At this moment, Ye Yunfei suddenly sensed the longsword in his hand transmitting a clear spatial and temporal coordinate.
"This... is this a map to the Sword Realm?"
Ye Yunfei contemplated the map, and a thought stirred within him. The world at the map's end was brimming with dense sword dao energy and sword dao principles. It must be the Sword Realm.
"I see. That senior probably revealed the Sword Realm's exact location to me. That means I finally know how to get there," Ye Yunfei mused inwardly.
"But it's not the right time yet. Going to the Sword Realm requires waiting for the opportune moment, as I currently have many things to attend to," Ye Yunfei reminded himself.
"How much longer are you going to seclude yourself? Another Blade Light Sword Shadow phenomenon appeared while you were cultivating, but it has already ended," Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm suddenly sent a mental message to Ye Yunfei.
"My seclusion has concluded," Ye Yunfei replied. He stored away the longsword, emerged from the Phantom Tower, and reappeared in the yellow-sand-scattered ancient battlefield.
Many beings currently roamed the battlefield, searching for traces of the Blade Light Sword Shadow phenomenon. Another one had indeed just occurred but was now over, leaving everyone waiting for the next spectacle.
"Strange. Where did that brat run off to? Could it be that after obtaining that longsword, he didn't dare to stay and has already secretly fled?"
Those dozen or so Sovereign Gods were still fixated on finding Ye Yunfei. Having a precious treasure snatched right before their eyes by a mere Heavenly God filled them with utter indignation. They needed to find him, seize the sword, and kill Ye Yunfei to swallow their fury.
Just then, one of the Sovereign Gods suddenly glanced in Ye Yunfei's direction.
"It's that brat! So he didn't flee, just hid himself earlier. Great! You little wretch, daring to be so bold under my very nose. I'll kill you now!"
The Sovereign God's eyes lit up with glee upon spotting Ye Yunfei. Instead of informing the others, he immediately unleashed his movement technique, dashing towards Ye Yunfei's location at maximum speed with stealth.
Ye Yunfei's Soul Power energy was incredibly potent and had already detected the Sovereign God's approach. A cold sneer escaped his lips.
"A mere Early Stage Sovereign God, charging over alone and unaided to deal with me."
"Huang Shang," Ye Yunfei said with a smile, "if I finish this guy later, we'll split his Soul Body half and half."
"Excellent," Huang Shang's spirits instantly lifted. He had refined and absorbed many Heavenly God-level Soul Bodies. A Sovereign God-level Soul Body was far superior; sampling one would be a tremendous boon.
"Brat, I'll see where you run to this time!"
The Sovereign God was swift, crossing the distance to Ye Yunfei in an instant. He spoke with icy finality.
"With your level, what gives you the right to make me run?" Ye Yunfei retorted, his gaze cold and expression disdainful as he looked at the Sovereign God.
"Too arrogant, boy! But you will soon regret it," the Sovereign God snarled. Seeing Ye Yunfei standing motionless, not a shred of panic on his face, only disdainful, even taunting eyes fixed on him, he flew into a rage.
*Boom!*
He swished one of his sleeves. It expanded continuously, manifesting the phantom of an entire world. Within this world were sun, moon, stars, the shifting seasons of spring, summer, autumn, winter, the alternation of day and night, and countless beings of various races living in it.
*Rumble…*
The illusory world expanded relentlessly, bearing down to envelop Ye Yunfei. This was the great supernatural ability "Universe Within the Sleeve." Unleashed by a Sovereign God, its power was terrifying.
As the dreadful sleeve-contained world was about to consume him, Ye Yunfei, holding the longsword, abruptly raised it high. Boundless, dazzling sword light erupted without end, instantly bathing the entire space in brilliant illumination. Billions of radiant sword energies surged forth, then converged into Ye Yunfei's longsword like rivers returning to the sea.
Then, Ye Yunfei slashed.
*Boom!*
A thick beam of sword light materialized directly, cleaving through space with a single stroke.
*Crack!*
The Sovereign God's sleeve was sliced in half. The Universe Within the Sleeve technique was shattered. The thick sword beam then aimed squarely for his shoulder.
"Impossible!"
The Sovereign God paled in shock. He never imagined this single slash from Ye Yunfei would be so overwhelmingly powerful, instantly breaking through a Sovereign God's attack and threatening his physical body.
As panic flooded him and he prepared to dodge backwards, a bizarre, intrusive thought suddenly took root in his mind: *Do not dodge*.
Governed by this idea, the Sovereign God's movement hitched, freezing him in place.
"Oh no!"
He knew it was bad, but it was too late.
*Crack!*
His shoulder was struck. His body was sliced in two, blood, flesh, and internal organs scattering everywhere.
