Instantly, the Intermediate Sovereign God was shocked to discover that his Spatial Movement Technique had failed utterly. He could neither blend into space nor escape into its depths. Because the space in this area had been forcibly sealed by the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm in an instant, becoming as solid as a block of iron.
While this Intermediate Sovereign God wore an expression of utter astonishment, five soul spears and over ten weapons materialized before his head simultaneously, each radiating dense Soul Power energy. Then, the five soul spears and the dozen-plus weapons all aimed at his Soul Body and struck.
"This brat is merely a Heavenly God, but the power of these Soul Power combat skills he's unleashed is actually this terrifying!" The face of this Intermediate Sovereign God immediately changed color. He retreated repeatedly, but the space behind him had been sealed by the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm. Furthermore, the Mind Reading Art and the illusionary realm unleashed by Hu Miao continued to affect him, slowing his speed significantly compared to normal.
The next moment, the five soul spears and the dozen-plus weapons invaded his Sea of Consciousness, whistling as they converged on and besieged his Soul Body. Ye Yunfei stretched out his palm and made a slow grasping motion toward the deity's head. In the next instant, a massive claw radiating torrents of divine light appeared above the Intermediate Sovereign God's head and descended, intent on seizing him.
Clank! Clatter!... The continuous rustling of chains rang out as thick, densely-packed chains of Dao laws manifested throughout this stretch of space, coiling toward the Intermediate Sovereign God's physical body like venomous snakes. This was a law-type combat skill.
"Damn it! This kid's mastery over Dao laws is unexpectedly profound!" Seeing the thick, constantly rustling chains of Dao laws densely filling the surrounding space, the Intermediate Sovereign God felt a chill run down his spine.
"The power of this new law-type skill you've cultivated isn't bad," Hun Lao said with a laugh.
"This technique is called the Chaos Claw. Its main foundation is the utilization of Dao laws. Its power is indeed quite formidable," Ye Yunfei replied, smiling.
While the Intermediate Sovereign God was frantically trying to deal with Ye Yunfei's attacks, Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm had already quietly initiated an attack behind his back. A flash of a golden dagger—barely perceptible—instantly pierced through the Intermediate Sovereign God's torso, pulverizing his heart. Immediately after, the deity's right shoulder was torn clean off by the Chaos Claw unleashed by Ye Yunfei, eliciting a shrill scream.
Now, Ye Yunfei, Hu Miao, and Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm were jointly besieging this Intermediate Sovereign God. He simply had no chance to retaliate. "Take it easy. Try not to damage his body if possible," Huang Shang interjected hastily.
Next, under the combined suppression of Ye Yunfei and Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, the Intermediate Sovereign God completely lost the ability to react. Ye Yunfei directly sealed his Soul Body. "Old Huang, since you're in the middle of trying to break through, you should take this fellow's Soul Body," Ye Yunfei said after a moment's thought, delivering the Intermediate Sovereign God's Soul Body to Huang Shang.
Huang Shang had been in seclusion within the Phantom Tower, attempting a breakthrough, and was at a crucial moment. A fresh Soul Body like this would be very beneficial to him. "In that case, I won't stand on ceremony," Huang Shang replied. He then devoured the Soul Body of the Intermediate Sovereign God.
Boom! A surge of energy thoroughly boiled up within Huang Shang's body. Vast and majestic ghost dao energy erupted from his ghostly form. "I've finally started breaking through, though I need to find a place to undergo my tribulation," Huang Shang said to Ye Yunfei.
"Alright. You can enter the Dark Faction headquarters to undergo your tribution. Their headquarters is saturated with dark energy and dark laws. Since they share similar properties with the ghost dao energy you cultivate, it should be a suitable place for your tribulation," Ye Yunfei suggested after some consideration.
"Right. The Dark Faction headquarters is indeed quite suitable for me," Huang Shang nodded.
