Another day passed before ripples swept across the void, and the figures of Yang Kai and Xia Linlang materialized abruptly. The instant they appeared, they both coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
"Which Sacred Spirit was that just now?" Xia Linlang's face was pale, her expression still shaken.
Yang Kai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said through gritted teeth, "If I'm not mistaken, it was Taowu!"
Had Yang Kai not reacted so quickly just now, Taowu would likely have suppressed him on the spot. In that case, Yang Kai might have still kept his life—after all, the Sacred Spirits of this Ancestral Land still needed his bloodline power to unseal something and wouldn't truly do him harm, at worst merely imprisoning him. But she, a human woman, and a stunningly beautiful one at that, would have had a fate worse than death.
Taowu was one of the ancient fiend beasts, and the way it had looked at her just now was anything but innocent.
Xia Linlang's eye twitched. She gave a bitter laugh. "People who stay by your side don't tend to live very long, do they?"
She had been hiding in the Shattered Heaven, living under an assumed name and clinging to survival—at least it had been peaceful enough. But ever since she'd crossed paths with Yang Kai, life had become a heart-pounding roller coaster.
Being chased by an Eighth-Order Open Heaven no longer even counted as noteworthy. Now she was being hunted by every Sacred Spirit in the entire Ancestral Land. This was the first time in her life that Xia Linlang had experienced such desperate flight, and every narrow escape left her trembling.
Yet Yang Kai looked utterly nonchalant, as though he had been through this kind of thing countless times.
"The one stuck with you now is me, so watch your mouth," Yang Kai said lightly.
Xia Linlang's smile turned even more bitter.
But Yang Kai's expression suddenly shifted. He raised his head and looked off into the distance, saying through clenched teeth, "They're fast!"
As he spoke, he seized Xia Linlang's arm. "Move!"
Ripples spread through space, and before they could catch their breath, the two vanished once more.
When they reappeared, Yang Kai had barely steadied himself when he saw a figure hurtling toward them from ahead, radiating a powerful aura.
The figure had clearly spotted Yang Kai too. Their eyes met, and the man froze, staring at Yang Kai in disbelief.
"Damn you, Shengyang!" Yang Kai cursed. This was exactly the kind of disaster he feared most—one misfortune piling on another, rough seas meeting headwinds. Each time he used spatial teleportation, his greatest dread was blinking right into the presence of some powerful enemy.
His luck had been holding up until now, with every jump granting him a brief reprieve. But this time, his luck had clearly run out—he had teleported straight in front of Lord Shengyang.
This fellow had apparently broken free from the Divine Ability Sea at some point and made his way into the Ancestral Land as well.
But Yang Kai quickly noticed something off. When Lord Shengyang saw him, there wasn't much delight on his face—instead, he looked conflicted and hesitant.
Moreover, Lord Shengyang was clearly injured. The wound still carried traces of a Sacred Spirit's aura, indicating it wasn't from his battle to escape the Divine Ability Sea, but from a clash with a powerful Sacred Spirit within the Ancestral Land itself.
Lord Shengyang had his own troubles that he couldn't voice. As one of the three great Eighth-Order Open Heaven masters of the Shattered Heaven, he had spent years hiding deep within its recesses, living in seclusion—yet he had still wielded immense influence, capable of stirring up storms and covering the sky with one hand.
But in pursuit of the Heavenly Earth Spring, he had chased relentlessly and inadvertently stumbled into the Sacred Spirits' Ancestral Land.
He knew about this place, of course. That young man in white from the Kun clan had maintained contact with him over the years. Compared to other Open Heaven realm cultivators in the Shattered Heaven, he had some knowledge of the Ancestral Land and knew that such a wondrous place existed.
He also knew that the beings who lived here were either Sacred Spirits or those who carried Sacred Spirit bloodline.
For a human martial artist like him, with not a drop of Sacred Spirit blood, coming here could only end badly!
He had already encountered a Sacred Spirit—the Bi'an—who had attacked him without so much as a word of warning. Had his own strength been any lesser, he would have fallen right then and there. Even so, the fight with the Sacred Spirit had left him wounded.
His only option now was to seek out the Kun clan for protection and resolve this crisis. After all, the Kun clan had been cooperating with him for years, and they had at least some rapport. But he had never been to the Ancestral Land before—how would he know where the Kun clan lived? As he wandered around in a daze, he happened to spot Yang Kai and Xia Linlang tearing through the void and appearing right before his eyes.
Lord Shengyang's mind was a tangled mess.
He had ended up in this wretched state, and Yang Kai was undoubtedly the root cause. Given the chance, he would have torn the man to shreds.
But in this moment and place, he truly didn't dare make a move against Yang Kai rashly—any commotion that attracted other Sacred Spirits would do him no good either.
Caught in a moment of hesitation, he found himself paralyzed, unsure whether to advance or retreat.
Just then, a voice drifted over from the distance: "Shengyang, capture this man, and the Kun clan will guarantee your safety!"
Lord Shengyang instantly recognized the voice as belonging to the young man in white who had been operating under his name in the Shattered Heaven for years, searching for something, and who called himself Kun Yu.
Back then, that young man in white had come to him seeking refuge with a young girl in tow, claiming to be from the Kun clan and displaying the bloodline of the Sacred Spirit Kun. Lord Shengyang hadn't thought much of it—as far as he was concerned, as long as it didn't interfere with his interests, granting some convenience and protection was no big deal.
Over the years, Kun Yu had wandered ceaselessly through the Shattered Heaven, searching for heaven knew what. Lord Shengyang had never bothered to ask. The intelligence about the Heavenly Earth Spring had come from Kun Yu as well; otherwise, he would never have emerged from his hidden Qiankun Cave Heaven.
What he hadn't expected was that Kun Yu had also returned to the Ancestral Land. But then again, the man originated from here—there was nothing strange about coming back.