The current Ink Battlefield had been formed from the numerous Great Domains that the Ink had occupied during the primordial era, torn apart by the combined efforts of Cang and the other nine.
The purpose had been to prevent the Ink's power from corroding even more Great Domains.
Between the Ink Battlefield and the Thirty Thousand Worlds, only a single passage remained through which one could travel. As long as this passage was properly guarded, the Human Race could seal the Ink's power within the Ink Battlefield.
However, this was no foolproof strategy. The Ink's power was far too bizarre and formidable. After the era of Cang and the others, the Human Race's predecessors had considered more than once—what if the passage connecting the Thirty Thousand Worlds and the Ink Battlefield were breached by the Ink Clan?
If they were caught unprepared, the Ink Clan would be able to charge straight into the Thirty Thousand Worlds, drawing upon one prosperous Great Domain after another to rapidly proliferate their strength. Before long, the Ink Clan's power would snowball until the Human Race could no longer contend with them!
Therefore, to prepare for such a scenario, the Human Race's predecessors had completely emptied out the Great Domain connected to that passage.
This Great Domain was named Kong—the Void.
If the Ink Battlefield was the first battlefield between the Human Race and the Ink Clan, then the Void Domain was the predecessors' hypothetical second battlefield!
In other words, the passages guarding the connection between the Thirty Thousand Worlds and the Ink Battlefield were not limited to one. Besides the No Return Pass, there was also the Void Domain.
Passing through that passage led to the Void Domain.
The Void Domain had originally possessed several Domain Gates, connecting it to multiple Great Domains. But since this place was to serve as the hypothetical second battlefield, keeping too many Domain Gates around was unwise.
The predecessors had acted to destroy or disrupt most of the Domain Gates, leaving only one intact. And that Domain Gate led to Shattered Heaven!
Yang Kai had never known any of this before. He had only recently learned of it while plotting with Ouyang Lie and the others to assault the No Return Pass.
After all, he had not entered the Ink Battlefield through the normal channels. He had gone directly through the void tunnel from the Black Domain back then.
Any warrior who entered the Ink Battlefield through proper channels would first transit through Shattered Heaven, enter the Void Domain, and then proceed from the Void Domain into the Ink Battlefield, arriving at the No Return Pass—learning these secrets naturally along the way.
Now that the No Return Pass had been breached, the Human Race would have to make a desperate stand in the Void Domain, ambushing the Ink Clan there.
This Great Domain was fundamentally different from all others.
Every other Great Domain contained at least some number of worlds. Where there were worlds, there was life, and where there was life, there were living beings.
But the Void Domain had nothing. It was empty in the most literal sense.
Because they needed to prevent the Ink Clan from mining resources and birthing more of their kind, the Human Race's predecessors had shattered and relocated every single world within the Void Domain during its construction.
What the Void Domain did contain were the Human Race's countless years of fortifications—a defensive line even more vast and grand than the human strongholds on the Ink Battlefield's side.
That was why Ouyang Lie had guessed that the fall of the No Return Pass was partly due to the sheer ferocity of the Ink Clan's assault, but also partly because the Human Race had voluntarily abandoned it.
After all, when the main human army withdrew from outside the Primordial Grand Restriction, they had been pressed for time. Falling back to the Void Domain would allow them to better leverage the fortifications there to maneuver and fight against the Ink Clan.
It was precisely because of this reasoning that Ouyang Lie believed the remnant army, if they broke out of the No Return Pass, was unlikely to run headlong into the bulk of the Ink Clan's forces.
In the Void Domain, it was far more likely that the two races were locked in fierce combat. And if that was the case, then the remnant army would have hope of reuniting with the main human army.
Now that the remnant army had broken free of the No Return Pass and arrived at the Void Domain, Yang Kai immediately probed the surroundings for any signs of activity.
What he saw brought a measure of relief to his heart.
The worst-case scenario had not materialized.
But things were not looking great either.
In the Void Domain, the Human Race and the Ink Clan were indeed clashing, the battle raging at full intensity. Across that vast expanse of void, practically everywhere one looked was a battlefield—human warships darting and streaking through the darkness, the Ink Clan's armies in hot pursuit.
Even more alarming were the violent shockwaves of residual power sweeping in from one particular direction.
These shockwaves actually surpassed the commotion generated by an Ancestor trading blows with a Royal Lord.
Yang Kai instinctively turned to look, and his expression froze.
In the distant void, two colossal figures were crashing into each other again and again. Their movements appeared lumbering—one throwing a punch, the other a kick—yet every single blow carried enough force to destroy heaven and earth. Even a fully intact world could not withstand even a casual strike from either of them.
Two giant spirits were locked in mortal combat!
One of them was the same giant spirit Yang Kai had seen in the Ancient Battlefield, its entire body now shrouded in Ink Power, drenched in black.
The other, however, looked quite different. A tuft of black hair sat atop the giant spirit's head, giving it an almost comical appearance.
A-Er!
It was A-Er, the one who had brought Yang Kai to the Chaotic Death Domain all those years ago!
Yang Kai had a very deep memory of that tuft of black hair on its head. A-Da's head had been completely bald, without a single thing on it, while A-Er bore this unmistakable mark—so Yang Kai recognized it at a glance.
A-Er was actually here, and it was engaging that Ink-corrupted giant spirit in combat.