In the midst of the battlefield, the Yin-Yang Pass Ancestor stood alone. Several low-ranking Ink Clan charged toward her, but before they could get close, they were ground to dust by the sharp qi radiating from her body.
The Ancestor's gaze swept casually toward the direction Zhe Chun had fled, and the corner of her mouth curved slightly upward.
On Xiang Shan's side, she had been instructed to let one Domain Lord escape so the message could be delivered to the Ink Clan's Royal Lord. She had been pondering how to accomplish this seamlessly, as such a thing wasn't easy even for a Ninth-Order Open Heaven cultivator.
The gap in strength was too vast. If she made it too obvious, it would only invite suspicion.
But as it happened, one Domain Lord had never entered the floating continent zone, and upon sensing her aura, had decisively fled on the spot.
The Ancestor was only too happy to let that happen, pretending not to notice.
Ten Domain Lords — she only needed to let one go. As for the rest... they were to be killed to the last!
Xiang Shan had said as much: the Grand Origin Army's primary objective this time was not to reclaim Grand Origin Pass, but to inflict severe and crippling losses on the Ink Clan in the Grand Origin theater, so that the Grand Origin Army would have a chance to establish a firm foothold there in the future.
The deaths of three hundred thousand troops and nearly ten Domain Lords here would be no small loss for the Ink Clan's forces in the Grand Origin theater.
The more Ink Clan strength they could weaken here, the less pressure they would face upon arriving at the Grand Origin theater.
Once she confirmed that the fleeing Domain Lord had moved far enough away, the Ancestor held nothing back. She activated her profound art, and a massive Yin-Yang diagram split into black and white hues, centered on herself, enveloping the entire battlefield.
Within it, the human warriors suffered no ill effects whatsoever. The Ink Clan, on the other hand, were as if mired in a swamp — their movements visibly slowed. Below the Lord rank, everyone's strength was reduced by twenty to thirty percent. Even the Lords suffered dramatic drops in power. Only the Domain Lords were largely unaffected.
This wasn't to say the Ancestor's secret art had no effect on Domain Lords, but rather that because she had cast it over such a vast area this time, the suppression on Domain Lords was negligible.
Even without the Ancestor's suppression, however, the Domain Lords were suffering miserably.
Each Domain Lord was surrounded by three or five Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators, bombarding them with divine abilities and secret techniques. Who could withstand that?
Fewer than thirty of the Eighth-Order cultivators were engaged in besieging the Domain Lords, while over thirty others wove across the battlefield, coordinating with each garrison, guard, and squad to reap Ink Clan lives. Wherever these Eighth-Order cultivators passed, they left storms of carnage in their wake, and ranks upon ranks of Ink Clan fell like wheat.
This battle had erupted with little warning, and the ambush was far from perfect. Yet with the assistance of over thirty Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivators, thirty thousand human warriors could still steamroll forward, battering the Ink Clan into helplessness.
But the Ink Clan's reaction puzzled many.
In the beginning, these Ink Clan — regardless of cultivation level — showed no fear whatsoever toward the humans. Even the lowest-ranking Ink Clan would dare charge at human powerhouses.
Forget the Eighth-Order cultivators — even with the Ancestor standing right there, many Ink Clan still charged at her.
The reason for this was simple: most of the Ink Clan who had come from the Grand Origin theater had never fought humans before.
Every time reinforcements were dispatched from the Grand Origin theater to Wind Cloud Pass, aside from the Domain Lord who led them and a few lucky Lords who managed to return alive, the rest perished on the battlefield.
This meant most of the Ink Clan had zero experience fighting humans.
But they were Ink Clan from the Grand Origin theater, and their ancestors had seized the only pass from humanity. In the minds of nearly every Ink Clan below the Lord rank, humans were utterly helpless.
So even though they'd been ambushed, this three-hundred-thousand-strong Ink Clan army still dared to fight.
However, as time passed and their numbers dwindled, the Ink Clan finally realized that the ancient lore they'd been fed didn't match reality.
These humans were far from helpless. They were fierce and formidable, and they could deploy those Artifacts of varying shapes to fight. Without breaking through those Artifacts' defenses, it was nearly impossible to inflict meaningful damage on the humans.
By the time their army's casualties exceeded half, the Ink Clan finally awakened to the truth — this seemingly far smaller human force was not something they could hope to contend with.
But by then, it was far too late. Under Xiang Shan and Liu Zhiping's command, the entire floating continent zone had already been sealed into an airtight encirclement. Aside from the twenty to thirty thousand Ink Clan led by Zhe Chun who had fled at the very start, the remaining Ink Clan had no escape even if they wanted it.
What followed was a massacre!
The Ink Clan Domain Lords had all fallen. The hundred-odd thousand troops that remained lacked coordination and fought in complete disarray.
On the human side, there were dozens of Eighth-Order cultivators and the Ancestor presiding over the battle. The advantage was overwhelming.
In barely a single day, the Ink Clan were slaughtered to the last. Across the vast void, every floating continent had been shattered. Severed limbs and flesh littered the scene, and the dense Ink Force condensed into a massive ink cloud that filled the entire void — from a distance, it looked like a shadow.
Beyond the ink cloud, the Grand Origin Army's eastern and western forces assembled, but did not immediately set off. Instead, they remained in place to rest and regroup.
There was no rush. Since Xiang Shan had decided to beat the grass and startle the snake, he naturally needed to give the Ink Clan time to react.
That Domain Lord had already fled back. Though no one knew exactly how he would report the situation to the Royal Lord there, as long as the Ink Clan Royal Lord wasn't a complete fool, he should be able to recognize that something was wrong.