"Boy, you haven't listened to a single word our Sect Leader has said? Do you truly not hold our Lingxiao Sect in your eyes at all? And besides our Lingxiao Sect, we have over a dozen other major powers of great renown in the Sixth Void here. Are you certain you want to offend all of these forces? If that truly is the case, I'm afraid from now on, you and your Alliance Army will find it impossible to take a single step forward within the entire Sixth Void."
A Lingxiao Sect elder fixed Ye Yunfei with a sharp gaze as he spoke slowly, his tone carrying an obvious threat.
"My way of life has always been: I never stir trouble unless troubled. But if someone provokes me, I'll pay them back double. I don't care if you're few or many; anyone who dares bully our Alliance Army must pay the price. If the entire Sixth Void bullies our Alliance Army, then I might as well make the entire Sixth Void pay."
Ye Yunfei was growing somewhat impatient by now, his tone icy to the bone. With his hands clasped behind his back, he began advancing step by step towards the Lingxiao Sect's army.
"Boy, you are too arrogant!"
The Lingxiao Sect elder who had spoken flew into a rage upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words.
"There's nothing to discuss with this kid; he doesn't hold our Lingxiao Sect in his eyes at all. In that case, let's just kill him directly, to show the world the consequences of belittling our Lingxiao Sect."
The other Lingxiao Sect upper echelons all revealed angry expressions, and even the Lingxiao Sect Leader's face turned gloomy.
Although he very much wanted to recruit Ye Yunfei for his own use, Ye Yunfei hadn't given the Lingxiao Sect a shred of face in front of the public crowd, continuously being aggressive and domineering. Under such circumstances, if the Lingxiao Sect persisted in weak submission, it would appear spineless and its reputation would suffer.
"Young man, my sincerity is genuine, and I hope you can consider it carefully. If you can set aside your prejudice against our Lingxiao Sect, are willing to resolve our misunderstandings, and join our alliance, then our Lingxiao Sect can apologize to you right now and make reparations. From then on, our two forces can join hands to face the Guardian Faction together. Young man, what do you think?"
The Lingxiao Sect Leader thought for a moment, forcibly suppressing the fury in his heart, then spoke to Ye Yunfei. From earlier until now, he had expressed this intent many times, seeming utterly sincere.
"The Lingxiao Sect Leader has shown restraint and made overtures to this kid repeatedly because he recognizes his abilities. That is true statesmanship, showing due respect to those of talent and cherishing talent. No wonder he could become the Sect Leader of Lingxiao Sect. This indeed reflects the vision, stature, and grace expected of the leader of a major sect."
Witnessing the Lingxiao Sect Leader repeatedly suppress his anger to recruit Ye Yunfei, the onlookers couldn't help but voice their praise.
"In contrast, this Alliance Army leader seems petty, prioritizing his personal grievances over the Lingxiao Sect Leader's repeated concessions and invitations, acting outrageously arrogant. He doesn't stop to think that a distinguished Sect Leader like that has lowered his status to recruit him—what magnanimity, what care for talent! Moreover, for him and his Alliance Army, this is a tremendous honor. Even if the Alliance Army suffered some grievances before, to now earn such esteem from the Lingxiao Sect Leader, he should feel proud, content himself, and not continue stirring up trouble."
Seeing Ye Yunfei advancing towards the Lingxiao Sect army step by step with his hands behind his back, many people whispered their judgments.
Hearing these voices, Ye Yunfei's gaze turned cold.
Aaaah… Aaaah…
One agonized scream after another rang out incessantly. All those who had been whispering suffered sudden attacks. Some with comparatively weaker strength were sent flying backward immediately, crashing to the ground in the distance with blood trickling from their mouths and noses, unable to get up.
Ye Yunfei had simultaneously deployed multiple types of Soul Force Martial Arts, along with psionic martial arts, attacking those who had been whispering separately. When these people were discussing earlier, they had deliberately made their voices audible, clearly aiming to pressure Ye Yunfei. Having already devoured quite a few Soul Bodies of Lingxiao Sect disciples and acquired their memories, Ye Yunfei knew at a glance that most of the people whispering now came from subsidiary forces of the Lingxiao Sect.
"Boy, you are too audacious! Do you really think our Lingxiao Sect fears you?"
A Heavenly God from the Lingxiao Sect could finally no longer bear it. He stepped forward, pointing a finger at Ye Yunfei as he berated him sternly.
Ye Yunfei shot him a fierce glare, simultaneously unleashing three or four different Soul Force Martial Arts into his Soul Sea.
"How is this possible?! Your Soul Force Energy is actually this terrifying!"
This Heavenly God instantly turned pale, stumbling backward repeatedly. He was forced back dozens of steps before barely managing to stabilize his footing. Simultaneously, blood began to flow from his mouth and nose—his Soul Body was already injured!
"This kid's Soul Force Energy is too powerful!"
Someone finally realized how terrifying it was that Ye Yunfei had just forced a Heavenly God back dozens of steps with a single glare. Everyone understood that Ye Yunfei must have employed some extraordinarily profound Soul Force Martial Arts and possessed a shockingly high level of Soul Force Energy.
"It seems this boy doesn't just possess horrifying physical power; he also has astonishing Soul Force Energy," someone couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"I'll ask one final time: will your Lingxiao Sect comply with the three demands made by our Alliance Army?"
