When he saw the warship bearing down on him at tremendous speed with no sign of decelerating, Mie Qiong bellowed, "Stop!"
Standing on the deck, Yang Kai's lips curled upward. Instead of stopping, he poured even more of his power into the warship's formation with greater ferocity, accelerating the already swift vessel to even greater speeds.
There was something wrong with this person — he definitely wasn't an Ink Disciple! The thought flashed through Mie Qiong's mind. If he truly were an Ink Disciple, regardless of whose command he served under, he would never dare act so brazenly before a Domain Lord. Yet not only was this person ignoring his orders, he was doubling down.
There was no time to think. Seeing the warship bearing down on him, Mie Qiong roared and fiercely channeled the dense Ink Force throughout his body, transforming it into a massive cloud of Ink that surged toward the warship to engulf it. At the same time, he thrust both hands forward and caught the speeding vessel squarely.
The enormous warship groaned as its hull creaked under the tremendous force of the impact. Mie Qiong was driven back step after step, but after no more than a dozen paces, he steadied himself and halted the warship.
With his Domain Lord-level strength, an unmanned warship like this naturally posed no real threat to him. Had it been possible, he could have easily destroyed the vessel outright.
But this was the treasure the King had placed such great hopes on — one that had required enormous amounts of time, manpower, and resources to construct, the very key to the Ink Clan's future. How could he dare destroy it so easily?
Left with no other choice, he had to stop the warship this way — and the effortless manner in which he accomplished it only further demonstrated his formidable power.
Through the thin barrier of the ship's protective screen, Yang Kai and Mie Qiong locked eyes — one calm as still water, the other seething with rage.
Mie Qiong gritted his teeth and snarled, "You're dead, insect!"
Yang Kai suddenly flashed him a wide grin, and the power within his body surged like a tidal wave, pouring frantically into the warship.
The next instant, an aura of extreme danger radiated from every part of the warship.
Mie Qiong's eyes bulged with fury as he roared in alarm, "You wouldn't dare!"
Even as the words left his mouth, he reached out to seize Yang Kai. The warship's thin protective screen stood no chance against a Domain Lord's overwhelming attack — it held for less than a single breath before shattering.
Just as his massive hand was about to close around Yang Kai, a blinding light erupted from within the warship. Terrifying energy swept outward in an instant, engulfing the entire vessel in flames.
Mie Qiong's hand clamped down — but grasped nothing. He had failed to catch the human. In that split second, the man had seemingly vanished without a trace.
But the warship's explosion left his outstretched arm covered in wounds, and the powerful shockwave drove him stumbling backward again and again.
The warship was destroyed!
Mie Qiong stared fixedly at the once-majestic warship, now reduced to a ball of flames. His heart felt as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over it — cold to the core.
He could almost imagine how furiously the King would react upon learning what had happened here, and he feared that all the blame would fall on him — a fury not even a Domain Lord like himself could withstand.
Even now, Mie Qiong still couldn't understand what had just happened or how things had deteriorated so quickly. After all, only recently Qing Lei had reported that the warship was nearly complete, eagerly rushing to the Royal City to share the good news with the King.
He too had believed that he would no longer need to stand guard here year after endless year, and that in the future he could ride an Ink Clan warship across the battlefield, dominating all in his path.
That beautiful dream had lasted less than two hours before shattering like a bubble. The depths of Mie Qiong's fury could well be imagined.
That human!
As long as he caught that human, everything would become clear!
Mie Qiong whipped his head around toward the portal and bellowed, "Seal the portal! Don't let anyone leave this place!"
Although the human had vanished at the moment of the warship's explosion, Mie Qiong did not believe he was dead. The man must have used some method, taking advantage of the explosion's commotion to evade his perception.
If that were the case, then his next target must be the portal — he would certainly try to flee this secret realm at the first opportunity.
After shouting his orders, Mie Qiong immediately turned and raced back the way he had come.
He had barely set off when he sensed the sounds of a fight near the portal. Immediately after, he saw the gateway — suspended in midair — swing wide open!
The human who had escaped his grasp had indeed gone there. The moment the portal opened, the man's figure flickered and vanished without a trace.
And after he disappeared, the open portal rapidly sealed itself shut and vanished.
Rage consumed Mie Qiong. His body transformed into a streak of black light, and in just a few breaths he reached the portal's location. Looking around, he found the seven or eight Lords who had been left guarding the area all collapsed on the ground, every one of them seriously injured. The worst-hit had been pierced through the body by some sharp weapon, leaving a transparent hole through his torso, with Ink Blood pooling all over the ground.
That human was this powerful? Mie Qiong froze for a moment.
After all, as far as he knew, the Ink Disciple Hei Yuan had sent over was merely a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator. While most human Seventh-Order cultivators were somewhat more formidable than Ink Clan Lords in single combat, surely they couldn't stand against multiple Lords attacking at once?