However, this Soul Clone had previously been sealed by Ye Yunfei, and although it desperately wanted to flee, it couldn't move.
With a thought, Ye Yunfei summoned eight Soul Power stars that appeared around the Soul Clone, each one emanating formidable Soul Power.
"Who are you, kid? With your strength, you can't be a nobody. Why are you targeting my clone?" the Soul Clone asked in panic.
"You don't even recognize me?" Ye Yunfei said with a cold laugh.
Ye Yunfei had long-standing grievances with the Dark Faction, and later he had even killed many of their Demigods. Logically, the Demigod experts within the Dark Faction should all know of Ye Yunfei's existence, yet this Perfected Demigod from the Dark Faction before him didn't recognize him.
"I've been in seclusion cultivating for many years now, paying little attention to worldly affairs. It seems you must be a famous rising talent in the Chaotic Void Sea. Could it be there's been some misunderstanding between you and our Dark Faction that led you to act against my Soul Clone? Young man, how about this: regardless of what misunderstandings or grudges you have with our Dark Faction, I can step forward and help resolve them. Although I'm often in seclusion, my words carry some weight within the Dark Faction. To be frank, the current Dark Faction Clan Leader is a generation younger than me; he has to call me uncle when he sees me, so he wouldn't dare disobey my words." The Soul Clone spoke to Ye Yunfei.
"It seems this guy truly doesn't recognize you, probably because he's been in prolonged seclusion. This also indicates that within the Dark Faction, there must be quite a few hidden experts of the older generation like him, cultivating in seclusion for years, single-mindedly aiming to break through to the Deity realm. The true hidden depth of the Dark Faction is indeed formidable," Hun Lao said to Ye Yunfei.
No matter which major power it was, if it concealed a group of Perfected Demigod experts, its strength was bound to be terrifying.
"There's no misunderstanding between me and your Dark Faction, nor do I need you to step in to resolve anything. I simply kill everyone from your Dark Faction whenever I encounter them, you included," Ye Yunfei said coldly.
"Aren't you getting a little too arrogant, youngster?" Hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Soul Clone's expression darkened.
"Enough talk. Time for you to die." Ye Yunfei had no desire to waste words. With a thought, the eight Soul Power stars all released potent refining energy, suppressing the Soul Clone before proceeding to refine it.
"Kid, what are you trying to do?" Sensing its energy being rapidly refined, the Soul Clone cried out in alarm.
"You absorbed so much Faith Energy from the inhabitants of that world and spent so long comprehending its laws; your gains must be considerable, no? Now hand over all your harvest to me," Ye Yunfei sneered.
"I see, kid! So you want to plunder my Fortune to Become a God!" The Soul Clone finally understood why Ye Yunfei had captured him and roared in shock and fury.
"I belong to the generation of Elders in the Dark Faction! How dare you treat my clone like this? Aren't you afraid of retaliation from my true body? Your strength may be impressive, but my true body is a Perfected Demigod who has cultivated for countless eons. Someone you cannot afford to provoke!" the Soul Clone angrily shouted.
But Ye Yunfei simply ignored him, as the eight Soul Power stars simultaneously refined this Soul Clone.
"Just you wait, kid. I'll remember you!" Moments later, the Soul Clone realized more than half its energy had been refined. Knowing this clone could no longer be preserved, it wailed in grief and anger.
Then Ye Yunfei sensed a fleeting, elusive black mystical rune flash briefly before vanishing instantly into the surrounding space.
"Bad news! That old fossil definitely cast some extremely secretive technique to send information about what happened here back to his true body!" Hun Lao immediately warned Ye Yunfei.
"Let him. The Dark Faction will learn it was me sooner or later anyway," Ye Yunfei replied with a cold laugh.
"Well, true. Not just the Dark Faction, but soon all those other major powers will know their Perfected Demigods' Soul Clones were stolen by you," Hun Lao said with a chuckle.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei completely refined and devoured this Soul Clone.
