It had been nothing more than an instinctive reaction in the half-dreaming state between wakefulness and slumber, yet it had nearly cost Wu Kuang his grip on the Primordial Grand Seal. That alone spoke volumes about what would happen if Ink truly awakened — the Grand Seal would no longer serve as a cage to hold it.
Once the Primordial Grand Seal was breached, the boundless ink would spread outward without restraint. When that day came, the Three Thousand Worlds would be the least of it — even this vast Ink Battlefield would likely be swallowed by the tide of blackness.
The ink sealed within the Grand Seal had fallen still again after that brief disturbance, but no one knew when another such event might occur. And without question, this anomaly was a sign that Ink's true awakening was not far off.
Inside the Grand Seal, Wu Kuang was consumed with anxiety. He had to notify Yang Kai of this disturbance as soon as possible, so the Human Race could prepare accordingly. Once Ink awakened, everything would be too late.
But will alone was not enough.
The Primordial Grand Seal lay impossibly far from the Three Thousand Worlds, and there was no effective means of sending messages between them. Yang Kai had once used some wondrous method to visit, but since he had brought the Ink Expulsion Army here last time, there had been no word from him — nearly two or three thousand years had passed.
Wu Kuang had learned a bit of news from Yang Xue. That fellow had broken through his own limitations inside the Universe Furnace and successfully ascended to the peak of the Ninth Order.
Yet none of the methods or intelligence Wu Kuang possessed were of any use in the current situation.
Before he could even think of a solution, figures began streaming out through the gap in the Primordial Grand Seal one after another, pouring from within like fish darting through a breach.
The auras radiating from those figures were all extraordinarily powerful — every single one was an Innate Domain Lord.
At the sight, Wu Kuang's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.
Previously, with the Ink Expulsion Army blocking the gap from the outside while Wu Kuang controlled the seal from within, the Ink Clan's King-Rank had been unable to pass through. For seven hundred years, the Ink Clan inside the seal had not dared make any significant move — only occasional low-level creatures probed the gap from time to time.
But now the Ink Expulsion Army had been swallowed into the Grand Seal by the ink, eliminating the external threat entirely. Even if Wu Kuang could still maintain his hold over the Primordial Grand Seal, he could no longer prevent these Ink Clan forces from charging out.
To make matters worse, because of the Ink Expulsion Army's predicament, he simply could not devote his full attention to controlling the Grand Seal. He had to split part of his consciousness to look after the army.
Being swallowed into the Primordial Grand Seal by the ink was tantamount to falling into the Ink Clan's lair. Even with the Ink Expulsion Army's elite forces in great numbers, they would meet certain death without his protection. With his guidance, they might eke out a bit more time.
The only thing Wu Kuang could take comfort in was that his strength had grown enormously over the years, reaching the pinnacle of the Ninth Order. This gave him somewhat greater control over the gap than in the past, and for now, no King-Rank powerhouse had been able to break through. The strongest among those who had escaped through the gap were Innate Domain Lords at most.
As time passed, a large number of Ink Clan members surged through the gap. Their faces were alight with excitement and elation, like prisoners who had been locked away for countless ages suddenly seeing daylight again.
Some of the Ink Clan remained behind, while the rest, led by numerous Innate Domain Lords, shot off into the depths of the void and quickly vanished from sight.
At that, a glimmer of hope pierced through Wu Kuang's gloomy mood.
He had been racking his brains over how to relay intelligence to the Human Race, but he had found no solution. Now, it seemed he didn't need to send any message at all.
Those Ink Clan who had departed from here were undoubtedly heading to reinforce their kin fighting the Human Race. With such a massive wave of reinforcements joining the battlefield — especially the appearance of so many Innate Domain Lords — the Human Race would catch on quickly enough, so long as they weren't completely oblivious. Once that happened, they would certainly learn that something had gone wrong at the Primordial Grand Seal.
The last time an Innate Domain Lord had escaped from the Grand Seal, the same thing had happened. Back then, Wu Kuang's control over the seal had been far less refined, and he had been entirely unaware of the breach until Yang Kai came to inform him.
So seeing the Ink Clan depart, Wu Kuang knew that within twenty or thirty years at most, the Human Race would become aware of the situation here. And when that time came, whatever anyone else might do, that brat Yang Kai would certainly come to investigate.
Wu Kuang allowed himself to set aside some of his worry. The Human Race would learn of the anomaly sooner or later. But that did nothing to improve his immediate circumstances. There were only two things he could do now.
First, protect the Ink Expulsion Army to the best of his ability, helping them hold out inside the Primordial Grand Seal for as long as possible.
Second — protect himself!
The Ink Clan who had remained behind were not planning to be his neighbors. Wu Kuang watched as they brought out one unhatched Ink Nest after another. Before each Nest stood an Innate Domain Lord, placing a massive hand atop it. As their power surged into the structures, every unhatched Ink Nest rapidly grew and expanded.
Setting aside all the years he had spent guarding the Primordial Grand Seal, Wu Kuang's actual encounters with the Ink Clan had been limited. The first time he had fought them was after the Human Race had retreated to the Empty Domain. As one of the Human Race, he had taken part in the campaign against the Ink Clan, and it was in that battle that he had made his name using the Heaven-Devouring Battle Art's cunning and terrifying power, drawing the attention of many Ninth-Order Patriarchs.
Later, when the Ink Clan invaded the Three Thousand Worlds and the Human Race pulled back its defensive lines to hold over a dozen major Domain Battlefields, Wu Kuang had served at one of them. But most of his contact with the Ink Clan had come through direct combat.