After flying through the starry sky for some time, Ye Yunfei transported Lu Shimei out from the Phantom Tower.
"Miss, let us bid farewell here."
Ye Yunfei took out a starship and handed it to Lu Shimei, saying this.
Sometime earlier, Ye Yunfei had looted over a dozen branch strongholds of the Pang Clan, acquiring many high-grade starships.
"These things are for you."
Ye Yunfei took out over a dozen Spatial Rings, suspending them before Lu Shimei.
"What's your name?"
Lu Shimei's beautiful eyes stared blankly at Ye Yunfei for a moment before she finally asked.
"Ye Yunfei."
Ye Yunfei replied.
"I'm leaving."
Ye Yunfei entered his starship and departed directly.
"I'm Lu Lanting!"
Lu Shimei watched as Ye Yunfei's starship swiftly vanished into the distance, a feeling of reluctance growing in her heart. Suddenly remembering something, she shouted loudly at the departing vessel.
In the next moment, Ye Yunfei's starship disappeared into the distant starry sky, no longer visible.
"I wonder if he heard my name."
Lu Shimei gazed in the direction Ye Yunfei had left, feeling a sense of loss.
She suddenly remembered the scene inside the Fire Worshiping Palace where Ye Yunfei had held her, causing a flush to rise to her cheeks.
This was the first young man she'd been so intimately close with since she'd become self-aware!
Moreover, this young man had saved her life not once, but twice!
"I wonder what he gave me."
Suddenly recalling the over a dozen Spatial Rings Ye Yunfei had just gifted her, Lu Shimei sent her Soul Power into them.
The next moment.
"So many treasures!"
She was stunned, utterly shocked.
These dozen-odd Spatial Rings were packed full of all kinds of treasures.
Among them were many Sacred Pills, Flame Crystals, fire-attributed heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and even a few Primordial Treasures. One could say every single item was priceless!
For Lu Shimei, the treasures contained within these dozen-plus Spatial Rings represented a fortune of immense value!
"Fire-attributed Fourth-grade Sacred Pills, Fifth-grade Sacred Pills, Sixth-grade Sacred Pills... So many fire-attributed heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and such a huge amount of Flame Crystals! I now have enough resources to attempt a breakthrough into the Heaven Ascension Realm!"
Lu Shimei felt somewhat excited.
"Why is he so good to me?"
Her beautiful eyes once again turned towards the direction Ye Yunfei had departed.
"So her name is Lu Lanting."
Meanwhile, sitting inside his starship, Ye Yunfei muttered to himself.
"Master, I couldn't help but feel something was off with the way Lu Shimei looked at you when parting just now. She seemed... reluctant.
Could she have fallen for you?"
Hu Miao suddenly chimed in.
"What nonsense.
We merely crossed paths by chance."
Ye Yunfei scoffed.
"Master, believe me, my intuition is usually spot on."
Hu Miao chuckled.
"I don't have time for your silly talk.
You take control of the starship.
I need to cultivate."
Ye Yunfei said.
He then entered the Phantom Tower.
Inside, Ye Yunfei found a corner to sit cross-legged, waved his hand, and brought out a huge pile of Spatial Rings, densely suspended before him.
Most of these Spatial Rings were obtained from the Fire Worshiping Palace.
Quite a few others were acquired by Ye Yunfei from other buildings before he even reached the palace.
A short while later, Ye Yunfei sorted through them, extracting a massive quantity of Flame Crystals!
Heaps upon heaps of Flame Crystals, resembling rolling hills, stretched as far as the eye could see.
Obtaining these Flame Crystals was precisely why Ye Yunfei had gone to that planet in the first place.
"Let the Vermilion Bird eat them all!"
Ye Yunfei released the Vermilion Bird, which began to voraciously consume the Flame Crystals.
As it ate, its strength continuously increased.
"The Vermilion Bird's power has made great leaps during this period. Excellent."
Ye Yunfei was quite satisfied.
"Next, it's time to upgrade the quality of the Five Elements Spirit Swords."
Ye Yunfei took out several hundred artifacts, suspending them in front of him.
All these artifacts were obtained from the Fire Worshiping Palace.
Among them were over three hundred Innate Treasures and over a hundred Primordial Treasures!
Above Innate Treasures came Primordial Treasures!
Ye Yunfei planned to melt and integrate these artifacts into his Five Elements Spirit Swords.
"I need to find a place brimming with Five Elements spiritual energy. Swords forged there would possess greater power."
Ye Yunfei muttered to himself.
He exited the Phantom Tower and began observing the planets his starship passed along the way.
Two days later, on a relatively large planet, Ye Yunfei found a location dense with Five Elements spiritual energy.
It was a mountainous area where five huge peaks of varying shapes surrounded a flat piece of land.
The five peaks each bore resemblance to one of the Five Elements.
The flat land in the middle was the convergence point of Five Elements energy.
Thus, Ye Yunfei landed in the clearing, took out his forging cauldron, along with over three hundred Innate Treasures and over fifty Primordial Treasures, and began the process of re-forging his Five Elements Spirit Swords.
Ye Yunfei deliberately set aside over seventy Primordial Treasures as a reserve for himself, to be used in emergencies during future battles.
Over half a day later, the sword-forging was complete.
Hong! Hong!...
The Five Elements Spirit Swords erupted from the forging cauldron like five giant dragons of different colors, soaring into the sky, circling and dancing across the firmament. The commotion alarmed almost all the powerful experts on the planet.
These five newly forged spirit swords, fused with over three hundred Innate Treasures and over fifty Primordial Treasures, possessed terrifying might.
They made the entire sky tremble!
Swoosh! Swoosh!...
