"I think the most important thing for us right now is to figure out a way to get out of here, fast."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm spoke up.
After that giant hand stretched out from the Jinhua Divine Hall, a large expanse of the surrounding space had been sealed.
Everyone was pinned in place, unable to move. This included the few Perfected Demigods who had just managed to escape; they too were suppressed there. Though they struggled desperately, they couldn't budge an inch, their faces flushed crimson with strain and terror.
Even these recently escaped Perfected Demigods were terrified to such an extent—that giant hand must be unimaginably fearsome!
Everyone wanted to flee, but none had the ability to move even a single step.
"Right!
We must find a way to leave this place immediately. If this continues, I'm afraid everyone's situation will turn dire."
Hun Lao nodded.
Ye Yunfei had long since gripped the Space Teleportation Token in his hand, ready to activate it at any moment. However, the energy pressure radiating from that giant hand was too terrifying. Ye Yunfei felt the token might not be able to break through this sealed space.
Under the gazes of the horrified crowd, the giant hand began to move slowly. It appeared lethargic, but in reality, it was incredibly fast.
In an instant, it had already caught up behind that half-destroyed Demon Race expert. It opened its palm and slowly reached out to grab him.
"Ah…"
In his panic, the Demon Race expert let out a furious roar. All the energy within his body erupted in an instant, transforming into a colossal demonic fist that punched towards the giant hand.
Simultaneously, dozens of demonic magic treasures rushed out from his body, all activating at once to bombard the giant hand.
These were all Demigod-grade demonic treasures. When activated together, the demonic energy they unleashed caused the surrounding space to begin crumbling and shattering.
But the giant hand behind him closed gently, shattering everything with effortless ease. Then it grasped the Demon Race expert, clutching him within its palm.
Ah…
The Demon Race expert let out a piercingly miserable scream. The next moment, he was directly swallowed by the giant hand, disappearing into its palm.
Next, the giant hand reached for another Perfected Demigod expert who had just escaped from the Jinhua Divine Hall.
This was a top expert from the Dark Faction!
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Knowing the terror of that giant hand and how dreadfully fast it was, the Dark Faction expert, filled with despair and indignation, simply stopped fleeing and stood his ground. With a great roar, a black seal rushed out from within his body.
This black seal was densely engraved with runes related to the Dark Faction's totemic civilization.
With a boom, the black seal was directly activated. The dense mass of black runes completely came alive, writhing around the seal like a multitude of black tadpoles.
Subsequently, a black figure materialized from within the seal.
"Who dares harm a member of my Dark Faction!"
The black figure spoke in a deep voice, each word deafening and capable of overshadowing the heavens and earth.
"That's a Soul Power imprint left by a Deity of the Dark Faction!
And it's much stronger than the Soul Power imprints left by the two ancestors of the Eternal Fortune Merchant House and the Myriad Methods Merchant House!"
Hun Lao immediately exclaimed.
"That's a Soul Power imprint left by a Deity!"
Not just Hun Lao, many others also recognized the origin of that figure and cried out in shock.
Seeing the Dark Faction Deity's Soul Power imprint, everyone's hearts swelled with anticipation.
If this imprint could withstand the giant hand, it would be good news for everyone.
Because everyone around the Jinhua Divine Hall was currently sealed by that terrifying giant hand, unable to move. No one knew if the hand would proceed to kill them all.
However, the next moment, to the horror of the onlookers, the giant hand merely gave a slight tremble. That slight motion completely shattered the Dark Faction Deity's Soul Power imprint. Then, with a gentle tap of its palm, it blasted the Dark Faction expert into a mist of blood, which it then swallowed whole.
The entire process seemed complex, but it was actually incredibly swift, taking less than half a breath.
After destroying the Dark Faction expert, the giant hand did not stop. It reached out toward the others who had just escaped from the Jinhua Divine Hall.
As it moved, the giant hand appeared extremely slow, but in reality, it was fast to an extreme. In an instant, it was already behind another expert.
This expert was none other than Elder Wei of the Heaven God Temple!
"Get away!
If you dare kill me, our Heaven God Temple will not let you go!"
Seeing the giant hand coming for him, Elder Wei's face turned pale with fright, and he roared frantically.
But it was useless. Though he exhausted all his means, he could not withstand the giant hand's attack. In the end, a gentle palm strike turned him into a bloody mist, which the hand then swallowed without leaving a single trace.
