In the boundless void, the group of travelers had no idea how long they had been walking. They had avoided countless spatial storms before finally arriving at a peculiar place.
The place appeared to have two levels, an upper and a lower, each containing a massive vortex. The interior of each vortex was pitch black, as if it could devour all things, sending chills down one's spine. Both vortexes maintained an eerie state of stillness, yet anyone could feel the tremendous suction emanating from within.
Yang Kai and the others stood at the center point between these two vortexes.
After observing intently for a long while, Yang Kai finally spoke with a solemn expression. "There are two exits from this place. If I'm not mistaken, one should lead to the Star World, and the other should lead to the Demon World."
Li Jiao asked, "Which one should we take?"
Yang Kai pointed upward. "The upper one. Though they look similar on the surface, the lower one has traces of demonic energy seeping out. It undoubtedly leads to the Demon World."
"Since we can determine the direction, let's go," Zhu Lie urged.
Yang Kai nodded and cautioned, "I'll lead you out of here and back to the Star Domain, but I can't guarantee our safety along the way. After all, there's a great deal of randomness involved."
"What's done is done. No point in discussing it further."
Yang Kai flashed a grin. "Then let's move. Stay close."
The moment he finished speaking, he shot toward the upper vortex at full speed, his spatial laws surging wildly as they transformed into an invisible wave of force that poured into the vortex. He probed the conditions within while simultaneously breaking through layer after layer of barriers, carving out a safe passage between the two worlds.
The once-still vortex immediately underwent unexpected changes, beginning to rotate in layered cascades while a frenzied compressive force pressed in from every direction, threatening to crush them flat.
At first glance, it looked as though Yang Kai was riding the waves, parting the sea on either side, only for it to crash together and surge behind him.
Zhu Lie and the others had no choice but to stay close at Yang Kai's heels to avoid being swallowed by those waves.
Fortunately, they were all exceptional powerhouses, linked together by the Emperor Treasure's colored ribbon, and no one faltered at this critical moment.
Yang Kai pressed onward, his spatial laws pushed to their absolute limit, unstoppable as a battering ram.
After an indeterminate amount of time hurtling through the spatial vortex, Yang Kai suddenly felt an enormous resistance slam into him from ahead. It was like slamming face-first into an iron plate, leaving his blood churning and his head spinning.
The World Barrier!
The reason great worlds could not connect with one another was because of the World Barrier's existence. It was the partition between two worlds, ordinarily so impossibly sturdy that not even a Great Emperor could tear it apart.
From what Yang Kai knew, only the Great Demon God of the Demon World had ever breached the World Barrier, allowing the Demon World's powerhouses to descend upon the ancient Star World.
Under normal circumstances, the World Barrier would have been utterly beyond Yang Kai's reach, even with his mastery of spatial laws. His cultivation was simply too low compared to those powerhouses—merely at the first level of the Emperor Realm.
But the World Barrier here was far from complete. The Reincarnation World drifted in the crevice between the Star World and the Demon World, and it had always harbored certain flaws.
Though the collision had left Yang Kai thoroughly dazed, he had also detected a sliver of an opening.
The Seven-Colored Warm Spirit Lotus in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly erupted in prismatic radiance, steadying his mind. At the same time, he channeled the power of his spatial laws, condensing it into wave after wave of Moon Blades that he hurled forward with reckless fury.
Countless Moon Blades exploded outward like shooting stars chasing the moon.
A crack had indeed appeared in the formidable World Barrier.
Overjoyed, Yang Kai led the group through the gap.
But at that very moment, an unforeseen change erupted. Perhaps it was caused by Yang Kai's actions, but after the crack appeared in the World Barrier, it suddenly spewed forth waves of spatial storms, instantly engulfing them all.
Yang Kai's face went pale with shock. By the time he regained his bearings, his hand was empty—Zhu Qing had vanished without a trace.
His face drained of color, and he swept his divine sense outward. His heart sank to the pit of his stomach.
Not only was Zhu Qing gone, but Zhu Lie and Li Jiao, who had been right behind him the entire time, had also vanished without a sign. Little Black Dog was nowhere to be found either.
Cold sweat broke out across his body. Yang Kai turned to rush back, but the World Barrier had already become intangible and unreachable.
His vision blurred, and he found himself in an entirely different world.
Sensing the familiar laws of heaven and earth around him, Yang Kai realized he had returned to the Star World—though not quite as he had expected. This was not the Frozen Lands, for there was no bitter cold or blanket of white snow in the surroundings.
This wasn't even the Northern Region. Though the laws of heaven and earth across the Star World were broadly the same, there were still subtle differences between the great regions.
Yang Kai hadn't spent much time in the Northern Region, but if this were it, he would definitely have been able to tell.