"Search!"
The five Yuan Foundation Realm experts roared simultaneously.
The five Yuan Foundation Realm experts searched frantically through the imperial palace for traces of Ye Yunfei.
Those three injured early-stage Yuan Foundation Realm cultivators, after swallowing healing spirit pills, ignored their injuries and focused solely on finding Ye Yunfei.
Yet, no matter how hard they searched, they could not find Ye Yunfei.
In truth, the imperial family of the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire also had Yuan Foundation Realm experts, and quite a few of them at that.
However, the emperor had clearly assessed the situation.
He realized that those five masked Yuan Foundation Realm experts were only here to trouble Ye Yunfei; they weren't targeting him or the imperial family.
After weighing the pros and cons, the emperor simply chose to stand by and watch, taking the palace personnel and hiding away.
"That brat escaped!"
Finally, the five Yuan Foundation Realm experts stopped their search, hovering in the air above the palace, their faces gloomy to the extreme.
They had specially prepared an extremely ingenious spatial-temporal Formation, thinking they could slay Ye Yunfei in one fell swoop.
Who would have thought all their efforts would come to naught at the final moment.
Approximately one hour later.
Inside the imperial city.
Within a certain remote alley, Ye Yunfei suddenly appeared.
Only, at this moment, Ye Yunfei had already activated Thousand Faces Change, altering his appearance and Soul Power aura to that of an unfamiliar, ordinary youth.
After an hour of healing, the injuries on Ye Yunfei's body were completely recovered.
His Greenwood Emperor Body inherently possessed powerful restorative abilities, and besides, Ye Yunfei carried a large quantity of high-grade healing spirit pills on his person.
Ye Yunfei walked out of the alley, heading towards a tall, majestic structure within the imperial city.
This structure was sealed off on all four sides, rising abruptly from the ground, standing several hundred zhang tall!
Its walls were carved with various kinds of beastly patterns, densely packed, the aura of ferocity washing over anyone who approached.
Faintly, a terrifying beastly majesty emanated from within that structure, making one's heart palpitate.
A large number of soldiers stood guard all around.
"Master, I'm here."
Prince Zhenshou, leading a group of subordinates, was waiting before the main gate of that structure. Spotting Ye Yunfei, he immediately hurried forward to greet him.
Although Ye Yunfei had utilized Thousand Faces Change to alter his appearance and Soul Power aura, there was a Soul Restriction planted by Ye Yunfei within Prince Zhenshou's soul sea that could keenly perceive Ye Yunfei.
"You lot, stand guard here! No one is to be allowed near!" Prince Zhenshou instructed his subordinates.
Then, he ordered the soldiers on guard duty to open the gate and walked inside with Ye Yunfei.
The interior of the structure.
The area was extremely spacious. All over the ground, large quantities of withered bones lay scattered about, piled up like hills.
There were both human and demonic beast bones.
A savage, bestial aura pervaded and radiated from all directions.
The stench of blood was so thick it became unbearable.
It made one feel as if they were walking through an Asura hell.
"Every so often, the imperial family sends a batch of demonic beasts or prisoners convicted of grave crimes as sacrifices for the Three Guardian Beasts, for them to feed on," Prince Zhenshou explained to Ye Yunfei.
A moment later.
Ahead, three altars appeared.
On each altar lay a colossal beast.
Ye Yunfei could tell at a glance that each of those three altars was set up with a Spirit Gathering Formation, capable of continuously drawing in the heaven and earth spiritual energy from the surroundings.
On the altars, the three colossal beasts were respectively: a Demonic Crocodile, a Demonic Wolf, and a Demonic Lion.
With a single look, Ye Yunfei confirmed that these three Totem Beasts had indeed once possessed Beast Venerable-level strength.
Only, they were now all aged, their vitality waning, their strength greatly diminished.
"Even if these three brutes aren't killed, they don't have many years left," Ye Yunfei mused inwardly.
Roar…!
As soon as they saw Prince Zhenshou, all three Totem Beasts revealed expressions of rage.
