The projection of the Qiankun Furnace had appeared, throwing the balance between the two races into upheaval.
The greatest shift was that both sides were pulling their forces back. Though the myriad Grand Domain battlefields had never seen large-scale engagements, skirmishes of one kind or another had been erupting constantly—freshly risen Human prodigies and Mo Clan Domain Lords alike clashing against formidable opponents in the hopes of breaking through their limits.
But the moment the Qiankun Furnace projection manifested, over a dozen Grand Domain battlefields fell utterly silent. Every force operating in the open was recalled by their respective sides.
Until the mysteries and true nature of the Qiankun Furnace were understood, no one dared make a rash move.
When all was said and done, however, the Humans possessed a far greater understanding of the artifact. Setting aside the records preserved in the scriptures passed down through the various Grotto-heavens and Blessed Lands, there were the accounts of elder Human experts who had lived long enough to remember, the teachings of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans' elders, and the intelligence provided by
The Mo Clan, by contrast, had no such rich sources of information.
Over the ages, whenever the Qiankun Furnace appeared, its projections had always materialized within the
The Mo Clan of today had all emerged from the Primordial Great Restriction. Not a single one of them had ever witnessed the Qiankun Furnace's appearance firsthand.
All they could do now was piece together a response based on the scant intelligence provided by Mo Disciples, along with their observations of Humanity's various reactions.
Under Monaye's orders, numerous Innate Domain Lords across the various Grand Domain battlefields were being withdrawn back to No Return Pass to await instructions. The Humans had already caught wind of this.
The large-scale redeployment of Innate Domain Lords had tipped the balance of power between the two races. Under normal circumstances, this would have been the perfect moment for a massive Human counterattack. But at this juncture, the Human side made no move—they were focused entirely on the imminent appearance of the Qiankun Furnace.
Compared to the gains or losses of a battlefield or two, the Qiankun Furnace—the greatest opportunity under heaven—was clearly what mattered most to the Humans right now.
Days slipped by. Under orders from both sides' high command, army after army, led by powerful experts, marched toward the void surrounding the projected phantom of the Qiankun Furnace. There, separated by the phantom-shrouded expanse, the two forces locked in a tense standoff.
The Mo Clan had already assumed a posture that screamed they would pay any price to prevent the Humans from seizing the opportunities within the Qiankun Furnace. The Humans, for their part, would not retreat a single step. It was easy to predict that the day the Qiankun Furnace truly materialized would be the day a full-scale war between the two races erupted.
Over a dozen Grand Domain battlefields, over a dozen projection entry points—how to deploy the armies, how to arrange the personnel, all of this tested the mental acuity of both sides' commanders to the limit.
Humanity's Mi Jinglun, the Mo Clan's Monaye—each marshaling their forces, clashing across the void.
A storm was gathering!
Days passed, and the atmosphere across the various Grand Domain battlefields grew ever more oppressive. But without orders from the high command, neither side's armies dared make a move, lest they trigger the fighting prematurely.
Meanwhile, within No Return Pass, the number of King Lord-level
Several months later, deep within the Ink Battlefield, within the void shrouded by the Qiankun Furnace's projection,
Months of quiet recuperation had finally brought him back to form. This last great battle against the Innate Domain Lords, followed by Monaye's relentless pursuit, had inflicted wounds so grievous they were almost beyond reckoning. Fortunately, his physical body was exceptionally robust and backed by his Dragon Vein. With no one to disturb him, recovery had not been too difficult.
The moment he stirred, every one of the Innate Domain Lords trapped in this place tensed with alarm. Where Yang Kai's face glowed with vitality, these Domain Lords looked uniformly haggard and drained. They could not heal here the way Yang Kai could—trapped for so many days, their injuries had not improved in the slightest.
Watching Yang Kai stand, watching him stretch, the Domain Lords' faces turned ashen with panic. Quite a few cast desperate, pleading looks toward Monaye.
Though Monaye had known this day would come eventually, Yang Kai's speed of recovery still took him by surprise. Before Yang Kai could make any move, he immediately spoke up: "Brother Yang, the thirty percent of resources my Mo Clan agreed to supply—we will continue delivering them without fail! There will be no shortfalls or delays!"
Yang Kai turned his head, flashed him a grin, and said nothing—simply gazed at him in silence.
Monaye gritted his teeth. "Fifty percent!"
Yang Kai clasped his hands behind his back, his bearing perfectly relaxed. "A great war is about to break out. When would either of us have the leisure to haggle over such trifles? Thirty percent, fifty percent—even a hundred percent, what of it? I won't be lingering outside No Return Pass much longer in the future."
He had been shearing the Mo Clan's wool for a thousand years now. That was more than enough. Chances like this were unlikely to ever come again. There was absolutely no way Monaye could buy these Innate Domain Lords' lives with resources.
"What does Brother Yang wish?" Monaye asked, his expression grave. Dozens of Innate Domain Lords remained here, yet he could offer not a shred of meaningful protection. The realization filled him with anguish and helplessness.
Yang Kai slowly produced the Azure Dragon Spear, twirling it through a flourish as he activated the Laws of Space. Step by step, he advanced toward the Domain Lord nearest to him.
Wherever he passed, ripples spread through space as though he were walking across the surface of a still lake. The very spatial distortions that had left Monaye and all the other Innate Domain Lords utterly powerless lay flat as open ground beneath Yang Kai's feet.
Watching Yang Kai close in, the Innate Domain Lord fled in terror. But even straining with everything he had, his speed was no faster than a crawling turtle. By the time Yang Kai loomed before him, the Domain Lord had managed to shift less than three feet.
It was not that he had truly moved only three feet. It was that those three feet contained countless layers of folded space.