Martial Peak

Yang Kai put on a smile and went on to say, "Previously, Junior received news that the Demon soldiers left in the Star Boundary were mostly destroyed. Those who are not dead have been accepted into our own armies. Presently, all fifty four armies have gathered in front of the Two Worlds' Passage in the Western Territory. They're resting and recuperating right now. When the time is right, we will launch an attack on the Demon Realm."

"Good," Duan Hong Chen became energised and elated. After hearing about the crisis facing the Star Boundary from Yang Kai for such a long time, there was finally some good news; however, his expression soon dimmed, "The continued war will destroy lives and devastate families. The people in the Star Boundary must be suffering now."

Yang Kai replied after a sigh, "The war between the Races devastated both Great Worlds. No one can stay clear of the calamity."

After a nod, Duan Hong Chen said, "I'll tell Wu Kuang to leave a secret door in your Star Field later. If the crisis worsens in the Star Boundary, you must come over and inform this Old Master about it. I won't want to miss the chance to join the war."

"Good. If we require Senior's help, Junior will definitely come here to inform you."

Duan Hong Chen nodded, "I'll keep watch on your Star Field and we won't touch it if possible. If… I mean if… we really need it in the end, I want you to cooperate with us. Don't worry. I'll make sure that old ghost won't kill as he pleases again."

"Of course, I believe in Senior." Yang Kai nodded and fell silent for a moment, "Senior, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave now."

"Good. I hope that you'll bring with you some good news when we meet again."

Yang Kai rose from the chair and saluted him. Seeing that, Mei Jiu'er quickly stood up and bid the old man farewell as well, still holding the teapot firmly in her arms.

Duan Hong Chen waved his hand and engulfed them in a gentle force. As the world around them spun, they soon realised that they had returned to the Starry Sky.

Lifting their heads, they saw that the azure blue aura, which had covered a large part of the Starry Sky, was retreating rapidly. At the same time, a black passageway, which led to an unknown place, abruptly appeared in front of them.

Yang Kai knew that the Void Corridor must be the secret door Duan Hong Chen had left behind. Through the secret door, he could reach the Ancestral Domain and meet with him.

The passageway soon disappeared from their sight; however, Yang Kai could feel that it was still there, just that it had become invisible. It wouldn't matter even if anyone happened to be in this place and passed through the door. Only by targeting the other end of the passageway with one's aura could he pass through the Void and arrive at the right destination.

Turning around, Yang Kai flashed a smile at Mei Jiu'er and said, "I should get going. We'll meet again if there's a chance."

Mei Jiu'er was startled for a moment before she realised what he meant, "Senior, are you going back?"

Yang Kai nodded, "That's right. Do you have any plans?"

Mei Jiu'er looked down at the teapot in her arms and gently bit her lip, "I'll look for a secluded place to cultivate so that I may one day be able to assist you."

Yang Kai chuckled and said, "Then I shall thank you in advance. You're from Blue Clouds Star, right? I'll send you there." They were now on the border of the Star Field, which was quite remote and desolate. Given her cultivation now, it would take Mei Jiu'er a few years to fly across the Starry Sky and reach home.

Upon finishing his words, he lifted his hand and pointed one finger at her forehead. As a thought flashed across his mind, Mei Jiu'er abruptly disappeared from his sight. Before she disappeared, she hurriedly said, "Senior, take care!"

After she was gone, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. There seemed to be an invisible flight of stairs beneath his feet as he kept moving up. After five to six steps, he suddenly disappeared into the Void.

…..

Three days later, Yang Kai, who was clad in a silk robe and a crown with a belt wrapped around his waist, was seated in the head seat in the main hall of High Heaven Palace. His demeanour was that of an expert cultivator.

On his left, Yao Si announced loudly, "Sir, when you were not around in the over ten years that passed, we managed to build up the Sixty-First Army. Now, there are 378,462 members in total. 289 of them are Emperor Realm Masters. Just like the other armies, I've divided ours into ten Divisions. Of these Divisions, the first in the Colour Guard with twenty thousand troops. There are two Division Commanders. Yang Xiao and Yang Xue."

At this point, Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, who were on the other side of the hall, stepped forward and cupped their fists, "Sir!"

While Yang Xue appeared solemn, Yang Xiao still sported a playful and mischievous expression.

Yang Kai nodded and swung his hand, after which a Command Token shot forward. Then, he said, "Yang Xiao, Yang Xue, with the Command Token of the Colour Guard in possession, you shall follow me to the battlefield to fight against our enemies."

After taking the token, Yang Xiao became more serious as he replied solemnly, "Yes."

The corner of Yao Si's mouth twitched, then he cupped his fists and said to Yang Kai, "Sir, the Colour Guard is responsible for staying by your side and protecting you. There are others who will go to the battlefield and fight against our enemies."

"Really?" Yang Kai coughed into his fists and amended what he had just said, "Then, both of you shall stay by my side and be ready for my orders."

Yang Xue and Yang Xiao grunted solemnly and returned to their original spots.

Yang Si went on to say, "Besides the Colour Guard, the remaining nine Divisions are named Flying Hawk, Poison Scorpion, Flaming Ox, Raging Flood Dragon, Heavenly Fox, Falling Flower, Spirit Snake, Heavenly Phoenix, and Heavenly Dragon. There are thirty thousand in the Heavenly Phoenix Division which is responsible for military enforcement. The Division Commander is Liu Yan and the Vice Division Commander is Su Yan."

Two figures immediately stepped forward. The adult woman was elegant and well-mannered while the young girl had a petite frame and a pair of bright eyes. They cupped their fists at the same time and called out, "Sir."

