Chapter 120: Atomization

Amidst the swirling ink, Ye Yan felt himself pulled into an illusory landscape of brush and wash.

Ink mountains, ink waters, ink clouds, ink scenery.

Wang Ai stood with his hands behind his back not far away, a colossal five-colored dragon hovering behind him. Its scarlet eyes, accented with cinnabar, gazed down at Ye Yan from afar—majestic and terrifying.

Faced with such a scene, Ye Yan did not appear particularly surprised. He had encountered the Wang family's "Divine Painting" years ago; it allowed them to imbue scrolls with spiritual essence, manifesting powerful ink-based entities. These constructs were incredibly versatile, serving in combat, defense, ambushes, and intelligence gathering. It was a highly practical technique. However, because these ink spirits were external objects, there were natural limitations to their deployment, requiring complex preparation to manifest... Thus, although the Wang family's Divine Painting was formidable, it lacked widespread fame in the pugilistic world, often being used primarily for communication during an era when information was scarce. This was one of the reasons the Wang family legacy was able to rise rapidly during the chaotic wars of the past, establishing a firm foothold as one of the Four Great Families.

"Ye Yan, I must admit, you are truly a monster. In all my years, Wang Ai, I have never encountered someone as difficult to deal with as you—a cockroach that won't die, a hedgehog that is both foul and sharp."

Wang Ai looked at Ye Yan, his expression melancholy. Years ago, when he was in his prime and hunting Ye Yan, he had never imagined that he and the great Wang family would one day be driven to such a plight. A prestigious member of the Four Great Families, now reduced to living in constant fear, with he himself unable to sleep soundly for many years.

Ye Yan, however, showed no fear at Wang Ai's words. Even with the formidable aura of the dragon behind his opponent, making Wang Ai look like a descending god, Ye Yan remained unperturbed. His curious gaze, however, remained fixed on the massive, densely-scaled, iridescent dragon behind Wang Ai. Before seeing this creature, Ye Yan had held little regard for the Wang family’s Divine Painting. The scrolls mastered by the younger disciples usually contained nothing more than wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards with weak combat capabilities, but this one was different—its power was truly terrifying. This piqued Ye Yan's interest.

Perhaps noticing Ye Yan's gaze, Wang Ai spoke with a proud glint in his eyes: "This ink-wash dragon is based on a scroll outline left by my grandfather, refined over generations by the Wang family. You could say it is the strongest of all the scrolls we possess, a trump card not to be used unless the family faces extinction. It is the bedrock of our heritage, but to deal with you, I have spared no cost in unleashing it. Your grudge with the Wang family should end here, in this very scroll."

Despite being driven into a corner, Wang Ai’s eyes were burning with intensity. Yet, in his gaze, Ye Yan saw no trace of fear—only an eerie calmness.

"Very well..." Ye Yan nodded slightly. It was indeed time to settle the score with the Wang family. "If that is the case, then let us begin. Show me the true ability of the Watchman."

Their enmity had spanned many years, but Wang Ai had always hidden in the shadows, leaving the fighting to his juniors. Ye Yan had never truly witnessed Wang Ai’s personal combat prowess.

As the words fell, the dragon behind Wang Ai roared, spiraling toward Ye Yan below. Its scales rattled, whipping up a violent gale that shook the very foundations of the ink-wash world, a testament to its power.

Ye Yan paid the incoming dragon no heed. His Demon Banner fluttered gently, and in the next second, a deep green light engulfed the entire world. Ma Laowu and the other flag spirits, along with the spirit banner brigade, instantly materialized within the ink-wash realm. Without a word from Ye Yan, they roared and charged at the massive, spiraling dragon.

*Bang!*

The battle erupted instantly. The dragon thrashed its massive body, its tail lashing out to send the leading flag spirits flying. Even Lu Dashan, the dense and sturdy one, was sent stumbling by the sheer force of the blow. Although his size was among the best of the flag spirits, he appeared minuscule compared to the twenty-meter-long dragon.

The dragon whipped its tail, rolled, and roared, scattering the approaching spirits time and again. Yet, the flag spirits, having long since stepped out of the cycle of reincarnation, felt no fear, charging forward with reckless bravery. It was a scene that naturally brought to mind a hundred-man raid on a boss. The dragon was the boss, and it was time to strip away its health bar.

The roar of battle carried far, wave upon wave. Yet Ye Yan, standing behind his legion of spirits, remained unmoved, showing no intention of joining the fray. He was carefully observing the giant creature. Although merely an ink-based spirit, its power and presence were truly extraordinary. If handled correctly, perhaps his vacant Demon Banner could gain a new addition. Ye Yan was tempted. Had the dragon not been so alluring, he would have swept the battlefield long ago. Once he entered his Sovereign form, not even the Monkey King could stand against him, and the Bull Demon King would be reduced to a farm animal.

Thus, Ye Yan remained calm. Though the dragon was powerful, it struggled against the sheer number of fearless spirits. Soon, under a surprise strike from Jin Erpeng, large swaths of the dragon's scales were swept away, revealing a hollow body beneath.

Seeing this, Wang Ai’s brow furrowed tightly. He had expected that even if the ancestral Divine Painting couldn't suppress Ye Yan, the enemy wouldn't gain much of an advantage. He was wrong—horribly wrong. The opponent hadn't even intervened personally, relying solely on his spirits to wound the ink dragon. This was a bad omen.

"I cannot let this drag on..." Wang Ai felt a heavy weight in his heart. Others might not know the secret of the Divine Painting, but he did. While the ink spirit was powerful, it was ultimately an inanimate object; once its core was damaged, it would dissipate into the world, never to be summoned again. At that point, his last line of defense would be gone.

