"Senior, there's no need to fear. These fellows don't dare to attack us. Please keep an eye out, and if Lord Yin arrives, we will leave immediately," Ye Yunfei replied.
For Ye Yunfei, on this continent, Primary and Intermediate Void Gods held no threat at all. Only when encountering Advanced Void Gods would Ye Yunfei consider withdrawing.
"Alright, I will keep watch for you," Cui Hong nodded.
He also knew that on this continent, only Advanced Void Gods could threaten Ye Yunfei.
"Everyone, what do you think? Should we join forces and go kill Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and that little wretch from the Flower God Palace right now?" In the distance, an Intermediate Void God from the Guardian Faction suggested.
"No, on this continent, we are suppressed by the Law of Gravity and cannot display our true strength. It's better to let Lord Yin deal with him," however, the other Deities around all shook their heads in disagreement. Especially those who had fought Ye Yunfei on this continent before, they simply had no desire to provoke Ye Yunfei again.
"What's going on? Those guys from the Guardian Faction are actually so fearful of Ye Yunfei? Over ten Deities don't dare to go deal with him? Has that kid Ye Yunfei already become so formidable now?" In an even more distant location, three Devil Gods wreathed in billowing demonic aura were shocked to see that the Deities of the Guardian Faction actually didn't dare to attack Ye Yunfei.
"It seems that kid Ye Yunfei has already become quite remarkable. Starting now, before we understand his true strength, we shouldn't recklessly move against him," one of the Devil Gods said in a grave tone.
"I never expected Ye Yunfei to have grown to this level today," in another location, three Deities of the Dark Faction were also observing Ye Yunfei from afar. One of them slowly spoke.
The three Dark Faction Deities had certainly noticed that Ye Yunfei's current strength must already be considerable. Therefore, they did not immediately charge forward to attack.
"It seems if we want to deal with Ye Yunfei now, we must ally with other forces, especially by leveraging the strength of the Guardian Faction," another Dark Faction Deity spoke up.
At the same moment, on a flat stretch of land amidst the distant mountain ridges.
With a deafening boom, three Advanced Void Gods joined forces and blasted an ancient Formation to pieces.
"Excellent! This ancient Formation had such immense power. That clearly indicates the palace protected by it must contain incredibly valuable treasures!" After breaking through the Formation together, the three Advanced Void Gods immediately activated their movement techniques, scrambling and jostling to be the first to charge into the palace.
However, the moment they reached the main gate of the palace, over twenty figures rushed out from within.
They were over twenty Bronze Men, each one exceptionally tall and holding a thick stone club. Simultaneously, they raised their clubs and attacked the three Advanced Void Gods.
"Damn it! How can there be so many puppets in this place? Could this be the dwelling of a puppet master?" The three Advanced Void Gods were both shocked and enraged. They quickly unleashed their attacks and fought against the twenty-plus puppets.
Back on the distant mountain peak, Ye Yunfei sat cross-legged before the cave dwelling, wholly focused on analyzing the five ancient Formations before him.
Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao stood guard beside Ye Yunfei.
Meanwhile, the Deities from major forces like the Guardian Faction, the Dark Faction, and the Source Fire Sect had already departed from the distance, continuing their treasure hunt in this area of ancient structures. Temporarily not daring to move against Ye Yunfei, they simply ignored him for now.
"How is it going, Young Master Ye? Can you break these five Formations? If you truly cannot decipher them, then perhaps we should go explore elsewhere. Spending too much time here would not be worth the effort," Cui Hong spoke as he heard excited shouts continuously ringing out in the distance. Clearly, the other Deities were having great success finding treasures in this ancient architectural region.
"Senior, while I cannot break these five Formations, I believe I can soon pass through them. As long as we can traverse these five Formations and enter the cave dwelling, that's sufficient. We don't necessarily have to break them," Ye Yunfei suddenly spoke.
"Is that true?" Both Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao felt their spirits lift upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words.
The fact that this cave dwelling was protected by five ancient Formations strongly suggested it likely contained exceptionally precious items.
"Yes, let's enter now," Ye Yunfei stood up.
He then took out a large handful of Formation Flags. Taking a step forward, his hands moved swiftly, continuously throwing out the flags in his grasp and planting them in the space ahead.
As a large number of Formation Flags were arranged in this space, the five ancient Formations before the cave entrance began to tremble faintly.
"Senior, Miss Xiao Xiao, follow me. We're going in now," Ye Yunfei said to Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao.
Then, taking another step, he arrived directly before the first ancient Formation. His foot landed precisely on the most critical point of the Formation. Simultaneously, he tossed out two or three more Formation Flags from his hand. His figure flashed, and he directly passed through the first ancient Formation.
"It really works!" Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao, following behind Ye Yunfei, were thrilled to see him successfully pass through the first Formation.
They kept pace with Ye Yunfei, carefully observing his stepping points, and passed through the first Formation one after the other.
Then, led by Ye Yunfei, the three of them continuously traversed the five ancient Formations and charged into the cultivation cave dwelling.
Before the cave entrance, a vast surge of spacetime energy rolled forth, and space began to swirl.
In the next moment, Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao found themselves inside a picturesque Small World filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers.
"So the interior of this cave is a Small World," Xiao Xiao cried out in surprise upon seeing the beautiful scenery of the Small World before her.
"The scale of this Small World isn't very large. Look, there are many puppets over there!" Suddenly, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm pointed into the distance, exclaiming in shock.
