King Twilight's territory had been anything but peaceful these past days. First, the grand plan their King had been plotting for years was derailed at the final moment by a single human, undoing all their efforts. Then, without warning, an ancestor from Yin Yang Pass appeared deep within the territory and clashed violently with the King and several Domain Lords, shattering the void and dragging countless Ink Clan territories into the crossfire. The death toll among the Ink Clan was immeasurable.
In response, Yin Yang Pass had deployed its full military strength, forcing many of the territory's Domain Lords to lead their armies forward to intercept them.
What was happening at the front lines, the Ink Clan members at the rear had no way of knowing. In times past, they would simply have waited patiently—no matter how formidable the humans were, they could never break through the Ink Clan army's blockade and charge into the rear.
But now there was a single human causing chaos throughout the Ink Clan's vast, undefended rear. And that human was the very same one who had ruined the King's grand plan.
His cultivation wasn't particularly high by human standards—equivalent to a mere seventh-order Lord.
Yet this single seventh-order had thrown the entirety of King Twilight's territory into disarray.
In less than half a month, two Domain Lord-level Ink Nests had been destroyed in succession. The number of Ink Clan killed by his hand numbered in the tens of thousands. Domain Lord Heiyuan had personally given chase, yet achieved nothing.
The intelligence that filtered back painted a vivid picture: this human could transform into a colossal dragon several thousand zhang long, wielding a spear of equal length. Once he closed in on an Ink Nest, a single strike was enough to obliterate a Domain Lord-level nest and reduce the surrounding territory to rubble.
The reason he had repeatedly escaped under Heiyuan's personal pursuit—and why Heiyuan could no longer even track his movements—was a wondrous power called the Space Law.
With this power, the human moved through the void with absolute freedom, his movements swift as lightning. Even those far stronger than him stood no chance of doing anything about him as long as they couldn't restrict his movement.
After destroying two Domain Lord-level Ink Nests in succession, the human had vanished without a trace. But every Will left behind to guard the remaining Domain Lord Ink Nets had every reason to believe he was currently hiding somewhere, recovering from his wounds. And once he had healed, he would undoubtedly strike at the next Domain Lord Ink Nest.
The Wills guarding those nests were consumed with dread, terrified that Yang Kai's next target would be their own.
Throughout the void, Ink Clan patrol squads were everywhere, conducting a carpet search for Yang Kai's trail, leaving no suspicious corner unexamined.
Yet after days of searching, they had found nothing. The human seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind not the faintest trace. Many in the Ink Clan had begun to wonder whether Yang Kai had already left King Twilight's territory entirely.
At that moment, a squad of over twenty Ink Clan members was investigating a dense Ink Cloud nearby. According to the intelligence they had gathered, this human particularly liked to hide within Ink Clouds, so every one of the large and small Ink Clouds scattered across the void had become the Ink Clan's highest priority for inspection. After all, no one knew which Ink Cloud he might be lurking inside, ready to burst out and catch the surrounding Ink Clan off guard.
One Ink Cloud after another was searched, yielding nothing.
Just as the squad was preparing to leave, the Upper Ink Clan member leading the group suddenly seemed to sense something and turned his head toward a direction.
What he saw made him start slightly. The void in that direction had begun to ripple, layer upon visible layer spreading outward. And as the ripples expanded, a portal wreathed in a hazy, luminous glow was manifesting out of thin air.
This Upper Ink Clan member was a sharp-witted individual. In a flash of lightning, he seemed to grasp what was happening and immediately shouted in a low voice: "Conceal yourselves!"
Even as he spoke, he led his squad charging into a nearby Ink Cloud, concealing their presence in a matter of moments.
Stealing another glance, he saw that the portal had fully formed. The ripples continued to spread, and a figure abruptly appeared.
It was none other than the very human the Ink Clan had been searching for these past days without success!
The Upper Ink Clan member's eyes narrowed as understanding struck him at once. No wonder so many of their kind had been deployed yet failed to find this human's trail—he had been hiding inside a secret realm! That portal that had suddenly opened was unmistakably the entrance to a secret realm. Even from this considerable distance, the Upper Ink Clan member could clearly sense the sweet, delectable aura emanating from within—the aura of the world's great power, and the Ink Clan's favorite scent of all.
So that was it! Once everything clicked into place, the Upper Ink Clan member couldn't help but marvel at Yang Kai's good fortune in finding a secret realm to hide in.
It seemed the reports from above were true. This Yang Kai had been seriously injured when he destroyed those Domain Lord Ink Nests, and he had spent this entire period recovering.
His squad had over twenty members, but now that they had actually laid eyes on Yang Kai, he didn't dare make a single rash move. He knew Yang Kai was far too powerful—neither he nor his clansmen could possibly be his match. Recklessly revealing themselves would only mean throwing their lives away for nothing.
Yet though he had responded correctly, Yang Kai—who had just stepped out of the secret realm—suddenly turned his head and looked directly toward their position, clearly having sensed something amiss. Their gazes met, and the Upper Ink Clan member's soul nearly fled his body.
Before he could react, Yang Kai had already struck with a single palm. The majestic world's great power of a seventh-order Open Heaven cultivator surged forth, and the Ink Clan squad hiding within the Ink Cloud didn't even have a chance to resist before they were annihilated on the spot.
The Upper Ink Clan member had thought Yang Kai was simply lucky to have stumbled upon a secret realm in which to recover. In truth, it wasn't merely luck—possessing the Space Law, Yang Kai could effortlessly discover hidden secret realms that no Ink Clan member had ever found.
During this period, he had not only been recuperating within one but had also stripped it clean of every resource it produced.
Though raiding two Domain Lords' personal domains in succession had yielded rewards beyond imagination, when it came to resources, no human ever thought they had too many.