"What is that?" Suddenly, Ya Fei's pupils contracted sharply, and she immediately flew downward.
Because within the rolling, steaming lava, she had spotted a figure — and it turned out to be her grandfather, Ya Zongyun.
"Grandfather!" Upon seeing her grandfather, Ya Fei was both shocked and overjoyed. She hastily pulled Ya Zongyun up from the churning lava.
Only then did she realize that this grandfather she had always been so proud of was now extremely weak. However, after a closer examination, she discovered that he still had a pulse and a heartbeat — he was not dead.
"How can this be? Could it be that we didn't die?" After noticing her grandfather's condition, Ya Fei also examined herself. She found that her own pulse and heartbeat were perfectly steady — these were the signs of a living person, not a corpse.
After all, she had heard that the dead had no heartbeat or pulse. The soul was essentially the consciousness, and once a person died, it was equivalent to the consciousness entering another world — a terrifying world. Yet here she was, with both heartbeat and pulse fully present. That meant she was not dead.
"Cough, cough… Fei'er, are you alright?" At that moment, Ya Zongyun coughed violently several times and actually woke up. The very first thing he did upon regaining consciousness was carefully check on his granddaughter, terrified that his beloved child might have come to harm.
"Grandfather, Fei'er is fine. How about you? Does anything feel wrong?" Seeing her grandfather awake, Ya Fei was overjoyed and threw herself into Ya Zongyun's arms, breaking into sobs.
"Silly Fei'er, don't cry. Grandfather is perfectly fine. It's just that the barrier array I set up earlier was a forbidden technique, and it consumed too much of my energy," Ya Zongyun explained.
"So you're saying you weren't injured?" Ya Fei asked.
"Mm." Ya Zongyun nodded with a smile.
Hearing Ya Zongyun's words, Ya Fei felt even more relieved. Although the world around them had collapsed — the entire landscape utterly transformed — the two of them had survived without serious harm. That was the greatest fortune amid misfortune.
"Who's there?!" But just then, Ya Zongyun's gaze suddenly sharpened. He pulled Ya Fei behind him and barked a shout toward the front.
Startled, Ya Fei immediately looked in the direction of Ya Zongyun's shout. She then realized that several hundred meters ahead of them, a large patch of white mist had appeared from nowhere — and it definitely had not been there before.
In that moment, Ya Fei tensed to the extreme. Upon close observation, she could sense absolutely no aura from that mist. Yet at the same time, from within it, the crisp sound of footsteps was unmistakably echoing out.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap…
The footsteps rang out one after another, growing closer and closer. Not just Ya Fei — even Ya Zongyun's sharp brows furrowed tightly, his gaze flickering uncertainly, his heart lodged in his throat.
Having personally witnessed the catastrophe, having seen the terrifying power of that colossal void hand, they could not determine what was approaching them.
"Whoosh!" Under their locked gazes, the mist finally parted. At the same time, a figure appeared within the line of sight of Ya Fei and Ya Zongyun.
Upon seeing this figure, both Ya Zongyun and Ya Fei were left utterly dumbstruck, their faces filled with astonishment.
Because the person walking through the air and slowly closing in on them was, of all things, a young girl of exquisite beauty.
The girl had jet-black hair cascading down her back, long lashes framing a pair of stunning eyes, a high nose bridge, and delicate cherry lips. Her appearance was nothing short of perfection — she far surpassed Ya Fei in beauty.
And that blend of innocence and allure in her bearing was something Ya Fei could never hope to match. She looked almost like a celestial maiden descended from the heavens, nearly flawless.