Up until this moment, Mo Na Ye still hadn't linked the shift in the battlefield's momentum to a fundamental transformation in Yang Kai's strength.
He understood well the grueling nature of cultivation for Human Race powerhouses—the stronger the warrior, the more painstaking the accumulation, the deeper the deposition of time needed.
Never in all of history had anyone, upon advancing to the Ninth Order, reached such heights in barely a thousand years.
What's more, ever since the Human Race launched their assault on Returnless Pass, Yang Kai had been deliberately holding back. In every major battle, the strength he displayed was precisely what one would expect of a newly advanced Ninth Order, and he had gone out of his way to avoid direct confrontations with several of the Ink Clan's Lords.
From Mo Na Ye's perspective, Yang Kai was perhaps a bit stronger than when he had first advanced in the Crucible World, but that was a perfectly normal progression. And it was well known that Yang Kai's strength had always exceeded warriors of the same realm. Without truly engaging him in combat, it was nearly impossible to gauge his true limits.
Even now, if someone were to tell Mo Na Ye about Yang Kai's real power, he would likely dismiss it outright—the idea was preposterous.
On the battlefield, since Yang Kai had appeared and made his move, the situation had shifted in subtle ways.
The Human Race army's offensive was still as tepid as ever, but the various corps had already completed covert deployments through their weaving maneuvers.
Yang Kai's figure appeared once more—this time beside Xiang Shan.
Xiang Shan's opponents were none other than three Pseudo Lords fighting in formation, a lineup formidable enough to hold their own against a newly advanced Ninth Order.
In the first two great battles, Xiang Shan had fought Mo Yu twice in brutal clashes, both sides leaving the other gravely wounded. Mo Yu possessed unique healing methods and could recover swiftly through the Pseudo Lords' Merging Arts, but Xiang Shan's recovery was far more troublesome. Even with healing pills to aid him, he still needed considerable time—so his injuries had yet to fully heal even now, and in his confrontation with the three Pseudo Lords, he was occasionally forced onto the back foot.
In the days before Yang Kai's appearance, the three Pseudo Lords had nearly overwhelmed Xiang Shan to the point where he could barely defend, let alone fight back.
However, ever since Yang Kai's sudden emergence moments ago, the tide had begun to turn. The three Pseudo Lords were each holding a portion of their strength in reserve, wary of a potential ambush, which gave Xiang Shan the breathing room he needed.
And when Yang Kai's figure suddenly crashed into the fray, Xiang Shan—who had been forewarned—erupted with all the power he had been accumulating, unleashing a ferocious wave of blade qi that descended upon the three Pseudo Lords.
Killing intent spread like a physical force, and the void itself seemed to freeze solid. The three Pseudo Lords were struck with utter terror.
They had been guarding against Yang Kai all along, but never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that, across such a vast battlefield, this Human Race's Death Star would target their sector. This was catastrophic misfortune!
With the Death Star bearing down on them and Xiang Shan erupting without warning, the rhythm of the three Ink Clan powerhouses was shattered in an instant. A single moment of panic was all it took—life and death were decided!
The spear pierced forward like a dragon, the blade light cut cold and sharp. Yang Kai and Xiang Shan's figures shot past each other like a pair of crossing scissors, severing the auras of all three Pseudo Lords in the blink of an eye.
As the powerful auras were obliterated in an instant, Xiang Shan coughed out a mist of blood, his complexion turning noticeably haggard, while Yang Kai's body bore several fresh wounds—the desperate last strikes of the Pseudo Lords in their death throes.
Almost at the same time, from another part of the battlefield, a terrifying burst of aura erupted, accompanied by the annihilation of several powerful presences.
But these were not Ink Clan powerhouses falling—they were Human Race Eighth-Order masters!
Yang Kai whipped his head around. In that direction, Ink Clouds churned and roiled as more than a dozen figures merged into a vast tide of ink, slaughtering freely. The Human Race Eighth-Order warriors, even fighting in formation, could barely withstand the onslaught.
The reason was simple—among those dozen or more figures, none other than Mo Na Ye and Diaro, the two Lords, could be seen. The rest were all Pseudo Lords of the highest caliber.
Almost at the same instant Yang Kai's gaze fell upon that direction, Mo Na Ye looked back. Their eyes met, and each read the cold intent in the other's gaze.
Yang Kai instantly divined Mo Na Ye's intent, and inwardly couldn't help but give a nod of admiration—this bastard Mo Na Ye, what a ruthless heart, what a decisive mindset!
Moments ago, when Diaro had slunk back to Returnless Pass with his tail between his legs and arrived at Mo Na Ye's side, Mo Na Ye had made a split-second decision, committing to an utterly audacious course of action.
On his command, more than a dozen Pseudo Lords who had been guarding Returnless Pass and watching over the Ink Nest surged forth. Under the combined leadership of Mo Na Ye and Diaro, they charged directly into a stretch of the battlefield.
He hadn't bothered hunting for Yang Kai's whereabouts—doing so would only mean being led around by the nose. This wretch was a master of the Dao of Space, elusive and unpredictable; chasing him was nothing but a waste of time. The only way to seize the initiative from a passive position was to abandon defense entirely and switch to an all-out assault.
You want to hunt our Pseudo Lords? Then I'll go after your Eighth-Orders. I'll go after your Ninth-Orders. Let's see who breaks first and is forced to stop the other.
Trading pieces!
That was Mo Na Ye's decision.
If Yang Kai was bent on launching surprise attacks and causing chaos, nobody could stop him—Mo Na Ye didn't delude himself into thinking he had that ability. Diaro had already failed. Very well, then—they would simply ignore Yang Kai and kill those who could be killed.