Seeing the, almost reverent, and squirmish way the woman moved… Yang Kai cleared his throat and sighed. "He's had so many pursue him, that half of my Cave Heaven's workload was just dealing with the marriage requests. You wouldn't be the first to fawn over him."
Smiles arrived on the scene as the rest of the human army arrived. Every soldier began working to clean the place up and then make repairs. "Well then, it looks like our boy was right. You really do have it in you to deal with a handful of royal lords now."
Yang Kai put his spear away and stretched. "We can talk about all of that later. For now let us finish our job here and get this mountain pass back up and functional. The next stage of the plan is important too."
Smiles nodded. "Yes, and with the others working on refining their strength further, we have plenty of time before we move out. But before I officially take over as this Pass's Old Ancestor, I'd like to see the monument of the fallen."
The two ink disciples shivered nervously. And looked at each other with fear and sorrow. "Oh? Is something wrong with that?"
"Uhm, well the thing is… After that lightning bolt came through. The Royal Lords destroyed the monument in an effort to erase the past."
Yang Kai's stretch was cut short hearing this news. "My son is really not going to like that news. Not even a little bit…"
Smiles then wondered aloud. "By the way, how much longer do you think it'll take for him to finish his breakthrough? It's been a little while."
Yang Kai tried to sense my situation, also a little worried about me. However, he really shouldn't have done this at this time… "What the hell?" He vomited, instantly recovering to damn near the absolute pinnacle of the 8th rank open heaven. He instinctively assumed dragon form and released a mighty roar, ascending to the Divine Dragon realm. "Shit, I'm not doing that again. It might kill me if I try again. Just what kind of freakish might, is he about to achieve?" He coughed, then looked at the ink disciples. "On the plus side, I can finish your recovery now…" He said blowing on the two of them stripping the ink force from their small universes.
Smiles pulled out two Mortal Coils. "Refine these, quickly."
A short moment later the two 9th rank ink disciples had been completely recovered. They were just in a slightly weakened state as a result. Each was now comparable to a newish 9th rank, a rather nice improvement even if they were slightly weaker now…
"Wow, I feel so much better with that disgusting bile out of my small universe. Seriously, it felt beyond gross."
"Agreed, I must thank you yet again. I was one of the Elders of the Great Evolution Cave Heaven Paradise. Seeing it in the hands of my human race, once more… Fills me with an indescribable joy."
"I too was an elder there. I know that our Old Ancestor would be proud that this ancient treasure has been reclaimed. I wonder how the people back home have been since we've been away."
Yang Kai and Smiles looked at each other, then frowned a little before turning back to the pair of freshly restored 9th ranks. Smiles grimaced but she had to inform these two… "About that, the Great Evolution Cave Heaven Paradise, was also destroyed from the inside by a 9th rank… I suspect it occurred just after this place fell."
"I--"
Yang Kai, noting the painful look expression these two gave off, sent an order for someone to join him. "Don't worry too much. My High Heaven Cave Heaven has taken in the survivors from Great Evolution and begun teaching the very same methods they had once passed down. There are many survivors and they are all growing up in a great environment. I did this, at the request of this troublesome old man right here-"
Ma Fan had approached, and prepared a greeting. "Palace Master-"
"Is that little Ma Fan I see? Wow, seeing that little kid all grown up like this really does put into perspective just how long we've been under that disgusting thing's influence."
"Grand… Grandmaster? And Master's Master? You're…"
"Well, I'll leave the three of you to catch up. Ma Fan, please explain to them the details of how my High Heaven Palace has absorbed the remnants of Great Evolution. I'm sure they'll have numerous questions that need answering.
"Yes, I will, Palace Master. Thank you!"
"Alright, now then… How many of those mortal coils do we still have left?"
"We've got plenty, husband. Leiji really went out of his way to make enough for quite a while."
"Is there enough for-" Smiles nodded to the question unasked. "Alright, then let's begin purifying these ink disciples. It's going to need to be quick. I can't hold this much power for much longer."
"It almost makes you wonder if Ink is even a threat anymore."
"No, if anything… I'm more convinced the ancient experts were monstrous beings to be capable of sealing ink away in the first place."
And just a little later, a massive plume of purifying dragon's breath covered the ink disciples and smiles instructed them to refine the mortal coils, given to each of them. The results were quite staggering. None of them were left for dead, though, they were incredibly weak in their current state.
Yang Kai knew this was inevitable. "Get some rest, and recover your strength. After that… Begin reconstructing the monument of fallen warriors. We can not allow such shame to continue any longer than it must. All of you will be crucial in its reconstruction, we mustn't allow ourselves to forget the honored fallen."
At that moment, the power filling Yang Kai to the brim had reached a point he could no longer contain, let alone control. So, he decided to use it as a show of power. And in a single gigantic release of power, he flooded a 1 year distance in all directions, with an immense purifying energy. And once done, he returned to human form and let out a small exhausted sigh of relief.
"Are you alright now?"
"Yes, but I can confidently say that was the most powerful ability I've ever used. And… I'd rather not have to contain that power again. We can wait for him to return normally."