When the various theaters and passes first set out from the Royal City of the Ink Clan, there had been no clear objective.
Now, however, they had one.
The Source Land!
The Source Land was the birthplace of the Ink Clan, where the Ink Clan's Mother Nest lay—and where many Ink Clan King Lords resided!
Not just King Lords—there would likely be no shortage of Domain Lords as well, and not the artificial kind like Ge Chen. Many of the Domain Lords there might well be Innate Domain Lords.
Da Yan currently had fewer than thirty thousand troops, over forty Eighth-Order cultivators, and a single Ninth-Order.
That was no small force.
The other passes were likely not as well-off as Da Yan Pass, and their strength varied, but this was an expedition of over a hundred passes launching together. If they could converge in one place, the human army would surpass two million—or even more.
That would be over two million Open Heaven Realm cultivators of the Fifth Order or above—the accumulated might of the great Cave Heavens and Blessed Lands across the ages.
Such a force was unimaginably powerful. But would it be enough to overcome the Ink Clan at the Source Land?
Yang Kai wasn't sure. He doubted even the Old Ancestors could guarantee it.
Judging from the ancient remnants of the battlefield left behind, the Ink Clan was no pushover. Even with the humans' current strength, who could promise that this battle would be won?
What if they lost?
And then there was the force that had been restricting the Source Land—what was it, exactly?
What was the jade hand that the Old Ancestors had glimpsed before? Could it serve as an ally in this war?
The road ahead was unknown. All they could do was press forward.
Da Yan continued its advance, with the scout teams always pushing ahead to survey the terrain. They encountered many dangers along the way, and accidental triggering of ancient restrictions led to mounting casualties on the human side.
Even the Dawn Division, led by Yang Kai, had narrowly escaped disaster.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, the Old Ancestor stationed at Da Yan had arrived in time to avert catastrophe.
The deeper they ventured, the more perilous the void became. Yang Kai couldn't help but wonder—even if Ge Chen had been released back then, could he have made it safely back to the Source Land?
With good luck, perhaps. With bad luck, every step would be fraught with thorns.
It was hard to imagine the ferocious battles that had once raged across this stretch of void in ancient times. Even after countless years, it remained this treacherous.
Time passed, year after year.
It had been a full three years since the expedition to the Source Land began. They had encountered no shortage of dangers along the way, yet the Source Land remained nowhere in sight, leading the humans to wonder if they had the wrong direction.
But with over a hundred passes sweeping through the void in a net-like formation, at least some of them had to be heading the right way.
The passes maintained constant contact with one another, though the chaotic energies of the void caused occasional communication blackouts that would resolve after a time.
Along the way, aside from the restrictions that littered the void and the lingering traces of ancient divine abilities, they encountered no enemy activity.
Three years in, while Yang Kai was probing for hidden dangers ahead, he suddenly sensed something—a prickling intuition that something was off.
But when he focused his senses to investigate, he found nothing.
After a moment, he flickered back to the Voice of Daybreak and called out to Feng Ying. "Guard me."
Feng Ying nodded and entered a state of heightened vigilance.
Yang Kai formed a series of hand seals, drawing upon the might of heaven and earth, and an intricate grand formation manifested beneath his feet.
The members of the Dawn Division watched in puzzlement, unsure why Yang Kai was activating the Universe Art.
The technique was typically used for travel or escape. Ever since Yang Kai had inscribed the Universe Grand Formation onto the Ink-Expelling Ships, many soldiers had relied on the Universe Art and the Universe Grand Formation to save their lives during battle against the Ink Clan.
But Yang Kai rarely needed to use the Universe Art himself, as he was a master of spatial laws. For anything within a reasonable distance, he could simply teleport.
The Dawn Division was scouting ahead of Da Yan Pass, but they weren't actually that far from Da Yan. If Yang Kai wanted to return, a single teleport would suffice—there was no need for the Universe Art.
The Dawn Division was confused, but Yang Kai's face was one of pure astonishment.
He had only tried it on a whim, and to his surprise, he had actually found something.
He wasn't trying to return to Da Yan. He was using the Universe Art to search for something else.
Every single Ink-Expelling Ship in the human fleet had been inscribed with the Universe Grand Formation by his own hand, meaning he had left his mark on each one. As long as the distance was within range, activating the Universe Art would allow him to travel to any of the Ink-Expelling Ships.
Unlike the other human soldiers, who could only return to the few ships on which they had left their own marks.
Right now, with the Universe Art active, he could faintly sense the locations of several Ink-Expelling Ships.
Four from Da Yan…
Four more to the left…
And four more to the right…
A total of twelve Ink-Expelling Ships.
There were more still, at extremely distant positions where his sense was barely a whisper—places even Yang Kai couldn't reach.
But the twelve ships he could clearly perceive right now—he could travel to any of them at will.
This was far from normal.
The distance between any two passes was at least a year's journey. When Da Yan's Eastern and Western Armies had set out from Fengyun Pass, it had taken them a full year to reach Da Yan Pass.
At such distances, Yang Kai could never have used the Universe Art to travel between them.
And yet now… he suddenly could!