The heavy gates of the great hall cracked open, and Yang Kai slipped through the gap.
Outside, three pairs of eyes fixed on him at once—it was the Black Lotus and White Lotus sisters along with Bo Ya, who had been waiting. When they saw Yang Kai appear, Bo Ya couldn't help but let out a breath of relief. Being stared at by twin sisters who were both Half-Saints in this wretched place had been… an overwhelming pressure.
Yang Kai gave a slight nod to the Black Lotus and White Lotus sisters and said, "I've troubled you both. I'll take my leave now."
Black Lotus stepped forward and asked, "Does the Lord have any other instructions?"
Yang Kai smiled faintly. "The Senior is entering seclusion. There are no other instructions."
Black Lotus said "oh" and said nothing more, watching Yang Kai and Bo Ya depart.
After leaving the Hundred Spirit Continent, Yang Kai gathered the fifty thousand Proud Snow Ice Guards who had been waiting outside and summoned Chasing Wind. He swung onto the horse's back and called to Bo Ya, "Brother Bo Ya, let's head on ahead. The Proud Snow Ice Guards can return on their own."
Bo Ya nodded, exchanged a few words with the five commanders of the Proud Snow Ice Guards, then set off with Yang Kai in a whirlwind of speed, racing toward the nearest Inter-realm Gate.
Halfway there, Yang Kai asked, "Brother Bo Ya, among the continents under Sacred Venerable Bei Limo's dominion, which ones don't have a Half-Saint stationed there?"
Bo Ya didn't know why he was asking, but it wasn't exactly classified information. After a brief moment of thought, he rattled off a string of continent names. Although Bei Limo had dozens of continents under her command, not all of them had owners. She only had a dozen or so Half-Saints—fewer than twenty in total. Each Half-Saint managed one continent, and more than half of the remaining continents were overseen by peak Demon Kings native to each one—much like the situation with Cloud Shadow Continent had been.
"Then let's go to that Tianwu Continent." Yang Kai picked one at random.
Though he had no idea what Yang Kai intended to do on the Tianwu Continent, Bo Ya still felt a vague sense of unease, as if this trip couldn't possibly lead to anything good.
Meanwhile, inside the Minor Mystic Realm, atop that towering mountain, Chang Tian stood at the summit, hands clasped behind his back, gazing into the far distance. Behind him, a low-rank Demon King stood trembling in silence, glancing furtively at Chang Tian's back from time to time, fine beads of sweat covering his forehead.
This low-rank Demon King was, naturally, the sole inhabitant of this newly expanded territory—Huo Lun.
Originally, seeing a fellow clansman in this wretched place had made him quite happy. But once he learned the identity of the person before him, he had immediately felt as though he were walking on thin ice.
The master of the Hundred Spirit Continent, an existence comparable to a Demon Saint—the name Chang Tian was known throughout the entire Demon Realm. Everyone had heard of it.
Why was he here? Huo Lun's mind reeled. A humble nobody suddenly coming face to face with the most powerful existence in this world—no one could keep their composure under such circumstances.
What made Huo Lun feel most uncomfortable was that ever since this lord had arrived, he had simply stood there without moving, not so much as shifting, making Huo Lun too afraid to even breathe too loudly.
Just as he was growing increasingly anxious, Chang Tian suddenly spoke: "How long have you been here?"
The sudden voice startled Huo Lun. Once he recovered, he immediately replied, "Reporting to my lord, this subordinate has been here for just over a year, I believe."
"When you first arrived, what did this place look like?" Chang Tian asked again.
Huo Lun answered, "Not drastically different from what you see now, my lord. Only the ambient energy and Laws here were weaker than they are now, and even the territory itself has expanded several times over within this year."
"Why did such changes occur?"
"This subordinate does not know." Huo Lun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "I was captured and brought in. After being locked up here for two months, one day a massive rift suddenly tore open in the sky. Countless continental fragments came pouring through that rift, and before they could even touch the ground, they dissolved into nothing. It felt as though they were being digested by this world itself…"
"Digested?" Chang Tian raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly. Much like how we demons consume food and take it into our bellies—only the speed of that digestion was extraordinarily fast. And as those continental fragments were digested, this world gradually underwent changes as well." Huo Lun eyed Chang Tian's back cautiously, his mind wavering over whether or not to mention his own gains. The first time this world changed, he had collected quite a few valuable items—even picking up a Half-Saint's spatial ring. He didn't know whether Chang Tian's appearance here was connected to those things, but if he mentioned them, what if Chang Tian decided to confiscate everything?
That was capital he could never have accumulated in a hundred lifetimes…
Just as he was torn between hope and fear, Chang Tian spoke again: "What did the rift in the sky look like? And what about the continental fragments? Describe them in detail…"
Huo Lun swallowed hard and immediately recounted everything he had witnessed over the past year in meticulous detail. Chang Tian showed no reaction the entire time, simply listening, which left Huo Lun's heart pounding with dread, terrified that a single wrong word might earn him annihilation at the hands of this great being.
But what brought him a measure of relief was that Chang Tian never once mentioned anything about Half-Saint relics…
The Tianwu Continent was not close to the Hundred Spirit Continent, but after leaving the fifty thousand Proud Snow Ice Guards behind and having only Yang Kai and Bo Ya making the journey, their speed was naturally incomparable to before.
In just a few days, the two arrived at the Tianwu Continent.