With Yan Yi stepping forward to lead the way, Bian Yuanshan cupped his fists from a distance and declared, "My Bian family is willing to fight to the death for the Human Race!"
Representatives from the remaining factions spoke up one after another to echo the sentiment.
Whether their words came from the heart or not, with an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator standing right before them—one who had painstakingly explained the situation at such length—none dared to be presumptuous anymore. They naturally pledged their support.
"Good!" Yang Kai let out a low shout, putting on the full air of a senior powerhouse. "With such resolve from all of you, the Three Thousand Worlds will be united as one. What is there to fear from the Ink Clan!"
No one present understood better than he did how brutal the war against the Ink Clan would be. These people might set foot on the battlefield and never return alive. But under the current circumstances, Yang Kai had no choice but to say words that would lift their spirits.
He turned his head toward Jiu Yan and said coolly, "As for you…"
Jiu Yan had just finished purging the Ink Force from his body and was immediately stricken with terror. "Jiu Yan is also willing to fight to the death for the Human Race! He would not hesitate even to die ten thousand deaths!"
Yang Kai let out a cold snort. "To incite rebellion and undermine morale for your own selfish gain—if this were outside the passes, someone like you wouldn't deserve to live. But right now, when the Human Race needs every hand it can get, and you're still a Seventh-Order at least, it wouldn't be right for you to die by my hand. Go to the battlefield and earn your redemption through merit!"
Listening to the first half of Yang Kai's words, Jiu Yan felt ice-cold all over, certain that this time he was truly doomed. He had only stirred up the resistance because he was unwilling to be controlled by the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands. Who would have thought an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator would happen to pass through and capture him?
Only when Yang Kai finished speaking did he let out a huge sigh of relief. He had kept his life. As for going to the battlefield to earn his redemption, he had no power to resist anyway, so he could only express his gratitude profusely. "Thank you for your mercy, Senior!"
Yang Kai raised his hand and placed several restrictions within his body, sealing his power to prevent him from causing trouble along the way. He then instructed Fan Nan and Xi Yuan, "There's no time to waste. Once everything here is ready, we set off. The journey to the Shattered Heaven is a long one—the sooner we arrive, the sooner we can help ease the burden over there."
"Yes!" Fan Nan and Xi Yuan responded hastily.
Yang Kai nodded, then vanished in a flash.
His destination was also the Shattered Heaven. Though he was heading in the same direction as Fan Nan and the others, bringing them along would be inconvenient in many ways.
Moreover, Yang Kai planned to make a detour back to Void Land on the way.
The route to the Shattered Heaven required transiting through only two Great Domains to reach Void Land, so it wouldn't cost too much time.
However, the earlier events had made Yang Kai realize something—the Human Race's situation on the battlefield in the Void Domain was probably quite dire, or they would never have drawn manpower from the Three Thousand Worlds for reinforcements.
If that was the case at Gold Crane Blessed Land, the same must be true for all the other Cave Heaven Blessed Lands.
This time, the Human Race needed to gather every last person from across the Three Thousand Worlds just to stand a chance of fighting the Ink Clan.
Yang Kai couldn't help but feel worried. Though he had sealed the passage between the Void Domain and the Ink Battlefield, cutting off the Ink Clan's supply lines, their strength was not to be underestimated. From that brief glimpse he had caught, the Royal Lords in the Void Domain had clearly been far more numerous than the Ninth-Orders.
A disparity in top-tier combat power could very well decide the course of an entire war.
He shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts, and pushed forward at full speed.
A month passed in the blink of an eye before he finally crossed a Domain Gate and arrived in Void Territory.
He didn't even have the heart to take in the familiar scenery. Yang Kai headed straight for the location of Void Land.
Void Land—a millennium of development had transformed this once-obscure region into one of considerable renown. One could say that among all the factions in the Three Thousand Worlds, apart from the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands which possessed Seventh-Order Open Heavens, Void Land was the only remaining power that had its own Seventh-Order.
And not just one!
The Cave Heaven Blessed Lands had tacitly accepted the existence of Void Land's Seventh-Orders, unlike their treatment of other second-tier factions, where anyone who advanced to the Seventh-Order would be summoned away.
Rumors had spread throughout the world that Void Land was the most powerful faction beneath the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands!
And in truth, this was so. With no other second-tier faction possessing a Seventh-Order Open Heaven, Void Land stood in a class of its own.
What's more, the master of Void Land and the master of the Star Boundary were one and the same person. If you joined Void Land, being so close at hand, all you had to do was perform well enough and you'd have a far better chance of being sent to the Star Boundary to cultivate!
The Star Boundary had become nothing less than a cradle for Open Heaven cultivators. Even the Cave Heaven Blessed Lands scrambled to send their finest juniors there, so they could share in the nourishing benefits of the World Tree.
But even for those Cave Heaven Blessed Lands, there was a fixed quota each year—only elite disciples were sent.
It was precisely because of these advantages that countless people wanted to send their talented juniors to train at Void Land.
And Void Land took them all in without exception.
Now, the disciples of Void Land were no longer limited to those Yang Kai had originally brought from the Star Boundary. They practically hailed from hundreds of different Great Domains.
The total number of disciples in Void Land had reached a staggering three hundred thousand.
That figure was nothing short of astonishing. Looking across the entire Three Thousand Worlds, there were precious few second-tier factions that boasted such numbers.