The Chaotic Void Sea had already experienced a long period without Deities. During this protracted era devoid of divine beings, Deities represented supreme authority in the minds of all living creatures.
A single Deity could suppress an entire Void Sea. Even though several Deities had now emerged in the Chaotic Void Sea, such beings were still lofty masters, the very controllers of this expanse of void.
Now that the Source Fire Sect had given birth to a Deity, this meant the sect instantly became one of the superpowers with the greatest strength in this void.
Ancestor Qi and all other Source Fire Sect members were flushed with excitement, practically beside themselves.
"With Ancestor here, that punk Ye Yunfei is dead for sure!"
"And the Fire Clan, especially that energy entity of theirs — its days are numbered."
...
Some of the Sect's higher-ups shouted excitedly.
These elders recalled how several of the Sect's past Ancestors had perished within the Fire Realm, causing the Sect's strength to plummet drastically.
After those Ancestors fell, the Source Fire Sect had immediately closed the gates of its headquarters and adopted an extremely low profile. Orders were issued forbidding any member from leaving the headquarters without permission.
Throughout this period, every member of the Sect, from top to bottom, had felt deeply aggrieved.
But now, the Source Fire Sect had finally produced a Deity!
This meant the Sect had finally begun to break free from its past predicament. From this point on, the people of the Source Fire Sect could hold their heads high and reign supreme throughout the entire Chaotic Void Sea.
"With Ancestor Qi amongst us, our Source Fire Sect will dominate the entire Chaotic Void Sea!"
"Ancestor Qi is mighty and invincible!"
Caught up in their excitement, the Sect's members began shouting loudly.
The Source Fire Sect's Ancestor Qi laughed heartily, swelling with even greater pride.
While this Source Fire Sect Ancestor roared with laughter, the Watchers all stood silently to the side, staring coldly at him. The Guardian Captains, in particular, wore profoundly meaningful looks in their eyes.
Only after a while did Ancestor Qi's laughter finally subside.
"Esteemed Guardian Captains, my apologies. I became too excited in the moment and forgot my manners," Ancestor Qi suddenly realized he had been neglecting the Watchers, especially the dozen or so Guardian Captains, and quickly spoke up.
"Ancestor Qi, you are now a Deity. You indeed possess the capital to disregard us Watchers," one Guardian Captain said coolly.
"Your words cut deeply, Guardian Captain. I absolutely did not mean that. I was merely momentarily carried away by my own success. Please forgive me," Ancestor Qi was startled and hastily replied with earnest sincerity.
"I hope your Source Fire Sect understands one thing clearly. Your Sect has pledged allegiance to our Guardian Faction and has sworn loyalty to us. A word spoken must be honored.
Our Guardian Faction does not take kindly to betrayal. Otherwise, it matters not if you are a freshly ascended first-level Virtual Deity. Even if you were a higher-level Virtual Deity, our faction can raise you up, and our faction can cast you down," a Guardian Captain declared with a chilling voice.
Hearing this, Ancestor Qi and the other Source Fire Sect higher-ups all paled drastically.
Though a spark of anger flared in their hearts, they dared not show it.
Although they did not know precisely how formidable the Guardian Faction's overall strength truly was, the entire Chaotic Void Sea knew that this suddenly emergent force possessed a foundation and heritage that was terrifyingly profound.
In fact, rumors had long circulated in the Chaotic Void Sea that the Guardian Faction most likely possessed Deities of its own.
Thus, although this Ancestor Qi of the Source Fire Sect had now broken through to become a Deity, he temporarily had no desire to provoke an open breach with the Guardian Faction. He intended to first probe the faction's true depths before deciding how to interact with these Watchers.
"Guardian Captain, your words carry too much weight. Our Source Fire Sect and your Guardian Faction are allied. We are all on the same side and should coexist harmoniously. Our common enemies are those of the Restorer Faction," Ancestor Qi quickly spoke up, his tone and attitude now far more agreeable.
"Heh, a relationship between equals, you say?" The Guardian Captain who had spoken earlier, upon hearing Ancestor Qi's words, couldn't help but sink his expression and let out a cold snort.
"Very well. It seems the Source Fire Sect is getting a little ahead of itself.
Then I shall not mind letting your Sect witness the heritage and depth of our Guardian Faction." The Guardian Captain continued.
As his words fell, everyone felt the surrounding void suddenly tremble violently, as if a piece of cloth were being shaken vigorously.
Then, everyone saw a figure of unimaginable vastness slowly materialize in the void ahead.
This figure was truly colossal. A single one of its heads was the size of half a world cluster.
