When Bai Shuanglian flew closer to Ling Xiaoyou, she discovered that Ling Xiaoyou was not only with the original few people, but also had Li Xueman with her.
“The situation is pretty much like this. Bai Shuanglian is here too. You all need to leave this place quickly.”
Li Xueman seemed to sense something and looked toward Bai Shuanglian.
Then she gave Ling Xiaoyou a final instruction: “If you encounter danger outside, try your best to escape. If you can’t get away, do everything you can to stall for time and crush the wooden token I gave you earlier. I will come back to save you as soon as possible!”
“I understand, Elder.”
Ling Xiaoyou nodded solemnly, then glanced at the other spectators on the stands who had passed out from that crimson eye earlier and asked, “What about them?”
“They can only be rescued by the people from the Regulatory Division and the Exorcists Association.”
Li Xueman let out a soft sigh and continued, “After all, we have limited energy. We can’t save everyone. The only option is to kill the Demon Grand Duke before he makes a move. That way, even if they remain inside this secret compartment, nothing too serious will happen to them.”
Ling Xiaoyou nodded in understanding. She had a kind heart, but she wasn’t the type to spout the kind of reproachful words a “saint” would say. She knew this Elder had done everything she could. If it had truly been impossible to rescue those people, she definitely wouldn’t have just left them to fend for themselves.
“Alright, I’ve said everything I needed to say. This avatar is about to dissipate.”
Li Xueman glanced at the few people quietly listening nearby, then turned to Bai Shuanglian, who was also listening, and said, “I’ll leave the rest to you, Bai Shuanglian.”
“Mm, rest assured. Leave it to me, Elder!”
Bai Shuanglian nodded seriously in reply.
Seeing this, Li Xueman’s expression turned approving. She gave Ling Xiaoyou one last look, and then her figure slowly faded away from the stands.
“Let’s leave first.”
Bai Shuanglian glanced at the spectators, who were practically all down for the count, then looked at Ling Xiaoyou and the others.
As she spoke, she used her Spirit Power to levitate Su Taosheng and handed her over to Su Lihua, letting the younger sister take charge of her older sister.
Although they were friends, Bai Shuanglian felt it would be better to entrust Su Taosheng to the sister she trusted most in such a dangerous situation.
“Okay.”
Ling Xiaoyou nodded, and the other nine all replied in agreement.
Seeing that everyone was ready, Bai Shuanglian crisply crushed the Space Wood Token that Bai Qiuyin had given her. A stream of light flashed past, enveloping them and carrying them toward the real world.
Perhaps because the secret compartment had been anchored by the Demon Grand Duke, causing spatial interference, the flying light moved somewhat slowly.
This gave Ling Xiaoyou and the others a chance to admire the scenery of the Void.
“…So this is the Void? It’s… hard to describe.”
Ling Xiaoyou stared blankly at the ever-changing scenery around her, never imagining that her first sight of the Void would be under such circumstances.
“Senior Ling, look! That’s the world we were in earlier!”
Suddenly, Miao Miaomiao’s voice rang out from beside her.
Ling Xiaoyou turned her little head and looked in the direction Miao Miaomiao was pointing. Her pupils contracted, and her small face filled with shock.
A translucent, frosted-looking sphere floated quietly where they had come out. Perhaps because of the effects of distance—near objects appear larger, far objects smaller—the sphere didn’t seem that big to Ling Xiaoyou’s eyes, but it inexplicably gave her an extraordinary feeling, as if it weren’t just a secret compartment, but… a world!
Even though the feeling of that world was so vague, so tiny, it still faintly conveyed that impression to Ling Xiaoyou.
But that wasn’t what shocked Ling Xiaoyou. What truly stunned her was that the frosted sphere had cracked.
Faint black qi swirled around the sphere, and a sudden crack appeared on its surface. The fissure took up one-third of the sphere’s volume, looking terribly horrifying.
However, if one looked closely, they could see an extraordinary brilliance shimmering within the crack.
But that brilliance seemed to be visible only to those of high cultivation. At any rate, Ling Xiaoyou only glanced at it before her head began to swim, as if countless pieces of knowledge were being poured into her mind all at once.
She shook her little head, trying to shake off that unpleasant sensation, but even after several shakes, it remained.
Just then, a soft, warm hand covered her head, and a cool sensation swept through her, effectively dispelling the swelling pain.
Ling Xiaoyou’s brow, which had been slightly furrowed from the ache, relaxed.
She lifted her head and immediately met Bai Shuanglian’s gaze. The latter gently patted Ling Xiaoyou’s head and said softly,
“That fissure should have been created by the Demon Grand Duke. The eye we saw inside the space back then was likely his, observing us from outside in the Void.”
“But why would he do that? If he simply wanted to attack us, why not destroy the whole secret compartment outright? That way, he wouldn’t have been discovered, and no one could have stopped him, right?”
Bai Xiqing listened to the conversation and asked, puzzled.
“I don’t know.”
Bai Shuanglian shook her head.
“I’ve been pondering that question too, but there are too few clues. I can’t figure out the specific reason why he would do such a thing.”
“I feel…”
Ling Xiaoyou joined the discussion, thinking for a moment before saying, “It seems like the Demon Grand Duke’s attacks have an ulterior motive. The real goal isn’t to attack the Xuantian Martial Tournament.”
Hearing this, Bai Shuanglian was taken aback.
She seemed to have thought of something and was about to mull it over more carefully when she suddenly heard fierce rumbling continuously coming from far off in the Void.
“Is that a battle?”
Bai Shuanglian hurriedly looked toward the source of the sound but couldn’t see anything.
Even so, she could roughly tell what that rumbling was.
It was the sound of battle—and not just two people fighting, but a fierce battle involving at least more than ten people.
Without needing to think, Bai Shuanglian knew who those fighters were.
Clearly, it was the Demon Grand Duke and the various faction leaders and great powers participating in this Xuantian Martial Tournament, who were engaging him in battle.
“Wow, is this Demon Grand Duke really that strong? With so many big shots here, they still haven’t taken him down?!”
Su Lihua was still anxiously holding her sister, but upon hearing the sounds of battle, she couldn’t help lifting her head and looking in the direction of the noise.
Even though she couldn’t see anything, just listening to those sounds allowed her to imagine the intensity of the fight.
“He was once a demon who contended for the position of Lord of Hell, after all. It’s only natural that he’s powerful.”
Bai Xiqing didn’t seem too surprised.
“Hey, whose side are you on? Shouldn’t you be hoping the Demon Grand Duke is as weak as possible?!”
Su Lihua pouted and teased.
“I’m just speaking objectively.”
Bai Xiqing realized her words might have sounded a bit discouraging and chuckled sheepishly.
“Alright, you two, stop arguing.”
Bai Shuanglian cut off their exchange, looked at the real world they were about to reach, and said,
“We’re about to land.”