Facing this brazen threat, Monaye not only didn't grow angry — he actually felt a sense of relief, as if the fellow had finally come to his senses.
The whole reason he'd left Non-Return Pass was to feed Yang Kai a false piece of information: that only a single Ink King currently guarded the Pass, giving him an opportunity to destroy the Ink Nests.
Unfortunately, over the past ten years, Yang Kai had never once shown himself outside Non-Return Pass. Instead, he'd been pillaging Ink Clan supply convoys across the land, rendering the original baited trap completely useless.
But today, Yang Kai had finally revealed his hand — showing he was willing to use the Ink Nests as leverage against the Ink Clan.
Monaye's heart surged with secret delight. He swiftly replied: "Yang Kai! There are things you can do once, twice — but never a third time. You've trespassed into Non-Return Pass twice already, and more than one Ink Nest has been destroyed because of you. If there is a next time, I, Monaye, will absolutely not let this slide!"
The message was sent. He waited quietly, but for a long while, there was no response.
Millions of miles away, Yang Kai had caught every flicker of expression on Monaye's face in that instant. A plan was already forming in his mind…
Going to Non-Return Pass and threatening to destroy the Ink Nests in order to force the Ink Clan to meet his supply demands — he'd considered it before, and had even acted on it.
Over the past ten years, he had covertly scouted Non-Return Pass several times. But as his mastery of the Dao of Time deepened, his instinctive premonition of future crises had only grown sharper.
That instinct had helped him avoid danger the last time he'd wreaked havoc at Non-Return Pass, and it was no different now.
Each time he drew close to Non-Return Pass, whenever the thought of destroying the Ink Nests arose, a creeping sense of crisis would stir unbidden — as if some tremendous peril lurked within the Pass, something capable of threatening even him!
This left Yang Kai deeply puzzled. Monaye had been wandering the void for years, and only a single Ink King guarded Non-Return Pass. Logically, given his current strength, all he had to do was avoid that one Ink King, and the Pass would be his to enter and exit at will. Besides, the Pass was vast, and the numerous King-grade Ink Nests were scattered far and wide — no single Ink King could possibly watch them all.
Where was this sense of danger coming from?
The danger he'd felt during his last rampage at Non-Return Pass had been because Monaye was hiding in ambush. Combining that experience with the present, Yang Kai could easily guess — had the Ink Clan produced another new Pseudo-King?
Monaye thought Yang Kai knew nothing about Non-Return Pass's current state. In reality, Yang Kai had long been on guard, hiding here and observing from the shadows solely to verify his suspicions.
And Monaye's response was proof enough.
Whether it had been the Innate Domain Lord Monaye of the past or the Pseudo-King Monaye of today, in every exchange he had always addressed Yang Kai with the honorific "Lord Yang Kai" — a mark of respect for a true powerhouse. That respect was never undermined by their enmity.
But this time, he had addressed Yang Kai by name alone, his words laced with provocation and threats, as though he practically wanted Yang Kai to charge into Non-Return Pass immediately. That wasn't Monaye's way at all.
Given all this, Yang Kai had no doubt his guess was almost certainly correct. A new Pseudo-King had appeared at Non-Return Pass, lying in ambush alongside the Ink Clan's true Ink King.
In the void, Yang Kai — his figure concealed — raised an eyebrow, a faint smile playing at his lips. Sparring wits with Monaye was actually rather entertaining.
He immediately fired back a huffing reply: "You just wait! This time, if I don't destroy ten of your Ink Kings' Ink Nests, I swear I won't rest!"
After sending the message, Yang Kai stored the Communication Bead inside his Miniature Universe and vanished without a trace.
Far away in the void, Monaye also hurriedly put away his Communication Bead. He raised his palm, where dense Ink Force surged and rapidly coalesced into a vortex. Within that vortex, an exquisitely crafted miniature Ink Nest materialized.
This appeared to be nothing more than a Lord-grade Ink Nest — low in rank. Though it had been spawned from a higher-grade nest, it hadn't fully hatched.
Such a nest was practically useless to the Ink Clan in any meaningful sense, but for the sole purpose of transmitting messages, it was ideal.
The Domain Lords currently out scouring the land for Yang Kai's trail and escorting supply convoys each carried one of these miniature Ink Nests on hand, precisely so they could communicate with one another easily.
Summoning the tiny nest, Monaye sent a message to Non-Return Pass — informing the Ink King that Yang Kai was on his way, and that they should prepare!
Having done this, Monaye also hastened toward Non-Return Pass, his heart brimming with anticipation.
If Yang Kai believed only a single Ink King held the Pass, he was in for a nasty surprise. Once the Ink King and Meng Que joined forces, all they needed was to tie him down for ten breaths — just long enough for the Four Gates Eight Palaces Sumeru Array to seal the void. Once the formation was complete, Yang Kai would be a trapped beast. Without spatial teleportation to rely on, no matter how powerful he was, he was still merely an Eighth Order cultivator. How could he possibly stand against the Ink Clan's top powerhouses?
After clashing for so many years, was the final reckoning truly at hand? A strange, almost unreal feeling welled up in Monaye's heart.
Yet before he'd even reached the halfway point, he abruptly halted. He quickly summoned the miniature Ink Nest and sent his divine sense probing into it — and his face instantly turned ashen.
The message relayed from the nest was far too preposterous, nearly impossible to believe. He sent several verification queries before finally confirming the message was no mistake.