Through the continuous mountain range, Yang Kai's figure flashed like lightning. Though he was still suppressed by some unknown law of heaven and earth, unable to fly, without Dai Yuan dragging him back, he could go all out and deploy his Wind-Lightning Wings to travel swiftly.
He had no intention of lingering in the fourth layer. Though he knew this layer likely contained rare spirit herbs and spirit medicines, searching for them would waste far too much time.
He wanted to see whether a fifth layer—the zone of scorching heat—actually existed. If it did, then the greatest objective of this entire trip would be within reach.
The mountain range was vast. The moment Yang Kai plunged in, he sensed that the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy here was absurdly dense—surpassing any star or any place he had visited before, even faintly rivaling that mysterious hovering continent.
Mist and clouds wound through the mountains. Great billowing clusters of snow-white clouds, like tufts of cotton, rose and sank among the distant peaks, drifting leisurely across the mountainsides.
Compared to Dragon Cave Mountain, this place was night and day—utterly incomparable.
Yang Kai's eyes blazed with shock and fervor as he thought to himself: if this place weren't the Flowing Flame Sands, weren't the restricted zone of the Dark Star, this single mountain range alone would be enough to make the great powers and major sects tear each other apart.
Which of those great powers and major sects wasn't established on ground where spiritual energy converged and pooled thickly? Beneath the foundations of every single one lay a massive earth vein. Only the heaven-and-earth spiritual energy that seeped steadily from those veins could sustain a sect for tens of thousands of years, standing unshaken, allowing disciples to cultivate with twice the results at half the effort.
Take the Nine Heavens Holy Land on the Tongxuan Continent, for instance. As far as Yang Kai knew, a considerable earth vein lay beneath the nine peaks of the Nine Heavens Holy Land, which was why spiritual energy surged so powerfully between them.
The same was true of the Tianxiao Sect—beneath its one hundred and eight peaks, earth veins existed as well.
No founding patriarch of any sect would choose to establish his sect in a place barren of spiritual energy. The first criterion for selecting a sect's location was the presence of an earth vein, and the larger and higher-quality, the better.
And this mountain range before him was absolutely the finest place imaginable to found a sect. If disciples cultivated here, they would enjoy every advantage of time and terrain, growing at a speed far beyond ordinary people.
Yang Kai was certain that beneath this mountain range there had to be at least one—possibly several—high-grade earth veins.
The pity was that this place was the Flowing Flame Sands, opening only on rare occasions. Each opening lasted no more than half a year before closing again. No one could build a sect here, and no one could stay long enough to cultivate.
This thought made Yang Kai sigh repeatedly.
Though he was now alone, he still had many friends and family back on the Tongxuan Continent. If one day he could return and bring them into the Star Domain, this mountain range would be an absolutely ideal place to settle. Of course, before that he would need the strength to protect himself—otherwise he would only bring destruction upon them all.
He shook his head, banishing the jumble of thoughts from his mind, and pressed onward.
The mountains were supremely tranquil and elegant. Not a single bird or beast was to be seen. It seemed that in this fourth layer, Yang Kai was the only living soul.
His suspicion proved correct—even if spirit herbs and spirit medicines existed here, they were exceedingly rare. He had been dashing through for days without encountering a single one, and there was not even a hint of medicinal fragrance in the air.
Ten days after Yang Kai had ventured deep into the range, he was still pressing forward when his expression suddenly shifted. He halted, frowned, and listened intently for a moment—then his face changed sharply.
He could hear violent commotion emanating from somewhere ahead.
Someone was here? And had actually arrived before him? A cold, emotionless face flashed through Yang Kai's mind as he silently wondered whether that person had entered this place.
From the sound of it, no battle seemed to be taking place. Rather, it was as though whoever was up ahead was bombarding something. Waves of violent energy surged outward from that direction—the commotion was tremendous.
Yang Kai grew instantly curious. He had been in these mountains for ten straight days without encountering anything of note, and now someone had beaten him here and was causing such a bizarre disturbance. Naturally, his interest was piqued.
He stilled his breath, hushed his aura, and crept forward quietly, wanting to see what was going on.
Though Yang Kai had never cultivated any technique for concealing his aura, his divine sense was immensely powerful. Wrapping it around his body, unless he made some obvious noise or the other party's cultivation far exceeded his own, they should not be able to detect him.
Moving noiselessly closer, the nearer he drew to the source of the sound, the more he could feel how terrifying the techniques being deployed there truly were.
After advancing another several dozen li, when Yang Kai finally stopped and gazed ahead, he could not help but startle, his eyes widening in shock.
A hundred zhang ahead stood a man whose figure was sharp as a sword and whose face looked as though it had been carved by a blade—it was that very fellow from the Star Emperor Gate, the one who had sliced the Crimson Candle Fruit into several pieces before everyone's eyes. At this moment, his entire body was erupting with soul-staggering Holy Yuan fluctuations. Whatever secret technique he had activated, the man had actually risen a full chi off the ground, hovering in midair. Yet his powerful frame trembled uncontrollably, his face flushed crimson as he desperately drove his Holy Yuan, wielding an unremarkable Silver Flood Dragon Spear that dissolved into a sky full of spear shadows, hammering at the void before him.