Lan Canghai summoned his divine power and forcibly carved out a passage through the void with boundless might.
The sight left Xi Yue and Yao Yue shaken. The old man really did keep things plain and simple-when he said he would open a passage, he literally tore one open with his bare hands.
If nothing unexpected happened, something unexpected was about to happen.
The passage was dim and hazy, with wisps of mist drifting through it and tiny points of light scattered within.
Those were individual void nodes, each extremely dangerous, containing a region of chaotic space. Anyone who blundered into one would meet disaster, even a sect-master-level expert!
In truth, crossing the void was not absolutely safe. Without profound mastery, one might trigger spatial turbulence.
For a being of the old man's caliber, however, even encountering turbulence was nothing to fear.
Boom!
Suddenly, an enormous fissure burst open in the void ahead. Endless chaos energy poured out of it, surging toward them like a flood breaching a dam.
Lan Canghai's expression tightened. His entire body shone as he instantly raised a curtain of light to block the turbulence.
The turbulence was stopped, but when he looked toward the fissure, his expression changed drastically, becoming utterly terrified. Without the slightest hesitation, he fled into the distance at his utmost speed.
Within that enormous fissure in the void, a bloodstained Black Ancient Ship could be seen drifting past.
In that single instant, his heart trembled and a crushing pressure settled over him, as though death had enveloped him and he was about to sink into darkness!
"What is that?" Yao Yue asked in alarm. Her heart trembled too, every hair standing on end, her body seemingly turned to stone.
The Black Ancient Ship!
Xi Yue was startled. Why had this thing appeared?
This black ship, exuding endless eeriness, came from the Boundary Sea. Beneath its abyss, dark beings were sealed away-all of them ancestors of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths who had been corrupted.
Not only that, the heads of the Lords of Great Red Heaven and Qingwei Heaven, among others, were aboard it. All had once been immortals.
There was also a Great Luo Sword Embryo aboard.
But whoever used that thing suffered for it. Every holder throughout the ages had died. It was bound up in a heaven-shaking web of karma, so immense that even the entirety of the myriad heavens and worlds could scarcely imagine it.
She had no designs on that sword embryo. She had yet to fully understand the little tower in her sea of consciousness-how could she possibly add a treacherous backstabber like the Great Luo Sword Embryo to the mix?
Before Lan Canghai could respond, another ray of golden light shone out of the enormous fissure in the void.
An ancient hall could be seen there, magnificent and archaic, exuding an indescribable air of antiquity.
Chaos energy swirled around it, shrouding it from sight. Two ancient characters were carved upon it, radiating divine brilliance.
The Reception Ancient Hall!
At that moment, Xi Yue nearly wanted to roar. Both the Black Ancient Ship and this Reception Ancient Hall were inextricably linked to the Dark Land.
That place was the true source of upheaval throughout the heavens, the domain of the four dark emperors who dwelled there. Unless one reached the Quasi-Immortal Emperor realm, one could not stir even the slightest ripple before beings of that caliber.
Yet now they had encountered two ominous objects in succession. This was far too bizarre, simply unimaginable!
Surely we won't run into the Immortal-Ascending Light too? she muttered inwardly.
In the end, however, that did not come to pass, leaving her a little disappointed.
"Don't say another word, and don't look!" Lan Canghai rebuked them sternly, his face almost contorted. At the same time, he accelerated further, driving his divine power to its utmost as he sped through the void.
At last, they emerged from the passage and reached the outside world.
"What exactly were those things? Why were they so terrifying?" Yao Yue asked, patting her chest. Her breathing was still uneven, and lingering fear gripped her.
Beside her, Xi Yue was somewhat better off, but she too was panting heavily. That aura had been truly suffocating.
"When crossing the void, the things one most fears encountering are the bloodstained Black Ancient Ship, an ancient hall wreathed in chaos energy, and the Immortal-Ascending Light. That we returned alive was already a stroke of heaven-defying luck," Lan Canghai explained, still shaken.
He took a moment to recover before continuing, "The origins of the Black Ancient Ship cannot be traced. It has existed since ages past, seemingly enduring for all eternity."
"The Chaos Palace is much the same, extraordinarily mysterious. No one knows where it came from or who created it."
"Among countless living beings, few ever see even one of them. Yet we saw two at once. Who knows whether this was good fortune or a tremendous calamity?"
Before long, their breathing finally steadied, and they recovered from their shock.
"Where have we ended up? Is this still Boundless Heaven?" Xi Yue asked gravely, looking around.
"Er... it should still be Boundless Heaven." Lan Canghai tugged at his beard, his voice somewhat dry and uncertain.
There was no helping it. The original void passage had opened directly before the Xu Family's gates, but the appearance of that enormous fissure had triggered a series of unforeseen events.
Under those circumstances, no one could remain calm. All he had wanted was to leave as quickly as possible, so a slight deviation in their coordinates was only natural.
This was an ancient cavern, vast and deep, filled with surging flames that engulfed the surroundings.
Lan Canghai had not dispelled the shield of light. He was prudent enough to consider that they might emerge somewhere unknown, and keeping the shield intact would at least ensure their safety.
"What terrifying flames. Even an ordinary sect master who ventured in would meet disaster and be reduced to ash," Lan Canghai remarked after surveying the area.
For someone of his caliber, however, they amounted to little.
The corner of Xi Yue's mouth twitched. Since when had sect masters become units of measurement?
On reflection, though, sect-master-level experts really were no different from units of measurement to the old man. He could annihilate a whole swath of them with a wave of his hand.
The ancient cavern was immense, secluded and silent, with a complex structure and numerous branching paths spread densely like a spiderweb.
Moreover, the entire cavern had been built from divine stones and precious materials. Spiritual essence hung thick in the air, almost condensing into wisps of mist. It was even denser than in the Ancestral Land.
"What lavish workmanship! Could this be an immortal's abode?" Lan Canghai marveled, reaching out to take a piece of stone and clasping it in his palm.
It was a wondrous stone born of heaven and earth, a rare divine stone said to remain unburned even if thrown into the sun.
It was truly hard to imagine who could build an abode from such divine material. This was far too extravagant.
The flames flickered eerily, giving rise to strange sounds as the group ventured deeper into the cavern.
After all, they were already here...
What appeared to be an immortal's abode was a stroke of fortune fallen from the heavens. It would be inexcusable not to explore it.
As the saying went, refuse what Heaven bestows, and suffer its reproach instead.
The divine light in Lan Canghai's hand remained undimmed as he held a bone cauldron, ready to take the two women into it at the first sign of trouble.
The flames blazed fiercely, growing stronger the deeper they went. Even with the shield of light protecting her, Xi Yue could not help feeling the scorching heat. Across her luminous, jade-white skin,
charred patches appeared, sending up wisps of white smoke.
Even her soul throbbed with unbearable pain, as though heavenly fire were burning it and a heavenly blade were flaying it.
Naturally, Lan Canghai had allowed this on purpose, hoping to temper the two women through the ordeal. True prodigies fought their way out of bloodshed and chaos.
Compared with the suffering that awaited them in the future, this small ordeal was nothing at all.
In other words, if they could not endure even this much hardship, they might as well end their lives here and now.
Besides, this was also an opportunity. These flames were extraordinarily unusual and might have come from the hand of some great figure.
Using them to temper the body could burn away impurities, making it more flawless, and even remedy certain deficiencies.
Fortunately, neither woman's performance disappointed him. They remained steadfast, clearly still able to endure, and had not yet reached their limits.