"Warden, I shall go and investigate this matter immediately. It indeed must be clarified. It seems there is a powerful expert behind this, hunting the True Gods of our Guardian Faction. Such a thing must not be allowed to happen again."
At this moment, from a relatively dim corner of the palace, a hunched, elderly white-haired figure slowly emerged. This old man seemed somewhat stooped, his pace rather slow, yet terrifying glints occasionally shot from his eyes, capable of instantly slicing through the space before him, leaving behind two pitch-black spatial fissures.
"Since the old Wizard wishes to investigate, that is best. Once the true culprit is uncovered, regardless of which force is involved, we shall settle this account properly. Our Guardian Faction's members are not so easy to kill."
The figure seated cross-legged upon the high seat in the center of the palace spoke slowly.
Every person in the hall looked upon that figure with awe, for everyone understood that this was one of the very top experts of the Sixth Void, also the supreme leader of the Guardian Faction within it.
However, this figure was most likely not his true body, but merely a clone. The energy pressure released by a single clone was already so terrifying; the true body must be even more dreadful.
"You few accompany the old Wizard on his journey."
The Warden addressed several True Gods within the palace.
"As you command!"
Those True Gods immediately bowed respectfully, then walked to the side of the old Wizard. The old Wizard then turned and walked out of the palace. His movements seemed unhurried, but in fact, they were extremely swift; each step taken shortened spatial distances.
"The old Wizard is truly inscrutable and profound. In all these years, I've never seen him take action, but his every gesture and movement merges naturally with the surrounding space, giving a natural sense of mystery and profundity. With my current perception, I actually cannot gauge the old Wizard's true strength."
The True Gods following beside the old Wizard looked at his receding back, all secretly shocked, discussing with each other via Sound Transmission.
"You few need not speculate about my strength. I am already old and have no interest in comparing strength with you youngsters."
Just as these True Gods were discussing via Sound Transmission, the old Wizard up ahead suddenly laughed softly and spoke.
"What?!"
Hearing the old Wizard's words, the True Gods behind instantly paled.
"How is this possible?!"
These True Gods were utterly astonished. Because just now, they had been communicating via Sound Transmission, not uttering a word aloud. They never imagined the old Wizard could actually perceive the specific content of their transmitted conversation.
"Old Wizard, we deserve death for secretly discussing you. Please punish us, Old Wizard."
In their terror, the True Gods spoke simultaneously.
"Do not worry. I wouldn't stoop to arguing with you youngsters. You are the backbone of our Guardian Faction now, extremely valuable to our Guardian Faction!"
The old Wizard chuckled.
Soon, this old Wizard, leading a few True Gods, departed from the headquarters of the Guardian Faction, heading in the direction of the Beidou Sect headquarters.
At this time, Ye Yunfei, having brought the members of the Green Mountain Sect, had already arrived within the headquarters of the Earth Demon Clan. The moment Ye Yunfei's figure descended upon the Xuanhuang Continent, the high-ranking members of the Earth Demon Clan sensed his arrival. They appeared one after another, instantly arriving before Ye Yunfei.
"These are people from the Green Mountain Sect. Find a place to settle them."
Ye Yunfei transferred all the personnel of the Green Mountain Sect out from the Shadow Tower.
In fact, most of the Green Mountain Sect's high-ranking members had already been killed by Ye Yunfei earlier, and their left-behind bodies had been controlled by Ye Yunfei using clones imbued with Soul Power.
But now, Ye Yunfei had recalled all those clones imbued with Soul Power and discarded the corpses of those high-ranking members. The identities of these Green Mountain Sect leaders were no longer useful to Ye Yunfei. Moreover, on the way to the Earth Demon Clan headquarters, Ye Yunfei had already screened the Green Mountain Sect personnel, dismissing nearly half of them, keeping only those willing to follow him.
Essentially, the Green Mountain Sect had already dissolved. Those willing to stay had chosen to follow Ye Yunfei, because these members understood that henceforth, the Guardian Faction would absolutely not let anyone from the Green Mountain Sect off easily. Taking refuge with Ye Yunfei meant having a backer.
As for the others unwilling to follow Ye Yunfei, they simply clung to a sliver of hope, intending to find places to hide. Some even harbored ill intentions, planning to secretly seek out members of the Guardian Faction to surrender.
These minor characters' intentions were not worth Ye Yunfei's attention.
"Young Master Ye, during this period, the overall strength of our Earth Demon Clan has been continuously rising. Compared to before, our clan's power has at least doubled.
All of this is because Young Master Ye provided us with a large quantity of precious divine pills."
