Seeing Yang Kai and Xia Linlang continuing to flee without pause, Divine Lord Shengyang's face twisted with irritation. He gave a cold snort. "Stubborn fools!"
He raised a palm and clawed forward with vicious intent. As the Power of the World surged, a colossal azure-hued handprint materialized in the void, descending upon Yang Kai and Xia Linlang like an inescapable net, blotting out the sky and earth.
The enormous handprint covered such a vast area that the two had no way to dodge. In the blink of an eye, they were seized within its grip. The handprint constricted violently, binding force pressing in from every direction.
The sound of bones cracking rang out from both Yang Kai and Xia Linlang's bodies. In that instant, they could neither hear nor see, as though trapped inside a cage of darkness.
The cry of a Golden Crow rang out, and a great sun blazed to life. Yang Kai gripped the Azure Dragon Spear and thrust forward with a devastating strike, tearing through the darkness before them. At the same time, Xia Linlang unleashed a divine ability of her own.
Though Divine Lord Shengyang was an Eighth-Rank Open Heaven cultivator, attacking hastily from such a great distance made it difficult to withstand the combined breakout attempt of Yang Kai and Xia Linlang.
The colossal handprint shattered, and two figures tumbled out in a wretched state.
Divine Lord Shengyang had known his palm strike would achieve little, but that momentary delay had significantly narrowed the distance between them.
He pressed onward without hesitation, one hand clenching into a fist and smashing forward.
The force of that punch tore through the spatial barrier in an instant. Violent power erupted like a tsunami, sweeping ahead in a devastating wave.
Yang Kai's scalp went numb, every inch of his skin tightening involuntarily. He spun around in a hurry, the Azure Dragon Spear transforming into a boundless storm of spear shadows that swept forward as a shield.
Though Xia Linlang's cultivation was a full rank above his, her experience in life-and-death combat was far inferior, and her reaction lagged a half-beat behind. Still, in the same instant Yang Kai thrust his spear forward, she managed to summon a circular defensive artifact and position it before them.
Fist force infused with the World Power of an Eighth-Rank Open Heaven cultivator surged toward them. The sky full of spear shadows shattered in an instant, and the defensive artifact Xia Linlang had produced dimmed dramatically, clearly losing much of its spiritual resonance.
Like a great mountain slamming into them, both were sent flying backward, coughing up blood.
"Go!" Yang Kai swallowed the scorching blood rising in his throat. Using the rebound force to his advantage, he grabbed Xia Linlang's arm and plunged headlong into the Shattered Ruins without looking back.
Moments later, the towering figure of Divine Lord Shengyang arrived at the edge of the Shattered Ruins. He looked up and gazed at the kaleidoscope of colors filling that world, a flicker of hesitation crossing his eyes. But in the end, he took a single step forward and followed them in.
Though the Shattered Ruins carried a fearsome reputation, the allure of the Heaven and Earth Spring was beyond compare — well worth the risk. But the moment he set foot inside, a violent divine ability hurtled straight toward him. Divine Lord Shengyang's eyes went wide with fury as he threw a punch forward. The attack, no weaker than the full-force strike of a Sixth-Rank Open Heaven cultivator, exploded apart. Divine Lord Shengyang did not slow, pressing forward in rapid pursuit.
But to his surprise, as he charged ahead, innumerable divine abilities and secret arts attacked him from every direction. Each one carried power comparable to a Sixth-Rank Open Heaven's full-strength blow — no mortal threat to him individually — but they were densely packed and utterly relentless.
Ahead, Yang Kai and Xia Linlang fled for their lives, their hearts pounding with terror.
From the outside, they had merely sensed that the Shattered Ruins harbored limitless dangers. Only by truly entering could one perceive the full extent of it.
This accursed place harbored countless remnant divine abilities and secret arts.
These eerie techniques were much like the Gale Force ability Yang Kai had encountered before — lingering in existence across countless millennia, their power diminished from their original terror but compensating with sheer quantity beyond reckoning.
Before they entered, these abilities lay dormant and still. But the moment they passed, the lurking techniques seemed to sense the vitality of living beings and erupted one after another.
Each of these resurgent abilities, stirred from their long slumber, struck with power on par with a Sixth-Rank Open Heaven's full output.
And these were remnants that had persisted for countless ages, still wielding such might. One could scarcely imagine how devastating they would have been at their peak — at the very least, they would have rivaled the full-force attacks of an Eighth-Rank Open Heaven.
In this scene, the two of them were like travelers who had unwittingly stumbled into a field brimming with traps, triggering every single one along their path.
They dared not stop, and they could not stop — stopping meant death.
The numerous abilities went from dormancy to resurgence with a brief moment of hesitation — that sliver of opportunity was enough for the pair to continue their escape.
But it was a nightmare for Divine Lord Shengyang in pursuit behind them. The techniques triggered by Yang Kai and Xia Linlang rained down upon him in a relentless barrage — it was as though he were cleaning up their mess. Realizing this, Divine Lord Shengyang's rage became boundless.
Had he not chased them in, those activated techniques would have pursued Yang Kai and Xia Linlang instead. But he could not give up on the Heaven and Earth Spring, and so he had charged straight in.
Individual techniques on par with a Sixth-Rank Open Heaven's full-strength blow were no great challenge for Divine Lord Shengyang to handle, but the sheer endlessness of them was maddening. As he barreled forward, his fists swung in a frenzy, shattering how many attacking techniques — he had lost count.
Behind him, violent tremors erupted in an unbroken chain. Yang Kai naturally knew what was causing that commotion. In a situation like this, there was no room for gloating — instead, a thread of worry wove through his mind.
Though Xia Linlang had warned him before that the Shattered Ruins were extraordinarily dangerous, hearing about it was one thing; charging in yourself was something else entirely.