"No... this can't be! Brat, you defeated me... with a single sword strike? How is this possible?!" The Sovereign God was utterly unable to accept reality.
"Nothing is impossible. Do you really think trash like you are impressive?" Ye Yunfei's voice was icy. His longsword descended again, this time in a swift slash.
*Whoosh!*
Billions of dazzling sword lights erupted instantly, inundating the Sovereign God's split corpse.
"Aaaaaah!" The Sovereign God shrieked in agony.
As Ye Yunfei unleashed his sword strikes, he continuously employed Mind Reading and another of the Samsara Ghost Clan's Soul Arts, attacking the Sovereign God's Soul Body. This caused the Sovereign God to be plagued by all sorts of strange, intrusive thoughts and an overwhelming, drowsy lethargy.
Both were Soul Arts of the Samsara Ghost Clan, their effects bizarre and terrifying.
However, the true damage was inflicted by the longsword in Ye Yunfei's hand. It contained the previous owner's lingering sword dao energy and principles, making its might formidable.
After his physical body was destroyed, the Sovereign God attempted to reassemble it. But a dense, chaotic mass of sword energies immediately began wreaking havoc within his scattered flesh and blood, constantly grinding away his vitality and preventing bodily reconstruction.
"No! I can't reassemble my body. I'm even less a match for this brat now!" Panic seized him. He tried to control his Soul Body and the scattered debris of flesh, blood, and bone to flee.
Yet Ye Yunfei had no intention of allowing his escape. Stroke after stroke from the longsword chipped away at the Sovereign God's vitality. Concurrently, Ye Yunfei persistently used Soul Arts to assail his Soul Body.
Huang Shang had appeared beside Ye Yunfei, coordinating by deploying various Ghost Cultivation Arts against the Sovereign God's Soul Body. Ghost cultivation techniques were the bane of all Soul Bodies. Though this was a Sovereign God's Soul Body, under the combined assault of Ye Yunfei and Huang Shang, every Ghost Cultivation Art Huang Shang used inflicted significant damage.
"Everyone! Over here! The brat's here! Come quickly and save me!"
Utterly terrified now, the Sovereign God cried out. Earlier, he'd intended to eliminate Ye Yunfei secretly and steal the sword, never expecting such terrifying strength. Regret began to gnaw at him.
"The brat is over there!"
Immediately, the other Sovereign Gods turned their gazes towards Ye Yunfei's position.
"Impossible!"
Seeing the other Sovereign God's physical body destroyed and his Soul Body grievously wounded, they all wore expressions of disbelief.
"How can this be? He's merely a Heavenly God, and so young. His strength should be limited. How could he possess such terrifying combat power?"
"It must be due to that longsword in his hand," another Sovereign God deduced immediately. "That sword was hidden within the Blade Light Sword Shadow phenomenon. Its might is indeed fearsome."
"Indeed, it must be the sword. Its power seems even greater than we imagined," another echoed.
All the Sovereign Gods fixed their covetous eyes on Ye Yunfei's longsword. Then, each soared into the air, using their speed to charge towards Ye Yunfei. Each wanted to be the first to seize the sword from his grasp.
If a Heavenly God using this sword could defeat a Sovereign God, then wielded by one of them, its power would be absolutely terrifying. Thus, the Sovereign Gods descended into a state of frenzy.
"I must obtain that sword no matter what. It might very well be the greatest fortune I'll encounter here," every Sovereign God thought, their hearts blazing with greed.
"These guys are going crazy. Be careful," Hun Lao, seeing the fervent gazes of each Sovereign God, hurriedly warned Ye Yunfei via mental message.
"Don't worry. This lot can't handle me," Ye Yunfei declared confidently, gripping the longsword.
As he spoke, he continued unleashing sword strikes, whittling down the remaining Sovereign God's vitality, while coordinating with Huang Shang to besiege his Soul Body.
"Aaaaah! Stop! You two bastards! I cannot accept this! I am a Sovereign God! How can I perish at the hands of ants like you?"
The Sovereign God's Soul Body sustained progressively heavier injuries. His scattered flesh and bone fragments were riddled with insidious sword energies, preventing rapid physical reconstruction. Tormented beyond belief and sinking into despair, he could not help but cry out in agony, roaring with resentment.
In truth, Ye Yunfei's prowess could already contend with Early Stage Sovereign Gods before his recent major advancement in sword dao. Now, with his greatly elevated sword dao level augmented by this powerful sword—and aided by Huang Shang, a Ghost Cultivator—dealing with a single Early Stage Sovereign God was significantly easier.
It could be said that this Early Stage Sovereign God had already lost half his vitality, possessing no ability left to resist. A dozen or so Sovereign God-level soul-defense treasures once protected his Soul Body, yet Ye Yunfei's slash had annihilated them all earlier.