Yang Kai's roar caused the woman's hand to pause ever so slightly, and it was that brief moment of hesitation that allowed Yi Er and Wu Wu to keep their lives.
Blood sprayed into the air as both of them were instantly gravely wounded and forced back.
Yet they were utterly fearless. The moment they were repelled, they charged at the woman once more.
The woman's brow furrowed, and the killing intent in her eyes blazed fiercely. The only reason she had held back before was because of Yang Kai's shout—it did not mean she had lost the will to kill Yi Er and Wu Wu. Anyone who had been converted into an Ink Servant by the Ink was, without question, now an enemy. Against enemies, there could be no trace of mercy. This was a lesson the Ink Battlefield had taught humanity's warriors over countless ages, one bought with the blood of countless predecessors.
But before she could strike again, Yang Kai had already flashed to their side.
Yi Er and Wu Wu had eyes only for the woman and not the slightest guard against Yang Kai. He closed the distance effortlessly and laid them out with one punch each—though he only knocked them unconscious rather than killing them. Still, given the urgency of the situation, his blows were somewhat heavy. Even after they woke up, the two of them would need time to recover.
The woman stood holding her long sword, watching the scene unfold, a flicker of surprise passing through her eyes.
As an Ink Servant, Yang Kai's actions were undeniably puzzling. But given the shout he had just made, she had a vague suspicion. "You haven't been converted?"
Yang Kai held Yi Er in one hand and Wu Wu in the other, slowly shaking his head. "The first time I met you, Senior, I wanted to tell you this, but there was no opportunity."
"You have one of the Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth?" the woman raised an eyebrow.
"The Spring of Heaven and Earth!"
"Words alone prove nothing!" The woman did not lower her vigilance, and the glow of her sword fluctuated uncertainly.
Yang Kai nodded. "Please, Senior, have a look!"
As he spoke, he voluntarily opened the gateway to his Small Universe. The woman fixed him with a deep stare, then sent her divine sense surging forward to inspect the interior.
After a moment, she withdrew her divine sense, her eyes filled with astonishment. She had indeed seen a clear, pristine spring within Yang Kai's Small Universe. From that spring flowed an exquisitely profound power that sealed and stabilized the Small Universe, keeping it whole and unblemished, impervious to external corruption.
But what truly shocked her was that Yang Kai's Small Universe had already transitioned from ethereal to corporeal.
That was the real surprise. This young man before her was obviously only a Sixth-Order…
"Senior, do you also possess one of the Four Pillars?" Yang Kai asked to confirm. If she didn't carry one, how could she have possibly survived under a Domain Lord's scrutiny? The only reason she had restrained herself before and pretended to be converted was that she was already at the end of her strength. Once it was discovered that she carried a Four Pillar, she would have been killed on the spot.
Only after the Domain Lord had departed and she had recovered did she finally spring her attack.
Nu Yan had died unjustly. That fellow had thought that being left behind to watch over this woman would be an easy assignment—one that spared him from having to fight humanity's strong cultivators. Who could have guessed that staying behind would turn out to be the quickest path to death?
Had he known the outcome would be like this, Nu Yan would never have remained at this woman's side no matter what.
It was precisely because of this reasoning that Yang Kai had shouted out the way he did when the woman made her move.
Who would have thought that the woman slowly shook her head? "I don't have a Four Pillar. All the Four Pillars on humanity's side are carried by Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators. I'm not qualified to bear one. Otherwise, why do you think that Domain Lord left without checking my Small Universe?"
The Nine-Order Old Ancestors had never been converted by the Ink—there was no precedent for it. They had nothing to fear from Ink Force corruption, so whether or not they carried a Four Pillar was irrelevant.
The Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators were the strongest fighting force below the Nine-Order and served as humanity's backbone on the Ink Battlefield. Treasures like the Four Pillars naturally had to be entrusted to them to fulfill their greatest potential. Eighth-Order cultivators possessed sufficient strength to protect themselves on the chaotic battlefield, ensuring they wouldn't be killed by some random encounter.
If a Seventh-Order or Sixth-Order cultivator were entrusted with a Four Pillar and happened to die, the Four Pillar could very well be lost.
The Ink Clan knew this as well. Humanity possessed only a few Four Pillars, but without exception, they were all carried by Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators. It was for this reason that the Domain Lord, after converting the woman, had felt at ease leaving without bothering to inspect her Small Universe.
Yang Kai was taken aback. "Then how did Senior resist the Ink Force's corruption?" As he asked, he had already grown wary.
If this woman truly had been converted, the situation he was in right now would be rather grim.
The woman paused for a moment before explaining. "A secret technique was once planted within my Small Universe, using a Xuanji Fish as its foundation. It allows me to resist a single instance of Ink Force corruption."
A Xuanji Fish—one of the Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth. Yang Kai didn't know what exactly that secret technique entailed, nor had he ever heard that a Four Pillar could be used to implant such a technique. But this was evidently something new that had been developed on the Ink Battlefield.
In their fight against the Ink Force, humanity's cultivators had naturally exhausted every ounce of their ingenuity and wits. After countless ages of struggle, the emergence of novel sparks of innovation was hardly surprising.