No one knew where Great Moon Prefecture was located. The group followed the guide, pressing onward. A full month passed in a blur, and that fox-shaped guide continued to lead the way up ahead, with no telling when the journey would end.
In the beginning, everyone's mood had been relatively calm. But as time wore on, impatience inevitably set in—especially for Ah Sun, who had begun to wonder whether the guide that Senior had given her was actually useful at all. Otherwise, how could they have been walking for so long without reaching their destination?
Until one day, when a Domain Gate suddenly appeared up ahead, stretching across the void.
The fox guide charged straight toward it, only stopping at the last moment before turning its head to look back at the group.
"It seems we're meant to pass through this Domain Gate," Yang Kai mused thoughtfully. Domain Gates were nothing new to him—he had used them several times before when following Duan Hai to Seven Illusion Ground. But traversing a Domain Gate required considerable strength as a safeguard; without sufficient cultivation, it could be quite dangerous. Could the four of them manage it? They'd better not go in standing up and come out horizontally.
He wasn't the only one thinking this. Old Fang and the others clearly shared the same concern, and all of them halted in their tracks, frowning as they gazed ahead.
Just then, the fox guide suddenly shook its body and transformed in a flash into a layer of luminous white light that enveloped them all.
The four exchanged glances, and their faces brightened with relief. They realized that Ah Sun's Senior had clearly anticipated this as well—knowing that Ah Sun's strength alone would be insufficient to pass through a Domain Gate, the guide apparently had a protective function built in.
Without a word of discussion, all four charged into the Domain Gate together.
A sensation of spinning and tumbling assaulted them, and before their eyes, their vision blurred—then they found themselves in an entirely different great domain. The starry scenery all around had shifted. That brief transit had carried them across an unknowable distance.
After emerging from the Domain Gate, the white light wrapped around them reassembled into the shape of the fox. But the fox no longer appeared as robust as before; instead, it had turned remarkably dim and faint. That single passage through the Domain Gate had clearly taken a considerable toll on it.
As before, the fox guide flew on ahead while the four followed behind, continuing their rapid flight.
Half a month later, the fox guide stopped once again before another Domain Gate.
Having experienced this before, the group knew the drill. They clustered together, and the fox guide transformed into a layer of white light just as last time, wrapping them up.
Yang Kai took the lead, ushering the other three into the Domain Gate. But this time, they were not so fortunate. The moment they entered the gate, Yang Kai immediately felt a tearing force bearing down from every direction. The white light wrapped around their bodies dimmed rapidly.
Yang Kai's heart lurched. This is bad, he thought. The fox guide had been left by Ah Sun's Senior to guide her to Great Moon Prefecture. That Senior probably never anticipated that Ah Sun wouldn't be traveling alone but would bring three others along. With four people instead of one, the guide's consumption during transit would be several times greater.
Moreover, Great Moon Prefecture was merely a Spirit Prefecture. By Old Fang's classification, it ranked among the lowest-tier forces in the world beyond this realm. The strongest cultivators there were at most Third-Order Open Heaven. Presumably, Ah Sun's Senior had limited strength as well, and the guide's capabilities naturally couldn't be that powerful. After two consecutive passages through Domain Gates, the guide's power was nearly exhausted.
"Don't resist!" Yang Kai barked in a low voice. With a wave of his hand, he brought out the Six Harmonies Gracious Bag and cast it over Ah Sun and the others.
The three of them had also noticed something wrong with the guide. Seeing Yang Kai's action, they understood immediately and promptly relaxed their minds.
With a flash, all three were sucked into the Gracious Bag.
With three fewer people, the white light wrapping around Yang Kai's body certainly dimmed at a much slower pace—but it was still fading rapidly.
Yang Kai's heart was in his throat. He had no idea what would happen to him without the guide's protection and could only pray silently that they would make it through the Domain Gate quickly.
In the warped space-time, a faint glimmer of light appeared in the distance ahead. Yang Kai rallied his spirits and urgently urged the Laws of Space forward, hurtling toward it.
It might have been only an instant, or it might have been an eternity. Yang Kai felt his vision shift, and then he burst out of the Domain Gate.
He looked back. The void behind him was empty. This Domain Gate was identical in nature to the Boundary Gates in the Demon Domain—one-way, though perhaps some were two-way; he simply hadn't encountered one yet.
He looked down. The white light that had been wrapped around his body had vanished completely. Yang Kai was momentarily speechless.
He released Ah Sun and the other three from the Gracious Bag. Ah Sun asked, "Where's the fox?"
Yang Kai shook his head.
Ah Sun's face changed. She hurriedly took out the token that Senior had left her—the palm-sized white jade fox. Its luster had gone dim, and its entire surface was covered with cracks, as though it might shatter at a touch.
Needless to say, the token could no longer be activated.
"Ah Sun…" Yang Kai rubbed his head with some discomfort. "We may have dragged you into this."
If Ah Sun had been traveling alone, the guide's power should have been sufficient to lead her safely to Great Moon Prefecture. But with three additional people, the consumption during transit had been far too great. Now they hadn't even reached Great Moon Prefecture, and the guide was gone—that was quite an awkward situation.
Ah Sun was dazed for a moment, clearly not having expected this either. The reason she had invited Yang Kai and the others to accompany her to Great Moon Prefecture was twofold: partly because she felt Yang Kai and his companions were decent people at heart, but more importantly—as she had said—she didn't dare wander about alone in this world beyond the realm. She was merely a cultivator who had just condensed her Dao Seal, and if she truly encountered any danger, she would have no way to defend herself.
Clutching the white jade fox, Ah Sun forced a small smile and shook her head. "It's not your fault. I was the one who asked you to come with me."
"Then what do we do now?" Die You looked to Yang Kai and asked.