At a certain moment, the Da Yuan's seal opened, revealing a gateway.
"Go!" Yang Kai shouted in a low voice, and the long-awaited Dawn squad members filed out one after another.
Right behind them came the Old Turtle squad, followed by the Mysterious Wind squad, with Snow Wolf bringing up the rear.
Once outside the Da Yuan, the four squad captains quickly summoned their respective warships. Squad members leapt aboard and took their positions.
Formation arrays hummed as the four warships, each a different design, transformed into streaks of light and shot forward, rapidly putting distance between themselves and the Da Yuan.
Though the Da Yuan's speed was no longer sluggish—comparable to the rate at which the Eastern and Western armies had once retreated from the Royal City—its sheer mass meant this was basically its limit. There was no room for further improvement.
Warships were a different story entirely. Even the slowest warship could fly far faster than the Da Yuan currently could.
The four warships didn't immediately scatter. They were still a fair distance from the Mo Clan's Royal City, and this position was essentially safe—they wouldn't encounter any Mo Clan forces, so there was no need to spread out yet.
To carry out this mission, each of the four warships had undergone modifications that significantly enhanced their concealment and maneuverability, though this had come at the cost of sacrificing a number of offensive formation arrays.
On the Dawn, which led the way, Yang Kai stood on the deck holding a Cosmos Map, reading their bearing and guiding the other three warships.
Originally, the human race's Cosmos Map hadn't included the Da Yuan theater. After all, the Mo Clan had occupied the Da Yuan for thirty thousand years, and no one knew what the situation was like here.
However, since the Da Yuan's Eastern and Western armies had recently fought their way to the Royal City and then retreated back to the Da Yuan—covering most of the theater—the accompanying cartographers had naturally been able to produce a Cosmos Map of the region. This would prove quite convenient for the expedition ahead.
At the current speed of the four warships, it should take roughly four months to reach the Mo Clan's Royal City—two months faster than the Da Yuan's army.
Though the Mo Clan had been thoroughly spooked by the Old Ancestor's hit-and-run tactics, with no Domain Lord daring to roam outside the Royal City, it was precisely because of her repeated raids that the Royal City's defenses had become extremely tight.
Everything within half a month's travel of the Mo Clan's Royal City should fall within the Mo Clan's surveillance range.
That meant in about three and a half months, the four advance scout squads would encounter the Mo Clan forces monitoring the area outside the Royal City.
Yang Kai sent a brief voice transmission informing Chai Fang and the other two leaders of the situation. All three nodded in acknowledgment.
The journey proceeded peacefully. Apart from those piloting the warships, all squad members spent their time quietly recuperating.
Three months later, Chai Fang's voice suddenly sounded beside Yang Kai's ear: "Brother Yang, it's time."
Yang Kai, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened his gaze and stared into the void ahead, giving a slight nod.
"Everyone, call out if you spot anything—and for heaven's sake, don't try to be heroes. The Old Ancestor is right behind us. Win this one battle, and we can rest easy. I hope at the victory feast, we'll still be able to drink together!" Ma Gao laughed heartily.
Yao Kangcheng chimed in: "I've got a few jars of fine wine aged a thousand years on my end. When the time comes, we'll share them with all of you!"
"You're making my mouth water," Chai Fang smacked his lips.
Everyone laughed.
"Scatter!" Yang Kai commanded in a low voice. The four warships rapidly spread apart, and at the same time, the illusion array on each warship activated swiftly.
To conceal their movements, illusion arrays were by far the most convenient method. These arrays, personally set up by grandmaster formation artists from within the Pass, were more than capable of deceiving the eye.
Though nothing about the Dawn had changed on the surface, if the distance was too great or the observation too casual, a casual glance would reveal nothing but a small fragment of floating debris.
Such fragments were countless throughout the entire universe. Would the Mo Clan really keep track of every one?
The Dawn continued onward.
Ten days later, gazing at the ink-dark void ahead, Yang Kai frowned slightly.
The situation was exactly as the Old Ancestor had described. Over these past two hundred years, the Mo Clan had been working tirelessly to establish defensive lines, terrified that the human race would attack the Royal City again.
In the last battle, the Mo Clan had suffered devastating losses. The Mo King's injuries hadn't healed, and they had no desire to go to war with the humans again at a time like this.
If they could, they would rather abandon the Royal City and seek refuge in another theater—at the very least, they wouldn't have to suffer such humiliation.
But that was impossible. The Mo King's Mo Nest was situated within the Royal City. To abandon the Royal City meant abandoning their own Mo Nest.
For the Mo Clan, the Mo Nest was their very foundation—they would never give it up lightly.
So to guard against a human assault, they needed to set up defensive lines. And the Mo Clan's method of doing so was straightforward: they expended vast quantities of resources, using Mo Nests to generate Mo Power that filled the void surrounding the Royal City.
No matter what method the humans had devised to counteract the erosion of Mo Power, as long as they were within the Mo Power's coverage, the Mo Clan would always hold some advantage.
It had to be said, though this method consumed enormous resources and took an extraordinarily long time, it was remarkably effective.
At the very least, after more than two hundred years of effort by the Mo Clan, the area within ten days' travel of the Royal City had been completely saturated with Mo Power. The closer to the Royal City, the denser the Mo Power became.
This environment was like a fish in water for the Mo Clan, but far less pleasant for the humans.
The Dawn was still a full month's travel from the Mo Clan's Royal City, yet Yang Kai could already see the ink-dark Mo Power churning in the void ahead—the result of the Mo Clan's labor over these past two centuries.
The Old Ancestor had been aware of this situation, given her frequent raids into Mo Clan territory. She had killed some of the Mo Clan forces out setting up these defenses, but it hadn't made much difference.