The Mo Clan didn't seem to interact with each other all that frequently. Come to think of it, it made sense—the Mo Clan inhabiting each of those Mo Nests currently lived in terror of the Human Ancestors. Who would willingly venture outside when they could hide within their Mo Nest?
Even those Lords who went out to collect supplies presumably did so with their hearts in their throats.
When Yang Kai had told the Lord of the second Mo Nest that Lord Niu Ka feared the Human Ancestors and had therefore sent him on this errand, it had been a spur-of-the-lie—but it might not have been far from the truth.
Otherwise, that Lord wouldn't have shown that knowing expression.
Ten days remained until Dayan's arrival.
On this particular day, while Yang Kai sat inside a Mo Nest keeping watch over the surrounding area, one of the Spirit Crystals he carried on his person suddenly emitted a subtle reaction.
He possessed many Spirit Crystals, most of them paired sets so that each corresponded with the other. When not in use, he stored them in his Small Universe. But he currently carried several on him—these included the ones linked to the elite squads and to Dayan Pass, which could not be placed inside his Small Universe. If they were, the Small Universe's barrier between inside and outside would render communication impossible should anything arise.
Yang Kai extended a brief sweep of his senses and immediately identified which one had reacted—the Spirit Crystal connected to the Snow Wolf Squad.
The Snow Wolf Squad had ventured deep into the Mo Clan's defense line some time ago and had since gone silent. To avoid exposing their position, Yao Kangcheng had proactively severed all contact with the outside world.
The sudden arrival of a message today clearly meant they had discovered something.
Yang Kai hastily retrieved the Spirit Crystal. The next instant, a jade slip materialized out of thin air before him.
He reached out and caught it, then sent a thread of divine sense inside. His expression turned grave in an instant.
"King Lord!"
The jade slip contained only this single, terse message—nothing more.
King Lord? Why would Yao Kangcheng suddenly mention the King Lord? Was he warning everyone to be on guard against the King Lord?
And the message was strikingly brief, as though Yao Kangcheng had sent it in a desperate hurry—rushed for time, otherwise he wouldn't have sent so short a transmission.
After all, recording a message into a jade slip was merely a matter of a single thought—incredibly swift. What could have compelled Yao Kangcheng to inscribe only the words "King Lord" and nothing beyond?
A sudden sense of foreboding settled over Yang Kai. He did not rush to establish contact.
If Yao Kangcheng had reached out in such a frantic manner, he might have stumbled into danger. If Yang Kai rashly initiated contact, it could expose them—and might even compromise his own concealment.
All he could do now was wait for them to contact him again.
Yang Kai's expression remained grim as he gripped the Spirit Crystal, silently waiting.
One day. Two days. Three days.
No sign of activity.
It was not until three days had passed that Yang Kai let out a long, heavy sigh. If Yao Kangcheng hadn't contacted him after such a long stretch of time, it meant he either hadn't escaped the danger yet, or… he had already met with disaster.
The interior of the Mo Clan's defense line harbored no Mo Nests, making it comparatively harder to be discovered—but it was actually far more dangerous. Once something went wrong out there, escape would be next to impossible.
Yang Kai knew this. Yao Kangcheng knew it too.
But with the Mo Clan's Domain Lords reluctant to leave the Royal City, the strength of four elite squads should have been sufficient to extricate themselves from most dangers, even deep within enemy territory.
Unless they were surrounded by a large number of Lords.
When Yao Kangcheng had first reported leading the Snow Wolf Squad deep behind the defense line, Yang Kai had considered having Dawn Squad carry out the mission instead. He was, after all, versed in the Dao of Space, and fleeing was far from new to him—he could practically call himself a connoisseur of the art of escape.
Unfortunately, Yao Kangcheng had cut off contact on his own, leaving Yang Kai unable to communicate further. He could only let events take their course.
He had originally assumed that even if they were exposed, there would be no threat to their lives. But now it seemed he had been naive.
He channeled his divine sense to activate the Spirit Crystal. As expected, there was no response.
Two possibilities presented themselves. Either the Spirit Crystal had been destroyed, or Yao Kangcheng had stowed it inside his Small Universe, severing external contact.
If it was the latter, that was manageable—Yao Kangcheng would surely be hiding somewhere with the Snow Wolf Squad. But if it was the former… then things had most likely turned dire.
What on earth had happened?
King Lord?
Had Yao Kangcheng encountered the King Lord? If he truly had, it would be entirely natural for the Snow Wolf Squad to be no match. No matter how badly the King Lord had been injured, a starved camel was still larger than a horse—the King Lord was not a foe that Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators could contend with.
Even Yang Kai himself might not have a chance to escape if he ran into the King Lord. The gap in their strength was simply too vast, and the Dao of Space might prove of little use.
Put yourself in their shoes—if he himself were in a state where death could come at any moment, the most likely course of action would be to destroy the Spirit Crystal immediately, followed by self-detonation.
Because once captured by the Mo Clan and converted into a Mo Slave, Dayan's entire operation would be exposed, and all the effort invested up to this point would come to nothing.
Destroying the Spirit Crystal would ensure the safety of the other squads. Only self-destruction could preserve the secret of Dayan's surprise assault.
Every soldier of the Human Race shared this resolve.
But how could Yao Kangcheng have encountered the King Lord?