Chapter 111: The Hollow World

Carol’s hand dropped, and the heavy crate swayed, nearly slipping from her grasp. Her expression grew grave, and several strands of lightning crackled across her body, stabilizing her. Under such overwhelming pressure, she had to take care of the crate in her hands, and even as a Divine General, it was becoming quite a strain.

The peak that had seemed so close before now appeared impossibly far away with the descent of the gray rain.

Gazing at the cascading threads of gray rain, Carol let out a low shout, and hundreds of tiny lightning bolts shot from her whip, striking the gray rain. The electric fire seemed chaotic but was actually layered, attacking in waves, each wave seamlessly following the previous one, creating a relentless barrage. This attack alone demonstrated Carol’s exceptional control over lightning.

The gray rain had taken on a tangible form, seemingly fragile yet incredibly resilient. A single thread of lightning could only weaken it slightly, and it took five or six continuous lightning strikes to completely annihilate a single thread. After the initial assault, the gray rain merely thinned slightly, only for the subsequent rain to fill the gaps.

This result left Carol’s face extremely somber. She had never expected the gray rain to be this powerful, and her idea of neutralizing it with lightning was shattered. From another perspective, this meant her thunder force was no match for the Dragon’s oppression. Losing to the Dragon wasn’t a disgrace, but the final stretch of the journey would be even more challenging.

As Carol struggled, Old Wei flicked another page, landing on the crate. The once overwhelmingly heavy crate instantly lightened, allowing Carol to breathe a sigh of relief. Using this page, Old Wei’s face turned more ashen, and his wrinkles deepened.

Carol looked up, expecting Qian Ye to be sprawled on the ground or at least struggling. Instead, she found him standing straight, gazing at the peak, lost in thought.

The gray rain, transformed from the Dragon’s oppression, mercilessly struck Qian Ye, piercing his skin like needles, causing him to tremble slightly.

Carol was both surprised and disappointed. Qian Ye’s endurance was completely unexpected. Even Kaimel, a Marquis of the Bloodline, had already fallen behind.

However, looking at Qian Ye, it seemed he was at his limit. Even if he could push forward a little, reaching the peak was impossible.

Whether he was ten steps or just one step away, without reaching the top, he would end up as just another set of bones halfway up the mountain. This crucial step was the difference between everything and nothing. One step to heaven, one step to hell.

Unfortunately, despite Qian Ye’s extraordinary talent, he lacked the time to grow, and he was destined to fall before dawn.

For a moment, Carol had an impulse to forget her grievances and let Qian Ye go. Such a person shouldn’t wither in the harshness of this world.

But she snapped out of her reverie, realizing that it was just a thought. Even if she could let go, she couldn’t help Qian Ye now. They were worlds apart, and the only one who could help Qian Ye was himself.

Carol and Old Wei didn’t stop, while Qian Ye stood still, and they gradually drew closer.

Carol suddenly became curious. What was Qian Ye thinking?

As they approached, from ten meters to within reach, the narrow mountain path forced Carol to almost bump into Qian Ye’s back. She instinctively wanted to stop, but her Divine General-level reflexes told her that they were in two different worlds. Even if they passed through each other, they wouldn’t intersect. Their fates were parallel lines.

Thoughts were swift as lightning, and time relentlessly marched on. Before she knew it, Carol had passed through Qian Ye, stepping onto a new part of the path.

As she passed through, Qian Ye seemed both real and illusory, like a bubble in water.

Old Wei also passed Qian Ye, continuing to climb without a backward glance. It seemed that nothing in the world could move him. If this was truly a path of self-examination, his was a desolate and lifeless one. All vitality and vigor had long since vanished.

Qian Ye still stood, gazing at the sky, lost in thought.

Carol suddenly turned back. She couldn’t explain why, but a strong urge made her look. If she didn’t, she might miss something.

At the moment her eyes met Qian Ye, his aura changed, becoming ancient, lonely, cold, and desolate. The indescribable loneliness almost suffocated her!

At that moment, Qian Ye saw not the earth and sky around him. He saw the world where the earth and sky merged, a dead world, and a figure standing at its center, filling the entire universe.

Such magnificence!

When he roared, Qian Ye understood his state of mind. It was emptiness, a world entirely void.

