"That old fellow from the Yang Family actually wants to help this kid."
Some creatures who had harbored ill intentions felt displeased seeing the Yang Family patriarch actively inviting Ye Yunfei to join their group.
"It seems that old man Yang wants to lure the kid over, find an opportunity to kill him, and take the things on his body.
Ah, forget it. Although the Yang Family's strength isn't anything special, they're still a relatively large-scale family.
I heard the Yang Family has five patriarchs in total, and the other four are a bit stronger.
No need for us to clash with the Yang Family over this kid."
Some creatures who had initially wanted to find an opportunity to move against Ye Yunfei transmitted messages to each other.
"Master, this old man does have good intentions, actually taking the initiative to protect you.
But honestly, with your current strength and various methods, he's no match for you at all."
Hu Miao said with a laugh.
"This senior's strength might not be exceptional, but his heart is in the right place. We should treat him with respect."
Ye Yunfei said to Hu Miao.
"Alright, let's keep moving forward."
The Yang Family patriarch waved his hand, leading the Yang Family clansmen onward.
"Look, Patriarch, those people over there seem to be from the Wanmu Ancestral Land."
Suddenly, a middle-aged man from the Yang Family spoke quietly.
Ye Yunfei's gaze immediately shifted over, and indeed he saw a group of creatures dressed in green or cyan robes rolling forward through the starry expanse in the distance.
This group emitted a dense, rich aura of life. Around the bodies of many members floated various phantom projections of plants.
Among them, a figure entirely enveloped in dazzling cyan light walked at the very front.
Behind this figure was a phantom projection of a towering giant tree. This giant tree looked immensely tall, its crown dense and thick, cascading down with countless thousands of green branches, resembling a large green umbrella.
"Master, I see Miss Zhou."
Hu Miao transmitted a sound message to Ye Yunfei.
"Yes, I see her too."
Ye Yunfei nodded.
Within the Wanmu Ancestral Land's group was a slender-figured woman—Zhou Wanqing, whom Ye Yunfei had met before.
"Master, why do I get the feeling Miss Zhou's strength has improved significantly?"
Hu Miao transmitted to Ye Yunfei.
Hu Miao had obtained the Primordial True Fox Stele and undergone an empowerment by a vast amount of Ancient Illusion Dao energy. Her strength had already risen considerably, and her perception abilities had grown even stronger.
"Yes, Miss Zhou's strength has indeed improved significantly.
But that's not surprising. The Wanmu Ancestral Land is an ancient power with a heritage spanning endless years. Miss Zhou's talent is also quite exceptional. It's only normal for her strength to continually improve."
Ye Yunfei nodded in agreement.
"I think I spotted those guys from the Rune Sacred Land."
Suddenly, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm spoke up.
Then Ye Yunfei looked in another direction and saw a group of creatures advancing towards the starry expanse ahead.
Most of these creatures wore spacious robes embroidered with unique, distinct runes that made their affiliation with the Rune Sacred Land instantly recognizable at a glance.
"Just what is going on? Why hasn't Elder Hu come in yet?
I've been trying to contact him this whole time, but I can never get through.
Does anyone know where Elder Hu actually went?"
At that moment, a white-robed elder from the Rune Sacred Land frowned as he spoke to the other Rune Sacred Land members around him.
"The Elder Hu he's talking about should be the one we killed."
Hun Lao said.
"Yes, that fellow was indeed Elder Hu."
Ye Yunfei nodded.
After absorbing the gray-robed middle-aged man's memories, Ye Yunfei had learned his name.
"Elder Hu said before that he discovered an ancient sacred relic of the Primordial Heavenly Fox Clan, but that relic had fallen into the hands of a Primordial Heavenly Fox. He went to track that Heavenly Fox down and snatch the relic.
I estimate Elder Hu is probably still tracking that Heavenly Fox."
A man nearby answered.
"Never mind him then. With Elder Hu's strength and the various high-grade talismans he carries, he should be fine."
The questioning elder said.
Then, the Rune Sacred Land members increased their speed, rolling onward through the starry expanse ahead.
Soon after, Ye Yunfei saw other major power contingents nearby, some of them being ancient forces that had been passed down for eons.
The Yang Family patriarch seemed quite knowledgeable about these ancient forces. Whenever he saw a famous major power contingent passing nearby, he would quietly inform his family's younger generation about the situation regarding that power.
He also admonished his younger generation that if they encountered people from those major powers in the future, they should take the initiative to avoid them and must not provoke them.
And so, Ye Yunfei followed the Yang Family's group as they pressed onward through the starry expanse.
"Everyone, be careful. This starry expanse was definitely set up here by Tianmu Shenjun to test us, his descendants."
A middle-aged man from the Yang Family spoke up.
