With this grab, Ye Yunfei employed profound secret techniques to seal off space and disrupt time. Mighty spatial energy and temporal energy surged tumultuously. Brilliant chains, transformed from Spatial Laws and Time Laws, rattled and shook, instantly tightly sealing the space where Lunhui Laozu was, rendering it practically impenetrable.
Moreover, Ye Yunfei's speed reached an extreme; not only was it impossible to track with the naked eye, even using Soul Power energy made it difficult to perceive clearly.
However, in the next moment, something that surprised Ye Yunfei still occurred.
He saw Lunhui Laozu's shoulder suddenly begin to ripple gently, then warp and distort, before gradually vanishing from sight.
Ye Yunfei's palm closed on empty air, completely failing to make contact with Lunhui Laozu.
After his shoulder disappeared, other parts of Lunhui Laozu's body also began to ripple continuously before vanishing as well.
Finally, Lunhui Laozu's figure disappeared completely before Ye Yunfei's eyes.
At this moment, Ye Yunfei realized he could no longer sense any aura of Su Qingluo or Lunhui Laozu.
"Indeed, the Qing Luo and Lunhui Laozu I saw just now were merely illusions, not real," Ye Yunfei muttered, standing frozen for a long while before speaking with difficulty.
"It seems... like what happened back at the six reincarnation caves in the Samsara Passage of the Qiancang World Group—I saw an illusory projection." Ye Yunfei felt somewhat unable to accept it.
After searching for so many years, finally catching a glimpse of Su Qingluo, only for it to be just an image.
"Wait!
Although what I saw was only an image, it proves that Qing Luo and Lunhui Laozu must have been here before. The spacetime of this place imprinted their images, which, influenced by a special cause, re-manifested before me.
And that special cause must be the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art I employed!" Ye Yunfei suddenly exclaimed aloud.
"So, Qing Luo and Lunhui Laozu entered this passage before and proceeded forward!
In that case, I'll follow this passage and keep searching. Perhaps I can find more clues related to them!" Thinking this, Ye Yunfei's spirits lifted.
Thus, without further hesitation, Ye Yunfei activated his movement technique and charged forward.
"Master! Master!"
Just then, Ye Yunfei suddenly heard Hu Miao's anxious shouts.
"No way, has something happened to him? He's completely unconscious!
Could it be backlash from pushing the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art to its limits for so long? We must wake him up quickly, make him recover! If he stays in this dazed state, his consciousness might never return!" The voice of the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm also rang in Ye Yunfei's ears.
Next, Ye Yunfei heard the voices of Hun Lao and Huang Shang.
Ye Yunfei also sensed a vast amount of concentrated life energy being continuously infused into his body.
The next moment, he discovered he was still sitting cross-legged before the six pitch-black Reincarnation Caves. Hun Lao, Hu Miao, Huang Shang, and the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm were gathered around him, looking extremely worried.
"I'm fine," Ye Yunfei said, opening his eyes, sweeping a glance over Hun Lao and the others, feeling a pang of regret.
Of course, Ye Yunfei knew his companions had woken him out of concern, so he did not blame them.
"Master, you're finally awake! Thank goodness!" Hu Miao exclaimed with joy upon seeing Ye Yunfei's eyes open. She immediately stepped forward and hugged his right arm, visibly excited.
"I'm alright," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"Your state was off just now—you were completely unconscious, like a body without a soul. Did you suffer backlash?" Hun Lao asked.
"My consciousness entered one of the Reincarnation Caves," Ye Yunfei replied.
"Your consciousness entered one? You have two Soul Bodies and eight Soul Power planets. Even if one of your Soul Bodies or Soul Power planets entered a Reincarnation Cave, you shouldn't lose all consciousness. But I was certain just now that you had lost all awareness. That's why I kept infusing you with my life essence," Hun Lao explained.
"I'm not sure what happened. It wasn't a specific Soul Body entering the cave; my entire consciousness entered one of the Reincarnation Caves. And I saw Qing Luo and Lunhui Laozu. So, it's true, they really did enter one of these six Reincarnation Caves before. The space within the passage imprinted their images, and because of my divination, those images manifested again," Ye Yunfei said.
