"Who's there?"
More than a dozen Zhao Family members turned their gazes toward the source of the voice.
They saw that a young man had appeared near them at some point, standing there and sneering at them.
"Su Fei! That's the senior brother of Ziwei Sect, Su Fei! I saw him at the Lesser Lantai Gathering!"
Soon, a Zhao Family disciple recognized Ye Yunfei.
"So it's you, Su Fei! What audacity! Knowing I am here, you still dare to show yourself! If you hid inside the Ziwei Sect headquarters, perhaps I couldn't do anything to you. Since you dare to seek me out, you are courting death!"
The middle-aged man laughed cruelly.
Boom...
As soon as his words fell, a powerful aura of spiritual energy erupted from his body, causing the entire mountain peak to tremble violently.
A peak Heavenly Sea Realm expert!
Although Ye Yunfei had claimed first place at the Lesser Lantai Gathering, that event was for young cultivators at the Destiny Realm and below.
Thus, this middle-aged man didn't take Ye Yunfei seriously at all.
While the Freak Minor Ranking was renowned across the Eastern Barrens, being on the list only indicated high talent and great potential for future development. That was the future. Their current combat power wasn't considered strong compared to older experts.
"You alone aren't qualified to make me afraid of showing myself," Ye Yunfei said coldly, looking at the middle-aged man with contempt, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Brat, you really are arrogant! Get over here!"
The middle-aged man's face darkened as he roared.
Boom...
His right hand shot out like lightning, continuously expanding and releasing a rolling oppressive aura as it reached for Ye Yunfei.
The spiritual pressure of a peak Heavenly Sea Realm cultivator was indeed terrifying. Vast spiritual energy whipped up a fearsome hurricane across the area. The dozen or so Zhao Family members beside him felt as if they were standing in the eye of a typhoon, nearly losing their footing.
At that moment.
The Ice Demon suddenly appeared beside Ye Yunfei and lashed out with a backhand slap, colliding with the Zhao Family middle-aged man's right hand.
"Ah!"
The Zhao Family man screamed as the Ice Demon grabbed his right hand, yanked hard, and ripped it clean off, tossing it aside.
"Run!"
Realizing the situation had turned bad, the Zhao Family middle-aged man shouted loudly and turned to flee.
Whoosh...
The Ice Demon waved a hand, unleashing the Ice-Snow Laws. A vast tide of ice and snow swept past, instantly freezing the dozen-odd Zhao Family members into snowmen, standing rigid and immobile.
The Ice Demon reached out and directly grabbed the middle-aged man, holding him aloft in the air as if clutching a chick.
After this recent bloodline breakthrough, the Ice Demon's combat power was equivalent to the late Heavenly Position Realm. This middle-aged man was only at the late Heavenly Sea Realm—no match at all!
"You... you can control ice and snow! What kind of monster are you?"
The Zhao Family middle-aged man stared at the Ice Demon with terror-filled eyes, trembling from head to toe.
"Speak. When is your Zhao Family's force arriving?" Ye Yunfei asked coldly.
"Brat, release me immediately, or when our Zhao Family's army arrives..." the middle-aged man exclaimed in fear and anger.
"Kill them all," Ye Yunfei said indifferently.
"Brat, how dare you..." The middle-aged man was horrified.
Puff!
The Ice Demon slapped the middle-aged man's body into a bloody mist.
Puff! Puff...
The Ice Demon manipulated the Ice-Snow Laws, causing the other Zhao Family members to explode one after another, each of them reduced to pulp.
Afterward, Ye Yunfei took the Ice Demon and eliminated all those surveilling Ziwei Sect around the headquarters.
"Su Fei, all the smithing materials you required have been purchased and delivered."
As soon as Ye Yunfei returned to the headquarters, Sect Leader Liu found him and handed over more than ten spatial rings.
Each spatial ring was filled to the brim with smithing materials.
"Elder Ning, I'll leave these materials to you. Try to forge as many puppets as possible. The greater the number and the stronger their power, the better."
Ye Yunfei went to the Puppet Hall, found Ning Zhongqi, and handed all dozen-plus spatial rings to him.
"Alright. However, it will take some time."
Ning Zhongqi accepted the spatial rings and nodded.
"Don't worry about time. You can enter my Space Treasure to ensure you have sufficient time."
Ye Yunfei smiled.
He then brought Ning Zhongqi into the Phantom Tower, letting the elder stay inside to forge puppets.
"Ziwei Sect has one more strong individual. It's time to bring him out."
Emerging from the Phantom Tower, Ye Yunfei gave a faint smile and soared into the air.
Moments later, he arrived behind the headquarters at a stretch of dense mountain ridges.
Within these mountains lay a marsh shrouded in thick mist, seldom visited and essentially wasteland.
In fact, this mountain area was one of Ziwei Sect's forbidden grounds.
Generations of Ziwei Sect ancestors had stipulated that no one was allowed to approach this desolate mountain range.
As for why this rule existed and why entry was forbidden, even the current sect leadership no longer knew the reason.
Only Ye Yunfei knew!
Ye Yunfei moved swiftly to a spot above the marsh and extended his Soul Power downward, probing into the swamp below.
Soon, he found his Soul Power blocked.
Numerous restrictive formations had been placed beneath this marsh, capable of isolating Soul Power perception.
Moreover, these formations were quite sophisticated.
However, in Ye Yunfei's eyes, these formations were nothing significant.
Shortly after, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power breached these formations and continued probing deeper into the marsh.
Before long, Ye Yunfei discerned a massive figure beneath the swamp's depths.
A giant turtle!
"As expected, it's still here."
Ye Yunfei smiled.
This giant turtle had an extraordinary origin. In ancient times, it was one of Ziwei Sect's Guardian Beasts!
In ancient Ziwei Sect, there were four Guardian Beasts, and one of them was this Mysterious Turtle.
Later, when the Ziwei Sect underwent changes, three of the Guardian Beasts died or departed. Only this Mysterious Turtle remained, lurking here in slumber until now.
Furthermore, Ye Yunfei knew this Mysterious Turtle had also encountered problems; otherwise, it wouldn't have remained in a dormant state all this time.
Now, Ye Yunfei intended to awaken this Mysterious Turtle.
It was the sole surviving Guardian Beast of Ziwei Sect and currently one of the sect's hidden resources!
To facilitate Ziwei Sect's resurgence, Ye Yunfei had been constantly excavating and activating various hidden assets during this period.
"Let's go down and meet it."
Ye Yunfei's figure flickered as he plunged into the swamp. Soon, he arrived before the Mysterious Turtle.
It could be seen that the Mysterious Turtle was still sound asleep.
"Senior Mysterious Turtle, you have slept far too long. It is time to awaken. The current Ziwei Sect needs you."
Ye Yunfei spoke up.
After speaking, he stood there, waiting quietly.
Roughly half an incense stick's worth of time later, the Mysterious Turtle's head suddenly twitched.
Ye Yunfei gave a faint smile, knowing the turtle was about to wake up.
Sure enough, moments later, the Mysterious Turtle's eyes slowly opened.