Before long, Yang Kai arrived before her. After some time spent recuperating, Dai Yuan's condition had improved considerably. As Yang Kai walked up, she happened to open her eyes at the same moment—clearly she had sensed his approach—yet she wore the look of someone who wanted to speak but held back, which piqued Yang Kai's curiosity.
"Junior Brother Yang, I've used up all my recovery pills. Do you have any extras? I can pay with Sacred Crystals." When Dai Yuan spoke, there was a slight flicker in her beautiful eyes.
Yang Kai didn't notice it. Though he found it strange that she had used up all her recovery pills, on second thought, she probably hadn't expected to make it to the third layer, so it was only natural that her supply would be consumed more rapidly.
So he harbored no suspicion. He immediately produced a bottle of pills from his spatial ring, tossed it over, and smiled faintly. "No need for Sacred Crystals. It's just a bottle of pills—nothing expensive."
Dai Yuan caught it, a trace of gratitude showing on her face, and nodded. "Then Dai Yuan thanks Junior Brother Yang."
"Mm, let's continue on our way." Yang Kai said, taking the lead ahead.
After Yang Kai had walked off, Dai Yuan quickly opened the bottle of pills. When she glanced inside and saw what the pills looked like, her slender body trembled slightly, and an expression of wild joy appeared on her face.
When she raised her head again and gazed at Yang Kai's retreating figure, her beautiful eyes flickered with a hint of excitement and fervor. Then, without a word, she stored the pills away and hurried to catch up.
The third layer of the Scorching Fire Zone was indeed countless times more dangerous than the first. Although their environments were superficially similar, the various hazards hidden within could not be compared.
When Yang Kai had traveled through the first layer, apart from encountering a massive swarm of Fire Spirit Beasts in that eerie valley and expending a bit of effort to deal with them, he had basically strolled through without worry, breaking into the second layer without any burden—he hadn't even needed to activate his protective Sacred Yuan.
But in the third layer, Yang Kai had to constantly channel his Sacred Yuan to shield his body from the heatwaves and fire poison. Moreover, the Fire Spirit Beasts here were no low-level creatures—they were all seventh or eighth rank. And besides these beasts that emerged from underground fissures, there were also various mysterious restrictions scattered throughout.
The Fire Spirit Beasts posed no great threat to Yang Kai and Dai Yuan. As long as they weren't too numerous, the two of them could slaughter them all and harvest some Fire Crystals.
But ever since witnessing the ancient restriction that Wei Guchang and his group had fallen into, Yang Kai had become wary of seemingly dangerous places, not daring to enter lightly. Whenever he spotted such areas, he would avoid them if possible. If avoidance was impossible, he would secretly use the World-Destroying Demonic Eye to check for risks.
All along the way, Yang Kai's heart pounded with fright.
If not for the World-Destroying Demonic Eye—a Divine Innate Ability capable of piercing through illusions—over these past few days he and Dai Yuan would have stumbled into at least five restrictions. Those restrictions were hidden so expertly that no Sacred King Realm martial artist could possibly detect them. Had they been triggered, Yang Kai estimated that his end would not have been pleasant.
Since Yang Kai had been secretly using the World-Destroying Demonic Eye to guide Dai Yuan through those dangerous areas, this woman from the Glass Gate hadn't noticed a thing—she merely felt inwardly puzzled, thinking that the third layer of the Scorching Fire Zone didn't quite live up to its fearsome reputation.
She was completely unaware of the perils within, so following behind Yang Kai was exceedingly easy for her.
However, although the World-Destroying Demonic Eye was a Divine Innate Ability of the Great Demon God, Yang Kai had obtained it later and refined it for his own use, so it was not omnipotent.
Eventually, the two of them did fall into a restriction that even Yang Kai failed to detect. Once triggered, the surrounding environment shifted of its own accord. An area that had been scorching hot suddenly became bitterly cold, with gusting winds howling past like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. Great flakes of snow, thick as goose feathers, began falling from the sky.
The environment had completely flipped from what it had been.
Ice spikes materialized out of nowhere and attacked from every direction. Wind dragons, gathered from the gales, roamed the surroundings, spewing freezing cold from their maws that could freeze a person solid—hiding the most bitter cold within blades of wind. Dealing with them was quite troublesome.
Fortunately, both Yang Kai and Dai Yuan were alchemists. One had originally practiced a Yang-attribute technique, the other a Fire-attribute technique, so the Sacred Yuan within their bodies was naturally effective against the restrictions here.
But it still took them a full two or three days of hard effort to forcefully break through the restriction and escape.
During this process, Dai Yuan was injured. If Yang Kai hadn't saved her at a critical moment, her injuries would have been far worse. Getting wounded in a place like this, with no way forward or back, was essentially tantamount to waiting for death.
After this incident, Dai Yuan no longer dared to underestimate the mysteries and dangers of the third layer. She followed behind Yang Kai with utmost caution.
Yang Kai had been injured too, but compared to his recovery ability, those injuries were hardly worth mentioning. After leaving the restriction, Yang Kai immediately led Dai Yuan to find a cliff face, carved out a cave within it, and the two of them retreated inside like wounded beasts, silently tending to their wounds.
Not until three days later, when Dai Yuan's injuries had fully healed, did the two of them set out again.
The various techniques Yang Kai displayed and the combat power he unleashed finally made Dai Yuan understand that this first-level Sacred King Realm cultivator was truly different from anyone she had seen before. His real combat strength was in no way inferior to her own—the techniques he had already shown were beyond what she could contend with, to say nothing of those he hadn't yet revealed!