"Aaaaah!... You little bastard Ye Yunfei, how ruthless you are! You've not only damaged my physical body, but also harmed my Soul Body!"
The white-haired elder had been struck twice in succession by the white short sword, sustaining grievous injuries. He let out a miserable, furious cry.
"Old geezer, you're done for today," Ye Yunfei sneered coldly. With a focused thought, he unleashed his Moon Soul Slash.
A serene, cold full moon materialized, shooting forward to slash at the white-haired elder's Soul Body.
The elder was in the midst of reforming his physical body. Seeing the approaching moon, he was both shocked and enraged. His Soul Power energy abruptly converged into the form of an azure dragon that lunged forward to intercept.
With a boom, the whirling crescent moon sliced through, directly smashing the azure dragon backwards.
As Ye Yunfei unleashed the Moon Soul Slash, he pointed a finger. The white short sword, radiating billowing sword light, swept forward and once again reduced the elder's reforming body to fragments.
"Aaaaah!... What strange energy is this? How can it remain within my flesh, destroying my life force?!" The white-haired elder suddenly screamed in terror.
He discovered that within his shattered limbs and torn flesh, an eerie white energy was lurking, actively devouring his life force and causing him to feel himself aging rapidly.
"This is the energy of samsara. Could it be that artifact belongs to the School of Samsara?" A middle-aged man in pale golden robes from the Guardian Faction glanced over from the distance. His expression shifted slightly as he contemplated inwardly.
This middle-aged man hailed from other voids beyond this realm and possessed extensive knowledge. With one glance, he recognized the white energy remaining within the elder's body as the energy of samsara.
"You little bastard Ye Yunfei, just you wait! I will definitely take revenge for today!" Knowing he was no match for Ye Yunfei, and that the power of that white short sword was too terrifying for him to resist, the white-haired elder let out a furious roar and turned to flee.
"Trying to run now? It's already too late," Ye Yunfei said with a cold laugh.
Ye Yunfei had left a Soul Power imprint within the white short sword and could sense that it had already locked onto the white-haired elder's Soul Body. It was impossible for him to escape.
Boom! The white short sword shot forward with astonishing speed. Where it passed, the void was torn asunder like a blade slicing through water. In an instant, it bridged the spatial distance between Ye Yunfei and the fleeing elder, catching up from behind.
"Not good!" Sensing the razor-sharp sword energy bearing down on him from behind, the elder cried out in terror.
Boom! Boom! Boom!...
Over a dozen magical artifacts erupted from within the elder's body, simultaneously activating to form a barrier behind him. At the same time, an azure dragon formed from condensed energy surged forth from his form, exuding ancient and archaic aura. This was undoubtedly his final trump card.
A colossal boom echoed as the white short sword erupted like a volcano that had been accumulating power for millennia, releasing unimaginable energy. The azure dragon and the over a dozen artifacts were instantly reduced to splinters.
Then, the white short sword slashed directly at the elder, reducing both his physical form and Soul Body into fragments.
Aaaaah!
A ghastly scream carried far into the distance.
Seizing this opportunity, Ye Yunfei unleashed Moon Soul Slash alongside his Soul Power Celestial Orbs. One serene crescent moon and over thirty Soul Power orbs surged forward together, surrounding the elder's now-fragmented Soul Body remnants, forcefully beginning the process of devouring them.
"Aaaaah... I refuse to accept this! You little bastard Ye Yunfei! I am a dignified Advanced Void God, the commander of the Guardian Faction in this void! How could I possibly die by your hands?!" The white-haired elder roared with utter refusal to concede.
"Damn it all!" The other three Advanced Void Gods of the Guardian Faction were both shocked and enraged.
"Trying to kill our Guardian Faction commander? It's not that easy," snorted the middle-aged man in pale golden robes from afar.
Then, he turned and charged towards Ye Yunfei's location.
"Your opponent is me."
The Flower Goddess Palace Master took a step forward. Thousands upon thousands of flowers shimmered around her form, with one colossal bloom floating above her head. All the flowers spun together in a rapid, cutting whirlwind towards the pale-golden robed man.
Shoo, shoo, shoo...
Suddenly, the middle-aged man's figure split — one became two, two became four, four became eight, continuously dividing. In mere moments, dozens of identical figures appeared.
The Flower Goddess Palace Master, for a moment, was unable to determine which was his true body.
With a sharp cry, countless densely-packed flowers surged forth, seeking to submerge the man's clones and block his advance.
Yet, in the next instant, a figure appeared far in the distance, hurtling towards Ye Yunfei at high speed.
It turned out the middle-aged man had employed an exceptionally profound movement technique to evade the Flower Goddess Palace Master's obstruction.
"This guy actually dares to expend so much energy!" The Flower Goddess Palace Master realized the technique the man used consumed a massive amount of energy, as each one of these visible clones contained a portion of power. Simultaneously producing so many distracting duplicates required immense expenditure.
"Ye Yunfei, cease your rampage! I'm here!"
The man's true body leaped into the air, radiating a brilliance akin to the great sun. Golden light pierced the sky, and countless golden runes churned in the space around him, coalescing into a massive, golden longsword. The blade rapidly enlarged, its surface wreathed in layer upon layer of golden flame.
