This was a massive windfall! He had stumbled into this place by sheer coincidence, only to obtain so much True Solar Fire all at once. But now both ends of the passage were sealed shut, leaving him unable to advance or retreat—a truly exasperating situation.
Yang Kai quietly resolved to thoroughly search the area after collecting all the Fire Jade. If he still couldn't find a way out, he'd have no choice but to use Spatial Teleportation to escape.
It took him well over an hour of painstaking effort to gather every last piece of Fire Jade from the passage. Just as he was about to examine the corridor further, his expression suddenly shifted, and he turned his head to look in one direction.
Faintly, he seemed to hear something coming from that way!
Listening more carefully—yes, there was definitely noise, and it sounded like someone was attacking the bronze door that sealed the passage!
Someone was on the other side of that bronze door? Yang Kai's expression changed in alarm, and he rushed over immediately.
If there was someone on the other side, that meant this passage wasn't a dead end—he just hadn't figured out which end was the entrance and which was the exit.
Arriving before the great door, Yang Kai silently probed with his senses. His expression darkened slightly; whoever was attacking seemed quite powerful—at minimum, a Mid-grade Open Heaven cultivator.
Just then, a faint series of sounds reached his ears. Looking closely, he saw hairline cracks spreading across the surface of the bronze door.
The very bronze door he had been unable to budge was about to shatter! The thought had barely crossed his mind when a thunderous boom rang out and the massive door exploded apart, its huge panels splitting into pieces and flying in every direction. One shard nearly struck him.
Yang Kai instinctively activated the Laws of Space to flee, but after a moment's hesitation, he suppressed the impulse. Instead, he produced the Shadowless Veil he had obtained from Du Rufeng and wrapped it around himself. Instantly, his figure vanished from sight, and he held his breath, suppressing every trace of his aura.
If he left now, getting back in wouldn't be easy. He hadn't even laid eyes on the True Solar Gold yet, and he wasn't willing to retreat so easily. But his current strength was far too low to challenge anyone in the Open Heaven Realm—his only trump card was the Shadowless Veil.
Du Rufeng had told him this thing was a gift from Duan Hai. No one below Mid-grade Open Heaven could hope to see through it, and even Mid-grade Open Heaven cultivators might overlook it if they weren't searching carefully.
He prayed inwardly that Du Rufeng hadn't been exaggerating. If someone spotted him here at a time like this, there'd be no way to explain his presence, and his only option would be to flee.
After concealing himself, Yang Kai ducked behind a shattered door panel, using it to cover most of his body.
He had barely settled into position when an excited cheer rang out from outside: "Sister Lan is amazing!"
Then a voice that sounded somewhat familiar replied: "Stop flattering me!"
The first voice was pure and pleasant; the second was sweet and soft, giving off a completely different impression. Yang Kai frowned slightly, his expression turning somewhat odd—that second voice sounded a bit like... the proprietress of the First Inn?
He had stayed at the First Inn for four months, meeting with Die You and the others in the common hall every three days. He'd seen the proprietress many times. They weren't especially close, but they had exchanged a few words.
Still, it wasn't surprising to find the proprietress here. The First Inn wasn't far from this location, and the forces from the surrounding great domains had all come to investigate the Sun Star's condition. Being situated in this domain, the First Inn couldn't very well sit idle. The proprietress showing up here was perfectly natural.
"I'm not flattering you—Sister Lan really is incredible. Xiaoman admires you so much!" the pure voice protested, then asked, "Don't you all agree?"
"Yes, yes, absolutely!" A chorus of voices answered in quick succession, laced with flattery.
So many people! Yang Kai was startled and hid himself even more carefully.
"All you do is talk. Go inside and take a look," the voice resembling the proprietress said. A voluptuous figure stepped into the passage.
Yang Kai glanced over and confirmed his guess—it was indeed the proprietress of the First Inn.
The proprietress stood still and surveyed the passage in all directions. Her gaze suddenly locked onto a particular spot, and her beautiful eyes went wide! As though she had seen something utterly inconceivable, even her rosy lips parted slightly.
Yang Kai's mouth twitched. He silently cursed Du Rufeng for being utterly unreliable—the man had claimed the Shadowless Veil was remarkably effective, that no one below Mid-grade Open Heaven could see through it, and even Mid-grade Open Heaven cultivators might overlook it if they weren't searching carefully.
Overlook my ass...
The proprietress had barely stepped inside before fixing her gaze squarely on him. She had clearly seen him!
Yang Kai's expression was beyond awkward—the guilty feeling of being caught red-handed in some misdeed. It was probably too late to run now. He squeezed out a small smile toward the proprietress and secretly clasped his hands in a plea for mercy.
"What's wrong, Sister Lan? Did you find something?" A pretty young girl suddenly darted in and asked with suspicion.
The proprietress shifted her gaze and shook her head. "Nothing. There's nothing here. Let's keep looking ahead."
"Oh!" The girl accepted this without question and followed the proprietress forward.
Right behind the two of them, a crowd of people surged in.