The Void Spirit Pearls were an excellent choice. They connected two distant points across the void, and under Yang Kai's power, their might was greatly amplified. The Ink Disciples who had been swallowed by the black holes had all been sent tens of millions of miles away.
Although those Ink Disciples could still find their way back, this would at least buy several days of delay. Given the current situation, this was the only move Yang Kai could make.
The silent Ink Disciples suddenly scattered and once again charged forward without a care.
The Void Spirit Pearls continued to detonate, transforming into black holes that swallowed Ink Disciples passing nearby one by one, but the effect was negligible.
Yang Kai's figure flickered and shifted as well, forcibly drawing Ink Disciples into his Small Universe one after another to suppress them.
However, a man's strength had its limits. Despite his preparations and his utmost efforts, he still could not stem the suicide charges of the Ink Disciples. Finally, one Ink Disciple broke through all the defenses and charged straight into the grand formation surrounding the Ink Clan's place of imprisonment.
The grand formation's power erupted. That Ink Disciple turned to powder, his Small Universe collapsed, and the power of heaven and earth dissipated.
The last time, Yang Kai had personally witnessed two waves of Ink Disciples sacrifice themselves, but he had been unable to figure out their purpose—only after hearing Luan Baifeng's explanation did he finally understand.
Now, under his observation, he noticed that the power of heaven and earth released from the Ink Disciples' deaths seemed to be drawn by some inexplicable force toward the center of the Black Domain.
That was undoubtedly the slumbering Ink Clan devouring the power of heaven and earth.
Once the first one made it through, the second followed...
One after another, Ink Disciples broke through the blockade and offered themselves to the Ink Clan.
All the Void Spirit Pearls had been used up, and Yang Kai's movements had grown sluggish, no longer as agile as before.
Luan Baifeng, who had been hiding within the formation, finally revealed herself. Looking at Yang Kai, she laughed aloud: "How much longer can you hold on?"
She had seen through the problem Yang Kai was facing at this moment, and so she grew fearless, no longer worried that he would do anything to harm her.
Being in this place, there was absolutely no way Yang Kai could kill her—that would only be providing nourishment for the Ink Clan's recovery. Moreover, as a fellow Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, Yang Kai had no way of forcibly absorbing her into his Small Universe to suppress her. He could only collect those below the Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm into his Small Universe.
Besides, Yang Kai's Small Universe was probably already at its limit.
From the beginning until now, the Ink Disciples Yang Kai had collected into his Small Universe numbered close to two thousand—roughly half of all the Ink Disciples.
The Small Universe's capacity had its limits. With each Ink Disciple absorbed, the capacity of Yang Kai's Small Universe would decrease somewhat. He could not go on absorbing them indefinitely.
In truth, being able to forcibly collect nearly two thousand Ink Disciples was already a terrifyingly high number.
Absorbing such a large batch of Ink Disciples into his Small Universe would inevitably affect the circulation of Yang Kai's own power, causing his strength to decline. On top of that, he had to devote a significant portion of his energy to suppressing those two thousand Ink Disciples inside his Small Universe, preventing them from taking any action that might harm him.
It was precisely because of these various risks that, even though High-Order Open Heaven cultivators had the ability to collect others into their own Small Universes, they would not do so unless absolutely necessary.
First, absorbing other Open Heaven cultivators into one's own Small Universe would affect one's ability to wield their full strength.
Second, if the person who was absorbed harbored ill intentions and employed techniques from inside the Small Universe, it would pose enormous risk to the Small Universe's master.
Yang Kai had clearly already reached this limit.
The ones that slipped past him one after another and his sluggish figure were the best proof!
A flash of struggle and hesitation crossed Luan Baifeng's eyes as she considered whether to seize this opportunity to kill Yang Kai. In his current state, he absolutely could not unleash his full strength — perhaps not even half of his peak power. This was a rare chance.
But after only a brief consideration, Luan Baifeng abandoned this tempting thought.
Killing Yang Kai was certainly important, but the most critical thing right now was her master's recovery. As long as her master could awaken and break free, what did a mere Yang Kai matter?
The divine sense of the high-ranking Ink Disciple surged outward, and all the Ink Disciples charged forward like madmen, paying no more attention to Yang Kai's existence.
Yang Kai let out a soft sigh, formed a seal with one hand, and the power of the Sacred Spirits began to spread throughout his body.
Luan Baifeng's heart skipped a beat as a sudden sense of foreboding washed over her.
"Dragon Transformation!"
As the low shout rang out, a dragon's roar shook the heavens. A massive golden dragon head materialized behind Yang Kai, its draconic might spreading outward like something tangible, blanketing the vast expanse of void. Without pause, the dragon head plunged into Yang Kai's body and vanished.
The next instant, accompanied by a series of cracking and popping sounds, a colossal creature suddenly appeared in the sight of every Ink Disciple.
It was a golden dragon!
The great dragon was clad in shimmering dragon scales, with two powerful horns protruding from its forehead. Its claws gleamed with a razor-sharp cold light, and the dragon whiskers beneath its jaw fluttered wildly. Its enormous eyes burned like twin blazing suns, radiating a brilliance so dazzling that one could barely keep their eyes open.
A body stretching two thousand zhang long, spanning across the void like a boundary between life and death!
Luan Baifeng's eyes narrowed sharply.
She knew Yang Kai carried the bloodline of the Dragon Clan — one could even say he was a pure-blooded dragon — and she had witnessed him use the Dragon Transformation technique before.
But that had been several hundred years ago. Under the lead of Kong Feng, the master of the Heavenly Sword Alliance, a hundred factions had besieged the Void Land, and Yang Kai had transformed once during that battle.
However, after transforming back then, the form he had taken was only a little over two hundred zhang long, and it had been only a half-dragon body.
Now, several centuries later, what stood before her was a full-fledged colossal dragon stretching two thousand zhang in length!
Terrifying draconic might spread outward, dense and almost physical, freezing every Ink Disciple in their tracks. As the foremost among the Sacred Spirits and the sovereign of all living beings, the existence of the Dragon Clan exerted a natural suppression over all other life forms — and that had not changed simply because they had become Ink Disciples.