Eight Seventh-Order and one Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivators providing protective oversight for a group of Emperor Realm cultivators advancing to Open Heaven was unlikely to cause any serious trouble. These Disciples from the Dao Academy all had rock-solid foundations and stable Dao Marks, and with the Tianyuan True Seal Pills that Yang Kai had provided, the vast majority of their breakthroughs proceeded smoothly. The one or two who encountered minor hiccups came through unscathed.
The female Emperor Realm cultivator that Miao Feiping had been responsible for experienced some emotional instability during her advancement. It was only thanks to his timely intervention that she managed to avert disaster.
The powers of Yin, Yang, and the Five Elements converged and fused within their bodies, splitting open heaven and earth to forge their own Small Universes.
In the void, the aura of freshly born universes pulsed forth one after another.
After several days, the party that had departed with nine Open Heaven cultivators returned with nineteen.
Every one of the newly advanced cultivators was bursting with joy. The leap from Emperor Realm to Open Heaven was nothing short of a qualitative transformation in strength. If they had only advanced to the Lower-Order of Open Heaven, the difference might not have been so dramatic — but all ten of these cultivators had broken through to the Sixth-Order.
Once they returned and spent their time consolidating their realms and familiarizing themselves with their new power, their strength would be hundreds or even thousands of times what it had been before.
In this regard, the Heavenly Dao was unfair.
Those with outstanding aptitude and exceptional talent could often leave their peers far behind during the breakthrough to Open Heaven.
Those with lesser gifts could only claw their way along the bottom of the Open Heaven realm.
But when had the Heavenly Dao ever been fair?
Yang Kai handed the ten newly advanced Sixth-Order cultivators over to Feng Ying to escort back to Great Evolution Pass, where the higher-ups would decide how to arrange them.
Generally speaking, newly advanced Open Heaven cultivators were of little use in the short term. They needed to spend considerable time stabilizing their cultivation and acquainting themselves with their vastly increased power, or they would be unable to perform at their proper level in combat.
This process could take anywhere from a few years to an indeterminate period.
Fortunately, the Great Evolution theater was currently at peace, giving the ten newcomers ample time to do so — which was precisely why Yang Kai had held them back inside his Small Universe rather than releasing them earlier.
If he had let them out during the previous bloody battles against the Ink Clan, they would only have been a liability.
On the return journey, all ten newcomers crowded around Miao Feiping, peppering him with questions.
The main reason was that Miao Feiping shared the same origins — he too had come from a Void World. There was no real barrier between them; instead, there was a natural sense of kinship.
Facing Feng Ying and the others was a different matter entirely. No matter how approachable Feng Ying and her companions tried to be, the newcomers still felt somewhat ill at ease.
Miao Feiping was more than happy to share his experience with these junior cultivators. In fact, years earlier when they had been stationed at Biluo Pass, he had freely offered guidance to the Open Heaven cultivators who emerged from Yang Kai's Small Universe as well.
Virtually every Open Heaven cultivator who had come from the Void Worlds owed Miao Feiping a debt of gratitude. He had played the role of trailblazer with exceptional diligence.
In response to the group's barrage of questions, Miao Feiping answered everything he could with complete candor.
Having suddenly found themselves in an entirely new environment, suddenly possessing power far greater than what they had known before, the newcomers had far too much to learn.
Nine out of ten were like this. The one exception sat in silence, listening with focused attention.
This was the female Emperor Realm cultivator whom Miao Feiping had been responsible for earlier.
After listening quietly for a long while, the woman seemed to come to a sudden decision. She abruptly quickened her pace and moved up to Feng Ying, who was leading the party toward Great Evolution Pass.
Feng Ying noticed her approach and turned her head with a gentle smile. "What is it? Is something not quite right?"
The woman shook her head and transmitted her voice quietly: "Martial Aunt Feng, I just overheard Senior Brother Miao say that here, combat against the Ink Clan is conducted in squads?"
Feng Ying nodded. "That's right. Squads are the most fundamental unit of our human armies, and the most basic organizational structure."
The woman hesitated, then said tentatively, "Then… could I join your squad?"
Feng Ying was mildly surprised. No one had ever made such a request of her before. In fact, over the years, quite a number of Open Heaven cultivators had emerged from Yang Kai's Small Universe — every one of them at least Sixth-Order, with a few starting at Seventh-Order.
But Yang Kai's responsibility had been limited to bringing them out. He left everything else to others.
It was not that he couldn't be bothered — he was simply avoiding any appearance of favoritism.
After all, more and more people would continue to emerge from Yang Kai's Small Universe in the future. Over time, the forces under Yang Kai's direct umbrella would grow enormously powerful.
If these people were allowed to gather together, they might develop an exclusionary atmosphere — something that was strictly forbidden on the Ink Battlefield.
On this brutal battlefield, regardless of origin or status, once you stepped onto the field, you were comrades-in-arms who lived and died together.
Yang Kai had long since taken precautions against this. Back at Biluo Pass, he had handed nearly all the warriors who emerged from his Small Universe over to the various Legion Commanders, refraining from getting personally involved.
Now, with Great Evolution Pass in a state of rebuilding and everyone working frantically, he would not have personally led Dawn's Seventh-Order cultivators to provide protective oversight for this advance if the situation hadn't demanded it.
One need only look at Dawn's current composition to understand. Among all the warriors who had emerged from the Void Worlds, only Miao Feiping had been kept by Yang Kai in Dawn. The rest had been distributed across every garrison and guard unit.