Having made his decision, the Ink Clan Royal Lord's figure flickered, transforming into a vast ink cloud that rapidly closed in on the battlefield.
At this moment, Yang Kai was at his weakest. The activation of the three Soul-Sacrificing Needles had dealt severe damage to his spiritual sense, let alone the Solar-Lunar Divine Wheel. This secret art was devastating in power, but its consumption of the primordial might of heaven and earth was equally terrifying.
Were it not for the World Tree's subsidiary tree sealing and stabilizing his Small World, using this move would have thrown his Small World into violent upheaval.
Even with the subsidiary tree providing stability, the foundations of his Small World had drained by more than half, leaving him with an unmistakable sense of weakness. He hastily retrieved a spirit pill and swallowed it.
He had originally still held some Low-Grade World Fruits. While their value was rather marginal, they were the best means of restoring the power of his Small World.
Unfortunately, every last Low-Grade World Fruit had been spent during the Goat-Headed Royal Lord's pursuit.
The three hundred thousand Ink Clan troops that had moved to intercept had lost fully thirty percent under a single sweep of his Solar-Lunar Divine Wheel, and the path ahead was now clear. Only the left and right flanks still had Ink Clan forces blocking the way, locked in fierce combat with the human warships led by Huang Xiong and Fei Yuanlong.
With the path ahead unobstructed, the Purification Ship's forces freed up their hands to immediately reinforce both flanks. The formations hummed continuously as waves of secret arts and Artifact-powered attacks lashed out, coordinating with the flanks to cut down the enemy.
It was at that moment that Yang Kai's entire body tensed. A powerful aura had locked firmly onto him.
This sensation was deeply familiar. Years ago, during the Goat-Headed Royal Lord's pursuit, he had been locked by that same aura. Each time, he had been forced to unleash the Purification Light to sever the lock before he could use his Spatial abilities to teleport away.
Yang Kai immediately raised his eyes to look, and sure enough, from the direction of Returnless Pass, a massive ink cloud was hurtling toward them at tremendous speed. Within that cloud, a pair of eyes gleamed like swords aimed straight at his heart.
The Royal Lord!
The clash had lasted only an instant, and five Innate Domain Lords had already fallen. The Royal Lord stationed at Returnless Pass had recognized the threat Yang Kai posed and could restrain himself no longer.
He would personally kill that Eighth-Order Open Heaven, eliminating the danger once and for all.
From afar, the Royal Lord activated his own oppressive aura, as if to flaunt his overwhelming strength, or perhaps to shatter the morale of the human forces.
The void shuddered. On the Purification Ship, the protective barriers flickered erratically, as though some invisible force were crushing down upon them.
Oppressive aura, though formless and invisible, was undeniably real. A powerhouse's pressure alone was enough to harvest the lives of the weak without lifting a finger.
This Ink Clan Royal Lord's attempt to use his aura to intimidate the humans was, naturally, a grave miscalculation.
The central fleet's Purification Ship maintained its speed, hurtling straight toward Returnless Pass. The flanks followed close behind. Warships detonated one after another, and human cultivators fell in droves.
The sheer brutality of the casualties made Huang Xiong and Fei Yuanlong's eyes split with rage, yet there was nothing they could do but hold off the incoming Domain Lords and minimize their own losses as best they could.
Through the desperate sacrifices of countless soldiers willing to lay down their lives, the left and right flanks finally punched through the Ink Clan army's blockade and surged free.
No one dared linger.
Everyone knew that to assault Returnless Pass, there could be no hesitation whatsoever. They had to drive forward in one relentless push, smash through the Ink Clan's defenses, and only then would there be any hope of returning to the Thirty Thousand Worlds. Even a moment's delay or entanglement could doom the remnants to sinking into a quagmire.
Ouyang Lie held the rearguard—the position that should have carried the lightest burden, but had now become the heaviest. The Ink Clan's blocking forces had transformed into pursuers, and if he couldn't hold them, the remnants' formation would surely shatter.
At this critical juncture, Ouyang Lie fought with everything he had. Blade light swept out, rending the void.
A sudden roar rang out from the direction of the Purification Ship.
"Form the formation!"
The moment the command was given, the left and right flanks, along with the rearguard warships, swiftly converged toward the Purification Ship.
On its deck, a massive formation of enormous scale was activated through the combined efforts of dozens of Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators. In an instant, a formation diagram radiated outward from the Purification Ship into the void, its glowing lines illuminating the surrounding space.
Each squadron-level warship simultaneously activated its corresponding formation at that very moment, sweeping inward like swallows returning to the nest as they merged into the diagram.
In the span of barely a dozen breaths, all of the human squadron-level warships had linked their auras together, using the Purification Ship as the foundation, forming what appeared to be a single unified entity.
The Four Symbols Formation!
This was originally a formation for human cultivators to combine their strength against enemies—neither particularly sophisticated nor especially profound. With the formation's assistance, human warriors could wield greater power to contend with certain Ink Clan powerhouses.
However, Yang Kai had since modified this Four Symbols Formation into a structure that united the forces of four divisions.
Previously, Yang Kai would never have been capable of such a thing. But after his tremendous gains within the Great Sea Heavenly Phenomenon, his attainments in the Dao of Formations had become remarkable, and such modifications were well within his ability.
There was only one drawback: this modification had changed the Four Symbols Formation beyond recognition, and it likely would not hold for long. That was why the remnants had not combined formations from the start.
But now they had reached the critical moment. Victory or defeat hinged on this single gambit, and Yang Kai would not hesitate a moment longer.
With the formation united, the Purification Ship served as the core, tightly linking every human warship into one body. Both offensive power and defensive capability received an enormous boost.
The formation had barely finished assembling when the massive ink cloud had already blocked their path. The cloud contracted in a flash, revealing a towering figure that raised its hand and struck down toward the Purification Ship.
Though the blow appeared light and effortless, it sent a chill of horror through every human present.
This was a strike from the Royal Lord.
The Purification Ship hurtled forward without slowing. Yang Kai stood on the deck, gazing at the Royal Lord who barred their way, and bowed toward the void, calling out in a resonant voice: "I invoke the Old Ancestor!"