Ye Yunfei immediately sent a Sound Transmission to Lü Dandan, informing her that Huang Shang needed to enter the Dark Faction headquarters to undergo his tribulation. Lü Dandan promptly dispatched a Sovereign God of the Dark Faction to personally escort Huang Shang into the headquarters.
Not long after, Huang Shang confronted his thunder tribulation. However, as a ghost practitioner, the lightning tribulation he faced consisted of yin-type thunder, distinct from the tribulations undergone by most living beings.
"Now for you." At this moment, Ye Yunfei's gaze fell on another Sovereign God. He strode over. Before long, the Soul Body and physical body of this Sovereign God who had caught Ye Yunfei's attention were both sealed.
As time passed, more and more Sovereign Gods from the opposing side were slain—some by Ye Yunfei, some by Lü Dandan, and others by the Poison Dragon Crocodiles and the Sovereign Gods of the Dark Faction. In fact, as the battle had progressed to this point, Lü Dandan's side had seized absolute advantage. Their opponents' Sovereign Gods had lost all will to fight, each only thinking of escape. Unfortunately, they were completely surrounded and had no chance to flee.
Shortly thereafter, the battle before the Dark Faction headquarters neared its end. Of the dozen-plus Sovereign Gods originally belonging to their enemies, only two remained. Although both were Mid-stage Deities, they were heavily surrounded and utterly incapable of fighting back.
"It's over. The forces we brought are totally wiped out. How could this happen? The Dark Faction is strong, but the allied army formed by our various major factions wasn't weak. How could we have been defeated so decisively?" Both Sovereign Gods were filled with resentment.
"Dark Queen, you've killed so many people from our factions. Just you wait, the Dark Faction won't come to a good end," one of them glared venomously at Lü Dandan and roared fiercely.
"We'll be waiting. But you won't be around to see it," Lü Dandan's expression was icy, her tone frigid as she finished speaking. She threw a single punch toward this Sovereign God. Boom! A pitch-black fist imprint instantly took form, carrying terrifying dark energy as it rumbled forth. Bang! The Sovereign God was struck by the fist, his body sent flying high into the air before it split into several pieces with a sickening crack.
"Let me finish him." Ye Yunfei dashed forward directly. Five soul spears and over ten weapons simultaneously attacked the Sovereign God's Soul Body.
Soon, the Soul Body was completely sealed by Ye Yunfei, who then collected the corpse. The scattered Origin Essence Blood was also refined and absorbed by the Blood Clan Clone. Meanwhile, the sole remaining Sovereign God was encircled by dozens of Poison Dragon Crocodiles, losing all ability to resist. If Lü Dandan hadn't stepped in to restrain them in time, he would have been devoured by those crocodiles. Swiftly, the Soul Body and physical body of this final Sovereign God were also separately subdued and sealed by Ye Yunfei.
And so, the allied army of several major factions was completely annihilated. The Dark Faction had achieved a decisive victory. However, most beings of the Dark Faction were innately aloof by nature. Even after winning a great victory, no one cheered loudly.
At Lü Dandan's command, the army of the Dark Faction retreated into the headquarters like a rolling black tide, vanishing in a short moment.
"Miss Lü, since these factions have lost so many personnel, they're likely to come looking for trouble with the Dark Faction again," Ye Yunfei said to Lü Dandan.
"No need for concern. Let them come. We of the Dark Faction aren't afraid. What you saw today isn't our faction's entire strength," Lü Dandan stated.
"So that's how it is," Ye Yunfei was somewhat surprised by her words.
"So the Dark Faction still holds hidden strength. But then, it is a mysterious faction with a history spanning vast eons. It's fitting that their power would be substantial," Hun Lao commented.
"My realm finally broke through." Huang Shang suddenly appeared before Ye Yunfei, saying with a touch of excitement.
"Old Huang, your strength has indeed advanced to another level," Ye Yunfei perceived the energy aura around Huang Shang and confirmed he had successfully broken through.
"Old Huang, just how strong are you now?" Hu Miao asked curiously. Since Huang Shang cultivated Corpse Dao and Ghost Dao energies, it was generally difficult to ascertain exactly how powerful he was.
