The Star Boundary was now the most important rear base for the Human Race, and Lingxiao Palace's reputation had spread far and wide. Yang Xiao and the others who hailed from Lingxiao Palace were themselves extraordinarily powerful, so it was only natural that the roaming hunters knew of them well.
Quite a few of these hunters hiding in the shadows had been rescued by Lingxiao Palace squads at one time or another.
Once they recognized that the squad charging into battle was from Lingxiao Palace, the hidden hunters no longer hesitated.
"Fellow warriors, if not now, when?" One roaming hunter squad could hold back no longer and burst into the open. The Seventh-Order leader—who hailed from who knew which force—let out a rallying cry and charged forward with his companions, clearly heading to join the fight.
On their own, scattered and disorganized as they were, there was little they could do against an army of a hundred thousand Ink Clan. But the situation was different now. Two Eighth-Order Human Race cultivators had stepped forward, along with three squads that were obviously far more powerful than the average human unit. If they joined in at this moment, they could lend meaningful assistance.
Hadn't this been exactly the opportunity they had been waiting for, all these days?
"Kill!" Others followed close behind.
In the blink of an eye, squad after squad of roaming hunters that had been concealed in the shadows revealed themselves. Some raised their arms and roared, their battle intent soaring high. Others charged in silence, murderous intent radiating from them.
"A bunch of idiots!" yet another hunter groaned in anguish. "Why yell and make a scene? Wouldn't it be better to sneak up and bash them over the head from behind?"
This one clearly had extensive experience in underhanded tactics and was rather annoyed at the other squads for so openly revealing their positions. But even as he grumbled, he charged into the fray just the same.
There was no helping it—everyone else had already given away their position, so hiding alone served no purpose.
At the Ink Clan army's position, within a mere ten breaths of the charge, a full tenth of the hundred thousand Ink Clan had already fallen. Setting aside Feng Ying, an Eighth-Order cultivator, each of the three squads was brimming with talent and packed with numerous Seventh-Order fighters.
The Ink Clan had no Domain Lord stationed on this side—their strongest were merely Lords. Facing these Human Race powerhouses, even though they held an enormous advantage in sheer numbers, all they could do was be slaughtered.
And this was while everyone was still nursing injuries. Had they been at full strength, the killing would have been even faster.
Yang Kai did not take part in the fighting. He needed to find the entrance to the Qiankun Cave Heaven here as quickly as possible and open it, so they could enter and recuperate.
The energy throughout the surrounding area was in complete chaos, which made locating the entrance somewhat more difficult. However, Yang Kai's attainments in the Dao of Space were far from ordinary. When he truly set his mind to searching, it was not all that hard.
Before long, he had roughly pinpointed the entrance's location. Finding it was the hard part—once found, all he needed to do was use the Laws of Space to force it open. He had done this many times before and was well practiced in the art.
But before he could act to open the entrance, he suddenly sensed something. He turned his head and looked around. Streaks of light were hurtling toward them from every direction, and some could be heard shouting, their killing intent palpable.
Roaming hunters?
Yang Kai quickly realized what was happening. These roaming hunters had been hiding in the shadows all along. Seeing the battle erupt here, they had all leapt out at once—they were coming to help.
There were quite a lot of them. A rough count put the number at over a thousand.
So many people, and their strength was not bad either. They could be organized into an entire regiment.
The reason they had not chosen to join the various great armies, and were not fighting the Ink Clan on the major domain battlefronts, was not because they feared death. If they truly feared death, there would be no point becoming roaming hunters in the first place—the dangers a roaming hunter faced were no less than those on the front lines.
On the front lines, as long as the battle line held, there was not all that much danger. But if a roaming hunter happened to encounter an Ink Clan powerhouse, it was likely a death sentence with no reprieve.
People simply had different aspirations. Some preferred the thrill of this kind of life. Others were not suited to fighting in large-scale army formations. Still others believed roaming hunters could acquire more cultivation resources and grow stronger. The reasons varied, but the motivation was the same.
Whether fighting on the front lines or becoming a roaming hunter, all of them were resisting the Ink Clan, all of them were striving for the future of the Human Race.
Right now, while he and Feng Ying led three squads in charging the enemy, these roaming hunters had emerged from the shadows—their timing could not have been more perfect.
In a short while, the hunters converging from every direction had joined the fray, and the Ink Clan army became even more hopelessly outmatched.
The hundred thousand Ink Clan were dwindling at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Yang Kai paid no heed to the slaughter around him. He was currently channeling the Laws of Space to force open the entrance to the Qiankun Cave Heaven. As he exerted his efforts, a swirling vortex gradually materialized in the void. From within it, the faint aura of another world leaked through.
When it first appeared, the vortex was somewhat unstable, but it quickly settled and stabilized completely.
"Yang Xiao, get inside!" Yang Kai called out in a low voice.
"Understood!" Yang Xiao, who was in the midst of slaying enemies, answered and flickered toward the entrance.
Meanwhile, inside the Qiankun Cave Heaven, a group of trapped warriors wore grim expressions as they stared at the vortex gradually manifesting in the void.
The entrance had been forced open!
For them, this was nothing short of a nightmare.
The reason they had been able to remain unharmed was precisely because this cave heaven's entrance had never been breached. Hiding inside, they still had a sliver of hope. But now that the entrance had been forced open, Ink Clan powerhouses would be pouring in at any moment. When that happened, how many of the warriors here would survive?
At the forefront stood several Human Race squads. Their warships hovered in the air, and Seventh-Order Open Heaven cultivators stood ready at their posts, exchanging quick spiritual transmissions.
No matter what—if the entrance was truly forced open, then they had no choice but to fight.