The Clan Chief of the Earth Demon Clan spoke excitedly the moment he saw Ye Yunfei.
"I will stay at your Earth Demon Clan headquarters for a while next. Inform me promptly if you need any pills. It's best if you can provide the medicinal ingredients required for alchemy yourselves."
Ye Yunfei said.
"Excellent! Young Master Ye, I will convey your command immediately."
Hearing Ye Yunfei's words, the Earth Demon Clan Chief was extremely excited and spoke at once, then instructed for Ye Yunfei's words to be passed down.
Ye Yunfei found a cultivation cave dwelling within the Earth Demon Clan headquarters, entered it, and began seclusion, both refining pills and cultivating.
"It's time for me to attempt a breakthrough in my realm. I am currently only a Virtual God. If my realm can break through to True God, then my strength will become quite considerable."
Ye Yunfei thought to himself.
While Ye Yunfei was in seclusion within the cultivation cave dwelling, outside the Beidou Sect headquarters, that old Wizard arrived from afar with several True Gods, stopping outside.
"An intense battle occurred here previously. Moreover, a True God of our Guardian Faction fell here. Several of our affiliated forces also suffered heavy casualties."
The old Wizard stood at the location where Ye Yunfei had slain the Guardian Faction True God, deducing while he spoke.
The True Gods accompanying the old Wizard merely scattered around, safeguarding him. This old Wizard had a very high seniority within the Guardian Faction; even the current Warden treated him with respect. Therefore, those True Gods understood they must protect the old Wizard's safety. If anything happened to him, they might also be held accountable and face consequences.
"Hmm? Why am I deducing a glimpse of a young figure? Could it be a young person who did this? But how could a young person kill a True God of our Guardian Faction? Could my deductions be wrong?"
Soon, the old Wizard revealed a doubtful, uncertain expression. Then, he turned and walked towards the entrance to the Beidou Sect headquarters.
Quickly, he entered the Beidou Sect headquarters. After sensing for a while, he arrived at a certain patch of ground, stood there, and began continuously deducing.
Invisible deduction runes continuously rose and fell with the old Wizard's movements, sinking into the ground and probing deep into the subterranean world, perceiving the various auras there.
"I sense the aura of Geomancy Technique. Someone used Geomancy Technique here previously, and their proficiency was high. Did someone from the Earth Gate come here? Could it be that the experts of the Earth Gate killed our Guardian Faction members?"
After deducing for a while, the old Wizard spoke with some surprise.
This was because the Guardian Faction and the Earth Gate had always maintained a relationship of non-interference, having no contact or conflict. Often, the Guardian Faction intentionally avoided the Earth Gate, for everyone knew that the Earth Gate was one of the most mysterious and powerful ancient major forces of the primordial Chaos Void Sea. It did not show off its peaks or reveal its waters, yet its true strength was one that no one dared to underestimate.
"One of our Guardian Faction's True Gods was slain beneath this ground. I sense fragments of his remnant soul wandering within the subterranean world, emitting sounds of unwillingness and anger."
The old Wizard continued his deductions. Soon he confirmed that within the depths below, a True God of the Guardian Faction had indeed fallen.
"Who exactly did this?"
The old Wizard employed his deduction technique constantly. Streams of invisible runes erupted from his hands, continuously falling onto the ground, penetrating deep, then perceiving all auras within the subterranean world. He even reversed time, reconstructing past events.
"Strange. Why do I see yet another glimpse of a young figure? Could it be that same young person again? This young person is actually skilled in Geomancy Technique? Could they be a monstrous young talent nurtured by the Earth Gate? If disciples of the Earth Gate are acting against our Guardian Faction, does that mean the Earth Gate wishes to wage war against us?"
The old Wizard mused aloud while deducing, for he deduced that someone had laid many powerful Earth Formations deep below.
"Being able to arrange such powerful Earth Formations, only someone from the Earth Gate could achieve that, I'd guess. Fine. If the Earth Gate is proactively attacking our Guardian Faction like this... In the past, our Guardian Faction has always been yielding and avoiding your Earth Gate. To think your Earth Gate has grown so arrogant now.
Just wait and see. Soon, your Earth Gate will learn who truly rules this Sixth Void."
The old Wizard said coldly.
"However, I shall deduce a little more carefully. I have only captured a glimpse of a young figure, unable to see his true face. Even his soul body aura is blurry.
It seems that young person carries some treasure capable of concealing his aura. And that treasure is quite excellent, actually affecting my perception and deduction abilities."
The old Wizard added.