"What brings you here?" Ancient Sage Gu Yao looked toward the Palace Master with a hint of vigilance.
Although his seniority was higher than this Palace Master, his Corpse-Dissolution had not succeeded, greatly diminishing his power. Thus, he felt some apprehension towards this Palace Master.
"Hehe, my main purpose is to find Senior Gu Yao," the Palace Master replied. "Our Heavenly God Palace has a number of elders who have lived for prolonged periods and are extremely interested in the Dao of Corpse-Dissolution. Senior Gu Yao is immensely powerful and deeply versed in the Corpse-Dissolution method, so I would like to invite Senior to be our guest at the Heavenly God Palace to personally consult on this matter."
Every top expert in the Primordial Continent was interested in Corpse-Dissolution. This was especially true for those elder powerhouses who had lived exceedingly long lives and were nearing the end of their lifespans—they yearned for the Corpse-Dissolution method to an extreme degree. The Heavenly God Palace was a superpower in the Primordial Continent, where generation after generation had experts as numerous as clouds, accumulating a large batch of old antiques. Therefore, the Heavenly God Palace was naturally extremely interested in the Corpse-Dissolution method. In fact, aside from the Heavenly God Palace, many other superpowers had also been searching for news of Ancient Sage Gu Yao recently, hoping to glean knowledge of the Corpse-Dissolution method from him.
"Hmph!" Ancient Sage Gu Yao snorted coldly. "My Corpse-Dissolution was not successful. If your Heavenly God Palace seeks me out to learn about Corpse-Dissolution, you've found the wrong person."
"I believe Senior Gu Yao's Corpse-Dissolution failed mainly due to premature interference. Otherwise, with Senior's abilities, success would have been certain. Moreover, even though it failed, Senior must have accumulated valuable experience that can be shared with us," the Palace Master said, his tone persuasive. "I ask that Senior Gu Yao not refuse and be our guest at the Heavenly God Palace."
"I have no interest. Stop bothering me," Ancient Sage Gu Yao said impatiently.
"Senior Gu Yao, I am entrusted by the elders of my palace. I must extend this invitation," the Palace Master replied, his expression cooling slightly.
"I won't go. Do you intend to use force?" Ancient Sage Gu Yao's face darkened.
"I ask Senior not to make this difficult for me," the Palace Master said flatly, making his stance clear.
"Hahaha… Very well. I never imagined a junior would dare be so brazen," Ancient Sage Gu Yao suddenly burst into loud laughter. With his status, this Palace Master was merely a junior, yet he actually dared to coerce him. "You want to invite me to the Heavenly God Palace? Then let it depend on your ability!"
*Boom…*
Amidst the laughter, a terrifying wave of energy erupted from his body and shot straight into the heavens, causing the entire sky to tremble. Fortunately, this Ancient Sage Gu Yao had no intention of harming the living beings within Zhenxiu City. Otherwise, with the energy pressure he released, he could have instantly obliterated the entire city.
"It seems Ancient Sage Gu Yao also has a heart that sympathized with the world's sorrows," the Palace Master remarked with a faint smile, sweeping a glance over Zhenxiu City. However, he paid no particular attention to the ordinary people of the city. To him, they were all insignificant ants. How could he have imagined that Ye Yunfei, the very person he sought most, was in the city at this very moment?
"In that case, allow me to consult Senior Gu Yao properly!" the Palace Master declared.
*Boom…*
A mighty torrent of energy surged upwards, standing in opposition to Ancient Sage Gu Yao. In that moment, he was like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath—a formidable aura pressed outwards.
"Too terrifying!" In Zhenxiu City, everyone trembled with fear, feeling an infinite, terrifying pressure descending from the sky, rendering all of them immobile. A deep-seated fear from the very depths of their souls enveloped each person. Ancient Sage Gu Yao and the Palace Master of the Heavenly God Palace were legendary figures, practically god-like beings to the ordinary cultivators of Zhenxiu City. And now, both of them had actually come to Zhenxiu City at the same time!