"Yes, all of you, be careful. Follow behind me; don't stray too far away.
The space in this starry expanse is very unstable, constantly twisting and deforming. The structure of space seems to be continually changing."
The Yang Family patriarch nodded as he spoke.
"This starry expanse is indeed strange. I've been observing it for a while now. It looks like we're constantly moving forward, but in fact, I feel we aren't advancing at all, and we might even be moving in circles."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm suddenly spoke.
"Yes, the spatial structure of this starry expanse is extremely unstable, changing at regular intervals.
Once the spatial structure changes, the direction in space changes along with it.
What was forward before isn't forward anymore. So it appears that while we're constantly walking forward, in reality, the direction of our advance has changed many times."
Hun Lao added.
"No good! It seems we've returned to the starting point again! I can sense an aura I left behind. This was our position right after we first entered this starry expanse!"
Suddenly, someone up ahead cried out in astonishment.
"What? We've returned to the position where we entered this starry expanse? How is that possible?
I remember we were moving forward this whole time just now."
Another voice cried out.
"We have indeed returned to the original position, because I can also sense an aura I left here before."
Yet another person spoke, their tone filled with shock.
"No way! We walked for so long, only to return to where we started? Have we been walking in place this entire time?
This starry expanse is way too bizarre!"
Someone began lamenting.
"We weren't walking in place. I'm quite sure of that.
We really were moving forward before. But it's possible the spatial structure of this starry expanse is profoundly strange.
We were clearly walking forward, but the result was actually moving in a circle. We went full circle and returned to the starting point."
A powerful expert said solemnly.
"Then what should we do?
We thought we were moving forward, but we were just going in circles.
Is there really no way for us to cross this starry expanse and reach the core area of Tianmu Shenjun's cultivation grotto?"
Someone said in disappointment.
"What's going on?
We've returned to the starting point again."
At this moment, a group of creatures emitting sharp, fierce blade aura appeared up ahead—all of them blade cultivators from the Blade Realm.
These blade cultivators had previously been far ahead, vanishing from sight, yet now, somehow, they reappeared in a nearby location.
"It seems this starry expanse is odd. We've circled back to the starting point."
An elder from the Blade Realm inspected the surrounding starry expanse, his expression dark as he spoke.
Subsequently, everyone saw the Rune Sacred Land members also appear in the starry expanse not far away.
"Look, those guys are from the Guardian Faction. They've circled back here too."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm suddenly pointed at a distant group that had abruptly appeared, speaking to Ye Yunfei.
Then, everyone saw more and more major power contingents, which had initially gone far ahead, emerge from within the nearby starry expanse.
"It's not just us. Even those strong experts from the major powers are affected by this starry expanse, returning to the starting point after going in circles.
Even those experts can't discern direction clearly within this starry expanse. For us lesser ones, distinguishing direction here is even harder.
It seems we lack the ability to traverse this starry expanse and reach the core region of Tianmu Shenjun's cultivation grotto."
Seeing those major power experts also return to the starting point, many felt disheartened.
"Let's keep moving forward. This time, everyone needs to concentrate their spirit with intense focus. Watch the direction carefully.
I refuse to believe this place can trap us, the people of the Blade Realm."
An elder from the Blade Realm released his Soul Power energy to thoroughly sense the surrounding starry expanse, then spoke.
After speaking, the elder waved his hand and led the Blade Realm contingent as they set out through the starry expanse ahead once more.
Following that, the other major power contingents also began their advance anew.
"Since we've come this far, we cannot give up lightly, no matter what.
Let's go, keep moving forward. No matter what, we have to try."
Soon, most of the creatures surged together towards the starry expanse ahead. Everyone knew that if they could cross this starry expanse, they could reach the core region of Tianmu Shenjun's cultivation grotto. Therefore, no one wanted to give up easily.
"Let's go. Our Yang Family cannot give up lightly either."
The Yang Family patriarch waved his hand and led the Yang Family contingent forward once more.
This time, everyone released Soul Power energy to carefully perceive their surroundings. They also used spatial energy and spatial laws to meticulously perceive and distinguish the surrounding space.
This time, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm and Hun Lao also began wholeheartedly sensing the space ahead.
"We've changed our direction of advance."
Not long after, the Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm suddenly spoke.
"The correct direction of advance should be that way."
The Golden-Horned Dragon Silkworm pointed to the left of their current path.
"Yes, just now, the structure of this area of space changed, and the spatial direction changed along with it.
Our correct direction of advance should indeed be leftward."
Hun Lao also spoke.
But at this moment, the Yang Family patriarch was still in the lead, pressing ahead, with the Yang Family clansmen following behind him. None dared to lag behind, all activating their movement techniques and advancing swiftly.