After the more than a dozen deities from the Guardian Faction alliance had retreated, the leading deity waved his hand, and a long sabre that appeared simple and antique soared into the air, appearing before them.
When this long sabre appeared, it emitted no fluctuations at all; outsiders couldn’t even sense what level of magical artifact it was.
'Together, activate the God King Blade and destroy this world cluster!' the leading deity first stepped forward, his hands forming seals as he shouted grimly.
Then the deity-level energy within his body surged forth, mighty and vast like a great river, and poured torrentially into the long sabre.
The other dozen deities did the same, continuously releasing the deity-level energy from their bodies and channeling it into the long sabre suspended before them.
Rumble…
As the dozen deities poured enormous amounts of deity-level energy into it, the long sabre suddenly trembled violently, unleashing unimaginable power.
Beams of sabre energy that resembled the first rays of sunlight breaking through the darkness before dawn continuously erupted from the long sabre, spreading and diffusing like an ocean, instantly illuminating the entire Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds. Sabre energy of terrifying intensity distorted the surrounding time and space.
Ye Yunfei was shocked to see that, centered on the long sabre, the surrounding time and space began to melt and disintegrate slowly, like snow under the sun.
'God King Blade?
That can’t be—is it a God King-level artifact?'
'This is truly terrifying; even at such a distant distance, I can barely move under the pressure of that sabre.'
At that moment, all beings within and outside the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds gazed at the long sabre, feeling deeply shaken.
Inside the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, some worlds closer to the long sabre were severely affected; their entire spatial structures became unstable, swaying like ripples of water. The living beings within collapsed onto the ground, as though all the life energy in their bodies had been drained, and a deep fear welled up from the depths of their soul bodies.
'Heavens, how terrifying—what kind of artifact is this?'
In the headquarters of the Alliance Army, all the high-level members were so suppressed by the sabre energy emanating from that distant long sabre that they couldn’t move.
Countless troops of the Alliance Army collapsed onto the ground.
'Hurry and activate all formations!'
Elders Kong, Xiao Ziming, and other Alliance Army leaders roared urgently. Then, within the Alliance Army headquarters, one formation after another was activated. Ye Yunfei had already laid down an incalculable number of various formations in the headquarters when he had spare time; now all these formations were activated one by one.
Thousands upon thousands of formations appeared like countless umbrellas, resisting the terrifying sabre energy radiating from the distant long sabre.
But soon, most formations vanished and disintegrated like snow under the sun.
'If this continues, our Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds will suffer heavy losses,' Ye Yunfei saw this scene and felt somewhat anxious.
'Hahaha… The Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds are doomed today.'
At that moment, the dozen deities of the Guardian Faction alliance continued channeling their deity-level energy into the long sabre, making it shine even more brilliantly.
Reflected by this long sabre, everything else within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds seemed to dim and disappear, making the sabre the sole existence, suppressing all things, eternal since ancient times.
'Their trump card is too terrifying!' the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm couldn’t help but exclaim.
At this point, the six old men of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds also showed shocked expressions; clearly, the long sabre put tremendous pressure on them too.
The six old men retreated swiftly together, assuming defensive stances.
'You six old wretches scared now, eh? Perfect timing—let’s use your six remnant souls to pay tribute to this God King Blade,' the leading deity of the Guardian Faction alliance laughed maniacally.
'Everyone, attack together and slay these six remnant souls!'
This deity shouted loudly.
Rumble…
Pushed forward by the combined force of the dozen deities, the long sabre suspended before them fiercely slashed forward; the space ahead vanished inch by inch.
'It seems that could genuinely be a God King-level artifact—so horrifying. Facing something of that caliber, forget resisting—I think my body and soul would freeze instantly,' the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm couldn’t help but yell.
'If it were truly a God King artifact, it might indeed suppress us. Pity it’s merely a damaged God King artifact, with only incomplete power, insufficient to frighten us,' after retreating a good distance, one of the six old men of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, now steady on his feet, spoke with a somber expression.
'Even a shattered God King artifact is more than enough to kill your six remnant souls,' the lead deity of the Guardian Faction alliance retorted sternly.
Then the dozen deities transferred their deity-level energy into the long sabre even more frantically.
The six old men of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds roared together, and suddenly, from somewhere deep in the void of the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, came a tremendous energy rumbling noise. Everyone saw a great banner appear from that location.
This great banner seemed quite tattered and worn. Many parts of the pole appeared moth-eaten, and the once bright flag surface was ragged and torn; only some faded patterns on it hinted that the banner must have been vibrant in its prime.
In short, it was a broken banner now summoned by the six old men.
Rumble…
After the tattered banner flew out from the depths of the void, it streaked across the sky and instantly landed behind the six old men.
Under the gusting winds of time and space, the tattered and torn banner fluttered incessantly, churning out fearsome energy.
At this moment, the long sabre unleashed by the dozen deities of the Guardian Faction alliance in unison already slashed above the heads of the six old men.
The banner behind the six old men soared upward to meet it.
Clang! Clang! Clang!..
Then the great banner and the long sabre clashed fiercely; each collision ignited dazzling sparks, erupting in the vast void like countless shimmering galaxies illuminating endless space.
'How is this possible?
This ragged banner can withstand the God King Blade?'
Seeing this, the dozen deities of the Guardian Faction alliance were somewhat disbelieving. They had originally thought that once they summoned this God King Blade, they would surely slaughter all opposition and destroy this world cluster.
But now the six old men had conjured this tattered banner, and it actually blocked the God King Blade.
