Half a day later, the five mid-rank Open Heaven cultivators giving chase suddenly perked up, surprise and delight flashing across their faces.
Yuan Xiaoman said, "He seems to have stopped?"
Old Hong's spirits surged. "He must have run out of energy!" After all, the boy was merely an Emperor Realm cultivator who had only just condensed his Dao Seal. The fact that he had managed to flee for this long under pursuit from several mid-rank Open Heaven cultivators was impressive enough, but such a desperate flight exacted an enormous toll — how could he possibly keep running forever?
Everyone's eyes brightened as their speed increased sharply. Madam Lan surged to the forefront in particular, leaving the rest far behind, which put a damper on the spirits of Yuan Xiaoman and the others.
In the distant void, Yang Kai stood still, gazing calmly at the five figures hurtling toward him. He exhaled softly while producing several spirit pills from his storage and popping them into his mouth, refining and regulating his breathing.
"Brat!" Madam Lan's voice drifted over from afar. "After all this is settled, how about joining my First Inn?"
Yang Kai could really move, and his mastery of the Space Laws was exceptional. She had genuinely taken a liking to his talent. Besides, she was about to seize the Golden Crow corpse from his hands — the First Inn had always prided itself on conducting business harmoniously. Though this time she was acting in a personal capacity to take the treasure, it was still robbery at the end of the day. Letting him join the First Inn could serve as compensation. Most importantly, Yang Kai had offended so many powerful figures this time. Without someone to shelter him, he would have no way to survive in the Outer Expanse — he might very well turn up dead in the void by tomorrow.
Taking someone's belongings and then preserving their life was only fair.
Yang Kai chuckled. "Join the First Inn? What would I even do there? I don't know how to cook."
Madam Lan laughed softly. "Since you can run so well, you can be a errand boy."
Yang Kai found this amusing. "The proprietress flatters me, and I'm grateful for the kindness. But my ambitions lie elsewhere, I'm afraid — you'll have to forgive my disappointment."
Madam Lan frowned. "Do you have any idea how deep a hole you've dug for yourself? Without someone's protection, how could you possibly survive?"
"Of course I know!" Yang Kai nodded lightly. "But I'm not accustomed to placing my fate in someone else's hands. Proprietress — green hills never change, and green waters flow ever on. We'll meet again!"
With that, he raised his hand in a casual wave toward Madam Lan.
A sense of alarm flared instinctively in her mind, and she cried out, "Wait!"
But Yang Kai had no intention of waiting. His figure flickered and vanished on the spot.
"Damn it!" Madam Lan clenched her teeth and let out an exasperated cry. She had been so close — just a hair's breadth away from being able to unleash her power to lock down the surrounding space and prevent him from using that spatial teleportation again. But that tiny gap had been enough to foiled her completely. With that single teleportation, the distance between them had widened enormously, and catching up would take considerable effort.
What utter ingratitude! Madam Lan gritted her teeth and sent her spiritual sense spreading outward like a tide, trying to locate Yang Kai's position. But the very next instant, her expression shifted — within the range of her spiritual perception, there was no trace of Yang Kai's aura. The boy had simply vanished into thin air!
Madam Lan's red lips parted in astonishment, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief. It wasn't as though Yang Kai hadn't performed spatial teleportations right under her nose before, but every time there had been a limit to the distance. Even after teleporting, he had never been able to escape her range of detection, which meant she could quickly pinpoint his location and continue the chase. But this time… he was simply gone.
How was that possible? Could the boy's teleportation really cover such an enormous distance? If he had that ability, he could have shaken them off long ago — why wait until now?
While she was still puzzling over this, Old Hong and the others caught up. He turned his head and asked, "Where is he?"
Madam Lan shook her head, indicating she didn't know.
Old Hong and the others naturally didn't believe her. They extended their own spiritual senses to probe, but none of them detected Yang Kai's aura either. They were only Fourth-rank Open Heaven cultivators — if even Madam Lan, a Sixth-rank, couldn't sense him, how could they possibly find him?
"Sister Lan, did you already capture that brat?" Yuan Xiaoman looked Madam Lan up and down, her eyes brimming with suspicion.
Madam Lan was caught between amusement and annoyance. She reached over and flicked Yuan Xiaoman on the forehead. "If only I had caught him — that would be a relief. Unfortunately, the boy is not in my custody."
Yuan Xiaoman rubbed her head with both hands. "If he's not, he's not — no need to hit me."
While the two were talking, Old Hong suddenly formed a series of hand seals. A profound and mysterious aura undulated throughout his entire body. Everyone turned to look and saw with shock that a thin red thread, somewhere between corporeal and ethereal, was coiling around his fingertip.
Yuan Xiaoman's eyes lit up. "A Soul-Tracking Thread! Old Hong, when did you plant that?"
Old Hong snorted. "It was only a precaution against the unexpected — I never thought it would actually come in handy." Earlier, he had launched a single attack at Yang Kai. Although the distance had prevented him from dealing any real damage, that brief exchange had allowed him to secretly capture a wisp of Yang Kai's aura and fuse it into the Soul-Tracking Thread.
The Soul-Tracking Thread didn't have much practical use beyond tracking, but for that purpose it was remarkably effective. So long as the distance wasn't absurdly great, the thread could always point toward the correct direction.
As he spoke, Old Hong worked his method. The red thread drifted free, then slowly oriented itself to point in a specific direction.
Everyone stared at it, then turned their heads to look behind them…
Because the Soul-Tracking Thread was pointing back the way they had come. In other words, Yang Kai had somehow slipped past them without anyone noticing and was now positioned behind their group.
"Old Hong, are you sure this is right? The direction seems wrong." Yuan Xiaoman blinked at him.
"Impossible!" Old Hong's expression turned slightly awkward. "The Soul-Tracking Thread can't be wrong. If it's pointing that way, then that boy is genuinely in that direction."