Since 600 men formed one Division, 6,000 soldiers would have to be divided into 10 Divisions. Mi Jing Lun quickly called out the names of the 10 and each of them received their orders!
Among these 10 Divisions, only 5,000 were combatants with the remaining 1,000 taking care of logistics such as maintaining the Suppressing Black Ink Army’s Spirit Arrays, artifacts, and even medical treatment.
These soldiers were no less important and those who fought on the frontlines, but were also at least in the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm. Even though these support personnel were not good at fighting, in a critical moment, they were also able to contribute to the battle. It was just that they were less powerful than those who spent their time on the battlefield.
After appointing the 10 Division Commanders, Mi Jing Lun took a step backwards, turned to Yang Kai, and left the rest to him.
Yang Kai nodded, looked down, and asked, “Does anyone have any questions? If not, we will proceed.”
Everyone fell silent, except Yang Xiao, who raised his hand high.
“Go ahead!” Yang Kai glanced at this brat.
Yang Xiao cupped his fist and asked, “Sir, may I ask which Senior is the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army? Surely there would be an Army Commander, right?”
His question immediately piqued everyone’s curiosity. They were equally curious as commanding such a big and powerful Army was a heavy responsibility; however, Mi Jing Lun only appointed 10 Division Commanders, but did not even mention anything about an Army Commander.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army must also have an Army Commander who was very strong and highly respected, otherwise the soldiers would not be able to fight effectively in the coming brutal war.
The makeup of the Suppressing Black Ink Army was exceptionally strong, with many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, not to mention the dozens of Divine Spirits who appeared like they were going along with the Army. Thus, the Army Commander could not be a regular person.
Among the current Humans, there were only two or three people who were qualified to serve as the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army. Xiang Shan was one, Yang Kai was the other… while other Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters were nowhere near their capabilities.
Yang Kai grinned and said to the curious soldiers, “There is naturally an Army Commander, but that Senior is already standing by at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction. Be patient, you will soon know who he is.”
His reply immediately sparked speculations. With Yang Kai’s status, there were very few who deserved to be addressed as ‘Senior’ by him. Thus, although it was just a simple reply, many quickly guessed the identity of the Army Commander of the Suppressing Black Ink Army.
If it was who they thought it was… his suitability was truly indisputable.
“Any more questions?” Yang Kai asked one more time.
No one asked.
Yang Kai nodded his head and ordered, “Division Commanders, perform roll-call and then assemble your Squads. You have one stick of incense to deal with this!”
“Yes, Sir!” The 10 Division Commanders shouted in unison.
Soon, the area became rowdy and chaotic as Commanders called out to their troops and organized them into Squads. Everyone knew what was happening and started to move to their respective Divisions as their names were called.
Moments later, the 6,000 soldiers were orderly divided into 10 Divisions. Each Division Commander started to assign members to Squads according to the information provided to them in their jade books.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army did not have Battalions, instead choosing to form the Division of Squads from the start. Each Division had 600 troops, and each Squad had a standard 15 members, that meant that there were 40 squads in each Division. The Squad Leaders were all Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters.
In other words, although the Suppressing Black Ink Army only had 6,000 men, there were 400 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters among them!
When the Great Evolution Army was formed, it had a grand total of 120 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters; however, how many ordinary soldiers did the Great Evolution Army have back then? A full 60,000, 10 times more than the Suppressing Black Ink Army!”
Although the Human Race was now facing an existential crisis, its heritage was actually several times stronger than back then, especially in terms of the number of Mid and High-Rank Open Heaven Realm Masters.
All this was naturally due to the Star Boundary, the Myriad Monsters World, and Yang Kai Small Universe. Setting the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World aside, just Yang Kai’s Small Universe alone had brought out almost 10,000 people over the years, all of them directly advanced to the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Orders.
And this was with Yang Kai being extremely selective of who was brought out of his Small Universe. The situation was entirely different for the Star Boundary and the Myriad Monsters World which had population bases hundreds of times larger. Together with the influence of the World Tree Clones which could nurture one’s talent and guide them in the Martial Dao, as long as one wasn’t completely hopeless in cultivation, anyone from the Star Boundary could break through to the Fourth Order. There was now no one who directly advanced to the Third Order at all.
Anyone who directly advanced to the Fourth Order had a chance to reach the Sixth Order in the future as long as they had sufficient resources. It could be said that, in time, there would no longer be any Low-Rank Open Heaven Masters in the 3,000 Worlds.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was the elite of the elites, brought together from every battlefield by the Supreme Headquarters with great care and effort.
The Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, manned by the Suppressing Black Ink Army of 6,000, was much more powerful than the original Great Evolution Army from back then.
Under Su Yan’s command, Yu Ru Meng and the others were assigned as Squad Leaders, while Yang Xiao assigned Zhao Ye Bai and the others as Squad Leaders.
While the Suppressing Black Ink Army was organizing itself, Yang Kai had already connected with the World Tree and communicated with it.
