Many years ago, some of the higher-ups in the Dojo had already identified this shortcoming, but there was no suitable way to resolve it. They couldn't exactly provoke a reason for the Dojo disciples to slaughter each other, could they?
Even when frictions arose between the various great Sects, the Dojo disciples could step in as mediators and smooth things over, turning hostility into peace.
After all, every major Sect currently had at least a few disciples cultivating within the Dojo.
The proliferation of the Ink might just solve this problem.
The aged Dojo Master mused thoughtfully. "You're saying the current situation was deliberately arranged by the Dao Lord?"
The steward hastily waved his hands. "What the Dao Lord is thinking, someone of my standing wouldn't dare presume to guess. I'm simply stating facts."
The aged Dojo Master pondered briefly and said no more. Indeed, as the steward had suggested, the appearance of the Ink might not necessarily be a bad thing for the Void Continent. The Dojo disciples could use this place to temper themselves going forward.
The steward who had spoken glanced around cautiously, then said, "This location is also well-suited for an interception point. If we could establish a defense line here—with the Dojo disciples as the main force and the various Sects in support—we should be able to halt the Ink's spread and protect the mortals of the Void World."
The aged Dojo Master nodded slightly. "Good!"
With the decision made, the three left one person behind to monitor the Ink's movements, while the other two raced back to the Dojo. Soon after, the entire Void Dojo's forces were mobilized.
The Dojo disciples hailed from every corner of the Void Continent. Once they were mustered, the Sect forces standing behind them moved as well.
In less than a month, a towering fortress rose from the barren wilderness, facing the domain where the Ink had taken root.
As if heaven itself had decreed it, the moment the fortress was completed, hordes of bizarrely shaped monsters wreathed in darkness surged forward to attack.
The Void Continent's warriors and the Ink Clan's countless years of conflict had officially begun. This was also the first time they laid eyes on the Ink Clan—though these particular creatures were nothing more than lowly cannon fodder.
In the fierce battle, the Dojo disciples performed brilliantly, cutting down scores of enemies. Yet in moments of carelessness, some were inevitably tainted by the power of the Ink.
Those tainted by the Ink's power lost their very nature, joining the enemy and turning against their own kind.
At this critical juncture, the Dao Lord issued another decree, bestowing upon them the method for refining Anti-Ink Pills to counter the Ink's corruption. Only then was the crisis averted.
After several great victories, the Dojo disciples grew eager to launch a counterattack and eliminate future threats. But the Ink-shrouded lands were fraught with danger at every turn, making progress agonizingly slow. The counterattack was cut short midway and ultimately abandoned, forcing them to retreat back to the fortress to rest and regroup.
Time flowed on. Several years passed in the blink of an eye, and Yang Kai slowly opened his eyes.
The situation within his Small Universe had more or less stabilized. By supplying energy from his own Small Universe, the Lord-level Ink Nest could continuously breed new Ink Clan creatures. Once these Ink Clan grew to a certain degree, they would attack the human fortress to temper the Dojo disciples.
The strength of these Ink Clan creatures wasn't particularly high at the moment—their growth period was simply too short, and the Dojo could dispatch them with ease. But as time passed, increasingly powerful Ink Clan would emerge, and it would undoubtedly grow more difficult for the Dojo to cope.
Nonetheless, Yang Kai's primary goal was to train troops—giving the Dojo disciples early exposure to the Ink Clan's various characteristics. He naturally wouldn't let things spiral out of control.
Therefore, no matter how the Ink Clan forces grew, there would be a hard limit. None would emerge that surpassed the Dojo's strength.
This approach did place a considerable burden on him.
After all, the power absorbed by the Ink Nest came directly from his Small Universe's Heaven and Earth Power. Yang Kai had already prepared a large quantity of resources for the Ink Nest to refine and consume.
But he soon realized he had been somewhat overthinking it.
The Ink Nest bred the Ink Clan, and the Dojo disciples slew the Ink Clan—this was itself a cycle of life and death. Within this process, his Small Universe actually generated a considerable amount of new Heaven and Earth Power.
It couldn't match what the Ink Nest devoured, but it was certainly better than nothing but pure expenditure.
The current situation was that Yang Kai's Small Universe both gave and received a meaningful return. The two didn't quite balance out, but it was far better than his initial expectations.
Supplemented with some additional resources for the Ink Nest to refine and absorb, the loss of Heaven and Earth Power within his Small Universe became negligible.
As it stood, his Small Universe essentially resembled a miniature Ink Battlefield. It seemed that since ancient times, humanity had always possessed an ineffable instinct when it came to fighting external threats.
He hadn't provided detailed guidance to the Dojo on how to proceed, but the Dojo's approach turned out to be identical to that of the humans in the Ink Battlefield—build a fortress, use it as a stronghold, and repel enemy incursions.
His Small Universe matters had now reached a settled conclusion. Yang Kai was confident that the next time disciples emerged from his Small Universe, they would carry a completely different spiritual demeanor from those who had come before.
It was the spirit of combat. To hone oneself in the Ink Battlefield, one could not do without the willingness to kill and fight.
He very much looked forward to it.
Over these years, he had also thoroughly studied the Domain Lord-level Ink Nest in humanity's possession. Using its power, he had nurtured several Lord-level sub-nests.
Ouyang Lie had transported them to Dayan Pass, and Mi Jinglun had already arranged personnel to incubate them in various locations, testing the intelligence network.
The results were excellent. Those Lord-level sub-nests could easily communicate with each other through the Domain Lord-level Ink Nest's spatial network, regardless of distance.
Whether there was an ultimate limit to this range, humanity was still unclear—it remained to be verified.
However, regarding the Ink Nest's spatial severance mechanism and the severing of connections between superior and inferior Ink Nests, they had already confirmed that through their experiments.