The injuries the Xiaoxiao Ancestor had sustained this time were far lighter than last time, so naturally her recovery was much easier. That said, this time she had merely wandered about within Yang Kai's Small Universe, rather than experiencing an entirely new lifetime as she had before.
Even so, it still took a full eighty years before she made a complete recovery.
The moment the Ancestor emerged from seclusion, the human armies began to mobilize.
Over the twenty years in the outside world, the Eastern and Western Armies had not simply been recuperating—they had also been making all manner of preparations for the next great battle, waiting only for the Ancestor to emerge so they could launch another assault on the royal city.
Now, the time had come.
The order was given. Sixteen Universe Worlds, already prepared and positioned, set out from a point in the void and began advancing toward the Ink Clan's royal city.
At the same time, the massive human fleet assembled on the far side of their garrison World and rose into the void.
On the other side, the Ancestor was already charging toward the royal city, alone.
This time, she did not wait for the human armies to act together with her, but instead went ahead on her own. The humans had done the same thing last time, and if they repeated the tactic, the Ink Clan would surely be on guard.
The same trick could not work forever.
The Ink Clan royal city had been monitoring the humans' garrison with every resource at their disposal, yet for twenty years, the humans had remained perfectly still.
The less the humans did, the more uneasy the Ink Clan became, as though an invisible blade hung suspended above their heads, poised to fall but never quite dropping—an agonizing state of affairs.
When the massive human fleet rounded their garrison World and appeared in the void, the Ink Clan Lord responsible for monitoring the area noticed immediately.
The intelligence was urgently relayed upward and soon reached Chekong's ears.
Chekong stepped out of his tower ship's cabin and stood on the deck, gazing into the distance—and sure enough, he spotted the traces of the human fleet.
He did not hesitate. Turning to the female Domain Lord who had been at his side all along, he ordered, "Keep watch on the human armies' movements. I'm heading back to the royal city to awaken the King Lord!"
Last time, the King Lord had suffered from the Xiaoxiao Ancestor's surprise attack, so after returning from that battle, he had issued orders to Chekong: if the human armies showed any signs of assaulting the royal city again, he was to be roused from his slumber immediately, to avoid being caught off guard once more.
Had it not been absolutely necessary, he never would have issued such a command. No Ink Clan member liked being forcibly awakened during recovery—it was extremely detrimental to healing, and this was all the more true for the King Lord himself.
However, compared to the potential surprise attack by the Xiaoxiao Ancestor, this was a minor inconvenience. After all, if the Ancestor did strike, the King Lord would be jolted awake regardless—it would be better to have a subordinate wake him early so they could prepare ahead of time.
An order from the King Lord was not something Chekong would dare disobey.
That said, the human fleet had only just set out from their position—it would take at least half a day to reach the royal city, so there was no great rush to awaken the King Lord.
After issuing his orders, he set off toward the royal city.
But after only two steps, he suddenly spun around and looked back.
An aura of extreme danger was hurtling toward them from that direction at terrifying speed. Chekong's face and that of the female Domain Lord beside him changed in an instant.
The Human Ancestor has already arrived!
This was something no one had ever expected. Everyone had assumed the Human Ancestor would march with the army — no one had anticipated that she would arrive first, striking near the capital the very moment the Ink Race detected the human army's movements.
"Enemy attack!" Chekong had no time to deliberate on what the Human Ancestor was playing at. He let out a terrified roar.
In the next instant, a ghostly figure crashed into the Ink Race army stationed outside the capital. When the devastating power of heaven and earth erupted, it was like a red-hot iron plunged into ice water — the very heavens seemed to boil!
When a Human Supreme powerhouse disregarded all considerations of status and launched a direct assault on the Ink Race army, the destruction she could wreak was beyond imagination.
Because no one could restrain her. Without a King Lord to pin her down, even Domain Lords and Eighth-Grade Ink Disciples risked falling at any moment.
In every passing breath, tens of thousands of Ink Race perished. With that figure that had torn into their ranks as the center, the surrounding Ink Race melted away like snowflakes under a blazing sun, dissolving in great swathes.
Among the fallen were Ink Race of the Lord rank, and interspersed throughout were the telltale tremors of Domain Lords and Eighth-Grade Openers meeting their end.
In less than ten breaths, the Ink Race army had lost some forty to fifty thousand.
The meticulously arranged Ink Race formation descended into complete chaos. Countless Ink Race instinctively unleashed their secret arts at that figure, but to no effect — and worse, friendly fire erupted one after another.
Some Ink Race didn't die at the Human Ancestor's hands; they perished under their own kin's techniques, a fate most wretched indeed.
Ten breaths — for many Ink Race, that was the difference between life and death.
And ten breaths was more than enough for the Ink Race King Lord to respond.
The Human Ancestor's power was being unleashed right outside the capital. Even deep in slumber, he could perceive it with perfect clarity.
Ten breaths later, before the Ancestor could sow further chaos and carnage among the Ink Race army, the furious silhouette of the King Lord burst forth from the capital. Dense Ink Power shrouded him, almost entirely obscuring his true form. A blow laced with boundless fury — practically his full strength — slammed into the Laughing Ancestor and sent her reeling.
A faint flush of crimson swept across the Ancestor's fair cheeks, then vanished almost at once. She stood tall in the void, meeting the Ink Race King Lord's gaze from across the distance. Her radiant eyes seemed capable of piercing through the veil of Ink Power, clearly discerning the fury and bewilderment in his gaze.
The King Lord was indeed both furious and bewildered.