Not long after Cui Hong, Ye Yunfei, and Xiao Xiao left the site of the previous battle, over a dozen figures whose bodies bloomed with rolling divine radiance quickly arrived and stopped at the location of the fight.
"Dammit! They actually managed to escape," one Deity said indignantly.
This Deity was one of those who had fought Ye Yunfei earlier. After leaving before, they had immediately gone to summon reinforcements and hurried back.
"That Cui Hong... he truly is just an energy body? An energy body possessing the strength of an Intermediate Void God? How is that possible? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" a middle-aged man with a cold expression asked.
"There shouldn't be a mistake. Previously, the Fire Clan was sealed within their ancestral land. It was precisely the return of that energy body of Cui Hong that allowed them to break the seal and emerge. Of course, that brat Ye Yunfei helped too. Everyone in the Void Sea knows about this," a Primary Void God said.
"An energy body possessing the strength of an Intermediate Void God… there are only two possibilities. First, Cui Hong must have been a peerless master before his fall. So even after perishing and leaving behind only an energy body, it still retains considerable strength. The second possibility is that Cui Hong possesses a treasure of extraordinary value. However, regardless, anyone who provokes our Guardian Faction cannot be let off. Otherwise, we will lose our dignity in this stretch of the void," the middle-aged man said with a stern voice.
"A treasure of extraordinary value?" Hearing this analysis, the other Deities stirred inwardly, their eyes beginning to glow, because that possibility indeed existed.
"No wonder Cui Hong possesses such strength with just an energy body, and led the Fire Clan to thrive so quickly these past days. So he holds a treasure," some Deities thought secretly to themselves, and other ideas began to form. Because everyone knew such a treasure must be extremely precious. If one could obtain it, their strength might increase dramatically.
"Send the order. Investigate the whereabouts of those three. Once discovered, spread the message immediately and surround and kill them," the middle-aged man said slowly.
At the same time, Cui Hong brought Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao before a shattered world.
The world's barrier had been breached. Standing outside, one could see the situation within.
Cui Hong led Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao through a gap into the world, landing in a vast, desolate desert.
This desert environment was extremely harsh. Yellow sand stretched for thousands of miles, with rolling dust and smoke.
"Right in that position. There's a spatial entrance there. Inside is a medicinal garden," Cui Hong said to Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao, pointing at a certain spot in the desert.
"However, there are Sand Demons guarding it. The moment we approach that entrance, those Sand Demons will immediately appear and attack us. So be prepared," Cui Hong added.
"Senior, what is the strength of these Sand Demons like?" Ye Yunfei asked curiously, as he had never encountered Sand Demons before.
"Sand Demons vary in strength, the strongest having combat power at the Deity level. However, with our combined efforts, we should barely be able to manage them. There's also a formation at the entrance. I will break it later. The two of you deal with those Sand Demons," Cui Hong said.
Then, Cui Hong flashed and rushed to the position he had pointed at earlier.
Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao also used their movement techniques to closely follow behind him.
Cui Hong flicked his sleeve, and immediately seven small flags flew out from within.
"These should be extremely profound formation-breaking flags, possessing powerful formation-breaking properties," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said in surprise after sensing the aura emitted by the seven small flags.
"Yes, all seven of these are formation-breaking flags," Ye Yunfei nodded.
Cui Hong was an ancient Deity, and before his fall, his strength must have been considerable. So it was perfectly normal for him to possess some high-level treasures or methods.
With a bang, as the seven formation-breaking flags descended, a powerful wave of formation energy began to spread outwards.
In front of Cui Hong, a complex illusion array slowly manifested. Though it was just a single array, it was extremely profound—even Ye Yunfei couldn't comprehend it.
"Break for me!" Cui Hong pointed with his hand and uttered a soft shout.
Boom...
The seven formation-breaking flags erupted simultaneously with powerful energy pressure, launching a violent assault on the illusion array.
At the same moment, vast amounts of yellow sand in the surrounding desert began to rapidly converge. Then, one tall monster after another, composed of gravel, appeared.
"Are these the Sand Demons?" Ye Yunfei thought, a bit curious as he looked at the towering monsters composed entirely of yellow sand.
The bodies of these Sand Demons were extremely heavy. They strode toward Ye Yunfei and the others, each step falling with immense force, shaking the earth.
One Sand Demon rushed before Ye Yunfei and threw a punch. Its fist was enormous, like a small mountain, and possessed astonishingly terrifying power.
"Alright, let me test just how strong you are," Ye Yunfei roared, swinging his fist to execute Divine Power Fist and meeting the attack.
With a bang, that Sand Demon was immediately sent staggering back by Ye Yunfei's punch, its feet carving two deep trenches into the thick sand.
"Well now, you can actually withstand one of my punches," Ye Yunfei was somewhat surprised.
At that moment, several other Sand Demons closed in. Ye Yunfei swung his fists, punching them one by one and sending them all flying back a considerable distance.
One Sand Demon, whose strength was comparatively weaker, had half its body blown apart by Ye Yunfei's punch. But Ye Yunfei was shocked to find that immediately, a large amount of yellow sand flew over, instantly restoring the Sand Demon's body to its original state.
"So that's how it is. After their bodies are destroyed, these Sand Demons can immediately use the surrounding yellow sand to restore themselves. Doesn't that mean they're impossible to kill?" Ye Yunfei felt a headache coming on.
By now, a large number of Sand Demons were charging over continuously from all directions, densely packed.
Already, a profusion of flowers had materialized around Xiao Xiao's body, transforming into vast floral seas that spread outward, constantly cutting the charging Sand Demons into pieces. But in the blink of an eye, these Sand Demons used the surrounding sand to restore their bodies. Seeing this, Xiao Xiao's expression also changed.
