Before long, Yang Kai's vision brightened as he emerged from the Void Corridor.
The next instant, Qiu Yimeng and Luo Xiaoman materialized not far away, their positions close to each other. Suddenly thrust into a strange and unfamiliar environment, their beautiful eyes were clouded with confusion and disorientation. They stared blankly at their surroundings, so stunned that they even forgot to make another move against Yang Kai.
Whoosh — another figure appeared. When the three in the clearing made out who it was, an involuntary chill ran down their spines.
This was one of the Qiu Family experts Qiu Yimeng had brought along, a cultivator whose strength reached the fifth layer of the Shenyou Realm.
Yet at this moment, only half of his body had been transported out. The other half was nowhere to be seen, as if some supreme expert had sliced him cleanly in two with a single sword stroke — the cut was perfectly smooth.
His body hit the ground, internal organs scattering across the earth, blood spraying in every direction. The sight was utterly gruesome.
"How…" Qiu Yimeng's beautiful eyes trembled violently, staring at the scene in utter disbelief. Luo Xiaoman's face went sheet-white, nearly vomiting on the spot. She clapped a hand over her mouth while edging closer to Qiu Yimeng.
"Did you do this?" Qiu Yimeng suddenly raised her head, her expression cold and piercing as she fixed her gaze on Yang Kai. The True Yuan in her body began to churn with agitation.
She didn't understand the mysteries of the Void Corridor. She assumed Yang Kai had set some kind of trap in that chaotic expanse, which was how he had managed to kill one of her family's experts. Naturally, her heart blazed with fury.
The fifth layer of the Shenyou Realm — it hadn't been easy for the Qiu Family to cultivate someone to that level, and now he had died so senselessly.
Yang Kai ignored her, his expression dark as he surveyed everything around him.
Apart from himself and the two women across from him, there was no trace of anyone else nearby — to say nothing of the Lingxiao Pavilion elders and senior disciples who had left the Void Corridor earlier, but even Su Yan, who had entered before him, was nowhere to be found.
Moreover, this place was entirely foreign. It wasn't the location where he and Ling Taixu had landed during their previous traversal of the void.
He released his Divine Sense, carefully probing everything within a twenty-li radius. After a moment, his heart sank like a stone.
There were indeed other people within that twenty-li range, but none of them were from Lingxiao Pavilion. They were the Zhenyuan Realm and Shenyou Realm experts the two women had brought. For some reason, they had emerged from the Void Corridor at positions quite far from this spot, scattered about in small groups. Their numbers had thinned considerably — perhaps only a dozen or so remained, with just two or three among them at the Shenyou Realm.
Was it because of the battle inside the Void Corridor? Yang Kai pondered with a grim expression.
That was the only explanation. The collision of True Yuan within the Void Corridor had caused it to collapse and crumble, scattering everyone who'd been inside onto unfamiliar soil. And that half-corpse on the ground had most likely been partially retained by the corridor during transit.
Close call! The thought sent cold sweat down Yang Kai's back.
Clearly, traversing the void wasn't something to be done carelessly. One slight misstep and you'd be obliterated without even a chance to resist.
But Su Yan should have safely reunited with the rest of the Lingxiao Pavilion group — she had entered ahead of him, after all. At this thought, Yang Kai quietly let out a breath of relief.
"Hey, I'm talking to you." Luo Xiaoman's face was still somewhat pale. Seeing Yang Kai standing there with a casual air, she felt a surge of irritation.
A disciple from some backwater sect — what was there to be so arrogant about? Even if he had a few tricks, they'd be limited. Sister Qiu was stunningly beautiful and widely renowned; normally, even the young masters of the Eight Great Families of Zhongdu wouldn't dare speak to her without being acknowledged first. Yet here she was, addressing him directly, and he couldn't even be bothered to respond. The nerve!
Yang Kai raised his head with a dark, stormy expression, a flash of icy cold sweeping through his eyes.
If these people hadn't suddenly appeared to interfere, he'd be thousands of miles away by now with Su Yan.
They had just made a pact to roam the world together, and now they'd been torn apart by these women's intrusion. He had no idea where to even begin searching for her. The depth of his frustration was beyond words.
"What is this place?" Qiu Yimeng arched her delicate brows, standing there with an air of effortless composure. Her beautiful eyes rested on Yang Kai as she posed the question in a soft voice.
She was tall and slender, with long legs, a willowy waist, and exquisitely refined features. Her especially supple, seemingly boneless midsection was tightly cinched by a purple sash, slender enough for a man's hands to encircle — the sort of figure that invited all manner of indulgent fantasies.
As the eldest daughter of the Qiu Family of Zhongdu, her bearing was noble and imperious. On ordinary days, any young man of her generation would feel an unmistakable pressure in her presence, not daring to show the slightest bit of presumption.
When she asked a question, an answer was always expected.
A look of disgust and impatience crossed Yang Kai's face. He let out a cold laugh. "What place? How the hell should I know what place this is?"
The coarse language spilling from his mouth left both women momentarily stunned.
Luo Xiaoman's lovely face flushed with rage, her chest heaving as she gritted her teeth and snapped, "You insolent brat — how dare you speak to us like that!"
A mocking smile surfaced on Qiu Yimeng's radiant face. Unhurried, she chuckled softly. "How interesting. No man has ever cursed at me before. You're the first. But that's fine — if you don't want to answer, it doesn't matter. Once I've captured you, I'll get the truth out of you in my own time."
She naturally assumed Yang Kai was behind all of this, never suspecting that he genuinely had no idea where they were.
Yang Kai gave a cold snort, took a single step forward, and his True Yuan surged. The next moment, his self-created footwork engaged, leaving an afterimage behind as he closed in on the two women with blinding speed.