Its two eyes were larger than planets, and the gaze they shot forth caused the time and space ahead to become unstable, continuously disintegrating and collapsing.
With the appearance of this immense figure, everyone from the Source Fire Sect, including Ancestor Qi, felt an utterly terrifying energy pressure instantly seize control of this vast expanse of void.
Then, the vast majority of the Source Fire Sect's forces swayed unsteadily, thudding to their knees.
Ancestor Qi also felt his body subjected to terrifying suppression. He trembled all over as he desperately circulated the divine power within him, sending it rolling forth in an attempt to resist. He raised his head and roared, but it was useless. The horrific suppressive energy slowly bent his waist downwards.
"A Deity... and one whose realm and strength far exceed my own.
Dammit! So, the Guardian Faction truly has a Deity overseeing it." At this moment, Ancestor Qi began to regret his earlier attitude.
Upon just breaking through to the Deity level, he had felt he stood at the pinnacle of power within this Void Sea, perhaps even capable of suppressing the entire Sea. Thus, facing these Watchers, his respectful demeanor had faded significantly, replaced by subtle indications in his words that he now stood on equal footing with these Guardian Captains.
Only now did he finally understand that the Guardian Faction had Deities personally overseeing it who were stronger than him. If he, a freshly ascended Deity, dared to disobey, he would likely be swiftly erased.
At this moment, Ancestor Qi felt the pressure becoming increasingly unbearable. His knees had already begun to bend; he was on the verge of kneeling.
"Esteemed Guardian Captains, I know I was wrong! Please spare me!
From this day forth, our Source Fire Sect will be utterly loyal and serve the Guardian Faction faithfully!" Fearful and not daring to hold out any longer, Ancestor Qi cried out.
"Remember, your Source Fire Sect and our Guardian Faction are not allies. Your Sect is a vassal force belonging to our Guardian Faction. You must act upon the commands of our Guardian Faction.
Otherwise, destroying your Source Fire Sect would be but a trifling matter for our faction," the Guardian Captain who had spoken earlier said coldly.
"I understand. Please rest assured, Guardian Captain," Ancestor Qi quickly affirmed.
"Good. Now, there is a task requiring your immediate attention. The content and specific spatiotemporal coordinates are within this jade slip. Depart at once," the Guardian Captain retrieved a jade slip and tossed it in front of Ancestor Qi.
Ancestor Qi caught the jade slip and probed its contents.
"Yes, I shall depart immediately," Ancestor Qi did not dare delay and hurriedly nodded.
At the same time, Ye Yunfei's flying ship was speeding back towards the headquarters of the Restorer Faction.
"The losses for our Restorers in this mission were likely quite heavy.
Every single Restorer must have been painstakingly cultivated. To suffer so many losses at once..." Within the ship, Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged. Thinking back on the failed mission, he couldn't help but speak.
"What's most infuriating is the Source Fire Sect. They actually aligned themselves with the Guardian Faction, set a trap, lured the Restorers in, and then ambushed them. We definitely have to settle that score with the Source Fire Sect," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said through gritted teeth, recalling the earlier encirclement.
"That Ancestor of the Source Fire Sect has probably succeeded in becoming a Deity. It won't be easy for us to go back and settle scores with them now," Hun Lao shook his head and said.
"Yes, that Ancestor from the Source Fire Sect most likely achieved Deityhood," Ye Yunfei nodded.
While leaving that world, Ye Yunfei had deliberately sensed the Source Fire Sect Ancestor undergoing his tribulation and judged that the Ancestor had an extremely high chance of succeeding and ascending to Deityhood.
"We have a history with the Source Fire Sect. That Ancestor will probably come looking for trouble with us in the future.
The Heavenly God Hall, the Dark Faction, and now the Source Fire Sect on top of that... at the very least, Deities from three major forces have set their sights on us," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm lamented, feeling a headache coming on.
"Indeed. Our situation is becoming increasingly difficult," Hun Lao agreed.
"What do you think? If the Deities from these three major forces all went to the Three Thousand Realms to cause trouble, would the powerhouses within the Colorless Abyss be able to handle them?" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm asked worriedly.
"No one can say for sure.
Both the Deities from these three factions and those powerhouses within the Colorless Abyss belong to the level of divine beings. With our current strength, it's very hard for us to guess the situation at that level," Hun Lao shook his head and sighed.
"Let's focus on what's immediately ahead and deal with things as they come. We can't think that far ahead right now," Ye Yunfei said.
Not long after, the flying ship returned to the desolate void where the Restorer Faction was located.
Even before getting close to the entrance/exit of the Restorer headquarters, Ye Yunfei sensed something amiss. He immediately stopped the ship and concealed its aura.
