Yang Kai had expected his provocation this time to have little effect. After all, his capabilities had already been exposed, and no matter how foolish the Ink Clan might be, they wouldn't keep falling for the same trick again and again.
There might even be an ambush waiting for him on their end — it was entirely possible a Domain Lord would make a move.
But what he never anticipated was that the provocation actually worked again. From the floating continent, several Lord-led forces charged out, chasing him toward the depths of the void.
The same scene as before played out. Once they reached a suitable position, Yang Kai turned and charged back into the fray, engaging nearly two thousand Ink Clan warriors in a fierce battle.
He didn't let his guard down, however. By his estimation, an Ink Clan Domain Lord could well be lurking nearby, waiting for the perfect moment to deliver a fatal blow. He had to stay on constant alert against sneak attacks from unknown directions.
And just as Yang Kai lured several Ink Clan forces further and further away, under the dark ink clouds shrouding that floating continent, over two hundred thousand Ink Clan troops split into three groups under the command of various Domain Lords, heading from different directions straight toward where Dawn lay hidden — intending to catch the human ambush force completely off guard.
The Ink Clan's siege of Biluo Pass this time involved four army groups in total, with a combined force approaching one million. This group was merely one of them.
Though it wasn't yet time for the coordinated advance, the temptation of the human ambush force hidden on that floating continent was simply too great. Put aside everything else — just one person among them was enough to make these Ink Clan Domain Lords take the risk. Moreover, as they had discussed beforehand, this location was far from Biluo Pass. Even if the humans had ambush forces, their numbers couldn't be large. With two hundred thousand Ink Clan troops and over a dozen Domain Lords, they had more than enough capability to swallow them whole, so it couldn't really be called much of a risk.
Devouring this human ambush force and then advancing together with the other three army groups wouldn't be too late.
"Wuying, are you certain Zhong Liang is there too?" a Domain Lord asked during the march.
The one called Wuying was the same Domain Lord who had previously volunteered to scout the human ambush force's intelligence. He gritted his teeth and said, "How could I fail to recognize Zhong Liang's aura? That old bastard nearly beat me to death back then — I'd recognize him even if he were turned to ashes!"
The Domain Lord who had spoken before nodded. "Good. If that's the case, we've caught ourselves a big fish this time. Zhong Liang holds the position of Western Army Corps Commander — high rank, great authority. If he falls, morale at Biluo Pass will surely plummet. Perhaps this time we can take Biluo Pass in one stroke."
Wuying's expression turned savage. "I'll kill him with my own hands!"
"Don't worry — there'll be an opportunity."
……
Something's not quite right!
Amid the fighting, Yang keenly sensed it. This was his third time luring the snake from its hole. The first time, the several hundred Ink Clan warriors he'd drawn out were slaughtered to the last. Before the laws of space, that Lord-led force had no chance of escape whatsoever.
The second time, there were somewhat too many. He couldn't kill them all and had to let some of the Ink Clan warriors escape.
The number of Ink Clan warriors drawn out this third time was roughly the same as the second. He had fully expected a Domain Lord to be lurking nearby, waiting to strike. But after killing so many Ink Clan warriors and deliberately leaving several openings, he hadn't encountered a single sneak attack from a Domain Lord. He hadn't even sensed the faintest trace of one.
No Domain Lords were coming?
That wasn't what confused him the most, though. What truly baffled him was that these Ink Clan warriors were fighting to the death without fleeing.
This was very abnormal. Under his merciless slaughter, the Ink Clan warriors were clearly all terrified — wherever he went, they scattered and retreated. Yet not a single one deserted the battlefield.
In just half a day, he had slain nearly half of the nearly two thousand Ink Clan warriors. The remaining half, if they didn't flee, would inevitably meet the same end sooner or later.
Yang Kai vaguely suspected he might have fallen into some kind of trap, but at this point he couldn't worry about that. Since no Ink Clan Domain Lords were lurking nearby, he might as well go on a killing spree.
Another one or two hours passed. Only about a hundred Ink Clan warriors remained nearby. Every last one was overwhelmed with terror, trying to maintain as much distance from Yang Kai as possible while still harassing him — yet not a single one showed any intention of fleeing.
Just then, not far behind him, sword intent surged and a piercing sword cry shook the heavens. A figure wreathed in sword light charged into battle, and wherever they passed, Ink Clan warriors were cut to pieces by that razor-sharp sword energy.
When the sword light split and then abruptly retracted, over half of the hundred-odd Ink Clan warriors were killed or wounded in an instant.
Seeing the sword light streak straight toward the last remaining Lord, Yang Kai hurriedly shouted, "Hold your sword!"
That Lord was one he had deliberately spared — he couldn't let the newcomer cut him down.
Fortunately, Feng Ying reacted with lightning speed. Hearing Yang Kai's cry, she immediately changed course, slaughtering the remaining small fry clean. By the time she turned around, Yang Kai had already activated the laws of space to immobilize the battered and wounded Lord in place.
"Why are you here?" Yang Kai turned to look.
Feng Ying said, "Why can't your Ethereal Pearl transmit messages back? Uncle-Master Zhong Liang asked me to find out what's going on with you. Since we couldn't reach you, I had to come personally."
Yang Kai was taken aback. "You tried to send me messages? I had the Ethereal Pearl stored in my Space Ring — naturally we couldn't communicate."
When he had sent back his last message, he'd put the Ethereal Pearl away, afraid that incoming messages might expose his location. Who would have thought that Dawn actually wanted to contact him?
"Did something happen over there?" Yang Kai asked urgently.
Feng Ying shook her head. "Nothing happened. How are things over here?"
Yang Kai frowned. "Something's strange."