The vast void stretched boundless and infinite, yet scattered starlight dotted the emptiness, arranged in a spiral formation. At the very center of that spiral, terrifying waves of power surged outward.
Yang Kai and Xue Yue stood hovering above the colossal spiral composed of countless Void Spirit Crystals, their expressions uniformly grave.
They had discovered the abundance of Void Spirit Crystals here and rushed over with great enthusiasm, but upon arriving, Yang Kai realized the place was deeply strange.
The Void Spirit Crystals were the same as ever, yet drawn by some unknown force, they had arranged themselves into a peculiar shape—a spiral!
Even Xue Yue, who had little mastery over spatial power, could sense the aura of danger emanating from the spiral's center. It felt like an abyss capable of devouring everything.
This place was already a spatial rift, but the very heart of the spiral seemed like something even more bizarre—an existence that could swallow the rift itself.
"Yang Kai…" Xue Yue whispered softly into his ear, "I'm feeling a bit uneasy."
"That's natural. So am I," Yang Kai reassured her. It was an instinctual dread, born from the power radiating within the spiral—something no one could escape. "But… this thing seems like it could be of tremendous use to me."
"What are you going to do?" Xue Yue stared at him in alarm.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow, lost in thought for a long while before patting Xue Yue's hand. "Help me collect those Void Spirit Crystals first."
Xue Yue regarded him deeply, her luminous eyes bright and penetrating, as though she could peer straight into the depths of his heart and discern his thoughts. After a moment, she nodded gently. "Mm."
Even as she spoke, she was already flying out toward the Void Spirit Crystals scattered around the spiral's outer ring, gathering them one by one.
Yang Kai remained rooted in place, his gaze fixed on the spiral's center, his expression more solemn than it had ever been.
After a long time, he extended his Divine Sense, probing toward the heart of the spiral.
He had intended to peer into whatever mystery lay hidden within, but the instant his Divine Sense made contact, he was horrified to discover that an astonishing and terrifying pull surged forth from the spiral.
The force of that attraction was unlike anything he had ever heard of. In a single heartbeat, it dragged his consciousness in.
More than that—his physical body, still standing in place, felt as though seized by an invisible hand and wrenched from its spot. When he reappeared, he was already at the very center of the spiral.
"Yang Kai!" Xue Yue cried out in alarm.
She received no response.
From where she stood, Yang Kai simply stood motionless at the center of the spiral, utterly still. It was as though he had lost all awareness of the outside world, devoid of any reaction.
She called out to him several times, but Yang Kai remained unresponsive.
She immediately realized something had gone wrong. Not daring to act rashly, she could only stand where she was, burning with anxiety, gazing toward Yang Kai's position and silently praying for his safety.
…
Spinning. Endless spinning. Yang Kai felt as though both his body and soul were being torn apart, the excruciating pain driving him to want to scream—only to find he could not make a sound.
The moment he was pulled into the spiral, his consciousness had been locked into this ceaseless rotation. It felt like being caught in a violent tornado, forced to endure the devastation it wrought with no possibility of resistance.
His consciousness roiled and churned. Yang Kai felt a dizzying vertigo, as though his soul might be flung from his body by the sheer force of the spinning.
Since he had first achieved meaningful progress in his Cultivation, he had rarely found himself in such a helpless situation. At any moment, facing any crisis, he could swiftly formulate a sound plan to counter whatever danger threatened him.
But this time, he found himself falling short.
As the spiral's power continued to pull at him, his mind spinning without cease, he was horrified to discover that the spiritual energy in his sea of consciousness was drying up at a visible rate. Turning his gaze inward, he saw that his once-proud physical body had begun to crack with dense, spiderwebbing wounds.
He desperately channeled his Holy Energy and wielded the power of his Divine Sense, attempting to break free from the spiral's bizarre force.
To no avail! He was like a man sinking into a quagmire—the harder he struggled, the deeper he sank.
In barely ten breaths' time, his sea of consciousness had completely dried up!
The damage to his soul left Yang Kai with a splitting headache.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Divine Sense Lotus, radiating prismatic light, proved vital at this critical juncture. With Yang Kai's sea of consciousness depleted, it immediately began nourishing his soul, mending the damaged areas.
The lotus's restorative feedback brought a brief moment of clarity to Yang Kai's mind.
And in that instant, he suddenly perceived something extraordinary—as the spiral's force ravaged his body and Divine Sense simultaneously, it was also imprinting a different kind of power upon him.
Spatial power!
In the span of mere moments, it granted him an entirely new understanding of the mysteries of space.
Overjoyed, Yang Kai endured the unbearable pain and focused his mind, devoting himself entirely to sensing and absorbing the revelations.
A flash of insight blossomed within him!