Long time no see, my child...
Drip!
A drop of water fell, sending ring after ring of ripples across the desolate, hazy world.
"Ugh." Yu Lingdi let out a muffled groan and drowsily opened his eyes, as though reviving from death, yet he could not make out what lay before him.
"Drip, drip, drip..."
The rain grew heavier, from scattered droplets to a torrential downpour crashing down in sheets.
The violent wind and rain seemed to touch his soul. As he felt the distinct chill gradually spreading across his body, Yu Lingdi finally sensed that his body had returned.
"Where... is this?"
He struggled to rise as scene after scene drifted through his mind.
He had been nailed to the Sacred Punishment Pillar, encountered Gu Qingyi, and then suffered countless bouts of searing pain. Because of that, the gateway to Void Island had been opened.
Everyone had used Yu Lingdi's body to force their way into Void Island.
As for him, nearly drained into a human husk, he had ultimately fainted weakly upon the Sacred Punishment Pillar, powerless to do anything about those changes.
"I haven't fully returned yet..."
Yu Lingdi spread his hands and examined them closely. They were tiny and tender, like a child's hands, and carried an intense sense of unreality.
His consciousness seemed not to have returned to the real world. At this moment, some unknown force had merely drawn him into this illusory space.
"Someone's here!"
Yu Lingdi realized that an outside force had interfered with this execution ground. Yet since it had not attacked him, it probably was not an enemy.
He tried hard to discern this phantom world, but apart from the pouring rain, the vast white mist in the distance, and the endless ocean beneath him... there was nothing unusual.
He struggled