The Soul-Devouring Insects' consumption speed wasn't slow, but it would still take some time before they finished their work. Yang Kai chatted with Tianyan for a while longer before settling into a cross-legged position to recover.
Though he hadn't been injured in today's battle, that final critical moment—when he had to teleport so many Emperor Sovereign Realm experts—had drained him considerably, especially the toll on his divine soul.
No place was more suitable for recovering divine soul strength than the Shenyou Mirror World.
As he meditated and circulated his energy, Yang Kai clearly felt the ambient energy between heaven and earth being drawn toward him, flowing into his divine soul and compensating for his losses. Before long, he had largely recovered.
After learning that Tianyan planned to leave, the Mirror Spirit had seemed rather sullen. He'd stopped chasing butterflies and simply sat off to the side, listlessly kicking small pebbles. Tianyan, meanwhile, kept a constant watch on the movements of the demonic cloud. The three of them settled into an uneasy, silent peace.
Three days passed before Yang Kai opened his eyes, no longer showing the weariness from before. His eyes gleamed with vigor.
He looked up toward the distance, then probed the status of his Soul-Devouring Insects, and realized that resolving the crisis in the Shenyou World would take at least another half-day. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the Mirror Spirit, striking up a conversation despite having nothing meaningful to say.
The Mirror Spirit acted as if he hadn't heard Yang Kai's voice at all, ignoring everything he said, which left Yang Kai feeling thoroughly rebuffed.
With no other option, he gave up and went back to Tianyan, asking questions about cultivation instead.
Although Tianyan had no physical body and cultivated only divine soul power, the Great Dao of the world was such that mastering one path illuminated all others. Standing at his height, his perspective on problems was entirely different from most. Many things Yang Kai couldn't understand or felt lost about, Tianyan could resolve with just a few sentences, handing him entirely new ways of thinking.
Yang Kai gained immeasurably from the exchange.
In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed. Yang Kai snapped out of his reverie and looked toward the distance, calling back his Soul-Devouring Insects. "Senior, I need to leave first. The Divine Temple has suffered a sudden upheaval, and there are surely matters that need handling outside. I'll come find you in a few days to discuss that matter at length."
"Very well, take your time." Tianyan nodded slightly.
Yang Kai glanced at the Mirror Spirit beside him. The Mirror Spirit merely raised a hand, and Yang Kai suddenly felt an immense repulsive force pressing in from all sides, ejecting him from the world without any warning.
As his vision shifted, Yang Kai found himself back within the forbidden ground.
He opened his eyes and pushed open the stone chamber door. Outside, Chen Qian, who had heard the movement, hurried over.
"Junior Brother Yang, you're awake. How are things inside?" Chen Qian asked anxiously.
"It's been handled inside," Yang Kai said. "What about out here?"
"Let's talk as we walk."
Yang Kai naturally had no objections, and the two set off together, chatting as they went.
Three days ago, the elders of the Azure Sun Divine Temple had entered the forbidden ground where the Shenyou Mirror was kept, while Chen Wenhao and Feng Ming remained on Spirit Sword Peak to investigate. After a thorough search, they indeed discovered a Demon-Sealing Ground roughly a thousand zhang beneath the peak, with unmistakable traces of demonic will lingering there.
Had Gong Yue not launched his attack this time, no one would have ever suspected that such a place existed within the Azure Sun Divine Temple. When Wen Zishan had established the sect in this location, he had thoroughly surveyed the surrounding area for ten thousand li, yet he'd remained entirely unaware of the hidden Demon-Sealing Ground.
Now the seals of the Demon-Sealing Ground had been broken—clearly Gong Yue's doing, otherwise those demonic wills could never have been released.
The temple's elders were currently gathered on Spirit Sword Peak, both to check for any remaining demonic wills that might have escaped and to permanently seal the area. After all, this was a Demon-Sealing Ground; even if the demonic wills were gone, no one could be certain it was truly safe.
Beyond that, news of the demonic wills' revival and their escape from the Azure Sun Divine Temple had already spread far and wide. Countless sects across the Southern Region had dispatched their strongest cultivators to urgently track down the fleeing demonic wills, hoping to eliminate them before they could cause further destruction.
But everyone knew this was going to be difficult.
Demonic wills had no physical form—they were simply a peculiar type of energy, perhaps not even possessing consciousness of their own. They could only latch onto living beings, corrode their minds, and drive them to madness.
Tracking them, therefore, was extraordinarily challenging. But regardless, the matter couldn't be left unattended. During Yang Kai's three-day absence, information had been exchanged between the major sects of the Southern Region at a frantic pace. The demonic wills' revival had become the talk of the entire world, known to all.
Before long, the two arrived at Spirit Sword Peak.
The Demon-Sealing Ground wasn't at the summit but somewhere near the mountain's base—a stone cavern whose gaping mouth opened into impenetrable darkness. Eerie, sinister energy billowed from within, as if it led straight to the underworld.
A group of Emperor Sovereign Realm experts stood outside the cave entrance, their expressions grim as they stared into the void. Wen Zishan's face, in particular, was heavy with gravity.
Hundreds or even thousands of demonic wills had escaped from the Azure Sun Divine Temple. As the Divine Temple's master, he could hardly escape responsibility—especially now that the Mortal Dust Great Emperor was also in a precarious situation. The smile that had always graced his face was nowhere to be seen.
Gao Xueting and the others stood beside him. Chen Wenhao and Feng Ming hadn't left either; they needed definitive information about the Demon-Sealing Ground below so they could report back to their respective sects.
When Yang Kai arrived, everyone exchanged silent nods of greeting.
"How does it look?" Yang Kai stepped up to You Kun and asked in a low voice.
You Kun shook his head. "The demonic wills have most likely all escaped. We're currently trying to break through the remaining seals to get a full picture of the Demon-Sealing Ground—perhaps we can find some clues from it. It's just..."