"Such a thing happened!" Hearing this, Hun Lao and the others were greatly shocked.
"So Senior Sister Qing Luo really did enter a Reincarnation Cave! No wonder we haven't found any trace of them all these years," Hu Miao exclaimed in surprise.
"You saw their images... so the situation is similar to when we saw those souls lining up to enter the Reincarnation Caves in the Qiancang World Group—images left behind from the past," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm observed.
"Yes, exactly that," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"In that case, why didn't you continue deeper into the cave to search for more clues about them?" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm pressed.
"You originally intended to proceed deeper into that Reincarnation Cave to search for clues about them, but we woke you, pulling your consciousness back here," Hun Lao said with a bitter smile, already guessing the whole story.
"Yes," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"Ah... Master, we had no idea what was happening! If we'd known earlier, we definitely wouldn't have woken you!" Hu Miao cried regretfully.
"No, I clearly sensed earlier that your state was very off. Both Soul Bodies and all eight Soul Power planets had lost consciousness. And your physical state wasn't right either; several types of energy were constantly draining away, especially life energy. That's why I immediately infused you with life energy. It's possible you were already beginning to suffer backlash from prolonged divination. After all, the Samsara Passage and Reincarnation Caves involve the secrets of reincarnation. Suffering backlash from extended divination is quite normal," Hun Lao countered, shaking his head.
"Hmm, that's possible. With my current strength and Soul Power, my entire consciousness being dragged into a Reincarnation Cave is rather bizarre in itself. It might indeed be the onset of backlash," Ye Yunfei said after pondering Hun Lao's words, then nodded in agreement.
"But... having finally discovered a lead on Qing Luo, I can't let this trail go cold. I must perform another divination, re-enter that Reincarnation Cave," Ye Yunfei stated firmly after some thought.
"Continuing the divination could be extremely dangerous," Hun Lao warned.
"I understand, but I have to try," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Ye Yunfei knew that Hun Lao possessed the racial memory of the Chaos World Tree, within which ancient secrets occasionally surfaced. So Hun Lao's warning was likely valid. But for Su Qingluo, he had to try.
Once decided, Ye Yunfei immediately took out a large number of treasures—various energy crystals, pills, medicinal herbs—and arranged them around his body. He also set up over a dozen large-scale formations, designed to protect the Soul Body.
"Stand guard for me," Ye Yunfei instructed Hun Lao and the others.
"Very well. Be careful in everything," Hun Lao said with a nod, knowing he couldn't dissuade Ye Yunfei. He understood Ye Yunfei's desperation to find Su Qingluo; now with a clue, he wouldn't give up.
Ye Yunfei resumed employing the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art to divine Su Qingluo's whereabouts.
For four or five days straight, Ye Yunfei divined nothing.
All he could see was a vast blur.
Moreover, the prolonged divination began to fatigue him. Performing divination techniques inherently consumed immense energy and mental focus. The more cause-and-effect connections involved in what was being divined, the greater the danger. Many masters of divination suffered severe backlash during the process, resulting in death or severe injury. So practicing and employing divination arts was actually quite perilous.
Just as Ye Yunfei sat before the six pitch-black Reincarnation Caves, continuously divining for Su Qingluo, in a distant expanse of void, within a pitch-black passage, a dust-covered statue suddenly opened its eyes.
"Interesting.
Someone is daring to divine the Reincarnation Caves. Is this peeking into the secrets of Samsara?" A voice utterly devoid of warmth emanated from within the statue.
"The mysteries of Samsara are among the ultimate mysteries of existence. They are not to be spied upon." After a moment of silence, another voice came from the statue.
Boom…
A powerful surge of mysterious energy erupted from within the statue, transforming into a giant energy hand that whistled through the air, slamming toward the other end of the pitch-black passage.
"Not good!"
