The Human Race's high command had developed this strategy, but Yang Kai didn't entirely agree with it.
Hiding behind closed doors and working in isolation offered no guarantee of advancing to the Ninth Order. Over countless years, every major Cave Heaven and Blessed Land had produced a fair share of prodigies capable of directly advancing to the Seventh Order, yet how many Ninth-Order Human Race ancestors had there been in the past? Only a little over a hundred.
If the Ninth Order were easy to reach, it wouldn't be the Ninth Order.
Even if one managed to advance by sheer luck, there was no telling how strong one's actual combat prowess would be.
Only through life-and-death battles, only by comprehending the profound mysteries of the Grand Dao amid great terror, could one truly break through their own shackles.
But though he disagreed, he also knew it was a desperate measure. The battlefields were far too dangerous — a single misstep and even an Eighth-Order cultivator could die. The Ninth-Order ancestors of the Human Race had paid such a heavy price precisely to carve out room for the younger generation to grow. If all the promising talents were killed off, the Human Race would have no hope left.
A race without hope would inevitably spiral into the abyss.
Pushing aside his wandering thoughts, Yang Kai looked toward Su Yan and the other three. "Take over the Cave Heaven. I'll be right back."
Su Yan and the others nodded in unison, channeling their respective Laws of Space to stabilize the tremors across the four directions.
Yang Kai tore open a portal on the spot and plunged straight through.
Earlier, three Domain Lords had rushed into the passage together. He had kicked one out, slain another, and the third had fled deep into the chaotic currents. Back then, Yang Kai had been gravely wounded and had no opportunity to deal with him.
Now was the time to settle that matter.
Of course, Yang Kai could have ignored him. Fleeing deep into the chaotic currents, that Domain Lord might never find his way back — it was all too easy to lose oneself in the void between dimensions.
But there was always a slim possibility. If that Domain Lord got lucky and managed to escape, he would become yet another formidable enemy for the Human Race. With the chance to kill him now, there was no reason to let it slip by.
To pull weeds out by the roots — the Ink Clan wanted that, and so would the Human Race whenever the opportunity arose.
Before long, Yang Kai had returned to the passage. Inside, chaotic currents crisscrossed in every direction and the tunnel itself was unstable, shaken by the four Domain Lords outside who were tearing through the void.
He still remembered the position where that Domain Lord had fled last time. Moving alone through the currents, he quickly arrived at the spot, then surged with the Law of Space, weaving through the chaos as he ventured deeper into the void rift.
Searching for someone in a place like this was enormously difficult. Even Yang Kai couldn't guarantee he would find the target. He could only hope that Domain Lord hadn't fled too far back then, because otherwise even he would be at a loss.
As it turned out, the Domain Lord hadn't gone far at all. When the tunnel had been ripped apart by the shockwaves of their earlier clash, he had thought it was an escape route, only to discover once he'd rushed inside that it led even deeper into the void rift.
Panicked, he hadn't dared wander further. Yang Kai not having pursued him had brought some measure of relief. During this time, he had been recovering from his injuries in the rift while searching for a way out.
Unfortunately, this place was no ordinary void, and without any cultivation in the Laws of Space, movement was extraordinarily difficult. He was constantly swept up by the currents, carried along helplessly.
After being tossed about time and again, he had lost all sense of where he was.
Yang Kai spent half a day following traces that had grown nearly imperceptible before finally locating this Domain Lord.
Extending his divine sense for a scan, Yang Kai was delighted.
The Domain Lord's aura was feeble. Clearly, all those days battling the chaotic currents had drained him enormously. Compounded by the injuries he already carried and a total lack of replenishment, his strength had long since fallen far from its peak.
Yang Kai had originally planned to use the Soul-Sacrificing Thorn to end things quickly, but seeing his opponent in this state, he could spare himself the effort.
Half an hour later, Yang Kai emerged from the Cave Heaven portal. There were faint traces of blood on his body, but otherwise he appeared unharmed.
A Domain Lord fighting with his life on the line was still formidable, but within that void rift, with countless chaotic currents tearing through the space, his already diminished strength had been severely constrained. Under those circumstances, if Yang Kai still couldn't kill him, his years of cultivation would have been for nothing.
Ten Domain Lords — now only four remained.
But what they had to face wasn't limited to just those four Domain Lords. There was likely also the Ink Clan army of the Xiangsi Domain. After all this time, the Ink Clan would have mobilized their forces to surround the portal.
Fortunately, they now had far more than just three small squads. Those thousand-plus roving hunters were a considerable fighting force. As for the tens of thousands of warriors trapped here, those actually capable of combat against the Ink Clan were few — most were simply too weak in cultivation. If they engaged the Ink Clan in open battle, they would only end up corrupted.
"Prepare for battle!" Yang Kai's voice rang out, low and sharp.
The crowd responded with a thunderous roar. In an instant, the three squads, the numerous roving hunters, and even Li Ziyu's group all radiated killing intent.
Yang Kai began channeling the Laws of Space once more, stabilizing the surrounding area while simultaneously sending voice transmissions to Su Yan and the others, instructing them to coordinate.
Outside the Cave Heaven, the hundred-thousand-strong Ink Clan army that had originally been garrisoned here had long since vanished, shattered into nothingness by Yang Kai and his forces. Mana and the other three Domain Lords had even been using the survivors as raw material to restore their own power — few could have survived.
But now, in place of that vanished army, over a million Ink Clan soldiers had appeared.
These were forces that Mana had pulled from the Domain Gates — three hundred thousand from each gate, five gates in all, totaling a full one and a half million.
Blotting out the sky like a swarm of locusts, they surrounded the portal so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.