The Mo Race had tried multiple times to use the Four Gates and Eight Palaces Sumeru Array against him. How could Yang Kai not be prepared? He had even considered the possibility of being caught in a grand array before charging single-handedly into Returnless Pass.
Yet he came anyway—not out of fearlessness, but because he had something to rely on.
Seven hundred years ago, he would have had to be wary of this heaven-sealing, earth-locking formation. If the space he occupied had truly been sealed by this array, he would have been a turtle in a jar. Unless he slaughtered every Mo Race warrior fighting him and then shattered the formation, there would have been no way to activate his teleportation technique.
But things were different now!
In the Chaos Furnace, he had advanced to the Ninth-Rank Open Heaven, his strength skyrocketing. Over the past twenty years, he had further cultivated in seclusion by borrowing the power of Chaos. The Yang Kai of today was incomparable to his former self in terms of pure cultivation alone.
Moreover, in the world within the furnace, he had refined and absorbed the power of various Grand Daos from the bed of that endless river, comprehending a Space-Time River of his own. It was the crystallization and manifestation of his Grand Dao power—a river gathering the force of three thousand Grand Daos that no mere formation could seal. With the might of the Space-Time River, Yang Kai could easily tear apart any formation the Mo Race deployed, rendering their plans futile.
On top of that, this particular array had been cobbled together by a handful of Mo Devotees. Even if those Mo Devotees possessed some competence in formation arts, their skill was far from profound. The array they produced naturally could not be anything too impressive.
If grand formation masters from the Human Race's side had specifically designed a containment array targeting Yang Kai, it might have given him some trouble.
In short, Yang Kai already had a plan to break the formation. What he had said before the battle—"Let me see how many of you I can kill before I die"—had been nothing more than a ruse to mislead Mo Na Ye.
The instant the formation shattered, Mo Na Ye's heart genuinely skipped a beat. His understanding of formations was shallow, so he had never expected that this array, on which he had placed such high hopes, would be completely useless against Yang Kai.
But in the very next instant, he was already in motion. Dark Force surged around his body as he lunged toward Yang Kai with savage ferocity. At the same time, the three Pseudo-King Lords fighting alongside him struck as well.
The spectacle looked like a desperate gamble—pressing the attack even after realizing there was no way to keep Yang Kai was obviously unwise.
However, given that Yang Kai was also putting on an act of appearing feeble at that moment, Mo Na Ye's choice was not unreasonable. Exploiting an enemy's weakness to finish them off was an instinct hardwired into all living beings.
The thought flashed through Yang Kai's mind, and he suppressed the urge to slay Mo Na Ye right then and there. He channeled just enough power to block Mo Na Ye's blow.
This time, he and Mo Na Ye were evenly matched…
But it wasn't over yet. The three Pseudo-King Lords in formation attacked from the flank. Yang Kai casually thrust his spear forward—a purely instinctive response, intending to force the trio to retreat.
That single thrust, held back as it was, should have been more than sufficient. A starved camel was still larger than a horse. He himself was a full tier above other Ninth-Ranks and even King Lords. Though he was somewhat weakened after executing what Mo Na Ye believed to be a "secret technique," the force of that strike was still nothing the three Pseudo-King Lords could afford to disregard.
Yet in truth, the moment Yang Kai's spear thrust forward, the leading Pseudo-King Lord raised his hand and caught it head-on…
The instant the blow was blocked, something subtly shifted in the Pseudo-King Lord's aura!
Yang Kai froze for a heartbeat, but understanding came quickly, and inwardly he cursed. He had been careful enough, yet he had still fallen for Mo Na Ye's scheme.
He had to admit—Mo Na Ye's arrangement was nothing short of brilliant.
The reason for such praise was that Yang Kai had just realized the Pseudo-King Lord leading the charge toward him… was no Pseudo-King Lord at all, but a true King Lord!
This completely caught him off guard.
He had actually been guarding against this possibility all along.
Over twenty years ago, when Yang Kai first came to Returnless Pass, he had anticipated that the Mo Race would soon produce King Lord-level powerhouses.
In those twenty years, the Human Race had given birth to two Ninth-Ranks. As for the Mo Race? Whether a King Lord had emerged, no one knew.
During their verbal probing earlier, Mo Na Ye had answered without giving anything away, so Yang Kai could not make any firm determination. Nevertheless, he had maintained a better-safe-than-sorry mindset, remaining vigilant against the possibility of some unknown King Lord lurking somewhere, watching him with predatory intent, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Yes—he had instinctively assumed that if the Mo Race had truly produced a King Lord, that King Lord would be hidden somewhere, preparing to ambush him.
But Mo Na Ye had done precisely the opposite, placing this newly born King Lord openly among a group of Pseudo-King Lords for all to see!
In terms of sheer aura, the difference between a King Lord and a Pseudo-King Lord was actually not that dramatic. Pseudo-King Lords were themselves powerhouses at that level—their only limitation was that their strength had not been cultivated by their own hands, so they could not unleash its full force, tapping into only seventy or eighty percent. But the power stored within their bodies was no less than that of a true King Lord.
It was like a bowl of rice versus a bowl of rice porridge—same weight, but in terms of actual substance, the latter contained less. That was the difference between a Pseudo-King Lord and a true King Lord.