"The Old Ancestor has been injured." Before Yang Kai could ask, Zhong Liang offered the explanation on his own.
Yang Kai's heart lurched!
An Old Ancestor — that was a Ninth-Order Open Heaven cultivator. For someone of that caliber to be injured? But after a moment's thought, he understood: "Injured during a clash with the Ink Clan Royal Lord?"
The only being in this world capable of wounding an Old Ancestor had to be the Ink Clan's Royal Lord. It seemed the disturbances he had sensed back in the Ink Clan's territory — the Old Ancestor making her move — were none other than this very figure from Biluo Pass.
The Ink Clan Royal Lord had subsequently led the Ink Clan army in pursuit, and had evidently crossed blows with the human Old Ancestor. The Old Ancestor had come away injured.
Zhong Liang nodded. "Although the Old Ancestor is wounded, the Ink Clan Royal Lord is faring no better. No one knows where he's holed up nursing his injuries. The outcome of this war now hinges on which of them recovers first — whoever does will tip the balance of the entire battlefield!"
The supreme combatants on both sides were injured and recuperating. Had that not been the case, neither would have been absent from the battlefield.
Whichever side's supreme fighter recovered first would gain an absolute advantage. For that reason, Zhong Liang could not be certain whether they would even be able to see the Old Ancestor this time.
If the matter had not been critical, he would not have come to disturb her at a time like this — the Old Ancestor's recovery was of paramount importance. But Yang Kai's ability to purify the power of Ink was equally crucial, and it had to be reported to the Old Ancestor at the first possible moment.
At the very center of Biluo Pass stood a lone peak, towering a thousand zhang into the sky. Atop the peak sat a grand hall in imposing majesty — the place where the Old Ancestor sequestered herself for secluded cultivation. In normal times, the Old Ancestor lived there in seclusion, rarely showing herself.
Flight was permitted within the Pass, so it did not take long for Zhong Liang to lead Yang Kai to the hall atop that solitary peak.
Several figures stood guard outside the hall, their auras deep and unfathomable. The weakest among them were Seventh-Order Open Heaven, and an Eighth-Order Supreme Elder was personally stationed there to guard against any unforeseen contingency.
Hearing their approach, the Eighth-Order Supreme Elder — who had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes shut, quietly cultivating — opened his eyes slightly, rose, and stepped forward to block their path.
"Senior Brother Sun!" Zhong Liang stepped forward and bowed in greeting.
Elder Sun gave a slight nod, glanced with some curiosity at Yang Kai trailing behind Zhong Liang, and spoke: "Junior Brother Zhong, what brings you here?"
As a fellow Eighth-Order Supreme Elder, he trusted that Zhong Liang understood the gravity of the situation. There was no way he would come here at this time without pressing cause.
"There are matters that must be reported to the Old Ancestor!" Zhong Liang said, then stepped closer and quietly conveyed the details to Elder Sun via voice transmission.
Elder Sun had been listening with a composed expression, but after a moment his eyelids tightened, and he stared at Yang Kai with undisguised shock. "Is this true?" he demanded.
Zhong Liang's expression turned solemn as he nodded. "Feng Ying said it with her own lips, and the several hundred people she speaks of have already entered the Pass. It's unlikely to be false."
Elder Sun frowned. "You didn't verify it yourself?"
"How could I verify such a thing?" Zhong Liang replied.
Elder Sun considered briefly, then said, "Find a way to capture an Ink Servant and bring him back."
Zhong Liang's jaw dropped as he stared at the man, his expression clearly saying: You must be joking. Even as an Eighth-Order Supreme Elder, it was no simple matter to snatch up an Ink Servant amid the chaos of the battlefield.
Elder Sun glared at him. "This is no small matter. Better safe than sorry. Go!"
Zhong Liang could only sigh in resignation. "Fine. I'll make the trip myself."
Yang Kai, who had been listening from the side, had roughly guessed what the two were discussing. He cupped his fists and said, "There's no need to go to all that trouble, Senior. If you wish to verify, I can do so right now."
Elder Sun raised an eyebrow. "How would you verify it?"
Zhong Liang slapped his own forehead. "I forgot — his Small Universe contains sealed Ink power." He turned to explain to Elder Sun: "This kid is extraordinarily blessed. He possesses a Heavenly Earth Spring, so he doesn't need to worry about Ink power corruption. On top of that, he's bold enough to match his skill — he sealed Ink power inside his own body and infiltrated the Ink Clan, posing as an Ink Servant for several years."
Elder Sun's mouth fell slightly open as he stared at Yang Kai, utterly stunned. Even with a Heavenly Earth Spring, sealing Ink power within one's own body was insane enough — but then to impersonate an Ink Servant and live among the Ink Clan for years on end…
This was beyond mere courage. It was madness.
But this certainly saved them a great deal of trouble. He nodded at Yang Kai and said, "The stakes are immense. It's not that I distrust you — I simply need to see it with my own eyes."
Yang Kai nodded in understanding. With a wave of his hand, the gateway to his Small Universe opened, and a mass of Ink power surged forth.
The several Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators guarding the area had no idea what was happening. Catching sight of that pitch-black Ink power, they were alarmed to the core, assuming an Ink Servant had infiltrated the peak. They instinctively activated their strength of Heaven and Earth, but Elder Sun's timely shout stopped them.
He fixed his gaze unblinkingly on Yang Kai's hands. Before long, two distinctly colored lights bloomed from Yang Kai's palms. When he pressed his palms together, the two lights merged and transformed into a pure, brilliant white!
Zhong Liang's eyebrows rose slightly. This was the very same white light — he had witnessed firsthand the devastating damage it inflicted on that Ink Clan Domain Lord. When the white light had enveloped the Domain Lord, the creature's terror had been unmistakable.
But observing from afar before was nothing compared to the impact of witnessing it up close now. Probing with his spiritual sense, he could feel just how immaculately pure that white light truly was.
The white light descended upon the Ink power. The next instant, the two merged — and the dense Ink power dissolved into nothingness, vanishing without a trace. Only the white light remained, lingering and undimmed!
Several Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators who had been bracing for battle stood there dazed. Even Elder Sun was visibly shaken, and it was a good while before he finally spoke: "Truly a divine skill!"
Though the white light did not carry overwhelming destructive force, its very ability to purify the power of Ink was enough to earn that four-character evaluation.