He planned to use the power of the World Tree to travel through the Void and directly reach the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, which would not only be incredibly convenient but also save a massive amount of time.
3,000 years ago, when he sent Wu Kuang to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction, Yang Kai deliberately left a sealed Universe World nearby so that he could go to the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction at any time and from anywhere.
However, after communicating with the Old Tree, Yang Kai realized that its current state was not optimistic…
The World Tree was greatly affected by the destruction of the Universe Worlds of the 3,000 Worlds, so the vast majority of its World Fruits had withered and fallen, making the entire tree look old and sickly.
To move outsiders from the 3,000 Worlds to the Grand Ancient Ruins Boundary required the Old Tree to expend its energy. It was not a big problem for just Yang Kai and maybe one or two others to do this as the expenditure was minor; however, trying to move 400 Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters was simply not feasible for the current World Tree and would quite likely be harmful.
Upon realizing this, Yang Kai felt disappointed with himself for not thinking about this before.
The Old Tree had once helped Yang Kai move 10,000 refugees from Acacia Territory and in the process suffered some damage. It was only now that Yang Kai recalled that event and realized how naïve he had just been.
There was no way for Yang Kai to borrow the Old Tree’s strength for this endeavour, so Yang Kai could only adjust his plan. It was a good thing that there were other means of getting to the Black Ink Battlefield.
There were two other ways to get to the Black Ink Battlefield.
First, head to the Shattered Heaven, enter the Barren Territory, and then step into the Black Ink Battlefield.
This path unfortunately led to needing to pass through the No-Return Pass, which would attract retaliation from the Royal Lord.
If they did not go via this main route, then they would have to take the secret passageway in Black Territory.
However, there were also problems with this second plan as the secret passage was a highly dangerous Void Corridor. It was harmless for Yang Kai to go through this Void Corridor alone, and even taking several people with him should be alright; however, 400 Eighth-Order Masters all at once…
Yang Kai would have to monitor and control all 400 at once; after all, in order for him to avoid the Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters getting lost in the Void, he would also need to use Space Principles to keep them together. Even for Zhao Ye Bai and the others who practised the Dao of Space, their safety was not guaranteed.
Thinking it over, it seemed they could only travel via the No-Return Pass…
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe Black Ink Clan at the No-Return Pass had just suffered quite a big loss at Yang Kai’s hands recently and would not dare to make things difficult for him again; furthermore, they were just passing through.
Yang Kai thus made up his mind.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army had already finished their organization and had lined up quietly to await his next orders.
Yang Kai scanned the troops and was satisfied. They were worthy of being the elites drawn from the major battlefields.
He then shouted, “All Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters, open your Small Universes and take in the soldiers of your respective Squads.”
All the Eighth Orders received the order, and the aura of World Force instantly surged as portals to their Small Universes were opened. Those in the Seventh Order and below soon poured inside.
An Eighth-Order Master’s Small Universe was large enough to accommodate a Squad of 15 people; however, it would undoubtedly affect the utilization of their strength.
In an instant, there were only around 400 Eighth-Order Masters left out of the original 6,000 soldiers.
If possible, Yang Kai would rather take these Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters into his Small Universe; however, he was only an Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Master, and although his Small Universe was different from normal, it was difficult to break the shackles and take in other Eighth-Order Masters.
Regardless, he needed to reach the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm as soon as possible; otherwise, travelling around would be extremely troublesome.
He could ask Luo Ting He, who was not too far away, for help. However, she had just reached the Ninth-Order Open Heaven Realm and could not accommodate so many Eighth-Order Open Heaven Realm Masters. Furthermore, she was one of the hidden trump cards of the Human Race and it was not the time to reveal her existence.
Next, Mi Jing Lun presided over the dispersion of the unrelated people. There were a number of those who were involved in building the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress. The Artifact Refiners and Array Masters numbered quite a lot. Only a small number of them went with the Army while the rest returned to the major Armies on the various battlefields.
After they left, the 400 Eighth-Orders, as well as the various Divine Spirits, all rose into the air, and Yang Kai was the only one left on the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress.
Even Mi Jing Lun was nervous as numerous pairs of eyes watched curiously.
The Suppressing Black Ink Army was a mighty army with the finest of arms and a lot of elite soldiers, so naturally the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, which took 1,000 years and countless materials to build, must also be taken with them. This was the foundation of the Suppressing Black Ink Army, and the weapon they would rely on to fight the Black Ink Clan.
Without the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress, these 6,000 soldiers alone would not be able to do much at the Primordial Heavens Source Grand Restriction.
However, the Suppressing Black Ink Fortress was not that easy to take away. To take it away, it had to be put into someone’s Small Universe.
Normally, an Open Heaven Realm Master could open up their Small Universe to accommodate many things. This was not a big deal, as long as the portal opened was not too big.
However, if the portal opened was too large, their heritage could easily leak out from the portal, or worse, crack under the strain, which would result in a disaster.