"So this is Faith Energy?" After devouring the Soul Clone, Ye Yunfei immediately sensed a peculiar energy.
This energy felt vast, profound, and brimming with a sense of righteousness—an aura of magnanimity, as if it benefited all living beings.
Faith Energy was the power of collective belief, said to be one of the fundamental energies of existence. Moreover, Faith Energy could only be collected through worship by multitudes; it could not be cultivated.
"It is said that in ancient times within the Chaotic Void Sea, there was a faction called the Church of the Multitude, whose followers primarily cultivated Faith Energy. They established countless temples throughout the Chaotic Void Sea to receive worship from beings, gather Faith Energy, and became famous in their era. However, they gradually faded into the river of history, leaving behind many legends," Hun Lao stated.
"Oh? The Church of the Multitude, a faction specializing in cultivating Faith Energy. So there was such a sect," Ye Yunfei was slightly intrigued.
Though he knew Hun Lao, possessing the racial memories of the Chaos World Tree, knew many ancient secrets, so what he said was likely true.
"Besides Faith Energy, this Soul Clone also contained many insights into laws. There were various kinds of laws—some comprehended quite deeply, others only superficially understood. Now all these law insights belong to me," Ye Yunfei added.
"Many worlds within the Chaotic Void Sea hosted Deities in ancient times. The laws within those worlds may have been left behind by ancient Deities or imprinted with the aura of a Deity. Broadly collecting and comprehending the laws of various worlds likely aids in the breakthrough to Deityhood," Hun Lao remarked.
"By the way, having devoured that fellow's Soul Clone, you should now understand more about the Dark Faction's internal situation. He should be a real relic within the Dark Faction. His memories likely contain quite a few of the Dark Faction's secrets, right?" Hun Lao suddenly asked with curiosity.
"Let me search," Ye Yunfei replied.
One incredibly heaven-defying aspect of the Soul Power Stars Technique was that upon devouring a living being's Soul Body, one could acquire its memories.
However, upon carefully reading the memories of the just-devoured Soul Clone, Ye Yunfei found them incomplete and fragmented, lacking detailed information about the Dark Faction's internal affairs.
"It seems when this Dark Faction Perfected Demigod condensed this Soul Clone, he didn't imbue it with too many memories. He likely foresaw that these Soul Clones placed out in the open could be snatched away by others, so their memories wouldn't contain detailed information about the Dark Faction's secrets. These Soul Clones only possess a tiny portion of the true body's memories; their main function is to absorb Faith Energy from beings and comprehend the laws of the worlds they occupy. But it doesn't matter. My main goal in capturing these Soul Clones was also for the Faith Energy and their accumulated law comprehensions."
After devouring the Soul Clone, Ye Yunfei carefully sensed everything before speaking.
"Those Perfected Demigods from major powers, placing so many Soul Clones in various different worlds, certainly considered all possible eventualities. So they wouldn't allow these clones to have too much memory—only granting them necessary information and the ability to comprehend various laws," Hun Lao said with a nod after hearing Ye Yunfei's words.
Afterwards, Ye Yunfei retrieved another Soul Clone and placed it before him. This one came from the Heavenly God Hall, belonging to one of its Perfected Demigod experts.
This Heavenly God Hall Perfected Demigod immediately recognized Ye Yunfei's identity and angrily questioned him.
But Ye Yunfei had no desire to exchange words with him. With a thought, he released his eight Soul Power stars to swarm the clone, and soon devoured it.
In the following period, Ye Yunfei continuously brought out and refined Soul Clone after Soul Clone.
With each Soul Clone refined and devoured, Ye Yunfei gained varying amounts of Faith Energy and insights into laws.
Ye Yunfei knew this Faith Energy and law comprehension were likely the so-called Fortune to Become a God.
While Ye Yunfei was inside the Phantom Tower refining and devouring the captured Soul Clones, within the Dark Faction's headquarters...
