A full half-year passed. In the void, Monaye stood with his head raised, his face as dark as a pot bottom, his mood clearly most disagreeable. Anyone who had been bossed around like a puppet for six months would be none too pleasant either.
Behind him, several Innate Domain Lords could all sense his seething fury and frustration. Not wanting to be caught in the fallout, none dared stand too close.
Further back, the thousand Ink Slaves formed a ragged column, scattered here and there in loose clusters, looking thoroughly disorganized.
It had been six months since Monaye departed the Return Pass with these thousand Ink Slaves and the supplies he had painstakingly assembled. Throughout that time, Yang Kai had continuously changed the rendezvous location, altering it seven or eight times in succession. There were even stretches of ten days to half a month with not a shred of word from him, which left Monaye fuming but utterly helpless.
He could understand Yang Kai's caution. In truth, before they had set out, the Royal Lord himself had issued instructions — if an opportunity arose, they were to strike against Yang Kai. But with all the running around Yang Kai had put them through, when would the Ink Clan ever get such a chance?
To move against Yang Kai, they first had to arrange the Four Gates Eight Palaces Sumeru Array in advance, then lure him into the formation and trap him. But with Yang Kai changing the exchange location time and again, there was simply no way for the Ink Clan to pre-position anything.
So Monaye had long since given up any notion of acting against Yang Kai…
The situation now was almost farcical — it seemed as if the Ink Clan were the ones eagerly delivering benefits to Yang Kai, yet the fellow kept putting on an act of reluctance, as if half-tempted to refuse. It was enough to make Monaye's chest tight with frustration.
He silently resolved that if Yang Kai dared change the location one more time, he would simply turn around and march back to the Return Pass with the Ink Slaves and supplies.
Fortunately, this time he did not have to wait long. Ripples suddenly bloomed in the void, spreading outward, and from within them Yang Kai's figure materialized like a specter, stepping forth as if emerging from the ripples themselves. Before that moment, neither the Innate Domain Lords nor Monaye had sensed even a trace of Yang Kai's aura.
That single display of spatial mastery left all the Ink Clan powerhouses feeling quite powerless against it.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Yang Kai greeted with a cheerful smile. The hastily chosen meeting point meant there was no way the Ink Clan could have prepared anything in advance. Besides, he had already scouted the vicinity in secret beforehand, activating the World-Destroying Demonic Eye to survey the area. Only after confirming there were no hidden dangers would he have shown himself so casually.
"Lord Yang Kai is certainly careful enough," Monaye returned stiffly. He was actually one of the more even-tempered members of the Ink Clan, yet Yang Kai's antics had churned his fury to the surface.
Yang Kai was unfazed. "Caution never hurts. Spare me the pleasantries — where are the supplies?"
Monaye kept his dark expression and tossed over several Space Rings. Yang Kai channelled his power to catch them, first probing them for any concealed traps. After confirming they were clean, he sent his consciousness inside to inspect their contents.
Every Space Ring was packed with resources of various grades and attributes. The quantity spread across all of them would be enough to sustain a top-tier second-rank Sect for a thousand years.
Quite a haul.
Yang Kai clicked his tongue in admiration. "The Ink Clan truly has deep coffers."
It could not be helped. The human race now struggled to hold on across a dozen or so Great Domains, while virtually everything else belonged to the Ink Clan. The Ink Clan could not care less whether their mining destroyed entire Worlds in the process — if there were valuable materials, they simply extracted them without restraint. Across the current Three Thousand Worlds, many World that the Ink Clan had mined for resources had already crumbled into floating debris.
"There are also these thousand Ink Slaves. Please verify them, Lord Yang Kai. If there are no problems, we will take our leave," Monaye urged. He truly had no desire to continue facing Yang Kai's unpleasant visage.
"No problems at all." Yang Kai did not bother to inspect them. Not because he trusted the Ink Clan, but because he had already scouted them secretly beforehand. The thousand Ink Slaves varied in cultivation and rank, but the Ink Clan had not tampered with any of them, and the agreed-upon count of a hundred Seventh Order Ink Slaves was guaranteed.
"Then we bid you farewell!" Monaye cupped his fists, then led the few Domain Lords — who had maintained their vigilance and linked auras the entire time — away.
Yang Kai called out warmly, "A pleasure doing business! I hope there will be a next time!"
Monaye's steps faltered. He barely restrained himself from cursing the man out.
There would absolutely not be a next time!
If there ever was, it would be the day of Yang Kai's head!
Watching the Ink Clan powerhouses gradually vanish from sight, Yang Kai finally turned toward the thousand Ink Slaves. And in the very instant he turned, someone let out a low shout — "Scatter!"
In the blink of an eye, the thousand figures transformed into a thousand streaks of light, shooting off in every direction.
Yang Kai let out an amused laugh. So the Ink Clan had not been entirely honest after all — this was where they had laid their trap. An ordinary Eighth Order cultivator, even after completing the handover of these thousand Ink Slaves, would have been helpless against this sort of thing. With so many people fleeing in different directions, how could one possibly catch them? A few might be rounded up, but the vast majority would surely escape.
But the Ink Clan's little arrangement was doomed to be utterly useless against him.