Chapter 2662: 拼一把

Zhu Yin's power was terrifying, and the residual force that rebounded was equally explosive. After that punch, the black shadow merely stumbled, but she herself was sent crashing into Lu Ye's arms. The two of them were forced to retreat several steps before they could regain their balance.

"It's a Void Beast! Ordinary power is useless against it; only spatial energy can harm it. Get back!" Zhu Yin shouted, her petite frame already surging towards the black shadow once more.

Lu Ye finally understood why his previous attack had been ineffective; it was due to the inherent strangeness of the black shadow itself. He had certainly heard of Void Beasts before; back in the Starry Sky, he had even obtained a Void Beast core near the Samsara Tree. However, the Void Beast he knew didn't seem to be the same as the one before him now.

Zhu Yin was undoubtedly an Integration stage cultivator, and her strength should have been considerable outside this place. However, this location was like the Phoenix Nest, devoid of any Star Abyss aura or free-floating Dao power. This meant Zhu Yin couldn't draw on external energy and had to rely solely on her own reserves to battle the Void Beast, making the fight extremely intense.

Zhu Yin didn't seem to have her own Dao artifact, as she had fought the entire time using only her fists. This detail left Lu Ye somewhat puzzled.

After another fierce exchange, the Void Beast was sent flying by Zhu Yin, who herself staggered. Immediately, her expression changed, and she cried out, "Get back!" This was because the Void Beast had unexpectedly redirected its attack, lunging towards Lu Ye.

Zhu Yin's face contorted in alarm. A faint, high-pitched sound emanated from her body as she transformed into a streak of white light, streaking towards Lu Ye's position, clearly intending to rescue him. But it was too late. She watched, horrified, as the Void Beast lunged at Lu Ye. From within the black shadow, several sharp tentacles emerged, stabbing towards Lu Ye's body. She could barely bear to watch. She didn't know which Phoenix clan member had brought this "outsider" to the Phoenix Nest, but she certainly hadn't expected him to die here today.

Then, she saw Lu Ye's long saber flash, precisely blocking the frenzied assault of the tentacles and even injuring the Void Beast. Zhu Yin's eyes lit up, and she swiftly charged forward, rejoining the battle.

When she was fighting alone, she was roughly an even match for the Void Beast. With Lu Ye's assistance, the situation immediately became clear. Fighting two against one, the Void Beast was blown apart by one of Zhu Yin's punches in mere dozens of breaths.

A crystal-clear, snowflake-shaped object fell to the ground. Lu Ye was stunned, because this snowflake-shaped object looked exactly like the Dao Seed within his own body. It could almost be called the Void Beast's Dao Seed.

As if sensing his confusion, Zhu Yin explained, "The method for outsiders like you to condense Dao Seeds was originally modeled after the Void Beasts, so there's no need to be surprised." Lu Ye had an epiphany; so that was the reason.

Zhu Yin continued, "So, your proficiency in the path of space isn't low..." She had previously thought Lu Ye lacked skill in this area and had taken care of him at every turn. Now, it seemed this outsider's proficiency, though not as high as hers, was still quite good. This reduced some of the pressure on her, as she now had someone to share the burden with.

Lu Ye didn't reply, simply observing in silence. During the recent fight with the Void Beast, he hadn't been able to fully utilize the power of his Dao Seed, managing perhaps only fifty or sixty percent. Many of the insights about this path in his mind had not yet been thoroughly comprehended. However, he also realized something: validating these insights through actual combat was far more effective than painstaking personal contemplation. He couldn't help but look forward to encountering more Void Beasts.

"This Dao Seed contains pure spatial energy. Both you and I can refine it. I'll take this one first. What do you say to the next one we find going to you?" Zhu Yin asked. She had contributed more to slaying the Void Beast, so this distribution was perfectly fair.

"Agreed," Lu Ye nodded. Even if he took this Dao Seed now, it wouldn't be of much use. Refining it would only increase the power of his own Dao Seed, and since he couldn't fully utilize his current strength, any further increase would be pointless.

"Then I'll refine it first. Please stand guard for me," Zhu Yin said, immediately sitting down cross-legged. In this spatial corridor, the stronger one's power, the safer they were. Naturally, she wanted to quickly improve her mastery of spatial principles. After a moment's thought, she added, "The Phoenix clan should have already entered to look for us, so there's no need to worry too much."

Lu Ye secretly thought that he hadn't shown any particular worry, but he quickly realized that his continuous contemplation of spatial mysteries, which made him seem distracted, had probably led Zhu Yin to misunderstand. Without offering further explanation, he nodded and said, "You refine it first, fellow Daoist." Only then did Zhu Yin close her eyes, placing the Dao Seed on her forehead as spatial energy surged around her.

The Spatial Corridor served as a training ground for the Phoenix clan's Integration stage cultivators, and Void Beasts were one of the reasons for this. Slaying Void Beasts yielded Dao Seeds, which could enhance the Phoenix clan members' mastery of spatial principles.

While continuing to comprehend the mysteries of space, Lu Ye simultaneously dedicated part of his attention to guarding Zhu Yin.

