After thoroughly dressing Boya down and sending her away, Yang Kai turned to look at Li Shiqing. He found her sitting at the innermost edge of the bed, curled up with her arms wrapped around her knees, every trace of color drained from her face — the picture of absolute terror.
Yang Kai let out a helpless sigh and softened his expression slightly before speaking. "Stay away from that demoness in the future. She's no good!"
Li Shiqing curled up even tighter, giving an almost imperceptible nod.
Seeing her like that, Yang Kai knew his words hadn't really sunk in. In all likelihood, she considered him the greatest villain in the world. He couldn't very well badmouth someone behind their back either, so he left it at that.
After a moment's thought, he flicked out an Empty Spirit Pearl and instructed, "If you're ever in danger, activate the restriction sealed inside this pearl. It will keep you safe."
He couldn't watch over Li Shiqing every moment of every day, especially with so many matters still demanding his attention. He'd gone through considerable trouble to pull her out of the Blood Arena — he couldn't very well let anything else happen to her.
A single Empty Spirit Pearl would be more than enough to ensure her safety. As long as her reaction time wasn't too slow, whenever she encountered a threat she couldn't withstand, she could use this pearl to teleport to Yang Kai's side. Of course, the prerequisite was that she had to be on the same continent as him.
Still, Yang Kai figured the chances of her actually needing to use the pearl were slim. He now had the entirety of Cloud Shadow Continent in his grasp — once he gave an order, not a single Demon King beneath him would dare disobey. There was probably no one here who would dare lay a hand on his people.
After finishing his instructions, he paid no further attention to whatever reaction Li Shiqing might have and strode out the door.
Behind him, Li Shiqing raised her head and glanced at Yang Kai, her expression complicated. She hesitated for a long while before finally tucking the pearl away.
By now, Yang Kai had already boarded the tiger-head war chariot together with Yin, and they were hurtling across the sky toward a specific point on Cloud Shadow Continent.
Half a day later, above a desolate wilderness, high up in the air ten thousand zhang from the ground, the tiger-head war chariot came to a stop. Yang Kai and Yin disembarked, and Yang Kai looked around. "You're certain it's here?"
Yin turned to survey the surroundings as well, glancing left and right as if gauging the directions. After a moment, she walked to a particular spot in the empty void and planted her feet. "Right where I'm standing."
Yang Kai nodded slightly. Spatial Laws rippled around his body as he closed his eyes, silently probing.
Yin watched him with curiosity, her bright eyes shimmering with a strange light, but she didn't dare interrupt and simply waited quietly.
A full half an hour passed before Yang Kai finally opened his eyes. He shook his head slowly and looked at Yin. "When exactly did this gateway vanish, and what did it connect to?"
He had previously reviewed all the materials concerning Cloud Shadow Continent's gateways, and Bai Zhuo's earlier account had checked out. Cloud Shadow Continent had originally possessed five world gateways, linking it to five different continents. Over the past millennium, however, four of them had vanished one after another, leaving only the last one — the connection to Blue Plains Continent — which had nearly left Cloud Shadow completely isolated.
A craftsman must sharpen his tools before beginning his work. If he was going to maintain that final gateway, he needed to investigate the four that had disappeared first. At the very least, he needed to have a basic understanding of the situation. Ideally, he would uncover the reason behind their disappearance, but even if he couldn't, he needed to find at least some traces.
Yet despite having exerted his full effort just now, he had found nothing. There was nothing unusual about this location whatsoever. If Yin hadn't confirmed it with absolute certainty, and if all the data he'd reviewed hadn't pointed to this exact spot as the former location of a gateway, Yang Kai would have suspected some kind of mistake.
Yin spoke. "This was the first gateway to vanish — roughly a thousand years ago. The signs preceding its disappearance were remarkably similar to those affecting the last remaining gateway: signs of instability. It originally connected to the Blood Flame Continent."
She paused, then asked, "Did Your Majesty discover anything?" Though she had witnessed Yang Kai's fruitless effort just now and knew the chances were slim, she couldn't help but ask.
Yang Kai shook his head, much to her disappointment. "Nothing. Let's move on to the next one."
He raised his hand and summoned the tiger-head war chariot. Yin naturally had no objections, and the two boarded together as she guided the way.
Another half day passed before they arrived above a vast stretch of ocean. Below them, waves rose and crashed, rolling across an endless expanse of water.
Yang Kai repeated what he had done before — closing his eyes to probe with his senses — while Yin waited quietly nearby.
After a short while, his eyebrows shot upward as an expression of surprise crossed his face. The spatial fluctuations around his body grew increasingly intense. Yin had been watching him closely the entire time, and seeing this, she couldn't help but feel a jolt of excitement, realizing that Yang Kai had likely found something.
The very next instant, she saw him suddenly open his eyes, his gaze fixed on the void ahead with a grave expression. Spatial energy swirled around him as he reached both hands forward.
His hands advanced at an agonizingly slow pace, as though encountering tremendous resistance within the void. What astonished Yin even more was that after pushing forward roughly half a foot, Yang Kai's hands suddenly vanished — as if they had merged into the emptiness itself.
Yin couldn't help but draw a sharp breath. Spatial Laws — to think they were this profound!
Then she heard Yang Kai give a thunderous shout: "Open!"
Accompanied by that command, Yang Kai's hands violently swept apart. In the next instant, the void seemed to tear itself asunder, and a rift materialized before Yin's eyes. Within the rift lay a churning chaos of nothingness that devoured not only sight but also spiritual sense — any that ventured inside simply vanished without a trace.
Yin, however, was utterly exhilarated. She cried out, "Your Majesty!"