After the fierce battle, the world where the Light Faction headquarters was located lay in ruins. Wherever one looked, the scene was one of utter devastation. Thick spatial cracks crisscrossed across the entire world, and vast battle energies transformed into raging hurricane winds that roared madly.
Broken or shattered weapons and magical treasures were scattered everywhere. Some treasures, though damaged, still retained powerful energies and laws, making ordinary beings dare not approach.
However, the corpses and severed limbs remaining on this battlefield were dull and lifeless, devoid of any energy or laws. This was because the Dark Faction's Resource Collectors had already harvested the physical essence and soul essence of most of the fallen.
"That battle was far too dreadful," Huang Shang said, arriving before Ye Yunfei looking somewhat crestfallen. "Nearly half of my slaves died. My poisonous creatures and Gu insects suffered heavy losses too. That damned mage destroyed one of my three Gu Dolls. Fortunately, seeing the danger, I managed to retrieve the other two in time."
"Most of my poisonous insects are gone too! It's heartbreaking!" The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm rushed over and landed on Ye Yunfei's shoulder, wailing in distress.
"And it was extremely dangerous earlier. That damned mage tried to attack me, but luckily I immediately dove deep into space to evade him. Our kind can freely traverse most spaces in this world. It's not that easy to kill me!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm added.
"Qingluo, are you alright?" At this moment, Ye Yunfei saw Su Qingluo approaching and quickly asked with concern. In fact, during the entire battle, Ye Yunfei had been monitoring Su Qingluo with his Soul Power, ready to teleport to her aid at the first sign of danger. However, Huang Shang, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, Hu Miao, the Blood Clan clone, and the several Doppelganger Statues had been consciously protecting Su Qingluo. So, despite the brutality of the fight, Su Qingluo remained unharmed.
"I'm fine," Su Qingluo replied, shaking her head with a hint of sorrow. "But our Reincarnation Palace forces suffered heavy casualties."
"Commander Ye," Commander Xue led the surviving forces of the Twenty-Eight Battalions before Ye Yunfei. "Of the seven Spear and Shield Formations our Twenty-Eight Battalions formed, four have been annihilated. Only three remain!"
"You have all worked hard," Ye Yunfei said, his gaze sweeping over the remaining forces. His mood was heavy. Nearly three-fifths of the Twenty-Eight Battalions' personnel had perished. Among the survivors, many were wounded or disabled, most were covered in blood and filth, utterly exhausted.
"Commander Ye," Elder Zhuo of the Thirty-Fifth Battalion said to Ye Yunfei, his eyes reddened, voice choked. "Elder Zhao, Elder Qi, and Elder Chi have all fallen in battle. Now, among the elders of the Thirty-Fifth Battalion, only Elder Qian and I remain."
"I will avenge those three elders," Ye Yunfei replied with a slight nod, examining the forces of the Thirty-Fifth Battalion before speaking slowly.
"Everyone, we will have our revenge!" Ye Yunfei declared loudly, looking towards the people from the other battalions.
"Revenge!" The remaining forces of the Twenty-Eight Battalions roared in unison.
At this time, Old Man Chu and Chan Master Tianwu had also organized the survivors of the Light Faction headquarters. The headquarters forces had also suffered severe losses, with nearly half perishing.
"Two Seniors, this world is in ruins. We need to relocate," Ye Yunfei said to Old Man Chu and Chan Master Tianwu, surveying the devastated headquarters.
"Our headquarters has a backup base," Old Man Chu nodded. "I will have everyone pack up, then we will proceed to that backup base."
Old Man Chu then ordered all members of the Light Faction to prepare to move.
"To think the battle ended this way. It seems the war between the Dark Faction and Light Faction is not over; it will continue," one onlooker remarked.
"Even if it's not over, the Light Faction's overall strength is clearly weaker than the Dark Faction's. Even if they keep fighting, this war will surely end with a decisive defeat for the Light Faction. Just wait and see!" another voice said.
...
Outside the Light Faction headquarters, the spectating beings gradually began to leave, discussing the great battle heatedly.
Soon after, the Light Faction's army had finished packing and gathered together.
