It's interesting that while Yank Kai was at the various ink battlefield pass fortresses manned by humans, he paid the utmost respect to everyone, even if it was some noname cultivator that just happened to be senior. However, once he got to this place of dragons and phoenixes, he only respects those he views to be above his power level, that is, the few old ancestors, while he treats the rest as fools. I guess, compared to humans, the divine beasts of dragons and phoenixes are more animalistic and thus the hierarchy is based on personal power, but I still find his attitude interesting; at the end of the day, even among human cultivators strength equals prestige.
Yang Kai is almost ready to kowtow on the ground just because another human has a higher title. That's pretty pitiful, if you ask me. Just think of the other human cultivators, for example the old ancestor (Smiles): she treats everyone as if they were her servants and gives them hardly any face. Yang Kai could be said to be a racist who's always willing to serve fellow humans (as long as they aren't his enemies), but with dragons and phoenixes, he views them as tools, even if they are also a part of the front against the ink clans.