Yang Kai and Xia Linlang had been gone for quite some time this round — more than half a day passed with no sign of them.
Shengyang Shenjun was beginning to suspect that Yang Kai had changed his mind and intended to abandon him here.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a figure flickered beside him, and Yang Kai and Xia Linlang appeared simultaneously.
"Shenjun!" Yang Kai gave him a slight nod.
Shengyang Shenjun responded with a flat hum. "What do you need me to do?"
Yang Kai smiled. "Simple. I'll use my own strength to pull you along, but I can't afford even the slightest disturbance, so please don't offer any resistance whatsoever."
Shengyang Shenjun fixed him with a long, deep look. No resistance at all — in other words, he would be entrusting his life and death to Yang Kai's hands. If Yang Kai harbored ill intentions and launched a sudden strike, even with his Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivation, he might not be able to defend himself.
Still, he showed little hesitation. He gave a gentle nod. "Go ahead and do your thing. I'll cooperate."
Without another word, Yang Kai activated his power and enveloped the two of them. The next instant, under the surge of the Space Laws, all three figures vanished from that spatial fragment.
Time flew by — more than half a year passed as the trio traversed and shifted between fragment after fragment. From time to time, Yang Kai would stop for a while, brow furrowed as he observed their surroundings, the power of the Space Laws rippling around him as he meditated in silence.
Xia Linlang and Shengyang Shenjun, on the other hand, needed to do nothing at all. They didn't even have to stir a single thread of their own power. In this bizarre place, all hope of escape rested entirely on Yang Kai's shoulders.
Although more than half a year had passed and they still hadn't made it out of this strange space, Shengyang Shenjun showed not the slightest trace of impatience, giving Yang Kai every convenience and cooperation at every turn.
At some point, the three figures materialized abruptly within a spatial fragment. Yang Kai focused his gaze, studied their surroundings for a moment, then took a deep breath. "This is the final step."
Upon hearing this, both Shengyang Shenjun and Xia Linlang lit up with renewed vigor.
They looked around. Shengyang Shenjun frowned. "Kid Yang, are you certain that once we take this step, we'll be out of this godforsaken place? I get the feeling we haven't escaped at all — we've only gone deeper."
Yang Kai chuckled. "The spatial order here is completely thrown into chaos. Nothing your eyes see can be trusted, which is why you feel that way."
Shengyang Shenjun neither confirmed nor denied, musing for a moment. "Since you put it that way, I'll take your word for it. After this step, I'll take the lead and carve a path out for the three of us."
Yang Kai shook his head. "I still need the Shenjun to cover our rear, just like when we first broke into this place. Senior Sister Xia and I will be up front opening the way."
The various divine abilities and secret arts, as well as the triggering of Artifacts' power — these always required some time to activate. With Shengyang Shenjun covering the rear, he had the ability to neutralize them. If it were him and Xia Linlang bringing up the rear, they might not be able to hold out.
Shengyang Shenjun furrowed his brow but didn't object. He nodded. "We'll do it your way."
"Much appreciated, Shenjun!" With those words, Yang Kai channeled his power, enveloping Xia Linlang and Shengyang Shenjun, and took a single step forward.
Their vision inverted. Space shifted. Before the three could even collect themselves, dormant auras on every side surged back to life simultaneously, locking firmly onto them.
Terrifying energy churned. Wave after wave of divine abilities and secret arts — dormant for who knew how many years — burst into blinding radiance once more.
Yang Kai felt every inch of his skin tighten. Flesh rippling, he immediately summoned the Azure Dragon Spear. The long spear thrust forward, unstoppable and relentless, as he barked, "Move!"
He and Xia Linlang transformed into two streaks of light, blazing forward at full speed.
The two had encountered this exact situation during their earlier escape, so navigating it now wasn't entirely frantic.
Shengyang Shenjun followed close behind them. Countless divine abilities converged into a torrent, rolling and swelling like an avalanche as they pursued the trio relentlessly.
The sheer destructive power of it all was enough to put even Shengyang Shenjun's expression to the test. If one were swallowed by such a flood of divine abilities, even an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator stood a very real chance of falling on the spot.
As the three fled, Yang Kai and Xia Linlang hurled their own divine abilities backward in succession, working to diminish the overwhelming force of the pursuing torrent — though it was little more than a drop in the bucket.
Shengyang Shenjun let out furious roar after furious roar, his full Eighth-Order Open Heaven might exploding outward. Every strike sent the very heavens and earth trembling, the four cardinal points quaking in fear.
Yang Kai and Xia Linlang, fleeing up ahead, felt their hearts skip and lurch again and again. If an attack of that magnitude landed on them, neither would stand a chance of surviving it.
They were grateful beyond measure that they had brought Shengyang Shenjun along. Without him covering their retreat, they truly would never have escaped this godforsaken place.
In the beginning, the triggered divine abilities and secret arts carried tremendous power — among them were some comparable to the strikes of an Eighth-Order Open Heaven cultivator. But the further they pushed forward, the weaker those abilities became.
This was something Yang Kai and Xia Linlang had already experienced when they first broke into the fractured space, so as long as they could hold on, their situation would only grow safer.
After more than half a day, both Yang Kai and Xia Linlang, who had been leading the charge up front, were thoroughly drained. Their bodies were drenched in blood from head to toe. Although most of the divine abilities had been shaken off behind them for Shengyang Shenjun to deal with, a few still chased them down, forcing them to turn and defend.
The result was that both were wounded. A deep gash on Xia Linlang's shoulder cut down to the bone — she had nearly lost her entire arm.
All things considered, they were lucky. At least there was no threat to their lives.
Yang Kai didn't even have a moment to check on Shengyang Shenjun's condition, but he could only imagine the man was faring worse than either of them. After all, the pressure bearing down on him was exponentially greater.