Ye Yunfei immediately released his Soul Power, probing the interior of the palace with his perception.
"All the Soul Body fragments in this palace are just Soul Force imprints."
Very quickly, Ye Yunfei's expression turned gloomy as he slowly spoke to Lü Dandan.
"Then where has that Soul Race member gone?"
Lü Dandan was also sensing around, but she couldn't find where the Soul Race member was now either.
"I think that fellow probably took advantage of the chaos to escape,"
Hun Lao said, speaking up.
"That Soul Race member earlier must have executed a very sophisticated escape technique. The explosion of his Soul Body was fake. Most of what split apart after the explosion were Soul Force imprints. His real Soul Body must have slipped away cleverly."
Hun Lao explained.
"Could that Soul Race member still be hiding within Elder Yan's Soul Sea?"
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm spoke while simultaneously sending Soul Power perception into Elder Yan's Soul Sea to search for traces of the Soul Race member.
"No, that Soul Race member has already left Elder Yan's Soul Sea,"
Ye Yunfei shook his head.
The moment he had re-entered the palace, Ye Yunfei had already inspected Elder Yan's Soul Sea and had not found the Soul Race member.
"Elder Liu? Where is Elder Liu?"
Lü Dandan suddenly asked.
"Right, Elder Liu. Where is he?
He was clearly still here when we rushed out just now.
Something is wrong."
Hun Lao immediately said.
Ye Yunfei promptly released his Soul Power again, beginning to sense and search for Elder Liu's whereabouts.
"Your Majesty, just as you rushed out of the palace, Elder Liu also rushed out after you. Did you not see him?"
A senior member of the Dark Faction spoke up.
"So that's what happened. Then there's no need to ask. That Soul Race member must have taken advantage of the chaos to secretly enter Elder Liu's Soul Sea, seized control of Elder Liu, and then used Elder Liu's body to flee."
Hun Lao concluded instantly.
"Yes. Elder Liu is only a Primary Level Sovereign God. With that Soul Race member's strength, controlling Elder Liu wouldn't be difficult."
Ye Yunfei nodded in agreement.
"Elder Liu has already been taken over by that Soul Race fellow,"
Ye Yunfei stated, looking at Lü Dandan.
"Yes. That Soul Race creature has provoked our Dark Faction like this. I will definitely settle this score with him."
Lü Dandan, recalling how the large group of them had just been run circles around by the Soul Race member, wore a frosty expression. Her willow-leaf eyebrows arched angrily as she spoke through gritted teeth.
"Report! Elder Liu just came to the treasury to requisition a large batch of cultivation resources, and all of them were Soul Power energy-type resources.
I originally didn't allow Elder Liu into the treasury, but he forced his way in. I couldn't stop him.
Elder Liu took every single Soul Power energy-type cultivation resource from the treasury!"
At this moment, a member of the Dark Faction hurried into the palace. Seeing Lü Dandan, he rushed forward, anxiously reporting.
"Seeking death!"
Upon hearing this, Lü Dandan's face darkened.
"That Soul Race fellow really knows how to play. Before escaping, he even barged into the Dark Faction's treasury and snatched away all the Soul Power-type cultivation resources.
By doing this, he's earning the Dark Faction's enmity even more thoroughly!"
Hun Lao couldn't help but remark.
"Yes. By acting like this, Miss Lü will absolutely not let him off easily.
In ancient times, the Soul Race was one of the hardest races to deal with in the world. It seems that's indeed the case. Just now, all of us together dealt with him, yet we still let him escape in the end."
Hun Lao added.
"The Soul Race is indeed difficult to deal with.
When that Soul Race member's Soul Body suddenly exploded earlier, I thought he planned to escape by maiming himself, but now it seems that was a very sophisticated escape technique.
After the explosion, he used Soul Force imprints to simulate a large number of Soul Body fragments to confuse the enemy, while his real Soul Body slipped away amidst the chaos. This kind of escape technique is truly effective."
Ye Yunfei said.
"However, I've memorized that Soul Race member's aura. If I encounter him again, I should be able to recognize him."
Ye Yunfei added.
"Report!
Elder Liu has just left headquarters, and while leaving, he killed several hundred of our Dark Faction members."
Right then, another Dark Faction member rushed hurriedly into the palace, reporting to Lü Dandan.
"Too insolent! That Soul Race creature simply doesn't hold our Dark Faction in any regard!"
After hearing the report, all the surrounding Dark Faction higher-ups were furious, erupting in angry curses.
"Dark Queen, we should pursue and kill that fellow immediately. This is a grave provocation against our Dark Faction,"
one of the more hot-tempered Elders immediately said to Lü Dandan.