Thus, the battle by now had turned into a showdown between artifacts. The dozen deities of the Guardian Faction alliance continuously transmitted their energy into the God King Blade, while the six old men jointly stimulated the great banner; the fighting was ferocious.
'Deity-level battles are truly terrifying.
However, I worry that if this battle continues like this, the space within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds will soon become unbearable.
Look, many areas of space have already been shattered and tattered. This is spatial damage caused by deity combat, not so easily repaired.
Sometimes, even after a vast stretch of time passes, it might not recover, lasting eternally,' the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said to Ye Yunfei.
'I can see that, but there's nothing to be done about it,' Ye Yunfei replied helplessly.
Ye Yunfei had already observed that this battle had wrought severe damage to the space within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds. Some worlds relatively close even had cracks appearing on their world barriers.
Inside those worlds, many weak beings had been pulverized and innocently slaughtered.
But faced with such a situation, Ye Yunfei lacked the power to stop or salvage it—he could only watch.
Furthermore, Ye Yunfei understood that the longer the battle persisted, the greater the destruction inflicted upon the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds would be.
'I don’t believe that with your mere handful of remnant souls, you can still block our advance.'
By now, both sides had grown inflamed, the combat increasingly intense. Not only did they contend with artifacts, they also constantly used soul force energy and various soul force martial arts to attack each other.
In general, soul force energy and soul force martial arts are formless—merely discernible through perception. But the soul force energy and martial arts employed by these deities had already solidified into shapes, and one could see various weapons and artifacts—like sabres, swords, pikes—forged from soul force energy flying to and fro in that patch of void, attacking one another.
Ye Yunfei saw that the elder he knew, from within his head, launched a massive square cauldron emanating strong soul force energy, which expanded continually, smashing toward one of the enemy deities.
That deity’s complexion paled a bit. A gigantic dragon that had coalesced from soul force energy burst forth from his head, seeking to block the cauldron, but it was shaken aside at once. Then, a dozen deity-level artifacts shot out from his head, forming layers of defense around it.
'Elders, lend me aid!'
Recognizing his difficulty in singlehandedly contending with that old man, this deity loudly called for help.
Only when a few deities of their alliance nearby jointly used their soul force energy and soul force martial arts did they repel the cauldron.
'Deities can attain the realm of materializing their soul force, that is, shaping their soul force energy into certain artifacts or weapons, turning the formless tangible, granting immense offensive power,' Hun Lao told Ye Yunfei.
'Soul force materialization—I should attempt moving in that direction later,' Ye Yunfei nodded.
By now, the fighting among those deities remained fierce, and within a short span, it didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon.
'Oh no, master, look at the Alliance Army headquarters—it’s relatively close to the fighting location. If this keeps up, it’ll be utterly demolished; as it is, half has already been destroyed,' Hu Miao suddenly pointed in the direction of the Alliance Army headquarters, anxiously saying to Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei glanced back, and sure enough, under the shockwaves of the deities’ battle energy, many formations and structures within the Alliance Army headquarters were continuously collapsing and disintegrating. The ground of the headquarters cracked again and again, and even the space hosting the headquarters was appearing with spatial rifts.
Fortunately, when the fighting had just begun, the Alliance Army’s high-level figures had already noticed something amiss, and the bulk of the personnel had evacuated. Thus, only a few sustained casualties.
Ye Yunfei flashed through space, instantly returning to the headquarters.
'Young Master Ye, if this persists, our headquarters will be wiped out completely! What should we do now?' the Alliance Army leaders were fretful with anxiety when they suddenly saw Ye Yunfei return and crowded around him.
'As long as the mountain stands tall, we’ll find firewood. The most crucial thing is ensuring personnel safety. Evacuate everyone from the headquarters immediately; find somewhere farther and safer to settle temporarily.
Move swiftly—I’ll cover your retreat.'
With a look, Ye Yunfei noted that the majority of the headquarters’ formations and various defenses had already been destroyed by the continuous flood of battle energy. At once, he declared loudly.
Ye Yunfei knew there was no recourse before such deity combat save retreating to a distance.
'Act at once as Young Master Ye instructed—everyone evacuate the headquarters.'
The Alliance Army leaders, hearing Ye Yunfei’s words, hesitated not and started organizing all the remaining personnel within the headquarters to withdraw.
Ye Yunfei, for his part, took out plenty of formation flags and tossed them continuously, laying down numerous formations to temporarily resist the deity-level battle energy still flowing over.
Covered by these formations, all Alliance Army personnel safely evacuated the headquarters.
'How long will this battle go on before stopping?' Ye Yunfei worried a bit, knowing that the longer it lasted, the greater the harm to the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds.
Just then…
'Truly unforeseen—even a derelict boat has some solid wood left. This Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds world cluster, once illustrious in antiquity, even though now declined, possesses such powerful guardians still upholding its place.
A pity, though. Your Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds have provoked our Guardian Faction; soon, it will be erased from this stretch of void.'
Just at that moment, outside the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, into the void a plain yet cold voice rang, clearly reaching everyone’s ears.
Ye Yunfei’s gaze immediately turned outward, and then he saw a short old man wearing grey robes, hands behind his back, walking step by step from the distant void.
Wherever the old man went, the surrounding space immediately grew still.
The moment all had glimpsed this old man, he still leisurely walked from a patch of distant void, but somehow—with absolutely no transition, no passage of time—suddenly appeared within the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, standing behind the dozen deities of the Guardian Faction alliance.
Not even those deities sensed how the old man had traversed that vast distance in an instant to arrive behind them.
'This fellow can manipulate space and time with ease; his cultivation of the laws of space and time has reached a terrifying level,' Hun Lao uttered gravely.