"So, Patriarch, how did you end up back here?" Yang Kai couldn't help but ask, curiosity piqued.
Chu Lingxiao chuckled. "Just a fortunate coincidence, really. There's a place on your side called the Nether Mountain, isn't there?"
Yang Kai nodded. That was the Great Han's forbidden zone—a place he had ventured into before. He had even entered a minor Profound Realm there and crossed paths with Zi Mo and others from the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.
He remembered it clearly.
"It was in there that I found a Void Corridor. Once I stepped through it, I ended up back on the Tongxuan Continent."
Yang Kai's eyes lit up.
So there had been a Void Corridor inside Nether Mountain as well? That was something he had never known. The only reason he had been able to come to this side was by following Meng Wuya's instructions to enter the forbidden zone of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom—the Wasteland.
There had been a Void Corridor hidden there too.
And beneath the earth veins of the Central Capital, there was yet another.
If that was the case, then the world of the Central Capital and the Tongxuan Continent must share numerous invisible connections that few people had ever discovered.
Conversely, the ties between the Tongxuan Continent and the Central Capital's world surely couldn't be few either.
After a long conversation with Chu Lingxiao, Yang Kai hadn't obtained the specific information he'd been looking for, but he had confirmed one thing—so long as he searched patiently, the road to the Central Capital would eventually be found.
There was no rush. He currently lacked the ability to relocate all his friends and family, let alone the power to protect them.
As for the secret art of tearing space and the techniques behind it, that was something he would have to explore on his own.
After leaving Chu Lingxiao and returning to Qixiu Peak, Yang Kai informed Aunt Feiyu and immediately went into closed-door cultivation.
He had just broken through to the third layer of the Transcendent realm. He needed to spend some time stabilizing his cultivation, and this was the perfect opportunity to probe the mysteries of space tearing.
Once again, it was that same secret chamber on Qixiu Peak—entirely constructed from spirit stones, its spiritual energy astonishing and its value staggering. Yang Kai had once used this chamber for alchemy cultivation back in the day, and he borrowed it once more. Feiyu had agreed without hesitation.
After sealing the chamber, Yang Kai waved his hand, and in the empty space before him, a pitch-black crack suddenly split open. Within it lay primordial void, emanating bizarre waves of energy that sent chills down one's spine.
By now, Yang Kai could perform the art of tearing space with effortless mastery.
He dove headfirst into the dark void, and the crack behind him rapidly sealed shut, erasing all traces of his presence.
The familiar sensation of weightlessness washed over him. Yang Kai remained perfectly composed, sitting cross-legged within the turbulent void currents. He circulated his cultivation technique to consolidate his realm while simultaneously extending his Divine Sense to trace the trajectories of the void currents.
He always felt that the secrets of the void were hidden within these currents. The reason no one had ever been able to glimpse them was simply because they were far too dangerous.
Even a Saint Realm powerhouse who ventured here might not withstand the onslaught of these currents. In all likelihood, their physical body would be destroyed and their soul would shatter before long.
But Yang Kai feared nothing. His physical body was extraordinarily tough, and his Divine Sense was unique—giving him an enormous advantage in this regard.
His Divine Sense split into millions of threads, latching onto the currents and following their flow, searching for patterns within them.
Yang Kai remained patient and calm, his mind steady.
Time passed. Gradually, he seemed to sense some patterns, yet he couldn't grasp the crucial key to them, so he focused even more intently.
Suddenly, the currents throughout the entire void grew violent and unstable. Yang Kai's expression hardened. He quickly retracted his Divine Sense and looked around, only to discover in astonishment that the void had descended into total chaos. A wild energy carrying the aura of annihilation swept in from every direction.
Another eruption of the Void Storm!
This was something Yang Kai had frequently encountered while experimenting with his space-tearing technique. Just as in the starfield, when the power of the stars accumulated to a certain threshold, it would give rise to a Star Storm.
Within these void rifts, the gathering of void energy similarly produced Void Storms.
It was an inevitable result of quantitative change leading to qualitative change.
Every time he encountered this situation, Yang Kai would retreat for the time being. Having detected it now, the thought of leaving immediately surged within him. However, he quickly steadied himself and fell into contemplation with furrowed brows.
The last time he had ventured into the starfield and encountered a Star Storm, he had reaped enormous benefits, breaking through to the Transcendent realm in one fell swoop. If he stayed now and immersed himself in the mysteries contained within the Void Storm, he might just unlock the secret of tearing space!
The moment that thought took hold, Yang Kai abandoned any intention of leaving. He sat quietly amidst the raging void currents, silently gathering his strength and bracing himself for the cataclysmic power about to descend.
The next instant, the violent energy swallowed him whole.
In the span of a single heartbeat, every piece of clothing on Yang Kai's body was reduced to dust. His muscular frame was covered in wounds so dense that not a single inch of skin remained unscathed.
Yang Kai couldn't help but blanch.
Though he had known that the energy here was bizarre and its destructive force surpassed even that of the starfield's power, he had still underestimated it.
He immediately unleashed all of his strength, enduring the relentless onslaught like a storm of blades.
Skin ruptured, blood streaming everywhere. From head to toe, Yang Kai looked as though he had been flayed. The crimson flesh, shot through with glimmers of gold, writhed ceaselessly as subtle forces seeped through billions of pores and poured into his body.