A short while later.
Ye Yunfei and Hu Miao had already arrived near the valley. Looking into the distance, demonic aura surged into the sky from above the valley, almost covering that patch of the firmament.
Ye Yunfei projected his Soul Power to sense ahead, discovering that inside the valley and around its surroundings, numerous Earth Corpse Monkeys were moving about, with the defenses being extremely tight.
“Master, if there really are Ancient Demon Race corpses in this valley, they are definitely hidden beneath that altar,” said Hu Miao after extending her Soul Power to probe within the valley for a while.
“That’s right. I think so too,” Ye Yunfei nodded.
Because the area with the most intense demonic aura in that valley was indeed the altar. Endless demonic aura continuously rose from the location of the altar.
“We’ll travel through space to enter,” Ye Yunfei said after a moment’s thought.
The previous time, Ye Yunfei had followed behind the disciples of the major sects and clans, carving a bloody path straight in. This time, he did not want to repeat that direct charge—it was too troublesome. Especially after experiencing a fierce battle with those Earth Corpse Monkeys, he was somewhat weary of it. So, this time, Ye Yunfei intended to use the simplest and most straightforward method.
Thus, Hu Miao directly retreated into her inner elixir, and Ye Yunfei activated his Shadow Mantle, vanishing from sight.
A short while later.
Beside the altar within the valley.
Swoosh!
Ye Yunfei suddenly appeared.
“Such dense and ancient demonic aura! Master, if there are Ancient Demon Race corpses, they must be right beneath this altar!” said Hu Miao confidently as she emerged from her inner elixir and examined the altar.
“Good! I’ll smash this altar open!” said Ye Yunfei.
As his words faded.
Ye Yunfei raised his fist and viciously slammed it down onto the ground beneath the altar. Ye Yunfei’s current physical strength had reached roughly nine hundred thousand catties—a full-powered punch carried terrifying might.
Boom rumble rumble…
The ground beneath the altar collapsed, revealing a massive pit. The entire altar crashed down into the pit with a thunderous roar.
The entire valley’s ground shook violently.
Screech screech…
All the Earth Corpse Monkeys inside and outside the valley seemed to go mad, swarming densely and charging forward.
Without hesitation, Ye Yunfei and Hu Miao leapt straight down into the pit.
At the bottom of the pit lay an underground palace!
In one corner of the palace were ten stone coffins!
Each emitted vast amounts of demonic aura, so thick that it transformed into layers of demonic mist, flowing as if liquid.
Like lightning, Ye Yunfei slapped open the stone lid of one coffin.
Inside the stone coffin lay a demon corpse with wings on its back, twin horns on its head, eyes tightly shut, and its body carved full of bizarre Demon Race symbols, lying still.
“It truly is an Ancient Demon Race corpse!”
Ye Yunfei and Hu Miao couldn’t help but exclaim joyfully. Both of them were well-versed in such matters and naturally recognized it at a glance.
At that very moment.
Roar!
Suddenly, a fist-sized gray light sphere shot out from the demon corpse’s head, charged into Ye Yunfei’s sea of consciousness at astonishing speed, letting out a furious roar. This gray light sphere then transformed into an Ancient Demon Race being, pouncing towards Ye Yunfei’s soul body.
“Haha… Who would have thought a human youth would actually deliver himself right to my doorstep! In that case, I won’t stand on ceremony. Your body is mine now!” The Ancient Demon Race being cackled wildly.
“You mere wisp of a Remnant Soul dare run rampant before me?” Ye Yunfei snorted coldly.
In the next instant.
Boom rumble rumble…
A vast wave of Soul Power suddenly erupted, blasting towards the Ancient Demon Race entity.
“Ah!
How can this be?! Human kid, why is your Soul Power so terrifying!”
The Ancient Demon Race being screamed in panic.
Suppressed under Ye Yunfei’s Soul Power, it found itself utterly incapable of resistance!
Keep in mind that Ye Yunfei’s sea of consciousness held a trace of residual Heavenly Emperor Soul Power—how could a mere wisp of Demon Race Remnant Soul hope to contend with it?
Pop!
In less than a second, the Remnant Soul of the Ancient Demon Race directly shattered, vanishing without a trace.
Screech screech…
At this time, Earth Corpse Monkeys continued pouring down from the pit above, roaring as they charged toward Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei flicked his sleeve, storing all ten stone coffins into the Phantom Tower.
Hu Miao also retreated into her inner elixir.
