Somewhere in the Star Boundary, over a vast ocean, a colossal vortex suddenly materialized without warning.
The vortex appeared without the slightest preamble, yet the moment it formed, it churned the seawater across a hundred-li radius with terrifying force, sending every sea beast in the vicinity fleeing for its life.
Then, one after another, figures burst out from the vortex and scattered in every direction. There were men and women among them, their cultivation levels uneven, and every single one looked as though they had survived some catastrophic tribulation — faces drained of color, eyes still haunted.
Having suddenly appeared over this boundless ocean, none of them seemed to be able to collect their wits. They looked around in a daze, their expressions blank.
These were, of course, Yang Kai and the others who had escaped from the Void Tranquility Secret Realm. When the Sea-Cleaving Shuttle collapsed, Ice Cloud had shielded everyone with her powerful Emperor Essence, snatching them all out at the very last instant.
Without that, fewer than three people in the entire group would have made it out alive.
"Blegh—" Ice Cloud opened her mouth and a mist of blood sprayed forth, the forced channeling of her Emperor Essence evidently aggravating her previous injuries.
Fan Xin and the others turned pale with alarm, rushing forward to check on her condition. Yang Kai darted over as well, asking anxiously, "Senior, are you all right?"
Ice Cloud waved her hand dismissively without a word, then settled into a cross-legged position in midair, forming spiritual seals and circulating her profound art.
Seeing that she urgently needed to tend to her injuries, Yang Kai called out, "Everyone spread out and keep watch on the surroundings. Don't let anyone disturb the Senior."
At his words, the group quickly fanned out around Ice Cloud.
"Senior Brother, have we really left that place?" Liu Qianyun drifted over to Yang Kai's side and asked uncertainly, for this place was still nothing but open ocean, and she had no idea whether they were back in the Star Boundary or still inside the Void Tranquility Secret Realm. If they hadn't escaped, then they would likely be trapped there for the rest of their lives.
Yang Kai furrowed his brow. He wasn't certain either, but before long he drew upon his own power and attempted to draw in the ambient spiritual energy of heaven and earth. To his delight, there was no obstruction at all. His face brightened. "This isn't the Void Tranquility Secret Realm!"
Liu Qianyun's beautiful eyes immediately sparkled with elation.
Yang Kai smiled. "The spiritual energy here is thinner than in the Void Tranquility Secret Realm, but the key point is that there's no more of that strange power-dissolving force!"
The Void Tranquility Secret Realm had been saturated with that power-dissolving force everywhere, preventing all martial artists from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and leaving them dependent on special Purification Arrays. Here, however, Yang Kai could draw in the ambient spiritual energy with ease — the clearest proof that they had left the Void Tranquility Secret Realm behind.
"We really did escape." Liu Qianyun was overjoyed.
When Ling Yiqin and the others overheard their exchange, disbelief bloomed on their faces as well.
They had lived inside the Void Tranquility Secret Realm for so many years, never once daring to believe they could truly leave and return to the Star Boundary. Yet now, that impossible wish had actually come true.
It left Ling Yiqin and the rest feeling as though they had been given a second life. One by one, they were overcome with emotion.
"If this isn't the Void Tranquility Secret Realm, then where are we?" Liu Qianyun asked.
Yang Kai mused for a moment. "The Star Boundary has four great regions. Every region except the Western Region has its own ocean, but… I'd guess this is the Northern Region!"
"Why?" Liu Qianyun looked at him curiously, unsure where he had deduced that from.
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "Haven't you noticed how bitterly cold it is here? The Eastern and Southern Regions rarely have environments like this. Only the Northern Region, covered in ice and snow year-round, is this frigid."
It was only a guess, but Yang Kai felt fairly confident he was right.
He had set out from the Thousand Leaves Sect intending to travel to the Eastern Region's Yellow Springs Sect to track down that Yin Lesheng and inquire about Xiao Xiao's whereabouts. He had never expected that before even reaching the Eastern Region, he would end up in the Northern Region. Truly, the Heavenly Dao was unpredictable, and fate worked in mysterious ways.
"Senior Brother Yang, you're saying… this is the Northern Region?" Fan Xin gazed at Yang Kai, a note of excitement in her voice.
"Just a guess — I can't be sure." Yang Kai smiled.
"Our sect is in the Northern Region!" Fan Xin exchanged glances with several of her senior sisters, and they all broke into jubilant cheers.
They had been taken in by Ice Cloud while inside the Void Tranquility Secret Realm. Though they were publicly known as disciples of the Ice Heart Pavilion, Ice Cloud had long since revealed her true origins to Fan Xin and the others. They all knew that their Master was the founding ancestor of the Ice Heart Valley in the Northern Region!
Every one of them harbored an almost devout longing for this sect they had never visited, dreaming of the day they could follow their Master back to live there. But trapped inside the Void Tranquility Secret Realm all this time, that wish had never been fulfilled.