Especially since Yang Kai actually wanted him to enter his Small Universe. He knew that Jia Yi was a Sixth-Order Open Heaven, and a Sixth-Order's Small Universe was still illusory — it couldn't possibly contain physical objects. How was he supposed to go in?
Before he could make sense of it, Yang Kai had already grabbed him with one hand. The gateway to his Small Universe yawned open, and he was unceremoniously stuffed inside.
Ding Si's vision blurred, and he found himself in an entirely different world. He looked around in bewilderment.
A divine sense projection of Yang Kai materialized before him and answered his questions.
Out in the void, the aftershocks of the Ninth-Order Ancestor's attack were gradually dissipating. An entire territory had been utterly annihilated, and countless Ink Clansmen and Ink Disciples had perished.
Those who had survived by sheer luck had barely recovered their wits when figure after figure appeared in clusters, materializing like ghosts, and charged toward them. They were Open Heaven Realm cultivators from the human race, accompanied by one Palace Artifact after another. Devastating attacks rained out from those Palace Artifacts, sending the Ink Clansmen into disarray.
This was clearly a long-planned ambush. The Ink Clansmen had no defenses against it whatsoever. The disparity in strength was so vast that they suffered catastrophic losses in the very first exchange.
Every passing moment brought the death of an Ink Clansman or Ink Disciple. When Ink Clansmen died, the dense Ink Force within them detonated, blooming into clouds of ink that scattered across the void. The Ink Disciples fell one after another as well, and the collapses of their Small Universes produced rumbling crashes that rose and fell without end.
Though every Ink Disciple had once been a formidable cultivator from one of the Cave Heavens or Paradises, in an environment like this, no one showed mercy. When they met on the battlefield, it was kill or be killed.
Yang Kai watched from a distance for a moment before his figure blurred, hurtling forward at top speed.
For him, this was an opportunity. As long as he could prove immediately that he had not been Inked, he could join forces with the human cultivators and leave the heart of Ink territory.
Such a chance was not easy to come by. He had followed Nu Yan for over two years, traversing many Ink Clansmen territories, and had picked up bits of intelligence from casual conversations with several Ink Disciples.
Though the human race occasionally launched offensives deep into Ink territory, such incursions were rare — not even once a century in most cases.
The main reason was that even if the humans broke through and won, they couldn't hold the territory for long. The passes guarded by the various Cave Heavens and Paradises were the true defensive lines they had always maintained. Every raid was primarily aimed at attrition — kill a batch of Ink Clansmen and Ink Disciples, then withdraw.
As a result, such raids generally didn't last long. Opportunity knocked but once, and Yang Kai wasn't about to hesitate.
The real question was how to prove his identity. On a battlefield like this, there wouldn't be much time to clear his name through words.
But as long as he killed an Ink Clansman in front of the human cultivators, that should be proof enough.
A true Ink Disciple obeyed the Ink Clansmen without question, loyal to the core, and would never dream of biting the hand that fed them.
With that thought settled, Yang Kai made his decision. His figure surged forward even faster, and under the manipulation of the spatial laws, he flickered and shifted, returning to the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
What greeted his eyes was a sight of Palace Artifacts weaving through the fray. From within them, powerful techniques poured out without cease, battering the Ink Clansmen and Ink Disciples into misery. Meanwhile, Seventh- and Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators — some in small groups, some striking alone — hunted down enemy leaders.
The moment Yang Kai returned, a lock of aura pinned him in place. His skin tightened as a tremendous sense of danger bore down on him.
He turned his head to see a woman in billowing white robes, her bearing ethereal and otherworldly, her beautiful eyes fixed on him. In her hand was a gleaming sword, and she thrust it straight toward him.
She showed no mercy whatsoever. The might of a Seventh-Order Open Heaven was on full display.
The strike was as elegant as a startled swan, and the sword light flickered like a darting serpent. Before it even reached him, Yang Kai felt overwhelming pressure.
Yang Kai's face drained of color. He lowered his voice and shouted, "Senior, cease!"
Something like grief and pity flickered through the woman's eyes upon hearing him, but her hand did not slow in the slightest. The longsword quivered and transformed into a curtain of sword light that descended upon him.
Yang Kai wanted to cry but had no tears. He knew she thought he was an Ink Disciple, which was why she attacked without restraint. But explaining now was useless — no matter how eloquently he spoke, she wouldn't believe him. The only way was to kill an Ink Clansman right before her eyes.
He had no idea which Cave Heaven or Paradise she hailed from, but her Seventh-Order cultivation was extraordinary. Her technique was far from ordinary.
As the curtain of sword light bore down on him, Yang Kai didn't dare hesitate. He summoned the Azure Dragon Spear and unleashed the Carefree Spear Art with fluid ease.
Surviving came first right now. If he was killed in confusion before he could even explain himself, that would be the greatest joke of all.
Boom, boom, boom — the impacts rang out, and Yang Kai's eyes went wide. His entire body was blasted away by the violent force. Blood churned in his chest, and his body was crisscrossed with countless sword wounds, flesh peeled back to reveal the muscle beneath.
This woman… was terrifyingly powerful!
Yang Kai was inwardly shocked. Though he was only Sixth-Order, he had killed Seventh-Order cultivators before and fought against many of them. He had witnessed the full might of Seventh-Order Open Heaven time and again.
But among all the Seventh-Order Open Heaven he had ever encountered, not a single one could compare to this woman.
He was astonished, but she was even more so. She had spent two to three thousand years at the Seventh-Order realm, and in the Ink Battlefield she had been fighting for the better part of her life. Her strength had reached the absolute pinnacle of the Seventh-Order — just one step away from advancing to the Eighth. Her combat experience was something her peers, who had lived in comfort within the Three Thousand Worlds, could never hope to match.
She hadn't used her full strength just now, but even so, a Sixth-Order Ink Disciple should not have been able to withstand it. Since the start of the raid, a dozen or twenty Sixth-Order Ink Disciples and Ink Clansmen of comparable strength had already fallen to her hand. She had been confident that strike would have taken Yang Kai's life.
Yet the reality shocked her. Yang Kai was wounded, but he had survived.