Having cut a straight path through the entire Ancient Battlefield, slaying over two hundred Domain Lords, Yang Kai didn't pause for a single moment. He retraced his steps and encountered another dozen or so stragglers along the way, dispatching them with ease.
Using the Void Spirit Pearls he'd left in his wake along the route, Yang Kai crossed the Ancient Battlefield once more just half a year later, arriving at the outer perimeter of the Return Pass.
He concealed his form and suppressed his aura, then located the Universe Fragment where Sun Zhao had been hiding and brought him into his Small Universe.
What Yang Kai found most fortunate was that Sun Zhao hadn't been exposed. Had that happened, an Emperor Realm cultivator who had only condensed a Dao Seal would have had absolutely no chance of survival.
In fact, Monaye had once dispatched people to search for Sun Zhao's whereabouts. When he had used the Communication Pearls to contact Yang Kai, he had deduced that someone was impersonating Yang Kai to communicate with him, and that the distance between them couldn't be too great — otherwise the Communication Pearls wouldn't have been able to reach the other party.
However, this so-called "not too great" distance, when measured against the vastness of the void, translated to an enormous area. The Mo Clan conducted their search but turned up nothing, and the matter was ultimately dropped. Monaye himself hadn't paid much attention to it at the time — he was on his way to rendezvous with the Domain Lords, and all his energy was focused on tracking Yang Kai's movements. He had no time to concern himself with such minor matters.
Sun Zhao's survival came down partly to luck and partly to the sheer difficulty of the search. The Mo Clan simply couldn't cover every possibility.
Gazing in the direction of the Return Pass, Yang Kai's expression was solemn. Despite the great distance, he could still perceive the subtle changes taking place over there.
Originally, the Return Pass had been home to roughly a hundred Domain Lord-level powerhouses, though a few more may have been recuperating or cultivating within King Lord-level Ink Nests — but the total couldn't have been too many.
Now, however, the number of Innate Domain Lords gathered at the Return Pass was impossible to tally. Those King Lord-level Ink Nests situated within the Pass vibrated ceaselessly, emanating Ink Force of the most concentrated density — proof enough.
These Domain Lords arriving from the direction of the Primordial Heaven Grand Seal were all injured. They needed to recuperate first, and Ink Force was the wellspring of their healing.
What's more, these Domain Lords had brought back numerous King Lord-level Ink Nests. The total number of Ink Nests within the Return Pass had grown as well — all of it foundational to the Mo Clan's increasing strength.
Without lingering long, Yang Kai turned and fled deeper into the Ink Battlefield. He found a suitable spot and settled in to wait quietly.
Going out to hunt those Innate Domain Lords who had scattered in every direction was simply too difficult. None of these Domain Lords could be pinned down to any known location — after his rampage through the Ancient Battlefield, he'd encountered only a dozen or so along the way.
If that was the case, then he would wait by the tree stump. The Mo Clan Domain Lords' objective was the Return Pass. All he needed was to find the right position, and they would inevitably deliver themselves to his doorstep.
Of course, this approach couldn't possibly intercept a large number of Domain Lords, and it risked exposing his position. The Mo Clan Domain Lords at the Return Pass weren't sitting idle — they had formed squads of four or five, deployed in battle formations, and were heading out in every direction to meet their brethren.
But there would still be some kills to be made!
Half a year passed, and at last, there was a catch.
This made Yang Kai rather exasperated at the sluggish pace of these Domain Lords, but there was nothing to be done about it. He had the Laws of Space at his command, which allowed him to traverse great distances in the blink of an eye. These gravely injured Domain Lords had no such luxury — flying from the Primordial Heaven Grand Seal to the Return Pass would take them a dozen to twenty years at minimum.
As a result, the Domain Lords who had narrowly escaped Yang Kai's detection in the Ancient Battlefield would spend an enormous amount of time making their way here.
From the distance, an aura was approaching, moving with considerable caution. Though the Domain Lord tried his utmost to conceal himself, he couldn't manage it perfectly.
This Domain Lord was a cautious sort. The closer he drew to the Return Pass, the more vigilant he became. Unfortunately, his squad had long since scattered. Their Ink Nest was in the possession of another Domain Lord, and he had no means of contacting the Return Pass to request an escort.
Following the route map he'd received before the group split up, he had traversed the Ancient Battlefield and arrived at this point. Checking the surrounding landscape, he confirmed that the Return Pass was less than half a year's journey away, and a flicker of elation stirred within him.
But before the thought could fully form, a murderous intent had already descended upon him. He whipped his head around just in time to see a spear tip expanding rapidly in his field of vision. In a panic, he channeled Ink Force to block, but the barrier he conjured crumbled like wet paper. When the spear's radiance consumed his entire view, his mind went blank.
Yang Kai withdrew his spear, swept his hand forward, and collected the Domain Lord's corpse along with the burst of blood mist into his Small Universe. He then smoothed away the traces of battle and once again lay in wait.
The Domain Lords had been operating in small squads before the scatter. Even though they'd separated, their travel speeds should have been roughly comparable — meaning that once the first Domain Lord appeared, more would surely follow.
He had waited a full half year to kill a single Domain Lord, but over the next month, Yang Kai took down four more in succession.
Then came another long stretch of silence.
As Domain Lords returned to the Return Pass one by one from different directions, the Mo Clan's strength continued to swell. Yet Monaye felt not a shred of joy.
The losses were too great. Over the years, Yang Kai had cut down three to four hundred Domain Lords. What was certain was that the man was still lurking somewhere, assassinating Domain Lords, and the Mo Clan had no way of pinpointing his location.
Across every major battlefield, the Mo Clan was intensifying its offensive, putting pressure on the Human Race. But here in the Ink Battlefield, as long as Yang Kai remained alive, the Mo Clan would never know a day of peace.