The turn of events on the battlefield had unfolded far too suddenly. No one had anticipated it — not a single soul. Even Yang Kai himself, the target of the attack, had sensed nothing before the strike landed. That was why he had been caught completely off guard and taken a devastating hit.
The Ink Clan Lord pierced through by the golden line did not die immediately. He was already beyond fighting, beyond even fleeing. With tremendous effort, he twisted his body around and gazed in one direction, his eyes brimming with venom and hatred. "Nothing but a lowly Ink Slave… How dare you—"
Before he could finish, Shen Ao was already upon him with another sword stroke, cleaving off his massive head.
On the other side, Yang Kai spat out a mouthful of golden blood and felt his body loosen considerably. His left eye was instantly flooded with golden light, his pupil transforming into a vertical golden slit radiating boundless majesty.
Under the gaze of the World-Destroying Demonic Eye, he caught a faint flicker of golden light vanishing somewhere within a floating continent thousands of li away.
That was where the attack had come from.
He drew a deep breath, suppressed the roiling blood and energy still churning in his chest, and activated the Dao of Space. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood.
A few breaths later, Yang Kai materialized atop that floating continent. His spiritual sense surged outward like a tide, but he found nothing. The continent was utterly desolate — not a trace of life anywhere.
Only a wisp of residual aura was fading rapidly into nothing.
That confirmed it: the golden line that had struck him had indeed originated from here. But the ambusher had launched only a single attack and retreated immediately. Even though Yang Kai had rushed over the moment he sensed something, he still failed to catch any trace of the attacker.
This was clearly someone experienced in hunting on the battlefield — missing a strike, then vanishing at once. Such cunning was deeply frustrating.
And the terrifying power behind that blow — even now, just thinking about it sent a chill down Yang Kai's spine.
The attacker had even used an Ink Clan Lord as cover. The golden line had first punched through the Lord's body before slamming into Yang Kai. Had that not been the case, Yang Kai would not have been caught so completely unaware.
But that was also his good fortune — after penetrating the Ink Clan Lord's body, the attack's power had been somewhat diminished. Otherwise, the wound he sustained would likely have been far more severe.
Who was this person?
Yang Kai had a nagging feeling that some formidable figure had appeared in this resource zone.
The attacker had been so cunning — after landing that strike, he had already withdrawn. He was likely well-versed in concealment techniques as well. Yang Kai had failed to track him down immediately, and finding him again would be far more difficult now.
He stood in place for a silent moment, then lifted his gaze toward the depths of the void, let out a cold snort, and turned to head back.
He had a distinct sense that this ambush was not the end of it. He would certainly cross paths with this ambusher again — and next time, he would find him.
On his way back, he met up with Shen Ao and the others, and the group quickly returned to Dawn.
The battle here had already concluded. The hundreds of Ink Clan members had lost the majority of their numbers. Of the four Ink Clan Lords, Yang Kai had killed one on his own, he and Shen Ao had killed another together, and in the time Yang Kai had been chasing the ambusher, the warship Dawn had joined forces with Qi Taichu and Ning Qizhi to take down a third.
The last remaining Lord had seen the situation was hopeless and fled immediately. A few scattered Ink Clan stragglers had also escaped, though not many — just over a hundred.
Dawn did not pursue. Though they had the capability to wipe out every last one, the priority now was escorting those two human warships back to base. And so, on Feng Ying's orders, the three warships withdrew without lingering.
When Yang Kai returned, the commanders of the two human warships were thanking Feng Ying. Both were Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators, squad leaders by rank, though their auras were clearly unstable — they were running on fumes.
Upon seeing Yang Kai come back, the two captains offered their profuse thanks once more. Had Dawn not raced across at full speed today, everyone aboard their two warships would have been done for.
In truth, the strength of their two squads had long since fallen behind what the Ink Clan could muster. The only reason the Ink Clan had besieged them without finishing them off was that they wanted to convert them into Ink Slaves — and that brief reprieve had given them just enough time to hold on until Dawn arrived.
"Captain, are you all right?" Feng Ying asked, noticing Yang Kai's pale complexion. There was worry in her voice.
Yang Kai shook his head. "It's nothing serious."
The wound was no light matter, but so long as his foundations were untouched, he did not consider it grave.
"That person must have been from the Divine Feather Blessed Land," Feng Ying said, her expression solemn.
She had witnessed Yang Kai's ambush with her own eyes. The golden line had used the Ink Clan Lord's body as concealment, arriving at the precise moment Yang Kai was locked in fierce combat with the Lord. The timing and angle had been executed to absolute perfection. Such archery could only come from someone trained by the Divine Feather Blessed Land.
Yang Kai nodded. "I guessed as much."
Among the Great Caves and Blessed Lands, each had its own distinctive strengths. The warriors of the Bright King Heaven prioritized physical cultivation, those of the Divine Cauldron Heaven excelled in artifact refining, and those of the Divine Feather Blessed Land were the supreme masters of archery.
A warrior from that Blessed Land might not be particularly formidable in close combat, but once they established distance, they were virtually unrivaled among peers. Their archery was nothing short of terrifying, and they were also well-practiced in techniques for concealing their aura and making their escape.