The area where the vulnerability had originally existed was long ignored, concealed beneath the corpse of that dead Ink Giant God Spirit. The humans hadn't thought much of it, and the Ink Clan had deliberately hidden it. But in recent days, this place had become a meat grinder for the warriors of both races, with control over the region changing hands multiple times. The ferocity of the battle was unlike anything seen since ancient times.
Under such intense circumstances, the human side could no longer spare any additional experts for other tasks.
And so, even though Ji Laosan had relayed news of the Ink Giant God Spirit from the Sacred Spirit Ancestral Land, only Ancestor Xiaoxiao from the Emptiness Domain side was available to address it.
It wasn't that the others didn't want to—they simply couldn't move.
Ancestor Xiaoxiao had originally believed that if she could arrive in time, she could resolve the matter of the Ink Giant God Spirit perfectly. But she was ultimately a step too late—the Ink Giant God Spirit had already been awakened and was heading through the Broken Sky toward Fenglan Domain!
Yang Kai hurried as fast as he could, crossing through domain after domain, sealing domain gates as he went, while Ancestor Xiaoxiao continuously harassed the Ink Giant God Spirit that had awakened in the Sacred Spirit Ancestral Land, slowing its advance.
But before long, she realized something was off.
Based on her earlier speculation with Yang Kai, this Ink avatar was certainly heading from the Broken Sky toward Fenglan Domain, where it would coordinate with the Ink Clan forces already in the Emptiness Domain to tear open a passage and launch a full invasion.
If that were the case, the Ink Giant God Spirit would first need to leave the Broken Sky, then transit through one of the three other domains to reach Fenglan Domain.
It was with this reasoning that Yang Kai had gone ahead to seal the domain gates along the way.
Yet after clashing with the Ink Giant God Spirit for more than half a month, Ancestor Xiaoxiao was startled to discover that the direction it was heading was not toward the gate leading from the Broken Sky to another domain.
At first, she thought the Ink Giant God Spirit had only recently awakened and wasn't familiar with the route. After all, without a proper Universe Map in hand, even a High-Rank Open Heaven cultivator could easily lose their way in the vast void.
A Universe Map was an essential tool for Open Heaven realm cultivators traversing between domains.
Ancestor Xiaoxiao had even felt somewhat fortunate at the time—if it truly was lost, that would buy her more time to delay it.
But several days later, she finally realized something was wrong.
This Ink Giant God Spirit didn't appear to have any intention of heading to Fenglan Domain at all. The direction it was traveling led straight to the gate connecting to the Emptiness Domain battlefield!
The entire Broken Sky had only two gates—one leading to an adjacent domain, and one leading to the Emptiness Domain battlefield.
The two gates were in completely opposite directions. Even if the Ink Giant God Spirit was lost, it couldn't possibly be that stupid!
A chill ran down Ancestor Xiaoxiao's spine as she suddenly realized a problem that had been overlooked all along.
How did the Ink Giant God Spirit erode the realm walls? Was the Ink Clan truly only capable of using the Ink Giant God Spirit to erode them?
Realizing this, Ancestor Xiaoxiao's attacks grew even more ferocious.
Her change did not escape the Ink Giant God Spirit's notice. All along, it had remained silent in the face of her harassment. But now, it finally spoke: "You have already lost. The Ink Clan's dominion over the Three Thousand Worlds is something no one can stop. All of you will become my servants!"
Ancestor Xiaoxiao was startled: "You possess sentience?"
Whether it was the Ink Giant God Spirit encountered outside the Primal Heaven Grand Restriction, or the one that had recently awakened in the Ancient Battlefield, the impression they left on the humans was that of mindless killing machines. Everyone had believed the Ink Giant God Spirit was merely a weapon forged by Ink for war. No one had ever imagined it possessed intelligence and the ability to communicate.
The Ink Giant God Spirit had never conversed with anyone before, either.
Ink smiled: "Sentience? Did that boy not tell you that all Ink Giant God Spirits are merely my avatars?"
The information contained in those words was staggering. Ancestor Xiaoxiao's complexion drained of color: "You are Ink!"
Yang Kai had indeed never told her that the Ink Giant God Spirits were Ink's avatars—he had only learned it himself from Lu An not long ago.
Before this, no one had ever imagined that such enormous, supremely powerful beings were nothing more than avatars.
Seeing Ancestor Xiaoxiao's expression of sudden realization, Ink sighed: "You're much dumber than Mu."
In this world, there was probably no one more clever than Mu.
Ancestor Xiaoxiao's mind was in turmoil. She had no patience for its mockery. Gritting her teeth, she said: "You are heading to the Emptiness Domain?"
Ink replied nonchalantly while continuing to charge forward: "Naturally."
Along the way, it passed by a world and casually scattered a wave of Ink power. That once beautiful world, with its splendid landscapes, was instantly drenched as if ink had been splashed across it. The dark corruption spread rapidly across the world like a living thing, and every living creature it touched was corrupted by the Ink in mere moments.
Ancestor Xiaoxiao watched through gritted teeth, powerless to stop it.
This was not the first time Ink had done such a thing along its path. The Ink corruption had already tainted many worlds and spirit continents.
She ceased her futile efforts, focusing instead on recovering her strength while probing for information: "You're not going to Fenglan Domain?"
Ink chuckled lightly: "There's... no need for me to go there."