Time passed. It took Zhu Yin several full days to refine the Dao Seed before it finally vanished from her forehead. During this time, Lu Ye also made significant progress. If a few days prior he could only utilize fifty or sixty percent of his Dao Seed's power, he now felt he could unleash at least eighty percent. With continued contemplation, he would have the chance to fully unlock its power.

The two continued their journey, traversing the Spatial Corridor. Thanks to his continuously improving mastery of spatial principles, Lu Ye gradually discerned the true nature of the corridor. It was, in fact, a winding and treacherous passage with countless branching paths. Coupled with the disorienting effects of the spatial miasma, anyone entering it was bound to get lost.

During their journey, they occasionally encountered Void Beasts, which were all slain by the combined efforts of Lu Ye and Zhu Yin. As he progressively utilized more of his Dao Seed's power, Lu Ye contributed more to their battles, and slaying Void Beasts gradually became easier.

Zhu Yin grew increasingly suspicious. If Lu Ye hadn't been deliberately holding back earlier, then his progress in the path of space was astonishingly rapid, far beyond anything she knew. Due to her ancestral bloodline awakening, she, a dragon, was able to cultivate spatial principles, and her talent was no less than that of any pure-blooded Phoenix clan member. Why should Lu Ye, a human outsider, possess greater talent than her?

They equally divided the Dao Seeds obtained from slaying Void Beasts. Each time, Zhu Yin would spend several days refining hers, while Lu Ye, with a mere activation of his Talent Tree, quickly completed the process. It had to be said that the spatial energy contained within these Dao Seeds was far more abundant and concentrated than what he had experienced in his previous void cultivation. No wonder the Spatial Corridor served as a training ground for the Phoenix clan's Integration stage cultivators. If the previous void was a playground for Phoenix clan children, then this place was for adults. Because of this, Lu Ye still couldn't unleash the full power of his Dao Seed even now.

The two walked side by side in the passage. After realizing that Lu Ye's mastery of spatial principles was definitely no less than her own, Zhu Yin no longer made him walk with his hand on her shoulder. Now, as long as they weren't too far apart, they could easily converge without spatial interference, eliminating their previous concerns.

"What was that noise?" Lu Ye suddenly frowned, looking ahead. Faintly, something abnormal was approaching from the front.

Zhu Yin noticed it a moment later, which undoubtedly indicated that her mastery of spatial principles was now inferior to Lu Ye's. However, she possessed far more knowledge about the Phoenix clan's various intelligence than Lu Ye. Thus, with a mere slight perception, her expression drastically changed. She grabbed Lu Ye's arm and exclaimed, "Run! It's a void current!"

Lu Ye was caught off guard, pulled by a strong force. He was thrown sideways, staggering a few times before regaining his balance. He had witnessed void currents in the spatial rifts of the Starry Sky and knew how terrifying they could be, but those were merely in the Starry Sky. The void currents of the Inner Realm were clearly far more dangerous.

Zhu Yin's expression, as if facing a formidable enemy, clearly showed that this was a danger she was unwilling to confront easily.

The anomaly behind them grew increasingly distinct. Lu Ye turned his head and saw a mass resembling a surging river rapidly approaching. Lu Ye's face also changed, for this void current filled the entire passage. The current was permeated with incredibly chaotic energy; even from a distance, Lu Ye knew that being swept into it would lead to nothing good. Within the current, a considerable number of Void Beasts were trapped, twisting and writhing, unable to escape. The crucial point was that with such a current approaching, there was absolutely nowhere to hide.

"There's a fork ahead!" Lu Ye called out. He remembered there being a branching path not far ahead on the way they came.

Zhu Yin said nothing, only ran faster. After a moment, her expression turned grim: "That fork is gone." The branching paths in the Spatial Corridor were not static; they could change at any moment. Perhaps a moment ago there was a fork at a certain location, but the next moment it would vanish without a trace. This was also one of the dangers of the Spatial Corridor. The two continued forward without stopping, only hoping that a new branching path would appear ahead. However, the more they hoped for something, the less they found it. Throughout their desperate dash, they discovered nothing.

"It's too late!" Lu Ye said gravely. The void current behind them was incredibly fast. In the short time they had been running, it was already closing in.

At that instant, Lu Ye suddenly reached back and grabbed Zhu Yin's arm, abruptly stopping his movement.

"What's wrong?" Zhu Yin asked, puzzled.

"We can't escape. We have to fight!" Lu Ye turned, his expression resolute as he gazed at the rapidly approaching void current.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Yin asked, startled. Lu Ye's stance made it look as if he intended to fight the void current head-on, but how could they possibly contend with such a force?

"Don't activate any power!" Lu Ye whispered fiercely. Then, under Zhu Yin's stunned gaze, he advanced instead of retreating, taking a step directly towards the void current. Spatial energy surged wildly around him, and the power of his Dao Seed was pushed to its absolute limit in that instant.

As he took that step, Zhu Yin felt everything around them become blurry and distorted. She herself felt as if she had transformed into a stream of water, moving through space, formless and boundless, without substance.