"Kid, you beat me to this state. I definitely won’t let you get away with this. Just you wait!"
A Soul Body, tattered and ragged, with a feeble aura, suddenly emerged in the distance where the Advanced Demigod had just been blasted apart. Staring at Ye Yunfei with venomous hatred, it then turned and fled.
"This fellow must have cultivated some sort of escape secret art. Even though his Soul Body is severely damaged, he still managed to escape," Hun Lao said, sounding somewhat incredulous.
He had thought Ye Yunfei’s earlier punch had completely obliterated his physical form and Soul Body. After all, the Yin-Yang Divine Fist was an inheritance left behind by a Deity. Its power was far more terrifying than ordinary techniques, especially the Yin-Yang laws contained within it, which possessed fearsome destructive might.
"Don’t even think of escaping!"
With a thought, Ye Yunfei unleashed his Soul Sword and Formless Heart Sword, attacking the crippled Soul Body of the Advanced Demigod.
The Advanced Demigod’s Soul Body wore an expression of sheer terror. Flames seemed to burst from the battered Soul Body as its speed suddenly skyrocketed, instantly vanishing into space.
"That fellow is practically courting death just to flee, actually burning his own Soul Body. It must be to fuel a specific escape secret technique by overdrafting his Soul Body's energy," Hun Lao remarked.
"How is this possible?"
At this moment, the other members of the Myriad Methods Merchant House watched as Ye Yunfei pulverized an Advanced Demigod with a single punch, their faces filled with horror and disbelief.
An Advanced Demigod was someone who could practically walk sideways with impunity within the Chaotic Void Sea. Yet now, he had been blasted apart so easily, appearing utterly weak.
"Kid… just who are you? With your abilities, you cannot possibly be a nobody!" the other Advanced Demigod demanded, his gaze wary as he stared at Ye Yunfei.
"Didn’t we tell you earlier? He’s a top expert of our Golden Dragon Merchant House! We have many such experts. Now you know the consequences of provoking our Golden Dragon Merchant House!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm shouted loudly.
At this moment, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm was locked in combat with an Intermediate Demigod. His strength lay in space energy, making his movements elusive and unpredictable during battle. Although the Myriad Methods Merchant House Intermediate Demigod’s attacks were fierce and relentless, even after this long fight, he hadn’t managed to touch a single hair of the silkworm. Of course, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm hadn’t managed to defeat this Intermediate Demigod yet either.
His current combat power could only barely match an Intermediate Demigod’s, relying primarily on the agility of his spatial movement technique.
"You lot had quite some fun chasing me earlier, didn’t you? Now it’s time for you to pay the price!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm yelled, pointing at the Myriad Methods Merchant House Advanced Demigod while fighting. He felt thoroughly pleased.
"That’s right. I am an expert of the Golden Dragon Merchant House. Now, it’s your turn!" Ye Yunfei stated slowly, advancing toward that Advanced Demigod.
Seeing this, the Advanced Demigod’s face turned extremely ugly. Of course, he didn’t want to risk his life fighting Ye Yunfei again. However, with so many eyes watching, retreating now would mean losing all face.
At this moment, a fierce battle raged between Gan Changfeng and the other five Demigods, along with Huang Shang, Hu Miao, and the Blood Clan Clone, against the seven Demigods from the Myriad Methods Merchant House.
Given that Huang Shang, Hu Miao, and the Blood Clan Clone now possessed combat power at the Demigod level, the two sides were currently evenly matched.
Those from other cultivation levels from both sides were also locked in combat, making the battle extremely intense.
In terms of numbers, the Myriad Methods Merchant House held the advantage. Thus, after a period of fighting, they gradually began to gain the upper hand.
Seeing this, Ye Yunfei directed his thoughts and unleashed his Flying Sword Art.
The Flying Sword shot out horizontally, erupting with rolling divine radiance that instantly plunged into the ranks of the Myriad Methods Merchant House forces. Wherever it passed, one Myriad Methods Merchant House member after another was shredded into dust.
The material of this sword belonged to the Divine Grade, terrifyingly sturdy, capable of easily piercing through any Demigod-level magical treasure. Against this Flying Sword, the ordinary members of the Myriad Methods Merchant House had no power to resist, as if they were merely paper figures.
The Flying Sword hovered dazzlingly in mid-air, crisscrossing the battlefield and unleashing torrents of divine light that inundated a large area of space.
"Quickly form the Myriad Methods Battle Formations!" The Advanced Demigod from the Myriad Methods Merchant House, shocked and furious at the sight, immediately roared.
The remaining Myriad Methods Merchant House members began assembling into formations. One sophisticated battle formation after another appeared upon the battlefield.
These formations were legacies passed down from the ancestors of the Myriad Methods Merchant House, possessing formidable power and representing one of the merchant house’s foundational strengths.
