Just as Xiao Yan was preparing to turn and leave, he suddenly heard a faint sound. At first, he thought it was an illusion, but years of experience treading the edge of life and death had sharpened his instincts. Almost reflexively, his gaze snapped to the direction the sound came from. What he saw next made his pupils contract sharply. A nearly imperceptible crack had appeared in space, from which a strand of silvery light was leaking out. It was only a sliver, but Xiao Yan immediately sensed something amiss. 'Not good!'
Before he could react, the crack suddenly exploded. A grey energy storm surged forth, swallowing everything in a radius of several million kilometers. Even with Xiao Yan's current strength, he couldn't escape its pull—let alone Qing Yanjing.
This grey storm wasn't a natural disaster, but it was far more terrifying than any calamity. Even a Heavenly Sovereign would be forced to admit misfortune upon encountering it. For Xiao Yan and Qing Yanjing, who had not yet broken through to the Heavenly Sovereign level, it was a nightmare. This was the dreaded spatial tempest that caused even the most elite of Annihilation Division Masters to turn pale at its mention.
Due to a catastrophic ancient war, the spatial structure of the Sacred Abyss had become extremely unstable. That was the reason no Heavenly Sovereigns dared enter—just their presence might trigger a spatial tempest like this. Xiao Yan's intense battle with Duantian had just barely reached the critical threshold, and now, the backlash had arrived.
Swept into the raging chaos of time and space, Xiao Yan immediately activated his Eternal Void Demon Body. Qing Yanjing, too, summoned her Endless Radiant Body and erected a shield of light to resist the storm's devouring pull. Although terrifying, they weren't ordinary cultivators. With their respective defenses and techniques, it wasn't entirely impossible to survive.
But they both knew the storm itself wasn't the greatest danger. The true threat was where it might take them once it dissipated. These storms were chaotic and random; there was no telling where they might be transported. If they ended up in the territory of the Extraterritorial Evil Race… that would be a true disaster. All they could do now was pray they wouldn't suffer the worst outcome.
Within this chaos, time seemed to lose all meaning. Even Xiao Yan couldn't tell how long they were trapped, swirling endlessly through spatial folds. Qing Yanjing, having exhausted her spiritual energy under the onslaught, eventually fainted. Thankfully, Xiao Yan had protected her in time—otherwise, she would have perished within the storm.
When Qing Yanjing finally regained consciousness, the storm had quieted. She opened her eyes to find a gloomy sky above and a strange energy permeating the air. Beside her, Xiao Yan sat calmly on a stone, staring into the distance.
"Where are we?" she asked in confusion, already fearing the worst. Still, she wanted to hear Xiao Yan confirm it himself.
"I've got one bad piece of news and one good one. Which do you want first?" Xiao Yan asked casually, not answering her directly.
"Let's hear the bad news first."
"The bad news is, we've landed in the territory of the Extraterritorial Evil Race. You should know that with our current strength, surviving here is basically impossible," Xiao Yan said with a shrug. Though both of them were at the perfected Earth Sovereign level, this place was the stronghold of their enemies. Even a Heavenly Sovereign wouldn't be guaranteed survival, let alone them.
The territory of the Extraterritorial Evil Race was once part of the Great Thousand World. But over time, it had been corrupted by demonic energy. Even if no enemies were present, the very environment was inhospitable. Their spiritual energy couldn't replenish itself naturally here, and inhaling corrupted energy would risk turning them into demons. In other words, they couldn't rely on the world's energy to recover like before.
At this moment, the only comfort Qing Yanjing could find was Xiao Yan himself. Though she still viewed him as an enemy, she had to admit he was a miracle-maker. With him here, their chances of survival at least weren't zero.
"That's... definitely bad news. What's the good news then?" she asked with a bitter smile.
"The good news is, we've got each other. Even if we die, we'll walk the path to the underworld together. Not so lonely that way," Xiao Yan said with a faint smile.
"How the hell is that good news?"
"Just joking." He waved it off, then added seriously, "Alright, back to the point. We were indeed dragged into enemy territory. But... the place we're in right now isn't actually their domain."
"What do you mean?" Qing Yanjing blinked in surprise. Only now did she realize the surrounding energy hadn't been tainted by demonic influence. On the contrary, it was unusually pure. Thanks to this, her drained spiritual energy was slowly recovering. This couldn't possibly be within enemy lands.
"We landed in their territory, but I was able to detect danger quickly. So I sealed you in a dimensional space I control, avoiding their initial sweep. That's how you're still alive," Xiao Yan explained. "But while you were unconscious, I checked the outside. We're now surrounded by a horde of Extraterritorial Evil Race experts... and some of them are at the Demon Emperor level. That's the truly bad news."
Xiao Yan's expression grew grim. Even he had little confidence in escaping from such an encirclement. Demon Emperors who reached that stage through legitimate cultivation were all seasoned veterans. Unlike Duantian, whose power was forcibly elevated, these beings were cunning and ruthless.
After seeing Xiao Yan take someone and flee into what seemed like a Heavenly Tomb, they didn't act rashly. Instead, they surrounded the location and sealed the surrounding space to prevent any escape.
"So what do we do now?" Qing Yanjing asked, realizing the gravity of the situation. If it were only one Demon Emperor, Xiao Yan might have a chance. But now? Even he looked uncertain.
"There's... one possibility," Xiao Yan said quietly, taking a deep breath. "If we can break through to the Heavenly Sovereign level, we might still have a fighting chance."
(End of Chapter)
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