"A fine example of the Miao Clan of the Vermilion Bird Realm—rotting from the inside out!"
Ye Yunfei sneered.
While Ye Yunfei had long witnessed—and grown accustomed to—the kind of brutal, heart-struggles for power that occur between core members of such great clans, it was an entirely different feeling when it happened to one's own family.
"What about the Vermilion Bird King? When his own children and grandchildren are involved in such matters, does he not intervene?"
Ye Yunfei asked.
"You dare to inquire about the Vermilion Bird King's affairs!"
The yellow-shirted youth was startled.
"Alright, I'll tell you."
Seeing the furious glare in Ye Yunfei's eyes and the black poison pill in his hand, the youth shivered and hastily complied.
"The Vermilion Bird King is in seclusion year-round cultivating and generally does not show his face. Not only is this true for ordinary clansmen, even Da Wangye and the Second Prince can hardly see him. In my entire life, I have only seen the Vermilion Bird King once, and that was just one of his clones."
The yellow-shirted youth replied.
"This seems a bit abnormal. Even if the Vermilion Bird King is in seclusion for cultivation, he wouldn't completely avoid seeing his family. Unless he's spending centuries in closed-door seclusion trying to overcome a bottleneck to breakthrough a certain realm, but that situation is exceedingly rare. Could something have happened to the Vermilion Bird King?"
Ye Yunfei thought to himself upon hearing this.
"Situ Kong'er, you will next transform into this fellow, and we will infiltrate the Vermilion Bird Realm,"
Ye Yunfei transmitted his voice to Situ Kong'er.
"Alright. However, Brother Ye, while transforming into him will be easy, it would be best to obtain his various memories. That way, after we enter the Vermilion Bird Realm, we won't be so easily exposed."
Situ Kong'er answered.
"Don't worry. I will perform a soul probing on him and forcibly transplant his memories to you."
Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before replying.
Ye Yunfei possessed a technique called the Soul Probing Art, which could forcibly search and read the memories of a living being's soul body.
"Brother Ye, you know soul probing? I've heard it's somewhat dangerous."
Situ Kong'er was somewhat surprised. Legend had it that soul probing was an extremely domineering and dangerous secret art. It was said that the caster's Soul Power had to be immensely powerful to have a chance of succeeding, otherwise they could easily suffer a backlash.
"Rest assured, I know a thing or two."
Ye Yunfei said with a laugh.
Ye Yunfei reached out and grabbed the yellow-shirted youth, lifting him up, and took him into the Heavenly Dao Tower. There, he began to cast the Soul Probing Art upon him, forcibly transplanting his memories to Situ Kong'er.
Ye Yunfei, now a Primary Half-Emperor, possessed Soul Power far stronger than that of the average Peak Half-Emperor. Executing the Soul Probing Art posed no problem whatsoever.
This yellow-shirted youth was merely in the World Fusion Realm. In Ye Yunfei's eyes, his strength was akin to that of an ant. He had no power to resist against Ye Yunfei's soul probing.
Roughly two hours later, Situ Kong'er had obtained the vast majority of the yellow-shirted youth's memories.
It turned out this youth was named Miao Chen, a grandson from one of the Vermilion Bird King's younger brothers' lines. His grandfather was one of the Elders of the Miao Clan, holding a lofty position.
Miao Chen was deeply favored by his grandfather, so his status within the clan was fairly decent—though, of course, it couldn't compare to the descendants of the Vermilion Bird King himself.
After acquiring Miao Chen's memories, Situ Kong'er immediately transformed into Miao Chen's appearance. The likeness was so perfect that even his temperament and bearing were identical. Not even Ye Yunfei could discern any difference.
The Seventy-Two Transformations Divine Ability of the Miaoshou Gate was profoundly mysterious, reputed to make one look exactly like whatever they changed into.
In terms of the exquisiteness of transformation, within the entirety of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, no second technique could compare!
Furthermore, this particular technique was highly demanding on talent. Only those with extremely high aptitude stood a chance of cultivating it. Therefore, the Miaoshou Gate had historically taken in very few disciples; each generation had at most a few hundred, sometimes just a handful.
This was also the reason why the Miaoshou Gate had gradually declined.
"Brother Situ, from now on, you are Miao Chen."
Ye Yunfei said to Situ Kong'er.
"Haha, sure thing! In the future, you'll have to give this Miao someone plenty of guidance, Brother Ye Yunfei!"
Situ Kong'er laughed heartily.
At this point, after being subjected to the soul probe, Miao Chen had fallen completely unconscious. It was unclear when he would wake from his deep sleep.
The Soul Probing Art was an extremely tyrannical soul technique. Beings subjected to it often suffered significant harm; in severe cases, they could perish directly.
For this Miao Chen to only fall unconscious was already a fairly good outcome.
Next, Ye Yunfei brought Situ Kong'er back before the other Vermilion Bird Realm beings.
"Young Master Miao, are you alright?"
The old man, seeing Situ Kong'er looking listless, immediately asked.
*Wham!*
Ye Yunfei extended his hand and slapped, directly knocking the old man unconscious.
Then, Ye Yunfei knocked out all beings from the Vermilion Bird Realm who were at the World Creation Realm in strength.
Only those at the Boundary Formation and Heavenly Longevity Realms remained, roughly half the original number.
Ye Yunfei then began to employ his Marionette Soul Thread Secret Art, exerting control over the remaining beings.
Half a day later, all the beings at the Boundary Formation Realm and below had become Ye Yunfei's slaves.
Given Ye Yunfei's current Soul Power level, subduing beings at the Boundary Formation Realm was already quite easy.
"Let's try subduing some at the World Creation Realm."
Ye Yunfei thought to himself, then woke each of the World Creation Realm beings one by one and attempted to bring them under control.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei successfully subdued a few beings at the Early and Mid-Stages of the World Creation Realm.
However, as for those at the Late and Peak Stages of the World Creation Realm, Ye Yunfei found he could not subdue them for the time being.
"A pity."
Ye Yunfei sighed inwardly.
That Miao Chen was a Peak World Creation Realm cultivator. If he could have been subdued, it would have been preferable to using Situ Kong'er's transformation; direct control would have been better.
"Alright, Brother Situ. Time for action. Let's enter the Vermilion Bird Realm."
Ye Yunfei said to Situ Kong'er.
Ye Yunfei then brought Situ Kong'er and those slaves he had subdued out of the Phantom Tower. They boarded the ship Miao Chen had used earlier and set course back towards the Vermilion Bird Realm.
From Miao Chen's memories, Ye Yunfei learned that his departure from the Vermilion Bird Realm this time had no significant purpose; he had merely planned to travel to another ordinary world for pleasure and enjoyment.
As a member of the Miao Clan of the Vermilion Bird Realm, Miao Chen would receive the highest courtesy when visiting ordinary worlds. He greatly enjoyed traveling to such places, relishing the flattery and fawning from various sects and clans—a feeling akin to that of a supreme ruler.
"Brother Situ, when the time comes, just say that you encountered a terrifying spatial-temporal storm in the Chaotic Void, suffering significant casualties among your retinue. Having lost your mood for travel, you decided to turn back halfway."
Within the ship, Ye Yunfei instructed Situ Kong'er.
"Good. That's a solid excuse. Brother Ye, rest assured. Within the Miao Clan, Miao Chen is essentially seen as a lazy and unfocused young nobleman of only middling status. Very few will pay him any serious attention."
Situ Kong'er replied with a smile.
"While that may be true, it's better for us to be more cautious."
Ye Yunfei said.