What was unfavorable for the Human race was a great boon for the Ink Clan!
Now that the Human eighth-grade Open Heaven masters had to maintain that bizarre formation and couldn't strike out, the Ink Clan faced no such restriction.
In other words, the Human eighth-grade masters were trapped in a purely defensive position. And no matter how powerful the formation was, it had to have a limit—as long as they kept up their assault without pause, the formation would eventually break.
Realizing this, the numerous Domain Lords and eighth-grade Ink Disciples stopped hesitating. They gave chase after the fleet dragon line, unleashing one secret technique after another.
On the Human side, activating the Formation of Shared Breath and Connected Branches had massively boosted their defenses, but their offensive power had been severely diminished. As a result, the fleet dragon line no longer moved as smoothly as before, constantly suffering blockages.
Before, with numerous eighth-grade Open Heaven masters striking down enemies, their efficiency had been tremendous. Now that the eighth-grade masters couldn't easily take action, the Human offensive had grown somewhat lackluster.
Worse still, under the frenzied assaults of so many Ink Clan powerhouses, the Formation of Shared Breath and Connected Branches was on the verge of collapse.
Xiang Shan made a decisive call, leading the army in retreat. The Ink Clan gave chase right on their heels. A fierce battle raged until the Human army had withdrawn tens of millions of li before the Ink Clan finally called off their pursuit.
Only then did the sixteen Pouch Worlds finally arrive, hurtling toward the Ink Clan's King City. The thirty percent of the Ink Clan army stationed on the city's right flank easily intercepted them, preventing any damage to the city.
In this battle, the Ink Clan's losses weren't as severe as they'd been twenty years ago. Twenty years ago, the Humans' various maneuvers had caught them off guard, but now they were better prepared, making a significant difference.
Still, they'd lost tens of thousands of elite soldiers, including Ink Clan members of the Lord rank.
The Humans suffered losses as well, but thanks to the protection of the Formation of Shared Breath and Connected Branches, their casualties were far lighter than last time.
Several days later, the Old Ancestor and the King Lord each returned to recuperate and heal their wounds.
After this battle, nearly every twenty years, the Human army would launch another assault on the King City. Almost every time, the Human Old Ancestor would strike first, luring the Ink Clan's King Lord away, after which the two armies would clash in fierce and unrelenting battle.
Compared to the Ink Clan's rigid defense, the Human offensive was nothing short of inventive.
The Formation of Shared Breath and Connected Branches had undergone multiple revisions. Unlike before, when it couldn't be easily stopped once activated, it could now be started and halted freely. When running, it harnessed the power of dozens of eighth-grade Open Heaven masters and numerous Guard-class warships to provide massive protection to the fleet dragon line. When halted, the eighth-grade Open Heaven masters were free to strike down enemies.
By alternating between defense and offense in this way, they could consistently throw the Ink Clan's responses into disarray.
The Great Extension East-West Army didn't always launch their attacks from the left side of the King City.
In one particular battle, the entire East-West Army—over twenty thousand strong—followed behind more than a dozen Pouch Worlds and attacked from the right side of the King City.
That battle cost the Ink Clan dearly.
They'd been monitoring the Humans' garrison Pouch Worlds the entire time, able to detect signs of Human army movements in advance each time.
But this time, while the Humans' garrison Pouch Worlds showed no signs of activity, more than a dozen Pouch Worlds appeared on the right side of the King City, hurtling toward them.
The thirty percent of the Ink Clan army stationed on the right naturally didn't take these dozen or so Pouch Worlds seriously. Having faced this kind of formation nearly every twenty years, they'd long since mastered the art of destroying these Pouch Worlds quickly.
But after they'd exhausted their strength blowing apart more than a dozen Pouch Worlds, the Human fleet dragon line suddenly appeared in their field of vision.
The Ink Clan army on the right was caught completely off guard. After a round of fighting, their casualties were countless.
Meanwhile, the seventy percent of the Ink Clan army on the left had been vigilantly monitoring the Human army's movements all along but found nothing. The Humans' garrison Pouch Worlds were suspiciously quiet. It wasn't until the Human fleet appeared that they finally realized the Humans had already fought their way to their doorstep.
This time, they'd used those dozen-plus Pouch Worlds as cover. It was completely unexpected.
This battle was the worst defeat the Ink Clan had suffered since their clashes with the Human race began.
The thirty percent of the Ink Clan army on the right was practically shattered. Domain Lords and eighth-grade Open Heaven masters alone suffered seven or eight casualties.
Because they'd held nothing back when destroying the incoming Pouch Worlds, when the Human powerhouses charged in, they had almost no reserves left to resist.
The seventy percent of the Ink Clan army on the left rushed to reinforce them in emergency, but it was too late to change their comrades' fate.
The Human fleet didn't linger long. True to their philosophy of striking and retreating, they withdrew before the left-flank Ink Clan army could arrive as reinforcement.
After that battle, the furious roars of the unwilling Domain Lords echoed throughout the King City and beyond.
In the span of a hundred fleeting years, the two armies clashed five times, with casualties on both sides.
Setting aside the Lords and seventh-grade Open Heaven masters, nearly every battle saw the fall of Domain Lords, eighth-grade Ink Disciples, and even eighth-grade Generals.
Even though the Humans could rely on the Formation of Shared Breath and Connected Branches to construct powerful defenses, the brutality of war always exceeded everyone's imagination.
The fighting on the East-West Army's front grew ever more intense, and the same was true for the North-South Army.
By the time the East-West Army had made their long journey and set up camp outside the Ink Clan's King City, nearly a million Ink Clan troops were already stationed in defense.