Bian Yuqing shook her head. "I just got here myself, so I don't know what happened either. Did the Sect Master say anything to you before he went into closed-door cultivation?"
"He didn't," Yue He replied, her brow creased with worry. "It should have been an ordinary session of secluded cultivation."
"Not even Left Protector figured it out?" Bian Yuqing was startled. She was only at the Emperor Realm now, so it was perfectly normal for her to be unable to see through the situation—her discernment simply wasn't sharp enough. But if even Yue He, a Sixth-Order Open Heaven Realm cultivator, couldn't see through it, something was clearly off.
Could it be... a Qi Deviation?
The thought made Bian Yuqing's face go pale in an instant.
Yue He seemed to sense her worry and offered some reassurance. "Don't worry too much. It's not what you're thinking. The Young Master may simply be comprehending something. Hmm, go quickly to Dragon Son Peak and invite Old Master Bixi over. With his discernment, he should be able to tell what's going on."
Bian Yuqing nodded hastily. "I'll head over right away."
Void Land had two Sacred Spirits—the Heavenly Moon Demon Spider and Bixi. The former rarely ever emerged from seclusion; aside from Yang Kai's occasional dealings with her, even Bian Yuqing as the Second Steward had to wait on her mood for an audience. Bixi was different. Though he held the exalted status of a Sacred Spirit, he was quite amiable, and Bian Yuqing had visited him from time to time. She knew his temperament, and she was confident he wouldn't refuse.
She hurried to Dragon Son Peak and found Bixi instructing the two children, Xiao Hei and Xiao Hong. After Bian Yuqing explained the situation, Bixi didn't dare delay and rushed over immediately.
Before long, Bixi arrived at a brisk pace, practically dragged along by Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei.
"Old Master!" Yue He greeted him with a graceful bow. Every single person in Void Land held this kind, approachable elder Sacred Spirit in the highest regard.
"Mm." Bixi gave a brief acknowledgment and lifted his gaze toward the front.
"Please take a look, Old Master. Something seems to be happening with the Young Master over there."
"Don't rush," Bixi said, waving a hand dismissively. He focused his attention forward, and after a moment, let out a soft sound of surprise. His eyes locked onto a specific spot in the void, and an expression of utter astonishment spread across his face.
Yue He and Bian Yuqing stood off to the side, unable to tell what exactly he had seen, but not daring to interrupt.
After another stretch of time, Bixi suddenly raised one hand and reached toward the space ahead.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, as Bixi extended his hand into that chaotic void, the hand simply vanished from sight without any explanation whatsoever.
A moment later, Bixi withdrew his hand, and both Yue He and Bian Yuqing couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Bixi's aged, weathered hand had been transformed on the surface into something resembling porcelain—translucent and crystalline, with a peculiar power coiling around it.
Bixi stared at his own hand for a long moment, then suddenly chuckled. "Now that's interesting."
With a casual flick of his wrist, the porcelain-like sheen faded rapidly and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Old Master, is the Young Master in any danger?" Yue He asked anxiously.
Bixi considered for a moment. "No danger, don't worry too much. It seems he's comprehending some sort of profound secret technique. Mm, it should be related to the Laws of Space and the Laws of Time—that's why all these bizarre phenomena are appearing."
Yue He and Bian Yuqing exchanged a glance and both let out a sigh of relief.
"Keep watching over things. If anything else unusual happens, let me know," Bixi said, and then led the two children, Xiao Hong and Xiao Hei, back the way he had come.
"I'll walk you out, Old Master!" Bian Yuqing hurried after him.
After seeing Bixi off, Bian Yuqing rushed back and dispersed the crowd of Disciples who had gathered to observe. She ordered the area within a radius of several dozen li around Yang Kai's palace to be cleared, while she and Yue He maintained a close watch on the developments nearby.
Over the following month, the chaotic disturbance in the void persisted, and as time went on, it underwent subtle changes.
More than once, Yue He and Bian Yuqing caught glimpses of even stranger phenomena within that turbulent space—sometimes shadowy figures flickering about, other times what appeared to be people locked in combat.
But the space-time distortions were far too severe for anyone to see clearly. The two women couldn't even be sure whether what they had witnessed was real or merely an illusion.
This situation continued for several full months.
Then one day, all the anomalous manifestations suddenly dissipated without a trace, as if they had never existed at all, and the void returned to normal.
Bian Yuqing and Yue He, who had been standing guard nearby the entire time, locked eyes and simultaneously darted toward Yang Kai's palace.
Inside the palace, Yang Kai opened his eyes, sinking into contemplation.
This period of closed-door cultivation had been quite fruitful. Ever since he had created the Sun Moon Divine Wheel, he hadn't had the time to properly study its mysteries. Now, with some free time on his hands, he had been able to refine and develop the framework of this technique.
However, as he had continued his comprehension, Yang Kai had discovered a problem—his mastery of the Laws of Space had outpaced his mastery of the Laws of Time.
Space was, after all, the bedrock upon which he had built his entire path. His study and grasp of the Laws of Space might not have reached the absolute pinnacle, but he had certainly absorbed their essential essence.
His Dao Seal had been condensed with the Laws of Space as its foundation, and that was what had allowed him to advance into the Open Heaven Realm.
The Laws of Time were a different matter entirely. In the very beginning, he had brushed against their surface through the Ages Flow Like a Weaving Shuttle technique—barely touching the fringe. Later, in the ancient battlefield ruins of the Star Boundary, he had personally witnessed the echo left behind by the battle between the Emperor of Years and the Great Demon God, and that had granted him entry through the door to deeper understanding.
Once he had achieved the Open Heaven Realm and opened heaven and earth within his own body, watching the sun rise and the moon set as time flowed ceaselessly forward, he had been able to take a tremendous leap forward in his comprehension of the Laws of Time.