Luan Baifeng's face changed abruptly. She whipped her head around to look behind her. A streak of light in the distance was rapidly approaching, far exceeding what a Third, Fourth, or Fifth-Order Open Heaven cultivator should be capable of. At the same time, she actually felt the pressure of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven emanating from that direction.
That was no peer of hers — that was a powerhouse from one of the Blessed Grounds!
It had been two or three months since Luo Tinghe, Qu Huashang, and the others had departed. That length of time might not have been enough for Qu Huashang to reach the Star Boundary and relay the news of the Ink Clan to the various Blessed Grounds' emissaries, but it was certainly enough for Luo Tinghe to bring reinforcements from the nearest Blessed Ground.
The Eighth-Order powerhouse was approaching with extraordinary speed. Moments ago he had been nothing more than a streak of light, but in the blink of an eye his figure had become clearly visible, and the next instant he had arrived no more than a short distance from Luan Baifeng. Simultaneously, a powerful, resonant voice rang out across the heavens: "Lumu of Golden Antelope Blessed Ground has arrived! What scoundrels dare cause trouble here?"
With those words, he plunged headlong into the illusion formation behind Luan Baifeng and vanished from sight.
This illusion formation had been set up by Luan Baifeng herself, originally to evade Yang Kai's assault. Though she had made her way out of it, the formation remained intact, undamaged.
That this powerhouse from Golden Antelope Blessed Ground, who called himself Lumu, would charge straight into it left both the on-guard Luan Baifeng and the eagerly anticipating Yang Kai momentarily stunned.
But before either of them could react, the illusion formation suddenly began expanding rapidly, and violent energies churned restlessly within. The next instant, the formation shattered, and Divine Lord Lumu's figure reappeared in full view.
He turned his head to glance at the place where he had been trapped, reached up and flicked at dust that did not exist on his robes, and let out a cold snort. "A petty trick, and you dare show it off in front of an expert?"
Luan Baifeng had finally recovered her wits by now. Her body swirled as she prepared to flee, but despite his somewhat eccentric demeanor, Lumu was still an Eighth-Order Open Heaven — how could he allow her to escape right under his nose?
He raised his hand and grabbed, and an overwhelming, irresistible force surged forth, locking Luan Baifeng's body in place.
Pitch-black Ink Force poured from Luan Baifeng's body, and at the same time an extremely unstable wave of power surged from within her.
Yang Kai called out urgently: "Senior, be careful — she's going to self-detonate!"
Self-detonation for an Open Heaven realm cultivator was exceedingly simple. There was no need to cultivate any secret technique — one merely had to collapse one's own Small Universe. As such, every Open Heaven cultivator possessed the ability to self-destruct.
Divine Lord Lumu had clearly sensed this as well. Without any visible movement, he was suddenly standing before Luan Baifeng. He flicked his finger lightly against her forehead.
The flick appeared to carry no force, yet Luan Baifeng's head snapped backward. The power of her Small Universe instantly fell into chaos, robbing her of any opportunity to self-detonate.
A golden rope Artifact suddenly flew from Divine Lord Lumu's hand, winding around Luan Baifeng like a spirit serpent and binding her up like a zongzi dumpling.
Lumu then grinned triumphantly. "In my presence, you'll find no chance to self-destruct!"
He looked Luan Baifeng up and down, paying particular attention to the Ink Force seeping from her body, and gave a slight nod. "An Ink Disciple, as expected."
He then turned his gaze toward Yang Kai. The two-thousand-zhang dragon body briefly startled him. Though he was an Eighth-Order cultivator, observing a true dragon at such close range was a first for him. He spoke amiably: "You must be Yang Kai?"
Yang Kai withdrew his dragon form and reverted to his human body, clasping his fists in greeting. "Yang Kai greets Senior Lumu."
When Lumu had arrived, he had already announced himself — presumably wanting Yang Kai to know his identity. Yang Kai was naturally familiar with Golden Antelope Blessed Ground. In fact, though he had never visited this Blessed Ground and did not know anyone there, it was the very first Blessed Ground he had ever heard of.
After the great war between the Human and Demon races had concluded and the Star Boundary was pacified, Yang Kai and Zhang Ruoxi had broken free from the confines of the world together, venturing out into this vast cosmos.
Zhang Ruoxi had told him a great deal about the world beyond, and among that knowledge was Golden Antelope Blessed Ground. This Blessed Ground was truly famous, and enormously popular among cultivators.
That was because Golden Antelope Blessed Ground contained a secret realm that was rich in metal-attribute resources, and this secret realm was open to everyone. One only had to pay a certain number of Open Heaven Pills as an entrance fee, and could then enter to search for resources.
With good fortune, one could earn a tremendous profit.
Zhang Ruoxi had said at the time that if Yang Kai ever needed to seek metal-attribute resources in the future, he could try Golden Antelope Blessed Ground. Before his promotion to the Open Heaven realm, Yang Kai had entertained the notion — he had indeed been lacking metal-attribute resources at that time. However, his expedition into the Blood Monster Cave Heaven had fulfilled that need, so there had been no reason to visit Golden Antelope Blessed Ground.
Golden Antelope Blessed Ground was the closest to the Black Prison, so Luo Tinghe's first destination had been there. That was why this Blessed Ground's reinforcements had arrived the fastest.
"Young and accomplished — the rumors do you justice!" Lumu offered a word of praise, then quickly got to the point. "Enough small talk — what's the situation now?"
Though Luo Tinghe had gone to Golden Antelope Blessed Ground to deliver the message and request reinforcements, she had not known many details herself. Moreover, when she had left, the Black Prison had still been calm and peaceful, with the Ink Disciples' activities carried out in secret. Today's events showed clearly that the situation in the Black Prison had changed.
Yang Kai spoke up promptly: "As Senior can see, directly behind me is the center of the Black Prison, where the Ink Clan is imprisoned. These Ink Disciples realized their identities had been exposed and are trying to break through my blockade, intending to self-detonate in order to supply the Ink Clan with power for recovery."
Divine Lord Lumu raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. "So that's possible? That's why you've only knocked them unconscious instead of killing them?"
"That's correct. However, quite a few Ink Disciples have already broken through," Yang Kai replied honestly. "And there are still over a thousand more that should be heading this way right now!"
Lumu nodded. "I ran into some on the way here. Killed quite a few." As he spoke, he looked around, frowning. "This place is truly bizarre. The power of my Small Universe is constantly draining — I'm afraid I won't last long. Is there anything you need me to do?"