Yang Kai's brow rose. The next moment, a jade slip materialized before him out of thin air.
He reached out and grabbed it, then immersed his divine sense within to examine its contents. After a moment, he let out a long breath.
His efforts over this period had finally shown some improvement. The remnants of humanity lurking outside Buhui Pass weren't entirely stupid after all. Just today, the first group of human remnants had found their way to Huang Xiong's location and safely joined up with him.
Judging by the timing, there had to be someone among this particular group of remnants who possessed some wisdom. They had likely figured out his subtle guidance after he'd shown himself outside Buhui Pass several times—otherwise, they couldn't have found Huang Xiong's group so quickly.
This first group of human remnants wasn't large—only a few dozen people, the size of several small squads. But it was a good start.
If there was a first group of remnants, then there would be a second, a third…
However…
Yang Kai felt that his time was running short.
For over a month now, he'd been carrying out these actions day after day. If this continued, he'd likely expose his true intentions. The Ink Race weren't all fools—if they figured out his objective and the direction he was guiding people toward, things could get very ugly.
But right now, there was one piece of good news.
Only a single Ink King Lord held Buhui Pass.
He'd previously worried there might be too many King Lords stationed here, but it seemed he'd been overly concerned.
Whether it was the battle outside the Primordial Heaven Great Seal or the battle where humanity retreated beyond Buhui Pass, both the human and Ink races had suffered devastating casualties.
King Lords, Ninth-Order Ancestors—they had fallen in droves.
Yang Kai didn't know the exact state of affairs among the humans, but one thing was certain: the humans' high-level forces had been sharply reduced, and the Ink Race's upper echelon wouldn't be faring much better. In other words, both sides now had very few King Lords and Ninth-Order experts—at most a few dozen each!
The Ink Race had already breached Buhui Pass and invaded the Three Thousand Worlds. The humans would fight to the death to resist them. With the Ninth-Order Ancestors keeping them pinned down, the King Lords couldn't simply disengage at will. Under those circumstances, how many King Lords could remain inside Buhui Pass?
The fact that even one King Lord was stationed here probably stemmed from the Ink Race recognizing Buhui Pass's importance. It was the gateway connecting the Three Thousand Worlds to the Ink Battlefield. Once the Ink Race had conquered it, they would never allow it to be lost. After all, they would one day need to pass through it to return to the Primordial Heaven Great Seal and free Mo.
This situation was good news for Yang Kai.
With only one King Lord, he had much more room to maneuver. Setting aside the fact that he'd previously collected the remains of the Qingxu Pass Ancestor, which he could use against his enemies, even without that, he now had the means to stand against a King Lord.
In the days that followed, Yang Kai went outside Buhui Pass to provoke them every few days, each time subtly indicating a direction. He didn't know how many human remnants would realize the significance of his guidance, but he kept trying.
The Ink Race garrison at Buhui Pass grew increasingly infuriated. Being outmaneuvered time and again in their encirclement attempts had made them despise this Eighth-Order human. Every time they thought they were about to catch him, the human would execute some escape technique and vanish into thin air, leaving these Domain Lords to face the King Lord's repeated reprimands and furious scoldings for their incompetence.
Being berated only deepened their hatred for Yang Kai.
One day, as usual, Yang Kai ventured outside Buhui Pass to taunt them, drawing over a dozen Domain Lords to close in from multiple directions. His figure darted back and forth, weaving through the Ink Race army, barely engaging those Domain Lords directly. Instead, he targeted the weaker ones—the Azure Dragon Spear swept through, leaving countless Ink Race dead in its wake.
As he flashed past a cluster of ink clouds, Yang Kai's heart suddenly lurched. He turned his head to look at that cloud.
In that instant, he felt a terrifying killing intent erupting to life from within the ink cloud.
Immediately after, a familiar figure burst out from the dark cloud—a figure crowned with flaming red hair, like burning fire, wielding a massive broadsword in both hands, radiating overwhelming might.
The power of a peak Eighth-Order expert, after a long period of concealment, erupted in an instant. One devastating slash swept up a Domain Lord who happened to be passing nearby.
"Die!" The Eighth-Order expert roared, and his great blade blazed with roaring flames, transforming into something like a fire whip. In that moment, even the void itself twisted and warped under the heat.
The Domain Lord caught in the blade's arc was horrified. He never expected an ambush in this place.
It wasn't that the Ink Race lacked caution—simply that Yang Kai had been fighting alone all this time, never with an ally. They never imagined someone might be lying in wait this time.
Yang Kai hadn't expected it either.
That sudden slash was the eruption of a peak Eighth-Order cultivator's lifetime of accumulated power, built up over a long time. In a single blow, it cleaved a powerful Innate Domain Lord clean in half. Ink-black blood splashed out and evaporated on contact.
Such a slash seemed almost beyond even the Eighth-Order Open Heaven's control—it was trending toward the Ninth-Order. After killing the Ink Domain Lord, the expert's entire body went rigid, unable to move.
The other Domain Lords, shocked, showed no mercy. They unleashed their secret arts in a barrage aimed at him.
Just as he too was about to perish, Yang Kai pulled back. One hand landed on the man's shoulder, dragging him behind himself. In his other hand, he leveled his spear, and as it thrust forward, the truths of the multiple realms he'd comprehended played out in a cascade.
Energy raged. The void trembled. Blood trickled from the corner of Yang Kai's mouth, and his body shook violently.
Behind him, the Eighth-Order expert was shouting: "Boy Yang, I've come to help you! Let's slaughter these sons of bitches! Kill one and we break even—kill two and we profit!"