The Ink Clan army was thoroughly bewildered. Mornaye had ordered them to kill the humans charging out, and they had obeyed — but failed to stop them.
Now, with Yang Kai's shout, a number of Ink Clan Lords were horrified to discover that Mornaye and the others were gone!
The Domain Lords — had they really fled?
At first, some Ink Clan refused to believe it and fought desperately against the Human Race cultivators. But after clashing for a long time with no sign of the Domain Lords making a move, even the doubters had no choice but to accept the truth.
The Domain Lords had really fled!
In an instant, the Ink Clan army's morale collapsed, their fighting spirit plummeting.
Though the Ink Clan army's strength was uneven, there were over a million of them. If they had fought to the death, they could have inflicted devastating losses on the Human Race side. Dawn and the two Bixi warships might have survived unscathed, but the thousand-plus roving hunters would not have lasted long.
Yet now, with the Domain Lords gone, the Ink Clan army had lost its backbone. How could they have any will to fight?
The blockade formation crumbled after only a few charges from the Human Race cultivators. Especially wherever Yang Kai and Feng Ying passed through, the Ink Clan — regardless of their strength — fell in waves, like fallen leaves swept up by a violent gale.
Dragon roars and phoenix cries rang out as Tai Yue manifested, and with each life force extinguished, the Ink Clan's hearts grew colder with dread.
The outermost Ink Clan began to retreat. The Domain Lords had fled — were they supposed to stay and wait for death? Their decision quickly spread to the Ink Clan closer to the center, and more and more began peeling away from the battle lines, fleeing into the distance.
Leaderless, a million-strong army became nothing more than loose sand — utterly incapable of mounting any real resistance.
Some Lords cried out for a fight to the death, refusing to retreat. These Lords had clearly seen the situation for what it was — fighting to the death offered at least a sliver of hope, while fleeing meant none at all.
But every one of those Lords was swiftly cut down. Yang Kai wove through the million-strong Ink Clan army as though unopposed, striking wherever the resistance was fiercest.
With the forces currently at his command, annihilating an army of this size was simply too difficult. Since annihilation was out of the question, all he could do was drive them back.
Gradually, more and more Ink Clan fled, and once the number of deserters reached a critical mass, the remaining army's will to fight completely disintegrated.
The three warships and the roving hunters charged through, leaving a trail of Ink Clan casualties in their wake.
"Pursue them no further!" Yang Kai called out sharply, stopping the roving hunters from giving chase.
Upon receiving his command, everyone halted immediately.
From every direction, countless Ink Clan vanished into the depths of the void.
A great battle had ended just like that, leaving behind countless Ink Clan corpses on the battlefield. A rough estimate put the number at around three hundred thousand at minimum.
Compared to the one-and-a-half-million Ink Clan army that had been mobilized here, this number was nothing — barely twenty percent. But the battle had not lasted long either, less than half a double-hour.
Half a double-hour, three hundred thousand killed — it was almost inconceivable.
The Human Race side had suffered losses as well. Many roving hunters had fallen, and every survivor bore wounds. But compared to the outcome, this was without question a great victory.
Casualties in battles like these were inevitable, but no one grieved too deeply. From the moment they chose to become roving hunters, these Human Race cultivators had already placed life and death beyond their concern. None knew which day might bring their own end — the matter of life and death had long since been taken lightly.
For the first time, the roving hunters discovered that large-scale army warfare was far more exhilarating than their previous skirmishes. The main reason they had chosen to become roving hunters was their inability to adapt to army-style combat — cultivators placed more faith in their own strength than in relying on others.
But if army warfare was always like this, then perhaps it wasn't so bad after all.
In that moment, quite a few roving hunters found their thoughts shifting in unexpected directions.
"Keep watch on all sides." Yang Kai caught his breath briefly, issued the order, then flashed back into the grotto-heaven.
Because the gateway had been shattered, the cultivators inside the grotto-heaven could faintly glimpse fragments of the battle outside, though nothing was clearly visible.
The battle had erupted suddenly and ended just as quickly. Many people did not even know who had won or lost.
It was only when Yang Kai's figure appeared once more that everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir!" Li Ziyu rushed forward. "Outside…"
"The Domain Lords fled. The Ink Clan army has been repelled." Yang Kai explained offhandedly. Tens of thousands of anxious Human Race cultivators immediately erupted in a wave of cheers, the sound sweeping through the grotto-heaven and making it resonate from within.
"We can leave now?" Li Ziyu asked excitedly.
Ever since being tasked with overseeing the evacuation of the Xiangsi Domain's cultivators, they had been trapped here for decades, practically suffocating from boredom. Their previous exposure had drawn the Ink Clan army's siege, and they had been certain of death — only for powerful Human Race cultivators to arrive for their rescue.
And now, the Ink Clan army outside had been beaten back. No one could stop them from leaving.
Yang Kai nodded slightly. In the next moment, the gateway to his Small Universe opened wide. "Everyone, enter my Small Universe at once!"
Tens of thousands of cultivators, with relatively few in the Opening Heaven Realm — many were below that threshold. The battle that had erupted within the grotto-heaven earlier had killed many Ink Clan, and their Ink Force saturated the space. Though Feng Ying and the others had distributed Ink-Expelling Pills for them to take, prolonged exposure would eventually overwhelm their defenses.