As she spoke, Xia Linlang took control of Linglang Palace and directed it to veer toward another direction.
Turning back was far too risky. Granny Jiu and her group were undoubtedly tailing them, and if they simply reversed course, they would very likely run headlong into a fierce battle.
Yang Kai hesitated for a moment, then rose to his feet. "In that case, let's part ways."
Now that they had temporarily broken free, relying on his Space Laws, he might well have a chance to shake off the pursuit of those four High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators.
Xia Linlang snorted coldly. "My hiding place was destroyed because of you. Now I have no home in the Shattered Sky, and you think you can just brush off your hands and walk away? Since when has anything in this world been that easy?"
Yang Kai said mildly, "Then what do you want?"
Xia Linlang glared at him hatefully and said through gritted teeth, "Aren't you proficient in Space Laws? The Shattered Sky is full of Small Worlds and Blessed Lands hidden in the void. The moment you help me find one, you can leave!"
Yang Kai shook his head. "Even with my proficiency in Space Laws, finding those hidden Small Worlds and Blessed Lands won't be easy. If they were that easy to find, someone would have discovered them long ago. Besides, Granny Jiu's target is me to begin with. If we part ways, it benefits you too. And once I escape the Shattered Sky, I doubt Granny Jiu and the others would dare chase me out. It's a win-win — why would you stand in the way?"
Though he said this, Yang Kai knew perfectly well that Xia Linlang was still fixated on the Heaven and Earth Spring. As long as she didn't have the Spring, she would never let him go willingly. For her, the losses this time had been staggering — her hiding place, the Linglang Small World, was destroyed, and she was now hunted by dangerous enemies. If she could obtain the Heaven and Earth Spring, it would naturally compensate for everything.
"I don't care." Xia Linlang was dead set on keeping Yang Kai around. "If you're determined to leave, don't blame me for turning hostile."
"Impossible!" Yang Kai was furious.
Xia Linlang broke into a smile and looked at him provocatively. "So what are you going to do about it?"
Yang Kai wanted nothing more than to punch that face. The two stared each other down for a long while, but Yang Kai ultimately had no choice but to surrender. "Fine. I'll help you find a hiding place, and then I'm leaving. If you try to stop me again after that, I won't hesitate to drag us both down just to make sure you don't come out well either."
Before Xia Linlang could reply, her expression suddenly changed. She turned her head sharply in one direction. "They're coming fast!"
In the void, three streaks of light were hurtling toward them. They were still far off, but they were unmistakably Granny Jiu and her group. Before they even arrived, several divine abilities were already bombarding them from afar.
Yang Kai and Xia Linlang exchanged a glance. Without any discussion, they moved in perfect concert — one controlling Linglang Palace to flee at full speed, the other operating the grand defensive formation to withstand the incoming attacks.
Under the flickering barrier, Linglang Palace shuddered violently, transforming into a streak of light as it plunged deep into the Shattered Sky at breakneck speed. Granny Jiu and her group gave chase without relent.
Yang Kai couldn't help but curse aloud. "If you hadn't changed direction, how could they have caught up so quickly?"
Xia Linlang snorted coldly. "You're the one who decided to leave without consulting me, and now you're blaming me? As a man, don't you have even a shred of accountability?"
Yang Kai gritted his teeth and said nothing. Though Linglang Palace's escape speed was by no means slow, shaking off Granny Jiu and her group was an incredibly difficult task.
Over the next month, the two groups chased and fled, plunging untold tens of thousands of miles deeper into the Shattered Sky.
And during that month, a piece of news spread like wildfire through the Shattered Sky, causing an absolute uproar.
The Heaven and Earth Spring, one of the Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth, had appeared — and it was in the hands of a Sixth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, who was now fleeing through the Shattered Sky in Xia Linlang's custody.
The entire Shattered Sky was shaken to its core.
The Four Pillars of Heaven and Earth — what manner of wondrous objects were they? Though they had not yet reached the level of Heaven and Earth Treasures, for Open Heaven cultivators, they were more precious even than such treasures.
The last time word of a Pillar's appearance had spread was three thousand years ago, when the Xuanji Fish surfaced. In the scramble to claim it, the entire Shattered Sky had been thrown into turmoil. Countless reclusive High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators emerged from seclusion to join the fray, and the conflict had lasted a full century. The Xuanji Fish changed hands multiple times before finally being secured by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator, at which point the dust finally settled. In the course of that century of upheaval, no fewer than ten High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators had perished in the Shattered Sky.
So when news of the Heaven and Earth Spring's appearance spread, even those old enough to remember the catastrophe three millennia ago couldn't help but feel deeply uneasy. Was the calamity of three thousand years ago about to repeat itself?
Under the deliberate push of certain interested parties, the news swept across the entirety of the Shattered Sky in short order. One by one, the portals of hidden Small Worlds and Blessed Lands flew open, and one by one, formidable High-Rank Open Heaven cultivators emerged from their places of seclusion — like pythons emerging from mountains and flood dragons rising from rivers — casting themselves into the Shattered Sky, stirring up a maelstrom of wind and cloud.
Inside Linglang Palace, both Yang Kai and Xia Linlang wore grim expressions.
They had originally believed that once they shook off Granny Jiu and her group, they would be safe. The Shattered Sky was vast enough — all they needed was to find some place to hide, and even Granny Jiu's group, no matter how formidable, would never be able to track them down.