The Sacred Spirits had never told Hua Qingsi that they would obey her commands.
There was a world of difference between helping out of goodwill and following orders out of obligation—they had conflated the two concepts entirely.
Pride was probably at the root of it.
But the result was that Hua Qingsi had formed a misunderstanding. Faced with such a powerful reinforcement force that had come of their own volition, the human race had naturally made concession after concession, which only inflated the arrogance of the Sacred Spirits from Taixu Realm further.
Which was how they had managed to strike a deal with the human leadership and cooperate on their own terms.
Yang Kai let out a cold laugh. "You really are a cunning bunch!"
He could blame himself for this too. Back then, he had been in a rush to bring Wu Kuang to the First Heavenly Forbidden, so he had opened a passage directly from Old Tree's side to send the Sacred Spirits to the Star Boundary, without returning himself.
If he had taken the time to go back to the Star Boundary and explain the situation to Hua Qingsi, none of this would have happened.
But who could have predicted that these Sacred Spirits would act this way?
"So what were Manager Hua's instructions for you?" Yang Kai asked again.
Zhu Jian's forehead was slick with sweat. "Manager Hua ordered us to proceed to the front lines and act in coordination with the human armies at our discretion."
Yang Kai snorted coldly. "And this is how you coordinate? The situation in the Xuanming Domain was critical, the Ink Clan had sent powerful reinforcements, and the situation was urgent—yet you delayed your arrival for no reason. If I hadn't happened to return today, the Xuanming Domain battlefield would have already fallen!"
Wei Junyang and the others wore expressions of shame.
Yang Kai was right. If he hadn't appeared here today, they had already been prepared to abandon the Xuanming Domain battlefield. As for how many of the human forces stationed here could even escape alive, they had no confidence at all.
Under Yang Kai's piercing gaze, not a single Sacred Spirit dared make a sound.
Yang Kai's fury was blazing. He would have been happy for any Sacred Spirit to step forward so he could chop them down as a show of discipline—none of them dared stick their necks out.
"Taowu claimed that the human General Office has no authority over you. But since Manager Hua sent you here to cooperate with the humans, you fall under the jurisdiction of the human General Office! As the lead Sacred Spirit, he delayed critical military operations and caused losses to our human armies—I have executed him. Does anyone here object?"
Who would dare object?
Not only did no one object, but hearing Yang Kai say this, the many Sacred Spirits actually felt a weight lift from their hearts. Though Yang Kai hadn't stated it outright, his words clearly implied that responsibility would only be borne by Taowu, the lead Sacred Spirit. Now that Taowu was dead, the matter was likely settled and he wouldn't pursue the others.
"The Lord is wise!" Zhu Jian clasped his fists.
Yang Kai's tone softened slightly. "Taowu, as the lead Sacred Spirit, deserved his death. You, however, are not guilty enough to die—but this matter cannot simply be dropped."
With that single sentence, the hearts the Sacred Spirits had just set at ease were seized with tension once more, uncertain how Yang Kai intended to deal with them.
"Lord Wei!" Yang Kai suddenly turned to Wei Junyang. "How many Eighth-Order human warriors fell in this battle?"
Yang Kai hadn't known about this before, but while he had been healing over there, he had overheard Wei Junyang and Yu Zhen's conversation, so he was well aware now.
Wei Junyang's expression darkened. He nodded. "Two."
In this battle, two Eighth-Order human warriors had fallen, and three Ink Clan Domain Lords had been slain—not a bad trade on the surface. But in truth, those three Domain Lords had all been killed by Yang Kai himself.
Without Yang Kai, this battle would have been a devastating defeat for the Xuanming Domain.
Yang Kai turned his gaze toward Zhu Jian and the other Sacred Spirits, his voice cold. "Heard that? Two human Eighth-Order warriors died because you were late!"
Zhu Jian and the others felt aggrieved, but none dared talk back.
"Within three months, I want to see the heads of two Domain Lords. How you kill them, where you kill them, and when you go—that's your problem. If you fail..." Yang Kai cast them a leisurely glance. "Your heads won't stay on your shoulders."
Every Sacred Spirit's face changed color.
Yang Kai's tone was indifferent. "Don't think I'm joking. There are forty-nine of you Sacred Spirits, including three at the Eighth-Order—killing two Domain Lords shouldn't be difficult. Of course, you're welcome to try running. This Thirty Thousand World is vast; perhaps you could flee and I'd never find you."
"We wouldn't dare!" Zhu Jian responded bitterly. The Primordial Oath was right there—who would dare run? Who even could?
But killing two Innate Domain Lords...
Though they were powerful Sacred Spirits all, Domain Lords were not easy prey. Every one of them had Ink Clan armies guarding their flanks. To kill a Domain Lord, they would first have to cut through the army serving under them.
Zhu Jian cursed silently. Taowu had really dragged everyone into the mud. Why did he have to dawdle along the way? Now he was dead, and a whole pack of Sacred Spirits had to carry the blame and atone for his sins.
He grumbled inwardly, but Zhu Jian also understood—the Sacred Spirits of Taixu Realm had lived in captivity for ages. Now that they had finally broken free, none of them wanted to court danger. They all treasured their lives.
That was precisely why the Sacred Spirits of Taixu Realm were more afraid of death than other Sacred Spirits.
"Or perhaps," Yang Kai said, regarding the assembled Sacred Spirits with a smile, "you could defect to the Ink Clan?"