"Dead?" You Xiong murmured, somewhat incredulously.
Yang Kai and that woman's figures had completely vanished — not even the slightest trace of their auras could be detected through his spiritual sense.
That powerful human Eighth-Order — the one who had caused four of their five Domain Lords to fall within the span of half a cup of tea — was he really dead?
Really dead? Was he beaten so badly that not even his bones remained?
"No!" You Xiong suddenly came to his senses. It was impossible for an Open Heaven realm cultivator to die without any commotion. He had killed powerful humans on the battlefield before — when an Open Heaven realm warrior died, their Small Universe would most likely collapse. The stronger the cultivator, the greater the disturbance. If it didn't collapse, it would manifest within a short period, then conceal itself in the void, and over the passage of time, transform into a Blessed Land or a Cavern Heaven.
Yang Kai and the Eighth-Order woman had indeed disappeared, but there were none of the signs that should accompany the death of a human powerhouse.
Having figured this out, the others naturally harbored suspicions as well. Monaye's expression was extremely grave as his spiritual sense spread outward like a tide, ceaselessly probing into the distance.
The fact that he hadn't been able to locate Yang Kai immediately as before — one possibility was that Yang Kai was truly dead, but that was unlikely. The other possibility was that Yang Kai had moved beyond the range of his perception.
A Domain Lord stepped forward to investigate personally. After a moment, he shook his head. "No bloodstains. He shouldn't be dead!"
Just then, Monaye also sensed something. He turned his head to look in a certain direction and cursed through gritted teeth, "Bastard!"
He had detected some unusual spatial fluctuations at an extremely distant point over there. He was very familiar with those kinds of spatial disturbances — they were the traces left behind when Yang Kai activated his Space Laws.
How had he gotten so far? Monaye really couldn't fathom it. He had seen Yang Kai flee earlier — the guy was severely injured, and each flash of movement wouldn't carry him very far. But this time, he had somehow escaped beyond the range of his perception, preventing him from locating him right away.
He really was heading for that Cavern Heaven!
"Pursue!" Monaye bellowed in fury, calling out to the other Domain Lords as they hurtled toward the Cavern Heaven's location at breakneck speed. Simultaneously, he sent word to the Ink Clan forces there — hold the line at all costs, under no circumstances was Yang Kai to be allowed into the Cavern Heaven.
At that very moment, Yang Kai was channeling his power to envelop Feng Ying as they fled forward, coughing up blood from time to time.
His injuries were already severe, and the mental and physical exertion of the battle had only made them worse. Fortunately, he had used the Space Spirit Beads to shake off the pursuit of those six Domain Lords, otherwise things would have been truly troublesome.
He had repeatedly split up from Feng Ying and then reunited with her. Monaye had thought Yang Kai was trying to divide the Domain Lords, but that wasn't the case at all. Having learned their lesson from before, how would the Domain Lords dare to act alone so easily?
He had simply been planting Space Spirit Beads.
A tiny Space Spirit Bead was virtually undetectable without careful scrutiny. Back at Buhui Pass, he had used the Space Spirit Beads to escape the King Lord's pursuit, then launched a surprise counterattack that turned Buhui Pass into utter chaos. Pulling the same trick today, he had successfully shaken off those six Domain Lords once more.
But there wasn't much time — the Domain Lords were fast. If he couldn't enter the Cavern Heaven before those six Domain Lords resumed their pursuit, the situation would only get worse.
In his current state, even if he happened upon a lone Domain Lord, he might not necessarily be able to kill them. If he disregarded everything and activated the Soul Sacrifice Thorn once more, perhaps there would be a chance, but he would most likely lose his sanity as well.
He couldn't take that risk. He had to get into that Cavern Heaven and recuperate.
But whether he could successfully enter the Cavern Heaven, Yang Kai had no confidence. He didn't know how many forces the Ink Clan had deployed there!
He could only hope it wasn't too many.
After more than half an hour, Yang Kai spotted from afar a massive Ink Clan army arrayed in battle formation at a point in the void, the auras of numerous Lord-level powerhouses blazing openly.
This was the place!
The Cavern Heaven of Xiangsi Domain!
To Yang Kai's relief, the Ink Clan forces stationed here weren't too numerous — only around a hundred thousand. Though there were quite a few Lords, there was still a significant gap compared to the million-strong army at the Domain Gate.
In truth, he had previously guessed that there couldn't be too many Ink Clan here, because the Ink Clan needed to use the trapped cultivators here as bait. Naturally, they had to give those hunters some hope and opportunity. If they deployed too many forces here, the hunters would never take the bait.
A hundred thousand — neither too many nor too few. It was enough to ensure the Cavern Heaven remained sealed off while still giving those bold and skilled hunters a chance to take the risk.
What he didn't know was that if word of his departure from Xuanming Domain hadn't spread, the entire Xiangsi Domain would have had only six hundred thousand Ink Clan — a hundred thousand here, and a hundred thousand at each of the other five Domain Gates.
But once Monaye heard that Yang Kai might come to Xiangsi Domain, he immediately mobilized forces from nearby Great Domains, which was why each Domain Gate now had a million-strong army stationed there.
The Ink Clan army's strength was mixed at best, with most being cannon fodder. Without a million troops, they simply couldn't stop a ferocious enemy like Yang Kai.
Monaye had made thorough preparations — not only had he reassigned armies for defense, but he had also brought in You Xiong and four other Domain Lords. Unfortunately, he never imagined that You Xiong's group would be so unlucky. They had barely arrived in Xiangsi Domain before Yang Kai killed four of them, leaving only You Xiong as the sole survivor, thoroughly terrified into the bargain.
The hundred thousand Ink Clan soldiers had long received Monaye's message and knew that two human Eighth-Order powerhouses were incoming. The leading Lords were all on edge — if not for their fear of punishment afterward, they would have fled long ago.
Now Yang Kai and Feng Ying were charging toward them, bristling with killing intent. How could the Ink Clan fail to spot them?
Fortunately, there were only two…