Boom rumble...
The golden longsword was raised high, bridging a vast spatial distance in an instant to descend upon Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei was in the midst of using Moon Soul Slash and his Soul Power Celestial Orbs to devour the white-haired elder's Soul Body. Seeing the pale-golden robed man bearing down on him, he couldn't help but slightly frown, preparing to counter.
"Young Master Ye, leave him to me!"
A figure surged forth like rolling thunder, exuding a formidable aura of power.
It was a Taoist priest. In every move and gesture, he exuded a profound and arcane aura that seemed aligned with the very Dao of heaven.
"Senior Master of the Temple!" Seeing this Taoist priest, Ye Yunfei couldn't help but feel both shock and joy.
For this Taoist was none other than the long-vanished Master of the Xiaoliang Temple.
Previously, after attaining the Deity realm, the Xiaoliang Temple Master had joined the Restorationist Faction. But after the Restorationists' secret base was ambushed and seized, the Master had led his followers away and vanished.
Both the Great Leader and Ye Yunfei had continuously been searching for the Xiaoliang Temple Master.
Ye Yunfei had harbored some concern about whether the Master had met with misfortune, as he had only been a Primary Void God, a relatively weak cultivator in the face of the Guardian Faction. It was only now, seeing him appear so suddenly, that Ye Yunfei let out a sigh of relief.
"Senior Master of the Temple, this man is an Advanced Void God, you—" Ye Yunfei saw the Xiaoliang Temple Master positioning himself before the pale-golden robed man and immediately called out a warning, for this middle-aged man was indeed an Advanced Void God. But before his words were finished, Ye Yunfei froze.
For Ye Yunfei sensed that the energy aura emanating from the Xiaoliang Temple Master was exceptionally powerful — it was unmistakably at the level of an Advanced Void God!
"How is this possible?" Ye Yunfei was somewhat shocked, unable to believe it.
"What is going on? This master was just a Primary Void God before, wasn't he? Now he is an Advanced Void God... The speed of this breakthrough is too fast! It seems he must have had a heaven-sent opportunity. Normal cultivation and advancement simply couldn't be this rapid," Hun Lao, who had also realized the Xiaoliang Temple Master was now an Advanced Void God, remarked in astonishment.
"Don't worry, Young Master Ye. I'm not afraid of this fellow," the Xiaoliang Temple Master glanced back and gave Ye Yunfei a slight smile.
As his voice fell, an aura of energy surged towards the heavens, causing the surrounding void to tremble. A horsetail whisk appeared in the Xiaoliang Temple Master's hand, and he abruptly lashed it towards the pale-golden robed man.
The whisk flared out. Each individual strand stiffened straight, resembling slender spears. Extremely sharp, they pierced through the void, shooting towards the middle-aged man.
Having earlier expended a significant amount of energy using that unique movement technique to evade the Flower Goddess Palace Master, the man now faced the Xiaoliang Temple Master and felt immense pressure. Recognizing he was facing a formidable opponent, he dared not take the matter lightly. He had no choice but to engage with the Xiaoliang Temple Master.
Consequently, he was unable to rush over and rescue the white-haired elder's Soul Body.
"You little bastard Ye Yunfei, just you wait! Kill me today, and the Guardian Faction will never let you go. Your fate in the future will be even worse than mine!" Just before his end, the white-haired elder let out a final cry of refusal, and then his Soul Body was completely devoured by Ye Yunfei.
Ye Yunfei released his Blood Clan Doppelgänger to begin refining and absorbing the bloodline essence left behind by the slain elder.
"This fellow actually used some secret technique to erase most of his own memories," Ye Yunfei realized with a hint of surprise, having gained relatively little memory from devouring the elder's Soul Body.
It seemed the white-haired elder anticipated that Ye Yunfei would gain his memories by devouring his Soul Body, so he had employed some sort of secret art to erase the majority of his memories beforehand.
This white-haired elder was the commander of the Guardian Faction in this void realm. Ye Yunfei had intended to learn more about the Guardian Faction by devouring his Soul Body, but now only obtained a small portion of his memories. Although he gleaned some information about the Guardian Faction, it wasn't much.
"This is terrible! Our Guardian Faction commander has actually fallen!" All the Guardian Faction members witnessing this scene now felt fear. The Guardian Faction's morale began to plummet, their overall fighting spirit diminishing drastically.
"Excellent!" In contrast, those from the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds, upon seeing this, grew exhilarated, their fighting spirit surging. Each one fought nearly beyond their usual level, pressing the assault with all their might.
"Rebellious disciple! See now? This is the Guardian Faction you chose to surrender to — destined for annihilation!" The Great Leader, currently locked in a fierce battle with his disciple, saw Ye Yunfei kill the white-haired elder and roared in impassioned excitement.
"Old fool, you have no idea how profound the Guardian Faction's foundation is, how formidable their overall strength. What you see now is merely the tip of the iceberg. What do you have to be proud of? Do not speak of just the Three Thousand Major and Minor Worlds and Ye Yunfei, even if it were the entirety of the Eighth Void, plus all other seven voids, and if all those forces combined, they might still not be a match for the Guardian Faction," the Second Chief replied with a cold laugh.