In the council hall, Mi Jinglun looked at Yang Kai with a trace of apology. "I know you've had a hard journey, but there isn't much time for you to rest. The situation at the Crimson Fire Army—leave it to you."
Yang Kai chuckled. "Haven't had a good fight in years. Perfect time to stretch my bones."
As he spoke, he rose and strode toward the exit. Just as he reached the doorway, he casually tossed something backward without looking, sending an object flying straight toward Mi Jinglun.
Mi Jinglun reached out and caught it. Yang Kai's voice reached his ear: "Brought a small gift for you, Senior Brother. Please accept it."
When he looked up, Yang Kai's figure was already gone.
Gazing in the direction Yang Kai had departed, the strategists who had been anxious for so long finally breathed a sigh of relief. Now that the man had returned and was heading toward Domain Wu-Five, the situation there was probably settled.
The Ink Race had no idea of his return yet—they were likely in for a nasty surprise.
"Commander Mi, now that this lord has returned, why not gather all the Ninth-Orders and strike at the heart of the enemy?" someone suggested.
The Ink Race's advantage wasn't merely in their number of pseudo-King Lords, but in their inexhaustible troop supply. For the Ink Race, so long as they had enough Ink Nests and resources, they could continuously birth new armies.
If they attacked back at Pass, destroying the King Lord-tier Ink Nests at the source, they could sever the Ink Race's troop supply entirely, drastically reducing the pressure on the human forces.
Right now, the Ink Race's armies seemed endless—but without those Ink Nests, would they truly be inexhaustible? Sooner or later, every last Ink Race creature could be eradicated.
Five hundred years ago, the humans had attempted something like this, but at the time, only four Ninth-Orders could be deployed. Unfortunately, the Ink Race had been on guard, and the operation failed.
Now, counting the returned Yang Kai, they had a full seven—nearly double the strength from back then. If they tried again, there might actually be a chance of success.
Mi Jinglun tightened his grip on the box and slowly shook his head. "Too risky. Never mind whether the operation could succeed—even if it did, we probably couldn't destroy all the King Lord-tier Ink Nests. Without eradicating them root and branch, such an undertaking would be meaningless and would only expose the various armies to unnecessary risk."
Times had changed. All twelve human armies were campaigning in the field, and the Ink Race had responses prepared for each. If the Ninth-Orders stationed among them suddenly vanished, the Ink Race would surely seize the opportunity. Without Ninth-Orders to anchor the lines, a stalemate could quickly turn into an Ink Race rout, and the humans would suffer untold casualties—potentially losing all the gains they had accumulated.
The strategist who had spoken considered this carefully and gave a slight nod. "Commander Mi speaks truly. I was thinking too simply."
Mi Jinglun said, "The balance between the two races is as it stands. Our humanity can only advance steadily and surely, and we must never give the Ink Race any opening. All of you must remember this."
"Yes," the group replied in unison.
Mi Jinglun shifted his gaze back to the box and casually opened it.
Yang Kai had tossed this to him before leaving, calling it a small gift. Mi Jinglun hadn't thought much of it, but the moment he opened it, his expression froze.
He was not the only one. In the hall, several Eighth-Order Open Heaven strategists had their attention instantaneously drawn to the contents of the box.
Lying inside was a spirit pill suffused with a shimmering, iridescent glow. Its peculiar, undulating aura spread outward, and whether it was Mi Jinglun or those Eighth-Order strategists, every one of them felt the bottleneck that had restrained them for years begin to loosen.
Even though none had ever seen this particular pill before, upon sensing its anomalous energy, the Eighth-Orders instantly recognized what it was.
"A Supreme-Grade Open Heaven Pill!" someone cried out.
Mi Jinglun was utterly stunned.
The small gift Yang Kai had brought back was a Supreme-Grade Open Heaven Pill? He could hardly believe his own eyes.
But no other treasure under heaven could stir the bottleneck of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator with such a distinctive pulse.
This was the holy grail that every peak Eighth-Order dreamed of—the opportunity that could help one break through the shackles of the Open Heaven technique. A single pill meant the birth of one Ninth-Order!
With Mi Jinglun's accumulated capital and foundation, refining it would make his advancement to Ninth-Order an absolute certainty.
In that instant, Mi Jinglun understood everything.
This Supreme-Grade Open Heaven Pill was likely something Yang Kai had seized from the Chaos Spirit King.
Previously, when searching for leads on Yang Kai's whereabouts, Mi Jinglun had spoken with many warriors who had returned from the Chaos Spirit Furnace, gathering fragments of intelligence about him.
Some had sensed Yang Kai's aura from a distance, but it had quickly vanished—and at the time, Yang Kai had apparently been pursued by the Chaos Spirit King.
Back then, Mi Jinglun had speculated that Yang Kai had gone looking for trouble with the Chaos Spirit King once more, snatching back the Supreme-Grade Open Heaven Pill he had lost during their great battle.
But Yang Kai had been missing for so many years that the matter had never been verified.