That was because residual energy fluctuations from battle lingered within this void. There were also quite a few broken, discarded magical treasures, and even several bloodied corpses of Restorers.
Ye Yunfei, Hun Lao, and the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm all possessed powerful senses and detected them from a distance.
"It goes without saying — the Guardian Faction's people must have attacked here. It seems their movements this time were on a grand scale. Not only did they lay traps in the Zhongheng World Cluster to ambush Restorers, they even struck at the Restorers' headquarters itself," Hun Lao said gravelly, looking at the few bloody Restorer corpses in the distance.
"Yes. Everyone, stay alert. We might be heading into another fight," Ye Yunfei nodded, knowing it had to be the Guardian Faction's forces that had attacked here.
After all, in the entire Void Sea, no other faction besides the Guardian Faction would openly target the Restorer Faction.
Ye Yunfei put away the flying ship, then took out his Spatial Teleportation Plate. Concealing his aura, he cautiously crept towards the entrance/exit of the Restorer headquarters.
"Heh, another fish has arrived.
No need to skulk around. You've been spotted." As soon as Ye Yunfei approached the entrance/exit, a dozen or so hazy figures materialized around him, laughing coldly.
Sure enough — Watchers.
Although Ye Yunfei couldn't clearly see the specific features of these hazy figures nor distinctly sense the auras of their Soul Bodies — precisely the hallmark traits of Watchers — their identity was unmistakable.
"They hid themselves incredibly well!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said in surprise, looking at the dozen-plus figures that had suddenly appeared.
"The Guardian Faction's foundation and heritage are indeed solid. Don't underestimate them," Hun Lao remarked.
"Let's kill him quickly. More Restorers will surely be returning continuously later," one of the hazy figures said.
Then, the dozen or so hazy figures all attacked simultaneously, surrounding and rushing towards Ye Yunfei.
"Something's very wrong. Could it be that the Restorer headquarters has already been seized by the Watchers?
Otherwise, why would there be so many Watchers guarding this entrance/exit?" Hun Lao couldn't help but exclaim.
"The Restorer headquarters has definitely run into trouble," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Ye Yunfei understood clearly that something must have happened at the Restorer headquarters. In the worst-case scenario, it might have already been occupied by the Watchers. Otherwise, a dozen Watchers wouldn't be on guard here at the entrance.
With a thought, Ye Yunfei activated the Sky-Piercing Divine Vine. Dozens of thick, green vines immediately appeared, extending out and wrapping towards the dozen Watchers.
"What kind of technique or divine ability is this?" The dozen Watchers were startled, as they had never encountered Ye Yunfei's Sky-Piercing Divine Vine before.
Ye Yunfei drew a longsword and executed the Myriad Swords Return to One Great Art. With a single slash, he cleaved one Watcher into pieces. Simultaneously, he threw a punch with his right hand, employing the Great Strength Divine Fist, pulverizing another nearby Watcher into a cloud of blood mist.
Although numerous, these dozen Watchers before him were all of ordinary caliber within the faction's ranks. How could they possibly be Ye Yunfei's match?
"How can this guy be so strong?" Seeing Ye Yunfei dispatch two Watchers in an instant, the remaining Watchers paled in fright.
"None of you will leave alive!" Ye Yunfei said coldly.
In a single step, he appeared before one of the Watchers. With a thought, dozens of green vines stretched out from the surrounding void, instantly binding the Watcher tightly.
Ye Yunfei punched out, directly blasting the Watcher's head apart.
While Ye Yunfei made his move, Hun Lao, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, Hu Miao, and Huang Shang simultaneously unleashed their respective specialized techniques and secret arts to interfere with and suppress the other Watchers.
For a moment, this space brimmed with a wild assortment of different energy laws.
Spatial energy, illusory path energy, and ghostly path energy conjured an array of bizarre and fantastical scenes.
All the Watchers were subjected to this interference, and then, one by one, Ye Yunfei struck them down with his fists. In moments, they were all slain, not a single one remaining.
Huang Shang continuously absorbed the residual Soul Body energies left by the Watchers, while the Blood Clan Clone refined and absorbed the lingering Bloodline Essence.
From initiating the attack to wiping out all the Watchers, Ye Yunfei had only taken a few breaths. The entire process was exceedingly brief.
After dealing with them, Ye Yunfei stood before the entrance/exit, uncertain whether to enter.
"Let's send a doppelganger in first," Ye Yunfei thought for a moment. He took out a replacement puppet, transformed it into an image of himself, and sent it into the space that housed the Restorer headquarters.