"Master!"
"We found Chen Xuan!"
"Are you all right?"
The three voices rang out almost simultaneously.
Chen Xuan rolled across the ground and got to his feet, finding himself still on the first peak. Lin Qing, Honglian, and Xu Xuanling had not gone far, and they rushed over the moment they saw him.
By now, branching limbs filled the sky above Nine Sons Peak. Countless white lines crisscrossed overhead, forming what looked like an enormous net.
"Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine," he said, looking up at the sky.
Lin Qing made sure to examine Chen Xuan, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming he was unhurt. "Not long after you fell into the Erosion zone, it started expanding rapidly."
"Why didn't you return to the Ability Store?" Honglian asked. "We all thought you'd made it out safely and were planning to withdraw."
"It's a long story. Was I really only gone for a little while?"
She nodded. "About two or three minutes."
Only two or three minutes had passed between his fall from the sky and his flight back to the peak-didn't that mean the outside world had practically stood still while the figure was speaking with him?
"These White Rifts aren't Erosion. They're cracks in the Cave Heaven, and they mean the Lotus Cloud Sect's protective formation is gradually falling apart," Chen Xuan declared.
"Cracks!?" Everyone was stunned, exchanging bewildered looks.
"That's right. There's no such thing as multiple layers of Erosion. This world is already on the verge of shattering. Once the formation stops working, the Lotus Cloud Sect-and the Six Nations outside-will all lose their protection."
"What happens once that protection is gone?" Xu Xuanling couldn't help asking.
"They'll face the heart demon's attacks directly. When that happens, I'm afraid no one will survive."
"A heart