Immediately, bestial roars that could shake the heavens erupted; sand and stones flew through the air, the ground cracked, as if a great earthquake were occurring.
This was because, after ingesting the spirit pills Prince Zhenshou had delivered, the medicinal effects had already begun to take hold. Now, their bodies were completely numb and weak.
Boom!
Under the oppressive beastly majesty of the three Totem Beasts, Prince Zhenshou couldn't withstand it; he was sent flying and slammed backward.
Ye Yunfei's hand shot out like lightning, grabbing Prince Zhenshou.
"Master, they seem to know!" Prince Zhenshou's face paled with fright as he stared at the three Totem Beasts with terrified eyes.
The might of these three Totem Beasts was deeply ingrained in the hearts of every person in the Ten Thousand Beasts Empire.
"Do not fear. Right now, they are like toothless tigers," Ye Yunfei said with a faint smile.
Before Ye Yunfei's words had even finished,
Roar!
That Demonic Wolf had already leaped into the air, pouncing towards Ye Yunfei to kill him.
"Hahaha! Beast! You actually dare to provoke me on your own initiative!" Ye Yunfei let out a hearty laugh, charging forward to meet it.
The medicinal potency within these three Totem Beasts was already in effect; less than a tenth of their battle prowess remained. Naturally, Ye Yunfei had no reason to fear.
Boom! Boom!...
Ye Yunfei's fists shot forth like lightning, smashing forward.
Roar!
The massive form of that Demonic Wolf released a terrifying beastly majesty, sweeping towards Ye Yunfei like a rolling, furious tide.
Boom, rumble, rumble…
Ye Yunfei did not dodge or evade, engaging it in fierce battle.
The combat power of this Demonic Wolf was horrifying. Each strike caused the surrounding space to violently tremble.
However, after a few exchanges, its movements began to slow.
Its attacks started becoming feeble.
Ye Yunfei knew the poison within its body was taking effect.
Bang! Bang! Bang!...
Ye Yunfei's fists rained down like lightning. His two fists continuously hammered into the body of the Demonic Wolf.
Over two million jin of raw physical power, combined with the True Demon Slaughter God Fist, poured unrestrained onto the tall, wolven frame.
Within less than a second, he had already delivered dozens of punches.
Roar! Roar!...
That Demonic Wolf desperately tried to resist. Unfortunately, having ingested the poison pills, its limbs were numb and powerless; it simply could not fight back.
Bloody holes, shocking to behold, were blasted open all over its body.
At the side, the other two Totem Beasts finally realized something was amiss.
They hadn't expected Ye Yunfei's assault to be so swift and terrifying. In the short span of a single second, he had grievously wounded that Demonic Wolf.
Roar…!
That Demonic Crocodile and that Demonic Lion, one to the left and one to the right, simultaneously pounced towards Ye Yunfei to kill him.
"Prepare to die!" Ye Yunfei met them head-on, engaging the two Totem Beasts in fierce battle.
Boom, rumble, rumble…
These two Totem Beasts had also ingested the poison pills Ye Yunfei refined. Their entire bodies were numb and powerless; they were no match for Ye Yunfei.
A moment later.
These two Totem Beasts were also severely wounded, barely breathing.
All three Totem Beasts lay collapsed on the ground, staring at Ye Yunfei with unwilling eyes.
"Although these three Totem Beasts are old and feeble, their blood qi waning, the Bloodline Essence within their bodies is extremely pure," Ye Yunfei remarked, quite satisfied.
Next, Ye Yunfei began extracting the Bloodline Essence from these three Totem Beasts.
The three Totem Beasts were powerless to resist.
Several hours later.
Ye Yunfei completed extracting all the Bloodline Essence from the three Totem Beasts.
"Now, I can finally cultivate the fifth level of the Heavenly Demon Blood-Refining Body Art!"
Ye Yunfei felt a stirring of excitement in his heart.
For the Heavenly Demon Blood-Refining Body Art, the higher the level being cultivated, the higher the grade of resources required.
But correspondingly, once successfully cultivated, its power would also be mightier!