"Take him back to recover!" Cha Hu ordered.
Feng Ying received the command, scooped Yang Kai up, and teleported back to the Dawn. She settled him inside a quiet chamber in the ship's cabin.
On the other side, the two Domain Lords who had been fighting Xie Xiuping and Lu An watched in horror as their kinsman was slaughtered by Cha Hu. How could they dare to continue lingering? Both feinted a move and executed escape techniques to flee.
Xie Xiuping and Lu An gave chase without hesitation. They both knew that if a Domain Lord was dead set on fleeing, there was nothing they could do about it—but they chased after him anyway.
By the time Cha Hu finished checking on Yang Kai's condition and went to support Xie Xiuping and Lu An, the two Eighth-Order masters and the two Ink Clan Domain Lords had all vanished without a trace.
Cha Hu snorted coldly, turned his gaze toward the chaotic battlefield, and shot forward like a bolt of lightning straight into the fray.
The Ink Clan army was already on the verge of collapse. Even without Cha Hu's reinforcements, they wouldn't have held out much longer. Now, with an additional Eighth-Order Open Heaven master thrown into the mix, how could they possibly stand a chance?
Masses of Ink Clansmen were cut down. A scattered few who saw the writing on the wall fled in every direction—after all, even their own Domain Lords had run. Staying behind was nothing more than waiting to die.
Cha Hu spent half a day chasing down remnants in all directions, killing off the stragglers before finally returning.
Half a day later, the fighting subsided. On deck after deck of the tower ships, the human warriors gazed out into the void, which was littered with the severed limbs and remains of Ink Clansmen. Though the humans' own ships had sustained considerable damage and over a hundred Open Heaven realm cultivators had fallen, compared to the Ink Clan's losses, their toll was virtually negligible.
This battle was a great victory for the human race.
Cheers erupted from one tower ship after another, spirits soaring high.
This victory meant that the soldiers of Bilu Pass had finally secured this resource-rich region. For the decades to come, they could mine its resources in peace.
This hard-won triumph had been paved with the blood of many of their kinsmen.
With the battlefield cleared and the casualties tallied, under the supervision of several Eighth-Order masters, the tower ships slowly turned for home.
By the time Yang Kai woke again, several days had passed. The moment he opened his eyes, he felt pain radiating from every part of his body. The slightest movement sent sweat pouring from his skin, and his internal organs burned as though engulfed in flames.
"The Captain's awake! Go tell the Commanders right away!" A voice reached his ears, and Yang Kai turned his head. Through blurry vision, he could make out a somewhat familiar silhouette.
Once his vision cleared, Yang Kai saw that it was Feng Ying.
Her eyes were brimming with concern and relief. She asked urgently, "Captain, how are you feeling?"
Yang Kai probed his own condition briefly, then tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Who are you?"
Feng Ying's expression changed instantly. "Captain, it's me, Feng Ying! You don't recognize me?"
Yang Kai stared at her fixedly, as though looking at a complete stranger.
Feng Ying was genuinely panicking now, and just as she didn't know what to do, Yang Kai suddenly broke into a grin. "Just joking with you—don't take it seriously."
Feng Ying was first stunned, then shot him an exasperated glare.
Just then, someone pushed the door open, and Cha Hu's voice rang out: "The kid's awake?" He had clearly rushed over the moment he heard the news.
Yang Kai struggled to sit up, but Cha Hu swept a hand across him and eased him back down. "Your injuries are serious. Stay put. How are you feeling?"
Feng Ying huffed indignantly. "He should be fine—look at him, well enough to joke around with me."
Cha Hu looked puzzled. He reached out and placed his fingers on Yang Kai's wrist, focusing his mind to probe the boy's condition. A moment later, he withdrew his hand, visibly impressed. "Truly worthy of bearing the Dragon Lineage—his vitality really is extraordinary."
In truth, several days ago when Yang Kai had been critically wounded by that Domain Lord's savage strike and had lapsed into unconsciousness, his life force had dimmed to nearly nothing. In that state, death had been but a step away.
Any ordinary Seventh-Order cultivator who sustained injuries that severe would have faced at least a seventy-percent chance of perishing.
Yet over the course of these few days, Yang Kai's vitality had grown stronger with each passing day, until today he had finally awakened on his own. His energy was still feeble, but his life was no longer in danger.
Cha Hu couldn't help but marvel. The Dragon Lineage's power truly held an unparalleled advantage when it came to healing and recovery. He silently mused that as long as this kid wasn't struck by something instantly lethal, his constitution would allow him to bounce back in short order.
"Commander Cha, how did the battle go?" Yang Kai asked with concern. The last thing he remembered was his assault on the fleeing Domain Lord—everything after that was a blank.
Cha Hu said, "The Ink Clan had only four Domain Lords garrisoning this region. Zhufeng was killed by you and Bai Yi. On the battlefield a few days ago, with your and Bai Yi's help, I took down another. Only two Domain Lords remained, and they were no match—they fled after that. The Ink Clan was all but wiped out. We won."
Yang Kai let out a long breath of relief. "Good—we won."
Though he had expected as much, hearing the confirmation still filled him with elation.
Cha Hu paused for a moment, then spoke. "Yang Kai, I know you're extremely confident in your own strength. Confident men are often overconfident, and that doesn't always lead to the right choices. This time, you were lucky. But what about next time? You're a squad leader now. Your decisions don't just affect your own safety—they often determine whether your entire squad lives or dies. From now on, remember to exercise caution above all."
"I'll keep that in mind," Yang Kai said, listening with genuine humility.