After emerging from the Heavenly Sun Tower, Ye Yunfei was joined by the ten Half-Emperor experts who took up positions behind him.
"Sect Leader, the Heavenly Emperor Decree for hunting down Ye Yunfei was issued personally by Great Emperor Jinwu. Our Golden Crow Sect cannot disobey Great Emperor Jinwu's command!" a Golden Crow Sect elder whispered to his Sect Leader.
"Esteemed ones," the Jinwu Sect Leader said after a moment of hesitation, casting his gaze towards the ten Half-Emperors standing behind Ye Yunfei, his voice deep and serious. "You just said you were acting on orders. Could it be that the one commanding you is Ye Yunfei? But what qualifications does Ye Yunfei possess to command you?
Esteemed ones, not long ago Great Emperor Jinwu issued a Heavenly Emperor Decree ordering Ye Yunfei's capture. I believe you should immediately sever all ties with Ye Yunfei to avoid being implicated! In the Three Thousand Worlds, no one targeted by a Heavenly Emperor Decree can escape. Their end is only death!"
The ten Half-Emperor experts, however, didn't even deign to look at him directly. Each wore an expression of cold indifference, standing stoically behind Ye Yunfei.
These Half-Emperors all hailed from ancient times, possessed formidable combat prowess, and had encountered numerous Heavenly Emperors in their long lives. With their vast wealth of experience and lofty perspective, they were not the type to be terrified simply upon hearing an emperor's title. After all, before the ancient Apocalyptic War, the number of experts at the Heavenly Emperor level in the Three Thousand Worlds had been far greater.
More importantly, their very lives were in Ye Yunfei's hands. With a mere thought from him, they would perish instantly. Thus, using an emperor's name to threaten these Half-Emperors was utterly futile.
"Oh?" Ye Yunfei gave a cold laugh upon hearing this. "Your Golden Crow Sect wishes to kill me?"
"Our Golden Crow Sect is merely carrying out Great Emperor Jinwu's Heavenly Emperor Decree to execute you! Ye Yunfei, I advise you to give up resisting. When a Heavenly Emperor Decree is issued, no creature in this world can defy it! Your fate is singular—death!" The Jinwu Sect Leader fixed Ye Yunfei with a piercing gaze as he spoke coldly.
"Sect Leader! Look out, the energy of the Heavenly Sun Tower is rapidly diminishing! The yang-attribute flames within its structure seem to be dying out!" a senior member of the Golden Crow Sect suddenly cried out in alarm at that moment, pointing at the tower.
Immediately, the gazes of all the Golden Crow Sect's higher-ups swung towards the Heavenly Sun Tower.
Indeed, the temperature around the tower was visibly dropping. The vast quantities of yang-attribute flames that perpetually blazed within its structure had begun to slowly extinguish!
The faces of the Golden Crow Sect's higher-ups all changed drastically. They could distinctly sense the burning energy contained within the Heavenly Sun Tower was rapidly decreasing!
"How can this be? What's happening?" Dismay and rage filled all the sect's senior members.
The Heavenly Sun Tower, brimming with intense yang-attribute energy and astounding incinerating power, was a sacred land for Golden Crow Sect disciples' cultivation, a prime location the sect used to nurture its disciples. This was because the cultivation techniques and combat arts inherited by the Golden Crow Sect all focused on cultivating yang-attribute energy. It could be said that this Heavenly Sun Tower was one of the sect's foundational assets! If something happened to it, it would be a massive loss for the Golden Crow Sect.
"Sect Leader, the Heavenly Sun Flame beneath the tower's base seems to have vanished! The area of that Magma Sea is shrinking!" a Golden Crow Sect elder suddenly said in a grave tone to the Sect Leader.
Within the Golden Crow Sect, only a handful of core elders and the Sect Leader themselves knew that a Heavenly Sun Flame was hidden beneath the tower's foundation. That Heavenly Sun Flame was the source of the tower's energy!
"What? The Heavenly Sun Flame is gone?" Hearing the elder's words, the Sect Leader paled and immediately released his Soul Power to probe the space beneath the tower base.
"The Heavenly Sun Flame is indeed gone!" the Sect Leader roared moments later.
"Ye Yunfei! You just walked out of the Heavenly Sun Tower. The tower's changes must be related to you. Isn't that right!" The Jinwu Sect Leader turned furious eyes towards Ye Yunfei.
"You insolent brat! How dare you come here to steal the Heavenly Sun Flame!"
"Ye Yunfei, confess honestly! Where is the Heavenly Sun Flame!"
"Ye Yunfei, return the Heavenly Sun Flame immediately!"
The other Golden Crow Sect higher-ups also stared at Ye Yunfei, firing questions at him.
"Originally, having taken the Heavenly Sun Flame, I felt somewhat apologetic towards your Golden Crow Sect. However, since your Golden Crow Sect has come to hunt me down, I no longer have anything to feel guilty about." Ye Yunfei sneered.
As he spoke, Ye Yunfei extended a finger. A flickering, fiery-red flame appeared upon its tip—it was the Heavenly Sun Flame.
"Ye Yunfei! The Heavenly Sun Flame is a treasure passed down by our Golden Crow Sect ancestors! It belongs to our Golden Crow Sect! Return it to us immediately!" the Jinwu Sect Leader bellowed.
"Anything that falls into my hands can't be taken back." Ye Yunfei chuckled before withdrawing the Heavenly Sun Flame.
"Take action! Capture Ye Yunfei!" The Sect Leader, furious to the extreme, commanded in a low voice.
"Esteemed ones," the Sect Leader's gaze swept towards the ten Half-Emperors behind Ye Yunfei as he spoke gravely, "Our Golden Crow Sect is acting upon Great Emperor Jinwu's decree to capture Ye Yunfei. I hope you will not interfere. Otherwise, you would be defying Great Emperor Jinwu's Heavenly Emperor Decree. I believe you are well aware of the consequences of violating an imperial decree!"
His greatest apprehension was still these ten Half-Emperor experts.
Boom... Boom...
At the Golden Crow Sect Leader's command, the sect's higher-ups stepped forward one by one, unleashing their energy auras. Like erupting volcanoes, their pressure made the surrounding space tremble incessantly.
Golden Crow Sect forces also immediately began converging on Ye Yunfei from all directions.
Instantly, the sect's forces formed a tight encirclement around Ye Yunfei.
"Since your Golden Crow Sect wishes to fight, I won't stand on ceremony." Ye Yunfei sneered.
"Proceed." Ye Yunfei said coldly.
"Yes." The ten Half-Emperors behind him nodded simultaneously.
BOOM...
The ten Half-Emperor experts surged forward together, unleashing their combined energy auras.
The sight of ten Half-Emperors erupting with power was utterly terrifying! A mighty, billowing energy soared skyward, as if to flip this very world upside down.
"You actually dare to attack! Do you intend to defy Great Emperor Jinwu's Heavenly Emperor Decree! Defying an imperial decree, aren't you afraid of bringing utter destruction upon yourselves!" Seeing the ten Half-Emperors preparing to fight, the Jinwu Sect Leader, both shocked and enraged, roared.
"Enough with the pointless talk! Just die!" one of the Half-Emperors shouted as he charged towards the Jinwu Sect Leader.
The other nine Half-Emperor experts each moved to engage the various Golden Crow Sect higher-ups.
These ten Half-Emperors were all figures from ancient times. The cultivation techniques and combat arts they practiced were generally far superior to those of contemporary Half-Emperors. Each possessed shocking combat prowess. The moment they struck, they sent several Golden Crow Sect higher-ups flying amidst agonized screams.