"Yes, Dark Queen. Let's organize a force immediately to hunt down that Soul Race member.
I won't rest easy until that Soul Race creature is killed."
Another higher-up roared in agreement.
"Even if we chase after him now, it's not certain we can find him."
Lü Dandan shook her head.
They had all blocked that Soul Race member here just now and still couldn't subdue him. Now that he had already escaped, it was even less likely.
"Pass down the order. Immediately launch a rigorous search inside and outside our headquarters for traces of that Soul Race member."
Lü Dandan herself was also incensed to the extreme at this moment. The headquarters of the mighty Dark Faction had been made such a mess by a single Soul Race member. It was indeed the gravest kind of provocation against the Faction.
"I'll go out and take a look."
Ye Yunfei also had a belly full of anger toward that Soul Race creature. After speaking, his figure flashed as he exited the palace. Then he released his Soul Power, letting it surge out like a vast ocean, beginning to sweep the entirety of the Dark Faction's headquarters with his perception.
Ye Yunfei's current Soul Power had already surpassed most Intermediate Level Sovereign Gods, reaching the level of a High Level Sovereign God. In mere moments, Ye Yunfei's Soul Power had encompassed the entire Dark Faction headquarters in its perception.
"That fellow seems to have left the Dark Faction's headquarters,"
Ye Yunfei said after a short while.
"It's hard to say. That fellow is too cunning, and he's cultivated many high-level Soul Force Martial Arts. With his strength, he could casually take over any Dark Faction member's Soul Sea and hide inside, making it very difficult for us to detect him."
Hun Lao pointed out.
"That's also true.
Back in the palace, if Elder Yan hadn't behaved rather strangely, I probably still wouldn't have discovered that Soul Race member hiding in Elder Yan's Soul Sea."
Ye Yunfei nodded, saying with some frustration.
"According to legends, in ancient times, a single powerful member of the Soul Race could possibly control an entire sect or race. This legend didn't appear out of thin air, because the Soul Race indeed has this capability. All they need to do is take control of someone's Soul Body and then hide within their Soul Sea, making them very hard to detect.
At the same time, the Soul Race cultivates many sophisticated Soul Force Martial Arts that can control others' Soul Bodies. Often, a single Soul Race member can control a large number of living beings as slaves.
Of course, you could also do this."
Hun Lao said to Ye Yunfei.
"I've always felt that the Puppetry Soul Strings Secret Art I learned from the Soul Race before was likely only a low-level version, capable of subduing only living beings of comparatively weak cultivation levels.
As for relatively stronger beings—Heavenly Gods for example—I can't subdue them, nor even True Gods or Void Gods."
Ye Yunfei thought for a moment and said.
"The Soul Race members you've encountered before were too weak, so the Soul Force Martial Arts they cultivated were undoubtedly also very low-level.
The Soul Race was one of the world's most powerful races in ancient times. Their true heritage arts and techniques are naturally extremely formidable, but you simply haven't come into contact with them yet.
And it's also very hard to get an opportunity to do so, because those truly powerful Soul Race heritage methods are generally held by the more powerful members of the Soul Race themselves."
Hun Lao explained.
"Have you discovered that Soul Race member's whereabouts?"
At this time, Lü Dandan stepped through the air, landing beside Ye Yunfei, and spoke.
"I haven't found that fellow yet. And it's still impossible to determine if he has left your Dark Faction headquarters. It's possible he's still lurking here, or he might have already left."
Ye Yunfei shook his head as he replied.
"One thing that can be confirmed is that Elder Liu's physical body has left headquarters. It's just unknown whether the Soul Race member himself has also left."
Lü Dandan said.
"I've already sent people to investigate traces of that fellow both inside and outside headquarters,"
Lü Dandan added.
"It's useless. The Soul Race is too cunning and good at hiding. He can just casually hide inside some living being's Soul Sea, making it very difficult for us to discover him."
Ye Yunfei sighed.
"If I find that creature, I'll cut him to pieces."
Lü Dandan spoke through gritted teeth.
"I will now use one of our Dark Faction's trump cards to investigate that fellow's whereabouts within our headquarters.
As long as he is still within our Dark Faction's headquarters, we will definitely find him."
Lü Dandan thought for a moment, then told Ye Yunfei this before turning around and soaring into the sky, flying away.
"This is the Dark Faction's headquarters. Miss Lü is now the master of the Dark Faction. If the Dark Faction truly has any trump card, she definitely can use it. We'll wait and see."
Huang Shang said to Ye Yunfei.