"All you need to know is that we are the bane of your Guardian Faction."
The middle-aged Daoist Nun sneered, unwilling to waste further words on him.
As she spoke, a lotus throne carved from ice and jade suddenly manifested above her head. With a gentle tremor, it soared into the air and descended with crushing force upon the Heavenly God leading the Guardian Faction's vanguard.
The lotus throne appeared crystalline and translucent, radiating waves of divine light and continuously expanding as it unleashed a startling pressure of energy.
"This... is actually a Sovereign God-level treasure!" the Heavenly God, sensing the terrifying energy pressure emanating from the lotus, exclaimed in shock while hastily retreating. His expression instantly changed. "Just what is your origin? Not only are you a Perfected Heavenly God, but you also possess a Sovereign God-level artifact. You definitely aren't from this Eighth Void."
The middle-aged Daoist Nun had no intention of further conversation. Raising the horsetail whisk in her hand, thousands of its threads intertwined and straightened, forming a spear-like point that pierced through space, instantly arriving before him.
Feeling the fearsome energy aura erupting from the Daoist Nun, the Heavenly God dared not meet the attack head-on and was forced into a continuous retreat.
At this moment, the silver-robed elder had already severely wounded three or four of the Guardian Faction's Heavenly Gods in succession. The reason for not killing them outright was primarily Ye Yunfei's instruction to incapacitate them. These Heavenly Gods were extremely valuable to Ye Yunfei and Huang Shang, be it for their corpses or their Soul Bodies.
It could be said that by now, the battle had reached a point where the Guardian Faction had been completely defeated, with less than one-tenth of their original force remaining.
"How could this be happening?" the leading Heavenly God of the Guardian Faction thought in despair as he desperately parried the Daoist Nun's offensive while glancing at the battlefield's situation. Fury and hopelessness churned within him.
Yet, he was powerless to alter the ongoing carnage. Even he faced immense peril; under the middle-aged Daoist Nun's fierce onslaught, his ability to fight back was rapidly diminishing.
"Retreat!" he finally shouted through sound transmission to the surviving members of the Guardian Faction. "All remaining members, retreat immediately! Save as many as you can!"
In truth, even without his order, the remaining survivors were already scrambling to flee for their lives.
However, Ye Yunfei's forces gave relentless chase, unwilling to let them escape easily.
"Just you wait," the Heavenly God battling the Daoist Nun roared with venom after finding an opening to turn and flee. He shot into the distance while shouting back over his shoulder, "Daring to kill members of our Guardian Faction? Prepare yourselves to face our faction's wrath!"
He was the principal commander of this operation. Arriving with lofty ambitions, he had intended to dominate this void with thunderous and lightning-fast methods in the shortest time possible. This outcome was utterly unacceptable. The army he brought was essentially wiped out; only scattered individuals might escape. Even he was injured. He could simply not reconcile with this reality.
"Thinking of running now? Too late," Ye Yunfei murmured coldly from a distance, his hands clasped behind his back as he observed every movement on the battlefield. Seeing the Guardian Faction leader attempt to flee, he had no intention of letting him go easily.
Ye Yunfei immediately activated his Mind Reading Art. A peculiar thought instantly arose within the Guardian Faction Heavenly God's mind: he shouldn't flee; he should stand right where he was.
This bizarre notion became intensely compelling in an instant, even affecting his actions.
Thus, the Heavenly God's figure stiffened, and he came to an abrupt halt, standing completely still.
Though his rational mind screamed that this was extremely dangerous and he desperately tried to regain control and flee, the newly formed stubborn thought wrestled with him for control over his body.
"Oh no!" The Heavenly God then realized the middle-aged Daoist Nun had already caught up, blocking his path forward. Moreover, the silver-robed elder arrived with several other Heavenly Gods, surrounding him completely.
"I'm finished!" Despair washed over the Heavenly God's face.
Facing the middle-aged Daoist Nun alone was already beyond him. Now, with several additional Heavenly Gods, he stood absolutely no chance.
Without another word, the silver-robed elder and the middle-aged Daoist Nun charged forward, unleashing a violent assault. Within an extremely short time, the Heavenly God was severely wounded, then suppressed and sealed, rendered utterly immobile.
"Young Master Ye, this fellow is yours," the silver-robed elder said, casually kicking the now-sealed Heavenly God over to land before Ye Yunfei.
This Heavenly God, once the high and mighty commander of a grand army, had fallen to such a pitiful state. His inner fury and despair reached their peak.
"Who are you people?" he bellowed recklessly. "Why attack members of our Guardian Faction? Aren't you afraid of provoking our faction's fury?"
He knew hope of escape was gone, but he could not die without knowing the identity of his opponents.
"You wish to know who we are? Very well," Ye Yunfei said in a cold, unhurried tone, his gaze icy as he looked down at the unresigned Heavenly God sprawled on the ground. "I'll tell you before you die. I am Ye Yunfei."
"What? You... you are Ye Yunfei?" The Heavenly God's expression froze instantly upon hearing Ye Yunfei's words. "Ye Yunfei, the Alliance Leader of the Eighth Void's Alliance Army? Can these powerful experts all be from the Alliance Army? That's impossible! Wasn't it said this Eighth Void had no Heavenly Gods at all? Could the information have been wrong?"
Before coming to the Eighth Void, he had heard the name Ye Yunfei. He knew of a young man in the Eighth Void bearing that name, who had organized a force called the Alliance Army and defeated the Guardian Faction's armies not once, but twice.
He had come fully intending to find and kill this young upstart named Ye Yunfei. Yet, now he found himself at the mercy of that very person.
"Indeed, I am Ye Yunfei," Ye Yunfei confirmed coldly. "And there's more. The Guardian Faction branch in the Sixth Void was also eradicated by me and my forces."
"What?!" The Heavenly God's eyes widened in shock. "The Guardian Faction branch in the Sixth Void was destroyed... by you?"
He had heard about the destruction of their branch in the Sixth Void but never imagined it was the work of this young man before him.
"You've learned what you wanted to know. Now, you can die."
Ye Yunfei's voice was like ice. With a thought, he unleashed the Soul Force Star Art. Dozens of immense Soul Power planets instantly invaded the Heavenly God's sea of consciousness, forcibly devouring his Soul Force energy and his Soul Body.
Although this Heavenly God's Soul Body was potent, it was still far inferior to Ye Yunfei's. In mere moments, his Soul Body was completely consumed. Ye Yunfei then acquired most of his memories.
With his continuous rise in strength and his recent breakthrough to the Heavenly God realm, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power and Soul Body had undergone a tremendous enhancement. Now, the vast majority of Heavenly Gods seemed utterly feeble in Ye Yunfei's presence.
"So, this fellow came from the Third Void. The army he led also originated entirely from there." Ye Yunfei processed the memories. He now knew the man's origins and, importantly, also gleaned the overall strength of the Guardian Faction within the Third Void.
The Third Void's Guardian Faction branch already had a Sovereign God overseeing it. Ye Yunfei couldn't help but frown slightly.
He was confident that with his current strength, he feared no Heavenly God. However, encountering a Sovereign God—especially a high-level one—might be a different matter entirely. Victory was far from assured.