"This is the Ink Clan!"
Crouched behind a massive meteorite, Miao Feiping's eyes widened as he watched the Ink Clan column sweep past through the void ahead. Just as his Senior Brothers had described, they came in all manner of bizarre shapes — none of them possessing any fixed form.
From this several-hundred-strong column, he spotted towering giants alongside humanoid figures, though the majority resembled the demon beast race. Some Ink Clan members had taken on the complete form of demon beasts.
But regardless of shape, every last one of them pulsed with the Force of Ink across their bodies. Even the space they passed through bore residual traces of that power, like ink that refused to dissolve.
Miao Feiping swallowed hard and glanced over at Yang Kai.
A column of this size — several hundred strong — was no small force. He had no idea how Yang Kai intended to handle it. Would they charge in and fight, or observe from the shadows?
Had he been alone, there was no way he could have concealed his aura at this close a distance. The stronger members of the column would have detected him for certain. But with Yang Kai at his side, his presence had been compressed to the absolute minimum, and the gap between them and the patrol was wide enough that the Ink Clan had no idea two pairs of eyes were watching them from the darkness.
"This should be a Lord's subordinate forces," Yang Kai transmitted via voice. Under his careful observation, he could clearly distinguish four or five Lord-level Ink Clan members among the several hundred in the column. The rest were Upper-rank and Lower-rank Ink Clan.
This matched the intelligence he had gathered deep in Ink Clan territory back in the day. Zhagu had told him all about this.
"Where are they headed?" Miao Feiping asked, puzzled. The column's trajectory didn't seem to be aimed at Biluo Pass.
"They've probably received the summons of the Domain Lord for this region," Yang Kai explained. "They're heading to rendezvous with the forces of other Lords before launching an assault on Biluo Pass."
Miao Feiping nodded in understanding. "Martial Uncle, I heard the Senior Brothers say that each Domain Lord commands at minimum dozens, and at most over a hundred Lords who hold their own territories?"
This information was something Yang Kai had brought back from deep within Ink Clan territory. It had long since spread to every human stronghold, so it was no surprise Miao Feiping had learned of it from the other members of the Dawn Squad.
Yang Kai nodded. "That's correct."
Miao Feiping's breath caught. "If that's the case, a Domain Lord can easily gather tens of thousands of troops during wartime?"
This single Lord's column already numbered several hundred. A hundred such columns, and you'd have tens of thousands without breaking a sweat.
Yang Kai nodded again. "Otherwise, where do you think the massive armies that besiege the Passes each time come from? It's all the individual Lords leading their own subordinate forces to assemble."
Miao Feiping couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
How many soldiers did the human Passes actually have? Setting the others aside, even Biluo Pass only fielded thirty to forty thousand men. The other Passes were likely about the same. But the Ink Clan could mass armies in the tens or even hundreds of thousands.
He knew full well that those Ink Clan armies were largely inflated — the vast majority were nothing more than Lower-rank cannon fodder. Still, the disparity in sheer numbers was staggering.
In that moment, Miao Feiping found it almost impossible to imagine how, over all these years, the human race had managed to withstand the Ink Clan's assaults and repel them time and again.
Yang Kai could have charged this column head-on if he'd wanted, scattered it to the winds. But with Miao Feiping in tow, it wasn't so simple — he couldn't guarantee the young man's safety in a full-blown engagement.
So he watched the Lord's forces depart, committing their heading to memory, then gently patted Miao Feiping on the shoulder. "Let's move."
Miao Feiping hurried to follow.
Soon he realized that Yang Kai was heading in the exact opposite direction from the column.
His mind was quick, and a suspicion began to form. "Martial Uncle, are we heading into that Lord's territory?"
Yang Kai glanced at him with some surprise. "What makes you say that?"
Miao Feiping explained, "That Lord's column came from this direction, which means his territory must lie that way. Since you haven't changed course, we must be striking at his stronghold while his forces are away — hitting him where it hurts?"
Yang Kai regarded him with a meaningful look. "Not me — you!"
"Me?!" Miao Feiping nearly jumped.
Yang Kai suddenly looked ahead and broke into a grin. "There happen to be a couple of stragglers up ahead. Time to get some practice in."
With that, he grabbed Miao Feiping by the collar and, before the young man could even react, hurled him forward.
Miao Feiping let out a yelp as he was launched an unknowable distance. By the time he finally managed to steady himself, two Ink Clan members were staring at him with expressions that wavered between confusion and menace.
"A human!"
"Sixth Order!"
"Ink him!"
The two exchanged a brief, clipped communication, then closed in from both sides, flanking him.
Miao Feiping's face went pale. He quickly summoned his sword, channeled his full power, and unfurled a screen of blade light as he clashed with the two Ink Clan warriors.
The moment their blades met, Miao Feiping found himself at a disadvantage. Both Ink Clan members were Upper-rank — and Upper-rank warriors on par with a human Sixth Order at that.