No human could possibly remain unscathed under a combined soul secret art attack from three Domain Lords.
What's more, that human had already suffered some unknown mishap beforehand, his soul having weakened to an extreme degree. In such a situation, even the Human Ancestor herself wouldn't have been able to withstand their joint assault.
"What foolish humans, never learning their lesson!" the Domain Lord who had shaped his soul power into an eyeball snorted coldly. But just after speaking, he seemed to sense something, and the eyeball swiveled to look at a companion beside him, asking in puzzlement: "What's wrong with you?"
The companion beside him was the one who had shaped his soul into a flowing, liquid-like form. At this moment, an extremely abnormal aura was emanating from this Domain Lord's soul. He was desperately trying to solidify his form, yet it seemed as though he were meeting tremendous resistance, constantly shifting shape as his aura surged and fluctuated.
This anomaly quickly drew the attention of several other Domain Lords, who all turned their focus toward him.
The liquid-like Domain Lord seemed to have only just managed to gather enough strength to transmit his voice: "H-help… help me!"
The moment those words left him, a violent energy fluctuation erupted within his liquid body. The searing pain made him let out a miserable howl, and the form he had been struggling to maintain became even more erratic.
The other five Domain Lords were struck with alarm. They immediately gathered around him, and after a quick examination, each one was shocked to discover that, at some unknown point, a long needle-like Artifact had appeared inside the liquid Domain Lord's soul. The Artifact seemed to possess a will of its own, constantly drilling deeper into his soul. Wherever it passed, the soul's essence was utterly annihilated.
The Domain Lords could instantly see how vicious this Artifact was. If this needle-like Artifact truly destroyed their companion's soul essence, then even if he somehow survived, he would lose all consciousness and become nothing more than a walking corpse.
And that wasn't even the worst of it—the needle Artifact was still frantically ravaging his soul, subjecting him to the agony of having it torn apart. If they couldn't stop the Artifact's erosion, whether he would even survive was an open question.
"A Soul Artifact!" the simian Domain Lord growled in a deep voice. He himself had Ink Servants under his command, so he was no stranger to Soul Artifacts.
Previously, the humans from the Open Heaven realm who had come looking for trouble each possessed their own Soul Artifacts. When activated, they were indeed formidable, but they couldn't withstand the force of a combined attack.
However, the Soul Artifact they were seeing now seemed to be different—far more vicious and far more targeted than any they had encountered before.
Was this the human's trump card?
They hadn't sensed it at all when the human had activated this Artifact. Thinking back now, it must have been during that moment of chaos. Combined with the Artifact's exceptional concealment properties, no one had noticed a thing.
"Hold on—I'll help you!" the simian Domain Lord commanded in a low voice. His soul power surged as he unleashed his secret art.
He wasn't the only one. The other Domain Lords also each deployed their own secret arts to help their companion resist the needle Artifact's erosion.
It was right at this moment that a familiar aura appeared within this bizarre space—it was none other than that human who had been screaming miserably just moments ago.
He wasn't dead!
Not only was he not dead, he had actually come back.
But his condition was exactly as the Domain Lords had imagined—severely wounded. His soul body had become noticeably dimmer than before, and his aura was extremely unstable, fluctuating between strong and weak.
"You refuse to know your place—I'll deal with him!" the eyeball Domain Lord roared in fury. The eyeball pivoted and charged straight toward Yang Kai.
Simultaneously, Yang Kai was also charging toward him. Mid-charge, his soul power surged wildly, and shrill screams of agony poured from his mouth.
"Ahhhh…"
Ready to die, charging forward despite a thousand enemies standing in his way!
The eyeball Domain Lord faltered for a moment—this scene… it felt eerily familiar. Just a moment ago, this fellow had charged at them while screaming like that, and now he was doing it again?
Recalling what had happened to his companion, he immediately grew wary. The eyeball suddenly erupted with layer upon layer of radiance, each ray containing an immensely powerful soul attack, weaving together into a great net that descended toward Yang Kai.
Yang Kai neither dodged nor evaded. His soul aura plummeted abruptly. He opened his mouth and spat—a streak of flowing light shot forth.
Even though the eyeball Domain Lord had raised every defense imaginable, he still couldn't block this streak of light. The moment it appeared, it tore through his net and drove straight into the eyeball itself.
In the next instant, the net also caught Yang Kai. It clenched tight, and Yang Kai's entire being dissolved into scattered motes of fluorescent light, vanishing completely.
Yet the eyeball Domain Lord felt none of the satisfaction of a successful strike. That single eyeball simply hovered in midair as though struck by a immobilization spell, utterly motionless.
A sharp spike of unease suddenly rose in the hearts of the other Domain Lords, who were still helping their companion resist the needle Artifact.
Under their watchful gaze, the eyeball slowly rotated halfway around. Soul fluctuations rippled outward, and a voice transmitted to all: "H-help… help me!"
The four unscathed Domain Lords felt like cursing…
Meanwhile, inside the Ink Nest, Ouyang Lie watched Yang Kai with a mixture of shock and uncertainty.
Shortly after Yang Kai had linked his mind to the Ink Nest's will, Ouyang Lie had noticed that Yang Kai's soul had suddenly weakened—clearly a sign of injury.
Ouyang Lie couldn't help but click his tongue. He had already warned this brat to proceed with caution, had already told him that Domain Lords were lying in ambush inside that bizarre space. And now it seemed the boy hadn't listened to a single word.
Well, there it was. Though he didn't know the specifics, judging by the changes in Yang Kai's soul, the brat had clearly charged recklessly into that space and been ganged up on by the Domain Lords.
Ouyang Lie silently prepared some healing spirit pills, ready to treat Yang Kai once he withdrew his divine sense.
Yet to his surprise, even with his soul wounded, Yang Kai showed no intention of pulling back. And right after, the already weakened soul suddenly plummeted by another enormous degree.
Ouyang Lie jumped in alarm.