In the void, three powerhouses—one human, two Ink—sat across a table from one another, staring each other down in silence.
"Have some tea, have some tea." Monaye chuckled lightly and deftly steered the conversation away from the previous topic, clearly unwilling to answer Yang Kai's question.
His question was trivial enough. Even if Yang Kai had revealed the entrance to that secret passage, the Ink Clan had no plans regarding it now anyway. But Yang Kai's question touched on Ink Clan secrets—how could he hand over that answer so easily?
To his surprise, Yang Kai reached over and snatched the teacup right out of his hand, then swept the table into his Small Universe for good measure. He rose crisply, striking the posture of someone ushering guests to the door. "Tea's done. Get lost, all of you."
Monaye stared in dumbfounded silence. You're the one who invited people over for tea, and now you're the one kicking them out? Changing face faster than flipping a page—are you a dog-faced kind of person?
Unpleasant as he felt about it, Monaye had no desire to bicker with Yang Kai over such an insignificant matter. He shot Moyu a glance, and the two King Lords withdrew back into the Returnless Pass, leaving Yang Kai alone to stand guard at the Domain Gate.
Three days later, all the resources had been tallied. Monaye personally delivered space ring after space ring into Yang Kai's hands.
The volume of resources being handed over this time was enormous—more than a hundred space rings were used in total.
Yang Kai inspected them one by one while Monaye hovered beside him, unable to resist a worried reminder: "Brother Yang, don't forget our previous agreement."
Yang Kai replied offhandedly, "Relax. I've always been a man of my word. In all the years we've done business together, when have I ever gone back on a deal?"
That was true enough, but times changed, and Monaye still felt a flicker of unease.
Reading his expression, Yang Kai said, "Tell you what—I'll step aside, and you hold the Domain Gate. That way there's no chance I can slip away through it."
Monaye nodded with a solemn face. "That's precisely what I was thinking!" It was exactly why he had come.
Yang Kai curled his lip. "When it comes down to it, you still don't trust me. We've been through life and death together, and you pull this? I'm disappointed!"
*What do you mean life and death together—I nearly got killed by you!* Monaye grumbled inwardly, and a tide of memories he would rather forget surged up.
He rubbed his temples. "It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that the stakes are too high…"
"Fine, fine, I get it!" Yang Kai cut him off, too lazy to keep bantering. Having just received such a massive haul of resources from the Ink Clan, he was in excellent spirits and didn't feel like pestering Monaye further. He cheerfully stepped aside.
The Ink Clan had come prepared. Nearly twenty Pseudo-King Lords immediately flew over and took positions beside Monaye, blocking off the Domain Gate.
Before long, Yang Kai finished his inspection and stored everything away with satisfaction.
The Ink Clan's handover didn't seem to be short on quantity—in fact, it was a bit more than Yang Kai had estimated. It looked like they truly didn't want to give him any excuse to make trouble.
On the other side, only after seeing that Yang Kai hadn't left the moment his inspection was complete did Monaye allow himself to relax slightly.
Sure, Yang Kai had stepped aside and let him lead a host of Pseudo-King Lords to hold the Domain Gate, but there was still that secret passage connecting the Three Thousand Worlds and the Ink Battlefield. Yang Kai could return through it at any time without ever touching the Domain Gate. If he chose to leave right now, the Ink Clan truly couldn't stop him.
Dealing with Yang Kai was a headache, yes, but one thing did give Monaye a measure of peace: as long as it didn't involve the interests of the Human Race, Yang Kai had never actually broken a promise.
Time passed.
Days later, ripples suddenly appeared at the Domain Gate, accompanied by fluctuations of the Dao of Space.
The crowd of Pseudo-King Lords who had been standing watch snapped to attention and looked up. One by one, figures materialized out of thin air.
There were quite a few of them—eleven in total—and every last one radiated a powerful aura. They were all Pseudo-King Lords.
Yang Kai glanced over as well and recognized several familiar faces, instantly understanding where these Pseudo-King Lords had fled from.
They were Domain Lords who had escaped from the Fifth Martial Domain.
The Fifth Martial Domain battlefield had been chosen by the Ink Clan as the theater where they would establish their dominance, and the Crimson Fire Army stationed there had been marked for concentrated destruction. So before Yang Kai appeared on the scene, the number of Pseudo-King Lords the Ink Clan had committed to the Fifth Martial Domain had been considerable—already pushing past what the Crimson Fire Army could reasonably withstand.
However, Yang Kai had assisted the Crimson Fire Army in slaying a full eight Pseudo-King Lords in the Fifth Martial Domain. The remaining Pseudo-King Lords, sensing that things had gone terribly wrong, had fled in panic. After nearly three months on the run, they had finally made it back to the Returnless Pass.
In truth, their luck had been quite good. When Yang Kai had set out from the Fifth Martial Domain, he had actually searched for traces of them along the way, but he had been unable to track them down. He had no idea which direction they had fled.
All this time, they had been hiding and dodging, wracked with fear. The only communication they had sent back to the Returnless Pass was a single message transmitted during their flight, reporting the dramatic turn of events in the Fifth Martial Domain. Beyond that, they had made no contact with the Pass.
To communicate with the Returnless Pass, they would have needed to find Ink Clan bases scattered across the various Great Domains—places that were hardly safe.
Now, upon arriving back at the Returnless Pass, they were suddenly confronted with a host of Ink Clan powerhouses waiting at the Domain Gate, Monaye among their number. The group of Pseudo-King Lords instantly grew wary and apprehensive, completely at a loss for what was going on.
The Pseudo-King Lord leading the group stepped forward with a look of shame on his face and bowed in salute. As he reported on the situation when they had departed the Fifth Martial Domain and denounced Yang Kai's villainous deeds, his words trailed off. He had sensed something and turned his head to the side—his jaw dropped.