For the Mo Clan, if they could corrupt Yang Kai and turn him into a Mo Disciple, the benefits would be immense.
His strength was extraordinary — having him serve the Mo Clan would be like adding wings to a tiger. Moreover, as a high-ranking figure among the humans, he possessed intimate knowledge of their secrets and could provide the Mo Clan with a wealth of intelligence.
And beyond all that, over the years Yang Kai had forged himself into a golden standard-bearer for all of humanity!
His name echoed across every major battlefield in every Domain. His legendary exploits were passed from mouth to mouth among the human soldiers. His very existence struck terror into the hearts of the Mo Clan's strongest warriors!
If such a golden standard-bearer were to turn traitor, the blow to human morale would be devastating.
The Mo Clan could afford to disregard any ordinary Eighth-Order cultivator, but if they could turn Yang Kai into a Mo Disciple, they would absolutely pursue it. For someone of his caliber, converting him was far more valuable than simply killing him.
In the past, when dealing with Yang Kai, Mo Yu had never even considered corrupting him — he lacked the ability, and even the chance to kill him had been vanishingly slim.
But the emergence of the Heaven Refining Furnace's projection had introduced a sliver of possibility into what was otherwise impossible.
Mo Yu couldn't help but feel a flicker of anticipation.
Monaye, for his part, caught the mockery in Yang Kai's words and let out a long, leisurely sigh: "Brother Yang, why must you be so stubborn?"
Yang Kai replied evenly, "When our paths diverge, there can be no common cause." He turned to face Monaye. "To take a pseudo-King Lord and all these Innate Domain Lords down with me — either way, I'm not losing out. Monaye, let's see which of us dies here first!"
Monaye's expression darkened in an instant.
In the next moment, Yang Kai had already activated the Laws of Space, unleashing the Grand Dao in full display. The projection space of the Heaven Refining Furnace began to convulse in chaos once more.
The Domain Lords trapped within all turned deathly pale.
Having experienced this once before, how could the Domain Lords not know what was coming? They immediately channeled their power to shield themselves, guarding against every direction.
Monaye bellowed sharply, "Yang Kai! Your human race has a saying — 'He who understands the times is a great man. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood.' No matter how calm he had appeared before, putting on airs as though he had Yang Kai completely cornered — the moment Yang Kai truly cast aside concern for his own life, it was Monaye who panicked first, desperately trying to persuade Yang Kai, attempting to rekindle his will to survive.
Because he knew that if Yang Kai truly kept this up, things would only get worse. Regardless of what fate awaited Yang Kai afterward, he himself would almost certainly not survive.
In a one-on-one fight, Yang Kai was indeed hard-pressed to be his match — but that was under the condition that both of them were uninjured. If Yang Kai used the bizarre properties of this place to leave him battered and severely weakened before launching his attack, Monaye had no confidence he could withstand the killing blow.
Right now, he and Yang Kai were grasshoppers tied to the same string — if he wanted to live, Yang Kai could not die!
Yang Kai laughed aloud: "Then have you heard the other human saying? 'Better to be a shattered jade than an intact tile!'"
The spatial turbulence grew ever more violent. Under Yang Kai's relentless efforts to trace the laws back to their source, the projection space began to shudder and convulse. Spatial chaos erupted in all directions, and the Domain Lords' screams of agony rang out one after another.
Even Monaye was not spared — streams of dark Mo Blood flew from his body as the protective layer of Mo Power coating his surface was slashed to ribbons by the spatial distortions. He shifted his position again and again, dodging desperately, yet still looked utterly wretched.
In a flash, one Domain Lord let out a piercing shriek as his body was sliced cleanly in two, the cut perfectly smooth, Mo Blood spraying wildly. With his protective power gone, the two halves were quickly diced into even more fragments. His screams faded rapidly, and his aura was snuffed out entirely.
One Domain Lord after another was reduced to mangled flesh and severed limbs under the onslaught of spatial chaos, their auras extinguishing one by one.
Outside, King Lord Mo Yu watched with eyes that threatened to burst, flames of fury blazing from his gaze.
Previously, when Monaye had used hundreds of Innate Domain Lords as bait to ambush Yang Kai, many had died — but those Domain Lords had died for a purpose. Their deaths had created the opening for Monaye to strike at Yang Kai. So though Mo Yu's heart ached, he had not intervened, instead letting Monaye carry on.
But these Domain Lords were dying for absolutely nothing. They had painstakingly snuck out from the Primordial Great Restriction and trekked for over a decade to reach the Inextinguishable Pass, all to contribute to the Mo Clan's grand design — not to perish here in vain!
Yet no amount of Mo Yu's fury could change anything. Though separated by only a thin layer of projection space, the two sides might as well have existed in different worlds, and Mo Yu had no way to intervene in what happened within the projection.
The projection space continued its relentless upheaval, layer upon layer of folded space shifting and distorting, inflicting mounting casualties upon the Mo Clan.