At that moment, an Ink Clan Lord furrowed his brow as he stared at the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon ahead, his face full of puzzlement.
He had a nagging feeling that over the years, the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon had undergone some changes — it seemed to have grown smaller, though the change was gradual and not particularly obvious, so he wasn't entirely certain.
Turning his head to look toward the King Master's Ink Nest, the Lord hesitated over whether or not to report the matter.
The King Master was still recovering from his injuries. Although five hundred years had passed, his wounds had yet to fully heal. If he disturbed the King Master over something trivial at a time like this, he probably wouldn't fare well.
Perhaps it was just his imagination!
The Lord shook his head. So many of his companions were monitoring the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon — if it truly had shrunk, the others should have noticed as well.
Since none of the other Lords had detected anything, he was surely overthinking it.
Just as he was thinking this, the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon ahead suddenly showed an unusual fluctuation. The Ink Clan Lord froze and focused his attention on the source of the anomaly.
He had been monitoring this place for a full three hundred years. Throughout that time, the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon had been completely still, like a pool of dead water. That it should stir today was truly strange.
But before he could get a clear look, a human figure suddenly burst out from within the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, fighting savagely. The figure held a long spear, as if battling an invisible enemy, radiating killing intent as the vast power of Heaven and Earth surged around him.
The moment the figure burst free, his eyes locked directly with those of the Ink Clan Lord.
Both of them froze.
The Ink Clan Lord snapped back to his senses and hurriedly retreated, simultaneously letting out a long howl to raise the alarm!
The human the King Master had been searching for had appeared!
Though he had never laid eyes on Yang Kai before, the instant Yang Kai emerged, he knew this was the target the King Master sought.
The howl had barely left his lips when the Azure Dragon Spear drove straight into his mouth. The power of Heaven and Earth erupted, blowing his head apart in an instant.
Where did that Ink Clan Lord come from? Yang Kai furrowed his brow slightly and looked up, his confusion deepening. Before him, on a dead World, stood an Ink Nest belonging to a Lord, and around the World's perimeter, a number of Ink Clan members patrolled.
More than that, throughout the surrounding void, numerous Ink Clan members were scattered around the periphery of the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, as if monitoring something.
His mind raced, and he quickly caught on.
That ram-headed King Master was a cunning fellow — he had actually been standing guard out here the whole time? And he must have his own Ink Nest; otherwise, it would be impossible to spawn so many Ink Clan members. By using these spawned subordinates, as long as Yang Kai escaped from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, no matter which direction he came from, the King Master would know immediately.
It seemed the ram-headed King Master had not pursued him into the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon and had likely spent all these years recovering outside.
How many years had he actually spent inside the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon? From the moment he had decided to leave, he had spent nearly two hundred years searching for a way out, drifting with various undercurrents the entire time, unable to tell one direction from another.
Nearly two hundred years of desperate searching had pushed Yang Kai to the brink of despair. Fortunately, persistence paid off — breaking free had taken only a single instant.
Before he could think further, a powerful aura suddenly stirred to life from a distant World. The next moment, Yang Kai saw a tall figure streaking toward him like a meteor from that World. The figure had not yet arrived, but the familiar pressure of a King Master was already sweeping over him.
He had arrived fast!
Yang Kai realized that one of the nearby Lords must have relayed the information through the Ink Nest.
The Ink Clan Lords throughout the void began charging toward Yang Kai as well, clearly attempting to stall him.
Yang Kai flicked the Azure Dragon Spear in his hand, a spear flower blooming from the tip. He grinned and charged straight toward the direction from which the ram-headed King Master was coming. Everywhere he passed, nearby Ink Clan members burst apart in showers of blood and gore.
In the void, the ram-headed King Master was somewhat stunned.
He wasn't running?
He had assumed that if Yang Kai ever got the chance to escape from the Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon, the human would flee immediately. This human's strength was nothing impressive, but when it came to running away, he was an expert.
So upon receiving the message from his subordinate, he had rushed out, terrified of letting Yang Kai slip away. But when he looked up, not only was the human not running — he was charging straight at him.
Where did this human find the audacity? Had he forgotten the pathetic sight of being chased like a stray dog five hundred years ago?
The ram-headed King Master quickly discovered the source of that audacity.
As the distance between them shrank, the human's aura surged upward tier by tier, quickly breaking past the Seventh-Order limit and reaching the Eighth-Order.
Eighth-Order Open Heaven!
The ram-headed King Master momentarily lost his composure — this guy had actually advanced?
The Great Sea Celestial Phenomenon was riddled with dangers. Even he himself had been unwilling to linger inside for long back then. That the human had survived was already a stroke of incredible luck — how had he also managed to break through his own limits?
Could it be that he had stumbled upon some fortuitous opportunity in there?
The ram-headed King Master's expression turned ice-cold.
So what if he had reached the Eighth-Order? He was an Ink Clan King Master!
The reason he had been unable to deal with the human before was that he himself had been badly injured and unable to unleash his full power. But after five hundred years of recuperation, his injuries had mostly healed. Though he was no longer at his peak, he was far beyond what he had been five hundred years ago.
Never mind a single Eighth-Order — he could deal with three or five of them with ease.
The only prerequisite was that the human wouldn't flee like he had a few hundred years ago.