Two years later, Yang Kai's divine soul had completely stabilized.
By the time three years had passed, it had fully recovered.
Ouyang Lie, who had witnessed the entire process from start to finish, was left speechless. Such severe soul damage, yet it had taken only three years to heal—if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have believed it.
He had his suspicions. Yang Kai must have possessed some extraordinary treasure protecting him; otherwise, recovery would have been utterly impossible. As for what that treasure might be… in all the world, only a handful of legendary items could produce such miraculous effects.
The kid sure had extraordinary fortune.
It was a certain day, three years after his return from the Ink Nest space, that Yang Kai finally opened his eyes and let out a long breath.
Though he had recovered fully, recalling the experience still sent chills down his spine.
The Soul-Abandoning Thorn was simply too devious a thing.
When he had refined it, Yang Kai had already sacrificed wads of his own split soul consciousness, but the amount given up then was small enough to recover from with relative ease.
But when fighting the Ink Clan Domain Lords, the soul power he had been forced to abandon was incomparable to what he'd lost during refinement.
Wounding the enemy came second to wounding oneself—that was the most accurate description of wielding the Soul-Abandoning Thorn. That was why his soul power had suddenly weakened during those attacks on the Domain Lords, why he had been unable to hold back his screams of agony.
By Yang Kai's estimation, even at his absolute peak, he could have driven at most three Soul-Abandoning Thorns in a single engagement. After three, his entire soul would have been drained clean, and at that point, even with the Warm Soul Lotus protecting him, his soul would likely scatter into nothing.
That was why, after launching two consecutive strikes last time, he had decisively retreated from the Ink Nest space. He had no choice—if he had continued, he truly would have perished alongside those Ink Clan Domain Lords.
His memories of the days following that retreat were hazy at best, a consequence of his soul suffering catastrophic damage. With his soul incomplete, his memory had naturally been affected as well.
Now that he had fully recovered, the mere thought of enduring that kind of agony again was enough to darken Yang Kai's expression.
Gong Lian had been standing guard nearby the entire time. Seeing Yang Kai awaken, he immediately sent word outside, and soon Ouyang Lie strode in, looking him up and down before grinning: "I've never seen anything like it—soul damage that severe, and you still managed to recover. How do you feel now?"
Yang Kai smiled ruefully: "I'm fine."
Ouyang Lie nodded: "You paid quite the price. How were the results?"
Yang Kai grinned and held up two fingers: "Two Domain Lords—if they're not dead, they're critically wounded!"
Ouyang Lie stared at him in shock: "Really?"
"I wouldn't dare make false claims."
"Those two Domain Lords suffered soul injuries?"
"Of course."
"Excellent!" Ouyang Lie was delighted.
Ordinary injuries were one thing, but soul injuries were an entirely different matter. Yang Kai had some unknown treasure protecting him—he'd managed to recover from soul damage that severe in just three years—but the Domain Lords had no such luxury.
If Yang Kai was saying that two Domain Lords were either dead or critically wounded, that meant both of them had been completely removed from the fight.
Ouyang Lie was genuinely curious how Yang Kai, a Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivator, had managed to accomplish this. After all, numerous Eighth-Order cultivators before him had relied on their powerful soul force to enter that bizarre space, only to meet their end every time. He thought about it for a moment but decided not to ask—as long as it benefited the human race, the specifics didn't matter.
As they spoke, Yang Kai rose to his feet: "I've recovered enough. I'm going to make my move now and try to take out two more Domain Lords."
"You can still fight?" Ouyang Lie was utterly astonished. He had just been thinking that while taking out two Domain Lords was impressive, it didn't fundamentally change the bigger picture—there were still plenty more Domain Lords on the Ink Clan's side.
He hadn't expected Yang Kai to still have the strength for another round.
Yang Kai nodded: "Strike while the iron is hot. Now is the time to press the advantage."
Ouyang Lie cautioned: "Be careful, then. Don't push your luck too far."
Last time, Yang Kai had given him quite the scare—he'd even gone to consult the Ancestor. He had no idea what would happen this time.
Yang Kai acknowledged the warning and made his way to the Ink Nest's core, opening his Small Universe and linking his consciousness with the Ink Nest's will.
Within the Ink Nest space, six Domain Lords still lay in ambush across its various corners.
The reason there were still six was simple—two new arrivals had replaced the ones lost. Even though everything in the space appeared perfectly calm, the Domain Lords had not let their guard down, remaining vigilant at all times.
Three years ago, a reckless human had suddenly burst in, wielding a needle-like soul artifact that had gravely wounded two Domain Lords.
Though that human had ultimately paid a heavy price himself, the two wounded Domain Lords had fared no better.
Despite the full efforts of the other Domain Lords to save them afterward, one of them had unfortunately suffered complete soul annihilation and perished on the spot. The other had narrowly escaped with his life, but that needle artifact remained lodged deep within his soul, ceaselessly corroding it. That Domain Lord was currently struggling to resist the artifact's erosion, and whether he would ultimately succeed remained uncertain.
But even if he did succeed, his Yuan Qi would be severely depleted, and his strength would never be the same.
That amounted to the loss of two Domain Lords in one stroke—a devastating blow for the Great Evolution Ink Clan, whose forces were already stretched thin.