In a daze, Qian Ye couldn’t distinguish between himself and that figure, only knowing his heart was in excruciating pain.

The Empire, brothers, friends, and comrades had all faded away. When she left, Qian Ye’s world became empty. There was no sky, no earth, no light, and no darkness. With everything lost, Qian Ye didn’t know if he still existed.

Suddenly, Carol saw an empty world, a blank expanse.

She shuddered, returning to reality, bewildered and unsure. Yet, her intuition told her that this was the world inside Qian Ye’s heart.

Old Wei suddenly looked at Carol, his gaze sharp as a blade. But before he could discern anything, he too turned back.

Qian Ye’s eyes cleared, and he took a step forward, drawing more gray rain, causing him to shiver.

Carol’s brows rose. She knew Qian Ye’s body had reached its limit and couldn’t endure much more. In truth, Qian Ye’s physical strength was now on par with hers, if not greater. But with her Divine General cultivation, she could protect herself with her primal force. Qian Ye could only rely on his body.

Perhaps the next step would make Qian Ye fall.

Qian Ye looked up again, the gray rain stinging and cooling his face.

He let out a loud roar, clear and piercing, echoing through the world. In that moment of oblivion, Qian Ye’s silhouette merged with the vast, desolate landscape, indistinguishable.

As the roar faded, Qian Ye took another step. The gray rain intensified, making him feel as if he were carrying a thousand stones, unable to move. Even with the body of a Baron of the Ancient Bloodline, as strong as any Divine General, this was his limit.

The peak was still far, and perhaps only as a Marquis could Qian Ye ascend purely by physical strength.

But Qian Ye had not only blood energy but also the primordial force of dawn!

As vortexes of primal force activated, streams of crimson-golden energy burst forth, swirling around him, forming a miniature, resplendent galaxy. Points of light within the galaxy surged upward, colliding with the gray rain.

In moments, the light extinguished, and large swathes of gray rain vanished, leaving only a fraction to fall on Qian Ye. Stepping forward, his strides were firm, and his body no longer trembled.

Carol was astonished, and even Old Wei was taken aback. His originally cloudy eyes glowed, fixated on the resplendent galaxy around Qian Ye.

Each point of light was a minuscule crystal. Despite their size, these crystals were solid, surpassing the materialization of the gray rain. One crystal could disperse two or three threads of gray rain before vanishing.

In terms of primal force quality, Qian Ye not only surpassed Carol but even seemed to rival the Dragon. However, the gray rain was merely the physical manifestation of the Dragon’s oppression, and compared to the Dragon itself, Qian Ye might only be slightly stronger.

But this conclusion deeply shocked Old Wei. In the entire world, the true favored ones weren’t the powerful Magi with innate bloodline strengths, but the Void Behemoths. From birth, they stood at the pinnacle, utilizing higher-tier void forces, and their innate purity was unmatched by most cultivators’ lifetime efforts.

In the battle against the gray rain, Carol was at a disadvantage, needing several waves of lightning to counteract a single thread. Qian Ye, however, was dominant, easily eroding the gray rain with his primal force crystals.

To match the primal force quality of a Void Behemoth like the Dragon, Old Wei knew what it meant. Qian Ye might face no obstacles until becoming a Celestial King. In the Empire, an upper Divine General could sustain a clan, like Lady An Guo of the Song Clan.

If Qian Ye hadn’t left the Zhao Clan and Wuzong Zhao had lived long enough, the Zhao Clan might have seen three upper Divine Generals, comparable to the Zhang Clan that produced the Qingyang King.

Qian Ye’s strength far exceeded the original intelligence. If the Imperial Military Department sent hunters based on old data, their fate upon encountering Qian Ye would be predictable. Thinking this, Old Wei’s face darkened.

Qian Ye paid no heed to Carol and Old Wei. His heart was filled with solitude and sorrow, merging with the spirit of the former King Zhi Ji. Qian Ye left his homeland, and his beloved was gone. But what about King Zhi Ji?

From his inscription on the stone, King Zhi Ji must have been a Celestial King. What could have caused such regret?

Unconsciously, Qian Ye passed Carol and Old Wei, continuing his ascent. The gray rain intensified, but the stars in his surrounding galaxy were endless, dancing and darting, erasing most of the dense rain.