Yang Kai nodded and tossed another token at them before saying, "Since both of you are responsible for military enforcement, you must be impartial in your judgement, not favouring anyone. On the battlefield, kill those who create chaos, disobey orders, weaken our morale, flee from the battlefield, or snatch credit from others, regardless of who they are."

After Liu Yan took the token, she and Su Yan said at the same time, "Yes."

Then, they returned to their original spots, after which Yao Si introduced the other eight Division Commanders and explained their duties to Yang Kai. As the Army Commander, Yang Kai had to understand everything so that he could calmly give appropriate orders on the battlefield in the future.

The Flying Hawk Division had the smallest number of people as there were only a few thousand in total; however, their collective power was not to be underestimated. The Division Commander was one of the thirty-two Monster Kings of the Ancient Wild Lands, Ying Fei. Those from Flying Hawk Division were scouts who were responsible for finding out about the enemies' secrets. In any ordinary army, those who could be the scouts must all be elites. Only the best talents could accurately seek out enemies and bring back intelligence from the front smoothly. It was no exception for the armies in the Star Boundary.

On the other hand, the Heavenly Dragon Division could be said to be the strongest Division in the Sixty-First Army. This couldn't be helped as the Division Commander was Zhu Qing while the Vice Division Commander was Zhu Lie. Most of the powerful cultivations in the Division came from Dragon Island. They had about several dozen Emperor Realm Masters, which was one fifth of the Emperor Realm Masters in the entire Sixty-First Army.

Following Yao Si's announcements, Yang Kai had a better understanding of the Sixty-First Army's structure. There were more than three hundred thousand soldiers in total, which were divided into ten Divisions.

The Colour Guard was responsible for protecting Yang Kai, with its two Division Commanders being Yang Xiao and Yang Xue, with no Vice Division Commander.

The Heavenly Phoenix Division, which was responsible for military enforcement, was led by Liu Yan and Su Yan. The Flying Hawk Division, which was responsible for scouting and transmitting orders was led by Ying Fei.

Following that, the Poison Scorpion Division was led by Xie Wu Wei, the Flaming Ox Division was led by Xi Lei, the Raging Flood Dragon Division was led by Li Jiao, the Heavenly Fox Division was led by Hu Fei, the Falling Flower Division was led by Du Mi'er, the Spirit Snake Division was led by Chi Lian, and finally, the Heavenly Dragon Division was led by Zhu Qing.

All of these faces were familiar to Yang Kai. They were his friends and family members who had gone through life-or-death moments with him. Among all the Division Commanders, only Yang Xiao and Yang Xue were slightly weaker, while the rest were either Third-Order Emperor Realm Masters or High-Rank Monster Kings.

It could be said that none of the fifty-four armies was as strong as the Sixty-First Army. If the Division Commanders of the other armies were considered powerful, the ones in Yang Kai's army could be said to be superb.

Apart from the network of friends Yang Kai had built up over the years, the support from Seven Mists Sea was also crucial in achieving this result. More importantly, Yao Si had been working hard over the past dozen years or so.

Even though Yang Kai had been staying in the Star Field for the past decade, he wasn't oblivious to what was going on in the Star Boundary as he was able to contact the people from High Heaven Palace.

Through Hua Qing Si's reports, he learned that Yao Si had travelled extensively over the past years to build up the Sixty-First Army.

Although the Monster Kings Xie Wu Wei, Xi Lei, Ying Fei, Hu Fei, Du Mi'er, and Chi Lian originally worked for High Heaven Palace, they had left the Palace and returned to their own Divine Venerables since the Two Worlds' Great War erupted.

Without Yao Si's relentless persuasion, Luan Feng and the others wouldn't have let go of these six Monster Kings. It would've been better for them if these Monster Kings could remain in their armies.

It wasn't hard to get Li Jiao to come to their side. He was originally from the Thirty-Fifth Army, which was led by Bing Yun. Over ten years ago, when she heard that Yang Kai had become the Army Commander of the Sixty-First Army, she immediately released Li Jiao to lend Yang Kai a hand.

The powerful cultivators from Dragon Island needed no persuasion. Certainly, they would assist Yang Kai in building up the Sixty-First Army, and no Army Commanders could stop them, not even those from Seven Mists Sea.

Those were the Division Commanders.

Under Division Commanders, there were Brigade Commanders and Battalion Commanders. Battalions could be led by Third-Order Dao Source Realm Masters; however, Brigades had to be led by Emperor Realm Masters so that they could convince their subordinates to obey their orders.

All of the Emperor Realm Masters were won over by Yao Si.

In the past years, Yao Si had visited all fifty-four armies, and he had managed to poach some people from every single army. It wasn't that those Army Commanders were easy to deal with, it was just that Yao Si was willing to act shamelessly. Making use of his identity as the Great Emperor's Son, he brazenly snatched the top talents from other armies, and no one could stop him.

Many Army Commanders had made complaints to Seven Mists Sea, so Li Wu Yi had repeatedly summoned Yao Si and told him to stop doing that. Yao Si would pretend to agree to it, but after leaving Seven Mists Sea, he would fearlessly continue his efforts.

In the past over ten years, he had practically offended all of the Army Commanders. Now, none of the Army Commanders welcomed him at all, and they would avoid him like he was a tiger or a scorpion. Whenever Yao Si visited an army, the Army Commander would quickly run away regardless of how powerful they were; otherwise, Yao Si would immediately ask for some people from them.

TL note: In previous chapters, it was said that the armies were composed of 1 to 5 million soldiers, obviously the author changed his mind at some point and now it 100,000 to 500,000… Just go with it