Yet this was the situation the human race now faced. Battlefields everywhere were in dire straits, and the General Headquarters could not dismiss the possibility of defeat. Establishing their base near the Domain Gate was the best option.
Among the dozen-odd Great Domain battlefields, the resistance between the human and Ink Clans in the Xuanming Domain was not the most intense, but neither was it peaceful. The defensive line established by the million-strong army had originally stretched a considerable distance, but with the Ink Clan army's relentless advance year after year, the human perimeter had been constantly shrinking. Now, the territory the humans could control amounted to less than thirty percent of what it had been at the start.
Once the defensive line contracted to a certain degree, the Xuanming Domain would have no choice but to consider a full withdrawal, no matter how unwilling they might be.
Withdrawing a million-strong army was no simple matter. It had to be planned well in advance, or the Ink Clan would pursue them from behind and the human casualties would be catastrophic.
Compared to the grand clashes between the two clans on the Ink Battlefield, the current Ink Clan invasion saw far more frequent and fiercer fighting.
Battles large and small erupted almost constantly. With every exchange, warriors from both clans fell in endless numbers.
At this very moment, less than half a day's travel from the human base, a bitter and ferocious war raged around a massive World Fragment.
The humans had deployed three hundred thousand troops on this fragment. Countless formations and Artifacts had been set up across its surface to repel the Ink Clan's assaults.
This battle had already lasted three full months.
With the aid of all the preparations on the World Fragment and reinforcements from the rear, they had repelled the Ink Clan's attacks well over a hundred times and slaughtered an incalculable number of Ink Clan members.
But the humans had reinforcements, and so did the Ink Clan—and theirs were far more vast.
Now the Ink Clan had already seized virtually every Great Domain across the Three Thousand Worlds. Each Great Domain had its own Ink Nests, and with this resource pipeline feeding them, the Ink Clan's forces poured in without end.
Though numerous Hunters operated covertly within those Great Domains, destroying quite a few Ink Nests, their efforts remained a drop in the bucket compared to the total. Unless the King Lord-level Ink Nests at the source were destroyed, it was pointless to take out any number of Lord-level Ink Nests. The humans would destroy one, and the Ink Clan would immediately replace it—it merely cost them some resources.
For the Ink Clan, which now occupied nearly the entire Three Thousand Worlds, resources were the one thing they lacked least of all. And on top of that, more were still being shipped in from the Ink Battlefield.
Beyond the perimeter of the World Fragment, the battle raged at full intensity. Human warships shuttled back and forth, and the radiant glow of formations and secret arts flared one after another, driving back the Ink Clan's offensive time and again.
On the World Fragment, a towering man in golden armor sat cross-legged, gazing out over the battlefield with worry in his eyes.
The situation in the Xuanming Domain was far from good, but this battle absolutely could not be lost. If this battle fell, the Xuanming Army would have no more room to retreat. At that point, the entire Xuanming Domain would have to be abandoned, and the humans would lose yet another forward position against the Ink Clan.
For the current human race, this was unbearable—and it would very likely deal a devastating blow to the morale of all humanity.
But the disparity in strength between the two sides was stark. How were they supposed to hold the Xuanming Domain?
The middle-aged man had no answer. Strategy and planning had never been his forte. His strength lay in charging headlong into battle! Though the fighting had reached a critical juncture and he longed to leap into the fray, the injuries he had sustained were still serious. He was in the middle of recovery and could only suppress the restless urge churning inside him.
A figure suddenly dropped from the sky, landing not far from him. The newcomer stumbled slightly, gave a soft cough, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The middle-aged man turned to look. The newcomer flashed him a grin: "Old Wei, healing up?"
Wei Junyang thought to himself: What do you think? Why else would I be sitting here? But the two were old friends and didn't bother with formalities. After a moment's thought, he said: "Ouyang, you should hurry up and recover too. Don't push yourself."
The newcomer grinned with arrogant defiance: "Don't let my injuries fool you—that Domain Lord didn't fare much better. I was this close to caving in his skull. What a pity, what a pity!"
Even as he spoke, he settled cross-legged into a seat, produced a Spirit Pill, and popped it into his mouth.
Had Yang Kai been there, he would have recognized the man Wei Junyang called Ouyang—it was none other than Ouyang Lie, whom he had brought back from the Ink Battlefield several decades ago.
They were all old acquaintances, having crossed paths many times at Dayan Pass.
Both Eighth-Order warriors were the type who preferred to charge into battle, so their personalities meshed well. They had known each other for thousands of years.
The number of Eighth-Order warriors in the Xuanming Domain was considerable. The million-strong army under their command had been assembled using the remnants of over a dozen human strongholds from the original Ink Battlefield as its framework.
These dozen-odd human strongholds included Daguan Pass as well as Dayan Pass.
Wei Junyang had been the East Army Corps Commander of Daguan Pass.
Over the past several hundred years, the armies from the various human strongholds had been through the Battle of the Primordial Great Seal, the Battle of the Irrevocable Pass, and the Battle of the Void Domain—three great wars in succession. The forces from every direction had long been shattered.