This was a situation they had encountered before—the Ink Clan's upper echelons held a numerical advantage, and they naturally sought ways to exploit and expand it.
In a clash between armies of this scale, a Domain Lord posed an enormous threat to the Human Race's soldiers.
And the Humans, naturally, had corresponding experience dealing with this.
Before Yang Kai arrived, that Domain Lord had been bombarding a Human warship. Though two Seventh-Order Open Heavens manned the vessel, they could not withstand a Domain Lord's might. The ship was battered and on the verge of collapse, its hull already damaged and its protective barrier flickering faintly.
If no one intervened, it would be mere moments before the entire squad's warship was destroyed. At that point, even the two Seventh-Order might not survive, let alone the crew members below the Seventh-Order, who would certainly perish.
Yang Kai had arrived at precisely the right moment.
On the warship, the two Seventh-Order fighters broke free from their predicament and gave Yang Kai a slight nod of acknowledgment before immediately joining forces with a nearby passing squad and charging off into the distance.
The Ink Clan Domain Lord moved to cut them off, but Yang Kai had already closed in and attacked, forcing the Domain Lord to abandon his original target and raise his palm to strike back.
He was somewhat surprised—that Human squad hadn't bothered to concern themselves with the Seventh-Order fighter's fate at all, leaving without a second glance.
How much confidence did they have in this person, to believe he could hold a Domain Lord at bay?
Though unwilling to admit it, this Human Seventh-Order had indeed demonstrated extraordinary strength. A fighter of this caliber was surely among the Human Race's elite of elites. Slaying him would be worth more than killing a hundred ordinary Humans.
With that thought, the Ink Clan Domain Lord's eyes filled with killing intent. His attacks surged like a tide, his Ink Power churning until it was nearly tangible.
Yang Kai was instantly driven onto the defensive.
At the Seventh-Order and Lord level, he could achieve invincibility among his peers, never needing a second thrust of his spear to finish an opponent. But against a Domain Lord, he still fell short—there was a clear gap in their cultivation and strength.
Though he was outmatched, finishing him off wouldn't be so easy either.
While defending, Yang Kai drew his formidable opponent toward a nearby area where the clash of an Eighth-Order and a Domain Lord could be felt.
Seeming to see through his intentions, the Domain Lord let out a cold laugh and intensified his assault.
From the distance, a violent shockwave suddenly rippled outward, shaking the void. Both Yang Kai and the Domain Lord shuddered as the tremors swept through them.
It was the aftershock of Grand Ancestor Xiao Xiao's clash with the Ink Clan Royal Lord.
Since those two had begun their battle, shockwaves had erupted periodically, sweeping across both armies. The aftershocks didn't discriminate between friend and foe—affecting everyone on the battlefield, giving neither side an advantage.
Relatively speaking, however, the Humans were in better shape.
Simply because the Humans had warships with protective barriers, and the Ink Clan did not.
When the aftershock rolled in, the warships' defensive power could absorb it. Apart from the Seventh-Order Open Heavens fighters battling outside, the soldiers sheltered within the warships barely felt the impact.
The Ink Clan was a different story entirely. Whether Lords, Domain Lords, or high-ranking or low-ranking Ink Clan members, when these violent aftershocks crashed through, they would often be sent tumbling. That momentary lapse might be all it took to lose their lives.
In practice, this was exactly what happened. Every time the aftershock from those two powerhouses swept across the battlefield, large numbers of Ink Clan fell.
And this time, it was Yang Kai's turn to suffer.
The aftershock hit, and both Yang Kai and the Domain Lord momentarily froze in combat. But the Domain Lord, with his deeper cultivation, recovered faster. A devastating palm strike crashed down toward Yang Kai's head.
At the precipice of life and death, Yang Kai forced his head to the side. The palm landed squarely on his shoulder instead, and the violent explosion of Ink Power tore the flesh on his shoulder into a bloody mess.
With a stifled groan, Yang Kai thrust the Azure Dragon Spear straight at the Domain Lord's heart, forcing his opponent—who had been about to press the kill—to jerk back and retreat.
Before the Domain Lord could regain his footing, Yang Kai lunged after him. The Azure Dragon Spear whirled into a sky full of spear shadows, enveloping the Domain Lord completely.
The Ink Clan Domain Lord was genuinely shocked.
That last blow had been delivered without any restraint. A Human Seventh-Order who took a hit like that should have been dead, or at the very least incapacitated and at his mercy.
But this Human was different—not only was he alive, he had become even more frenzied.
Was this Human made of iron?
What he didn't know was that Yang Kai's body was now that of a seven-thousand-zhang ancient dragon. In terms of physical constitution, most Eighth-Order fighters couldn't match him. That palm strike had certainly wounded him, but whether it actually affected his combat power was another matter entirely.
Under this furious onslaught, the Domain Lord was pushed into a rather wretched state. Humiliation and fury boiled over in him, and he was about to unleash a killing blow when a sharp, piercing aura locked onto him. In the next instant, a heaven-rending blade of light slashed toward him.
The Domain Lord startled and scrambled to evade.
"Go!" Xu Linggong had arrived, gripping his saber with both hands, his aura commanding and fierce. He swept the Domain Lord into his own onslaught while barking a curt order at Yang Kai.
"Xu Gong, can you handle this?!" Yang Kai's mouth twitched as he eyed the old man with undisguised concern.
The issue was clear—Xu Linggong already had one Domain Lord as an opponent, and now he had dragged another into his attack, blatantly taking on two at once.
Xu Linggong had only broken through to the Eighth-Order not many years ago. Fighting a Domain Lord one-on-one was perfectly manageable, but two at once…
That was cutting it dangerously close!
Yang Kai hadn't intended to ask for his help. His original plan had been to lure this Domain Lord toward another veteran Eighth-Order fighter, letting him hold the line.
That Eighth-Order was also facing only a single Domain Lord, and with his deep reserves cultivated over many years, fighting two opponents wouldn't be too great a problem.