Sensing Lin Wu's gaze, Yang Kai glanced over and offered a faint smile — no hatred, no anger.
Ink Disciples were like that. After being corrupted by the Ink, they worshipped nothing but the Ink Above All. Everything they did during their time as Ink Disciples wasn't of their own nature. Over the years, he'd encountered countless Ink Disciples. On the battlefield, he would save them if he could, kill them if he couldn't — and he wouldn't hold it against any of them.
Still, this time he was probably going to be forced into using that final trump card, and the thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.
The Three Parts Return to One Technique that Shi Chuang had created had never been practiced by anyone before. Whether it could actually help someone break through the shackles of the Open Heaven method was anyone's guess. Success would naturally be wonderful, but failure could very likely bring about certain hidden dangers.
That said, from the intelligence he'd gathered so far, this technique did seem to have some merit. At the very least, both his human body and beast body had developed perfectly, and the Cultivation of both avatars was mysteriously linked to his original self.
Setting Thunder Shadow aside for the moment, Fang Tianci had actually been qualified to advance directly to Seventh-Order back in the day. But during his breakthrough to the Open Heaven Realm, he had inexplicably become a Sixth-Order Open Heaven instead.
This was the limitation imposed by his original body's origin. Because Yang Kai's original body had an upper limit of Eighth-Order, no matter how exceptional Fang Tianci's aptitude or how solid his foundation, he could never advance directly to Seventh-Order.
The same applied to Thunder Shadow. At its current level of Cultivation, further improvement was extremely difficult.
Yet in truth, if Thunder Shadow hadn't been Yang Kai's clone practicing the ancient method, the demon that polished its inner core could have continued sequestering itself in the Myriad Demon Realm, refining its Cultivation further. Demon tribes who practiced the ancient method suffered no such limitations.
Yang Kai's original plan had been to let his human body and beast body each Cultivate to their respective limits, prepare thoroughly, then find a quiet and safe location to perform the Three Bodies Become One technique and attempt to break through.
If possible, he could have invited some trustworthy friends and family to stand guard and protect him, just in case.
He had no idea what problems might arise after the three bodies merged. The more preparations, the better.
But life rarely went as planned. With Xiang Shan's advancement having failed, Ouyang Lie and Yang Xue each entangled with their own opponents, the human defensive line bound to crumble under prolonged siege, and nearly ten False King Lords along with numerous Domain Lord-level powerhouses of the Ink Race closing in — even if he charged into the fray at his peak Eighth-Order cultivation, what could he really accomplish?
He had no choice but to take the risk.
What an awful situation!
Then again, if his breakthrough succeeded, he could use the lives of all those Ink Race powerhouses as a congratulatory offering for his ascension to Ninth-Order. That wouldn't be bad at all.
In that moment, Yang Kai felt a surge of high spirits.
He was a decisive man. Once he'd made up his mind, he didn't hesitate. The only complication was that neither his original self, his human body, nor his beast body was in perfect condition.
He'd managed to recover to roughly eighty percent through the power of the River of Time, but Fang Tianci and Thunder Shadow didn't possess such powerful regenerative abilities. The numerous fierce battles they'd fought had left both of them severely wounded.
He murmured softly: "Are you two ready?"
Fang Tianci smiled faintly: "We've been ready for a while."
Thunder Shadow added: "When three brothers unite as one, their combined strength can sever metal!"
Fang Tianci couldn't help but say: "We're just clones, you know..."
Thunder Shadow cut him off: "So what if we're clones? Clones aren't brothers? Besides, we're not clones in the ordinary sense, right Boss?"
Yang Kai nodded: "Well said. This time, the three of us brothers are going to make a big move!"
Thunder Shadow shot Fang Tianci a triumphant wink, and Fang Tianci shook his head with a helpless smile.
"Enter my Small Universe!" Yang Kai shouted in a low voice, the portal swinging wide open.
Fang Tianci stepped through without a moment's hesitation, his figure vanishing inside. Thunder Shadow followed close behind, and just before plunging into the Small Universe, called out to Yang Kai: "The Qin Xue couple from Qinghong Pavilion once did me a favor — look after them if you get the chance!"
"Consider it done!" Yang Kai shot back immediately.
Once his human and beast bodies disappeared into the Small Universe, Yang Kai's entire frame trembled with a thunderous boom. The whole Small Universe was shaken violently — even the World Tree's subsidiary tree couldn't suppress the force of the trembling.
His expression hardened instantly. He diverted the greater part of his consciousness into the Small Universe, quelling the upheaval of heaven and earth…
The moment Fang Tianci and Thunder Shadow charged into Yang Kai's Small Universe, Yang Xiao was stunned.
Just moments ago, he'd been comforting those two Eighth-Order Open Heavens who had ambushed Xiang Shan, telling them not to lose hope — because his godfather was still alive, and his godfather was a master at creating miracles. As long as he was around, there was hope. While speaking, he'd naturally glanced toward Yang Kai several times.
One look, and he saw something utterly incomprehensible!
Old Fang and that Demon Emperor had actually charged into his godfather's Small Universe?
What the hell? Yang Xiao's head went fuzzy, and he even wondered if he was hallucinating from his injuries.
His godfather was an Eighth-Order Open Heaven. Old Fang was also an Eighth-Order Open Heaven. How could Old Fang enter his godfather's Small Universe?
Only a higher-order Open Heaven's Small Universe could contain a lower-order one — he'd never heard that those of the same order could do it!
Because Open Heavens of the same order possessed Small Universes of roughly equal volume, containment was virtually impossible. Trying to force it would only result in one side's Small Universe bursting apart.