The giant hand swallowed both the bodies and Soul Bodies of each top expert it killed.
"Jinhua God, you may be powerful, but you cannot kill me!"
At that moment, the giant hand caught up behind a certain man, who immediately roared.
Everyone recognized that this man hailed from the Ancient Celestial Race!
Boom...
A burst of unbearably brilliant divine radiance instantly erupted. Then everyone saw a golden treasure pearl shoot out from within the Ancient Celestial Race man's body, unleashing sky-filling golden divine light that illuminated every single detail of the entire world.
"That's a Deity-grade magic treasure!
And it also contains a Soul Power imprint left by a Deity, which is why this Deity-grade treasure can be activated by a Demigod!"
Ye Yunfei recognized the grade of that golden pearl at a glance.
Boom...
The golden pearl released floods of energy that clashed tit-for-tat with the giant hand.
In that moment, everyone felt the energy pressure the giant hand exerted upon the heavens and earth weaken significantly.
"Now's our chance to leave!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Ye Yunfei immediately activated the Space Teleportation Token, teleporting away and vanishing on the spot.
Ye Yunfei had long been waiting for an opportunity to escape.
He was not alone. In that instant, a large number of people used various means to distance themselves from the space where the Jinhua Divine Hall was located.
The next moment, Ye Yunfei appeared far away, having reached the edge of this world.
Without hesitation, Ye Yunfei activated the Space Teleportation Token once more, directly teleporting away from this world.
"Let's leave this Jinhua World Cluster now!"
Within the void of the Jinhua World Cluster, Ye Yunfei glanced back at the world housing the Jinhua Divine Hall, then activated the Space Teleportation Token again. This time, he teleported out into the Chaotic Void beyond the Jinhua World Cluster.
"Right! The farther we get, the better!
If Jinhua God truly is still alive, no one would be his match. Also, that giant hand kept devouring those experts. I feel it was using their flesh and blood energy as a source of replenishment.
Who knows if, after devouring the top experts of those major factions, it might turn on the others? It might very well devour everyone present!
In short, it's terrifying!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm exclaimed.
In the following period, Ye Yunfei used the Space Teleportation Token continuously to teleport, putting greater and greater distance between himself and the Jinhua World Cluster.
He only stopped after two to three days of constant teleportation.
"It should be safe for now."
Ye Yunfei looked back in the direction of the Jinhua World Cluster, let out a sigh of relief, and spoke slowly.
"Is Jinhua God truly still alive?"
Recalling the events that had transpired, Hun Lao, feeling somewhat shaken, spoke up.
"It's hard to say. Only those experts who entered the Jinhua Divine Hall would know for sure."
Ye Yunfei replied.
"Regardless of whether Jinhua God is alive or not, the Jinhua World Cluster has now become an extremely dangerous place. We needn't concern ourselves with it further."
Ye Yunfei added.
"That's true.
So, where should we go next?"
Hun Lao nodded and asked.
"Alright, let's head to one of the Golden Dragon Merchant House's Branch Strongholds first and rest up."
Ye Yunfei thought for a moment before answering.
"Then let's go to the Southern Dipper World Cluster. I normally stay within the Southern Dipper World Cluster myself. It's considered a sort of headquarters for the Golden Dragon Merchant House.
Plus, it's relatively well-hidden. Generally, only the core higher-ups of our Golden Dragon Merchant House reside there."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm spoke up.
"Alright. We'll go to the Southern Dipper World Cluster to set down first."
Ye Yunfei nodded.
Then Ye Yunfei entered the Phantom Tower and let the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm carry the tower while traveling through the Chaotic Void.
"Looking at it now, I feel the Golden Dragon Merchant House will be hard-pressed to continue operating.
I had no idea the Myriad Methods Merchant House and the Eternal Fortune Merchant House possessed such terrifying overall strength, with such a large group of Demigod-level experts.
Otherwise, I would have steered clear long ago and avoided provoking them."
While traveling, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said to Ye Yunfei.
"Those two merchant houses are indeed formidable. Their overall strength might not quite match that of the Dark Faction, the Monster Race, or the Demon Race, but they are not far behind."
Recalling the Demigod experts of the two merchant houses, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but frown. The number of Demigod experts these two houses possessed was truly substantial, and they even had top experts at the Perfected Demigod level.
Such strength was indeed incomparable to that of the Golden Dragon Merchant House.
"So what? I'm not asking you to lead the Golden Dragon Merchant House's people into an open confrontation with them. If fight fair we cannot, we resort to stealth."
