"Let's begin." Ling Taixu's voice was low and steady as he urged his Zhen Yuan forward, pressing a palm against the stone wall before him.
Meng Wuya placed his palm on the other side, his own Zhen Yuan surging forth in tandem.
The Zhen Yuan of these two pinnacle Shenyou Realm experts flowed out like floodwaters breaking through a dam, pouring violently and in unison into the seemingly ordinary stone wall.
Yet that wall, which appeared so mundane, now seemed to have become a bottomless pit. The Zhen Yuan vanished into it without so much as a ripple, disappearing without a trace.
Yang Kai watched from the side in silence, but in his heart, a tidal wave of shock was rising. There had to be some extraordinary secret concealed within this stone wall; otherwise, it couldn't be so peculiar. Moreover, this wall was located beneath Kunlong Gorge, and might well be connected to the gorge itself.
After about the time it took to drink a cup of tea, beads of sweat began to gradually appear on the foreheads of both Ling Taixu and Meng Wuya. Sustaining such an unrestrained output of Zhen Yuan for this long was placing considerable strain on them.
"Ling Xiong, could you have remembered the wrong spot?" Meng Wuya asked with a frown.
"It's here," Ling Taixu replied with absolute certainty.
A short while later, the wall finally reacted. The plain, unremarkable surface suddenly sprouted a layer of ink-black ripples. Spreading from a single central point, they rapidly expanded outward in all directions.
Seeing this, Ling Taixu and Meng Wuya intensified their Zhen Yuan output.
The ripples grew larger, more violent, like small stones being continuously dropped into the surface of a still lake. In the end, layer upon layer of ripples surged forth without pause, making the stone wall before them look utterly bizarre and dizzying.
Meng Wuya's eyes lit up. "It really is a void tunnel connecting two places! Ling Xiong, the founding ancestor of your Lingxiao Pavilion was truly remarkable!"
Ling Taixu offered a faint smile and abruptly withdrew his hand.
Meng Wuya hastily stepped back as well.
Although both had stopped, the changes on the stone wall did not cease; instead, they grew even more intense. After a brief wait, the layer upon layer of ripples solidified. They spun and expanded outward, and a dark, gaping hole immediately appeared on the wall's surface.
Staring at this suddenly manifested hole, Yang Kai felt as if his very soul were being sucked into it, leaving him with a dizzying sensation.
Meng Wuya looked at him with a beaming smile. He gently patted Yang Kai's shoulder, his expression one of earnest gravity and reluctance to part. "Little Yang Kai, you must take great care of yourself!"
Yang Kai couldn't help but frown. Manager Meng's demeanor today was far too affectionate.
"In my absence, I entrust Wuya Xiong to look after Lingxiao Pavilion for a time," Ling Taixu instructed, then took Yang Kai and plunged headfirst into the black hole before them.
Just before entering, Yang Kai glanced back. He saw Meng Wuya suspended in mid-air, his smile brighter than any flower, waving vigorously at him with an almost overwhelming friendliness.
After the figures of Ling Taixu and Yang Kai vanished, the black hole on the stone wall suddenly disappeared as well, restoring the wall to its former appearance.
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Meng Wuya stood still in place. After a long while, he threw back his head and burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha..."
His laughter shook heaven and earth and moved spirits, startling countless Lingxiao Pavilion disciples from their sleep and meditation. Every one of them shivered involuntarily.
The heavens had finally taken pity and sent that brat far, far away. Now, no one else would come to disturb his precious disciple's heart. Hmm, he just wondered how long it would take the boy to return. At least a year or two? Over such a long period, perhaps his precious disciple would be able to forget about him entirely.
Without that emotional entanglement, his disciple could focus on cultivation and grow up without a care in the world.
Pleased with this thought, Meng Wuya burst into hearty laughter once more.
Following Ling Taixu into the black hole, Yang Kai found himself surrounded by a maelstrom of chaos. But after only three breaths, his vision cleared, and he found himself standing with his Grandmaster on unfamiliar ground.
Ling Taixu looked left and right, then swiftly flew off in a specific direction. Before long, he found a secluded spot and set Yang Kai down. "Guard me while I recover for a moment."
Yang Kai nodded, estimating that the earlier exertion must have taken a considerable toll on his Grandmaster.
Leng Taixu produced a medicinal pill and consumed it. He sat quietly for roughly two hours before rising to his feet. Without a word, he grabbed Yang Kai and flew forward.
Being carried by someone else was completely different from flying on one's own. Wrapped in Ling Taixu's protective Zhen Yuan, Yang Kai felt no resistance from the wind at all.
"Grandmaster, what was that black hole beneath Kunlong Gorge?" Yang Kai was brimming with questions.
"It was left behind by the founding ancestor—a void tunnel connecting two ends of the world. By using that location, one can easily travel from Lingxiao Pavilion to another place. The specifics, I don't truly understand. After all, my strength is utterly insignificant compared to the ancestor's."
"Then how far did we just travel?" Yang Kai's face was filled with shock. He had never imagined that something as wondrous as a void tunnel existed in this world.