The battlefield stretched vast and imposing, its scenes chaotic and locked in fierce contention. In a situation like this, even the mighty Ninth-Order experts of the human race could not possibly have perfect knowledge of every corner of the battlefield.
Without a central command to coordinate and dispatch forces, the human race's twelve great armies—even if they could breach the Ink Clan's defensive lines as planned—would inevitably fall into the awkward state of fighting independently in short order. The Ninth-Order experts stationed with each army had their own battles to fight, with no excess energy to observe the overall situation.
This could very well lead to a scenario where one army appeared to be charging forward unstoppable, yet had in truth lost the ability to coordinate with the others. And if that happened, that army's position would be dire indeed.
Or perhaps the humans suffered a setback on one section of the front and needed reinforcements—how to dispatch them was a matter of great delicacy.
Furthermore, wherever the Ink Clan's defenses were weak, the human armies could exploit it to the fullest, achieving twice the result with half the effort in the grand battle.
To achieve all this, the human armies needed a pair of eyes that could survey the entire battlefield, an intelligence channel for rapid transmission, and a calm yet brilliant mind!
The Grand Commandery played precisely this role.
Pure Yang Pass hovered outside the battlefield, its garrison able to observe the entire battle situation with perfect clarity and quickly relay intelligence from all fronts. Mi Jinglun, stationed at Pure Yang Pass along with his staff officers, was responsible for analyzing this intelligence and issuing orders to the armies on the battlefield in the shortest possible time.
In this way, the human race's massive—indeed somewhat bloated—twelve great armies could be perfectly coordinated as a single whole, forming a lethal threat to the Ink Clan at Returnless Pass.
In this great battle, the humans had come well-prepared. Even the clever Monaya had not anticipated that they could use a tactic like the Cosmic Impact to tear open the Ink Clan's defenses, dealing a considerable blow to the Ink Clan at Returnless Pass. To make matters worse, Yang Kai—that elusive god of slaughter—kept the Pseudo Lord-Ranks on the field hemmed in and restrained.
If things continued this way, the Ink Clan's position would grow increasingly precarious. If Yang Kai kept steadily devouring the strength of the Ink Clan's Pseudo Lord-Ranks, the time would come when their numbers fell below a critical threshold—and then, even with every last ounce of strength, the Ink Clan would likely be unable to hold against the human assault.
Therefore, from the Ink Clan's perspective, they had to find a way to break the stalemate.
And Monaya had set his sights directly on Pure Yang Pass—which was to say, on Mi Jinglun himself.
Regarding Mi Jinglun as a person and the human Grand Commandery as an institution, Monaya had never once underestimated them. Back then, he had wanted to find an opportunity to kill Mi Jinglun, but the man had always stayed hidden behind the human lines, never appearing on the front—leaving him powerless to act.
Now that the humans were attacking Returnless Pass, it was indeed a good opportunity. However, Pure Yang Pass posed some trouble. Although this fortress could not yet unleash its full power from the old days, the humans' years of repairs had restored it to seventy or eighty percent of capacity. The humans' fortifications prioritized defense, and they would not be easily breached. To storm Pure Yang Pass, the Ink Clan would inevitably have to pay a tremendous price.
It could be said that Monaya had already considered targeting Pure Yang Pass before the battle even began, and now the moment had arrived where action was unavoidable.
A torrent of thoughts flashed through his mind. Monaya's divine sense surged as he transmitted his orders in all directions. The next instant, on one section of the battlefield, the Ink Clan's forces suddenly shifted from defense to attack. A great many Ink warriors charged fearlessly toward the human warships.
This caught the humans in that sector off guard. Dozens of warships were blasted apart on the spot, fragments scattering in all directions. The human soldiers who lost their ships' protection fell directly into the midst of the enemy. Aside from a few who relied on their deep cultivation to flee quickly, the vast majority were swallowed by the endless tide of Ink warriors.
The scene looked like a pack of sharks tearing into bleeding prey.
Nearby human forces rushed to reinforce, barely stabilizing the situation on that front.
And just then, Monaya—who had been watching coldly from above Returnless Pass the entire time—finally moved. Alongside him, twelve figures surged out from within Returnless Pass.
From the overwhelming auras they could not possibly conceal, those were unmistakably twelve Pseudo Lord-Ranks!
The Ink Clan had a great many Pseudo Lord-Ranks. Not all of them had been committed in the earlier fighting—only seventy percent had been thrown into the battlefield. The remaining thirty percent had all been lying in wait within Returnless Pass, both to preserve their strength and to guard the fortress. After all, with a character as elusive as Yang Kai around, Monaya did not dare let his guard down. If Yang Kai were to charge into Returnless Pass and cause havoc, the Lord-grade Ink Nests housed there would not withstand it.
So even though another twelve Pseudo Lord-Ranks had now charged out of Returnless Pass, a considerable number of Pseudo Lord-Ranks still remained inside, guarding every position against any contingency.
Monaya moved. The twelve Pseudo Lord-Ranks moved. And with them marched an Ink Clan army of a million strong, among which Domain Lord and Territory Lord-level experts were far from few.
This highly conspicuous army charged toward the human lines that had just been thrown into disarray. Though the human forces on this front fought desperately to intercept them, the attack had come too suddenly, and they could not stop it.
In a mere span of moments, the human front on this side was torn open by the Ink Clan.
A million-strong Ink Clan army surged together like a flood, carrying boundless killing intent as it poured out of the battlefield. Under Monaya and the twelve Pseudo Lord-Ranks, it charged straight toward Pure Yang Pass. Their intention needed no explanation.
The human powerhouses on nearby sections of the battlefield, witnessing this, had every desire to intercept—but simply could not split themselves to do so.