By now, Ye Yunfei had arrived near the Lingxiao Sect's army and stopped, fixing the Lingxiao Sect's upper echelons with an indifferent gaze as he posed his question.
The spot where Ye Yunfei now stood was extremely close to the Lingxiao Sect's army—virtually face to face. Ye Yunfei stood there alone, confronting the entire Lingxiao Sect army. He showed not a trace of fear; instead, he projected an air of lofty disdain, clearly holding none of the Lingxiao Sect army before him in regard.
Facing Ye Yunfei's inquiry, the Lingxiao Sect Leader did not speak again. He stared at Ye Yunfei, his expression shifting between dark and light as the raging fury in his heart was nearing the point of being impossible to suppress. The other Lingxiao Sect upper echelons felt the same; some of the more hot-tempered ones couldn't help but tremble slightly.
"Sect Leader, by the looks of it, this boy won't form an alliance with our Lingxiao Sect," an elder conveyed via Sound Transmission to the Sect Leader.
"If he truly refuses to serve our purposes, then let's attack and kill him!" the Sect Leader replied via Sound Transmission, thoroughly enraged by now. Never before had anyone dared treat the Lingxiao Sect with such an attitude.
"Boy, our Lingxiao Sect has given you a chance. You didn't know how to cherish it yourself. Since that's the case, there's nothing more to discuss. If you're so intent on dying, our Lingxiao Sect will oblige you."
A blue-robed elder stepped forward, looking at Ye Yunfei as he spoke coldly.
This blue-robed elder was precisely Elder Fang. He had just received the Sect Leader's reply authorizing him to take action against Ye Yunfei, so he couldn't wait to be the first to step forward. Deep down, he didn't want the Lingxiao Sect and Ye Yunfei to reconcile at all; Ye Yunfei's demonstrated strength filled him with deep apprehension. Moreover, he had been the one to first attack the Alliance Army, and quite a few of his subordinates had Alliance Army blood on their hands. He feared Ye Yunfei would settle scores with him sooner or later.
"That's more like it. Comparatively, I preferred it much more when your Lingxiao Sect maintained the arrogant attitude it used while bullying our Alliance Army. That way, I could kill with an even clearer conscience."
Ye Yunfei glanced at Elder Fang and sneered.
As soon as his words fell…
RUMBLE…
Ye Yunfei's body suddenly swelled, instantly transforming again into a towering giant radiating brilliant golden light. From his dominating height, his physical strength poured forth. He lofted a colossal foot wreathed in dazzling golden light and stomped down savagely toward the Lingxiao Sect's army.
Imbued with terrifying physical power, the space ahead of the descending enormous sole shattered on impact.
In that moment, everyone's expressions changed simultaneously.
A single person faced a major sect's grand army without the slightest hesitation, directly attacked, and moreover used such an obviously insulting move.
"It seems he genuinely doesn't hold the Lingxiao Sect in his eyes at all. One man challenging an entire major sect—how dare he?" someone couldn't help but say in shock.
"Boy, you're seeking death!"
Facing that colossal, overwhelmingly large golden sole descending from the sky, every member of the Lingxiao Sect was both shocked and furious, with the Lingxiao Sect upper echelons burning with rage.
As one of the greatest forces in the Sixth Void, when had the Lingxiao Sect ever been publicly insulted like this?
"Boy, if I don't kill you today, I'll change my surname Chen!"
A Chen-surnamed elder of the Lingxiao Sect charged forward with a furious roar. His body continuously expanded, his body erupting with dense clusters of electric talismans and mysterious arcane runes formed of condensed lightning energy, each one blazing with dazzling electric light. His form directly transformed into a body of pure lightning.
In his hands appeared a black lightning-charged spear. Grasping the spear with both hands, he lifted it high, thrusting it towards Ye Yunfei's descending giant foot.
This black spear not only contained immensely powerful lightning energy but was also entwined with countless Law Chains formed from Grand Dao Laws of Thunder. The destructive aura it exuded instantly caused a vast stretch of space ahead to collapse.
Indeed, Heavenly God-level combat was exceptionally terrifying—shattering space as a matter of course. Thus, wherever Heavenly Gods had fought, they'd leave vast quantities of shattered space and destructive Heavenly God-level energy residue.
Dang! The black lightning-charged spear blocked Ye Yunfei's descending golden foot.
Yet the deadlock lasted only for an instant. The black spear was immediately bent downwards, and the Chen-surnamed elder gripping it with both hands was shaken back incessantly by the horrifying force.
The divine power within his body surged forth, pouring into the black spear as he strained with all his might to hold back Ye Yunfei's golden foot. But Ye Yunfei's massive golden foot continued pressing forward steadily and inexorably, meeting no obstruction whatsoever.
"Elder Chen, I'll help you!"
Another Lingxiao Sect upper echelon rushed forward, raising a long blade and slashing towards the sole of Ye Yunfei's golden foot.
Dang! The tip of the blade impacted Ye Yunfei's foot, yet it couldn't harm it in the slightest.
To the astonishment of all, despite being jointly resisted by two Heavenly Gods, Ye Yunfei's massive golden foot maintained its previous speed, steadily pressing forward, completely unhindered.