Tang Qiu sighed softly, his tone tinged with melancholy: "It's hard to say how many will survive this battle. Yang lad, this reclamation campaign is more perilous than any you've faced before. Under no circumstances should you act recklessly—your top priority must be preserving your own life."
"Yes!" Yang Kai responded with a respectful nod.
Through Tang Qiu's explanation, he had gained a thorough understanding of both the current situation and what was to come. None of this was particularly secret knowledge; it was only a matter of time before everyone learned of it through various channels.
The plaza was gradually growing livelier as warriors from different Passes arrived. Some, like Yang Kai, had come early and were visiting old friends.
Many martial brothers who hailed from the same Grotto-Heaven or Blessed Land had been assigned to different Passes the moment they set foot in the Ink Battlefield. Such partings often lasted hundreds or thousands of years—sometimes even longer—until death separated them permanently, never to meet again.
The campaign to reclaim Great Ruins had prompted every Pass to mobilize its forces and converge on Wind and Cloud Pass, giving these warriors from the same Sects a chance to reunite.
They had come from different Passes, but all shared the same goal: the reconquest of Great Ruins.
These were Open Heaven Realm cultivators who had already cast their lives aside. There was no excessive sentimentality in their reunion—only towering resolve and the joy of meeting again after so long apart.
They traded tales of defending their respective Passes against the Ink Clan, each one more animated than the last. Among them, the warriors from Biluo Pass naturally drew the most attention. No other Pass had accomplished what Biluo had: a deep expedition into the heart of the Ink Clan's territory, driving a forward base like a nail into their midst, seizing vast stretches of land. More than two hundred years had passed since then, and even now, the Ink Clan dared not venture a single step beyond the line.
At the temporary encampment of the five hundred warriors from Yin Yang Pass, Yang Kai chatted for a while with Qing Kui and Su Yingxue before turning to approach a warrior who had been sitting cross-legged in silence, quietly regulating his breath.
The man looked up at Yang Kai with a sour expression on his face.
Yang Kai chuckled. "Brother Xue Ya, we've crossed mountains and rivers to meet again. Where's the joy in your reunion with an old friend?"
Indeed, Xue Ya was among the five hundred warriors dispatched from Yin Yang Pass. Yang Kai had spotted him earlier, but he'd been occupied speaking with Tang Qiu and hadn't had the chance to greet him.
Xue Ya looked as though he couldn't be bothered: "Wherever you go, trouble is sure to follow. Stay away from me."
Despite having spent considerable time in the Ink Battlefield and resigned himself to his fate, Xue Ya still harbored bitter memories. If not for Yang Kai's meddling all those years ago, he never would have ended up like this. He'd most likely still be cultivating peacefully within the Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven, building up his strength in preparation for recovering his former might as an Eighth-Order Divine Lord.
Yang Kai smiled. "Brother Xue Ya, why still cling so stubbornly to ancient history? Now we find ourselves together in the Ink Battlefield, and before long we'll be fighting side by side. We should be watching each other's backs."
Xue Ya replied irritably: "Don't bother. Before we head into battle, just tell me where you'll be fighting so I can be as far from you as possible."
Xu Linggong wandered over. "Better to turn enemies into friends. Xue Ya, your actions back then were quite underhanded, but Yang Kai was only protecting himself. Why hold onto it so stubbornly?"
Xu Linggong had heard about what happened in the Blood Demon Grotto-Heaven, so when he saw Yang Kai and Xue Ya talking, he understood the situation immediately.
"Come, come, come! They say a shared laugh buries old grudges, and a cup of wine settles old debts. Drink this, and let all that's in the past fade away!" With that, Xu Linggong produced two jugs of wine, tossing one to Yang Kai and one to Xue Ya.
Xue Ya caught it and said nothing.
Xu Linggong slapped him on the shoulder—hard enough to drive him down a few inches—and said simply: "Drink. Refusing would be an insult."
Xue Ya's mouth twitched. In the old days, when he had wielded the might of an Eighth-Order Divine Lord, he never would have tolerated a Seventh-Order cultivator acting so brazenly before him. But those days were gone, and now all he could do was swallow his pride.
He broke the seal, tilted his head back, and drained the jug in one go.
Yang Kai smiled faintly and did the same.
Xu Linggong laughed heartily. "Now that's how it should be."
Wind and Cloud Pass's Grand Spatial Formation was, after all, the only one available. It had to process reinforcements from over fifty different Passes, which naturally required considerable time—the Grand Spatial Formation was cumbersome to operate and consumed enormous amounts of time.
In essence, it could only be activated once per day. In other words, it took a full day to transport a single Pass's complement of warriors.
The five hundred from Biluo Pass hadn't arrived early, but they weren't late either. Personnel from roughly half the Passes had yet to arrive.
Beyond the Pass walls, the Ink Clan maintained their relentless siege. Occasional violent tremors of energy, despite the multiple formations buffering them, still made themselves clearly felt on the plaza.
The gathered warriors found the waiting agonizing. They knew the Ink Clan was swarming outside the Pass and yearned to rush into battle, yet there was nothing they could do. Until all forces had arrived and the Eastern and Western Armies of Great Ruins were fully organized, these warriors requisitioned from various Passes could not act on their own.
The torment lasted for more than twenty days.
Until one day, the last Pass's forces arrived at Wind and Cloud Pass. By that point, the plaza was filled with fifteen thousand warriors, including over two hundred Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators.
The lineup was unprecedented. While the total number gathered here didn't exceed any single Pass's full complement, the number of Eighth-Order cultivators far surpassed any individual stronghold.
Most of these Eighth-Order cultivators had come to escort their respective Pass's warriors to Wind and Cloud Pass. However, since the Grand Spatial Formation couldn't immediately send them back, they could only remain at Wind and Cloud Pass for the time being.
At the same time, their presence was a preparation for the battle to come.
One by one, the Eighth-Order cultivators from each Pass issued their orders. Warriors who had been visiting friends and old acquaintances returned to their positions, and the noisy plaza fell silent in an instant.
Moments later, large numbers of warriors converged on the plaza from all directions. This new batch numbered fifteen thousand—roughly equal to the original group already assembled.
With this, a total of thirty thousand warriors had gathered in the plaza!
Seeing this, Yang Kai understood immediately. If the first fifteen thousand on the plaza were the warriors requisitioned from various Passes, then these newly arrived fifteen thousand were the warriors who originally belonged to Wind and Cloud Pass.
Their movements were notably more orderly and coordinated. It wasn't that Yang Kai and the others lacked discipline—they simply hadn't had the same time to develop the cohesion that came from serving in the same Pass. These were native Wind and Cloud Pass troops who had trained and fought together for years. The difference was clear.
Thirty thousand warriors gathered in one place—a truly spectacular sight.