"My current strength is probably equivalent to an Early-stage Deity or Intermediate Sovereign God," Huang Shang replied after a moment's thought.
"That's good. Everyone's strength has reached the level of Sovereign God," Ye Yunfei nodded with satisfaction. Currently, he himself, Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm, Hu Miao, and Huang Shang had all attained strength at the Sovereign God level. Such a small team possessed formidable overall combat power.
"Old Hun, roughly what is your strength level now?" Ye Yunfei suddenly thought of Hun Lao and inquired curiously. Hun Lao's realm was rather unique; up till now, he hadn't needed to undergo lightning tribulation to break through. Moreover, Hun Lao rarely engaged in direct combat, usually employing his race's spatial secret techniques to assist Ye Yunfei against enemies. Therefore, Ye Yunfei couldn't accurately assess Hun Lao's current power.
"Even I find it somewhat difficult to estimate my own strength now. However, even if I encountered a Sovereign God, they probably couldn't do much against me," Hun Lao said with a laugh.
"These are the spoils collected from the battlefield. Your assistance was crucial in how smoothly this battle went, so these spoils should go to you," Lü Dandan appeared before Ye Yunfei after the battlefield had been cleaned up, presenting him with over a dozen spatial rings as she spoke.
"Miss Lü, there's no need to be so polite. You've only recently taken control of the Dark Faction and have many places where resources are needed. Keep these things for yourself. I've already claimed some spoils during the battle just now," Ye Yunfei immediately replied. Throughout the battle, Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm had been collecting spoils on the battlefield while fighting and had already amassed a substantial amount. Moreover, anything Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm deemed worthy of his attention was undoubtedly valuable. Ye Yunfei had also taken the opportunity to gather the treasures left behind by the Sovereign Gods and Heavenly Gods he slew.
"Alright then. I know you aren't lacking in resources. And indeed, our faction's expenses have been quite high lately," Lü Dandan nodded, retrieving all the spoils.
"Miss Lü, these medicinal pills should be quite useful for the Dark Faction," Ye Yunfei waved his hand and presented a batch of divine pills before Lü Dandan. This was a batch of specially-crafted pills that Ye Yunfei had refined for the Dark Faction.
"These pills truly are of great value to our faction," Lü Dandan inspected the pills, an excited expression appearing on her face. Considering Ye Yunfei's current alchemy skill, the quality of these pills was naturally superb. Moreover, all these pills were tailored specifically to enhance the cultivation techniques of Dark Faction members.
"Thank you. With these pills, the strength of most of our faction's high-level members should improve," Lü Dandan stored the pills and stated.
"Miss Lü, earlier, the bodies of those Poison Dragon Crocodiles were incredibly tough. Is that a natural trait of theirs, or did they achieve it through some cultivation method?" Ye Yunfei suddenly asked.
The Poison Dragon Crocodiles had displayed astonishing physical resilience earlier. Not even Lü Dandan's attacks could inflict significant damage on them. Even Ye Yunfei felt envious of such robust bodies.
"Those Poison Dragon Crocodiles are guardian beasts of our Dark Faction. They are innately blessed with tremendous strength and physical toughness. Additionally, they have always lived within the Dark Dragon Pool, feeding on the dark attribute treasures found there. According to our internal records, one possible reason for their incredible toughness is their prolonged consumption of certain treasures within the Dark Dragon Pool. You can enter the Dark Dragon Pool for a closer look, see if you can discover anything." Lü Dandan knew Ye Yunfei had always prioritized Body Tempering. Now that he suddenly inquired about the reason behind the crocodiles' toughness, it was surely for physical cultivation purposes.
"Then I'll go take a look," Ye Yunfei nodded.
"I can take you there now," Lü Dandan said. She gave a series of instructions to the other high-level members of the Dark Faction before turning and leading Ye Yunfei towards the direction of the Dark Dragon Pool. Before long, they stood before a great spatial abyss.