Facing Xiang Shan's confusion, Yang Kai explained, "My technique requires a suitable vessel, and the conditions weren't right back then."
The Qiankun refined into a Heaven and Earth Bead served as the vessel. During the thousands of years the Ink Clan had occupied the Three Thousand World, all the Qiankun had been utterly destroyed, making it impossible to employ this method.
He had brought out some Heaven and Earth Beads from the Myriad Demon Domain, but those had been prepared as rations for Ada and Ar.
Xiang Shan nodded in understanding and carefully stowed away the Heaven and Earth Bead that contained the entire Blood Flame Army.
Yang Kai set to work refining the second Qiankun.
Working through them one after another, the Qiankun of all twelve armies were transformed into Heaven and Earth Beads, each kept safe by their respective Ninth-Order master.
Outside Returnless Pass, only Pure Yang Pass remained. The soldiers of the central army had all gathered, and even the two Giant Gods had shrunk their forms to wait in the plaza.
Once Yang Kai used his technique to wrap and refine Pure Yang Pass in the River of Time and Space as well, the vast army had been reduced to nothing but the group of Ninth-Order masters.
Mi Jinglun turned to face the direction of Returnless Pass and called out, "Those of you who remain to guard Returnless Pass must devote your full efforts and hold the gateway well. If one day the army returns, that will be the hour of victory. If someday..." He paused briefly. "If someday bad news arrives from the front lines, seal the domain gate and return to the Three Thousand World."
The army marched out, but soldiers still remained behind at Returnless Pass. After all, this was the gateway to all the realms and could not be left unguarded.
The soldiers who stayed behind, however, were all those who had been gravely wounded in the previous great battle—every one of them missing limbs. They numbered no more than tens of thousands.
When Mi Jinglun had originally ordered them to remain at Returnless Pass, those tens of thousands of soldiers had marched straight to the General Command. Though their bodies were broken, their will to fight remained undimmed. Even with their diminished strength, they still had the resolve to perish alongside the enemy.
It had taken Mi Jinglun considerable effort to calm them, appealing to their emotions and reason alike, before finally persuading the tens of thousands to agree to stay and guard the gateway.
One always had to prepare for the worst. Half a year ago, when Returnless Pass had been conquered, nearly the entire Ink Clan army had been wiped out—but on such a massive battlefield, stragglers were bound to escape. The strength of these remaining Ink Clan forces might not be considerable, but if even a few made it into the Three Thousand World, they would inflict devastating losses on the humans stationed in the rear.
After all, the humans stationed in the rear had no real powerhouses among them.
To guard against this, Yang Kai had specifically left behind a sealing technique. Should an unrecoverable situation arise, the tens of thousands of soldiers retreating from Returnless Pass could use his sealing technique to seal the domain gate shut—completely severing the connection between the Three Thousand World and the Ink Battlefield.
A sealing technique cast by Yang Kai at his current level of power could only be broken if a large number of Pseudo Lord-Rank or Lord-Rank powerhouses personally intervened.
If such powerful enemies actually made it to Returnless Pass, it would mean the front line had already fallen and the Human Race's extinction was imminent.
After Mi Jinglun finished his instructions, the tens of thousands of remaining soldiers clasped their fists in unison and thundered, "Understood!"
The many Ninth-Order masters cast one last, deep look at Returnless Pass—gazing upon the domain gate that led to the Three Thousand World—cutting away their lingering attachment and sorrow before turning to surge into the depths of the void.
How many of them would return from this journey?
From within Returnless Pass behind them, a soldier suddenly raised his voice in a shout: "May fortune favor your arms, esteemed lords, and may you return in triumph!"
Tens of thousands of voices roared as one: "May fortune favor your arms, esteemed lords, and may you return in triumph!"
...
Relying on the Qiankun Palaces and Space Arrays that the Void Guard had laid out in advance along the way, the thirty Ninth-Order masters teleported in succession, covering the endless expanse of the void in just a few short days to reach the border between the Ink Battlefield and the Ancient Battlefield.
Calculating the distance, they materialized in the last Qiankun Palace and immediately made contact with the Void Guard soldiers stationed there, gathering intelligence on the situation ahead.
Soon, the Void Guard delivered a detailed report of everything they had learned.
After listening, Yang Kai said, "So the Ink Clan reinforcement army has firmly decided to ambush us within the Ancient Battlefield."
The Void Guard soldier who had spoken nodded. "That appears to be their plan. Half a year ago, during the final battle at Returnless Pass, this reinforcement army—which had been on the march the whole time—suddenly halted. At the time, we didn't know what had happened, but it only became clear afterward. They must have received some information relayed from the Returnless Pass side."
Mi Jinglun nodded. "Monaye was still transmitting information before he died. It must have been his arrangement."
The day Yang Kai had cut Monaye down with his spear, Mi Jinglun had pried a small Ink Nest from the man's hand. At that point, Monaye had clearly been using the Ink Nest to alert the reinforcement army mid-march.
"The current situation is clear enough. This Ink Clan reinforcement army knows their presence has been exposed, and they know Returnless Pass has already fallen. So under Monaye's arrangement, they've chosen a suitable battlefield to spring an ambush on us."
"But what they can't have anticipated is that we'd arrive this quickly."
At a normal march speed, even if the Human Race had set out immediately after taking Returnless Pass, it would have taken over a decade to reach this location.
By then, regardless of the Human Race's numbers, their forces would be fatigued, while the Ink Clan could wait at their leisure and catch the humans completely off guard.
In reality, however, the Human Race had spent half a year resting and regrouping after capturing Returnless Pass, and had arrived here in just a few short days.