As this thought arose, Xu Linggong felt somewhat relieved. A severely wounded Domain Lord posed far less of a threat to them.
The fierce battle raged on. After a moment, Xu Linggong’s face contorted with strain as he sent a voice transmission: "Yang Kai, I can’t hold on much longer."
This level of combat was simply unbearable for a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator. Although Yang Kai had shouldered the majority of the immense pressure, both Xu Linggong and the other Seventh-Order vice-captain were still struggling desperately.
By this point, all three were covered in wounds. That would have been one thing, but the crux of the matter was that with the fall of more Ink Force creatures, the ambient Ink Force on the battlefield had grown even denser. Xu Linggong and the vice-captain were beginning to succumb to its corrosive influence.
Faint dark Qi surfaced on their faces.
"Fall back onto the ship! We’re fighting our way out!" Yang Kai shouted in a low voice.
"Fighting our way out?" Xu Linggong was startled. If they broke out now, all their previous efforts would be wasted.
However, he quickly grasped Yang Kai’s intention and nodded heavily, exchanging a glance with his vice-captain before retreating back into the battleship.
The current situation was obviously vastly different from the plan, but that was to be expected. No matter how meticulous the plan, unexpected variables were bound to arise during execution. The key to success lay in adaptability.
Breaking out now was undoubtedly the best and most correct course of action. As for how the situation would unfold next, they could only leave it to fate. If this plan could not be achieved, so be it. They would simply have to devise another method.
The next moment, Yang Kai changed direction, taking the lead to carve a path. Behind him, the squadron-level battleship followed closely, cutting a bloody swathe through a sea of corpses and carnage.
On the Ink Force Lord’s Palace Artifact, Black Abyss narrowed his eyes slightly. "Trying to escape? Not so fast. Stop them!"
"Yes!" A Lord beside Black Abyss received the order and rapidly transmitted it down the line.
The Ink Force interception immediately became more stringent, and the battlefield combat grew even more ferocious.
Black Abyss watched intently. In just a short while, the spear-wielding young man showed signs of being corrupted by the Ink Force again. However, this time, he didn’t swallow any spirit pill. Instead, he gritted his teeth and endured. As time passed, the Ink Force on his body seemed to grow even thicker.
It seemed that spirit pill was indeed a rare treasure, and the young man likely only possessed a single one.
That was more like it. Black Abyss’s heavy mood eased slightly. If that kind of spirit pill could be easily refined and every human cultivator carried a few, then the Ink Force’s days would indeed become difficult.
Seeing the human Palace Artifact, led by the spear-wielding young man, cut through their ranks like unstoppable force and on the verge of breaking the encirclement, Black Abyss snorted coldly and lightly stomped his foot.
The formidable pressure of a Domain Lord immediately radiated outward, sweeping across the void and transforming into an invisible wave of force that hurtled directly toward the young man with the spear.
The next instant, the young man, who had been as unstoppable as a god of slaughter, faltered in his movements. Caught off guard, he was sneak-attacked by a nearby Lord, who landed a punch squarely on his chest, causing him to immediately cough up a spray of blood.
"Domain Lord!" The young man’s face filled with shock. He looked up toward the tower ship. Their gazes met across the distance—one filled with utmost gravity, the other brimming with mockery.
The young man’s expression turned to one of clear surprise, as if he hadn’t expected to encounter a Domain Lord here.
The next moment, he roared, "Go! I’ll hold the rear!"
On the battleship, the heart Xu Linggong had been holding in his throat finally loosened. The single, distant attack from the Domain Lord’s pressure proved that the Ink Force Domain Lord had finally lost his patience.
With things at this stage, the plan could be considered half-successful, and their mission was complete. What remained was up to Yang Kai’s own fate.
Therefore, Xu Linggong hesitated not a whit. His face a mask of grief, he gritted his teeth and roared, "Go!"
Light blazed brilliantly from the battleship as its protective and propulsion arrays were driven to their absolute limit, charging forward with an unstoppable momentum.
In just a short while, the glow of the battleship’s protective array dimmed, then shattered. Several of its propulsion arrays also failed, drastically reducing the ship’s speed.
However, at such a great cost, the battleship successfully broke through the Ink Force encirclement as planned.
With its protective array gone, the human battleship’s threat was greatly diminished. The Fifth and Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators aboard simply couldn’t withstand prolonged exposure to the Ink Force.
The instant they broke free, the battleship activated several attack arrays, firing upon the Ink Force army pursuing from behind. Though it caused considerable casualties, it didn’t affect the overall situation.
"Go!" Yang Kai snarled through gritted teeth, his spear becoming a storm of afterimages. Any Ink Force creature that came near was instantly reduced to bloody scraps and dust.
On the battleship, Xu Linggong’s grief was beyond measure. After a moment of brief hesitation and struggle, he finally gave the order to withdraw from the battlefield.
Yang Kai, alone with his spear, stood bathed in blood, his figure rooted in the void like a descended god of slaughter, blocking the path of the Ink Force pursuit.
On the tower ship, Black Abyss narrowed his eyes. "Sometimes I really can’t understand if the humans are stupid or brave."