At that moment, Ye Yunfei, who was in the midst of employing the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art, suddenly sensed immense peril, a feeling that made his hair stand on end.
Ye Yunfei swept his sleeve, gathering Hun Lao and the others within, then flickered, instantly shifting a great distance from his original position.
In the next instant, a dark handprint abruptly appeared and struck the spot where Ye Yunfei had just been sitting, actually causing the space there to cave inward, terrifying destructive energy roiling turbulently.
"Run!" Hun Lao urged, sensing the great danger.
But Ye Yunfei found at that moment that he couldn't move even half a step. An extremely terrifying energy had sealed off all surrounding space. Moreover, Ye Yunfei realized that dark handprint had locked onto his aura.
"Such terrifying Samsara energy!" Ye Yunfei could feel that the black handprint contained immensely dreadful Samsara energy.
Just as Ye Yunfei was anxiously wondering how to escape, he was pleasantly surprised to see the dark handprint begin to slowly withdraw.
The sealed space around him also gradually returned to normal.
Finally, the black handprint completely vanished.
"That was close!" Hun Lao and the others breathed sighs of relief upon seeing the handprint disappear and sensing the terrifying pressure slowly fading, panting heavily.
At the same time, in another expanse of void, far, far away, within a pitch-black passage…
"The Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art... Hmm. Considering this art, I'll let him off.
Also, that young human seems to have some connection to a certain branch of our Lunhui Palace."
The voice emanated once more from the mysterious statue.
"Additionally, although that young man's body is marked by the imprints of numerous Deities—quite complex—his natural talent and aptitude seem rather good. A minor genius, I suppose.
Having such a young talent in that particular expanse of void is quite commendable.
My sparing his life... let's consider it our Lunhui Palace forming a favorable connection with him." The voice sounded again from the statue, then fell silent, with no further movement.
Back before the six pitch-black Reincarnation Caves, Ye Yunfei remained on high alert, not daring to employ the Chaos Heavenly Secrets Art for further divination.
"That just now must have been backlash triggered by your divination. Truly terrifying.
I felt that even if we all combined our strength, we would be no match for that black handprint. We'd likely be instantly wiped out.
Not only was my physical body immobilized, even my Soul Body was frozen!" The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm exclaimed, recalling the earlier incident with lingering fear.
"It was indeed extremely frightening. I couldn't move either," Ye Yunfei said with a bitter smile.
"Fortunately, that handprint didn't continue its attack on us," Huang Shang said gratefully.
"Master, will you continue divining for Senior Sister Qing Luo's whereabouts?" Hu Miao asked.
"Never mind. I'll stop for now.
With my current strength, I can't withstand the backlash from further divination. Let's do this—I'll come back here to divine after I've increased my power and feel confident in handling backlash like that," Ye Yunfei said after thinking it over, first sighing.
"That's a wise decision. The earlier situation was far too dangerous.
I sensed that the handprint initially intended to attack us but changed its mind for some reason, letting us go.
But if you keep divining, it might not be so merciful next time," Hun Lao remarked.
"Let's leave here first.
Regardless, I have confirmed one thing: Qing Luo and Lunhui Laozu indeed entered one of these six Reincarnation Caves all those years ago.
Now I have a direction and a target for my search.
Sooner or later, I will enter these six Reincarnation Caves to investigate further," Ye Yunfei declared.
Then he turned and left. Shortly after, he exited the Samsara Passage and returned to the Reincarnation Realm outside.
"Young Master Ye, you've emerged!" Seeing Ye Yunfei exit, the high-level members of Lunhui Palace immediately rushed over.
"Young Master Ye, you divined within for so long. Did you discover anything?" the Elder Great Elder of Lunhui Palace asked.
"I made some discoveries.
It's now confirmed: Qing Luo and Ancestor did indeed enter one of the six Reincarnation Caves back then," Ye Yunfei nodded and replied.
"What? Palace Master Su and Ancestor entered one of the Reincarnation Caves long ago?" Upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Lunhui Palace elders were deeply shocked, scarcely able to believe it.