In the Xuanming Domain, Yang Kai's figure had already vanished, yet the Ink Clan's massive army showed no intention of launching an attack. Whether out of wariness or sheer inability, this outcome was exactly what the Human Race wanted to see.
Restarting hostilities at a time like this would bring the Human Race no great benefit.
Under Wei Junyang's orders, the Human Race army that had pressed to the border began withdrawing in a methodical, orderly retreat.
Before long, the once-turbulent Xuanming Domain fell silent again, returning to the previous state of standoff as each side recuperated and prepared for the next great battle.
In a neighboring domain, Yang Kai turned to look back, his gaze settling on the enormous Domain Gate. The Ink Clan had not garrisoned any forces on this side of the gate, so the Dawn and Bixi warships passed through without encountering the slightest resistance.
The others were looking back as well. Even now, they could hardly believe it.
This passage through enemy territory had actually been accomplished so effortlessly!
In truth, when Yang Kai had led them forward on that lone warship to stand before the Ink Clan's battle formation, every one of them had been prepared to fight to the death.
They had all been certain the Ink Clan would never agree to Yang Kai's demands.
The result had been entirely unexpected.
In hindsight, the Ink Clan's willingness to grant passage was partly due to the pressure exerted by the Human Race army, but the primary reason had been the deterrence posed by Yang Kai's own formidable strength.
For the Ink Clan, having a powerhouse like Yang Kai leave the Xuanming Domain was something they themselves had been eager for. At the very least, it meant they would not have to worry about his sneak attacks for a long time to come.
"Captain, why not seal off that Domain Gate?" Feng Ying suddenly spoke up.
If the Domain Gate leading to the Xuanming Domain were sealed, the Ink Clan forces inside would lose their only connection to the outside world and be completely trapped. All the Human Race would need to do then was gradually wear down their numbers, and sooner or later the Ink Clan in the Xuanming Domain would be finished for good.
Yang Kai chuckled at this and slowly shook his head. "We can't do that. If we actually went through with it, it would only force the Ink Clan into a desperate fight to the death. The Xuanming Army… isn't ready for that yet."
Hearing this, Feng Ying realized she had asked a foolish question.
Indeed, the Ink Clan had already suffered an enormous humiliation by agreeing to grant passage. Yang Kai had left — that was one thing. But if the Human Race seized this opportunity to seal their Domain Gate, the Ink Clan would absolutely not tolerate it. No matter how reluctant or wary they were, they would be forced into a full-scale battle with the Human Race.
Though Yang Kai had left behind a great number of Little Stone Race warriors, a real confrontation would be far from a guaranteed victory. At best, it would end with both sides suffering devastating losses.
The Ink Clan could afford such a cost. The Human Race could not.
Sealing off the Domain Gate was something Yang Kai had considered as well, but the thought had circled through his mind only briefly before he dismissed it.
At that moment, a sudden clarity came over him, and he spoke in a low voice: "This war is not any one person's war. It is the war of all humanity!"
The strength of a single individual could not change the current situation. Even the strength of a handful of individuals could not. Only by continuously producing new powerhouses could the Human Race stand against the Ink Clan and ultimately prevail.
In that instant, he came to understand the Nine-Order Ancestors' decision.
The Ancestors had already been powerful beyond measure, yet on the battlefield of the Void Domain, they had still chosen to sacrifice themselves — to clear away obstacles for the younger generation, to create the space and time needed for them to grow.
Back then, the Nine-Order Ancestors had likely already seen through everything.
The Ink Clan was the root cause of the invasion of the Thirty Thousand World. Without the Ink Clan's invasion, the Thirty Thousand World would have remained vast and prosperous, countless World would never have been plunged into misery.
Yet the situation had already been set. For the current Human Race, the Ink Clan's existence was in a strange way still necessary.
Thoughts surged through Yang Kai's mind, and suddenly much became clear to him. In the past, he had never considered any of this, because he had been nothing more than an anonymous soldier of the Human Race. His strength had been considerable, but whatever he did, he had simply followed his own inclinations. If the sky fell, someone taller would hold it up — he had never needed to think about these matters.
Now, however, he was the Commander of the Xuanming Army, overseeing the war effort of an entire domain. Standing in the commander's shoes and looking at things from that perspective, he saw many things he had never seen before.
He had originally planned to seize this opportunity after everything was settled to find a way to seal off all the Domain Gates occupied by the Ink Clan across the various battlefields, severing the Ink Clan's connection to the outside world entirely. But now it seemed that was unnecessary.
If he sealed the Domain Gates, it would indeed help the Human Race forces on those dozen-plus battlefields gain the upper hand. But doing so would accomplish little of real significance.
Should he go through with it, the Human Race might indeed have the chance to eliminate the Ink Clan on those battlefields completely. But without addressing the root of the problem, the Ink Clan could never truly be wiped out.
Those dozen-plus battlefields were a catastrophe for the Human Race, but they were also grounds for tempering. Between life and death lay great terror and great fortune alike. Flowers raised in a greenhouse could never match the resilience of wild grass weathered by wind and sun.