Within the Southern Dipper World Cluster, Ye Yunfei continued his secluded cultivation inside the Phantom Tower.
After one attempt after another, Ye Yunfei finally succeeded in fusing his Soul Clone into the Sword Embryo.
This Sword Embryo was forged from divine-grade materials, making its level exceptionally high.
When Ye Yunfei's Soul Clone merged into the Sword Embryo, it emitted a clear, crisp hum and began to tremble gently.
An immediate, clear connection was established between Ye Yunfei and the Sword Embryo.
At a thought from Ye Yunfei, the Sword Embryo floated up, radiating an extremely dangerous aura that caused the surrounding space to distort and warp, seemingly unable to withstand its power.
"Next, I will nourish and temper this Sword Embryo using my Soul Body energy, fundamental bloodline, Heart Force energy, and the sword Qi I've cultivated," Ye Yunfei said softly, watching the gently trembling Sword Embryo floating before him.
He then began nourishing the Sword Embryo according to the methods recorded in the Flying Sword Art.
This step was much easier and simpler than the previous one of fusing the Soul Clone into the Sword Embryo.
During his cultivation of the Flying Sword Art, Ye Yunfei continuously refined and absorbed the Black Iron Blocks, so his Soul Force energy had been steadily increasing.
"With my current level of Soul Force energy, I should be able to cultivate one more Soul Force Planet," Ye Yunfei muttered to himself.
The higher one's Soul Power level, the greater the number of Soul Force Planets one could condense through the Soul Force Star Method.
Thus, for the subsequent period, Ye Yunfei began cultivating the Soul Force Star Method, using one of his existing Soul Force Planets as a Soul Body, preparing to condense his fourth Soul Force Planet.
Ye Yunfei split his focus, simultaneously nurturing the flying sword and cultivating the Soul Force Star Method.
Unbeknownst to him, several months passed inside the Phantom Tower. After roughly five months, Ye Yunfei finally succeeded in condensing the fourth Soul Force Planet.
"Excellent. An additional Soul Force Planet is incredibly useful for me," Ye Yunfei nodded with a smile, looking at the newly-condensed fourth planet within his Soul Sea.
"There's still plenty of time. Continue cultivating. Next... cultivate the Yin-Yang Divine Fist!"
After some thought, Ye Yunfei decided.
From the items left behind by those two Deities, Ye Yunfei had obtained five different techniques and martial arts, one of which was the Yin-Yang Divine Fist.
Cultivating this technique required comprehending the Dao of Yin and Yang.
"I'll cultivate the Yin-Yang Divine Fist and attempt to comprehend the Yin-Yang Laws at the same time," Ye Yunfei declared.
Thus, he used one of his Soul Bodies to simultaneously cultivate the Yin-Yang Divine Fist and contemplate the Yin-Yang Laws.
"While cultivating the Yin-Yang Divine Fist, I should also practice the Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique," Ye Yunfei mused aloud.
The Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique was another technique he had obtained from the jade slips left by the two Deities; it focused primarily on a movement art.
Cultivating the Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique required a relatively high level of proficiency in Space Laws and Time Laws.
"I wonder if my current levels in Space and Time Laws are sufficient to practice it?" Ye Yunfei wondered inwardly.
In the time that followed, Ye Yunfei employed three Soul Force Planets. One planet continually studied the cultivation manual for the Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique, one focused on cultivating Space Laws, and the third dedicated itself to cultivating Time Laws.
This was equivalent to using three Soul Force Planets to cultivate a single technique.
Thus, Ye Yunfei used one Soul Body to cultivate the Yin-Yang Divine Fist, three Soul Force Planets to practice the Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique, and another Soul Body sat in continuous meditation within the Heart-Refining Tower, cultivating Heart Force energy.
"I now have four Soul Force Planets. I mustn't waste the fourth one. I'll use it to comprehend the Chaos Heaven's Secret Art I obtained not long ago," Ye Yunfei thought, realizing one planet was idle and not wanting to let it go to waste.
The Chaos Heaven's Secret Art was also recorded within one of the five jade slips left by the two Deities. A divination and deduction secret art left behind by Deities was, of course, of high quality, and Ye Yunfei intended to cultivate it properly.
He had rarely had the opportunity to come across such advanced deduction arts before, so his skill in this area was quite lacking. Now that he finally had one left by a Deity, he naturally didn't want to miss it.
