Back when Yang Kai made his escape, Ouyang Lie had witnessed it. He had wanted to lend Yang Kai a hand, but at the time he was fighting two opponents at once, holding off two Mo Clan Domain Lords, and simply couldn't pull away. All he could do was watch helplessly as Yang Kai fled.
Now, more than five hundred years had passed since that day, and Yang Kai had advanced from Seventh-Order Open Heaven to Eighth-Order.
What's more, in Ouyang Lie's perception, Yang Kai as an Eighth-Order possessed a foundation so incredibly deep and solid that he bore no resemblance whatsoever to someone who had just broken through. This left Ouyang Lie thoroughly perplexed — he couldn't imagine how Yang Kai had shaken off that King Lord's pursuit all those years ago, or what kind of fortune he had stumbled upon along the way.
Yang Kai had arrived in a foul mood. This was supposed to be the final time he revealed himself as part of his plan to guide things along. Who could have guessed that Ouyang Lie and his disciple would come charging out of nowhere, turning the situation into a heart-pounding thriller? If his strength hadn't far exceeded what it once was, this whole affair might have ended in disaster.
But after hearing what Ouyang Lie had to say, Yang Kai found it genuinely hard to stay angry.
Ouyang Lie had poured every last ounce of his power into a single strike in order to kill that Innate Domain Lord. In other words, that had been the only attack he could muster! After that one blow, he had nothing left — chances are, any random Mo Clan Lord could have finished him off.
It was a sneak attack to begin with, executed at the cost of unleashing a secret technique at full power, and that was the only reason the Innate Domain Lord had been slain on the spot.
Otherwise, how could an Innate Domain Lord be killed so easily?
Though his methods were reckless, the fact that Ouyang Lie dared to act this way also spoke to the tremendous confidence he placed in Yang Kai — he believed Yang Kai could extract him from danger. Otherwise, no matter how reckless the man might be, he wouldn't have so readily thrown himself into mortal peril.
The burden had fallen on Yang Kai to clean up after him, spiriting both master and disciple away to safety.
"Lords Ouyang, what brings you here?" Yang Kai asked, tossing a bottle of healing pills to Ouyang Lie. Huang Xiong and his group had exhausted their supplies after years of fierce battle, and Ouyang Lie's side was likely no better off.
Sure enough, the moment Ouyang Lie saw the healing pills, his eyes lit up. He snatched the bottle, gulped down the contents, and before settling in to meditate, shot a meaningful glance at Gong Lian, signaling him to do the explaining.
Gong Lian obeyed without hesitation and began: "All these years, we've been hunting and fighting along the outer perimeter of No Return Pass. However, we didn't dare get too close to No Return Pass itself, so we kept our distance. A few days ago, one of our small squads reported what sounded like a clash between powerful fighters in the vicinity of No Return Pass. By the time they arrived though, there was nothing to be found. Later, several other squads also caught faint traces of the disturbance, so Master brought me over to investigate."
As it happened, this was the very first time Ouyang Lie and his disciple had come to check things out. The reason he brought Gong Lian along was to make use of Gong Lian's specialized secret techniques for surveillance and concealment.
Back when they had been scouting Mo Clan positions outside Dayan Pass, Ouyang Lie had brought Gong Lian along as well, and this occasion was no different.
They had barely concealed themselves when Yang Kai appeared outside No Return Pass, brazenly issuing his challenge.
Even more coincidentally, with the Mo Clan Domain Lords in pursuit, Yang Kai happened to charge straight toward their hiding spot within a patch of Dark Qi.
How could Ouyang Lie resist such an opportunity? Besides, if the Mo Clan Domain Lords happened to pass nearby, he wasn't confident they wouldn't be discovered.
Since detection was a real possibility, it was better to strike first. The instant Yang Kai swept past the Dark Cloud where they lay hidden, Ouyang Lie erupted from concealment and killed one of the Innate Domain Lords on the spot.
What master and disciple had done was both a matter of seizing the moment and a matter of having no alternative.
Hearing Gong Lian's account, Yang Kai realized he had somewhat misjudged Ouyang Lie. He had thought to himself that no matter how reckless the old man might be, he wouldn't act so carelessly as to endanger everyone around him.
"Brother Gong, why have you remained here instead of retreating to the Three Thousand Worlds? From what I know, aside from the scattered remnants of fallen passes, most of the human forces have already withdrawn into the Three Thousand Worlds. Has something happened at Dayan…?" Yang Kai's heart clenched.
Huang Xiong and his group had stayed behind in the Mo Battlefield because Qingxu Pass had fallen, and they wanted to recover their ancestor's remains and the core of Qingxu Pass — that was why they hadn't rejoined the main human army.
The human squads that had previously sought out Huang Xiong were in a similar situation: their pass had been breached, the army had fractured and scattered, and they had been hiding and fleeing ever since.
If Dayan had fallen too, then Grand Ancestor Xiaoxiao was surely in grave danger!
Yang Kai's mood grew heavy.
Sensing his worry, Gong Lian quickly said, "It's not what Brother Yang is thinking. Dayan has basically been fully withdrawn into the Three Thousand Worlds. Our situation here… well, there were a few unexpected complications."
As he spoke, he glanced at Ouyang Lie, looking somewhat reluctant to elaborate.
Yang Kai took one look and knew immediately that Ouyang Lie had been the cause.
Sure enough, Ouyang Lie opened his eyes and said, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. The human army lost a battle outside the Primordial Celestial Barrier. The Grand Ancestors ordered a retreat back to No Return Pass to unite with the Sacred Spirits and resist the Mo Clan together. Through many great battles, both sides suffered heavy losses. I was leading my forces across the battlefield when the Mo Clan army cut off my formation. I had no way of falling back to No Return Pass, so I had no choice but to roam the outer regions, gathering stragglers as I went."
It was entirely in character for him. Caught up in the heat of battle, Ouyang Lie likely couldn't be bothered with maintaining proper formation, and in his wild charges across the field, the Mo Clan had found an opportunity to sever his retreat.
Learning the true situation, Yang Kai felt somewhat relieved.
No Return Pass had been lost only about two hundred years ago. In the time since, Ouyang Lie had managed to gather a number of fighters under his banner. Like Huang Xiong's group, however, they were mostly broken remnants, though slightly greater in number. Over the years, they had陆续 taken in quite a few displaced human soldiers, totaling nearly three thousand — among them, two were Eighth-Order Open Heaven masters. Besides Ouyang Lie, there was another named Fei Yuanlong, who had not accompanied them this time.