An Ling'er felt that if she hadn't been seized by a whim in the Divine Battle Court and sent a divine soul technique into Yang Kai's body, he probably wouldn't have comprehended the Nine Heavens Divine Technique. And without the Nine Heavens Divine Technique, he wouldn't have caught Nan Shenggu's attention.
Thinking of this, she was naturally filled with guilt, believing she had doomed Yang Kai — cut down in his prime, his life snuffed out before it had truly begun.
"Damn it, you have to teach me those moves, or I've really taken a loss this time!" Yang Kai's face was pale as paper. He endured the searing pain radiating through his body and spoke in a hurried rush.
He hadn't expected the Heaven-Slaying Spear to pierce even his body. After activating Demonic Frenzy, Yang Kai's physical form was absurdly powerful — strong enough to withstand a stellar storm head-on. Yet even that hadn't been enough to block Nan Shenggu's killing blow.
That spoke volumes about how terrifyingly powerful that strike was.
Any ordinary Transcendent Realm cultivator caught under that attack would have been reduced to nothing but dust and fragments.
"What time is this, and you're still thinking about that..." An Ling'er extended her small hand, pressing it against the wound on Yang Kai's body. She felt warm blood trickling between her five fingers, and panic seized her heart. Tears streamed down her cheeks without stop, soaking into her clothes.
"Can you stop crying? You're making me anxious with all that sobbing!" Yang Kai scoffed openly. "How do women handle pressure so poorly?"
Hearing his words, An Ling'er immediately suppressed the sound of her crying, though she couldn't stop the choked sobs, nor could she halt the flow of tears.
Around the bend up ahead, three zhang above the ground, a pitch-black opening suddenly appeared — dark as an abyss. Yang Kai's face lit up with joy. "We're here!"
He accelerated in place, launching himself skyward and hurtling into the spatial tunnel with An Ling'er in tow.
He had barely stepped inside the spatial tunnel before Nan Shenggu's killing blow arrived hot on his heels.
They had reached the final moment — Yang Kai would hardly let his guard down now. He hurled An Ling'er into the spatial tunnel, then spun around. A resonant dragon roar tore through the air as behind Yang Kai, a colossal, jet-black flood dragon materialized in an instant. Its ferocious maw gaped wide as it surged forward to meet Nan Shenggu's attack.
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
Energy rampaged wildly. Spiritual energy churned into chaos.
The black flood dragon lasted barely a blink before being torn apart. The residual force of Nan Shenggu's technique surged onward, driving straight for Yang Kai and sweeping into the spatial tunnel behind him.
Yang Kai bared his teeth in a grim smile. Blood slid from the corner of his mouth. Dark demonic energy, brimming with an aura of malevolence, erupted madly outward in every direction.
The spatial tunnel — submerged beneath the sea for untold millennia — could not withstand such a violent burst of energy. It shattered at last. The spatial force that erupted dissipated Nan Shenggu's killing strike and simultaneously engulfed Yang Kai's body.
The next moment, dizziness washed over Yang Kai. His vision went black, and he nearly lost consciousness.
He forced himself to stay alert, keeping his mind sharp. After a brief span, the darkness before his eyes cleared in an instant, and puffy white clouds appeared overhead. A bright blue sky stretched above, yet there were no sun, no moon, and no stars. A faint warmth drifted through the air.
This aura made Yang Kai feel extraordinarily comfortable.
He was falling steadily downward — clearly transported through the spatial tunnel to somewhere entirely new, because he could no longer sense Nan Shenggu's presence anywhere around him.
Moreover, before leaving, Yang Kai had deliberately destroyed the spatial tunnel. Even if Nan Shenggu possessed heaven-defying abilities, she would need time to track them here.
At this thought, Yang Kai let out a heavy breath. Being hunted down by a True God Realm powerhouse was simply no fun at all.
And Nan Shenggu was at minimum a second-level True God cultivator — far more formidable than Qian Yue of the Ice Sect. Before her, Yang Kai had possessed absolutely no power to fight back.
His falling body was caught by a pair of slender jade arms. Yang Kai turned his head and saw An Ling'er, who had arrived earlier, smiling at him. The tear tracks on her face were still clearly visible, not yet dry.
Yang Kai struggled free, hopping down from her embrace and landing on the trunk of a great tree. He panted heavily. Looking around at his surroundings, his expression blanked in astonishment.
He and An Ling'er were currently standing on the trunk of a towering tree, roughly thirty zhang above the ground. Dense forest spread out all around them — a vast expanse of woodland teeming with vibrant life.
What caught Yang Kai's attention even more was a peculiar phenomenon: the trees here seemed to grow differently from those on the outside. It wasn't just their appearance — inside their trunks, a faint yang-attributed energy was actually flowing.
In simple terms, these trees seemed to have acquired yang-attribute characteristics.
Yang Kai frowned in puzzlement. These should have been ordinary trees, not some rare treasure or mystical herb. How could they have given rise to yang-attributed energy?
He glanced up at the sky again, his brow furrowing further. In a weak, low voice, he said, "A Minor World?"
Only a Minor World lacked the sun, moon, and stars — just like the Minor World inhabited by the Ancient Demon Clan.
"A Minor World?" An Ling'er was visibly startled as well, though her beautiful eyes quickly bloomed with curiosity. She had never entered a Minor World before, having only heard of such spaces through rumors. Arriving at one for the first time, she couldn't help but feel a sense of novelty.
"That's right — this should be an enclosed Minor World!" Yang Kai nodded slightly. As he spoke, a violent coughing fit seized him, and fresh blood once again seeped from the wounds on his body.