In the Xuanming Domain, the human race's military training was proceeding at full steam, and Yang Kai had already set off alone for Fenglan Domain.
He had no other purpose in coming here — merely to visit the only two Ninth-Order warriors the human race still had.
Fenglan Domain was the first Great Domain the Ink Clan's army had invaded, and it was riddled with wounds. Everywhere one looked, scars of the Ink Clan's ravages were visible — world after world, dilapidated and devoid of all life.
At the site where the domain wall had been breached, Ancestor Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing sat cross-legged in the void, each forming hand seals. Between them stretched an arm so massive it seemed capable of holding up the heavens, reaching from the Void Domain and piercing through the domain wall.
That arm belonged to the Ink Colossus that had awakened in the Sacred Spirit Ancestral Land.
Back then, when the Ink Colossus had been awakened, it had marched from the Sacred Spirit Ancestral Land to the Void Domain. Enduring the furious assault of numerous human powerhouses, it had reached the weakened section of the domain wall, shattered it with a single punch, and thrust its arm through into both Great Domains.
From that point on, the passage between the Void Domain and Fenglan Domain had been thrown wide open. The Ink Clan army, which had been locked in fierce battle with the human race in the Void Domain, poured through the breach in the domain wall and into Fenglan Domain. The Ink Clan's invasion became unstoppable.
The Ninth-Order Ancestors had then sacrificed themselves, slaughtering the Ink Clan Royal Lords to the last one and grievously wounding the cumbersome Ink Colossus.
The surviving Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing had led the human army out of the Void Domain, ordering the remnants of human forces everywhere to disperse and head to various Great Domains to oversee the evacuation and migration of human warriors.
The two of them had then rushed straight to Fenglan Domain. Seizing the opportunity while the Ink Colossus had its arm stuck in the breached domain wall, they had cast a secret technique to pin it down.
In the blink of an eye, nearly a hundred years had passed.
All these years, while Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing had been restraining the Ink Colossus, they too had been equally constrained, unable to move from this place in Fenglan Domain.
If the human race still had two Ninth-Order warriors free to roam the battlefield, the situation across the various Great Domain battlefields would certainly not be so desperate.
When Yang Kai arrived at the location, the massive arm was the first thing he saw. Though it was not his first time laying eyes on it, the sight still moved him.
The Ink Colossus was simply too powerful.
And Yang Kai could scarcely fathom the true depth of the Ink — the force capable of creating such a being.
Chains wound tightly around the arm, layer upon layer, and upon those chains, intricate runes flickered between light and darkness — clearly the manifestation of the two Ninth-Order Ancestors' secret technique.
Yang Kai had expected there to be quite a few Ink Clan members here, but upon arriving, he realized he had been wrong. Not a single Ink Clan warrior was present.
This left him quite puzzled. Logically speaking, with the Ink Colossus being so powerful, shouldn't the Ink Clan's top priority be to free it? To do so, besieging the two human Ninth-Order warriors would be the best choice.
The reason Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing could restrain the Ink Colossus was not because they truly possessed such strength, but because they had the advantage of geography.
Because the Ink Colossus had thrust its arm through the domain wall to breach it and allow the Ink Clan army to pass, Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing were effectively fighting the Ink Colossus across the boundary of two Great Domains. They could exert their full strength, but the power the Ink Colossus could bring to bear was drastically reduced.
If not for this advantage, the Ink Colossus would have broken free long ago. After all, back in the day, it had taken more than a dozen human Ancestors fighting together just to barely hold their own against a single Ink Colossus. With only two Ninth-Order warriors now, how could they possibly restrain it?
Sensing Yang Kai's aura, Ancestor Xiaoxiao opened her eyes and asked in surprise, "What are you doing here?"
Yang Kai bowed respectfully. "Greetings to both Ancestors."
He was already quite familiar with Ancestor Xiaoxiao. As for Wu Qing, he had met him once when he went to Yin Yang Pass back in the day, but they had never become close.
Wu Qing gave a slight nod.
Yang Kai said, "I came to see how you two Ancestors are faring — is there anything I can help with?"
Ancestor Xiaoxiao shook her head. "There's nothing, and you couldn't help even if there were. How are things with the human race lately?"
The two of them had been stationed in Fenglan Domain with virtually no contact with the outside world. Though Xiang Shan had visited twice, both times his visits had been brief. The last time had been decades ago, when the battlefields across the various Great Domains were still in the thick of it.
Yang Kai said, "The situation is relatively stable for the time being. Though large-scale battles continue, the Ink Clan still faces considerable difficulty in trying to crush the human race. Besides, this Disciple has been favored by Headquarters and has been appointed as the commander of the Xuanming Army."
Ancestor Xiaoxiao nodded. "You've earned that right." She then smiled. "Now that you're holding down the Xuanming Domain, the Ink Clan there must be having a miserable time, aren't they?"
Yang Kai thought for a moment and said, "This Disciple has made peace with them."
Ancestor Xiaoxiao was stunned. "Peace?"
Wu Qing had been listening quietly from the side, but now he furrowed his brow. "What peace?"
"The human race needs to train its soldiers!" Yang Kai laid out his reasoning. Xiaoxiao and Wu Qing listened, nodding repeatedly.
"You've thought it through thoroughly. Actually, when Xiang Shan was here last time, he mentioned something along the same lines." Wu Qing looked thoughtful.
Now it was Yang Kai's turn to be surprised. "Lord Xiang also had plans for peace?"
Wu Qing shook his head. "He didn't say anything about peace. He was simply worried about the future of the human race — saying that those promising talents were all being kept hidden away, training in seclusion, and that they might not amount to much in the end. But he had no solution for it. It seems you've gone one step further than him. You did well."
Yang Kai suddenly understood. No wonder Headquarters had approved his proposal for peace so quickly — it turned out Xiang Shan had long been worried about the human race's current predicament.
Then again, that was only natural. Xiang Shan was the kind of man who always had far-reaching plans; he couldn't possibly be focused only on the present.