"What's your name?" the young woman suddenly asked.
Yang Kai gave his name, as honest as could be, and tacked on at the end: "I am a Disciple of Mingwang Heaven!"
The young woman laughed coldly, entirely unimpressed.
Yang Kai immediately realized he'd been overdoing it. He'd meant to use Mingwang Heaven's name as a shield, hoping this Seventh-Order woman would show at least some restraint and stop entertaining thoughts of killing him. But from the look of it, she couldn't care less whether he was a Disciple of Mingwang Heaven or not.
It seemed that, just as Xu Wang had warned before, in this Shattered Heavens, noble backgrounds were all smoke and mirrors — only real strength mattered. Open Heaven cultivators from the various Paradises and Blesseds had died in these Shattered Heavens before, and so what? The killers were still going about their business, free as ever.
Realizing this, Yang Kai shut his mouth right away, afraid that the more he said, the worse things would get.
The young woman's expression suddenly changed. She whipped her head toward a direction and snarled through clenched teeth: "Old hag, you got here fast!"
The instant the words left her mouth, she seized Yang Kai's shoulder. World Force surged forth, enveloping him as she prepared to flee.
But a savage, overwhelming wave of power swept toward them at the same moment. The young woman gritted her teeth and flung Yang Kai aside. Her slender figure spun in midair as she raised a palm to meet the incoming attack.
The tiny Shattered Spirit Province couldn't begin to withstand the aftershock of two Upper-Grade powerhouses clashing. It detonated and burst apart with a deafening roar.
By the time Yang Kai came back to his senses, the young woman was already standing beside him once more, gazing ahead as though facing a formidable foe. Following her line of sight, he saw a white-haired old woman standing in the void, hunched at the waist, her gaze locked onto Yang Kai with naked greed.
That stare made Yang Kai's skin crawl.
"You old crone, you're courting death!" the young woman snapped.
The old woman's wrinkled face crumpled into a dried smile. "Xia Linlang, you and I are both Seventh-Order — don't put on such a big act. Could you really kill this old woman?"
Xia Linlang — the name the old woman had called her — let out a cold snort. "If I can't kill you today, what about tomorrow? Don't forget, you're already halfway buried. I'm in the prime of my life — I can outlast you if nothing else."
The old woman nodded. "True, true. You're young, and youth is capital. But youth doesn't necessarily mean you'd be willing to gamble your life the way this old woman would. If I trade my life for yours, would you take that deal?"
Xia Linlang's delicate brows knitted tightly. "I found him first. The Heaven and Earth Spring should be mine. If you withdraw today, my Linlang Palace will offer suitable compensation."
The old woman chuckled. "If matters like these were decided by who arrived first, we wouldn't have had to beat each other half to death earlier. As for compensation — you said it yourself. I'm halfway into the grave. What use would compensation be to me?"
Xia Linlang ground her teeth. "Then what use is the Heaven and Earth Spring to you?"
"I have my own reasons. That's none of your concern."
"Looks like you really do want to die here!" The words had barely left her mouth before killing intent radiated from Xia Linlang in waves.
The old woman shook her head slowly. "Don't try to scare me. When you and I fight, it's a fifty-fifty split at best. If we make too much noise, we'll only end up playing into someone else's hands!"
Xia Linlang's expression shifted to guarded vigilance as she swept her spiritual sense around the area, but she detected no trace of anyone nearby. She snorted coldly. "Spooky talk."
"Don't worry. I only stumbled on this place by chance. That fellow went in another direction — he won't be paying attention to this side for the time being." Though the old woman had been speaking to Xia Linlang the entire time, her seemingly cloudy eyes had never once left Yang Kai. Now she frowned suddenly. "That's odd... someone with your temperament letting this boy live? Could it be..."
Her expression changed abruptly. She glared at Yang Kai. "Boy, you've already stored that Heaven and Earth Spring inside your Small Universe!"
Yang Kai said nothing. He merely glanced at Xia Linlang, the picture of obedience.
The old woman burst into hearty laughter. "You've got more luck than sense, boy. No wonder you haven't died at this woman's hands. Did you think she spared you because she has a kind heart?"
In truth, Yang Kai had never figured out why Xia Linlang hadn't killed him. After she'd planted the silver-thread restriction on his body, he'd been bracing for the worst, yet she'd shown not the slightest intent to strike.
"Wrong. The only reason she didn't kill you is because the Heaven and Earth Spring is locked inside your Small Universe. You're only a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator. If you die and your Dao dissolves, your Small Universe will collapse — and the Heaven and Earth Spring would very likely be destroyed along with it. Why would she take that kind of risk? Didn't she ask you whether you had any chance of advancing to the Upper Grade?"
Without waiting for Yang Kai to answer, the old woman continued on her own. "You must have some chance of reaching the Upper Grade, otherwise you'd be long dead — you wouldn't still be standing here. But the moment you do advance to the Upper Grade, that will be the moment you die. An Upper Grade Open Heaven cultivator's Small Universe has already transitioned from illusory to substantial. At that point, even if you're killed, the Heaven and Earth Spring can be safely preserved."
Understanding dawned on Yang Kai's face.
No wonder Xia Linlang had said she didn't mind taking a gamble. He was currently Sixth-Order. If he were killed, the Heaven and Earth Spring would very likely be annihilated along with the collapse of his Small Universe. That was why she'd kept him alive — like raising a chicken or duck, waiting for him to reach the Seventh-Order before making her move.
Yang Kai didn't feel much anger. What he did feel was a cold sweat trickling down his back.
Though he was Sixth-Order on the surface, his Small Universe had long since transitioned from illusory to substantial. In other words, even if he died, it wouldn't affect the Heaven and Earth Spring rooted inside his Small Universe one bit.
He made a firm decision then and there: no matter what happened, he could never reveal the secret of his Small Universe. Otherwise, there really would be no way out.