Inside the Phantom Tower, approximately two months later.
Roughly eight hundred Divine Crystals were fully refined and absorbed.
Ye Yunfei had finally cultivated the Nine-Yang Scripture to the Perfection Realm of its eighth layer.
Eight massive golden spheres of light hovered above his head, radiating endless, blindingly dazzling golden light that made one unable to look directly at them.
'The celestial phenomenon born from cultivating the eighth layer of the Nine-Yang Scripture to perfection is an ancient formation called the Eight Yangs Ancient God Formation. I can now utilize the Eight Yangs Ancient God Formation in battle,' Ye Yunfei thought.
With a mere thought from Ye Yunfei, the eight golden light spheres above his head transformed into eight ancient, majestic-looking golden deities. They sat cross-legged in the void, their auras seeming to emanate from the primordial times of antiquity. These eight deities were connected by their vital energies, positioned meticulously to form a combat array.
The fact that the celestial phenomenon produced by cultivating a technique was an ancient formation... it had to be said, the Nine-Yang Scripture was truly one of the most miraculous techniques within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds!
'Cultivating the eighth layer of the Nine-Yang Scripture to perfection has once again significantly boosted my combat power,' Ye Yunfei muttered to himself as he perceived the eight ancient deities above him.
'These Nine Divine Beasts are now all capable of battling Perfection-level Half-Emperors,' Ye Yunfei remarked, sensing the state of the nine beasts with a hint of pleasant surprise.
The Nine Divine Beasts stood beside Ye Yunfei, their massive bodies swirling with mighty and fearsome energy auras that exuded immense pressure, like nine ancient beasts that had stepped out of a historical scroll!
During this period, these nine beasts had devoured vast amounts of precious cultivation resources, consuming an astronomical quantity. However, the results were excellent.
'Just what level is this technique you're cultivating? Which layer have you even reached? The cultivation resources these Nine Divine Beasts have consumed have reached a heaven-defying amount. Although they've been growing stronger, their potential seems boundless. I suspect that if you supply them with enough cultivation resources, they might even achieve combat power at the Heavenly Emperor level.'
Hun Lao suddenly appeared, looking at the Nine Divine Beasts in astonishment.
'I don't know what level this technique is either. I don't even know which layer I've cultivated it to now. All I know is that as long as I keep providing them with cultivation resources, they keep getting stronger, as if there's no upper limit,' Ye Yunfei replied.
The Nine Palaces Totem Wheel was something Ye Yunfei obtained by chance in an ancient ruin after becoming a Heavenly Emperor in his previous life. Before he could begin cultivating it, he met his demise. It was only in this lifetime that he officially started cultivating it. Therefore, Ye Yunfei wasn't very familiar with this technique and had little cultivation experience with it, still exploring and figuring things out as he went.
'I feel that among the martial skills and techniques you cultivate, this one is the most mysterious and likely has the greatest potential,' Hun Lao said with a sigh.
'Possibly. I'm also very curious to see what kind of power I can achieve by continuously cultivating this technique,' Ye Yunfei nodded.
'These Imperial Techniques left behind by the Guhuang Great Emperor are also quite good. You could spend some time cultivating them,' Hun Lao suggested.
'I was thinking the same thing,' Ye Yunfei smiled.
Ye Yunfei then took out the six technique jade slips left by the Guhuang Great Emperor and began carefully reading the contents recorded within.
Great Desolate Heaven Art!
This technique was recorded within one of the jade slips, presumably the main cultivation technique of the Guhuang Great Emperor.
'What?! This technique... actually contains some Immortal Dao Laws?' After reading the general outline of the Great Desolate Heaven Art, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but feel somewhat shocked.
According to the outline, the Great Desolate Heaven Art was actually an Immortal Dao technique containing Immortal Dao Laws!
'An Immortal Dao technique? Immortal Dao Laws?' A look of confusion involuntarily appeared on Ye Yunfei's face.
'In this world, are there truly Deities, or are there Immortals?' Ye Yunfei murmured to himself.
In his previous life, Ye Yunfei was ambushed by the Three Great Heavenly Emperors during his tribulation to become a Deity and subsequently perished. Within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, most living beings believed that above the Heavenly Emperor rank were Deities. But the technique cultivated by the Guhuang Great Emperor actually contained Immortal Dao Laws. This made Ye Yunfei begin to wonder if what lay above the Heavenly Emperor realm were truly Deities.
'Forget it. I'll understand this issue sooner or later,' Ye Yunfei ultimately stopped pondering the matter.
