As a veteran Domain Lord who had weathered countless battles, Chekong possessed an exceptionally sharp eye for reading a situation.
His choice was the correct one.
It was also the choice Yang Kai had been hoping for.
This fellow had been stationed at the King-level Ink Nest the entire time, leaving Yang Kai with no good options. Now that he was charging straight at him, the opportunity had arrived.
In truth, for Yang Kai, it didn't matter one way or another what Chekong decided.
If the fellow didn't leave the King-level Ink Nest, then Yang Kai could run amok through the Royal City, biding his time to destroy those Domain Lord-level Ink Nests one by one. As long as he took out enough of them, the situation on the Eighth-Order human side would open up.
The gap in their strength was considerable, but if Yang Kai truly transformed into his Ancient Dragon form and wreaked havoc throughout the Royal City, even Chekong wouldn't be able to stop him easily.
Now that Chekong was chasing after him, temporarily abandoning his guard over the King-level Ink Nest, Yang Kai felt the time had come to deliver a fatal blow to that King-level Ink Nest.
The Ink Clan operated under a rigid hierarchy. The relationship between an upper-tier Ink Nest and a lower-tier one was one of clear master and subordinate.
For example, a single Domain Lord-level Ink Nest could give rise to over a hundred Lord-level sub-nests. If those hundred-odd Lord-level sub-nests were destroyed, it wouldn't affect the Domain Lord-level Ink Nest above them.
But if the Domain Lord-level Ink Nest itself was destroyed, then every Lord-level Ink Nest derived from it would disintegrate into nothingness in an instant.
Sub-nests could not exist independently of their parent Ink Nest.
The humans had verified this fact many times over.
Yang Kai had already caused a great deal of chaos in the Royal City, destroying a fair number of Domain Lord-level Ink Nests, but that was only half of them. The other half remained completely intact.
Destroying the rest would require a fair amount of effort.
But if he could take out the King Lord's Ink Nest directly, then every Domain Lord-level Ink Nest would fall with it.
If the hide is gone, how can the fur attach? This was the true way to pull the rug out from under the enemy.
So when he saw Chekong charging at him, Yang Kai not only showed no intention of retreating, he actually moved toward him of his own accord.
Chekong flew into a towering rage at the sight. He reached out and grasped at the void, summoning a long spear. Ink Force surged as he thrust it toward Yang Kai in a single, devastating strike.
This spear was clearly an Artifact forged by an Ink Disciple blacksmith. Its grade wasn't particularly high, but that depended entirely on who was wielding it.
A full-powered thrust from a peak Domain Lord like Chekong was something even Xiang Shan might not be able to withstand head-on.
Yang Kai, however, showed not a shred of fear, charging straight ahead as if he hadn't even noticed the attack.
While still airborne, a dragon's roar thundered forth as his human form transformed once more into the body of an Ancient Dragon seven thousand zhang long, sending tremors rippling through the void.
He had no choice but to reveal his dragon form. Facing such a powerful foe, his human body at the Seventh-Order Open Heaven Realm was simply no match — only his Ancient Dragon form could hold its own.
Twin dragon eyes, radiant as twin suns, locked onto Chekong. The next instant, the majestic dragon pupils reflected Chekong's image.
The reflection suddenly distorted.
Chekong, who was hurtling toward Yang Kai to kill him, abruptly felt an inexplicable force act upon his body. His unstoppable momentum hitched, just slightly.
But he was powerful enough to forcibly break free, shaking off the influence of Yang Kai's eye technique in a single instant.
The eye technique was shattered, and Yang Kai's dragon eyes bled golden dragon blood.
But that brief moment of hesitation was all he needed.
The void shuddered. Dragon roars echoed without cease. In that split second, Yang Kai seemed to endure excruciating pain, his dragon cries becoming so agonized that they would break the heart of anyone who heard them and move listeners to tears.
Along with the dragon's cry, Yang Kai's own aura plummeted.
But instead of rejoicing, Chekong was alarmed. A sudden sense of foreboding seized him.
Before he could figure out why, a searing pain lanced through his brain. An invisible force had breached his defenses, tearing through his soul and scrambling his mind into chaos.
In that instant, his thoughts went completely blank — he couldn't think at all. His hand thrust the spear forward on pure instinct.
The dragon cried out once more, but this time it was because Chekong's spear had punched through Yang Kai's abdomen, tearing open a bloody gush. Dragon blood erupted into the air, and even the hardened dragon scales covering his body had failed to stop that full-powered strike from Chekong.
Of course, that also had something to do with Yang Kai's mind being somewhat destabilized at that moment.
In that brief instant, he had torn apart his own soul, sacrificing a portion of it to unleash his final Soul-Sacrificing Thorn.
Years ago, after Ancestor Xiaoxiao had passed down the method for crafting and wielding the Soul-Sacrificing Thorn to Yang Kai, he had gone to Master Trouble to have them forged.
Even with Master Trouble's exceptional skill as a blacksmith, it had taken a full year to produce twelve Soul-Sacrificing Thorns.
Afterward, Yang Kai had sent his soul into the Ink Nest space to do battle against Ink Clan Domain Lords and Eighth-Order Ink Disciples, deploying eleven of those thorns in the process. The Domain Lords and Eighth-Order Ink Disciples he had fought were either killed or grievously wounded.
That was how Great Evolution Pass had successfully seized that Domain Lord-level Ink Nest.
He had kept the last one in reserve.
Today, he finally had his chance to use it.