"Damn it!
Part of my Soul Clones has been stolen! And stolen by a junior!"
An angry roar resounded, shaking the Dark Faction headquarters, audible to all its members.
"It's Third Uncle!"
The Dark Faction Clan Leader rushed out from his cultivation chamber and stood high in the air above headquarters, his gaze turning towards the source of the furious roar, instantly recognizing his Third Uncle's voice.
"Third Uncle, what happened?"
The Clan Leader arrived at the foot of a pitch-black mountain deep within headquarters, outside a cultivation cave-dwelling, asking respectfully.
Besides the Clan Leader, other high-ranking Dark Faction members also soon arrived.
This Third Uncle was not only senior in generation, but also extremely powerful—a standout among the older generation experts, and one of the Perfected Demigods most likely to break through to Deityhood within the Dark Faction.
Because he had immersed himself at the Perfected Demigod realm for an extraordinarily long time.
"Part of my Soul Clones was stolen by a junior. This is his appearance and Soul Body aura."
A surge of Soul Power energy shot out from the cultivation cave and materialized into the form of a young man.
"That's Ye Yunfei from the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds!"
Seeing the youth, a Dark Faction Elder cried out in shock.
"Does he have some grudge with our Dark Faction?"
The voice came from within the cave.
"Third Uncle, this Ye Yunfei indeed has grievances with our Dark Faction," the Dark Faction Clan Leader stepped forward and said.
He then gave a general account of the conflicts between the Dark Faction and Ye Yunfei, starting from the past when a Dark Ancestor was killed by Ye Yunfei, to the more recent Lightning Tribulation in the Qiancang World Group, where several Dark Faction Demigods were slain by Ye Yunfei.
Of course, from the Dark Faction's perspective, the profound hostility between them and Ye Yunfei was entirely Ye Yunfei's fault—the result of his repeated provocations.
"So that's how it is. To think a junior from the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds dares to provoke and bully our Dark Faction like this. That place truly isn't simple. But this also shows the prestige of our Dark Faction has diminished compared to before. In the old days of the Chaotic Void Sea, no one dared provoke our Dark Faction like this. You all must seriously reflect on why, under your leadership, even a junior dares bully us."
The voice spoke again from within the cave.
"Third Uncle, it's our failing. Please rest assured, Third Uncle, we will do our utmost to develop the Dark Faction well," the Dark Faction Clan Leader hastily replied.
The other Dark Faction higher-ups remained silent, heads bowed, accepting the rebuke.
"Fine. Go now and retrieve my Soul Clones. A young man who provokes our Dark Faction like this cannot be allowed to grow further. Deal with him," the Third Uncle instructed.
Then, no more sound came from the cave dwelling.
"Let's return to the council hall first," the Dark Faction Clan Leader said softly, then led the other higher-ups back to the council hall, where they each took seats.
"That little beast Ye Yunfei is too bold! He dares steal Third Uncle's Soul Clones! This shows he has absolutely no regard for our Dark Faction at all!" one Dark Faction Elder gritted his teeth and said.
"Everyone, we have to admit, Ye Yunfei has already come into his own. According to news from Qiancang World Group, while advancing to the Demigod realm, he could already contend against Advanced Demigods. After successfully enduring his tribulation, he is now a Initial Demigod, but his actual combat power is likely on par with an average Perfected Demigod," the Dark Faction Clan Leader sighed and said.
"Yes. We must acknowledge this: Ye Yunfei has come into his own. He already possesses the power to challenge our great factions," the Dark Faction's Wizard, an elder draped in loose black robes sitting beside the Clan Leader, nodded gravely.
"When I first heard of Ye Yunfei long ago, he was merely an Earth Immortal—an ant-like existence, utterly insignificant. At that time, I couldn't even be bothered to hear his name. Yet now he has grown to such heights. This Ye Yunfei truly is a terrifyingly young monster," another Dark Faction Elder lamented.