All this time, Ouyang Lie had been observing the state of Yang Kai's Small Universe. Ordinarily, he would have no way of peering into it, but because Yang Kai needed to link his consciousness with the Ink Nest, the gateway to his Small Universe had remained open, allowing the Ink Nest to continuously drain his power. Ouyang Lie could therefore make out certain details.
Over the past few months, any ordinary Seventh-Order cultivator would have had their Small Universe completely hollowed out by now.
Yet Yang Kai's Small Universe remained as full as ever, showing no signs of depletion whatsoever. It was clear that the creatures he had been raising inside were doing their job.
With Yang Kai's Small Universe no longer in danger of being drained dry by the Ink Nest, and his soul protected by the Warm Divine Lotus, even the King Master himself might not be able to do much to him. So as far as safety was concerned, there was little cause for concern.
The only issue was that the Ink Clan had used their methods to trap his soul within the Ink Nest space, and there was no telling when he might find a way out.
Ouyang Lie quietly estimated that the situation was unlikely to change much in the short term. There was little he could do besides wait here, monitoring Yang Kai's condition, and report immediately if anything went wrong.
Inside the Ink Nest space, time slipped by, and in the blink of an eye another two months had passed.
Since the Ink Nest space had been sealed, roughly half a year had elapsed. For Domain Lords and Eighth-Order Ink Servants alike, half a year was nothing at all.
An ordinary closed-door cultivation session might last decades or even centuries. A mere half a year was nothing more than a flick of the finger.
For that Wan-surnamed Ink Servant, however, these six months had been nothing short of torture.
The Soul-Devouring Thorn ground away at his soul's vitality ceaselessly. Even with the assistance of the other two Ink Servants, he could barely stem the tide of erosion. Had his soul been able to return to his body and reunite with his physical form, it would have done something to improve his predicament.
But the Ink Clan Domain Lords had their reservations. They dared not casually open the Ink Nest space, terrified that the human might seize the chance to escape. In such circumstances, how could the Wan-surnamed Ink Servant possibly return his soul to its body?
To make matters worse, the Ink Nest continued to devour the power of his Small Universe, compounding his suffering.
He had no way of knowing the current state of his own Small Universe, but if it lost too much power, the effects would inevitably manifest in his soul.
With the help of his two companions, the Wan-surnamed Ink Servant managed to hold on for half a year. But now, he was finally reaching his limit.
When the violent fluctuations of his soul power surged upward, the six Ink Clan Domain Lords happened to be monitoring the Warm Divine Lotus. They turned to look and watched as the Wan-surnamed Ink Servant's soul form detonated in a silent explosion, scattering into motes of pale light that dissipated throughout the Ink Nest space.
"Brother Wan!" the aged elder cried out in grief, a feeling of shared mortality washing over him.
The other Ink Servant wore an expression of equal anguish.
They had done everything they possibly could, yet they still could not save their companion's life. Before entering the Ink Nest space for this mission, not a single one of them had imagined that things would deteriorate into this wretched state.
A force of six Ink Clan Domain Lords and four Eighth-Order Ink Servants was enough to challenge even a Human Race Ancestor if one showed up.
Yet now, two Ink Servants had perished body and soul. The human still sat motionless inside the Warm Divine Lotus, and the Ink Clan had absolutely no way of doing anything about it.
Hundi's eyes blazed with fury.
Another one gone!
Counting the losses from the two earlier incidents, the battle over the Ink Nest had now cost the Ink Clan a full two Eighth-Order Ink Servants and one Domain Lord, with three more suffering severe soul injuries—whose survival was still uncertain.
Such losses were no small matter for the Ink Clan in their current state.
After a string of devastating battles, the Ink Clan forces in the Great Evolution theater were no longer the sprawling powerhouse they had been centuries ago. The numbers of both Domain Lords and Eighth-Order Ink Servants had been slashed by more than half compared to what they had once been.
A sudden doubt flickered through Hundi's mind.
Was paying such a staggering price just to force the human race to surrender a captured Ink Nest truly worth it?
If the plan could succeed, then of course it was worth it!
But with the plan having run into obstacle after obstacle up to this point, the humans had deployed a single individual and left them completely at a loss. In the humans' own words, the Ink Clan had now found themselves in a position where they could neither advance nor retreat.
The cost had grown too great. To abandon the effort now—how could he possibly explain that to the King Master?
No. Regardless of what it took, this human had to be dealt with, and the Warm Divine Lotus had to be seized. Only then would he have a proper explanation for the King Master.
On the other side, the two remaining Ink Servants watched helplessly as their Wan-surnamed companion's soul dissipated, his existence obliterated. Grief aside, they could not help but grow anxious about their own situation.
Neither of them was injured, but having one's soul separated from its body for an extended period was a serious problem in its own right—let alone the fact that the Ink Nest was continuously draining the power of their Small Universes.
They were Eighth-Order cultivators, yes. But how long could they hold on?
A year? Two years? Perhaps three? No one could say for certain.
In truth, they had already begun to feel the faintest hints of fatigue creeping in. It was not yet obvious, but it was unmistakably the physical toll of their bodies' power loss reflecting onto their souls.