Ye Yunfei thought for a moment and chuckled coldly.
"Oh? Please elaborate. How do we proceed stealthily?"
Hearing this, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm immediately perked up with interest.
"I had you establish this Golden Dragon Merchant House for the purpose of earning money. Now, the Myriad Methods Merchant House and the Eternal Fortune Merchant House are intent on suppressing our merchant house, preventing us from making money. So, we'll settle the score with them and get our money back from these two houses."
Ye Yunfei said with a smile.
"More specifically, how do we get our money back from them?
Their overall strength is not weak."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm pressed.
"These two merchant houses are quite ancient. Within the Chaotic Void Sea, they must have many Branch Strongholds, which have likely been in operation for a considerable amount of time. The accumulated wealth there must be substantial."
Ye Yunfei answered.
"I understand your meaning!
Once we've recuperated properly, we'll go and wipe out all the Branch Strongholds of these two merchant houses.
Since they won't let our Golden Dragon Merchant House do business, we'll take the losses from their strongholds!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm finally understood Ye Yunfei's plan and exclaimed loudly.
"Earlier, their people, along with assassins from the Sun-Moon Tower, chased me all over the place. Thankfully, I'm proficient in spatial energy, otherwise they might have done me in already. I must have my revenge!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said through gritted teeth.
"It's just... we'll still need to spend time locating all the Branch Strongholds of these two merchant houses. It'll be quite time-consuming."
It then added.
"There's no need. I already know the specific locations of most of their Branch Strongholds."
Ye Yunfei replied with a smile.
Ye Yunfei had absorbed the Soul Bodies of three celestial immortals from the Myriad Methods Merchant House, giving him a deep understanding of the organization.
Especially Duan Rong—although he only possessed the cultivation of a Heavenly Immortal, he was considered Elder Peng's trusted confidant. He was often dispatched to handle affairs at the various external Branch Strongholds of the Myriad Methods Merchant House and thus had an intimate knowledge of the vast majority of their strongholds.
Furthermore, due to the close ties and frequent business collaborations between the Myriad Methods Merchant House and the Eternal Fortune Merchant House, Duan Rong also knew the locations of many Branch Strongholds of the Eternal Fortune Merchant House scattered across the Chaotic Void Sea.
"The Sun-Moon Tower is a relatively ancient assassination organization within the Chaotic Void Sea. It possesses strong overall power and is highly secretive.
Even Duan Rong didn't know the locations of the Sun-Moon Tower's headquarters or its Branch Strongholds.
Previously, a Demigod from the Myriad Methods Merchant House contacted the Sun-Moon Tower and hired their assassins to track you down.
The Sun-Moon Tower is shrouded in mystery. Seeking revenge against them might prove quite difficult.
However, if we encounter assassins from the Sun-Moon Tower again in the future, we will certainly not go easy on them."
Ye Yunfei continued.
"For now, let's return to the Southern Dipper World Cluster and recuperate properly first."
He added.
In the following period, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm continued traveling with the Phantom Tower.
Within the Phantom Tower, Ye Yunfei found a quiet place and sat down.
"Now, let's take a proper inventory of what exactly the ancestors of those two merchant houses left behind."
Ye Yunfei said slowly, feeling somewhat excited.
These were items left behind by two Deities.
Whoosh...
Hun Lao came to Ye Yunfei's side, extended a branch, and placed two piles of items in front of him.
Instantly, tens of thousands of dazzling divine rays illuminated the surrounding space.
Vast and surging high-level energy and laws swirled like gales, causing Ye Yunfei to feel secretly astonished.
Ye Yunfei's gaze swept over the items. The first things he saw were two piles of energy crystals, each crystal gleaming brilliantly.
They were all Divine Crystals!
With just one glance, Ye Yunfei could tell that, combined, these two piles amounted to roughly over two thousand Divine Crystals!
Just these two piles of Divine Crystals alone were of astonishing value. Under normal circumstances, finding even a single Divine Crystal could be challenging.
If any Perfected Demigod saw these over two thousand Divine Crystals, they would surely become red-eyed and rush over immediately to snatch them.
"So many Divine Crystals! Give me a share right away! It won't be long before my bloodline evolves!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm possessed astounding perceptive abilities. Though he was outside, he saw the Divine Crystals in front of Ye Yunfei and excitedly called out.
"Don't worry, you won't miss out."
Ye Yunfei chuckled.