"Break!"
Ye Yunfei glanced coldly at those formations and spoke softly.
Boom!
The Flying Sword suddenly emitted a deafening roar, instantly expanding in size, its released divine radiance becoming even more blinding. This was a stronger combat posture of the Flying Sword Art, requiring significantly more of various energies to maintain.
But every single type of energy Ye Yunfei cultivated was abundant and powerful, more than sufficient to sustain it.
The continuously enlarging Flying Sword surged forward, clashing with one of the battle formations.
"Agh! Ahh!"
Screams rang out one after another as the members of the Myriad Methods Merchant House forming that battle formation were severed at the waist. In less than the time of a single breath, the formation was shattered.
"As expected of a Flying Sword forged from Divine Grade material, as expected of a Flying Sword Art left by a Deity. Its power is truly remarkable!" Hun Lao couldn’t help but praise.
"Indeed. Paired with this Divine Grade Flying Sword, the power of this sword art is really quite good," Ye Yunfei agreed with a nod, feeling rather satisfied as he smiled.
"Who would have thought the Golden Dragon Merchant House possessed such a master? We looked down on them too much before. It all boils down to us not truly investigating the Golden Dragon Merchant House’s strength and acting hastily. That’s why we’ve brought this calamity upon ourselves!" the Advanced Demigod from the Myriad Methods Merchant House lamented helplessly.
He knew his own strength might not be enough to defeat Ye Yunfei, nor could he stop him.
"Now it’s your turn!"
Earlier, Ye Yunfei had used the Flying Sword Art to deal with the Myriad Methods Merchant House members, which slowed his pace. But now he stood before the Advanced Demigod, ready to attack.
However, at that very moment, this Advanced Demigod’s expression suddenly brightened with joy.
"Kid, let’s see how much longer you can act this arrogantly!" he stared coldly at Ye Yunfei.
"More powerful masters are arriving! And not just one, nor just one group!" Hun Lao, having sensed something amiss, immediately warned Ye Yunfei.
"Perfected Demigods from the Myriad Methods Merchant House are coming. Perfected Demigods from the Eternal Fortune Merchant House are also coming, and several other groups of powerful experts are coming too. We cannot handle this."
At this moment, Ye Yunfei stopped his advance. Interlacing his fingers, he performed a deduction secret art and sensed immense danger.
"Everyone, gather close to me!" Ye Yunfei acted decisively, immediately sending a voice transmission to his people.
At his command, all his companions began swiftly moving towards him.
Simultaneously, powerful auras emerged one after another in the surrounding void, continuously traversing space to arrive.
"Elder Protectors, Ancient Wizard, I am here! Come quickly! This kid is trying to flee!" the Advanced Demigod from the Myriad Methods Merchant House shouted with excitement and relief.
The two Elder Protectors of the Myriad Methods Merchant House and its Ancient Wizard had arrived simultaneously!
"Kid, who exactly are you? It seems the Golden Dragon Merchant House does not have someone like you!"
In the distance appeared two tall and imposing old men, both Perfected Demigods. Their eyes locked onto Ye Yunfei, pinning down his aura as they questioned him coldly.
"I sense that this youngster is highly likely to be the one who stole our ancestor’s treasure! Although his Soul Body aura doesn’t match, the results of my deduction vaguely point toward him!" Beside the two old men was a grey-robed elder—the Ancient Wizard of the Myriad Methods Merchant House.
"Stop that kid! We might have a chance to recover our ancestor’s treasure!"
From another direction emerged a dozen or so people, each a Demigod expert exuding powerful energy auras. One old man among them pointed urgently at Ye Yunfei from afar.
Ye Yunfei recognized the old man at a glance—he was Wizard Liu of the Eternal Fortune Merchant House. Beside Wizard Liu stood a Perfected Demigod with a fearsome aura, along with six or seven other Demigod experts from the Eternal Fortune Merchant House.
Ye Yunfei glanced toward two other directions; formidable auras were also approaching from there, clearly indicating powerful experts had arrived quietly.
"So many strong ones. The sooner we leave, the better!" Hun Lao exclaimed with some alarm, speaking to Ye Yunfei.
By now, all his companions had gathered at Ye Yunfei’s side.
With a wave of his hand, Ye Yunfei began transferring everyone into the Phantom Tower.
At the same time.
"He’s trying to escape! Seal off this space!"
Almost simultaneously, the Ancient Wizard of the Myriad Methods Merchant House and Wizard Liu of the Eternal Fortune Merchant House roared.
Boom!
Every powerful individual in the vicinity acted, unleashing their space energy and time energy. Like raging, tumultuous waves, they converged to suppress the space where Ye Yunfei stood.
Boom! Boom!
Ye Yunfei stamped his foot. In the space around him, one Earth Formation after another erupted simultaneously. A dozen-plus plots of land surged forth from space, forming perilous locales and deathtraps.