Mastery in deduction arts offered immense benefits. Many major forces within the Chaotic Void Sea specifically nurtured their own Divination Masters, whose role was vital and could even influence the decisions made by these powers in important matters.
And so, Ye Yunfei's two Soul Bodies and four Soul Force Planets were all engaged in cultivation.
Cultivating multiple techniques simultaneously without any mutual interference was a highly rare method.
Time flowed swiftly within the Phantom Tower. A year passed in the blink of an eye.
One year later.
"So this is the Dao of Yin and Yang..."
After a full year dedicated to cultivating the Yin-Yang Divine Fist and contemplating the Yin-Yang Laws, Ye Yunfei finally gained some insight.
Around his body, one half of the space turned white, the other half black. The black and white stood in stark opposition, a stark contrast.
Previously, in the Colorless Abyss, Ye Yunfei had fused the fundamental essence blood of a Myriad Laws Vine and obtained some of the Dao Fruit imprints from its lifetime cultivation. He later also obtained a Dao-Comprehending Golden Lotus Fruit.
These two treasures, the Myriad Laws Vine and the Dao-Comprehending Golden Lotus Fruit, had caused a qualitative leap in Ye Yunfei's comprehension abilities. Grasping the various Laws of the world became much easier compared to others.
The Myriad Laws Vine, in particular, was a legendary divine vine that could naturally fuse with all sorts of different Laws in the world, considered a collection of countless worldly principles.
Ever since Ye Yunfei refined and fused its fundamental essence blood into his own lineage, comprehending any type of Law had become significantly easier for him.
Thus, after a year of cultivation and contemplation, Ye Yunfei had finally achieved a basic grasp of the Dao of Yin and Yang.
"Yin-Yang Divine Fist..."
Ye Yunfei suddenly stood up, clenched his right hand into a fist, and lightly punched forward.
Immediately, various phenomena of opposing Yin and Yang manifested ahead. One side of space was black, the other red. The black space was filled with extreme, bone-chilling cold, with blocks of black, million-year profound ice hissing with rolling frigid air.
The red space on the other side burned with blazing flames, their terrifying heat threatening to melt that entire area of space completely.
In front of Ye Yunfei's fist, space split into two halves as clear as night and day. The dreadful chill and the terrifying heat that nearly melted space roared forward simultaneously, creating a most bizarre scene.
Behind Ye Yunfei's body appeared a Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram composed of black and white. One side was black, the other white, resembling a black and a white fish entwined together, spinning rapidly and releasing earth-shattering waves of energy.
BOOM!
This single punch nearly caused a vast swath of space ahead to crumble into nothingness.
Fortunately, Ye Yunfei retracted his fist just in time. This was the internal space of the Phantom Tower, and he did not want to damage it during his training.
"Excellent. This Yin-Yang Divine Fist is indeed worthy of being an art left by a Deity. I've only just begun grasping it, and the power I can unleash is still quite weak, but it's already sufficient to deal with ordinary Demigods," Ye Yunfei said with a smile, feeling very satisfied after withdrawing his fist.
"This past year of cultivation has also allowed for a basic grasp of the Interstice Phantom Splitting Technique. I can now use this movement art to manifest three clones. The aura of these three clones is identical to my true body's, making them difficult to distinguish."
Ye Yunfei spoke slowly.
In the next instant, Ye Yunfei took a single step. Three different Ye Yunfeis appeared in three different locations nearby.
And none of these three was his true body.
At that moment, Ye Yunfei's true body stood hidden within space at a completely different location in the distance.
The primary purpose of this art was to confuse enemies during battle. Once deployed, it was exceedingly difficult for foes to determine which figure was the real one.
"The Chaos Heaven's Secret Art can now also be used for preliminary deductions. However, this divination art is incredibly profound. What I've grasped so far is merely scratching the surface."
Ye Yunfei dispersed the three clones and then turned his attention to another technique he was cultivating—the Chaos Heaven's Secret Art—speaking unhurriedly.
"Alright. From now on, I'll stop cultivating the various techniques and martial arts. I'll absorb some Divine Crystals and attempt a breakthrough, to see if I can make some progress in my cultivation realm."
Ye Yunfei sat down cross-legged again, his mind made up.
He was currently at the perfected Heavenly Immortal realm. The next step was cultivating the "Nine Times Return to True Immortal" stage within this major realm, requiring one to evade nine heavenly tribulations before attempting to charge into the Demigod realm.