Annihilation Fist.
World-Opening Axe.
Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon.
Three Fingers to Imprison Immortals.
Heart Sutra.
Ye Yunfei then proceeded to study the techniques and martial skills recorded in the other five jade slips one by one.
It could be said that each one was an extremely precious Imperial Technique. Once mastered, the power they could unleash would undoubtedly be terrifying.
'The Heart Sutra... it's actually a secret manual for cultivating Mental Force Energy,' Ye Yunfei remarked with some surprise as his Soul Power perception delved into the jade slip containing the Heart Sutra.
Mental Force Energy was an extremely obscure and rare form of energy, exceedingly difficult to cultivate. It was said that only beings with exceptionally high talent and profound comprehension abilities had the possibility of cultivating Mental Force Energy. Moreover, within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, methods for cultivating Mental Force Energy were far too scarce. Even as a Heavenly Emperor in his previous life, Ye Yunfei had never obtained a manual or technique related to this. He never expected the Guhuang Great Emperor to have collected a technique of this type.
'I should thoroughly study this Heart Sutra when I have the time,' Ye Yunfei thought to himself.
'However, I've heard that cultivating Mental Force Energy is extremely difficult, requiring long and arduous cultivation over vast stretches of time before any achievement is possible. So I'll set it aside for now and study it later when I have time. For now, I should cultivate those Imperial Techniques that can be mastered more quickly.'
In fact, Ye Yunfei himself also possessed quite a few Imperial Techniques. However, with his current strength at the Half-Emperor level, some of the truly high-grade Imperial Techniques required corresponding levels of strength to be eligible for cultivation. Therefore, up to this point, Ye Yunfei had only cultivated three Imperial Techniques: the Law Spear, the Blazing Sun Burst, and the Seamless Fist. These three were relatively basic, not excessively powerful Imperial Techniques suitable for Ye Yunfei's current level.
'The Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon is a movement technique. I should be able to cultivate that. The Three Fingers to Imprison Immortals also seems cultivatable. Good, I'll try them.'
After repeatedly studying the six technique jade slips, Ye Yunfei decided to cultivate the Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon and the Three Fingers to Imprison Immortals. As for the Great Desolate Heaven Art, although it contained Immortal Dao Laws, Ye Yunfei had no intention of cultivating it for the time being. His current primary cultivation technique was the Nine-Yang Scripture. Only after cultivating the Nine-Yang Scripture to its highest level would Ye Yunfei consider switching his main cultivation technique.
Thus, Ye Yunfei once again entered closed-door cultivation within the Phantom Tower.
Three months later, Ye Yunfei finally achieved initial success with the Eight Steps of the Heavenly Dragon and the Three Fingers to Imprison Immortals, able to barely use them in battle.
'Things are looking a bit bad! Tell Hu Miao to stop the flying ship immediately!' At that moment, Hun Lao suddenly spoke in a grave tone.
'What's wrong?' Hearing Hun Lao's words, Ye Yunfei immediately ceased his closed-door cultivation, emerged from the Phantom Tower, and instructed Hu Miao to halt the ship.
Hun Lao also appeared at this moment within the Phantom Tower, releasing his spatial energy to sense the Chaotic Void ahead.
'There's a group of beings lying in ambush up ahead. Each one's strength is quite considerable. And it seems a large formation has also been set up. That formation is very powerful. I can sense the energy aura it's emitting, completely sealing off a vast expanse of space,' Hun Lao said with a frown after sensing for a moment.
'Oh? There's such a thing?' Hearing Hun Lao's words, Ye Yunfei immediately released his Soul Power energy to sense ahead.
A moment later, Ye Yunfei faintly detected some weak formation energy auras, along with the auras of many living beings concealed in various positions.
'It truly is a rather powerful formation. If not for Hun Lao's warning, I might not have been able to sense this formation in advance,' Ye Yunfei inwardly remarked, slightly shocked.
That even with Ye Yunfei's formation skills he had nearly failed to detect it indicated that the grade of that large formation was undoubtedly high. After fusing with another branch of the Chaos World Tree, Hun Lao's spatial energy and comprehension of Spatial Laws had significantly improved recently, reaching an astonishing level of spatial perception. That was how he could detect that space-sealing large formation early.
'For whom are these fellows setting up such a powerful formation here? Kid, you don't think they're here to deal with you, do you?' Hun Lao frowned.
'Easily solved – a quick test will tell. If they are here for me, I'll give them a proper reception,' Ye Yunfei chuckled coldly.