Gao Xueting was ready to strike with the fury of wind and thunder, moving to destroy the remaining wisp of demonic will on the spot, but Yang Kai had already flashed forward and planted himself before it, thrusting his hand into the radiance of the Blazing Sun Mirror to seize the demonic will directly.
"Junior Brother, you—" Gao Xueting's face went pale.
Yang Kai flashed her a grin. "Don't worry, nothing will happen. I need a few of you to stand guard for me!"
Everyone else gave the demonic will a wide berth, but Yang Kai felt no fear at all. His years in the Thousand Illusion Dreamland had taught him that a mere wisp of demonic will posed no real threat — inside his own body, he had sealed an extremely pure essence of ancient demonic Qi, and even an ancient demonic Black Eye. The saying that a man with nothing to lose fears no one in shoes applied here perfectly.
But there was no time to explain all that. It was better to act first and talk later.
Since things had already reached this point, Gao Xueting had no way to stop him. She spoke in a grave tone, "Be careful. If anything feels wrong, pull your hand away immediately!"
"I'll remember," Yang Kai nodded.
He sat cross-legged in midair, closed his eyes, and reached out with his spiritual sense to make contact with the wisp of demonic will, hoping to trace Gong Yue's whereabouts.
Chen Wenhao, Gao Xueting, and Feng Ming arranged themselves in a triangular formation, surrounding and shielding him. Gao Xueting's beautiful eyes remained fixed on Yang Kai's figure without blinking — the instant she noticed anything wrong, the radiance of the Blazing Sun Mirror would envelop him.
Chen Wenhao and Feng Ming exchanged a glance, and both saw a flicker of admiration in the other's eyes. There was no other way to put it — faced with such an eerie wisp of demonic will, neither of them would have had the nerve to do what Yang Kai was doing. Yet the weakest among them, by a wide margin, was the one taking the risk. That alone commanded respect.
It was in that very moment that both of them felt a familiar sentiment — that each new generation produced talents to surpass the last. They had cultivated to the Second Order Emperor Realm, which meant their aptitude and comprehension had been outstanding. In their younger days, they had been leaders among their peers, the brightest and most driven of their generation, brimming with vitality and sharp ambition — much like Yang Kai was now.
The times changed, but what never changed was the endless stream of prodigies that rose to take the stage.
Everything around them had gone quiet. The dozens of warriors from the small sect had not dared to move a muscle. Scattered among the various corners of the peak, they had watched their own Sect Master spontaneously explode and die, and the terror had sunk deep into their bones. They gazed at the four figures hovering in the sky the way mortals might gaze upon gods — they couldn't even muster the thought of avenging their Sect Master.
They did not know that their Sect Master's death had nothing to do with Yang Kai and the others. They believed the man called Feng Ming had killed him, and they felt only that these powerful figures from the great sects were more loathsome than the last, devoid of all human decency.
Darkness. Yang Kai walked as though traversing an empty void, devoid of even a speck of light, without a single sound, unable to sense the slightest thing. He was using his spiritual sense to connect with the wisp of demonic will, tracing it back to its source, searching for the other half. As long as he could locate the other wisp of demonic will, he would find Gong Yue.
Progress was not smooth. This was Yang Kai's first time doing anything like this, and he had no experience to draw on. Everything depended on his own groping in the dark.
He explored that boundless darkness for a long time before changing his strategy, splitting off a portion of his spiritual awareness to perceive the outside world.
This time, something happened. Dimly, faintly, Yang Kai sensed that this wisp of demonic will was bound to something by an entangled, unbreakable connection. He followed that gossamer thread of a link, pushing deeper.
The darkness began to shift. Something appeared ahead in his field of vision, but it was too blurry — no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't make it out.
Yang Kai drove his soul power with even greater ferocity, going so far as to draw the wisp of demonic will directly into his own spiritual sea. He used the force of his soul to batter it, stripping away every layer of concealment.
Slowly, the thing in his vision grew clearer.
It appeared to be a mountain peak — a solitary peak standing alone. The scenery was beautiful, the landscape pleasant, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed remarkably abundant.
Yang Kai suddenly felt that this peak looked familiar, as though he had seen it somewhere before. But since everything in his vision was still far from clear, he could not confirm what place this was.
This was what he perceived through the ubiquitous connection between the two wisp of demonic will, the scene that revealed Gong Yue's location. As long as he could identify this peak, he could pinpoint where Gong Yue was.
He intensified the surging of his soul power once more.
This time, he saw a bit more — there was a figure on the peak. The outline bore a resemblance to Gong Yue, standing perfectly still in some spot on the mountainside, motionless, as though dead.
Yang Kai's current state was peculiar. It was as though he were submerged inside a dense sphere of water. He could make out the vague silhouettes of things on the outside, but no matter what he did, he could not see them clearly. The frustration mounted.
Then, without warning, Yang Kai seemed to hear a sound. The sound, like the images, was fuzzy and intermittent, impossible for him to grasp.
The sound came again. This time, Yang Kai caught it a little more clearly — it sounded like a dog barking, a steady stream of yaps. His field of vision shifted, and sure enough, he saw something resembling a small dog standing not far from the indistinct figure, barking its head off.
After barking for a while, the little creature actually lunged forward and began gnawing at the figure.
The figure remained perfectly still, seemingly without any sensation.
Just then, the figure appeared to notice something. Its head snapped up, and it looked straight toward where Yang Kai was — that sharp gaze seemed capable of cutting through layer upon layer of obstruction, colliding with Yang Kai's vision across an infinite expanse of void.
The blurry landscape transformed in that instant, suddenly growing much clearer.
Yang Kai's entire body jolted. His eyes snapped open, and his jaw dropped.