"Alright, everyone enter my spatial treasure!" Old Man Chu declared, taking out a golden pagoda. This golden pagoda was a spatial treasure. He threw it forward, and it rapidly enlarged, transforming into a majestic palace towering against the sky moments later. Then, the Light Faction's forces streamed into the palace, including the survivors of the Twenty-Eight Battalions. Finally, Old Man Chu beckoned, and the pagoda shrank back into his hand.
"Two Seniors, please lead everyone to the backup base. I will go to the Dark Ancestor's Nurturing Yin Land to investigate," Ye Yunfei said to Old Man Chu after some thought.
"That's fine. Our true bodies are all there. You can go directly. The Dark Ancestor's Nurturing Yin Land is behind that black wall from last time. That wall is composed of a vast number of Dark Faction Formations. Be careful," Old Man Chu advised. He knew Ye Yunfei's combat power was now formidable, and his presence might be of help.
"However, you must be careful! Safety first! You have three Great Teleportation Ancient Talismans. They are your means of preserving your life. If you encounter danger, activate them immediately and escape," Old Man Chu urged.
"Understood," Ye Yunfei nodded. He then took out his Space Teleportation Talisman, activated it, and teleported towards the location of the tall black wall he had visited before.
Ye Yunfei brought Su Qingluo along. Of course, Huang Shang, Hu Miao, and the others were inside the Illusionary Shadow Pagoda.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei teleported before a towering black wall. This wall was composed of countless black Formations, emanating vast Formation energies that roared and howled within this space.
"Halt!" Ye Yunfei had just steadied himself when over a dozen Dark Faction Earth Immortals appeared before the black wall, blocking his path.
With a thought, Ye Yunfei directly unleashed Soul Swords and Invisible Heart Swords, attacking the soul seas of these dozen Earth Immortals.
"Ahhh..." The Earth Immortals immediately screamed in agony. The Soul Swords and Invisible Heart Swords Ye Yunfei now wielded could even affect the Seven Lords, let alone these ordinary Dark Faction Earth Immortals.
Next, Ye Yunfei manifested his Spatial World Grand Formation. An illusory world appeared overhead, radiating terrifying suppressive energy that caused the bodies of the Dark Faction Earth Immortals to sink simultaneously, making movement difficult.
*Thud! Thud!...*
Ye Yunfei threw a punch. Fearsome physical strength empowered his fist, and five colossal mountains materialized, directly blasting the dozen Earth Immortals into clouds of blood mist one by one. With Ye Yunfei's current combat power, he could instantly annihilate ordinary Earth Immortals.
The Blood Clan clone appeared and opened its mouth, sucking in all the blood essence of the dozen Dark Faction Earth Immortals. Huang Shang also appeared, waving a hand and devouring all the soul body fragments left behind by these Earth Immortals.
"Elder Huang, with your current strength, dealing with ordinary perfected Earth Immortals shouldn't be difficult, right?" Ye Yunfei asked, examining Huang Shang's dark, glossy ghost body.
"In the battle that just ended, I devoured the soul body fragments of numerous Earth Immortals," Huang Shang replied. "I can now easily kill ordinary perfected Earth Immortals, even instantly."
"Excellent. Elder Huang, though you lost many poisonous creatures, Gu insects, half your slaves, and one Gu Doll in this battle, your own power has increased significantly. As they say, every loss has its gain," Ye Yunfei said with a smile.
"Your Blood Clan clone's power has also increased greatly, not weaker than mine," Huang Shang replied, glancing at the Blood Clan clone.
"Indeed, it has improved considerably," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"There's a breach over there!" Ye Yunfei suddenly noticed a clearly punched-through opening in the black Formation wall at a distant location.
"It seems the experts of our Light Faction have indeed breached this black wall and entered the Nurturing Yin Land behind it!" Ye Yunfei thought to himself.
"Although the number of these Formations is vast, the individual power of each isn't particularly astonishing. The true wonder lies in how this multitude of Formations seems interconnected, end to end, echoing and supporting each other, combining into a single entity. If I can disrupt the connections between them, causing them to separate, then this Formation black wall won't be so fearsome," Ye Yunfei analyzed, examining the boundless black Formation wall before him. A realization struck him.
After a moment's thought, Ye Yunfei set up over a hundred Formations in a corner beside the black wall—Concealing Formations, Isolation Formations, and Illusion Formations. With Ye Yunfei's current Formation proficiency, setting up over a hundred Formations was instantaneous, taking less than two breaths.
