Luan Baifeng had spent many years roaming the Black Prison, and while she couldn't claim to know every inch of it, she was far more familiar with the place than Yang Kai.
Under her guidance, their journey was largely uneventful, if a bit hair-raising at times.
Following behind the woman, Yang Kai also activated the World Destroying Demon Eye to keep watch over their surroundings. The Demon Eye was truly remarkable—Yang Kai could clearly make out traces of restrictive formations dotted throughout the area. But since he had no understanding of formation arts, all he could do was see them. Luan Baifeng, on the other hand, could not only spot them but also devise ways to bypass or avoid them entirely.
More than once, she led him straight through the heart of a grand formation, yet somehow managed to avoid triggering a single restriction.
After traveling a while longer, a peculiar aura suddenly manifested in the void around them. Under its pull, Yang Kai felt the world force within his Small Universe begin seeping outward uncontrollably.
He let out a startled grunt and hastily tried to seal his Small Universe to stem the flow, but it was no use. The world force continued to trickle away.
"It won't help," Luan Baifeng said, clearly having noticed his efforts. "The dangers of the Black Prison come in two forms. The first is the omnipresent restrictive formations, and the second is this strange aura. While enveloped by it, no matter what cultivation realm an Open Heaven cultivator is in, they cannot prevent their Small Universe from leaking world force. We've only just grazed the outer boundary of this aura—the deeper you go, the stronger it becomes, and the faster your world force drains. I'd advise you to start replenishing your energy now, or you'll find yourself unable to keep going."
As she spoke, she grabbed a handful of Open Heaven Pills, popped them into her mouth, and began silently refining them.
Yang Kai gave a slight nod but didn't take it too seriously. The world force was indeed draining, but at a slow enough pace that he could afford to ignore it for the time being. Besides, he wanted to understand what this aura actually was and why it caused such an effect.
He quieted his mind and focused, sensing carefully, but gained nothing.
Still, his thoughts drifted to his experience in the Shadowless Heavenly Paradise. That place had the Shadowless Gale—a wind whose true essence was an immensely powerful divine ability that enveloped the entire paradise. Occasionally it would blow into the heavens within the paradise, sweeping through the Small Universes of Open Heaven cultivators and stripping away their world force.
The Shadowless Gale and this strange aura in the Black Prison were fundamentally different. The gale was an external force that surged into one's Small Universe and plundered its reserves. But in the Black Prison, the reserves were draining from within, as if the Small Universe itself was hemorrhaging power.
In the Shadowless Heavenly Paradise, he had withstood the gale by relying on the Mighty Evergreen. Whether that wood-element divine ability would work against the Black Prison's peculiar aura, he had no idea.
At that thought, Yang Kai immediately activated the Mighty Evergreen. A brilliant emerald light bloomed from his body, dense life force radiating outward as the ancient tree materialized, its branches draping down to envelop both him and Luan Baifeng.
The moment the technique took effect, the eerie aura pervading the surrounding void was sealed out entirely, and the world force that had been draining from his Small Universe ceased flowing.
It worked! Yang Kai's expression brightened. The wood-element power refined from the Tree of Life's essence truly was extraordinary—not only could it fend off the erosion of the Shadowless Gale, it could also block this omnipresent strange aura.
Though come to think of it, the Tree of Life was a supreme treasure of heaven and earth, of extraordinary rank. That it possessed such wondrous properties wasn't all that surprising. The biggest obstacle had just been cleared.
"What did you do?" Luan Baifeng's beautiful eyes were wide with shock as she stared at Yang Kai. She had felt the change in herself with perfect clarity—in that instant, the world force that had been steadily leaking away had simply stopped, and even the strange aura had vanished. "Isn't this technique of yours for healing?"
Previously, after she had been burned by the True Golden Crow Fire, Yang Kai had used the Mighty Evergreen to heal her injuries. But now it was clear that this secret art was far more than just a healing technique.
For years, she had been searching for a way to counter the Black Prison's omnipresent strange aura without the slightest clue how. Never had she imagined that today she would witness a miracle in Yang Kai.
"This technique not only has healing properties—it also has defensive capabilities," Yang Kai explained casually.
Luan Baifeng's eyes lit up as she gazed at him. "How long can you maintain this technique? Does it consume a great deal of energy?"
Yang Kai chuckled. "As long as it only covers the two of us, the consumption isn't significant. I should be able to sustain it for quite a long time." He was now a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator with vast reserves, and with the Mighty Evergreen restricted to a very small area, the drain was negligible—practically nothing. Besides, his spatial ring held countless Open Heaven Pills. It wasn't as if he couldn't replenish what he used.
Luan Baifeng stared at him with complicated emotions. The problem that had plagued her for years had been solved in a single moment, and the elation she felt was undeniable. But when she considered her current circumstances and status, that spark of excitement dimmed considerably. Even if they could reach deeper mining stars, whatever was extracted would belong to someone else—it had nothing to do with her anymore.
Her spirits sank abruptly, and she fell silent for the rest of the journey, only activating her eye techniques to detect the surrounding formations and guide Yang Kai onward.
After more than half a day, Luan Baifeng spoke up. "Another hour ahead, and we'll enter the no-man's zone. My mining slaves can't stay there for long. Those deeper mining stars haven't been worked in many years."
Yang Kai nodded. "The Sixth and Seventh-Order resources—most of them come from there?"
"The majority, yes. Though a few were obtained from the outer regions. The outer mining stars are sparser in output, but it's not impossible for Sixth-Order materials to appear—just exceedingly rare."
Yang Kai turned to look at her. "I've heard that many of your mining slaves were kidnapped, or they're war captives. If that's the case, their loyalty to you must be thin at best. How do you make sure they don't secretly refine the resources they extract?"