The war zone guarded by Biluoguan bordered the territory of King Lord Menxie.
Countless years of clashes had given both races' powerhouses at least some familiarity with one another, so the moment the Ink Clan Domain Lord heard that voice, he identified Cha Hu.
Cha Hu replied without a shred of courtesy: "What are you calling your grandpa for?"
The Ink Clan Domain Lord was furious: "A mere human dares act so brazenly."
Cha Hu shot back: "A mere Ink Clan member dares boast so shamelessly?"
The Ink Clan Domain Lord roared: "Sooner or later, I'll wipe out every last human from Biluoguan—tear out your heart and liver, Cha Hu, and make you wish you were dead!"
Cha Hu sneered: "Enough talk—let's fight first!"
The words had barely left his mouth when he transformed into a streak of light and charged toward a certain point in the void, slamming down a devastating punch. The sheer force of the blow sent tremors through the void itself.
A dark silhouette abruptly materialized. Though it hastily retreated, the edge of the fist still caught it, drawing a muffled grunt.
The Ink Clan Domain Lord was shocked—he hadn't expected Cha Hu to strike without warning. In truth, at their level, combatants on such battlefields typically served a deterrent role and rarely engaged directly, since everyone knew neither side could truly overpower the other.
All else being equal, humans generally held a slight edge over the Ink Clan, but this gap grew more pronounced at lower cultivation levels. At the Eighth Grade and Domain Lord level, the difference was exceedingly narrow. At the level of King Lords and Ninth Grade Ancestors, the two sides were essentially evenly matched.
Moreover, in this particular theater, the Ink Clan had one more Domain Lord than the humans had Eighth Grade powerhouses. This disadvantage in top-tier combat power was enough to keep the human Eighth Graders from making any rash moves.
Only during large-scale Ink Clan assaults on Biluoguan—like the previous one—would Eighth Graders and Domain Lords have the chance to clash directly.
So this Ink Clan Domain Lord had never imagined that Cha Hu would actually attack.
It wasn't just him, either. Two other points in the void suddenly erupted with violent energy fluctuations—clearly Lu An and Xie Xiuping had struck simultaneously as well, forcing the hidden Ink Clan Domain Lords out of concealment.
"How dare you—" The Ink Clan Domain Lord had taken a small hit from Cha Hu's surprise attack and was seething with rage.
Before he could finish, Cha Hu cut him off with a hearty laugh: "Still waiting for Zhufeng? Forgot to tell you—Zhufeng is dead! I'm afraid you'll be waiting forever."
"What?!" The Ink Clan Domain Lord was stunned, then immediately retorted: "Nonsense!"
He instinctively refused to believe Cha Hu's words. After all, Zhufeng was a Domain Lord just like himself—how could someone at that level simply die?
Just half a month ago, he had met with Zhufeng in person.
He dismissed it as nothing more than alarmist bluster meant to shake his resolve. But the next instant, his expression changed, and he turned to look toward that unusual human warship.
He had been watching this warship's performance the entire time. It was precisely because of its appearance that the Ink Clan's defensive line had crumbled, and this Domain Lord harbored a bone-deep hatred for the Dawn.
What caught his attention now wasn't the warship itself, but the petite figure standing on its armored deck. That figure held a powerful bow, and whenever specks of golden light shot forth, Ink Clan soldiers inevitably met their doom.
The Domain Lord strained his vision, piercing through layer upon layer of obstruction, and when he finally made out the petite figure's face, he was stunned.
This human woman—wasn't she the Ink Apostle who had been at Zhufeng's side?
Though he had only seen her a few times, the Domain Lord remembered her clearly. This human woman was extraordinarily powerful, and Zhufeng had valued her greatly.
How had she ended up on the human side? And she was mercilessly cutting down Ink Clan soldiers.
For a moment, the Domain Lord's thoughts grew tangled. He couldn't understand how Bai Yi, who had been an Ink Apostle, could have returned to the embrace of the humans.
And if she was here, where was Zhufeng? Could he truly be dead?
In truth, he had not detected Zhufeng's aura at all. He had assumed Zhufeng was hiding somewhere, biding his time for an opportunity to strike. But now, with no sign of him anywhere, perhaps he really had met a grim end.
This realization left him deeply unsettled. Distracted for just a moment, he failed to notice Cha Hu's fist slamming into his shoulder. His massive body staggered, and he roared in fury.
But before he could regain his footing, a wisp of killing intent suddenly locked onto him from behind, plunging the Domain Lord into an icy chill.
He spun around in alarm and was shocked to find someone who had appeared at his flank without warning. Two fingers pressed together like a sword, thrusting toward him.
A flash of sword light at those fingertips swept past like a startled swan.
The Domain Lord's body convulsed violently. An enormous wound gaped open at his shoulder blade, with the writhing organs within faintly visible. Ink blood and Ink Force gushed from the wound as he howled in grief and rage: "Xu Boliang!"
Now he was truly both shocked and enraged.
Shocked that Xu Boliang would appear here, and furious that his momentary carelessness had allowed the ambush to succeed. An ambush from a human Eighth Grade Kaiyuan cultivator was not something anyone could take lightly. The Domain Lord had been severely wounded—sword qi lingered around the wound, preventing it from healing, while thread-like strands of sword qi burrowed through flesh and into his body, striking at vital points.
Forced to channel his power to suppress the sword threads invading his body, his overall strength instantly dropped by twenty percent.