The clansmen didn't know why they had stopped here. They all looked toward Yang Kai, then followed his gaze into the distance.
More and more clansmen turned their attention that way. For reasons they couldn't explain, every one of them felt something deeply unsettling emanating from that distant sky.
Then, in an instant, a black dot appeared at the edge of the horizon. Though tiny, it was strikingly conspicuous.
At first, the small black dot hung motionless in the sky, pulsing with an aura that made their hearts tremble. But after only three breaths, it suddenly plummeted straight down.
As it fell, the black dot expanded rapidly, like a black hole that would devour all things. Everything in its path was annihilated into nothingness.
"Dark Radiance!" Bao Qi's eyes went wide as he cried out in shock. Sha Ya's face drained of all color in an instant, turning deathly pale. She stared at the rapidly expanding black void with a mixture of dread and terror, unable to utter a single word. Had Yang Kai not been standing beside her, she would have turned and fled on the spot.
Yang Kai's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.
Though he didn't know what exactly this "Dark Radiance" that Bao Qi had named truly was, even from this great distance, he could still feel an aura of total annihilation radiating from it. And the direction it was falling was unmistakably toward the Jiaohe region — the very place where all the Southern Barbarian tribes had gathered!
This was a trap — a conspiracy to obliterate the living forces of the Southern Barbarians!
The Witch Kings of the Southern Barbarian tribes didn't know. The Grand Shamans didn't know. Yang Kai knew — but by the time he realized it, it was already too late.
"This can't be... this can't be..." After the initial shock, Bao Qi kept mumbling under his breath, as if what lay before his eyes defied all comprehension.
"What is that?" Yang Kai turned his head to look at him.
Bao Qi drew a deep breath before explaining: "It's a natural disaster from the Demon Realm, with incredibly corrosive power. It can corrode even the earth clean. Once it appears, ordinary demons have no way to resist it — even the Demon Kings must give it a wide berth. But... how could Dark Radiance possibly appear here?"
The Demon Realm was no paradise. Compared to this land, its environment was extraordinarily hostile. Natural disasters appeared there with alarming frequency.
Dark Radiance was one of the many natural disasters of the Demon Realm. No one knew what it truly was, but every time it appeared, it claimed countless demonic lives and destroyed vast swathes of demonic land.
That was precisely why the demon race constantly waged war — to explore and conquer new worlds. On one hand, warfare and aggression were in their very nature. On the other, it was a matter of survival.
But every world they conquered would become fragmented and shattered within tens of thousands of years, and then they would turn their sights to a new one. Round and round it went.
Bao Qi couldn't understand why this Demon Realm disaster — Dark Radiance — would appear on this land. But the facts were right before his eyes: wherever Dark Radiance fell, it was doubtful anyone would survive.
Even as he spoke, Dark Radiance had expanded to the point where it blotted out half the sky. To the naked eye, it looked as though a star had come hurtling from beyond the heavens, crashing down upon the earth.
There was no great sound. That stretch of earth was instantly engulfed in pitch-black darkness. The blackness spread outward, and the demon beasts of the Witch Bull tribe grew increasingly agitated. They thrashed their hooves, refusing to move forward no matter how hard their riders tried to command them.
"Die!" Yang Kai called out.
Die turned her gaze toward him.
Yang Kai spoke in a calm voice: "If I haven't returned in an hour, take everyone and leave."
Die nodded softly.
"My lord, what are you doing?" Bao Qi stared at Yang Kai in astonishment, but received no answer.
The next moment, with a blur before their eyes, Yang Kai — who had been sitting atop one of the demon beasts — vanished without a trace.
Sha Ya said uneasily: "He's..." Her gaze swept toward the area engulfed by Dark Radiance, and sure enough, she caught a faint, almost imperceptible trace moving at tremendous speed. In the blink of an eye, it had left her field of vision entirely.
Bao Qi's face was grim as he exclaimed: "What is he doing!"
When Dark Radiance erupted, the barbarians gathered there were surely doomed — not a single one would survive. The wisest course of action now would be to retreat immediately. Yet Lord Wuniu, as their commander, was charging into mortal danger alone. From Bao Qi's perspective, it simply didn't make sense.
"It's over, it's over... it's all over now." Sha Ya looked as though she had lost her soul, her eyes vacant and lifeless.
If Yang Kai hadn't planted a spiritual seal within her soul, she would have been only too happy for him to die quickly. But now that this spiritual connection existed between them, she couldn't help but worry about his safety.
This was clearly not a wise course of action. Yang Kai had no idea how terrifying Dark Radiance truly was — but the demon race knew better than anyone.
Even the Demon Kings had to give it a wide berth. Lord Wuniu was only equivalent to a Demon Commander — what good outcome could possibly await him?
The two Demon Kings exchanged glances and could only pray silently that by the time Yang Kai arrived, Dark Radiance would have vanished.
Whether or not their prayers had actually worked, the darkness in the distance lasted for less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn before gradually dissipating. This surprised both Bao Qi and Sha Ya, because in the Demon Realm, once Dark Radiance erupted, it could last anywhere from a few days to ten or twenty days, or even several months. During that time, vast expanses of land would vanish into nothingness, and the laws of heaven and earth would be devastated. One could say that the ruined state of the Demon Realm had everything to do with the existence of Dark Radiance.