Directly abandoning three Great Domain Battlefields — such resolve would naturally earn even Mi Jinglun, standing on the opposing side, a measure of admiration.
This was unmistakably the work of that Pseudo King Lord named Mo Naye. Among the Ink Race, no other powerhouse possessed the nerve to make such a ruthless, self-amputating decision.
One had to understand that in those three Great Domain Battlefields, countless warriors from both the Human Race and the Ink Race had clashed for millennia, sustaining massive casualties on both sides. To so casually abandon them — setting aside the betrayal of those who had given their lives — the impact on the future situation could be immense.
Standing from the Human Race's perspective, Mi Jinglun admitted he could never have made such a decision. It wasn't that his resolve was inferior to Mo Naye's; simply that the two races occupied fundamentally different positions. For years, the Human Race had maintained an attitude of fighting for every inch of ground, yielding not a single step, because allowing the Ink Race to occupy more Great Domains would only further tighten the noose around humanity.
That was why, no matter how dire the situation became, no Human Race army had ever abandoned a single Great Domain Battlefield.
And many years ago, following Yang Kai's warning, Mi Jinglun had begun paying close attention to Mo Naye. Over the years, they had clashed across the void on numerous occasions. Though they had rarely met face to face, Mi Jinglun had developed a thorough understanding of this strategist born of the Ink Race.
So when intelligence arrived about those three Great Domain Battlefields, Mo Naye was the first name that came to mind.
The fighting in those three battlefields could almost be described as a gale sweeping away fallen leaves. Wherever the Human Race armies advanced, the Ink Race had nothing that could stand against them. If things continued this way, within a few months at most, those three Great Domain Battlefields would be completely taken — and thereafter, there would be no living space left for the Ink Race.
Yet Mi Jinglun could not muster even a shred of joy.
The Ink Race had voluntarily abandoned three Great Domain Battlefields this time, stationing no powerhouse to hold them, instead deploying massive numbers of cannon fodder to tie down Human Race attention. That meant the Ink Race would be able to commit far more forces to the other Great Domain Battlefields!
Why would the Ink Race — or rather, why would Mo Naye — make such a decision? Granted, sacrifice was necessary for gain, but when making this call, Mo Naye must have known exactly what the consequences would be.
A shortage of manpower? The Ink Race had produced numerous Domain Lords in recent years, and many Innate Domain Lords had slipped out from behind the Primordial Heaven's Great Seal. How could they possibly be short on manpower?
Suddenly, Mi Jinglun seemed to recall something. Combined with the various intelligence he had gathered before, he immediately reached a conclusion and shouted to the officers around him: "Quick! Send word to all fronts — beware the Ink Race's Pseudo King Lords!"
He had still underestimated the Ink Race's resolve!
With the appearance of the Chaos Enamel Furnace, the Ink Race would inevitably compete with the Human Race for this monumental opportunity. No matter what, they would forge some Pseudo King Lords.
On top of that, many Innate Domain Lords had slipped out from behind the Primordial Heaven's Great Seal, so the Ink Race now had no shortage of candidates for creating Pseudo King Lords.
Mi Jinglun had not been entirely unprepared for this. He had already confirmed that when the Chaos Enamel Furnace appeared, the Ink Race would send a batch of Pseudo King Lords into action. Naturally, the Human Race had countermeasures of their own. Pseudo King Lords were powerful, but unable to unleash their full strength — their power was always a step below that of a true King Lord.
The Human Race's Eighth-Stage cultivators had spent years jointly drilling various battle formations, specifically to counter these Pseudo King Lords.
As a competent strategist — a commander stationed in the rear overseeing the grand picture — Mi Jinglun had considered every contingency he could imagine.
But now it appeared the number of Pseudo King Lords could be far, far greater than he had anticipated!
Why was the Ink Race short on powerful experts? The mass creation of Pseudo King Lords required Innate Domain Lords — the sacrifice of more than a dozen Innate Domain Lords to birth a single Pseudo King Lord. Naturally, that would drain their ranks.
Moreover, intelligence gathered over the past few years showed that the Innate Domain Lords who had previously appeared frequently seemed to have vanished without a trace, while unfamiliar faces had begun showing up on the Ink Race's side.
The vanished Innate Domain Lords had undoubtedly gone to No-Return Pass to participate in the Pseudo King Lord creation plan. The unfamiliar faces were most likely the Innate Domain Lords who had slipped out from behind the Primordial Heaven's Great Seal.
Mi Jinglun didn't know whether those Innate Domain Lords who had escaped the Primordial Heaven's Great Seal were even eligible to participate in the Pseudo King Lord program — after all, every single one of them was severely wounded, and recovery would take no less than a century or two.
But even setting aside those escapees, if the Ink Race converted all of their surviving Innate Domain Lords into Pseudo King Lords, the resulting number would be nothing short of terrifying!
The words had barely left Mi Jinglun's mouth when streaks of light came flying in from beyond the heavens — dispatch officers returning from the various Great Domain Battlefields with new intelligence.
Mi Jinglun examined them hastily, and his face turned ashen in an instant.
The worst had come to pass.
The number of Pseudo King Lords that had appeared on the Ink Race's side far exceeded all expectations.