Innate Domain Lords could not advance to become Royal Lords. This was common knowledge—all Innate Domain Lords were born within the Primordial Boundary, created directly by Ink.
Yang Kai did not understand the intricacies of such creation, but he did know one thing: those Innate Domain Lords possessed strength that surpassed ordinary Domain Lords from the very moment of their birth. This was likely because Ink had used some unfathomable method to fully unleash their potential, which was precisely why their strength would never improve further.
No one knew where this intelligence had originally come from, but humanity accepted it without question. Indeed, since the battle outside the Primordial Boundary over three thousand years ago, among the many Innate Domain Lords that existed, not a single one had ever advanced to become a Royal Lord.
Yet now, this supposedly impossible thing had actually happened.
Yang Kai's heart tightened. If this were merely an isolated case, it would be one thing. But if the Ink Clan truly possessed the means to elevate Innate Domain Lords to Royal Lords, then the balance between the two races could shift dramatically—and that would be exceedingly unfavorable for humanity.
He did not believe the Seventh-Grade Open Heaven cultivators before him were lying. There was no reason for it. They were all humans—who would joke about something like this?
While his thoughts churned, the elderly Seventh-Grade cultivator spoke again. "You need not be overly anxious, sir. Based on our observations, even if the Ink Clan does possess some means to promote Innate Domain Lords to Royal Lords, it is likely not something they can deploy at will. There must be an enormous cost involved."
"What do you mean?" Yang Kai's expression grew serious.
The old man recalled. "Allow me to explain, sir. More than three hundred years ago, shortly before the few of us were summoned by the Ink Clan's Royal Lord, there seemed to be some unusual activity at Unreturned Pass. However, we were never permitted to leave freely, so we could not investigate in detail. What we did observe was that a considerable number of Innate Domain Lords entered a Royal Lord-grade Ink Nest that day—and none of them ever emerged again. It was as though they had vanished entirely. Di Wu was the last one to enter. Two years after we arrived here to set up the formation, Di Wu appeared in the body of a Royal Lord."
Although these Seventh-Grade Open Heaven cultivators knew nothing of the Ink Clan's Merger Fusion technique, the commotion produced by the Innate Domain Lords performing it that day had been considerable, and they had naturally sensed it. At the time, however, they had strictly adhered to their roles as Ink Disciples and had not dared to investigate further. Otherwise, they likely would have learned much more.
Hearing this, Yang Kai could not help but frown. It seemed the Ink Clan had undergone changes that humanity had never known about—or rather, possessed methods they had always held in reserve but never used, and that humanity had never witnessed.
And these methods could elevate an Innate Domain Lord to a Royal Lord! This was enough to put Yang Kai on high alert. This time there had been only one Di Wu. If even one more Royal Lord appeared, then no matter how extraordinary his abilities, he would not be able to stir up any waves.
"How many Innate Domain Lords entered that Royal Lord Ink Nest that day?" Yang Kai asked.
The old man replied, "At least a dozen."
Another Seventh-Grade cultivator interjected, "If my senses were correct, excluding Di Wu there should have been thirteen. Including Di Wu, that makes fourteen."
Yang Kai's eyebrows rose. "That many!"
He quieted his mind and pondered for a good while before speaking. "As you've described it, could it be that the Ink Clan possesses some sort of sacrificial technique—one that utilizes a Royal Lord-grade Ink Nest to gather the combined power of numerous Innate Domain Lords in order to forge a Royal Lord?"
This speculation, while not entirely accurate, was not far from the truth. The Merger Fusion technique, strictly speaking, was still somewhat different from a sacrificial ritual. However, the more Innate Domain Lords who performed the Merger Fusion within a single Royal Lord Ink Nest, the greater the chance of success.
The elderly Seventh-Grade cultivator nodded. "That is precisely what I was thinking."
Yang Kai's understanding dawned. "No wonder, then."
He had previously felt that Di Wu's performance as a Royal Lord was somewhat underwhelming. The man clearly possessed the aura and power of a Royal Lord, yet he could not bring a Royal Lord's full capabilities to bear—perhaps seventy or eighty percent of his true strength at best.
In their final battle, this Royal Lord had even been backlashed by his own power.
Yang Kai had assumed this was simply because Di Wu was a newly ascended Royal Lord who had not yet gained mastery over his own strength. But what if the truth was as he now surmised?
Di Wu's Royal Lord status had not been achieved through his own cultivation. It had been obtained through some peculiar means.
This was not power that truly belonged to him—so naturally, he could not wield it properly.
Thinking of it that way, the situation was not quite so dire.
Sacrificing fourteen Domain Lords to produce a Royal Lord of Di Wu's caliber—for the Ink Clan, it was hard to say whether that was a loss or a gain. It was most likely that his own cultivation within the Ancestral Ground had shown the Ink Clan a glimmer of hope for trapping and killing him, which was why the Ink Clan's Royal Lord had finally deployed this long-shelved technique.
If they could kill Yang Kai, then the Ink Clan's sacrifice would have been worth it.
One Royal Lord, twenty Domain Lords, a handful of Ink Disciples, a million-strong Ink Clan army—the Ink Clan had had ample confidence. No one had imagined that Yang Kai, alone, could rout their elite forces so thoroughly that even Di Wu, the new Royal Lord, had perished in the Sacred Spirit Ancestral Ground.
The Ink Clan still possessed a fair number of Innate Domain Lords, but their numbers were no longer what they once were. Each and every one of these Innate Domain Lords was extraordinarily powerful—ordinary Eighth-Grade Open Heaven cultivators from humanity were no match for them. The role they could play was no less valuable than that of a subpar Ink Clan Royal Lord.
Thinking it over this way, Yang Kai felt considerably more at ease. Even if the Ink Clan used this technique again to produce more Royal Lords, it would not make much difference to the broader war.
At the very least, they would have a hard time forming any suppressive advantage over humanity.