Strictly speaking, Yang Kai's plan was crude. Many of its stages were beyond his control — whether Qing Lei would leave, how to escape the Secret Realm under a Domain Lord's blockade, and how to evade the Ink Clan's pursuit after escaping.
These were all problems he had no time to ponder, and even if he had, it would have been pointless.
The crudeness of the plan meant far too many variables. The only thing within his control was the sneak attack — killing Nie An.
Now that the Ink Clan's warship was on the verge of completion under Nie An's oversight, and Qing Lei had departed at this very moment, even the most crude plan had to be put into action.
Once Nie An was dead, the Ink Clan's grand scheme would be halted in its tracks. As for whether he could lead the other Artifact Refiners out of this Secret Realm, and how to shake off the Ink Clan's pursuit afterward — all he could do was try his best and leave the rest to fate.
Having confirmed Nie An's death, Yang Kai's heart settled. He immediately drew upon the Yellow and Blue Crystals in his Small World without regard for the cost, driving the Purifying Light with ferocious intensity.
Hundreds of Artifact Refiners were gathered on the warship. Over the past half year, under Nie An's supervision, the refining of the warship had been carried out at a feverish pace. Not a single Artifact Refiner had any time to rest — they were all assembled here, which gave Yang Kai the perfect opportunity to deal with them all at once.
Among these hundreds of Artifact Refiners, only the three Grandmasters — Wu Xinghe and the others — had already had the Purifying Light cleared from their bodies by Yang Kai. The rest still bore their identities as Ink Disciples.
To get these Ink Disciples to cooperate, he first had to set them right.
Blinding Purifying Light erupted from him, radiating outward in all directions. In the blink of an eye, it engulfed the entire warship, wrapping every Artifact Refiner within its embrace.
Sizzling sounds rang out one after another as pitch-black Ink Force seeped from the bodies of each Artifact Refiner, only to be purified into nothingness by the pristine white light.
In just a short moment, every Artifact Refiner had reclaimed their true selves. The sudden turn of events left them dazed, bewildered about what had just happened.
But they remembered everything they had done before with perfect clarity — they had forged a warship for the Ink Clan. Remorse and regret immediately clouded their faces.
At this critical juncture, Wang Sibo and Guan Ning raised their voices, quickly explaining the situation and steadying everyone's nerves.
After a brief period of confusion and panic, all the Artifact Refiners, guided by Wang Sibo and Guan Ning, took their positions at the various formations throughout the warship and channeled their own power into the arrays.
Outside the warship, the Ink Clan forces were still completely in the dark. They had no idea what was happening inside — only that something bad was probably unfolding. Numerous Lords gathered around the warship, shouting demands, and some even began attacking the protective barrier, desperate to see what was going on.
Just then, a deep hum resonated through the air as the warship slowly rose into the sky. Moments later, bolt after bolt of devastating energy lanced out from the warship, each one carrying terrifying force.
The Ink Clan forces surrounding it were caught completely off guard and suffered catastrophic losses in an instant. Even several of the Lords were gravely wounded in the blink of an eye.
Nie An's return may not have been good news for Yang Kai, but the warship he had overseen was proving enormously helpful at this very moment.
While this warship might not match a human warship in overall performance, it was certainly capable of holding its own on the battlefield — especially with hundreds of Artifact Refiners inside operating it, drawing out even more of its power.
After all, this warship was their own creation. They knew its capabilities better than anyone.
Using the very warship they had helped build to attack the Ink Clan — there was nothing more satisfying than that. The Artifact Refiners drove their power into the ship with reckless abandon, venting all the frustration they had endured since being turned into Ink Disciples and serving as the Ink Clan's lackeys.
The warship roared. Formation after formation was pushed to its absolute limit, with no regard for the toll on the ship. Wave after wave of devastating attacks sent the Ink Clan forces scrambling in disarray.
The Ink Clan fought back on occasion, but dared not commit their full strength — the warship's protective barrier was more than capable of deflecting those attacks.
Before they could determine what was really happening inside the warship, the Ink Clan didn't dare exert too much force. Having guarded this secret realm for years, the Ink Clan here all knew that these human Artifact refiners were precious assets — talents in whom the King Master had placed great expectations. Who among them would dare strike to kill? If they accidentally killed a few of those valuable refiners, they would likely pay with their own lives.
Bound by such hesitation, the warship's might grew ever more unstoppable!
Finally, a Lord reacted and shouted, "Go report to Lord Mie Qiong at once!"
In truth, Mie Qiong was already staring in this direction with a unsettled expression, his face grim.
The energy fluctuations erupting from the warship were extraordinarily violent. As a Domain Master, how could Mie Qiong fail to sense them? However, he had been ordered to hold the gate and could not leave lightly, so despite noticing the anomaly, he had not gone to investigate immediately.
After all, there had been occasional energy fluctuations from the warship before — the result of human Artifact refiners testing the power of their Artifacts.
But this time was clearly different. Mie Qiong hesitated for a moment, then ordered one of his Lords, "Go over there and find out what's happening."
That Lord immediately set off to investigate.
At this very moment, Yang Kai was moving about the warship. Although the humans had used the warship's power and the advantage of striking first to stir up absolute chaos, the Ink Clan would surely react before long.
Qing Lei was absent, but Mie Qiong remained a formidable enemy. Once Mie Qiong arrived, with his powerful Domain Master-level cultivation, even with the warship's help, the humans would stand no chance against him. After all, the warship itself was far from complete, and many of its formations had been damaged by Nie An's self-detonation.
Yang Kai had to collect the refiners into his own Small Universe before Mie Qiong realized what was going on — only then could he conveniently spirit them away to escape. Otherwise, with so many people, there was no way they could all get out.