Ye Jingyu ran forward desperately, constantly feeling an immense divine sense bearing down on him. Knowing it was Fang Zhentian’s divine sense, all he could think about was shaking it off as quickly as possible. As he plunged deeper into the jungle, he was stunned to find the divine sense growing weaker, almost as if it were dissipating?

What was going on? Had he been injured? Or did this jungle somehow interfere with his spiritual power? Realizing this, Ye Jingyu only accelerated his pace, rushing into the thicket even faster, and the oppressive pressure of that divine sense grew fainter still.

Having confirmed this reality, Ye Jingyu was overjoyed. As long as he remained undetected by Fang Zhentian’s divine sense, his chances of escape would increase dramatically.

He charged into the depths of the jungle without restraint, even smashing through several large trees along the way. Yet, strangely, this caused no alarm among the wild beasts; there wasn't even a single bird call. At that moment, Ye Jingyu realized how utterly silent everything was—aside from the sound of his own frantic running, there wasn't the slightest chirping of insects.

The deeper he ran, the more peculiar the atmosphere became. Even Ye Jingyu felt a prickle of unease, but facing the powerful Fang Zhentian behind him, he had no choice but to blindly burrow further inside.

Fang Zhentian was not faring any better. As he pressed closer to the jungle’s interior, his divine sense could no longer project outward; it couldn't even see as far as his naked eye could. He was forced to follow only the faint traces Ye Jingyu had left behind.

The entire jungle remained eerily silent. Fang Zhentian’s brow was tightly furrowed. This island was barely a few hundred li from the Ancient Splendor Continent; if such a mysterious place truly existed, he should have known about it. Yet, why this abnormality? A sense of foreboding began to nurture itself in Fang Zhentian’s heart, but Ye Jingyu was right ahead, and he pressed on recklessly.

He had rushed out of seclusion before his injuries had fully healed, and he had watched his own son be killed with his own eyes. Everything he had done was for the sake of obtaining that artifact on Ye Jingyu. To give up now would be an unforgivable slight to himself.

He ceased using any external force, relying solely on the power of his physical body to sprint forward. His current physique was by no means inferior to Ye Jingyu's; in fact, it was even more formidable.

The two tore through the landscape rapidly, their separation barely a few hundred zhang. Elsewhere, this might have been just a single step, but now, they seemed locked in a frustrating game of hide-and-seek.

After nearly three full hours of relentless flight, even Ye Jingyu began to feel the strain of exhaustion. He finally burst through the jungle canopy and found himself before a ravine—a chasm perhaps only the size of a basketball court. But instead of surrounding mountains, the boundaries were formed by several colossal trees, each thousands of zhang tall, clustered together as if forming mountain ranges around the gorge.

Seeing the trees that resembled mountains made the skin on Ye Jingyu's scalp crawl. How had he not noticed trees of such height when flying into the island? Before he entered, the tallest tree on the island barely exceeded a hundred zhang!

Where could trees this enormous have come from?

As astonishment gripped his heart, Fang Zhentian’s figure swept into view. He, too, was completely stunned by these few towering giants. Trees this massive, so close to the Ancient Splendor Continent—he could not possibly be ignorant of them! But the problem was, he genuinely had no idea. Was this perhaps a sealed-off dimension?

Seeing Fang Zhentian blocking his path of retreat, Ye Jingyu once again summoned the Heaven’s Sovereign Blade, turned, and faced his pursuer directly.

There was no escape left. All he had remaining was to fight with everything he had.

Observing Ye Jingyu’s posture of absolute defiance, Fang Zhentian momentarily pulled his mind away from the strange surroundings. Whatever mysteries this place held could be researched later; for now, securing the artifact was paramount.

“Cease this death struggle. Hand over that artifact obediently, and I promise to let one of your souls be reborn into reincarnation,” Fang Zhentian stated calmly, his tone suggesting he was some celestial deity descending from the highest heavens.

Ye Jingyu stared back with the look one reserves for an idiot. The Heaven’s Sovereign Blade in his hand began to emit streaks of rainbow light, while the power of thunder and the might of the stars surged from within his body.

“Heaven Shattering Blade!” he roared, leaping into the air. Raising the blade with both hands, he brought it down fiercely toward Fang Zhentian.

A colossal blade-light materialized in the sky. The very air began to hiss and crackle, and the sharp blade energy permeated the entire ravine, even etching deep gashes into the trunks of those massive trees.

Such a terrifying strike was capable of effortlessly pulverizing a small mountain. Yet, Fang Zhentian casually lifted his wrist and simply sent a palm strike outwards.

With a tremendous BOOM, the result was the same as before: the blade light, suffused with the power of thunder and stars, was smashed into dust by a single palm. Ye Jingyu himself was thrown backward repeatedly, fresh blood once again trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Concerned that something else unexpected might happen, Fang Zhentian shot forward, channeling his inner strength. In an instant, a giant, spectral hand materialized and slammed down towards Ye Jingyu.

Facing the colossal palm, Ye Jingyu threw himself to the ground, rolling away with incredible agility to narrowly avoid the terrifying blow. However, that strike slammed into the earth, causing the ground to completely collapse.

Rumble... rumble...

Loud, continuous tremors shook the entire area, and a powerful suction force emanated from the collapsed section. Ye Jingyu, who had just evaded the strike, was caught completely off guard and instantly pulled into the void.

Fang Zhentian was similarly unprepared and plunged in as well. When he tried to ascend, he discovered that his power had abruptly vanished, rendering him unable to fly.

Sensing this predicament, Fang Zhentian’s heart seized with horror, yet his body continued to fall alongside Ye Jingyu into the abyss.

The sinkhole was incredibly deep. Neither of them knew how long they fell before finally hitting the bottom. It was fortunate that both possessed exceptionally resilient physical bodies; otherwise, falling such a distance without their powers would have guaranteed they were smashed to pieces.

Struggling back to their feet, neither Ye Jingyu nor Fang Zhentian paid any attention to the other. Instead, they immediately began surveying their surroundings.

It was a vast underground cavern, at least the size of seven or eight football fields. Countless passageways branched out from the cavern walls, leading to unknown destinations. Faintly, several vicious auras leaked from these tunnels, causing a wave of apprehension to wash over both Ye Jingyu and Fang Zhentian.

“Welcome to your arrival!” Just then, an aged voice—yet one filled with authority and even traces of domineering power—echoed through the cavern. Ye Jingyu and Fang Zhentian involuntarily exchanged glances, their eyes wide with shared terror.