"Rest assured, I will bring the members of our Alliance Army back," Ye Yunfei said slowly, his gaze icy-cold. "If the Lingxiao Sect dares to lay a hand on our people, I will make them pay the price."
Though Ye Yunfei wished to ally with the Lingxiao Sect, such an alliance held no meaning if the sect harmed the interests of the Alliance Army.
Ye Yunfei wasn't even afraid of the Guardian Faction, let alone a mere Lingxiao Sect.
"Elder Qi, send an envoy to the Lingxiao Sect headquarters immediately," Ye Yunfei said after a moment's thought. "Inform them to release our Alliance Army members. Should any harm come to our people, our Alliance Army will declare war on the Lingxiao Sect."
"Understood. I shall dispatch an envoy at once to convey your message, Young Master Ye," Elder Qi promptly nodded.
Soon after, the Alliance Army envoy departed from the Xuanhuang Continent for the Lingxiao Sect headquarters.
"How dare they!"
The Lingxiao Sect headquarters resonated with an enraged roar not long afterwards. "A small, insignificant Alliance Army dares to issue such threats against our Lingxiao Sect! In my opinion, we should behead all those Alliance Army captives immediately and make an example of them, to let them know the fate of those who challenge our Lingxiao Sect!"
"Sect Master, I believe we should not act recklessly in this matter," an elder countered. "Earlier, the Alliance Army destroyed dozens of branch outposts belonging to major forces like the Guardian Faction and the Shadow Corpse Hall in a single strike. If we take action against the Alliance Army, I fear they will truly retaliate against our Lingxiao Sect."
He turned to the gathered leaders. "Everyone, we are on the eve of a decisive battle with the Guardian Faction. If the Alliance Army, in their anger, turns against us and aids the Guardian Faction, their strength would be added to the Guardian Faction's forces against us."
"We must indeed consider this possibility," the Sect Master of the Lingxiao Sect said after a moment of silence. "This matter requires careful deliberation."
Meanwhile, aboard his flying vessel within the void of the Eighth Void, Ye Yunfei continued evading the pursuit of the old wizard. The locations he reached were growing increasingly desolate and remote.
"Damn it! That old geezer is still hot on our heels. We just can't shake him off," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm cursed.
Over this period, Ye Yunfei and his companions had tried every means to throw off the wizard's pursuit, yet the old man remained doggedly behind them.
Though employing various methods to mask their aura and senses had somewhat slowed the wizard's tracking, he could still lock onto the direction and location of Ye Yunfei's flight, maintaining his pursuit.
"And those two seniors you mentioned still haven't sent anyone to help us. What exactly is going on?" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm grumbled again. "How could they let us down at a time like this? Are they doing it on purpose?"
"Indeed, why hasn't any reinforcement arrived even after such a long time?" Hun Lao was also puzzled.
"Something unexpected might have happened. Otherwise, those two seniors would have sent help long ago," Ye Yunfei said with a frown.
At that moment, from a certain location in the void behind them, an altar radiating surging divine light constantly pierced through space, chasing towards Ye Yunfei's position.
The old wizard atop the altar looked pale. The prolonged effort of divining and tracking Ye Yunfei had consumed much of his origin essence blood, and his aura had grown significantly weaker.
"Truly a young man worthy of inflicting such great losses upon our Guardian Faction," the old wizard finally muttered through gritted teeth, his patience worn thin. "So troublesome... It seems I can no longer hold back."
"Send word immediately," the wizard ordered slowly. "Tell all the Heavenly Gods participating in the hunt to be ready. I will employ a forbidden divination secret art to set a trap across this region of the void, thoroughly ensnaring that lad. Then you must all cooperate to eliminate him."
The Heavenly Gods surrounding the wizard immediately complied, taking out message jade slips to issue the orders as instructed.
Suddenly, the old wizard extended two fingers and stabbed them violently into his own chest. A fountain of blood spurted from the wound.
"Six Harmonies Eight Wastes Heavenly Net Grand Technique!"
The old wizard uttered a soft incantation, his lips beginning to chant obscure, ancient runes at a rapid pace. His hands moved with astonishing speed, trailing afterimages as they formed one mysterious seal after another. More and more origin essence blood continuously gushed from the wound on his chest.
