Previously, when Yang Kai came to cause trouble, it gave the Ink Race headaches, but they still had ways to keep him in check. Now, however, with Yang Kai having advanced to the ninth grade, the Ink Race seemed utterly devoid of any countermeasure. It was a frustrating situation.
Mo'naye couldn't help but feel some regret. He hadn't taken Yang Kai seriously enough. If they had found a way to eliminate him years ago, none of these troubles would exist today.
But according to intelligence gathered long ago from the Ink Disciples, Yang Kai's absolute limit in this lifetime was only the eighth grade. No one had anticipated that during a period when both the Human and Ink Races were biding their time and preparing for the great war, the legendary Universe Furnace would suddenly open, allowing Yang Kai to advance to the ninth grade within it.
In the end, Mo'naye wasn't omniscient. His thinking at the time had been to simply wait for the Ink Race to produce enough Vassal Kings, at which point Yang Kai's usefulness as an eighth-grade fighter would steadily diminish—there'd be no need to specifically target him.
Before the Universe Furnace appeared, they had expended enormous resources to strike at him once, but even that effort had fallen short. Instead, the Ink Race had suffered tremendous losses.
"He ran all the way here just to take a beating?" Mo Yu stared in the direction Yang Kai had departed, brow furrowed in confusion. "What was he even doing going to the Ink Battlefield?"
Mo'naye was also struggling to figure out what Yang Kai was playing at. Given his past behavior, the man was perpetually unpredictable…
"No good!" Mo'naye suddenly whipped his head around, barking in a low voice: "The Domain Gate!"
Moments ago, he'd been entirely focused on battling Yang Kai and hadn't had the luxury of thinking things through. Now, calming his mind, Mo'naye suddenly noticed a problem of dire severity.
The Domain Gate had been sealed by Yang Kai using his Space Abilities!
Actually, Yang Kai had done this once before. That time, he had returned from the Great Ocean Phenomenon, gathered a contingent of surviving human warriors outside the Gate of No Return, led them in a charge through the gate and into the Void Domain, then turned around and charged back in to rescue the captive Dragon Race elder, Ji Laosan.
On his way back from the Void Domain, Yang Kai had used his Space Abilities to seal the Domain Gate. At that point, he had only recently advanced to the eighth grade—both his capabilities and his mastery of the Dao of Space were far inferior to what they were now, and it had still required considerable effort.
After rescuing Ji Laosan, Yang Kai had fled deep into the Ink Battlefield with him, returning to the Black Domain through a secret passage in the Biluo War Zone.
When the Domain Gate was sealed, the Ink Race had expended considerable effort to reopen it.
After that, Yang Kai had never pulled this kind of stunt again—until today.
The Gate of No Return was now the Ink Race's foundation. Countless new Ink Race beings were born here every moment, reinforcements were constantly dispatched from here to support the front lines, and wounded pseudo-Vassal Kings returned to the Gate of No Return to休眠 and recuperate.
If the Domain Gate was sealed, it would sever the Gate of No Return's connection to the Three Thousand Worlds. Not only would the Ink Race lose a massive strategic advantage, but for their armies currently waging war across the Three Thousand Worlds, it could pose a fundamental threat.
Even though the Ink Race currently boasted a wealth of powerful fighters, even if they forced their way through, there was a chance they could break open the sealed Domain Gate—but it would take time!
The situation on the front lines changed with every passing moment. Where would they find the time to waste?
In the span of an instant, Mo'naye's mind raced through a cascade of thoughts.
Then it struck him—perhaps this had been Yang Kai's primary objective in coming to the Gate of No Return all along!
But even having seen through it now, it didn't change a thing. The Domain Gate was sealed, and that was a fact. They needed to find a way to break it open as quickly as possible.
Before long, under Mo'naye and Mo Yu's leadership, the Ink Race's strongest fighters launched a concerted assault on the Domain Gate's location. Wave after wave of surging power crashed against the seal, and every Ink Race powerhouse felt as wretched as if they'd swallowed flies.
In the distant void beyond the Gate of No Return, Yang Kai had settled onto a drifting landmass, sitting in meditation to tend to his wounds and restore his energy.
Fighting so many Ink Race powerhouses single-handedly had earned him a thorough beating. If not for his Sacred Spirit physique's legendary resilience, he genuinely might not have held up. He had managed to wound several pseudo-Vassal Kings but hadn't killed many—it was a slight regret.
Some things simply couldn't be forced. A man's strength had its limits.
Besides, his objective had already been achieved.
Destroying a Vassal King-level Ink Nest and eliminating a Domain Gate with the potential to produce a new Vassal King—that had merely been a warning to the Ink Race. His real moves hadn't even been deployed yet.
Right about now, the Ink Race should have realized what had happened. That sealed Domain Gate ought to keep them busy for a while.
Good. Let them stew. The more they agonized over it, the more it would play into his hands for what came next.
Several days later, Yang Kai rose to his feet, restored to peak vigor.
A few injuries were nothing to him now—he could recover from them without effort. He cast a glance toward the direction of the Gate of No Return, then turned and streaked deep into the Ink Battlefield, a Space Spirit Pearl clenched in his hand, continuously channeling his power to probe the surroundings.
The entirety of the Ink Battlefield could be described as being composed of countless war zones. In this vast and boundless void, though the Ink Battlefield was enormous, it was still merely a pond compared to the open sea.
For countless years, the Human and Ink Races had locked horns in this so-called pond, battling each other without reprieve. But as the Human Race crumbled, this once-roaring battlefield had gradually fallen silent, no longer the clamorous arena it had once been.
The Ink Race now held dominion from the Gate of No Return, gazing out toward the Three Thousand Worlds with that fortress as their base. Occasionally, only small resource-gathering teams ventured into the Ink Battlefield, and even they didn't venture far.
In the Demon Sha War Zone, near the void where an ancient battlefield lay, within a dead and silent cosmos, two figures had suppressed their auras and concealed themselves. Both appeared elderly, each possessing the cultivation of an eighth-grade Opening Heaven powerhouse, and worry was faintly visible on their aged faces.