Vivian saw Bai Lan's look of horror and immediately said, "Your body suddenly became ethereal just now, but fortunately the boss pulled you back in the first instant."
Ye Ling's expression was also solemn, and he asked Bai Lan, "What did you experience?"
Bai Lan replied, "You all suddenly disappeared from my side, and then a white palace appeared before me. As the palace gates opened wide, I saw Karma."
Ye Ling: "You saw Karma?"
Bai Lan nodded, "Yes, Karma seemed to have discovered something and was about to tell me, then Master, you brought me back."
Hearing Bai Lan's words, Ye Ling seemed to understand something and said, "I know the rules of this Endless Cloud Sea. Both of you, grab my shoulders."
Bai Lan and Vivian exchanged a glance, then simultaneously placed their hands on Ye Ling's shoulders. Ye Ling also put away his Ink Dimension, closed his eyes, and allowed himself to be enveloped by the mist in the cloud sea.
The next moment, the bodies of Ye Ling and the two girls rapidly became ethereal and finally disappeared from their original spot.
Subsequently, Ye Ling opened his eyes and saw the white palace in the distance. He couldn't help but ask Bai Lan, who was still closing her eyes.
Bai Lan opened her eyes and saw the white palace in the distance, exclaiming, "Yes! It's that white palace! Master, how did you do it?"
Ye Ling said, "I just decomposed the Endless Cloud Sea with my Ink Dimension and discovered that the Endless Cloud Sea space is structured like a mille-feuille, with one space stacked upon another."
"Now, Karma's disappearance and Lan'er's body becoming ethereal means falling from an upper layer of space to a lower layer."
"When Lan'er's body became ethereal just now, I also captured some spatial fluctuations, and then I mimicked those fluctuations to make us fall from the upper layer of space to this layer."
Bai Lan: "In other words, the Karma I saw just now was real?"
Ye Ling nodded, "Yes... that guy must have discovered something and was too engrossed in his investigation to notice that he had fallen into another layer of space. Let's go... let's go take a look at that palace."
As soon as Ye Ling finished speaking, the white palace automatically appeared before the three of them, and its gates opened on their own.
Inside the grand hall, Karma, who was still confused about Bai Lan's sudden disappearance, asked when he saw Ye Ling and the others appear, "Master? Why do you keep appearing and disappearing?"
Ye Ling walked into the hall and said to Karma, "You brat, you don't even know you've fallen into another space?"
Karma was stunned, "I fell into another space? What does that mean?"
"Karma, this is what happened..." Bai Lan stepped forward and explained the spatial structure and characteristics of the Endless Cloud Sea to Karma.
"Mille-feuille structure? What does a mille-feuille look like?" Hearing Bai Lan's explanation, Karma didn't understand and was even more confused.
Bai Lan hadn't expected Karma to be unable to comprehend what a mille-feuille looked like and was taken aback, looking at Ye Ling, "Master, this..."
"Never mind, this kid is only four years old and hasn't eaten mille-feuille, so it's fine if he doesn't understand."
Ye Ling waved his hand, no longer expecting Karma to grasp the spatial structure of the Endless Cloud Sea, and instead asked Karma, "Karma, what did you discover here?"
Karma, who was still thinking about what a mille-feuille looked like, immediately suppressed his doubts upon hearing Ye Ling's question and said to Ye Ling, "Master, I found a secret passage in this palace. Inside, there are children's cries and signs of a struggle."
"Children's cries and signs of a struggle?" Ye Ling frowned.
Karma nodded, "Yes! I went in to take a look. The secret passage is very long and I don't know where it leads. I was afraid of getting separated from you all if I went too deep, so I retreated early."
"I was originally planning to go back to find you, Master, but then you all came here."
Ye Ling said quickly, "Take me to that secret passage first."
"No problem, this way!"
Karma had already figured out the layout of the white palace and immediately walked towards the depths of the palace. Then, he found a switch on a smooth wall and opened the secret passage.
Vivian saw the secret passage opened from the wall and couldn't help but ask Karma, "Karma, how did you know about such a hidden place?"
Karma rubbed his nose and chuckled, "Hehe! Don't underestimate my perception of treasures! As soon as I entered the palace, I sensed the aura of Karma behind this wall, and then I fumbled around this wall and easily found this secret passage."
"Master, am I amazing?"
Ye Ling ignored Karma's self-praise and walked straight to the secret passage. He sent his divine soul into the passage and discovered that the walls of the passage could absorb soul power and prevent exploration. Only then did he instruct the three of them, "This secret passage can block divine soul exploration. The three of you will stay close to me and not leave my sight. Understand?"
Karma: "Master... there's no need to be so cautious, I didn't sense any danger from inside."
Ye Ling said to Karma, "Especially you, go back into my body immediately!"
Being commanded by Ye Ling like this, Karma couldn't help but look at Bai Lan and Vivian for help. However, Bai Lan merely gave Karma a helpless smile, and Vivian even turned her head away.
"You two are so unfair! I haven't even had a chance to play outside..."
Before Karma's protest could finish, Ye Ling directly retrieved Karma into his body.
In fact, Ye Ling was not worried about Karma's personal safety. As the third-ranked innate spiritual beast, and now in its growth period, even if Karma went head-to-head with "brain," he wouldn't be in mortal danger.
What Ye Ling was actually worried about was that Karma was less than four years old, his disposition was not yet mature, and he was too playful... and the secret passage clearly hid some secret. If Karma acted recklessly, he could easily destroy clues.
Rather than letting Karma run wild outside, Ye Ling preferred to keep him in his body for better control.
After putting Karma away, Ye Ling condensed two more runes and placed them on Vivian and Bai Lan's palms, saying, "I can locate the runes on you at any time. If anything unexpected happens later and you encounter danger, inject your spiritual power into the runes, and I will teleport to your side immediately. Understand?"
Vivian and Bai Lan both glanced at the runes on their palms, then concealed them and nodded at Ye Ling, "Understood."
"Good, let's go in!"
With that, Ye Ling no longer lingered at the entrance of the secret passage, turned, and walked in.
And the moment Ye Ling entered the secret passage... a faint child's cry sounded in Ye Ling's ears.
It seemed to be filled with endless sorrow.