Then, Ye Yunfei activated his Shadow Mantle, directly traversing through space, disappearing.
Ye Yunfei had no desire to fight these Earth Corpse Monkeys again. Because they were practically endless—any combat would be pointless.
Roar roar…
The underground palace reverberated with the roars of Earth Corpse Monkeys.
A short while later.
In an empty clearing near the valley, Ye Yunfei’s figure materialized directly.
“Master, we’ve acquired ten Ancient Demon Race corpses!” Hu Miao reappeared and exclaimed delightedly.
“A decent haul.” Ye Yunfei smiled.
“About half an hour remains until the exam concludes. We should head out,” suggested Hu Miao.
“Alright.” Ye Yunfei nodded.
Thus, Ye Yunfei retrieved the Teleportation Talisman Paper and immediately activated it.
Swoosh!
A powerful teleportation force enveloped Ye Yunfei, tearing through space to transport him away.
A short while later.
In the warship outside the core region.
Swoosh!
Ye Yunfei’s figure appeared within the warship.
By this time, the warship was packed with people.
The vast majority wore disheartened expressions. A minority were flush-faced, extremely excited.
“Boss, you’re finally back!” Wu Heishan spotted Ye Yunfei and hurried forward, overjoyed.
“You… Are you alright?” Xiao Hui was also a bit pleasantly surprised when she saw Ye Yunfei.
“Brother Ye.” Yuan Dayong came forward as well.
In his heart, he was deeply grateful to Ye Yunfei. He knew that without Ye Yunfei’s assistance, it would have been too difficult for him and his sister to gather a hundred Ancient Demon Crystals.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Right now, one figure after another continuously materialized within the warship. The assessment was about to end, and everyone had returned through teleportation.
The final batch to teleport back consisted mostly of disciples from the great sects and clans of the Eastern Region.
“Haha… Elder, here are a hundred Ancient Demon Crystals!” The Tianmo Crown Prince from the Azure Dragon Sacred Land strode forward, took out a hundred Ancient Demon Crystals, and presented them to Elder Dongfang.
Then, Jun Changsheng from the Primal Yellow Sacred Land, Lu Tianyou from the Heaven Emperor Sacred Land, and a dozen or so other elite juniors stepped up, each producing a hundred Ancient Demon Crystals and handing them to Elder Dongfang.
Ye Yunfei also walked over and delivered a hundred Ancient Demon Crystals to Elder Dongfang.
Jun Changsheng, Lu Tianyou, and the others, upon seeing Ye Yunfei, expressions turned unsightly. Originally, they thought Ye Yunfei would undoubtedly be unable to escape the Earth Corpse Monkey lair, destined to die inside. Unforeseeably, not only did Ye Yunfei emerge alive, he even collected sufficient Ancient Demon Crystals to successfully pass the assessment.
“Wait, Ye Yunfei, I am quite curious—given your ability, just how many Ancient Demon Crystals have you collected?” Suddenly, a middle-aged man beside Elder Dongfang spoke up.
This middle-aged man was one of the Venerable Protectors whom Ye Yunfei had encountered previously.
“Heh, yes. Ye Yunfei, I’m also quite curious,” another middle-aged man added. This second man was the other Venerable Protector that Ye Yunfei had encountered before.
These two Venerable Protectors had personally evaluated Ye Yunfei, accepting him as a candidate student. So, both had high expectations of him.
Even Elder Dongfang looked up, studying Ye Yunfei carefully, for the two Venerable Protectors had extolled Ye Yunfei’s virtues ceaselessly before him. He too wanted to see how capable Ye Yunfei truly was.
“Alright,” Ye Yunfei knew their intention and waved a hand.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
One Ancient Demon Crystal after another continuously emerged from his spatial ring, densely hovering before Ye Yunfei.
There were roughly four to five thousand!
Shuuuk—!
At that moment, collective sharp intakes of breath echoed throughout the warship. Everyone gazed with shocked eyes at the thousands of Ancient Demon Crystals floating before Ye Yunfei.
“How can that be?! Could he truly have snatched all the Ancient Demon Crystals from the Earth Corpse Monkey lair?!” Jun Changsheng, Lu Tianyou, and other disciples from the great sects and clans stared at Ye Yunfei with incredulous expressions.
“Haha… Good, very good! Ye Yunfei, you have indeed not disappointed us!” The two Venerable Protectors were astonished, yet laughed heartily, feeling greatly pleased.
Elder Dongfang too nodded continuously with a faint smile.