This precious blood fell into the air before him, transforming upon contact with it, morphing into thread after thread of blood-red filament.
These crimson threads vanished into the surrounding space, then shot out in different directions like miniature crimson dragons.
Not long after, before every Heavenly God participating in the hunt for Ye Yunfei, a single red thread appeared.
These Heavenly Gods had already received the wizard's orders. As soon as they saw the red threads, they immediately followed the direction indicated, moving swiftly to specific positions.
"According to the old wizard's command, we only need to reach the position this red thread leads us to, then establish a surveillance net here. Our quarry will then appear before us," the Heavenly Gods of the Guardian Faction reasoned. Upon reaching a designated spatial coordinate guided by the red threads, the fine crimson filaments halted, suspended in place.
The Heavenly Gods also stopped, concealing their auras and hiding within the folds of space.
"The Six Harmonies Eight Wastes Heavenly Net Grand Technique is the most profound of all the divination and tracking secret arts I cultivate. It will definitely intercept that lad," the old wizard on the altar murmured. His aura continued to decline. The wound on his chest had stopped bleeding, and he had swallowed several highly potent healing elixirs.
But the amount of origin essence blood he had consumed was simply too great. His face remained deathly pale.
At the same time, Ye Yunfei's flying vessel was still racing rapidly through the void.
"We are heading for the Ancient Desolate Sea now," Ye Yunfei said quietly, perceiving that unwavering will still firmly locked onto him from behind.
Ye Yunfei understood: The divination arts of that Guardian Faction wizard were simply too formidable. There was no way he could shake him off.
The two mysterious seniors have still not sent experts to aid me," Ye Yunfei thought to himself. "Meanwhile, the Guardian Faction has certainly dispatched a large number of Heavenly Gods to hunt me across the Eighth Void. If this continues, I will eventually be surrounded by the Guardian Faction's Heavenly Gods. Escaping then will be difficult indeed."
Ye Yunfei knew that with his current strength, he could certainly hold his own against one or two Primary-Level Heavenly Gods. However, facing a whole group of them was another matter entirely. In such a scenario, he might even endanger Hu Miao and the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm.
"Are we really going to brave the Ancient Desolate Sea?" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm asked.
"We have no choice. We simply cannot shake off that wizard's pursuit," Ye Yunfei sighed. "If we continue like this, we'll be cornered by the Guardian Faction's Heavenly Gods sooner or later. Only by entering the Ancient Desolate Sea do we stand a chance of escaping."
"But the Ancient Desolate Sea is far too perilous," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm protested. "Entering it… we don't know if we can even get out alive."
"But fleeing indefinitely isn't a solution either!" Hun Lao interjected. "Are we to spend eternity running around in this void?"
"That damned wizard! Why are his divination arts so powerful? When I encounter him next, I definitely won't let him off easily," the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm lamented.
"Let's just focus on figuring out if we can escape *this* situation first," Hun Lao said.
"The Ancient Desolate Sea is our only option," Ye Yunfei sighed once more.
And it was at this very moment…
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!...*
From the void ahead, three powerful auras erupted simultaneously. Three figures radiating resplendent light materialized and blocked the path of Ye Yunfei's vessel.
"The old wizard is truly incredible! He told us to follow the blood threads and wait here, and indeed our quarry has arrived!"
The three figures were three Heavenly Gods.
Upon sighting Ye Yunfei's flying vessel, the three Heavenly Gods immediately summoned several Heavenly God-level magic treasures, soaring into the air to surround the vessel. Simultaneously, over a dozen formations activated, barring the vessel's forward path.
In an instant, the three Heavenly Gods had locked onto the vessel.
The Dao Laws cultivated by Heavenly Gods far surpassed those of True Gods. At this moment, the surrounding void was densely woven with the Dao Laws released by these three Heavenly Gods. Countless Dao Laws, like invisible chains, crisscrossed the space, sealing off this entire area.
"Not good! Three guys… it's as if they were waiting here for us!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm immediately cried out.
"They are all Guardian Faction Heavenly Gods!" Ye Yunfei was somewhat surprised, looking at the three Heavenly Gods blocking their path. "How did they know my vessel would pass this way? They actually prepared an ambush here beforehand, waiting for us."
