That cold darkness, that deathly silence and sense of restraint—none of it was his own feeling. It belonged to the Ink Clan!
Realizing this, Yang Kai inwardly cursed.
Since they had formed a resonance during this sacrificial ritual, the Ink Clan must have already realized that he was no Ink Acolyte!
Yang Kai immediately tried to sever his connection with the Ink Clan, but it proved utterly useless.
That majestic will drove straight in, penetrating his consciousness, filling Yang Kai with an inexplicable urge to worship—as if that will were the supreme authority of the world, and any resistance was nothing short of sacrilege and disrespect. Submission was the only righteous path!
Dense beads of cold sweat instantly broke out across Yang Kai's forehead. A fierce battle raged within his heart, and the expression in his eyes flickered unstably.
At the critical moment, a wave of coolness emanated from deep within his mind, jolting him abruptly awake.
The Soul Warming Lotus!
At this crucial juncture, the Soul Warming Lotus had suddenly responded.
In the next instant, Yang Kai raised his hand and summoned his spear. The weapon shot forward like a dragon, and the full force of his World Force erupted with a thunderous roar.
The altar before him shattered on impact, dark ink-like power scattering in all directions. Yang Kai leaned on his spear with one hand, panting heavily, his face pale with lingering shock.
What had just happened was undoubtedly extremely dangerous. Had the Soul Warming Lotus not intervened at that critical moment, he wasn't even sure he could have withstood the influence that will had imposed on him. Had he failed to hold out, even if he hadn't been corrupted by the Ink, the outcome would not have been pretty.
The Ink was truly eerie!
A short while later, Yang Kai emerged from Yuan Du's Small World. The many High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators, who had been waiting anxiously for days, immediately crowded around to ask what had happened.
Yang Kai recounted his experience in full, but concealed the existence of the Soul Warming Lotus, saying only that he had given everything he had to land that crucial spear strike and sever his connection with the Ink Clan.
Li Yuanwang's expression turned grave beyond measure. "That Ink Clan member can influence one's mind from thin air?"
This was extraordinarily important news. While the Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands had some understanding of the Ink Clan, they had only ever known that the power of Ink was highly corrosive, and so everyone had been guarding against it accordingly.
But if things were truly as Yang Kai described, there would be far more to guard against from now on.
Yang Kai pondered briefly before saying, "That Ink Clan member's will is indeed formidable, but it may not be as terrifying as it seems."
"How so?" Yu Changdao asked.
Yang Kai explained, "When I participated in the ritual with Yuan Du last time, nothing like this happened. The difference is that Yuan Du presided over that ceremony, whereas this time I performed it myself. So it's very likely that only the one conducting the ritual faces the direct influence of that will. Others who can't form a direct connection with the Ink Clan naturally wouldn't be affected."
The crowd nodded slightly. It wasn't impossible—if that was all there was to it, the Ink Clan's danger wasn't quite so terrifying after all.
Yang Kai sighed again. "It's just a pity—though the ritual barely succeeded this time, I was completely unable to pinpoint the Ink Clan member's hiding place."
Li Yuanwang said, "No matter. This world is vast, but now that we have a lead, as long as we search patiently, we'll find him sooner or later."
This was now a matter for the Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands to handle—it was beyond Yang Kai's ability to resolve.
"I hear you have the Profound Yin Bamboo?" Li Yuanwang suddenly turned to look at him.
Yang Kai blinked. "Well, that's something we might all need to sit down and discuss properly!"
When Yang Kai had previously opened his Small World for others to inspect in order to clear himself of suspicion of Ink corruption, some of its secrets had been exposed. The Profound Yin Bamboo's existence had been witnessed by all the High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators present, and since it was precisely a bargaining chip he intended to use in negotiations with the various Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands, there was no need to deny it.
The Profound Yin Bamboo was one of the Twelve Minor Pillars of the World. Though its effects were not as powerful as those of the Four Great Pillars, and cultivating it required an enormous investment, it was invaluable for every Open Heaven cultivator whose Small World had transitioned from ethereal to substantial.
It was certainly a fine thing, but to make it truly useful required a tremendous expenditure of effort to cultivate.
Yang Kai had tested it himself. The Profound Yin Bamboo primarily devoured World Force to spread and form a grove. To do so would require at minimum several hundred to a thousand years' worth of painstaking cultivation just to grow into a bamboo forest of even modest size.
In other words, the World Force accumulated over hundreds or thousands of years of hard cultivation would become nothing more than nourishment for the Profound Yin Bamboo's growth, which in turn would cause the Open Heaven cultivator's foundation to weaken and their strength to decline.
In the past, people might not have been so eager to obtain the Profound Yin Bamboo. But with the Ink Clan reappearing in the world, everyone's desire for it had changed.
Even if it couldn't render a Small World flawless and impervious to outside forces like the Heaven and Earth Spring could, it could at least help them hold out a bit longer against the power of Ink.
Perhaps at a critical moment, the Profound Yin Bamboo could save their lives.
By comparison, the risk of their Small World's foundation draining and their strength declining was trivial—even with that decline, their rank wouldn't drop.
Hearing Yang Kai say this, every High-Rank Open Heaven cultivator unconsciously tightened their grip on their space rings, reminded involuntarily of a certain trial that had taken place in Langya before.