"If joy means obliterating the self, then I don't want it!"
"Young friend, are you truly this obstinate?"
"If our paths diverge, we cannot walk together!"
"Hmph! You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Since that's the case, don't blame this old man for showing no mercy!"
After those brief exchanges, the Eighth-Order Ink Slave's attacks suddenly grew vicious.
He had genuinely admired the young man's talent, but Yang Kai's unwavering resolve finally extinguished any thought of winning him over. Moreover, he could not afford to linger in a place like this. The Human army had already withdrawn into the distance, but dozens of cultivators had fled earlier — if any Eighth-Order Open Heavens learned that he had faked his death and escaped, one might circle back to deal with him.
In his current state, an encounter with an Eighth-Order cultivator would end in disaster.
The longsword shuddered, and the countless streaks of sword light abruptly converged into a single devastating arc that slashed straight toward Yang Kai's head.
A wave of overwhelming force crashed down upon him. Yang Kai's body trembled violently, and even at full strength he could barely withstand the blow. The razor-sharp sword qi tore through the air, shredding what remained of his clothing and drawing lines of crimson across his body.
Under that tremendous force, his entire figure was sent hurtling backward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
The Eighth-Order Ink Slave showed no mercy, pursuing him relentlessly like a leech clinging to bone. The longsword in his hand swung at an unhurried pace, yet each stroke released a torrent of savage sword qi.
From a distance, those arcs of sword qi seemed to merge into an unbroken river of blades, and at its very end lay Yang Kai.
The Star-Chasing Moon-Chasing Sword of the Xuanjian Blessed Land!
Yang Kai instantly grasped the old man's origin.
Having fought and scratched his way across the Ink Battlefield for so many years, he had crossed paths with elites from a great many Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands. He knew at least something of the signature techniques and secret arts each one boasted.
What the old man was executing right now was unmistakably the Star-Chasing Moon-Chasing Sword — a sword art belonging to the Xuanjian Blessed Land.
Yet knowing this changed nothing about his dire situation.
Both Yang Kai and the Eighth-Order Ink Slave had just survived a brutal battle. Although the Ink Slave's injuries were far more severe than Yang Kai's, he was still a full minor realm above him. That single rank of difference was enough to create an overwhelming disparity.
This was Yang Kai — any other Seventh-Order cultivator would have already perished under this Ink Slave's blade.
Under the relentless storm of attacks, Yang Kai could scarcely keep up his defense. The Great Freedom Spear Art had been pushed to its absolute limit, yet it still struggled to withstand the power of the other's swordsmanship.
The roaming sword qi carried tremendous destructive force, lacerating him from head to toe.
And as the old man continued to unleash his sword light, the distance between them closed rapidly, while the sword intent emanating from him grew ever sharper and more chilling.
An overwhelming sense of danger enveloped Yang Kai. He could not explain how he knew, but he could clearly feel it — the moment the gap between them narrowed to a certain point, the old man would unleash one devastating killing move, and that would be the moment their lives were decided.
How could he let the old man have his way?
Watching the Eighth-Order Ink Slave steadily close in, Yang Kai's eyes snapped open in an instant.
In the next heartbeat, his right eye turned black as an abyss, and with that shift in his gaze, the surrounding void seemed to be draped in a layer of dark curtain.
Simultaneously, an authoritative golden vertical pupil manifested in his left eye.
Within that golden slit-pupil, the reflection of the Eighth-Order Ink Slave appeared. Under the activation of his eye technique, the reflection warped in a grotesque, unnatural twist.
The Eighth-Order Ink Slave, who had been bombarding Yang Kai without pause, suddenly convulsed as though struck by lightning. An invisible, colossal force seemed to slam into him from some unknown source, searing agony through his entire body and momentarily freezing him in place.
Meeting Yang Kai's pair of bizarre eyes, the Ink Slave blurted in astonishment: "The World-Destroying Demon Eye? The Purgatory Black Pupil?"
Could this young man be a demon spawn of the Myriad Demon Heaven?
Yet the old man had sensed not a trace of demonic energy on him from the very beginning.
If that was the case, then either this youth had been concealing his true origins all along, or he was not a disciple of the Myriad Demon Heaven at all, but had instead exchanged military merits on the Ink Battlefield for the cultivation methods of those two great techniques.
If it was the former, that was one thing. But if it was the latter, this young man was truly something extraordinary.
Anyone who could exchange merits for such closely guarded secret arts was invariably someone of extraordinary military distinction — elites whose hands were stained with the blood of countless Ink Clan.
Still, despite the impressive level of mastery this young man displayed in both eye techniques, using them across a gap in cultivation ranks meant their actual effect was severely limited.
By the time the old man's thoughts had turned over the matter, the influence of the two eye techniques had already dissipated entirely.
What Yang Kai had been fighting for was precisely that brief moment.
The cry of a Golden Crow rang out as a blazing sun surged into existence, its majestic radiance flooding the void.
The old man had barely recovered when the sun shattered through the sword light and blasted toward him.
"A Dharma Idol divine ability!" The old man's brow rose, and inwardly he couldn't help but feel a spark of admiration. This Seventh-Order youth's cultivation was far below his own, yet his instinct for seizing the right moment in battle was exceptional. He must have sensed something coming, which was why he deployed those two eye techniques in quick succession, followed immediately by a Dharma Idol — all to disrupt the old man's plans.
Truth be told, it was an excellent move.
If not for the young man's barrage of techniques, the old man would already have unleashed his trump card and claimed his life.