In truth, the combat power of these Sand Demons wasn't very strong, but the most troublesome thing was their astonishing recovery ability.
Ye Yunfei's strength played a significant role against these Sand Demons, constantly punching back the ones that charged at him. Xiao Xiao's attacks, however, were less effective. Although she manipulated her flowers and wielded her longsword to continuously slice the Sand Demons' bodies to pieces, they could swiftly restore their bodies at the fastest speed.
Meanwhile, Cui Hong was utilizing the seven formation-breaking flags to continuously break the illusion array.
"Alright, let's go in." Moments later, with a loud bang, a crack finally opened in the illusion array.
Cui Hong, Ye Yunfei, and Xiao Xiao all used their movement techniques, instantly rushing into the array at top speed. In front of them appeared a spatial entrance.
Cui Hong led the way into this spatial entrance and soon arrived within a Small World.
The scale of this Small World wasn't very large. Looking around, there were patches of staggered medicinal fields everywhere, planted with all kinds of medicinal herbs—some at the Deity level, others at the Demigod level and below.
"Looks like this Small World really is a large-scale medicinal garden. Those herbs were clearly planted by someone. Look! In the innermost medicinal field, there's a beautiful woman sitting on a sparkling turtle. Who is she?" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm suddenly shouted.
Indeed, hovering above a medicinal field deep within this Small World, there was a woman in a long dress, ethereal and exquisitely beautiful. This woman was seated on a turtle that was slowly crawling. The turtle's body radiated rolling divine light, with mysterious runes coiling around it.
"I feel that should be two Divine Herbs that have already taken humanoid form," Hun Lao transmitted his voice to Ye Yunfei.
"Senior, look," Xiao Xiao also saw the long-dressed woman and the turtle above the deep medicinal field and cried out in astonishment.
"Those are two Divine Herbs that have already taken form," Cui Hong said.
"There really are formed Divine Herbs here! Senior, let's hurry and collect them!" Xiao Xiao's eyes sparkled.
"No, we cannot go to that location. There is terrifying killing intent there. If we force our way in, even a High-Level Void God might fall," Cui Hong shook his head, his expression grave.
"Actually, back in the day, I once came to this medicinal garden. I saw with my own eyes a High-Level Void God who tried to make a move on those two formed Divine Herbs. Before he could even get close, he was slashed into pieces by a seven-colored light, perishing on the spot. At that time, my condition was very poor. Seeing such a scene, I didn't dare linger here and immediately fled. So I didn't obtain any herbs that time," Cui Hong added.
"Let's not even think about those two formed Divine Herbs. We'll just pick some Divine Herbs in the peripheral areas." With a flash, Cui Hong dashed towards a distant medicinal field containing dozens of shimmering medicinal plants.
Ye Yunfei immediately rushed toward another medicinal field. Since there were many fields in this Small World, there was no need for them all to crowd the same one. Xiao Xiao also selected another field further away.
Ye Yunfei rushed into his chosen medicinal field. At least ten plants within this field were Divine Herbs; the rest were Demigod-level herbs.
Ye Yunfei moved extremely fast, immediately beginning to harvest these herbs. With a sweep of his sleeve, he harvested more than half of the Demigod-level herbs. The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm and Hu Miao also materialized to help Ye Yunfei with the harvesting.
Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao in the distance clearly recognized the identities of the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm and Hu Miao, and both showed expressions of surprise.
When Ye Yunfei began harvesting the Divine Herbs in this field, they released powerful defensive energy, forming an energy barrier for self-protection. Herbs at the Deity level had developed some vague consciousness and knew to protect themselves. However, Ye Yunfei simply shattered these protective barriers with a single punch and forcefully harvested them.
Soon, all the herbs in this field were completely harvested by Ye Yunfei. Then he rushed toward another medicinal field.
Thus, Ye Yunfei continuously cleaned out field after field. Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao did the same.
Everywhere Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao passed, all medicinal fields became empty, not a single plant left behind.
"This harvest is truly substantial," Ye Yunfei said excitedly, looking at the space rings on his person stuffed full of medicinal herbs.
"You have so many Divine Herbs now. Try later to see if you can concoct Divine Pills. If you can, it will greatly aid our cultivation," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm said to Ye Yunfei.
"Concocting Divine Pills isn't easy. With my current alchemy level, I probably can't refine them yet," Ye Yunfei shook his head.
At that moment, Cui Hong, Ye Yunfei, and Xiao Xiao were still harvesting herbs in the peripheral region of this world. Eventually, the herbs in the peripheral region were almost completely harvested.
"We've been harvesting herbs only in the peripheral region. Now let's advance forward and enter the central region for harvesting. However, the central region is different from the outer region. It holds various dangers. All herbs in the central region are of the Deity level, including some rare Divine Herbs extremely valuable in the outside world. During harvesting, prioritize safety above all. Don't force it. If you encounter dangers you cannot handle, immediately give up," Cui Hong transmitted his voice to Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao.
Then, he led Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao into the central region. The number of medicinal fields in the central region was much fewer than in the peripheral region. But all the herbs planted in these central region fields were at the Deity level, of course far more valuable.
"Remember, be careful," Cui Hong transmitted his voice to warn Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao once more. Then he walked cautiously towards a medicinal field. Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao also each selected a field and walked towards them.
Roar…
Ye Yunfei had just arrived before his chosen medicinal field, not yet having stepped into it, when an angry roar rang out from within. Then, a massive green snake soared into the air from the field, raising its high head and opening its bloodthirsty maw to strike fiercely at Ye Yunfei. At the same time, a large amount of foul, stinking mist sprayed forth from its gaping jaws.