"What puppets?" Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao were all startled. Looking in that direction, they indeed saw a broad plaza in the distance. Rows upon rows of puppets stood there, lined up neatly, densely packed like a puppet army.
These puppets seemed to be forged from a type of extremely hard steel, emanating a cold, steely sheen that sent shivers down one's spine.
"We should flee quickly. Only those Advanced Void Gods outside could handle these steel puppets. We are no match for them at all," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm urged.
In fact, upon seeing the puppets in the distant plaza, Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao had already prepared to turn and run.
However, Ye Yunfei suddenly noticed that the puppets in the plaza were completely motionless. Moreover, not a single trace of energy fluctuation emanated from their towering frames.
"Could it be those puppets haven't been activated yet?" Ye Yunfei speculated aloud.
"To activate a puppet, one must insert the corresponding energy crystals into key parts of their bodies to provide them with power. Otherwise, they cannot be activated, because puppets also require energy to function. Since there's no energy fluctuation coming from these puppets' bodies, it's possible they have no energy crystals inside," Hun Lao suddenly spoke to Ye Yunfei.
"If that's the case, then we might not need to fear these puppets," Ye Yunfei said after hearing Hun Lao's words.
"Young Master Ye, it seems these puppets haven't been activated, so we don't need to be afraid," Cui Hong also spoke to Ye Yunfei at this moment.
Evidently, Cui Hong had some understanding of puppet techniques as well.
"Even though these puppets are not activated, we should still avoid approaching them as much as possible. Our knowledge of puppetry is very limited. If we unintentionally activate them, the consequences could be endless," Ye Yunfei said.
"Look, there are a few thatched huts over there?" Suddenly, Xiao Xiao pointed to a flat stretch of land in the distance, exclaiming in surprise.
Several simple thatched huts were built on that flat land.
"Let's go take a look," Cui Hong led the way, charging toward that area. Soon, the three of them arrived before these thatched huts.
In front of the huts was an open space with stone tables and chairs. The doors of the thatched huts were all tightly shut, and everything was deathly still.
Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao sent their Soul Power energy into the huts to probe.
However, these thatched huts actually possessed extremely sophisticated restrictions. The Soul Power of the three of them couldn't penetrate inside.
"How is this possible? I actually can't sense the interior of these thatched huts? What kind of restriction in the world could be this powerful?" The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm was also unable to probe the insides of the huts and couldn't help but cry out in astonishment.
"These thatched huts are all protected by Formations, specifically isolation Formations, which is why we cannot sense what's inside," Ye Yunfei said after standing before the huts and probing for a while.
"So that's how it is. There are Formations here too!" Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao suddenly understood.
"This place has too many Formations. We've encountered many ancient Formations all along the way since we entered," Xiao Xiao couldn't help but complain.
Ye Yunfei stood before the few thatched huts and began analyzing the isolation Formations before him.
These ancient isolation Formations were quite advanced. But after studying them for a while, Ye Yunfei finally found a way to enter. He led Cui Hong and Xiao Xiao into the area inside the Formations.
Ye Yunfei first entered the centralmost thatched hut.
Pushing open the hut's door, before even stepping inside, his eyes narrowed. He saw an elderly man in plain clothing sitting cross-legged in the small hall inside.
This elder sat cross-legged, palms flat on his abdomen, as if in meditation. Not a single ripple of energy emanated from his entire body.
Upon seeing this elder, Ye Yunfei, Cui Hong, and Xiao Xiao all halted their steps simultaneously.
"By the looks of it, he's already dead. This is just a corpse," Hun Lao said to Ye Yunfei.
"Yes, this should indeed just be a corpse," by this point, Ye Yunfei also sensed that the elder before him had no trace of life force left; it was merely a corpse.
"Young Master Ye, this senior has perished, leaving only a corpse behind," Cui Hong also discerned at this moment.
The three walked inside the hut, cautiously approaching the elder.
The elder showed no signs of movement, head lowered and eyes seemingly closed. Moreover, a faint aura of death emanated from his body. It was indeed a corpse.
"The identity of someone who perished here must be extraordinary. Let's search and see if he left anything behind. But we must be careful, in case he left some defensive measures," Cui Hong sent a voice transmission to Ye Yunfei and Xiao Xiao.
Thus, the three of them began to move about softly inside the hut, carefully searching.
It was at this moment that Ye Yunfei suddenly shuddered violently.
Whoosh!
A beam of light instantly pierced through the defenses of Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea and forcibly rushed inside. Then, an illusory figure of an elder appeared within the Soul Sea.
"Hahaha… A Perfected Demigod! Heaven truly aids me! This old man has waited for such a long, long time. The energy of this remnant soul was almost completely exhausted. Never did I expect to be sent a Perfected Demigod at this moment! This must be the Creator above pitying me and sending me such a fine quality body. Excellent! From now on, this fleshly body belongs to me!"
The moment this elder appeared in Ye Yunfei's Soul Sea, he burst into maniacal laughter.
It was none other than the remnant soul of the elder from the thatched hut!
Looking at this elder who had appeared in his Soul Sea, Ye Yunfei immediately knew his identity because his features were identical to the elder sitting cross-legged in the thatched hut.
"Alright, kid, meeting this old man today is simply your misfortune. I have waited far too long here. I had almost given up hope, but then you came. Now, obediently allow me to devour your Soul Body!" The elder laughed wildly.
He was utterly confident in dealing with a mere Perfected Demigod.