"Will you not come?" His eyes flashed with pure white light. He raised his hand beneath his sleeve, his fingers splayed, and grabbed at the distant dragon. The ink dragon, besieged by the flag spirits, suddenly transformed into a beam of black light, surging toward Wang Ai and merging into his body.

As the dragon entered him, Wang Ai’s body was covered in a dense black *qi*. Strange, ink-like patterns emerged on his withered skin, and he seemed to become an inseparable part of the ink-wash illusion.

Seeing this, Ye Yan couldn't help but lick his lips. "Is this the 'Spirit-Binding and General-Commanding' technique? This ink spirit is becoming even more interesting." After the Luo Tian Dajiao, it was no longer a secret that the Wang family practiced this art. Feng Zheng-hao had once confronted Wang Ai about it, but the matter had ended inconclusively, the details hidden from outsiders.

Empowered by the "General-Commanding" aspect, Wang Ai’s aura shifted, his murky old eyes glinting with ferocity. Knowing that one must capture the leader to defeat the army, he ignored the flag spirits below. He stomped his feet, leaping over ten meters high as if springs were attached to his soles, clearing the encirclement and rushing straight at Ye Yan.

"Well done..." Ye Yan rolled up his sleeves, unhurried. Deep black light flooded his pupils. Dark, misty robes manifested around him. In the next second, the "Sovereign Domain" emerged, and the once-bright landscape was instantly plunged into absolute darkness, consuming everything in its path.

Wang Ai, mid-leap, felt his vision go black before he could even land. It was as if he had been blinded. Caught off guard, he lost his target. The unexpected turn of events caused panic to set in. Having not fought in years, Wang Ai momentarily lost his composure.

"...What is this ability?" Wang Ai’s panicked voice echoed in the darkness. He had meticulously gathered information on Ye Yan, updating his files after every engagement. He believed he understood his enemy, yet now he realized he knew nothing at all. He didn't even know what this darkness was. He was paralyzed.

He tried to break through the Sovereign Domain. He thought of outputting more *qi* to act as a lantern, hoping to illuminate his surroundings. But he suddenly realized that no matter how much *qi* he exerted, it failed to manifest or light up the darkness. Any light source was swallowed instantly. This darkness could not be broken.

As Wang Ai pondered his options, Ye Yan’s voice sounded from behind him, dripping with disdain: "A nice idea, but with your level, you cannot break the Sovereign Domain."

As the voice rang out, Wang Ai instinctively lashed out with a punch. *Whoosh.* The fist cut through the air, but struck nothing. Ye Yan had already shifted his position, his perception heightened by his mastery over the darkness; nothing could escape his eyes within this domain.

Dodging the blow, Ye Yan’s voice drifted from the side. "Speaking of which, you contributed quite a bit to my awakening the Sovereign form. If not for the dream world created by the Nightmare, I wouldn't have been able to awaken the bloodline power within me so smoothly. You truly are a kind man."

Wang Ai’s face turned ghastly, but he was helpless. The darkness was too bizarre. He felt like he had all the strength in the world but no target to strike. It was agonizing.

"Wang Ai, to thank you for your efforts, I have decided to let you die quickly." Ye Yan’s voice rang out again. Then, as if remembering something, he added softly: "Your ink spirit is impressive, but the power you draw from it is too limited. It would be better if you were generous and let me take control of it for you."

In the darkness, Ye Yan’s voice was elusive. Deprived of sight, Wang Ai did not know that a green, misty light was hovering above his head—the atomization ability of the Brilliant Demon Banner.

For someone as weak as Wang Ai, who couldn't take a single blow before a Sovereign, Ye Yan could finish him off at any moment. He had only been wasting time to covet the ink spirit within Wang Ai’s body—a prize too valuable to ignore. While distracting Wang Ai, he had been marking the spirit with his atomization ability, intending to forcibly strip it from Wang Ai using the Brilliant Demon Banner.

"...Don't you dare!" Wang Ai, unaware of the green mark above his head, still spoke defiantly. But as the mark fully formed, his expression turned ferocious. "Ye Yan, you damned bastard, what… what have you done?"

He tried to resist, but Ye Yan only chuckled from the shadows. "Only just realized? What a pity. Your vigilance is truly lacking, and now, it is too late."

As he spoke, a flag radiating deep green light rose from behind Ye Yan. At his command, the mark on Wang Ai’s head erupted. Wang Ai’s body convulsed, and the ink spirit, once merged into his flesh, was forcibly ripped out by the power of the Brilliant Demon Banner.

With the spirit stripped away, Ye Yan deactivated his Sovereign form. The suffocating darkness dissipated, and blinding light flooded back into the world. Having had his spirit forcibly torn away, Wang Ai suffered immense damage. He collapsed to the ground, trembling like a maggot stripped of its strength. Before he could recover from the dizziness and crawl up, he realized he was surrounded by the flag spirits. Looking at their hulking, ferocious forms, despair filled his eyes. He knew he had lost.

Seeing this, Ye Yan sat on his obsidian throne in the distance, idly toying with the newly acquired spirit banner. He smiled—he was always generous to those about to die. He decided to share a piece of news, so Wang Ai could die with understanding.

"Oh, by the way, you might not know this yet. The K3751 flight to Europe was grounded by the Company. If I send you on your way now, you and your grandson will have company on the road to the afterlife."

As the words fell, Ye Yan waved his hand. The fierce flag spirits pounced, and Wang Ai’s piercing screams echoed through the air.