One fierce silhouette after another shot into the sky, wanting to see what had happened.
"Time to leave."
Ye Yunfei waved his hand, summoning the five spirit swords down from high above, then entered his starship, which immediately shot upwards.
However, many experts on this planet with powerful Soul Power had already taken note of Ye Yunfei's starship.
Swoosh! Swoosh!...
One figure after another began pursuing Ye Yunfei's starship.
"Senior, please wait!"
"We wish to pay our respects, Senior!"
...
The planet's experts called out in unison.
The disturbance caused by the five spirit swords was simply too great.
These experts thought that a supreme expert from somewhere in the Tianluo Star Sea must have arrived.
"Scram!"
Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out from within Ye Yunfei's starship.
A terrifying oppressive pressure poured forth, bearing down upon the pursuing experts.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
The experts chasing the starship were all sent flying back.
Swoosh!
Seizing this opportunity, Ye Yunfei increased the speed of his starship, disappearing in an instant.
"The senior in the starship is angry. We should not pursue any further."
Those experts dared not continue the chase, watching as the starship vanished into the distance.
"Thank you for intervening, Senior."
Inside the starship, Ye Yunfei addressed the Giant Arm.
That oppressive pressure had been released by the Giant Arm.
"You actually melted over three hundred Innate Treasures and over fifty Primordial Treasures into those five swords.
Where did you learn such advanced forging techniques?"
The Giant Arm exclaimed in admiration.
Ye Yunfei smiled without answering.
"I truly find you harder and harder to understand."
The Giant Arm sighed.
"Oh right. Didn't you say you would help restore my arm to its peak condition?"
The Giant Arm reminded Ye Yunfei.
"Yes.
However, it would be best if we wait until we return to the Lightning Abyss for me to help you.
The environment there is most beneficial for your arm.
We will head back now."
Ye Yunfei replied.
"Good."
The Giant Arm's spirits lifted.
*It's also time for me to raise my cultivation level.*
Ye Yunfei thought to himself.
"Hu Miao, you take control of the starship.
I need to go into seclusion."
Ye Yunfei instructed Hu Miao.
Over a month later.
"Master, we are almost back to the Xuanhuang Star Domain!"
Hu Miao sent a voice transmission to Ye Yunfei.
"Alright."
Ye Yunfei emerged from the Phantom Tower.
During this past month, Ye Yunfei had been in seclusion inside the Phantom Tower.
Within this period, his spiritual energy cultivation level had broken through consecutively, advancing from the late-stage Spirit Forging Realm all the way to the late-stage Heavenly Emperor Realm!
At the same time, the Vermilion Bird had finished consuming all the Flame Crystals Ye Yunfei had obtained on that planet.
Its strength underwent yet another qualitative leap!
Among the nine divine beasts within the Nine Palaces Totem Wheel, the Vermilion Bird was now the strongest.
Ye Yunfei estimated that with its current strength, the Vermilion Bird could now contend with early Heaven Ascension Realm experts!
"I'll first return to the Xuanhuang Star Domain, then we can proceed to the Lightning Abyss."
Ye Yunfei told the Giant Arm.
"As you wish. I'm in no hurry."
The Giant Arm replied.
"Father, we're heading back to the Xuanhuang Star Domain first.
Once I've made my preparations, I will set out to rescue Mother and Little Sister."
Ye Yunfei walked up to Ye Tianpeng and said.
After this period of recuperation, Ye Tianpeng looked much more spirited, and the physical injuries on his body had completely healed.
However, due to the damage to his dantian and meridians, he hadn't been able to restore his cultivation yet.
"Fei'er, the Miao Clan and Pang Clan are too powerful. I worry you might not be able to contend with them."
Ye Tianpeng sighed.
"Don't worry, Father.
I have a plan."
Ye Yunfei reassured him.
*Pang Clan, Miao Clan, just you wait.*
Ye Yunfei gazed into the depths of the starry sky, his eyes brimming with icy killing intent.
*Meanwhile.*
In the Xuanhuang Star Domain.
Around Xuanhuang Star, countless starships lay docked, and battle flags fluttered vigorously in the strong winds.
These were the armies of the Star Nation.
During this period, the Star Nation's Expeditionary Army had completely occupied the Jiaoxiu Star Domain.
After conquering Jiaoxiu, they had begun their assault on the Xuanhuang Star Domain.
Chu Ji, leading the Five-Domains Allied Army, made their stand on Xuanhuang Star, putting up a desperate resistance.
As a result, the Jiuli Royal Court directly declared its allegiance to the Star Nation, and led a large number of second and third-rate powers on Xuanhuang Star to welcome the Star Nation's Expeditionary Army onto the planet.
Consequently, half of Xuanhuang Star's territory was now occupied by the Expeditionary Army.
Only half remained under the control of the Five-Domains Allied Army.
Within a system of underground caves in the Northern Wilderness region of Xuanhuang Star.
"Elder Tang Wu, Sect Leader, something is amiss.
Lately, many unfamiliar figures have been spotted lurking near our network of underground caves.
It's possible our caverns have already been discovered."
On this day, a scout returned to the cavern and reported to Elder Tang Wu and the Stalwart Earth Sect Leader.
"The Northern Wilderness is currently under the control of the Star Nation's Expeditionary Army. It's only a matter of time before our cavern network is found.
We should leave."
The Sect Leader said.
"Agreed."
Elder Tang Wu nodded.
"Reporting! We're in serious trouble! It appears we have been discovered. A large force has surrounded the perimeter of our underground caves!"
Just then, another scout rushed hurriedly into the cavern, arriving before Elder Tang Wu to deliver this alarming report.