Ye Yunfei sent a Doppelganger Statue into these Formations. The statue sat cross-legged and began studying the black Formation wall. This statue contained a Clone of Ye Yunfei, possessing the same Formation mastery as his main body.
Then, Ye Yunfei flashed forward and slipped through the breach in the black Formation wall. The next moment, he entered the world behind the wall.
As far as the eye could see, the entire space was enveloped in darkness, so thick one could barely see their own hand. This black space also restricted Soul Power perception. Ordinary beings who came here likely couldn't use Soul Power to sense their surroundings. Only those with powerful Soul Power might manage to perceive their environment under such conditions.
Fortunately, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power energy was formidable, allowing him to clearly perceive the surrounding space even in this environment. He moved swiftly, advancing into the boundless dark expanse ahead.
"Everywhere here is saturated with dense dark energy and dark laws!" Ye Yunfei was inwardly astonished, sensing the environment.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei detected a massive Dark Faction force ahead, arrayed in formations like black tidal waves blocking the path forward.
"I'll avoid engaging them for now," Ye Yunfei thought. "Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, come out and carry the Illusionary Shadow Pagoda through." Ye Yunfei knew the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm surpassed him in spatial traversal, as their kind possessed an innate bloodline affinity for space, unmatched by many other races.
"Understood." The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm emerged from the Illusionary Shadow Pagoda. Ye Yunfei entered the pagoda.
*Whoosh!*
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, carrying the pagoda, transformed into a streak of golden light, diving into space and silently weaving through the ranks of the Dark Faction forces.
"I'll help conceal our aura too," Hun Lao said, activating a spatial secret art to isolate the surrounding space and aid the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm's stealth.
Thus, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm successfully traversed the region guarded by Dark Faction troops.
Not long after...
"It's just ahead!" Ye Yunfei suddenly heard the rumble of battle energy coming from a location ahead, his spirits lifting.
*Whoosh!*
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm accelerated, charging toward the site of the battle.
Moments later, they arrived in a space shrouded in blackness and icy coldness. It was like a cavern of ten-thousand-year profound ice; ordinary Earth Immortal experts who came here would likely struggle to endure the freezing environment.
"What is that?" Ye Yunfei emerged from the Illusionary Shadow Pagoda, and the first thing he saw in the distance was a black altar shrouded in copious amounts of sinister, ink-black evil energy. This evil energy continuously transformed into ferocious-looking black monsters that roared and howled.
On a platform atop the tall altar sat a pitch-black child, emanating an abnormally sinister and cold aura! The child appeared only two or three years old, its entire body covered in bizarre, esoteric runes. Its eyes constantly shifted colors—sometimes green, sometimes ghostly white, sometimes blood-red—filled with an eerie presence. The child's fingers ended in long, curved nails, dark, hard, and gleaming with a cold light.
"So this is the Dark Ancestor's Nurturing Yin Land! That black child must be the Yin Seed!" Ye Yunfei's heart was shaken to the core as he stared at the motionless child seated on the altar. He never imagined that the Yin Seed he had heard about so often would take such a form!
At this moment, a terrifying melee was raging around the black altar.
"You Light Faction are far too audacious, daring to disturb my Yin Seed! You all deserve death!" The Dark Ancestor roared in fury.
The Dark Ancestor was engaged in a fierce battle with a golden-armored giant. The giant wielded a golden long blade, its golden radiance billowing. It possessed tremendous strength, and every move and stance seemed to contain incredibly profound martial essence. Ye Yunfei had seen this golden-armored giant before! Last time, outside the black Formation wall, this golden giant had appeared and battled the Dark Ancestor.
"Senior Chu! Senior Tianwu! And the other four core elders of our Light Faction are all here too! And they are all in their true bodies!" Ye Yunfei spotted six elderly figures—the six core elders of the Light Faction. He was both surprised and delighted.
During the battle at the Light Faction headquarters, the Clones of four of these six core elders had been slain. Now, their true bodies were all present here.
"No wonder these six Seniors only left their Clones at the headquarters. Their purpose was to divert the enemy's attention while their true bodies secretly planned how to breach the Dark Ancestor's Nurturing Yin Land and destroy the Yin Seed," Ye Yunfei realized inwardly.