Of course, these plots of land were relatively small in scale, more like plots of soil.
Wall after wall of yellow mud constantly appeared, densely packed, barricading the space around Ye Yunfei, making the area he stood in resemble a maze.
"Excellent! You actually pre-laid so many large-scale Earth Formations. I thought we couldn’t escape!" The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, who had been inwardly bemoaning their predicament, now exclaimed with surprise and joy.
Boom! Boom!
As those Earth Formations constantly emerged from space, over a hundred large Formations also continuously materialized.
While those Earth Formations and Formations kept appearing around them, Ye Yunfei had already activated a spatial transportation medallion and transported away.
"This youngster has keen instincts, as if he knew there’d be danger beforehand, laying so many Earth Formations and Formations in advance. And he seems to be a Geomaster as well, with a considerable level of Geomancy. He can deploy Earth Formations directly within space," a man of ordinary appearance with an aura merely at the Perfected Heavenly Immortal level, who stood among the Myriad Methods Merchant House ranks in the distance, stared fixedly at Ye Yunfei and muttered in an inaudible whisper.
The next moment, the man quietly vanished into the adjacent space.
"Stop him!"
Seeing Ye Yunfei begin his teleportation, all the powerful experts rushing over grew frantic. Some summoned magical treasures, others unleashed techniques and martial arts, some utilized space and time energy to lock down space, while still others employed Soul Power secret arts. Surging waves of Soul Power shot upward, penetrating the layers of Earth Formations and Formations to strike at Ye Yunfei’s head.
For a time, all sorts of magical treasures and all kinds of energies surged forth like a frenzied tide toward Ye Yunfei’s location.
However, blocked by those Earth Formations, yellow mud walls, and regular Formations, Ye Yunfei successfully completed his teleportation. The spatial transportation medallion carved open a transportation channel, carrying Ye Yunfei away as he vanished from sight.
Boom! Boom!
As Ye Yunfei left, the Earth Formations, regular Formations, and yellow mud walls kept exploding, shattering. Within a single breath, they were all utterly destroyed. The space itself was bombarded incessantly, fragmenting and turning pockmarked.
"It’s fortunate you acted decisively enough. Any later, and it would probably have been very difficult to leave," Hun Lao, possessing astonishing sensitivity to space, remarked thankfully via mental voice transmission even though they had already left that area, still aware of what was happening.
"You sensed the danger ahead of time and laid down so many Earth Formations and Formations because the Chaos Heavenly Secret Art sent a warning, right?" Hun Lao then asked Ye Yunfei.
He naturally knew Ye Yunfei had been secretly deploying Earth Formations and Formations while fighting.
"Correct. Earlier, I had a persistent feeling of impending doom. So I employed the Chaos Heavenly Secret Art for deduction. The result indicated a tremendous crisis was imminent—I would be surrounded by powerful experts. So I began setting up formations. Unexpectedly, the premonition proved true, buying us time to escape," Ye Yunfei replied.
During his previous seclusion for cultivation, Ye Yunfei had been using one of his Soul Power Planets to continuously study and practice the Chaos Heavenly Secret Art.
"In that case, your grasp of the Chaos Heavenly Secret Art deduction technique is already quite good," Hun Lao said.
"I think it’s because this deduction art is far too profound. Even though I’ve only just begun cultivating it and my comprehension is still shallow, I can already use it for deduction," Ye Yunfei explained.
By now, Ye Yunfei had already left the former world and was rushing outward into the chaotic void. They had to abandon the Golden Dragon Merchant House branch outpost in that world.
Utilizing the spatial transportation medallion, Ye Yunfei teleported continuously through the chaotic void, putting more and more distance between them and the world cluster they were just in.
Simultaneously, Ye Yunfei had altered his appearance and, using another Soul Power Planet, changed his Soul Power aura.
This made him very difficult to track. That’s because the vast majority of tracking secret arts relied on locking onto a target’s aura for deduction and tracking—more precisely, locking onto their Soul Body aura.
By now altering his Soul Body aura, Ye Yunfei essentially severed the source for any tracking.
"Issue immediate orders. All members at Golden Dragon Merchant House branch outposts that still exist are to evacuate immediately and find places to hide for now."
One day later, having gotten far from that world cluster, Ye Yunfei transmitted several dozen Perfected Heavenly Immortals out from the Phantom Tower, assigning them to go separately to the various Golden Dragon Merchant House branch outposts to deliver messages and relay the command.
"Heh heh, kid, you actually possess a secret technique to alter your Soul Body aura. Truly ingenious. It’s a shame, however, that my movement speed and the tracking secret arts I’ve cultivated are beyond your imagination. In front of me, escaping is impossible."
Behind Ye Yunfei, a man had been secretly following him all along, chuckling coldly to himself.