Yang Kai intended to let the prey before him believe he could shake off the pursuit.
His cultivation might not match Heiyuan's, but in terms of recovery ability, Heiyuan couldn't even come close. Exchanging identical wounds heavily favored Yang Kai, and in a sustained chase like this, Heiyuan would only grow weaker and weaker. When the time was right, Yang Kai might not even need to strike — Heiyuan would simply collapse from exhaustion!
But Heiyuan was no fool. He might not have known what Yang Kai was planning, yet he was doing everything in his power to break free from the pursuit.
He repeatedly fled toward the territories of Ink Clan Domain Lords, hoping to use the Ink Clan stationed there to obstruct Yang Kai.
However, the Ink Clan remaining in those territories nowadays were essentially nothing more than High-Rank and Low-Rank Ink Clan. There wasn't even a single true Domain Lord among them — how could they possibly stop Yang Kai?
They might cost him a few breaths of time, but they could never truly shake him off.
One chased, the other fled, crossing tens of millions of miles without end. Heiyuan's injuries grew heavier by the moment, his entire body riddled with wounds, his Ink Blood nearly all drained away. The frustration in his heart was beyond words.
In terms of raw strength, he still surpassed Yang Kai. But the severe damage to his Soul had been deliberately targeted by Yang Kai, leaving him utterly unable to unleash Domain Lord-level power in his presence. Otherwise, how could things have come to this wretched state?
More than once, Heiyuan was tempted to turn and fight Yang Kai to the death. But in the end, he lacked the nerve. In his current condition, if he committed to a fight to the finish without retreat, survival would be impossible — and he wasn't even confident he could drag Yang Kai down with him before dying.
His thirst for survival drove him to flee without pause, clinging to the hope that some variable might arise to resolve his predicament.
And a variable did suddenly appear.
At one moment, Heiyuan sensed several familiar and powerful auras rapidly approaching from ahead — several Ink Clan Domain Lords, beings of the same rank as himself. He could even identify who they were from those auras alone.
Heiyuan was overjoyed!
In the Twilight King's territory, nearly all Domain Lords had led their forces to battle the humans of Yin Yang Pass. Only a handful remained behind — aside from himself, the rest were the ones stationed in the Royal City.
But Heiyuan knew that those Domain Lords in the Royal City had previously been assisting the King Lord in besieging the Human Ancestor. He himself had been recuperating this whole time and had no idea how that battle had progressed.
Now, sensing those Domain Lords' auras out of nowhere could only mean the fight between the Human Ancestor and the King Lord had concluded. Regardless of who won, those Domain Lords were free to reinforce the front lines — and judging by the direction they were heading, that was precisely where they were going.
Running into them here was truly a stroke of luck.
Without a moment's hesitation, Heiyuan surged toward the approaching auras. As long as he linked up with them, Yang Kai would be forced to exercise caution. He might even be able to combine forces with those Domain Lords to capture him. With several Domain Lords striking together, Yang Kai's mastery of Space wouldn't necessarily guarantee his escape.
At that moment, a phrase that circulated among the humans surfaced unbidden in Heiyuan's mind: when the path ahead seems lost, a willow grove and bright flowers reveal another village.
Until a slight figure suddenly came into view before him — and Heiyuan felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
When Heiyuan sensed those Domain Lords' auras, Yang Kai had sensed them too. Even from a vast distance, the overwhelming might of those Domain Lords was unmistakable — like beacons burning in the night.
Yang Kai was alarmed.
He had originally planned to slowly grind Heiyuan down to nothing. The fellow was a Domain Lord after all, and pushed to desperation, who knew what trump cards he might deploy. But now three Ink Clan Domain Lords had appeared up ahead — he could even pick out the auras of Mie Qiong and Qing Lei among them, along with one other unfamiliar Domain Lord.
In other words, three Domain Lords were heading his way!
What were they doing here? The intelligence Yang Kai had received indicated that several Ink Clan Domain Lords had been assisting the Twilight King Lord in besieging the Human Ancestor. That was why, after he had severely damaged Heiyuan's Soul and run rampant behind Ink Clan lines, no Domain Lord had come to rein him in.
Now three of them had appeared here. Had the battle between the Ancestor and the King Lord ended? Who had won?
There was no time to dwell on it. After a brief moment of hesitation, Yang Kai activated his Space Law, his figure vanishing like a phantom.
When he reappeared, he was not far behind Heiyuan. The Azure Dragon Spear thrust forward like a dragon, his Space Law deployed to lock down the void ahead, while his Soul power slammed toward Heiyuan as he roared, "Heiyuan, die!"
The three Domain Lords approaching from ahead were still some distance away. He had a window to kill Heiyuan here and then flee.
He had already prepared himself for a deathbed counterattack from Heiyuan. But facing this momentum-drenched spear thrust, Heiyuan seemed entirely oblivious to the danger — instead remaining fixated on guarding against what lay ahead.
A flash of cold light seemed to streak past. A slight figure darted past Heiyuan's side, wielding a long sword that was spotless, without a single drop of Ink Blood on its blade, and it met Yang Kai's incoming spear head-on.
The instant he caught sight of that figure, Yang Kai's eyes went wide. He hastily retracted his spear strike, and the powerful rebound sent his blood churning.
The slight figure had already closed to Yang Kai, an expression of surprise on her face. "Why are you still here?"