To prevent Yang Kai from doubling back, Manaye personally escorted the four injured Domain Lords back to No Return Pass. One of them was severely wounded; even while barely maintaining the formation with the other three, he would be easily targeted and broken. For safety's sake, these four could no longer afford to show themselves outside.
Manaye's consideration naturally left the four Domain Lords deeply grateful.
Only after entering No Return Pass did the four Domain Lords finally feel a sense of security. Manaye then went to request an audience with the Throne Master and relayed his suspicions.
When the Throne Master learned that their arrangements at No Return Pass had very likely been seen through by Yang Kai, his expression darkened until it seemed ready to drip. This time, they had sacrificed over a dozen Innate Domain Lords and a Throne Master-grade Mo Nest to forge Meng Que into a Pseudo-Throne Master—all to lure Yang Kai to No Return Pass and seize the opportunity to capture him.
But if Yang Kai didn't come, all those preparations would be for nothing, and Meng Que as a Pseudo-Throne Master would be nothing but a decoration.
"Throne Master, the longer the matter of supplies is delayed, the worse it becomes for our Mo Clan! The supplies that have managed to return safely to No Return Pass are pitifully few. The Domain Lords have been maintaining formations year-round, placing an enormous strain on their minds. I fear they cannot hold on much longer." Manaye reported cautiously, watching the Throne Master's expression as he spoke.
The Throne Master snarled, "He's merely a human eighth-rank—can we truly not deal with him?"
Manaye had no words in reply. If there truly were a way, the Mo Clan wouldn't find themselves in such a predicament. A fellow like that couldn't be dealt with through sheer strength alone.
After a brief pause, Manaye added, "Throne Master, please prepare yourself. This time, our Mo Clan may truly need to make certain sacrifices in order to settle the matter peacefully."
The Throne Master turned to glare at him furiously. "You want me to agree to his absurd demands?"
Manaye shook his head. "Fifty percent is naturally out of the question. Our Mo Clan mined those supplies through painstaking labor. He contributes nothing, relying solely on despicable tactics and threats to demand half—what a pipe dream. But this man's appetite is considerable. If we offer too little, I fear he won't agree..."
The Throne Master waved his hand impatiently. "Handle this matter yourself—don't bother me again!"
Just hearing Yang Kai's name gave him a headache. How had the humans produced such a creature? He would rather fight the Holy Dragon Fuguang than ever hear the name Yang Kai echo in his ears again!
Manaye's expression turned awkward. He murmured a respectful affirmation and withdrew.
As a subordinate, he was unable to ease his master's burdens. Instead, he had arrived at this humiliating course of action to resolve the matter—it was nothing short of his own incompetence!
But there was no other way to resolve this. Over the past decade, Yang Kai had caused such havoc that the Mo Clan had lost ninety percent of their supplies. Not only that, most of the Domain Lords at No Return Pass had been tied down dealing with him, and even Manaye himself had been forced to run around constantly.
If the disruption continued, the Domain Lords would very likely collapse. Once Domain Lords began to fall, the losses would be incomparable to some lost supplies.
After turning the matter over in his mind, Manaye had already formed a plan. He produced the communication bead he used to contact Yang Kai and was about to send a message inviting Yang Kai for a proper discussion—when something caught his attention. He summoned his own small Mo Nest.
After checking the message that had been relayed within, Manaye let out a sigh and shot rapidly into the depths of the void.
Four more Domain Lords who had been maintaining a formation had been ambushed by Yang Kai—they had lost their supplies and been wounded!
When Manaye arrived at the scene, he discovered that this incident was far more serious than he had imagined.
The four Domain Lords' injuries were not too severe. After all, they had been on guard, and after Yang Kai's ambush, they had immediately formed a Four Symbols Formation to protect themselves.
However, after a thorough examination, Manaye was surprised to find that two of the Domain Lords had suffered identical injuries—in exactly the same spot, two inches to the left of the center of their chests.
This location wasn't fatal for the Mo Clan, but it made Manaye furrow his brow. Was this accidental—or deliberate?
If it was accidental, then so be it. But if it was deliberate... it was worth pondering deeply.
Yang Kai was undoubtedly sending him a message: this time, he had the ability to kill one or even both of these Domain Lords, but he had held back because he didn't want things to become too hostile.
This was his way of demonstrating good faith...
Thinking this, Manaye himself found it laughable. Here was a man who had come to the Mo Clan making outrageous demands and raiding their supplies, yet he still wanted to demonstrate good faith.
What was this supposed to be—peaceful prosperity? The prosperity in question was the Mo Clan's own wealth!
"Lord Manaye." One of the Domain Lords approached and carefully handed over an object. "After Yang Kai left, we found this. It appears to be something he left behind."
Manaye turned to look and recognized it as a human cosmic map. Why would Yang Kai leave a cosmic map here?
Puzzled, Manaye reached out and took it, immersing his divine sense within to examine it. After a moment, he let out a long sigh.
Yang Kai had deliberately left this cosmic map for no other reason than as yet another form of threat.
Under his examination, many locations within the cosmic map had been deliberately marked with divine sense, making them easy for Manaye to spot. Cross-referencing these with the actual Ink Battlefield, it wasn't difficult to see that every marked location corresponded to a base where the Mo Clan was currently mining supplies in full force.
There were well over a hundred such marked locations in total—which meant that Yang Kai had long since discovered every site where the Mo Clan was mining supplies. If he truly set his mind to it, he could sweep through every one of those locations and wipe out the Mo Clan's mining operations entirely!