Nevertheless, Ye Yunfei swiftly reacted. Instantly, he unleashed a variety of Soul Arts to attack the three Heavenly Gods.
"Such terrifying Soul Arts!"
The three Heavenly Gods, struck by Ye Yunfei's Soul Arts assault, were startled and involuntarily took several steps back.
"Act together and kill him! The old wizard commands: once the target is located, eliminate him directly!" one Heavenly God transmitted a message to the other two.
The next moment, the several Heavenly God-level magic treasures surrounding the vessel erupted simultaneously, releasing terrifying energy pressures that surged like torrents, violently impacting Ye Yunfei's flying vessel.
At the same time, all the Dao Laws around the vessel suddenly transformed from intangible to tangible, materializing into dense chains of various colors that rattled as they whipped towards the vessel, seeking to entangle it.
Ye Yunfei's figure blurred as he shot directly out of the vessel. Both his fists struck out simultaneously — his left fist executing Shatter World Punch, his right fist performing the Great Nirvana Godly Fist. The vast power within his body poured forth like a mighty river, imbuing the two fists. In an instant, the densely packed chains of Dao Laws surrounding the vessel were blasted apart.
The two enormous fists surged forward like rolling mountains.
*Clang! Clang! Clang!…*
Clear metallic impact sounds rang out one after another. The Heavenly God treasures around the vessel were sent flying by Ye Yunfei's fists.
"This youngster's physical strength is actually so monstrous!" The three Heavenly Gods, sensing the terrifying physical power contained within Ye Yunfei's fists, paled and retreated hastily.
Not long ago, Ye Yunfei had refined and fused numerous Heavenly God-level treasures, granting him strength to contend with Heavenly Gods. Combined with the fact that his Soul Power had long reached, even surpassed, the Initial Heavenly God level, Ye Yunfei's simultaneous onslaught of Soul Arts and physical martial skills proved highly effective. He directly forced the three unprepared Heavenly Gods into retreat.
After pushing them back, Ye Yunfei immediately pivoted his vessel and sped away.
"Where do you think you're going?!" the three Heavenly Gods roared in unison.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!…*
Formations erupted one after another, rising to block Ye Yunfei's vessel.
Ye Yunfei took out a large handful of formation-breaking flags and scattered them with a wave of his hand. Immediately, all the surrounding formations disintegrated.
Though the formations laid by the three Heavenly Gods were sophisticated, they were of little consequence before a master like Ye Yunfei.
"This brat… he pierced through all our formations in an instant," the three Heavenly Gods were furious, each activating movement techniques to pursue Ye Yunfei's vessel.
Ye Yunfei knew that while he wasn't afraid of these three Heavenly Gods, engaging them in combat here was inadvisable.
By now, the other Guardian Faction Heavenly Gods hunting him must have received word and would be hurrying over. Getting surrounded by a whole group of Heavenly Gods would be a serious predicament.
"Where do you think you're going?!" The three Heavenly Gods gave relentless chase. They unleashed various space-sealing secret arts from a distance, attempting to impede Ye Yunfei's vessel.
Chains of Dao Laws coalesced one after another, rattling as they shot after Ye Yunfei's vessel at extreme speeds.
Ye Yunfei pushed his vessel to its maximum speed, roaring forward through the void. Yet, the barrage of techniques from the three Heavenly Gods behind them interfered, to some degree, with the vessel's flight velocity.
"Let's work together to counter those three bastards behind us!" the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm shouted.
He then activated the spatial secret arts of his race, isolating the vessel and its surrounding space from the three Heavenly Gods' sealing arts. Hun Lao also employed the spatial techniques he excelled in.
Hu Miao deployed her illusion arts, constantly generating a vast number of illusions that appeared like densely packed, transparent bubbles continuously floating behind the vessel, obstructing the three Heavenly Gods.
Eventually, the three Heavenly Gods simply took out their own flying treasures and used them to chase Ye Yunfei.
Not long after…
"The target has arrived."
From a specific location ahead, a delighted voice suddenly rang out. Two figures radiating dazzling divine light abruptly surged from the depths of space.