest's space isn't unbreakable, with fifty Royal Lords and more than twenty Ninth Order Human Race masters' Souls sweeping through it, it should be the limit the space can withstand. Any more and the space will become unstable."

It was precisely because the Black Ink Clan had calculated the limits of the Ink Nest Space that Bright King Heaven's Ninth Order Soul self-destruct had broken this limit, tearing a crack in the Ink Nest Space.

Most likely, even the Black Ink Clan hadn't expected a human master to be so decisive.

Mi Jinglun understood and said, "So the Black Ink Clan doesn't only have fifty hidden Royal Lord, they can only send fifty to deal with the Old Ancestors."

Ouyang Lie smacked his lips, "This is not good news."

"If there's bad news… there's also a good news." Smiles Old Ancestor's expression suddenly became a bit strange, a flash of recollection appearing in her eyes as she muttered, "We shouldn't be fighting alone!"

"What does Old Ancestor mean?" Liu Zhiping asked in confusion.

Smiles Old Ancestor said, "In fact, from the end of that battle until now, the protective barrier of the Soul Warming Lotus had been broken. All of us were determined to die and were prepared to drag some of the Royal Lords down with us, but at that critical moment, the sealed Ink Nest's space once again cracked open…"

Mi Jinglun said, "The power released by both sides is too strong, exceeding the limits of the Ink Nest's space?"

Smiles Old Ancestor shook her head, "That gap was opened from the outside."

Hearing this, everyone was stunned.

A gap that had been opened from the outside had saved the lives of twenty Old Ancestors at the critical moment!

Who opened it?

How did he open it?

No one knew.

However, this was also why Smiles Old Ancestor had said that the Human Race might not be fighting alone.

The final crack had opened too suddenly. If it had opened any later, the Ninth Order Human Race would have suffered heavy casualties.

What surprised Smiles Old Ancestor even more was that, through the crack, she could vaguely make out a giant hand as clear as jade!

Unfortunately, because the force at that time was too chaotic and the time was too short, she was unable to see clearly.

The only thing they were certain of was that this giant hand was the source of the Ink Nest Space opening. Without this giant hand, they would have no way to escape.

"Interesting…" Xiang Shan suddenly smiled, a strange light flashing across his eyes, "In this world, besides the various war zones, there are actually forces that are suppressing the Black Ink Clan!"

Mi Jinglun lowered his eyes, "Is this power an enemy or a friend?"

Ouyang Lie looked at him as if he was looking at a fool, "To be able to help the Old Ancestors escape, isn't that obvious?"

Mi Jinglun smiled lightly and shook his head, "Who knows? If their stance was clear enough, why didn't they contact the various war zones in advance? Why did they have to act at the last moment? Is there some kind of limitation to their strength, or is it intentional?"

Ouyang Lie blinked, "Are you thinking too much?"

It annoyed him that Big Head Mi was thinking of all kinds of complicated problems. In life, couldn't it be simpler?

Mi Jinglun shook his head solemnly, "It's not that I want to think too much, it's just that I really can't help but to do so. According to the Old Ancestor, if that power can break open the Ink Nest's space from the outside, it means that he is even stronger than the Old Ancestors!"

Ouyang Lie cried out involuntarily.

The Old Ancestors were Ninth Order Supreme Cultivators, the strongest combat power in this world. Who could be stronger than them?

If such a person was a friend, it would be a blessing to the Human Race, but if he was an enemy, he would be even more difficult to deal with than the Black Ink Clan. At the very least, the Human Race had a thorough understanding of the Black Ink Clan, but they knew nothing about their hidden strength.

As the saying goes, it is easier to dodge a spear in the open than to defend against an arrow in the dark.

Xiang Shan looked towards Smiles Old Ancestor and respectfully asked, "Old Ancestor, our cultivators, is Ninth Order the limit? Is it possible for us to advance further?"

As soon as he asked this question, even Yang Kai, who had been idling nearby, pricked up his ears.

Whether there was a higher realm above the Ninth Order, no one knew. In this world, perhaps only the Ninth Order Old Ancestors could see it.

It was said that there was no peak in the Martial Dao, was there really no such thing?

But judging from the current situation of the Human Race, a Ninth Order Cultivator was the pinnacle.

Smiles Old Ancestor fell silent for a moment before replying, "The cultivation of Open Heaven mainly focuses on the Small Universe. If Small Universe's physique increased, the rank will increase. First Order is the foundation, and Ninth Order is the peak! Whether there is a higher realm above the Ninth Order is something we have been searching for. I don't know about other people's conditions, but when my cultivation reaches this level, my Small Universe's physique has reached its limit, so there is no way to improve it."

In other words, Ninth Order was Smiles Old Ancestor's limit.

As for the other Ninth Order Human Race masters, it was difficult for her to judge.

However, for so many years, the Human Race had never produced an existence that surpassed the Ninth Order, nor had anyone ever displayed a power that surpassed the Ninth Order.

Saying so, Smiles Old Ancestor continued, "Moreover, we don't know what level the power that helped us escape was. The situation at that time was too chaotic and we couldn't perceive it at all, but even if that power was stronger than us, it might not have surpassed the Ninth Order."

Cultivating all her life, the concept of a Ninth Order Supreme Cultivator was deeply rooted in her heart. If someone suddenly told her that there was a higher realm in this world than a Ninth Order, even Smiles Old Ancestor wouldn't easily believe it.

When one's strength and experience reached her level, they would always have their own judgment.

TO BE CONTINUED