*Boom! Boom!*
The next moment, the two powerful figures soared into the sky, instantly shooting deep into the heavens.
The temporal and spatial laws of the Primordial Continent were highly advanced. Ordinary cultivators were incapable of soaring into the depths of the sky; only those who had reached a certain realm and possessed a certain level of power could escape the continent's gravitational pull and venture deep into the heavens.
*Whoosh…*
Within Zhenxiu City, everyone suddenly felt the pressure vanish. They all let out a sigh of relief, and the vast majority immediately collapsed on the spot, panting heavily like fish that had been exposed to scorching sun for hours. Only Ye Yunfei maintained his composure and did not feel these two powerhouses were particularly frightening. After all, Ye Yunfei was confident that one day, when he reclaimed his Heavenly Emperor throne, he would undoubtedly surpass these two in power.
*Rumble…*
Deep in the heavens, there were suddenly roiling energy fluctuations, like raging oceans, that transmitted downwards. The two powerhouses had begun to fight! This duel between powerhouses was a battle that shook the world, one rarely seen in a century, but the ordinary cultivators in Zhenxiu City simply didn't have the qualifications to observe such a high-level battle.
"Fight, then. It'd be best if both of you end up wounded," Ye Yunfei thought darkly as he looked up at the sky.
"We should use this chance to run. If that Ancient Sage Gu Yao manages to free up his hands later, wanting to escape might not be so easy for us," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm urged at that moment.
"Alright, let's go," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Subsequently, Ye Yunfei entered the Phantom Tower, and the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm carried it away.
*Rumble…*
Deep in the heavens, the battle between the two powerhouses continued.
The energy fluctuations released by this clash were extremely terrifying and soon caught the attention of many powerhouses in the Eastern Barrens. One powerhouse after another heard the news and rushed to the area.
One day later, Ye Yunfei returned to the headquarters of the Ziwei Sect. Upon his return, he immediately entered a secret chamber, then proceeded into the Heavenly Dao Tower. Together with Hun Lao, he began performing secret arts to strictly conceal the auras of himself, the Ice Toad Treasure Pearl, and the dozens of spatial rings. At the same time, Ye Yunfei sent a Sound Transmission to Sect Leader Liu, instructing him to keep an eye out for any information regarding Ancient Sage Gu Yao.
"Power!" Ye Yunfei thought inwardly.
Previously, back in the Canghuang Realm, Ye Yunfei's power had been sufficient to dominate an entire realm. But after arriving in the Primordial Continent, Ye Yunfei soon realized that, in this advanced world, his power was still quite weak.
In the following period, Ye Yunfei quietly remained within the Heavenly Dao Tower. He didn't even dare cultivate, fearing that the resulting energy aura might allow Ancient Sage Gu Yao to deduce his location.
Three days later, a piece of news began to spread throughout the Eastern Barrens: Ancient Sage Gu Yao and the Heavenly God Palace Master had engaged in a great battle. The result was that Ancient Sage Gu Yao had been injured. At the critical moment, the Eastern Barrens' great Demon King, the Golden Roc Demon King, had arrived. Utilizing his natural talent for speed, he had rescued Ancient Sage Gu Yao and escaped. This was because Ancient Sage Gu Yao had previous ties with the Demon Race.
Enraged, the Palace Master of the Heavenly God Palace ordered his forces to carry out a large-scale cleansing operation against the Demon Race of the Eastern Barrens. For a time, vast numbers of Heavenly God Palace fighters poured into the Eastern Barrens, pursuing and killing the demons there.
After that, Ye Yunfei hid within the Heavenly Dao Tower for another three days.
For several consecutive days, neither Ye Yunfei nor Hun Lao sensed any attempted deduction by Ancient Sage Gu Yao.
"It seems Ancient Sage Gu Yao really was injured and made his escape. In this state, he probably won't come looking for trouble with me again," Ye Yunfei let out a sigh of relief. Ye Yunfei understood clearly that, with his current level of power, once targeted by a powerhouse like Ancient Sage Gu Yao, the consequences would be extremely severe.