"Besides you, are there others?" Huang Xiong asked again. Though he had already guessed that Hunyuan Pass was likely lost the moment he saw them — otherwise they wouldn't be wandering through the void instead of holding the pass — hearing Lin Qi say it still weighed heavily on his heart.
Out of the human race's hundred-some passes, who knew how many had fallen.
Lin Qi shook his head.
He didn't know if there were any others either. Hunyuan Pass had met a fate similar to Qingxu Pass — while retreating toward Buhui Pass, they had been pursued by the Ink Clan's army, and in the end, Hunyuan Pass was forced to stay behind as a rearguard. They had been slaughtered to the last.
Everyone knew that those left behind as rearguards would never meet a good end, but under the relentless pursuit of the Ink Clan's forces, it was the only way to preserve the bulk of humanity's strength.
On the day Hunyuan Pass fell, the Old Ancestor and all the Eighth-rank Commanders had perished in battle. Only Lin Qi and the others had narrowly escaped with their lives. Since then, they had been hiding and dodging through the void ever since.
Originally, their numbers had not been insignificant — several hundred strong.
But after years of the Ink Clan's encirclement and pursuit, only a dozen or so groups remained, totaling just over a hundred people.
If they hadn't happened upon Yang Kai today, these people would surely have been wiped out entirely. Three powerful Ink Clan Domain Lords fighting together, supported by nearly ten thousand Ink Clan soldiers — more than enough to devour them all.
"What's the situation at Buhui Pass? Do any of you know?" Yang Kai asked, a vague sense of unease stirring in his heart.
Lin Qi's expression darkened. "Buhui Pass has fallen."
"What?!" Huang Xiong cried out in shock.
Buhui Pass had fallen too?
That was where the Dragon and Phoenix clans had joined forces to hold the line — the gateway connecting the Ink Battlefield to the Three Thousand Worlds. If Buhui Pass had fallen, then what state were the Three Thousand Worlds in now?
Huang Xiong didn't dare follow that line of thought any further.
Yang Kai, however, let out a quiet sigh, having harbored some premonition about this.
In truth, the moment he had encountered Lin Qi and the others earlier, a suspicion had already formed in his mind. If Buhui Pass were still standing, why would people like Lin Qi be wandering the void? They would surely be inside Buhui Pass, using the fortress as their bulwark against the Ink Clan.
Two colossal Ink Giant Gods acting in concert, plus numerous Ink Clan Royal Lords and countless Ink Clan soldiers — even with the Dragon and Phoenix clans guarding Buhui Pass and the human armies that had retreated to defend it, the fortress might not have been able to hold.
All along this journey, Huang Xiong had been clinging to the hope that Buhui Pass could withstand the Ink Clan's assault. Now, hearing that even Buhui Pass had fallen, his mind went blank with shock.
It wasn't that his mental cultivation was lacking — it was simply that the mere thought of the Ink Clan breaking into the Three Thousand Worlds sent chills down his spine.
For a moment, Huang Xiong had no idea where these remnants should go. They would not begrudge dying in battle, but even death needed to mean something. They couldn't just recklessly charge into a pass — doing so would be nothing more than a pointless sacrifice.
Yang Kai, however, steadied his mind. He looked at Lin Qi and said, "Buhui Pass falling — did any of you witness it firsthand?"
Lin Qi shook his head. "We didn't see it with our own eyes, but we observed Buhui Pass from a distance some time ago. The area is now shrouded in Ink Force. Ink Nests have been established all over the various worlds that the Ink Clan has relocated to its perimeter. In the early years, there were still sounds of battle coming from that direction, but now everything is eerily still. If Buhui Pass had not fallen, the situation between the two sides could never be so quiet."
Yang Kai nodded slightly. If there were still humans holding Buhui Pass, they would certainly be clashing with the Ink Clan. The fact that no conflict could be heard meant the situation at Buhui Pass had already settled.
The Ink Clan had conquered it.
That was, without question, the worst possible news.
With the Ink Clan in control of Buhui Pass, they would inevitably invade the Three Thousand Worlds. This had been the Ink Clan's ultimate goal for a million years — every great domain in the Three Thousand Worlds flourished with life, their worlds brimming with the power of heaven and earth, overflowing with resources.
As long as the Ink Clan could seize those domains, they would have limitless resources to exploit and countless human cultivators to convert into Ink Disciples.
The Ink Clan's power would only grow stronger with the passage of time.
After a moment's contemplation, Yang Kai spoke. "The pressing matter now is to gather intelligence on the situation at Buhui Pass. Even if it has already fallen into the Ink Clan's hands, we need to understand how their forces are distributed."
If Buhui Pass were still under the control of the Dragon and Phoenix clans, Yang Kai could have led Huang Xiong and the others to find an opening and fight their way through the Ink Clan's formation to link up with the human forces at Buhui Pass.
But now that Buhui Pass was gone, they could only return to the Three Thousand Worlds.
And to return to the Three Thousand Worlds, Buhui Pass was an unavoidable gateway. So no matter what, they first needed to figure out how many Ink Clan powerhouses were stationed there.
Forget the exact numbers — if there were more than three Royal Lords holding the pass, none of them would stand a chance of getting through Buhui Pass to reach the Three Thousand Worlds.
If there were only two, they might still be able to find a way.
Yang Kai put away the remains of the Qingxu Pass Old Ancestor, perfectly suited for use in a situation like this.