Now that the new Era of Deities had begun, Ye Yunfei knew that Deities would inevitably emerge within the Chaotic Void Sea, or former Deities who had been in hiding would re-enter the world. His current Heavenly Immortal level seemed far too weak; he had to seize the time to improve.
He then retrieved over a dozen Divine Crystals, suspending them around his body. He circulated the Nine-Yang Ancient Scripture, cultivating the scripture while simultaneously absorbing the energy from the crystals.
Within his body, eight Chaotic Divine Meridians materialized simultaneously, surging like eight mighty rivers.
While cultivating with the Divine Crystals himself, Ye Yunfei also distributed many crystals to Hu Miao, Huang Shang, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, and Hun Lao. Everyone cultivated using Divine Crystals.
Divine Crystals were the energy stones used by Deities for cultivation. The energy they contained was far superior to that of Immortal Power, belonging to the divine level—essentially, Divine Power.
Unbeknownst to him, another year passed within the Phantom Tower.
During that year, Ye Yunfei successively faced seven heavenly tribulations, successfully evading each one.
Several more months of cultivation passed after the year, but he never encountered the eighth tribulation.
"Let this period of cultivation end here."
Ye Yunfei decided to conclude this round of seclusion and emerged from the Phantom Tower.
"You've finally finished cultivating?"
The moment Ye Yunfei ended his session, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm rushed over.
"Let's start moving now! Let's properly retaliate against those two merchant houses!"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm shouted.
Having been hunted and forced to flee everywhere by those two merchant houses and assassins from Sun-Moon Tower, it had long desired revenge.
"Very well, let's begin. These two merchant houses have operated within the Chaotic Void Sea for so long, they must have accumulated substantial wealth. We'll wipe out all their branch strongholds."
Ye Yunfei nodded and spoke.
"Then let's hurry! I can't wait! Honestly, I've had this idea for a while now. Although I've earned quite a bit running the Golden Dragon Merchant House, nothing compares to how quickly you can make money through looting!"
Hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm grew even more excited, yelling with gusto.
"Actually, within this Southern Dipper World Cluster, both merchant houses have branch strongholds, though they are quite well hidden. Let's go, we'll take our forces now and eliminate the branch strongholds of both merchant houses within this World Cluster."
Ye Yunfei said with a smile.
At Ye Yunfei's command, the five Demigods under him quickly gathered all their forces, assembling before him.
"You are the leader of the Golden Dragon Merchant House. This operation shall be carried out in its name. The Myriad Methods and Eternal Fortune Merchant Houses attacked us; now, the Golden Dragon Merchant House's retaliation has arrived! So you shall lead. This operation can operate openly under the banner of the Golden Dragon Merchant House."
Ye Yunfei said to the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm.
"Understood. Let's move out!"
Upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm waved its hand and led the vast force, departing from this branch stronghold of the Golden Dragon Merchant House and entering the void of the Southern Dipper World Cluster.
Ye Yunfei transmitted all the known locations of the branch strongholds of the Eternal Fortune and Myriad Methods Merchant Houses into the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm's Soul Sea.
Ye Yunfei had devoured the Soul Bodies of three important Perfected Heavenly Immortals from the Myriad Methods Merchant House, gaining all their memories. Thus, he knew the specific locations of most branch strongholds of both merchant houses.
Each of these two merchant houses had a relatively hidden branch stronghold within the Southern Dipper World Cluster.
"Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, your strength seems to have increased significantly," Ye Yunfei remarked, sensing the beast's aura.
"Of course! During this time, I refined and absorbed over thirty Divine Crystals and achieved a bloodline breakthrough. An increase in strength is not at all surprising. I can now hold my own against a primary-level Demigod."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm replied proudly.
"You are an Ancient Beast relic; your bloodline was originally extremely noble. Having obtained such a high-grade energy source as Divine Crystals, it would be strange if your strength didn't increase."
Hun Lao chuckled.
"Hu Miao is still in secluded cultivation. Once she emerges, her strength will undoubtedly have improved as well."
Hun Lao continued.
"And you, Hun Lao? Aren't you going to cultivate in seclusion?"
Ye Yunfei asked Hun Lao.
"I've also refined and absorbed thirty or forty Divine Crystals during this time. My strength has advanced considerably," Hun Lao answered.
As a member of the Chaos World Tree Clan, Hun Lao was proficient in spatial energy and Space Laws, capable of perfectly concealing his own aura. Thus, sensing his true strength was rather difficult.
Even Ye Yunfei often found it hard to accurately perceive Hun Lao's strength and cultivation realm.