This question caught the many Eighth-Order Supreme Elders off guard — it was something none of them had previously considered.
Six Wood Divine Lord mused for a moment: "Perhaps the ancient powers believed that imprisonment was the better option?"
Yang Kai shook his head and brought up a different matter: "My experiences in the Ancestral Land of the Holy Spirits — I'm sure all of you have heard of them."
What had happened in the Ancestral Land of the Holy Spirits, Yang Kai had already recounted once before the External Affairs Envoys of the various Great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands, including Yu Xiangdie.
Yang Kai was certain those envoys would have reported the matter to their respective Sects — after all, it involved the Ink Clan, the Holy Spirits, and even the Giant Spirit Gods!
Sure enough, the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders all gave faint nods of acknowledgment.
Yang Kai continued: "I carry the Dragon Vein within me, and I was fortunate enough to inherit the Dragon Court in the Seal Ink Ground of the Ancestral Land. With the Dragon Court's power, I was able to trace back through time and personally witness that great battle of the ancient era. In that battle, the Ink-colored Giant Spirit God descended like an army from the heavens — even the Holy Spirits were no match for it. In the end, the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress had no choice but to use the sacred artifacts of each Spirit race as foundations, sever half of the Ancestral Land, use its primordial spiritual force as chains, and offer themselves in blood sacrifice — only then were they able to seal and suppress that Ink-colored Giant Spirit God."
"If circumstances had permitted, I believe the Holy Spirits would have preferred to kill the Ink-colored Giant Spirit God rather than pay an unimaginably steep price to seal it — but they did not have that option."
"In time, their decision proved correct. Countless years have passed, the Seal Ink Ground still endures, the Ink-colored Giant Spirit God is long dead, and even the Ink Force within its body has been completely eroded by the primordial spiritual force, leaving no further threat."
"What are you getting at?" one of the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders asked.
Yang Kai said: "What I mean is, judging by what happened in the Ancestral Land of the Holy Spirits, the situation in the Black Domain should be similar. The ancient powers imprisoned the Ink Clan entity here, perhaps because they were unable to kill it — though that seems unlikely. The ancients possessed heaven-defying means; if they could deploy such a massive grand array as a prison, they surely had the ability to kill a single Ink Apostle."
"I believe they did this for the same reason as the Holy Spirits — both were doing everything in their power to eliminate the threat once and for all!"
Another ruddy-faced Eighth-Order Supreme Elder said: "You're suggesting that if this Ink Clan entity were killed, it would trigger unpredictable consequences — such as the Ink Force left behind after its death?"
Yang Kai nodded: "It's merely my speculation. The Ink Force is insidious and unpredictable — even the residual Ink Force left behind by an ordinary Ink Apostle is highly corrosive, let alone that of a true Ink Clan entity. That may well have been what the ancient powers feared most."
The Eighth-Order Supreme Elders exchanged glances and all gave faint nods.
"Then you're leaning toward sealing it again?" Six Wood Divine Lord regarded Yang Kai with a hint of displeasure — he was firmly in the kill camp, and Yang Kai's differing opinion irked him somewhat.
Yang Kai shook his head: "The Ink Clan matter is for you, esteemed seniors, to decide. My opinion carries little weight, so I shouldn't say too much."
Luo Tinghe said: "Let's wait until everyone has arrived before discussing this further. We can brainstorm solutions together then — arguing about it here won't accomplish anything."
Although she was a newly promoted Eighth-Order of the Yin-Yang Heaven, everyone present knew she had the potential to advance to the Ninth Order in the future, so none looked down on her.
The matter of how to deal with the Ink Clan entity was temporarily set aside — they would wait for all the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders of the Great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands to arrive before deliberating further.
However, how to deal with the more than two thousand Ink Apostles currently surviving in the Black Domain was an urgent matter that needed immediate attention.
Over this period, Luan Baifeng had converted a total of nearly five thousand cultivators into demonkin. Yang Kai had sealed two thousand within his Small World, nearly a thousand had perished, and around two thousand more had been captured by the experts of the Golden Antelope Blessed Land and imprisoned on an abandoned Spirit Star.
This problem also gave the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders headaches, but at this moment they all turned their gaze to Yang Kai. Six Wood Divine Lord said: "Kid Yang, you said earlier that someone could save them — just who has that ability?"
The Ink Force was incredibly stubborn and utterly impossible to dispel. Six Wood Divine Lord had personally attempted to deal with it before, but even with his power, he had been completely unable to do anything about it.
He had wracked his brains but simply couldn't figure out who Yang Kai was referring to.
Though the people of the Great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands could be somewhat domineering in their ways, they were not willing to slaughter the innocent lightly — especially when nearly two thousand Ink Apostles were imprisoned on the abandoned Spirit Star.
Yang Kai hesitated briefly, then decided to speak the truth: "Grand Sun Manifestation and Grand Yin Luminescence!"
Every one of the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders drew in a sharp breath. No matter how hard they racked their brains, they never imagined that the people Yang Kai spoke of were these two.
Six Wood Divine Lord blinked and ventured carefully: "I heard you once followed a Giant Spirit God into the Chaotic Dead Zone?"
"That's right!" Yang Kai nodded. It was no secret — the higher-ups of the Great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands should all have received this intelligence.
"These two are not benevolent beings," one of the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders said with a grave expression. "But if anyone in this world can dispel the Ink Force, they might be the only ones who can."
No one knew exactly how powerful Grand Sun Manifestation and Grand Yin Luminescence truly were, but none of the Eighth-Order Supreme Elders stationed at the gateway of the Chaotic Dead Zone had been able to venture deep inside — even walking around the outer periphery could put one's life in danger.
"It's not 'might be' — they definitely can," Yang Kai said solemnly. "I'm sure you've all heard that I once absorbed the Ink Force left behind after the death of Shi Zheng of Langya into my own Small World to suppress it, and even used that power to deceive the Ink Apostles of Langya."
Six Wood Divine Lord nodded: "I've heard as much. You really are remarkably lucky — to have obtained a treasure like the Cosmic Four Pillars, a supreme treasure between Heaven and Earth."
His face was full of envy — if he possessed the Cosmic Four Pillars, he would have nothing to fear from the Ink Force.
Yang Kai smiled at him, then continued: "Within the Chaotic Dead Zone, Grand Sun Manifestation and Grand Yin Luminescence detected the Ink Force in my Small World and took action to dispel it."